Does this make anyone tap the brakes on wanting to run Terence Newman out of town?
Of the regulars in the Cowboys secondary, the beleaguered veteran cornerback actually made more plays than anyone else. He tied Sean Lee for the team lead in interceptions with four, while Gerald Sensabaugh was the only other defensive back with multiple picks, recording two.
Newman also registered more passes defensed than anyone else, with 10, one more than Lee, two more than Alan Ball and three more than Mike Jenkins.
Of course, Newman also gave up his fair share of catches, and his play had clearly slipped by the stretch run of the season. A couple of his interceptions were of the right-place-right-time variety, though the same could be said for Lee. That he would have so many passes defensed may have something to do with teams going at him more often than the other corners on the team.
Probably most of all, the fact Newman made more plays than the rest of the secondary has to be viewed as an indictment on the rest of the DBs.
Here's how bad things got - Lee recorded the last interception of the year, against the Giants in Week 14, on a pass tipped by Victor Butler. The last interception by a defensive back came in Week 11 at Washington. There were no interceptions by a defensive back in the final six games of the season.
Opposing quarterbacks had a passer rating of 105.0 in that stretch.
