Can We Talk Rams Now?

[Idgit]

Perplexed is a great word to use to describe what we see on the field. We go get a 6'6 TE to present mismatches for RZ but we don't throw to him in the RZ. (I think once so far this year and his shoe came off). We have a WR that could be the most physically gifted WR in the league and will sell out every play to make that catch but we don't go to him when he is 1 on 1 with a CB he has beat like a drum all day. We have no creativity in the running game in the RZ, just give it to 29 behind a guard, never mind that everyone on the D is within 5 yards of the LOS. We have Austin who should destroy any safety in the league with Man Coverage and either he isn't or Romo is not finding him, I don't have all 22 to see. We have a very athletic TE in Hanna but he can't run further than 5 yards from the LOS it seems.

We have all the pieces. For some reason, we don't use them. I love Garrett. I love how he has built this team. But why build a mansion if you are only going to live in one room? You went and got the pieces,, use them to our advantage.

Good stuff. I agree on almost all counts. I'd like to see the 22, or, preferably, have someone who knows the game better than I do explain what's really going on, because, obviously, there have to be reasons why we're seeing what we're seeing. I can't imagine what they would be, though. Obviously, the coaches have to worry about things that we as fans aren't aware of, but just doing the simple coverage math, you've either got an advantage with Dez or one with Miles on most of those passing plays. Even if they're bringing the house, there should be an adjustment to get you into a matchup you love there. And, yeah, in the RZ when you've got Escobar, Witten, and Dez, I'm not sure why it matters that much how stacked up their secondary is. One of those guys has a matchup advantage that's a better option than a screen to your rookie WR.

And that last play of the game...you need to go 60 yards in 20 seconds. There really isn't a play in the playbook for that, but, if I'm hoping for a prayer, I'm going up-top to Dez and praying he either breaks it, or I get a penalty and a chance to go up-top again and get into long fg range.

I'm not trying to dump on the offense or the coaches. I think they've done a nice job getting us into a good situation as a team, but the offense isn't working like it's drawn up to work right now. I think they'll make adjustments and get it going like they did last year, but I also thought we'd be more effective coming out of the gate. I should note that we did play a couple pretty good defenses, though.

 

[mldardy]

Nothing the Cowboys have shown me insists otherwise at the moment.. I am hoping and praying for a win for the Cowboys... Expecting? hahah This team has proved nothing to "expect" a win. I am not overhyping the Rams at all. I am not believing in the Cowboys at the moment.

And, if we are going by the "stats" , I believe the Cowboys/Rams are about equal in that sense.

And the Rams have? They needed a comeback in the 4th to beat Arizona at home and didn't get in the end zone until the end of the 3rd quarter against Atlanta in a game that was a blowout. We've shown a lot more than the Rams have that is for sure but I'll let you keep hyping them up.

 

[NickZepp]

Rams offense is real good. Defense is so-so at best. They can probably win 8 or 9 games so they should keep this game close. I expect a win by something like 31-21 or something like that. Should be a fairly competitive game.

 

[Cowboy4ever]

Good stuff. I agree on almost all counts. I'd like to see the 22, or, preferably, have someone who knows the game better than I do explain what's really going on, because, obviously, there have to be reasons why we're seeing what we're seeing. I can't imagine what they would be, though. Obviously, the coaches have to worry about things that we as fans aren't aware of, but just doing the simple coverage math, you've either got an advantage with Dez or one with Miles on most of those passing plays. Even if they're bringing the house, there should be an adjustment to get you into a matchup you love there. And, yeah, in the RZ when you've got Escobar, Witten, and Dez, I'm not sure why it matters that much how stacked up their secondary is. One of those guys has a matchup advantage that's a better option than a screen to your rookie WR.

And that last play of the game...you need to go 60 yards in 20 seconds. There really isn't a play in the playbook for that, but, if I'm hoping for a prayer, I'm going up-top to Dez and praying he either breaks it, or I get a penalty and a chance to go up-top again and get into long fg range.

I'm not trying to dump on the offense or the coaches. I think they've done a nice job getting us into a good situation as a team, but the offense isn't working like it's drawn up to work right now. I think they'll make adjustments and get it going like they did last year, but I also thought we'd be more effective coming out of the gate. I should note that we did play a couple pretty good defenses, though.

I think they will too. I have to wonder 2 things regarding this offense so far this year.. 1. is Romo hurt more than we know. He may not can make the 20 yard throws on a consistent basis if he is, thus more 5-10 yard patterns. 2. Is Romo having the power to call the game from the field hindering the coaching staff. When I played and coached we would run plays with the sole purpose of setting up other plays. If we got a decent gain on them, great, but if not, that was ok because we were using it to set up something else anyway. I just wonder if Romo changing plays as much as he seems to is interfering with the coaches ability to get into a rhythm of calling plays.

Whatever it is, they need to get it worked out. This team should be putting up 24 ppg in their sleep, regardless of who the D is. We have that much talent.

 

[NickZepp]

And the Rams have? They needed a comeback in the 4th to beat Arizona at home and didn't get in the end zone until the end of the 3rd quarter against Atlanta in a game that was a blowout. We've shown a lot more than the Rams have that is for sure but I'll let you keep hyping them up.

I don't think Arizona is that bad either. That division of SF/Sea/STL/Ari are all good teams. All of them might be good enough to win the NFCE this year.

 

[NickZepp]

I think they will too. I have to wonder 2 things regarding this offense so far this year.. 1. is Romo hurt more than we know. He may not can make the 20 yard throws on a consistent basis if he is, thus more 5-10 yard patterns. 2. Is Romo having the power to call the game from the field hindering the coaching staff. When I played and coached we would run plays with the sole purpose of setting up other plays. If we got a decent gain on them, great, but if not, that was ok because we were using it to set up something else anyway. I just wonder if Romo changing plays as much as he seems to is interfering with the coaches ability to get into a rhythm of calling plays.

Whatever it is, they need to get it worked out. This team should be putting up 24 ppg in their sleep, regardless of who the D is. We have that much talent.

Not at the line it isn't at this point. We need more consistent line play to really say that.

 

[hornitosmonster]

Tough game but one should win. They have a great pass rush

 

[Zimmy Lives]

I think they will too. I have to wonder 2 things regarding this offense so far this year.. 1. is Romo hurt more than we know. He may not can make the 20 yard throws on a consistent basis if he is, thus more 5-10 yard patterns. 2. Is Romo having the power to call the game from the field hindering the coaching staff. When I played and coached we would run plays with the sole purpose of setting up other plays. If we got a decent gain on them, great, but if not, that was ok because we were using it to set up something else anyway. I just wonder if Romo changing plays as much as he seems to is interfering with the coaches ability to get into a rhythm of calling plays.

Whatever it is, they need to get it worked out. This team should be putting up 24 ppg in their sleep, regardless of who the D is. We have that much talent.

This is what I thought going into the season. The o-line is arguably better at every position except right guard. All the playmakers are healthy and Dallas has supposedly added more talent at RB, TE, and WR. So where is the challenge?

I think the greatest obstacle this offense has is themselves: they have no sense of themselves. Are they a running team or a passing team? Is Romo the key to the offense or is Dez? What about Witten? Murray? Or maybe they are a passing team? West Coast? Coryell? Once they determine who they are (like the defense) we should expect them to generate more points on a regular basis.

 

[CowboysLegend365]

Our offensive line will have their hands full...especially the tackles, STLs DEnds are young and tough with very high motors.

 

[Zordon]

50/50 game with the way our offense is playing. Our defense will show up but our offense will probably be sketch. We will have redzone problems and let an inferior team keep the game very close and then it will come down to a field goal by us or them to win it.

you forgot how the cowboys work.

the suckage will flip this week. this is the game when the offense shows up (Romo 3 or 4 TDs) but the defense or special teams collapses. that's how the cowboys work, never a complete game from all 3 units. you fix one side then the other side decides to disappear.

 

[ScipioCowboy]

A playoff contender should expect to beat the Rams at home. I'm more interested in whether or not the Cowboys can win a game whose outcome doesn't hinge on a single drive in the last few minutes. Can they put a team away at some point, say, midway through the second half? If this is yet another game that's won on a last minute score or defensive stop, they Cowboys haven't really improved...even if they win. They'll still be playing .500 football, and winning will still be a 50/50 proposition.

 

[dupree89]

If this is yet another game that's won on a last minute score or defensive stop, they Cowboys haven't really improved...even if they win. .

totally agree.
But you know there will be people saying..."who cares?? all that matters is the Cowboys won and their record is 2-1..I dont care how it happened".

 

[ScipioCowboy]

For the record, I'm not looking for a 30 point blowout. A solid 10 point victory would show marked improvement, in my opinion.

 

[CATCH17]

I'm not trying to dump on the offense or the coaches. I think they've done a nice job getting us into a good situation as a team, but the offense isn't working like it's drawn up to work right now. I think they'll make adjustments and get it going like they did last year, but I also thought we'd be more effective coming out of the gate. I should note that we did play a couple pretty good defenses, though.

Giants defense is horrrriiibble.

 

[Idgit]

Giants defense is horrrriiibble.

They didn't look horrrrrrribbble to me. Especially given the pick-fiesta Eli seems intent on throwing this year. They've got a great DL rotation and their secondary did a good job tackling in the open field. They just had the misfortune of playing against a very good Denver offense in week 2. (Well, to be fair, I didn't see that week 2 game v. Denver, and I'm just going off of the score and my knowledge that Eli was coughing up the ball again like a pinata spitting out cheap candy).

 

[Staubacher]

totally agree.
But you know there will be people saying..."who cares?? all that matters is the Cowboys won and their record is 2-1..I dont care how it happened".

I'll be in that corner. A win by a FG vs a decent team I'll take it.

I'm not waiting around for 38-10 victories to be happy. We are fighting to become a better than 8-8 team and 2-1 does that. Conference win too w potential tiebreaker advantages.

Heck I'll take a forfeit lol

 

[ufcrules1]

you forgot how the cowboys work.

the suckage will flip this week. this is the game when the offense shows up (Romo 3 or 4 TDs) but the defense or special teams collapses. that's how the cowboys work, never a complete game from all 3 units. you fix one side then the other side decides to disappear.

That is how it used to work for sure. With Rod Marinelli out there running the defense (yeah Rod.. not Kiffin), I think our defense will be somewhat steady. I'm not saying they won't give up points, but they should keep us in the games.

The offense is what sucks right now and we have the same common denominators in place. Same vanilla play calling, same QB that never learns anything new and makes the same mistakes year in and year out, and same running game. Murray rarely finds the open holes and instead just loves to make contact. I'm going to start calling him juggernaut... cause he just likes to run into things.

 

[CATCH17]

They didn't look horrrrrrribbble to me. Especially given the pick-fiesta Eli seems intent on throwing this year. They've got a great DL rotation and their secondary did a good job tackling in the open field. They just had the misfortune of playing against a very good Denver offense in week 2. (Well, to be fair, I didn't see that week 2 game v. Denver, and I'm just going off of the score and my knowledge that Eli was coughing up the ball again like a pinata spitting out cheap candy).

Their defense is banged up. They cant cover the middle of the field and even we ran solid against them.

They suck man. Maybe they'll turn it around when they get healthy but that defense has holes everywhere.

 

[FiveRings]

Scandrick on Tavon? How do we feel about this CZ? Personally, I hope that's the matchup all game, he's too quick for Carr and Claiborne can't cover anything at this point

 

[Staubacher]

That is how it used to work for sure. With Rod Marinelli out there running the defense (yeah Rod.. not Kiffin), I think our defense will be somewhat steady. I'm not saying they won't give up points, but they should keep us in the games.

The offense is what sucks right now and we have the same common denominators in place. Same vanilla play calling, same QB that never learns anything new and makes the same mistakes year in and year out, and same running game. Murray rarely finds the open holes and instead just loves to make contact. I'm going to start calling him juggernaut... cause he just likes to run into things.

Not sure you know what juggernaut means