erod
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What an eclectic Sunday night of unexpected goodies and uh-ohs, wrapped nicely in a final score that made a nailbiter look like a cakewalk.
Even during the walk through the drunken bowels of the stadium beforehand, this game had an eery uneasiness to it before kickoff. Yes, Dallas should have won, but with the two weeks to prepare and heal that Bob Griffin and his team Bob Costas won't let me call the Commanders anymore had, I felt a growing doubt creeping in.
Marched down the field, and bam, 7-0. This was nothing afterall. But then Ware and Murray pulled up lame, and the defense started that knowing wilt, and a cloud formed under the shut rafters. RG started running, better than before, especially with a gift-wrapped 15 added yards every time he Ginobili flopped along the sidelines. Refs were really bad both ways all night.
Two special team wonders and a stupid play by Griffin saved what could have been an irritating loss from ever happening. 31-16 sounds so nonchalant, but that game was anything but, and if RG doesn't idiotically hold the ball loose forever on the Wilber sack.....who knows.
Takeaways for me were:
1. Shelve Ware for a month. The pass rush improved when he left the game, so let's just play without him for a while. Get him healthy, his neck, his back, his shoulder, and his quad. Put Humpty back together again, and perhaps he can make an impact in the stretch run. He's been of no impact so far this season. None.
2. Bench Austin next week. Tony has lost confidence in him, especially after he gave up on a deep ball and showed no ability to get in or out of cuts. Williams, Harris, and Beasley have Romo's confidence, and Williams is certainly now the replacement for Austin come next year. Of course, I'm being a little dramatic here, but he, too, should get fully healthy and stop faking it out there. Get that leg right.
3. Carr was incredible. Pierre Garcon couldn't buy a gasp of air against Carr, who blanketed the Commanders most dangerous threat all night.
4. RG3 ain't the same dude. The savior Tebowed his throws all night, and I thought someone was going to get their eye poked out with one of his wobbly errancies. Luck, Wilson, and Kaepernick all look like better QBs than Griffin at this point. And Cousins sits along the sideline for controversy's sake.....yummy.
5. Brian Waters is underpaid. Wow, this guy is playing tremendous football, and he's stablized an entire cast of lineman that are collectively a massive improvement from a year ago. I'd work on an extention right now, Jerry, for a year, maybe two. It looks so easy for Waters out there.
6. Harris is.....remember when we used to clamor for Dez to return punts when the opportunity for a return was there? Not saying that anymore, are we. Granted, there was some darn good blocking on both returns, but he hits them so fast and decisively, I'm sure there's more to come. He had a good one called back against Denver, so the return guys need to just make sure they don't clutch and hold. Harris adds a dimension Dallas lacked for many years back there.
7. Cole Beasley is another, making a major contribution. I've beaten up on Tyrion Lassiter a bit much, but if he's going to pitch in like this, I will more than excuse his lack of participation on the special teams units. Romo trusts him now, and that is a HUGE way to help the team right there.
That game didn't give me the warm and fuzzies that the Denver game did, ironically, in terms of moving forward. Philly looks like a more daunting task without Murray, and with a clumsy win as it was and a group of moving-company heavies as our starting d-line, things look a bit dicey.
I prefer to look at it like this. If you told me we'd be 3-3 and I could choose the wins, I would have chosen the three we won. They mean more in the standings board than AFC opponents. And a case could be made that Dallas could easily be 5-1; although Woulda and Coulda fail to show up for work every Monday.
With a dangerous Lions team looming on the road next, and 4 of the next 5 on the road, here comes the critical stretch of the season.
Can that defensive line hold up, improve, and last for the rest of the season? That's really what this season's fortunes comes down to.
Even during the walk through the drunken bowels of the stadium beforehand, this game had an eery uneasiness to it before kickoff. Yes, Dallas should have won, but with the two weeks to prepare and heal that Bob Griffin and his team Bob Costas won't let me call the Commanders anymore had, I felt a growing doubt creeping in.
Marched down the field, and bam, 7-0. This was nothing afterall. But then Ware and Murray pulled up lame, and the defense started that knowing wilt, and a cloud formed under the shut rafters. RG started running, better than before, especially with a gift-wrapped 15 added yards every time he Ginobili flopped along the sidelines. Refs were really bad both ways all night.
Two special team wonders and a stupid play by Griffin saved what could have been an irritating loss from ever happening. 31-16 sounds so nonchalant, but that game was anything but, and if RG doesn't idiotically hold the ball loose forever on the Wilber sack.....who knows.
Takeaways for me were:
1. Shelve Ware for a month. The pass rush improved when he left the game, so let's just play without him for a while. Get him healthy, his neck, his back, his shoulder, and his quad. Put Humpty back together again, and perhaps he can make an impact in the stretch run. He's been of no impact so far this season. None.
2. Bench Austin next week. Tony has lost confidence in him, especially after he gave up on a deep ball and showed no ability to get in or out of cuts. Williams, Harris, and Beasley have Romo's confidence, and Williams is certainly now the replacement for Austin come next year. Of course, I'm being a little dramatic here, but he, too, should get fully healthy and stop faking it out there. Get that leg right.
3. Carr was incredible. Pierre Garcon couldn't buy a gasp of air against Carr, who blanketed the Commanders most dangerous threat all night.
4. RG3 ain't the same dude. The savior Tebowed his throws all night, and I thought someone was going to get their eye poked out with one of his wobbly errancies. Luck, Wilson, and Kaepernick all look like better QBs than Griffin at this point. And Cousins sits along the sideline for controversy's sake.....yummy.
5. Brian Waters is underpaid. Wow, this guy is playing tremendous football, and he's stablized an entire cast of lineman that are collectively a massive improvement from a year ago. I'd work on an extention right now, Jerry, for a year, maybe two. It looks so easy for Waters out there.
6. Harris is.....remember when we used to clamor for Dez to return punts when the opportunity for a return was there? Not saying that anymore, are we. Granted, there was some darn good blocking on both returns, but he hits them so fast and decisively, I'm sure there's more to come. He had a good one called back against Denver, so the return guys need to just make sure they don't clutch and hold. Harris adds a dimension Dallas lacked for many years back there.
7. Cole Beasley is another, making a major contribution. I've beaten up on Tyrion Lassiter a bit much, but if he's going to pitch in like this, I will more than excuse his lack of participation on the special teams units. Romo trusts him now, and that is a HUGE way to help the team right there.
That game didn't give me the warm and fuzzies that the Denver game did, ironically, in terms of moving forward. Philly looks like a more daunting task without Murray, and with a clumsy win as it was and a group of moving-company heavies as our starting d-line, things look a bit dicey.
I prefer to look at it like this. If you told me we'd be 3-3 and I could choose the wins, I would have chosen the three we won. They mean more in the standings board than AFC opponents. And a case could be made that Dallas could easily be 5-1; although Woulda and Coulda fail to show up for work every Monday.
With a dangerous Lions team looming on the road next, and 4 of the next 5 on the road, here comes the critical stretch of the season.
Can that defensive line hold up, improve, and last for the rest of the season? That's really what this season's fortunes comes down to.