Obstacles vs. San Diego

[tkiehl]

1. History......when did we last win an opener?....4 or 5 years perhaps? 2.At San Diego.....we are 4.5 point dogs in vegas. 3. L.T. and lorenzo Neal are probably the best tandem in the league. 4. I believe the chargers were #1 vs. the rush last year. 5. San Diego plays the 3/4 defensively so brees will be ready for our rookie version....will attack with underneath routes as Seattle did....I'll stop here I'd say we have a 30% shot at victory.....let's win the turnover battle!!!!

 

[FRDRCK]

2004-Vikings-lost
2003-Falcons-lost
2002-Texans-lost
2001-Buccaneers-lost
2000-Eagles-lost
1999-Commanders-won-OT

i think we can end the streak

 

[Canadian BoyzFan]

2004-Vikings-lost
2003-Falcons-lost
2002-Texans-lost
2001-Buccaneers-lost
2000-Eagles-lost
1999-Commanders-won-OT

i think we can end the streak

Was that the Aikan to Rocket Ismail game?

 

[Hoov]

were getting a break with Gates out, their wr wont beat our dbacks. Having Roy back at ss gives us a better chance to stop their run game. a lot will dpend on how well we do without fergy starting at NT. i wonder if this is a matchup where parcells elects to have a lot of 4 man fronts due to fact that fergy will be limited in playing time.

 

[Doomsday101]

History is history and has no bearing on what will take place in the future. I see this as completely meaningless and has nothing to do with the upcoming game between Dallas and SD

 

[CactusCowboy]

It will take our best game to win. They are very talented.

 

[FRDRCK]

Was that the Aikan to Rocket Ismail game?

u got it

 

[Canadian BoyzFan]

SD has a tough D and a gret running game. They actually are very similar to the Cowboys. If we can contain LT2 we should be in great shape.

I predict a low scoring and cafefully played game.

 

[lspain1]

It will take our best game to win. They are very talented.

Cactus, you are so right. I think we will try to limit LT in this game. Based upon pre-season, I think we can do that. We won't completely stop him. He is too good. The issue is can we stop Drew Brees? My answer is probably not. Limiting LT will open up some opportunities for them in the passing game. They are going to score some points even if our defense has a good game.

This is a tough spot to open for our offense. We'll see lots of run blitzes on early downs. They will stack the box and force Bledsoe to beat them through the air. I want to see lots of Bledsoe to Witten and then Bledsoe to Glenn over the top.

 

[Gent]

Some stats on San Diego's defense:

The Chargers run D was very good last year, but not quite #1. On average they yielded 3.7 yards per rushing attempt. Five other teams were better than that. Strangely, they gave up 15 rushing TDs last year, which puts them in the bottom half of the league in that category.

Their pass defense was exploited last year (4053 yards given up). Only Kansas City gave up more passing yards (4203 yds). Pass yards/att came out to 6.67 yds, which ranks them 19th in that category. Another bit of good news for us is that they only collected 29 sacks. Obviously, they are hoping Merriman can give them a boost there.

Overall, it's a mediocre defense. It's their offense that we have to worry about.

-Gent

 

[TheHustler]

The vegas line means nothing, especially without telling us the payouts. All it is for, is to encourage betting.

 

[parchy]

History is history and has no bearing on what will take place in the future.

That's untrue on so many levels.

 

[Doomsday101]

That's untrue on so many levels.

So the outcome of a game 2 or 3 years ago effects a ball game that will take place a little over a week from now? Yeah right, those past games have no bearing on what may take place in the future

 

[parchy]

So the outcome of a game 2 or 3 years ago effects a ball game that will take place a little over a week from now? Yeah right, those past games have no bearing on what may take place in the future

So the Cowboys can take nothing away from those games? Nothing (I repeat, nothing) should be forgotten. Every past experience (in anything) can help you in some way.

 

[Doomsday101]

So the Cowboys can take nothing away from those games? Nothing (I repeat, nothing) should be forgotten. Every past experience (in anything) can help you in some way.

I did not say you can't learn from them only that the outcome of a future game has nothing to do with a past game. To say a team has lost 4 of it's last 5 season openers has nothing to do with this years opener, this is not even the same team from last year let alone the same team from 5 years ago

 

[parchy]

To say a team has lost 4 of it's last 5 season openers has nothing to do with this years opener

We don't know that, do we? Maybe Parcells' playcalling is suspect in the first game... maybe he doesn't do a good job of motivating the players prior to the opener. The mere fact that the Cowboys have yet to even come close in an opener under Parcells may not be just a coincidence.

 

[Doomsday101]

We don't know that, do we? Maybe Parcells' playcalling is suspect in the first game... maybe he doesn't do a good job of motivating the players prior to the opener. The mere fact that the Cowboys have yet to even come close in an opener under Parcells may not be just a coincidence.

Give me a break week 1 game of this year has nothing to do with week 1 game of last year or 3,4 years ago. Sorry I think you learn from all mistake but you don't live in the past, you pick and move on and I think Dallas has done that. I'm sure Dallas coaches are not concerned about Minn or even talk to the players about the game in Minn last season they will be focused on SD. If we play good we have a chance to win if we make mistakes then chances are we will not win, but last years games have nothing to do with what may or may not take place this year.

 

[THEHEREAFTER]

SD's secondary is their weakness IMO.. but our passing game isn't a strength of ours right now as we will be relying on the run heavily. The only way we have a shot is to open things up and really attack their secondary.

 

[laythewood28]

Without gates, advantage cowboys. They can now focus on running game and contain LT. I just don't see mccardell or any of thier recievers having a big game against our secondary. Should test jammer all game.

 

[Rack]

1. History......when did we last win an opener?....4 or 5 years perhaps? 2.At San Diego.....we are 4.5 point dogs in vegas. 3. L.T. and lorenzo Neal are probably the best tandem in the league. 4. I believe the chargers were #1 vs. the rush last year. 5. San Diego plays the 3/4 defensively so brees will be ready for our rookie version....will attack with underneath routes as Seattle did....I'll stop here I'd say we have a 30% shot at victory.....let's win the turnover battle!!!!

Pittsburgh was #1 vs the Rush. The Chargers were #3. Still very good.


Eventhough Parcells wants to be a "Grind it out on the ground" type of team this year, I think the best way to attack S.D. is through the air. They're not real strong at CB and they're flat out weak at safety. I'd like to see us come out in our 3 WR sets, with Witten split out wide and throw it on them. That would also open up the middle for JuJo to run the draw.

Also, since they're safeties suck, look for us to run a flea flicker this game.


Defensively, we need to do better, a lot better, vs the run then we did in the Texans game. Their WRs aren't great, but are capable. They don't have Gates, but the way our ILBs were covering the middle of the field it won't matter, anyone will get open.

Bottom line, our CBs are gonna have to play often w/o safety help this game cuz we'll need our safeties in run support and to help guard the middle of the D vs the pass. We also have to be worried about LT as a reciever. He caught 100 balls two years ago so he's dangerous as a reciever, as well as a RB.