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Dallas Cowboys left 'too much meat on the bone' - Tim MacMahon, ESPN Dallas
Jason Garrett says he felt like the team "left a little too much meat on the bone" by only scoring three points off the first three takeaways.
Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett: 'We'd like to be more balanced' - Tim MacMahon, ESPN Dallas
"Balance" for Garrett is more about the ability to run the ball successfully whenever the team wants to and much less about any type of fixed ratio.
"At the end of the day it’s not about, ‘OK we get a stat sheet and you want it to be 30 runs, 30 passes.’ That’s not how we look at it. We want to be able to run the ball more and more effectively, particularly at the end of the game when we’re up a couple scores. We need to be able to hand the ball to DeMarco Murray and run the game out. We didn’t do that as well as we need to and we’ll continue to work on being better at that."
Hard to please: Cowboys coach Rod Marinelli wants more out of DL - David Moore, DMN
The defensive line's tally after a day's work: 13 QB pressures (six by Ware), two sacks, one INT, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Not good enough for Marinelli.
"I don’t think he was happy,’’ defensive tackle Jason Hatcher said. "I don’t think that was good enough for him. I don’t know what is good enough for coach Rod.’’
"I thought I had a pretty good game. He graded me hard. He graded the whole D-line hard."
Cowboys coach Jason Garrett: Rookie C Travis Frederick and G Ron Leary, "did a really nice job" in opener - David Moore, DMN
Frederick and Leary both had their NFL debuts, and they held up well according to Garrett:
"Well, there’s always room for improvement,’’ Garrett said. "I mean we looked at a lot of plays in evaluating that game and there are a lot of areas for everybody to improve upon."
"But for Travis to play his first game in the NFL, I thought he did a really nice job. And really for Ron Leary to be in the same situation, even though he has another year under his belt, for those guys to go out and hold up against that front was pretty good."
Bruce Carter gives Eli credit for reading Cowboys' coverages and getting the linebackers out of position - Carlos Mendez, Star-Telegram
Credit where credit is due. Carter says the linebackers bit a little too hard on playaction and pulling guards.
"Take nothing away from him. We just need to work on our drops," Carter said. "Couple times, we got sucked up on play action. We just need to hurry up and get out of there, out of the stack."
"Once you are able to pull or have a puller come a certain way and we’re reading it or keying it, we get sucked up and they’ll throw the ball right over our heads," he said.
Of course, if you had read the BTB reports from training camp carefully, you would have known this was coming:
In camp, this defense has shown a tendency to bite hard on playaction, and frequently found itself out of position to make plays, as the defenders were swarming towards where they thought the ball was, instead of where the ball actually was.
Jason Hatcher says his body takes less of a beating in the Cowboys' new 4-3 - Carlos Mendez, Star-Telegram
Hatcher offers an interesting take on the new defensive scheme.
"My body actually feels better than playing that 3-4," he said Monday at Valley Ranch. "Feels a lot better. Not a whole lot of wear and tear on your body versus the 3-4. You take a pounding. I feel great."
"You’re making guys miss, you’re just getting upfield," he said. "You’re not just taking a blow every down. So I feel great."
If and when Jay Ratliff comes back, this could be good news for him too.
Victor Cruz 70-yard TD caught Cowboys not being ready - Carlos Mendez, Star-Telegram
The 70-yard TD reception by Victor Cruz was the result of not being ready at the snap, Monte Kiffin said.
"That was a hurry-up situation. We didn’t get lined up right," defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said after the game. "And the call came in just a little bit late. And it was just, they went to the line really, really quick. And we just need to practice that more."
"It was just one of those things," he said. "You gotta make them earn it, you know? That’s too easy. Darn it."
Garrett: Dez needs to overcome double-teams - Keith Whitmire, FSSouthwest
Dez Bryant is going to have to get used to attracting a lot of attention from defenses, because "that's the world he's going to live in for the rest of his career," Garrett said.
Decoding Callahan: Week 1 - New York Giants - Bob Sturm
It used to be called "Decoding Garrett", now the title reflects the change in playcalling duties, but this remains a must-read for the statistically inclined, and anybody else who likes to have some facts to support their opinion.
Jones hopeful Spencer, Waters can play against Kansas City - Tom Orsborn, MySA.com
Jerry Jones may be even more optimistic about these things than your average fan, but it looks like there's a chance both Spencer and Waters could play against the Chiefs.
"We don’t want to bring Spencer along any faster than we have to, but he sure had a good last two or three days before we stopped Sunday," Jones told KRLD-FM during his radio show Tuesday morning. "And the same thing with Waters. Waters was actually amazing that he was able to move and have the football machinations that you have to do beyond endurance, so I think there is a chance he can play too."
Eagles offense faster than Jerry Jones thought - Jon Machota, FSSouthwest
Jerry Jones was a little surprised by how fast the Eagles offense looked on Monday, and thinks the offensive style of play may be here to stay:
"It's always been a challenge for our team, so some combination of that is pretty sound relative to getting plays off and keeping the defense a little disjointed," Jones told the New School show Tuesday morning on 105.3 The Fan [KRLD-FM]. "I think it's also sound, too. I think it's a good, crisp way to run a football team. I don't know that that's a fad. I think that stepped-up play is one that may have a place."
Cowboys Release Frampton, Albright From Injured Reserve - Rowan Kavner, DallasCowboys.com
Alex Albright and safety Eric Frampton were released from injured reserve yesterday.
Ben Bass undergoes shoulder surgery - Todd Archer, ESPN Dallas
Ben Bass is expected to need four months to recover from his shoulder surgery. But his season is over in any case, as the team placed him on injured reserve.
Jerry Jones shouldn't get away with his accusations that Giants cheated - CBSSports.com
Cool story, bro.
Thank You for Not Coaching: The Week in (Ahem) Curious Strategic Sideline Decisions - Bill Barnwell, Grantland
Here's a long article about bad Week 1 coaching decisions, and guess what: The 2013 Dallas Cowboys aren't mentioned once.
Here's one the media isn't telling you. Last Sunday was the 3rd straight game Garrett's Cowboys have had less penalties than their opponent.
— Mark Lane (@therealmarklane) September 10, 2013
Dolphins, Lions, Cowboys lead NFL with three interceptions each.
— Carlos A. Mendez (@calexmendez) September 10, 2013
Can Cowboys get off to 2-0 start? Sure, but it's rare. Team has not won first two since 2008 & has done so only 3 times in last 17 seasons.
— David Moore (@DavidMooreDMN) September 10, 2013