Aikman needs to do his homework

[Staubacher]

Again, you're missing the big picture. Why did Dallas score only 17 points against Philadelphia, which has been awful on defense? Because the special teams and defense didn't score. (The Cowboys even missed an opportunity after Lee gave them possession in Eagles territory.)

Why did Dallas lose to Kansas City? Because the defense and special teams didn't score, so the offense was held to 16 points.

This offense has to be better than that. It can't rely on Harris TD returns or the defense turning turnovers into TDs or this team isn't going very far. If Dallas can average three touchdowns per game on its offensive drives, it's a playoff team and a contender.

I'm certainly not upset that special teams and defense are contributing, because that gives Dallas a better chance, but the offense has to pull its weight and it hasn't in the majority of Dallas' games so far.

2 of our 3 losses the defense stunk and didn't pull its weight. But you keep harping on the KC loss.

You can keep saying the same thing over and over but it is a team game period.

Of course it would be great if the offense scores more. Also great if the defense allows less points. Duh.

But in so many areas this offense has improved and only the blind cannot see that. Better Oline, awesome in red zone, more rushing TDs, more depth at WR, less turnovers by the QB, etc etc .

7 games in and on both sides of the ball and special teams we are improved with the arrow pointing up. We can now beat teams in a number of ways and all 3 phases of the game.

 

[mldardy]

Be glad I won't have to listen to Thommy and his annoying, nasally voice anymore.

 

[gimmesix]

2 of our 3 losses the defense stunk and didn't pull its weight. But you keep harping on the KC loss.

You can keep saying the same thing over and over but it is a team game period.

Of course it would be great if the offense scores more. Also great if the defense allows less points. Duh.

But in so many areas this offense has improved and only the blind cannot see that. Better Oline, awesome in red zone, more rushing TDs, more depth at WR, less turnovers by the QB, etc etc .

7 games in and on both sides of the ball and special teams we are improved with the arrow pointing up. We can now beat teams in a number of ways and all 3 phases of the game.

Our offense was equally to blame for the San Diego loss. It only managed two touchdowns against a fairly poor defense, and did not sustain drives to keep the defense off the field. Time of possession was heavily in the Chargers' favor, but it wasn't just because of long drives against the defense, it was because the offense didn't pull its weight on its 10 possessions.

And that's all I'm seeking. Yes, it's a team game, but that means the load can't be put too heavily on any aspect of the team. In the Denver game, the load was unfairly put on the offense, so Romo got blamed when it was really the defense that let the team down. In the other losses and even in the victories, the offense needed to do more with what it was given.

We just can't depend on winning too many games if the offense scores two touchdowns or fewer. It's asking too much of the defense to not only stop the other team's offense, but also score points.

 

[gimmesix]

Actually the Cowboys were 3rd in scoring going into that game, with "scoring" being points per offensive possession, although I agree that they were almost certainly unaware of that stat, and were counting defensive and ST scores.

The offense has scored 20 touchdowns, which is 2nd only to the Broncos through 7 games. Where we could be better is in extending more drives (turning more punts into FG attempts). We've been so good in the red zone, though, that we're still scoring more points per drive than we did last year (2.14 to 2.01).

That's counting possessions where Dallas got the ball deep in the other team's territory, which I don't give the offense full credit for in this thread.

I don't want to be misunderstood. I'm happy that Dallas is doing much better in the red zone. It just has to do better driving from its territory and adding a few more points to its total on those possessions. As you said, extend more drives. We can't always count on the defense to give the offense the ball deep in the opponents' territory or score, and when it doesn't happen end up scoring like we did against Philadelphia and Kansas City.

I will add the caveat that Dallas could have possibly scored more against the Eagles if it had to, since at the end of the game the Cowboys were just looking to eat up time.

If the offense had done more with its possessions, the Cowboys would have probably won the KC game and possibly the San Diego game.

 

[CooterBrown]

He said pulling the hair of a player on a clear hold was legal, .......
He was pretty bad yesterday.

I caught that myself. Pulling the hair is legal IF the person with the hair has the ball. Otherwise, it is just like grabbing a handful of jersey. Aikman should know that, the producers should know that, and the stat guys should know that. Somebody should have corrected him. There are now some casual observers of the NFL that will believe he was right.

 

[kristie]

ya, i find myself saying "will you shut up because thats not right" at the commentators most of the time in most games

i do that too.

 

[gimmesix]

Actually the Cowboys were 3rd in scoring going into that game, with "scoring" being points per offensive possession, although I agree that they were almost certainly unaware of that stat, and were counting defensive and ST scores.

The offense has scored 20 touchdowns, which is 2nd only to the Broncos through 7 games. Where we could be better is in extending more drives (turning more punts into FG attempts). We've been so good in the red zone, though, that we're still scoring more points per drive than we did last year (2.14 to 2.01).

Thanks for saying this much more succinctly than I did, BTW.

I wasn't trying to disparage the points scored, just the wasted opportunities.

 

[JBond]

The op should've had Aikman and co. read my signature.

This was the greatest post in Cowboyszone history!

Brilliant

I can't see your greatest post because I am using my phone and there are limitations. The most fun I've ever had on this forum is reading the 30 yard slant beat down.

 

[blindzebra]

We get an even deal from the officials in that game and we easily hang 30 on Philly.

 

[Staubacher]

I caught that myself. Pulling the hair is legal IF the person with the hair has the ball. Otherwise, it is just like grabbing a handful of jersey. Aikman should know that, the producers should know that, and the stat guys should know that. Somebody should have corrected him. There are now some casual observers of the NFL that will believe he was right.

Yeah I was amazed nobody even tried to correct that at any point. Aikman and the other announcer seemed like they were just two uninformed guys at a hotel bar spouting whatever came to mind during the game with no accountability. Bias aside it was just a poorly announced game.

 

[xwalker]

Be glad I won't have to listen to Thommy and his annoying, nasally voice anymore.

I guess Joe "I enjoy seeing myself on camera and think I know stuff about football" Buck will be back.

 

[bark]

Definitely not one of troys better days in the booth, but listen guys he doesn't work for the cowboys anymore. I don't find it annoying that he doesn't cheerlead for us from the booth ( we got Irvin for that ) Frankly that would be more annoying to me.
He's got a new gig and most days he's pretty good at it. You can believe he will always be a cowboy at heart.

 

[bark]

We get an even deal from the officials in that game and we easily hang 30 on Philly.

Sorry but I find humor in the above post coming from the "blind zebra " himself . And by the by , you are 100% correct . Officiating was terrible

 

[Temo]

Going into the Philly game, we were 11th in yards per offensive drive. Not an elite offense, but good. The defense was 28th. Terrible.

 

[percyhoward]

Going into the Philly game, we were 11th in yards per offensive drive..

But 3rd in points, which is the more important stat.

Our MO has been to rank higher in yards than in scoring. We would march down the field and rack up yards, then stall in the red zone and settle for a FG, keeping our scoring low. Not this year, because we have the NFL's 3rd best red zone offense so far.

 

[mldardy]

I guess Joe "I enjoy seeing myself on camera and think I know stuff about football" Buck will be back.

Not yet. He's still doing baseball but being that this game is on FOX and it's probably the best game they have this weekend we'll probably get more of Thommy and Troy.

 

[03EBZ06]

I actually like Troy, he isn't biased and is straight but I was really surprise that he made several errors which were pointed in this thread, normally I feel he is really good with his analysis.

 

[Staubacher]

I actually like Troy, he isn't biased and is straight

You're half right lol

You can decide which half

 

[03EBZ06]

You're half right lol

You can decide which half

lol

 

[Redball Express]

It's annoying listening to him cheerlead for the teams in our division.

Yep..

But the thing is he has to play up the other teams, too.

It's how he gets his info for his broadcast work.

If he just homered for Dallas as a former player..

he'd get nothing for his research into games.

Troy is terrific. I get mad at some of the things, too.

But it's just the nature of the job.