My thoughts on last night's game

[Rack]

I'll make this quick, gotta head back to work...


- I don't know why people are giving the Defense a pass for this one. They allowed over 450 yards of offense, allowed Ryan his highest passing yardage of the season, and worst of all they didn't come through when we needed them. People always hold the QB accountable for not being "Clutch" well that same standard needs to be in place for a defense. When you just cut the lead to 3 with over 5 minutes left in the game you need to get a stop, period. The sad thing is the opportunities to force a punt were there but they choked (penalties, missed tackles).


- Garrett's playcalling is... I don't even have words for it anymore. It's that bad.


- Romo had a solid game, but I think it should have been better (see "Garrett's playcalling" above). We need to run more NORMAL running plays out of 11 personnel, and less of the gimicky stuff.

- Bernardeau is a sorry stack of dog crap.

- With the lead late in the game, Ryan through a pass right to Morris Claiborne that would have been intercepted if not for Julio Jones PI (that wasn't called). I have 2 things to say about that.... 1) If Romo had done that he would be getting THRASHED by everyone here and in the media. 2) That's one of the problems with our WRs, they can't be trusted to "play defense" on a poorly thrown ball. Bad passes occur at times, a good WR knows he needs to prevent an interception (if he can) when those bad passes occur. Props to Julio Jones for mauling Claiborne and preventing the INT. He won his team the game by doing that, most likely.


- I think the reason Dez only got 3 targets last night is cuz Romo was moved off his "Mark" a lot last night (aka had to scrammble) and Romo doesn't trust Dez to make the proper route adjustments when a play breaks down.


I have more but I gotta go to work.



PS. The last 2 losses were extremely frustrating. Haven't been this disappionted in the cowboys in a long long time.

 

[superpunk]

It was White not Jones.

 

[goshan]

I'll make this quick, gotta head back to work...


- I don't know why people are giving the Defense a pass for this one. They allowed over 450 yards of offense, allowed Ryan his highest passing yardage of the season, and worst of all they didn't come through when we needed them. People always hold the QB accountable for not being "Clutch" well that same standard needs to be in place for a defense. When you just cut the lead to 3 with over 5 minutes left in the game you need to get a stop, period. The sad thing is the opportunities to force a punt were there but they choked (penalties, missed tackles).


- Garrett's playcalling is... I don't even have words for it anymore. It's that bad.


- Romo had a solid game, but I think it should have been better (see "Garrett's playcalling" above). We need to run more NORMAL running plays out of 11 personnel, and less of the gimicky stuff.

- Bernardeau is a sorry stack of dog crap.

- With the lead late in the game, Ryan through a pass right to Morris Claiborne that would have been intercepted if not for Julio Jones PI (that wasn't called). I have 2 things to say about that.... 1) If Romo had done that he would be getting THRASHED by everyone here and in the media. 2) That's one of the problems with our WRs, they can't be trusted to "play defense" on a poorly thrown ball. Bad passes occur at times, a good WR knows he needs to prevent an interception (if he can) when those bad passes occur. Props to Julio Jones for mauling Claiborne and preventing the INT. He won his team the game by doing that, most likely.


- I think the reason Dez only got 3 targets last night is cuz Romo was moved off his "Mark" a lot last night (aka had to scrammble) and Romo doesn't trust Dez to make the proper route adjustments when a play breaks down.


I have more but I gotta go to work.



PS. The last 2 losses were extremely frustrating. Haven't been this disappionted in the cowboys in a long long time.

All this is spot on.

 

[Rack]

It was White not Jones.

My mistake. Great play either way.


Wish the refs had called it but I think our D probably still wouldn't have got off the field regardless. They were horrible in the clutch last night.

 

[CATCH17]

You haven't been this disappointed in the Cowboys in a long time? What do you consider a long time?

 

[casmith07]

450 yards of offense and 1 touchdown.

I don't care if the opponent moves the ball up and down the field at will between the 20s, as long as it results in field goals. It did last night. The offense sucked. If the offense simply scores 1 touchdown per quarter last night, we win. If they scored three touchdowns, we win. If they scored two touchdowns and managed to actually get field goals instead of negative plays, we likely win with that defensive effort.

Trying to bang on the defense is overly negative and looking for reasons to ***** about the game, when in fact the only reason we only lost by 6 points is because of our defense.

 

[Venger]

Atlanta and Dallas averaged almost the same exact yards per offensive play. Hard to reconcile the Dallas defense underperforming, the Dallas offense underperforming, and the Atlanta offense doing well, at least on yardage.

 

[nalam]

My mistake. Great play either way.


Wish the refs had called it but I think our D probably still wouldn't have got off the field regardless. They were horrible in the clutch last night.

He prevented the interception which could have given the ball back and only needed a FG to tie . Huge play and huge ref error.

 

[sonnyboy]

I'll make this quick, gotta head back to work...


- I don't know why people are giving the Defense a pass for this one. They allowed over 450 yards of offense, allowed Ryan his highest passing yardage of the season, and worst of all they didn't come through when we needed them. People always hold the QB accountable for not being "Clutch" well that same standard needs to be in place for a defense. When you just cut the lead to 3 with over 5 minutes left in the game you need to get a stop, period. The sad thing is the opportunities to force a punt were there but they choked (penalties, missed tackles).


- Garrett's playcalling is... I don't even have words for it anymore. It's that bad.


- Romo had a solid game, but I think it should have been better (see "Garrett's playcalling" above). We need to run more NORMAL running plays out of 11 personnel, and less of the gimicky stuff.

- Bernardeau is a sorry stack of dog crap.

- With the lead late in the game, Ryan through a pass right to Morris Claiborne that would have been intercepted if not for Julio Jones PI (that wasn't called). I have 2 things to say about that.... 1) If Romo had done that he would be getting THRASHED by everyone here and in the media. 2) That's one of the problems with our WRs, they can't be trusted to "play defense" on a poorly thrown ball. Bad passes occur at times, a good WR knows he needs to prevent an interception (if he can) when those bad passes occur. Props to Julio Jones for mauling Claiborne and preventing the INT. He won his team the game by doing that, most likely.


- I think the reason Dez only got 3 targets last night is cuz Romo was moved off his "Mark" a lot last night (aka had to scrammble) and Romo doesn't trust Dez to make the proper route adjustments when a play breaks down.


I have more but I gotta go to work.



PS. The last 2 losses were extremely frustrating. Haven't been this disappionted in the cowboys in a long long time.

Great post! But you're not dissapointed in the last 3 losses? Ravens is still stinging me.

I don't agree on the White PI no call. It probably does lead to us getting off the field.
But I do agree with your take on the defense. Lots to praise with good pressure and hits early and of course holding the Falcons to a season low point total.

However, "clutch" is key. They couldn't hold them at the end of the 1st half when time was on their side. And they couldn't stop them on the last drive to preserve one more shot to win.

Above all else, the one thing/play that really gets me was the Beasely 2nd down catch which I thought was a first down. That was a killer. We don't get the chance for a FG or TD.......take a 6 to 10 point lead and of course we have to take the field once more on defense and yield the tieing FG.

To add double insult to injury (pun intended)....Ratliff's injury gives them the needed few secs to get that FG and of course the injury itself effected the whole 2nd half and perhaps the rest of the year.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

My mistake. Great play either way.


Wish the refs had called it but I think our D probably still wouldn't have got off the field regardless. They were horrible in the clutch last night.

Yeah, he did exactly what he was supposed to do. Unfortunately, our receivers probably get called for doing the same thing. And you're right about the defense. Scandrick lost his one-on-one battles. That has been the story of the Cowboys all season. Despite the yardage, the defense played very well overall. But still no turnovers and yet another failure to get off the field at the most crucial time.

 

[WarC]

450 yards of offense and 1 touchdown.

I don't care if the opponent moves the ball up and down the field at will between the 20s, as long as it results in field goals. It did last night. The offense sucked. If the offense simply scores 1 touchdown per quarter last night, we win. If they scored three touchdowns, we win. If they scored two touchdowns and managed to actually get field goals instead of negative plays, we likely win with that defensive effort.

Trying to bang on the defense is overly negative and looking for reasons to ***** about the game, when in fact the only reason we only lost by 6 points is because of our defense.

I agree with this...While the defense did fail during the Falcons' final drive last night, they shouldn't have been in that position to begin with. They very effectively shut down the Falcons offense for most of the game.

It's the 24 point rule for me...You'd expect your offense to score at least 24 points in a game, and your defense to keep the other team from scoring more than 24. On that account, overall our defense did well last night.

Garrett's playcalling is definitely questionable, but even then we had a great chance to win if not for the dropped passes and penalties. Two areas which consistently kill us and have been for years.

 

[Joshmil53]

The defense could allow 800 yards and only 20 points and I'd be happy. Yards are pointless, I read it here.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

when in fact the only reason we only lost by 6 points instead of 12 is because of two missed field goals

Fixed.

 

[CCBoy]

Fixed.

Point of order~Dallas missed one as well.

 

[JBS]

You guys should care if teams move up and down the field on us, even if they don't get TDs.


We CAN'T score without the ball

Hell, we can't score with the ball

 

[JohnsKey19]

The only time i felt the defense let the team down was that last drive. Outside of that last drive, you've held a good offensive team to 16 points in their house.

 

[KJJ]

The Falcon's didn't look sharp early in the game and it appeared in might not be their night but the Cowboys couldn't take advantage of their slow start. The Cowboys had chances to put TD's on the board and again had to settle for FG's. Ware caused a fumble on a sack of Ryan that the Cowboys couldn't recover. This is simply not an opportunistic team they make repeated mistakes due to poor coaching.

 

[Coy]

I'll make this quick, gotta head back to work...


- I don't know why people are giving the Defense a pass for this one. They allowed over 450 yards of offense, allowed Ryan his highest passing yardage of the season, and worst of all they didn't come through when we needed them. People always hold the QB accountable for not being "Clutch" well that same standard needs to be in place for a defense. When you just cut the lead to 3 with over 5 minutes left in the game you need to get a stop, period. The sad thing is the opportunities to force a punt were there but they choked (penalties, missed tackles).


- Garrett's playcalling is... I don't even have words for it anymore. It's that bad.


- Romo had a solid game, but I think it should have been better (see "Garrett's playcalling" above). We need to run more NORMAL running plays out of 11 personnel, and less of the gimicky stuff.

- Bernardeau is a sorry stack of dog crap.

- With the lead late in the game, Ryan through a pass right to Morris Claiborne that would have been intercepted if not for Julio Jones PI (that wasn't called). I have 2 things to say about that.... 1) If Romo had done that he would be getting THRASHED by everyone here and in the media. 2) That's one of the problems with our WRs, they can't be trusted to "play defense" on a poorly thrown ball. Bad passes occur at times, a good WR knows he needs to prevent an interception (if he can) when those bad passes occur. Props to Julio Jones for mauling Claiborne and preventing the INT. He won his team the game by doing that, most likely.


- I think the reason Dez only got 3 targets last night is cuz Romo was moved off his "Mark" a lot last night (aka had to scrammble) and Romo doesn't trust Dez to make the proper route adjustments when a play breaks down.


I have more but I gotta go to work.



PS. The last 2 losses were extremely frustrating. Haven't been this disappionted in the cowboys in a long long time.

I could have written this post, exactly my thinking.

 

[Rack]

You haven't been this disappointed in the Cowboys in a long time? What do you consider a long time?

Man... i dunno. The campo years I guess...

And I just threw up in my mouth after typing that...

Great post! But you're not dissapointed in the last 3 losses? Ravens is still stinging me.

I don't agree on the White PI no call. It probably does lead to us getting off the field.
But I do agree with your take on the defense. Lots to praise with good pressure and hits early and of course holding the Falcons to a season low point total.

However, "clutch" is key. They couldn't hold them at the end of the 1st half when time was on their side. And they couldn't stop them on the last drive to preserve one more shot to win.

Above all else, the one thing/play that really gets me was the Beasely 2nd down catch which I thought was a first down. That was a killer. We don't get the chance for a FG or TD.......take a 6 to 10 point lead and of course we have to take the field once more on defense and yield the tieing FG.

To add double insult to injury (pun intended)....Ratliff's injury gives them the needed few secs to get that FG and of course the injury itself effected the whole 2nd half and perhaps the rest of the year.

I guess it's the accumulation of the Ravens, Giants, and Falcons game.

Those 3 games are killing us right now.


And yes, giving up lots of yards w/o giving up TDs still hurts us, the more plays they run (all their scoring drives were long drives, plus 2 long drives that resulted in missed FGs) the less we get to run. So letting them drive all over the field then holding them to a FG still isn't great defense. They were 50% on third down, that's NOT good defense. They owned the clock when we have a great chance with over 5 minutes remaining. That is NOT good defense.

 

[Teague31]

To me the defense was as bad as the offense. They allowed the other teams QB to throw for over 300 yards, the RB to go over 100 and both starting WRs to go over 100. What exactly did they do right?