Offensive Line Woes - Where did the team go wrong?

[Alexander]

We really didn't implement a zone blocking scheme until this year. Even last year most of the blocking was man to man.

But even then, there was really no set direction. We changed it around often. Sometimes zone, sometimes man. Mainly because Allen fit man. Johnson, however, didn't. Neither did Petitti. At least this year, it is clear we are committed to the zone scheme.

 

[Alexander]

It was easy to see Romo was getting a chance to look for his 2nd and 3rd option on the pass and in many cases no one was even around him once the threw the ball.

It was also easy to see how quickly Romo made decisions. The horn must be working.

 

[Doomsday101]

It was also easy to see how quickly Romo made decisions. The horn must be working.

True but on several plays he had ample time and was able to hold on to the ball more than 3 sec and even when he did throw the ball there was no one around him. So it was not a case of just getting rid of the ball quick it was good blocking up front that allowed him to look at all of his WR in the patterns.

 

[Alexander]

True but on several plays he had ample time and was able to hold on to the ball more than 3 sec and even when he did throw the ball there was no one around him. So it was not a case of just getting rid of the ball quick it was good blocking up front that allowed him to look at all of his WR in the patterns.

It was good blocking in the middle of the line from what I saw. He got pressure from the edges several times, mostly from the right.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

But even then, there was really no set direction. We changed it around often. Sometimes zone, sometimes man. Mainly because Allen fit man. Johnson, however, didn't. Neither did Petitti. At least this year, it is clear we are committed to the zone scheme.

I agree on that. Flozell doesn't fit zone at all. I'm very happy with Petitti's efforts to improve from last year, but I don't think he fit any blocking scheme last season.


Rich..........

 

[Doomsday101]

It was good blocking in the middle of the line from what I saw. He got pressure from the edges several times, mostly from the right.

Evidently we did not see the same things because I was not seeing anyone getting close to Romo for the most part and it was not like he was throwing the ball in a hurry. No sacks at all sat that says a lot. I'm not trying to make them out as Pro Bowlers but as much grief as these guys have taken they deserver a pat on the back for Sat game.

 

[trueblue1687]

The problem with some of us is that if that line is not THE most dominant in pro football, it's considered a failure and everyone on it is a turd. Sure there are some question marks we have to see about, but there is no way it's the worst in football. As much as I liked Larry Allen, it was great to let him go. Let's see how much he does in SF this year. My guess is he'll be just like he was in Dallas last year...great on primary assignmet (when he finds them) and non-existent on the second level. For a first pre-season game, I thought the line played well. Keep in mind they have no cohesion at the moment and that's why starters need to be named soon to get the lions share of snaps. Gurode and Johnson are pretty good players by most folks standards. Improving is always possible, but to say they are terrible already is maybe just a tad premature .

 

[johnnybluestar]

People need to quit lying to themselves with the "everything was fine until Flozell went down." That is simply not true. Granted, the line play, QB play and overall team play did suffer after the Flozell injury. But let's remember the first six weeks accurately. We could not run block to save our lives. Pick a game and go watch the tape. The Oline was bad from week one.

 

[Chief]

Just an observation:

Stephen Peterman has the body of a 64-year-old man -- He has Parcells' body.

I realize they're not all going to look like Owens, but it's amazing how a professional athlete in his 20s can look that bad.

 

[burmafrd]

The O line was bad in RUN blocking from weak one. It was good to OK with pass blocking untill the Hotel went down. THE ONLY REALLY GOOD run blocking of the year was against Carolina.

 

[Alexander]

Evidently we did not see the same things because I was not seeing anyone getting close to Romo for the most part and it was not like he was throwing the ball in a hurry. No sacks at all sat that says a lot. I'm not trying to make them out as Pro Bowlers but as much grief as these guys have taken they deserver a pat on the back for Sat game.

Colombo nearly got knocked on his backside by a blitzing Lofa Tatupu. He caught his balance and got another hand on him and redirected him as Romo stepped up, but that was not exactly a king-sized and powerful player physically beating him. He still seems off-balance an awful lot.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I don't have the videos at work and I don't recall at what point in the game it happened.

But I noticed one OT of ours just flat out knocked a seahawk on his butt.

I think it was McQ but I am not sure.

 

[Doomsday101]

Colombo nearly got knocked on his backside by a blitzing Lofa Tatupu. He caught his balance and got another hand on him and redirected him as Romo stepped up, but that was not exactly a king-sized and powerful player physically beating him. He still seems off-balance an awful lot.

Which is why I said for the most part. Yes there were some plays where Colombo did not do a great job but for the most part I felt the line and Colombo did an excellent job in their 1st pre-season game in pass blocking. I say this as one who is not pulling for 1 guy over another I want the best guys to win starting job so I say this with no bias for or aginst any of the guys.

 

[burmafrd]

Columbo is going to need more time to really get into the games well. One must remember that all together I think he has less then one seasons playing time due to his injury. So he really probably only has about as much experience as Petitti has. ANd none of it recent.

 

[trueblue1687]

Colombo nearly got knocked on his backside by a blitzing Lofa Tatupu. He caught his balance and got another hand on him and redirected him as Romo stepped up, but that was not exactly a king-sized and powerful player physically beating him. He still seems off-balance an awful lot.

I too thought he was a little shaky, but overall did pretty good considering he has been out of football for the most part (at least games) for two years. All I can say is remember Pettiti last year. As hard as I was/am on his level of play...he did improve as the year went on. The difference between the two is Columbo is more physically suited to NFL Tackle if he can really come back to pre-injury form. I still think we're definately alot better on the right side this year either way.

 

[vlad]

at some point you have to hold Sparano accountable, I've been complaining forever along with some of my fellow posters that without a line, we're sunk.

Everyone talks about how well our OL protected Romo? Uhh, yeah, luckily Romo seems to have pocket presence and quick enough feet. And that's against a defense that wasn't even trying hard. What's going to have when Kearse and Howard are rushing like madman squeezing the pocket you can't step up into because their is a center blitz?

I don't know why people are worried about TO, our 4th WR, will Julius/Marion be the guy....irrelevant if you can't block.

I don't understand why we didn't build our OL in a similar fashion to our D. We have a 1st round pick LB (I like carpenter) and a 2nd round LB (I really like Burnett) that I'd glady trade for one freaking good lineman. An all-world D isn't going to open holes for the backs or keep Drew from getting smashed. Its not like I'm a coach, and for a novice (which really all of us are) to see this a year ago and still see no progress....man.

 

[Vintage]

I was told we would have a top 10 OL.


So....I guess we have nothing to worry about.