Agree or disagree: The OL didn't look all that bad until Flozell was hurt

[TruBlueCowboy]

With all this talk about a new center, and some young bucks to replace Rivera and Allen, would it be correct to say that the Cowboys offensive line really wasn't all that bad until Flozell went out? Was it KC-style dominating? No. But it gave Bledsoe a lot of time and he was picking some defenses apart for the first few weeks. Julius was even getting close to 100 yards a few times before his injury, and if memory serves, he did pass 100 yards in one of those early games if not for some penalties. Do you think Flozell's injury basically caused a cataclysm with Larry, Rob on the other side, which led to Marco, etc...., or do you think teams were bound to find out our weaknesses on the line before the season was over, Flozell or no Flozell? And maybe with guys like Rivera, Petitti or Allen, fatigue set in early.

I'm not saying we shouldn't look for some back-ups for our older guards or Al Johnson. Nor that we shouldn't find someone who can handle his men better than Rob Petitti. But if those fellas stay healthy next year, especially Flozell the Hotel, will the Boys still be able to get by?

 

[burmafrd]

It was a combination: the O line did not run block too well anyway early on; and that got worse. I think Pettiti got beaten up and was very ineffective late in the season; Rivera did not seem to play up to his potential for whatever reason; and Johnson started getting pushed around. It is true, I think, that opposing teams targeted our weak areas very well. I also question the quality of our coaching.

 

[silver]

we need a solid RT and move both Petitti and Tucker over to guard where their lack of foot speed is less evident. Having Flo back will be great, I just hope he's the same guy and not some Erik-Williams-post-accident-type shadow of himself.

 

[Manster68]

Believe it or not, the only area on the line Dallas might upgrade by bringing somebody in is center.

I DO see Parcells sticking with Petitti and Colombo with Flozell coming back.

Rivera will get that back healed by training camp.

Allen will find a way to stay with the team.

But at center, Johnson is too weak and Gurode is too dumb.

 

[fortdick]

Absolutely agree! When Flo went down, it was impossible to help the rookie at RT and the experienced, although incompetent, Tucker on the left as well. Rivera has to get some benifit of the doubt due to the injury.

Looking at Tucker v. Pettiti, Tucker gave up 12.5 sacks last year, while Rob gave up 13.5. The only difference is Rob played 16 games while Tucker played 10. I would take Rob any day of the week!

We need to start looking ahrd at guard. LA is about done, and Rivera may not come back at all-pro form. I think we are better at tackle than either guard or center.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

The offense produced but we have to be fair and so the O-line itself was not that great before the Flo Injury.

When you have to constantly put TE to help out one side it weakens your ability to do things...that was later shown to be the other equation after flo went down because they had to try and alternate playing on both sides to help the OT.

Sure it was much better when flo was in, but still that right side was a weakness even before flo went down, it just got worse overall when he did.

 

[speedkilz88]

The pass protection when Flo was still healthy was excellent. They were able to help Petitti out on the other side with rbs and tes. It was just to difficult to help two young tackles after he was out and then Petitti hurt his ankle which made him even worse.

The running was bad from start to finish though. (With the Carolina game the lone exception, where did that come from?)

Erik Williams had his leg screwed up in a bad car accident, so there isn't any reason to think Flo will have any of the difficulties Erik did.

 

[neosapien23]

The pass protection was solid because we were always in a max protect. The run blocking was horrible before Flo ever went down. We need some talented youthful linemen. I really hope the Cowboys draft a tackle in the first as long as they are not reaching. Jon Scott is the person that I hope slides to us. If Guilles is there in our 2nd pick, I wouldn't mind Dallas taking him either.

 

[Paniolo22]

It was OK before Flo left, and was TERRIBLE after he left. Period.

 

[windward]

Our pass protection was pretty solid thefirst five weeks of the season. Check out the first Eagles game. Drew was barely touched. A healthy Flozell and an upgrade at center will vastly improve our line next year. I think Petiti will develop more next year

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I think if it looked adequate even before Flo got hurt, it's only because we've looked at truly awful O lines for the last five or six years now.

 

[poke]

i thought our O-line looked pretty good until Flo got hurt.
who knows if it would have gotten better as the year went on
if he stayed healthy but I for one feel like it would have.

 

[kiheikiwi]

Smoke and mirrors, thats what we had before Flo went down - then the mirror got smashed!

 

[acheman]

DISAGREE! I have started watching each game from this season again (only started the MNF game vs Washington). Against the Chargers we had false starts, fumbled snaps, Rivera was shoved back into Bledsoe's face, and we replaced Johnson with Gurode. Against the Skins we had those false starts and holding calls. All-in-all we looked befuddled at times on the o-line, and we were all talking about what was wrong with Julius (even before his injury) because he could not crack a 100 yards. That all adds up to poor offensive line play. Plus there were discussions at the time if we might even be better off wihtout "false-start Flo" in the line-up.

 

[sago1]

Our OL was barely adequate when Adams went down. We were lulled into thinking it wasn't too bad cause Bledsoe got enough protection to keep our passing game in high gear; our defense also played better then we could have expected with all the rookies and the new 3-4 scheme. But our running game sucked & if you are a one-dimensiontial team in the NFL, you aren't going to the playoffs. Losing Adams highlighted how poor our OL really was.

 

[DragonCowboy]

Before Flo

Pass Protection: Pop in a tape of the first Philly game
Run Protection: Pop in a tape of any game except the Carolina game

Pass Protection was great, but Run Protection atrocious...

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

The offense produced but we have to be fair and so the O-line itself was not that great before the Flo Injury.

When you have to constantly put TE to help out one side it weakens your ability to do things...that was later shown to be the other equation after flo went down because they had to try and alternate playing on both sides to help the OT.

Sure it was much better when flo was in, but still that right side was a weakness even before flo went down, it just got worse overall when he did.

This is an honest statement IMO. Going into the season, RT was scary. Basically, we got what we asked for. I would also say that while Flo was obviously much better then Tucker, he was still getting beat by speed rushes and jumping off sides to regularly.

 

[trueblue1687]

As some described it: average, I definately don't think it was adequate. Therre was only 2 100 yard games all season. Pretty telling whather anyone is hurt or whatever. Bottom line is that they couldn't get the job done. Injuries certainly had an effect, but all in all there was just alot of poor play from everyone. I've been pretty critical of Allen who has been a fantastic player up until about 2 or 3 years ago, then his drop-off has been pretty sharp. When Adams went down, it forced Tucker into the spotlight and Petitie whom I don't think was ever really considered a starter when drafted. I like the kids heart, and I know his Dad posts here (by all the butt kissing some of you guys do:laugh2: ), but there is a reason that he was passed so many times on draft day. I realize that there are surprises in late rounds, so hold off on the Larry Allen, Eric Williams replies...I'm aware of that. I just don't think Rob will be of that calibre. Rivera IS better than he showed this year...I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for another season and hope Petitie proves me wrong. Things will be better w/ a RT upgrade and a center if there's one available. Oh, and better start looking for another guard...I suspect someone will pay Gurode (@ guard) and he will turn out to be pretty good.)

 

[Mike 1967]

My opinion is.......

Yes and No

The line did a decent job of pass protection before Flozell went down. But the run blocking was below average even with Flozell in the lineup.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Smoke and mirrors, thats what we had before Flo went down - then the mirror got smashed!

Painfully true.