Initial Game Review

[JIGGYFLY]

This is my initial reaction. I’ll review the game in more detail later on the All-22, but for now here are my thoughts:



3. The biggest disappointment for me was Dez. He was dehydrated before the half. Garrett pulled him on 1 play because he was trying to get into a fight and he just couldn’t shut up. All of this after missing most of the preseason on an injury that occurred because he was showboating (dunking over the crossbar in practice). The injury was the final insult.


/quote]

So is Dez the new Doug Free for you?

How can breaking your foot be an insult?

 

[boysfanindc]

Wilber was a beast on STs.

I actually thought I heard Wilber say "Welcome back Mr. Harris".

 

[DFWJC]

It was good to see Tony step up and bring what we all know he has the potential to do when it really mattered, instead of returning to the Romo of a couple of seasons ago whereupon he would have crumbled.

.

Short bus alert

 

[BrassCowboy]

not sure what game you were watching either.... although I will give ya alot of your points in your posts, this team played the whole first half and some into the second real rusty, slow, kinda robotic and kinda lethargic at times. Reminded me of the season a few years back where we went 13-3 for the season and played the Giants in the divisional playoff game. Like we thought we had already won the game, you know?

Now we came away with a win and as long as this team learns from this game that should of been lost, it will help us as we keep going. Have to do it without Dez and Gregory for awhile. Can be done as it was last night.

 

[Eddie]

I'm curious if you would have been this optimistic if Coughlin and Eli decided to run on that crucial 3rd and goal. Regardless if they score or not, we lost another 40 seconds off the clock. Game over.

 

[mrmojo]

We couldn't force a punt to save our lives in the 4th qtr, and the last drive we couldn't stop them, luckily Eli had an Eli moment.Need a lot of improvement on defense and just need to hold on to the ball on offense. Thank god for Tony Romo, I now feel about him like I did about Staubach, that if we have the ball last we will win the game.

 

[boysfanindc]

not sure what game you were watching either.... although I will give ya alot of your points in your posts, this team played the whole first half and some into the second real rusty, slow, kinda robotic and kinda lethargic at times. Reminded me of the season a few years back where we went 13-3 for the season and played the Giants in the divisional playoff game. Like we thought we had already won the game, you know?

Now we came away with a win and as long as this team learns from this game that should of been lost, it will help us as we keep going. Have to do it without Dez and Gregory for awhile. Can be done as it was last night.

I don't know, you don't have a extra quarter of Time of Possession (37/22 minutes), have 436 yards of total offense, hold the opponent to 289 yards and are 54% on third downs without executing.

The turnovers are what killed them, I think some thought because Romo was running the play clock down they where not crisp, but I thought he masterfully used it to his advantage decoding their D.

 

[texbumthelife]

On that Witten interception, I kept thinking back a cpl years ago, to the pass behind him that bounced up off his foot into a defenders hands... I think that was against the Giants too.

 

[djmajestik]

They probably would have had 300 yards rushing if JP was still here.

JPP giving the 2 finger discount?

 

[Frosty]

Dunbar running kickoffs out of the endzone to the 10yd line
WR can't get open... dropitis or fumblitis
Defense is still not capable of making a stop with the game on the line.(were is DLAW)
Thought the DBs had a good night
OL was awesome
Romo is the magic man
Randal was good...team needs a physical RB (Michaels)
Did I say the OL was awesome
Typical Sunday Night Prime Time sloppy unprepared team from Jason Garrett
A win is a win no matter how ugly it is

 

[adbutcher]

It was good to see Tony step up and bring what we all know he has the potential to do when it really mattered, instead of returning to the Romo of a couple of seasons ago whereupon he would have crumbled.

Gutted for Dez, yeah the injury in preseason was his own stupidity - but we will miss him. On saying that, it was nice to see a lot of other players stepping up (Escobar, Im looking at you)

O-line did what the O-Line does, can't argue, best in the league.

The fight and willingness to win was what was crucial for me, and the win (and the manner of the win) will give the boys some much needed confidence going into Philly.

You do know that since 2006 Romo has 28 come from behind wins, including 4th quarter and OT? That is the best in the NFL.

 

[Hoov]

This is my initial reaction. I’ll review the game in more detail later on the All-22, but for now here are my thoughts:

1. I see the comments here at CZ and I think some people were watching a different game that the one I was watching.

2. Collinsworth (Turkey Neck) did his best to make an exciting game into a boring one. He was constantly harping on things that were a side note and missing the big picture.

3. The biggest disappointment for me was Dez. He was dehydrated before the half. Garrett pulled him on 1 play because he was trying to get into a fight and he just couldn’t shut up. All of this after missing most of the preseason on an injury that occurred because he was showboating (dunking over the crossbar in practice). The injury was the final insult.


4 The RBs contributed over 200 yards. Randle had a 4.1 ypc which is better than some of Murray’s games last year.

5. They had 356 yards passing for 2nd in the league and Dez only had 48 of those yards.

6. If the RBs had over 200 yards of total offense and the Cowboys were 2nd in passing with Dez making a minimal contribution, then I’m not sure how people can claim that either the RBs or the WRs totally sucked.

7. I actually thought the Cowboys were fairly clean and crisp for the most part. The turnovers and the penalty by Mincey were the only things that could be called sloppy, IMO.

8. Turnovers. The Street turnover was a perfect play by the defender. The Witten turnover was a really lucky play to have landed perfectly in the hands of the defender.. Beasley should have protected the ball better, especially once he was past the 1st down marker and had defenders on both sides. I don’t know if there are many coaching points on these other than for Beasley to get 2 hands on the ball in that situation.

9. I think T. Williams really only had 1 drop. On the other plays the defender got his hands on the ball to knock it away. The play in the end-zone was tipped at the line.

10 The pass blocking was terrific. The run blocking was physically good by most of the individual blockers but it was a little out of sync overall. One run was killed by a missed block by Lucky. I’m not certain why he was in that situation in the 1st place. I saw Leary crush some defenders to the point I was having flashbacks to LA.

10. The defense was really good. Without the Cowboys turnovers, the Giants would have struggled to score much of anything.

11. Losing Gregory sucks. He looked really good. Finding a pass rush, especially at the end of games is going to be difficult for the next 3 games with Hardy out. They’re going to wear out Mincey and Lawrence.. It was odd to only have 7 DL active.

13 The LBs looked good. Even Wilber made some critical plays.

14. Jones is apparently the TE coverage specialist which is a good idea considering how pass catching TEs have emerged in the modern NFL.

15. I can’t remember Claiborne giving up much of anything. I didn’t really focus on him, but I just didn’t notice it.

16. Patmon looked like Scandrick.

17. I think the hit on Bechham by Wilcox early had an effect on how Beckham played.

18. Special Teams looked good. So much for all the crying in the preseason. Keith Smith and Corey White were 2 that stood out to me.

19. Dunbar had a huge contribution to the win despite the dozens of posts calling for him to be cut this preseason.

20. To a lesser extent than Dunbar, Escobar also played well despite the hate that he gets from “fans”.

21. Romo is The Man. A few of his passes were slightly off but he came through when it mattered.

Agree with most of this. The TO on the witten pass looked like a bad pass by romo to me, looked like it was well behind Witten and he reached back for it but couldnt do much with it.

 

[ConstantReboot]

On that Witten interception, I kept thinking back a cpl years ago, to the pass behind him that bounced up off his foot into a defenders hands... I think that was against the Giants too.

It was. That was kinda similar to this game as well.

 

[texbumthelife]

Agree with most of this. The TO on the witten pass looked like a bad pass by romo to me, looked like it was well behind Witten and he reached back for it but couldnt do much with it.

I got blasted in the game thread for insinuating Romo threw that one (and the Dez drop) behind the receiver. Apparently if the receiver can catch it, it doesn't qualify as behind him. The TWill drop in the end zone was behind him as well.

 

[black label]

3. The biggest disappointment for me was Dez. He was dehydrated before the half. Garrett pulled him on 1 play because he was trying to get into a fight and he just couldn’t shut up. All of this after missing most of the preseason on an injury that occurred because he was showboating (dunking over the crossbar in practice). The injury was the final insult.

 

[YosemiteSam]

You do know that since 2006 Romo has 28 come from behind wins, including 4th quarter and OT? That is the best in the NFL.

Shhhh. Keep quiet about that!

 

[romothesavior]

We won, but way too much was wrong.

They were sloppy and out of practice.

Romo saved the day.

I keep hearing this sentiment over and over today. I don't get it.

They thoroughly dominated just about every facet of the game. The offense looked very in sync and the defense was stout. The turnovers are crippling and can't happen in future games, but I thought the team otherwise looked great.

 

[Fletch]

We won, but way too much was wrong.

They were sloppy and out of practice.

Romo saved the day.

That's what happens when you sit most of your starters during the entire preseason barring a few snaps here and there. Also of note , there was three divisional games played yesterday. All were extremely close. That's what happens when it's a divisional opponent. Let's not gloss over first game jitters and cob webs.

We're 1-0. 1-0 in division play. HUGE!!!

EVERYONE wants the perfect game. Take the win in this day of parity.

 

[Nightman]

I keep hearing this sentiment over and over today. I don't get it.

They thoroughly dominated just about every facet of the game. The offense looked very in sync and the defense was stout. The turnovers are crippling and can't happen in future games, but I thought the team otherwise looked great.

They didn't convert third downs, the run game was blah, they had a ton a drops besides the turnovers.

Romo and the D were outstanding, they rest not so much......even the bad penalties by DLaw, Mincey and Witten.

 

[Hoov]

I got blasted in the game thread for insinuating Romo threw that one (and the Dez drop) behind the receiver. Apparently if the receiver can catch it, it doesn't qualify as behind him. The TWill drop in the end zone was behind him as well.

I saw the defender reached in and got part of the ball on the T Will drop - i didnt notice it being behind him because i was talking and not really looking to see if it was - perhaps if it was more forward the defender wouldnt have been able to make a play. If I remember it had to be a tight throw because there were Giants players on both sides so i wasnt too harsh about that one - except that i thought Romo should have maybe looked for another option.

The Dez drop i thought still should have been a catch - i'll have to look again.

The Witen pass was the worst of the night i thought for Romo.