I can only see two obvious points to complain about yesterday's game...

[George]

Lack of a pass rush. It appeared to me that we were containing Culpepper instead of attacking him. Why not let Culpepper try to scramble for yards instead of throwing accurately downfield? We were burnt a whole lot more by Culpepper's passing than Culpepper's scrambling. It was hard for me to place blame on our secondary when Culpepper had "minutes" to throw a pass.

Second point: Running attempts by Anderson to the outside. This did not work. We kept doing it. What happened to Lee. Seems to me that you need speed to run to the outside. Every time we did this type of play it was a loss of down with minimal gain.

Overall, we could have remained competitive in this game if not for a few mistakes. Vinnie, Lee, Allen, Glover, Keshawn, Glenn played great. I look forward to the rest of the season.

[Roy Williams]

great points....

people want to pick on out cb's but they would not have been so exposed if the likes of Greg Ellis or Wiley got any kind of pressure on Daunte. I'm suprised at all the attacks on our db's and not enough at our front line.

And totally agree on our runs outside of the tackle. It was obvious with Minnesota's speed that those plays were not going to work. We should have stayed with pounding it up the middle and work the play action off of that.

[TruBlueCowboy]

Everyone mentions the Aikman, Emmitt, Irvin or Novacek successor but I think the guy we've really needed to replace the most all these years is Charles Haley. One day we'll get a great pass rushing defensive end again. :(

[George]

Everyone mentions the Aikman, Emmitt, Irvin or Novacek successor but I think the guy we've really needed to replace the most all these years is Charles Haley. One day we'll get a great pass rushing defensive end again. :(

Why don't we rush Roy?

[jacs]

Reeves did a good job too

[crazylegs]

Lack of a pass rush. It appeared to me that we were containing Culpepper instead of attacking him. Why not let Culpepper try to scramble for yards instead of throwing accurately downfield? We were burnt a whole lot more by Culpepper's passing than Culpepper's scrambling. It was hard for me to place blame on our secondary when Culpepper had "minutes" to throw a pass.

Second point: Running attempts by Anderson to the outside. This did not work. We kept doing it. What happened to Lee. Seems to me that you need speed to run to the outside. Every time we did this type of play it was a loss of down with minimal gain.

Overall, we could have remained competitive in this game if not for a few mistakes. Vinnie, Lee, Allen, Glover, Keshawn, Glenn played great. I look forward to the rest of the season.

I stopped reading right here -> "Lack of a pass rush."

Jerry been working his "magic" on that one for 10 years now. You might want to consider NOT holding your breath over this future pick.

[SA_Gunslinger]

yes, the pass rush was nowhere to be found. THAT was severly disappointing. we need our guys up front with our secondary as weak as it is.

[hockix]

Lack of a pass rush. It appeared to me that we were containing Culpepper instead of attacking him. Why not let Culpepper try to scramble for yards instead of throwing accurately downfield? We were burnt a whole lot more by Culpepper's passing than Culpepper's scrambling. It was hard for me to place blame on our secondary when Culpepper had "minutes" to throw a pass.

Second point: Running attempts by Anderson to the outside. This did not work. We kept doing it. What happened to Lee. Seems to me that you need speed to run to the outside. Every time we did this type of play it was a loss of down with minimal gain.

Overall, we could have remained competitive in this game if not for a few mistakes. Vinnie, Lee, Allen, Glover, Keshawn, Glenn played great. I look forward to the rest of the season.

Your second point can be solved cause it is a coaching problem, and I think they will change their game plan for next games. They seem pretty stobburn with some plays instead of adapting to what the opposing defense gives us.

Your first point is partly coaching and players problem.
We play run first and rush second, but than you place your Dline in a position to not be able to attack the QB. We don't attack the ball both with the Dline and DBs.

We need reel DE like Haley to make some pressure and help the CBs.
We just don't have that kind of playmaker right now.

I think we can improve a lot, but we will simply struggle against better teams.
We don't have the players yet to be at the second level and get to the SB.
I would like to be wrong though...

[BulletBob]

I stopped reading right here -> "Lack of a pass rush."

Jerry been working his "magic" on that one for 10 years now. You might want to consider NOT holding your breath over this future pick.

Worst part about it is that we could have had Ogunleye on this team, if we were willing to open up the pocketbook. The Bears frickin stole him from the 'Fins.

He would have made all the difference in the world this year !!! :mad:

[Eddie]

Overall, we could have remained competitive in this game if not for a few mistakes. Vinnie, Lee, Allen, Glover, Keshawn, Glenn played great. I look forward to the rest of the season.

I agree. We were a few mistakes away from being competitive. Take those away, and you never know:

Mistake #1:
- FG on first drive. Should have been up 7-0.

Mistake #2:
- blotched FG.

Mistake #3:
- O Smith's 63 yard TD run on blown coverage when game was still within reach at 28-17.

Mistake #4:
- Richie Anderson fumbling at critical time.

Take those back ... and perhaps we're looking at a 28-28 game going into OT.

[George]

Reeves did a good job too

I forgot A.B. too. He was outstanding in this game.

[lkelly]

I agree. We were a few mistakes away from being competitive. Take those away, and you never know:

Mistake #1:
- FG on first drive. Should have been up 7-0.

Mistake #2:
- blotched FG.

Mistake #3:
- O Smith's 63 yard TD run on blown coverage when game was still within reach at 28-17.

Mistake #4:
- Richie Anderson fumbling at critical time.

Take those back ... and perhaps we're looking at a 28-28 game going into OT.

The fumble was when the game was within reach at 28-17 I think. Smith's TD catch was Minnesota's first score, right?

In general, it was a good gameplan. They played serious ball control but couldn't get the points. The DBs were intimidating Moss most of the game by piling on him during and after plays. He did catch the short TD passes and drew an awful PI penalty (which most other WRs would have drawn - it was just a crap play by Dixon), but what killed Dallas was the other WRs and Culpepper having all day to throw.

[77Cowboy]

Why don't we rush Roy?


We didn't rush Roy because he was in Cover2 for 98% of the game, he was the reason that Moss never went deep on us becuase he was staniding on top of him covering over Hunter.

We won't have to play that style of D again until we play Philly which will bring Roy closer to the line of scrimmage.

[Mike 1967]

I agree. We were a few mistakes away from being competitive. Take those away, and you never know:

Mistake #1:
- FG on first drive. Should have been up 7-0.

Mistake #2:
- blotched FG.

Mistake #3:
- O Smith's 63 yard TD run on blown coverage when game was still within reach at 28-17.

Mistake #4:
- Richie Anderson fumbling at critical time.

Take those back ... and perhaps we're looking at a 28-28 game going into OT.

I would also add Tuckers late hit. That probably cost us 4 points.

[George]

We didn't rush Roy because he was in Cover2 for 98% of the game, he was the reason that Moss never went deep on us becuase he was staniding on top of him covering over Hunter.

We won't have to play that style of D again until we play Philly which will bring Roy closer to the line of scrimmage.

It seems whenever the QB is mobile, ie. Culpepper, we need to use speed to pressure the QB. Our LB's or DL's didn't apply pressure and when they got close Culpepper easily avoided them. Why not bring in another FS to replace Roy and use Roy as a rushing LB? We're in a world of hurt if we don't pressure the QB as we were yesterday.

[DallasEast]

I would also add Tuckers late hit. That probably cost us 4 points.I would vote to take out the word "probably". That drive was a monster which had eaten away at almost a full quarter--in other words, a textbook Parcells-ball control drive. The momentum of the game had clearly switched back to Dallas.

But Tucker's bonehead idiocry eliminated a 1st-&-Goal situation at the 8-yard line. You don't give an opposing defense a chance to regroup after you've driven the ball down their throats to their 8-yard line! Sure, Tucker was being aggressive, but you have to play smart--ESPECIALLY after seeing that your WR [Bryant] was tackled AND down that close to the endzone.

Insane.