honyock
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I just watched the four first half possessions for the Cowboys, looking at what went wrong and right along the offensive line. First, general observations:
Smith had a tough night, especially early on. His man was quick, strong, had some moves...a good test. He looked confused at times, and that spin move gave him problems. I'm not worried about him, but lots to still work on.
I thought Doug Free had a tough night as well, although he had to deal with Jared Allen, who is a freak. It gave me flashbacks of that 2009 playoff game.
Nagy looked pretty solid. Other than Kosier, I thought he had the best night of anyone on the line. Not perfect but solid. I could see him starting. Surprised to say that, but he held his own.
Really glad to have Kosier. Just did his job, steady.
Kudos to Kowalski, starting as a UDFA on short notice against a good d-line. He had some good moments and got better as the game went on. But he got beat badly at times and is not near ready, which will come as a surprise to no one.
I was a little underwhelmed by the fullbacks. Some good moments, just didn't see anything special. I don't have a big hit on whether Chapas or Gronkowski have an edge.
Here's the play-by-play breakdown for the first half.
1st possession
1st play All hold position, Free held his the least, short pass to Dez.
2nd play Fake rollout, Smith blocks down on the tackle and gets beat to the inside. Short completion
3rd play Pass, the line all held their blocks. The pressure came from the end, who was Witten’s responsibility and who just flat ran him over.
4th play. Run. Nagy, Kosier and Smith held their blocks. Kowalski got pushed into the backfield. The fullback (couldn’t tell who it was) took the wrong lane and missed the linebacker, who blew up the play.
5th play Pass. Free got beat, Kosier to a lesser degree. Free’s man forced a hurried throw. Nagy and Kowalki fine.
6th play Pass. Free’s man beat him again, and to a lesser degree Smith’s man. Still a completion, no first down. Nagy and Kowalski okay.
2nd possession
1st play Swing pass. Kowalki loses his man on a stunt, Smith gets beat to the outside. It almost looked like he was trying to peal away to block for the back swinging out to the right. Completion.
2nd play Two tight ends right, run right. Nagy pulls, so-so block, his man slides free and makes the tackle. It looked like Bennett missed a block on a linebacker, the linebacker helped blow up the play.
3rd play Pass. Witten gets beat badly again, his man almost hits Romo’s arm. Free’s man comes free. Kowalski’s man breaks free and bumps Romo just after he releases the pass. Defensive penalty, first down.
4th play Reverse. Smith looks confused, tries to shoot out and block the linebacker, leaves the end completely unblocked, the end stuffs the reverse. Maybe the backer was his assignment and they hoped the end would bite on the fakes.
5th play Pass. Kowalski, Nagy and Free all get pushed back, collapses the pocket, forces Romo to roll out and complete a little push pass.
6th play. Run. The entire left side of the line, and Chapas, do a nice job. 10 yard gain. Smith end up with his man on the ground, Smith laying on top of him. Nice blocking by the whole line.
7th play. Pass. Pretty good protection. Romo holds the ball a little long. Smith and Kosier’s men apply pressure at the end.
8th play. Run left. Right tackle slips in unblocked and stuffs the play. Looks like miscommunication between Kowalski and Kosier, he slipped right between them.
9th play. Quick pass to Witten. Everyone holds position.
10th play. 3rd down pass. Smith gets beat badly on an inside spin move, his man hits Romo as he releases the ball. Incompletion.
3rd possession
1st play. Pass. Decent protection. Free and Smith drive their men past Romo, Kosier’s man gets a little push, Kowalski and Nagy hold their ground. Short completion
2nd play Pass. Two linebackers blitz. Jones stays back to block, engages okay,
gets pushed back into Romo. Incompletion.
3rd play. Pass. Two linebackers blitz again. Everyone holds up well, beautiful back shoulder completion to Dez.
4th play. Pass. Kowalski’s guy breaks clean immediately, quick slant complete anyway.
5th play. Run right. Standoff at the line, Witten ends up losing his block, his man forces Felix way wide, his speed gets him a few yards anyway.
6th play. Pass. Jared Allen gets push again against Free, who doesn’t lose him but forces Romo to drift right, nice completion to Dez. Free hangs on by his fingernails, everyone else is solid. Allen is a freak.
7th play. Pass. Blitz, great pickups and protection all around. Bennett’s man finally breaks free after the pass is in the air. Near touchdown.
8th play. Pass. Nice protection all around. Free fighting for his life against Allen but holds up. Completion.
9th play. Pass, blitz again. Line holds up well, left side gets pushed back a bit but does their job. Romo hot read, completion to Holley.
10th play. Bootleg pass. Someone on the right side of the line missed a block, a d lineman came free and hurried Romo, incompletion.
11th play. Run left. Smith comes across and makes a nice little push block on a linebacker, throws him off balance just enough, Felix beats him and follows Bennett, touchdown. Nice block by Bennett, good seals by Free and Nagy, good block by the fullback (#49, who the heck is that?)
4th possession
1st play. Draw to Choice. Kowalski makes a nice block, holds it until Choice is by, but gets called for a hold. Looked pretty marginal…their arms got locked together for a moment, not a blatant hold.
2nd play. Run right. Standoff at the line, Looks like Gronkowski may have missed a linebacker coming through the hole, Choice tried to cut back, no gain.
3rd play. Pass. Everyone solid, nice pocket, plenty of time, completion to Ogletree.
4th play. 3rd down pass. Smith gets beat again on the spin move. His and Free’s men force Romo up into the pocket, right into Nagy’s man. Nagy actually was holding his block pretty well, put this on Smith and to a lesser extent Free. Sack.
Smith had a tough night, especially early on. His man was quick, strong, had some moves...a good test. He looked confused at times, and that spin move gave him problems. I'm not worried about him, but lots to still work on.
I thought Doug Free had a tough night as well, although he had to deal with Jared Allen, who is a freak. It gave me flashbacks of that 2009 playoff game.
Nagy looked pretty solid. Other than Kosier, I thought he had the best night of anyone on the line. Not perfect but solid. I could see him starting. Surprised to say that, but he held his own.
Really glad to have Kosier. Just did his job, steady.
Kudos to Kowalski, starting as a UDFA on short notice against a good d-line. He had some good moments and got better as the game went on. But he got beat badly at times and is not near ready, which will come as a surprise to no one.
I was a little underwhelmed by the fullbacks. Some good moments, just didn't see anything special. I don't have a big hit on whether Chapas or Gronkowski have an edge.
Here's the play-by-play breakdown for the first half.
1st possession
1st play All hold position, Free held his the least, short pass to Dez.
2nd play Fake rollout, Smith blocks down on the tackle and gets beat to the inside. Short completion
3rd play Pass, the line all held their blocks. The pressure came from the end, who was Witten’s responsibility and who just flat ran him over.
4th play. Run. Nagy, Kosier and Smith held their blocks. Kowalski got pushed into the backfield. The fullback (couldn’t tell who it was) took the wrong lane and missed the linebacker, who blew up the play.
5th play Pass. Free got beat, Kosier to a lesser degree. Free’s man forced a hurried throw. Nagy and Kowalki fine.
6th play Pass. Free’s man beat him again, and to a lesser degree Smith’s man. Still a completion, no first down. Nagy and Kowalski okay.
2nd possession
1st play Swing pass. Kowalki loses his man on a stunt, Smith gets beat to the outside. It almost looked like he was trying to peal away to block for the back swinging out to the right. Completion.
2nd play Two tight ends right, run right. Nagy pulls, so-so block, his man slides free and makes the tackle. It looked like Bennett missed a block on a linebacker, the linebacker helped blow up the play.
3rd play Pass. Witten gets beat badly again, his man almost hits Romo’s arm. Free’s man comes free. Kowalski’s man breaks free and bumps Romo just after he releases the pass. Defensive penalty, first down.
4th play Reverse. Smith looks confused, tries to shoot out and block the linebacker, leaves the end completely unblocked, the end stuffs the reverse. Maybe the backer was his assignment and they hoped the end would bite on the fakes.
5th play Pass. Kowalski, Nagy and Free all get pushed back, collapses the pocket, forces Romo to roll out and complete a little push pass.
6th play. Run. The entire left side of the line, and Chapas, do a nice job. 10 yard gain. Smith end up with his man on the ground, Smith laying on top of him. Nice blocking by the whole line.
7th play. Pass. Pretty good protection. Romo holds the ball a little long. Smith and Kosier’s men apply pressure at the end.
8th play. Run left. Right tackle slips in unblocked and stuffs the play. Looks like miscommunication between Kowalski and Kosier, he slipped right between them.
9th play. Quick pass to Witten. Everyone holds position.
10th play. 3rd down pass. Smith gets beat badly on an inside spin move, his man hits Romo as he releases the ball. Incompletion.
3rd possession
1st play. Pass. Decent protection. Free and Smith drive their men past Romo, Kosier’s man gets a little push, Kowalski and Nagy hold their ground. Short completion
2nd play Pass. Two linebackers blitz. Jones stays back to block, engages okay,
gets pushed back into Romo. Incompletion.
3rd play. Pass. Two linebackers blitz again. Everyone holds up well, beautiful back shoulder completion to Dez.
4th play. Pass. Kowalski’s guy breaks clean immediately, quick slant complete anyway.
5th play. Run right. Standoff at the line, Witten ends up losing his block, his man forces Felix way wide, his speed gets him a few yards anyway.
6th play. Pass. Jared Allen gets push again against Free, who doesn’t lose him but forces Romo to drift right, nice completion to Dez. Free hangs on by his fingernails, everyone else is solid. Allen is a freak.
7th play. Pass. Blitz, great pickups and protection all around. Bennett’s man finally breaks free after the pass is in the air. Near touchdown.
8th play. Pass. Nice protection all around. Free fighting for his life against Allen but holds up. Completion.
9th play. Pass, blitz again. Line holds up well, left side gets pushed back a bit but does their job. Romo hot read, completion to Holley.
10th play. Bootleg pass. Someone on the right side of the line missed a block, a d lineman came free and hurried Romo, incompletion.
11th play. Run left. Smith comes across and makes a nice little push block on a linebacker, throws him off balance just enough, Felix beats him and follows Bennett, touchdown. Nice block by Bennett, good seals by Free and Nagy, good block by the fullback (#49, who the heck is that?)
4th possession
1st play. Draw to Choice. Kowalski makes a nice block, holds it until Choice is by, but gets called for a hold. Looked pretty marginal…their arms got locked together for a moment, not a blatant hold.
2nd play. Run right. Standoff at the line, Looks like Gronkowski may have missed a linebacker coming through the hole, Choice tried to cut back, no gain.
3rd play. Pass. Everyone solid, nice pocket, plenty of time, completion to Ogletree.
4th play. 3rd down pass. Smith gets beat again on the spin move. His and Free’s men force Romo up into the pocket, right into Nagy’s man. Nagy actually was holding his block pretty well, put this on Smith and to a lesser extent Free. Sack.
