Let me start by saying that I have not purchased Game Rewind yet, I get paid Sunday and I'll buy it then. This post is being written without the benefit of having seen the all22 film. I have two things working to my advantage though. First, I scouted from TV broadcasts for years before breaking my way into scouting, I learned a ton of little tips and tricks to do so more effectively. Second, the new wider camera angle the NFL debuted last year makes it even easier, you can pretty much see everything but the deep down field stuff, and then you can make inferences based on where the ball went. If everything goes right, I'll be posting a video with a NFL Matchup style breakdown of several plays from the game sometime next week. Let's get on with it shall we?
Twitter -
For those of you who missed it in The Emperors radio show thread, I've been convinced to get a twitter account and post info during the games. It's @thecouchscout I'm really new to doing this, so any and all suggestions and/or criticism is welcome. You can also feel free to ask questions, I'll do my best to answer as many as possible.
Play Clock -
I still see a lot of complaining about the play clock being run down to nearly nothing, and even some misinformation on the subject being spread. Complaining about this issue, is similar to complaining that you haven't grown wings yet so you can take off flying. It's NEVER gonna happen. It is very much intentional. I've seen some people using Garrett talking about wanting to get in and out of the huddle quicker as their reasoning why they think he's trying to change this. And yes, Garrett has said that, but he's talking specifically about getting in and out of the huddle, not about snapping it quicker. I've said it before, I'll say it again, Romo is the second best QB in the NFL pre-snap. Only Peyton is better. It would be crazy not to take advantage of that. At some point before the snap, the defense has to show it's hand, the longer you wait to snap the ball, the more you force them to show what their intentions are. The Colts did this for many many years....and with Luck I suspect they'll keep doing it. The Saints do it quite a bit, though Brees' strength is accuracy and throwing people open. I did notice a new little wrinkle in this game though, there were about 3 times were Romo walked up under center and the ball snapped as soon as his hands were in position to take the snap. Each time it was a run play and it gained 3-6 yards. Just doing that a few times a game sends a message to the defense that it could be a quick snap. Garrett wants them in and out of the huddle faster so Romo can use more play clock to decipher what the defense is doing. It's one of those things that you may never come around to, but it isn't changing while Romo is here, it's a waste of breath/keystrokes to complain about it.
A Lighter Workload -
One of the things I'm most excited about this year is the access to the all22 film that a lot of you have already bought, or will buy soon. There are already some great posts breaking down the game using this film (NeonDeion) and I imagine as the season wears on, there will be a lot more. People will be able to use actual coaches film to back up their arguments. That's exciting for me, I can leave some things for other people to elaborate on, or we could even assign positional breakdowns to certain posters, creating a Cowboyszone scouting staff. It would greatly enhance the flow of information around here, and those posters selected would become very good at breaking down their specific positions.
Tony Romo -
Not gonna spend a lot of time here, we all know what an amazing game he played. As has been said many times by many people so far, probably his best game ever from a total QBing standpoint. He's had better statistical games, he's had games with more magic plays, but he's never been more in command and control than he was Wednesday night. He can't throw too many picks like the one he threw though, that was pure silliness. Late, over the middle, and with a defender in your face. He knows better than that. I think it was the Musers the other morning on the ticket that talked about how he seemed to be mentally a step ahead of everyone else on the field. I can't think of a better compliment you can give a QB.
Dez Bryant -
I can't begin to describe to you how refreshing it was to see him know where to go on every single snap. I didn't see a single time he lined up wrong and had to be corrected, nor did I notice a single busted assignment. If that's the guy we're gonna get all season, we're gonna win a lot of games.
Kevin Ogletree -
See Bryant, Dez
Jason Witten -
What a warrior, it's been both and honor and a pleasure to watch this guy play football for the last several years. It was kind of funny to see the way the Giants defense reacted to him running his routes, even though he was clearly hobbled, the still gave him tremendous respect, and that respect set up Ogletrees' big night. For the record, I liked what Phillips and Hanna both did with their chances as well. TE might be the deepest position on the team.
Phil Costa and Ryan Cook -
Costa only got 3 plays, I charted him with two goods and a stalemate. He's a better run blocker than Cook, but Cook is better in pass protection. Costa is strong as hell, and his being shorter than Cook will make him much much better at digging those DTs out of their spots. I honestly have no idea which one of the two will start once Costa is healthy, but they both have positive things they can bring to the game. From his limited snaps, I see massive improvement from Costa, he could be a bull in the running game this year, but it would be hard to use that as justification if he keeps getting pushed back into Romo as much as he did last year. Cook battles to a stalemate almost every run (he had a couple goods) but his pass protection was nearly flawless. This is gonna be an interesting story over the next few weeks.
The Rest of the OL -
I thought they did a very good job, especially the interior guys. Free and Smith struggled at times with Kiwi, Osi, Tuck, and JPP, but I'd like you to point me out a couple of OT's that won't this year. And honestly, if that interior line can create that wall like they did most of the night Wednesday, it will hardly matter how good Free and Smith are. Romo will move around as long as he has room and those edge guys will rarely touch him. Despite what some people say, our "bargain bin" guards were pretty damn good. It's quite possible that this team knew what they were doing when they went after them.
Sean Lee -
Sean Lee really has one big thing going for him: He's Sean Lee. It's crazy that you can encapsulate why he's so good just like that, but for some reason it works. Not gonna spend a lot of time here either, but I do wanna point out one play. Late in the 4th, the Giants were driving, somewhere around our 30. We sent an all out blitz from the offensive left side, and the Giants had a slip screen called from the same direction. That screen played coupled with that particular blitz it should have been a walk in touchdown. There was 5 blockers out in front and only Lee and a CB between the receiver and the endzone. Somehow, Lee managed to knife through all those blockers and tackle the ball carrier for a short gain. Kind of a hidden play in the game, but it cost the Giants minutes of game time, that single play pretty much ended their comeback attempt.
Bruce Carter -
Happy to admit I was wrong. I was pretty down on him during the preseason, he looked hesitant and unaware. Wednesday night, he looked instinctive and ready. Now, he hasn't arrived yet, he's not Sean Lee 2.0 (sorry Theo), but he's light years ahead of what we had in that spot last year. He's not quite as good at taking on blocks as James was, but he's better at virtually everything else. There were a few times he got himself WAY out of position, and his pass drops still need work, but he played a good game overall. I still think there is a good chance we have a carbon copy of the 9ers ILB duo. One insanely athletic guy (Willis, Carter) and one cerebral film junkie who knows what the offense is doing before they do (Bowman, Lee). I'd be ok with that.
Brent and Lissemore -
I thought they both played very well. I don't know that I wanna be taking Rat off the field for either of them, but you can't ask for better depth. Brent is the more steady of the two, not a lot of flash plays, but he's in there absorbing blocks play after play. Lissemore is much more flash, he's very athletic for his size and his technique is improving all the time, and was pretty good to begin with.
Jason Hatcher -
Man, he was all over the place, I saw him sacking/pressuring Eli, forcing Bradshaw to cut back into the LBs, and tackling WRs downfield. It's gonna be very interesting to see how offenses account for him once Ratliff is back. He got a lot of double teams Wednesday night, they can't double Ratliff, Ware, and Hatcher all at the same time.
Barry Church and Mana Silva -
What a great job these two did. Church was all over the place, he kept Bennett mostly in check, he flat out erased him on several plays, and he was a force in the run game. Ryan used him perfectly, taking full advantage of the things he's good at. Silva got a ton of defensive snaps. I knew he had a little something in coverage based on the preseason, but I didn't think he would be that heavily involved in the gameplan this soon. He showed great range from what the TV angles allowed me to see, he's a really versatile guy, and even though I don't wanna think it...he could potentially make up for a swing and a miss on Matt Johnson. I love it that we consistently find these undrafted gems.
What a great way to start the season, I couldn't have dreamed up a better scenario. Each week I'm gonna make a end of season record prediction based on everything we've so far. Tuesday night I was thinking that I could see anything from 7-9 to 11-5, depending on how the offensive line performed and what we really have in Claiborne. After Wednesday night, my initial projection is 10-6.
Have a great week guys, keep the all22 breakdowns coming.
