The positives - what were they?

[Nirvana]

Mincey looks like a legitimate WDE and I didn't expect that at all.
McClain adds a physicality to this team that the LB corps was lacking.
Carter showed up and he is adding to that physicality. Promising.
Melton looks fierce at times on the pass rush, with a nice burst off the snap. He got some pressure.
Defense was able to get off the field on a number of drives. It wasn't awful like advertised.

There were some nice play calls by Linehan. I liked the use of Harris as a RB.
Murray had great success running the ball (costly fumble though.)

 

[links18]

Beasley looked decent in the confines of his role.

 

[Nirvana]

Beasley looked decent in the confines of his role.

He did. Great guy to have on the field on third down.

 

[bysbox1]

He did. Great guy to have on the field on third down.

Reminds me of Ricky Proehl . . . . .

 

[Ken]

Fred and Martin played awesome.

Ro is a potential cog in the middle.

Dline played well.

Demarco.

 

[Kaiser]

Are threads like this allowed? I've heard different answers and I'm ...umm... asking for a friend.

I agree with your positives, I thought Mincey would be OK and he was better than that. We basically played without our starting DT's and we still got solid play out of Hayden, a 6th round pick and a UDFA.

On offense I think the main positive is that Dallas moved the ball down the field in the run game and SF never really stopped them. It wasn't enough on a day with snakebit fumbles and Romo playing horribly, but over the course of the season that is something you can ride to a winning record.

 

[scottsp]

In a game that proved to be plenty alarming in a number of areas, a bright spot for sure was seeing McClain - who is obviously far from top form - displaying a willingness to mix it up inside against a really physical offensive front. That guy brings a load.

 

[Nirvana]

Hayden made a couple of nice plays.

 

[Wheeltax]

I'm really excited about Ro McClain.

I think Romo will knock the rust off and get it together, probably as soon as next week. I think it will get better from here.

The defense played more than well enough to win against a team that, even though they've probably taken a step back, has been to the NFCCG for the last 3 years.

All that said, you can't really judge anything from a week 1 game. There were crazy first-games all around the league. 9 Vegas underdogs won today. I was as disappointed as anyone watching the game, but big-picture, I don't think it means anything as far as the season goes. If we go through another couple of weeks like this...then we're in trouble. For now, no reason to jump off the boat.

 

[JoeKing]

The positive spin I see some of you putting forward makes little difference considering all the negatives. I don't mind so much losing if the team played well for the most part but that's not the case here. I'm going to try to forget what I witnessed verses the 49ers. The Cowboys team that showed up verses the 49ers can't win a single game this season because it is too busy beating itself.

 

[CCBoy]

Dunbar got a dinger? Rolando McClain showed up and with a little Mr. Nasty as well. Carter started to fly around a little...after he pulled his head out. The linebackers showed up this game...but I can't say that for the defensive line and secondary as a group yet.

 

[Oh_Canada]

The positive spin I see some of you putting forward makes little difference considering all the negatives. I don't mind so much losing if the team played well for the most part but that's not the case here. I'm going to try to forget what I witnessed verses the 49ers. The Cowboys team that showed up verses the 49ers can't win a single game this season because it is too busy beating itself.

There is one huge negative (Romo) and some lesser ones like the secondary. If Romo plays like he did last year Cowboys win that game, it's not like they were overwhelmed.

 

[bark]

Positives? Here you go.... I thought we were just as physical as San Fran ( granted they were missing some of their most physical players)
Take away those dumb plays by the qb and the Murray fumble and it would have been interesting to see how our run game would have wore on them in a tight contest.

 

[Ender]

I thought the oline played great, the front four was not as bad as i expected them to be.

 

[yentl911]

Carter was solid and made some plays.
Beasley did a nice job on his routes and pass catching
Harris played well
O- line as a whole played pretty well all afternoon - we were able to run the ball right down their throats all day
Murray played well - the fumble aside

 

[Nation]

Positives are that if the turnovers didn't happen in horribly crippling fashion (returned for a TD, potential TD instead returned to the 1 yard line, TD becomes touchback INT) we could have given SF a game. We certainly didn't, and it's not something to build on or anything like that, but I didn't feel like we were horribly outmatched either.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

The Cowboys Scored 14 points in the second half while shutting out San Fran in the second half?

 

[waving monkey]

The positive spin I see some of you putting forward makes little difference considering all the negatives. I don't mind so much losing if the team played well for the most part but that's not the case here. I'm going to try to forget what I witnessed verses the 49ers. The Cowboys team that showed up verses the 49ers can't win a single game this season because it is too busy beating itself.

that's what i find positive is mistakes are correctable

 

[CCBoy]

that's what i find positive is mistakes are correctable

lol, advice to Jason Garrett: 'Use the force, Luke.'

 

[BotchedLobotomy]

I thought the front 7 looked better than I expected. Saw some good things from that ragtag group that at least gives me some hope for this defense.

I think the OL is going to be dominate as the season goes on. Smith had a few bumps this game, but we know he's the real deal, so no worries.

Not saying this team has any chance whatsoever of competing for a title this year, but if the two groups mentioned above can put a good season together, this team can at least be competitive.