Post game thoughts

[dbair1967]

probably my one and only post for a few days, as I'm heading to Vegas for the weekend...

very disappointing end to preseason...our 1st team got whooped physically on both lines tonight, cant really make excuses, they just got abused...OL was absolutely putrid...just awful...I know getting Adams back will help some, but he cant make the other 4 guys suddenly look good more often than not...we play alot of teams with good defensive fronts this yr and what I saw tonight wont hardly get it done against any of them

1) as mentioned, OL very poor in run and pass blocking...and it wasnt one guy either...all 5 starters got man-handled by the Vikes front 7, they looked like the 85 Bears against our offense in the first half, and they are NOT the 85 Bears...we either have a bunch of real stiffs on the OL or the worst OL coach in football...at this point I think it might be both

2) while alot of people have been singing the praises of the starting D, you might want to look at a few disturbing numbers...such as "0"...thats the number of sacks out starting D got in the last 3 preseason games...other than a couple plays our starting D got absolutely no pass rush whatsoever, and this is a 3 game thing now...seems we still have an issue trying to force turnovers as well...I think Henry has the only turnover forced by our starters

3) what we saw tonight is a good case for why you dont sign old kickers...I dont care what his history was, he kicked poorly all of camp and he kicked awful tonight..he will lose games for us this yr, period. I think his issue at this point is more mental than physical

the above 3 reasons are why we've been mediocre for Parcell's 3 seasons here, and unless they are improved rather quickly we will be mediocre again...you cant win in this league if you cant block and rush the passer some, and we can do niether...it also doesnt help your cause when you cant find a kicker who can even make the gimmee's more often than not...we've now missed 3 fg's in the last two games, none were over 35 yds

If I were Parcells, Ireland and Jones I'd be working OT on the phones looking for OL help and a kicker...as I've said for a couple yrs now, the pass rush thing just isnt going to work out until someone else is designing the scheme so we will have to make do with what we have...but there are definite reasons for concern

David

 

[Bob Sacamano]

the pass rush thing just isnt going to work out until someone else is designing the scheme so we will have to make do with what we have...but there are definite reasons for concern

David

I don't see how you can make that claim when we're only seeing maybe half of the D playbook

but I agree that Oline is still a concern

 

[CowboyChris]

it is what it is!! you cant dial 1-800-offensivelinemen, ever heard those phrases before? our front office has had all offseason to find some linemen for our OL, and they went out and got Kosier, Fabini, and drafted McQ. they have to sleep in that bed.

 

[Big D]

I don't see how you can make that claim when we're only seeing maybe half of the D playbook

but I agree that Oline is still a concern

Yes and probably less than half of the offensive playbook with no Flozell.

It's not as bad as ppl think it is.

 

[jlust22]

Yeah, I agree with all of the concerns you mentioned. The OL issues have been well documented. I think the play of the OL will determine the success or failure of this team. It is a major question mark. I don't think we will be a strong running team especially in the red zone, but hopefully they won't give up 49 sacks like the OL did last season.

I was hoping we fixed the kicker problem in the offseason, but now that is a major worry. I don't want to write Vanderjagt off yet as its only the preseason, but you do have to worry about where he is at mentally and his health to some extent as well. I am crossing my fingers that he will be money when the real season begins, but who really knows what's he got.

I think the defense will be very good, but dominate, I am not sure due to the reasons you mentioned. I think the pass rush is still pretty average. Ware is good, but I don't think he's Dwight Freeney when it comes to sacking the QB. Ellis is really the only other pass rusher we have. I guess the rest of the pressure will have to come from blitzes. Forcing turnovers seems like a hard thing to predict. I am not sure this will be a team that forces a ton of turnovers, but those things seem to happen in bunches and certain teams get on a role in that department.

 

[Cbz40]

We also attempted several running plays against 8 in the box.

Having said that the OL must get better.

We can hope we see a more of an attacking scheme on D in the regular season.

 

[silverbear]

very disappointing end to preseason...our 1st team got whooped physically on both lines tonight, cant really make excuses, they just got abused...

I don't what game you were watching (I only got to listen to a radio feed online), but the stats sheet doesn't bear that out at all...

In the first half, the Cowobys had 162 yards of total offense on 32 plays, while the Vikings had 157 yards on 25 plays... sounds like a pretty evenly played game to me...

1) as mentioned, OL very poor in run and pass blocking...

Say what??!? Yeah, the run blocking was atrocious, as it has been most of preseason, but in the first half the Boys threw the ball 20 times, and never gave up a sack... for the game, they threw it 56 times, again without a sack... for that matter, the Vikings only had one quarterback HURRY listed in the stats sheet... now, Cowboys quarterbacks did have to run the ball 4 times...

56 pass plays without a sack is "poor pass blocking"?? How in God's name do you throw for 418 yards in a game-- even an overtime game-- with poor pass blocking??

Bottom line, the Boys called 60 pass plays in the game, allowed zero sacks, one hurry, and their quarterbacks had to run 4 times... that's really GOOD pass protection... seems your standards are just about impossibly high... certainly, they're unrealistic...

2) while alot of people have been singing the praises of the starting D, you might want to look at a few disturbing numbers...such as "0"...thats the number of sacks out starting D got in the last 3 preseason games...other than a couple plays our starting D got absolutely no pass rush whatsoever, and this is a 3 game thing now...

Oh, sweet Jay-sus... Parcells himself said this week that the Cowboys have called two blitzes all preseason (that doesn't mean they only blitzed twice, it means they only called two different kinds of blitzes)...

3) what we saw tonight is a good case for why you dont sign old kickers...I dont care what his history was, he kicked poorly all of camp and he kicked awful tonight..he will lose games for us this yr, period. I think his issue at this point is more mental than physical

I agree completely here... the kicking situation, and the run blocking, are my two biggest worries going into the regular season...

But I also think that a team that throws the ball well and plays good defense can win a lot of games...

Bottom line, the Cowboys are 3-0-1 this preseason, have given up fewer points per game than any other team in preseason, and it looks quite likely that they'll be the top rated offense in the preseason... of course, I know that doesn't mean anything when opening day rolls around, but it surely disputes your excessively negative take on things...

 

[big dog cowboy]

Generic O, generic D. It's called preseason.

 

[silverbear]

I don't see how you can make that claim when we're only seeing maybe half of the D playbook

but I agree that Oline is still a concern

I think this offensive line is a pretty good pass blocking unit, but a pretty bad run blocking unit...

 

[Everlastingxxx]

1) as mentioned, OL very poor in run and pass blocking...and it wasnt one guy either...

I really disagree. Rivera had a bad game and it was just a break down here and there that disrupted things. The Vikings were doing alot of moving around, stunts and weird blitzes. A DL filled with #1 picks vs an OL filled with 7 rounders...and gave up no sacks. Wasnt as bad as it seemed.

 

[Big D]

56 pass plays without a sack is "poor pass blocking"?? How in God's name do you throw for 418 yards in a game-- even an overtime game-- with poor pass blocking??

Let Bledsoe pass 56 times to the likes of TO ,Glenn ,Crayton ,Witten ,Fasano etc while the defense consistently stacks 8 in the box to stop the run.

He'll have 1000 yards by the start of the 2nd half.

 

[lshaver22]

We? Were you suited up to play?

 

[chinch]

this didn't take long, from the usual suspects.

 

[SuspectCorner]

probably my one and only post for a few days, as I'm heading to Vegas for the weekend...

very disappointing end to preseason...our 1st team got whooped physically on both lines tonight, cant really make excuses, they just got abused...OL was absolutely putrid...just awful...I know getting Adams back will help some, but he cant make the other 4 guys suddenly look good more often than not...we play alot of teams with good defensive fronts this yr and what I saw tonight wont hardly get it done against any of them

1) as mentioned, OL very poor in run and pass blocking...and it wasnt one guy either...all 5 starters got man-handled by the Vikes front 7, they looked like the 85 Bears against our offense in the first half, and they are NOT the 85 Bears...we either have a bunch of real stiffs on the OL or the worst OL coach in football...at this point I think it might be both

2) while alot of people have been singing the praises of the starting D, you might want to look at a few disturbing numbers...such as "0"...thats the number of sacks out starting D got in the last 3 preseason games...other than a couple plays our starting D got absolutely no pass rush whatsoever, and this is a 3 game thing now...seems we still have an issue trying to force turnovers as well...I think Henry has the only turnover forced by our starters

3) what we saw tonight is a good case for why you dont sign old kickers...I dont care what his history was, he kicked poorly all of camp and he kicked awful tonight..he will lose games for us this yr, period. I think his issue at this point is more mental than physical

the above 3 reasons are why we've been mediocre for Parcell's 3 seasons here, and unless they are improved rather quickly we will be mediocre again...you cant win in this league if you cant block and rush the passer some, and we can do niether...it also doesnt help your cause when you cant find a kicker who can even make the gimmee's more often than not...we've now missed 3 fg's in the last two games, none were over 35 yds

If I were Parcells, Ireland and Jones I'd be working OT on the phones looking for OL help and a kicker...as I've said for a couple yrs now, the pass rush thing just isnt going to work out until someone else is designing the scheme so we will have to make do with what we have...but there are definite reasons for concern

David

1) refrence last season and you will see strong evidence that flozell's absence coincided with the O-lines sudden demise. annually, the offenses generally take more time to "synch" than defenses. it's an old story.

2) the defense is pretty much playing "straight up". i think they blitzed roy williams for the first time all preseason - not sure. but what are the odds of them actually going thru even one regular-season game without doing that? don't worry too much. they'll add the "wrinkles" when the games count.

3) vanderjagt is a little harder to defend. he was flat lousy tonite. he'll be the first to say so. and in the postgame interview he made no excuses. tho' he did point out that he didn't get to be the leagues' most consistent FG kicker by accident. he's been there and done that. groin injuries can be among the most nagging in sports. so we'll cross our fingers and hope for the best. if he's come undone - parcells will know it pretty quickly.

 

[Big D]

One of my favorites!

 

[Rogerthat12]

I don't what game you were watching (I only got to listen to a radio feed online), but the stats sheet doesn't bear that out at all...

In the first half, the Cowobys had 162 yards of total offense on 32 plays, while the Vikings had 157 yards on 25 plays... sounds like a pretty evenly played game to me...



Say what??!? Yeah, the run blocking was atrocious, as it has been most of preseason, but in the first half the Boys threw the ball 20 times, and never gave up a sack... for the game, they threw it 56 times, again without a sack... for that matter, the Vikings only had one quarterback HURRY listed in the stats sheet... now, Cowboys quarterbacks did have to run the ball 4 times...

56 pass plays without a sack is "poor pass blocking"?? How in God's name do you throw for 418 yards in a game-- even an overtime game-- with poor pass blocking??

Bottom line, the Boys called 60 pass plays in the game, allowed zero sacks, one hurry, and their quarterbacks had to run 4 times... that's really GOOD pass protection... seems your standards are just about impossibly high... certainly, they're unrealistic...



Oh, sweet Jay-sus... Parcells himself said this week that the Cowboys have called two blitzes all preseason (that doesn't mean they only blitzed twice, it means they only called two different kinds of blitzes)...



I agree completely here... the kicking situation, and the run blocking, are my two biggest worries going into the regular season...

But I also think that a team that throws the ball well and plays good defense can win a lot of games...

Bottom line, the Cowboys are 3-0-1 this preseason, have given up fewer points per game than any other team in preseason, and it looks quite likely that they'll be the top rated offense in the preseason... of course, I know that doesn't mean anything when opening day rolls around, but it surely disputes your excessively negative take on things...

Great post Bear!! Thank You for the witch-slappin reality check.


David:laugh1::laugh2:

 

[EveryoneElse]

probably my one and only post for a few days, as I'm heading to Vegas for the weekend...

very disappointing end to preseason...our 1st team got whooped physically on both lines tonight, cant really make excuses, they just got abused...OL was absolutely putrid...just awful...I know getting Adams back will help some, but he cant make the other 4 guys suddenly look good more often than not...we play alot of teams with good defensive fronts this yr and what I saw tonight wont hardly get it done against any of them

1) as mentioned, OL very poor in run and pass blocking...and it wasnt one guy either...all 5 starters got man-handled by the Vikes front 7, they looked like the 85 Bears against our offense in the first half, and they are NOT the 85 Bears...we either have a bunch of real stiffs on the OL or the worst OL coach in football...at this point I think it might be both

2) while alot of people have been singing the praises of the starting D, you might want to look at a few disturbing numbers...such as "0"...thats the number of sacks out starting D got in the last 3 preseason games...other than a couple plays our starting D got absolutely no pass rush whatsoever, and this is a 3 game thing now...seems we still have an issue trying to force turnovers as well...I think Henry has the only turnover forced by our starters

3) what we saw tonight is a good case for why you dont sign old kickers...I dont care what his history was, he kicked poorly all of camp and he kicked awful tonight..he will lose games for us this yr, period. I think his issue at this point is more mental than physical

the above 3 reasons are why we've been mediocre for Parcell's 3 seasons here, and unless they are improved rather quickly we will be mediocre again...you cant win in this league if you cant block and rush the passer some, and we can do niether...it also doesnt help your cause when you cant find a kicker who can even make the gimmee's more often than not...we've now missed 3 fg's in the last two games, none were over 35 yds

If I were Parcells, Ireland and Jones I'd be working OT on the phones looking for OL help and a kicker...as I've said for a couple yrs now, the pass rush thing just isnt going to work out until someone else is designing the scheme so we will have to make do with what we have...but there are definite reasons for concern

David

Why don't we wait until the games count and we lay everything out there before we jump off a bridge?


As you would,

 

[silverbear]

Let Bledsoe pass 56 times to the likes of TO ,Glenn ,Crayton ,Witten ,Fasano etc while the defense consistently stacks 8 in the box to stop the run.

He'll have 1000 yards by the start of the 2nd half.

Yeah, what's so wrong with a wide-open passing attack, if it WORKS??

 

[silverbear]

Great post Bear!! Thank You for the witch-slappin reality check.


David:laugh1::laugh2:

My pleasure...

These days, I try not to comment on the game until I've checked the stats sheet, and see if what I find there backs up my subjective opinion after having watched (or in this case, listened to) the game...

I sometimes find myself surprised that what I thought I was seeing wasn't what I was seeing after all...

 

[silverbear]

Why don't we wait until the games count and we lay everything out there before we jump off a bridge?[/quote

Naw, I think he should go on and jump...