dbair1967
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Normally I dont feel as bad about losses the next day, but thats not the case today. Games like last night are the one's that always seem to come back and bite you in the *** when it comes to playoff positioning (and yes, I'm still assuming we'll get there)
1) Its only one game, and we were without 2 starting OL. The 5 we put out there last night actually blocked ok IMO, even including Barron (barring the holds). I was pleasantly surprised at the run game success we did have. Assuming Colombo is better than Barron (wouldnt be hard) then we should see further improvement when he and Kosier return. I thought Holland played well, and I know Kosier is better than he is. Free and Gurode played really well I thought.
2) I still think Buehler will be fine as the kicker, but missing your first attempt on a 34 yarder when everyone is wondering "how will the kicker be??" all offseason isnt getting off on the right foot. I suspect he'll get the next two games to show the miss was just one of those things, but if he misses a couple more, he could be back to kickoff only duties after the bye week.
3) I've said in a couple other threads, IMO they game planned offensively extremely scared. Whats funny is the stuff they were doing is what alot of people here clamored for (shorter routes, more screens) and those same people still complained. That said, my biggest problem was they didnt realize soon enough that the stuff they were worried about really wasnt a concern. The intermediate and deep areas between the hashes were open all night, and we hardly looked at it till the 4th qtr. Witten, Bennett and whomever lines up in the slot have got to be more involved in the middle than what we saw last night.
4) Stupid freaking decision before halftime, just no other way to say it. Garrett called a play, but its Wade's job as HC to say "nothing good comes from this, kneel down and lets regroup". That said, Choice still deserves 99% of the blame. He tried to fight for meaningless extra yardage and he fumbled the ball. Its on him.
5) I am reasonably sure they wont do it, but releasing Barron should be the first thing they do today. His blocking wasnt bad for the most part, but you cant let a guy do what he did with 3 holding calls not be held accountable. It sends a bad message to the remainder and intimates that "its ok if I screw up, I'll always have this job"
6) The excessive penalties were one of the most disappointing parts of last nights game. Its gotta be cleaned up (something we've been saying whether the coach was Campo, Parcells or Wade). With that said, it sure seems like officials see virtually EVERYTHING we do, but somehow miss some fairly obvious stuff on the other team. And I guess I'll never understand what constitutes intentional grounding and illegal contact.
7) Bad loss takes away from great game by Austin, several really stupid Dallas writers should be issuing an apology to him and Jones this week for bashing the contract extension. Nice debut for Bryant too. Also liked the fact that Romo has seemingly developed more confidence in RW, who should be celebrating his game winning TD today.
8) Hard to complain about a defensive effort that yields 2 FG's (really 3, Shahanan took 1 off the board) but the blitzes were too stale and easily defeated IMO, and the lack of hits/sacks on the QB and again not forcing any turnovers (save Newman, who was also flagged for a somewhat dubious illegal contact call) is a concern. I went through most of the boxscores, and we ranked down towards the bottom in number of hits on the QB. I really expected more, especially considering McNabb's age and recent ankle injury, along with the Skins having a rebuilt OL and new scheme. We were also credited for a low number of passes defensed. Still, allowing what we allowed should have been more than enough for a W. Also of minor concern to me were the lack of plays made by the safeties. Ball and Sensabaugh basically did nothing good (nor bad, which could be good I guess).
9) The Commanders returned two kickoffs and nearly broke both of them. Gotta clean that up.
10) 15 more games to go, all that matters is beating Chicago though. I dont care if its the ugliest win in team history, they gotta win this game this week, and there's really no excuse to lose. If we do lose, we're clearly staring at 0-3 as Houston on the road is gonna be really tough.
11) Speaking of Houston, they play at Washington Sunday. I bet they hang 30 on them and win by at least two tds. Yeah, I think the Skins are bad. We should have beaten them handily and didnt. Like I said above, normally these are the types of losses that come back to haunt you in terms of playoff positioning.
1) Its only one game, and we were without 2 starting OL. The 5 we put out there last night actually blocked ok IMO, even including Barron (barring the holds). I was pleasantly surprised at the run game success we did have. Assuming Colombo is better than Barron (wouldnt be hard) then we should see further improvement when he and Kosier return. I thought Holland played well, and I know Kosier is better than he is. Free and Gurode played really well I thought.
2) I still think Buehler will be fine as the kicker, but missing your first attempt on a 34 yarder when everyone is wondering "how will the kicker be??" all offseason isnt getting off on the right foot. I suspect he'll get the next two games to show the miss was just one of those things, but if he misses a couple more, he could be back to kickoff only duties after the bye week.
3) I've said in a couple other threads, IMO they game planned offensively extremely scared. Whats funny is the stuff they were doing is what alot of people here clamored for (shorter routes, more screens) and those same people still complained. That said, my biggest problem was they didnt realize soon enough that the stuff they were worried about really wasnt a concern. The intermediate and deep areas between the hashes were open all night, and we hardly looked at it till the 4th qtr. Witten, Bennett and whomever lines up in the slot have got to be more involved in the middle than what we saw last night.
4) Stupid freaking decision before halftime, just no other way to say it. Garrett called a play, but its Wade's job as HC to say "nothing good comes from this, kneel down and lets regroup". That said, Choice still deserves 99% of the blame. He tried to fight for meaningless extra yardage and he fumbled the ball. Its on him.
5) I am reasonably sure they wont do it, but releasing Barron should be the first thing they do today. His blocking wasnt bad for the most part, but you cant let a guy do what he did with 3 holding calls not be held accountable. It sends a bad message to the remainder and intimates that "its ok if I screw up, I'll always have this job"
6) The excessive penalties were one of the most disappointing parts of last nights game. Its gotta be cleaned up (something we've been saying whether the coach was Campo, Parcells or Wade). With that said, it sure seems like officials see virtually EVERYTHING we do, but somehow miss some fairly obvious stuff on the other team. And I guess I'll never understand what constitutes intentional grounding and illegal contact.
7) Bad loss takes away from great game by Austin, several really stupid Dallas writers should be issuing an apology to him and Jones this week for bashing the contract extension. Nice debut for Bryant too. Also liked the fact that Romo has seemingly developed more confidence in RW, who should be celebrating his game winning TD today.
8) Hard to complain about a defensive effort that yields 2 FG's (really 3, Shahanan took 1 off the board) but the blitzes were too stale and easily defeated IMO, and the lack of hits/sacks on the QB and again not forcing any turnovers (save Newman, who was also flagged for a somewhat dubious illegal contact call) is a concern. I went through most of the boxscores, and we ranked down towards the bottom in number of hits on the QB. I really expected more, especially considering McNabb's age and recent ankle injury, along with the Skins having a rebuilt OL and new scheme. We were also credited for a low number of passes defensed. Still, allowing what we allowed should have been more than enough for a W. Also of minor concern to me were the lack of plays made by the safeties. Ball and Sensabaugh basically did nothing good (nor bad, which could be good I guess).
9) The Commanders returned two kickoffs and nearly broke both of them. Gotta clean that up.
10) 15 more games to go, all that matters is beating Chicago though. I dont care if its the ugliest win in team history, they gotta win this game this week, and there's really no excuse to lose. If we do lose, we're clearly staring at 0-3 as Houston on the road is gonna be really tough.
11) Speaking of Houston, they play at Washington Sunday. I bet they hang 30 on them and win by at least two tds. Yeah, I think the Skins are bad. We should have beaten them handily and didnt. Like I said above, normally these are the types of losses that come back to haunt you in terms of playoff positioning.
