Relax..observations, thoughts

[Billy Bullocks]

Well, Week 1 is almost in the books, and our Cowboys teased us all off-season, through the preseason, all the way up to the 2nd quarter of a humid afternoon down in Jacksonville.

The game started off real nice, the defense stopping the Jags early, and the offense putting together some nice drives, giving us a nice 10-0 lead at the end of the 1st quarter. T.O. gave meaning to the slant in Dallas that we hadn't seen since a certain guy donning #88 has played (sorry Antonio, it aint you). But then things started to get ugly.

Owens seemed to dissapear as fast as the 10-0 lead. Instead of being up 17-10, hell, even 13-10, we suddenly saw ourselves down 17-10, and things that had started so promising went amuck.

Flozell Adams looked bad. Let's just admit it. He was getting beat, looking like a guy who was recovering from big time knee surgery. Hopefully he can improve his play as the season goes on, something I think will happen. He just better get on it quick, because you know Gregg Williams will be licking his chops at getting after a guy who just seems to be a bit slow at the moment.

Julius Jones had himself a pretty nice game, racking up 17 carries for 72 yards. He looked like he was focused. I dont see why we got away from giving him the rock. After going down 17-10, our next few possessions result in 6 passes, 1 run, and 1 first downs,1 punt, and 1 interception. A total of 2minutes 25 seconds of time are used up. We completely get away from the run when only down 7.

Seems like a few times Jones made a good run, and we followed it with a dive play for minimal yardage. Great. Why not negate a good 1st down play. No play action off 2nd and short. Just a dive. Right at em. Nothing gained.

For whatever reasons, bad back, or whatever, Bledsoe makes some shaky decisions and throws.

Witten TD called back on a slight push, while Williams plays ole with Anthony Henry (who had terrible position on that play). Still a turning point, getting 0 points, instead of going up 17-10.

Speaking of questionable calls, I'm still not sure how Williams really roughed Leftwhich up. He was rolling out trying to set up a screen, he got hit. I thought this was football.

Owens looked strong. Still don't care for the guy, but I can't argue with what he brings to the field. It's early, but so far he's been a model citizen. Really enjoy Fox trying to make it seem like he's making a scene on the sideline when he was yelling.

Jacksonville got after us up the middle on some blitzes.

Marc Colombo was pretty solid. That was nice to see.

We got almost no pass rush after the 1st quarter.

DeMarcus Ware tries to take the longest route to the QB almost every time (around the tackle). He looks really good in space, and he's gotten damn good at containing the run.

Watkins wasn't good or bad. ANd you can't blame our corners for not being able to win battles with 6-4 WR's, who were getting EXCELLENT balls from Leftwich.

Our inability to convert on 3rd downs killed us. We were outpossessed 35-25. Our defense was getting little help from the offense. Taylor wasn't playing that well at all, but all the cut back runs he was breaking in the latter stages of the games showed our defense getting worn down. Parcells can say what he wants about being used to the heat based on where we played in the pre-season, but 1 game in Louisana can't get you ready for that. Texas is alot dryer than Florida. It showed.

Gotta tip my hat to Leftwich. He played really well.

It's week 1 guys, so please, relax. We played a good team, and I recall a few people on here saying this is a game they had some doubts over.

Let's stick with it, and remember, the sky is still holding up pretty well. I can't wait for Washington.

 

[Clove]

Flozell was great until the 3rd and 4th QTR. His conditioning is bad right now. He wore down as the game went late, I re-watched and that's what I saw.

 

[dbair1967]

Owens seemed to dissapear as fast as the 10-0 lead. Instead of being up 17-10, hell, even 13-10, we suddenly saw ourselves down 17-10, and things that had started so promising went amuck.

.

he disappeared more because Bledsoe missed him than anything else...one poor throw got bailed out because of the PI, but he was wide open down the middle a couple plays later and Bledsoe's pass wasnt even close...there were a couple other plays I noticed where Owens was open, but Bledsoe didnt see him

David

 

[George]

he disappeared more because Bledsoe missed him than anything else...one poor throw got bailed out because of the PI, but he was wide open down the middle a couple plays later and Bledsoe's pass wasnt even close...there were a couple other plays I noticed where Owens was open, but Bledsoe didnt see him

David

Owens gets open almost every time. If we can't get the offense clicking with this advantage then Bledsoe and our running game stinks. Frankly, I can't see inconsistent, slow and inflexible Bledsoe being the future of the Cowboys. I say that we get Romo online now.

 

[Boom]

he disappeared more because Bledsoe missed him than anything else...one poor throw got bailed out because of the PI, but he was wide open down the middle a couple plays later and Bledsoe's pass wasnt even close...there were a couple other plays I noticed where Owens was open, but Bledsoe didnt see him

David

Not to mention that the TD pass was pretty bad as well. It was a great catch, though.

 

[lspain1]

Parcells can say what he wants about being used to the heat based on where we played in the pre-season, but 1 game in Louisana can't get you ready for that. Texas is alot dryer than Florida. It showed.

Gotta tip my hat to Leftwich. He played really well.

It's week 1 guys, so please, relax. We played a good team, and I recall a few people on here saying this is a game they had some doubts over.

Let's stick with it, and remember, the sky is still holding up pretty well. I can't wait for Washington.

Billy, one note. I was at the game. It wasn't hot. It was cloudy and humid but the temperature never got above the mid 80's. Overall, outside of the rain, it was a decent day for football.

 

[THUMPER]

Speaking of questionable calls, I'm still not sure how Williams really roughed Leftwhich up. He was rolling out trying to set up a screen, he got hit. I thought this was football.

He led with the crown of his helmet, like he usually does. Roy is a great hitter but is not a good tackler. He uses very poor technique when making tackles and it either results in a big hit, a missed tackle, or a penalty.

He rarely hits with his shoulder and wraps up like you are supposed to. He is always looking for that "statement" hit which is nice when it comes but he misses as often as not which isn't so nice.

Nor is it nice to give up a 15-yard penalty when we had them stopped simply because you can't figure out how to tackle a guy after all these years of playing the game.

Roy needs to stop looking for that big hit and concentrate more on just stopping the guy. The opportunities for big hits will come on their own.