Don't Overlook The Bright Spots

In the midst of all the Romo-centric dialogue going on, there were some bright spots that we can all rally around as well as some questions whose answers may have started to form after the Jets game;

The Defense

 The entire unit had a cloud of uncertainty surrounding it what with the new DC and abbreviated offseason. No one was quite sure what to expect on that side of the ball. Predictions from the pundits all seemed to say that Dallas would not only lose, but that the Jets were going to hang a big number on Dallas. The fact is, the defense was considered our Achilles heel for the season.

Well, all they did was go out there and play the bulk of the game with only one of their top three cornerbacks and consistently baffle the Jets offense with a myriad of pressure packages and coverage schemes. I particularly liked how we controlled the vaunted Jets running game. Now, it helped that they were behind most of the game, but I liked how the DE's were crashing down and the backside pursuit was excellent. There was some confusion in the back seven at times when Jenkins was out of the game but find me a Cowboys fan that thinks the defense underperformed to expectations and I'll show you someone who needs medication...strong medication. It sure looked like Rob Ryan knew what he was doing out there.

The O-line

Are you kidding me? This ragtag group of no-names (only one player coming from the draft's first three rounds in the bunch) went out and put on a pretty darned good show against what was supposed to be one of the best and most imaginative defenses in the league. Hats off to Hudson Houck and the revamped Dallas offensive line. I realize it is just one game, but you have to like what we saw from this unit and what it suggests for the future.

In several cases, the line got great help from Witten and Felix. Those two will continue to need to protect the edge and deliver hard blows to middle blitzers if we want to see continued support for the downfield passing game.

The Play-calling

I've been dubious on the topic of Jason Garrett's ability to call a game, make adjustments and not be predictable. Well, I'll start off by saying that I'm one-sixteenth wrong about him because Garrett's play-calling against Rex Ryan was nothing short of masterful. Time and time again, the offense knew exactly which matchups to exploit, which alignments to be in and which personnel groupings afforded them the best chance for success. Garrett kept them guessing, mixed the running game in nicely and was just aggressive enough to beat a team many thought we could not move the ball on, much less score as well as we did. 

I've also lamented the lack of a downfield passing game and, to my surprise, Garrett was taking advantage of the Jets' aggressiveness by going downfield early and often to stifle their attack.

Only THREE teams have scored 24 or more points against he Jets in their last 16 home games. 3 out of 16! Dallas is in that elite group. Cool.

The Kicker

Welcome to the NFL, Dan Bailey. Again, nobody wants to get caught up in a body of work that has fewer kicks than a hand has fingers, but you had to like what you saw out of Mister Bailey. He was poised and made the kicks he was supposed to make. At least THAT part of our special teams delivered the goods!

Coaching

Despite some early misfires by the rookie RT, Tyron Smith, Dallas didn't do a ton of stupid things like drawing penalties and missing tackles or assignments. In fact, the tackling was solid. The flags were the ones you would expect from a team with 6-7 players in the game who've not had a ton of experience. Clearly there is work to do in terms of getting the play to Romo and getting Romo to the line with more than 6 seconds on the play clock, but keep in mind  it is an O-line full of newbies. On defense, you have to love the imagination and lack of predictability for a team that had new starters and subs. How cool is it that Rob Ryan will play the entire roster. That just adds to the fun. Again, couching this as 1/16th of a body of work, it appears Garrett's attention to detail and focus has paid early dividends and I know I speak for all of you when I say I hope this trend continues throughout the season.

GO COWBOYS!