Initial Fuzzy Thoughts Postgame @TN

[CATCH17]

Jake Locker was erratic because he had to throw into tight spaces for most of the game.

The coverage was great this game.


Dallas just looked unbelievable today. That was old school Cowboy football.

That performance gives me hope.

We still looked sloppy at times but Dallas needs to be a conservative football team that pounds the rock and doesn't beat themselves.

Yes, Romo still looks physically bad but let's just hope he improves as time goes on.

 

[waving monkey]

I will never understand what do the coaches see in Hayden.

his available

 

[waving monkey]

Fuzzy much appreciate

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

Jake Locker was erratic because he had to throw into tight spaces for most of the game.

The coverage was great this game.


Dallas just looked unbelievable today. That was old school Cowboy football.

That performance gives me hope.

We still looked sloppy at times but Dallas needs to be a conservative football team that pounds the rock and doesn't beat themselves.

Yes, Romo still looks physically bad but let's just hope he improves as time goes on.

Catch...I was worried early....the first series and then Murray's fumble, but the defense kept it together, the offense started moving it and we gained momentum. I would have liked to see more TD's than FG's...a few typical drive killing penalties at the worst time but a LOT of positives to pull from.

 

[CATCH17]

Catch...I was worried early....the first series and then Murray's fumble, but the defense kept it together, the offense started moving it and we gained momentum. I would have liked to see more TD's than FG's...a few typical drive killing penalties at the worst time but a LOT of positives to pull from.

Me too but those field goals were killers.


Bottom line is we went into the Titans house and absolutely man handled them.


That was dominant.

I now feel some hope for this team and I haven't felt that way towards them in awhile.

 

[mmohican29]

If the San Diego game is any indication, I like our chances. Brown, Matthews, and Woodhead had some nice gains against them from the bits and pieces I saw today.

Interesting to see if the Cowboys put Beasley/Harris outside in that game and go with Dez in the slot. Sherman struggles against quick smaller WR's.

 

[mmohican29]

Me too but those field goals were killers.


Bottom line is we went into the Titans house and absolutely man handled them.


That was dominant.

I now feel some hope for this team and I haven't felt that way towards them in awhile.

If Dan Bailey isn't our kicker, the ending is interesting. Make no mistake- we deserved to win today. I credit the coaches and QB for staying patient and stick to a formula that was working.

 

[DFWJC]

If Dan Bailey isn't our kicker, the ending is interesting. Make no mistake- we deserved to win today. I credit the coaches and QB for staying patient and stick to a formula that was working.

Special teams are very important and certainly under appreciated at times in this forum.

 

[mmohican29]

Special teams are very important and certainly under appreciated at times in this forum.

Throw in Dwayne Harris to that batch of cookies. Huge play to down the ball at the half yard line, huge return to set up a FG attempt prior to end of half. Harris is a big time player I hope we can keep him.

 

[mmohican29]

Throw in Dwayne Harris to that batch of cookies. Huge play to down the ball at the half yard line, huge return to set up a FG attempt prior to end of half. Harris is a big time player I hope we can keep him.

And Heath. 2 enormous hits today, one on KR coverage, one to prevent a TD. Absolute head rockers.

 

[Zordon]

I am still waiting to see what he is here for.

i thought scott would feature more of the screen game in his offense.

 

[honyock]

The Crawford, McClain, Melton, and Mincey line over powered the TN front in the early going. Crawford stood out to me on the first series caving the line on a run and shaking off the OT to get a hit on Locker. He quieted down significantly. Melton made his presence felt throughout the game but it was a pretty quiet night for Mincey as well. Mend well, Spencer.

The backup line did not perform well. Coleman and especially Hayden were bad. TN waited for them to come in and would run at them. Schwenke and Warmack obliterated Hayden repeatedly. It became this fascinating thing how blown off the ball they would get. This wasn't a problem in this game as we were up for two scores most of the game but it will. Bishop needs to be activated and Hayden DFA.

Hayden played the entire second half and our pass rush dried up. Coverage covered for them. Wilber could not get away from Roos punch. Not enough quickness or power in his rush. Roos whiffed one time and he got a sack but for the most part he was easily blocked. Selvie made no impression on me.

Nice write up Fuzzy. The only quibble is that Hayden started and played most of the first two series in which the line was overpowering like you say. And I only have Hayden playing in 12 of the 28 second half snaps. He had some decent snaps in the first quarter. But I saw some of what you're referring to, him getting blown off the ball on double teams. One of the big runs Tennessee had early in the second half came on a play where he got smoked by a double team and Ro McClain filled the wrong hole.

Overall, I thought they used Hayden pretty intelligently. He had only 27 snaps the entire game, which is about half what he averaged last year when he got way overexposed. He was in on less than half the snaps when Dallas was in nickel defense. When kept fresh, he's...well, he's better than when he is playing 60 snaps. I'll leave it at that.

 

[jazzcat22]

Jake Locker was erratic because he had to throw into tight spaces for most of the game.

The coverage was great this game.


Dallas just looked unbelievable today. That was old school Cowboy football.

That performance gives me hope.

We still looked sloppy at times but Dallas needs to be a conservative football team that pounds the rock and doesn't beat themselves.

Yes, Romo still looks physically bad but let's just hope he improves as time goes on.

Yes, I like the conservative approach, and it protects Romo too in a variety of ways.
Every player I seen interviewed, said about the same thing, as you said sloppy at times, the players said, ...we made too many mistakes, we will get those cleaned upped...

 

[casmith07]

@FuzzyLumpkins

Some of my thoughts are the same as yours. Barry Church blew his assignment on the Delanie Walker TD, contrary to Troy and Joe Buck banging on Claiborne. Not sure what they expected Mo to do - cover two guys?

Still very pleased with our safety play overall. Heath gave up a bit of a big gainer but then locked down well in the red zone to help force a turnover on downs. He's also very good on special teams, so I will eat crow and say that he deserves a roster spot here as long as he can run fast and tackle.

Brandon Carr played much better. In position and good field awareness.

Game ball goes to Ro McClain - holy moly this guy looks every bit the part of an 8th overall pick for us. He's everywhere and he's huge. When Sean Lee comes back I would like to see Sean Lee's speed used as the Will linebacker with Ro staying home at MLB. He's just a large, strong, rock-like figure in the middle. And he runs with the best of them. Bruce Carter looks natural at the Sam (I'll pat myself on the back for that one - only been saying it since last year about Week 2).

Honorable Mention to Sterling Moore. Very quietly had an excellent game out there.

If DeMarcus Lawrence, Anthony Spencer, and Orlando Scandrick all come along strong when they return, this defense is going to be pretty decent.

Downers: Doug Free is awful, and so is Nick Hayden.

 

[casmith07]

Mo actually looked good from the cheap seats in Nashville today. I posted some thoughts in the 0-2 thread below if you are interested. I guess newbies cant start threads.

Morris had a great game. Looking forward to watching the coaches' film.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Nice write up Fuzzy. The only quibble is that Hayden started and played most of the first two series in which the line was overpowering like you say. And I only have Hayden playing in 12 of the 28 second half snaps. He had some decent snaps in the first quarter. But I saw some of what you're referring to, him getting blown off the ball on double teams. One of the big runs Tennessee had early in the second half came on a play where he got smoked by a double team and Ro McClain filled the wrong hole.

Overall, I thought they used Hayden pretty intelligently. He had only 27 snaps the entire game, which is about half what he averaged last year when he got way overexposed. He was in on less than half the snaps when Dallas was in nickel defense. When kept fresh, he's...well, he's better than when he is playing 60 snaps. I'll leave it at that.

I thought the same thing. Certainly no Hayden fan, but they used him wisely yesterday and he didn't play badly overall.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

@FuzzyLumpkins

Some of my thoughts are the same as yours. Barry Church blew his assignment on the Delanie Walker TD, contrary to Troy and Joe Buck banging on Claiborne. Not sure what they expected Mo to do - cover two guys?

Still very pleased with our safety play overall. Heath gave up a bit of a big gainer but then locked down well in the red zone to help force a turnover on downs. He's also very good on special teams, so I will eat crow and say that he deserves a roster spot here as long as he can run fast and tackle.

Brandon Carr played much better. In position and good field awareness.

Game ball goes to Ro McClain - holy moly this guy looks every bit the part of an 8th overall pick for us. He's everywhere and he's huge. When Sean Lee comes back I would like to see Sean Lee's speed used as the Will linebacker with Ro staying home at MLB. He's just a large, strong, rock-like figure in the middle. And he runs with the best of them. Bruce Carter looks natural at the Sam (I'll pat myself on the back for that one - only been saying it since last year about Week 2).

Honorable Mention to Sterling Moore. Very quietly had an excellent game out there.

If DeMarcus Lawrence, Anthony Spencer, and Orlando Scandrick all come along strong when they return, this defense is going to be pretty decent.

Downers: Doug Free is awful, and so is Nick Hayden.

Yeah Free was bad.

Actually I thought offensive line played worse than what the rushing game indicated.

Almost all of the offensive linemen had problems dealing with the blitzes and the stunts.

 

[casmith07]

Yeah Free was bad.

Actually I thought offensive line played worse than what the rushing game indicated.

Almost all of the offensive linemen had problems dealing with the blitzes and the stunts.

Tennessee's front is pretty good, despite them being an afterthought in the NFL. They definitely got after us in the passing game. Thing is, when a team stunts and twists and slashes like that, they leave gaping run holes.

 

[gimmesix]

his available

More like, he's better than others we have for the 1-tech. That's not a ringing endorsement for Hayden, just a condemnation of our 1-tech choices.

 

[gimmesix]

Yeah Free was bad.

Actually I thought offensive line played worse than what the rushing game indicated.

Almost all of the offensive linemen had problems dealing with the blitzes and the stunts.

Pass blocking still needs a little work rounding into shape. Run blocking has been excellent, and when it has failed, Murray is picking up the slack.