FanPost

DAL vs. GB/ What Worked

Considering how well we played, the bads are fairly ticky tacky on this one.  Feel free to say what you thought worked and what didn't again.

What worked:

1.  The thing that had been our Achilles heel last week (no, not Romo) was our biggest strength this week.  The defense came out and played a great game against an fairly potent offense.  The defense was especially good in the red zone, allowing GB to score their only TD of the game in garbage time.  Although the tackling still was somewhat below what you'd like it to be, it was much improved over the PHI game.
2.  The running game continues to show up for the Cowboys.  I thought in a lot of games last year our inability to run on first and second downs left us in a lot of third and longs and made us overly dependent on the passing game.  Hudson Houck has done a phenomenal job at transforming our OL from a pass blocking only unit to a complete mauling machine.  It's good to know our running game is able to do something other than finish games and wind time off the clock at the end of the game.
3.  Jay Ratliff continues to be a force on the defensive line.  He spent a good part of the game on the other side of the line of scrimmage.  He also pitched in a sack on Aaron Rodgers.  It's good to know that we can get pressure without the blitz.  It's also nice to know that someone on this team besides Ware and Ellis can get sacks and pressure.
4.  Our special teams have been spectacular this year.  I'm sure you'd be hard pressed to think of one game last year in which we won the battle of field position.  And the amazing thing is that our coverage and return teams have been equally impressive.  Somehow Bruce Read went from being on the hot seat to sitting pretty.  And what makes this even more impressive is that they've been without key special teamers such as Roy Williams, Deion Anderson, Sam Hurd, Kevin Burnett, and Anthony Spencer.
5.  Who would have thought we'd see the day after the first couple weeks where our penalties wouldn't kill us?  It seemed like most of our penalties were just bad luck penalties, and not lazy penalties.  I am aware we had seven penalties in the game, but they didn't hurt us.

What didn't work:

1.  In spite of the fact that Felix Jones keeps showing how explosive he is with the ball in his hands, they continue to misuse Barber in my opinion.  I have no problem with an abundance of carries going MB3's way, but when the game is out of hand, and he has already touched the ball 30 times, we should have someone else finishing the game off.  I have no problem with Barber closing games, but if that's the plan, Jones needs to get involved earlier in the game.  I think Barber can handle that kind of load early in the year, but I just don't know if he can maintain it for a whole season.
2.  We need to stop rushing people back from injuries.  Every time we try that, the player ends up with a nagging injury that lasts all season.  First Newman, then Spencer, and now Kosier.  Anyone see a pattern?
3.  Fumbleitis.  Is there anyone on this team that currently doesn't have it?
4.  I would have liked to have seen us take a few more chances down the field than we did, especially considering that they were playing bumb and run man coverage all game long.  I know we took some chances in the second half and they paid off.  It just makes you wonder why we didn't try it earlier in the game.
5.  Another game, another red zone turnover.  Make it stop please!

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