Wheres the Blitz?
Phillips on Saturday was asked how he became known as a heavy-blitzing coaching – he said Dan Reeves gave him that label – but said it’s really something of a misconception. Of course, Phillips might not define blitz like others. He said he only considers it a blitz if no one is left to play deep safety, and the only players not coming for the quarterback are man-to-man on receivers. And by his definition – the Cowboys didn’t blitz at all last year. “We’ve gone through a lot of seasons . . . that we didn’t blitz any,” Phillips said. “To me blitz is zero coverage. I like to have a centerfielder, a free safety, and then you’re rushing five. To me that’s a “dog” and we do some of that. We’ll run zone dogs.” Of course a lot of people consider it a blitz when any linebackers rush the quarterback. In a 3-4 defense like the Cowboys run, a linebacker comes on just about every play. Whatever they ran last year, it worked. The Cowboys finished third in the league in sacks with 46, a franchise-be
