ddh33
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Another win for the Cowboys! It's been too long since this team was 2-0. After an interesting first game, I think most of us were interested in what we would see this afternoon. I would imagine that, for the most part, we were all pleased.
First of all, I think it's still worth noting that this team is still pretty beaten up with injuries. I have really appreciated the way this coaching staff and these players have responded to the adversity they have faced early in this season. Without three of your five most important defensive players, and without your big-play receiver, this team keeps plugging away. Everyone should get quite a bit of credit for that because it does show character.
I thought the coaching staff did a fine job today. Offensively, Jason Garrett continues to impress. I was sort of surprised at how often the Cowboys seemed to be passing the ball, but as the game continued to play out, you could easily see what the Cowboys were trying to accomplish. They were using the pass to score points and attack, and they used the run to punish the Dolphins in the second half. On the other side of the ball, I thought the defense had a much better game. The team made a concerted effort to take away a lot of Trent Green's favorite throws, and even though that side of the ball isn't quite up to the expectations some fans had, I was encouraged, regardless of whether or not this Dolphins team is an offensive juggernaut. And, of course, Wade Phillips deserves plenty of credit too. I think he's done a great job of setting a tone with this team and then stepping out of the way and letting the players get a lot of the credit. I like his personality, his management style, and I like his aggressiveness. Once again, he went for it and showed confidence in his team on a key fourth down (this time late in the game), and once again, his team delivered. I really like that!
After watching the game, I immediately checked the stats, and I was surprised at the numbers from Tony Romo. Romo was under 50% completion percentage. His yards per attempt number was smaller. Really, there just isn't anything on the stat sheet that jumps out at you. But I thought Romo was awfully good today. He didn't throw the ball quite as effectively as usual, but I have a lot of respect for that Dolphins defense. Those are some old warriors on that team, and they don't die easy. But Romo always seemed to be in control of the game and one step ahead of the defense. His scrambling ability was so impressive today. He repeatedly kept plays alive with his feet, and that led to a couple of nice highlights for Romo too. But essentially, he was a QB, and he managed to keep leading his team up and down the field, without making big mistakes, and somehow always coming up with another key conversion. Good stuff.
The running back situation remained about the same today too. Julius Jones got the game started by doing a great job of taking a little pass from Romo and turning it into a big game. Unfortunately, Julius was awfully quiet the rest of the day. I was a little surprised that Julius didn't get more opportunities outside the tackles. There wasn't a lot of room inside. Still, there is less and less doubt about who the best back on the team is. Marion Barber was a beast again. That's becoming the norm. He just punishes the opposing team, and he brings something to this offense that no one else does. Today's split in carries was just about 50/50. I can understand why fans think that ratio needs to favor Marion a little more, but I'm not going to complain. I think we need to all understand that what the team is doing is working pretty well. Those two guys combined for about 140 yards of total offense and 2 scores. It's hard to be upset about that.
Oh yeah, Joey Porter, that was Marion Barber...
And if those guys are racking up stats, the offensive line must be doing something right. I was interested in the Dolphins talk about how the Cowboys O-Line gave away so many keys. To hear it retold, you would think the Dolphins looked at that Cowboys line as a weakness that was going to tell them exactly what was being called. Whether the line did that or not, it was pretty obvious what the most impressive group of players on today's field was. The Cowboys O-Line ended up dominating the game. They used their superior strength and size, and they just wore out the Dolphins.
I thought the Dallas receivers had good games too. TO deserves top billing today. Owens got off to a little bit of a rocky start. He got clocked a couple of times, and wasn't able to come up with a few throws he had a chance to. But he stuck with it, and the team stuck with him. He finished with 102 total yards, including the big touchdown on fourth down and a very funny celebration. Beyond the numbers though, I think more people need to appreciate the attention he draws on the field. The guy is a big-time presence. Jason Witten had another good game too. Witten only had 2 catches for 27 yards, but I was very impressed by his blocking. It seemed like he was really laying the wood and opening holes in the running game. He's just getting better and better. Patrick Crayton deserves a purple heart for having a painful looking dislocation of his pinky finger and playing through it. I actually thought Crayton had one of the key plays of the game when he was able to take a punt return (off a re-kick by the Dolphins) for a long gain. That play helped keep Dallas in the driver's seat and in control of the game. Tony Curtis got his first touchdown in the NFL today, I believe. Congrats to him. Fasano and Hurd had a couple of nice grabs too. I think it speaks well of this team and this offense that if you get open, no matter what your name is, you will get the ball.
I thought the Dallas special teams were good today. Folk was perfect today, including an impressive 47 yarder. I know he's just a rookie, but I have a weird calm about him. I like it. I was pleased with Folk's kickoffs too. Oh, they didn't look good, but I thought they were effective, and I'm assuming that was the plan. He had several bouncers and squibs that forced the Dolphins to slow down a little bit, and it kept Ginn from being too much of a factor. McBriar did his usual thing in changing field position and pinning the opponent. The coverage was pretty solid too.
Honestly, I think most people were looking at the defense today. Right or wrong, I think a lot of fans felt like those guys had something to prove. Depending on your perspective, maybe they did or didn't?
The obvious that should be pointed out are the 5 takeaways. I think fans have a tendency to only view those things as giveaways, but the Cowboys did their part in getting the ball back. If you can force 5 turnovers, you are going to win your share of games. Actually, that was the biggest single difference in this game statistically.
The D did a nice job of stopping the run. It didn't always feel that way because Ronnie Brown had a couple of nice runs, but for the most part, the run defense was stingy. It was the pass rush, or lackthereof, that bothered me a little more. It didn't look like Dallas really came after Trent Green quite as much, so they may have been willing to play more coverage than they would against some teams.
Anthony Henry was an obvious star today. He intercepted two passes, and he was close to grabbing a few others. Ken Hamlin and Roy Williams also got picks. Actually, I thought Roy Williams played a very good game. After getting beat up by so many people last week (and I still say too much of that was unfair), Roy had a nice game this afternoon. He played the run well, played disciplined, and made several key plays. I hope he gets credit for that. Jacques Reeves has become a topic for a lot of people, and I thought Reeves had a nice game. He looked more confident on the field, and it showed. He seemed close to making a couple of plays, and I think it's reasonable to expect him to improve more with experience. Bradie James looks good too. He's doing a little bit of everything out there on the field, and I think the coaches are appreciating it.
One thing that does seem pretty apparent from watching the team early this season is that Dallas is playing some pretty soft coverages. They are giving quite a bit of cushion. I don't know if that is because this scheme wants those corners to keep things in front of them and be aggressive, or if Wade already has so much confidence in his offense that he would just rather his defense not lose the game for him. I'm kind of interested in watching that. I think those cushions would be less of an issue with a little stronger pass rush. I think that would make everyone a little more confident when it comes to making plays and not worrying about a receiver getting behind you.
You know, I didn't see it talked about much, but there was a lot of common knowledge out on that field today. You know that Wade and Cam Cameron have seen everything the other has got. You know Garrett and Capers have seen everything. At times that made the game seem a little more vanilla than you might think. And again, I think the players deserve a lot of credit. Those were two pretty tough teams out there. Ultimately though, I was glad to see the Cowboys win. In the end, that's all that matters...
First of all, I think it's still worth noting that this team is still pretty beaten up with injuries. I have really appreciated the way this coaching staff and these players have responded to the adversity they have faced early in this season. Without three of your five most important defensive players, and without your big-play receiver, this team keeps plugging away. Everyone should get quite a bit of credit for that because it does show character.
I thought the coaching staff did a fine job today. Offensively, Jason Garrett continues to impress. I was sort of surprised at how often the Cowboys seemed to be passing the ball, but as the game continued to play out, you could easily see what the Cowboys were trying to accomplish. They were using the pass to score points and attack, and they used the run to punish the Dolphins in the second half. On the other side of the ball, I thought the defense had a much better game. The team made a concerted effort to take away a lot of Trent Green's favorite throws, and even though that side of the ball isn't quite up to the expectations some fans had, I was encouraged, regardless of whether or not this Dolphins team is an offensive juggernaut. And, of course, Wade Phillips deserves plenty of credit too. I think he's done a great job of setting a tone with this team and then stepping out of the way and letting the players get a lot of the credit. I like his personality, his management style, and I like his aggressiveness. Once again, he went for it and showed confidence in his team on a key fourth down (this time late in the game), and once again, his team delivered. I really like that!
After watching the game, I immediately checked the stats, and I was surprised at the numbers from Tony Romo. Romo was under 50% completion percentage. His yards per attempt number was smaller. Really, there just isn't anything on the stat sheet that jumps out at you. But I thought Romo was awfully good today. He didn't throw the ball quite as effectively as usual, but I have a lot of respect for that Dolphins defense. Those are some old warriors on that team, and they don't die easy. But Romo always seemed to be in control of the game and one step ahead of the defense. His scrambling ability was so impressive today. He repeatedly kept plays alive with his feet, and that led to a couple of nice highlights for Romo too. But essentially, he was a QB, and he managed to keep leading his team up and down the field, without making big mistakes, and somehow always coming up with another key conversion. Good stuff.
The running back situation remained about the same today too. Julius Jones got the game started by doing a great job of taking a little pass from Romo and turning it into a big game. Unfortunately, Julius was awfully quiet the rest of the day. I was a little surprised that Julius didn't get more opportunities outside the tackles. There wasn't a lot of room inside. Still, there is less and less doubt about who the best back on the team is. Marion Barber was a beast again. That's becoming the norm. He just punishes the opposing team, and he brings something to this offense that no one else does. Today's split in carries was just about 50/50. I can understand why fans think that ratio needs to favor Marion a little more, but I'm not going to complain. I think we need to all understand that what the team is doing is working pretty well. Those two guys combined for about 140 yards of total offense and 2 scores. It's hard to be upset about that.
Oh yeah, Joey Porter, that was Marion Barber...
And if those guys are racking up stats, the offensive line must be doing something right. I was interested in the Dolphins talk about how the Cowboys O-Line gave away so many keys. To hear it retold, you would think the Dolphins looked at that Cowboys line as a weakness that was going to tell them exactly what was being called. Whether the line did that or not, it was pretty obvious what the most impressive group of players on today's field was. The Cowboys O-Line ended up dominating the game. They used their superior strength and size, and they just wore out the Dolphins.
I thought the Dallas receivers had good games too. TO deserves top billing today. Owens got off to a little bit of a rocky start. He got clocked a couple of times, and wasn't able to come up with a few throws he had a chance to. But he stuck with it, and the team stuck with him. He finished with 102 total yards, including the big touchdown on fourth down and a very funny celebration. Beyond the numbers though, I think more people need to appreciate the attention he draws on the field. The guy is a big-time presence. Jason Witten had another good game too. Witten only had 2 catches for 27 yards, but I was very impressed by his blocking. It seemed like he was really laying the wood and opening holes in the running game. He's just getting better and better. Patrick Crayton deserves a purple heart for having a painful looking dislocation of his pinky finger and playing through it. I actually thought Crayton had one of the key plays of the game when he was able to take a punt return (off a re-kick by the Dolphins) for a long gain. That play helped keep Dallas in the driver's seat and in control of the game. Tony Curtis got his first touchdown in the NFL today, I believe. Congrats to him. Fasano and Hurd had a couple of nice grabs too. I think it speaks well of this team and this offense that if you get open, no matter what your name is, you will get the ball.
I thought the Dallas special teams were good today. Folk was perfect today, including an impressive 47 yarder. I know he's just a rookie, but I have a weird calm about him. I like it. I was pleased with Folk's kickoffs too. Oh, they didn't look good, but I thought they were effective, and I'm assuming that was the plan. He had several bouncers and squibs that forced the Dolphins to slow down a little bit, and it kept Ginn from being too much of a factor. McBriar did his usual thing in changing field position and pinning the opponent. The coverage was pretty solid too.
Honestly, I think most people were looking at the defense today. Right or wrong, I think a lot of fans felt like those guys had something to prove. Depending on your perspective, maybe they did or didn't?
The obvious that should be pointed out are the 5 takeaways. I think fans have a tendency to only view those things as giveaways, but the Cowboys did their part in getting the ball back. If you can force 5 turnovers, you are going to win your share of games. Actually, that was the biggest single difference in this game statistically.
The D did a nice job of stopping the run. It didn't always feel that way because Ronnie Brown had a couple of nice runs, but for the most part, the run defense was stingy. It was the pass rush, or lackthereof, that bothered me a little more. It didn't look like Dallas really came after Trent Green quite as much, so they may have been willing to play more coverage than they would against some teams.
Anthony Henry was an obvious star today. He intercepted two passes, and he was close to grabbing a few others. Ken Hamlin and Roy Williams also got picks. Actually, I thought Roy Williams played a very good game. After getting beat up by so many people last week (and I still say too much of that was unfair), Roy had a nice game this afternoon. He played the run well, played disciplined, and made several key plays. I hope he gets credit for that. Jacques Reeves has become a topic for a lot of people, and I thought Reeves had a nice game. He looked more confident on the field, and it showed. He seemed close to making a couple of plays, and I think it's reasonable to expect him to improve more with experience. Bradie James looks good too. He's doing a little bit of everything out there on the field, and I think the coaches are appreciating it.
One thing that does seem pretty apparent from watching the team early this season is that Dallas is playing some pretty soft coverages. They are giving quite a bit of cushion. I don't know if that is because this scheme wants those corners to keep things in front of them and be aggressive, or if Wade already has so much confidence in his offense that he would just rather his defense not lose the game for him. I'm kind of interested in watching that. I think those cushions would be less of an issue with a little stronger pass rush. I think that would make everyone a little more confident when it comes to making plays and not worrying about a receiver getting behind you.
You know, I didn't see it talked about much, but there was a lot of common knowledge out on that field today. You know that Wade and Cam Cameron have seen everything the other has got. You know Garrett and Capers have seen everything. At times that made the game seem a little more vanilla than you might think. And again, I think the players deserve a lot of credit. Those were two pretty tough teams out there. Ultimately though, I was glad to see the Cowboys win. In the end, that's all that matters...