If you think about it, Weeden started out like a house-afire. 7-7 and a touch in PHI in what turned out to be a really big game for us. Then the first half in ATL where he didn't throw an incompletion until that stupid pick. From that point on, things sort of evaporated on him. You're right that the third down inefficiency did him in. I will say that Bill Belichick has a long history of making bad QBs look awful. See what he did to Cassel with the Vikes in 2014 for exhibit B on that score. 30-7. 4 picks. Looks pretty familiar.
Yep. It was that crazy interception against Atlanta that seemed to start his downward trend. I also agree about Belichick being a nightmare for an average QB to play against. That has always been in the back of my mind, even when I'm complaining about Weeden.
As far as the defense goes, and I think they played well v. NE and I don't care what the score was. But I'm so tired of hearing that they wore out because of the offense. That's just BS we tell ourselves to make it seem like the defense will be better when Romo is back. Their job is to stop the other guys. If they want to get off the field, hold up on 3rd downs early in drives, every drive, and nobody's talking about how tired they got. Hold onto the interceptions. Don't hold the receivers. Strip the ball. Everything else is lip service unless we're winning games. I'm so tired of our fans only paying attention to half of the football game every week.
Like you, I am pretty tired of all of the analysis about it and just feel like they need to just find a way. Stop making mistakes, stop dropping INT's, start getting some loose balls, and start winning the games.
However, I do feel like all of the three and out's in the first half against New England had the defense worn down after half time. It simply had to. Dallas did make some defensive mistakes in the second half, and those damn picks that New England loves are very difficult to deal with even if the defense is fresh... but having to do it over and over as the offense continually went three and out was way too much to ask from any defense.
But yeah, I'm just wanting them to find a way to win, no matter what they do... and I'm ready to stop finding reasons why they didn't win.
The offense is ranked 23rd in terms of DVOA with Dez and Romo out. The defense is 22nd, and if you listen to our fans, it's also because Dez and Romo are out. I call bull. We're basically at full strength on that side of the ball right now. Time for them to start winning some games instead of keeping us in them for a half and then getting a pass because they're tired out.
While I am tired of hearing it all the time, the truth is that Romo and Dez are among the very best in the NFL and I do feel like their absence is absolutely a big factor in the team's current record. Even if everyone in the offense is healthy and playing except for those two, then the entire offense is still going to be much less efficient than they would be with Tony and Dez. It happened int he one game against Arizona last year when they had absolutely no respect for the passing game with Weeden back there and they shut down the run... and that was with Dez still playing. The run game couldn't do much and the defense got worn out by the second half.
I just think that the whole team is dependent on a delicate balance of run/pass/3rd down/time of possession/momentum/etc., that there is almost no way to determine what would or wouldn't happen with injured guys back.
But yeah, I'm with you... just find a way.
