Needed Win - Still concerned about both lines

[crashintonickdm]

D only gave up 14. And they had short fields nearly all game.

Can we just be happy. It's the NFL. Nothing is easy

 

[Idgit]

Would you say the line is performing at a level equivalent to what they did in 2014?

The OL? I'd say they haven't overall, but that's because it took them several weeks to get it together. They've been a lot better since coming out of the bye week, though.

 

[perrykemp]

Run blocking, at this point, looks about as good as last year.

Pass blocking is a bit off from last year and last year's club was truthfully uneven at times pass blocking as evidenced by the 10 sacks they allowed in the playoffs.

I am absolutely shocked to see Tyron Smith at the 6 sacks allowed mark and roughly on pace for 10 or so.

 

[ak47kaehu]

The defense is playing well but I wish that D-line would be more disruptive.

 

[TrailBlazer]

Pollack is using much the same scheme. Problem is, it takes a chemistry between the OL and the RB's to make it work consistently, and you need a RB who runs well in that scheme. DMC doesn't. He's much better with man blocking schemes.

The runningback has nothing to do with the oline not opening holes like they did last year. When they play well, McFadden shines. It's not about the back, it's about the oline. Of course it helps with a threat of a passing game.

 

[bsbellomy]

The OL? I'd say they haven't overall, but that's because it took them several weeks to get it together. They've been a lot better since coming out of the bye week, though.

On the interior I'd say I agree 100%, however Tyron Smith played like trash today, and this wasn't the first time this season either. Hope he can get his ask together before he gets Romo hurt again.

 

[bsbellomy]

D only gave up 14. And they had short fields nearly all game.

Can we just be happy. It's the NFL. Nothing is easy

Trust me, I think even the most pessimistic fans are celebrating right now. Good news is that even if a lot of people fail at their jobs with Romo in we should have a chance in every game.

 

[Idgit]

On the interior I'd say I agree 100%, however Tyron Smith played like trash today, and this wasn't the first time this season either. Hope he can get his ask together before he gets Romo hurt again.

He got taken advantage of a couple times v. PHI, too, yeah. "Trash" is an exaggeration, but as an individual, he's not been as good as he was last year.

 

[Deep_South]

We did some good stuff today. We dominated TOP 38:50 to 21:10, Net Yardage 386 to 210, and 3rd down conversions, with the Cowboys 7-14 and the Dolphins 1-10. Penalties were close Cowboys 10-79 and Dolphins 9-74. That said, we can't depend on Carolina to commit a bunch of infractions like Miami did today, so we need to clean up our act in that area on Thursday. Hopefully Tyron and Free will have better matchups against Carolina.

 

[bsbellomy]

He got taken advantage of a couple times v. PHI, too, yeah. "Trash" is an exaggeration, but as an individual, he's not been as good as he was last year.

Well, IMO he did play like trash vs what is expected from him. Seemed like Vernon was sacking, hitting, pressuring, or forcing holdings on half our pass plays, and half the runs that went to his side were TFL's. Maybe JMO but I have expected him to be great like a Walter Jones, he's has shown that at times, but then he has days like today that have me looking away smh.

 

[dfense]

I'm always amazed at the nit picking.

Miami has the most sacks of any team the last few weeks. Obviously, that was their whole game plan. Do everything you can to get to Romo. The Cowboys controlled the clock, kept their D off the field, held Miami to 140 net yards passing and about 70 yards on the ground. The "awfully coached" Dline held the Fins to 1-10 on third down and only 9 first downs. The Cowboys had 22!

Miami couldn't stop McFadden when it counted at the end and they ran it down Miami's throat. I'll take that every day.

 

[ConstantReboot]

If it would have helped maintained our consistency last year I would still have kept Murray and still sign McFadden.

The problem is that we let Murray go and not finding a capable replacement. Then expecting the same results with a RBBC system.

If we had kept continuing what we did right last year with a one back offense I think results would have been much different.

 

[CATCH17]

Screw it.


My only concern going forward is winning too many games and not making the playoffs.

7-9 or 8-8 and not making the playoffs is a nightmare.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I actually thought Hardy was great. He blew up 2 run plays in a row in the first quarter and Lynch said nary a peep. He kept making plays in the second half and finally they gave Hardy credit for one and even that was reluctant. I thought Hardy was dominant. He was getting double teamed LT/RB all game long and still managed to make several plays throughout the game. They are rolling protection away from Hayden. DLaw is flanked on either side by the weakest links in our defense.

OL whiffing on Vernon repeatedly is problematic but I thought they did a really good job on Suh collectively. OL ended up physically dominant at the end.

 

[TwentyOne]

This OL is too good to be wasted with this coaching .. a new OL coach is needed ..and while at it ...get a REAL DL coach too please

This is not a coaching problem. We had this problem last year and it was even bigger.

This is NOT a OL that can dominate thru power. This is a zone blocking OL and they do it really great. They always had problems with DL that have powerful linemen.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

This is not a coaching problem. We had this problem last year and it was even bigger.

This is NOT a OL that can dominate thru power. This is a zone blocking OL and they do it really great. They always had problems with DL that have powerful linemen.

Tyron, Fred, Collins, and Martin are some of the best drive blockers in the NFL. I would pit Fred against any other center strength on strength. Collins is like this before maturing on an NFL training program.

Every OL has issues with Jurgens, Watt, Suh, etc. What makes our guys great isn't because they can beat Suh on an iso but rather because they can run their plays despite his presence.

 

[camelboy]

This is not a coaching problem. We had this problem last year and it was even bigger.

This is NOT a OL that can dominate thru power. This is a zone blocking OL and they do it really great. They always had problems with DL that have powerful linemen.

To clarify .. I didn't think Callahan did a good enough job with this OL either .. he was better than whatever we have now .. but not good enough.. With the right coach this OL should allow Romo to skip shower after each game and let me (as a RB) break rushing records

 

[Star Guard_31]

Seems like ages ago I felt content on a sunday after Cowboys win. As I watch this team I still have doubts in few areas:

1. OL - was it me or was Miami DL in cowboys backfield half the game. Vernon DE for Miami was ridiculous. Tyron Smith had no answer for him for stretches of this game. McFadden yardage total is bit misleading because it felt like at times that Miami DL was taking over that game. I still don't think Dallas has playoff caliber running game. Its become clear to me that Murray was absolute perfect fit for this line. I would look for similar back in draft.

2. DL - Greg Hardy looks more and more average to me. Tyron Crawford is getting doubled and Hayden can't beat 1 on 1. We finally saw a burst from Lawrence at end of game and I will watch closely against Panthers to see if maybe it was just confidence issue and we start seeing that guy who played in Packers game last year. Jack Crawford might have had best day for DL.

I thought LB had solid game and its amazing how Street and Williams look like NFL WRs with Romo.

Tyron is definitely having a down year. Fortunately for us, Tyron in a down year is still best than most starting LTs league-wide.

 

[John813]

Vernon is very good RE who is having a supbar stats year. Which may hurt his payday but we don't care about that.
Been watching him since he was a rookie and he's a good pass rusher.

 

[cowboyuptx]

The supposed "best OL in the NFL" is far from it... They can be dominant at times, and they're better at run-blocking than pass-blocking, but overall they're just too inconsistent... And how many total whiffs do we have to see from Tyron Smith before he starts to get a little criticism around here?

The DL was also underwhelming for most of the day, but in the end, the DL got 3 sacks and held the Phins to 70 yards rushing... Meanwhile the offensive line allowed 2 sacks and a lot of pressure, but we also rushed for 166 yards... I agree, both lines could and should play better, but the results aren't too bad considering it was such an inconsistent performance..