So Many Missing The Point

[Doomsdayblitz]

I keep reading about how Bledsoe did or didn't do this or that. How the play calling sucked. How this LB or TE didn't show. Here is the bottom LINE:

It's the LINE-on both sides. At the beginning of the game, our lines were taking charge, and playing well against superior talent. After a while, though, the superior talent will win out. Slowly, they began to take control of our lines, & it was downhill after that. Their running game was MUCH better than ours. Well, what is called our running game. With their running game moving the ball so well, our pass rush was neutralized.

With our running game non-existent, we were forced to depend almost exclusively on our passing game. (I will give the point that our running game was SO predictable, it was laughable--first down, run the ball ). However, it didn't seem to matter much that we knew they were going to run the ball. They ran it anyway. Why? Because their offensive line outplayed our front seven.

We have NO NT backup to speak of. Which means, when Fergi gets tired, it's all over. Hatcher or Ratliff don't weigh 320 lbs. or have thighs the size of refrigerators, like Fergi. We have got to find a quality NT backup. We also have to find an answer with our 'O' line, or put Romo in there so he can at least run for his life. Bledsoe just has to stand there & either throw ints., get killed, or get flagged for grounding. Without a running game, we cannot afford a stationary QB.

 

[gbrittain]

I keep reading about how Bledsoe did or didn't do this or that. How the play calling sucked. How this LB or TE didn't show. Here is the bottom LINE:

It's the LINE-on both sides. At the beginning of the game, our lines were taking charge, and playing well against superior talent. After a while, though, the superior talent will win out. Slowly, they began to take control of our lines, & it was downhill after that. Their running game was MUCH better than ours. Well, what is called our running game. With their running game moving the ball so well, our pass rush was neutralized.

With our running game non-existent, we were forced to depend almost exclusively on our passing game. (I will give the point that our running game was SO predictable, it was laughable--first down, run the ball ). However, it didn't seem to matter much that we knew they were going to run the ball. They ran it anyway. Why? Because their offensive line outplayed our front seven.

We have NO NT backup to speak of. Which means, when Fergi gets tired, it's all over. Hatcher or Ratliff don't weigh 320 lbs. or have thighs the size of refrigerators, like Fergi. We have got to find a quality NT backup. We also have to find an answer with our 'O' line, or put Romo in there so he can at least run for his life. Bledsoe just has to stand there & either throw ints., get killed, or get flagged for grounding. Without a running game, we cannot afford a stationary QB.

Unfortunately, that is just another good point. There are so many.

 

[CATCH17]

The plays were there to win that game and none of this is an issue.

Bledsoe missed wide open guys, made mistakes, and Witten got screwed by the refs.

The running game will be fine. This was one of the best defenses in the NFL you do realise that?

We had every opportunity to win we just didn't do it.

You can say what ever you want but we had that game but we didnt execute.

 

[aikemirv]

I disagree, we should have had the game put away in the first half and we did not do that!

We had them down and no for an overthrow to T.O. in the 2nd Qtr puts our foot on their throat. Bledsoe tightens up, frezes up or whatever and does not get rid of the ball and we lost all momentum.

Both of our lines plyed well enough to win that game - pure and simple. if Anything other than Bledsoe, it would be penalties - but our lines were not to blame.

 

[jazzcat22]

The plays were there to win that game and none of this is an issue.

Bledsoe missed wide open guys, made mistakes, and Witten got screwed by the refs.

The running game will be fine. This was one of the best defenses in the NFL you do realise that?

We had every opportunity to win we just didn't do it.

You can say what ever you want but we had that game but we didnt execute.

Probably the best defense we will face this year.

 

[ZeroClub]

This team is far from perfect (OL, QB, and NT were obvious examples from yesterday). But some positions are easier to try to fix than others.

Romo is on the sidelines. Not many obvious replacements for the OL and NT sitting on the sidelines.

 

[YosemiteSam]

It's the LINE-on both sides. At the beginning of the game, our lines were taking charge, and playing well against superior talent. After a while, though, the superior talent will win out. Slowly, they began to take control of our lines, & it was downhill after that. Their running game was MUCH better than ours. Well, what is called our running game. With their running game moving the ball so well, our pass rush was neutralized.

RUSHING:

Cowboys Rushing Avg: 4.0
Jaguars Rushing Avg: 2.4

Your rushing assessment is completely wrong.

PASSING:

The pass protection wasn't as bad as you say. Bledsoe actually did have some type to pass. Bledsoe just made errant throws like he usually does in pressured situations. Flo is the only lineman that actually played poorly overall.

DEFENSIVE LINE:

This had to do with play calling. After the Cowboys went up 10-0, they stopped being aggressive. Ware and Ellis were dropping back in to coverage more than they were rushing the passer.

With our running game non-existent, we were forced to depend almost exclusively on our passing game. (I will give the point that our running game was SO predictable, it was laughable--first down, run the ball ). However, it didn't seem to matter much that we knew they were going to run the ball. They ran it anyway. Why? Because their offensive line outplayed our front seven.

See above. What you are saying in unfounded. My only problem with the running game was them trying to run up the gut so often when they were having success outside. (which as noted, you seem to have missed)

We have NO NT backup to speak of. Which means, when Fergi gets tired, it's all over. Hatcher or Ratliff don't weigh 320 lbs. or have thighs the size of refrigerators, like Fergi. We have got to find a quality NT backup. We also have to find an answer with our 'O' line, or put Romo in there so he can at least run for his life. Bledsoe just has to stand there & either throw ints., get killed, or get flagged for grounding. Without a running game, we cannot afford a stationary QB.

The Cowboys will run the ball this year and they will throw it with success also. The Cowboys will win at least 10 games this year providing they arn't decimated with injuries again like last year. You are just panicking. Stop, take a breath and let things unfold. It was only the first game and Bledsoe had probably the worst game of his career. No need to throw in the towl yet. 99.999% of the time, every team in the NFL is short at a position. It's life. Live with it.

 

[wileedog]

In all honestly the O-line played much, much better than I expected it too against one of the better front 4's in football.

Unfortunately Drew played far worse than I expected him to.

Defense snuffed the run pretty good, would have liked to see someone - anyone - beside just Ware get into the backfield after the QB occasionally.

 

[gbrittain]

In all honestly the O-line played much, much better than I expected it too against one of the better front 4's in football.

Unfortunately Drew played far worse than I expected him to.

Defense snuffed the run pretty good, would have liked to see someone - anyone - beside just Ware get into the backfield after the QB occasionally.

I am surprised that many are saying the O-Line played like crap. They were not all-world by any stretch by I think they did an overall good job and that is taking into consideration that Flo was not up to par.

 

[ddh33]

Yeah, I think the OL played fairly solid. I don't put this game on them.

The D-Line frustrated me much more. They did a good job against the run most of the day, but they got no pressure on Leftwich. That bothered me more than anything.

 

[Cowboy4ever]

cowboys 22 attempts for 88 yards, the jags,, 32 attempts for 78 yards.,, The idea that our run game sucked or theirs was FAR superior is just stupid!

 

[Sportsbabe]

The plays were there to win that game and none of this is an issue.

Bledsoe missed wide open guys, made mistakes, and Witten got screwed by the refs.

The running game will be fine. This was one of the best defenses in the NFL you do realise that?

We had every opportunity to win we just didn't do it.

You can say what ever you want but we had that game but we didnt execute.

I agree with your points. The game should have been at least 20 to zip in the first half. The entire complexion of the game would have been different.

 

[Gadfly22]

(I will give the point that our running game was SO predictable, it was laughable--first down, run the ball ).

Not so. Check the NFL.com gamebook or play-by-play. On 1st down, Dallas tried to pass 13 times (including 1 sack) and ran 12 times (including the kneeldown to end the 1st half).

 

[ejthedj]

I agree it's about the lines -- but then we should be happy because both lines played pretty well.

You've already been demolished on the running argument, which shows our DLine (esp Ferguson) played well. They also got our only sack, and aren't supposed to get sacks in the 3-4.

The oline was not as bad as people make it out to be. We played well in the first half, and rarely had the ball in the second half. We avergaed 4.2 rush, and gave up two sacks. Not bad.

What cost us the game were 1) penalties 2) Bledsoe.

Plain and simple -- we're solid but we can't make so many mistakes.

 

[Maikeru-sama]

I personally think the OL will remain the scapegoat until Bledsoe has time to bake a cake.

It is un-realistic to expect the QB to have time to throw on every play.

The OL played okay and I dont think they were the problem...heck we even had a rushing touchdown.

Sorry...the way the OL played today and against the defense they did play against...I will take that just about every week.

- Mike G.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Their running game was MUCH better than ours. Well, what is called our running game. With their running game moving the ball so well, our pass rush was neutralized.

I don't know what game you were watching, but here's how their RB's stacked up against our RB's:

Jacksonville 26 carries for 77 yards, 2.96 yards per carry

Dallas 20 carries for 85 yards, 4.25 yards per carry.

With our running game non-existent, we were forced to depend almost exclusively on our passing game.

We weren't forced to go to our passing game. We started off early passing the ball, my guess is that Parcells felt that we'd have a hard time running the ball against their defense but could take advantage of their secondary. We started out the game passing and using a lot of 4 and 5 WR sets.

(I will give the point that our running game was SO predictable, it was laughable--first down, run the ball ).

Actually we only ran on first down 10 out of 21 first down plays we had before we got late in the game and had to pass the ball However, we ran the ball 7 out of 13 second downs before we got late into the game and had to pass the ball.

Problem was that Bledsoe was awful and at the point they ran the ball 5 out of 6 times on 2nd down, it was a conundrum...do you try to give yourself the first down/leave yourself with a short 3rd down play....or do you rely on your QB who is playing bad?

However, it didn't seem to matter much that we knew they were going to run the ball. They ran it anyway. Why? Because their offensive line outplayed our front seven.

From a pass protection standpoint, yes. From a run blocking standpoint, no. Their run numbers were putrid, however Leftwich had a lot of time in the pocket to throw. Then again, we didn't seem to blitz much sans 3rd and long plays.

We have NO NT backup to speak of. Which means, when Fergi gets tired, it's all over. Hatcher or Ratliff don't weigh 320 lbs. or have thighs the size of refrigerators, like Fergi. We have got to find a quality NT backup. We also have to find an answer with our 'O' line, or put Romo in there so he can at least run for his life. Bledsoe just has to stand there & either throw ints., get killed, or get flagged for grounding. Without a running game, we cannot afford a stationary QB.

The O-Line and the run defense weren't the issue. In fact, calling out the run defense is ridiculous. Bledsoe's INT were due to bad throws on his part and bad reads on his part. He had good pockets and plenty of time, he just didn't play well and it killed us. On defense, we didn't get any pressure on Leftwich and he started to get on a roll. There were plenty of times were we had good coverage and all he had to do was go to a checkdown back who would gain ample yardage.

If Bledsoe plays an average game, we most likely win this game easily. If we get some defensive pass rush, we probably win this game. But I don't think you can ask much more from our run defense and our O-Line was hardly the problem yesterday.


YAKUZA

 

[Doomsday]

I dont think the Dline was the issue as much as the DBs. Like BP said in his press conference Jax went to more 3 step drops and more shotgun passes and our DBs couldnt make a play. No front 7 is going to get constant pressure vs 3 step drops the ball is out too quickly. Thier WRs owned our secondary in my opinion.

 

[heavyg]

The plays were there to win that game and none of this is an issue.

Bledsoe missed wide open guys, made mistakes, and Witten got screwed by the refs.

The running game will be fine. This was one of the best defenses in the NFL you do realise that?

We had every opportunity to win we just didn't do it.

You can say what ever you want but we had that game but we didnt execute.

Am I the only one who saw the hit Drew took to his head in the second quarter? I believe he was not 100% from the concussion he got in pre-season and then he took that hit. It was after that hit he started missing WR's badley and making very poor decisions. Thats the way I saw it at least

 

[Cbz40]

I personally think the OL will remain the scapegoat until Bledsoe has time to bake a cake.

It is un-realistic to expect the QB to have time to throw on every play.

The OL played okay and I dont think they were the problem...heck we even had a rushing touchdown.

Sorry...the way the OL played today and against the defense they did play against...I will take that just about every week.

- Mike G.

So will I.

I'll use the same argument I've been hearing all day about Bledsoe, the DL, the lack of a pass rush etc.. "It's only the first game". Does this argument not apply to the OL?

I don't know about anyone else but I saw an improvement from last years OL.

I know, any play at all would be an improvement.

 

[kartr]

RUSHING:

Cowboys Rushing Avg: 4.0
Jaguars Rushing Avg: 2.4

Your rushing assessment is completely wrong.

PASSING:

The pass protection wasn't as bad as you say. Bledsoe actually did have some type to pass. Bledsoe just made errant throws like he usually does in pressured situations. Flo is the only lineman that actually played poorly overall.

DEFENSIVE LINE:

This had to do with play calling. After the Cowboys went up 10-0, they stopped being aggressive. Ware and Ellis were dropping back in to coverage more than they were rushing the passer.



See above. What you are saying in unfounded. My only problem with the running game was them trying to run up the gut so often when they were having success outside. (which as noted, you seem to have missed)



The Cowboys will run the ball this year and they will throw it with success also. The Cowboys will win at least 10 games this year providing they arn't decimated with injuries again like last year. You are just panicking. Stop, take a breath and let things unfold. It was only the first game and Bledsoe had probably the worst game of his career. No need to throw in the towl yet. 99.999% of the time, every team in the NFL is short at a position. It's life. Live with it.

Thank you for clearing that up. Perhaps they'd rather have Hambrick running for 26 yards in a big game and tripping over a blade of grass instead of Julius and his 73 yards rushing and 39 yard reception.