Quick thoughts on the Cowboys/Redskins game
by Brandon Worley on Sep 29, 2008 10:17 AM CDT
28 comments
Now I understand that all fans want their teams to be perfect at all times and never show weakness. The truth is that is just not possible. Even the mighty Patriots were imperfect, and they chose the worst possible game to finally come down off the mountain. Now I am never a believer in the saying "that was a good loss", but I would much rather the Cowboys get yesterday's type of game out of their system now and start to put it together in December. There wasn't one part of the game that went well yesterday, yet the Cowboys were still in the game there at the end. They were a Sam Hurd fingertips-grab away from having over a minute to drive for the go-ahead field goal. Not bad for a team that as dominated.
Now, some folks need to calm down just a bit. Hopefully we've all had a night's rest and can now approach things a bit more rationally. Brian Stewart is not going to be fired. Wade Phillips is not going anywhere. Jason Garrett is still a great coordinator. Some of the initial, angry response to yesterday's game is to blame the coaches (rightfully so) and proclaim that the immortal Cowboys of the dynasty years would never have had such a lackluster effort. Well my friends, I have to inject some sensibility into us all. Back in 1992, the Cowboys walked into Philadelphia 3-0 and favored against the home-team Eagles. Jimmy Johnson's Cowboys didn't even seem to show up, getting trounced by Philly 31-7 thanks in part to Troy Aikman's four turnovers. That same Cowboys team went on to beat the Eagles in the playoffs on their way to the Super Bowl.
The point is that even the best teams have bad days. And the Cowboys had a bad day, but the Redskins had a great game. Sometimes the other team just plays better, and while the Cowboys didn't do things up to par the Redskins were the better team on this day.
Any given Sunday.....
- The ONLY time Tony Romo should throw the ball 47 times is if the final score is 63-60.
- Jason Garrett is an aggressive, attacking, YOUNG offensive coordinator. He's still learning and games like yesterday are tough lessons to learn. That being said, the Cowboys got outfoxed by a first time coordinator and head coach. Ouch.
- I knew the Cowboys were going to abandon the run, I could just see it coming. Marion Barber was getting zero running room up the middle and it seemed as though the Cowboys just got impatient and a little greedy. Romo was trying to take advantage of the Redskins stacking the box by checking out of the run, but the Cowboys were unable to beat one on one coverage. So the Redskins never stopped running that defense, and the Cowboys couldn't run the ball.
- Of course, 11 running plays is still way too low, no matter how much they were jamming us. How about some screens, pitches, or an end around to Felix? Pulling T.O. on the end around is all well and good, but let's get Felix the ball.
- Wade Phillips saying that Felix's plays are not designed as "come from behind" plays is pure baloney. The most the Cowboys were behind all game was ten points, and that was at halftime. I think this Cowboys team as whole needs to take a breath and realize that being down a touchdown is not the end of the world, and you don't have to enter ultimate gunslinging mode to win the game. Give Felix the dang ball.
- The best example of how the Cowboys game was going was our kickoff return game. The team as whole just seemed tired and unemotional and it showed in our return units. No one was blocking, everything was in slow motion and Felix had no where to go. It just seemed like the team as a whole was in slow motion.
- While I don't think Stewart needs to be fired just yet, he does need to start figuring some things out or he's going to have some players turning on him. It's tough as a player to know that your coach is putting you in the wrong scheme against an offense and all you can do is play what he tells you. Two weeks in a row the Cowboys had a poor defensive game plan against a west coast offense. The difference between the Packers game and yesterday's was that the Redskins were able to score from the red zone and the Packers weren't. Other than that, not much was different. Dink and dunk up and down the field, yay!
- It's obvious this Cowboys team has nothing in the tank emotionally against the Redskins, but the same doesn't apply on the other side of the ball. These Cowboys have built a good rivalry with the Eagles and Giants but for the most part just don't care for the Skins. Well, the Redskins players sure do get fired up when playing the Cowboys.
- Next week will be the big test. Can the Cowboys get fired up and dominate a pretty bad Bengals team after a disappointing showing at home?
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I dont think anyone is overreacting
these are legitimate concerns. We have problems on defense and Stewart is clearly to blame. We started having problems since the Philly game. This is not going to get any better unless something is done to correct it. I don’t think anyone is in love with Stewart as a DC and won’t be sad if he is gone..
Look up... get up...Don't ever, ever give up!!
by Boyzfan94 on Sep 29, 2008 10:23 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Dallas played quite a bit of man coverage
in this game. The play that newman got burned on was man coverage, a lot of post game talk has mentioned that he is probably not back to full game speed. He did not play in the preseason, was limited in the first game and Larry brown and Nate both feel that he is not completely caught up. So for all the fans out there saying hey, why don’t we bump them more often, remember what happens when you miss and the pressure does not get there, its a long completion. Dallas’ def mistakes came at the worst times in this game.
Ignore the Mainstream Media, EMBRACE THE HATE!!!!
by cowboy78 on Sep 29, 2008 10:29 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Your right they did
and they were just talking on cowboys.com that this defense may not match well against west coast teams. I’m starting to agree. I’m also starting to realize Bradie James is a average LB with poor coverage skills.
Look up... get up...Don't ever, ever give up!!
by Boyzfan94 on Sep 29, 2008 11:10 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
very good post Brandon
You’re absolutely correct about this game being an emotional let down after two big games. Jamie Dukes thought it would happen against the Pack, but it happened this game.
I’m so glad you brought up the fact that our dynasty teams also laid eggs and crapped the bed once in a while. These kind of loses happen to all teams, even the best of all time.
Its easy to blame the coaches for this loss, but the simple truth is the Cowboys just failed to execute, thats the bottom line, it had nothing to do with coaching. We were flat and got beat. If this team is championship material, which I know they are, they will regroup and come out and blow the Bungals off the field next Sunday.
In Romo we Trust
by Terry on Sep 29, 2008 10:33 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
+1
Who expected us to go Undefeated? A loss is a loss whether we looked uninspired or great. I remember before the season started, 80% of the blog projected a couple of games like this. A tough dog fight in the division, don’t deviate from your stance.. Hold your head high; we are the best team in league still. We just got caught..
We are 3-1 and only one game out of 1st.. Humbling loss. Look at the records of the teams they projected to go to or win the super bowl this year.. We are in much better shape then those teams.
We will bounce back, no reason to overact..
At least the gambling lines will come down, so I can go back to winning money no my Cowboys again.
"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 Sep 29, 2008 10:43 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Technically we're only a half game out of first
Since the Giants had a bye this week. Maybe that makes some of us feel a little better.
"So you can’t stiff arm at all? What about the throat?"- Marion "Barbarian" Barber
by DC_fan on Sep 29, 2008 1:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Its easy to blame the coaches for this loss, but the simple truth is the Cowboys just failed to execute
How do you execute,and defend slants and wideout dumps when your “shutdownCB” is 10 yards off the line of scrimmage?
The fact is we were outcoached….we were in the wrong scheme….and did NOTHING to stop the washington offense from racking up an obscene amount of yardage. This has nothing to do with execution and everything to do with being ill-prepared and badly coached.
We did the same things against philly and Green Bay, but were lucky to get timely stops and/or hold them to field goals. With penalties taking away two redskin TD’s…we’re lucky they didn’t hang 40 on us!
You'll never get in a traffic jam,while going the extra mile. -Roger staubach
by TrueBlue24 on Sep 29, 2008 11:45 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Dallas was trying
to bail itself out with the big play. It just never happened, the team needs to focus on grinding it out with our div rivals and let the big play come. I felt that Garrett was looking to hard for miss-match opportunities and the skins were not going to have it.
Ignore the Mainstream Media, EMBRACE THE HATE!!!!
by cowboy78 on Sep 29, 2008 10:35 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Plain and Simple, I think
the Skins played a GREAT game….
they know we run.. they STOPPED it..
they know we throw to T.O. they contained him
they have seen our return game, they stopped it
they know we have a solid D, so they were patient, dinked and dunked and waited for the precise time to try to go big.. and it worked…
their game plan totally exposed us on this day….
however, as said somewhere here on BTB:
- we are 3 and 1 (1 and 1 in division)
- we lost to a tough division rival (at home which hurts but still a division rival)
- 2 of our next 3 game are against two of the worst teams in football
- the third is a very winnable game in the desert
after that we have 2 division games on the road… those games will go a LONG way, se we will see then..
by stephena on Sep 29, 2008 10:53 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
in other words
the Skins played a GREAT game….
they know we run.. they STOPPED it..
they know we throw to T.O. they contained him
they have seen our return game, they stopped it
they know we have a solid D, so they were patient, dinked and dunked and waited for the precise time to try to go big.. and it worked…
their game plan totally exposed us on this day….
They were prepared…..
You'll never get in a traffic jam,while going the extra mile. -Roger staubach
by TrueBlue24 on Sep 29, 2008 11:47 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
a few more thoughts
1) Anthony Henry is a solid player, but his skill set works better against bigger physical receivers like Boldin and Plax than against quick little guys like Moss and Randal El.
2) Adam Jones is our best CB right now.
3) Lots of TO’s big plays used to come when Romo left the pocket. TO can be covered for two seconds, but he’s too fast to cover when Romo is scrambling. (Think back to the Bears game last year). I don’t know if Romo has found the balance between quiet feet in the pocket (where he’s improved) and leaving the pocket, where he hasn’t (yet) been deadly this year.
4) We tend to have these flat, emotional let down games at home, where we might be counting on the home crowd to bail us out. We just rarely get dominated up front, and we were pushed around on both sides of the ball.
by TimSchultz36 on Sep 29, 2008 10:58 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
+1
Adam Jones is our best CB right now
.
This is so true…so much for Newman and his big money contract
Look up... get up...Don't ever, ever give up!!
by Boyzfan94 on Sep 29, 2008 11:11 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
-1
Let’s not give up on Newman. He had an awful game, but he’s returning from injury. He played on a bad knee in his second year, and got absolutely toasted by Steve Smith in the playoffs. He was good last year, we should expect him to just lose his ability this year, if healthy. As his groin gets better, let’s judge his performance.
by TimSchultz36 on Sep 29, 2008 11:25 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I've held back from going off on you
But Boyz, we all know you were wrong about your predictions (about everything) but especially about T-New, so it comes as no surprise that you are going to make the negative statements every chance you can about him being a washed up CB who didn’t deserve his contract. Then you can say “I told you so” to all of us.
So he had a bad game, this defense would be lost without him, he is a true shut down corner.
Tim, I also disagree with your statement that Pac is our best CB. Based on what? He was beaten by a rookie WR in the Iggles game.
T-New, shutting down WR's for Dallas since 2003
by APerfectStar on Sep 29, 2008 5:28 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Wrong you are APerfectStar
I would say my predictions about Newman are right on point so far. He’s getting toasted, doesn’t create turnovers and somewhat injury prone. Everyone knows, including many here by the replies I’ve seen that Pacman is the best cover CB we have right now. He is playing the best out of the group so far and only getting better. Wade should’ve swaped Newman for Pacman when Newman was repeatedly getting toasted. Something Nick Eatman said today on his show. Big mistake on their part. Everyone knows Pacman is best man on man CB. Better than Newman. Sorry, but thats the truth. He is quick, agressive to the ball and get’s INT’s. Something Newman does not. Newman better get his overpaid butt together real quick because Cinci has 3 big fast Wr’s….
Look up... get up...Don't ever, ever give up!!
by Boyzfan94 on Sep 29, 2008 8:06 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
BAD loss
EVERY game counts in this division, because I can see a scenario where every team in the East has 11-5 records or better and one team still won’t get in the playoffs. Losing this one is BAD. There is no excuse for it. We squandered an opportunity to get a two games up on a division rival. Now, we have 4 division games left and 3 of them are on the road—although I think we play better on the road so perhaps this isn’t such a bad thing.
I am worried about our defense. We don’t have a single interception. We get burned deep regularly. No one is scared to throw against us. No one fears our corners. The D has been so close to being so good the last 2 years, and yet, we can never take that last step to being a consistent, strong defense. With the amount of money and talent we have on our D, this is unacceptable. I point the finger at the coaching.
As for the offense — I keep hoping I will wake up and its April Fool’s Day. It is inexplicable that we didn’t run more. We didn’t even try a screen. I just hope that Garrett learns from this.
Oh, and the Eagles play the ’Skins next week. GO EAGLES!
by Philosopher on Sep 29, 2008 11:43 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I'll be rooting for the Skins
because the Eagles are the better team, I’m more concerned about them than the Skins. We just played bad, we bring our “A” game to Fed Ex Field in November, we’ll beat them.
In Romo we Trust
by Terry on Sep 29, 2008 2:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
It's Official Now...
The only teams with fewer rushing attempts by RB’s than the Cowboys yesterday were the teams in their bye week. Remember the last time our running backs only sniffed the ball 8 times for an entire game? You won’t because it’s never happened in the history of the franchise. NEVER.
Washington didn’t “Stop” our run…we never even pulled the dang thing out of the garage. We panicked and for some reason gave up on it. Barber was averaging over 3 yards per carry…nothing bad about that. Against Philly he averaged less than that in the first half and we still stayed with the run and it payed off in the second half.
I never condone players throwing fits on the sideline, but yesterday, if Barber would have tossed his lid and started getting verbal, I wouldn’t have faulted the guy one single bit. He’d never do that but I’m just saying…had he done it, he’d of gotten a free pass from me.
I’m not putting it all on JG, no way, the badness was plenty thick enough to spread around. But with question marks still above the D and special teams, the one constant we’ve counted on so far is that somebody’s going to get a mouthful of our ground game. Not yesterday.
Good teams impose their game plan on the opposition and great teams can adjust if that doesn’t work. We weren’t close to great or even close to good yesterday and props to the Skins for being the better team by far. The outcome was as it should have been.
One thing I will say though….it’s gonna suck for the Bengals next week.
Great post as usual Dr. B-Dubya…appreciate the therapy session.
by NateMac on Sep 29, 2008 11:48 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
No mention of TO
Obviously, I cant talk shit as an eagles fan losing to a sub par bears team last night but..
No mention of T.O. op ening his big mouth? This is exactly how it happened in Philly/San Fran. He started blaming the qb, and the coaches for losses. Surprised no one brought it up yet… This guy is a total cancer and nothing is EVER his fault according to him.
by Joe_D on Sep 29, 2008 12:00 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
why would we feed into the Media?
We know he is narcissictic!
by bad knees on Sep 29, 2008 12:38 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Emotionaly drained?
Man if you can’t get fired up to play a divion rival, well then you got major issues! We will have to win the divion or hope coming in second gives us a wild card spot; Then again, this division is good and we may not come in second if we don’t play better!( esp on D ) Iwould rather Beat a divisional team 3-2 and lose to the bengals 67-0!
by bad knees on Sep 29, 2008 12:28 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
hmm..
I believe you are exaggerating quite a bit.
I think nearly everyone would be much more upset about a loss to the lowly Bengals than this two point loss to the up-and-coming, solid division rival Redskins.
The most important thing is bouncing back from this and obliterating the Bengals next week.
If you take a good look at the schedule you’ll see that barring a huge meltdown we should be 6-1 in a few weeks and we will have all but forgotten this one poor game.
by ender0887 on Sep 29, 2008 12:54 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
So True - This team doesn't fear the Skins
Brandon,
You nailed it. We have now lost 2 in a row to the Skins, and have boosted their confidence.
This is a very competitive division and we treated an opponent , in my mind, based on the Vegas line not on the fact that they will come to knock the head off the hot team.
by oldtimer on Sep 29, 2008 12:30 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
A correction
The most the Cowboys were behind all game was ten points, and that was at halftime.
they were down 7 at halftime
Cowboys fan since 1978.. I was 3 years old
by Mullin on Sep 29, 2008 12:42 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I posted this elsewhere
But I was listening to the Ticket in Dallas this morning nd they said that we were in the shotgun for 36 of 58 offensive plays. That’s 62% of the offensive snaps. So that means that the other 38% of the snaps could have been called as runs and audibled to passes by Romo, but more likely only half or so were originally called as runs and audible to passes by Romo. That is still a ridiculously unbalanced game called by Garrett.
It almost sounded like the coaching staff was trying to throw Romo under the bus for the lack of the running game. Well, it’s pretty easy to play defense when we show up in a shotgun formation and you can pretty much gaurantee that we’re going to throw the ball. Likewise, if we line up under center, they can stack 8 in the box and defend the run. That was probably why Romo was audibling out of the run plays because it was so easy for Washington to tell when we wanted to run and when we wanted to pass.
"So you can’t stiff arm at all? What about the throat?"- Marion "Barbarian" Barber
by DC_fan on Sep 29, 2008 1:52 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
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