Nice win, strange route. 

Net Pass YPA

The table below summarizes Dallas’s net pass YPA for the period from 2007-2010.

As a basis for comparison, summarized in the table below are the maximum, median, average, and minimum net pass YPA for the NFL 2010 season

The Cowboys results through week 7 are summarized in the table below.

The Darkos results through week 7 are summarized in the table below.

Dallas took the path less travelled to victory. This was kind of a bizzaro win for Dallas. Dallas has a tremendous passing offense and was going against a team missing it's top 3 corners. In spite of that Dallas produced a below average net pass YPA of 5.8 y/a, which didn’t matter because Dallas was overwhelming on the ground with almost 300 yards rushing.

The defense was slightly better than average, holding STL to net pass YPA of 5.7 y/a. Coming against Feeley and a decimated receiving corps that’s an ok result. The combination was enough for a blowout win. 

This game is hard to judge. It’s impossible to tell whether we’re seeing some cracks in the foundation or the modest performance is a result of Dallas taking an ultra conservative approach. Figuring that the Rams were outmatched, Garrett may have chosen not to open up the offense and Rob may have chosen to stop Steven Jackson and let Feeley complete some passes.

I would note that the sacks have slowed down: 4, 6, 3, 0, 3, 1

Game Notes (games notes are taken while I’m watching the game. Minimal editing. In other words, don’t take them seriously. They’re just opinion. I’d distinguish the game notes from the analytical sections where I try to be careful and stick to facts)

#88, like the fight, love you in the lineup even more. go down.

#88, like how you’re talking and smiling with Garrett. Nice to see that coach and player have a relationship.

#88, nice hustle on #29’s 91 yard TD. I saw you run full speed downfield to block the defender if it was needed.

#80, vicious block Hines Ward style on a screen

#67, still hitting people in space

#34, under 2 min left, up 27. Go down.

Really like Jimmy Robinson talking to Demarco Murray. Not sure why but I get a good feeling about Robinson.

Reality vs. armchair QBs

This was an especially gratifying game. Why? The two biggest complaints coming in: Dallas can’t run the ball and Garrett can’t call plays in the red zone. Sure it was the Rams but that was pretty strong evidence that those weren’t the most valid criticisms. Almost 300 yards rushing and 3 of 4 in the red zone (the only red zone failure was when Dez dropped a likely TD).

Speaking of ‘it was only the Rams’

Dallas won by 27 points! If Dallas won by 3, it wouldn’t be an indication of strength. But Dallas blew the Rams out! That’s the sign of a strong team. In back to back weeks Dallas took the NEP (who many consider the AFC’s best team) down to the wire and then whomped an inferior team. That’s the performance of a very good team.

Salaries/Team Building

When assessing players it’s useful to keep their salaries in mind. For example, Demarco Murray is a good football player. You know what else is good? That Dallas was able to replace the $4.5 Barber with the $700K Murray. Teams need young, cheap, talented players to fill out their roster. Costa, good player, $400K salary. That’s $5.1M less than Gurode. Garrett is not only fielding a competitive team he is also setting Dallas up for success in the future. That doesn’t go remarked upon very often but it warrants mentioning.

Week 8

The table below summarizes the net pass YPA for Dallas and Philadelphia

This game is a fairly even matchup. While Dallas is a little stronger on paper, the Eagles are playing at home which is enough to offset that modest advantage.

I read (or heard, I can’t remember) some commentary at the quarter season mark. The comment was that you can break down the season into quarters. At the time Dallas was 2-2 with NEP, STL, PHI, and SEA as the next 4 games. The analyst assumed that Dallas would win the STL and SEA. His conclusion was that if Dallas could win the NEP or PHI game, going 3-1 over the ‘quarter season’, then Dallas would be 5-3 at midseason and in good shape for the 2nd half of the season. That made a lot of sense to me. This is a high leverage game. If Dallas wins they’ll put themselves in a good position to make the playoffs.

This isn’t an easy game so I won’t be discouraged if Dallas loses.

The Eagles and the Cowboys are pretty closely matched. In spite of the 2-4 record, the Eagles are a very good team.

The Eagles are especially interesting to me because they’re built for today’s NFL. They’re built to pass the ball and stop the pass. They looked at the NFL and realized if they wanted to win a Super Bowl they would need to get past GB and NO and put together a team that could do that.

First they have arguably the best tandem of pass rushing DE in the NFL in Babin and Cole (luckily Cole may be slowed by a calf injury) who the line up in a 9 wide scheme (making it easier to rush the passer). They also have Cullen Jenkins who’s produced 5 sacks already. Everyone knows about the corners: Aso, DRC, and Samuels. So Philly has players that can match up with Dallas’s passing attack.

Dallas meanwhile has the right players to match up with Philly’s D. Both Free and Smith have nimble feet; more athletic than maulers. Good for matching up with speed rushers like Babin and Cole. DE vs OT. WR vs CB. Good matchups all around.

And watching the Eagles offense is interesting as well. Why? 1st down play selection.

Last year Dallas’s D got absolutely torched on first down passes last year. Out of the 20 most costly plays the Dallas D allowed in 2010, 11 were first down passes.

And which team was leading the way? That’s right, the Eagles had 3 of those 11 plays. D Jax for 91 yards, 60 yards, and 37 yards (you might remember Philly coming out of the first play of the first game and throwing a bomb that Vick had about 8 seconds to allow to develop).

I’ll be watching closely to see what Philly does and how Rob Ryan responds. Will Reid throw another bomb on the first play of the game? Will Rob Ryan play a nickel package on first down? Why is this game Sunday night!