The perfect night

[erod]

Last night could not have gone any better. Seriously. Everybody needs to just calm down out there.

1. Romo took a shot and got up. If you have back issues (I do), that looked catastrophic. Getting twisted and bent over like that could hurt ANY quarterback, and Romo's initial reaction looked bad. But the back held up. He got up. Yes, he had some stiffness, which lots of players deal with regularly, but he was ready to go back in. (In fact, he looked mad because he wants to put this Dak love to rest for a couple of years.)

That left even more time for Dak to play against a first team that was ready to play. That was a very physical game both ways. Dak needs to get all the snaps he possibly can in case he's needed for a couple games this season. These snaps are invaluable for him.

I thought that was Dak's best performance given the competition and the extra juice of it being the rehearsal game.

2. Nobody important got seriously hurt. That was the number one objective of the night, and it looks like they came out clean aside from a mild back spasm for Romo.

3. Zeke Elliott looked phenomenal. He punked Cam Chancellor repeatedly, and I was up off the couch. He showed speed, power, vision, and some terrific pass protection. He is the real deal. It's obvious to the eyes.

The Cowboys now have 16 days until the Giants come to town. I think they're ready.

 

[Teague31]

Zeke is the real deal. Reminds me of 22 in that he just makes it all look so damn easy

 

[conner01]

Last night could not have gone any better. Seriously. Everybody needs to just calm down out there.

1. Romo took a shot and got up. If you have back issues (I do), that looked catastrophic. Getting twisted and bent over like that could hurt ANY quarterback, and Romo's initial reaction looked bad. But the back held up. He got up. Yes, he had some stiffness, which lots of players deal with regularly, but he was ready to go back in. (In fact, he looked mad because he wants to put this Dak love to rest for a couple of years.)

That left even more time for Dak to play against a first team that was ready to play. That was a very physical game both ways. Dak needs to get all the snaps he possibly can in case he's needed for a couple games this season. These snaps are invaluable for him.

I thought that was Dak's best performance given the competition and the extra juice of it being the rehearsal game.

2. Nobody important got seriously hurt. That was the number one objective of the night, and it looks like they came out clean aside from a mild back spasm for Romo.

3. Zeke Elliott looked phenomenal. He punked Cam Chancellor repeatedly, and I was up off the couch. He showed speed, power, vision, and some terrific pass protection. He is the real deal. It's obvious to the eyes.

The Cowboys now have 16 days until the Giants come to town. I think they're ready.

Great post

 

[Sydla]

During the telecast, after Chancellor hit Elliott and got that penalty, they later showed Zeke waving his hand at someone as if telling them to come over to him. Was he waving at Chancellor? LOL. That would be awesome.

 

[JDSmith]

I really like what Morris has brought to the team, but Zeke is a different animal. He's shifty and beastly, plus the speed... man, we are going to bludgeon teams with our RBs and OL this year.

 

[zack]

I agree with you on Romo. It was an awkward tackle to say the least. But if it was a real game, he was coming back in. You could tell he was in pain that is for sure. The only thing with Romo last night that made me feel kinda of bad, is that I know that the end is drawing near.

 

[JDSmith]

During the telecast, after Chancellor hit Elliott and got that penalty, they later showed Zeke waving his hand at someone as if telling them to come over to him. Was he waving at Chancellor? LOL. That would be awesome.

That's what I thought, he was basically saying, 'bring it on *****.'

 

[erod]

During the telecast, after Chancellor hit Elliott and got that penalty, they later showed Zeke waving his hand at someone as if telling them to come over to him. Was he waving at Chancellor? LOL. That would be awesome.

Yep. Chancellor was incensed.

Elliott ran him over twice, and drew a personal foul on him. He was taken out of his game by a rookie.

 

[Aven8]

It looked like Carroll had his team in regular season form to me and we were still in PS until Zeke brought the wood. In the future however I would prefer him to run around guys but I think he was sending a message as in, I am here to stay folks!

 

[Denim Chicken]

Not perfect.

That D-line didn't show as much as I had hoped.

 

[jazzcat22]

Good post. Romo said 2 years ago he probably would not have got up after that hit.
This one was the worst way to take a hit in the back.

As for the defense, overall, in the 1st half of these 3 games, not bad, gave up like what, 20 points total? Pass rush still not there, and giving up a few too mnay long plays in the passing game. But it's preseason and that's how it goes at times in regular season. But maybe Rod and Jason are also holding something back on the D for the regualr season. Seattle was playing like a regular season game. I don't think Jason gave a rats arse.

I know the defensive guru's and GM's will think that is a stretch, by saying they are holding something back. But it's most likely true. However, I still want to see something better from them to give us some type of hope. More so than it has shown so far. But as I said, this is not the defense we will see come the giants game. They have a plan.

 

[FiveTime]

I think it was Zeke's first run outside to the right where I thought Seattle was going to just string it out for a gain of a yard or two. Then all of the sudden Zeke turns the corner and picks up 10 yards! He has a great combination of skills; speed, quickness, power, shiftiness, feisty, competitive.

 

[erod]

Imagine how tired that Seattle defense would have been in the 4th quarter against Zeke and that line.

 

[dogunwo]

Not perfect.

That D-line didn't show as much as I had hoped.

Ryan Russell was awful. Jack Crawford was great.

 

[erod]

Ryan Russell was awful. Jack Crawford was great.

Mayowa and Russell got through a bit, but Wilson was so elusive, it didn't matter.

 

[ElGatoGrande]

Mayowa and Russell got through a bit, but Wilson was so elusive, it didn't matter.

Yup, I would have thought that Dallas would come with a containment type rush like they did 2 years ago instead of just penetrating and chasing him around. That guy makes DL look foolish on a regular basis. Of course it IS preseason, maybe Marinelli simply wanted to see their ability to penetrate.

 

[JDSmith]

Yup, I would have thought that Dallas would come with a containment type rush like they did 2 years ago instead of just penetrating and chasing him around. That guy makes DL look foolish on a regular basis.

Maybe they wanted them to chase him around. The coaches put guys in bad positions to see how they'll handle it, chasing Wilson is a bad position to be in.

 

[RJ_MacReady]

Wilcox simply has to go. Heath at least has an excuse for taking a bad angle on that one missed tackle against C.Micheal and that was he was coming off an injury. He's usually a very textbook tackler.

Claiborne looked good. He "gave up" that TD, but was an unbeatable throw. He even laid out and almost got a piece of the ball as a last ditch effort. If he stays healthy, I have a feeling he's going to make a few great plays a game.

The pass rush wasn't that bad, IMO. There were bodies in their backfield quite a bit but Wilson was simply on-point with juking them in the open field. Many times, the DEs were over pursuing instead of just containing him in the pocket or staying in front of him and forcing him out of bounds (like we did in 2014). Less mobile QBs were going to get sacked on 2 or 3 of those pass rushes. Even Boykin escaped some sure sacks as well. Seattle's offense seems to work best when the QBs are pressured but not contained. Keep those guys in the pocket and give the inside rush the time they need to collapse it from within.

Overall, all things considered, we didn't embarrass ourselves out there playing one of the best defenses at C-link with a crowd amped up like it was the Super Bowl. There are a lot of teachable moments that the coaches will take from that game and drill into the players. Now the onus is on the other NFCE teams to show something in Week 3. So far, Dallas has looked better.

 

[pugilist]

how many mobile QBs do we face this season? Rodgers, RGIII, Bridgewater, Winston ? The entire defense (1st stringers - future cashiers) have a huge problem with mobile QB play

 

[CouchCoach]

Quit yer braggin', Mrs. Erod tells a different tale.