couchscout
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Normally I try to take one opportunity each week to use an example from the previous Cowboy game to teach one of the more intricate parts of football. This week, I didn't find/think of anything that would allow me that oppurtunity, so, I'm gonna try to give more of my overall impression of the team, and some certain players at this point. As usual, I wanna send out a you're welcome and a return thank you to all those who stop by, comment on, or otherwise support this thread.
Jason Garrett - Jason is really hitting his stride as a play designer. Having Romo back 100% signaled a fundamental shift in offensive philosophy in this teams passing game. Earlier in the season I talked a little about how Garrett wasn't designing plays to beat the way defenses are playing us. I now believe that had to a lot more to do Romo's injury than any neglect or stubborness on Jasons part. Which, is just another sign that all of us who think we know something Jason doesn't are just blithering idiots running our mouths about something which we have no clue. I wanna call real quick attention to something that was said in my thread a couple weeks back when I first mentioned the fallacy of questioning the play caller. Someone (I'm not entirely sure who, but I think I remember. I won't call him out by name here though) tried to tear down my argument by stating that our offense was so simple, he knew the play just by looking at the formation. I just about fell out of my chair laughing at that. The fricking QB and head coach don't know the playcall until mere moments before the snap. The offense lines up, checks out the D and then Romo makes a check. Usually, after Romo makes a check, the defense shifts and Romo makes another check and then tries to snap it quick before the defense adjusts again or the playclock runs out. To think for even a fraction of a second that you know the play before the QB and head coach is so absolutely idiotic, I can't even put it into words. I bring all this up, to bring up something else that I have noticed is a big problem not just with sports fans, but virtually everyone suffers from this. The reason this person believes they know the play by the formation, is because they guess 70 times a game, and are right 10, and only remember the times they were right. The times they were wrong they push to the back of their memory and quickly forget all together. This type of thinking permeates every facet of our lives, it's why everyone thinks their state is the best state in the country, which happens to be the best country in the world, which happens to be the best world in the galaxy, which happens to the most awesomest galaxy in the universe!! Maybe being a referee for several seasons taught me a level of objectivity that many do not grasp, I dunno. My main point here is when you're trying to evaluate a football team, you have to stay objective. Remember that virtually every negative thing you see from your team Sunday, will be repeated by pretty much every team in the league each weekend. You only remember it when the Cowboys do it because you have such emotional investment, you watch Cowboy games differently than any other game. It matters more so you notice it more, and it sticks in your mind more. Remember that next time Jason decides to line up in empty gun on the goal line this week....every team in the league does that.
Tony Romo - Man, he brought a tear to my eye on Turkey Day. He's just magical, Romagical if you will. That play on the game winning drive where the shook the free blitzer and thew it to Witten for the big gain was nothing short of amazing. He once again did what I talked about last week, where he started off sluggish and slow, but when it really mattered, he was big time. Something he's done over and over in his career, and somehow managed to get a choker label. It just blows my mind. I can't tell you how much I hope he gets a ring, so all the haters will shut up. We have a special player at QB, and I hope you all enjoy watching him as much as I do. Oh, guess I should mention the 2 picks he threw. I've said before that as a coach you can deal with physical mistakes, it's the mental ones you don't want. He short armed the pick to Bennett, a physical mistake, and one he doesn't make often. The pick on the pass to Robinson was Robinsons fault. I'm sure it's been discussed here, but Robinson should have maintained his inside leverage and thats an easy completion. When defenses play man under, which Miami was doing on that play, the corners play with inside leverage and a trail technique. Smith tried to jam Robinson but Robinson did a great job beating him to the inside (a huge no no for CBs in man under coverage). However, once he had that inside position, he didn't maintain it, which led to the Smith INT.
Demarco Murray - Another section on him is not needed, just want to say again for emphasis that he is a special player.
Dez Bryant - Well, after two weeks of very promising progression, Dez played his worst game of the season. He ran into a problem that I have been worried about for a while now. A CB that is every bit as athletic as him, can really shut him down. Vontae Davis is a super athlete, and he was with Dez stride for stride pretty much the whole game. Dez even started to check out mentally late in the game. He was being used to run off the defense play after play after play. Wish virtually no chance of seeing the ball thrown his way, his routes got pretty sloppy. Another really bad sign was how bad he was misreading the coverages. I'm sure you all saw several times during the pre-snap, Dez would be motioning to Romo over and over trying to get his attention. He was doing that because the defense was showing a look like there wasn't gonna be help over the top. But sure enough, each time at the snap, a defender sprinted into over the top coverage taking away the fly route Dez thought for sure he was about to get. Romo was flat out ignoring him, because he knew from film study what the Miami disguised coverages looked like, in fact, based on the routes, I would say all the receivers knew as well. The only one who didn't was Dez. Now, the short week probably had a lot to do with this, perhaps Dez just didn't realize quite how short a week it was. Which is entirely possible since he didn't play on Thanksgiving last year. This is something I'll continue to watch, and hope it was just a one time thing. All that being said, that punt return was special, and it's one of the reasons Bryant is a special player. I loved that while he may have checked out of the game offensively, when given a chance to produce in a meaningful way, he was big time. Also, I can't wait for Miles to return, teams can't take away Miles' special skills and Bryants' special skills at the same time. One of the two is gonna absolutely go off every game.
Phil Costa - Phil played his best game of the season. He's really starting to get the hang of playing center at an NFL level. He has the rare ability to single block big NTs. Most Cs in the league need double team help, but we rarely give Costa that help. Our Gs are free to release to the second level against 3-4 fronts and it makes a world of difference. I personally think this is one of the reasons why you're seeing this team run into 8 man fronts with such frequency, and with quite a bit of success. He's quickly getting the hang of getting the snap back to Romo and getting up out of his stance quick enough to be able to make all the blocks he needs to make. While it's been a bit of a process with him, I think we just might have a keeper here. Though I'll admit that I would be in favor of drafting a bonafide center (Konz) and using Costa to replace Kosier when that time comes, or start over Nagy/Arkin if we don't see any progression from them this season.
Defense - I don't have much on the defense this week (you'll notice I focus more on the offense anyway, I was an offensive player, offensive coach, offensive coordinator). But I will say that Newman was right there with Bryant playing his worst game of the season. Marshall was just too much for him several times. I don't really like the technique that Ryan/Campo have our secondary playing, just from a personal standpoint. But we're winning games, so I guess it's been effective enough.
That C word is starting to rear its beautiful head - Consistency. This team is starting to get some consistency. We've strung together 4 wins, most likely 5 after Sunday. When was the last time this team had a 5 game winning streak? Anyone know? Tyron Smith is starting to work out some of his little inconsistencies, Romo is looking like the exact same player week after week. The running game is producing solid numbers every week, regardless of opponent or scheme, Robinson keeps catching TDs, etc.
My buddy Hostile - Count me in on this little thing he keeps preaching about called direction. I love where this team is headed. Hostile calls it direction, Garrett calls it a process, Romo calls it the journey, Commanders fans don't have a name for it because they've never seen it. I don't care what you call it, I'm all in. If you can't see that this team is headed in the right direction, you might wanna look again.
Romo gives us a chance - My feeling on this team is that we are probably a year away from being a true threat to win it all. A piece here or there and we will really have something special here. But I can't count this team out as long as Romo is under center, he can beat any team in this league. He can out duel any QB, all it would take is one hot streak at just the right time and we could be talking Super Bowl again.
Draft time - I've been asked numerous times either through PM or in my threads what positions I think we should draft. For the most part I don't answer because of free agency. I could say that I think we need a new ILB and should take on in the first round, but what if we sign some surprise cut a month prior to the draft? You never know. So, here is a list of the specific things I'd like to see this team add whether by draft or free agency, in no particular order.
1. A DE with real pass rush threat
2. A return threat
3. At least 1 more athletic ILB
4. A young safety, doesn't matter free or strong, just another talented safety.
5. A "quick" slot receiver. It seems this team has become obsessed with size at WR, I'd love to see a little quick guy working the middle. I was going on and on about Dane Sanzenbacher in the off season, he's been for the Bears exactly what I thought he could be for us.
6. One more really talented interior OL, doesn't really matter what position.
The Emperors new guest - I'll be on the Imperial report with the Emperor again next week. We haven't nailed down a night yet, but be on the lookout for that.
Have a great weekend guys, and enjoy the game on Sunday. Looking forward to your questions and comments.
Jason Garrett - Jason is really hitting his stride as a play designer. Having Romo back 100% signaled a fundamental shift in offensive philosophy in this teams passing game. Earlier in the season I talked a little about how Garrett wasn't designing plays to beat the way defenses are playing us. I now believe that had to a lot more to do Romo's injury than any neglect or stubborness on Jasons part. Which, is just another sign that all of us who think we know something Jason doesn't are just blithering idiots running our mouths about something which we have no clue. I wanna call real quick attention to something that was said in my thread a couple weeks back when I first mentioned the fallacy of questioning the play caller. Someone (I'm not entirely sure who, but I think I remember. I won't call him out by name here though) tried to tear down my argument by stating that our offense was so simple, he knew the play just by looking at the formation. I just about fell out of my chair laughing at that. The fricking QB and head coach don't know the playcall until mere moments before the snap. The offense lines up, checks out the D and then Romo makes a check. Usually, after Romo makes a check, the defense shifts and Romo makes another check and then tries to snap it quick before the defense adjusts again or the playclock runs out. To think for even a fraction of a second that you know the play before the QB and head coach is so absolutely idiotic, I can't even put it into words. I bring all this up, to bring up something else that I have noticed is a big problem not just with sports fans, but virtually everyone suffers from this. The reason this person believes they know the play by the formation, is because they guess 70 times a game, and are right 10, and only remember the times they were right. The times they were wrong they push to the back of their memory and quickly forget all together. This type of thinking permeates every facet of our lives, it's why everyone thinks their state is the best state in the country, which happens to be the best country in the world, which happens to be the best world in the galaxy, which happens to the most awesomest galaxy in the universe!! Maybe being a referee for several seasons taught me a level of objectivity that many do not grasp, I dunno. My main point here is when you're trying to evaluate a football team, you have to stay objective. Remember that virtually every negative thing you see from your team Sunday, will be repeated by pretty much every team in the league each weekend. You only remember it when the Cowboys do it because you have such emotional investment, you watch Cowboy games differently than any other game. It matters more so you notice it more, and it sticks in your mind more. Remember that next time Jason decides to line up in empty gun on the goal line this week....every team in the league does that.
Tony Romo - Man, he brought a tear to my eye on Turkey Day. He's just magical, Romagical if you will. That play on the game winning drive where the shook the free blitzer and thew it to Witten for the big gain was nothing short of amazing. He once again did what I talked about last week, where he started off sluggish and slow, but when it really mattered, he was big time. Something he's done over and over in his career, and somehow managed to get a choker label. It just blows my mind. I can't tell you how much I hope he gets a ring, so all the haters will shut up. We have a special player at QB, and I hope you all enjoy watching him as much as I do. Oh, guess I should mention the 2 picks he threw. I've said before that as a coach you can deal with physical mistakes, it's the mental ones you don't want. He short armed the pick to Bennett, a physical mistake, and one he doesn't make often. The pick on the pass to Robinson was Robinsons fault. I'm sure it's been discussed here, but Robinson should have maintained his inside leverage and thats an easy completion. When defenses play man under, which Miami was doing on that play, the corners play with inside leverage and a trail technique. Smith tried to jam Robinson but Robinson did a great job beating him to the inside (a huge no no for CBs in man under coverage). However, once he had that inside position, he didn't maintain it, which led to the Smith INT.
Demarco Murray - Another section on him is not needed, just want to say again for emphasis that he is a special player.
Dez Bryant - Well, after two weeks of very promising progression, Dez played his worst game of the season. He ran into a problem that I have been worried about for a while now. A CB that is every bit as athletic as him, can really shut him down. Vontae Davis is a super athlete, and he was with Dez stride for stride pretty much the whole game. Dez even started to check out mentally late in the game. He was being used to run off the defense play after play after play. Wish virtually no chance of seeing the ball thrown his way, his routes got pretty sloppy. Another really bad sign was how bad he was misreading the coverages. I'm sure you all saw several times during the pre-snap, Dez would be motioning to Romo over and over trying to get his attention. He was doing that because the defense was showing a look like there wasn't gonna be help over the top. But sure enough, each time at the snap, a defender sprinted into over the top coverage taking away the fly route Dez thought for sure he was about to get. Romo was flat out ignoring him, because he knew from film study what the Miami disguised coverages looked like, in fact, based on the routes, I would say all the receivers knew as well. The only one who didn't was Dez. Now, the short week probably had a lot to do with this, perhaps Dez just didn't realize quite how short a week it was. Which is entirely possible since he didn't play on Thanksgiving last year. This is something I'll continue to watch, and hope it was just a one time thing. All that being said, that punt return was special, and it's one of the reasons Bryant is a special player. I loved that while he may have checked out of the game offensively, when given a chance to produce in a meaningful way, he was big time. Also, I can't wait for Miles to return, teams can't take away Miles' special skills and Bryants' special skills at the same time. One of the two is gonna absolutely go off every game.
Phil Costa - Phil played his best game of the season. He's really starting to get the hang of playing center at an NFL level. He has the rare ability to single block big NTs. Most Cs in the league need double team help, but we rarely give Costa that help. Our Gs are free to release to the second level against 3-4 fronts and it makes a world of difference. I personally think this is one of the reasons why you're seeing this team run into 8 man fronts with such frequency, and with quite a bit of success. He's quickly getting the hang of getting the snap back to Romo and getting up out of his stance quick enough to be able to make all the blocks he needs to make. While it's been a bit of a process with him, I think we just might have a keeper here. Though I'll admit that I would be in favor of drafting a bonafide center (Konz) and using Costa to replace Kosier when that time comes, or start over Nagy/Arkin if we don't see any progression from them this season.
Defense - I don't have much on the defense this week (you'll notice I focus more on the offense anyway, I was an offensive player, offensive coach, offensive coordinator). But I will say that Newman was right there with Bryant playing his worst game of the season. Marshall was just too much for him several times. I don't really like the technique that Ryan/Campo have our secondary playing, just from a personal standpoint. But we're winning games, so I guess it's been effective enough.
That C word is starting to rear its beautiful head - Consistency. This team is starting to get some consistency. We've strung together 4 wins, most likely 5 after Sunday. When was the last time this team had a 5 game winning streak? Anyone know? Tyron Smith is starting to work out some of his little inconsistencies, Romo is looking like the exact same player week after week. The running game is producing solid numbers every week, regardless of opponent or scheme, Robinson keeps catching TDs, etc.
My buddy Hostile - Count me in on this little thing he keeps preaching about called direction. I love where this team is headed. Hostile calls it direction, Garrett calls it a process, Romo calls it the journey, Commanders fans don't have a name for it because they've never seen it. I don't care what you call it, I'm all in. If you can't see that this team is headed in the right direction, you might wanna look again.
Romo gives us a chance - My feeling on this team is that we are probably a year away from being a true threat to win it all. A piece here or there and we will really have something special here. But I can't count this team out as long as Romo is under center, he can beat any team in this league. He can out duel any QB, all it would take is one hot streak at just the right time and we could be talking Super Bowl again.
Draft time - I've been asked numerous times either through PM or in my threads what positions I think we should draft. For the most part I don't answer because of free agency. I could say that I think we need a new ILB and should take on in the first round, but what if we sign some surprise cut a month prior to the draft? You never know. So, here is a list of the specific things I'd like to see this team add whether by draft or free agency, in no particular order.
1. A DE with real pass rush threat
2. A return threat
3. At least 1 more athletic ILB
4. A young safety, doesn't matter free or strong, just another talented safety.
5. A "quick" slot receiver. It seems this team has become obsessed with size at WR, I'd love to see a little quick guy working the middle. I was going on and on about Dane Sanzenbacher in the off season, he's been for the Bears exactly what I thought he could be for us.
6. One more really talented interior OL, doesn't really matter what position.
The Emperors new guest - I'll be on the Imperial report with the Emperor again next week. We haven't nailed down a night yet, but be on the lookout for that.
Have a great weekend guys, and enjoy the game on Sunday. Looking forward to your questions and comments.
