NFL

Jerry Jones admits firing Rob Ryan a mistake

Give Jerry Jones credit for honesty, at least, because even the Cowboys owner admitted after Sunday night’s 49-17 debacle in New Orleans that it was a mistake to change defensive coordinators.

Then again, Jones would have looked foolish to say anything otherwise, considering Monte Kiffin’s unit rewrote a host of record books in the loss. The Saints’ 40 first downs were a new single-game NFL record, and the 625 total yards they amassed were the most in franchise history as well as the most ever allowed by Dallas.

This wasn’t a bolt out of the silver-and-blue by Kiffin’s defense, either. Not only had the Cowboys given up 623 yards in a last-second loss to the Lions two games earlier, but they have allowed nearly 1 1/2 miles of offense (2,584 yards) in their five losses this season.

So even Jones sounded willing to say Rob Ryan might not have been the problem the past two seasons, despite the Dallas owner firing him last winter and replacing him with a 73-year-old in Kiffin, who hadn’t coached in the NFL since 2008.

“We thought it was best for us to go in the direction we are, and it doesn’t look good right now,” Jones said when asked about hiring Kiffin in the Cowboys’ locker room late Sunday night after after Ryan — now with the Saints — had exacted revenge
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AP

Injuries have been a huge factor in the Cowboys’ defensive woes (they lost heart-and-soul linebacker Sean Lee to a hamstring strain early against the Saints and are missing seven projected Week 1 starters), but that doesn’t explain all of it. Kiffin’s trademark scheme is the “Tampa 2,” which favors soft zone coverage over press man-to-man and eschews heavy blitzing. That’s a good way to give up a lot of yards in today’s pass-happy NFL with its frequent four- and even five-receiver sets.

It’s also why Kiffin, the father of recently fired USC coach Lane Kiffin, could soon find himself without a job just like his son. And that’s while Ryan is becoming a popular figure in New Orleans, both among players and fans. Remember when the Super Bowl XX Bears defenders carried their defensive coordinator, Buddy Ryan, off the field at the Superdome after routing the Patriots? His twin sons, Rex and Rob, are loved just as much by their defensive players. That was evident again on Sunday night when the Saints defense suffocated Tony Romo and the Cowboys on Rob’s behalf.

Rob then went out and celebrated in The Big Easy.

With Steve Serby