Initial Game Review

[BrassCowboy]

I felt the same way, but I attributed it to a different reason. Romo threw 9(?) passes in the preseason, Dez didn't play a single snap in preseason, the OL never played a game together in the preseason, Randle had 7 (?) carries and McFadden had 6 (?). In short, they were out of sync because they didn't play together really at all before last night. Not sure that next year the coaches will want to limit guys quite as much to avoid injuries. They may need to get a little more quality work against an opponent in the preseason so that the first game isn't their first time all getting out there and trying to get on the same page.

I actually agree with this.. They definitely need to stop skipping preseason like they do.

 

[DandyDon1722]

Ok, I re-read that and that was unfair what I said...sorry, the heat of the moment. I know Romo has the most 4th Quarter and OT comebacks in franchise history, and the most in the NFL since 2006. I know he has 4 pro bowls.

I was mainly trying to say he came through when it mattered and Im genuinely happy he did, I just worded it completely wrong and made it sound worse than what it was. My bad....

Nice response and chalk it up to learning the ropes a little in here. The Romo war has been waged (and won by Tony himself) in CZ with some heated and passionate debate over the years. 99% of posters here understand what we have in Romo while we still have to deal with the general fan base at times who is not astute.

You'll be fine - keep posting and welcome. We'll look forward to more.

 

[Nightman]

So were all of the Patriots Super Bowls, and leading up to them. Take what you can get and move on. I'll begin judging after week 6, not after the first game. Patience grasshopper!

There is a huge difference between close and lucky and what happened last night.

Give Eli first and goal under two minutes, down by 3 and we lose 97 out of 100 times.

 

[Nightman]

Ok, I re-read that and that was unfair what I said...sorry, the heat of the moment. I know Romo has the most 4th Quarter and OT comebacks in franchise history, and the most in the NFL since 2006. I know he has 4 pro bowls.

I was mainly trying to say he came through when it mattered and Im genuinely happy he did, I just worded it completely wrong and made it sound worse than what it was. My bad....

It is bad enough that we have to hear it from the national mediots, hearing it here is 100x worse.

I just heard the girl on the NFL Network lead off the segment by saying "we all know how Romo isn't clutch and we all give him a hard time for it, so when he is clutch like last night we have to give him credit".......oh gee.....thanks toots......

But its all good since you know the truth

 

[windjc]

Without the Mincey penalty, we probably lose. The refs gave us back the time out we had called which became critical to conserving enough time for Romo's amazing comeback. It was a bone headed move at the time, but a blessing in disguise.

Ummm. It was 3rd and 2. We could have stopped them.

 

[Fletch]

There is a huge difference between close and lucky and what happened last night.

Give Eli first and goal under two minutes, down by 3 and we lose 97 out of 100 times.

Some fans wallow in misery (coulda-woulda-shoulda) following a win. Just enjoy it dude.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Except last year we always held our breaths to see if Murray would fumble.

True. First half of the year, he was bad at fumbling.

 

[Seven]

Witten has had some unusual (Bad) luck when it comes to the Giants.

Wasn't it a few years ago Romo threw the ball behind him and it bounced off his heel, in stride, and it was intercepted off the bounce?

 

[chris1995]

Witten has had some unusual (Bad) luck when it comes to the Giants.

Wasn't it a few years ago Romo threw the ball behind him and it bounced off his heel, in stride, and it was intercepted off the bounce?

Well he made up for it in the 4th Qtr !

 

[xwalker]

X, thanks for the observations. Gregory really was flashing last night. He is going to be a special player. Regarding the turnovers, #9 threw a bad pass to Witten that got picked but if you see the All 22 there was a CB out there and Romo was trying to make Witten sit down instead of leading him into the CB. Also, the Beasley turnover is totally a coaching moment! I wouldn't even begin with the two hands on the ball coaching moment, I would begin with ensuring all players are aware of "time and score." Situational football is important. Beasley should have gone out of bounds realizing that the clock was not in Dallas' favor. No reason for him to attempt to get those extra yards and burn more clock.

Other than that, I love the OP. Thanks again.

Yes, I had a discussion with someone on whether or not Witten should have sat down on that play instead of continuing to the outside.

Good point on Beasley.

I'm really disappointed that Gregory is out. He is fun to watch.

 

[xwalker]

I keep hearing that argument, largely because turkey-neck "exposed their stupidity".

But with less time, you run different plays, and spike the clock. Dunbar easily could have run OB on the first pass and saved most of the time right there.
Tony never needed to spike, used the clock perfectly so that there wouldn't be any time left, and kept the D on their heels.

I wouldn't bet against him if there were 45 seconds left.

Excellent point.

 

[Apollo Creed]

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.

Same thing that went through my head too. The Giants always have the luckiest breaks against us.

Crayton dropping that walk-in TD.
Crayton pulling up on that TD pass from Romo
JPP ending our 2011 season by a finger-tip (lol) blocking a potential game winning field goal
Missing the playoffs by the end of Dez' finger on the hail mary a couple years ago in Dallas.

History would be so much differently if one or two of those go our way - truly is a game of inches.

 

[Sinister]

Hayden, I just don't get it... I enjoyed the win, but what does he bring?

I don't want to bash the guy, but the inside defensive line play with the exception of Crawford and a play by McClain was just dismal...

I don't understand, if Hayden is going to continue to start and take snaps I hope he shows something, anything...

 

[Seven]

Well he made up for it in the 4th Qtr !

Yes he did..............exORcised the demons!!

 

[jterrell]

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.

good post.
notes across the list.
pre-season means nothing. we get shown that every year but some still don't believe it for some reason.
dez and dehydration.... not sure if he w as really even de-hydrated or if he was in fact struggling already with the foot.
whatever the case his injury is our first serious blow and it seems a 10 week deal based on prior WRs.

RB were fine. Randle runs hard and takes what's there much like Murray.
Dunbar has elite quickness and speed out of the backfield.
DMC isn't real patient but when we do blow a hole open he can take it all the way at any point.

WR's are limited a bit in that we have designed a run first scheme so the fact they block lights out is a huge key.
Beasley has to not be greedy and take the easy out of bounds when offered. He's a dynamo but he is physically small.
I already mentioned WR talent on short list of issues before Dez went down so of course that's a spot I'd look at trading 'something small' for.
Witten is a Hall of Famer but his least desirable trait is that one handed up flip he does to catch the ball away from him. He needs to cut that crap out.
Street isn't use to making NFL catches and taking NFL hits so that was just a learning experience.

We can't have turnovers and play a ball control game.
Good news is this tram looked pretty darn salty out when playing up tempo 2 minute stuff. Romo just got sharper and more poised as the urgency ramped up.
It was like paying on cheat mode really.
Every team in the league has to be begging Dallas to run the ball.
Romo is right there with Rodgers and Brady for me as an assassin.

Escobar and Mo head the list of guys I like more than most fans.
Mo was outstanding because he was not asked to make many tackles nor cover a big, strong, elite WR.
He flat shut ODB down. Since they knew he each other from college Mo had plenty of confidence in that match up.

 

[jterrell]

Hayden, I just don't get it... I enjoyed the win, but what does he bring?

I don't want to bash the guy, but the inside defensive line play with the exception of Crawford and a play by McClain was just dismal...

I don't understand, if Hayden is going to continue to start and take snaps I hope he shows something, anything...

Hayden is about the only guy who doesn't jump a gap and attack.
In another words he makes zero plays but he also holds down his spot better than anyone else.

When he went out that area would get wiped. T. McClain has been really poor imho.
I like TyCraw and Mincey inside but they are not going to stand up in a hole.
McClain is not really that guy either.
Would love to have Vince Wilfork in there I think people seriously underrate the ugly but meaningful play of Hayden.

 

[JoeBoBBY]

good post.
notes across the list.
pre-season means nothing. we get shown that every year but some still don't believe it for some reason.
dez and dehydration.... not sure if he w as really even de-hydrated or if he was in fact struggling already with the foot.
whatever the case his injury is our first serious blow and it seems a 10 week deal based on prior WRs.

RB were fine. Randle runs hard and takes what's there much like Murray.
Dunbar has elite quickness and speed out of the backfield.
DMC isn't real patient but when we do blow a hole open he can take it all the way at any point.

WR's are limited a bit in that we have designed a run first scheme so the fact they block lights out is a huge key.
Beasley has to not be greedy and take the easy out of bounds when offered. He's a dynamo but he is physically small.
I already mentioned WR talent on short list of issues before Dez went down so of course that's a spot I'd look at trading 'something small' for.
Witten is a Hall of Famer but his least desirable trait is that one handed up flip he does to catch the ball away from him. He needs to cut that crap out.
Street isn't use to making NFL catches and taking NFL hits so that was just a learning experience.

We can't have turnovers and play a ball control game.
Good news is this tram looked pretty darn salty out when playing up tempo 2 minute stuff. Romo just got sharper and more poised as the urgency ramped up.
It was like paying on cheat mode really.
Every team in the league has to be begging Dallas to run the ball.
Romo is right there with Rodgers and Brady for me as an assassin.

Escobar and Mo head the list of guys I like more than most fans.
Mo was outstanding because he was not asked to make many tackles nor cover a big, strong, elite WR.
He flat shut ODB down. Since they knew he each other from college Mo had plenty of confidence in that match up.

So nice of you to give future 1st ballot Hall of famer , and all world, maybe the best Dallas Cowboys player ever, Jason Witten, some advice......................... .

 

[Idgit]

Good news is this tram looked pretty darn salty out when playing up tempo 2 minute stuff. Romo just got sharper and more poised as the urgency ramped up.
It was like paying on cheat mode really.
Every team in the league has to be begging Dallas to run the ball.
Romo is right there with Rodgers and Brady for me as an assassin.

They way they ran that no-huddle in week one, it sure seemed like something they have been working on. It'll be interesting to see what we do if we get a defense to give us a personnel grouping we like every now and then. I wouldn't mind bringing in that heavy TE set and then spreading out run-heavy defense and just not giving them time to sub every now and then.

Hayden is about the only guy who doesn't jump a gap and attack.
In another words he makes zero plays but he also holds down his spot better than anyone else.

When he went out that area would get wiped. T. McClain has been really poor imho.
I like TyCraw and Mincey inside but they are not going to stand up in a hole.
McClain is not really that guy either.
Would love to have Vince Wilfork in there I think people seriously underrate the ugly but meaningful play of Hayden.

You're right on Hayden. I don't love the guy on film, either, but people go way overboard insisting this guy can play when Marinelli obviously really likes what he does for us. Here's a tip, guys, if the DC loves a guy and uses him a lot and you don't understand why that is, it's probably for a reason you don't understand or based on some information you don't have yet and not because it hasn't occurred to the staff that a particular guy can't actually play. Teams aren't infallible, but they're not stupid, either.

So nice of you to give future 1st ballot Hall of famer , and all world, maybe the best Dallas Cowboys player ever, Jason Witten, some advice......................... .

He's right, though. Those are tough spots for receivers in the heat of the moment, but 'I'll just flip it up to myself while my momentum carries me in another direction' is not really the best solution to a poorly thrown ball or to a slight disconnect on a route.

 

[xwalker]

So nice of you to give future 1st ballot Hall of famer , and all world, maybe the best Dallas Cowboys player ever, Jason Witten, some advice......................... .

I think there was a INT returned for a TD in the past when Witten made that same move. Batting it down might be a good idea instead up batting it up.

 

[JoeBoBBY]

Well okay guys. I stand corrected. Now go ahead and tell Jason Witten how to do his job.