gimmesix
Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life
- Messages
- 48,135
- Reaction score
- 46,129
OFFENSE
1) Stephen McGee looked like a bona fide NFL quarterback. He made good decisions, was accurate — even on rollouts, showed you have to respect his running ability, and stood strong in the pocket when he needed to, completing passes under pressure.
2) Lonyae Miller has nice size, but negates his power by running too high. In contrast, Phillip Tanner showed nice power, showed a better burst getting to the hole and had some nice moves. It's easy to blame the blocking for Miller's performance, and that had something to do with it, but if Miller has to be able to run through/bounce off some of those tacklers or find an opening when the initial hole is closed.
3) Chris Gronkowski was very accurate with his blocking assignments, but his ability to do anything with his blocks is hit and miss. At times, he gets movement and at other times he's stuffed in the hole. The fullbacks' blocking was one of the primary culprits in the failed runs.
4) Dwayne Harris reminds me of Patrick Crayton. He isn't very fast, but just has that feel for finding an open spot and runs crisp routes. Some players just know how to play the game and he appears to be one of those who gets it.
5) Raymond Radway is one of those who doesn't get it. He rounds off routes and doesn't always run them right ... but his raw speed gets him open and it doesn't look like his hands are a liability. This could be another UDFA find, but it's probably going to take him a while to get there.
6) I went back after the game and rewatched it just focusing on the offensive linemen, particularly Tyron Smith, David Arkin and Sam Young. I also watched the centers (not quite as closely) and felt like both Phil Costa and Bill Nagy were solid. They didn't have to do a lot of solo blocks in pass protection, but when they did, they held their ground, and their run blocking was solid.
Smith is really good at sustaining blocks, but he was beaten a couple of times on the first team's only block. A quick inside move by a DE left him basically grasping at air, but Tony Romo got off a quick pass to Gronkowski. Then later in the drive, he got beat around the corner, and even though the DE fell down, it forced Romo to step up and hurry an incompletion.
Arkin was very solid in pass protection, getting bulled back into Jon Kitna once, but his run blocking, especially with the second-team line, showed his lack of power. Several times he got no movement or was knocked back on runs to his side.
Young doesn't appear able to sustain blocks. His technique is solid, although he was beaten around the outside once, but he just can't stay with quicker DEs if they have time to adjust their moves. He allowed a DE to shake him to force McGee to scramble and he allowed a sack when a DE used an up-and-under move. I actually thought Jeremy Parnell, who surprised me, did a better job at left tackle than Young did at RT, but I wasn't watching Parnell as closely.
DEFENSE
1) Dallas' run defense was gashed on the opening drive primarily because Igor Olshansky was getting blown off the ball. It appeared to me that Olshansky took several snaps lined up in the nose tackle position, and that's when Denver would take advantage to push him back into the linebackers.
2) Jason Hatcher was active and in on several plays, and probably played the best among the ends. Marcus Spears also got into the backfield a couple of times with opportunities to make stops, but he and Sean Lee blew a good one, letting Willis McGahee escape.
3) Sean Lissemore played the best at nose tackle. He had a couple of nice run stops at the line of scrimmage.
4) Lee's game would have looked better if he had stopped McGahee when Lee shot into the hole. I thought Lee was solid, but wanted more.
5) The inside linebacker who stood out the most to me was Kenwin Cummings. He was in on several good stops and also had a big special teams tackle.
6) Victor Butler was all over the place. He pressured the quarterback, chased down running backs, held his own on running plays coming his way, etc. When he was in the game, it appeared like he was in on every tackle.
7) Josh Thomas looks like he's going to be a solid player. He gave up a catch of the middle, but had good coverage, and he made a nice play in the end zone.
SPECIAL TEAMS
1) If Dan Bailey can kick off like that in the regular season, then Dallas won't have to keep David Buehler for kickoffs ... if Bailey wins the field goal job. Buehler made the only FG attempt by Dallas, but it was typical of Buehler's field goals ... almost pulling too far to the left instead of going down the middle.
2) Dwayne Harris looks like he's got good movement skills on kickoff returns, although he's going to have to watch trying to do too much and losing yards, like he did on the punt returns. Raymond Radway showed off his speed on his return, but he's a lot like Akwasi Owusu-Ansah in that both are going to take it as far as the blocking lets them. I still think Bryan McCann is the best option here because he has speed and moves, but Dallas didn't use him.
COACHING
1) Loved Jason Garrett's playfulness with his players. He was serious when needed to be, but showed his fun side. Also loved his decision to go for two in a preseason game. The fact that Dallas made it is just going to reinforce the Cowboys' confidence in him. It was an educated gamble: plenty to gain, not much to lose.
Also, loved the players' interactions. Romo was talking his receivers' ears off. Dez Bryant was congratulating everyone for good plays and cheering them on. The veteran offensive line were discussing things with the young ones. Communication is so important in a team sport, and there was plenty of it.
1) Stephen McGee looked like a bona fide NFL quarterback. He made good decisions, was accurate — even on rollouts, showed you have to respect his running ability, and stood strong in the pocket when he needed to, completing passes under pressure.
2) Lonyae Miller has nice size, but negates his power by running too high. In contrast, Phillip Tanner showed nice power, showed a better burst getting to the hole and had some nice moves. It's easy to blame the blocking for Miller's performance, and that had something to do with it, but if Miller has to be able to run through/bounce off some of those tacklers or find an opening when the initial hole is closed.
3) Chris Gronkowski was very accurate with his blocking assignments, but his ability to do anything with his blocks is hit and miss. At times, he gets movement and at other times he's stuffed in the hole. The fullbacks' blocking was one of the primary culprits in the failed runs.
4) Dwayne Harris reminds me of Patrick Crayton. He isn't very fast, but just has that feel for finding an open spot and runs crisp routes. Some players just know how to play the game and he appears to be one of those who gets it.
5) Raymond Radway is one of those who doesn't get it. He rounds off routes and doesn't always run them right ... but his raw speed gets him open and it doesn't look like his hands are a liability. This could be another UDFA find, but it's probably going to take him a while to get there.
6) I went back after the game and rewatched it just focusing on the offensive linemen, particularly Tyron Smith, David Arkin and Sam Young. I also watched the centers (not quite as closely) and felt like both Phil Costa and Bill Nagy were solid. They didn't have to do a lot of solo blocks in pass protection, but when they did, they held their ground, and their run blocking was solid.
Smith is really good at sustaining blocks, but he was beaten a couple of times on the first team's only block. A quick inside move by a DE left him basically grasping at air, but Tony Romo got off a quick pass to Gronkowski. Then later in the drive, he got beat around the corner, and even though the DE fell down, it forced Romo to step up and hurry an incompletion.
Arkin was very solid in pass protection, getting bulled back into Jon Kitna once, but his run blocking, especially with the second-team line, showed his lack of power. Several times he got no movement or was knocked back on runs to his side.
Young doesn't appear able to sustain blocks. His technique is solid, although he was beaten around the outside once, but he just can't stay with quicker DEs if they have time to adjust their moves. He allowed a DE to shake him to force McGee to scramble and he allowed a sack when a DE used an up-and-under move. I actually thought Jeremy Parnell, who surprised me, did a better job at left tackle than Young did at RT, but I wasn't watching Parnell as closely.
DEFENSE
1) Dallas' run defense was gashed on the opening drive primarily because Igor Olshansky was getting blown off the ball. It appeared to me that Olshansky took several snaps lined up in the nose tackle position, and that's when Denver would take advantage to push him back into the linebackers.
2) Jason Hatcher was active and in on several plays, and probably played the best among the ends. Marcus Spears also got into the backfield a couple of times with opportunities to make stops, but he and Sean Lee blew a good one, letting Willis McGahee escape.
3) Sean Lissemore played the best at nose tackle. He had a couple of nice run stops at the line of scrimmage.
4) Lee's game would have looked better if he had stopped McGahee when Lee shot into the hole. I thought Lee was solid, but wanted more.
5) The inside linebacker who stood out the most to me was Kenwin Cummings. He was in on several good stops and also had a big special teams tackle.
6) Victor Butler was all over the place. He pressured the quarterback, chased down running backs, held his own on running plays coming his way, etc. When he was in the game, it appeared like he was in on every tackle.
7) Josh Thomas looks like he's going to be a solid player. He gave up a catch of the middle, but had good coverage, and he made a nice play in the end zone.
SPECIAL TEAMS
1) If Dan Bailey can kick off like that in the regular season, then Dallas won't have to keep David Buehler for kickoffs ... if Bailey wins the field goal job. Buehler made the only FG attempt by Dallas, but it was typical of Buehler's field goals ... almost pulling too far to the left instead of going down the middle.
2) Dwayne Harris looks like he's got good movement skills on kickoff returns, although he's going to have to watch trying to do too much and losing yards, like he did on the punt returns. Raymond Radway showed off his speed on his return, but he's a lot like Akwasi Owusu-Ansah in that both are going to take it as far as the blocking lets them. I still think Bryan McCann is the best option here because he has speed and moves, but Dallas didn't use him.
COACHING
1) Loved Jason Garrett's playfulness with his players. He was serious when needed to be, but showed his fun side. Also loved his decision to go for two in a preseason game. The fact that Dallas made it is just going to reinforce the Cowboys' confidence in him. It was an educated gamble: plenty to gain, not much to lose.
Also, loved the players' interactions. Romo was talking his receivers' ears off. Dez Bryant was congratulating everyone for good plays and cheering them on. The veteran offensive line were discussing things with the young ones. Communication is so important in a team sport, and there was plenty of it.
