So, now it was Doomsday that changed the game?

[Bryan]

Comparing any other defense to Doomsday is like comparing bubble gum to jawbreakers.

Technically, weren't there two Doomsdays? The original Doomsday was the Bob Lilly-Chuck Howley 1966-1972 version. I thought the later Randy White-Harvey Martin version was referred to as Doomsday II.

[RichardBak]

Go Rams, first, Brian. Need Seattle to lose for a chance to get in. But who woulda thunk it back when the Lions were 1-6?

[Brian wolf]

I actually think the Rams will upset the Hawks today ... With McVay possibly leaving, Mayfield is hoping this is his last stop, while trying to unseat Stafford for the job next year.

[lehotskys80]

The Flex was a great D to play in if you were a D lineman. Not so much if you were a D back. The Cowboys always underperformed in the secondary as to personnel and results.

I'm assuming your premise is that, because the flex is designed to stop the run, the DL playing off the ball would give the QB more time to throw. If you can stop the run, you dictate when the offense has to pass. I'd think that would be a benefit to the secondary (knowing the other team has to pass). Moving 2 DL off the line by 1 extra yard would be negligible IMHO. An unbalanced DL gives the OL poor blocking angles, and may also make it easier to run line stunts and loop one DL around the other in a passing situation.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly when the Flex was introduced - a quick review of Youtube videos looks like 1969. A quick look at the period of '70 to '85, their secondary was top 10 many of those years (based on Profootball Reference), and almost always top 15.

As you point out, maybe part of the reason their pass defense was not as good as their run defense was because of their personnel. They always had FAs back there. Cornell Green, Mike Gaechter, Cliff Harris, Benny Barnes, Everson Walls, Michael Downs, Bill Bates, etc. It is interesting that, in Walls' rookie year ('81), they had a secondary made of up of 2 rookie FAs (Downs), 3rd year man Dennis Thurman and 10 year vet Charlie Waters. Those 4 had 30 of the team's league leading 37 ints.

[Brian wolf]

From what I read about the flex, it came to fruition around 1965 when the Cowboys transitioned from Jerry Tubbs to Lee Roy Jordan at MLB. A reactionary defense where players took certain steps while reading the offensive formations, the defensive line did play more off the ball, though they tightened it in later years but considering the linemen werent attacking the line of scrimmage, players like Lilly, Andrie, Pugh, White--though he was allowed to attack more rather than hesitate--Jones and especially Martin, still put tremendous pressure on QBs ... Since gaps were filled along the line of scrimmage, sometimes there could be lapses in coverage but the run was basically going to be stopped. After Jordan retired though and Henderson got into trouble with his coaches for various reasons, the slower linebackers like Lewis and Bruenig had difficulty stopping better opposing running games.

[Bryan]

I'm assuming your premise is that, because the flex is designed to stop the run, the DL playing off the ball would give the QB more time to throw. If you can stop the run, you dictate when the offense has to pass. I'd think that would be a benefit to the secondary (knowing the other team has to pass). Moving 2 DL off the line by 1 extra yard would be negligible IMHO. An unbalanced DL gives the OL poor blocking angles, and may also make it easier to run line stunts and loop one DL around the other in a passing situation.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly when the Flex was introduced - a quick review of Youtube videos looks like 1969. A quick look at the period of '70 to '85, their secondary was top 10 many of those years (based on Profootball Reference), and almost always top 15.

Cowboys used the flex occasionally in 1964 and regularly from 1965 on. Dick Nolan installed the flex with the Niners when he became head coach in 1968. It was more for gap control and stopping end runs. If you look at the Landry Cowboys postseason losses in the 60's and 70's, they were pretty much all the same. Good teams would throw on 1st and 2nd down against the flex and have success. Bart Starr had big games against the Cowboys, Paul Warfield did, Charley Taylor, Terry Bradshaw...

[Jay Z]

Cowboys had a few weak players in the secondary compared to the depth they had elsewhere.

But Herb Adderley disliked what the DBs had to do, thought it was too mechanical. The Cowboys did have good pass defense stats in 1970, Adderley's first year there. I'm not that impressed otherwise, especially considering they could always rush the passer. There was stuff like the Ice Bowl drive and the drops the LBs were taking there, I don't think the Cowboys could have done the same thing to the Packers in that game. IMO the scheme was most successful for the front four with the odd alignments and worked worse the farther back it went.

[Brian wolf]

Landry receives criticism to this day for playing a more prevent style-deep linebacker drop defense in that final drive for the Packers that won the Ice Bowl. Why did he change it? The winds made it difficult to pass anyway, it didn't seem necessary to go into that style of defense where Starr could just throw underneath down the field. Maybe Landy truly believed the pass rush could continue to get to Starr but his poise was unbelievable. As underrated a QB that you will find, although he made the HOF ...

[rhickok1109]

Landry receives criticism to this day for playing a more prevent style-deep linebacker drop defense in that final drive for the Packers that won the Ice Bowl. Why did he change it? The winds made it difficult to pass anyway, it didn't seem necessary to go into that style of defense where Starr could just throw underneath down the field. Maybe Landy truly believed the pass rush could continue to get to Starr but his poise was unbelievable. As underrated a QB that you will find, although he made the HOF ...

He did the same in "the Catch" game in 1981. While the Dallas LBs and secondary played deep, the 49ers rushed for 45 yards on 5 carries...more than half of that famous 89-yard drive.