Graziano: Cowboys' line was penalty-free Monday

[WoodysGirl]

Oct 4
4:15
PM ET
By Dan Graziano | ESPN.com

Here's another silver lining from the Dallas Cowboys' miserable Monday night loss to the Chicago Bears: They weren't whistled for one single false-start penalty in the entire game.

Hey, I'm trying here.

As you can see from Todd Archer's penalty breakdown, the false starts were a major problem in the first three games of the season. Left tackle Tyron Smith was called for five, right tackle Doug Free for four and tight end Jason Witten for three. That's an average of four false-start penalties per game, which is basically handing your opponent 20 free yards per game, and so it's a good thing that the Cowboys' linemen weren't as jumpy Monday as they had been. (Though it does bear mentioning that, as you may have heard, there were different officials in place for Game 4 than there were for the first three.)

Anyway, I'm getting away from my intended point, which I think is that the Cowboys' offensive linemen were a little bit steadier in at least this one aspect of their play Monday. And as awful as the Cowboys' offensive line has been this year, lines do tend to improve as the year goes along and they play together. In general, they seemed to get decent push in the run game on the left side, though still nothing on the right side with Free and Mackenzy Bernadeau. And the pass protection certainly had its moments, which it didn't in either of the prior two weeks. The Cowboys' line has a long, long way to go, but any signs of improvement have to be considered encouraging.

Read more: http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post...ty-free-monday

[jgboys1]

So, other than that, how did you enjoy the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

[Future]

Penalty free yea, but they were also block free...

[MoClaiborne24]

Originally Posted by Future

Penalty free yea, but they were also block free...

And boom goes the dynamite...

[xwalker]

They need to be free of Free.

[rickjameschinaclub]

And it was noted during the game, that the offensive playcalling was simplified and Dallas clearly ran more play-action than they normally do, which indicates play-calling does impact OL play.. meaning, Garrett....

[Hostile]

Originally Posted by Future

Penalty free yea, but they were also block free...

I admit it, that hurt and cracked me up at the same time.

[Rynie]

Originally Posted by Hostile

I admit it, that hurt and cracked me up at the same time.

Same here. Haha. If we continue to eliminate dumb penalties, I will be happy. It's a process, after all.

[MagicMan]

Originally Posted by Future

Penalty free yea, but they were also block free...

LLOLLLL, hey, one at a time yall. Walk and chew gum is really hard.

[MyBad]

Originally Posted by jgboys1

So, other than that, how did you enjoy the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

Can I vote this as the BEST line of the day...lol

[Gemini Dolly]

Originally Posted by MagicMan

LLOLLLL, hey, one at a time yall. Walk and chew gum is really hard.

Fo realz yo. stacking up one process at a time.

[Hook'em#11]

They lost. Who cares..

Gimme 15 penalties from the team as long as they win.

[weaver21]

Find it ironic that we've committed more than ten penalties in our only two wins and only seven combined penalties in our two losses.

[erod]

As bad as the line has been, Monday's loss was about miscommunications /mishaps between Romo and the receivers.

Chicago scored one offensive touchdown (neither theirs nor ours count in garbage time).

Despite the lack of a running game, that was a VERY winnable game if we're kicking field goals and punting instead of giving away pick-sixes and red-zone turnovers.

[Future]

Originally Posted by Hook'em#11

They lost. Who cares..

Gimme 15 penalties from the team as long as they win.

Gotta disagree there....thats the attitude that allowed the 13-3 team to lose in its first playoff game.