RS12
Well-Known Member
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- Tyrone Crawford was asked postgame what role injuries played in the Cowboys’ defeat to the Falcons. Crawford’s answer wasn’t surprising when he said “We just didn’t do our jobs.” As well as this Dallas front seven played in the victory last week against the Eagles, it was the complete opposite on Sunday. Against Philadelphia they were able to control the line of scrimmage and rally to the ball – but there was little of that against Atlanta. The Falcons came into the game without their best running back in Tevin Coleman, but that didn’t slow them down one bit. Like I said in my observations shortly after the game, Devonta Freeman punished the Cowboys with his running style. It didn’t matter whether it was inside or outside, Freeman found holes and finished runs. Fullback Patrick DiMarco also played a significant role in the way the Falcons ran the ball. DiMarco was not only physical blocking on the edges, but he was able to inflict damage inside to Anthony Hitchens andSean Lee with his cut blocks that left the pair scrambling to get back on their feet.
- If Joseph Randle is going to have any success in this scheme, he is going to need to do a better job of trusting the play and following his blockers. Randle hit the Falcons with some large runs, but he also left some potential yards on the field with poor decisions. One play in question saw Scott Linehan send a call in that was designed for Travis Frederick and Tyler Clutts to get outside and capture the corner -- which they were both able to do. On theplay Randle even got a block from Devin Street, which created even more space to the outside. For some unexplained reason, Randle didn’t follow his blockers to the outside, where things had developed – he veered to the inside where Justin Durrant was standing right there to meet him for a one-yard gain instead of having a shot for a larger gain.
- Even when this Dallas defense tried to double Julio Jones in coverage, he managed to find a way to beat it. On his long touchdown reception, Tyler Patmon jumped to the outside as if he was expecting help to the inside fromJ.J. Wilcox. I am not sure what Wilcox was thinking, because he was also hanging to the outside -- which gave Jones a free release inside. Just by alignment, Wilcox was beaten and had no shot of rallying to Jones to prevent him from catching the ball.
- At the time I saw it from the press box, I had my questions why Jason Garrett would use a timeout right before the end of the half with the ball on the Atlanta goal line.
