My random thoughts on yesterday's game

[maxdogg]

This whole team is playing with a lot of confidence and they don't get down when things get tight.
The only thing stopping the Boys is lack of a true pass rush.
This may be a dynasty in the making.

 

[Nightman]

To use your words we just went up against a big boy defense in BAL and a big boy offense is WAS and beat them both............both were tough match-ups and our rooks found a way to punch through

I wouldn't read into the comparison stuff too much..........that is all just personal opinions......I told everyone the Dak was the next Cam Newton at the Senior Bowl and they got hung up on the arm strength....but what I was talking about was the build, the running, the poise and the winning attitude.....it was who he reminded ME of the most..........if you see Tom Brady that is valid in the way he stepped in and just kept rolling, even if Brady couldn't run away from a turtle.......he is the ultimate competitor

Keep up the good work and Happy Thanksgiving

 

[robbieruff]

I am very pleased with Dak's game, just wish he passed a little more than the running he was doing -- those read option plays are fine, but I like Dak when he stays in the pocket, and, while a large contingent here likes the designed run plays, I'm not a huge fan -- unless it's in the redzone. Call it ptsd from Cam and Colin. I know it's a strength of his, but his arm is his true strength -- what sets him apart from the Tyrod's and Cam's of the world. And I'm not talking about the scramble, as he's a rook, and it (scrambling when flustered, rather than stepping up) is to be expected, and better, always, than a sack. Still, Dak played great, and perhaps I'm falling victim to the yds stat, lol.

He made some big boy throws yesterday. Some BIG BOY throws. A beaut that isn't getting enough attention is the pass to Butler, the long out against the sidelines that was a blatant PI. It was gorgeous. Dak is Tom Brady. I have a thread somewhere comparing the two, and I think I'm dead on. He was deadly accurate, again. He is Tom (comparatively, as a rook) but with wheels. Doesn't make mistakes, prefers the intermediate or short routes, to the deep routes, but can make all the throws.

As Brady grew in the league, he learned to trust his deep throws/patterns. Dak has all kinds of touch on the deep pass, but he's reluctant cuz he's still wet behind the ears, much like Tom was as a rookie.

The defense is what it is, we all know it and don't like it, but I think this team can do damage as there are very few, if any, complete teams in the league this year. Plus, we forced WSH to go one dementional as has been pointed out, already, so that accounts for some of Cousins' gaudy stats. SEA is probably the closest (to a well-rounded team) as Wilson continues to heal and Graham starts to shine. Baldwin is a stud, and they just got Rawls back. Their D is stout, they scare me. Hoping some scrub team pulls an upset on them in the playoffs so we don't face them lol

But it's looking like it'll be us and them in the NFCC <knock on freaking wood>

I wasn't much in the game thread as I was preoccupied with my largish family and facetiming the boy. But I went in a few times to scream my arse off. Lol

For those of you who haven't chimed in yet, what are you thoughts on the game?? And any others, your thoughts, too!

As always - enjoy your insights. Of course agree with your take on Seattle as our biggest threat. One name not on your list is the emergence of Prosise (even tho he got bagged up against Eagles and is out for a bit). He actually might be more dangerous than a healthy Rawls in terms of his raw skills as a runner and receiver and his big play ability. Arguably their re-incarnation of the Percy Harvin role from their SB team. Agreed that we don't want to go to their house for NFCC.

Can add very little to what you shared about our performance. I am hoping that getting Church back next week (if that still holds as the deadline) and Mo at some point will settle down the D a bit. And perhaps also allow Rod to be more aggressive with his blitz calling. Having a QB sit back and go through his 3rd and 4th read on us time and again is very painful to watch as our rushing 4 or even 3 turns the whole dam play into a seven on seven drill. Frankly I think we made Cousins and that offense one dimensional more because of him licking his chops (and not about TG dinner) and less because we took something away. We need to change it up since I don't think it cud be much worse than this string of no sacks and TO's. But at least we seem to lock it down in the red zone to some degree (or teams self destruct with missed FGs and missed 2 point conversions to our benefit).

Finally, I am really looking forward to the growing rapport between Dak and Dez. As we saw, they had some really nice connections and a few times where Dez got deep and Dak came off it too soon (as you alluded). I think Dak is smart enough (as the young Brady was or even the young Wilson) to learn from that film and come back an even more dangerous down field passer. Dez could've gone for nearly 200 yesterday and I think he's now 100% back physically and ready to put up some monster numbers.

Glad you had a great family time on TG!!!

 

[robbieruff]

I thought it was Dak's best game. In previous games he has had some accuracy issues, primarily early in the games, but yesterday he was very accurate all game.

The national media claims that Dak has a simple game plan, but he is calling audibles often which is rare for a rookie QB. He is not a 1-read QB by any stretch of the imagination yet some media still claim that he is.

I don't have a problem with the occasional read-option. Dak is already taking less punishing in the pocket than most QBs due to the OLine's great pass blocking. He has not taken many big hits when he runs with the ball. There was a play down at the goalline where they ran read-option and he handed off to Zeke for minimal gain, but if he had kept it I think he would have been untouched for a TD.

Having said all of the above, Cousins was good also.

The Skins have a good team. The primary difference between them and the Cowboys is that they have too many knuckleheads like Norman and DeSean that are distracting them from the goal of winning with all of their antics.

Very excellent point about how the use of the read option opens things up for Zeke - forcing DEs and LBs to respect Dak's ability to keep and run. A sprinkling of that in the mix one or two times a games pays huge dividends when we merely establish it as an ever present threat.

 

[Trouty]

To use your words we just went up against a big boy defense in BAL and a big boy offense is WAS and beat them both............both were tough match-ups and our rooks found a way to punch through

I wouldn't read into the comparison stuff too much..........that is all just personal opinions......I told everyone the Dak was the next Cam Newton at the Senior Bowl and they got hung up on the arm strength....but what I was talking about was the build, the running, the poise and the winning attitude.....it was who he reminded ME of the most..........if you see Tom Brady that is valid in the way he stepped in and just kept rolling, even if Brady couldn't run away from a turtle.......he is the ultimate competitor

Keep up the good work and Happy Thanksgiving

Thank you, my bro, B. Happy Holidays to you and yours!

 

[Trouty]

As always - enjoy your insights. Of course agree with your take on Seattle as our biggest threat. One name not on your list is the emergence of Prosise (even tho he got bagged up against Eagles and is out for a bit). He actually might be more dangerous than a healthy Rawls in terms of his raw skills as a runner and receiver and his big play ability. Arguably their re-incarnation of the Percy Harvin role from their SB team. Agreed that we don't want to go to their house for NFCC.

Can add very little to what you shared about our performance. I am hoping that getting Church back next week (if that still holds as the deadline) and Mo at some point will settle down the D a bit. And perhaps also allow Rod to be more aggressive with his blitz calling. Having a QB sit back and go through his 3rd and 4th read on us time and again is very painful to watch as our rushing 4 or even 3 turns the whole dam play into a seven on seven drill. Frankly I think we made Cousins and that offense one dimensional more because of him licking his chops (and not about TG dinner) and less because we took something away. We need to change it up since I don't think it cud be much worse than this string of no sacks and TO's. But at least we seem to lock it down in the red zone to some degree (or teams self destruct with missed FGs and missed 2 point conversions to our benefit).

Finally, I am really looking forward to the growing rapport between Dak and Dez. As we saw, they had some really nice connections and a few times where Dez got deep and Dak came off it too soon (as you alluded). I think Dak is smart enough (as the young Brady was or even the young Wilson) to learn from that film and come back an even more dangerous down field passer. Dez could've gone for nearly 200 yesterday and I think he's now 100% back physically and ready to put up some monster numbers.

Glad you had a great family time on TG!!!

Completely left off Prosise! Dude is a damn beast. Hell of a point, Robbie. Dang, that SEA squad, doe

Will be an epic game if we meet up in the post season! They have crap for an OL, might be their undoing, god willing!

 

[Nightman]

I think this is a Super Bowl team - but I am worried about the defense. The Commanders, who have a good but hardly prolific offense, rolled up 505 yards of offense on us yesterday. Here is a random fact that has been digging at me: the Skins only punted ONCE the entire game.

The Cowboys could easily run the table and go 15-1 but this defense is going to have problems in the playoffs. We're 10-1 and have the best two rookies in the league so I am not going to cry myself a river - but color me worried.

I understand your feelings.........but I can't complain about anything on a 15-1 or 14-2 team

This came out of nowhere and I am going to enjoy the ride...we have so much to be thankful for compared to previous seasons

 

[LittleLexodus]

Well said, Trouty. Also, congrats on the Trout MVP award

Dak looks so composed pre-snap - it's unreal. His throws to T-Will and Dak made my jaw drop. DIMES!

 

[KJJ]

I am very pleased with Dak's game, just wish he passed a little more than the running he was doing -- those read option plays are fine, but I like Dak when he stays in the pocket, and, while a large contingent here likes the designed run plays, I'm not a huge fan -- unless it's in the redzone.

Dak's running plays were very effective yesterday, he averaged 4.9 a carry and scored a TD. He's a pass first QB who only runs if it's a designed run or when he has to. He looks down field maintaining himself as a passer until the very last second and made some great throws in those situations and some nice runs. Just a few weeks ago many wanted to see him run more. He only had 6 rushes the last 3 games prior to yesterday and didn't have a single rush vs the Steelers. He picks his running opportunities very wisely and avoids big hits and knows when to slide. He's so good at knowing when to slide that he avoided the brunt of the hit that resulted in a personal foul on him late in the game. His ability to take off is part of what's made him so effective.

He's trying to avoid mistakes by not forcing throws into coverage and when he doesn't see what he wants he'll either throw the ball away or take off and get some positive yards. He's moved the chains a number of times with his legs. He's had 7 games this season with more than 30 passing attempts, while Romo only had 5 games with 30 or more passing attempts in the 15 games he played in 2014. Dak is not going to force throws which is why he's only had 2 INT's all season. His TD to turnover ratio is 23-5 and Romo's was 22-7 after 11 games in 2014. Dak has managed his game exceptionally well all season and it's been a big reason we've been so efficient offensively.

 

[Trouty]

Well said, Trouty. Also, congrats on the Trout MVP award

Dak looks so composed pre-snap - it's unreal. His throws to T-Will and Dak made my jaw drop. DIMES!

Thanks, Lex! Check out the Sports Zone, I put a MT MVP thread up (shameless plug, lol)

As for Dak, I couldn't agree more

 

[xwalker]

Completely left off Prosise! Dude is a damn beast. Hell of a point, Robbie. Dang, that SEA squad, doe

Will be an epic game if we meet up in the post season! They have crap for an OL, might be their undoing, god willing!

Ole Christine Michael got cut again.

 

[KJJ]

I think this is a Super Bowl team - but I am worried about the defense. The Commanders, who have a good but hardly prolific offense, rolled up 505 yards of offense on us yesterday. Here is a random fact that has been digging at me: the Skins only punted ONCE the entire game.

The Cowboys could easily run the table and go 15-1 but this defense is going to have problems in the playoffs. We're 10-1 and have the best two rookies in the league so I am not going to cry myself a river - but color me worried.

Thanks to our defense Washington just went from #3 to #1 in total offense so even before we faced them they're pretty prolific. Our defense just dropped to 22nd after being 10th just 3 weeks ago. We just dropped 9 spots to 30th against the pass so we can forget about a SB unless our defense gets better. Cousins had 53 attempts and we couldn't sack him once or get a pick off him. We're going to be in serious trouble with this defense that could end up being near dead last in the league come playoff time. We dodged a bullet yesterday with the Skins missing a couple of makable FG's. We're winning games because of our offense. Hard to believe we're 10-1 with this defense.

 

[Proof]

First off, thank you for the compliment, OKSt.

He (Cam) has a strong arm, but his mechanics are still off. He continues to throw off his front foot (still, after all this time in the league, and yes, I know Dak, at times has this very same issue), doesn't plant his back leg, and continues to over-throw his receivers. Dak has a better pure arm (accuracy, touch, mechanics).

Cam has a canon and can make the big boy throws, but is sometimes aweful on the intermediate routes. I watch him. It is what it is.

I like Cam, but right now I have to think Dak's ceiling is much, much higher.

Edit -- just heard Max Kellerman compare Dak to Brady. Go back in my history, thread history and post history, been saying it since week 2 or 3 when everyone else was (incorrectly, and much to my dismay) comparing him to Donavan McNabb (lol) and Steve Freaking McNair. So much fail in those comparisons. Couldn't believe it was happening as much as it was. It's slowed down lately, thank god.

I still see a lot of McNair in him, and that's not a slight at all. Air McNair was the truth. Also don't think his ceiling is higher than Cams, but I love Cam.

 

[Proof]

Thanks to our defense Washington just went from #3 to #1 in total offense so even before we faced them they're pretty prolific. Our defense just dropped to 22nd after being 10th just 3 weeks ago. We just dropped 9 spots to 30th against the pass so we can forget about a SB unless our defense gets better. Cousins had 53 attempts and we couldn't sack him once or get a pick off him. We're going to be in serious trouble with this defense that could end up being near dead last in the league come playoff time. We dodged a bullet yesterday with the Skins missing a couple of makable FG's. We're winning games because of our offense. Hard to believe we're 10-1 with this defense.

It's definitely worrisome, but not unexpected with church and Claiborne out. I'll wait until we lose games due to it before proclaiming it a death sentence though.

 

[KJJ]

It's definitely worrisome, but not unexpected with church and Claiborne out. I'll wait until we lose games due to it before proclaiming it a death sentence though.

We'll lose a game in the playoffs with this defense unless we find a pass rush and start forcing some turnovers. Defensive deficiencies always catch up to you in the playoffs. It caught up to us every time we made the playoffs under Romo. Defense wins championships and we simply don't have a defense that will hold up in the playoffs. Claiborne could be out the rest of the season but the biggest concern is our lack of a pass rush.

We've had two QBs put up over 400 yards on us the past 3 weeks with 6 TD passes between them. If our offense has an off day we're going to lose with this defense. We can't afford any off days offensively and neither can Dak, he's going to have to be damn near perfect every week. His worst day along with Zeke's worst day resulted in our only loss this season.

 

[SlammedZero]

Nice post Trouty!

I think everybody in this thread covered what I needed to say so I will just say this...............It has been a great pleasure watching this season! As bad as I feel for Tony getting the rug ripped out from under him, it has been so impressive watching Dak. What he is doing on the field game after game, its, well, I mean, it has to be, but, damn there just aren't words to describe it! haha Ok, I guess magical could be the word I'm looking for and it almost makes me want to tear up that FINALLY the Cowboys future is looking incredibly bright with these young players. They brought some new energy this team has sorely been missing.

 

[plymkr]

I agree with Trouty, I don't like it when Dak runs when it's a designed QB running play. We got Zeke for that. The only time I think we should pull that out is at the goal line or redzone. But the read option makes me cringe whenever we do it. I like it when Dak runs when the defense gets close to him and he takes off. So when drops back to pass they have to respect him as a passer and a possible runner. When we do the read option the defense knows he's running and can just focus on the run. I would like some designed runs only is Dak goes back to pass and then the lane opens up and he runs. But please no more read option.

I also agree with everyone as far as he's light years away from a normal rookie with reading defenses and audibles. It's exciting. He's the perfect storm of football smarts and football ability.

10-1 baby, We Dem Boyz!!!!!

 

[freddy0227]

My biggest worry is missing a wide open dez for a td on norman. Tight games that could be the difference, especially against a team like the seahawks. I know we won but that's the only consistent knock on dak I can see. But hell were still winning right

Man i wish he would of hit Dez on that play he cooked Norman so badly Lol

 

[DandyDon52]

The all-time record for teams with 500 yards offense and no turnovers, as the Commanders did yesterday, is 89-5. And yet the rookie-led Cowboys found a way to win. It's been a joy to watch them this this year.

yeah we had 353 and won !
The key was we scored when we got to red zone, and they settled for fg's. and then they missed 2 fg's and I think failed on 2 point att.
So they lost 7 points on those, and that would have made for a different game.
We went on long drives, chewing up clock, and so did they, so the game was shortened and that is to our advantage.

Also I think dak needs to run, not designed plays, but ad lib, that changes how the defense will play them.

 

[DandyDon52]

I would like some designed runs only is Dak goes back to pass and then the lane opens up and he runs. But please no more read option.

Well this is what I would like to see more of, if the lane opens, run and slide ! this really frustrates a defense and will slow the pass rush.
I am with you I dont like designed runs or the read option, as you can have a bad exchange, and he seems to get hit instead of sliding.