ESPND: Camp observations: Ugly day for offense - 08/21/12

[WoodysGirl]

Aug 21
5:44
PM CT

By Todd Archer (http://search.espn.go.com/archer_todd/) | ESPNDallas.com

SAN DIEGO – The final observation post of training camp from California is upon us, and the last practice was not a thing of beauty for the Cowboys offense.

A lot of mistakes up front and on the outside in the near two-hour session, and since I was with the offense during the workout I won’t have any defensive observations.

On to the observations:

** WR Kevin Ogletree (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/12588/kevin-ogletree) came up with a Laurent Robinson (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/10519/laurent-robinson)-like touchdown in red-zone drills, getting himself free after Tony Romo (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/5209/tony-romo) scrambled to his right. Ogletree did a nice job of finding a soft spot in the Chargers defense to give Romo an angle for the throw.

** The offensive line struggled in picking up some blitzes from the Chargers. San Diego had four sacks of QB Kyle Orton (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/8520/kyle-orton) and three on Romo. LT Tyron Smith (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/13978/tyron-smith) gave up a sack of Romo to Kendall Reyes (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/14953/kendall-reyes) on fourth down after he had Reyes on the ground. Romo was forced to hold onto the ball too long. Two snaps later, Smith was beaten by Larry English (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/12434/larry-english) for a sack.

** Orton had three touchdown passes in red-zone drills, hitting Danny Coale (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/15034/danny-coale) underneath, Raymond Radway (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/14727/raymond-radway) on a back-shoulder throw and TE James Hanna (http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/14906/james-hanna) at the goal line.

Read more: http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowboys/post/_/id/4696103/camp-observations-ugly-day-for-boys-offense

[mmillman]

Smith giving up sacks is a little disturbing. I know he will be very good in time but he needs to be very good this season. Dallas cannot be weak in pass protection up the middle and on both edges.

[visionary]

Smith giving up sacks is a little disturbing. I know he will be very good in time but he needs to be very good this season. Dallas cannot be weak in pass protection up the middle and on both edges.

get used to the mantra

"this is the first year of a new OL coach with young players who are 'developing', what do you want? they will be much better next year, it takes time to build OL chemistry"

:rolleyes:

[ravidubey]

Smith giving up sacks is a little disturbing. I know he will be very good in time but he needs to be very good this season. Dallas cannot be weak in pass protection up the middle and on both edges.

Every player gives up sacks, mmillman, especially in practice and especially when learning a new position.

Recall also that Smith had Reyes on the ground when he got his sack, but Romo had to hold too long to make a play.

Bottom line football is a team sport and even the best are not only not perfect they must also work in concert with others who might not be anywhere near as good as they are. Dallas needs to get its top players back to raise the overall bar of play, but the lack of depth is still disturbing.

[CoCo]

Recall too couchscout's thinking regarding Doug Free's struggles at RT perhaps due to the flip-flop and relearning the footwork. How much more for Smith.

Patience, patience...