Dallas Cowboys win first preseason game as starters shine
My quick take on the Dallas Cowboys win over the Houston Texans, 23-22.
Turnovers killed us. Romo, Isaiah Stanback and Felix Jones all gave the ball away. Stanback looked great on kickoff returns but fumbled the ball and then injured his shoulder. Felix Jones had a tough night, the Cowboys used him as a more conventional back and it didn’t work well on this evening. Then he fumbled the ball near the redzone. If it wasn’t for these mistakes, the game probably would have been a blowout. Special teams also contributed to much of the Texans success in the game. Penalties were OK for most of the game, but so far in this preseason - special teams, penalties and now turnovers have hurt the Cowboys.
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If this game doesn't convince
Carp supporters that this kid can’t play in a 3-4 defense, then you’re just not facing reality.
If we can’t trade him to a 4-3 defense, this will be his last year as a Cowboy, just simply isn’t tough or physical enough to play in this defense.
In Romo we Trust
by Terry on
Aug 22, 2008 10:38 PM CDT
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I agree 100%.
I don’t know that anyone would trade for him.
by Baked Potato Soup on
Aug 22, 2008 10:45 PM CDT
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He looks like just a guy out there
No better than Justin Rogers. Out of the backup LB’s , no one stuck out at all.
T-New, shutting down WR's for Dallas since 2003
by APerfectStar on
Aug 22, 2008 10:59 PM CDT
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sounds like an even trade to me..
A true diehard Cowboys fan since 1975.
"If you don’t take him off the field as a coach, he will just about die out there," Jerry Jones said. "That impacted my decision. It’s a Michael Irvin-type work ethic. That’s what we are talking about with Felix Jones."
- Owner/G.M of the Dallas Cowboys , Jerry Jones
by BoyzRback on
Aug 23, 2008 7:07 AM CDT
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My take on the game:
Positives:
Brad Johnson looked good and made me feel much better about him as a backup.
Offense was sharp.
Not a lot of penalties.
Negatives:
Romo continues to have poor efficiency in the Red Zone.
Young guys are not protecting the football – not just fumbles, but carrying it loose.
Special Teams continue to be plain bad.
I hope Jason Garrett learned his lesson. You’ve got a rampaging beast at RB that attacks the end zone like a shark in blood infested waters, and the biggest line in the game with 2 shots from the 2: RUN THE BALL. I trust the D to look much sharper when playing for real, but they did seem to get pushed around a little against the run. I do feel really good about the team after this game, if they can get the Special Teams figured out. At this point, they might as well have Folk kick it out of bounds every time so they know the other team will only get to the 45.
by Baked Potato Soup on
Aug 22, 2008 10:54 PM CDT
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Here is my take to the game
MB3 is going to be a beast this year.
by quincyyyyy on
Aug 22, 2008 11:03 PM CDT
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Felix Jones was very disappointing tonight.
I’m not sure I see what the Cowboys saw to say that he’s too valuable to contribute on special teams.
Our young guys need to learn to tuck the ball when running.
MBIII is going to be a beast and I wish he had lasted long enough for me to draft him in fantasy football, because although he may not get the yards or carries that some of the other backs get, he is DEFINITELY getting the TD’s.
by GhettoBear04 on
Aug 22, 2008 11:04 PM CDT
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Felix Jones was disappointing?
Or was the blocking while he was in disappointing?
Or perhaps the plays called. You gotta get this guy outside, not up the middle…
by mhuff13 on
Aug 22, 2008 11:32 PM CDT
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Well, that's it really.
There will be times this season when the Cowboys are up 10-13 and Barber has already gotten 22 carries. It would have been nice to see Felix be able to perform at an average pace (~3.8 yards per carry) while getting multiple carries in a row to have confidence in his ability to give MBIII the rest of the game off.
Maybe he will be next year, but I’m wondering if we aren’t going to end up seeing more of Tashard Choice than I had realized.
by GhettoBear04 on
Aug 22, 2008 11:46 PM CDT
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I think Choice will be MB3's primary "backup"
Felix will be used in a different role. They want to get him the ball in space to create match up problems.
But tonight he was run up the middle behind the backup linemen, just no holes for him to cut thru. Choice was getting stuffed too, so that seems to confirm that the backup linemen were getting beaten at the LOS.
T-New, shutting down WR's for Dallas since 2003
by APerfectStar on
Aug 23, 2008 12:27 AM CDT
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Told Jeffferson is better than Stanback
Plus whats with Olesby getting beat bad -
by GimmyJ on
Aug 22, 2008 11:05 PM CDT
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Oglesby looked good
what play did he get beat badly on?
T-New, shutting down WR's for Dallas since 2003
by APerfectStar on
Aug 22, 2008 11:19 PM CDT
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I'll buy that.....
Stanback is turning into another Burnett. Fragile like a china doll.
Look up... get up...Don't ever, ever give up!!
by Boyzfan94 on
Aug 22, 2008 11:19 PM CDT
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I can't wait till next year when we get WR Roy Williams
so we can stop worrying about these no-name receivers stepping up
by quincyyyyy on
Aug 22, 2008 11:10 PM CDT
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Crayton looked good to me
Poor Jacques Reeves.
by grapejoos on
Aug 23, 2008 1:04 AM CDT
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+1
That #38 sure should wrap up!
by Aaron Novinger (Bigrigga31) on
Aug 23, 2008 1:27 AM CDT
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How did Bennet look?
Didn’t get to see the game
by BoNeZ on
Aug 22, 2008 11:13 PM CDT
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1 catch and run for 29 yards
"Well, we didn't block real good but we made up for it by not tackling."
- John McKay, the first coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
by 5Blings on
Aug 22, 2008 11:14 PM CDT
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I'm still not seeing the pass rush from the first teamers that I saw versus San Diego
Is that because we’re not scheming or is that because we’re not playing well?
"Well, we didn't block real good but we made up for it by not tackling."
- John McKay, the first coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
by 5Blings on
Aug 22, 2008 11:15 PM CDT
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The best game so far
The starting offensive line was completely dominant running and pass protection. MB3 looked like a star out there. The only bad I saw from the starting offense was the terrible decision by Romo in the endzone.
The starting defense looked good, especially considering they are running a basic defense without stunting or blitzing. Pac and Scandrick are some fast dudes. I can’t wait until TNew is back out there. This team might set the Cowboys record for most INT’s in a season.
Shout outs to Brad – he actually looked decent, plus he threw a pass about 55 yds (of course it was incomplete, but still), Bennett flashes some of the talent that made him a 2nd round pick, Folk of course perfect on FG’s. Amendola finally looked like a WR in a game.
The Bad were the fumbles. I can’t stand that sloppy play. I think Julius was out there wearing Felix’s shirt. El Gato, not bueno . Stanback looks like a stud KO returner until he fumbles and gets injured on the same play (so much for him taking advantage of Austin’s injury) and the hit or miss kickoff and punt coverage continues.
T-New, shutting down WR's for Dallas since 2003
by APerfectStar on
Aug 22, 2008 11:17 PM CDT
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I liked what I saw
on the 2:00 min drill, the first team D held them to no points; last year it would have been at least a FG.
by cowboy78 on
Aug 22, 2008 11:29 PM CDT
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Was Bartel hurt??
If he was healthy, then I think the Cowboys are about to finally get Simms or Beck. No need to waste gametime with Bartel if you are about to release him.
I think we are playing with fire with our current wide receivers. I guarantee T.O. and/or Crayton will be hurt at sometime this season and that will kill us!!
I say…….. “Beck and Boldin, welcome to the Dallas Cowboys!!”
i like baseball too
by bspate on
Aug 22, 2008 11:49 PM CDT
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Bartel will play most of the last preseason game
I’m thinking there’s no reason to let Romo or BJ possibly get injured, but who cares if Bartel does. I think he’s done for. They’ll pick up a 3rd QB after the final cuts, IMO.
T-New, shutting down WR's for Dallas since 2003
by APerfectStar on
Aug 23, 2008 12:17 AM CDT
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As far as the Defense is concerned:
I liked what I saw from the pass rush a lot. Even times that they didn’t get an official pressure, they did a good job of collapsing the pocket. Just so much pure power from so many of the D-lineman + DeWare.
Pass coverage was up and down. I liked that we are making more plays on the ball than we did last year. The CBS commentators here seemed to not understand that the reason the WR “had no one in front of him if that catch had been made” is because the guy who would have been in front of him was breaking the pass. Way to go chumps. Overall though, I feel better about our pass coverage than I did last year, and part of that I’m sure came from seeing Reeves getting targeted to our benefit for once. I can’t wait to see this secondary with T-New, AJ-2-1, Henry and Hamlin all on the field.
I’m slightly concerned with the run defense. Zach Thomas seems to bring a lot to the table as far as coverage (RB and TE coverage), and he definitely seems more effective in getting through the line than Ayodele, but he seems to get caught up in the wash more often on rushing plays. Maybe this is because he is being targeted on these plays by the O-Linemen reaching the next level, but it’s something that his health history gives me concern about. Anyways, I would like to have seen better from the run defense because even though they are playing against a line that blocked for the run reasonably well, they didn’t have a premier RB back there. Philly, NYG, and Was all have good run blocking O-linemen and also all have RB’s better than what Houston trotted out there tonight. Gotta wrap up better Boys. Gotta not get stiff-armed Roy.
Still, the overall idea holds steady that the defense will be better this year. Improvements in development (Spears, Ratliff) and talent acquisition (AJ-2-1, ZT, Jenks) make this defense better. As much as I keep being disappointed in my wait for a dominant defensive performance, I realize that, realistically, we just need a defense that can keep it under 20.
by GhettoBear04 on
Aug 22, 2008 11:57 PM CDT
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Marcus Spears.
That #38 sure should wrap up!
by Aaron Novinger (Bigrigga31) on
Aug 23, 2008 12:44 AM CDT
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Something lit a fire under his ass
I like it.
T-New, shutting down WR's for Dallas since 2003
by APerfectStar on
Aug 23, 2008 12:57 AM CDT
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And he's consistent!
He gets in the way and blows things up so bad that other guys get the stats, but he seems cool with that.
He sure has been disruptive this preseason. Looking like Russell Maryland, if you ask me—but bigger.
That #38 sure should wrap up!
by Aaron Novinger (Bigrigga31) on
Aug 23, 2008 1:33 AM CDT
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Carp
i concentrated on his play 2nite, sorry! his whole nite was spent standing over the pile & allowing himself to get pushed around, totally dissapointed! he"ll be gone after this season.
Brad has started to ease my mind about the backup situation, our running game & Line would defn make his life better.
Special team coverage has, i mean HAS to get better, i blame ST for the first 3 pts., cant be giving up easy pts. like that.
bottom line we got the win!
by bleedn blu on
Aug 23, 2008 1:04 AM CDT
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Man
I’ve been in Carp’s corner and I don’t see where he could fit in on this team. In his rookie season, he seemed so athletic and around the ball. Now, it seems like he’s always trying to play catch-up and if he was caught in a one-on-one situation, I wouldn’t trust him to make the play. He’s fast becoming one of those I’ll-just-get-in-on-the-pile-and-tackle-kinda dudes.
Why’d we let Ryan Fowler go?
That #38 sure should wrap up!
by Aaron Novinger (Bigrigga31) on
Aug 23, 2008 1:32 AM CDT
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Reading the DMN blog they talked about how good Carp looked
And had a quote in there from Wade saying that he looked a lot better, leading the team in tackles for the game. It seems like they are trying to get his stock up, probably for a trade of some type.
"So you can’t stiff arm at all? What about the throat?"- Marion "Barbarian" Barber
by DC_fan on
Aug 23, 2008 7:23 AM CDT
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Not sure what you were looking at
he was in on alot of tackles and almost had a sack. I think he had 8 tackles for the game. He had a very good first half. Wade even said the same.
He’s not going anywhere. Burnett is gone after the season, not Carpenter.
Look up... get up...Don't ever, ever give up!!
by Boyzfan94 on
Aug 23, 2008 11:58 AM CDT
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The thing that intrigues me the most...
The secondary, and all the options we have now, that we didn’t have last year. We can rotate corners to get Scandrick in more, the kid is dynamite. Didn’t really see Jenkins do anything tonight good or bad. Overall it was a decent game, 1st team doubled up the Texans, and one errant pass from a 27-3 halftime score. Damn sometimes Oglesby can’t win for losing.
by SmittyCityMo on
Aug 23, 2008 1:27 AM CDT
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I saw Jenkins do some good things.
I guess it’s even better to say that I didn’t see him do any bad things.
But yeah, this is one versatile secondary. Henry. Henry. Henry. He stays healthy; he’s making the Pro Bowl.
That #38 sure should wrap up!
by Aaron Novinger (Bigrigga31) on
Aug 23, 2008 1:35 AM CDT
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yeah, just saying the same obvious things here, but...
- first team overall O and D looked very good
- Brad good, I have confidence in him, he’s probably a better backup than some team’s starters
- penalties much better
- turnover and kick coverage bad, need to work on some ball carrying drills
by scottmaui on
Aug 23, 2008 2:13 AM CDT
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best play of the game....
Texans going for 2-point conversion just to prevent a tie. I don’t care if they made it or not, I just know the last thing either team wants is overtime in a preseason game, so thanks to their coaches for making that decision and saving us from OT!
by scottmaui on
Aug 23, 2008 2:20 AM CDT
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Where are the TOs?
I think my biggest concern at this point is with the defense and the absolute lack of forcing turnovers. No INTs (AJ close on a couple), no Forced Fumbles.
Romo is going to turn the ball over at times. We all know that. It’s just a part of the gunslinger mentality he plays with. And as long as they dont get out of hand (AKA Buffalo game) then that’s fine. But the defense needs to generate some TOs for us.
by WB3forMB3 on
Aug 23, 2008 7:08 AM CDT
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I mentioned this last night during the game
Without even glancing at the stats I’d say we’re probably one of a small hand full of teams that has yet to create a turnover. That’s pretty disturbing to me. I know once a full pass rush is in effect we’ll start to see more, but seriously? Not one?
Don’t worry about Felix, he’ll do far better once given the holes MB3 had in this game. I’m smacking the next person that utters Julius Jones name in the same breath as Felix. You guys willing to put that curse on him so soon?
Also on that Stanback fumble I wasn’t surprised a bit. I noticed on his first return for a big gain how he was flailing that ball all around. While it was a nice gain, he was practically begging to have that thing (easily) stripped away. Exactly that happened on the following return.
My draft is tomorrow and I’ve officially put MB3 in the #3 spot behind only LT and AD. This guy is going to wreak havoc this season and not just in TD’s. I’m betting on a 1200-1500 yard season.
Folkin A! He was pounding the kicks deeper into the endzone and actually forced touchbacks. Nice! He did have a line drive on one kick that I recall which kinda hurt.
Looking forward to the team evaluation Grizz.
by sublimezg on
Aug 23, 2008 9:25 AM CDT
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felix is just like julius......
huh…no smack, any way i say we cut felix now he sucks…….bennitt looked good i like this kid more and more….our d was stout and i do think the orders were get push, get in there face but dont go crazy…i loved what someone wrote earler henry, henry ,henry….he’s good plus the pac seem back and you throw t-rex in there and any QB will hold the ball just a fraction longer and then watch out because the 7 horesmen of death are coming and they want BLOOOOOOOOD…….just having some fun, we can do that after a game like that……besides the st, and to’s i feel really good about this team, oh yeah and dont forget we’ll be getting spencer,or sould we call him the DE-spencer….i’m so siked i’m giddy….
I don't need a compass to know which way the wind shines....
by hashishkabob on
Aug 23, 2008 1:24 PM CDT
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finally watched the game
I have to admit, I feel much better about Brad at back-up.. I would still like to see a nice young Qb. Jefferson has turned in to his favorite target with Austin out..
O and D is money.. D played well and they have so much upside(missing top 5 cb).. Romo made one mistake, I love the guy he is fearless..
Felix made a mistake, but he had some really nice runs..
Special teams play still needs much improvement, doesn’t help we played some of the best special teams units in league. But I think our overall team is ahead of the other teams in league thus far in the season. New England and Jax don’t look good in the preseason. Peyton may not play for a couple of weeks and A. Gates may not be the same Gates this season..
All in all, I think we are ahead of schedule..
"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 23, 2008 3:15 PM CDT
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