Some short insights on the game last night

[cowboyjoe]

Ok, first i am breaking down the game so will be later when i write my full dialogue on the game. These are the things I think we need to improve on.

First, punt returner, we need one badly. Forget using Newman, because that's how Newman got hurt last year returning punts in practice. And I think that how Newman pulled or tightened his hamstring again, working on punt returns this year. Time to wake up Wade and realize Newman gets hurt returning punts!
It is the head coaches job to find a punt returner. Tom Landry worked with the punter, kicker, punt returner and so did Bill Parcells. Do your job wade. And if that means to get your son Wes to do his job and find a punt retuner. Since he is quality coach management, then have him do his job Wade. A guy like R W McQuarters would do wonders for this team and he could help out the young CBs some, even if it is just preseason, till a punt returner steps up.

Second, another hidden agenda is the play of fullback. I am sure that all of you saw Barber get onto the fullback for not blocking. While Anderson our starting fullback has been hurt the last 2 years off and on, is injured now and wont be back till first game of the season. Time to either find a fullback, that can play fulltime or go to double TE set and use John Phillips some as fullback. Heck, I would even try Lattimore some at fullback. Remember now, we lost a game or 2 last year due to Anderson being hurt at fullback and we didnt have a lead blocker. Its kinda like Parcells said once, you are what you are, Deon Anderson has been hurt now 2 1/2 years running now.

Third, penalities, sloppy football playing. That has got to stop.

Fourth, exchange between center and QB must be worked on some more. Granted was somewhat better than last year, but we dont need that biting us in the rear end this year.

Finally, fifth, our cornerbacks either arent being taught right, the backups or either they arent working their technique, they arent turning their heads looking for the ball.

Like Hostile said, I think the offensive line is better than last year, Doug Free did play pretty good, and Proctor only had one bad play that I could tell of, but he is too light at guard, better at center, pulling etc. Holland looked good too like Hostile said. Hopefully, our young dbs had the belly flops last year, and will get over the first game of playing, because I still think Mickens will be a player, and quiet possibly his knee is still bothering him somewhat, more than Wade is saying. I still think Jason Williams will play dividends down the road, about the 8th to 10th game, to settle in to the defense, he does have superior speed, 4.49 in the 40, which is superior for a linebacker at 242. Also, equipment check is needed, for whatever reason, Romo couldnt hear the mic in his helmet. That shouldnt have happened! Might need to work on our exchance between the field goal kicker Folk and Mcbrair alittle more too.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Newman didn't get hurt on punts last year. He was covering someone on defense when they went to the ground and a third player came in and fell on him when he was already stretched out in an awkward position.

And where is Wes supposed to find a punt returner?

I've always liked McQuarters, though.

And this "corners turning their heads" thing always has cracked me up. It's obviously from people who never played corner before or covered man to man. Brown just isn't a good corner and Mickens was a rookie playing his first NFL game ever. Not a surprise they didn't cover well.

 

[bbgun]

We've been beaten over the head about our thin offensive-line, but the lack of depth on defense was the most shocking, depressing revelation.

 

[cowboyjoe]

Newman didn't get hurt on punts last year. He was covering someone on defense when they went to the ground and a third player came in and fell on him when he was already stretched out in an awkward position.

I heard and read that Newman pulled a hamstring slightly returning punts last year in preseason. My point is, the adding on of returning punts for a player that is 31 years old now is too much for Newman. Newman should only be playing on defense, not special teams. Its wearing on newmans body, the extra work at punt returns.

And where is Wes supposed to find a punt returner? Right there is a start on McQuarters, thats the quality coordinators job to find such players. Remember the big fullback that the giants have now, well, thats some of wes phillips late work, the giants signed him as a free agent, and he is a pretty good decent fullback.

I've always liked McQuarters, though.

And this "corners turning their heads" thing always has cracked me up. It's obviously from people who never played corner before or covered man to man. Brown just isn't a good corner and Mickens was a rookie playing his first NFL game ever. Not a surprise they didn't cover well.
I understand your thinking on corners turning their heads, but all good cbs turn their heads at some point. However, in Dallas it seems that our cbs dont turn their head or told not too. Thats the point I am trying to make. It's all about techniques and teaching from the coaching staff.

 

[poke]

so you start off with saying Newman isn't a punt returner...uhhh he didn't even play last night. the guy Reid who muffed one wont be on this team.

then you moved to fullback play. lets see, our starter is hurt, its the 1st PREseason game, let's start trying a player who has not been a fullback.

sloppy football, penalties. rookies, camp bodies and awful early to start the hand wringing and rueage.

center exchange....this one you are correct on. it shouldnt still be a problem.

cornerbacks....Newman and Jenkins out, young guys in first game.

as i said in another thread. some folks just couldnt seem to wait to start
pushing their "Wade Sucks" agendas.

 

[cowboyjoe]

I kinda feared that when we didnt draft a backup NT in the draft or a defensive linemen in the draft.

Only time will tell about Savaii, from what I have seen of him though, its the young linebackers that were making mistakes last night, not Savaii, he was pretty well holding his own.

 

[Wezsh0T]

Mickey Spags mentioned that the microphone/headset problems were due to frequency overlap. He was having them when he was trying to report from the sidelines and it didnt get solved until the Cowboy's second drive.

I'm starting to think the CB head turning issue is one of coaching. Think about it. Our CBs, even the good one have had this problem for a REALLY long time. What's the constant here? Dave Campo. Then again, our CBs didn't really turn their heads under Parcels either and Campo wasn't here at the time. Maybe it's not Dave Campo...he's coached some good CBs in his time.

 

[cowboyjoe]

so you start off with saying Newman isn't a punt returner...uhhh he didn't even play last night. the guy Reid who muffed one wont be on this team.
Poke, Newman has been hurt somewhat in preseason when he was on the punt return teams, my point I am trying to make, he is too old to return punts now at 31. Not sure if your aware of it or not, but Newman is one of the strongest players on the team body wise. In fact coaches have tried to get him not to work his body so heavily, due to pulling hamstrings etc, because his body is so tight. The extra work that Newman is doing is adding to his injury problems to me.

then you moved to fullback play. lets see, our starter is hurt, its the 1st PREseason game, let's start trying a player who has not been a fullback.
Deon the startint fullback has been hurt the last 2 years, and now in preseason. Last year we lost a game because he couldnt play due to no fullback on the team. Now he will be out a full month. I believe like Parcells said, you are what you are. Deon Anderson is injury prone. Lattimore did pretty good last night to me, so why not try him some at fullback. I am not saying use Lattimore 24/7 at fullback, because the cowboys dont use the fullback that much anymore, but the double TE set.

sloppy football, penalties. rookies, camp bodies and awful early to start the hand wringing and rueage.
I can tolerate a game if we our outplayed, but when you play sloppy football, that I cant stand. What was the big thing everyone was saying last year, sloppy football. Howie Long, Terry Bradshaw, Jimmy Johnson, The Moose, Nate Newton all said it, was nothing but sloppy football. Now, it is a little better in some areas. But when your head coach comes out and says tuesday, we had a sloppy practice, thats on your head coach to get those players ready to play, just like DC said in his post today. Generally, in football, you play like you practice, the cowboys need I remind you, practiced poorly Tuesday, even wade phillips said so.

center exchange....this one you are correct on. it shouldnt still be a problem.
Exactly! That goes to coaching and getting the players ready so it doesnt happen again.

cornerbacks....Newman and Jenkins out, young guys in first game.
Didnt I say that just like Hostile said, the young players had jitters hopefully. And they will play better the next game. And that I liked Mickens.

as i said in another thread. some folks just couldnt seem to wait to start
pushing their "Wade Sucks" agendas.
I just dont like wade as a head coach(I like him as a defensive coordinator only), he just doesnt have that look, the mean disposition, did you happen to watch Andy Reid today in press conference, he has that look, that the players either fear him or respect him. I dont get that from wade. When your head coach comes out on a press conference and says they didnt practice good tuesday, etc. But that wade addressed the team, sure didnt look like anything changed from that talking to the players did it?

 

[Wezsh0T]

Honestly, the sloppy Tuesday practice seemed like the result of fatigue. By all accounts, the Cowboys have really been working hard during training camp. Sometimes, no matter how much you "motivate", players make tired mistakes. This will often translate to game day as well. I'd like to think our practices and installs are designed to have us peak a bit later than the first preseason game.

The key sign is that the first teams executed fairly well. I'm not super concerned about the penalties from them at this point because it's really the first full contact they've had all preseason. The 2nd and 3rd teams have so many rookies playing that we have to expect a certain degree of sloppiness. If it's still like that the third game, I'd be concerned. I think the reason it's scary is because it looks uncomfortably similar to the trend of a sloppy team that we've all seen before. Give it a chance...

Another big improvement is that Wade called this one from the start. He would never have called his team out last year and would have said, "it's all on me". The fact that he recognized what was happening is a positive.

 

[SMCowboy]

First off, it is the first preseason game, the first preseason game is ALWAYS sloppy. Players are excited and have nerves, especially the rookies (and we have a TON of them this year).

Secondly, I am really tired of this non since about it being the head coaches job to get players fired up. Yes, a coach can get players fired up, but no coach no matter how good they are can get a team fired up EVERY game, the players quit listening. In the end, it comes down to the players they are the ONLY ones that con consistently get themselves fired up. You have any doubt quit acting like a genius behind your keyboard and actually talk to REAL coaches, they will tell you.

If a players does not have desire to play, no amount of yelling, screaming, threatening, bribing, or anything else that a coach can do will make a lick of difference. And if a player does have the desire to play, the coach doesn't have to do anything to get them to go out and play for you.

 

[SMCowboy]

I just dont like wade as a head coach(I like him as a defensive coordinator only), he just doesnt have that look, the mean disposition, did you happen to watch Andy Reid today in press conference, he has that look, that the players either fear him or respect him. I dont get that from wade. When your head coach comes out on a press conference and says they didnt practice good tuesday, etc. But that wade addressed the team, sure didnt look like anything changed from that talking to the players did it?

Having a look means absolutely NOTHING. Players play for and respect coaches NOT because of how mean they look, but because of how good of a coach they are and the knowledge they have of the game.

There have been great HOF coaches that act like good old guys, there have been great HOF coaches they look like they are ready to tear your head off, for every little mistake that you make, and there are great head coaches they never give any reaction of the sidelines. How the coach acts on the sidelines or acts in the press conference means nothing, what matters is how well he knows the game, and can keep everyone on the same "team".

The Cowboys had all of the EXACT same issues with Bill Parcells as the HC as we are complaining about with Wade Phillips, and they don't come any meaner and scarier than Bill Parcells.

 

[AsthmaField]

People forget that Dallas had sloppy games and bad practices under Jimmy Johnson, too. I remember several times over the years when Johnson was upset because everyone had dead legs from camp. I also remember some bad preseason games under Jimmy. Sloppy technique, poor performances by the backups, penalties... it happens, particularly if you're talking about the first preseason game.

Heck, the best preseason that I've seen the Cowboys have was 1989 in Jimmy Johnson's first year in Dallas. They looked sharp in all 4 preseason games, winning them all. Of course we all remember that the '89 Cowboys went 1 - 15.

Every team has bad preseason games and every team has poor practices during the first few weeks of camp. Jesus.

Gross over-reaction across the board.

 

[cowboyjoe]

You have any doubt quit acting like a genius behind your keyboard and actually talk to REAL coaches, they will tell you.

If a players does not have desire to play, no amount of yelling, screaming, threatening, bribing, or anything else that a coach can do will make a lick of difference. And if a player does have the desire to play, the coach doesn't have to do anything to get them to go out and play for you.

SM Cowboy, I do know this, from watching Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson coach, the players have to either respect you or fear you as a head coach.

If you dont have that respect, etc,then your not a successful head coach. The way Jimmy Johnson got his players to play hard, was really basically simple. He cut, fired and traded players left and right.

That in itself woke the players up to them being possibly cut, traded or released. Wade and Jerry did this at the start of this year by releasing T O, pacman, Tank Johnson, Greg Ellis, Tony Curtis and a few others. Now, wade and jerry have to take the next step and keep sending that message, players that make bone headed mistakes, dont give their all will either be cut, released or traded. Thats the way you send a message. Eventually, then you get down to the players that really want to play and you get off of your teams players that are just coasting.

 

[Bigdog]

Newman didn't get hurt on punts last year. He was covering someone on defense when they went to the ground and a third player came in and fell on him when he was already stretched out in an awkward position.

I heard and read that Newman pulled a hamstring slightly returning punts last year in preseason. My point is, the adding on of returning punts for a player that is 31 years old now is too much for Newman. Newman should only be playing on defense, not special teams. Its wearing on newmans body, the extra work at punt returns.

And where is Wes supposed to find a punt returner? Right there is a start on McQuarters, thats the quality coordinators job to find such players. Remember the big fullback that the giants have now, well, thats some of wes phillips late work, the giants signed him as a free agent, and he is a pretty good decent fullback.

I've always liked McQuarters, though.

And this "corners turning their heads" thing always has cracked me up. It's obviously from people who never played corner before or covered man to man. Brown just isn't a good corner and Mickens was a rookie playing his first NFL game ever. Not a surprise they didn't cover well.
I understand your thinking on corners turning their heads, but all good cbs turn their heads at some point. However, in Dallas it seems that our cbs dont turn their head or told not too. Thats the point I am trying to make. It's all about techniques and teaching from the coaching staff.

I agree with you on this. It just did not seem like the CB's were turning their heads when the ball was coming.

 

[cowboyjoe]

, Having a look means absolutely NOTHING. Players play for and respect coaches NOT because of how mean they look, but because of how good of a coach they are and the knowledge they have of the game.

SM Cowboy,That is true, but also when players that are good players like Nate Newton was and Newton said, he played hard because he feared at any time in the 90's Jimmy Johnson would cut or trade him. Thats fear my friend, nothing else, but a head coach totally in charge. Then its true when players saw what jimmy johnson was doing team wise, they believed in him, and worked even harder. Thats where I said you have to have respect, that players realize you know what your talking about and you will get them to a super bowl to win it, Winning is whats its all about my friend. Bottom Line!

There have been great HOF coaches that act like good old guys, there have been great HOF coaches they look like they are ready to tear your head off, for every little mistake that you make, and there are great head coaches they never give any reaction of the sidelines. How the coach acts on the sidelines or acts in the press conference means nothing, what matters is how well he knows the game, and can keep everyone on the same "team".

What I mean on the sidelines, in media my friend sm cowboy is this, a Head Coach has that certain look in the eye, determination to win, no matter what and he will get the job done. You see that when you watching jimmy johnson on video or andy reid. Granted Reid doesnt have a super bowl win, but he did get the eagles to the super bowl, and he did get the eagles to 4 championship games in nfc. How many playoff games has good ole wade won SM Cowboy?

The Cowboys had all of the EXACT same issues with Bill Parcells as the HC as we are complaining about with Wade Phillips, and they don't come any meaner and scarier than Bill Parcells.
Now this part I agree with, Parcells was tough and mean, but we all know Parcells didnt have total control of the team, not like wade has now. Think about it, wade got the special team players he wanted in the draft, got mostly defensive players in the draft, got Brooking, Igor, Sensabaugh, got rid of T O, pacman, Tank Johnson, Burger, Tony Curtis, Greg Ellis, so wade has gotten more from jerry jones this year than any other head coach before him in dallas since jimmy johnson. Now, does wade have total control no, we all know jason garrett is here and offensive line coach due to what jerry jones wanted, but wade has gotten more this year than any other head coach since jimmy johnson.

 

[dmq]

Heck, the best preseason that I've seen the Cowboys have was 1989 in Jimmy Johnson's first year in Dallas. They looked sharp in all 4 preseason games, winning them all. Of course we all remember that the '89 Cowboys went 1 - 15.

Gross over-reaction across the board.

We were really grea that 1989 preseason. I even thought we were a very good 1-15 team.

I try not to over react during preseason. Heck even the first few games don't even tell the story. This team needs to be about finishing.

 

[cowboyjoe]

i dont remember of any sloppy teams during the season under jimmy johnson after 1990 season. And if a player generally did sloppy, he generally got cut, remember lin elliot, or curvin richards? thats my point, when a player messes up big time and does it more than once, you send that message that you will not tolerate it on your team by cutting that player or trading them.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Gross over-reaction across the board.

Get ready for part two in a few days.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

good stuff, Asthma

people also forget that preseason games don't start to resemble actual regular season games until the 3rd week of preseason

and that's it, the 1st, 2nd and 4th games are just expiramenting with new wrinkles, and seeing what the backups have

 

[Chocolate Lab]

What? Wade has more control than Parcells had?

Okay.