Random dumb thoughts

[Sydla]

1) I thought Collins performed admirably for his first game at RT against a stud DE. He did have that one hold and got beat another time, but other than that, not a bad first game.

2) Smith wasn't awesome but knowing where he was coming from to where he is now, an impressive performance. And it looks like he has some of that speed back. His running down that reverse looked like the guy I saw at ND. His sideline to sideline pursuit at ND was amazing. The more he gets hit and gets comfortable with the leg, the better he should get. In a few weeks, he might end being a true three down LB with Lee.

3) Bad blow for Scandrick. He should be fine in a few weeks but this guy just can't seem to stay healthy. Hopefully Lewis is ready this weekend and Awuzie is fine as it looked like he injured himself at the end of the game. Awuzie played pretty well based on what I saw. Seems to have really good anticipation skills.

4) I know the Giants OL is awful but I thought the DL did a really nice job. Lawrence was a machine and I thought Paea and Collins really did a nice job inside. Charlton was a non factor but welcome to the party Charles Tapper.

5) Yeah, I don't get the hype some here have for Alfred Morris. He seems to always have nice camps and then is just blah in the regular season. Unless McFadden is hurt, he should be the #2.

6) I thought the play calling was awful at times. I don't like this whole "feed the ball to Dez before he gets upset" crap ruins any flow we have. That one series when we threw three times from like the 3 yard line pissed me off. Granted, if Dak makes a better throw, he does have a TD to Bryant on one of those passes. But three passes from the three is just Linehan and Garrett getting too cute for their own good.

7) Switzer needs some work on kick returns.

8) Does Byron Jones get at least one penalty on special teams every game?

 

[Aven8]

That play where Jaylon swooped by and grabbed the shoulder pad and ripped him down with one arm stood out to me. Maybe that was the reverse I can't remember. But that played showed me he is getting back to the ND player and was ferocious!

 

[dagreat1_87]

agree with all of this

 

[TheBigEasy]

2) Smith wasn't awesome but knowing where he was coming from to where he is now, an impressive performance. And it looks like he has some of that speed back. His running down that reverse looked like the guy I saw at ND. His sideline to sideline pursuit at ND was amazing. The more he gets hit and gets comfortable with the leg, the better he should get. In a few weeks, he might end being a true three down LB with Lee.

Totally disagree with your comment 'Smith wasn't awesome'. That was one of the better performances from a 'boy's LB, over the past few years, not named Lee. He wasn't afraid to lay the wood and his speed to track down plays was awesome. That 'down by contact' play, where he caused the fumble, was bogus. Jaylen was awesome especially for someone who went through the crap that he did.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

1) I thought Collins performed admirably for his first game at RT against a stud DE. He did have that one hold and got beat another time, but other than that, not a bad first game.

2) Smith wasn't awesome but knowing where he was coming from to where he is now, an impressive performance. And it looks like he has some of that speed back. His running down that reverse looked like the guy I saw at ND. His sideline to sideline pursuit at ND was amazing. The more he gets hit and gets comfortable with the leg, the better he should get. In a few weeks, he might end being a true three down LB with Lee.

3) Bad blow for Scandrick. He should be fine in a few weeks but this guy just can't seem to stay healthy. Hopefully Lewis is ready this weekend and Awuzie is fine as it looked like he injured himself at the end of the game. Awuzie played pretty well based on what I saw. Seems to have really good anticipation skills.

4) I know the Giants OL is awful but I thought the DL did a really nice job. Lawrence was a machine and I thought Paea and Collins really did a nice job inside. Charlton was a non factor but welcome to the party Charles Tapper.

5) Yeah, I don't get the hype some here have for Alfred Morris. He seems to always have nice camps and then is just blah in the regular season. Unless McFadden is hurt, he should be the #2.

6) I thought the play calling was awful at times. I don't like this whole "feed the ball to Dez before he gets upset" crap ruins any flow we have. That one series when we threw three times from like the 3 yard line pissed me off. Granted, if Dak makes a better throw, he does have a TD to Bryant on one of those passes. But three passes from the three is just Linehan and Garrett getting too cute for their own good.

7) Switzer needs some work on kick returns.

8) Does Byron Jones get at least one penalty on special teams every game?

1) Agreed. The hold wasn't all that bad. He let go and tried to sit down on him. I've seen that no called plenty of times. JPP's bend is impressive.

2) When he is finally allowed to play without the brace is when he will really emerge. He is playing with a piece of plastic strapped to the back of his foot and calf. It definitely inhibits him when he runs full out.

3) No love for Carroll?

4)I need to watch again but I recall Charlton getting a little bit of pressure. Tapper definitely made the most of limited snaps. Crawford was getting in there too. Absolutely correct they were impressive.

5) I'm not quite ready to write Morris off but your point is hard to argue.

6) Don't really agree here on a couple of points. I don't think Linehan ever tells Dak to throw to Dez at all costs. If you want to blame someone here I think it should be Dak. That being said he was only throwing it to him on single coverage. I can see them having more faith in the run but the Giants were selling out hard on it too.

7) What exactly is he supposed to work on? He had multiple free runners coming at him and the blocking at the line was a sieve.

8) That illegal block on a fair catch was brutal.

 

[Idgit]

Nolan Carrol looked pretty decent last night. Especially in run support a couple of times.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Nolan Carrol looked pretty decent last night. Especially in run support a couple of times.

One thing I am absolutely loving about this defense is how they hit. The back 7 is laying the wood. Started in the preseason and has carried over.

 

[The Fonz]

Morris got only 4 attempts give him time and you will see.

 

[Sydla]

1) Agreed. The hold wasn't all that bad. He let go and tried to sit down on him. I've seen that no called plenty of times. JPP's bend is impressive.

2) When he is finally allowed to play without the brace is when he will really emerge. He is playing with a piece of plastic strapped to the back of his foot and calf. It definitely inhibits him when he runs full out.

3) No love for Carroll?

4)I need to watch again but I recall Charlton getting a little bit of pressure. Tapper definitely made the most of limited snaps. Crawford was getting in there too. Absolutely correct they were impressive.

5) I'm not quite ready to write Morris off but your point is hard to argue.

6) Don't really agree here on a couple of points. I don't think Linehan ever tells Dak to throw to Dez at all costs. If you want to blame someone here I think it should be Dak. That being said he was only throwing it to him on single coverage. I can see them having more faith in the run but the Giants were selling out hard on it too.

7) What exactly is he supposed to work on? He had multiple free runners coming at him and the blocking at the line was a sieve.

8) That illegal block on a fair catch was brutal.

On his second return, he cut the wrong way as he had a hole if he just kept going straight ahead. He tried to cut left and got plastered. Plus, he doesn't have a lot of kick return experience to begin with. He really only returned punts at UNC, I believe.

 

[Sydla]

Morris got only 4 attempts give him time and you will see.

I've watched him now for two seasons. There is nothing that makes me think he's better than McFadden as a backup TB.

 

[CyberB0b]

Over the last few years, Dez's catch percentage has been terrible. He's still bad at route running and can't get open. He's only good for an occasional slant and jump balls on fades.

 

[GhostOfPelluer]

I'm with you on Morris. D-Line was awesome. Smith was solid with flashes. He'll get better. Collins was rock solid.

Not sure we can say much about Switzer yet.

Agree about the playcalling but it's not because Dez gets mad. They try to get him involved because when he is rolling he can dominate a football game. If you watch the tape, Jenkins had some good plays - he's a good player - but he didn't dominate Dez at all. Dak missed on a couple and Jenkins got away with two blatant PIs (although the called PI should not have been called). There were a couple times Dez won on the route but Dak went a different direction. All that said, first and goal from the 3 should at least mean feed Zeke on 1st and 2nd down. Throw on 3rd if you must but my guess is you score before we get to 3rd down.

The criticism of Byron Jones and his special teams penalties is warranted. The dude played well on D though.

Add Carroll and Chaz to the list of good, solid players from Week 1. And Brown already has the best instincts and ball skills in the secondary.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

1) I thought Collins performed admirably for his first game at RT against a stud DE. He did have that one hold and got beat another time, but other than that, not a bad first game.

2) Smith wasn't awesome but knowing where he was coming from to where he is now, an impressive performance. And it looks like he has some of that speed back. His running down that reverse looked like the guy I saw at ND. His sideline to sideline pursuit at ND was amazing. The more he gets hit and gets comfortable with the leg, the better he should get. In a few weeks, he might end being a true three down LB with Lee.

3) Bad blow for Scandrick. He should be fine in a few weeks but this guy just can't seem to stay healthy. Hopefully Lewis is ready this weekend and Awuzie is fine as it looked like he injured himself at the end of the game. Awuzie played pretty well based on what I saw. Seems to have really good anticipation skills.

4) I know the Giants OL is awful but I thought the DL did a really nice job. Lawrence was a machine and I thought Paea and Collins really did a nice job inside. Charlton was a non factor but welcome to the party Charles Tapper.

5) Yeah, I don't get the hype some here have for Alfred Morris. He seems to always have nice camps and then is just blah in the regular season. Unless McFadden is hurt, he should be the #2.

6) I thought the play calling was awful at times. I don't like this whole "feed the ball to Dez before he gets upset" crap ruins any flow we have. That one series when we threw three times from like the 3 yard line pissed me off. Granted, if Dak makes a better throw, he does have a TD to Bryant on one of those passes. But three passes from the three is just Linehan and Garrett getting too cute for their own good.

7) Switzer needs some work on kick returns.

8) Does Byron Jones get at least one penalty on special teams every game?

Although stat line says Dak was 24 of 39 for 62%. I thought he wasn't very accurate. he didn't look like he was throwing the ball comfortably and ball placement wasn't good. few times the receivers had to stop to get tot he ball. Like the ball he threw to Williams coming across, if he leads him, then its a long gain. same with the one to Butler going across middle. lead him a l=ittle more and CB doesn't get a chance to bump the ball. to me he seemed like he was pressing, not sure if it was about trying to beat giants who had his umber last year.

with that said, Giants are a great defense. great DL, great CBs, so I take the win. Wish we would have run it at the 3, why not try Rod Smith. just be obvious and pound the ball and let them try and stop you. they got too cute inside the three, twice.

everyone will point to OB missing, but I don't think he would be a great difference in the game. yeah, maybe they score a TD and couple more first downs, but out DL played great and the CBs played great. no one shed a tear a couple of years ago when we lost Dez, Romo. so I am not shedding a tear neither.

 

[Verdict]

1) I thought Collins performed admirably for his first game at RT against a stud DE. He did have that one hold and got beat another time, but other than that, not a bad first game.

2) Smith wasn't awesome but knowing where he was coming from to where he is now, an impressive performance. And it looks like he has some of that speed back. His running down that reverse looked like the guy I saw at ND. His sideline to sideline pursuit at ND was amazing. The more he gets hit and gets comfortable with the leg, the better he should get. In a few weeks, he might end being a true three down LB with Lee.

3) Bad blow for Scandrick. He should be fine in a few weeks but this guy just can't seem to stay healthy. Hopefully Lewis is ready this weekend and Awuzie is fine as it looked like he injured himself at the end of the game. Awuzie played pretty well based on what I saw. Seems to have really good anticipation skills.

4) I know the Giants OL is awful but I thought the DL did a really nice job. Lawrence was a machine and I thought Paea and Collins really did a nice job inside. Charlton was a non factor but welcome to the party Charles Tapper.

5) Yeah, I don't get the hype some here have for Alfred Morris. He seems to always have nice camps and then is just blah in the regular season. Unless McFadden is hurt, he should be the #2.

6) I thought the play calling was awful at times. I don't like this whole "feed the ball to Dez before he gets upset" crap ruins any flow we have. That one series when we threw three times from like the 3 yard line pissed me off. Granted, if Dak makes a better throw, he does have a TD to Bryant on one of those passes. But three passes from the three is just Linehan and Garrett getting too cute for their own good.

7) Switzer needs some work on kick returns.

8) Does Byron Jones get at least one penalty on special teams every game?

All valid points.

 

[Verdict]

Morris got only 4 attempts give him time and you will see.

It looks like Morris has used up all his burst in the preseason. He looked washed up again last night which was the opposite of the preseason.

 

[THEHEREAFTER]

Let's not judge the #2 rb on such a small sample size. Even Zeke's yards were difficult to come by against such a stout front. 4-5 attempts aren't that much. Morris and Dmac are pretty much interchangeable at the end of the day but I prefer Alf

 

[links18]

Morris needs more carries to be effective.

 

[Sydla]

Let's not judge the #2 rb on such a small sample size. Even Zeke's yards were difficult to come by against such a stout front. 4-5 attempts aren't that much. Morris and Dmac are pretty much interchangeable at the end of the day but I prefer Alf

Morris can do one thing. Run straight ahead. Not a great receiver and not a great blocker.

If Elliott is clear for the season and we need a roster spot, I'd have no issues cutting Morris. He's a redundant player at this point.

 

[Aven8]

Nolan Carrol looked pretty decent last night. Especially in run support a couple of times.

I thought so as well. Pretty good in coverage as well.

 

[Stash]

Morris can do one thing. Run straight ahead. Not a great receiver and not a great blocker.

If Elliott is clear for the season and we need a roster spot, I'd have no issues cutting Morris. He's a redundant player at this point.

I think that's the key point. Morris game is running straight ahead, and given Harrison and the Giants interior defensive linemen, the Cowboys weren't able to do that. So Morris strength is negated by the Giants strength. A bad matchup.