FuzzyLumpkins
The Boognish
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On defense, the Eagles crowd the line of scrimmage most every play, only bail a couple and try to press anything near the los. It was a steady day of heavy boxes that attacked any action. The LB do a good job flowing along the los and we gave up on the underneath and screen game early. They respected our run game pretty much all game and didn't do much more exotic than sending a 5th rusher.
We ran the ball alot anyway. 30 to Murray and 7 more to his understudies. To say there was not much room is an understatement. Short yardage we were money for the most part underscored by Murray's pair of TDs. First and second down outside the red zone was pretty brutal. A couple of injuries severely impacted our ability to reach blocks and hold the poa.
Because of how they played the run, they depended on individual matchups with Barwin and especially Cox for their pass rush. While they did win a few of the 34 dropbacks, there were many more with Romo seeing 5 or more seconds. One sack was clearly on Romo who held the ball for a mindblowing 8 seconds.
The passing game was much like what we saw at training camp just at better depths. Witten and the WR ran a parade of deep and intermediate ins and outs with a sprinking of go's up the seams and sidelines. They dominated the Eagles secondary for big plays downfield and key third downs throughout the game.
Romo was very good. He missed a wide open slant to Dez and held onto the ball for far too long in the pocket. He didn't force anything into coverage and was very good about throwing the ball away when nothing was there. When he was able to step into his throws, he threw strikes on a bevy of deep and intermediate routes all game long.
Smith was very good. I saw him brain fart once and miss the snap count. For most of the day he was reaching blocks with power and stoning would be rushers. He was routinely on an island in pass protection and he dominated the 1v1s they sent his way.
Leary was up and down. He couldn't handle Cox. He needs to work a counter to how Cox clubs before he rips and swim. As it was he missed a lot of Cox blocks all game long. When he didn't have to deal with Cox, he was pretty good if not perfect at reaching and securing his blocks even in space.
Frederick was very good in his own right. I have a feeling that Logan versus Frederick is going to be a much lauded matchup a few years from now. He kept Logan from being disruptive and managed to drive and turn him a couple of times.
Martin got hurt in the first quarter and he looked like bad Costa on skates a couple of times. It was his right ankle and he repeatedly got turned right or had to take steps back because he lost strength planting on that foot. It also severely impacted his short area quickness and the lightning quick guy cutting off LB was tentative and not getting there. He came out of halftime with a heavy tape job on it and played better but was not his dominant self. You have to give credit to his toughness nonetheless: he grit his teeth and held on to a passable second half performance and for once the passing game was able to carry him a bit. Mend well, Martin.
Free was his typical self. He just doesn't miss many blocks and does a good job securing playside and cutting off pursuit. Unfortunately he got hurt and we suffered particularly in the run game.
Parnell was the opposite of what we saw before the season. He was awful run blocking and routinely failed to get his hands on Cox who they moved over there or anyone else really. Pass protection saw him passive yet effective. He gave up ground but no one got by his pass set, I just wish he would punch like I know he can when he has the guy in front of him. He still doesn't seem to trust the technique and ends up with short weak jabs. I know for a fact he is stronger than that garbage. A coach needs to find a way to get that nasty out of him.
Murray had a tough day and was repeatedly having to avoid unblocked defenders at the poa. He did a good job limiting the negative runs and sticking to the playcall but it was tough sledding. His running in the redzone was instrumental and he was rewarded with two scores. Eslewise, he was in pass protection most downs but Romo was determined for the big play and kept choosing to throw downfield. His pass protection was huge. With Witten on routes, we routinely kept Murray and sometimes Hanna too on pass protection. He cleaned up Leary and Martin's mess numerous times from the first drives by picking up their whiffs on Cox. On a day where the interior pass protection struggled, it was Murray's shine that made the difference. He was all over the formation picking up misses and blitzes.
His understudies were effective in short spurts. Randle is better than Dunbar in pass protection but both picked up would be blitzers and didn't surrender a sack although Dunbar got walked back into Romo's lap once. Running the ball they provided a nice respite and found some running room. Both look very quick and a bit explosive getting to the line. I am really liking Randle's progression. I'm curious if the Dunbar passing experiment will ever bear fruit. They clearly were trying.
Witten's demise was overstated to say the least. We used a lot of 6 man protection and when we used 7 it was Hanna or Escobar on duty and not him. He responded with his best game of the year as the Eagles had no answer for him in the middle of the field. With his size, he run extremely powerful routes. I don't think many credit Witten for how tall and wide he is. His ability to shield defenders away from the point of catch and haul in passes through contact is HoF worthy at this point. He is very good on third down.
Hanna struggled a bit. He was great inline on the goalline and in short yardage but he had trouble securing the edge on the multitude of stretch plays we ran in the second half. Further sugaring an interior gap saw him isoed on Barwin on the edge. He got in good position and was able to use both hands but was little more than a speedbump for Conner's sack.
Escobar didn't see many passes out of the slot but he was tasked with many of the F and H back blocking roles that Witten had been doing up until this game. I thought he responded okay. He came across the formation on a wham play and got enough push at the poa to spring Murray into the secondary for his lone big play. He is good at assignment football but his execution only goes as far as his strength lets him. He needs to do a few thousand power cleans with Woicik this offseason. He is marginal in the power department and that is being nice.
Dez Bryant was magnificent. The gameplanners lined him up all over the place and he responded. He was most effective as the slot and his traditional flanker role. His work out of the slot got him wide open. In addition to playing multiple positions, he was able to win routes in the middle of the field. Romo missed him on the slant but he was open on ins and deep ins all game long. That had Fletcher overplaying an inside release and he completely beat his jam on the outside release. We all saw the TDs. The fade in the red zone was just gravy.
Williams started off strong. He won post and in routes and got a pi call on a fade of his own. He seemed to melt down a bit in the third quarter after he hurt his hand again. They need to reevaluate how he is running his comeback. He is not staying inside the corner and it is entirely to easy for the defender to get back into the play. Yes Romo threw a weak pass because of pressure in his face but Williams ends up not using his body at all to shield the catch. The Beckham/Jefferson style pushoff attempt needs work too. That being said he was much better getting open and catching the ball working inside.
Beasley's performance was routine at this point of the season. The attention he and Witten garners makes it impossible for LB and nickelbacks cheat on the deep ins and throws outside. He wasn't doing anything new but he has defensive coordinators attention and you can see two or more interior defenders shading to his route. When you have him and Witten in the middle of the field it opens up the outside. I'm curious to see how he expands his game this offseason.
Harris and Romo are not on the same page or perhaps he is just a convenient throwaway 'target,' but he was pretty quiet his routes. It's hard for me to evaluate perimeter blocking with as many interior failures we had. The eagles gave him no room on PR and I wish he would pick his battles a bit better of KR. The offense was able to overcome multiple starts at the 15 or worse that were unnecessary.
We ran the ball alot anyway. 30 to Murray and 7 more to his understudies. To say there was not much room is an understatement. Short yardage we were money for the most part underscored by Murray's pair of TDs. First and second down outside the red zone was pretty brutal. A couple of injuries severely impacted our ability to reach blocks and hold the poa.
Because of how they played the run, they depended on individual matchups with Barwin and especially Cox for their pass rush. While they did win a few of the 34 dropbacks, there were many more with Romo seeing 5 or more seconds. One sack was clearly on Romo who held the ball for a mindblowing 8 seconds.
The passing game was much like what we saw at training camp just at better depths. Witten and the WR ran a parade of deep and intermediate ins and outs with a sprinking of go's up the seams and sidelines. They dominated the Eagles secondary for big plays downfield and key third downs throughout the game.
Romo was very good. He missed a wide open slant to Dez and held onto the ball for far too long in the pocket. He didn't force anything into coverage and was very good about throwing the ball away when nothing was there. When he was able to step into his throws, he threw strikes on a bevy of deep and intermediate routes all game long.
Smith was very good. I saw him brain fart once and miss the snap count. For most of the day he was reaching blocks with power and stoning would be rushers. He was routinely on an island in pass protection and he dominated the 1v1s they sent his way.
Leary was up and down. He couldn't handle Cox. He needs to work a counter to how Cox clubs before he rips and swim. As it was he missed a lot of Cox blocks all game long. When he didn't have to deal with Cox, he was pretty good if not perfect at reaching and securing his blocks even in space.
Frederick was very good in his own right. I have a feeling that Logan versus Frederick is going to be a much lauded matchup a few years from now. He kept Logan from being disruptive and managed to drive and turn him a couple of times.
Martin got hurt in the first quarter and he looked like bad Costa on skates a couple of times. It was his right ankle and he repeatedly got turned right or had to take steps back because he lost strength planting on that foot. It also severely impacted his short area quickness and the lightning quick guy cutting off LB was tentative and not getting there. He came out of halftime with a heavy tape job on it and played better but was not his dominant self. You have to give credit to his toughness nonetheless: he grit his teeth and held on to a passable second half performance and for once the passing game was able to carry him a bit. Mend well, Martin.
Free was his typical self. He just doesn't miss many blocks and does a good job securing playside and cutting off pursuit. Unfortunately he got hurt and we suffered particularly in the run game.
Parnell was the opposite of what we saw before the season. He was awful run blocking and routinely failed to get his hands on Cox who they moved over there or anyone else really. Pass protection saw him passive yet effective. He gave up ground but no one got by his pass set, I just wish he would punch like I know he can when he has the guy in front of him. He still doesn't seem to trust the technique and ends up with short weak jabs. I know for a fact he is stronger than that garbage. A coach needs to find a way to get that nasty out of him.
Murray had a tough day and was repeatedly having to avoid unblocked defenders at the poa. He did a good job limiting the negative runs and sticking to the playcall but it was tough sledding. His running in the redzone was instrumental and he was rewarded with two scores. Eslewise, he was in pass protection most downs but Romo was determined for the big play and kept choosing to throw downfield. His pass protection was huge. With Witten on routes, we routinely kept Murray and sometimes Hanna too on pass protection. He cleaned up Leary and Martin's mess numerous times from the first drives by picking up their whiffs on Cox. On a day where the interior pass protection struggled, it was Murray's shine that made the difference. He was all over the formation picking up misses and blitzes.
His understudies were effective in short spurts. Randle is better than Dunbar in pass protection but both picked up would be blitzers and didn't surrender a sack although Dunbar got walked back into Romo's lap once. Running the ball they provided a nice respite and found some running room. Both look very quick and a bit explosive getting to the line. I am really liking Randle's progression. I'm curious if the Dunbar passing experiment will ever bear fruit. They clearly were trying.
Witten's demise was overstated to say the least. We used a lot of 6 man protection and when we used 7 it was Hanna or Escobar on duty and not him. He responded with his best game of the year as the Eagles had no answer for him in the middle of the field. With his size, he run extremely powerful routes. I don't think many credit Witten for how tall and wide he is. His ability to shield defenders away from the point of catch and haul in passes through contact is HoF worthy at this point. He is very good on third down.
Hanna struggled a bit. He was great inline on the goalline and in short yardage but he had trouble securing the edge on the multitude of stretch plays we ran in the second half. Further sugaring an interior gap saw him isoed on Barwin on the edge. He got in good position and was able to use both hands but was little more than a speedbump for Conner's sack.
Escobar didn't see many passes out of the slot but he was tasked with many of the F and H back blocking roles that Witten had been doing up until this game. I thought he responded okay. He came across the formation on a wham play and got enough push at the poa to spring Murray into the secondary for his lone big play. He is good at assignment football but his execution only goes as far as his strength lets him. He needs to do a few thousand power cleans with Woicik this offseason. He is marginal in the power department and that is being nice.
Dez Bryant was magnificent. The gameplanners lined him up all over the place and he responded. He was most effective as the slot and his traditional flanker role. His work out of the slot got him wide open. In addition to playing multiple positions, he was able to win routes in the middle of the field. Romo missed him on the slant but he was open on ins and deep ins all game long. That had Fletcher overplaying an inside release and he completely beat his jam on the outside release. We all saw the TDs. The fade in the red zone was just gravy.
Williams started off strong. He won post and in routes and got a pi call on a fade of his own. He seemed to melt down a bit in the third quarter after he hurt his hand again. They need to reevaluate how he is running his comeback. He is not staying inside the corner and it is entirely to easy for the defender to get back into the play. Yes Romo threw a weak pass because of pressure in his face but Williams ends up not using his body at all to shield the catch. The Beckham/Jefferson style pushoff attempt needs work too. That being said he was much better getting open and catching the ball working inside.
Beasley's performance was routine at this point of the season. The attention he and Witten garners makes it impossible for LB and nickelbacks cheat on the deep ins and throws outside. He wasn't doing anything new but he has defensive coordinators attention and you can see two or more interior defenders shading to his route. When you have him and Witten in the middle of the field it opens up the outside. I'm curious to see how he expands his game this offseason.
Harris and Romo are not on the same page or perhaps he is just a convenient throwaway 'target,' but he was pretty quiet his routes. It's hard for me to evaluate perimeter blocking with as many interior failures we had. The eagles gave him no room on PR and I wish he would pick his battles a bit better of KR. The offense was able to overcome multiple starts at the 15 or worse that were unnecessary.
