3 Ups, 3 Downs - Week 7 vs. STL

[casmith07]

Three sustains, and three areas of improvement. Go!

3 Ups

1. Uh, DeMarco Murray. I will just leave it at one line. Too easy to list.

2. Dez Bryant. Showing up in the 2nd half, admitting that you had to get better and then doing it - great work. Also love his attitude, apologizing to Romo and Coach Garrett for the dropped pass, and then making up for it.

3. Jason Garrett! Give credit where credit is due - used the running game to the strengths of the guys running it, took shots in the passing game when necessary, and had an awesome, nearly 50/50 run/pass balance en route to a win. Also have to credit the guys for not making a bunch of mistakes and playing smart, disciplined football.

3 Downs

1. Tashard Choice. I'm done here. He provides literally nothing to this football team and may have even feigned injury to attempt to mask yet another fumble yesterday. Fortunately the defense bailed him out.

2. Doug Free. Looking kind of bad out there...but I don't think he just all of a sudden got bad. I think he's hurt. He isn't moving his feet and sliding with the pass rusher like he normally does. Maybe a hip injury. Still looks good in space, however.

3. Hard to find a third "down" but I'll go with jumping offsides. Once, okay. Twice? Come on.



List 'em!

 

[Jarv]

Nice post, I would also give an "up" to Tanner in a limited appearance.

 

[casmith07]

Nice post, I would also give an "up" to Tanner in a limited appearance.

I agree...I could have put it as "running game" as an up.

I really like Phillip Tanner. Might be our goal line hammer. But he's fast, too.

 

[Dallas]

3 Ups 3 Downs

UP:

• D-Murray! That is all that has to be said here.
• Laurent Robinson- Still coming to play every Sunday. Is already being mentioned as the 3rd WR for the Cowboys. Great addition and solid WR.
• Demarcus Ware - I know this is easy, but the guy is just a beast. Listening to Lynch go on and on about Ware yesterday shows just how special D-Ware is. Other players just drool all over the guy. He is complete and the best DP in the game.

Down:

• Tony Romo - I am not putting him here to bash, but it gets old watching him saunter around and take forever to the get the offense setup and play out. The 1 second remaining on the clock for every snap isn't helping. Why can't the offense just GO GO GO !!! He is helping the defense way to much w/ his approach atm.
• Tashard Choice - Nothing really needs to be said here. He has made his bed w/ his ball handling inconsistencies and is proving time and time again, he doesn't need to be on this roster. I hope he does good elsewhere, but we are STACKED at RB and could use his spot on other player changes outs.
• Spencer- Has been solid, but it would be nice to get more out of him, especially since he sees so many 1 on 1's. It would be nice if he could beat those 1v1 on a more consistent basis. He sells out on the rush to much and doesn't play the runner like he should more often.

 

[LeonDixson]

I'll try to not repeat yours:

UP
1. Offensive line opening up running lanes.

2. The defense REFUSING to let the Rams score at the end. Playing with intensity and purpose even at the end of game well in hand.

3. Abram Elam. Too much good to talk about.

4. Bailey's string of consecutive FGs.
DOWN

1. I can't help but repeat your point about Choice, and I've been a supporter.

2. Bailey's KO out of bounds. Easy to forgive since he has made so many FGs.

3. Not letting Murray go for the all-time single game rushing record.

 

[Dallas]

I'll try to not repeat yours:

UP
1. Offensive line opening up running lanes.

2. The defense REFUSING to let the Rams score at the end. Playing with intensity and purpose even at the end of game well in hand.

3. Abram Elam. Too much good to talk about.

4. Bailey's string of consecutive FGs.
DOWN

1. I can't help but repeat your point about Choice, and I've been a supporter.

2. Bailey's KO out of bounds. Easy to forgive since he has made so many FGs.

3. Not letting Murray go for the all-time single game rushing record.

Strange. Your 3 up and 3 down adds up to 7.

hrmmmm

 

[LeonDixson]

Strange. Your 3 up and 3 down adds up to 7.

hrmmmm

Yep. I wanted to list a lot more ups but decided to leave it as only one extra.

 

[JonJon]

Up

1. DeMarco Murray: Revived the Cowboys run offense and broke the All-time Cowboys rushing record as a rookie.
2. Dan Bailey: He is starting to become Mr. Automatic. We haven't had a kicker we could depend on in a long time.
3. Tony Romo: Didn't have many pass yards but he managed the game and had zero turnovers for the second time this year.

Honorable mention: Mike Jenkins, Abram Elam, Dez Bryant, Phillip Tanner

Down

1. Tashard Choice: He tried his best to let the Rams back into the game yesterday. I think the kid is all but done as a Cowboy.
2. Tashard Choice: Well I couldn't think of anything else, but Choice was so bad, he deserves a second mention.
3. Tashard Choice: He sucks

 

[pugilist]

3 Ups

1. Running game as a whole (great job by the guards getting to the 2nd level, and outstanding vision by Murray and Tanner)

2. Montrae Holland. Nice job getting back to Dallas in good shape and putting up that performance. Please keep it up

3. Dez Bryant. Really liked the tenacity on that one catch where it looked like he was tackled for sure then just pops up out of nowhere and gains another 5 yards or so. Also, way to man up to your mistakes (drops), apologize to not only your teammates but your head coach, and totally redeem yourself on the series.

3 Downs

1. Tashard Choice. obvious.

2. Anthony Spencer. Need to be more cerebral on down and distance situations and stop trying to hop around the blocker. on that SJax TD run he totally vacated his gap which allowed the tackle to seal the edge and spring Stephen.

3. Penalties.

1 Sustain

Miles Austin. Production needs to be a bit better for a #1 WR, but double and triple coverage has a lot to do with it. The obvious off. PI offset a personal foul penalty which stalled a drive, can't have those.

 

[JD_KaPow]

UP:
1. Holland & the OL run-blocking. Murray was untouched on the 91-yarder.
2. Elam. Great all-around game.
3. Bailey's FGs. The kid looks awesome.

DOWN:
1. Austin. Two catches in six targets, plus an OPI. A couple poor weeks in a row - I hope he rounds into form soon.
2. Choice. I didn't think he could go lower, but he's still digging.
3. Bailey's kickoffs. The kid looks lousy.

3. Not letting Murray go for the all-time single game rushing record.

I've seen this complaint a few times here and I don't get it. How could they have done this, exactly? Murray's last carry took us to the Rams' 16 yard line. If we'd fed him the ball and he finished that drive off, he'd still be 28 yards short. We got the ball back in kneel-down time (and probably would have had even less if we'd kept running on the previous drive instead of getting a one-play TD to Dez). It was pretty clear when they pulled Murray that the record was out of reach, and it would have been bush-league to call the plays and time-outs that would have been needed on our final possession.

 

[CowboyMort]

My 2 cents.

I think that the success in the running game could help with the O-line's confidence and can hopefully springboard into a sustainable running game for the rest of the season. I know it was the Rams, but I compare it to a "Slump Buster" in baseball.

I don't think Bailey has come close to missing since the first kick of the year. Every one of the rest of his kicks has been right down the middle. I don't even know how to act every kickwhen I am not leaning right or left in my living room trying to bend it inside the goalpost.

 

[casmith07]

2. Bailey's KO out of bounds. Easy to forgive since he has made so many FGs.

Forgot about that - definitely bad. Can't have that at all. Thankfully the D bailed him out.

 

[alancdc]

How was the pass rush yesterday? It looks like we only were able to get 1 sack. However, that doesn't always tell the whole story if we were getting pressure that made a difference.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I wanted to put Choice in the Downers list, but lets face it. You can't get any lower than he is right now with all the fumbles.

Uppers:

1. Murray
2. Holland (both the Cowboys and Rangers!)
3. Elam

Downers:

1. Defensive line. (penalties)
2. Lee (because I didn't hear his name in the game and nobody here is talking about him : He did have a TFL though! )
3. Austin

 

[kmd24]

Up

1. Montrae Holland. Probably the best OL on the field Sunday.
2. Demarco Murray and Phillip Tanner. The OL got these guys the one-on-one matchups, and neither RB let the first guy get them down.
3. Entire secondary. Some of the best tackling I've seen in years from Scandrick, Elam, and the gang.

Down

1. Phil Costa. Looks overmatched too often. Blown into the backfield a few times. Gave up a sack when getting help from Kosier. Can't pick up the blitzing LB consistently.
2. Tashard Choice. I just think he's going through the motions at this point. His fumble came on our side of the field in a 7-point game. After watching the replay several times, I'm not convinced he was really hurt.
3. Kickoffs. It wasn't terrible, but Bailey kicked one OB and we allowed two returns over 20 yards. I couldn't think of anything else.

 

[Bull Frog]

How was the pass rush yesterday? It looks like we only were able to get 1 sack. However, that doesn't always tell the whole story if we were getting pressure that made a difference.

They ran quick passes and screens for the most part. He was getting rid of the ball quickly. His average per attempt was 5.9 yards which ranks near the bottom of the league average. The pressure got better as the game went on.

 

[DFWJC]

DP in the game.
Down:

• Tony Romo - I am not putting him here to bash, but it gets old watching him saunter around and take forever to the get the offense setup and play out. The 1 second remaining on the clock for every snap isn't helping. Why can't the offense just GO GO GO !!! He is helping the defense way to much w/ his approach atm.

Romo was an UP. The guy was a maestro out there.

I do think it's hard on the online when they have to hold a stance for so long.

 

[shockandroll]

3 Ups 3 Downs

UP:

• D-Murray! That is all that has to be said here.
• Laurent Robinson- Still coming to play every Sunday. Is already being mentioned as the 3rd WR for the Cowboys. Great addition and solid WR.
• Demarcus Ware - I know this is easy, but the guy is just a beast. Listening to Lynch go on and on about Ware yesterday shows just how special D-Ware is. Other players just drool all over the guy. He is complete and the best DP in the game.

Down:

• Tony Romo - I am not putting him here to bash, but it gets old watching him saunter around and take forever to the get the offense setup and play out. The 1 second remaining on the clock for every snap isn't helping. Why can't the offense just GO GO GO !!! He is helping the defense way to much w/ his approach atm.
• Tashard Choice - Nothing really needs to be said here. He has made his bed w/ his ball handling inconsistencies and is proving time and time again, he doesn't need to be on this roster. I hope he does good elsewhere, but we are STACKED at RB and could use his spot on other player changes outs.
• Spencer- Has been solid, but it would be nice to get more out of him, especially since he sees so many 1 on 1's. It would be nice if he could beat those 1v1 on a more consistent basis. He sells out on the rush to much and doesn't play the runner like he should more often.

I was paying pretty close attention to when the ball was snapped yesterday and there were many times there were 6-10 seconds on the clock. I think you are nit picking a bit on that.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Up

1. We took care of business and won



Down

1. It was the Rams


I feel it would irresponsible to read any more into that game.

 

[TheCount]

UPS
1. Demarco Murray - Obviously.
2. Montrae Holland/Tony Fiammetta - Combined to vastly improve our Run D, at least for one game.
3. Coaching - Both Garrett's O and Ryan's D put up the kind of performance you expect against an inferior opponent.

DOWNS
1. Tashard Choice - Good luck on your next team.
2. Still Making Mental Errors - We are lucky we were facing the Rams because we made several silly errors that a better team could have made us pay for.
3. Doug Free - Dunno if he's injured or not, but if you're out there, you have to do your job. Needs to pick up his play.