Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see every play as my stream had difficulties at times.
Offense
-Lamb had perhaps his best game as a Cowboy, carried the team to a win. You would think teams will start adjusting their coverage away from Pickens now and give Lamb more attention. Pickens didn't many many catches, but the ones he did have were impactful.
-Good to see Williams get multiple touchdown runs. Scoring redzone td's are the key to an successful offense.
-The likes of Ferguson, Luek need to stop being the lead blocker, Spann-Ford is clearly the best blocker.
-OL had their struggles all day long against one of the best duos in the entire league. Dak was under constant pressure.
-Schott again with some questionable calls, bubble screen on 3rd and 1?
-Dak and the offense was put in the exact same situation in back to back weeks, but they succeeded this time, perhaps they learned from what went wrong against Baltimore
Defense
-Gave up too many chunk plays early on, but got better as the game progressed. Bland stuck out of one struggling the most.
-Porter's impact was felt, zero targets all game. Remember, CP's influence is also with Mike Pettite. Pettite was the DC with the Jets under Rex Ryan, they designed a scheme around a shutdown corner in Revis. Not saying Porter is as good, but we can see coverage start to roll to other side and blitzes forcing the ball out quickly. Something to watch.
-Run defense was good, but we have to remember Texans have struggled running the football all year long.
-Thought Q and Gary stood out the most in the front. They made key stops that ended drives.
-Have to get more health in the back-end, seeing Speed on the field on the final drive isn't good.
Special Teams
-Audrey much better on the kickoff this week.
-Another FG blocked, this has to be fixed in a hurry
-Questionable 65 yard FG attempt with time on the clock that led to an easy 3 points before half.
-Turpin had a few good returns
Bottom line, the biggest issue is when they’re going to take out 78 and 87. Like you said, Ferguson is out there too much trying to protect Steele, and both are getting worked over. It’s gotten so bad they’ve barely rushed on that side against Guyton, instead stacking their top pass rushers there, and they’re still getting dominated.
In the first half, the offensive line sometimes had six guys blocking four and still couldn’t get it done, with most of the pressure coming from that same side.
Nobody was getting open; it was one of those tough zones this offense hates. Most offenses don’t like when a four-man line can beat six players up front, with everyone else covering, seven guys in coverage, make it hard to throw against.
They couldn’t run, couldn’t really throw, and should be exploiting the middle of the field, which means having a better tight end and using the running backs more effectively there, not just tossing them into the flats or behind the line of scrimmage.
The good thing is they made adjustments in the second half. This is a second-half team, a second-half offense, something we haven’t seen in a while.
Usually, if they fell behind or struggled, they never caught up, but they scored four touchdowns in the second half. Last week, they tied the game with 10 seconds left in the second half. They’ve been doing really well, against the Giants, they had only two possessions in the second half and scored touchdowns on both.
As much as you might say they fix their mistakes, the decision-making I’m seeing from Brian Schottenheimer needs to improve quickly. Stop kicking long field goals in a low-scoring game where the offense can’t move the ball, especially when you make the same mistake back-to-back. In those situations, you should play for field position—both attempts should have been punts. I understand our defense isn’t great, but that’s exactly why you punt, forcing the opponent to drive farther. To me, they gave up a six-point swing and too much field position right there.
I support Brian Schottenheimer because he’s one of the better play callers, and his offenses are among the best in the league. Yes, it’s also about the players, and maybe most good OCs could achieve this, but it doesn’t matter, the team is on a scoring tear.
I don’t recall exactly what ESPN said, but someone mentioned the per-possession scoring was around 3.4 points, just shy of the New England Patriots’ best offense in 2007 and the “Greatest Show on Turf.” They’re scoring at that level, but unfortunately, we don’t have a strong defense, and our special teams aren’t so special.
In the end, decision-making has to be better, knowing the team’s weaknesses. You can’t make those choices before halftime—even if the kicks had gone in, I’d feel the same way. You cannot put a struggling defense in harm’s way.
Yes, our defense has improved, but it’s frustrating to hear our own fan base and zoners be so critical of Prescott in the first half without actually watching the game. If a team is playing heavy zone coverage with seven guys back and four defensive linemen beating six blockers like they’re not even there, that’s exactly what the first half looked like, just in case your stream was glitchy. That’s the same way the Cowboys have struggled in the past against teams like the Cardinals, Broncos, and sometimes even the 49ers, who have the defensive lines to pull it off. You’re not supposed to be getting beat by four down linemen when you’ve got six blockers yet still giving up easy runs at the quarterback—those situations usually lose games for the Cowboys. But in the second half, Brian Schottenheimer made the right adjustments, and that’s why it’s hard to want to fire one of the best offensive coordinators and play-callers in the league.
They are making adjustments in the second half even a little bit on defense,
I can’t give the defense any credit right now because they’re giving up 30 points a game, and that’s just not good enough. That’s horrible, actually, but Brian Sondheimer and his team have made enough second-half adjustments that they could be undefeated right now.
A few plays here or there, and they’d be undefeated, so that’s how I see this team. They’re either winless or undefeated, it’s bipolar, and it drives me nuts.
Looking at the league after four weeks, the Cowboys could be considered one of the better teams despite a .500 record. Based on how the games have played out, if they just had a slightly better defense and gave the offense a few more opportunities, the Cowboys would still be in contention.
There’s no reason to start firing people unless it’s just to make a point during the 10-day break, like firing Sorenson as a statement. He could be the scapegoat because of questionable special teams decisions, even if that’s on BS. They need someone stronger in that role, like Fossil. Bones would tell Brian, “Hey, that was stupid, we shouldn’t kick those field goals.”
