gimmesix
Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life
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After reviewing the tape from Dallas' game at Oakland, these are some of the things I noticed:
1) The first possession was a disaster from the kickoff. Marc Colombo allowed a swim move to get the DE inside him to knock down Tony Romo's first-down pass, and fullback Julius Crosslin obviously didn't know the play on second down, failing to lead block for Marion Barber on a 2-yard loss. But ... one good thing did come out of the "drive," Miles Austin went 1-on-1 with All-Pro corner Nnamdi Asomugha and was pulling away from him on a fly route. He was ahead by a step or two when Romo overthrew him because he had to hurry his pass on a blitz.
2) The first-team offense settled down and looked sharp on its only other drive until it got to the goal line. Great job of mixing and matching as every starting skill player made at least one good play. The offensive line blocked well in the running and passing game. They actually blocked well near the goal line on the first attempt to score, getting a push to the goal line, but Barber didn't stay low and got stood up. Then, came the only bad play when Kyle Kosier got beat on an inside move and hooked the DT for holding. The line blocked well on Romo's TD throw because it took him awhile to find anyone open ... and Romo did what he does best, sliding to his left when the protection finally started to break down before suddenly gunning a throw to Jason Witten for the TD.
3) The guys who really stood out to me on the first-team offense were Felix Jones for his smoothness and quickness with the ball in his hand (he just really uses his blockers well and glides through the holes), Martellus Bennett for his energizing stiff-arm on a short pass and Roy Williams for a nice comeback route and drawing pass interference. I also thought Kosier looked good in space as usual, and again, the line blocked well except for on two plays.
4) The much-maligned second-team offensive line also looked surprisingly good. The Raiders' second-team defense got a sack, but it came on a blitz that Tashard Choice failed to pick up. Otherwise, the pass protection was very solid, even with Stephen McGee holding the ball longer than he should have on almost all of his pass plays. Doug Free only allowed one pressure on an up-and-under move, and the ball should have been out before the defender got loose. Pat McQuistan was beaten on a couple of similar moves, but again there was plenty of time to pass before it happened. Montrae Holland was stoning anyone he went up against, and the line overall was getting a push in the running game, just not always sustaining it or getting a good block from the tight ends/fullback. Even Cory Proctor played well outside of a couple of exchange problems. Of course, he played center throughout the game as no changes were made to the line after the second-team came in ... they played the rest of the game. The other member of the second-team line was right guard Ryan Gibbons, who had one missed block on a passing play and was beaten on one running play. This was a really solid effort, but I was disappointed that I didn't get to see Greg Isdaner play.
5) It was nice to see a backup quarterback with some zip and who looks like he can really step in if necessary, but Jon Kitna did show why he's never been more than a journeyman starter on one throw. He had Sam Hurd easily on a deep throw, but instead of leading him to the sideline, he made Hurd drift back toward the center of the field where an interception was made by the safety and Hurd almost ended up sidelined by the collision. Not saying that makes Kitna a bad QB, just that there is a reason why he hasn't been able to hang on to his starting jobs. Glad to have him as a backup, though.
6) Speaking of Hurd, he was unstoppable against the second-team defense, easily getting open and catching everything thrown to him, except the interception, which the DB won in the collision. Hurd showed a lot of quickness into and out of his routes, which created separation. He and Williams were the only receivers who stood out, though I'm still impressed with Austin getting by Asomugha. If Austin hadn't dropped a perfect deep slant from Kitna, he'd probably deserve to be in this group, and Patrick Crayton didn't really get an opportunity in the passing game, but did well on an end-around (a call I don't like in the preseason).
7) The only other standout on offense (other than the lines) was Keon Lattimore. He showed some nice moves to pick up some yardage, although his lack of speed showed on a few outside runs. Oops ... forgot to mention John Phillips, he made a few nice run blocks and a falling-down catch after a defender got his hands on the ball on a bad decision by McGee.
8) Special teams were much improved overall, outside of the opening-kickoff return by Isaiah Stanback and a kickoff return by Oakland out past the 30. Stanback looked good on his other returns, making nice moves and decisions to get extra yardage and the other KO returner, Kevin Ogletree, showed good speed going straight up the field, but also got good blocking to be able to do that. I saw the two-man wedge of McQuistan and Proctor just destroy one coverage man. Punt returns weren't nearly as good as Willie Reid failed to impress, muffing one punt, and DeAngelo Smith didn't get much of a chance, making a bad decision to try to field the ball on a bounce near the sideline and ending up batting it out of bounds. The coverage teams did a good job, even on Mat McBriar's longer punts (he had one clunker that worked out well for Dallas). Standouts I remember were Pat Watkins, Victor Butler and David Buehler, who broke down to contain a punt returner and make the tackle with Stanback. I think Courtney Brown also had a tackle. (Brown and Watkins needed to stand out, too, because they were awful in coverage.) Speaking of Buehler, he only had one touchback, but I think that was intentional so the kickoff team could work on coverage. Also, Nick Folk's field-goal attempt off the edge of the grass didn't miss by much, so I see no reason to worry, while Buehler's field goal was headed the same direction (left) but made it inside the upright fairly easily. I was disappointed that we didn't work Jones at punt returner, but understood the decision.
9) The first-team defense was also pretty solid, other than the play of the backup cornerbacks. Orlando Scandrick showed that the team is three-deep at the position, solidly covering Darrius Heyward-Bey twice on go routes and otherwise not being challenged, but every other corner struggled some. On the first team, Alan Ball stepped in and got beat quickly a couple of times, but he did settle down to play better against the backups and looks like the best option for the fourth corner spot. Brown got beat constantly, as did Mike Mickens, who had one good coverage play but otherwise was consistently getting turned around by the WRs. The positives in coverage were the play of the starting safeties, with Ken Hamlin short-arming a pass he should have picked off on a nice coverage play and Gerald Sensabaugh showing his range by getting to Louis Murphy fast enough to separate him from the ball with a hard hit. Sensabaugh did have one tough-luck play, closing in on a receiver deep only to have the wideout slow down for an underthrown ball. That caused Sensabaugh to put his hands on the receiver before turning to find the ball and drew a long interference call. Of the other safeties, I saw Ball and Mike Hamlin each make at least one solid hit, but they didn't really do anything to stand out ... mostly because the corners were being beat so easily.
10) The line play of the first-team defense was good enough to prevent Oakland from going anywhere. Jay Ratliff, in particular, got good penetration on a running play and passing play, batting the ball in the air and almost intercepting it. Oakland had only one good run against the starting D, and that was in a passing situation after a sack on a blitz by Keith Brooking. Dallas didn't get much pressure outside of those two plays, although it seemed like the Cowboys dropped DeMarcus Ware into coverage more than usual to see how Anthony Spencer would fare rushing the passer. The reviews on Spencer are mixed. He was very active in his effort to get to the QB, but didn't really create any pressure (of course, the Raiders used several quick drops, and didn't have to hold the ball because of the bad corner play). Spencer did have a nice play in coverage on a swing pass, getting on the receiver immediately before Bradie James came in to finish the play. Despite the lack of constant pressure, the front seven played well enough to have kept the Raiders from moving the ball if not for Brown and Ball being picked on in coverage.
11) The line play of the second- and third-team defenses was not good enough to prevent Oakland from adding a strong running game to the passing game that was destroying the corners. Dallas was constantly getting knocked off the ball, with the linemen letting the guards get to the linebackers. The backup nose tackles did nothing, while the ends didn't do much more. Stephen Bowen was involved in a few plays against the run, and had one good pressure, and Jason Hatcher got upfield one time to apply good pressure. The best pressure from the backup linemen was applied late in the game by Derrick Robinson, who came up the middle to force the QB to throw over him incomplete. All of the backup DEs showed why they are not starting material, because they don't hold up well against the run. Nose tackles Junior Siavii and Tim Anderson either got pushed back, pushed aside or pushed down most of the time and really got no push of their own.
12) The backup linebackers weren't much better, when they weren't having to fight off linemen, which they didn't do well, they were often out of position -- mostly the rookies. Butler was an active pass rusher, and had a few decent pressures, but was caught upfield or in the wrong spot several times against the run. Jason Williams showed off his speed on a couple of pressures, but also got lost at times against the run and pass, although he did recover well at times. Bobby Carpenter also had a couple of nice pressures coming up the middle, and did a great job of staying with a tight end on a seam route and almost making the interception. However, he didn't do much against the run, either, not getting involved in very many plays until the RB was several yards past the line of scrimmage. Carpenter did look fine with the things that he will likely be responsible for the most as the nickel linebacker, but there was no evidence he'd be able to step in as a starter if needed. Same with the other backup LBs, although their supporting staff didn't make it easy for them to look good, either.
1) The first possession was a disaster from the kickoff. Marc Colombo allowed a swim move to get the DE inside him to knock down Tony Romo's first-down pass, and fullback Julius Crosslin obviously didn't know the play on second down, failing to lead block for Marion Barber on a 2-yard loss. But ... one good thing did come out of the "drive," Miles Austin went 1-on-1 with All-Pro corner Nnamdi Asomugha and was pulling away from him on a fly route. He was ahead by a step or two when Romo overthrew him because he had to hurry his pass on a blitz.
2) The first-team offense settled down and looked sharp on its only other drive until it got to the goal line. Great job of mixing and matching as every starting skill player made at least one good play. The offensive line blocked well in the running and passing game. They actually blocked well near the goal line on the first attempt to score, getting a push to the goal line, but Barber didn't stay low and got stood up. Then, came the only bad play when Kyle Kosier got beat on an inside move and hooked the DT for holding. The line blocked well on Romo's TD throw because it took him awhile to find anyone open ... and Romo did what he does best, sliding to his left when the protection finally started to break down before suddenly gunning a throw to Jason Witten for the TD.
3) The guys who really stood out to me on the first-team offense were Felix Jones for his smoothness and quickness with the ball in his hand (he just really uses his blockers well and glides through the holes), Martellus Bennett for his energizing stiff-arm on a short pass and Roy Williams for a nice comeback route and drawing pass interference. I also thought Kosier looked good in space as usual, and again, the line blocked well except for on two plays.
4) The much-maligned second-team offensive line also looked surprisingly good. The Raiders' second-team defense got a sack, but it came on a blitz that Tashard Choice failed to pick up. Otherwise, the pass protection was very solid, even with Stephen McGee holding the ball longer than he should have on almost all of his pass plays. Doug Free only allowed one pressure on an up-and-under move, and the ball should have been out before the defender got loose. Pat McQuistan was beaten on a couple of similar moves, but again there was plenty of time to pass before it happened. Montrae Holland was stoning anyone he went up against, and the line overall was getting a push in the running game, just not always sustaining it or getting a good block from the tight ends/fullback. Even Cory Proctor played well outside of a couple of exchange problems. Of course, he played center throughout the game as no changes were made to the line after the second-team came in ... they played the rest of the game. The other member of the second-team line was right guard Ryan Gibbons, who had one missed block on a passing play and was beaten on one running play. This was a really solid effort, but I was disappointed that I didn't get to see Greg Isdaner play.
5) It was nice to see a backup quarterback with some zip and who looks like he can really step in if necessary, but Jon Kitna did show why he's never been more than a journeyman starter on one throw. He had Sam Hurd easily on a deep throw, but instead of leading him to the sideline, he made Hurd drift back toward the center of the field where an interception was made by the safety and Hurd almost ended up sidelined by the collision. Not saying that makes Kitna a bad QB, just that there is a reason why he hasn't been able to hang on to his starting jobs. Glad to have him as a backup, though.
6) Speaking of Hurd, he was unstoppable against the second-team defense, easily getting open and catching everything thrown to him, except the interception, which the DB won in the collision. Hurd showed a lot of quickness into and out of his routes, which created separation. He and Williams were the only receivers who stood out, though I'm still impressed with Austin getting by Asomugha. If Austin hadn't dropped a perfect deep slant from Kitna, he'd probably deserve to be in this group, and Patrick Crayton didn't really get an opportunity in the passing game, but did well on an end-around (a call I don't like in the preseason).
7) The only other standout on offense (other than the lines) was Keon Lattimore. He showed some nice moves to pick up some yardage, although his lack of speed showed on a few outside runs. Oops ... forgot to mention John Phillips, he made a few nice run blocks and a falling-down catch after a defender got his hands on the ball on a bad decision by McGee.
8) Special teams were much improved overall, outside of the opening-kickoff return by Isaiah Stanback and a kickoff return by Oakland out past the 30. Stanback looked good on his other returns, making nice moves and decisions to get extra yardage and the other KO returner, Kevin Ogletree, showed good speed going straight up the field, but also got good blocking to be able to do that. I saw the two-man wedge of McQuistan and Proctor just destroy one coverage man. Punt returns weren't nearly as good as Willie Reid failed to impress, muffing one punt, and DeAngelo Smith didn't get much of a chance, making a bad decision to try to field the ball on a bounce near the sideline and ending up batting it out of bounds. The coverage teams did a good job, even on Mat McBriar's longer punts (he had one clunker that worked out well for Dallas). Standouts I remember were Pat Watkins, Victor Butler and David Buehler, who broke down to contain a punt returner and make the tackle with Stanback. I think Courtney Brown also had a tackle. (Brown and Watkins needed to stand out, too, because they were awful in coverage.) Speaking of Buehler, he only had one touchback, but I think that was intentional so the kickoff team could work on coverage. Also, Nick Folk's field-goal attempt off the edge of the grass didn't miss by much, so I see no reason to worry, while Buehler's field goal was headed the same direction (left) but made it inside the upright fairly easily. I was disappointed that we didn't work Jones at punt returner, but understood the decision.
9) The first-team defense was also pretty solid, other than the play of the backup cornerbacks. Orlando Scandrick showed that the team is three-deep at the position, solidly covering Darrius Heyward-Bey twice on go routes and otherwise not being challenged, but every other corner struggled some. On the first team, Alan Ball stepped in and got beat quickly a couple of times, but he did settle down to play better against the backups and looks like the best option for the fourth corner spot. Brown got beat constantly, as did Mike Mickens, who had one good coverage play but otherwise was consistently getting turned around by the WRs. The positives in coverage were the play of the starting safeties, with Ken Hamlin short-arming a pass he should have picked off on a nice coverage play and Gerald Sensabaugh showing his range by getting to Louis Murphy fast enough to separate him from the ball with a hard hit. Sensabaugh did have one tough-luck play, closing in on a receiver deep only to have the wideout slow down for an underthrown ball. That caused Sensabaugh to put his hands on the receiver before turning to find the ball and drew a long interference call. Of the other safeties, I saw Ball and Mike Hamlin each make at least one solid hit, but they didn't really do anything to stand out ... mostly because the corners were being beat so easily.
10) The line play of the first-team defense was good enough to prevent Oakland from going anywhere. Jay Ratliff, in particular, got good penetration on a running play and passing play, batting the ball in the air and almost intercepting it. Oakland had only one good run against the starting D, and that was in a passing situation after a sack on a blitz by Keith Brooking. Dallas didn't get much pressure outside of those two plays, although it seemed like the Cowboys dropped DeMarcus Ware into coverage more than usual to see how Anthony Spencer would fare rushing the passer. The reviews on Spencer are mixed. He was very active in his effort to get to the QB, but didn't really create any pressure (of course, the Raiders used several quick drops, and didn't have to hold the ball because of the bad corner play). Spencer did have a nice play in coverage on a swing pass, getting on the receiver immediately before Bradie James came in to finish the play. Despite the lack of constant pressure, the front seven played well enough to have kept the Raiders from moving the ball if not for Brown and Ball being picked on in coverage.
11) The line play of the second- and third-team defenses was not good enough to prevent Oakland from adding a strong running game to the passing game that was destroying the corners. Dallas was constantly getting knocked off the ball, with the linemen letting the guards get to the linebackers. The backup nose tackles did nothing, while the ends didn't do much more. Stephen Bowen was involved in a few plays against the run, and had one good pressure, and Jason Hatcher got upfield one time to apply good pressure. The best pressure from the backup linemen was applied late in the game by Derrick Robinson, who came up the middle to force the QB to throw over him incomplete. All of the backup DEs showed why they are not starting material, because they don't hold up well against the run. Nose tackles Junior Siavii and Tim Anderson either got pushed back, pushed aside or pushed down most of the time and really got no push of their own.
12) The backup linebackers weren't much better, when they weren't having to fight off linemen, which they didn't do well, they were often out of position -- mostly the rookies. Butler was an active pass rusher, and had a few decent pressures, but was caught upfield or in the wrong spot several times against the run. Jason Williams showed off his speed on a couple of pressures, but also got lost at times against the run and pass, although he did recover well at times. Bobby Carpenter also had a couple of nice pressures coming up the middle, and did a great job of staying with a tight end on a seam route and almost making the interception. However, he didn't do much against the run, either, not getting involved in very many plays until the RB was several yards past the line of scrimmage. Carpenter did look fine with the things that he will likely be responsible for the most as the nickel linebacker, but there was no evidence he'd be able to step in as a starter if needed. Same with the other backup LBs, although their supporting staff didn't make it easy for them to look good, either.
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