FuzzyLumpkins
The Boognish
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We were down 3 scores in the second quarter and still ended up with more runs than passes. Sure some of those runs were scrambles but there were no sacks and it looks to be 26 runs and 26 passes after adjusting for Romo's scrambles. It seems they are determined to run the ball.
The majority of our yardage in the ground game came from Murray's 44 run off Tyron early in the third quarter. St. Louis spent all after noon jumping all over our stretch play. If we tried to move the los, their guys moved better than our guys. We had more success on the inside zone but they payed a lot of attention to the los with heavy boxes and run blitzes.
OL has yet to play a complete game. First two weeks were spotty on pass protection and this week we struggled running the ball. The unit still has a ways to go.
It was nice to see Linehan employ some counters off the STL overplay in the second half. The stretch left bootleg right has been a WCO staple for 30 years and Witten's catch for first down off it was huge in the drive for the go ahead score. A counter off an inside zone resulted in several nice runs in the second half.
Murray had another heavy day at work and got 100 yards but he had to work. He was met at or behind the los all game long. I 'm not sure what to think about the fumbling issue. It has not been an issue for his entire career dating back to OU and now he fumbles every 25 carries. Uncanny and likely mental. His pass protection was perfect. He caught what was thrown to him.
The Romo back story will live on as he appeared nimble moving around the pocket and avoid the meager pressure the OL allowed. He was not sacked. He missed a couple throws but the weak and low tosses were replaced by a velocity we are more familiar with. His touch on the deep throw was not as good as you would like but such has he always been. He had one bad decision where Jenkins only had to drive a couple yards to get to the football but the majority of his throws and decisions were sound.
The success of our passing game was muted statistically somewhat due to multiple pi calls deep downfield. Beasley and Dez were set for big gains and were tackled before the catch by corners who had been cleanly beat. Bease beating that double team downfield was a slick move. That ball was on the money. I thought the skill guys in general did a very good job getting open and catching the football. Giving your QB an easy read is the name of the game and these guys did that.
Front 7 was awful early DL got pushed around. Carter was playing tentatively again circa this time last year. Hitchens looked like he was overmatched. He is too weak at the poa against OL to play run downs in the NFL at this point. Wilber is SLOW out in space and it's painful. Our guys failure to pursue runs to the edges was the lionshare of the damage done. Don't get me wrong the DL got pushed around but it is obvious what McClain brings to the table. He was missed sorely.
You can point to all the tackles by the LB if you want but I don't consider dragging down defenders giving chase good tackling. We missed numerous tackles at the poa. I imagine the coaches were all over that at the half because they played much better in the second half.
Line games, blitzes and hustle did generate pressure but lack of edge quickness made it tough sledding. Davis consistently had time to throw. Carter had a couple rushes where his quickness is apparent and it made the STL center panic one time when he sugared the A gap. That is gamechanging as it resulted in Melton jumping on the fumble. It's also a welcome turnaround because he had that uncertain jog going early in the game when Mincey and the DT were getting mauled. Jake Long seemed to have his way with Mincey. Melton and McClain didn't do better than Hayden or Bishop inside. I did get the impression that the strongside was pretty good at the poa so halfhearted kudos to 99 and 98.
I think the coaches deserve some credit for adjustments in zone drops in the second half. Of course Carter and Hitchens made great plays but their drops had them all over STL breaks underneath in the second half where they had a much farther chase early in the game. Watching Hitchens make a play on the ball in those circumstances was very encouraging. He desperately needs an offseason to strengthen his body but he does have a decent head for the ball for a rookie. Really is too bad about Holloman.
Carr and Scandrick were okay. Claiborne gives plenty of cognitive dissonance to binary thinkers. He was overaggressive and whiffed on his press several times. Major kudos to Wilcox in recognizing it and taking it up the field a couple times. One time there was no safety help and it resulted in a big score. Late in the game he wasn't beat and stayed on top of the route and iced the game when the young QB went to the well one too many times. Claiborne also blitzed into the A gap and came through clean for a hit on Davis that same drive. This was after he allowed Davis to steer him inside with his eyes and give up a TD.
He is not very physical against the run and he has struggled getting off blocks from the big receivers he has dealt with. That being said he will stick his nose in there and fight blocks and try to tackle which is more than can be said from before. It's still not good but it's not the weeping sore that it was before. He still makes bad decisions in zone coverage but he is now starting to make some good decisions too. Moreso this is two games in a row seeing him trying to high point balls and this time he came away with a pick. He is seeing routes and batting balls away. He obviously needs to improve but it's not all bad. Interesting player even if he never lives up to that lofty draft status.
Wilcox is another player in development that has gone from blown coverages versus SF to a solid game. He has not shown much playmaking ability but he helps his teammates and is a consistent tackler. I love his effort and his recognition is getting better; he does drive on the football. Both he and Church are very good at transitioning zones. He has been asked to man cover TE a lot. He has given up a couple of significant passes but in fairness he has won on a lot of routes in man too. Church's pick last week was intended to his man who he had blanketed and people tend to ignore when the ball isn't thrown his way.
You have to love the resilience of a team that can fight back from a three score deficit. I don't want to see it every week and I get it was the Rams but to go out there, adjust, and execute in the face of that is impressive. The TD drive in the second quarter was key. Runs behind Tyron Smith and Beasley in the middle of the field set up Murray's TD. A gap sugar gets the ball back and we capitalize on a STL penalty for a FG going into the half.
Team committed to the offensive gameplan in the second half and by the fourth quarter had gotten nose to nose. Two Demarco Murray runs and an Escobar out route get a first down before Dez gets wide open 40 yards downfield and scampers in for a 68 yard score. The defense then stands up to two straight runs after 3rd and 3 and turns the ball over on downs. A counter from Murray gets them 44 yards and a FG and they are all the way back to within a point before the third quarter is over.
I think I am buying tickets to the Saints game.
The majority of our yardage in the ground game came from Murray's 44 run off Tyron early in the third quarter. St. Louis spent all after noon jumping all over our stretch play. If we tried to move the los, their guys moved better than our guys. We had more success on the inside zone but they payed a lot of attention to the los with heavy boxes and run blitzes.
OL has yet to play a complete game. First two weeks were spotty on pass protection and this week we struggled running the ball. The unit still has a ways to go.
It was nice to see Linehan employ some counters off the STL overplay in the second half. The stretch left bootleg right has been a WCO staple for 30 years and Witten's catch for first down off it was huge in the drive for the go ahead score. A counter off an inside zone resulted in several nice runs in the second half.
Murray had another heavy day at work and got 100 yards but he had to work. He was met at or behind the los all game long. I 'm not sure what to think about the fumbling issue. It has not been an issue for his entire career dating back to OU and now he fumbles every 25 carries. Uncanny and likely mental. His pass protection was perfect. He caught what was thrown to him.
The Romo back story will live on as he appeared nimble moving around the pocket and avoid the meager pressure the OL allowed. He was not sacked. He missed a couple throws but the weak and low tosses were replaced by a velocity we are more familiar with. His touch on the deep throw was not as good as you would like but such has he always been. He had one bad decision where Jenkins only had to drive a couple yards to get to the football but the majority of his throws and decisions were sound.
The success of our passing game was muted statistically somewhat due to multiple pi calls deep downfield. Beasley and Dez were set for big gains and were tackled before the catch by corners who had been cleanly beat. Bease beating that double team downfield was a slick move. That ball was on the money. I thought the skill guys in general did a very good job getting open and catching the football. Giving your QB an easy read is the name of the game and these guys did that.
Front 7 was awful early DL got pushed around. Carter was playing tentatively again circa this time last year. Hitchens looked like he was overmatched. He is too weak at the poa against OL to play run downs in the NFL at this point. Wilber is SLOW out in space and it's painful. Our guys failure to pursue runs to the edges was the lionshare of the damage done. Don't get me wrong the DL got pushed around but it is obvious what McClain brings to the table. He was missed sorely.
You can point to all the tackles by the LB if you want but I don't consider dragging down defenders giving chase good tackling. We missed numerous tackles at the poa. I imagine the coaches were all over that at the half because they played much better in the second half.
Line games, blitzes and hustle did generate pressure but lack of edge quickness made it tough sledding. Davis consistently had time to throw. Carter had a couple rushes where his quickness is apparent and it made the STL center panic one time when he sugared the A gap. That is gamechanging as it resulted in Melton jumping on the fumble. It's also a welcome turnaround because he had that uncertain jog going early in the game when Mincey and the DT were getting mauled. Jake Long seemed to have his way with Mincey. Melton and McClain didn't do better than Hayden or Bishop inside. I did get the impression that the strongside was pretty good at the poa so halfhearted kudos to 99 and 98.
I think the coaches deserve some credit for adjustments in zone drops in the second half. Of course Carter and Hitchens made great plays but their drops had them all over STL breaks underneath in the second half where they had a much farther chase early in the game. Watching Hitchens make a play on the ball in those circumstances was very encouraging. He desperately needs an offseason to strengthen his body but he does have a decent head for the ball for a rookie. Really is too bad about Holloman.
Carr and Scandrick were okay. Claiborne gives plenty of cognitive dissonance to binary thinkers. He was overaggressive and whiffed on his press several times. Major kudos to Wilcox in recognizing it and taking it up the field a couple times. One time there was no safety help and it resulted in a big score. Late in the game he wasn't beat and stayed on top of the route and iced the game when the young QB went to the well one too many times. Claiborne also blitzed into the A gap and came through clean for a hit on Davis that same drive. This was after he allowed Davis to steer him inside with his eyes and give up a TD.
He is not very physical against the run and he has struggled getting off blocks from the big receivers he has dealt with. That being said he will stick his nose in there and fight blocks and try to tackle which is more than can be said from before. It's still not good but it's not the weeping sore that it was before. He still makes bad decisions in zone coverage but he is now starting to make some good decisions too. Moreso this is two games in a row seeing him trying to high point balls and this time he came away with a pick. He is seeing routes and batting balls away. He obviously needs to improve but it's not all bad. Interesting player even if he never lives up to that lofty draft status.
Wilcox is another player in development that has gone from blown coverages versus SF to a solid game. He has not shown much playmaking ability but he helps his teammates and is a consistent tackler. I love his effort and his recognition is getting better; he does drive on the football. Both he and Church are very good at transitioning zones. He has been asked to man cover TE a lot. He has given up a couple of significant passes but in fairness he has won on a lot of routes in man too. Church's pick last week was intended to his man who he had blanketed and people tend to ignore when the ball isn't thrown his way.
You have to love the resilience of a team that can fight back from a three score deficit. I don't want to see it every week and I get it was the Rams but to go out there, adjust, and execute in the face of that is impressive. The TD drive in the second quarter was key. Runs behind Tyron Smith and Beasley in the middle of the field set up Murray's TD. A gap sugar gets the ball back and we capitalize on a STL penalty for a FG going into the half.
Team committed to the offensive gameplan in the second half and by the fourth quarter had gotten nose to nose. Two Demarco Murray runs and an Escobar out route get a first down before Dez gets wide open 40 yards downfield and scampers in for a 68 yard score. The defense then stands up to two straight runs after 3rd and 3 and turns the ball over on downs. A counter from Murray gets them 44 yards and a FG and they are all the way back to within a point before the third quarter is over.
I think I am buying tickets to the Saints game.
