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Film review: Defense, Cowboys @ Chargers

 

Here’s the review of the defense. That should do it for the San Diego game. We start talking (and practicing) Denver Broncos now.

Starters

NT – Jay Ratliff. Surprisingly, I didn’t see anything for the Rat. No worries, I trust the vet now.

DE – Chris Canty. I only got Canty down for one play, he ran an inside stunt and got to the QB to pull him down forcing a bad pass. Marcus Spears. Big game from Marcus. He broke through with Tank on his sack, he disrupted another run in the backfield that Zach cleaned up, and on the short TD run he broke through again but just wasn’t quick enough to get the RB. Nice to see disruption in the backfield.

OLB – DeMarcus Ware. I got Ware for one nice tackle at the line of scrimmage on a run. Greg Ellis. Ellis had a good assist on a tackle at the line of scrimmage using an inside stunt.

ILB – Bradie James. One good blitz but it was a hitch pass and he didn’t have time to get the QB. But he got busted up by the FB on a run at the goal line. Zach Thomas. Sensational. Just like advertised, and just like training camp, he’s always around the ball. He diagnoses a play and makes a path to the ball. He had a great tackle up the middle, and he got a tackle for loss cleaning up after Spears. He also had an assist with Roy.  He did get blown out with Burnett on a trap block for one TD.

CB – Anthony Henry. Had good coverage on Chambers deep when the P.I. call was made on Hamlin. He blasted a Charger at the goal line, a beautiful stick. Pretty good day. Mike Jenkins. Jenkins gave up a pass early but made up for it by deflecting the ball on a short third down pass. He also got a tackle on a swing pass later. Mainly, he didn’t give up anything big. Nice start.

S – Ken Hamlin. Not much except for the questionable P.I. call. Roy Williams. On the first play of the game Roy came around the edge from deep in the secondary and tackled the RB for a short gain.

Backups

NT – Tank Johnson. Blew through the line for a sack. Not much else except they used a double-team to blow him out on a short run for a TD. Junior Siavii. He didn’t get credited with a lot of tackles, but he got a little active toward the end of the game. He needs work on tackling technique. He also allowed a single blocker to uproot him at the goal line.

DE – Jason Hatcher. Nothing from Hatcher, I expected to see more out of him. Stephen Bowen. Bowen had one good play were he worked off a block to help on a tackle of a run. Marcus Smith. Smith had a pretty good day against the run, stopping a few of them at the line or near it. But at the goal line, he gave up position against a single blocker, exposing the linebackers. Remi Ayodele. Managed a couple of tackles late.

OLB – Anthony Spencer. He had one great play where a run went to the opposite side of the line and Spencer must have sniffed it out. He cut across the line behind the DE and NT and hit the ball carrier at the line. He also picked up and offsides call. Justin Rogers. Gave up the edge way to easily on a couple of runs, including a long one by the Chargers, he doesn’t appear strong enough to hold the point of attack outside. He did have a couple of tackles based on his athleticism. Erik Walden. Made one good play by taking on the block at the point of attack, shedding him and tackled the RB. Got in on another tackle. Tearrius George. At the end of the game he rang up a couple of tackles and had a couple of good penetrations. Needs to produce earlier in the game against better players.

ILB – Kevin Burnett. ILB was probably one of the most interesting spots to watch. Burnett started out great with an excellent open field tackle against a screen and he also made a nice stop at the goal line after getting off a block. He made another good tackle later. But he got blown out a couple of times by blocks at the goal line, and he whiffed twice in the open field on swing passes. And he let Jacob Hester bust him up while running the ball. Up and down night for Burnett. Bobby Carpenter. Sort of like Burnett. He got washed out at the goal line, he got blocked by the FB at the goal line and he struggled out in space with Burnett on swing passes. Sometimes Carpenter plays too fast and not under control, overrunning plays. But he did have a play where the guard shot right out on him, he absorbed him and shed him to make the tackle. He also made a good open field tackle on a shot pass, and raced out to help Scandrick make a tackle after he covered his own zone. He had a couple of stops against the run and at the end of the game, he rang up a few garbage tackles. He was active and involved, but not always strong enough in the middle against blocking and not always under control. Tyson Smith. A couple of late tackles, got beat by the FB for a third down conversion.

CB – Adam Jones. Tough night. Chambers beat him over the middle, he had a P.I. call to set up a TD and he whiffed twice in run support that cost big yards. Rusty. Orlando Scandrick. Nice debut. He made a nice play on a short third down play, upending the receiver. He hit the Chargers QB so hard he hurt himself and collected a sack. He only got beat once. Not too bad. Evan Oglesby. Had a couple of tackles and didn’t give up too much in coverage. Alan Ball. Got called for P.I. because he didn’t get his head turned, he got beat for one pretty long pass and not much else.

S – Pat Watkins. Made a good tackle on a long run after a screen pass, and caught an INT but AJ was called for interference. Played decent at gunner on punts, they always ran to the side away from him. Courtney Brown. Never saw him involved on any play. Dowayne Davis. Had one good tackle.  

0 recs | Comment 20 comments

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Nice wrap up Grizz

Ham got hosed on the PI call. He actually had the truer path to the ball. Oh well. What I liked about AJ was that he was in position to make plays even when he interfered. That tells me that he’s getting closer to being effective on the field. And Jenkins’ recovery for the PBU was amazing.

Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig loves it.

by dunkman on Aug 13, 2008 6:18 AM CDT   0 recs

Oglesby vs. Ball

Grizz-

What is your take on the ball vs Oglesby debate? It appears the team plans on keeping Ball because of his measurables opposse to Oglesby production during TC, do you think the team is leaning that way? I thought the team may have let Ball come on 1st in the 1st game and then ogelsby on 1st in the 2nd. It appears Ball is working with the 1st team dime package in practice this week.

You would think the team goes for the guy who is making plays, but I guess it is not as important as upside since they are the 6th Corner?

D sounds like they are rounding out. I think guys like Carp, Burnett, Hatcher will be more effective if plugged in with 1st team unit. I like the fact that Carp is so active, he knows how important this pre-season is, and maybe pressing a little.

"If you see me up in the mountains with a lion, I ain't lyin
don't help me, help the mountain lion"

by Wmillion on Aug 13, 2008 9:30 AM CDT   0 recs

Oglesby so far

Ball has done nothing to impress in camp, even when he was healthy. Oglesby is boom or bust, but at least he makes plays. The team has been handing the job to Ball, running him higher on the depth chart, at #5 for most of this preseason, but he’s not grabbing it.

by Dave Halprin (Grizz) on Aug 13, 2008 3:41 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

That's my thinking

We need to keep the guy who is making plays. We have 3 pre-season games left, I am interested to see how this and the back-up safety battle plays out..

"If you see me up in the mountains with a lion, I ain't lyin
don't help me, help the mountain lion"

by Wmillion on Aug 13, 2008 3:50 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Unless of course

they think Oglesby has topped out and Ball still has improvement ahead.

Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig loves it.

by dunkman on Aug 13, 2008 5:33 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

making up time

one factor may be that Ball is being given more of an opportunity so they can see what he can due because he was out for so long. It doesn’t mean they are placing him above O, but they may want to give him as many reps as they can with the first team so they have more to make a sound evaluation from.

At this point, I think there’s actually a 3-way competition between Ogelsby, Ball and Amendola. My guess is they will keep 2 of the 3. They might keep 6 of each, or they may actually decide they have more use for a 7th corner than a 6th WR.

Of course with all these final roster spots, they battles are not just within position but across all positions.

by scottmaui on Aug 14, 2008 7:13 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Everything I read about Carpenters performance was positve

Saturday night. Nothing negative.

Regardless of popular opinion, Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips liked what he saw from Bobby Carpenter Saturday night in San Diego where he played extensively at both inside linebacker spots.

Said Phillips, “I thought he did world’s better than last year.” Phillips said Carpenter finished the game, on the coaches’ charts, with five tackles and four assists, and didn’t seem to pin the inability to make those tackles on the goal line on his third-year linebacker trying once again to make the transition inside.

Phillips said that for the first preseason game “he might have gotten a little tired,” the coaches having left him in there so long. But the fact Carpenter was making plays certainly encouraged Phillips

I’m sure Bobby can live with the ups and downs as long as they come between the sheets…. :)

Look up... get up...Don't ever, ever give up!!

by Boyzfan94 on Aug 13, 2008 10:09 AM CDT   0 recs

Pat Watkins

I would rather see Watkins back there. I think given time he will be a stud..

Watkins over C. Brown!

"If you see me up in the mountains with a lion, I ain't lyin
don't help me, help the mountain lion"

by Wmillion on Aug 13, 2008 11:25 AM CDT   0 recs

+1

Look up... get up...Don't ever, ever give up!!

by Boyzfan94 on Aug 13, 2008 12:57 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

well....

i’m glad we haven’t traded spears away because hatcher is sooooo much better…...

I don't need a compass to know which way the wind shines....

by hashishkabob on Aug 13, 2008 11:58 AM CDT   0 recs

Your given Spears too much credit

it was only one PRE-SEASON game. The guy will be invisible like always when it counts.

Yes, Hatcher is better. He is a much better pressure player than Spears and making huge strides from last season against the run. It’s only a matter of time now before he overtakes Spears if Ratliff isn’t moved to DE permanently.

Look up... get up...Don't ever, ever give up!!

by Boyzfan94 on Aug 13, 2008 1:05 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

+1

"If you see me up in the mountains with a lion, I ain't lyin
don't help me, help the mountain lion"

by Wmillion on Aug 13, 2008 1:09 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

+2

Looks like Rat might end up as the starting DE, but I still have high hopes for Hatch.

T-New, shutting down WR's for Dallas since 2003

by APerfectStar on Aug 13, 2008 7:09 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

our rotation will be the deal.

"If you see me up in the mountains with a lion, I ain't lyin
don't help me, help the mountain lion"

by Wmillion on Aug 13, 2008 7:31 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Spears deserves credit

Many times last year you can see him causing enough havoc for other defenders to make the play, much like what happened on Tank’s sack.

I think Spears has something to prove and will work to prove that this year. He’s got burst and size, but will benefit from rotation to keep him fresh.

I haven’t seen enough from Hatcher that suggests he can break into the starting lineup. It will either be:
DE Canty
NT Ratliff
DE Spears
(with Tank rotating with Ratliff and Hatch rotating w/Spears)
or
DE Canty
NT Tank
DE Ratliff
(With Spears rotating with Tank and/or Rat)

That #38 sure can hit!

by Bigrigga31 on Aug 13, 2008 1:39 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

let's see if he can do again

He is definitely motivated.

"If you see me up in the mountains with a lion, I ain't lyin
don't help me, help the mountain lion"

by Wmillion on Aug 13, 2008 3:25 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

+1 for Spears

from what i saw he seemed to be in the backfield almost every play, disrupting their plays. it showed we can keep constant pressure up the middle, which makes everybodys else”s job a lil easier.
we keep sayn its only pre-season, but no one wants to or can afford to look bad in these games.
I like what Im seeing from Mr.Spears so far, so good.

by bleedn blu on Aug 13, 2008 2:01 PM CDT   0 recs

Film Review: Special Teams?

Grizz,

I think your film reviews are the best Cowboys analysis on the web. Thanks….Since Saturday’s special teams performance was so poor and since ST is so important to the ‘Boys’ season, would you be willing to do a Special Teams Film Review?

HDC

by hdc on Aug 13, 2008 2:12 PM CDT   0 recs

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