agonizing, but its a W - Dallas Cowboys Forum

dbair1967 · 09-19-2004

I guess after last weeks meltdown, we should be happy....still, Cleveland was wearing a huge "kick the crap out of us" sign all day today and we couldnt do it, I'm really thinking this franchise just has some phobia about scoring more than a couple tds a game...my good, bad ugly etc etc

The good:

1) defense played much better...only got credit for one sack but they were all over Garcia most of the day, and actually sorta made plays on the ball for a change...run defense wasnt pretty good save the one long Jackson run, which really was inexcusable....Ellis had a great game today, finally an OT got flagged for holding him...Glover was solid as well......both games have featured TONS of opposing holds not called (see below)

2) solid effort by LB's after last weeks atrocious effort....

3) offense can move the ball on anyone it appears...VT had another solid game, I am not so much mad about the first two picks, but the 3rd one was awful on his part...otherwise he looked strong...great game by Jason Witten, our WR's and TE's are uncoverable as a group...anyone else want to say we cant make playso downfield? where's this painful lack of speed?

the ok:

1) run game was ok, not great...would have liked to see more Julius Jones...run game might have done more but refs were putrid and a ciouple good plays were wiped out by questionable holding calls(see below)

2) OL did great job in pass protection, but Lehr is not the road grader Gurode is on running plays...they were flagged for alot of penalties (I think 5 holding calls, which i dont think I have ever seen in a NFL game) but 2 or 3 of them were definitely phantom calls (see below)

the bad:

1) pass coverage was bailed out a few times by poor Garcia throws...Newman got beat deep twice I think

2) 4 frigging turnovers, though the fumble was HIGHLY questionable and the first VT pick happened after a bogus holding call wiped out a Rashard Lee first down run...

3) not being able to blow this team out, though it wasnt all their fault

the ugly:

1) Cundiff is a crap kicker, period. His kickoffs are pathetic and his place kicks are always an adventure...too bad Bryant got hurt in TC, I think Cundiff will end up losing a game or two for us this yr because he's so inconsistent

2) The officiating was just outright awful, and it was PAINFULLY one sided...5 holding calls is unprecedented from what I can recall...Bradie James's 15yd flag was a screw job, what the hell was he supposed to do?...not sure exactly why Keyshawn was flagged for 15yd flag, offsetting Browns 15yd flag that would have given us first and goal inside 5...Browns OL took turns dragging our DL's to the ground, only got flagged for one hold that I recall (the safety, Ellis)...Jones fumble was pretty lame, he appeared to be down and the play well over before the ball came out, officials also missed two obvious PI calls on Browns defenders...it doesnt count in the win column, but we beat two teams today...the crew that did our game today can almost always be counted on for atrocious jobs in our games...

David

Roy Williams · 09-19-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbair1967

the ugly:

1) Cundiff is a crap kicker, period. His kickoffs are pathetic and his place kicks are always an adventure...too bad Bryant got hurt in TC, I think Cundiff will end up losing a game or two for us this yr because he's so inconsistentDavid

It's so funny that you get split opinions on this guy but you either thinks he sucks or people just need to lay off of him. His kickoffs are just HORRIBLE. I think one only got just past the twenty, then one was kicked out of bounds and none went into the endzone. It didn't hurt us today but it will cost us down the line. That's just way to much yardage to be giving up before the offense even steps onto the field.

**MichaelWinicki** · 09-19-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbair1967

3) offense can move the ball on anyone it appears...VT had another solid game, I am not so much mad about the first two picks, but the 3rd one was awful on his part...otherwise he looked strong...great game by Jason Witten, our WR's and TE's are uncoverable as a group...anyone else want to say we cant make playso downfield? where's this painful lack of speed?

David, the offense still isn't good. I don't care how many yards you pile up if they don't convert into points they're useless. Right now we're averaging just as many points as we did last year... and as we know that wasn't enough.

And as far as the speed thing goes Eddie George still wasn't good. 18 carries-62 yards won't get it done.

A linebacker was the 2nd leading rusher on our team.. scary.

I didn't Newman was that bad. And as a matter of fact he did a damn good job jumping that slant pattern.

Duane · 09-19-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelWinicki

I didn't Newman was that bad. And as a matter of fact he did a damn good job jumping that slant pattern.

His first half wasn't good at all but something happened in the 2nd half and he tore it up. Roy Lee played much better after the half as well.