DMN: Cowlishaw: Offense which had been shaky was simply terrible

[BrAinPaiNt]

Tim Cowlishaw

HOUSTON – The numbers tell an ugly story. We just don't know what the moral of the story will be.

The Cowboys' first-team offense, which had been anything but sharp in the first three preseason games, looked even worse Saturday night in a 23-7 loss to the Houston Texans.

"We're not ready for prime time yet," coach Wade Phillips said. "We can see that."

To get the team ready, he might even play starters against Miami on Thursday in the final preseason game.

Whatever the case, the offense needs a lot of work.

LINK to full article (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/football/cowboys/stories/082910dnspocowlede.9cbda1a1.html)

[PullMyFinger]

Media is gonna trash us all week, as usual

[NextGenBoys]

Media is gonna trash us all week, as usual

Deservedly so.

We looked awful. I dont give a damn about gameplanning right now, our execution on the offensive side of the ball has been horrific.

Our players need to pick it up and start playing better.

Will they? I fully believe so. But I don't know what the hell is going on with Romo-Roy, Gurode and Davis though. Fugly.

[mldardy]

Deservedly so.

We looked awful. I dont give a damn about gameplanning right now, our execution on the offensive side of the ball has been horrific.

Our players need to pick it up and start playing better.

Will they? I fully believe so. But I don't know what the hell is going on with Romo-Roy, Gurode and Davis though. Fugly.
It's not deservedly so. In a preseason game that doesn't count and add to that playing against an opponent that you are going to play again in less than 30 days and using a basic game plan. No I don't think that is deserved.

[dbair1967]

The offense deserves criticism, but the starting defense has been horrible the last two games too.

[BARRYRAY]

My personal favorite was the play where Romo pitched it and Felix thought it was a handoff.That looked like little kids in a fun football league.Tell me they reall do practice some of this stuff.Our run game is awful no matter who is in there.

[Stautner]

Everyone, ask yourself this question: If Saturday was supposed to be the "dress rehearsal", and the game where we were supposed to see the 1st team offense come together, then how can we make excuses for them looking so bad? The coaches wouldn't have played the starters so long if the intent wasn't to see them start having success, so how can we say it doesn't matter that they sucked so bad? And let's be realistic. We've seen no life at all from the running game through 4 preseason games. Shouldn't we at least ocassionally see something that gives us hope?

I'm not saying we can't pull it together, but I just don't see a blanket dismissal based on "it's preseason". We've had the same coaches for 3 previous preseasons and it has never been this void of life.

[Iago33]

Everyone, ask yourself this question: If Saturday was supposed to be the "dress rehearsal", and the game where we were supposed to see the 1st team offense come together, then how can we make excuses for them looking so bad? The coaches wouldn't have played the starters so long if the intent wasn't to see them start having success, so how can we say it doesn't matter that they sucked so bad? And let's be realistic. We've seen no life at all from the running game through 4 preseason games. Shouldn't we at least ocassionally see something that gives us hope?

I'm not saying we can't pull it together, but I just don't see a blanket dismissal based on "it's preseason". We've had the same coaches for 3 previous preseasons and it has never been this void of life.

We've never had to turn around a few weeks later and play the same team we played in preseason (for our "dress rehearsal"), have we?

[Stautner]

We've never had to turn around a few weeks later and play the same team we played in preseason (for our "dress rehearsal"), have we?

I don't know if we have or not, but the fact is that to be successful against Houston in a few weeks we aren't just going to be relying on secrets that have to be hidden from them now. The bulk of our plays will simply be the same kinds of runs and high percentage passes that we will run all year, and the blocking has to be consistent for these kinds of plays. There needs to be some signs of life on the bread and butter plays that we have in our playbook just like every other team has in theirs.

[Bonecrusher#31]

Oh Noes....Skip Bayless is gonna jump off our bandwagon now..:eek:

[baj1dallas]

It's not deservedly so. In a preseason game that doesn't count and add to that playing against an opponent that you are going to play again in less than 30 days and using a basic game plan. No I don't think that is deserved.

So why did Houston look so good? Are we using a scheme that doesn't require Leonard Davis to block anybody?

[noshame]

Who knows what the grand plan is, but I'll say this, if the Cowboys are nervous enough to play starters in a 5th pre-season game, somebody is deeply concerned.

You can bet your arse we'll be game planning the fins just a wee bit.

[Stautner]

Who knows what the grand plan is, but I'll say this, if the Cowboys are nervous enough to play starters in a 5th pre-season game, somebody is deeply concerned.

You can bet your arse we'll be game planning the fins just a wee bit.

Absolutely. It's a clear sign the team isn't happy with what they have seen so far.