Post game thoughts

[dbair1967]

Probably not much that can be said that hasnt already been said, but I'll throw in my two cents anyway.

I'll start by saying I'm not surprised we lost, in fact I kinda figured this was a trap game and would be a tough game to win. A win would have been huge. A quality loss not so bad. But the offense was an utter disaster today against a team that clearly doesnt play like the 85 Bears at all. Its been a long time since I saw all 5 OL kicked around as bad as that lousy unit of ours was today. Sometimes you see one guy or maybe even two struggle, but today all 5 of them were pathetic. The sad thing is I dont believe the replacement OL was the worst of the bunch.

1) To continue above, we lost the game because of those 5 OL, period. They were God awful after the first series. If any of them are voted to the Pro Bowl they should refuse to go. Free wasnt a world beater, but it sure seemed like most (in fact the vast majority) of the QB hits/sacks and free blitzes came from the C-LG-LT area to me. Worst game by our OL IMO since the glory days of Coslet/Verducci.

2) Hard to blame Romo too much when the OL is so horrible, but he didnt have a good game either. Missed a a few easy ones and threw a pretty lame pick on the GL. Probably had a TD to Austin on the opening drive with a good throw, and definitely had an easy TD to Bennett on the drive that ended with the pick (pretty sure it was that drive). And while the OL was to blame for most of the sacks and hits, a couple of them looked like his fault too.When a rookie QB starts a game the week before against the same team and throws 3 tds plus helps his team get 38 pts, and you basically get a goose egg the following week (depsite GB missing their best pass rusher) you've played bad.

3) Roy Williams was so close to having the kind of game we've all wanted from him, and he ruined it with two lousy plays. That fumble was a huge momentum shifter and so was the drop of an easy 1st down conversion in the 3rd qtr.

4) As usual, over-reaction nation was making post after post about Folk missing a FG, and we find out tonight that McBriar says it was totally his fault (again). I'm pretty sure thats 3 of Folk's misses where McBriar failed to get the laces turned correctly. Might seriously be time to consider a change at the holder spot. I dont think it lost us the game, but it was definitely a downer to force a 3 and out defensively to start the game, have a really productive drive down the field offensively and then blow a chip shot.

5) After a good opening drive running, I counted exactly two good run plays by the RB's the remainder of the game. The run blocking is horrendous and pretty much has been for several games now, its definitely a major concern going down the stretch.

6) Felix Jones is OBVIOUSLY nowhere near 100%. I know they want him out there, we all do. But he CLEARLY isnt the same guy he was before the knee injury. Hindsight is 20-20, but they probably should have held him out longer than they did.

7) Defensively, it should have been a good enough effort to win. They gave up 10 pts (I will never say they gave up 17, more below on that) but they werent flawless either. They gave up way too many 3rd and long conversions and that shouldnt happen with the guys we have up front against a team that has struggled so much with pass protection. It killed us on the one legit drive they did have that ended in a TD.

8) We all love Ratliff, he's had a great year again. But he was a disappointment today. He should have been able to have way more impact than he did considering how poorous the GB OL was coming in, then they lost a starting G to injury during the game. I expected more from him today.

9) Tough loss for us on Colombo, but it appears Jenkins will be ok. The hell with Ken Hamlin. I dont think he's worse than Pat Watkins or the rookie Hamlin, but his play is pathetic. Another game where he did absolutely nothing in coverage, except miss a key open field tackle downfield that ended up helping GB get a FG before halftime. If he never plays another game for us, I wont care.

10) Officiating was an utter disgrace. That crew is either entirely incompetent or incredibly corrupt. Either way, they should be fired. That bogus penalty on Jenkins altered the game, and they gave GB a TD with that non challenge b/s on Jones' recovery. If that cant be challenged, why even have the stupid replay system? Even though they did call GB for holding a few times, they missed NUMEROUS other easy ones, a couple of which were on very key plays.

11) Orlando Scandrick had a huge bullseye on him after Jenkins went out, and he came up small. I really think he's destined to being a career nickel back who can spot start if necessary, but he doesnt have the pure coverage ability or ball skills to be an every week starter. He's solid as a nickel back, but he's a liability if he has to play too much.

12) At least Philly lost, but we blew a golden opportunity. We could have really put some distance between us and Philly/NYG today.

This is the kind of game I thought we were past, but today proved otherwise. Again, I didnt expect them to be 14-2 and am not surprised we lost this particular game, but its the pathetic way we lost which bothers me. The OL mailed it in after the first drive. The QB went back to being inconsistent, the run game was non existant and the defense couldnt get GB of the field on several key 3rd and longs. Even our standout special teams were mediocre today. They should beat Washington and Oakland, but after what I saw today I can honestly say I wouldnt be THAT surprised if we blew one of those games. This team still lacks the focus and drive of a championship calibar team.

 

[theebs]

Just to add some clarity because I needed it also on that non challengable play on felix.

I guess laufenberg said it is not reviewable because then scrums after fumbles would be deemed reviewable which would be a disaster.

The rule is bad. In that situation to have the packers just get incorrectly get the ball there is terrible.

 

[RS12]

10) Officiating was an utter disgrace. That crew is either entirely incompetent or incredibly corrupt. Either way, they should be fired. That bogus penalty on Jenkins altered the game, and they gave GB a TD with that non challenge b/s on Jones' recovery. If that cant be challenged, why even have the stupid replay system? Even though they did call GB for holding a few times, they missed NUMEROUS other easy ones, a couple of which were on very key plays.

Dont get me started. These guys make 6 figures a year for what? I have seen better officiating at high school games. The boys played bad enough to beat themselves, but the officiating changed the outcome of the game. The Felix call put the game out of reach and GB was blatantly holding all game long and not getting called. Putrid game by the refs.

 

[hendog]

I agree. Good Post.

 

[bbgun]

Three killer plays the first half:

1. Tony missing a gimme to Austin at the 5 yd line on the first drive.
2. Jenkins' penalty (legit?), erasing Scandrick's sack and strip of Rodgers deep in GB territory.
3. Roy's catch and fumble (duh).

 

[links18]

I am not buying that Folk is struggling simply because McBriar can't hold. He has been pulling kicks all year, even ones he makes, you can't blame that on the laces every time. But if McBriar can't hold, put Kitna in there.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

I am not buying that Folk is struggling simply because McBriar can't hold. He has been pulling kicks all year, even ones he makes, you can't blame that on the laces every time. But if McBriar can't hold, put Kitna in there.

put Buehler there

problem solved

 

[Haley94]

Good post. I agree, the oline decided to sit this one out.

 

[casmith07]

Bad kicks. Laces shouldn't have any effect whatsoever on the trajectory of a chip-shot field goal.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I've been suspecting Folk's problems this year were all on McBriar the whole time. A kicker doesn't go from as clutch as Folk has been to as spotty as he's been this year for no reason. There's a reason Parcells took McBriar off the duty right away.

I dunno who else to put there, though. Crayton? What if his hands get banged up like can happen to WRs? And he's prone to mental lapses anyway. Maybe someone else?

 

[ZeroClub]

Three killer plays the first half:

1. Tony missing a gimme to Austin at the 5 yd line on the first drive.
2. Jenkins' penalty (legit?), erasing Scandrick's sack and strip of Rodgers deep in GB territory.
3. Roy's catch and fumble (duh).

Yeah. I think #2 and #3 were most critical.

The hands to the face penalty on Jenkins was especially painful because it was unrelated to the play itself but still erased an absolutely huge turnover.

When these Cowboys lose the turnover battle, they just aren't good enough to beat decent teams.

 

[Idgit]

Great post, dbair, and there's actually a lot in there that's getting ignored in other threads that I'm glad you brought up. Specifically the stuff about the running game, both with Felix and the run blocking in general. It's becoming a real problem.

 

[CalCBFan]

Probably not much that can be said that hasnt already been said, but I'll throw in my two cents anyway.

I'll start by saying I'm not surprised we lost, in fact I kinda figured this was a trap game and would be a tough game to win. A win would have been huge. A quality loss not so bad. But the offense was an utter disaster today against a team that clearly doesnt play like the 85 Bears at all. Its been a long time since I saw all 5 OL kicked around as bad as that lousy unit of ours was today. Sometimes you see one guy or maybe even two struggle, but today all 5 of them were pathetic. The sad thing is I dont believe the replacement OL was the worst of the bunch.

1) To continue above, we lost the game because of those 5 OL, period. They were God awful after the first series. If any of them are voted to the Pro Bowl they should refuse to go. Free wasnt a world beater, but it sure seemed like most (in fact the vast majority) of the QB hits/sacks and free blitzes came from the C-LG-LT area to me. Worst game by our OL IMO since the glory days of Coslet/Verducci.

2) Hard to blame Romo too much when the OL is so horrible, but he didnt have a good game either. Missed a a few easy ones and threw a pretty lame pick on the GL. Probably had a TD to Austin on the opening drive with a good throw, and definitely had an easy TD to Bennett on the drive that ended with the pick (pretty sure it was that drive). And while the OL was to blame for most of the sacks and hits, a couple of them looked like his fault too.When a rookie QB starts a game the week before against the same team and throws 3 tds plus helps his team get 38 pts, and you basically get a goose egg the following week (depsite GB missing their best pass rusher) you've played bad.

3) Roy Williams was so close to having the kind of game we've all wanted from him, and he ruined it with two lousy plays. That fumble was a huge momentum shifter and so was the drop of an easy 1st down conversion in the 3rd qtr.

4) As usual, over-reaction nation was making post after post about Folk missing a FG, and we find out tonight that McBriar says it was totally his fault (again). I'm pretty sure thats 3 of Folk's misses where McBriar failed to get the laces turned correctly. Might seriously be time to consider a change at the holder spot. I dont think it lost us the game, but it was definitely a downer to force a 3 and out defensively to start the game, have a really productive drive down the field offensively and then blow a chip shot.

5) After a good opening drive running, I counted exactly two good run plays by the RB's the remainder of the game. The run blocking is horrendous and pretty much has been for several games now, its definitely a major concern going down the stretch.

6) Felix Jones is OBVIOUSLY nowhere near 100%. I know they want him out there, we all do. But he CLEARLY isnt the same guy he was before the knee injury. Hindsight is 20-20, but they probably should have held him out longer than they did.

7) Defensively, it should have been a good enough effort to win. They gave up 10 pts (I will never say they gave up 17, more below on that) but they werent flawless either. They gave up way too many 3rd and long conversions and that shouldnt happen with the guys we have up front against a team that has struggled so much with pass protection. It killed us on the one legit drive they did have that ended in a TD.

8) We all love Ratliff, he's had a great year again. But he was a disappointment today. He should have been able to have way more impact than he did considering how poorous the GB OL was coming in, then they lost a starting G to injury during the game. I expected more from him today.

9) Tough loss for us on Colombo, but it appears Jenkins will be ok. The hell with Ken Hamlin. I dont think he's worse than Pat Watkins or the rookie Hamlin, but his play is pathetic. Another game where he did absolutely nothing in coverage, except miss a key open field tackle downfield that ended up helping GB get a FG before halftime. If he never plays another game for us, I wont care.

10) Officiating was an utter disgrace. That crew is either entirely incompetent or incredibly corrupt. Either way, they should be fired. That bogus penalty on Jenkins altered the game, and they gave GB a TD with that non challenge b/s on Jones' recovery. If that cant be challenged, why even have the stupid replay system? Even though they did call GB for holding a few times, they missed NUMEROUS other easy ones, a couple of which were on very key plays.

11) Orlando Scandrick had a huge bullseye on him after Jenkins went out, and he came up small. I really think he's destined to being a career nickel back who can spot start if necessary, but he doesnt have the pure coverage ability or ball skills to be an every week starter. He's solid as a nickel back, but he's a liability if he has to play too much.

12) At least Philly lost, but we blew a golden opportunity. We could have really put some distance between us and Philly/NYG today.

This is the kind of game I thought we were past, but today proved otherwise. Again, I didnt expect them to be 14-2 and am not surprised we lost this particular game, but its the pathetic way we lost which bothers me. The OL mailed it in after the first drive. The QB went back to being inconsistent, the run game was non existant and the defense couldnt get GB of the field on several key 3rd and longs. Even our standout special teams were mediocre today. They should beat Washington and Oakland, but after what I saw today I can honestly say I wouldnt be THAT surprised if we blew one of those games. This team still lacks the focus and drive of a championship calibar team.

I couldn't agree more. Very well stated. Sadly, we are no where near a championship caliber team...

 

[mmohican29]

Yeah. I think #2 and #3 were most critical.

The hands to the face penalty on Jenkins was especially painful because it was unrelated to the play itself but still erased an absolutely huge turnover.

When these Cowboys lose the turnover battle, they just aren't good enough to beat decent teams.

The hands to the face penalty didn't happen at all, so therefore it was extremely painful.

 

[TheKey]

I think you are being a little rough on Romo; inconsistant does not describe him at all today. He had some clutch throws on the last drive, on fourth down, and the last TD to roy. Yes he came out throwing the ball high and hot like usual but we are used to him being excited and missing a few here and there. The throw to Bennett got away from him but what QB doesn't miss one throw throughout the game, not to mention he was running for his life.

 

[Beast_from_East]

The hands to the face penalty didn't happen at all, so therefore it was extremely painful.

Thats called "home cooking", the penalty was bogus and was something the ref just made up to keep Dallas from getting the ball.

I was never one to believe that NFL games might be fixed, but after watching todays game there is no way in hell anybody can say that the officiating did not have a direct bearing on the outcome of the game.

 

[dbair1967]

I think you are being a little rough on Romo; inconsistant does not describe him at all today. He had some clutch throws on the last drive, on fourth down, and the last TD to roy. Yes he came out throwing the ball high and hot like usual but we are used to him being excited and missing a few here and there. The throw to Bennett got away from him but what QB doesn't miss one throw throughout the game, not to mention he was running for his life.

He definitely didnt play as bad as he did vs NYG or Denver, and when your OL plays as poorly as ours did the QB doesnt deserve too much blame, but it wasnt a great performance either.

Offensively, there's not one guy who can say they had a good game yesterday. They watched the film of those Minnesota and Tampa games and thought they'd walk over the GB defense, especially with Kampman gone. They never got off the bus.

 

[Maikeru-sama]

I think the main thing fans should be worried about is that we still haven't established ourselves as a running team.

As the weather gets colder and injuries start to mount, it makes it so much easier when the Quarterback can hand the ball off and get effective yardage as oppose to having to throw it constantly.

As I said last night, despite what people think, Green Bay is a good team and they are capable of beating just about anybody in the NFC. Unfortunately for them, they have some OL issues and they had to play Minnesota twice already.

 

[JohnsKey19]

I think the main thing fans should be worried about is that we still haven't established ourselves as a running team.

As the weather gets colder and injuries start to mount, it makes it so much easier when the Quarterback can hand the ball off and get effective yardage as oppose to having to throw it constantly.

That's my biggest concern right now.

I dont want to hear anymore about our 3 good RBs and BIG offensive line - because we dont effectively use them.

 

[kramskoi]

Probably not much that can be said that hasnt already been said, but I'll throw in my two cents anyway.

I'll start by saying I'm not surprised we lost, in fact I kinda figured this was a trap game and would be a tough game to win. A win would have been huge. A quality loss not so bad. But the offense was an utter disaster today against a team that clearly doesnt play like the 85 Bears at all. Its been a long time since I saw all 5 OL kicked around as bad as that lousy unit of ours was today. Sometimes you see one guy or maybe even two struggle, but today all 5 of them were pathetic. The sad thing is I dont believe the replacement OL was the worst of the bunch.

1) To continue above, we lost the game because of those 5 OL, period. They were God awful after the first series. If any of them are voted to the Pro Bowl they should refuse to go. Free wasnt a world beater, but it sure seemed like most (in fact the vast majority) of the QB hits/sacks and free blitzes came from the C-LG-LT area to me. Worst game by our OL IMO since the glory days of Coslet/Verducci.

2) Hard to blame Romo too much when the OL is so horrible, but he didnt have a good game either. Missed a a few easy ones and threw a pretty lame pick on the GL. Probably had a TD to Austin on the opening drive with a good throw, and definitely had an easy TD to Bennett on the drive that ended with the pick (pretty sure it was that drive). And while the OL was to blame for most of the sacks and hits, a couple of them looked like his fault too.When a rookie QB starts a game the week before against the same team and throws 3 tds plus helps his team get 38 pts, and you basically get a goose egg the following week (depsite GB missing their best pass rusher) you've played bad.

3) Roy Williams was so close to having the kind of game we've all wanted from him, and he ruined it with two lousy plays. That fumble was a huge momentum shifter and so was the drop of an easy 1st down conversion in the 3rd qtr.

4) As usual, over-reaction nation was making post after post about Folk missing a FG, and we find out tonight that McBriar says it was totally his fault (again). I'm pretty sure thats 3 of Folk's misses where McBriar failed to get the laces turned correctly. Might seriously be time to consider a change at the holder spot. I dont think it lost us the game, but it was definitely a downer to force a 3 and out defensively to start the game, have a really productive drive down the field offensively and then blow a chip shot.

5) After a good opening drive running, I counted exactly two good run plays by the RB's the remainder of the game. The run blocking is horrendous and pretty much has been for several games now, its definitely a major concern going down the stretch.

6) Felix Jones is OBVIOUSLY nowhere near 100%. I know they want him out there, we all do. But he CLEARLY isnt the same guy he was before the knee injury. Hindsight is 20-20, but they probably should have held him out longer than they did.

7) Defensively, it should have been a good enough effort to win. They gave up 10 pts (I will never say they gave up 17, more below on that) but they werent flawless either. They gave up way too many 3rd and long conversions and that shouldnt happen with the guys we have up front against a team that has struggled so much with pass protection. It killed us on the one legit drive they did have that ended in a TD.

8) We all love Ratliff, he's had a great year again. But he was a disappointment today. He should have been able to have way more impact than he did considering how poorous the GB OL was coming in, then they lost a starting G to injury during the game. I expected more from him today.

9) Tough loss for us on Colombo, but it appears Jenkins will be ok. The hell with Ken Hamlin. I dont think he's worse than Pat Watkins or the rookie Hamlin, but his play is pathetic. Another game where he did absolutely nothing in coverage, except miss a key open field tackle downfield that ended up helping GB get a FG before halftime. If he never plays another game for us, I wont care.

10) Officiating was an utter disgrace. That crew is either entirely incompetent or incredibly corrupt. Either way, they should be fired. That bogus penalty on Jenkins altered the game, and they gave GB a TD with that non challenge b/s on Jones' recovery. If that cant be challenged, why even have the stupid replay system? Even though they did call GB for holding a few times, they missed NUMEROUS other easy ones, a couple of which were on very key plays.

11) Orlando Scandrick had a huge bullseye on him after Jenkins went out, and he came up small. I really think he's destined to being a career nickel back who can spot start if necessary, but he doesnt have the pure coverage ability or ball skills to be an every week starter. He's solid as a nickel back, but he's a liability if he has to play too much.

12) At least Philly lost, but we blew a golden opportunity. We could have really put some distance between us and Philly/NYG today.

This is the kind of game I thought we were past, but today proved otherwise. Again, I didnt expect them to be 14-2 and am not surprised we lost this particular game, but its the pathetic way we lost which bothers me. The OL mailed it in after the first drive. The QB went back to being inconsistent, the run game was non existant and the defense couldnt get GB of the field on several key 3rd and longs. Even our standout special teams were mediocre today. They should beat Washington and Oakland, but after what I saw today I can honestly say I wouldnt be THAT surprised if we blew one of those games. This team still lacks the focus and drive of a championship calibar team.

as for point seven...the offense killed the defense and it was only a matter of time before something broke, especially with Jenkins out...everyone got to see first-hand who the better cornerback is...the entire offense should just give their checks to the defense on this one...they did nothing to help those guys out...just hung them out to dry on the road in a hostile environment...59:22 ?...this is not a team that is going anywhere...maybe by the end of the year this changes but i don't see it...i nearly put a knife through my Cowboys cap after this one...