A few thoughts on first preaseason game

[bpfred]

The scariest position on the team is no longer backup NT. Now it's backup QB. Brad Johnson is more suited to being a coach at this point than a player. He can't reliably throw more than 7 yards downfield against an NFL 1st team defense. Wide-side outs and deep outs? Forget it. If Romo goes down, every defensive coordinator in the league will go to an eight man front, and Johnson won't be able to beat it.

Johnson is a significant downgrade from Bledsoe as a backup QB. If Bledsoe was a statue with a strong arm, Johnson is a statue without an arm (think Venus de Milo). Moore isn't likely to ready for at least one year, and maybe two (if ever). Romo better stay healthy this year.

Leonard Davis will be a real force in the running game. He will remain just as much a liability in the passing game as Rivera was.

Barber is a good short yardage and goal-line back (and more). Neither Jones nor Thompson look like they can get the job done in short yardage and goal-line situations. Battle looks like he could. (Ask Hamlin). That alone looks like a case to keep Battle on the practice squad.

On defense, Ware looks like the only guy that can regularly beat his man when rushing the passer. The guys that couldn't last year, still can't.

I have high hopes that the scheme will create offensive line confusion and we'll get a good number of sacks that way. Ironically, this was reinforced on the 25 yard completion from Manning to Harrison. Even though he made the play, Manning had some really happy feet in the pocket.

I'm not down at all on Spencer based on his lack of production, and likely won't be for at least three quarters of the year (if it continues). The situation reminds me of a Dexter Manley interview years ago. He was talking about his rookie year, and specifically when Washington played Dallas. He said it was one of the most humiliating experiences of his life. He said Pat Donovan did everything to him that could be done to a guy. And Manley turned out to be pretty good.

FWIW.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

Johnson just has to go.......

 

[Cowboy4ever]

Leonard Davis will be a real force in the running game. He will remain just as much a liability in the passing game as Rivera was.

I don't know where you get this from. Rivera's main problem in Pass protection was that his back just wasn't strong enough to hold up to the bull rush, I dont see that being a problem at all from Bigg. The only real pressure that was applied the other night was on the incomplete from Romo to TO, and that guy came off Center, not Davis.

Barber is a good short yardage and goal-line back (and more). Neither Jones nor Thompson look like they can get the job done in short yardage and goal-line situations

I agree that Barber is a good short yardage back but disagree about Jones. How can you draw a conclusion about Jones when He is not given the opportunity to do it? He did convert a 3 and 1 on the ground other night and looked strong doing it, hit the hole very fast and hard. Looked good catching the ball out the backfield and getting up field rather quickly.

On defense, Ware looks like the only guy that can regularly beat his man when rushing the passer. The guys that couldn't last year, still can't.

I think it is a little early to draw that conclusion. Ware had a couple of good rush's as he always does, but keep in mind, he was going against a new guy as well. There is a reason Manning was sacked a total of 15 times last year,, that offensive line is very good and Manning gets the ball out very quickly.

 

[bpfred]

I don't know where you get this from. Rivera's main problem in Pass protection was that his back just wasn't strong enough to hold up to the bull rush, I dont see that being a problem at all from Bigg. The only real pressure that was applied the other night was on the incomplete from Romo to TO, and that guy came off Center, not Davis.

Davis has never been a top pass protector, I don't think that will change just because he's now at guard. His problems aren't likely to come from bull rushes, he's strong enough to hold anyone off if he sees a bull rush coming. His problems will come from secondary rush moves-where his size will tend to work against him.

I agree that Barber is a good short yardage back but disagree about Jones. How can you draw a conclusion about Jones when He is not given the opportunity to do it? He did convert a 3 and 1 on the ground other night and looked strong doing it, hit the hole very fast and hard. Looked good catching the ball out the backfield and getting up field rather quickly. .

We're going to have to disagree about Jones as a short-yardage back. I've never seen anything that would indicate he'd be good in that role. And I'm not down on Jones. He and Thompson both appear quicker getting to the line of scrimmage than Barber. And Jones has better cuts than Thompson, who tends to veer more than cut. I know a lot of people will say Jones doesn't cut at all--but I'm sticking by my statement (for now).

I think it is a little early to draw that conclusion. Ware had a couple of good rush's as he always does, but keep in mind, he was going against a new guy as well. There is a reason Manning was sacked a total of 15 times last year,, that offensive line is very good and Manning gets the ball out very quickly.

This is fair--it is too early to draw the conclusion. And hopefully I will be completely wrong. There are guys capable of proving me wrong: Ellis, Spencer, Hatcher, Carpenter, & Canty. I just haven't seen it yet. Most of the pressure (except Ware) that I noticed Thursday night was more a result of scheme, than guys just beating their man.

To me this was the big problem with our defense last year--guys just lost their (pass rushing) matchup way too much of the time. After Ellis went down, nobody except Ware could get to the quarterback. And there were plenty of pass rushing downs last year where guys didn't have to play the read-and-react scheme they (retroactively) like to complain about so much. Many of those safety problems would have gone away with a better rush.