Non rose colored analysis

[Wood]

* Romo worked hard this offseason. Consistantly made good decisions. Looks more balanced without TO.

* Thought cowboys mixed running packages well (Felix never gets the ball enough...but Dallas is being smart with him).

* Roy Williams has more speed then I expected...on that slant he was gone.

* Defensive line was mauled. Really suprised here that everyone (including Ratliff) were getting moved off at point of attack. I belive Cadillac had 70 yards already at halftime.

* Spencer doesn't counter well when stood up at POA.

* Sensabaugh flies to the ball. Could become that fearless hitter this defense has been desperately lacking.

* Newmann is running as good as I have ever seen him (even if he did get beat on pass right before half). Could have big year.

* Brooking looked slow in coverage and wasnt as good as i was expecting again run.

Its a win but after watching the Giants...Dallas is in big trouble if Defensive line doesn't figure out why they were losing individual battles today. Dallas will need Felix Jones to have huge game primarily off screen passes to slow Giants pass rush. Wade will need to be very aggressive on blitz packages. After that Dallas should clean up on few weaker teams..but last year they had trouble with Cincy and St. Louis....so it will be interesting to see it play out.

 

[CATCH17]

* Romo worked hard this offseason. Consistantly made good decisions. Looks more balanced without TO.

* Thought cowboys mixed running packages well (Felix never gets the ball enough...but Dallas is being smart with him).

* Roy Williams has more speed then I expected...on that slant he was gone.

* Defensive line was mauled. Really suprised here that everyone (including Ratliff) were getting moved off at point of attack. I belive Cadillac had 70 yards already at halftime.

* Spencer doesn't counter well when stood up at POA.

* Sensabaugh flies to the ball. Could become that fearless hitter this defense has been desperately lacking.

* Newmann is running as good as I have ever seen him (even if he did get beat on pass right before half). Could have big year.

* Brooking looked slow in coverage and wasnt as good as i was expecting again run.

Its a win but after watching the Giants...Dallas is in big trouble if Defensive line doesn't figure out why they were losing individual battles today. Dallas will need Felix Jones to have huge game primarily off screen passes to slow Giants pass rush. Wade will need to be very aggressive on blitz packages. After that Dallas should clean up on few weaker teams..but last year they had trouble with Cincy and St. Louis....so it will be interesting to see it play out.

I disagree with the part in bold.

Yes they were running the ball down our throat but we were penetrating their line most of the time. We just weren't making the play in the backfield.

 

[Joe Realist]

I am happy they won but call me unimpressed defensively. This was the Bucs who just FIRED their offensive coordinator and they put up 450 yards!

I like spreading the ball around. They will run more which should help keep defense off the field.

 

[CATCH17]

I am happy they won but call me unimpressed defensively. This was the Bucs who just FIRED their offensive coordinator and they put up 450 yards!

I like spreading the ball around. They will run more which should help keep defense off the field.

As bad as our defense played the Bucs receivers made some out of this world plays in that game and their first TD drive was set up by a miracle catch from a tipped ball.

What im scared of is RB's coming out into the flats. We have to be ready for that next week because im sure the Giants are going to try and exploit that.

 

[RainMan]

The strange thing is I'm less concerned with the 450 yards we did give up -- which is a point of consternation -- than I am with all the yardage we handed Tampa that they simply failed to take.

Leftwich simply missed on a handful of wide open throws that could have really changed the pace of this game, if not the outcome. From that poor throw that sailed over a running back's head to the overthrow right before halftime. Plays were there to be made, and he simply didn't make them.

Today's game actually reminds me a little of last year's opener against Cleveland, defensively speaking. Cleveland didn't score much, but it was more because of their own undoing than anything we did. I seem to recall a number of missed plays on their part.

Long story short: We must clean up a number of things defensively before next week.

 

[Aikbach]

Bottom line: Room for improvement, particularly on defense, Dallas won.

 

[AtlCB]

The strange thing is I'm less concerned with the 450 yards we did give up -- which is a point of consternation -- than I am with all the yardage we handed Tampa that they simply failed to take.

Leftwich simply missed on a handful of wide open throws that could have really changed the pace of this game, if not the outcome. From that poor throw that sailed over a running back's head to the overthrow right before halftime. Plays were there to be made, and he simply didn't make them.

Today's game actually reminds me a little of last year's opener against Cleveland, defensively speaking. Cleveland didn't score much, but it was more because of their own undoing than anything we did. I seem to recall a number of missed plays on their part.

Long story short: We must clean up a number of things defensively before next week.

I'm not too concerned with that. With the pounding that Leftwich took, I'm surprised that he played as well as he did in that game. I watched the Sunday Night game where two great QB's faced similar poundings and really struggled. If we ca put that kind of pressure on Eli Manning, he will make some huge mistakes.

My biggest concern is our run defense vs. the Giants. Defenders must hold their gaps and tackle much better than they did vs. the Bucs. If the Cowboys stop the Giants running game, they will win.