Game 1 recap

[RustyBourneHorse]

Hello all, just as I did after the preseason games, I'm going to give my week 1 recap. This will usually be a couple days (such as Wednesday after a MNF game or Saturday or Sunday following a Thursday game) after our most recent game (if I feel like doing one). I these recaps, I'll give what I liked, what I didn't like, and how I felt the team did overall. Also, I will give what I want to see us do for the next game that can help us win.

What I liked

• Dak's throws for the most part - for the most part, I felt Dak played well. The TD to Cooks was outstanding!! There were a couple throws that i didn't like, but, that'll be for the next section. However, overall, I thought he did well.
• Turpin - do I need to say more? I wonder how many times we will get the ball at the 40 with teams trying to play keep away. He's electric, and I don't think teams will want to kick off to him.
• Zimmer's defence so far - there is still a ways to go, but the defence appears to be more disciplined than Quinn's was. It seemed that the players were actually staying in lanes and were playing more physically. This is one of the things that was missing from the last few seasons. It seemed that the last few seasons basically consisted of us having players that would go for the home run, but there would be areas left exposed. I thought our run defence was better. I'm not saying that it was elite by any measure. However, I like what I saw from Zimmer's defence against the Browns.
• Aubrey - I don't think I need to go in more detail here. I'd have liked the 71 yard attempt, but I get why McCarthy didn't go for that.
• The Zeke and Dowdle combination later in the game - there was a spot later in the game where, against a very good Browns defence, the combination of Zeke and Dowdle was working beautifully. I loved the screens to Zeke. I enjoyed watching them run in what looked like a good combination. I also liked seeing Luepke getting involved.

What I didn't like

• Mike McCarthy's lack of timeout on the 66 yard field goal - I understand not wanting to do a Jason Garrett and ice your own kicker. I also understand that the refs botched the situation in part there by not getting the correct kicking ball on the field and wasted a lot of the play clock. However, when that play clock got down to about 4 seconds, he should have been calling time out. Standing there and arguing with the ref about the play clock time wasn't going to help matter. He should have called the timeout and THEN argued with the ref when it was clear they weren't going to reset the play clock.
• The 3rd quarter - the third quarter in general against the Browns I thought was poor. The players didn't execute, and I thought they were snapping it with far too much time on offense. On the scoring drive by the Browns, I thought they got through our defence rather easily. I don't know what the scheme was there from our defence. As for our offense, I thought that was manager poorly and could've easily gotten the Browns back in the game. I thought, aside from the missed play, they were snapping the ball with far too much time. When it's 27-10 and it's mid-3rd Quarter, I wanted us to 1. Run the ball more or use safer passing plays that are predicated on keeping the clock moving (as well as getting yards, obviously), and snap the ball around 2-4 seconds on the play clock. That was a critical time where we really could've drained more time. I was getting flashbacks to the 2013 game against the Packers. Luckily, our defence had Watson fairly bottled up for the majority of the game. We WOULDN'T get away with that against the Lions, Eagles, or 49ers.

How I felt the team did overall

• I thought we did well beating the Browns. It's always good to start 1-0. I think the offense gets a B overall, the defence gets a B, and the special teams gets an A+. We outplayed a very good Browns team.
• However, I will also say that some of the errors that I highlighted would probably bite us in the tail against some of the better teams like the Lions, Eagles, or 49ers.
• However, it's week 1, and the team is still sorting themselves out. Always great to start a season 1-0.

What I want to see us do against the Saints

• Better clock management - especially leading up to halftime, Mike has to call timeout. Also, the playcall selection in the 3rd quarter was poor. I know the Saints were playing basically the NFC South equivalent of the Giants, but they're a solid team. We can't have clock management errors against them.
• Use Luepke more and maybe sprinkle in a little Vaughn - I think using Luepke and Vaughn in the run game would be good. I think Luepke in more situations would be great. As for Vaughn, I think sprinkling him in against the Saints can give us some advantages on the outside.
• Using our run game more - in conjunction with the above, especially if we have a lead, we have to improve our run game and use it more. I will also say that screen passes to Zeke, Dowdle, or Vaughn kinda counts as it's basically an extended handoff. But I want to see us run the ball better or use the screens more. This can really help us against the Saints and can keep the clock running.

What are your thoughts for my recap for this week?

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

I should also state, I also liked Beebe and Guyton. I forgot to include them in the "things I liked" section. For rookies going up against that Dline in positions they hadn't played before, well done! I'm excited to see what they do against the Saints.

 

[Ranching]

Hello all, just as I did after the preseason games, I'm going to give my week 1 recap. This will usually be a couple days (such as Wednesday after a MNF game or Saturday or Sunday following a Thursday game) after our most recent game (if I feel like doing one). I these recaps, I'll give what I liked, what I didn't like, and how I felt the team did overall. Also, I will give what I want to see us do for the next game that can help us win.

What I liked

• Dak's throws for the most part - for the most part, I felt Dak played well. The TD to Cooks was outstanding!! There were a couple throws that i didn't like, but, that'll be for the next section. However, overall, I thought he did well.
• Turpin - do I need to say more? I wonder how many times we will get the ball at the 40 with teams trying to play keep away. He's electric, and I don't think teams will want to kick off to him.
• Zimmer's defence so far - there is still a ways to go, but the defence appears to be more disciplined than Quinn's was. It seemed that the players were actually staying in lanes and were playing more physically. This is one of the things that was missing from the last few seasons. It seemed that the last few seasons basically consisted of us having players that would go for the home run, but there would be areas left exposed. I thought our run defence was better. I'm not saying that it was elite by any measure. However, I like what I saw from Zimmer's defence against the Browns.
• Aubrey - I don't think I need to go in more detail here. I'd have liked the 71 yard attempt, but I get why McCarthy didn't go for that.
• The Zeke and Dowdle combination later in the game - there was a spot later in the game where, against a very good Browns defence, the combination of Zeke and Dowdle was working beautifully. I loved the screens to Zeke. I enjoyed watching them run in what looked like a good combination. I also liked seeing Luepke getting involved.

What I didn't like

• Mike McCarthy's lack of timeout on the 66 yard field goal - I understand not wanting to do a Jason Garrett and ice your own kicker. I also understand that the refs botched the situation in part there by not getting the correct kicking ball on the field and wasted a lot of the play clock. However, when that play clock got down to about 4 seconds, he should have been calling time out. Standing there and arguing with the ref about the play clock time wasn't going to help matter. He should have called the timeout and THEN argued with the ref when it was clear they weren't going to reset the play clock.
• The 3rd quarter - the third quarter in general against the Browns I thought was poor. The players didn't execute, and I thought they were snapping it with far too much time on offense. On the scoring drive by the Browns, I thought they got through our defence rather easily. I don't know what the scheme was there from our defence. As for our offense, I thought that was manager poorly and could've easily gotten the Browns back in the game. I thought, aside from the missed play, they were snapping the ball with far too much time. When it's 27-10 and it's mid-3rd Quarter, I wanted us to 1. Run the ball more or use safer passing plays that are predicated on keeping the clock moving (as well as getting yards, obviously), and snap the ball around 2-4 seconds on the play clock. That was a critical time where we really could've drained more time. I was getting flashbacks to the 2013 game against the Packers. Luckily, our defence had Watson fairly bottled up for the majority of the game. We WOULDN'T get away with that against the Lions, Eagles, or 49ers.

How I felt the team did overall

• I thought we did well beating the Browns. It's always good to start 1-0. I think the offense gets a B overall, the defence gets a B, and the special teams gets an A+. We outplayed a very good Browns team.
• However, I will also say that some of the errors that I highlighted would probably bite us in the tail against some of the better teams like the Lions, Eagles, or 49ers.
• However, it's week 1, and the team is still sorting themselves out. Always great to start a season 1-0.

What I want to see us do against the Saints

• Better clock management - especially leading up to halftime, Mike has to call timeout. Also, the playcall selection in the 3rd quarter was poor. I know the Saints were playing basically the NFC South equivalent of the Giants, but they're a solid team. We can't have clock management errors against them.
• Use Luepke more and maybe sprinkle in a little Vaughn - I think using Luepke and Vaughn in the run game would be good. I think Luepke in more situations would be great. As for Vaughn, I think sprinkling him in against the Saints can give us some advantages on the outside.
• Using our run game more - in conjunction with the above, especially if we have a lead, we have to improve our run game and use it more. I will also say that screen passes to Zeke, Dowdle, or Vaughn kinda counts as it's basically an extended handoff. But I want to see us run the ball better or use the screens more. This can really help us against the Saints and can keep the clock running.

What are your thoughts for my recap for this week?

Good job! I was surprised you didn't get any responses yet...I have noticed it's been a bit quiet around here. Go Cowboys!

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Good job! I was surprised you didn't get any responses yet...I have noticed it's been a bit quiet around here. Go Cowboys!

Yeah lol, I was waiting for the football week to be over. But yeah, I appreciate that. Anything you'd like to see the team do entering next week better?

 

[CCBoy]

One could see that there is more of a team effort that combines both offense and defense. The offense did well against a tough defense. The defense showed that it at least and a tougher grit to itself.

The team came and was ready to play at standard improved at defense on passing and run defense.

The starters were not yet in full game shape and will be getting better come second halves when game shape and new team style starts to grow.

Leadership is shown.

 

[Ranching]

Yeah lol, I was waiting for the football week to be over. But yeah, I appreciate that. Anything you'd like to see the team do entering next week better?

Draw plays have always been a favorite of mine....especially with pass rushers going wide. It'll help keep LBs from blitzing as much.

 

[Hoofbite]

I didn’t like the fact that we backed out of a 71 yard FG to run whatever the hell that Fail Mary was supposed to be.

It’s gonna happen. 70-yard attempt is coming this year.

 

[Whirlwin]

Good job! I was surprised you didn't get any responses yet...I have noticed it's been a bit quiet around here. Go Cowboys!

Hater have nothing to hate

 

[CCBoy]

I didn’t like the fact that we backed out of a 71 yard FG to run whatever the hell that Fail Mary was supposed to be.

It’s gonna happen. 70-yard attempt is coming this year.

Admit it now...you are watching here and not yet crying.

 

[Hoofbite]

Admit it now...you are watching here and not yet crying.

huh?

 

[Wangchung83]

Just rewatched the game and defense B+,gave the team offense two short fields that they failed to capitalize on. Defense accounted for 6 first half point from offense not doing anything, specifically same ol same ol offense squandering short fields and relying on defense too heavily. Out of the 20 first half points the offense accounted for 14 of those. Turpin scores on punt return, defense once again didn’t cave even though they had been on field most of game at that time. Offense 3 and out, defense holds and gets turn over on downs and gives another short field. 3 and out and field goal. Next series same thing defense gives short field and field goal. Out of 33 points the offense accounted for 14 points.lol. Grading the offense equal to defense is just be blind or biased. In no way did Dak look good and in fact looked like bottom of the league, taking unnecessary sacks, overthrowing, under throwing and relying dink and dunk. Offense C, special teams A+

 

[America's Cowboy]

Hello all, just as I did after the preseason games, I'm going to give my week 1 recap. This will usually be a couple days (such as Wednesday after a MNF game or Saturday or Sunday following a Thursday game) after our most recent game (if I feel like doing one). I these recaps, I'll give what I liked, what I didn't like, and how I felt the team did overall. Also, I will give what I want to see us do for the next game that can help us win.

What I liked

• Dak's throws for the most part - for the most part, I felt Dak played well. The TD to Cooks was outstanding!! There were a couple throws that i didn't like, but, that'll be for the next section. However, overall, I thought he did well.
• Turpin - do I need to say more? I wonder how many times we will get the ball at the 40 with teams trying to play keep away. He's electric, and I don't think teams will want to kick off to him.
• Zimmer's defence so far - there is still a ways to go, but the defence appears to be more disciplined than Quinn's was. It seemed that the players were actually staying in lanes and were playing more physically. This is one of the things that was missing from the last few seasons. It seemed that the last few seasons basically consisted of us having players that would go for the home run, but there would be areas left exposed. I thought our run defence was better. I'm not saying that it was elite by any measure. However, I like what I saw from Zimmer's defence against the Browns.
• Aubrey - I don't think I need to go in more detail here. I'd have liked the 71 yard attempt, but I get why McCarthy didn't go for that.
• The Zeke and Dowdle combination later in the game - there was a spot later in the game where, against a very good Browns defence, the combination of Zeke and Dowdle was working beautifully. I loved the screens to Zeke. I enjoyed watching them run in what looked like a good combination. I also liked seeing Luepke getting involved.

What I didn't like

• Mike McCarthy's lack of timeout on the 66 yard field goal - I understand not wanting to do a Jason Garrett and ice your own kicker. I also understand that the refs botched the situation in part there by not getting the correct kicking ball on the field and wasted a lot of the play clock. However, when that play clock got down to about 4 seconds, he should have been calling time out. Standing there and arguing with the ref about the play clock time wasn't going to help matter. He should have called the timeout and THEN argued with the ref when it was clear they weren't going to reset the play clock.
• The 3rd quarter - the third quarter in general against the Browns I thought was poor. The players didn't execute, and I thought they were snapping it with far too much time on offense. On the scoring drive by the Browns, I thought they got through our defence rather easily. I don't know what the scheme was there from our defence. As for our offense, I thought that was manager poorly and could've easily gotten the Browns back in the game. I thought, aside from the missed play, they were snapping the ball with far too much time. When it's 27-10 and it's mid-3rd Quarter, I wanted us to 1. Run the ball more or use safer passing plays that are predicated on keeping the clock moving (as well as getting yards, obviously), and snap the ball around 2-4 seconds on the play clock. That was a critical time where we really could've drained more time. I was getting flashbacks to the 2013 game against the Packers. Luckily, our defence had Watson fairly bottled up for the majority of the game. We WOULDN'T get away with that against the Lions, Eagles, or 49ers.

How I felt the team did overall

• I thought we did well beating the Browns. It's always good to start 1-0. I think the offense gets a B overall, the defence gets a B, and the special teams gets an A+. We outplayed a very good Browns team.
• However, I will also say that some of the errors that I highlighted would probably bite us in the tail against some of the better teams like the Lions, Eagles, or 49ers.
• However, it's week 1, and the team is still sorting themselves out. Always great to start a season 1-0.

What I want to see us do against the Saints

• Better clock management - especially leading up to halftime, Mike has to call timeout. Also, the playcall selection in the 3rd quarter was poor. I know the Saints were playing basically the NFC South equivalent of the Giants, but they're a solid team. We can't have clock management errors against them.
• Use Luepke more and maybe sprinkle in a little Vaughn - I think using Luepke and Vaughn in the run game would be good. I think Luepke in more situations would be great. As for Vaughn, I think sprinkling him in against the Saints can give us some advantages on the outside.
• Using our run game more - in conjunction with the above, especially if we have a lead, we have to improve our run game and use it more. I will also say that screen passes to Zeke, Dowdle, or Vaughn kinda counts as it's basically an extended handoff. But I want to see us run the ball better or use the screens more. This can really help us against the Saints and can keep the clock running.

What are your thoughts for my recap for this week?

Awesome breakdown! Well said brother!

I totally agree.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Draw plays have always been a favorite of mine....especially with pass rushers going wide. It'll help keep LBs from blitzing as much.

I like them too. I'd love for us to use them more. And maybe do an RPO/Draw hybrid where someone like CeeDee run a slant or something in case Dak notices the defence crashing the run too much.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

One could see that there is more of a team effort that combines both offense and defense. The offense did well against a tough defense. The defense showed that it at least and a tougher grit to itself.

The team came and was ready to play at standard improved at defense on passing and run defense.

The starters were not yet in full game shape and will be getting better come second halves when game shape and new team style starts to grow.

Leadership is shown.

And that seemed to create a bit more balance on the team.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Hater have nothing to hate

Makes for a lovely week. So much nicer when they get a week off.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Just rewatched the game and defense B+,gave the team offense two short fields that they failed to capitalize on. Defense accounted for 6 first half point from offense not doing anything, specifically same ol same ol offense squandering short fields and relying on defense too heavily. Out of the 20 first half points the offense accounted for 14 of those. Turpin scores on punt return, defense once again didn’t cave even though they had been on field most of game at that time. Offense 3 and out, defense holds and gets turn over on downs and gives another short field. 3 and out and field goal. Next series same thing defense gives short field and field goal. Out of 33 points the offense accounted for 14 points.lol. Grading the offense equal to defense is just be blind or biased. In no way did Dak look good and in fact looked like bottom of the league, taking unnecessary sacks, overthrowing, under throwing and relying dink and dunk. Offense C, special teams A+

I mean, I'm not too worried about the passing offense from what I saw. But the run offense, yeah, that does give me concern.

 

[Reid1boys]

I feel the running game was hampered due to the game situation. We were up so much that we essentially were running out the clock in the entire second half. Hard to just the running game when the offense was really just playing to end the game and not turn it over.

I was pissed about the non timeput and costing Aubrey a 66 yard fg as well... but sometimes carp happens.

I honestly dont know how you can possibly give the defense a B grade. Im not sure what more a defense could do.

Add in essentially 2 rookies in Overshown and Carson looking great.... I give them an A grade

Ill judge the running game in a non blowout game.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

I feel the running game was hampered due to the game situation. We were up so much that we essentially were running out the clock in the entire second half. Hard to just the running game when the offense was really just playing to end the game and not turn it over.

I was pissed about the non timeput and costing Aubrey a 66 yard fg as well... but sometimes carp happens.

I honestly dont know how you can possibly give the defense a B grade. Im not sure what more a defense could do.

Add in essentially 2 rookies in Overshown and Carson looking great.... I give them an A grade

Ill judge the running game in a non blowout game.

I would definitely give the rookies an A. It was more the 3rd quarter TD that shifted it. Maybe a B is harsh, so I could give it a B+, but I was getting a bit worried there during the game. That said, they made Watson look pathetic. So, I could also see an A or an A- being given to them.

 

[ShiningStar]

Great post, lets start with the obvious.

Lots to look at, yes it was a hurt team and yes we started 4 rookies, so that kind of evens out.

No Chubb some of will cry, ok , thats fair, but we also had Parsons moving around on their line and he still got to the QB, so chances are good he would have just knocked around Chubb just as much. Was it a perfect defense? No, but it was close for the team before them.

Ill say two things, because i was impressed, I was wrong about the teams and Dallas, and i credit we immediately saw Zimmers and Harris effect. What i mean by that, the Linebackers did great, did their job, and you know what, not a lot of fall off from Quiins squad of CBs to the new squad and i think Harris had a lot of effect on the rookie CB. Usually a team will find our weakness and exploit it, but Sunday wasnt the case. Yes the team got to the Qb and lets be honest, that was a boxing match alongside a football game. I honestly think Phillips ended Watson, he was beat up than that big guy finished it.

Enough said about the RBs. maybe the addition of Cooks was it? helps but we ll see, if Dak can open up the passing game, that helps the Rbs too.

Oline, Online did better, loved it, made adjustments, didnt stand there taking punches to the face, helped Guyton, did a great job. our OL coach did his job.

It was a tale of two halves. i dont like allowing other teams back into the game, but I think McCarthy felt Cleveland was no longer a threat, so, i ll give him that.

Across the boards, all three phases did thier jobs and thats really rare for Dallas, under Garret usually it was one squad, maybe two but never three. One time i believe he hit on all three.

Overall does it move the needle for confidence? No, still a lot to work on, personally i think statistically Cleveland is good, still a playoff team,lets not downgrade one ot make the other better. However i think our D got Watson out of his flow and just trounced on him.

PS, i was wrong about Aubrey as well, from when he was trying to win the job.

Still not sold on our offensive coach. I dont know if he knows his job. Red Zone will still be a problem so far.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Great post, lets start with the obvious.

Lots to look at, yes it was a hurt team and yes we started 4 rookies, so that kind of evens out.

No Chubb some of will cry, ok , thats fair, but we also had Parsons moving around on their line and he still got to the QB, so chances are good he would have just knocked around Chubb just as much. Was it a perfect defense? No, but it was close for the team before them.

Ill say two things, because i was impressed, I was wrong about the teams and Dallas, and i credit we immediately saw Zimmers and Harris effect. What i mean by that, the Linebackers did great, did their job, and you know what, not a lot of fall off from Quiins squad of CBs to the new squad and i think Harris had a lot of effect on the rookie CB. Usually a team will find our weakness and exploit it, but Sunday wasnt the case. Yes the team got to the Qb and lets be honest, that was a boxing match alongside a football game. I honestly think Phillips ended Watson, he was beat up than that big guy finished it.

Enough said about the RBs. maybe the addition of Cooks was it? helps but we ll see, if Dak can open up the passing game, that helps the Rbs too.

Oline, Online did better, loved it, made adjustments, didnt stand there taking punches to the face, helped Guyton, did a great job. our OL coach did his job.

It was a tale of two halves. i dont like allowing other teams back into the game, but I think McCarthy felt Cleveland was no longer a threat, so, i ll give him that.

Across the boards, all three phases did thier jobs and thats really rare for Dallas, under Garret usually it was one squad, maybe two but never three. One time i believe he hit on all three.

Overall does it move the needle for confidence? No, still a lot to work on, personally i think statistically Cleveland is good, still a playoff team,lets not downgrade one ot make the other better. However i think our D got Watson out of his flow and just trounced on him.

PS, i was wrong about Aubrey as well, from when he was trying to win the job.

Still not sold on our offensive coach. I dont know if he knows his job. Red Zone will still be a problem so far.

Honestly, the Zimmer and Harris connection looks better than the Quinn Harris connection already.