A Different Perspective After 1 Game!

Jinxx13x

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Today is a great day for numerous reasons, Football is back ! Today the Cowboys zone management granted me the power to give likes and to start threads. I figured for my first thread I would share my perspective on tonights game.

So yes we lost 20-19 to our divisional rival the Giants. I know a lot of you are angry, and frustrated from what i have read immediately following the game. I suggest we take a step back and really take a look at today, the bigger picture, and what we really learned.

First lets take a look at the single most important take away from tonights game.

1) Dak Pressott ( He is Romo's Heir Apparent ) --Stat Line - 25-45 -227 yards 2 rushes 12 yards 0 Td's 0 Interceptions

Pro's - He looked poised, confident, and in total control in a big division game, he led the offense to scores on 4 of his first 5 drives 2 of which should have been TD's - the Beasly Drop & Dez bobble both of those were on the receivers not Dak. Not to mention he was marching us in the final drive if not for some mental lapses by 2 receivers which ate up the clock.

He took what the giants gave him and they threw lots of different looks at the young rookie. He handled it all like a seasoned vet. Think about it ! the Giants game plan was to shut down EE and double the wideouts so Dak did what he was suppossed to do he took what they gave him and abused the giants over the middle with Witten and Beasly. He didn't try to force anything and he controlled the clock. Credit the Giants game plan though forcing Witten the slowest player on the cowboys to beat you was a pretty creative, yet Dak still had this team in a position to win in the end.

Did anyone notice when JPP hit his arm when he was about to throw he managed to hold on to the ball and not fumble. He made smart decisions and did not try to force the ball.

Con's- some of those read options looked a little shaky with EE not sure where the blame was

Dak is a winner and in my opinion the search for Romo's eventual replacement is finally over.

Ezekiel Elliott Stat Line 20 attempts 51 yards 1 TD - Tuff day for the rookie running back but the whole game plan was designed to smother him, he did have a nice TD run but i think he stood out the most in Blitz pick up's i saw several times where he made the right read and a nice block. If some of those FG would have been TD like they should have been things might have opened up a bit more. He did not fumble so decent performance all things considered.

Alfred Morris Stat Line - 7 attempts 35 yard 0 TD - great day- definitely has a lot left in the tank awesome pick up for us ran hard- i could see the argument where some wished he had more opportunities but confirmation our backfield is deep.

Cowboys Wr.

Dez Bryant - 1 catch really early i was excited thinking he was getting involved early and then poof he disappeared. I get that they doubled him but the coaches need to find a way to move him around to get him better looks. I was disappointed to put it lightly since i love dez have his jersey and he is one of my favorite players. In the final drive in particular he should be asserting himself not disappearing.

T Williams - Where was he until last catch final drive and he zigged instead of zagged and possible cost us at least an attempt at a hail mary or long FG

Witten and Beasly were the offense tonight and at this point in his career if Witten is the main target with the most catches that will not be a good thing for the cowboys. He is to slow Dez should be the one with 9 catches. Beasly dropped the TD catch in the first drive but overall had a good game but i think he needs to work on balls over his head a little dropped a few of them.

Offensive line - Played well IMO Dak had time for the most part considering how much pressure they tried to put on him. Just remember the Giants stacked the line to stop the run so all things considered we controlled the clock and that was a direct result of this line not to mention 0 Sacks given up.

One thing that was annoying penalties the O-Line got a few holding penalties right in the beginning of drives that put us in a bad position and led to the giants final go ahead score.

Defense - Overall held last years 6th rated scoring offense to 20 points ! But we need more consistancy.

Run Defense was poor which disappointed me and overall was a confusing day - at times they were aggressive and tight in coverage and at other times Eli and Company looked unstoppable especially when they marched down for back to back Td's since we were getting no pressure.

Contrary to popular belief the coaches did make adjustments at halftime because we held them to 7 points in the 2nd half, we got far more pressure and also got a turnover. That final go ahead score for them started off due to bad field position caused by an initial holding penalty on our Oline which led to a punt to set them up with excellent field position.

Overall we outplayed the Giants in all facets - except the most important one the scoreboard.
We out rushed them , out passed them, held a significant advantage in TOP, Bailey 4-4 usual MVP self
we even had more sacks and turnovers then them. turn a couple of those FG into TD or eliminate a couple of those mental lapses maybe different turnout.

Other positives to consider
OBJ -was contained pretty well i think we do it better then any other team TBH
3rd down conversion percentage 10-17 58% very nice
Gregory and Lawrence return should boost the defense even more

All things considered I am disappointed we lost but i found a lot to be happy and proud of so i think this was a good game to evaluate. Romo's should not lose his job when he is ready to come back, but these games for Dak are gonna be great for his confidence and experience. Future is bright in Dallas especially if we focus on defense and another WR in next years draft.

Your thoughts ?
 
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