Still optimistic and what happend to C-Mike?

[Star Guard_31]

Watch it in slow motion. He hesitated and didn't get low and try to power through. There was a smaller guy to his right that he could have powered over but he ran into the bigger DL and gave up. Very disappointing. I had high hopes for this guy.

That was the knock on him coming from Seattle. He's built like a power back, plays like a finesse back.

 

[CF74]

He was met by two defenders in the backfield as soon as he touched the ball..

 

[perrykemp]

In the offseason I thought Free could of been serviceable this year, with his replacement in Collins or Green taking over next year. Too bad we don't have anyone this year who can unseat Free even in his declined state. Collins looks to be strictly a guard and Green is probably a redshirt player this year

I think they should take a 2nd look at Martin at RT in the offseason and Collins at RG.

They need to find a way to play their best 5 OL going forward. It would be a crime to let Leary go <just> to replace him at LG with Collins.

 

[xwalker]

I'm starting to think that we should have keep Parnell and let Free walk, i saw 4 plays yesterday where free was blew up on run play and 2 where he was out of position on pass block and almost got a sack on Weeden.

People will say I'm obsessive, but I watched all of Parnell's snaps in the first 3 games. I actually expected him to struggle in the first few games in a new scheme because he's never played OT anywhere but with the Cowboys; however, he was actually quite good. Yes, he makes a couple of mistakes per game but that's to be expected considering he only had 8 starts prior to the season. On most plays, especially running plays, he is dominant. He bullies defenders around in ways that Free has never done.

The Cowboys running game has struggled primarily due to the blocking. The lack of dominating the time of possession has caused problems for the defense. Considering the improvement that Parnell would have made to the running game and the resulting increase in TOP which would have saved the defense, I'm certain they the Cowboys would be 4-0 right now if he had stayed and Free had departed.

 

[xwalker]

He was met by two defenders in the backfield as soon as he touched the ball..

Nope. That's how it looked in real time, but try watching it in slow motion. He had options but made the wrong moves and didn't put his head down and try to power through despite the fact that he is a freak athlete power back.

 

[kevm3]

The running game is struggling so much because
1) There is no Dez Bryant to stretch the field
2) Teams know there is no downfield threat, so they are free to clog up the running lanes
3) We miss Callahan more than expected. The O line is giving decent time for passing, but they do not look like the O-line of last year. Some of that could also be attributed to not having Murray and also to not having Dez to stretch the field though.

 

[CF74]

Nope. That's how it looked in real time, but try watching it in slow motion. He had options but made the wrong moves and didn't put his head down and try to power through despite the fact that he is a freak athlete power back.

Post a gif later then because I don't have All-22 film access...

 

[jrumann59]

Nope. That's how it looked in real time, but try watching it in slow motion. He had options but made the wrong moves and didn't put his head down and try to power through despite the fact that he is a freak athlete power back.

One of the "rumored" knocks, do not wnat the C-mike guys think I am bashing the kid, he was not very good at the playbook and liked to freelance. Freelancing as RB is ok if nothing is there. I just think he is not assimilating the playbook as fast as he advertised. That would explain why he was not in there later on.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Dude, Michael had ZERO chance of getting a yard. The play was not blocked because everybody and their mother knew they were going to run the ball.

I don't think they trust him in pass protection. That's why Ryan sent the house on that play. They knew they didn't trust him in pass pro, so send the kitchen sink. It will stop the run and if they don't run, you're relying on a RB they don't trust in pass protection to pick up the blitz.

There's not a tailback in the world that's going to get yardage on that play.




YR

 

[xwalker]

I think they should take a 2nd look at Martin at RT in the offseason and Collins at RG.

They need to find a way to play their best 5 OL going forward. It would be a crime to let Leary go <just> to replace him at LG with Collins.

Or just try Collins at RT.

Collins' measurable(s) are more in line with and OT than Martin's.
Collins has slightly longer arms.
Collins has a bigger wingspan (Collins 82", Martin 77").
Collins is slight taller.
Their agility times (3-cone, SS) were almost identical.

I wish they would have Collins start practicing at RT right now. He would instantly improve the run blocking over Free. Now that Romo is out I'm not that worried if he had any problems in pass protection. I think he would work through any issues and after a couple of games could be as good at RT as he has been at Guard.

 

[Kaiser]

The running game is struggling so much because
1) There is no Dez Bryant to stretch the field
2) Teams know there is no downfield threat, so they are free to clog up the running lanes
3) We miss Callahan more than expected. The O line is giving decent time for passing, but they do not look like the O-line of last year. Some of that could also be attributed to not having Murray and also to not having Dez to stretch the field though.

I agree on the first two but I think the OL is mostly about Leary and Martin playing through injuries, plus Free is either injured or dropping off in performance because of age.

 

[cowboyuptx]

Weeden lives to see another start by the skin of his teeth... If Williams doesn't make that really nice catch to tie the game, then I don't think we see Weeden against the Patriots... A lot of throws by Weeden were off and ugly... If Williams doesn't make that catch, then the Cowboys only score 13 points, and Weeden is number one in the cross-hairs of the Zoners today...

As for C-Mike, they set him up for failure by bringing him in cold on a huge 3rd and 1, plus the OL pooped their pants on that play... I hope to see more of Michael this week.

Randle's dumb butt on the other hand, *** are you doing waving the ball in the air like that on a pile monsters! I'm really not a fan of this knuckle-head...

 

[Wolfpack]

It's 1 yard an he is a freak athlete power back. I don't understand why he would let us down like he did.

He is a Sparq superstar and can't even get 1 yard when the team desperately needed it.

They traded for him and used a valuable 53 man roster spot on him while he was learning the scheme. All he had to do to repay their loyalty was to get 1 stinking yard. I'm tried of all the excuses for players that don't perform. I thought the cupcake days were over. Does he even care about the team or is he just collecting a paycheck. Maybe his hips are just too stiff to make the simple move that he needed to make to get that yard.

It was a poor choice of plays…they should have called a dive or iso run, not a long developing trap / pull on short yardage.

 

[Kaiser]

Or just try Collins at RT.

Bingo.

 

[Idgit]

Dude, Michael had ZERO chance of getting a yard. The play was not blocked because everybody and their mother knew they were going to run the ball.

I don't think they trust him in pass protection. That's why Ryan sent the house on that play. They knew they didn't trust him in pass pro, so send the kitchen sink. It will stop the run and if they don't run, you're relying on a RB they don't trust in pass protection to pick up the blitz.

There's not a tailback in the world that's going to get yardage on that play.

YR

We were working him in gradually, playing him in short yardage and planning to play him on early downs in a rotation with DMC whose pass protection we're comfortable with. That 3rd and 1 was just the first chance to use him, and then the rest of the game unfolded where it didn't make sense to go back to him.

I agree that he had very little chance on that 3rd down. The team has to do a better job than that to put these guys in position to make plays for us.

 

[MrMom]

Nope. That's how it looked in real time, but try watching it in slow motion. He had options but made the wrong moves and didn't put his head down and try to power through despite the fact that he is a freak athlete power back.

Not sure what you saw. He had one lane, attempted to attack the run blitzing Browner, but Free and Witten get zero push, Witten's man hits Michael in conjunction with Browner. No chance for Michael. The coaching staff telegraphed this one. RBBC comes back to bite you when you have guys in specified roles like Michael as your short yardage guy.

 

[YosemiteSam]

The defense was the biggest problem, IMO.

Actually, in this game. I thought the OL was the biggest problem. Every 3rd down was 3rd and long and they couldn't run for crap again in the second half. (what did they average? 2.2ypc in the second half?)

 

[MrMom]

Or just try Collins at RT.

Collins' measurable(s) are more in line with and OT than Martin's.
Collins has slightly longer arms.
Collins has a bigger wingspan (Collins 82", Martin 77").
Collins is slight taller.
Their agility times (3-cone, SS) were almost identical.

I wish they would have Collins start practicing at RT right now. He would instantly improve the run blocking over Free. Now that Romo is out I'm not that worried if he had any problems in pass protection. I think he would work through any issues and after a couple of games could be as good at RT as he has been at Guard.

Agreed. That gets your five best on the field. Free is a liability at this point.

 

[KJJ]

Michael who was just activated hadn't carried the ball all season and the Cowboys decide to use him on a critical 3rd and one it was a stupid move. They should have brought him into the game sooner and allowed him to get his feet wet a little so he could get into a flow. You don't give a back the ball in a critical situation like that when they haven't touched the ball all season. Backs have to build some chemistry with their OL that's two poorly coached games in a row for Garrett.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

We were working him in gradually, playing him in short yardage and planning to play him on early downs in a rotation with DMC whose pass protection we're comfortable with. That 3rd and 1 was just the first chance to use him, and then the rest of the game unfolded where it didn't make sense to go back to him.

I agree that he had very little chance on that 3rd down. The team has to do a better job than that to put these guys in position to make plays for us.

I don't have a problem with how we are working him in gradually. I just think it was so obvious that we were going to run the ball and it was such a crucial situation that we either needed to re-assess the situation and get him out of there if he can't pick up a blitzer or throw the ball.





YR