casmith07
Attorney-at-Zone
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Time for the weekly 3 Ups, 3 Downs. Join in the fun if you wish.
3 Ups
1. This Defense. Man - the unit that everyone was gnashing their teeth over in the preseason has been stingy and stout. Again we have limited a team to 2 offensive touchdowns and some field goals. If not for a last minute drive, we would have held the mystical New England Patriots to 13 points. 13 Points! I can say with confidence that this defense has played well enough the entire season now for us to handily win every single game. We just can't get out of our own way on offense...and I don't think it's the personnel, necessarily.
2. Sean Lee. Do I need to say anything other than his name? He's everywhere -- tackling ball carriers, stuffing the run, covering tight ends, and making finger-tip interceptions of the most handsome, most super-model-dating, greatest, most ESPN-loved quarterback to ever strap on a helmet. I am thrilled to know that we have a force at ILB for years to come. He's going to give opposing quarterbacks and offensive coordinators fits because of his sideline-to-sideline speed and range.
3. Dan Bailey. Why is David Beuhler still on the roster, other than Jerry and Stephen being cheap and not wanting to pay an injury settlement? Even if they move kickoffs back to the 35 next year, Bailey has enough leg to get it high and to the end zone, and our coverage team is pretty good (not yesterday, but they've been so far this season). Not only that, his kicks go right down the middle after shanking a bad one against SF. He's going to miss some, sure, but I'd rather go with near misses from him than outright stinkers with Buehler.
3 Downs.
1. Situational Playcalling. A lot of people have said "well, you got what you wanted - we ran the ball with a lead." If you're junior varsity, then you're correct. But we're talking varsity football here. When you're up 24 points against the Detroit Lions, you can run the ball for 3 and out and punt. When you're up by 3 points on the road with about 2 minutes left and the most handsome, most super-model-dating, greatest, most ESPN-loved quarterback to ever strap on a helmet is standing on the other side of the field, you need to win the game. That means making first downs. Miles Austin, despite dropping a few passes, has had great success pushing the DBs up the field for short comeback routes all game long. Why not go back to that? Also, your starting G has gone down with injury and an undersized replacement is in lined up against Vince Wilfork, who apparently weighs 325 lbs (I'd add 100 to that and say we're talking) -- you don't think New England's going to barrel ahead and stuff the gaps for the run?
Look, I love Jason Garrett as our coach. I said it against the Lions in this same thread that he has this team playing hard for all 60 minutes, despite the pundits saying "oh they only played for 57 minutes" -- that's bunk. This team plays balls to the wall for 60 minutes, and the mistakes are on hustle plays 9 times out of 10 as opposed to just being lazy effort or bad technique penalties like with Wade Phillips. But for two weeks in a row the main reason we have been put in a position to lose has been Jason Garrett. Yes, there have been turnovers, but those plays never should have been called. He needs to get better, or get some help. We have the Rams next week - if we look pathetic against an 0-5 team on offense, I'll be pretty upset. Miami Dolphins -- if you're reading this, please fire Tony Sparano.
2. Tashard Choice. Can we just be done with him? Jerry should take the first offer received on him. I don't care if it's a bag of youth footballs. Get him out of here. He's directly in the way of us seeing what we have in Phillip Tanner, too, who could possibly have better vision that all of our other backs combined. Trade him or cut him, I don't care. Just get him out of Dallas.
3. Miles Austin. One of the "drops" was punched out of his hands, though I think he could have secured it better. But the other drop would have been a 20 yard gain at a minimum and would have set us up for some more red zone theatrics, for better or for worse. He played well early, but that was a big time goat play that some could argue cost us.
- - -
I don't know where we go from here, but I know where it should be: stomping a Cowboys Stadium-sized mud hole in the butts of the St. Louis Rams. If we don't blow the Rams out, I'll officially be hitting the "Seriously Concerned" button about this offense, which loves to continue to rack up yardage in the top 5 of teams in the NFL but can't get a first down against the 32nd ranked passing defense...because it chose to run the ball instead of pass? I'm just baffled.
3 Ups
1. This Defense. Man - the unit that everyone was gnashing their teeth over in the preseason has been stingy and stout. Again we have limited a team to 2 offensive touchdowns and some field goals. If not for a last minute drive, we would have held the mystical New England Patriots to 13 points. 13 Points! I can say with confidence that this defense has played well enough the entire season now for us to handily win every single game. We just can't get out of our own way on offense...and I don't think it's the personnel, necessarily.
2. Sean Lee. Do I need to say anything other than his name? He's everywhere -- tackling ball carriers, stuffing the run, covering tight ends, and making finger-tip interceptions of the most handsome, most super-model-dating, greatest, most ESPN-loved quarterback to ever strap on a helmet. I am thrilled to know that we have a force at ILB for years to come. He's going to give opposing quarterbacks and offensive coordinators fits because of his sideline-to-sideline speed and range.
3. Dan Bailey. Why is David Beuhler still on the roster, other than Jerry and Stephen being cheap and not wanting to pay an injury settlement? Even if they move kickoffs back to the 35 next year, Bailey has enough leg to get it high and to the end zone, and our coverage team is pretty good (not yesterday, but they've been so far this season). Not only that, his kicks go right down the middle after shanking a bad one against SF. He's going to miss some, sure, but I'd rather go with near misses from him than outright stinkers with Buehler.
3 Downs.
1. Situational Playcalling. A lot of people have said "well, you got what you wanted - we ran the ball with a lead." If you're junior varsity, then you're correct. But we're talking varsity football here. When you're up 24 points against the Detroit Lions, you can run the ball for 3 and out and punt. When you're up by 3 points on the road with about 2 minutes left and the most handsome, most super-model-dating, greatest, most ESPN-loved quarterback to ever strap on a helmet is standing on the other side of the field, you need to win the game. That means making first downs. Miles Austin, despite dropping a few passes, has had great success pushing the DBs up the field for short comeback routes all game long. Why not go back to that? Also, your starting G has gone down with injury and an undersized replacement is in lined up against Vince Wilfork, who apparently weighs 325 lbs (I'd add 100 to that and say we're talking) -- you don't think New England's going to barrel ahead and stuff the gaps for the run?
Look, I love Jason Garrett as our coach. I said it against the Lions in this same thread that he has this team playing hard for all 60 minutes, despite the pundits saying "oh they only played for 57 minutes" -- that's bunk. This team plays balls to the wall for 60 minutes, and the mistakes are on hustle plays 9 times out of 10 as opposed to just being lazy effort or bad technique penalties like with Wade Phillips. But for two weeks in a row the main reason we have been put in a position to lose has been Jason Garrett. Yes, there have been turnovers, but those plays never should have been called. He needs to get better, or get some help. We have the Rams next week - if we look pathetic against an 0-5 team on offense, I'll be pretty upset. Miami Dolphins -- if you're reading this, please fire Tony Sparano.
2. Tashard Choice. Can we just be done with him? Jerry should take the first offer received on him. I don't care if it's a bag of youth footballs. Get him out of here. He's directly in the way of us seeing what we have in Phillip Tanner, too, who could possibly have better vision that all of our other backs combined. Trade him or cut him, I don't care. Just get him out of Dallas.
3. Miles Austin. One of the "drops" was punched out of his hands, though I think he could have secured it better. But the other drop would have been a 20 yard gain at a minimum and would have set us up for some more red zone theatrics, for better or for worse. He played well early, but that was a big time goat play that some could argue cost us.
- - -
I don't know where we go from here, but I know where it should be: stomping a Cowboys Stadium-sized mud hole in the butts of the St. Louis Rams. If we don't blow the Rams out, I'll officially be hitting the "Seriously Concerned" button about this offense, which loves to continue to rack up yardage in the top 5 of teams in the NFL but can't get a first down against the 32nd ranked passing defense...because it chose to run the ball instead of pass? I'm just baffled.
