Post game thoughts

[dbair1967]

I think as bill jones pointed out, I think if we win this week there is a good chance we get Green Bay at home and if we lose we go to philly.

I am not exactly sure what the tie breaker is, but if gb wins this week and philly loses, they both will finish 11-5 and 9-3 in the conference. So I am not sure where the tie break occurs, but Bill Jones claimed tonight if we win will host Green Bay assuming they win this week.

and if that were too happen, we would have all the motivation we would need.

Not sure GB has much motivation to try and win their game. Arizona doesnt either though unless Minnesota loses tonight and next week, which is unlikely IMO.

 

[dbair1967]

We are much better off throwing on short yardage. When exactly did Washington ever stop what we were trying to do in our passing game?

I think so too, and I think its obvious why Garrett seems to "give up" sometimes on the run game. Its because its so inconsistent. I think its also a reason why earlier in the season they were throwing so many passes down on the GL, because if we see them get stuffed so much during the games once a week on 3rd and 4th in short, it probably happens ALL the time in practice.

If I were him, I wouldnt call another run play out of a short yardage formation the rest of the season/playoffs.

 

[TNCowboy]

On the first 2 of those short yardage plays, they ran straight at Haynesworth. Which is pretty much suicide considering how he was handling Kosier. It makes you wonder what Garrett is actually seeing that could lead him to make such a moronic call. Maybe he'd do better up in the booth.

With the other 2, on one of the them, the blocking wasn't that bad, there were just more men to account for on that side of the ball than Dallas had blockers. And it looked like if Barber puts his head down and hits the hole hard, he makes that last one.

Another thing I don't get is why are you trying to pull guards on 3rd or 4th and a foot. Why run such slow moving plays? Every team in the league runs the QB sneak. I've seen Peyton Manning do it dozens of times. Even the slightest push by your C and you've got it made, yet Garrett won't even try it.

Again, I can't fathom why anyone wants Garrett for HC. Dallas moved the ball almost at will last night, yet finishes with only 17 points. It's been a common theme all season with this offense. They're near the top in yardage, but only in the middle of the pack in scoring. Were it not for Garrett's history with the team, it wouldn't even be considered. Yet the moron in charge will name him HC in a few weeks. Unbelievable.

 

[BulletBob]

9) Wade totally ****ed up the clock management on the Commanders final drive in the first half, and that probably cost us 3, if not 7 pts. That was stuff high school coaches can get right.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you here. The two plays that killed us on this drive were Romo's dump-off to Barber, which ran a ton of time off the clock (Tony made a poor decision and he knew it - he should have thrown it away, instead of 3 yards up-field Barber), and the nice completion to Miles in which Miles for some reason ran to the middle of the field instead of turning and hauling his butt to the sideline. I think we had run out of time outs at that point (and had used them appropriately), so the guys on the field should have acted differently.

I think both of these were mental mistakes by the players, and they cost us points at the half.

 

[Longboysfan]

I will say Newman look very average yesterday.

Hurd was not up to catching the ball.

Jenkins look better each week - i retracted my thought on him after week 4 but will do it again. He is our best cover DB now.

 

[dbair1967]

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you here. The two plays that killed us on this drive were Romo's dump-off to Barber, which ran a ton of time off the clock (Tony made a poor decision and he knew it - he should have thrown it away, instead of 3 yards up-field Barber), and the nice completion to Miles in which Miles for some reason ran to the middle of the field instead of turning and hauling his butt to the sideline. I think we had run out of time outs at that point (and had used them appropriately), so the guys on the field should have acted differently.

I think both of these were mental mistakes by the players, and they cost us points at the half.

Niether of which would have mattered had we not inexplicably let 35 seconds or so roll off the lock before the Commanders punted. We had all three timeouts left and the two minute warning. Had they called timeout they'd have still got three stops of the clock after taking over, the same as we ended up with and instead of beginning possession isndie 2 minutes, would have got the ball back with 2:30 or so left.

 

[theebs]

Green Bay would be the 5 seed over Philly due to common games, 4-1 to 3-2. We are the 3 seed so we would play Philly. If Green Bay loses and we win then Arizona is the three seed due to common game 2-3 to 4-1.

Unless we or Arizona get a bye we play Philly (we would have tiebreaker over Vikings at 11-5).

thanks man, I just didnt think it made sense when he said it, but I was too lazy to look up the tie breakers.

 

[BourbonBalz]

Let's see. Win next week and play Philly at home again in a climate controlled environment. Or, lose and play Philly again the next week in an outdoor stadium in chilly Philly in January? Think I'll take option A and it's a no-brainer.

 

[YosemiteSam]

8) Great game by Witten, who now only needs 46yds to go over 1000 again. 3rd 100+ game in 5 weeks too.

This is a completely amazing stat. Remember, earlier in the year, Witten took on a different role and wasn't catching a whole lot of balls. (averaging like 35ish yards a game over a 7 game stretch) Yet here he is with one game left in the season and so close to breaking the 1,000 yard barrier and 88 receptions.

He is the best TE in the league hands down. He can be a role player, or he can take over a game. He was money last night.

 

[Kilyin]

Ain't this pretty?

 

[casmith07]

I wasn't one of the "hosers" but saying that Dallas shouldn't run trick plays because of that garbage trick play tonight is ridiculous.

I've long been a fan of throwing the Wildcat out, that play was doomed from the start. That doesn't mean I wouldn't mind seeing a couple other trick plays. I'd love to see a flea flicker. That Terry Glenn TD against KC was one of the best plays I've ever seen. Absolutely beautiful.

Contradictory. Either you want trick plays or you don't. The only plays we need to run are lining up from under center and going right at them.

 

[jobberone]

I think so too, and I think its obvious why Garrett seems to "give up" sometimes on the run game. Its because its so inconsistent. I think its also a reason why earlier in the season they were throwing so many passes down on the GL, because if we see them get stuffed so much during the games once a week on 3rd and 4th in short, it probably happens ALL the time in practice.

If I were him, I wouldnt call another run play out of a short yardage formation the rest of the season/playoffs.

Romo needs to recognize when they have 8-9 guys in the box (or more) and call the pass play instead of the run. We always have at least one pass play called just in case. There's no need to run a dive into 9-10 guys in the box when a short pass in available. Or just call a pass play in the huddle. Jason needs to throw enough in that scenario to make teams be guessing what we're going to run and play it a little more balanced. They were run blitzing into those holes last nite. The RB had no chance.

Let's see. Win next week and play Philly at home again in a climate controlled environment. Or, lose and play Philly again the next week in an outdoor stadium in chilly Philly in January? Think I'll take option A and it's a no-brainer.

It is a no-brainer. Why would we want to lose the division championship and have to play on the road just to have our backs against the wall? Absurd thought.

 

[dbair1967]

Romo needs to recognize when they have 8-9 guys in the box (or more) and call the pass play instead of the run. We always have at least one pass play called just in case. There's no need to run a dive into 9-10 guys in the box when a short pass in available. Or just call a pass play in the huddle. Jason needs to throw enough in that scenario to make teams be guessing what we're going to run and play it a little more balanced. They were run blitzing into those holes last nite. The RB had no chance.

Very good point. He does a good job of that on alot of plays, I wonder if the short yardage/GL plays have no run pass option though. If they dont, its something they need to fix.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Contradictory. Either you want trick plays or you don't. The only plays we need to run are lining up from under center and going right at them.

Personally, I never want to see the Wildcat again. (or the Razorback)

 

[RS12]

1) Another very good game from Romo, who looks like a completely different QB this December as opposed to the last 3. He posted good numbers again, made a ton of great throws and probably could have had 350+ yds if not for all the dropped passes (more later on that). I'm not sure if Romo threw a single poor pass all night. The INT wasnt his fault IMO.

This guy has phenomenal numbers for 3 1/2 years. Now all he needs is post season success.

2) Dominating defense again. Washington never seriously threatened to score and the couple of times they could have, defense stood up and stuffed them. Thougth Ratliff had a great game, maybe his best in a month or so. The entire front 7 played well. Other than a couple missed tackels by T New, our CB's were money too.

Havent really been lit up this year. The third and long problem has been less lately, and that was biggest complaint about them.

7) The drops by our guys were inexcusable. Roy made a nice route adjustment and good catch on the TD, then totally blew an easy pass and appeared to have his hands on the ball that was picked too, though that might have been a great play by their DB to break it up. Hurd blew a gimmee that probably cost us pts, because MBIII never gets stuffed two straight plays afterward if he makes that routine play. I counted 6 or 7 drops overall, nd yet Romo was still 25/38.

Everybody who says they are set at WR, needs to rethink that position in the off season. What if Miles goes down? The offense would come to a grinding halt, thats what.

8) Great game by Witten, who now only needs 46yds to go over 1000 again. 3rd 100+ game in 5 weeks too.

I hope everybody realizes they are watching two sure fire HOFers every week in Witten and Ware. Enjoy every second of it, they wont play forever.

9) Wade totally ****ed up the clock management on the Commanders final drive in the first half, and that probably cost us 3, if not 7 pts. That was stuff high school coaches can get right.

I am sure there are plenty of times where a Jerry wishes Wade were only the DC. That way if a change needed to be made he could ram Wade down the next HCs throat as DC. Wade in general has done an outstanding job with the D.

10) I want us to win badly next week. Would love to see us get some payback for last year, but ultimately if we have to play them again the following week, beating them that game is all that matters. Of course, a season sweep of 3-0 would be the best result. I'll settle for 2-1 as long as the "1" isnt the last one.

If the last month has taught us anything it is there are no world beaters out there. The Eagles are no more to be feared than anybody else. The only team out there I think who would get the best of the Cowboys more often than not is the Chargers.

 

[ShiningStar]

Heres a quick question and I dont know if its been expressed before:

Has Ogletree shown Hurd the door for next year?

 

[speedkilz88]

I will say Newman look very average yesterday.

Hurd was not up to catching the ball.

Jenkins look better each week - i retracted my thought on him after week 4 but will do it again. He is our best cover DB now.

Newman had a great game coverage wise. It was his lack of tackling on the two passes to Moss at the line of scrimmage that made me want to pull his hair out.

 

[Chief]

Congrats to the Boys for nailing down the last NFC playoff spot. They didnt back in or stumble into it, they won it.Two solid victories back to back after alot of people (me included) thought they were toast after the SD game. I'm still liking my crow. Now onto a much bigger challenge, winning the NFC East and likely having to beat Philly two games in a row. (Or more importantly beating them two weeks from now)

1) Another very good game from Romo, who looks like a completely different QB this December as opposed to the last 3. He posted good numbers again, made a ton of great throws and probably could have had 350+ yds if not for all the dropped passes (more later on that). I'm not sure if Romo threw a single poor pass all night. The INT wasnt his fault IMO.

2) Dominating defense again. Washington never seriously threatened to score and the couple of times they could have, defense stood up and stuffed them. Thougth Ratliff had a great game, maybe his best in a month or so. The entire front 7 played well. Other than a couple missed tackels by T New, our CB's were money too.

3) Offensively, we had almost 400 yds, controlled the ball for 35+ mins, converted over half our 3rd downs and only had 1 or 2 penalties from that side. But dropped balls by RW (1 or 2), Hurd, Bennett, Austin, Barber and Ogletree combined with absolutely atrocious short yardage OL play kept us from totally blowing them out.

4) If I'm Garrett, I probably never call another short yardage run play with MBIII the rest of the yr. In fact as bad as the OL is in short yardage, I'd be tempted to never run the ball on 3rd or 4th and short anymore. They run the ball ok between the 20's, but the RB's averages are not indicative of how succesful the run game is IMO.

5) All you hosers that cried and whined for "trick plays"....there you go. I hope we never run another trick play again, in fact I'd ditch that whole wildcat garbage altogether. Any play where Romo doesnt line up at QB for us is a "win" for the defense.

6) I dont understand why they took Scandrick's sack/fumble away in the official stats. They called it a sack and marked the ball correctly after coming back from the TV timeout, but the official game stats took it away. I'd have to see the replay again, but it was either a sack/fumble or backwards pass IMO.

7) The drops by our guys were inexcusable. Roy made a nice route adjustment and good catch on the TD, then totally blew an easy pass and appeared to have his hands on the ball that was picked too, though that might have been a great play by their DB to break it up. Hurd blew a gimmee that probably cost us pts, because MBIII never gets stuffed two straight plays afterward if he makes that routine play. I counted 6 or 7 drops overall, nd yet Romo was still 25/38.

8) Great game by Witten, who now only needs 46yds to go over 1000 again. 3rd 100+ game in 5 weeks too.

9) Wade totally ****ed up the clock management on the Commanders final drive in the first half, and that probably cost us 3, if not 7 pts. That was stuff high school coaches can get right.

10) I want us to win badly next week. Would love to see us get some payback for last year, but ultimately if we have to play them again the following week, beating them that game is all that matters. Of course, a season sweep of 3-0 would be the best result. I'll settle for 2-1 as long as the "1" isnt the last one.

I pretty much just sign my name to your summaries every week.

Well done.

 

[CCBoy]

This is playoff time, and starting this week with a home game and Philadelphia. You don't hide or put off at this point, in the situation that Dallas has. You play for all the advantage that is on the table for grabs. On the same tone, you don't ***** for opponent. You beat who is there, or you aren't the best....so you defeat who is opposite you. Philadelphia two straight games...so be it. Beat 'em twice!

 

[CCBoy]

Washington was going at Mike Jenkins some last night...but he held up. Newman has been pretty solid for the year. Prior to last night, he had 17 passes defensed for the year. His numbers and Jenkins were very similar. No, they both have been pretty reliable in coverages for the year. Dallas will need both and Scandrick as well. The coverages by Dallas linebackers has improved as well...specificly, Carpenter and Brooking.