Shake_Tiller
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Knee-jerk, maybe, thoughts on the game.
Two weeks: No sacks, no interceptions, no fumble recoveries. It’s worrisome, to say the least. Ware isn’t getting close to the quarterback enough, which I find to be a greater concern than the fact he hasn’t gotten a sack. Those usually come in clusters, for some reason. But like Charles Haley, Ware is usually close multiple times a game. I haven’t seen that the first two weeks of this season. Ratliff seems to be alone in getting consistent pressure. The inability to intercept passes would be almost comical, if it wasn’t so painful. During 2008 and now in 2009, the Cowboys simply do not pick off passes. Strange, inexplicable, but it looks like more than a matter of bad luck.
Jason Garrett called a good game, I thought. A team rarely scores 31 points while turning the ball over four times. The Cowboys seemed to have the Giants defense off balance for much of the game. The Romo interceptions were the result of poor throws. The deep pass was beyond bizarre. It looked like one of those things Favre serves up from time to time. Garrett could have gotten Felix Jones the ball more, but I thought Jones looked a bit uncomfortable, physically, a few times. I have the feeling they were managing his touches for that reason. Given a couple of plays he made, this might appear silly, but by his own standards, I thought Jones looked just a step slow.
Roy Williams didn’t see the ball much, but his blocking was outstanding. Cold comfort, but it deserves to be noted. He was a key blocker on virtually every long run.
Kyle Kosier looked terrific in the running game. It’s pretty apparent why he was missed so much last year.
The Giants tackle better than the Cowboys. Dallas carved huge gashes in the Giants defense, but in the open field, the Cowboys missed more tackles, it seemed to me. The Dallas running game was very, very good, and the holes were large. But the Giants defense was more dependable in the open field. Dallas won the blocking award, the Giants won the tackling award, and the contest was decided by mistakes, of which the Cowboys, um, made.
I like Wade Phillips. I think he’s a very good man. But his sideline demeanor alone would force me to fire him, if I were the owner. The next time he looks decisive and in control will be the first time. And he appears to be from that long line of coaches who go jellyfish when the game is on the line. Dallas pulled back, didn’t attack, and the Giants moved easily for the winning field goal. Further, when New York crossed the 50-yard-line, a good time manager would have begun to call time outs. Had Dallas left itself even 40 seconds on the clock, it might have gotten in position for a long field goal attempt. The NFL is crazy that way. And the Giants were either going to score or they weren’t. Had they missed a field goal, Dallas would simply have needed to take a knee a couple of times. I don’t understand why coaches – not just Phillips – don’t use every tool in the box to give themselves a chance to win, should the other team score. Phillips as a head coach is a lifelong defensive coordinator.
If there was anything encouraging about this game, and it’s hard to find many things the day after a crushing loss, it’s that the Cowboys were able to be close at the end having coughed the ball up four times, having collected zero takeaways, and having been on the wrong end of nearly every random bounce of the ball. In bringing up the latter point, I’m not crying “bad luck.” The Witten foot fallout wouldn’t have occurred if not for an awful pass. The Manningham play was an example of athletic ability and awareness. Bounces tend to go to those who are in the best position. But every bounce did go the Giants’ way, it seemed, and it’s remarkable Dallas even had a chance to win. Minus-four in the turnover department, dismal in the “who gets the loose ball” area.
Romo was alarmingly bad. I still think it’s much too early to give up on his ability to become a championship quarterback, but that was one smelly effort. Horrid.
Two weeks: No sacks, no interceptions, no fumble recoveries. It’s worrisome, to say the least. Ware isn’t getting close to the quarterback enough, which I find to be a greater concern than the fact he hasn’t gotten a sack. Those usually come in clusters, for some reason. But like Charles Haley, Ware is usually close multiple times a game. I haven’t seen that the first two weeks of this season. Ratliff seems to be alone in getting consistent pressure. The inability to intercept passes would be almost comical, if it wasn’t so painful. During 2008 and now in 2009, the Cowboys simply do not pick off passes. Strange, inexplicable, but it looks like more than a matter of bad luck.
Jason Garrett called a good game, I thought. A team rarely scores 31 points while turning the ball over four times. The Cowboys seemed to have the Giants defense off balance for much of the game. The Romo interceptions were the result of poor throws. The deep pass was beyond bizarre. It looked like one of those things Favre serves up from time to time. Garrett could have gotten Felix Jones the ball more, but I thought Jones looked a bit uncomfortable, physically, a few times. I have the feeling they were managing his touches for that reason. Given a couple of plays he made, this might appear silly, but by his own standards, I thought Jones looked just a step slow.
Roy Williams didn’t see the ball much, but his blocking was outstanding. Cold comfort, but it deserves to be noted. He was a key blocker on virtually every long run.
Kyle Kosier looked terrific in the running game. It’s pretty apparent why he was missed so much last year.
The Giants tackle better than the Cowboys. Dallas carved huge gashes in the Giants defense, but in the open field, the Cowboys missed more tackles, it seemed to me. The Dallas running game was very, very good, and the holes were large. But the Giants defense was more dependable in the open field. Dallas won the blocking award, the Giants won the tackling award, and the contest was decided by mistakes, of which the Cowboys, um, made.
I like Wade Phillips. I think he’s a very good man. But his sideline demeanor alone would force me to fire him, if I were the owner. The next time he looks decisive and in control will be the first time. And he appears to be from that long line of coaches who go jellyfish when the game is on the line. Dallas pulled back, didn’t attack, and the Giants moved easily for the winning field goal. Further, when New York crossed the 50-yard-line, a good time manager would have begun to call time outs. Had Dallas left itself even 40 seconds on the clock, it might have gotten in position for a long field goal attempt. The NFL is crazy that way. And the Giants were either going to score or they weren’t. Had they missed a field goal, Dallas would simply have needed to take a knee a couple of times. I don’t understand why coaches – not just Phillips – don’t use every tool in the box to give themselves a chance to win, should the other team score. Phillips as a head coach is a lifelong defensive coordinator.
If there was anything encouraging about this game, and it’s hard to find many things the day after a crushing loss, it’s that the Cowboys were able to be close at the end having coughed the ball up four times, having collected zero takeaways, and having been on the wrong end of nearly every random bounce of the ball. In bringing up the latter point, I’m not crying “bad luck.” The Witten foot fallout wouldn’t have occurred if not for an awful pass. The Manningham play was an example of athletic ability and awareness. Bounces tend to go to those who are in the best position. But every bounce did go the Giants’ way, it seemed, and it’s remarkable Dallas even had a chance to win. Minus-four in the turnover department, dismal in the “who gets the loose ball” area.
Romo was alarmingly bad. I still think it’s much too early to give up on his ability to become a championship quarterback, but that was one smelly effort. Horrid.
