Game Day Dallas Cowboys at Los Angeles Chargers Postgame Thread

[zeke21]

Ugly game but always better to win ugly than loss ugly. The media all over Dak 'bounce back' but I think the D deserves more credit. SF chopped them up last week but they came out firing tonight.. I know we didn't get the sacks/ints but the pressure was immense on every play and we absolutely stuffed the run for the most part. Then, with the game on the line, the D made the 2 big plays to seal it. Excellent job that is even more amazing when you consider the injuries to the defence.

Dak played a good game.. that is the 'template' game from him. Hit CD.. extend plays.. use the feet, get out of the 'pocket' and make plays on the run.. and get lucky with a scramble play or two that go for big big yardage. Yes he missed some shockers.. and he needs to learn when to throw the ball away rather than give up the sack.. but overall a tidy game from #4.

However player of the game has to go to CeeDee Lamb.. what a bounce back. Take that 'body language' and stuff it. Great game from him. Cooks also very nice and Pollard never gives up.. despite MM's love of running him up the guts.

On the topic of MM.. fark the man doesn't know how to run a clock. urghh.

Anyway 4-2 and alive in the division.. so gooooo Cowboys!

 

[zeroburrito]

That game was so fixed by the NFL to make it interesting and compete against the MLB in the ratings...

the mlb can't compete with nfl preseason.

 

[John813]

The bye is coming at the perfect time.

Execution, timing and sloppiness need to be addressed by someone.

Thought offense and defense played better. They need to phase out Gallup if he can't make plays.

 

[Captain-Crash]

I picked Dallas by 4 or more so no surprise. /shrugs

 

[Risen Star]

There's no reason for any optimism after that game. One of those two losers had to win it.

 

[Risen Star]

The bye is coming at the perfect time.

Execution, timing and sloppiness need to be addressed by someone.

Thought offense and defense played better. They need to phase out Gallup if he can't make plays.

Yeah I disagree. They aren't that banged up and there's no telling where they will be injury wise in a month and this offense needs reps in real games. They have to keep playing. Not take time off.

I think this is a bad time for a bye week.

 

[Cowboys22]

Both teams were bad. Dallas D was solid against the run but would have been torched if Herbert didn’t miss wide open WRs all night. Dallas OLine was horrible. Penalties, no holes for Pollard, and little time for Dak. Dak locked onto one WR on every play because he knew that’s all the time he was going to have. If that WR wasn’t open, he had to start moving. Parsons was invisible again for 98% of the game but did have a huge sack at the end. He isn’t impacting games like he should. He’s playing like he’s hurt, unhappy, or doesn’t really care.

 

[John813]

Yeah I disagree. They aren't that banged up and there's no telling where they will be injury wise in a month and this offense needs reps in real games. They have to keep playing. Not take time off.

I think this is a bad time for a bye week.

No major injuries but a guy like Parsons hasn't been the same since his ankle injury vs the Pats.

Just think this team needs some adjustments and the bye week is the best shot for it. My expectations are low.

 

[Runwildboys]

Both teams were bad. Dallas D was solid against the run but would have been torched if Herbert didn’t miss wide open WRs all night. Dallas OLine was horrible. Penalties, no holes for Pollard, and little time for Dak. Dak locked onto one WR on every play because he knew that’s all the time he was going to have. If that WR wasn’t open, he had to start moving. Parsons was invisible again for 98% of the game but did have a huge sack at the end. He isn’t impacting games like he should. He’s playing like he’s hurt, unhappy, or doesn’t really care.

Parsons wasn't invisible. The other guys should have been making plays, since there were often three men blocking him. If they could take advantage of the numbers game, Parsons probably wouldn't get so much attention from the offenses

 

[gkaufman6]

Agreed, on the great drive when we scored the go ahead TD. Two runs up the middle with no FB and the offense is in 3rd and 11 on our end. That’s just a crazy position to put a struggling offense in.

OMG….did you just see the graphic put up on ESPN?
Through first 6 games last season under Kellen, we had scored only 9 TDs and had around 28% success converting 3rd downs. Our struggling offense has scored more TDs through the first 6 games than last year’s offense. Our current 3rd down conversion rate is 48%. That was an offense we’d been running for years while this year we are only 6 games into this offense. I’m shocked. It’s been such a struggle. Maybe there’s still hope we will keep improving.

In fairness, last year after Dak was hurt week 1, the next 5 games were with Rush Hour at the helm. So it is not really a fair comparison.

 

[gkaufman6]

No major injuries but a guy like Parsons hasn't been the same since his ankle injury vs the Pats.

Just think this team needs some adjustments and the bye week is the best shot for it. My expectations are low.

True that he did not have monster numbers, but Micah drew a lot of attention even having at least on one play 3 guys try to block him. And Herbert was pressured on 42% of his dropbacks, while coming into the game the Chargers average was around 25%. So at the end of the day, the D did its job. A lot of bending but not breaking. What I'd be more concerned with is the penalties, especially lining up offsides and the personal fouls which for some reason we keep doing. I am sure McCarthy is a 'players coach' and lets the guys do what they want, but at some point you have to instill a better sense of discipline or else sooner or later a stupid penalty is going to extend a late drive by the other team that results in a Dallas loss.

 

[MizzouCowboy4]

Nice to see him involved last night. Really was stepping up.

 

[Cowboys22]

Parsons wasn't invisible. The other guys should have been making plays, since there were often three men blocking him. If they could take advantage of the numbers game, Parsons probably wouldn't get so much attention from the offenses

I don’t disagree but yes he was invisible until that sack. They are allowing teams to take him out of the game on many plays. On other plays he just isn’t very disruptive anymore. They have to scheme him into one on one situations more often just like you would do for a WR if the other team keeps double teaming him because you line him up in the same spot all the time.

 

[Runwildboys]

I don’t disagree but yes he was invisible until that sack. They are allowing teams to take him out of the game on many plays. On other plays he just isn’t very disruptive anymore. They have to scheme him into one on one situations more often just like you would do for a WR if the other team keeps double teaming him because you line him up in the same spot all the time.

They do need to move him around, and not just on the initial lineup. He needs to move pre-snap, to confuse the offense and eliminate double and triple teams.

As for what he could do better, he needs to stop going so deep into the backfield that he runs right past the play. The same concept applies to everyone, including ST players. They're so gung-ho to make a huge hit that the runner can just sidestep them and truck on down the field.

 

[CWR]

Parsons goatee is fire. There, someone had to say it.

 

[FloridaRob]

i was 2pts away from winning a million dollars on draft kings. If Dak would have thrown a couple of passes Tolberts way it would have made up for him being negative 1 for causing a fumble. I would have won. Dang It Zak. You cost me millions. I will never get that close again. Oh Well....it was an interesting last few minutes...

 

[crashintonickdm]

Mccarthy will ultimately be fired for his offensive schemes and management of the game

We will do fine against **** teams and the eagles

 

[ChronicCowboy]

We ever figure out who this idiot is? Chargers mascot?

 

[Plankton]

We ever figure out who this idiot is? Chargers mascot?

It's rambo3 on Chargerszone.com

 

[gimmesix]

This offense does a good job at making the QB job a lot harder. Dak and the defense won this game for us.

I think that's a simple view. There are certainly times when the team needs a better play-call, but other teams, it's more about execution. Pressure ruins a good play-call. Drops ruin a good play-call. The QB not seeing an open receiver ruins a good play-call. A bad pass ruins a good play-call.

For example, Aikman pointed out a play where Jake Ferguson went down the seam and was open over the top of the defense, but Dak didn't see the play that was there to be made. We've got to tighten those kinds of things up.

What's more concerning to me is the running game. In three games, Pollard has been pretty bad (2.0, 2.9 and 3.6 per carry). He has one 100-yard game, but could have had a couple more against the Giants and Patriots if those games hadn't been blowouts. Still, we haven't established him as a reliable threat/complement to the passing game. The Chargers sat back in zone and dared us to run, and we couldn't do it. That needs to be fixed.