Our o-line is fine.. not the prob

[Doomsday101]

His play was horrific against the Vikings and Edwards.

The only reason he didn't stink it up against the Eagles is Juqua Parker is a worse DE than Colombo is a RT. Parker actually had a decent game against us.

Colombo is just not very good anymore. Zoners just in love with him because he pushed Deangelo Hall around 3 years ago.

And Flo goes down fairly early in the game so please how the heck does Free play both the right and left side tackle spot. Had Flo not gone down Dallas very well could have put Free into the game as they did at times vs Philly but once Flo does down that all goes out the window. As for Colombo he was not having a bad season before the injury he did struggle in the vikes game no doubt but that 1 game was not his entire season

 

[MichaelWinicki]

So who should have been playing? Flo goes down that leaves us with who filling in at Flo spot? The week before Colombo held his own vs Philly so I don't see where that moved hurt us one bit. In the vikes game had Flo not went down maybe you put Free in for Colombo but once Flo went down who plays?

I inferred, if not outright saying that after Flozell was hurt, all bets were off, but prior to that it was apparent that Columbo was lost when it came to Edwards.

 

[Doomsday101]

I inferred, if not outright saying that after Flozell was hurt, all bets were off, but prior to that it was apparent that Columbo was lost when it came to Edwards.

I agree he was having a hard time I also know that subbing Free in for Colombo was an option for the Cowboys who had done it a week before.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

And Flo goes down fairly early in the game so please how the heck does Free play both the right and left side tackle spot. Had Flo not gone down Dallas very well could have put Free into the game as they did at times vs Philly but once Flo does down that all goes out the window. As for Colombo he was not having a bad season before the injury he did struggle in the vikes game no doubt but that 1 game was not his entire season

At that point the game was basically over with.

The bottom line is that Columbo just isn't that good.

For this team to reach the SB, the Oline needs to be upgraded.

 

[Hook'em#11]

One bad game and everyone is wanting to fire the o-line coach and replace everyone on the o-line, .

And the same is said about Romo, so what.

Hate to break it to you , but, that same O-line has more then one bad game under their belt.

 

[Doomsday101]

At that point the game was basically over with.

The bottom line is that Columbo just isn't that good.

For this team to reach the SB, the Oline needs to be upgraded.

I want to see us address the Oline however a rookie who may get drafted this year may not be able to step right in. Bottom line is Colombo was not having a bad season before he got hurt and trying to come back from a broken leg and ligament damage as well as missed time did affect Colombo play at Minn. To act like that is the way Colombo played all season is a crock. I’m all for drafting an Olineman but I don’t put allot of stock in having an unknown start the season unless he can go out and earn it

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I want to see us address the Oline however a rookie who may get drafted this year may not be able to step right in. Bottom line is Colombo was not having a bad season before he got hurt and trying to come back from a broken leg and ligament damage as well as missed time did affect Colombo play at Minn. To act like that is the way Colombo played all season is a crock. I’m all for drafting an Olineman but I don’t put allot of stock in having an unknown start the season unless he can go out and earn it

I don't disagree on letting an "unknown" start the season at RT.

But Free is not an unknown.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I want to see us address the Oline however a rookie who may get drafted this year may not be able to step right in. Bottom line is Colombo was not having a bad season before he got hurt and trying to come back from a broken leg and ligament damage as well as missed time did affect Colombo play at Minn. To act like that is the way Colombo played all season is a crock. I’m all for drafting an Olineman but I don’t put allot of stock in having an unknown start the season unless he can go out and earn it

By the way Minny let a 2nd rounder start the season at RT, and he did pretty well.

RT is not as demanding as LT. I don't think it's beyond reason to have a 1st round tackle start.

 

[Doomsday101]

I don't disagree on letting an "unknown" start the season at RT.

But Free is not an unknown.

I agree but why would I shorten myself at tackle when I still have a good player in Colombo who is still under contract? Again him coming off a major injury was a setback for him but he was playing good ball before he got hurt now he has a rough game as did every member of that line. Edwards was never strictly Colombo man, stop and think some of his plays were coming off of stunts and in that case Colombo was not going against Edwards, Davis was as well.

As Romo said right after the game anytime we had any negative play that put us in long situation the vikes just teed off things that could have helped like altering the snap count or calling off one play to another went out the window because of the crowd noise.

 

[Doomsday101]

By the way Minny let a 2nd rounder start the season at RT, and he did pretty well.

RT is not as demanding as LT. I don't think it's beyond reason to have a 1st round tackle start.

There is no set rule about when a guy can play, if he is ready to play then he should play but not every player out there will develop at the same rate. All I'm saying is you are talking about a player who does not currently exsist on the team and have him playing.

 

[Gadfly22]

I think the problem is meshing Houck's massive run-oriented line preferences with Garrett's pass-oriented offensive philosophy.

If that's the case, there's no easy solution; no "plug in this guy in place of that guy" that will fix the problem. Either the existing starters (who I think will all be back in that capacity next year) learn to get better and smarter in pass protection or there has to be a longer-term plan to revamp the whole unit -- which would be a big, expensive deal.

But no way someone as elusive as Romo should get sacked 34 times. Peyton Manning was sacked 10 times all year. Brady 16 times. Brees 20 times. Philip Rivers and Matt Schaub each 25 times. None of these guys is the escape artist that Romo is, who probably avoided another 16 sacks (one per game -- that's a guess) on his own.

No, the O-line definitely is the problem for the kind of offense that Garrett wants to run. So either his offensive philosophy gets scrapped (which is extremely unlikely) or a lot of work needs to be done with the O-line.

 

[Doomsday101]

I think the problem is meshing Houck's massive run-oriented line preferences with Garrett's pass-oriented offensive philosophy.

If that's the case, there's no easy solution; no "plug in this guy in place of that guy" that will fix the problem. Either the existing starters (who I think will all be back in that capacity next year) learn to get better and smarter in pass protection or there has to be a longer-term plan to revamp the whole unit -- which would be a big, expensive deal.

But no way someone as elusive as Romo should get sacked 34 times. Peyton Manning was sacked 10 times all year. Brady 16 times. Brees 20 times. Philip Rivers and Matt Schaub each 25 times. None of these guys is the escape artist that Romo is, who probably avoided another 16 sacks (one per game -- that's a guess) on his own.

No, the O-line definitely is the problem for the kind of offense that Garrett wants to run. So either his offensive philosophy gets scrapped (which is extremely unlikely) or a lot of work needs to be done with the O-line.

I agree that we need to do more work on the line however in an upcapped year as this upcoming one appears to be I would just as soon draft a couple of lineman and drop Proctor and McQ and stay with vets who will start or backup than to carry 2 players who do not seem to have much of a future with the Cowboys

 

[MichaelWinicki]

There is no set rule about when a guy can play, if he is ready to play then he should play but not every player out there will develop at the same rate. All I'm saying is you are talking about a player who does not currently exsist on the team and have him playing.

Correct, a rookie 1st rounder may or may not be ready, but to dismiss the notion out of hand entirely is not reasonable either.

Secondly Free is on the roster and played well.

Thirdly go back and review the blogs of Vela, who pointed out (several times) that it was the offensive line that was the weak link this season. When the offense didn't go, it was the oline breaking down.

Fourthly Davis, Gurode and Adams (if he comes back) will be starting. That leaves two guys where improvement can come from by upgrading the positions.

And finally, if these same 5 starters return in September as the starters, do not look for any improvement in this offense come next season, and with these starters getting another year older, the offense could slide.

 

[burmafrd]

Idiots saying cut Colombo are just that. IDIOTS. He is not a great RT, but is a good one and just in case you have not noticed, good TACKLES ARE HARD TO FIND. Free if he can improve his technique to handle power rushers (after 3 years in a pro weight program any strenght improvements will be minor) can absolutley play well at RT though the jury is still out on LT. The Hotel was handling Allen (at that point he was playing better then any of the others) and has had a good season overall. He even cut down on his false starts. He probably has 1-2 more good seasons left in him.

Interior Linemen can play well into their 30's so this worry about age inside is over blown. I would like to replace Kosier with someone stronger since he got truly owned sunday. He is a very good player but just not stong enough to go up against the increasingly bigger and stronger DTs we are facing.

Gurode and Bigg are pretty good and are keepers and will be for several more years. We need another tackle if Brewster is not him and we need a big strong guard that can move- hard to find but can be done.

 

[Doomsday101]

Correct, a rookie 1st rounder may or may not be ready, but to dismiss the notion out of hand entirely is not reasonable either.

Secondly Free is on the roster and played well.

Thirdly go back and review the blogs of Vela, who pointed out (several times) that it was the offensive line that was the weak link this season. When the offense didn't go, it was the oline breaking down.

Fourthly Davis, Gurode and Adams (if he comes back) will be starting. That leaves two guys where improvement can come from by upgrading the positions.

And finally, if these same 5 starters return in September as the starters, do not look for any improvement in this offense come next season, and with these starters getting another year older, the offense could slide.

I'm not dismissing anything but with an uncapped year why would I want to get rid of a proven player. McQ is not going to be the ansewer and Proctor is not going to be the ansewer if I bring in a rookie yes I let them compete and if they win they should start but at least I would also have backups that I trust to put into a game.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

A common definition of the word crazy is "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results".

To expect this 5 man starting group to suddenly get better next season against what apprears to be an even harder schedule is crazy.

This 5-man crew reached it's zenith probably two years ago.

Changes have to be made or the offensive production will continue to drop while sacks and negative plays increase in frequency.

 

[TheSport78]

Idiots saying cut Colombo are just that. IDIOTS. He is not a great RT, but is a good one and just in case you have not noticed, good TACKLES ARE HARD TO FIND. Free if he can improve his technique to handle power rushers (after 3 years in a pro weight program any strenght improvements will be minor) can absolutley play well at RT though the jury is still out on LT. The Hotel was handling Allen (at that point he was playing better then any of the others) and has had a good season overall. He even cut down on his false starts. He probably has 1-2 more good seasons left in him.

Interior Linemen can play well into their 30's so this worry about age inside is over blown. I would like to replace Kosier with someone stronger since he got truly owned sunday. He is a very good player but just not stong enough to go up against the increasingly bigger and stronger DTs we are facing.

Gurode and Bigg are pretty good and are keepers and will be for several more years. We need another tackle if Brewster is not him and we need a big strong guard that can move- hard to find but can be done.

They were playing Brewster exclusively at guard, so it's likely he won't be an option at tackle.

I understand Colombo has been good for us, but with his injury history, you cannot depend on him being your RT for 16 games. When Free was in, our OL did not miss a beat. What does that tell you? Orakpo made the Pro Bowl, do you remember him doing anything against Free? Nope. There are times where you just need to get younger.

Look at Philly's starting OL:

Jason Peters (27 years old)
Todd Herremans (27 years old)
Jammal Jackson (29 years old)
Stacy Andrews (28 years old)
Winston Justice (25 years old)

Look at Dallas' starting OL:

Flozell Adams (34 years old)
Kyle Kosier (31 years old)
Andre Gurode (31 years old)
Leonard Davis (31 years old)
Marc Colombo (31 years old)

Do you see the disturbing trend here? All of Philly's OL are under 30 and have a lot of upside, while all of our starters are over 30 and are as good as they're ever going to be. We need to get younger and OL; we were exposed (especially Colombo and Kosier) on Sunday.

 

[Doomsday]

Idiots saying cut Colombo are just that. IDIOTS. He is not a great RT, but is a good one and just in case you have not noticed, good TACKLES ARE HARD TO FIND. Free if he can improve his technique to handle power rushers (after 3 years in a pro weight program any strenght improvements will be minor) can absolutley play well at RT though the jury is still out on LT. The Hotel was handling Allen (at that point he was playing better then any of the others) and has had a good season overall. He even cut down on his false starts. He probably has 1-2 more good seasons left in him.

Interior Linemen can play well into their 30's so this worry about age inside is over blown. I would like to replace Kosier with someone stronger since he got truly owned sunday. He is a very good player but just not stong enough to go up against the increasingly bigger and stronger DTs we are facing.

Gurode and Bigg are pretty good and are keepers and will be for several more years. We need another tackle if Brewster is not him and we need a big strong guard that can move- hard to find but can be done.

I tend to agree with most of what you are saying. Prior to Sunday Colombo was one of our most solid linemen and he is definitely the meanest. How quickly people turn on a guy after one bad game.

Kosier seems like a square peg trying to fit in with a bunch of round ones to me. Dallas is set on having a massive Oline that can overpower people, yet they have Kosier who is a solid player but also the weak link in a power running attack.

Obviously we need to draft olinemen in the hopes of upgrading the unit but that is going to take more then one off season.

 

[Doomsday101]

They were playing Brewster exclusively at guard, so it's likely he won't be an option at tackle.

I understand Colombo has been good for us, but with his injury history, you cannot depend on him being your RT for 16 games. When Free was in, our OL did not miss a beat. What does that tell you? Orakpo made the Pro Bowl, do you remember him doing anything against Free? Nope. There are times where you just need to get younger.

Look at Philly's starting OL:

Jason Peters (27 years old)
Todd Herremans (27 years old)
Jammal Jackson (29 years old)
Stacy Andrews (28 years old)
Winston Justice (25 years old)

Look at Dallas' starting OL:

Flozell Adams (34 years old)
Kyle Kosier (31 years old)
Andre Gurode (31 years old)
Leonard Davis (31 years old)
Marc Colombo (31 years old)

Do you see the disturbing trend here? All of Philly's OL are under 30 and have a lot of upside, while all of our starters are over 30 and are as good as they're ever going to be. We need to get younger and OL; we were exposed (especially Colombo and Kosier) on Sunday.

How did the Philly line look to you? I'm sure Philly fans are questioning their Oline after the way they got slapped around by us 2 games in a row

 

[TheSport78]

How did the Philly line look to you? I'm sure Philly fans are questioning their Oline after the way they got slapped around by us 2 games in a row

Dude you know and I know Jamaal Jackson did not play and their OL was not the same. Plus, give a little credit to our defense. Philly just did not match up well with our defense. Imagine us with Proctor at center. I'd like to see how many times McNabb was sacked when they had all of their starters in.