final preseason game thoughts

[dbair1967]

This wasnt exactly the kind of preseason I expected...I am not impressed at all with Mike Zimmer's D in preseason...yeah its preseason, yeah I'm sure its vanilla, but come on...one sack from a starting DL all preseason, and that came when facing backup OL's...NO ints, dont recall many, if any passes deflected/defensed...terrible tackling and basically no cover skills whatsoever...all this said, good bad ugly from tonight:

the good:

1) hey Tomy Romo looked good for once...he did get to play with alot of the starters against KC backups, so I'm sure that had something to do with it...but he threw most of his passes with accuracy and didnt make any stupid plays

2) OL pass protection was solid again, starters and reserves for most part

3) players that I thought looked good tonight, Romo, Antonio Bryant, Jason Witten, Dan Campbell, Larry Allen, Jamar Martin, Torrin Tucker, Roy Williams, Bradie James, Glover, Keith Davis, Kalen Thornton, Keith O'Neill, McBriar

the bad:

1) still too many stupid penalties, albeit less than the previous 3 games

2) Cundiff never kicks a ball right down the middle, even on extra pts...he scares the crap out of me...I think last yr was a major fluke, hopefully he proves me wrong

3) run blocking was just pretty lousy, especially considering KC is a poor defensive team and has little talent up front

4) man Eddie George, nice TD run, nothing else...it was just awful...he'll probably make the team because of his name and signing bonus, but he's only the 4th best RB on this team (Jones, Lee, Anderson all better)...even Darrian Barnes appears to have better run skills at this point...in his last 13 carries, he isnt even averaging 1.0 yds per rush...

5) Drew Henson finally looked like a QB who hadnt played in 3 yrs...going 0/4 with a pick on his first play...appeared to be trying to aim the ball to me...didnt get alot of help as there were a couple of OL breakdowns in pass protection, but he was definitely sharper the other 3 games...would have been nice if at least a couple of series he could have played with the starters too, but thems the breaks

6) Vinny wasnt sharp at all...missed a couple of easy throws including what should have been a TD to Keyshawn Johnson...seemed to have good zip on the ball and his footwork was good (those were two things I was interested in, wanted to see if fatigue would get to him) but he just wasnt sharp....

the ugly:

1) let me be the first to say that hiring Bruce DeHaven was a mistake IMO...our punt and kickoff coverage has been, and still is awful...its easy to see why he was available for us to get IMO, he stinks...whatever he's teaching aint working

2) Pete Hunter and Jameel Powell both had awful games, and KC's receivers arnt all that great...they were pretty much wide open all over...for years its appeared to me that th object of the defense is to let the opponent catch the ball and then hope you tackle them...nobody knows how to play the ball on this team and they havent for years

3) poor tackling again, and there are alot of guilty party's...let several sacks get away, turned several 1 or 2 yd gains into 6-8 yd gains with attempted arm tackles or bad angles

4) Zuriel Smith should have been cut last yr...he was terrible tonight

players that I thought were noticeably bad:

Powell, Hunter, Z.Smith, Sean Ryan, Bruce Thornton had a tough game, Nate Jones...4 of th people on this list are DB's, its pretty obvious where we need help

David

[Jack Burton]

This wasnt exactly the kind of preseason I expected...I am not impressed at all with Mike Zimmer's D in preseason...yeah its preseason, yeah I'm sure its vanilla, but come on...one sack from a starting DL all preseason, and that came when facing backup OL's...NO ints, dont recall many, if any passes deflected/defensed...terrible tackling and basically no cover skills whatsoever...all this said, good bad ugly from tonight:

the good:

1) hey Tomy Romo looked good for once...he did get to play with alot of the starters against KC backups, so I'm sure that had something to do with it...but he threw most of his passes with accuracy and didnt make any stupid plays

2) OL pass protection was solid again, starters and reserves for most part

3) players that I thought looked good tonight, Romo, Antonio Bryant, Jason Witten, Dan Campbell, Larry Allen, Jamar Martin, Torrin Tucker, Roy Williams, Bradie James, Glover, Keith Davis, Kalen Thornton, Keith O'Neill, McBriar

the bad:

1) still too many stupid penalties, albeit less than the previous 3 games

2) Cundiff never kicks a ball right down the middle, even on extra pts...he scares the crap out of me...I think last yr was a major fluke, hopefully he proves me wrong

3) run blocking was just pretty lousy, especially considering KC is a poor defensive team and has little talent up front

4) man Eddie George, nice TD run, nothing else...it was just awful...he'll probably make the team because of his name and signing bonus, but he's only the 4th best RB on this team (Jones, Lee, Anderson all better)...even Darrian Barnes appears to have better run skills at this point...in his last 13 carries, he isnt even averaging 1.0 yds per rush...

5) Drew Henson finally looked like a QB who hadnt played in 3 yrs...going 0/4 with a pick on his first play...appeared to be trying to aim the ball to me...didnt get alot of help as there were a couple of OL breakdowns in pass protection, but he was definitely sharper the other 3 games...would have been nice if at least a couple of series he could have played with the starters too, but thems the breaks

6) Vinny wasnt sharp at all...missed a couple of easy throws including what should have been a TD to Keyshawn Johnson...seemed to have good zip on the ball and his footwork was good (those were two things I was interested in, wanted to see if fatigue would get to him) but he just wasnt sharp....

the ugly:

1) let me be the first to say that hiring Bruce DeHaven was a mistake IMO...our punt and kickoff coverage has been, and still is awful...its easy to see why he was available for us to get IMO, he stinks...whatever he's teaching aint working

2) Pete Hunter and Jameel Powell both had awful games, and KC's receivers arnt all that great...they were pretty much wide open all over...for years its appeared to me that th object of the defense is to let the opponent catch the ball and then hope you tackle them...nobody knows how to play the ball on this team and they havent for years

3) poor tackling again, and there are alot of guilty party's...let several sacks get away, turned several 1 or 2 yd gains into 6-8 yd gains with attempted arm tackles or bad angles

4) Zuriel Smith should have been cut last yr...he was terrible tonight

players that I thought were noticeably bad:

Powell, Hunter, Z.Smith, Sean Ryan, Bruce Thornton had a tough game, Nate Jones...4 of th people on this list are DB's, its pretty obvious where we need help

David


I think you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. I thought Davis was a little shaky, but everyone else on your good list played well.

As far as the bad, I agree with you about Cundiff. Everytime I watch that kid kick, I freaking hold my breath. And not only that, it looks like we've gotten worse with the holds. I've seen more than one kick where the holder barely gets the ball down in time for Cundiff to kick.

Concerning EG's TD run, it was a nice play, but really nothing special. It was a run that any of our backs could have made, just a very minor cutback through a gap in the line.

Like you said, our defense continues to not impress. I think they've gotten better over the pre-season, but the lack of a pass rush, combined with our corner/safety problems looks like a recipe for trouble.

[Hollywood Henderson]

Good posts, I almost laughed when you guys said your scared when Cundiff even try's extra points....Same here!

I have never been a fan of Zimmy's...
We never have a pass rush... and although many times the DB's are in postion, they almost NEVER make a play with the ball in the air...
And that includes Newman, Roy & Woody!

I have been asking for 3 years, why we don't employe a real NFL FS, yet all the crap I hear from zimmy is the are "interchangable" as in they both can't cover because they are both SS's?

One year he had dat playing WR's to the tune of 4 TD given up?
Last game he blitzed dat 4 times & he got pancaked by the RB every time except the last, where he just ran up to him & then they held each other???

You win by being unpredictable and creating pressure & havouc on Defense, yet every year, its zimmy saying, we will play the run on first & second downs...(Occupy & engage)

I am not by any means giving up on the season, as I think we have much more talent then last year, but I think Eddie is a waste and I question how we use our players on D...

The Vikings can score from anywhere, we better get in tune quick!

[SMCowboy]

This wasnt exactly the kind of preseason I expected...I am not impressed at all with Mike Zimmer's D in preseason...yeah its preseason, yeah I'm sure its vanilla, but come on...one sack from a starting DL all preseason, and that came when facing backup OL's...NO ints, dont recall many, if any passes deflected/defensed...terrible tackling and basically no cover skills whatsoever...all this said, good bad ugly from tonight:

the good:

1) hey Tomy Romo looked good for once...he did get to play with alot of the starters against KC backups, so I'm sure that had something to do with it...but he threw most of his passes with accuracy and didnt make any stupid plays

2) OL pass protection was solid again, starters and reserves for most part

3) players that I thought looked good tonight, Romo, Antonio Bryant, Jason Witten, Dan Campbell, Larry Allen, Jamar Martin, Torrin Tucker, Roy Williams, Bradie James, Glover, Keith Davis, Kalen Thornton, Keith O'Neill, McBriar



I will agree with most of this except Keith Davis. He made a few big plays, but he also made several terrible plays. On the big TD pass that WAS Keith Davis's fault, NOT Jemeel Powell. In a cover 2 scheme, the CB hasthe underneath coverage, and the saftey is supposed to be their to keep that exact pass from being completed over the CB's head. Powell was EXACTLY where he was supposed to be, it is just that Davis not doing his job made Powell look like he was out of place, when he was not.

The other player you should have mentioned in here, is Billy Cundiff, the fact is he continues to make kicks, and is even making the kicks when the holders screw up the holds.

And how you left the defensive front off of the good is beyond me. They held the best offense in football, and one of the leagues best running teams to just 3.3 yrds per carry. Yes they had a few long runs called back, BUT alot of the reasons that they were long runs were because the guys were unable to make the plays because they were held.


the bad:

1) still too many stupid penalties, albeit less than the previous 3 games

2) Cundiff never kicks a ball right down the middle, even on extra pts...he scares the crap out of me...I think last yr was a major fluke, hopefully he proves me wrong

3) run blocking was just pretty lousy, especially considering KC is a poor defensive team and has little talent up front

4) man Eddie George, nice TD run, nothing else...it was just awful...he'll probably make the team because of his name and signing bonus, but he's only the 4th best RB on this team (Jones, Lee, Anderson all better)...even Darrian Barnes appears to have better run skills at this point...in his last 13 carries, he isnt even averaging 1.0 yds per rush...

5) Drew Henson finally looked like a QB who hadnt played in 3 yrs...going 0/4 with a pick on his first play...appeared to be trying to aim the ball to me...didnt get alot of help as there were a couple of OL breakdowns in pass protection, but he was definitely sharper the other 3 games...would have been nice if at least a couple of series he could have played with the starters too, but thems the breaks

6) Vinny wasnt sharp at all...missed a couple of easy throws including what should have been a TD to Keyshawn Johnson...seemed to have good zip on the ball and his footwork was good (those were two things I was interested in, wanted to see if fatigue would get to him) but he just wasnt sharp....


You may not like the way that Cundiff's kicks look, but the point remains that he continues to make then after a ruff start in training camp. And you don't get extra points for drilling them straight down the middle. The reason they are never straight down the middle, is Cundiff is a kicker that has his kicks hook slightly. It may not go right down the middle, but it is NEVER in any doubt of if he will make it or not. That was the weakest excuse to thinking a kicker had a bad day, because his kicks were not right down the middle. Man, that may be the lamest excuse in history. The fact is Cundiff is doing an excellent job, he is even making the kicks when the holders are screwing up the holds. Cundiff had a very good game.

This is where Keith Davis should be listed at. He took a terrible angle (maybe the worst in the history of football) on the long TD pass. And he also got out of his lane in kickoff coverage on the long return by Chris Horn. While his plays stopping the run and the big hits were nice, he also had 2 HORRIBLE plays that stood out.


the ugly:

1) let me be the first to say that hiring Bruce DeHaven was a mistake IMO...our punt and kickoff coverage has been, and still is awful...its easy to see why he was available for us to get IMO, he stinks...whatever he's teaching aint working

2) Pete Hunter and Jameel Powell both had awful games, and KC's receivers arnt all that great...they were pretty much wide open all over...for years its appeared to me that th object of the defense is to let the opponent catch the ball and then hope you tackle them...nobody knows how to play the ball on this team and they havent for years

3) poor tackling again, and there are alot of guilty party's...let several sacks get away, turned several 1 or 2 yd gains into 6-8 yd gains with attempted arm tackles or bad angles

4) Zuriel Smith should have been cut last yr...he was terrible tonight

players that I thought were noticeably bad:

Powell, Hunter, Z.Smith, Sean Ryan, Bruce Thornton had a tough game, Nate Jones...4 of th people on this list are DB's, its pretty obvious where we need help

David

Why all the hatred on Pete Hunter again, he allowed the ONE TD pass, big deal it happens. Atleast he tried to do something that Mario Edwards would NEVER have done and that was atleast TRY and make a play to knock the ball away, he just missed the ball. No, Pete Hunter is not going to be a shut down CB, but once again he had a solid game for us. And Jemee Powell was NOT the guy responcible for the long TD pass, he was actually exactly where he was supposed to be in a 2 deep coverage, it was Keith Davis who screwed up on the play and made Powell look like he screwed up.

[kmd24]

2) Cundiff never kicks a ball right down the middle, even on extra pts...he scares the crap out of me...I think last yr was a major fluke, hopefully he proves me wrong


I think it's no coincidence that Cundiff kicked well when Gowin returned to the team. Gowin was the best holder the Cowboys had since, well, Gowin. Novacek was a pretty good holder too.

I wonder if Witten could hold for kicks...

It's also worth mentioning that Jeff Robinson returned from his knee injury to serve (for the first time) as the Cowboys' snapper for kicks as well.

[Doomsday101]

I'm just glad the pre-season is over, now it is time to get down to the real deal when every thing starts to count. We go back to 0-0 with Minn waiting in the wings, this team needs to get focused on the game at hand so we can get off to a fast start on the season

[SA_Gunslinger]

i didn't get to watch the game last night, but it seems like it wasn't all that great.

george sounds very disappointing BUT.....if he can take it in from inside the 5....he can do only that all year long and i'll be very happy.

[dbair1967]

"You may not like the way that Cundiff's kicks look, but the point remains that he continues to make then after a ruff start in training camp. And you don't get extra points for drilling them straight down the middle. The reason they are never straight down the middle, is Cundiff is a kicker that has his kicks hook slightly. It may not go right down the middle, but it is NEVER in any doubt of if he will make it or not. That was the weakest excuse to thinking a kicker had a bad day, because his kicks were not right down the middle. Man, that may be the lamest excuse in history. The fact is Cundiff is doing an excellent job, he is even making the kicks when the holders are screwing up the holds. Cundiff had a very good game."

there usually is alot of doubt whether his kicks are going to be good...good kickers dont consistently have balls that "thud" and barely get through the uprights, and most of their kicks explode upwards and do indeed go down the middle or at least STRAIGHT...Cundiff cant even do this consistently on extra pts, which are basically 18 yds kicks lined right up in the middle

hey hopefully he proves me wrong, but everyone of his kicks is like "please God, let this go through the uprights"...finally, he's making the team because the other guy got hurt, not because he was better than him

David

[Doomsday101]

i didn't get to watch the game last night, but it seems like it wasn't all that great.

george sounds very disappointing BUT.....if he can take it in from inside the 5....he can do only that all year long and i'll be very happy.

I didn't think it was a bad game on the Cowboys part. Especialy considering that it was the last pre-season game. Last Monday was the dress rehearsal and the team did a good job. This last game was for a handful of guys who were trying to make a bid at getting a roster spot. We have gotten past the pre-season with very few injuries and if you look around the league right now and see the injuries of others I think we should be counting our blessing right now.

[big dog cowboy]

george sounds very disappointing BUT.....if he can take it in from inside the 5....he can do only that all year long and i'll be very happy.

He hasn't proven to me that he can do that. Not by a longshot.

[aikemirv]

The most encouraging thing to me about the preseason is that we won the games with our second and third teams. It shows that our depth is getting much better than in past years. We also were playing well with our first team the middle two.

[dbair1967]

The most encouraging thing to me about the preseason is that we won the games with our second and third teams. It shows that our depth is getting much better than in past years. We also were playing well with our first team the middle two.

I'd rather lose the game but have our starters look better than other teams starters...

David

[aikemirv]

Its a long season and depth is a key issue.

Our starters played pretty well in games 2 and 3 especially considering we were starting 4 new people on the 1st string Offense.

The TEAM is getting better - it is encouraging

[BrAinPaiNt]

the ugly:

1) let me be the first to say that hiring Bruce DeHaven was a mistake IMO...our punt and kickoff coverage has been, and still is awful...its easy to see why he was available for us to get IMO, he stinks...whatever he's teaching aint working

David


The discussion on this topic seems to be almost nil...and I am thinking you are dead on.

How many times can we blame our returners...when it seems we do not have very good blocking for them....how many times have we seen the other teams returners getting decent yards on a return.

[crazylegs]

It's pretty bad when the average fan thinks he can out coach Parcells and party.

On top of that I agree! :o

[AJM1613]

Was it really that bad?

[MichaelWinicki]

The discussion on this topic seems to be almost nil...and I am thinking you are dead on.

How many times can we blame our returners...when it seems we do not have very good blocking for them....how many times have we seen the other teams returners getting decent yards on a return.


Just ask the fans in Buffalo what they think of DeHaven.

[jacs]

i thought Hunter did good and i think he only got beat on the TD which was a great catch by Hall but Powell simply sucks

[kmd24]

The discussion on this topic seems to be almost nil...and I am thinking you are dead on.

How many times can we blame our returners...when it seems we do not have very good blocking for them....how many times have we seen the other teams returners getting decent yards on a return.

From my limited viewing, it seems like the Cowboys are doing a little better blocking the gunners on punts. Crayton's had a few nice returns.

Seems like a slight improvement from last year, not that that's saying much.