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Admittedly, the Cowboys didn't look great last night, but I honestly didn't expect them to.
I posted before the game that in Parcells first year with Dallas, we completely tanked it the first game. Remember the meldown from the board? It was an awful game, but the second game was much better. Not the neccessarily the score, but how we played. The units played much, much better in game 2.
Last year, we looked horrible in the first game as well, and by the second game, we we're playing much better. At that point, I realized that Parcells probably just is looking at so many different things in the first game that there's really very little cohesiveness, unit-to-unit. No schemeing. Zero game planning.
Last night verified that for me. There was no cohesiveness to the game for the Cowboys. He played base 3-4 a lot when normally we would've gone to the nickel and there were zero adjustments to what the Cardinals were doing. No stunting on the defesive line and clearly Parcells just wanted to see what they could do, man-up. Not much man coverage in the secondary (which will be a staple in the regular season) and very little blitzing from the linebackers and safties, which is of course the strength of using a 3-4 scheme. He played Gurode with the starters and Petitti with the starters because he wanted to see what they looked like with the first unit... familiarity and practice be dammed.
So, having said that, I wasn't surprised at all to see the team flounder around out there a little bit. Frankly, I was shocked that we were even in a position to actually win the game at the end. I kinda expected a lopsided score in favor of Arizona.
Here are some of the things I took away from the game last night, both negative and positive:
Negatives:
Offensive line. They didn't look good at all. They gave Bledsoe no help at all. I'm not sure what the problem was. Usually in the pre-season, especially in the first game, when you see a unit struggle like that it's because the opposing unit is throwing a curveball that wasn't practiced for. So perhaps Arizona did something that we weren't expecting them to do, I don't know. Maybe we just weren't prepared. In any event, our OL played poorly. Penalties, as usual, seemed to be a problem for Gurode and Tucker. I hope Sporano really gets on to them for that. As a matter of fact, I hope that Sporano isn't the problem. It's too early to say that though, so well see. I think we'll be okay here. If Rogers isn't hurt too bad, I think he'll end up starting. Petitti did okay, all things considered and could possibly win the job. If he did as well as he did last night in his first game ever in the pros., in his first game ever at RT, and against Okeafor... he could be a very good player by the time he's played a few games there.
Bledsoe. Yuck. Everything that I was afraid I might see with Bledso... I saw last night with Bledsoe. I realize he had no help from the OL, but he didn't look good. He created nothing on his own and seemed to hold on to the ball too long. I won't spend a lot of time here because that's been talked about a lot already, but he's got to be better than that. It was his first game with a new team and in a new offense, so I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt... and I do think he'll look much better by the time he's played another pre-season game or two... but last night made me nervous.
Penalties. Yuck again. There were just too many. A team that's filled with high character, smart, hard working guys needs to have fewer mental errors than the opposite team. There's just no reason to not have fewer. That's one of the reasons you sacrifice a little talent to have a team full of smart, high character guys... you wan't to play smart. I saw that some last night... but I also saw too many mistakes. Again, it's early yet, so I'll leave it at that.
Pass rush. I'm not too worried about it at this point. The pass rush in a 3-4 comes primarily from the linebackers and from schemeing. We didn't scheme at all last night and Ware will get his feet wet and be a lot better soon. As more players are sent and we start to scheme to help the pass rushers, Ware and others will have much better opportunities to get to the QB. We were in a base 3-4 a lot of the time that we should've been in a nickel or dime... that would've made the QB have to hold the ball longer, creating more sacks. Arizona attacked our soft zones like they would in a regular season game. Still, having said all that... the pass rush wasn't anywhere near where it needs to be. Ware almost got there a few times, including the fluke touchdown pass... but he didn't. I think he will be getting there shortly though.
Positives:
(Many more positives. I just cleaned my blue Cowboy glasses and everything looks so pretty through them.)
Julius looked quick. He clearly didn't have any room to run, but that guy is lightning out on the field. If we provide some holes, he's going to have a great season. If it's possible, he looked quicker than last year.
Witten. What can you say? He's a star at the TE position and he plays that way. Need a first down? Look his way and he'll get it for you. Scary thing is, he still had room for improvement last year and as he continues to get comfortable with this league he'll get more and more aggresive and assertive. He's going to give defenses fits for years to come. Glad he's on our side.
Bradie James. He was everywhere, and except for a couple of plays, he appeared to be in the right spot at the right time. When he hits the ballcarrier, they stop right there. He's strong at the point and the inside position in a 3-4 clearly suits him. I was pleased and he's clearly not the same guy that played last year. He can be a star.
Run defense. That has been my biggest concern since it became evident that we we're switching to a 3-4. I think we'll be fine producing pressure on the QB in that scheme, but I've wondered out loud a few times if we we're going to be able to stop the run. Last night was a very pleasant surprise, and probably a big part of the reason why I came away from the game pleased with how it had gone. We were more than solid against the run... we didn't give them any room to breath. And that was with Ferguson sitting at home instead of anchoring the line as he will be when it counts. The few times that an Arizona back did make more than just a couple of yards, we hit them hard and dropped them in their tracks. I no longer am too concerned that teams will run at will on us. To me, that was the best thing I could've seen last night and the score could've been 30-0 as long as we showed we could stop the run... and we did.
Coverage. Our secondary is light years ahead of where they were last year. Newman is light years ahead. Henry is ten times better than anyone who played RCB last year. Overall, the entire secondary looked to be a unit that will styme a lot of passing games this year. You could just see them out there, all around the ball, and even when a pass was completed, they were right there to stop the ballcarrier. They were a force against the run as well, coming up numerous times and laying physical licks on the runner. Even without any gameplanning and playing a relatively non-aggressive zone scheme you could see the talent back there. See the ability. Even with nut much pass rush last night, the coverage was excellent. You know Newman and Roy have to be pinching themselves having all that talent around them after having to deal with last year. We'll be good in coverage all year. I had read that and common sense tells you we'll be better... but seeing how huge the difference was in a game is comforting and is another worry I can wipe out of my mind.
Dat. He'll be fine in a 3-4. I knew he had done it in college, but that was, well, college. Would he still be able to do it in the pros? Last night showed that he can. Not only can he... but he'll probably be a better player than he was in our old 4-3. Parcells has him at the correct ILB position for him and having him next to James all year is going to be fun to watch. LB's in a 3-4 show up a lot on gameday, so we'll get plenty of opportunity to watch this pair this season.
Crayton. I think we finally have a late round player who we can say is a find. His hands are very good and he's a very powerful runner after the catch... He's just plain hard to bring down. He's smart and with a year's experience is a much, much better player now than he was a year ago. IMO, he'll solidify his place as our 3rd reciever and get a lot of playing time.
Defensive Line. We've all heard about the depth, but last night we finally got the chance to see it. Even though the pass rush wasn't there (I think it will be by the end of pre-season), you could see a lot of talent there, even in the latter stages of the game. Even without Ferguson there, they held their own against the run all night and were extremely active. Can Glover play nose in a 3-4 scheme? You betcha he can. He's a football player. Give him an offensive line and he'll cause problems. There was no schemeing last night and no stunting, so the Arizona offensive line didn't have to deal with that kind of mental and physical pressure. That makes a huge difference when the offensive line can just block who's across from them. Still, even just playing straight up the defensive line caused some problems for their offense. I was extremely pleased with how active and disruptive they looked. Ellis is a good player and he still probably got outplayed by 4 guys last night. Canty, Ratliff, Coleman and yes, Pepper Johnson, They all played very well against the Cardinals. The defensive linemen aren't responsible for a lot of the passrush in a 3-4... they're primarily responsible for clogging things up in the running game and freeing up the LB's. B. James was running around all night, blowing up the ballcarrier because these guys did their job. As they gain experience and get used to this scheme, they'll provide more of a passrush, but boy was I pleased with every other aspect. If the Arizona offensive line had blocked like ours... these guys would've been sitting on the QB all night. A very good group of guys. Canty, Spears, Ratliff and Pepper can play DT or NT in a pinch. Imagine what it'll look like when we have Ferguson and Spears back in there.
Pepper. I have to give this guy his own props. He was active as heck and made a terrific hit behind the line of scrimmage. As excited as everyone seems to be about Tyson Thompson, this guy could end up being the UDFA steal. His quickness is astounding for a guy his size. He's so squat and with his quickness, he's going to creat a whole lot of problems for offenses. He's a little too small for 4-3 DT and too slow for 4-3 DE... but man is he just right for a 3-4 DE. He reminds me a lot of Ratliff, but I think he's a little quicker than Jay. I like him. I like him a lot. And if he keeps this up, Parcells will too. He's definately playing well enough to keep a roster spot and push a player that would've been kept, completely off the roster, or onto the practice squad. If he keeps this up for a couple more pre-season games, he'll be a lock for the roster. How cool will it be to have a Pepper Johnson on Parcells' team? Ellis, Canty, Ferguson, Glover, Spears, Coleman, Ratliff, and Pepper. Will we keep 8 on the DL? In a base 3-4? We just might.
Tyson Thompson. Another UDFA. He's fast. Very fast. Speeding bullet fast. When he got to the corner and turned on the jets, you could tell he already had the first down... the question was, will he go all the way? Having that kind of speed at the RB position is a weapon. You could see Cardinals defenders thought they had him, but his speed caused them to take bad angles and he'd just squirt right by them. If he proves he can pick up the blitz, has the toughness to run inside, and can return kicks, he'll probably make the team. Frankly, I'd rather have him than A-train and I think he's much more of a weapon. Who do you think the defense would rather see running the ball? Thomas or Thompson? Thompson would cause heartburn for defensive coordinators. It's hard to defense that kind of speed.
Romo and Henson. I was pretty happy by what I saw from these two last night. They played smart and they were pretty much on target with their throws. They both led the team down the field a couple of times and when a guy was open, they hit him. They, like Bledsoe, didn't get a whole lot of help from the offensive line, but they still did just fine. Romo appeared to have a little more touch and moxie. Henson has the stronger arm and more talent. I think either could be the "bus driver" that Parcells wants, and by God, if Bledsoe continues to look like he did last night, I'd want one of these two leading the team. Either could, IMO, right now.
Mat McBriar. Wow. He might be the best punter in the NFL. He's made a lot of progress since last season and he was good then. He can BOOM 'em. He's excellent at pinning teams inside the 20. Arizona played in the shadow of their own goal line a good bit last night, and that was because of McBriar. He'll be a weapon for Parcells' field position battle.
A few people who caught my eye last night and who seem to have potential:
Brett Pierce. He has good hands and might cause Parcells to make a hard decision on the cutdown to 53. You know how much Bill covets tight ends.
Lousaka Polite. He had some good blocks and he actually has decent running ability. Like Mickey said last night, he's the only 3 time team capitain in Pittsburgh history. He's a high character guy and a good person to have on your team. He might get caught up in a numbers game though and he might lose his spot because of Tyson Thompson or even Pepper Johnson if Parcells wants to keep more DL than he normally would've.
Tom Crowder. Maybe he's starting to fulfill his promise of being a great special teams player.
Justin Beriault. Didn't do a whole lot last night, but always was around the ball. I can see where he would be sticking out at camp all the time.
Marion Barber. He had a couple of decent runs and seemed to run with a little more power than his frame would suggest. Saw him just run over one Cardinal defender, but the play was called back on a penalty.
Al Singleton. He played pretty well, and he didn't do anything to hurt his chances of making the team and contributing as a 3-4 'backer. I had been wondering if he might not get cut becuase of average play and rather high salary. I won't be wondering that anymore. I think he makes the team and plays well. In other words he played like Al Singleton and not like "Als".
Kevin Burnett. He didn't make a lot of plays, but you could see a ton of athleticism anytime the ball was snapped. Good Lord he's quick. I watched him a lot and he moves like a cat. When he goes after the QB, they better get a blocker on him fast or he'll be disrupting a lot of plays. He did very well in coverage and should be a fixture on our nickel along with Dat.
Laroi Glover. Simply put, he played very, very well on the nose. Better than I thought he would. I won't worry about him in there on running downs any more. He's a consumate pro.
Cundiff. He really did just fine. The game loser was a long kick and one you can't blame him for missing. Without Peterman's penalty, I think he makes the 48 yarder.
Jose Cortez. Strong, Strong, leg. It was nice to see a kickoff actually make it to the opposing endzone for a change. On his field goal, it looked like it would've been good from 55 yards. I doubt he'll beat out Cundiff... but boy what a strong leg.
Kalen Thornton. He was very active and almost got to the QB a couple of times last night.
Roy Williams. Just wanted to say, it was nice to see Roy roaming around the line of scrimmage, causing a forced fumble. He's going to be back to form this year in a big way. Opposing teams better beware and make sure they have an extra thick mouthpeice.
A few guys who disappointed:
Lynn Scott did next to nothing, other than let a punt returner run right over him.
Izell Reese did nothing bad but did nothing even close to good. It was like he wasn't even in there when he was in there. Compare that to Beriault who always showed up and you see why Buffalo let him go.
Al Johnson got ran over a couple of times. I've been high on him for a while, and I'm certainly not giving up on him, but he just got overpowered a couple of times. He's a much better player than Gurode though, even if he isn't as physical.
A-Train. Really didn't see him enough to guage... but the couple of times I saw him he just looked like a plodder. Eddie Georgesqe. Might be because I was comparing him to Julius and Tyson though.
That's enough for now, but that's some of my thoughts on our first pre-season game of the year. Overall, I'm pleased and I think we're in for a pretty good season. We've just got to get the OL settled and I think we'll be just fine... and I do think Parcells will do that, one way or another.
I posted before the game that in Parcells first year with Dallas, we completely tanked it the first game. Remember the meldown from the board? It was an awful game, but the second game was much better. Not the neccessarily the score, but how we played. The units played much, much better in game 2.
Last year, we looked horrible in the first game as well, and by the second game, we we're playing much better. At that point, I realized that Parcells probably just is looking at so many different things in the first game that there's really very little cohesiveness, unit-to-unit. No schemeing. Zero game planning.
Last night verified that for me. There was no cohesiveness to the game for the Cowboys. He played base 3-4 a lot when normally we would've gone to the nickel and there were zero adjustments to what the Cardinals were doing. No stunting on the defesive line and clearly Parcells just wanted to see what they could do, man-up. Not much man coverage in the secondary (which will be a staple in the regular season) and very little blitzing from the linebackers and safties, which is of course the strength of using a 3-4 scheme. He played Gurode with the starters and Petitti with the starters because he wanted to see what they looked like with the first unit... familiarity and practice be dammed.
So, having said that, I wasn't surprised at all to see the team flounder around out there a little bit. Frankly, I was shocked that we were even in a position to actually win the game at the end. I kinda expected a lopsided score in favor of Arizona.
Here are some of the things I took away from the game last night, both negative and positive:
Negatives:
Offensive line. They didn't look good at all. They gave Bledsoe no help at all. I'm not sure what the problem was. Usually in the pre-season, especially in the first game, when you see a unit struggle like that it's because the opposing unit is throwing a curveball that wasn't practiced for. So perhaps Arizona did something that we weren't expecting them to do, I don't know. Maybe we just weren't prepared. In any event, our OL played poorly. Penalties, as usual, seemed to be a problem for Gurode and Tucker. I hope Sporano really gets on to them for that. As a matter of fact, I hope that Sporano isn't the problem. It's too early to say that though, so well see. I think we'll be okay here. If Rogers isn't hurt too bad, I think he'll end up starting. Petitti did okay, all things considered and could possibly win the job. If he did as well as he did last night in his first game ever in the pros., in his first game ever at RT, and against Okeafor... he could be a very good player by the time he's played a few games there.
Bledsoe. Yuck. Everything that I was afraid I might see with Bledso... I saw last night with Bledsoe. I realize he had no help from the OL, but he didn't look good. He created nothing on his own and seemed to hold on to the ball too long. I won't spend a lot of time here because that's been talked about a lot already, but he's got to be better than that. It was his first game with a new team and in a new offense, so I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt... and I do think he'll look much better by the time he's played another pre-season game or two... but last night made me nervous.
Penalties. Yuck again. There were just too many. A team that's filled with high character, smart, hard working guys needs to have fewer mental errors than the opposite team. There's just no reason to not have fewer. That's one of the reasons you sacrifice a little talent to have a team full of smart, high character guys... you wan't to play smart. I saw that some last night... but I also saw too many mistakes. Again, it's early yet, so I'll leave it at that.
Pass rush. I'm not too worried about it at this point. The pass rush in a 3-4 comes primarily from the linebackers and from schemeing. We didn't scheme at all last night and Ware will get his feet wet and be a lot better soon. As more players are sent and we start to scheme to help the pass rushers, Ware and others will have much better opportunities to get to the QB. We were in a base 3-4 a lot of the time that we should've been in a nickel or dime... that would've made the QB have to hold the ball longer, creating more sacks. Arizona attacked our soft zones like they would in a regular season game. Still, having said all that... the pass rush wasn't anywhere near where it needs to be. Ware almost got there a few times, including the fluke touchdown pass... but he didn't. I think he will be getting there shortly though.
Positives:
(Many more positives. I just cleaned my blue Cowboy glasses and everything looks so pretty through them.)
Julius looked quick. He clearly didn't have any room to run, but that guy is lightning out on the field. If we provide some holes, he's going to have a great season. If it's possible, he looked quicker than last year.
Witten. What can you say? He's a star at the TE position and he plays that way. Need a first down? Look his way and he'll get it for you. Scary thing is, he still had room for improvement last year and as he continues to get comfortable with this league he'll get more and more aggresive and assertive. He's going to give defenses fits for years to come. Glad he's on our side.
Bradie James. He was everywhere, and except for a couple of plays, he appeared to be in the right spot at the right time. When he hits the ballcarrier, they stop right there. He's strong at the point and the inside position in a 3-4 clearly suits him. I was pleased and he's clearly not the same guy that played last year. He can be a star.
Run defense. That has been my biggest concern since it became evident that we we're switching to a 3-4. I think we'll be fine producing pressure on the QB in that scheme, but I've wondered out loud a few times if we we're going to be able to stop the run. Last night was a very pleasant surprise, and probably a big part of the reason why I came away from the game pleased with how it had gone. We were more than solid against the run... we didn't give them any room to breath. And that was with Ferguson sitting at home instead of anchoring the line as he will be when it counts. The few times that an Arizona back did make more than just a couple of yards, we hit them hard and dropped them in their tracks. I no longer am too concerned that teams will run at will on us. To me, that was the best thing I could've seen last night and the score could've been 30-0 as long as we showed we could stop the run... and we did.
Coverage. Our secondary is light years ahead of where they were last year. Newman is light years ahead. Henry is ten times better than anyone who played RCB last year. Overall, the entire secondary looked to be a unit that will styme a lot of passing games this year. You could just see them out there, all around the ball, and even when a pass was completed, they were right there to stop the ballcarrier. They were a force against the run as well, coming up numerous times and laying physical licks on the runner. Even without any gameplanning and playing a relatively non-aggressive zone scheme you could see the talent back there. See the ability. Even with nut much pass rush last night, the coverage was excellent. You know Newman and Roy have to be pinching themselves having all that talent around them after having to deal with last year. We'll be good in coverage all year. I had read that and common sense tells you we'll be better... but seeing how huge the difference was in a game is comforting and is another worry I can wipe out of my mind.
Dat. He'll be fine in a 3-4. I knew he had done it in college, but that was, well, college. Would he still be able to do it in the pros? Last night showed that he can. Not only can he... but he'll probably be a better player than he was in our old 4-3. Parcells has him at the correct ILB position for him and having him next to James all year is going to be fun to watch. LB's in a 3-4 show up a lot on gameday, so we'll get plenty of opportunity to watch this pair this season.
Crayton. I think we finally have a late round player who we can say is a find. His hands are very good and he's a very powerful runner after the catch... He's just plain hard to bring down. He's smart and with a year's experience is a much, much better player now than he was a year ago. IMO, he'll solidify his place as our 3rd reciever and get a lot of playing time.
Defensive Line. We've all heard about the depth, but last night we finally got the chance to see it. Even though the pass rush wasn't there (I think it will be by the end of pre-season), you could see a lot of talent there, even in the latter stages of the game. Even without Ferguson there, they held their own against the run all night and were extremely active. Can Glover play nose in a 3-4 scheme? You betcha he can. He's a football player. Give him an offensive line and he'll cause problems. There was no schemeing last night and no stunting, so the Arizona offensive line didn't have to deal with that kind of mental and physical pressure. That makes a huge difference when the offensive line can just block who's across from them. Still, even just playing straight up the defensive line caused some problems for their offense. I was extremely pleased with how active and disruptive they looked. Ellis is a good player and he still probably got outplayed by 4 guys last night. Canty, Ratliff, Coleman and yes, Pepper Johnson, They all played very well against the Cardinals. The defensive linemen aren't responsible for a lot of the passrush in a 3-4... they're primarily responsible for clogging things up in the running game and freeing up the LB's. B. James was running around all night, blowing up the ballcarrier because these guys did their job. As they gain experience and get used to this scheme, they'll provide more of a passrush, but boy was I pleased with every other aspect. If the Arizona offensive line had blocked like ours... these guys would've been sitting on the QB all night. A very good group of guys. Canty, Spears, Ratliff and Pepper can play DT or NT in a pinch. Imagine what it'll look like when we have Ferguson and Spears back in there.
Pepper. I have to give this guy his own props. He was active as heck and made a terrific hit behind the line of scrimmage. As excited as everyone seems to be about Tyson Thompson, this guy could end up being the UDFA steal. His quickness is astounding for a guy his size. He's so squat and with his quickness, he's going to creat a whole lot of problems for offenses. He's a little too small for 4-3 DT and too slow for 4-3 DE... but man is he just right for a 3-4 DE. He reminds me a lot of Ratliff, but I think he's a little quicker than Jay. I like him. I like him a lot. And if he keeps this up, Parcells will too. He's definately playing well enough to keep a roster spot and push a player that would've been kept, completely off the roster, or onto the practice squad. If he keeps this up for a couple more pre-season games, he'll be a lock for the roster. How cool will it be to have a Pepper Johnson on Parcells' team? Ellis, Canty, Ferguson, Glover, Spears, Coleman, Ratliff, and Pepper. Will we keep 8 on the DL? In a base 3-4? We just might.
Tyson Thompson. Another UDFA. He's fast. Very fast. Speeding bullet fast. When he got to the corner and turned on the jets, you could tell he already had the first down... the question was, will he go all the way? Having that kind of speed at the RB position is a weapon. You could see Cardinals defenders thought they had him, but his speed caused them to take bad angles and he'd just squirt right by them. If he proves he can pick up the blitz, has the toughness to run inside, and can return kicks, he'll probably make the team. Frankly, I'd rather have him than A-train and I think he's much more of a weapon. Who do you think the defense would rather see running the ball? Thomas or Thompson? Thompson would cause heartburn for defensive coordinators. It's hard to defense that kind of speed.
Romo and Henson. I was pretty happy by what I saw from these two last night. They played smart and they were pretty much on target with their throws. They both led the team down the field a couple of times and when a guy was open, they hit him. They, like Bledsoe, didn't get a whole lot of help from the offensive line, but they still did just fine. Romo appeared to have a little more touch and moxie. Henson has the stronger arm and more talent. I think either could be the "bus driver" that Parcells wants, and by God, if Bledsoe continues to look like he did last night, I'd want one of these two leading the team. Either could, IMO, right now.
Mat McBriar. Wow. He might be the best punter in the NFL. He's made a lot of progress since last season and he was good then. He can BOOM 'em. He's excellent at pinning teams inside the 20. Arizona played in the shadow of their own goal line a good bit last night, and that was because of McBriar. He'll be a weapon for Parcells' field position battle.
A few people who caught my eye last night and who seem to have potential:
Brett Pierce. He has good hands and might cause Parcells to make a hard decision on the cutdown to 53. You know how much Bill covets tight ends.
Lousaka Polite. He had some good blocks and he actually has decent running ability. Like Mickey said last night, he's the only 3 time team capitain in Pittsburgh history. He's a high character guy and a good person to have on your team. He might get caught up in a numbers game though and he might lose his spot because of Tyson Thompson or even Pepper Johnson if Parcells wants to keep more DL than he normally would've.
Tom Crowder. Maybe he's starting to fulfill his promise of being a great special teams player.
Justin Beriault. Didn't do a whole lot last night, but always was around the ball. I can see where he would be sticking out at camp all the time.
Marion Barber. He had a couple of decent runs and seemed to run with a little more power than his frame would suggest. Saw him just run over one Cardinal defender, but the play was called back on a penalty.
Al Singleton. He played pretty well, and he didn't do anything to hurt his chances of making the team and contributing as a 3-4 'backer. I had been wondering if he might not get cut becuase of average play and rather high salary. I won't be wondering that anymore. I think he makes the team and plays well. In other words he played like Al Singleton and not like "Als".
Kevin Burnett. He didn't make a lot of plays, but you could see a ton of athleticism anytime the ball was snapped. Good Lord he's quick. I watched him a lot and he moves like a cat. When he goes after the QB, they better get a blocker on him fast or he'll be disrupting a lot of plays. He did very well in coverage and should be a fixture on our nickel along with Dat.
Laroi Glover. Simply put, he played very, very well on the nose. Better than I thought he would. I won't worry about him in there on running downs any more. He's a consumate pro.
Cundiff. He really did just fine. The game loser was a long kick and one you can't blame him for missing. Without Peterman's penalty, I think he makes the 48 yarder.
Jose Cortez. Strong, Strong, leg. It was nice to see a kickoff actually make it to the opposing endzone for a change. On his field goal, it looked like it would've been good from 55 yards. I doubt he'll beat out Cundiff... but boy what a strong leg.
Kalen Thornton. He was very active and almost got to the QB a couple of times last night.
Roy Williams. Just wanted to say, it was nice to see Roy roaming around the line of scrimmage, causing a forced fumble. He's going to be back to form this year in a big way. Opposing teams better beware and make sure they have an extra thick mouthpeice.
A few guys who disappointed:
Lynn Scott did next to nothing, other than let a punt returner run right over him.
Izell Reese did nothing bad but did nothing even close to good. It was like he wasn't even in there when he was in there. Compare that to Beriault who always showed up and you see why Buffalo let him go.
Al Johnson got ran over a couple of times. I've been high on him for a while, and I'm certainly not giving up on him, but he just got overpowered a couple of times. He's a much better player than Gurode though, even if he isn't as physical.
A-Train. Really didn't see him enough to guage... but the couple of times I saw him he just looked like a plodder. Eddie Georgesqe. Might be because I was comparing him to Julius and Tyson though.
That's enough for now, but that's some of my thoughts on our first pre-season game of the year. Overall, I'm pleased and I think we're in for a pretty good season. We've just got to get the OL settled and I think we'll be just fine... and I do think Parcells will do that, one way or another.
