Our oline is better than we think.

[CowboyRoy]

After people made fools of themselves running around like maniacs all offseason screaming that this is the worst offensive line in the history of football and that only beloved Davy Wavy DeCastro-poo could remedy all problems, do you really think they're going just slump their shoulders and say "My Bad?". Of course not. They're going to continue to throw out hyperbole and say the offensive line would have given up a bajillion sacks if Romo had just stood in place in the pocket (because, you know, that's what every other NFL QB does).

Only the most blindest of homers would look at the play of the Oline against the giants and think they played anything above horrid. It may actually be worse then we thought. Did you shut the TV off every time Smith completely whiffed on blocking Pierre Paul? Did you also miss his 3 falst start penalties? And this guy is supposed to be the next great tackle. I for one think he got schooled by the 2nd best pass rusher in the NFL so I will give him a one game pass. But dont kid yourself, the Oline was downright horrid.

 

[InmanRoshi]

Did you shut the TV off every time Smith completely whiffed on blocking Pierre Paul?

I don't grade offensive lines based on one play, anymore than I grade Romo's entire night based off one stupid interception. It's kinda of a really dumb way to look at things, which is why NFL people don't do it. I carefully watch the games in their entireity based on all snaps, and I try to objectively look at things to view exactly what happened and where the blame is assesed. For example, if you have an existing confirmation bias you might blame the OL for letting a Giants defender run into the backfield untouched in the 2nd quarter, but if you rewatch the game and analyze it you would see that the Cowboys were employing an empty backfield and the Giants ran a blitz in adjustment to the empty backfield that leaves a guy unaccounted for.

The bottomline is that the interior OL imposed it's will on the Giants DTs as the game went along, capping it off with a 12 play/7 minute drive in the 4th quarter featuring 9 and 15 yard runs on Murray running right down the Giant's throat. Justin Tuck and Osi were largely invisible. JPP is the only player on the Giants front 4 who had any real impact on the game, against a guy who's playing left tackle for the first time in a game since high school. The Giants entire defensive, if not organizational, philosophy pins on the performance of the defensive line. That's why they invest an indordinate amount of draft picks and cap space into their DL to come at an offense in waves. Unless they completely dictate and dominate the game, they aren't winning . They were allowed to neither dictate nor dominate the game.

And for what it's worth, when people start throwing around words like "homers" and "realist" I pretty much take it for granted that I'm dealing with a non-informed fan. When the "realists" mindlessly bleat the same groupthink platitudes from the collective hivemind, it's really not "thinking outside the box". It's utter juvenile nonsense to me by people who don't have a relevant point to make.

 

[CATCH17]

Only the most blindest of homers would look at the play of the Oline against the giants and think they played anything above horrid. It may actually be worse then we thought. Did you shut the TV off every time Smith completely whiffed on blocking Pierre Paul? Did you also miss his 3 falst start penalties? And this guy is supposed to be the next great tackle. I for one think he got schooled by the 2nd best pass rusher in the NFL so I will give him a one game pass. But dont kid yourself, the Oline was downright horrid.

I don't consider myself a homer and I didn't consider it horrid. Im also taking into account their time together vs the the best D line in football.


I was more upset with their penalties than I was with their blocking.


This group may be good and it may suck but we need to see more before we jump to any conclusions.

 

[jnday]

We shall see. I think they'll be good in spots, but I really don't think they'll be "good" down the stretch. If we had a less mobile QB, Wednesday would have been a blood bath. Going to "potential bloodbath" to just "steady" would be acceptable in my eyes, I don't actually expect them to be good though.

If not for Romo's ability to escape, this could have been a double digit sack night forbthe Giants. With a pure pocket passer such as Tom Brady, it would have been ugly. It raises my respect for Romo even more. I think Dallas is taking a gamble by depending on Romo's escape ability so much. An injury could happen easily.

 

[SlwSVT]

The test will be against a good blitz scheme. I tought the Giants mostly rushing 4 guys actually helped us. When teams bring the 6 or 7 rushers, that will be a big test.

 

[baj1dallas]

Romo was running for his life. But that's probably the best dline in football.

He was moving - it's not the same as running for his life. His line gave him room to move, and they gave Murray some creases. I'm not saying everything is all roses, but it's not as terrible as some people think. They will absolutely get better over time, a lot of people think the whole line is cast offs who can't play.

 

[InmanRoshi]

If not for Romo's ability to escape, this could have been a double digit sack night forbthe Giants

Could you please point to those 10 plays? I'd like to go back and review them.

 

[DanTanna]

This group may be good and it may suck but we need to see more before we jump to any conclusions.

That is a very good way to look at the situation. However, I think the original premise of the thread was our OL played good against the Giants - which IMO is totally false.

Just imagine if Kitna were playing that game instead of Romo. Or if Brady, Manningx2,Rivers or Schaub. 8 sacks and we lose. With Romo, 2 sacks and we win, with a feeling the OL actually played well??? BARF.

 

[jnday]

Could you please point to those 10 plays? I'd like to go back and review them.

Go back and count the times Romo spun out of a defenders arms or the times he had to leave the pocket. You will come up with more than ten. On second thought don't waste your time. You are only going to see what you want to anyway.

 

[xwalker]

Go back and count the times Romo spun out of a defenders arms or the times he had to leave the pocket. You will come up with more than ten. On second thought don't waste your time. You are only going to see what you want to anyway.

There were some plays where there was a free rusher on the outside and the OT was correctly blocking his man.

It often "feels" as if the other team always has a RB make this block when Dallas tries an outside blitz.

 

[Cowboy Brian]

That is a very good way to look at the situation. However, I think the original premise of the thread was our OL played good against the Giants - which IMO is totally false.

Just imagine if Kitna were playing that game instead of Romo. Or if Brady, Manningx2,Rivers or Schaub. 8 sacks and we lose. With Romo, 2 sacks and we win, with a feeling the OL actually played well??? BARF.

Im not saying well. People think we have one of the 5 worst lines in the league. Im saying it'll endup in that 14-18 range, with Romo thats more than enough.

 

[InmanRoshi]

Go back and count the times Romo spun out of a defenders arms or the times he had to leave the pocket. You will come up with more than ten. On second thought don't waste your time. You are only going to see what you want to anyway.

I see what went on the field. You see what your confirmation bias tells you.

There was really only one play in the game where Romo made a "spin" move. It came with 3:55 left in the . It had absolutely nothing to do with the OL, and was the effect of our WRs (most likely Beasely) missing his hot read into the open field against the blitz when were were employing an empty backfield.

1) Here you can see the Cowboys in an empty backfield. The Giants are going to attack the empty backfield by sending Keith Rivers on an outside blitz off of JPP's backpocket. JPP is going to engage T Smith and then make a hard inside move to draw in T.Smith and clear the path for Rivers untouched to Romo, with no back in place for blitz pickup. Considering there is no one to pick up the blitzer in an empty backfield, a WR is supposed to make a hot read into the vacated spot for a quick throw.

2) You can see a huge gap left by Rivers, and Romo staring into the gap. When Beasley doesn't make his hot read into the vacated gap, he almost collides into Dez ... having to "Ole" at the last second to keep from running into him. When Romo sees the WRs didn't make the correct read, he does his spin move on Rivers to keep the play alive.

3) The end result of the play ... Beasley and Dez are within 5 yards of each other from the spot where Romo eventually throws the ball. This shouldn't happen. After the play Romo stares down Beasley and points to the vacated gap in the field.

 

[burmafrd]

I don't grade offensive lines based on one play, anymore than I grade Romo's entire night based off one stupid interception. It's kinda of a really dumb way to look at things, which is why NFL people don't do it. I carefully watch the games in their entireity based on all snaps, and I try to objectively look at things to view exactly what happened and where the blame is assesed. For example, if you have an existing confirmation bias you might blame the OL for letting a Giants defender run into the backfield untouched in the 2nd quarter, but if you rewatch the game and analyze it you would see that the Cowboys were employing an empty backfield and the Giants ran a blitz in adjustment to the empty backfield that leaves a guy unaccounted for.

The bottomline is that the interior OL imposed it's will on the Giants DTs as the game went along, capping it off with a 12 play/7 minute drive in the 4th quarter featuring 9 and 15 yard runs on Murray running right down the Giant's throat. Justin Tuck and Osi were largely invisible. JPP is the only player on the Giants front 4 who had any real impact on the game, against a guy who's playing left tackle for the first time in a game since high school. The Giants entire defensive, if not organizational, philosophy pins on the performance of the defensive line. That's why they invest an indordinate amount of draft picks and cap space into their DL to come at an offense in waves. Unless they completely dictate and dominate the game, they aren't winning . They were allowed to neither dictate nor dominate the game.

And for what it's worth, when people start throwing around words like "homers" and "realist" I pretty much take it for granted that I'm dealing with a non-informed fan. When the "realists" mindlessly bleat the same groupthink platitudes from the collective hivemind, it's really not "thinking outside the box". It's utter juvenile nonsense to me by people who don't have a relevant point to make.

you constantly saying the Oline is OK when it is not qualifies you as a HOMER.

Even late in the game when the Giants D was tired there were still problems that only Houdini Romo could avoid; and of course Murray dodging tacklers in his own backfield means nothing to you

 

[InmanRoshi]

you constantly saying the Oline is OK when it is not qualifies you as a HOMER

No, it qualifies me as someone who carefully reviews every snap in the game and comes up with my opinion based on what happens on the field.

 

[burmafrd]

No, it qualifies me as someone who carefully reviews every snap in the game and comes up with my opinion based on what happens on the field.

and is usually wrong

 

[xwalker]

I see what went on the field. You see what your confirmation bias tells you.

There was really only one play in the game where Romo made a "spin" move. It came with 3:55 left in the . It had absolutely nothing to do with the OL, and was the effect of our WRs (most likely Beasely) missing his hot read into the open field against the blitz when were were employing an empty backfield.

1) Here you can see the Cowboys in an empty backfield. The Giants are going to attack the empty backfield by sending Keith Rivers on an outside blitz off of JPP's backpocket. JPP is going to engage T Smith and then make a hard inside move to draw in T.Smith and clear the path for Rivers untouched to Romo, with no back in place for blitz pickup. Considering there is no one to pick up the blitzer in an empty backfield, a WR is supposed to make a hot read into the vacated spot for a quick throw.



2) You can see a huge gap left by Rivers, and Romo staring into the gap. When Beasley doesn't make his hot read into the vacated gap, he almost collides into Dez ... having to "Ole" at the last second to keep from running into him. When Romo sees the WRs didn't make the correct read, he does his spin move on Rivers to keep the play alive.




3) The end result of the play ... Beasley and Dez are within 5 yards of each other from the spot where Romo eventually throws the ball. This shouldn't happen. After the play Romo stares down Beasley and points to the vacated gap in the field.

Good post and analysis.

Was Beasley in the game after this play?

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

It's too early to tell, but we don't need then to be great or even great just not awful like they have been in previous seasons.

 

[InmanRoshi]

Good post and analysis.

Was Beasley in the game after this play?

I certainly don't recall seeing him after that play, but I'm not 100% certain. I wondered the same thing.

 

[CATCH17]

We're going to be good regardless so no need to worry.

 

[Dave_in-NC]

I'm not sure what you were watching about our O line.