Creeper
Well-Known Member
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I like to record the Cowboys games so I can rewatch them the next day because the excitement on game day colors my impressions of the action. Plus I can rewind certain plays to get a better look at what actually just happened. I came away from this game thinking, man, the Cowboys are overrated. But my impressions changed after watching the game a second time.
First some stats. Who would have thought the Packers did not get 350 yards of offense on Sunday? But that's a fact. The Packers got a total of 335 net yards to the Cowboys 560+. Let that sink in for a minute.
Some might say the Cowboys racked up a lot of yards in garbage time. They did. But they racked up a lot of yards before the half too. Each of their first 5 drives got them into Packers territory. They were moving the ball pretty easily against the Packers defense the entire game. They didn't shoot themselves in the foot in the 2nd half - as much.
The difference in this game was obvious. Turnovers and penalties. By the time the Cowboys had over 100 yards in penalties the Packers had 4 for 35 yards.
Other thoughts:
The pass to Cooper on the first drive was worse than I originally thought. Cooper had to slow down and turn to his left to try to catch the ball. The ball was way behind him, not just off his left shoulder. If he catches it, he scores. He thinks he should have caught it and he probably should have.
The score was 17-0 at the half. No need to give up on the running game. It was working. But so was the passing game. The Cowboys were getting big chunks fo yards in the air, even when Dak was having problems with accuracy.
I hate using the refs as an excuse but they totally screwed the Cowboys in this game. One reason the Packers scored 31 point on 335 yards is the 124 yards in penalties on Dallas. There was a killer holding call on Austin with the score 14-0 that negated a Zeke run to the Packers 18. It was a terrible call. That gave Dallas a 1st and 20. On second down and long Dak threw his second INT. The PI on Brown that JG challenged was also BS. I replayed it 20 times and there really was not that much contact and the ball hit Brown in the back. There is no way that ball was catchable. I could read Garrett's lips after that call. He used the word "horse ****" I believe, multiple times. The flag for unsportsmanlike was also BS. But they saved the worst for last. The no call on the mugging of Gallup was just ridiculous. In fact, one thing is noticeable about the Packers DBs. They are very aggressive and physical. This is why the call on Brown was so bad. There was a big 2rd down pass that got a call on Heath too. The refs also missed about 3 illegal procedure calls where the Packer's RT left early. I saw one call that looked picky against the Packers. The slap in the head on Dak. That was iffy at best.
Dak was inaccurate with his passes in the 1st half. This seems like a pattern. He needs to fix that.
Dallas went nowhere on there first drive of the 2nd half and had to punt. Jones, of course, kicks one a paltry 33 yards. Is it me or does he do that at the worst times? In any case, the Packers got great field position and scored to make it 24-0.
On defense it was ugly at times. LVE looked overmatched a lot. The Cowboys lost containment to the outside constantly. The RB kept cutting outside and the Cowboys containment was trapped inside way too much. Not one person either. Brown, Chido, LVE, Tank, Lee all get caught over pursuing to the inside. Then the tackling was bad. They need to work on this.
I also confirmed my suspicions that the DL was not doing its job. The Packers were able to get at least one lineman upfield to take out the LBs. This looks like what the Colts and Rams did last year. The Cowboys appear soft or physically weak in the middle. But the LBs need to be quicker to the holes too.
One last point about the officiating. I watched the replay of that Rodgers fumble/pass a dozen times or more. The more I watched it the more it looked like a fumble. Its really close, but it looks like Rodgers got hit by Lawrence and the ball started to slip from his hand. Rodgers then flicked his wrist forward to make it look like he was pushing it, but I think the ball was already loose. LVE recovered it at the Packers 30. Don't know if it would have made a difference but just another bad break for Dallas.
In summary, the Cowboys lost because of a lack of discipline and some bad calls. The discipline is a coaching thing I think.
First some stats. Who would have thought the Packers did not get 350 yards of offense on Sunday? But that's a fact. The Packers got a total of 335 net yards to the Cowboys 560+. Let that sink in for a minute.
Some might say the Cowboys racked up a lot of yards in garbage time. They did. But they racked up a lot of yards before the half too. Each of their first 5 drives got them into Packers territory. They were moving the ball pretty easily against the Packers defense the entire game. They didn't shoot themselves in the foot in the 2nd half - as much.
The difference in this game was obvious. Turnovers and penalties. By the time the Cowboys had over 100 yards in penalties the Packers had 4 for 35 yards.
Other thoughts:
The pass to Cooper on the first drive was worse than I originally thought. Cooper had to slow down and turn to his left to try to catch the ball. The ball was way behind him, not just off his left shoulder. If he catches it, he scores. He thinks he should have caught it and he probably should have.
The score was 17-0 at the half. No need to give up on the running game. It was working. But so was the passing game. The Cowboys were getting big chunks fo yards in the air, even when Dak was having problems with accuracy.
I hate using the refs as an excuse but they totally screwed the Cowboys in this game. One reason the Packers scored 31 point on 335 yards is the 124 yards in penalties on Dallas. There was a killer holding call on Austin with the score 14-0 that negated a Zeke run to the Packers 18. It was a terrible call. That gave Dallas a 1st and 20. On second down and long Dak threw his second INT. The PI on Brown that JG challenged was also BS. I replayed it 20 times and there really was not that much contact and the ball hit Brown in the back. There is no way that ball was catchable. I could read Garrett's lips after that call. He used the word "horse ****" I believe, multiple times. The flag for unsportsmanlike was also BS. But they saved the worst for last. The no call on the mugging of Gallup was just ridiculous. In fact, one thing is noticeable about the Packers DBs. They are very aggressive and physical. This is why the call on Brown was so bad. There was a big 2rd down pass that got a call on Heath too. The refs also missed about 3 illegal procedure calls where the Packer's RT left early. I saw one call that looked picky against the Packers. The slap in the head on Dak. That was iffy at best.
Dak was inaccurate with his passes in the 1st half. This seems like a pattern. He needs to fix that.
Dallas went nowhere on there first drive of the 2nd half and had to punt. Jones, of course, kicks one a paltry 33 yards. Is it me or does he do that at the worst times? In any case, the Packers got great field position and scored to make it 24-0.
On defense it was ugly at times. LVE looked overmatched a lot. The Cowboys lost containment to the outside constantly. The RB kept cutting outside and the Cowboys containment was trapped inside way too much. Not one person either. Brown, Chido, LVE, Tank, Lee all get caught over pursuing to the inside. Then the tackling was bad. They need to work on this.
I also confirmed my suspicions that the DL was not doing its job. The Packers were able to get at least one lineman upfield to take out the LBs. This looks like what the Colts and Rams did last year. The Cowboys appear soft or physically weak in the middle. But the LBs need to be quicker to the holes too.
One last point about the officiating. I watched the replay of that Rodgers fumble/pass a dozen times or more. The more I watched it the more it looked like a fumble. Its really close, but it looks like Rodgers got hit by Lawrence and the ball started to slip from his hand. Rodgers then flicked his wrist forward to make it look like he was pushing it, but I think the ball was already loose. LVE recovered it at the Packers 30. Don't know if it would have made a difference but just another bad break for Dallas.
In summary, the Cowboys lost because of a lack of discipline and some bad calls. The discipline is a coaching thing I think.
