First Half

[burmafrd]

Since that was when the starters were in that is what was really important. Did not bother with second half.


The way the game started - I had as ol yogi berra used to say 'DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN!"

ST- less said about them the better. Just HOPE that it will improve.

Starting on your own 4, 11, etc is DESTINED for bad things.

BUT I was glad to see that Romo and company did not take crazy chances and basically played it safe. Smart thing to do in those cases.


After the first two posesssions- night and day.

There has been few on this forum more critical of Free then myself. SO I make it clear that his performance SHOCKED THE HELL OUT OF ME!

Not saying like some here that he was LA lite or anything close. But since the research I have been able to find indicates he has never played guard in any type of game before- and his previous tendencies to treat change as the mark of Satan and to frankly bale as soon as possible- he did quite well.

Not saying I want him starting at guard but it would not be terrible either.

Now parnell did not look very good in pass blocking; better in run blocking. If we have any alternative at all as regards Guard then Free needs to stay at RT.


The Beard was very good. I think this may have been one of the smartest picks the Boys have done frankly in years.


Bernie was not bad; not great. Consistency has always been his enemy. BUT I would have no qualms with him starting.

Tyron was solid at the very least.


Romo was restrained; and that is a good thing when the game is not important or on the line.

His connection with Dez is getting towards the area when we could compare him with Staubach to drew pearson possibly in the near future. Now they have a lot of wood to chop and Aikman to Irvin is the gold standard but the growing potential there....


Miles is healthy; and as long as he is ....


Tanner REALLY surprised me. Suddenly the Boys have a wealth of RBs.




Now as regards the D.


Still work to be done; but the turnovers....

One can dream that this will continue.


And we are missing 3 starters that matter.

Red Zone is where it is at on both O and D and the first half both sides did VERY well.



I still would love to get Waters; but Bernie can probably get it done acceptably. Leary as long as he shows what he has before is going to be solid. So with Smith/Leary/Beard/Bernie/Free we would have a decent O line with potential for more.


D line- we need Spencer back and that is key.

Overall I am much more optimistic today then 24 hours ago.

 

[sureletsrace]

I think that this is the most positive post I've ever seen from you.

Feels good, doesn't it?

 

[burmafrd]

I think that this is the most positive post I've ever seen from you.

Feels good, doesn't it?

ain't been this positive for years- not been reason enough. Sadly.

 

[JBS]

Pretty accurate OP.

Leary is the key to the OL. He's not the best player. No. But he's probably our best run blocker. And the drop off when he's not in is significant

 

[Staubacher]

Frederick on that Td pass to Miles was awesome!! He basically made himself real big in front of Romo, extending his arms and moving his feet. When that Bengal tried coming up the middle Fred shoved him back and to the side about 5 yards. The guy staggered around like a drunk being kicked out at closing time it was awesome. Romo stepped up to a totally free and clear pocket and had all day and clear vision to hit Miles in stride

 

[Boyzmamacita]

Frederick on that Td pass to Miles was awesome!! He basically made himself real big in front of Romo, extending his arms and moving his feet. When that Bengal tried coming up the middle Fred shoved him back and to the side about 5 yards. The guy staggered around like a drunk being kicked out at closing time it was awesome. Romo stepped up to a totally free and clear pocket and had all day and clear vision to hit Miles in stride

Part in bold, now that's funny.

 

[RS12]

Balanced and fair, good, accurate post, Burm.

 

[Oh_Canada]

I think that this is the most positive post I've ever seen from you.

Feels good, doesn't it?

Agreed....he must be into the margerita's or something?

Parnell deservess a pass, this was his first real game action. Guy has plenty of ability.

 

[cowboys1985]

Very hard to come out of this game discouraged.

Defense was fantastic. Sure they gave up yards on that first drive, but then dominated. I'm really amp'd about the potential of the defense. So far it's pretty obvious why they let go of Ryan and switched to the 4-3. My fear is the lack of depth, especially with the DTs. The latest speculation on Ratliff is concerning. Not that I was expecting a pro-bowl season from him, but I was hoping he could contribute from game 1. But outside of that, I couldn't be more please with it.

This was an important game for the offense not only because it was the "dress rehearsal" game but it was against a top line defense and a top line defensive line. And they delivered. Romo was outstanding, as was Dez and Miles. The running game struggled which was a negative but Murray was able to break for a couple a good runs. Especially that TD run. That was a beauty. Another downside was Romo did get sacked twice and was hurried a couple of times. But for the most part the O-line was pretty stout in the pass protection. On the highlight plays by Romo and the offense, Romo had a clean pocket with plenty of time. That's no easy task with this D-Line. Plus, the feared Geno Atkins was pretty much unheard from. That is always a good sign.

And now for my biggest concern. Special teams laid another egg. Even Dan Bailey joined the suckage. What's most disturbing is the S/T has been a sore spot all pre-season and it hasn't gotten better. We saw what poor S/T did to us last season. That cannot happen this year. This is the most glaring red flag for me. Hopefully it can get cleaned up before the Giants game.


Now with all the starters and significant backups done w/ pre-season the most important thing to say is WE HEALTHY!!!! (for the most part). We did lose Crawford and the Jay Ratliff situation doesn't look promising but Miles' hamstrings are in tact and no1 ruptured their spleen. Let's get Leary & Spencer on the field these next couple of weeks let's see what we can do.

 

[Mr Cowboy]

McCray was brutal on special teams last night, which is saying something since that is his only reason for being on the team.

 

[1LoyalCowboyFan]

Part in bold, now that's funny.

Frederick on that Td pass to Miles was awesome!! He basically made himself real big in front of Romo, extending his arms and moving his feet. When that Bengal tried coming up the middle Fred shoved him back and to the side about 5 yards. The guy staggered around like a drunk being kicked out at closing time it was awesome. Romo stepped up to a totally free and clear pocket and had all day and clear vision to hit Miles in stride

My favorite part of the entire game. I know it was 4-3 defense but I think Romo will step up in a 3-4 as well. Thanks to Frederick.