My meaningless thoughts on the game...

[Yakuza Rich]

-PERSPECTIVE: Dallas lost to an AFC team on the road that went 12-4 last season.

-PERSPECTIVE: The Panthers, considered to be the odds on favorite to win the Super Bowl, just got housed at home to a divisional rival.

-PERSPECTIVE: We were hardly dominated. We not only had more total net yards than the Jags, but more yards per play.

-PERSPECTIVE: We've hardly been a good season opener team under Parcells. OTOH, the Jags have done very well in season openers under Del Rio.

-The biggest reasons why we lost the game is that Bledsoe stunk and the nickel defense appears to have issues. With Bledsoe, I was legitimately worried once it started to rain. My roommate, a Bears fan, couldn't understand why and I kept on telling him that Bledsoe was god awful against Seattle last year when it started to rain.

-I didn't have a problem with the coverage of the DB's in the nickel, but the pass rush was non-existent. I'll have to chart the game (which I'll get to around Thursday or Friday), but the only time I recall them blitzing was on 3rd and long. And as the Jags started passing the ball more and getting the short completions, they were leaving themselves with a lot of short yardage 3rd down situations and we weren't blitzing.

-While you can blame the rain for Bledsoe's performance and blow it off as nothing big, chances are they are going to face a few poor weather situations as the year goes along.

-The ripping on the O-Line makes no sense. Last season the Jags finished 3rd in total sacks and 1st in adjusted sack ratio. We gave up all of 2 sacks yesterday and Julius averaged 4.2 yards per carry.

-The real problem was that whomever was calling the plays seemingly insisted to run the ball on every 2nd down. There was a period were they ran the ball on 2nd down at least 6 times in a row and Jacksonville knew it was coming. I think the O-Line is better than people are giving it credit for, but it's still not at the point where it can get 2 yards if the opposing defense stacks 8 in the box.

-God awful day of refereeing for both teams. Saw plenty of terrible holds that both teams got away with, then they call Flozell on a hold that wasn't nearly as bad. Matt Jones and Brian Williams made those catches, but were somehow overturned. It's okay for Reggie Williams to yank Henry's head down to go up for a jump ball, but it's not okay for Witten to use his hands to get position. Parcells was right, the refs DID start the clock on a play that went out of bounds and somehow we lose a timeout on a play that supposedly isn't reviewable, that didn't stop a play, and well.....he was correct, the clock was supposed to be stopped.

-I'll have to chart the game, but it appears that we got some real good play from Jason Ferguson. Everybody else, sans Roy's nice INT seemed non-existent.

-They'll need to work on covering the checkdown receivers. Leftwich got on a roll when he couldn't find his regular WR's and just made the simple checkdown pass for effective yardage and the checkdown receiver was usually wide open.

-As much as this sucks, it certainly beats the hell out this day five years ago.



YAKUZA

 

[Ashwynn]

In all. I agree, we looked bad at times. but its not the end of the world. I did see some things that I liked, some things that needs lots of work and somethings that will be fine once other parts are operating within normally in other facets of the game.

I bad showing agaisnt a good team. Not all is lost, but it could have been better.

 

[superpunk]

Nice breakdown rich. I really dont understand the griping about the Oline either. QBs are going to get pressured. The line played pretty darn well. The checkdown weakness was exposed in the preseason, we thought it might have been just vanilla, but it's obviously a problem.

 

[Bach]

Perspective: We looked alot like we did last year. If things don't change we'll finish like we did last year.

Hopefully yesterday was just an anomaly, but it was very disconcerting.

 

[Doomsday101]

In all. I agree, we looked bad at times. but its not the end of the world. I did see some things that I liked, some things that needs lots of work and somethings that will be fine once other parts are operating within normally in other facets of the game.

I bad showing agaisnt a good team. Not all is lost, but it could have been better.

Pretty much my feeling as well. It would be easy right now to over-react and I'm sure some will but it is 1 game not the end of the season.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I bad showing agaisnt a good team. Not all is lost, but it could have been better.

I don't really know if it was a *bad* showing. The problem was essentially Bledsoe. He not only was making bad decisions, but he was woefully inaccurate at times.

While I complain about the propensity to run the ball on second down, it's a bit harsh to take the play calling to task when your QB is struggling.

Hopefully Bledsoe puts together better play, and he should if the O-Line plays like it did since the pass protection was rather good for the most part. But the lack of a pass rush in our nickel defense is what scares me.


YAKUZA

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Nice breakdown rich. I really dont understand the griping about the Oline either. QBs are going to get pressured. The line played pretty darn well. The checkdown weakness was exposed in the preseason, we thought it might have been just vanilla, but it's obviously a problem.

When I look at the game, I'll check more closely. But I really don't recall Bledsoe facing too much pressure all game long. The one sack came on a heavy blitz on 3rd and long and that may have been a bad playcall or bad decision by Bledsoe on not making the hot read. The second came against Flozell, who had a bad game, but in all reality Paul Spicer's play wasn't killing the offense by any stretch.


YAKUZA

 

[InDakWeTrust]

What we need is Vanderjagt to play as he has back in Indy,
Bledsoe to step up,
get a pass rush, and
mix up the playcalling on offense-start throwing the ball from 2 or 3 TE formations and run the ball in a spread formation. It's really not that complicated Bill!

 

[Duane]

Love your stuff as always YR. Was I looking through silver and blue tinted glasses or did Barnes mug Ware pretty much all game w/o getting called for it?

 

[Ken]

-PERSPECTIVE: Dallas lost to an AFC team on the road that went 12-4 last season.

-PERSPECTIVE: The Panthers, considered to be the odds on favorite to win the Super Bowl, just got housed at home to a divisional rival.

-PERSPECTIVE: We were hardly dominated. We not only had more total net yards than the Jags, but more yards per play.

-PERSPECTIVE: We've hardly been a good season opener team under Parcells. OTOH, the Jags have done very well in season openers under Del Rio.

-The biggest reasons why we lost the game is that Bledsoe stunk and the nickel defense appears to have issues. With Bledsoe, I was legitimately worried once it started to rain. My roommate, a Bears fan, couldn't understand why and I kept on telling him that Bledsoe was god awful against Seattle last year when it started to rain.

-I didn't have a problem with the coverage of the DB's in the nickel, but the pass rush was non-existent. I'll have to chart the game (which I'll get to around Thursday or Friday), but the only time I recall them blitzing was on 3rd and long. And as the Jags started passing the ball more and getting the short completions, they were leaving themselves with a lot of short yardage 3rd down situations and we weren't blitzing.

-While you can blame the rain for Bledsoe's performance and blow it off as nothing big, chances are they are going to face a few poor weather situations as the year goes along.

-The ripping on the O-Line makes no sense. Last season the Jags finished 3rd in total sacks and 1st in adjusted sack ratio. We gave up all of 2 sacks yesterday and Julius averaged 4.2 yards per carry.

-The real problem was that whomever was calling the plays seemingly insisted to run the ball on every 2nd down. There was a period were they ran the ball on 2nd down at least 6 times in a row and Jacksonville knew it was coming. I think the O-Line is better than people are giving it credit for, but it's still not at the point where it can get 2 yards if the opposing defense stacks 8 in the box.

-God awful day of refereeing for both teams. Saw plenty of terrible holds that both teams got away with, then they call Flozell on a hold that wasn't nearly as bad. Matt Jones and Brian Williams made those catches, but were somehow overturned. It's okay for Reggie Williams to yank Henry's head down to go up for a jump ball, but it's not okay for Witten to use his hands to get position. Parcells was right, the refs DID start the clock on a play that went out of bounds and somehow we lose a timeout on a play that supposedly isn't reviewable, that didn't stop a play, and well.....he was correct, the clock was supposed to be stopped.

-I'll have to chart the game, but it appears that we got some real good play from Jason Ferguson. Everybody else, sans Roy's nice INT seemed non-existent.

-They'll need to work on covering the checkdown receivers. Leftwich got on a roll when he couldn't find his regular WR's and just made the simple checkdown pass for effective yardage and the checkdown receiver was usually wide open.

-As much as this sucks, it certainly beats the hell out this day five years ago.



YAKUZA

Nice analysis and I agree.

The checkdowns are a problem. I don't know if it is a limitation of the 3-4 but it is incredibly frustrating.

I think our Oline was fine, because like you said, they are no slouch on D.

They were a 12-4 squad at home. That cannot be understated. This was one of the better teams we will face all season.

 

[Doomsday101]

I don't really know if it was a *bad* showing. The problem was essentially Bledsoe. He not only was making bad decisions, but he was woefully inaccurate at times.

While I complain about the propensity to run the ball on second down, it's a bit harsh to take the play calling to task when your QB is struggling.

Hopefully Bledsoe puts together better play, and he should if the O-Line plays like it did since the pass protection was rather good for the most part. But the lack of a pass rush in our nickel defense is what scares me.


YAKUZA

Bledsoe did play bad but Dallas also had some big plays called back because of penalties. When you’re wiping TD off the board and big gainers off the board that kills you just as well. Bledsoe deserves the heat he will receive but a lot of others were making mistakes that hurt us as well.

 

[SteveOS]

In all honesty, I think Flozell could have been called for holding every passing play, I don't think his knee is doing very well.

The Boys were up 10-0, should have been maybe 17-0 or more had Bledsoe been more accurate. No worries, it's the first game of the season against a very good Jaguar team on the road, that went 12-4 last year.

On the other hand, if we don't handle the Skins next week and go into the Bye at 0-2, I'm going to start panicking.

 

[InmanRoshi]

I concur with your points Yakuza. I came away with the same thoughts.

I agree that the nickel pass rush was probably the most disappointing aspect of the game for me, personally. That is an immobile QB with an extremely long, looping delivery. The defense will never reach the elite level if they can't get better pressure than that in nickel situations. Greg Ellis is the most frustrating player for me to watch personally, because his combined quickness and handplay to disengage from the offensive tackle combined with his unbelievable lack of burst to the QB make him the biggest tease. I can't tell you how many times I've seen Greg shed the offensive tackle in no time only to look like he was trying to run through a patch of quicksand to get to the QB.

The Cowboys penalties were atrocioius and, along with the interceptions, were the main cause of defeat. The game turned on Roy Williams' late hit. Every time Dallas got close to regaining offensive momentum or making a defensive stop, a penalty put us back in the hole. Even if you're the better team, and I'm not claiming Dallas is, you just can't beat a good team on the road with that many mental mistakes.

I thought the offensive line did a pretty nice job overall, with the exception of Flozell. Paul Spicer is a nice, strong, high motor guy but he should not beat you around the corner repeatedly. Its not a good sign of things to come when we have to face Osi, Darren Howard and Andre Carter in our division.

I'm on a 3 strike rule with Bledsoe. Yesterday was strike 1. Whatever it was, he was clearly rattled early in the 2nd quarter and never fully recovered.

I think there are 3, possibly 4, teams that are the class of the NFC. The Panthers, Cowboys, Giants and Seahawks. As of this morning, the three combined are 1-3, and Seattle just barely sneaked out of Detroit with a last second field goal. It's a marathon season, and there are a lot of guys stumbling out of the gates.

 

[morasp]

Roy's interception was nice but I would also give props to Ware who seemed to be all over the field making sure tackles and had some pressure on the quarterback.

 

[Chief]

Perspective: We looked alot like we did last year. If things don't change we'll finish like we did last year.

Hopefully yesterday was just an anomaly, but it was very disconcerting.

Agree.

Here are my observations:

-- This team looked like the same lethargic team that finished the year in a tailspin last year.

-- Parcells has looked like a zombie on the sidelines since last November. He is on some serious blood pressure medicine, has still not recovered from the loss of his brother, or something else.

-- Bledsoe has held onto the fricking ball too long his entire career. Replays that had isolation shots of the receivers showed them spring open, then wait, wait, wait for the ball and it would arrive about the time the defender did. He was horrible yesterday.

-- I thought Owens looked great.

-- Flozell is not even close to being 100 percent. I think he'll struggle most of the season.

-- Lack of a pass-rush was very disappointing.

-- Worst moment of the day for me. Seeing Dave Campo jumping up and down like a poodle that just won a dog show.

-- Does Dallas have the nicest bunch of defensive players in the league or what? I've never seen so many defenders help up so many offensive players. I appreciate the good sportsmanship and character that guys like Ellis, Ware, Roy and Henry have, but my goodness, I could go for some nastiness occasionally.

-- The officiating was pretty bad. If Witten's TD (which was the play of the game, by the way) was pass interference, then Reggie Williams' should be arrested for mugging Anthony Henry on his TD. Bradie's facemask penalty was a 5-yarder, not a 15-yarder.

-- I realize that Jacksonville is a good team and it was on the road, but the first-quarter showed that Dallas was capable of hammering this team, and they didn't do it. The Jags bounced back and Dallas came unglued. It's one thing if Jacksonville was a better team, but I'm not convinced that was the case.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

-- The officiating was pretty bad. If Witten's TD (which was the play of the game, by the way) was pass interference, then Reggie Williams' should be arrested for mugging Anthony Henry on his TD. Bradie's facemask penalty was a 5-yarder, not a 15-yarder.
.

What's funny is they missed a face mask by a Jax defender on Julius Jones that I couldn't believe didn't get called. With the Bradie face mask, the ball carrier was being brought down by 2 other defenders and Bradie had his hand on the face mask for a millisecond.

YAKUZA

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Agree with IR on the pressure from us being the most disappointing part of the game. They have a very good defense, so we knew they'd get pressure on our average O-line. But their O-line is average too, and we should have gotten more sacks and hits on a very slow QB. I especially wonder what happened to Ware against Barnes... Ware started out very well but then disappeared. Why? Did he get dinged?

Also agree that Flozell looked awful. He's not moving well at all and he's not in condition. If he keeps playing like that, we will see the guy in my avatar sooner than anyone thinks. This is one case where the early bye week should be a benefit... Maybe if Flo can just get by the Skins game, that week will let him both heal and condition to a higher level.

For all the people complaining about Parcells' conservative game plans on offense... I wonder what the game would have looked like if we'd sat on the ball at the end of the first half and gone in to the locker room up 10-3. That INT by Bledsoe was an absolute killer.

 

[Chief]

I especially wonder what happened to Ware against Barnes... Ware started out very well but then disappeared. Why? Did he get dinged?

I saw Kyle Brady effectively handle Ware on a few occasions.

 

[DLCassidy]

If we beat Washington, yesterday will not hurt that bad. It was however a very winnable game that we let slip away.

Penalties hurt us, Bledsoe played poorly, we couldn't run at all in short yardage, we didn't get as much pressure on Leftwich as I would've expected, we missed another easy field goal, had a TD called back, wasted a timeout, and Terry Glenn and Crayton were non factors. And we lost by 7 on the road to a good team.

On the other hand, TO looked good, Ware and Ferguson played well and the OL wasn't terrible. We'll feel a lot better if we play well against Washington and get a win, especially if Bledsoe gets back on track. Every QB in the league is going to throw 2-3 stinkers a year. What concerned me even more than Bledsoe was the terrible game Flozell Adams had- if he plays like that every week we're in real trouble.

 

[Boyzmamacita]