My thoughts on the cowboys...

[Rack]

First of all, let me say that the absolute best thing that can happen for the cowboys is for Wade to drastically change his approach/philosophy and start holding players and coaches accountable for their screwups and it helps to turn the season around.

^^^ I had to post that cuz sure enough there's gonna be some moron that thinks I have an "Agenda" against Wade and want him fired no matter what. That's stupid. I don't want him fired "No matter what". I would rather he turn it around and right the ship. I wouldn't rather have the cowboys lose and wade get fired then for them to win and he stay on. I just don't think he can or will do it.


1. We don't have the personnel to stop the run consistently with our DL. Yes, our DE's have the prototypical "Size" of 3-4 DEs. That doesn't mean crap. You still have to play. They have the "Size" but they aren't any good. And making a play every once in a while doesn't change that. At NG we're incredibly weak vs the Run. I love Ratliff, but he's playing out of position. He is not a 3-4 NG. He CAN be a darn good 3-4 DE or a 4-3 DT, but a NG he is not. We consistently get blown off the ball. We get pushed around. Teams impose their will upon them (the DL). Too many times this season - including a great deal of this game - the pile gets pushed backwards 5 yards after contact. We need a BIG run stuffing NG, move Ratliff to LE, and if that NG is really good, it may open things up and may even make the other DE better. True great players make the players around them better.


2. Bradie James flat out sucks. He occasionally makes a play in the running game and he occassionally gets a sack, but he consistently gets blocked and he doesn't get off blocks. And, obviously, he can't cover for ****. He's one of the worst coverage backers I've ever seen. Really, I don't see how giving Carp a shot at that position can be such a bad thing. What, we might suck against the run with him in there? Newsflash: We suck against the run with James in there. We wasted a 1st round pick on Carp and have given absolutely NO SHOT to play on the field. QBs get drafted in the first and are thrown into the wolves before they should be, don't see why it would be so bad to play a 3rd year former 1st round pick who actually EXCELLED In the last game he started.

3. I love MB3, and he had barely any room to run out there, but he needs to hit the hole with more burst then he has been. He "loads up" too often to try and deliver a blow when he should just burst ahead and fast as he can and get through the hole. Now, he's not NEARLY as bad at it as JuJo, and I barely noticed it until Choice got some carries and you can tell the difference. Choice made his cut and burst through the hole. All the Giants RBs do the same. MB3 makes too many bad decisions when he runs the ball. He makes up for a lot of it with his relentlessness, but he'd be a better back if he'd just burst through the hole once in awhile. Skip Peete needs to coach him up on that or be fired. The potential is there in MB3, but I don't know if anyone is telling him any of this.

4. Brooks Bollinger sucks. Just cuz he played better then Brad doesn't make him good. There are different levels of "Suck". Brooks Bollinger is in there, but just not nearly as far down as Brad. We should have kept Bartel. Hell, I'm not against BB, we should have cut Brad and brought in Bollinger. Romo - Bartel/Bollinger. Those should be our QBs.


5. Our offense has no identity. The Giants run the ball, especially off tackle. That's their "Signature" play. The packers - With Favre - signature play was the slant. The Eagles have their screens, and the cowboys of the 90's had the lead draw with Emmitt. What is the current cowboys signature play? They don't have one. They don't have any one thing they try to establish and play off of. The offense needs an identity. They need that signature play.

6. Speaking of Offense, Garrett is just doing a horrible job of freeing up TO. Never in TO's career has a team had trouble getting him the football in space. It has NOTHING to do with his struggles beating the jam cuz he's ALWAYS Had trouble beating the jam. Garrett needs to get his head out of his *** and get TO the football. Even if he has to implement more "West coast" style plays, he needs to get it done.




Those are the main things I can think of right now. Part of me wants to vent, but part of me is also just trying to block out anything having to do with the cowboys right now so that I don't have a stroke.

 

[BulletBob]

5. Our offense has no identity. The Giants run the ball, especially off tackle. That's their "Signature" play. The packers - With Favre - signature play was the slant. The Eagles have their screens, and the cowboys of the 90's had the lead draw with Emmitt. What is the current cowboys signature play? They don't have one. They don't have any one thing they try to establish and play off of. The offense needs an identity. They need that signature play.

I disagree - the signature play on our offense is:

The False Start.

 

[birminghambuckeyes]

I agree with your comments regarding the defensive front seven. No nose tackle. these players are probably better for the 4-3. Put Spencer, Ware and Ellis at DE and move the rest to DT.

However, I don't know what you do about the LBs. Bradie James does nothing except get blocked. Hell Bobby Carpenter can do that. At least Zach could play MLB.

I understand that Flozell is hurt, but can Free play or not? I have my doubts considering they don't even activate him for games.

I know you did not want to say it, but Jerry needs to take a hard look at the coaches. This team has been lost by Wade.

 

[Hypnotoad]

First of all, let me say that the absolute best thing that can happen for the cowboys is for Wade to drastically change his approach/philosophy and start holding players and coaches accountable for their screwups and it helps to turn the season around.

If wade was a good coach, we should see this change. He would have to realize that he trusted the players, gave them the benefit of the doubt, never questioned them publically, rewarded them when they did great and took the blame when they did bad. And they paid him back by playing like this? He should change his style, if he stays the same, he should be gone this offseason.

Its a shame some of us understand this team more than the coaches.

 

[Eskimo]

The sad part about the line is that we would have been fine if we didn't give away Fergie to Parcells for a ham sandwich. A DL of Spears/Fergie/Ratliff would have been serviceable.

We still need to find our long-term answer at NT. I know alot of folks don't like Wilfork but he may not have turned into such a sleazeball if he were drafted here. We missed out on him by one slot and instead got JuJo and Spears.

 

[tomson75]

First of all, let me say that the absolute best thing that can happen for the cowboys is for Wade to drastically change his approach/philosophy and start holding players and coaches accountable for their screwups and it helps to turn the season around.

^^^ I had to post that cuz sure enough there's gonna be some moron that thinks I have an "Agenda" against Wade and want him fired no matter what. That's stupid. I don't want him fired "No matter what". I would rather he turn it around and right the ship. I wouldn't rather have the cowboys lose and wade get fired then for them to win and he stay on. I just don't think he can or will do it.


1. We don't have the personnel to stop the run consistently with our DL. Yes, our DE's have the prototypical "Size" of 3-4 DEs. That doesn't mean crap. You still have to play. They have the "Size" but they aren't any good. And making a play every once in a while doesn't change that. At NG we're incredibly weak vs the Run. I love Ratliff, but he's playing out of position. He is not a 3-4 NG. He CAN be a darn good 3-4 DE or a 4-3 DT, but a NG he is not. We consistently get blown off the ball. We get pushed around. Teams impose their will upon them (the DL). Too many times this season - including a great deal of this game - the pile gets pushed backwards 5 yards after contact. We need a BIG run stuffing NG, move Ratliff to LE, and if that NG is really good, it may open things up and may even make the other DE better. True great players make the players around them better.

I agree. It all starts up front, and while I think Canty is talented, he's just not quite strong enough against the run. Spears? Meh? I think Ratliff would be outstanding at DE in this scheme, but we need a monster to go in the middle. Where do we get him?

Other teams don't respect our run defense, and they don't have any reason to.

2. Bradie James flat out sucks. He occasionally makes a play in the running game and he occassionally gets a sack, but he consistently gets blocked and he doesn't get off blocks. And, obviously, he can't cover for ****. He's one of the worst coverage backers I've ever seen. Really, I don't see how giving Carp a shot at that position can be such a bad thing. What, we might suck against the run with him in there? Newsflash: We suck against the run with James in there. We wasted a 1st round pick on Carp and have given absolutely NO SHOT to play on the field. QBs get drafted in the first and are thrown into the wolves before they should be, don't see why it would be so bad to play a 3rd year former 1st round pick who actually EXCELLED In the last game he started.

I'm all for upgrading James' position, but unlike yourself, I've given up on Carpenter. I've seen enough to know that he doesn't have the requisite aggression to play linebacker in the NFL...at least in this scheme. Put Thomas' brain in Carpenters body, then we'd be in luck.

3. I love MB3, and he had barely any room to run out there, but he needs to hit the hole with more burst then he has been. He "loads up" too often to try and deliver a blow when he should just burst ahead and fast as he can and get through the hole. Now, he's not NEARLY as bad at it as JuJo, and I barely noticed it until Choice got some carries and you can tell the difference. Choice made his cut and burst through the hole. All the Giants RBs do the same. MB3 makes too many bad decisions when he runs the ball. He makes up for a lot of it with his relentlessness, but he'd be a better back if he'd just burst through the hole once in awhile. Skip Peete needs to coach him up on that or be fired. The potential is there in MB3, but I don't know if anyone is telling him any of this.

I've thought he's been running softer since week one, but he's one of the last things I'm worried about on this team.

4. Brooks Bollinger sucks. Just cuz he played better then Brad doesn't make him good. There are different levels of "Suck". Brooks Bollinger is in there, but just not nearly as far down as Brad. We should have kept Bartel. Hell, I'm not against BB, we should have cut Brad and brought in Bollinger. Romo - Bartel/Bollinger. Those should be our QBs.

It's official, both of our backup QB's blow goats. Our 'talent scouts' should get the same treatment 007 gets with a knotted rope in Casino Royale.
Maybe we get Beck next year? Maybe we draft someone? Don't know, but we better do something. Top priority.

5. Our offense has no identity. The Giants run the ball, especially off tackle. That's their "Signature" play. The packers - With Favre - signature play was the slant. The Eagles have their screens, and the cowboys of the 90's had the lead draw with Emmitt. What is the current cowboys signature play? They don't have one. They don't have any one thing they try to establish and play off of. The offense needs an identity. They need that signature play.

That delayed handoff should qualify. Garrett uses it 15 times a game it seems. Too bad it sucks.

6. Speaking of Offense, Garrett is just doing a horrible job of freeing up TO. Never in TO's career has a team had trouble getting him the football in space. It has NOTHING to do with his struggles beating the jam cuz he's ALWAYS Had trouble beating the jam. Garrett needs to get his head out of his *** and get TO the football. Even if he has to implement more "West coast" style plays, he needs to get it done.

Garrett is the biggest problem this team has right now IMO. Entirely too much talent on that offense for them to be this bad. There are ZERO excuses for Garrett...he picked the groceries at QB....no excuses. Figure it out Red.

Those are the main things I can think of right now. Part of me wants to vent, but part of me is also just trying to block out anything having to do with the cowboys right now so that I don't have a stroke.

I hear ya. I can't even listen to my voicemail right now because its littered with all of my ******* friends messages about how bad the Cowboys suck. I might punch 'friends' in their faces at work tomorrow.

 

[jrumann59]

The sad part about the line is that we would have been fine if we didn't give away Fergie to Parcells for a ham sandwich. A DL of Spears/Fergie/Ratliff would have been serviceable.

We still need to find our long-term answer at NT. I know alot of folks don't like Wilfork but he may not have turned into such a sleazeball if he were drafted here. We missed out on him by one slot and instead got JuJo and Spears.

JuJo was a 2nd rounder and was in the draft the year before Spears, and we got Spears and Ware in the same draft so which is it.

 

[JonJon]

3. I love MB3, and he had barely any room to run out there, but he needs to hit the hole with more burst then he has been. He "loads up" too often to try and deliver a blow when he should just burst ahead and fast as he can and get through the hole. Now, he's not NEARLY as bad at it as JuJo, and I barely noticed it until Choice got some carries and you can tell the difference. Choice made his cut and burst through the hole. All the Giants RBs do the same. MB3 makes too many bad decisions when he runs the ball. He makes up for a lot of it with his relentlessness, but he'd be a better back if he'd just burst through the hole once in awhile. Skip Peete needs to coach him up on that or be fired. The potential is there in MB3, but I don't know if anyone is telling him any of this.

The probem is this: Barber is not a do-it-yourself-feature running back. He needs to share the load; that is his specialty. The problem is, Garrett and company do not allow him to share the load. They run him into the dirt and he gets a pounding all game. That doesn't play to his strengths at all. I almost forgot Tashard Choice was even on the team. Even when Felix was healthy, he was only getting about 4 runs per game. Whether it is Choice or Jones, the second running back needs to split time equally with Barber, like how the Titans use Johnson and White. His explosiveness is being taken away by all the carries he is getting.

4. Brooks Bollinger sucks. Just cuz he played better then Brad doesn't make him good. There are different levels of "Suck". Brooks Bollinger is in there, but just not nearly as far down as Brad. We should have kept Bartel. Hell, I'm not against BB, we should have cut Brad and brought in Bollinger. Romo - Bartel/Bollinger. Those should be our QBs.

Whover thought that Brad Johnson was a serious sollution to a backup QB situation needs to be hit in the back of the head with a lead pipe. The poor decisions made in the front office in regards to a quality backup QB is laughable and has cost the team dearly.

5. Our offense has no identity. The Giants run the ball, especially off tackle. That's their "Signature" play. The packers - With Favre - signature play was the slant. The Eagles have their screens, and the cowboys of the 90's had the lead draw with Emmitt. What is the current cowboys signature play? They don't have one. They don't have any one thing they try to establish and play off of. The offense needs an identity. They need that signature play.

Oh we have a signature play. It's called the delayed draw to Barber. The problem is, the play doesn't work, yet we manage to run it what seems like 75% of the time not including 3 TIMES in a row.

6. Speaking of Offense, Garrett is just doing a horrible job of freeing up TO. Never in TO's career has a team had trouble getting him the football in space. It has NOTHING to do with his struggles beating the jam cuz he's ALWAYS Had trouble beating the jam. Garrett needs to get his head out of his *** and get TO the football. Even if he has to implement more "West coast" style plays, he needs to get it done.

You are right. There is absolutely no excuse anymore. We have Roy Williams and TO is still blanketed. Some serious question marks are rising regarding Garrett's ability as a coach.

 

[Eskimo]

JuJo was a 2nd rounder and was in the draft the year before Spears, and we got Spears and Ware in the same draft so which is it.

We missed out on Wilfork by one pick that year and then traded down for a 2nd that year and a future first which I think eventually became JuJo and Spears.

 

[Rack]

I disagree - the signature play on our offense is:

The False Start.

We missed out on Wilfork by one pick that year and then traded down for a 2nd that year and a future first which I think eventually became JuJo and Spears.

Yeah. Missed out on Wilfork, but still could have had Stephen Jackson.


I love me some MB3, but Jackson is an elite RB - when healthy.

 

[Eskimo]

Yeah. Missed out on Wilfork, but still could have had Stephen Jackson.


I love me some MB3, but Jackson is an elite RB - when healthy.

We'd be fine with a combo of Felix and Barber on the ground - I'd take that over Jackson who I think will always be nursing some sort of an injury.

However, that big gaping hole in the middle of the defense is a fatal flaw for a 3-4 that cannot be disguised.

 

[Rack]

How many games has it been now this year that we've given up 150+ yards rushing?


I can't really blame the DL, cuz I don't think they're capable of consistently stopping the run. We need that BIG run stuffing DT (could have had Rogers).


I DO blame the OL cuz there's three "Pro Bowlers" on that side of the ball yet we've only had maybe 1 or 2 dominating performances this year (in the running game). Leonard Davis is starting to look like the Zona Version of BIGG. Gurode is looking lost again. Flozell actually played a really good first half, then a subpar second half. IMO Colombo is our best lineman right now.

 

[Rack]

We'd be fine with a combo of Felix and Barber on the ground - I'd take that over Jackson who I think will always be nursing some sort of an injury.

However, that big gaping hole in the middle of the defense is a fatal flaw for a 3-4 that cannot be disguised.

Even if we'd taken Jackson we still could have had Barber and Felix.


I haven't seen run defense this bad (for the cowboys) since 2000.

 

[jobberone]

First of all, let me say that the absolute best thing that can happen for the cowboys is for Wade to drastically change his approach/philosophy and start holding players and coaches accountable for their screwups and it helps to turn the season around.

^^^ I had to post that cuz sure enough there's gonna be some moron that thinks I have an "Agenda" against Wade and want him fired no matter what. That's stupid. I don't want him fired "No matter what". I would rather he turn it around and right the ship. I wouldn't rather have the cowboys lose and wade get fired then for them to win and he stay on. I just don't think he can or will do it.


1. We don't have the personnel to stop the run consistently with our DL. Yes, our DE's have the prototypical "Size" of 3-4 DEs. That doesn't mean crap. You still have to play. They have the "Size" but they aren't any good. And making a play every once in a while doesn't change that. At NG we're incredibly weak vs the Run. I love Ratliff, but he's playing out of position. He is not a 3-4 NG. He CAN be a darn good 3-4 DE or a 4-3 DT, but a NG he is not. We consistently get blown off the ball. We get pushed around. Teams impose their will upon them (the DL). Too many times this season - including a great deal of this game - the pile gets pushed backwards 5 yards after contact. We need a BIG run stuffing NG, move Ratliff to LE, and if that NG is really good, it may open things up and may even make the other DE better. True great players make the players around them better.


2. Bradie James flat out sucks. He occasionally makes a play in the running game and he occassionally gets a sack, but he consistently gets blocked and he doesn't get off blocks. And, obviously, he can't cover for ****. He's one of the worst coverage backers I've ever seen. Really, I don't see how giving Carp a shot at that position can be such a bad thing. What, we might suck against the run with him in there? Newsflash: We suck against the run with James in there. We wasted a 1st round pick on Carp and have given absolutely NO SHOT to play on the field. QBs get drafted in the first and are thrown into the wolves before they should be, don't see why it would be so bad to play a 3rd year former 1st round pick who actually EXCELLED In the last game he started.

3. I love MB3, and he had barely any room to run out there, but he needs to hit the hole with more burst then he has been. He "loads up" too often to try and deliver a blow when he should just burst ahead and fast as he can and get through the hole. Now, he's not NEARLY as bad at it as JuJo, and I barely noticed it until Choice got some carries and you can tell the difference. Choice made his cut and burst through the hole. All the Giants RBs do the same. MB3 makes too many bad decisions when he runs the ball. He makes up for a lot of it with his relentlessness, but he'd be a better back if he'd just burst through the hole once in awhile. Skip Peete needs to coach him up on that or be fired. The potential is there in MB3, but I don't know if anyone is telling him any of this.

4. Brooks Bollinger sucks. Just cuz he played better then Brad doesn't make him good. There are different levels of "Suck". Brooks Bollinger is in there, but just not nearly as far down as Brad. We should have kept Bartel. Hell, I'm not against BB, we should have cut Brad and brought in Bollinger. Romo - Bartel/Bollinger. Those should be our QBs.


5. Our offense has no identity. The Giants run the ball, especially off tackle. That's their "Signature" play. The packers - With Favre - signature play was the slant. The Eagles have their screens, and the cowboys of the 90's had the lead draw with Emmitt. What is the current cowboys signature play? They don't have one. They don't have any one thing they try to establish and play off of. The offense needs an identity. They need that signature play.

6. Speaking of Offense, Garrett is just doing a horrible job of freeing up TO. Never in TO's career has a team had trouble getting him the football in space. It has NOTHING to do with his struggles beating the jam cuz he's ALWAYS Had trouble beating the jam. Garrett needs to get his head out of his *** and get TO the football. Even if he has to implement more "West coast" style plays, he needs to get it done.




Those are the main things I can think of right now. Part of me wants to vent, but part of me is also just trying to block out anything having to do with the cowboys right now so that I don't have a stroke.

1. I don't agree with the notion the 3-4 or the players aren't good enough. They stopped the run early. It wasn't until we got way behind that the Giants started running the ball successfully. Jacobs got 116 and a lot was after we got way behind. In general now. You also can't stay on the field the majority of the game and still stop the run at the end. You are going to give out. The vast majority of NFL players cannot play at that high a level and play well for that many snaps. What you saw is a team wearing the D out in this game and it was predictable. Now I'm not speaking about some players quitting. But the front seven are going to get worn out.

2. We do need faster MILBs. There's no doubt about that. I love Zack and he does very well for his size and speed. But both our ILBs could be better. We need someone like Patrick Willis. Brinkley for South Carolina at 265 and 4.5 is the kind of ILB we need. Jerry needs to stop thinking we can get a LB anywhere or in FA. That position needs to be drafted in a pass happy NFL.

3. MB is not a problem. He's a gem. The OL needs to block better. They didn't get bad all of a sudden. It's the coaching and the players on the OL that is the problem. It may be that Jason Garrett needs to call better plays for the personnel. I don't think that's it though. I think the OL has gotten out of shape with no one like Parcells to make them do it. There has to be a reason and again they didn't all lose their talent. It may also be blocking schemes ala Houck. Don't know but they better find out and fix it or we won't go anywhere. Since they played well early in the year perhaps injuries and Kosier is a problem. Again fix it.

4. We need better backup QBs. I do understand the Johnson problem. I wasn't for him before the season but his play in preseason made me agree he could hold the fort for a few games.

5. They have an identity as one of the top offensive teams in the league. They need Romo. And they had better find better backups. Pin this one on JJ first then Wade and Jason.

6. Getting the players open is difficult to say. It's obvious Garrett was beginning to respond to moving TO around. They fixed the problem with obtaining Williams though. That fixes that problem as teams won't be able to put 2 and even 3 resources on TO now. If one of them don't get open or Witten and others don't light it up then you can think about pointing fingers at Garrett.

My problems with Garrett are more subtle. I'm still upset at not giving Adams more help or putting Free in there. If Adams is still hurt then what the heck is up with that scenario. He gives up on the run to soon. He wants to attack with Romo, TO and now Wiliams. OK but if you can run the ball then you just do it. There is no better way to demoralize a team than to say here it comes and them not be able to do a damn thing about it. I promise you that eats away at you to get physically beat over and over. I think he is too greedy at times. There is no way I'm asking Brad Johnson to throw it long. Maybe early in the game with them looking for short routes try a few double moves/stop and goes. Not using FJ more although that's a small one. He's too predictable. When teams are jumping your routes then you've become too predictable. And that was happening before Romo got hurt. People are on to Jason. Did he bite off more than he can chew??? There's more but you get it.

This is a very talented team. You can't play over a season and a half like they have and not be talented. Teams don't go 13-3 and it be a fluke. But are they a team? I think they are and I expect a different team after the bye. I don't think Tony will be rusty too much. And he has a new toy. Jason needs to take this time to really look at his volume of work.

 

[Rack]

1. I don't agree with the notion the 3-4 or the players aren't good enough. They stopped the run early. It wasn't until we got way behind that the Giants started running the ball successfully. Jacobs got 116 and a lot was after we got way behind. In general now. You also can't stay on the field the majority of the game and still stop the run at the end. You are going to give out. The vast majority of NFL players cannot play at that high a level and play well for that many snaps. What you saw is a team wearing the D out in this game and it was predictable. Now I'm not speaking about some players quitting. But the front seven are going to get worn out.

2. We do need faster MILBs. There's no doubt about that. I love Zack and he does very well for his size and speed. But both our ILBs could be better. We need someone like Patrick Willis. Brinkley for South Carolina at 265 and 4.5 is the kind of ILB we need. Jerry needs to stop thinking we can get a LB anywhere or in FA. That position needs to be drafted in a pass happy NFL.

3. MB is not a problem. He's a gem. The OL needs to block better. They didn't get bad all of a sudden. It's the coaching and the players on the OL that is the problem. It may be that Jason Garrett needs to call better plays for the personnel. I don't think that's it though. I think the OL has gotten out of shape with no one like Parcells to make them do it. There has to be a reason and again they didn't all lose their talent. It may also be blocking schemes ala Houck. Don't know but they better find out and fix it or we won't go anywhere. Since they played well early in the year perhaps injuries and Kosier is a problem. Again fix it.

4. We need better backup QBs. I do understand the Johnson problem. I wasn't for him before the season but his play in preseason made me agree he could hold the fort for a few games.

5. They have an identity as one of the top offensive teams in the league. They need Romo. And they had better find better backups. Pin this one on JJ first then Wade and Jason.

6. Getting the players open is difficult to say. It's obvious Garrett was beginning to respond to moving TO around. They fixed the problem with obtaining Williams though. That fixes that problem as teams won't be able to put 2 and even 3 resources on TO now. If one of them don't get open or Witten and others don't light it up then you can think about pointing fingers at Garrett.

My problems with Garrett are more subtle. I'm still upset at not giving Adams more help or putting Free in there. If Adams is still hurt then what the heck is up with that scenario. He gives up on the run to soon. He wants to attack with Romo, TO and now Wiliams. OK but if you can run the ball then you just do it. There is no better way to demoralize a team than to say here it comes and them not be able to do a damn thing about it. I promise you that eats away at you to get physically beat over and over. I think he is too greedy at times. There is no way I'm asking Brad Johnson to throw it long. Maybe early in the game with them looking for short routes try a few double moves/stop and goes. Not using FJ more although that's a small one. He's too predictable. When teams are jumping your routes then you've become too predictable. And that was happening before Romo got hurt. People are on to Jason. Did he bite off more than he can chew??? There's more but you get it.

This is a very talented team. You can't play over a season and a half like they have and not be talented. Teams don't go 13-3 and it be a fluke. But are they a team? I think they are and I expect a different team after the bye. I don't think Tony will be rusty too much. And he has a new toy. Jason needs to take this time to really look at his volume of work.

1. Sorry but you're completely wrong. It's not just this game we couldn't stop the run. Yay, they stopped the run "early". What's Early, the first drive or two? Please, they stunk it up almost the whole night and they've been stinking it up pretty much the whole season.


2. It's not about SPEED. It's about fluidity and anticipation (in pass defense). We don't need "Faster" LBs, we need BETTER LBs.

3. Sorry, but MB3 is not perfect. Just cuz he's not the biggest problem doesn't mean he can't make improvements. He bounces too many runs outside and doesn't hit the whole quick enough.

4. ...

5. You didn't even understand my "Identity" thing, did you?

6. They didn't "Fix the problem" when obtaining Williams. That was never the problem. What, you have to have superstars everywhere to get someone open? That's pure ignorance right there. Reminds me of when Zimmer was crying all the time about his defense not working cuz he didn't have 2 shutdown CBs.



And yes, teams can go 13-3 and it end up being a fluke. Not all things are equal for each team during a given season. That's incredibly naive for you to believe a team having a good season can't be a fluke. We went 10-6 with Quincy Carter at backup and a whole bunch of other losers that are probably not even in the NFL anymore.

By the way - and this is w/o doing research, it's just off the top of my head - in 2001 the Chicago Bears went - you guessed it - 13-3. Their record the next year? 4-12. Then 7-9 the year after. Then 5-11 the year after that. THey had 5 straight losing seasons BEFORE that 2001 season, and 3 losing seasons after that 2001 season. You don't think that 13-3 season was a fluke?

 

[theebs]

3. Sorry, but MB3 is not perfect. Just cuz he's not the biggest problem doesn't mean he can't make improvements. He bounces too many runs outside and doesn't hit the whole quick enough.

I am curious. What hole.

He has guys in his face the minute he gets the ball. What holes are you talking about, I didnt see any. Barber got tackled by johnson one on one today which is something you dont see much of, but other than that there were no holes.

just a crowded line of scrimmage and a poor offensive line at the mercy of horrendous qb play.

 

[Rack]

I am curious. What hole.

He has guys in his face the minute he gets the ball. What holes are you talking about, I didnt see any. Barber got tackled by johnson one on one today which is something you dont see much of, but other than that there were no holes.

just a crowded line of scrimmage and a poor offensive line at the mercy of horrendous qb play.

If you read the original post you saw that I said he didn't have much room, but watch the game again. A "Hole" doesn't have to be big enough to drive a truck through. Really, you jsut need a "Crease" (sp?). Tashard Choice got in there and you can see the difference in burst. Again, watch them both closely. Not saying Choice is better (obvious, I hope) just saying he was hitting the "Crease" harder then Barber was.

I saw plenty of runs for the Giants where it didn't appear the runners had much room but the exploded through whatever crease they had and got 5 yards... AFTER contact.

 

[RainMan]

Good points, all Rack. Just a few I want to address.

I don't think Wade can change. He is who he is, and I'm not sure he'll suddenly become a motivating hard ***. It's just not who he is, I'm afraid.

As for Garrett, he's among my greatest disappointments this season. What I completely dislike is the utter lack of creativity and adjustments. Especially in a game like today, where we were undermanned, I would have liked to have seen a well-timed gadget play or two. The wildcat formation is becoming cliche, but throw something out there that the Giants weren't prepared for.

I mean, if I was a Giants fan or player today, the game plan on both sides of the ball had to go exactly as they expected. That doesn't say much about our creativity and ingenuity. The mark of a good staff is making the most out of less. We're making the least out of less.

As for running the ball, I think the core problem there is that we're a pass-first team that uses the passing game to set up the run. People like to hype our offense as some big, mauling group that can run over people. But they only do that -- 9 times out of 10 -- when the pass has already been established and the defense is playing off. We're not one of those get-down-and-dirty organizations that loves to roll up our sleeves and pound on people. We want to finesse our way to the win, and then use Barber's pounding style as the change of pace. But without Romo, there's no chance of getting that passing game going.

Lastly, I never understood the Brad Johnson signing, nor did a lot of people here. He was a good signing from a behind-the-scenes learning standpoint, but the caveat was always "we're screwed if he actually gets on the field." I thought it was hysterical some in the media picked up on the angle that his ball-protection nature would help us. Please. Even if he weren't tossing up all these picks, ball protection means nothing if you're just going 3-and-out every drive. And going back to his first training camp here, he has never looked like an NFL quarterback aside from a few drives in the preseason. But then, many crappy QBs put up a few decent drives against unprepared preseason defenses.

 

[CF74]

The D started off solid but BJ, Garrett, and company kept leaving them bad field position, eventually they just got tired. Not having a beast at the nose eventually results in teams running on us successfully. Maybe we should run a 4-3 prototype in the 2nd half because the line gets pushed back to much as the game wears on. We were bringing a lot of pressure early on and Eli was looking rattled, he even gave up the pick 6. Why did we stop blitzing?

We need to make some changes because trying the same ole same ole ain't cutting it. We keep losing the time of possession battle and this O hasn't be able to sustain many drives. Any defense will cave when gassed. Nope this all points back to Garrett. He brought in BJ and dropped Bartel. He's also unable to adjust and it's pathetically obvious the league has his number. Why won't he change it up? He's praying the return of our talent bails him out and so am I but this guy is below average....

 

[Chuck 54]

I agree 100% on the defense...the front 7 is below average and has been for some time.

Ware is a good LB; Spencer looked good last night.

but we have a lot of draft selections who just aren't very good. Unfortunately, we can't replace that many players in one offseason.

I'm with you though...get a real NT, put Ratliff at DE replacing one of our two worthless starters at DE, and draft an inside LB this year....maybe two of them.