A few thoughts

[Dale]

Sorry to put this in its own post, but I had to "vent."

Overall, I'm not depressed we lost this game. It's just the matter we lost. These kinds of losses are so draining it's hard to take.

Going in, I expected this to be one of those walking-into-a-hornet's-nest games. The fact we withstood the early storm and came back to lead showed a lot of character.

In fact, I think this team's character and guts is among its more redeeming characteristics. We were supposed to be "dead" after Bledsoe's second INT. The defense held and gave us another chance. We looked "dead" on 4th and 18. The team somehow delivered a potential game-changing play.

With that said, this team doesn't seem very smart. Every week, sooo many mistakes are made. Not just drops, overthrows, penalties and the like. But like on the third interception, a receiver supposedly not knowing where he's supposed to be. Owens and Bledsoe not knowing what's going on on the second interception. Seems like a ton of miscommunication and mistakes.

This isn't a season-altering loss. We hung in there against a good team and played hard -- better, in some ways, than I anticipated. With that said, it is a separation game. It's going to be difficult to win this division. It's going to be difficult to make the playoffs. It's going to be even more difficult to make the playoffs with anything better than a 5th or 6th seed.

That, indeed, is disappointing.

And it's disappointing because this is the team we are. Bledsoe's a tremendous competitor. One of the gutsiest players in the league. His ability to withstand hits is amazing. But he's flawed. We all have known this. But his heroics, at times, have left me hoping we could overcome them. It's becoming more and more obvious that we won't be able to do that.

It's a shame, because it's a good team. And Bledsoe's a good quarterback against certain teams. But there are just some games -- like today's -- that you know he's going to struggle. It's hard to be a good football team with a quarterbak like that, especially when you're going up against players like McNabb.

Benching Bledsoe won't happen. And, in some ways, it cause more problems if Romo isn't an instant success. It's just frustrating because he's fun to watch at times, and dreadful at others.

On a separate need, it was fun seeing Julius play so well again. He's finally turning into a consistent threat for this team.

 

[Eddie]

I gotta call this game on the play calling. ***? We open with a 5 WR set? You don't even do that on Madden football.

What was Parcells thinking? Did he think he could trick the Eagles???

That BS got us killed.

I won't rag on Bledsoe. He is what he is.

But if he's our QB, don't expect any playoffs in the near future.

 

[percyhoward]

On a separate need, it was fun seeing Julius play so well again. He's finally turning into a consistent threat for this team.

Julius is now a one-man committee, and there was no reason that I can see to leave him completely out of that drive that ended with the INT on the pass to Owens.

Bledsoe is a tough SOB, but he is not the future of this team, or any other team for that matter.

 

[wileedog]

I gotta call this game on the play calling. ***? We open with a 5 WR set? You don't even do that on Madden football.

We have had success with it all year, and with 5 wide you guarantee single coverage on everyone if they blitz.

Bledsoe missed WRs or they didn't get open. The line couldn't pick up the blitzes. There is nothing wrong with agressively attacking a blitzing team, which is what everyone spends most of their time here complaining about. The problem is wehn the QB can't seem to pull the trigger in a situation that absolutely demands a quick decision and release.

 

[jlust22]

Yeah, Bledsoe is such a frustrating QB. I have always disliked him for that reason. I just don't think a team can win and win big with him as their QB. He just has too many negatives which are hard to overcome unless you are incredibly strong in all other areas.

I wonder when's the last time a Parcells coached team lost a game when they ran 30 more plays than the opponent. The Cowboys ran 84 plays to the Eagles 54 and had a 2:1 TOP advantage in the 2nd half. The Eagles had 224 yards in the 2nd half on only 21 plays. It's tough to win games when you give up huge plays multiple times. For as much blame as Bledsoe deserves as well as the OL, this defense has failed big time in the 2nd half of the two losses. They are supposed to be one of the best defenses in the NFL and the unit that is supposed to carry this team, but they haven't held up their end of the bargain for the most part so far. The pass defense still has too many holes.

 

[diehard2294]

good read Dale, now if we could have called a few more draws and quick screens to JJ to slow the pass rush down

 

[CowboyMark]

Everyone messed up this game. T.O. dropped passes. The secondary sucked. Espiacally Roy and Watkins. OL did an OK job, not great but OK. Bledsoe sucked. When he stood in the pocket for about 30 seconds fixing to get sacked I screamed "throw the damn ball away". Jesus Christ way too many mistakes. With the exception of Julius Jones, everyone just didn't play to it's potential. I'm pissed but atleast, or hopefully we can win the next two. The eagles and their idiot fans are happy for now but by years end it's going to be diffrent. Screw the eagles. They stil will never win a super bowl no matter what.

 

[sbark]

Can rant and rave all you want, can vent and go off on tangents.....but unless ticket sales and/or attendence go south will any substantial changes really be made.....

we will win the next few games, all will be a distant memory, but the next "key" game, brain cells will kick in, and things will repeat.....start over, cycle over and over into a wildseed spot in the playoffs with another early exit on the road spurned by a blitz package vrs. a imobile qb with a few int's sprinkled in.

another year down the drain---

here is to hoping my rant is choherent

 

[big dog cowboy]

Bledsoe's a good quarterback against certain teams. But there are just some games -- like today's -- that you know he's going to struggle. It's hard to be a good football team with a quarterbak like that, especially when you're going up against players like McNabb.

The exact reason we won't win a super bowl with Bledsoe as our starter.

 

[ZeroClub]

good read Dale, now if we could have called a few more draws and quick screens to JJ to slow the pass rush down

With Bledsoe, all you have to do is apply pressure up the middle. Draw plays up the middle will be stuffed too, with that pressure.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

You don't even do that on Madden football.

 

[ddh33]

The game was very disappointing for the reason mentioned - this was a separation game.

It seems to me that there are a lot of culprits today when it comes to the mistakes that were made. I've been a little surprised to see so many people who are positive about who is to blame and who is at fault for this loss.

First of all, Drew Bledsoe was awful today. He has a pretty legitimate excuse because he was under pressure all day long. At the same time, does Dallas have to have a pristine pocker in order to have success? The bigger problem for me was seeing just how negatively the rush affected Drew. He seemed so preoccupied about who was coming and from where that he couldn't effectively play quarterback. He was hopping into almost every throw, under-throwing, over-throwing, and missing on a lot of passes. To make matters worse, there were too many times when I ran the game back and couldn't even figure out what he was seeing or who he was throwing the ball to. After the Jacksonville game I said that I was on a "three strike" rule with Bledsoe. I really like the guy a lot. I admire his toughness and so many of the things he can do on the field, but Romo would be getting warm...

Julius Jones continues to turn into a good-looking back. I thought he was the best player today. He was moving the chains, picking up some chunks of yards, and getting a little when there only a little to be had. Marion Barber didn't have as good of a game. He sometimes forgets to go straight ahead on those short yardage plays, and that kills me.

The FOX presentation was disgusting. They should apologize to their viewers for that, Mr. Buck. I would have liked to have seen a football game. Instead I saw a TO soap opera and listened to Jow Buck make mountains out of every mole hill.

Speaking of those mole hills, TO is nicer than I am. People talk about him getting upset, but I would have totally come unglued out there. He still seems to me to be a guy who wants to win, and I don't blame him for thinking that he is his team's best shot at scoring points.

The rest of the receivers played pretty well. It didn't feel like they had a lot of opportunities because of all of the pressure in the second half, but I don't think they can be blamed for anything that happened today.

The O-Line had a difficult day. Too many times it looked like they were miscommunicating though. We had guys blocking in opposite directions, allowing Eagles to come in untouched and get pressure right up the middle. I saw Rivera get puhed back several times, and Flo looked like he should have blocked down on some of those instead of turning out. I don't know exactly what they were trying to do though. I tend to judge them as a unit, and as a unit, they weren't good today. Credit to the Eagles and their schemes though.

McNabb had a very good day today. The Eagles got a ton of big plays. In the end, that's what killed Dallas...Yet, I can't help but feel like Dallas is the better team. Is that strange? The Cowboys played awful, and they still had their chances. They just kept giving it back to Philly.

The defense did a fairly job, I thought, of getting pressure. They didn't get the overt pressure where McNabb was running for his life, but I think that was by design. I think they were worried about losing contain and letting Donovan loose. What they were doing was working well except for thos big plays.

Speaking of those big plays, I'm surprised at how many people are just positive that they know exactly who was supposed to be doing what. Watkins was toast out there on multiple occassions, and his responses allowed you to see that he knew he was at fault...I don't know what happened on some of the others, but there were some bad busts. Marcus Coleman picked a heack of a time to become available again...

Hopefully Dallas is able to take the necessary steps to clean up the ugly parts of their game. There is a lot of season left. I think the bigger concern right now is if this team has the makings of a real playoff threat?

 

[Bob Sacamano]

well at least we're not last in the division Dale...not yet at least

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

The FOX presentation was disgusting. They should apologize to their viewers for that, Mr. Buck. I would have liked to have seen a football game. Instead I saw a TO soap opera and listened to Jow Buck make mountains out of every mole hill.

The guys got a huge boner gor TO.

TO is on the sideline slapping hands with Bledsoe and the other guys and Buck still finds somethign wrong with that

 

[Bob Sacamano]

well I find something wrong with Buck's hairplugs

 

[morasp]

good read Dale, now if we could have called a few more draws and quick screens to JJ to slow the pass rush down

No kidding and maybe not waiting till the end of the game to start roling the pocket. They blitzed up the middle the whole game.

 

[DallasInDC]

The game was very disappointing for the reason mentioned - this was a separation game.

It seems to me that there are a lot of culprits today when it comes to the mistakes that were made. I've been a little surprised to see so many people who are positive about who is to blame and who is at fault for this loss.

First of all, Drew Bledsoe was awful today. He has a pretty legitimate excuse because he was under pressure all day long. At the same time, does Dallas have to have a pristine pocker in order to have success? The bigger problem for me was seeing just how negatively the rush affected Drew. He seemed so preoccupied about who was coming and from where that he couldn't effectively play quarterback. He was hopping into almost every throw, under-throwing, over-throwing, and missing on a lot of passes. To make matters worse, there were too many times when I ran the game back and couldn't even figure out what he was seeing or who he was throwing the ball to. After the Jacksonville game I said that I was on a "three strike" rule with Bledsoe. I really like the guy a lot. I admire his toughness and so many of the things he can do on the field, but Romo would be getting warm...

Julius Jones continues to turn into a good-looking back. I thought he was the best player today. He was moving the chains, picking up some chunks of yards, and getting a little when there only a little to be had. Marion Barber didn't have as good of a game. He sometimes forgets to go straight ahead on those short yardage plays, and that kills me.

The FOX presentation was disgusting. They should apologize to their viewers for that, Mr. Buck. I would have liked to have seen a football game. Instead I saw a TO soap opera and listened to Jow Buck make mountains out of every mole hill.

Speaking of those mole hills, TO is nicer than I am. People talk about him getting upset, but I would have totally come unglued out there. He still seems to me to be a guy who wants to win, and I don't blame him for thinking that he is his team's best shot at scoring points.

The rest of the receivers played pretty well. It didn't feel like they had a lot of opportunities because of all of the pressure in the second half, but I don't think they can be blamed for anything that happened today.

The O-Line had a difficult day. Too many times it looked like they were miscommunicating though. We had guys blocking in opposite directions, allowing Eagles to come in untouched and get pressure right up the middle. I saw Rivera get puhed back several times, and Flo looked like he should have blocked down on some of those instead of turning out. I don't know exactly what they were trying to do though. I tend to judge them as a unit, and as a unit, they weren't good today. Credit to the Eagles and their schemes though.

McNabb had a very good day today. The Eagles got a ton of big plays. In the end, that's what killed Dallas...Yet, I can't help but feel like Dallas is the better team. Is that strange? The Cowboys played awful, and they still had their chances. They just kept giving it back to Philly.

The defense did a fairly job, I thought, of getting pressure. They didn't get the overt pressure where McNabb was running for his life, but I think that was by design. I think they were worried about losing contain and letting Donovan loose. What they were doing was working well except for thos big plays.

Speaking of those big plays, I'm surprised at how many people are just positive that they know exactly who was supposed to be doing what. Watkins was toast out there on multiple occassions, and his responses allowed you to see that he knew he was at fault...I don't know what happened on some of the others, but there were some bad busts. Marcus Coleman picked a heack of a time to become available again...

Hopefully Dallas is able to take the necessary steps to clean up the ugly parts of their game. There is a lot of season left. I think the bigger concern right now is if this team has the makings of a real playoff threat?

great post! Thatjust about sums it all up

 

[CoCo]

I can take the fact that TO created this spotlight with past behavior.

I can take the fact that FOX cameras were on him constantly as a result.

What's disappointing is that Buck & Aikman made comments early in the game disparaging others for all the TO hype but then didn't have the integrity to keep him in proper persepctive themselves for the rest of the game imo.

If they really wanted to keep TO in perspective then show us with your walk. If you simply want to join the hype party then don't disparage others for doing so.

 

[Dale]

First of all, Drew Bledsoe was awful today. He has a pretty legitimate excuse because he was under pressure all day long. At the same time, does Dallas have to have a pristine pocker in order to have success? The bigger problem for me was seeing just how negatively the rush affected Drew. He seemed so preoccupied about who was coming and from where that he couldn't effectively play quarterback. He was hopping into almost every throw, under-throwing, over-throwing, and missing on a lot of passes. To make matters worse, there were too many times when I ran the game back and couldn't even figure out what he was seeing or who he was throwing the ball to. After the Jacksonville game I said that I was on a "three strike" rule with Bledsoe. I really like the guy a lot. I admire his toughness and so many of the things he can do on the field, but Romo would be getting warm...

I agree with what you said about Bledsoe's reaction to the rush. It's one thing to get sacked a lot. I don't blame him for the line's struggles. But once he gets hit a few times, even when there's not pressure later on, his throws start looking much worse.

 

[percyhoward]

But once he gets hit a few times, even when there's not pressure later on, his throws start looking much worse.

The Jags were saying the same thing before the season opening game--if you can get pressure on him early, he starts reacting to perceived pressure. I guess that's the book on him, and it's the book on beating the Cowboys.