Some Interesting Stats

[Vman]

Looks like Norm's keys to the game were fairly accurate.

San Diego's pass completed percentage was 51.4% (season average last year for them was 64%)

Turn-over ratio was a +1 in our favor (our season average last year was -15)

LaDainian had 72 yards rushing.

They had 4 sacks. We had one (could of sworn we had two - nfl.com stats say 1).

 

[ddh33]

If you told me that Dallas would win the turnover battle, hold LT under 80 yards, and keep Brees around 50% completion percentage, I would have bet on a Cowboys win. In fact, I would have been thrilled.

For the most part, I actually thought the best thing the Chargers had going for themselves in the second half was Darren Sproles in the return game.

 

[TheEnigma]

Looks like Norm's keys to the game were fairly accurate.

San Diego's pass completed percentage was 51.4% (season average last year for them was 64%)

Turn-over ratio was a +1 in our favor (our season average last year was -15)

LaDainian had 72 yards rushing.

They had 4 sacks. We had one (could of swore we had two - nfl.com stats says 1).

We should have been listed as having 2 sacks. Ellis and Roy shared a sack in the first half.

 

[Vman]

We should have been listed as having 2 sacks. Ellis and Roy shared a sack in the first half.

NFL.com only has Glover credited with a sack. But you are correct.

 

[Dale]

For some reason, NFL.com stripped the Roy/Ellis shared sack. All that shows up on the stat sheet now is the Glover one. Odd.

 

[ddh33]

The defensive outing still looks pretty impressive though with those numbers.

 

[big dog cowboy]

The defensive outing still looks pretty impressive though with those numbers.

I agree, but McCardell was open on every play it seemed. Wide open on his TD's.

 

[Vman]

For some reason, NFL.com stripped the Roy/Ellis shared sack. All that shows up on the stat sheet now is the Glover one. Odd.

I'll bet their agents just love that

 

[Dallas4ever]

They had 4 sacks. We had one (could of sworn we had two - nfl.com stats say 1).

We may have had only one sack but there was some good pressure that we haven't seen in these parts for a while. SD started cheating guys over to Ware's side to contain him. No one has had to do that against Dallas in a while and it was nice to see that we actually had someone on the D-line being disruptive.

 

[speedkilz88]

We may have had only one sack but there was some good pressure that we haven't seen in these parts for a while. SD started cheating guys over to Ware's side to contain him. No one has had to do that against Dallas in a while and it was nice to see that we actually had someone on the D-line being disruptive.

They really did have two.

 

[Vman]

...it was nice to see that we actually had someone on the D-line being disruptive.

No doubt about it.

The thing I loved most about this game was our RedZone mentality. Our offense usually acts like their just happy to be in field goal range.

Not today! I hope they stick with that philosophy.

 

[Cowboy from New York]

I agree, but McCardell was open on every play it seemed. Wide open on his TD's.

Just like the preseason, Dallas left the middle of the field open again and McCardell took advantage. Right now that is our biggest vulnerability which needs to be addressed. The pass rush appears better than last year but not good enough to make up for the huge problems that have been consistent through the preseason and game 1.
Luckily our next opponent doesnt have a top qb to zero in on our weakness and dissect us. Moss could hurt us bad though. This area should be zimmer's top priority when grading out the game and planning for hte next.

 

[ddh33]

I agree, but McCardell was open on every play it seemed. Wide open on his TD's.

And that's part of the good news...there is still a lot of room for improvement. All it takes is one guy missing an assignment for the whole unit to look bad.

Who was responsible for McCardell getting so open on those two touchdowns though?

One came on a broken play, didn't it? It looked like Davis got sucked in to thinking that Brees was going to run. Then, Davis and the LB tripped over each other and left Keenan wide open.

Didn't the other one come while Dallas was in a zone of some sort? Did a LB not drop deep enough, or did one of the safeties not cover his area? That might have been Keith Davis too.

 

[Zman5]

Just like the preseason, Dallas left the middle of the field open again and McCardell took advantage. Right now that is our biggest vulnerability which needs to be addressed. The pass rush appears better than last year but not good enough to make up for the huge problems that have been consistent through the preseason and game 1.
Luckily our next opponent doesnt have a top qb to zero in on our weakness and dissect us. Moss could hurt us bad though. This area should be zimmer's top priority when grading out the game and planning for hte next.

Cooley(sp?) could have a big game against us next week. Any team with a good pass caching TE will have a big game against us until we fix the "open middle field" problem.

 

[AdamJT13]

We officially were credited with two sacks. It's in the Gamebook. Whatever stats you're looking at that say we had one sack are wrong.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/gamebook/NFL_20050911_DAL@SD