Initial Observations and reaction
by nicholas.rodriguez on Sep 13, 2009 3:35 PM CDT
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PrintToday was the beginning to this season and I'm very happy to come out w/ a W. But things were close for a long time in the game. Here are some high and low-lights in Game1.
I'll start with the good since we did win and there were a lot of good things from this game.
Romo got into a groove and on a small amount of completions set a new career high in passing yards for himself.
Crayton showed some speed with a nice 80 yard grab. Also Miles Austin's juke was sweet.
The Oline protected well for the most part.
Brooking played well in his first game as a Cowboy.
Sensabaugh in the time he played played well as well. A penalty but still light years better than Roy and KD. And a blocked FG, very nice
Buehler had a couple Touchbacks and Marvin White made a quick tackle, overall special teams played very well today, besides the Newman muff and Crayton kickball.
Thats all I can think of good right this second, gonna see if I can't find the game and watch it again to get a more in depth look.
Now on to the bad..... Which even in this win, there are many improvements that need to be address.
The biggest one, WTF happened to our pressure, Unless I flat missed a play we didn't have a sack, and our 4 man rush got nowhere near Leftwich most of the time, our blitzes didn't gather us anything either, maybe a few incompletions but still 0 TOs and 0 Sacks, this has to change and quick.
Run defense was really soft today overall, it got a little better as things went by but still no where near the level it will need to be for next week. Also pass coverage was a little below average, too many zone coverages where the receiver was a few yards from every defender, we got lucky that some points were left off the board or it would've been 34-27 instead of 34-21.
Romo didn't have his best game and luckily the bad gunslinger got lucky he didn't throw a pick.
Jenkins played better after the half but has proved again that Scandrick should be starting all 16 games.
We saw a glimpse of the wildcat.... i don't like it.
Our run blocking was only average, we had at least 3-4 that were stopped right at the line of scrimmage.
That is my rough take on the good and bad of the game, In there we saw glimpses that we can be a dominate team but we couldn't stay consistent, there are some issues but all can be fixed, I'm not concerned about the lack of pressure I'll chalk it up to good line play and an off week for Ware, I didn't notice if Sensabaugh went back out there but if he didn't that worries me, I think Watkins would step in and that would scare me. Overall I give us a C+, its a win but we are a long way from reaching our goal
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+2
other teams catch those balls and run 20 more yards.
The D has aways to go
by Realist Larry on Sep 13, 2009 4:10 PM CDT up reply actions
If Romo didn't have his best game
passing for 357 and 3 TDs and no turnovers, I can’t wait to see him play good.
In Romo we Trust
I kept saying he sucked, hope you know thats just frustration at bone head plays!
Luckily none of them cost us a turn over! I know no one’s perfect, but man, that stuff scares me! it would have only taken 1 to put us 0-1 in this game! But it didn’t I’ll take the win. I just wish we had a deep threat! LOL!
c'mon, he could've played better
ROmo was off to start the game. He missed a few slants and a wide open Austin early in the game
I know hes not perfect
and am happy with his performance, but there were opportunities there early that he didn’t connect on, which is a common theme with Romo through his career (inconsistant early, on his game late)
Just wan't him to play smarter this year! He still may.
No INTs keep it going!
yea
aside from one drive, he was very safe with the football. That was pretty key i thought. The recipe for losing that game was get beat up by their run game (check) and turnovers (didn’t happen).
That's what I saw
One drive where he threw a couple of impulse passes; a little (not horrendously) off target early on, but overall a very good outing. If I had to say what one player was best today I’d be hard pressed to name anyone ahead of Romo.
Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig loves it.
agreed
though i would’ve like to see him hit those early passes, he wasn’t that far of, he was slightly behind the receiver most of the time and wasn’t in danger of a pick.
Later in the game, his mobility and a couple fakes/good routes by receivers led to the big plays
Same here
they actually looked good on both early drives but petered out late in the drive. Not sure about why on that either, but lots of dumb penalties and mistakes did some of the damage.
Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig loves it.
its something to strive for...
Again, I don’t think he played poorly, but there was room to improve, I think even you would have to admit that right?
there is always room to improve
from any player, but to expect perfection is ridiculous. Even P Manning threw a pick today and he’ll throw more, no player is perfect and I certainly expect players to commit errors in every game.
As long as Romo makes twice as many good plays than bad, I’ll be happy and he’s done that his entire career so far.
In Romo we Trust
No body expects perfection Terry just don't be a bone head
But then again, to you Romo could never do anything wrong He’s PERFECT the way he is.
not true
Its just that I accept Romo’s imperfections, you don’t, and thats the difference.
In Romo we Trust
not true, I can see were anyone can make a bad pas or even have a fumble on a blind side hit.
But when you running around dodging d-line men, its time to secure the ball first and don’t try to fling the ball down field, anything over a 5 or ten yards to a wide open receiver or back is asking for trouble. I will give you that across the field pass that hit Witten in stride during preseason was one of the most amazing scrambling throws I have ever seen, but those kind of plays usually have a tendency to burn you also. I don’t want him to be someone he is not; I just want him to add that final element to his game that will make him what he can be.
you can't have it both ways
You say you don’t want him to be someone he’s not but you also want him not to make those type of passes, that just doesn’t make any sense.
You can’t expect him to be both Brady and Favre at the same time.
Romo is who he is and bitching about a few bad plays every now and then doesn’t make sense to me when he consistently makes great plays in 99% of the games he plays.
In Romo we Trust
I can and I will always bitch about the Stupid plays!
I can support him and criticize him all in the same breath. If it doesn’t make sense, to you well I can’t help you. You’ll have to work that out yourself. Everything is not always black or white or good or bad.
Look Romo despite his age is not a finished product, hopefully. There is room for improvement. Why does he have to be Brett Farve? Why can’t he be better than that guy?
of course there is room for improvement
and I’m not saying you can’t bitch about a bad pass or play, but to expect him to become someone he’s not is unrealistic.
He has flaws just like every other player in the league and there will be times those flaws will be exposed, all I’m saying is you have to accept those plays if you want to cheer all the great ones as well.
In Romo we Trust
Romo is unable to improve.
That’s what Terry is trying to tell us.
by Baked Potato Soup on Sep 15, 2009 10:06 AM CDT up reply actions
Good one Potato.......
and who wants to be a Favre clone anyway? Sure, he has some highlights over the years, but how many times has his heroics cost his team in the end? Remember, for all the years that he has been in the league, he has only won one Super Bowl. Not trying to take anything away from the guy, but when yiou look at the hard facts, he has only one the one.
supposed to be won the one......
If I were wanting to be compared to someone, I’d rather be compared to Roger Staubach than Favre any day.
not at all
I think Romo has a lot of room for improvement, but he’ll never be perfect, that’s what I’m saying BPS.
In Romo we Trust
yeah, if Garrett.....
can just get the Favre out of Romo and insert more Staubach, the better.
don't kid yourself texstar
Staubach loved to sling the ball down field and takes chances as well.
His INT% is higher than Romo’s, 3.7% to Romo’s 3.4% and also Favre’s which is 3.3%.
In Romo we Trust
He knew how to win though......
not saying he wasn’t a gunslinger, but he knew how to win in the big games. Something, Romo hasn’t learned as of yet.
Romo knows how to win as well
and has lead the Cowboys to plenty of big wins in his career so far.
In Romo we Trust
He hasn't won a playo=off game yet...
so you can’t say he knows how to win. When he does win in the month of Dec. and wins playoffs then you can say that and only then. Roger knew how to win in the big games-Playoffs
that's not true
and very shortsighted of you. Romo has “won”, as you like to say some big games in his career and in case you didn’t know, the games in Sept, Oct and Nov count just as much as the games in Dec.
Regarding the playoff losses, he definitely played well enough to win and he WILL lead the Cowboys to playoffs victories eventually, it’s only a matter of time.
In Romo we Trust
But Brady was Brady AND Dan Marino in '07.
50 TD passes and only 8 INT’s. A helluva lot of those were perfectly thrown bombs to Moss when he was double covered.
I'd like the ratio of good to bad plays to be higher than 2:1
Lifetime Cowboys Fan from the Swamps of Jersey
for some reason that doesn't surprise me
since you’re one of the fans always expecting perfection from #9.
In Romo we Trust
I'm damn tired of his slow starts
No excuses for this. By not playing good out of the gate, he allows lesser teams to stick around.
We should have had 24-30 points by half. Romo needs to step it up when there is no sense of urgency.
Ich bin ein Berliner--JFK
I dont know if sense of urgency is the problem
he just seems to take a while to work himself into the flow of the game. I don’t like it either though. Against a really good offense today, we could’ve been down by quite a lot at halftime
Yeah, it's not urgency
they looked pretty ticked about coming off the field. AI think it’s maybe focus for the whole of the offense.
Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig loves it.
everyone has to agree with that
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it's a fallacy to think that a great finish can make up for a slow start
when playoff time rolls around and you get 3 instead of 7 in the red zone because Romo is “working himself into the flow of the game” (not your quote Terry so don’t start with the ad hominem bs) is a good way to let a lesser caliber team beat you when they shouldn’t.
Good defenses can make adjustments, too. Points on the first drive or in the first quarter are invaluable to the overall flow of the game. The offense stays flexible, the defense has the upper hand and can dictate more things to the O.
I think Romo is in the same caliber of Brees and maybe Manning and Brady. He must play to his level early and continue the greatness late. I hate to say it, but anything less than that will result in a disappointing year because this team isn’t good enough without that.
Ich bin ein Berliner--JFK
I'm hoping the lack of pressure was due to Ware getting hurt so early
I’m not sure he was at full strength the rest of the way-which would have a domino effect to the other guys.
Another problem w/ the 3-4-
How ridiculous is it that Ware is dropping and covering on 3rd and long? I can’t tand to see that.
Not to mention
how many third downs when they rush two waterboys and a janitor. C’mon Wade. A little agression my man.
Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig loves it.
Tampa only converted on 5-13 3rd downs it was a mixture of mainly pressure but a few drops as well
dallas kept them out of the endzone well enough when you consider that the last TD was probably in prevent mode since they had a 34-14 lead with 5 minutes to go in the game.
Ignore the Mainstream Media, EMBRACE THE HATE!!!!
right
I’m just referring to a few 3rd down plays where they went with a minimal pass rush. Didn’t work well and meanwhile there’s a line of LBs just standing around as the play goes on over their heads.
Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig loves it.
they did have 9 hurries officially
2 for Spears, and 1 each for James, Ware, Spencer, Carpenter, Olshansky, Bowen, and Hatcher
got knocked on his arse several times and they caused some errant throws.
so despite his long windup he kept managing to get the ball away, but to say they weren’t getting any pressure isn’t really accurate
I would bet those were mostly in the last quarter and a half or so
we seemed to get 3 or 4 pressures each on two consecutive drives
Re: Scandrick vs. Jenkins
I remember a couple times where Scandrick was out of position as well. We’ll need to review the tape, but it looked like everybody but Newman had some trouble.
Newman had his share of gaffes as well
The whole defense looked out of sync. Here’s to hoping a lot of that can be remedied in the coming week, because if not, the GIants might rip us apart.
I like steak.
WHAT HAS SCANDRICK DONE???
I don’t get it. He has not outperformed Jenkins. I saw his number today, but he had no impact whatsoever.
If he denies Steve Smith on a few third downs next week, I might buy it.
You all are just rooting for the underdog. I respect that. But it is on emotion, not merit that you think this.
Ich bin ein Berliner--JFK
Quite a few outside analysts
have him outplaying Jenkins last season. So it’s not just pulling for the under dog. I thought he was better last season, easily. Today Jenkins was better.
Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig loves it.
i don't agree with that
I think they’ve performed similarly. THeres a reason the coaches are gonna rotate these guys as starters.
we won and thats all that matters after week 1
The pass rush must improve, and they must be able to stop the run…But its only week 1 so I will not will wait a few weeks before i go off
The pass rush definitely needs to step up, but part of that is Wade, who was only throwing five rushers at a team that had a good offensive line. Couple that with the zone we were playing a lot, and Byron had time to pick us apart. I am hoping next week we bring out the big stuff and blitz to give Eli no time.
If I had a nickel for every Super Bowl the Eagles have won, I would have zero nickels.
True but
even when they brought the house they got nowhere. It was a bad day for pass rush.
Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig loves it.
I don't necessarily agree with that..
When we brought the house, Byron just unloaded the ball almost directly upon getting the snap since they were in shotgun on almost every play we brought the house. I mean if a QB is just going to unload it, then it may not count as a sack, but you are certainly making them play to your tempo. And part of the credit has to go to Byron who made great throws even as getting drilled. Sometimes, good O can beat good D.
If I had a nickel for every Super Bowl the Eagles have won, I would have zero nickels.
by Cowboyfan729 on Sep 13, 2009 9:16 PM CDT up reply actions
yeah, 9 hurries
2 for Spears, and 1 each for James, Ware, Spencer, Carpenter, Olshansky, Bowen, and Hatcher. and (repeating what I posted above) they knocked him down and caused errant throws, and forced him into quick throws. so zero sacks doesn’t mean no pressure.
So our OLBs got equal pressure to our DE
that is a bad day for the pass rush and considering we had 59 sacks last year, when we don’t get 1 its not a great day for pressure, overall when watching the game, more times than not Leftwich got to sit in the pocket and looks through his progressions, when our defense is more reliant on those things and we do not consistently produce than it is a bad day. But the good part is it is only week 1, Ware will get back to his self and overall we did pick it up in the second half. It was a good building block for them
"We play to win the game" - Herm Edwards
by nicholas.rodriguez on Sep 13, 2009 10:37 PM CDT up reply actions
I agree with your last comment for sure...
Our defense clearly adjusted in the second half to a lot of what TB was doing. I know they scored more in the second half, but the one was in garbage time and it was clear that we figured out how to generate more pressure. I think this can be traced to the lack of film on TB’s game plan as well as the fact that their offensive line had us on our heels a bit in the first half. I think we will see a better defense next week against a much more familiar opponent.
If I had a nickel for every Super Bowl the Eagles have won, I would have zero nickels.
by Cowboyfan729 on Sep 13, 2009 10:56 PM CDT up reply actions
Penalties?
I guess people only harp on them when they make alot of stupid penalties. Only 3 penalties for 15 yds? I can’t find anywhere where anyobdy mentions that. The way the prior seasons and this preseason was going, that is all people talked about. Now nobody wants to talk about it.
Happy for the win, happy for the offense (after the slow start), special teams, and the few penalties that were called but that Def needs some work.
Yea
I’m happy about the penalties and the lack of them certainly helped our O out….but I would be shocked if we continued to avoid being penalized….If we are still avoiding penalties by week 3 i’ll be excited. As of now, this is more of a 1 game abberation than otherwise. TO me at least.
I thought it was 4 for 41?
But they did a great job with penalties today, for the most part.
by Baked Potato Soup on Sep 14, 2009 2:21 AM CDT up reply actions
They had so little I forgot there was a problem for at least 30 mins
after the game ended and after I posted this, I was like, hey I only remember the Sensi one and that was extremely Questionable, No idea what Flo did, I remember 3 penalties…. Those 2 the Crayton kick…anyone remember the fourth… Great job in that regard for them tho
"We play to win the game" - Herm Edwards
by nicholas.rodriguez on Sep 14, 2009 2:40 AM CDT up reply actions
No pressure early and soft run defense, when Caddy was running
Those are the only concerns I had. I give a lot of credit to TB’s O-Line, I knew they were good, but I didn’t know they were THAT good.
I know some are criticizing Romo for being a little bit off on his timing early in the game, but when he needed to step up, he played outstanding. I’m loving the new Romo-friendly offense. 3 TD/Zero turnovers/1 sack, and I can only recall one throw that I would call careless (and that fell incomplete). I’ll take the way he played Sunday any day. Him and Garrett and the WR’s were all on the same page mentally. Going after any mismatch they could exploit.
So it begins...
agreed
Romo looked so calm out there and aside from that 1 nearly disasterous drive, he consistently made the right decision pretty much every play. He looked calm and like the pressure of TO was off his shoulders.
I think this offense has so many weapons…with a qb like Romo who has a superqick release and is generally good at making decisions…its gonna be tough for defenses to stop. If he can improve his accuracy a little over the middle, we’ll be all the more dangerous And he also needs to learn to trust his receivers on those fade routes cause that should be a big part of our red zone offense with Roy and Bennett.
Offensively, the big worry for me is the poor run game…we didn’t get it going much after teh first quarter.
Romo had a very good game..
But it could have been better, I have been starting to get frustrated w/ a few places he puts balls but overall he did way more good than bad, The biggest thing for me in the game that I didn’t put in there is that we capitalized on their mistakes while they weren’t able to. They got a few there but overall they didn’t capitalize and we did, its a sign of a good team. And I did overall like what I saw in the game. I think the rust should be off next week and like always I think we will win it.
"We play to win the game" - Herm Edwards
by nicholas.rodriguez on Sep 14, 2009 2:45 AM CDT reply actions
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