It was tough but I watched the game again...

[Connection20]

Finally got around to it this morning. Here are some thoughts


-We turned the ball over 5 times, our oline played about as poorly as possible, our safeties gave up big play after big play, until that last pass interference penalty at the end, the eagles had only one penalty, and yet we were there at the end. That says something, I still believe this is a very good team. If you put up the stats to that game and didnt watch it, there is no way you woudlnt believe we got blown out.

-Im hoping Watkins just had a bad game and this wont be the norm for him, luckily most of the problems I saw were technique things, not physical limitations, so there is hope.

-Roy was Roy...hes pretty good in man coverage but he is/was/probably always will be terrible at taking the proper angles in zone, not sure why that is.

-JJ might have had the most meaningless 100 yard game in the history of the NFL. I dont understand it, the whole game I was screaming to run the ball more and quit getting so damn cute, then I look at the stats and we ran 38 times. Very similiar to the Texas, Ohio State game.

-Bledsoe....the man is a statue, and he crumbles under pressure. Those is the only knocks I have on him. Thats it. Yes, he makes poor decisions, guess what, they all do. All NFL players...yes thats ALLLLLLLLL NFL players make poor decisions during the course of the game. The thing with Bledsoe is, yes, he takes sacks, and yes, his arm got hit multiple times, and yes he crumbles under the pass rush, but every bit of that is a product of his own actions, or non-actions as the case may be. I counted no less than 10 times where just a little slight movement in one direction would have changed the pass rushers angle and helped a beaten o-lineman regain the advantage. I see other QBs do this all the time. If he could learn that simple little move, it would solve 90% of his problem.


-Lastly, Romo. We know what we get with Bledsoe. Yeah, we might go 10-6 or even 11-5 and we might make the playoffs under Bledsoe but as soon as we face a battle tested playoff caliber defense we are going to lose. There is no such thing as a "nice season" in the NFL, you either win the Super Bowl or you dont. So, it really comes down to the question "Are you willing to sacrifice this season to find out what we have in Romo, and if we need to draft a QB in the draft next year." I do not believe for a second that Bledsoe is gonna lead us to the Super Bowl, anything short of that is a waste of time, so I say its time to look at the kid. Take in this scenario.

*We go 10-6 this year, get a wild card and lose in the divisional round.
*Bledsoe is released and Romo named the starter.
*Romo has a decent season but shows by the end of the season he isnt the answer
*Now we have to draft a QB in the draft that we could have gotten the year before had we already known Romo wasnt the answer. The reason we didnt already know was because we wanted to have a 10-6 season? Makes no sense to me

[Doomsday101]

Finally got around to it this morning. Here are some thoughts


-We turned the ball over 5 times, our oline played about as poorly as possible, our safeties gave up big play after big play, until that last pass interference penalty at the end, the eagles had only one penalty, and yet we were there at the end. That says something, I still believe this is a very good team. If you put up the stats to that game and didnt watch it, there is no way you woudlnt believe we got blown out.

-Im hoping Watkins just had a bad game and this wont be the norm for him, luckily most of the problems I saw were technique things, not physical limitations, so there is hope.

-Roy was Roy...hes pretty good in man coverage but he is/was/probably always will be terrible at taking the proper angles in zone, not sure why that is.

-JJ might have had the most meaningless 100 yard game in the history of the NFL. I dont understand it, the whole game I was screaming to run the ball more and quit getting so damn cute, then I look at the stats and we ran 38 times. Very similiar to the Texas, Ohio State game.

-Bledsoe....the man is a statue, and he crumbles under pressure. Those is the only knocks I have on him. Thats it. Yes, he makes poor decisions, guess what, they all do. All NFL players...yes thats ALLLLLLLLL NFL players make poor decisions during the course of the game. The thing with Bledsoe is, yes, he takes sacks, and yes, his arm got hit multiple times, and yes he crumbles under the pass rush, but every bit of that is a product of his own actions, or non-actions as the case may be. I counted no less than 10 times where just a little slight movement in one direction would have changed the pass rushers angle and helped a beaten o-lineman regain the advantage. I see other QBs do this all the time. If he could learn that simple little move, it would solve 90% of his problem.


-Lastly, Romo. We know what we get with Bledsoe. Yeah, we might go 10-6 or even 11-5 and we might make the playoffs under Bledsoe but as soon as we face a battle tested playoff caliber defense we are going to lose. There is no such thing as a "nice season" in the NFL, you either win the Super Bowl or you dont. So, it really comes down to the question "Are you willing to sacrifice this season to find out what we have in Romo, and if we need to draft a QB in the draft next year." I do not believe for a second that Bledsoe is gonna lead us to the Super Bowl, anything short of that is a waste of time, so I say its time to look at the kid. Take in this scenario.

*We go 10-6 this year, get a wild card and lose in the divisional round.
*Bledsoe is released and Romo named the starter.
*Romo has a decent season but shows by the end of the season he isnt the answer
*Now we have to draft a QB in the draft that we could have gotten the year before had we already known Romo wasnt the answer. The reason we didnt already know was because we wanted to have a 10-6 season? Makes no sense to me

"Take in this scenario" That is your scenario but it does not mean that is how this will go. Parcells is not going to bench Bledsoe and turn this into a training camp for Romo. What makes no sense is to think your scenario is the only one out there. Drew has gotten a team to the SB and he can get this one to the SB as well with help from others on this team, he is not going to do it by himself then again I have never seen a QB do it alone.

[Connection20]

I dont remember saying anywhere in my post that my scenario is the only one out there. It was merely an example of what could happen. Hell, its not even what I think it will happen. But thanks for putting words in my mouth

[ravidubey]

I really like Romo. I'd love to see him play Houston if the team could ignore the media frenzy over it. Bledsoe could then take over against New York or if Romo blows it, but it would let us see what we have.

[bbgun]

I'd rather watch a "Maude" marathon.

[Chocolate Lab]

I'd rather watch a "Maude" marathon.:laugh2:

[luvtheboys]

Did anyone other than me think that Witten was hit in the end zone by the LB on the last int? That was 7 yards off the ball (past the 5 yard limit) and should have been pass interference. It looked a lot worse than the offensive interference call against Witten in the Jax game.

[JohnsKey19]

Finally got around to it this morning. Here are some thoughts



-JJ might have had the most meaningless 100 yard game in the history of the NFL. I dont understand it, the whole game I was screaming to run the ball more and quit getting so damn cute, then I look at the stats and we ran 38 times. Very similiar to the Texas, Ohio State game.



I agree we should've run more. But in no way were JJ's 100 yds "meaningless". In fact, if JJ doesn't run the ball as effectively as he did, Philly wins by 4 TDs easily.

[TEK2000]

JJ's yards were not MEANINGLESS. He's the only offensive player that consistently contributed in us being able to SUSTAIN drives down the field.

We definitely COULD have run more.
It certainly would have helped if we hadn't gone thru several drives in the 2nd half where we DIDN'T RUN AT ALL.

I just can't get over the fact that we were MOVING THE BALL and sustaining drives by running in the first half... then, in the 2nd half, we seemed to think we were WAY behind and needed to PASS PASS PASS on nearly every play.

I think someone did too much analyzing and thought "oh we need to pass more in the 2nd half so our run to pass ratio evens out for the game".
If the defense is going to give up the run and is killing your passing game... what should you do? Worry about being "balanced" or RUN THE BALL until they prove they can stop you?

[Angus]

But Julius Jones also has to block in pass protection. When he doesn't do what he is supposed to do, bad things happen.

[CoCo]

The thing with Bledsoe is, yes, he takes sacks, and yes, his arm got hit multiple times, and yes he crumbles under the pass rush, but every bit of that is a product of his own actions, or non-actions as the case may be. I counted no less than 10 times where just a little slight movement in one direction would have changed the pass rushers angle and helped a beaten o-lineman regain the advantage. I see other QBs do this all the time. If he could learn that simple little move, it would solve 90% of his problem.


Not sure I agree with your percentages but it is this issue about Bledsoe that is driving me crazy. He seems to find a way to maximize the effectiveness of whatever level of pressure the other team can muster.

He seems to be right in the middle of a ball pat, or a side-step when the passing lane opens. By the time he sets his feet or cocks his arm the lane has closed.

I need to watch the game again to verify but it seems like if the O-line gives Bledsoe 3 seconds to throw that he wastes 2/3 of that with some sort of herky-jerky movement (hands and/or feet) that renders him unable to throw. And then when he wants to throw, the window has closed. It may open again a second later but again Bledsoe is in mid-herky jerky action.

I don't ever remember watching a QB who seems so ill-prepared to deliver the ball when the opportunity arises. That perception is also fueled by the fact that he seems to always throw off his back foot and rarely step into his throws.

Yeah, the O-line needs to protect but I think Bledsoe has a way this year (I don't remember it as much early last year) of taking reasonable protection and making it look horrible which then "lets him off the hook". :banghead:

[chinch]

you're a glutton for punishment to rewatch that game! OUCH!

agreed all around with the points you made.

Finally got around to it this morning. Here are some thoughts


-We turned the ball over 5 times, our oline played about as poorly as possible, our safeties gave up big play after big play, until that last pass interference penalty at the end, the eagles had only one penalty, and yet we were there at the end. That says something, I still believe this is a very good team. If you put up the stats to that game and didnt watch it, there is no way you woudlnt believe we got blown out.

-Im hoping Watkins just had a bad game and this wont be the norm for him, luckily most of the problems I saw were technique things, not physical limitations, so there is hope.

-Roy was Roy...hes pretty good in man coverage but he is/was/probably always will be terrible at taking the proper angles in zone, not sure why that is.

-JJ might have had the most meaningless 100 yard game in the history of the NFL. I dont understand it, the whole game I was screaming to run the ball more and quit getting so damn cute, then I look at the stats and we ran 38 times. Very similiar to the Texas, Ohio State game.

-Bledsoe....the man is a statue, and he crumbles under pressure. Those is the only knocks I have on him. Thats it. Yes, he makes poor decisions, guess what, they all do. All NFL players...yes thats ALLLLLLLLL NFL players make poor decisions during the course of the game. The thing with Bledsoe is, yes, he takes sacks, and yes, his arm got hit multiple times, and yes he crumbles under the pass rush, but every bit of that is a product of his own actions, or non-actions as the case may be. I counted no less than 10 times where just a little slight movement in one direction would have changed the pass rushers angle and helped a beaten o-lineman regain the advantage. I see other QBs do this all the time. If he could learn that simple little move, it would solve 90% of his problem.


-Lastly, Romo. We know what we get with Bledsoe. Yeah, we might go 10-6 or even 11-5 and we might make the playoffs under Bledsoe but as soon as we face a battle tested playoff caliber defense we are going to lose. There is no such thing as a "nice season" in the NFL, you either win the Super Bowl or you dont. So, it really comes down to the question "Are you willing to sacrifice this season to find out what we have in Romo, and if we need to draft a QB in the draft next year." I do not believe for a second that Bledsoe is gonna lead us to the Super Bowl, anything short of that is a waste of time, so I say its time to look at the kid. Take in this scenario.

*We go 10-6 this year, get a wild card and lose in the divisional round.
*Bledsoe is released and Romo named the starter.
*Romo has a decent season but shows by the end of the season he isnt the answer
*Now we have to draft a QB in the draft that we could have gotten the year before had we already known Romo wasnt the answer. The reason we didnt already know was because we wanted to have a 10-6 season? Makes no sense to me

[Bleu Star]

Finally got around to it this morning. Here are some thoughts




Good thoughts. Thanks for the read.


-We turned the ball over 5 times, our oline played about as poorly as possible, our safeties gave up big play after big play, until that last pass interference penalty at the end, the eagles had only one penalty, and yet we were there at the end. That says something, I still believe this is a very good team. If you put up the stats to that game and didnt watch it, there is no way you woudlnt believe we got blown out.



I agree. This team made many mistakes and were still right in there. I can't be as forgiving of what I continue to see from Bledslug though.



-Bledsoe....the man is a statue, and he crumbles under pressure. Those is the only knocks I have on him. Thats it. Yes, he makes poor decisions, guess what, they all do. All NFL players...yes thats ALLLLLLLLL NFL players make poor decisions during the course of the game. The thing with Bledsoe is, yes, he takes sacks, and yes, his arm got hit multiple times, and yes he crumbles under the pass rush, but every bit of that is a product of his own actions, or non-actions as the case may be. I counted no less than 10 times where just a little slight movement in one direction would have changed the pass rushers angle and helped a beaten o-lineman regain the advantage. I see other QBs do this all the time. If he could learn that simple little move, it would solve 90% of his problem.



Ok. Here's my thought about this. The guy is a 14 year vet. He should have already learned how to shift in the pocket to buy time. He processes reads slower than molasses and is a virtual "thinker" statue in the pocket. On top of that he doesn't know how to do what vets do and get out of the pocket to toss it out of bounds if nothing is there. 10 yard sack after sack is completely unacceptable. The guy looks like a scared rook when the pressure hits him.


*We go 10-6 this year, get a wild card and lose in the divisional round.
e

I don't see us going any higher than 9-7, getting a WC, and losing badly in the first round thanks to our inability to come through under pressure which originates from our current QB position.


*Bledsoe is released and Romo named the starter.
*Romo has a decent season but shows by the end of the season he isnt the answer
*Now we have to draft a QB in the draft that we could have gotten the year before had we already known Romo wasnt the answer. The reason we didnt already know was because we wanted to have a 10-6 season? Makes no sense to me

Starting Romo now makes perfect sense. As an organization the question of whether or not a QB needs to be drafted extremely high is answered this year. I would really hate to go into yet another draft not quite knowing what we have in Romo.

The unknown about a QB that has shown a great attitude and the ability to motivate those around him is what excites me about Romo. (not to mention the fact he moves the ball downfield swiftly)

[2much2soon]

"Take in this scenario" That is your scenario but it does not mean that is how this will go. Parcells is not going to bench Bledsoe and turn this into a training camp for Romo. What makes no sense is to think your scenario is the only one out there. Drew has gotten a team to the SB and he can get this one to the SB as well with help from others on this team, he is not going to do it by himself then again I have never seen a QB do it alone.

Bledsoe is the guy who looks like a shell-shocked rookie and needs another training camp to get ready.
Drew can only get this team to a Super Bowl if everything goes perfect - the line never misses another block in pass protection, receivers run perfect routes every time and never drop a pass.
Thats not gonna happen.
SB winning QBs have to be able to handle varying degrees of adversity. I just don't think Drew can do that.
He's a tough guy and puts on a good face, but he always seems to make critical errors at just the wrong times.

[chinch]

Bledsoe is the guy who looks like a shell-shocked rookie and needs another training camp to get ready.
Drew can only get this team to a Super Bowl if everything goes perfect - the line never misses another block in pass protection, receivers run perfect routes every time and never drop a pass.
Thats not gonna happen.
SB winning QBs have to be able to handle varying degrees of adversity. I just don't think Drew can do that.
He's a tough guy and puts on a good face, but he always seems to make critical errors at just the wrong times.
sad but true.

if we jumped out to a 14-pt lead in EVERY game, never had a turnover and ran MB3/JJ to death Bledsoe could reach the playoffs and even win the superbowl. but if it relies on him making plays and SMART DECISIONS we're cooked :(

[TEK2000]

sad but true.

if we jumped out to a 14-pt lead in EVERY game, never had a turnover and ran MB3/JJ to death Bledsoe could reach the playoffs and even win the superbowl. but if it relies on him making plays and SMART DECISIONS we're cooked :(

He does have a tendency to make much smarter decisions when he's not under heavy duress for much of the game.

[Beast_from_East]

He does have a tendency to make much smarter decisions when he's not under heavy duress for much of the game.

That is the problem with Bledslow, he has to have a clean pocket to make good throws. When you play blitz happy teams like the Eagles, you are going to be pressure the whole game.

If we get to the playoffs, we are not going to be playing the titans and having 8 seconds in the pocket to look over the entire field. We are going to be playing teams like Eagles, Panthers, Bears, ect...

Bledslow will be pressured the whole game and so far he has folded like a cheap suit when that happens. I dont see Bledslow getting any better after 14 yrs, so I have to vote to play Romo right now.:)

[InmanRoshi]

The three big plays given up by our safeties, which gave the Eagles 21 points, changed the entire complexion of the game. With that time of possession, that number of first downs and that rushing attack, if we had even marginal safety play, specifically from free safety, we could (should) have been up by 2 TD's in the 4th quarter and shoving it right down their throat to wind down the clock. Instead we were in a track meet, which is exactly what Jim Johnson and Andy Reid wanted. That's their game. Our team is a team designed to win 21-16, not 34-31. Getting into a wild and crazy shoot-out with the NFL's best offense in their backyard, in what is essentially their Superbowl, is a losing proposition {no matter who the QB is). Anyone want to tell me one more time that we didn't even need to look at Dwight Smith?

[Bob Sacamano]

Anyone want to tell me one more time that we didn't even need to look at Dwight Smith?

:rolleyes: the Saints are doing fine w/o him

[InmanRoshi]

:rolleyes: the Saints are doing fine w/o him

Well, the success of the Saints certainly helps ease the sting of our free safety getting burned for 3 TD's in a game, except not really.

[superpunk]

Anyone want to tell me one more time that we didn't even need to look at Dwight Smith?


I think if I advanced search I could find the threads to find you some reasons - but I'm not one to complain. :o:

[DLCassidy]

I've watched the game twice now. I give a TON of credit to the Philly defense in this game. Don't forget that they sacked the stuffing out of Manning in the game there. The only reason he put up #'s late in that game was when Philly went to a prevent with a 3 TD lead and then the Giants line finally got it together very late. The only thing I've read since the game ended is "Bledsoe this, Bledsoe that...WATCH THE FLIPPIN' GAME. Philly's pass rush was tremendous and we flat out had no answers to their blitz. Why we kept running the empty backfield plays I have no idea- they were all bad.

If you look at it the attempts to get Owens the ball were by far the least successful. They did a great job on him yet we tried 13 times to get it to him. Bledsoe badly underthrew the go route to TO but that played Owens seemed to fool Bledsoe by starting slowly and then running hard later. Bledsoe commented that play went differently than in practice. Don't forget those two have not practiced a bunch together and they're not really in full sync.

It was very surprising we didn't roll Bledsoe out more and use more screens. And Philly never really showed they could stop the run. Although stopping the two runs on 2-1 and 3-1 were big. Other than the next to last sack which clearly DB was looking to go deep and held onto it, none of the other sacks were the result of holding the ball. 3-4 looked like missed assignments on blitzes. I'll tell you we will be ready for that when they come back here and we will do much better against them.

It's unusual to have a close game when you punter gives away a very short field on a muffed snap and you give up two TD's on 40+ yard TD passes. Again props to Philly and welcome to the NFL Pat Watkins who got burned like toast.

[Jarv]

The three big plays given up by our safeties, which gave the Eagles 21 points, changed the entire complexion of the game. With that time of possession, that number of first downs and that rushing attack, if we had even marginal safety play, specifically from free safety, we could (should) have been up by 2 TD's in the 4th quarter and shoving it right down their throat to wind down the clock. Instead we were in a track meet, which is exactly what Jim Johnson and Andy Reid wanted. That's their game. Our team is a team designed to win 21-16, not 34-31. Getting into a wild and crazy shoot-out with the NFL's best offense in their backyard, in what is essentially their Superbowl, is a losing proposition {no matter who the QB is). Anyone want to tell me one more time that we didn't even need to look at Dwight Smith?

Not too mention the Matt's fumble on the punt, which was another 7 points...3 more on Bledsoe's fumble.

We gave up 31 points on mistakes !

We should have killed these guys. I just saw the NFL replay...

Flea flicker for TD...Corner blitz and LB miss's the tackle , so does the saftey on the other end (TD)...JD's big gain on Roys blown coverage (1st and goal)...Matt's fumbled snap (12 yard line)...Drew's fumble....

5 blown plays, but on the whole we beat the hell outta these guys.

They don't scare me one bit. We will take these guys at our house on X'mas and it will lead to a very happy new year.

[chinch]

He does have a tendency to make much smarter decisions when he's not under heavy duress for much of the game.
2nd and goal... plenty of time for 3 shots at a TD.

what duress?

the dope could have thrown it away and had 2 more shots.

DREW = STUPID

[InmanRoshi]

Not too mention the Matt's fumble on the punt, which was another 7 points...3 more on Bledsoe's fumble.

We gave up 31 points on mistakes !

We should have killed these guys. I just saw the NFL replay...

Flea flicker for TD...Corner blitz and LB miss's the tackle , so does the saftey on the other end (TD)...JD's big gain on Roys blown coverage (1st and goal)...Matt's fumbled snap (12 yard line)...Drew's fumble....

5 blown plays, but on the whole we beat the hell outta these guys.

They don't scare me one bit. We will take these guys at our house on X'mas and it will lead to a very happy new year.

Totally, agree. They really only had one good offensive drive the entire game. I look at it as we both got flukey, gift TD's that cancel each other out in the muffed punt and Ware's INT. But the 3 big plays by their offense (mistakes by our safeties) are what beat us.

Yes, our offense and Drew made mistakes. The Eagles entire defense is based around constant pressure and forcing mistakes, which is exactly what happened to Bledsoe. Which is why you don't want to get in a shootout with them, playing from behind and slinging the ball all over the place late in the game. Once Jim Johnson forces you to be one dimensional, he's got you right where he wants you. Now you're playing his game. This is why those 3 big plays by our safeties killed us. It rippled into every other aspect of the game.

[Bob Sacamano]

Well, the success of the Saints certainly helps ease the sting of our free safety getting burned for 3 TD's in a game, except not really.

but you know why we didn't look at him, *****ing about it is pointless

[2much2soon]

I'll tell you we will be ready for that when they come back here and we will do much better against them.



How do you know that?
It disturbs me that the Dallas coaching staff should of been aware of what Philly was going to do before this game. Its not exactly a secret that Philly likes to blitz.
I'd like to be able to watch this game again because it sure seemed to me like it was Bledsoe holding the ball too long, fumbling, and throwing bad interceptions.
Lots of Bledsoe apologists laying the whole debacle on the offensive line blocking, or lack of, but its on Drew when he doesn't throw the ball away and takes terrible sacks.

[preacherman]

i think some of you need to chill just a little bit, this cowboys team is a good team and i believe a contender, you all did'nt think we were going to go undefeated did you, the boys will get better as the year goes on we will be in the playoffs and contend. now, do you think were going to go 14-2. and win out????? probly not, but the boys are a playoff team and will contend.

however , i would like to see just how good or bad romo is.

[percyhoward]

-JJ might have had the most meaningless 100 yard game in the history of the NFL. I dont understand it, the whole game I was screaming to run the ball more and quit getting so damn cute, then I look at the stats and we ran 38 times.
It still wasn't enough. We had 84 plays from scrimmage, and 50 of those were either passes, sacks, or runs by Bledsoe.

Only 26 of the 84 plays were Julius Jones runs. Jones is the 5th leading rusher in the NFL, and the 4 guys ahead of him have all played 5 games. He should be getting 26 carries in a typical game. In a game like this in which your QB is getting knocked silly, he should have had at least 35 of those 80 plays. Let's say 30 runs and 5 catches. (He's averaging something like 25 yards per catch. Throw it to him once every quarter, instead of once every two games.)

Look at the statistical leaders around the league. You have to conclude that Jones has been our best offensive player.

Look at Jones' biggest games of his career. At Carolina last year, 34 carries. Against Seattle and Chicago in 2004, 30+ carries.

It's time to abandon the running back by committee and go with what works.

[DLCassidy]

How do you know that?
It disturbs me that the Dallas coaching staff should of been aware of what Philly was going to do before this game. Its not exactly a secret that Philly likes to blitz.
I'd like to be able to watch this game again because it sure seemed to me like it was Bledsoe holding the ball too long, fumbling, and throwing bad interceptions.
Lots of Bledsoe apologists laying the whole debacle on the offensive line blocking, or lack of, but its on Drew when he doesn't throw the ball away and takes terrible sacks.

You're right you need to watch it again. Philly has the top rushing team in the league. They sacked Eli 8 times. But we can and will do better.