Have to be pleased with the 1st team offense save two plays...Romo missing another gimmee TD deep down field (Owens) and Romo's boneheaded Quincy-esque endzone interception...if not for those two plays, we end up with 31 pts and over 300 yds in one half...otherwise, everything was great
Unless they are just majorly holding back though, this defense has the looks of swiss cheese...I know getting Newman, Spencer and Burnett back will help some, but geez...the pass coverage tonight was absolutely pathetic...the pass rush was always late getting there and the run defense was shoddy. We've now played 3 preseason games and have managed one sack (on the 2nd play of preseason at that).
Then there's the special teams...been watching this team since 1975, and this years units have the making of being the worst I have ever seen. It's just a train wreck, and I cant believe Jerry let Wade keep Bruce Read. It's definitely going to lose a game or two for us this yr, absolutely no doubt about it.
Back to the good, I think other than the obvious (1st team offense) that we can all feel pretty good about Brad Johnson and Martellus Bennett...I think Doug Free looks fine as the top backup OT. Nick Folk is just money on field goals and tonight his kickoffs were excellent. Matt McBriar hit a bomb on his only punt. Adam Jones will be by far the best punt returner we've had since Deion in his prime here, and we will have a dramatic impact on field position and probably have 1 or 2 returns for TD's... Despite Felix Jones' fumble, I still feel very good about him.
I just have no confidence in the defense or special teams though...both look bad, and the expression on Phillips face tonight shown over and over again late in the 4th qtr speaks volumes for me. It's just a 3rd preseason game, and he looked like a guy who just found out his dog just died. I think he knows the defense is a huge problem and knows we're in trouble. I suspected the special teams might be an issue, but I never thought our defense would be this lousy looking even with 3 guys out.
Hopefully they (defense, special teams) prove me wrong, but it looks like to me our offense is gonna have to score 28-31 pts a week for us to win on a week to week basis. I really thought we'd win 12 or 13 games this yr, but after what I've seen so far in preseason 10 or 11 might be a more accurate prediction. We have the makings of the early 80's Chargers here IMO.
David
