Game Observations

[BourbonBalz]

First, we had a really good season. Not a great one, but a good one. We played well down the stretch and won a playoff game against our most hated opponent.

Now to the game.

1) Our offensive line got its *** handed to it. We were either not prepared for what Minnesota brought or we were just simply over matched. Either way, we got whipped badly up front. Of course, it didn't help that we lost our LT early in the game.

2) We had some very poor coaching decisions/play calling. The worst was the decision to attempt a long field goal instead of going for it on 4th and very short. Attempting and MISSING that field goal was a momentum changer, obviously. Secondly, on our first possession of the third quarter we were runing the ball down Minnesota's throats and getting big chunks of yardage. Why in the HELL do we call a toss 7 yards deep in our own back field to Barber???? I don't like the call period, but if you're going to run that play, toss it to someone with some speed. You know, Felix Jones. Does Jason Garrett know anything about our personnel?

3) Our defense played well. They were just put in bad situations time and time again. Sensabaugh made a huge mistake by not looking back and finding the ball on their first TD. But, he did have good coverage. If he looked back, he would have either knocked the ball away or had an interception. A veteran should know better.

4) Roy Williams AWOL again.

5) In no way do I blame Romo for this loss, but he did look terribly uncomfortable. I guess I would too if I had guys hanging all over me all day. He had numerous late hits in the first half, but no flags came out.

6) I've normally been neutral on Favre. I've always thought he was a drama queen, but liked his grit. That TD pass with under 2 minutes to play was completely classless. We play the Vikings next year. I just hope to God that Favre is under center. I'm pretty sure our defensive players will file this one away. If he plays next year, I'm pretty sure one of our defensive players will try to take his head off, and they should. Now, I'm going to pull for the Saints to break him in half next week.

7) We're in good shape for next year. Us, the Saints, and the Packers should be the best teams in the NFC next year. We need to draft some young offenisve linement and maybe some DBs. We should be ready to roll next year.

 

[BourbonBalz]

Oh, almost forgot. We desperately need to find a field goal kicker.

 

[wick]

Here are my thoughts:

1. The offensive line was awful. I thought the decision to start Colombo last week over Free was absurd given how well Free had been playing. This week that decision came home to roost. Colombo was destroyed all game long. His missed blocks probably cost us 10 points on the first two drives of the game, and I think it's a different story if Free's in there. Now Adams' injury ultimately made the point moot, but we would have been in a much better situation at that point than we were.

2. I thought at the time that the decision to go for the 48-yard field goal was awful. It's one thing if you have a reliable kicker, but we don't. The odds of making that kick were lower than picking up the first down, and we needed to set the tempo early. That was a very poor decision by Phillips.

3. Jason Garrett twice killed us in the red zone. The first was an awful decision to go Wildcat on first and 10 inside the 20. We only run one play from that formation (Choice dive to the right), and it was predictably swallowed up for a minimal gain. We were moving the ball at will, and that just killed the drive. The second was the disgusting pitch to Barber that lost seven and again killed another potential scoring drive. Segue to the next point...

4. Marion Barber hurts this team badly when he is on the field. Dallas just becomes entirely too easy to defend, and he just has completely lost it as an effective runner. He is a step slow to get going, and he's a step slow once he starts. I do not understand why we continue to give him the ball when Felix is underutilized as it is. In the worst case, Felix gets to the line of scrimmage on that disastrous toss play. Anything Barber gets for 4-7 yards is a wasted opportunity on a home run with Felix. Anything Felix gets for 4-7 yards is a loss or no gain if Barber runs it. I like Barber's attitude, but he peaked in 2007 and has been on a steady decline ever since. It is time for him to move on.

5. I can't fault Romo in this game. The offensive line gave him no chance. I would have liked to see us screen Minnesota to death with Felix Jones, but Romo doesn't call the plays.

6. The defense was no better than average. A good defense makes some game-changing plays, and we made none. It was a pedestrian effort on that side of the ball that was well short of what we needed.

 

[MONT17]

is this the thank god for Philly thread? lets face it... if TO was here McNabb would have been up for all 3 Philly games... the Boys didnt beat Philly, McNabb lost those games...

 

[newlander]

good points: did RW play? MIA/AWOL/and generally a ghost out there....unreal.

 

[Pokes12]

First, we had a really good season. Not a great one, but a good one. We played well down the stretch and won a playoff game against our most hated opponent.

Now to the game.

1) Our offensive line got its *** handed to it. We were either not prepared for what Minnesota brought or we were just simply over matched. Either way, we got whipped badly up front. Of course, it didn't help that we lost our LT early in the game.

2) We had some very poor coaching decisions/play calling. The worst was the decision to attempt a long field goal instead of going for it on 4th and very short. Attempting and MISSING that field goal was a momentum changer, obviously. Secondly, on our first possession of the third quarter we were runing the ball down Minnesota's throats and getting big chunks of yardage. Why in the HELL do we call a toss 7 yards deep in our own back field to Barber???? I don't like the call period, but if you're going to run that play, toss it to someone with some speed. You know, Felix Jones. Does Jason Garrett know anything about our personnel?

3) Our defense played well. They were just put in bad situations time and time again. Sensabaugh made a huge mistake by not looking back and finding the ball on their first TD. But, he did have good coverage. If he looked back, he would have either knocked the ball away or had an interception. A veteran should know better.

4) Roy Williams AWOL again.

5) In no way do I blame Romo for this loss, but he did look terribly uncomfortable. I guess I would too if I had guys hanging all over me all day. He had numerous late hits in the first half, but no flags came out.

6) I've normally been neutral on Favre. I've always thought he was a drama queen, but liked his grit. That TD pass with under 2 minutes to play was completely classless. We play the Vikings next year. I just hope to God that Favre is under center. I'm pretty sure our defensive players will file this one away. If he plays next year, I'm pretty sure one of our defensive players will try to take his head off, and they should. Now, I'm going to pull for the Saints to break him in half next week.

7) We're in good shape for next year. Us, the Saints, and the Packers should be the best teams in the NFC next year. We need to draft some young offenisve linement and maybe some DBs. We should be ready to roll next year.

Right on the mark, my friend.

The biggest problem was the incredibly delibitating call to eschew the try on fourth and a foot to try a 47 yd. field goal with an unsteady kicker.

 

[btcutter]

When execution is good, play calls look great and coaches look like genius. When execution is poor then coaches look like idiots.

Today, our OL has more holes than swiss cheese and Romo was lucky not to get a concussion or separated shoulder for all the hits.

RW didn't catch a play....so what! Romo can't even go back on three step drop to pass when Minn rushed only 4. It's like our D when we played against NO. We rush 4 and get a sack, hit or hurry. It's much easier for the D to drop 7 and able to get to the QB with 4.

Our OL lost the game. Plain and simple.

 

[brickman]

Here are my thoughts:

1. The offensive line was awful. I thought the decision to start Colombo last week over Free was absurd given how well Free had been playing. This week that decision came home to roost. Colombo was destroyed all game long. His missed blocks probably cost us 10 points on the first two drives of the game, and I think it's a different story if Free's in there. Now Adams' injury ultimately made the point moot, but we would have been in a much better situation at that point than we were.

2. I thought at the time that the decision to go for the 48-yard field goal was awful. It's one thing if you have a reliable kicker, but we don't. The odds of making that kick were lower than picking up the first down, and we needed to set the tempo early. That was a very poor decision by Phillips.

3. Jason Garrett twice killed us in the red zone. The first was an awful decision to go Wildcat on first and 10 inside the 20. We only run one play from that formation (Choice dive to the right), and it was predictably swallowed up for a minimal gain. We were moving the ball at will, and that just killed the drive. The second was the disgusting pitch to Barber that lost seven and again killed another potential scoring drive. Segue to the next point...

4. Marion Barber hurts this team badly when he is on the field. Dallas just becomes entirely too easy to defend, and he just has completely lost it as an effective runner. He is a step slow to get going, and he's a step slow once he starts. I do not understand why we continue to give him the ball when Felix is underutilized as it is. In the worst case, Felix gets to the line of scrimmage on that disastrous toss play. Anything Barber gets for 4-7 yards is a wasted opportunity on a home run with Felix. Anything Felix gets for 4-7 yards is a loss or no gain if Barber runs it. I like Barber's attitude, but he peaked in 2007 and has been on a steady decline ever since. It is time for him to move on.

5. I can't fault Romo in this game. The offensive line gave him no chance. I would have liked to see us screen Minnesota to death with Felix Jones, but Romo doesn't call the plays.

6. The defense was no better than average. A good defense makes some game-changing plays, and we made none. It was a pedestrian effort on that side of the ball that was well short of what we needed.

I agree. We could have set the tempo but instead ended up with nothing.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

You can't blame Roy Williams, Garrett needs to get the guy the ball.

 

[BourbonBalz]

The bottom line is this game could've turned out very differently if we had taken advantage of our first three drives. We were moving the ball, but poor o line play and some poor coaching decisions gave Minnesota the momentum and they ran with it the rest of the game. We could've taken them and the crowd out of it early, but we didn't finish off drives (again).