couchscout
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In a very interesting moment of foreshadowing, the list of players to watch I received before the game Monday night said:
1. Center play: Costa/Kowalski
Little did I know what a huge impact on the game that would have, the rest of the list was filled with special teams players. I'll get to Costa later, but I thought that was pretty interesting.
Romo - Is there a QB in the league that gets less help from the rest of his team than Romo? I don't understand it, I coached a semi-pro team once, and keep in mind in this league, the term semi-pro is being used very loosely. The guys had to pay for their own gear, we played on some terrible fields, and only got to practice once a week if we were lucky. But through all that, our guys all knew the plays inside and out, of course our playbook wasn't as complicated as an NFL playbook, but still.
Garrett - I think the biggest chink in the Jason Garrett armor is getting exposed more and more recently. I've been saying for a few seasons now that I can't understand why this offense seems unprepared week after week. Seems like there is always someone on the offense missing assignments. I don't know if it's the scheme, the verbiage, or what. I can't chalk it up to a lack of preparation because we all know Garrett is not lacking in that area. Whatever the issue is, I sure wish it would get worked out, there is simply no excuse for these things.
Free - He's been getting roasted around here, and I'm not entirely sure why. He's been beat some, but he played a ton better this week than last. The fact is, he's not an elite LT, he's a very good one. That in and of itself means he's gonna come up against guys he'll struggle with. Romo was only sacked once and only hit a handful of times. The worst play of Frees' night was the play on the goal line where Romo was sacked and fumbled, but the play was erased by a penalty. And, the play was designed for Romo to get rid of the ball much much faster, but the defense held the receiver forcing Romo to hold on it it. If there is no hold, Romo throws a TD, never gets hit, and the win is a lot less dramatic.
Ogletree -
Ware - I remember saying on here way back in like 2006ish, one of my very first posts that if Ware would learn and utilize an inside move, he'd be almost unstoppable. Last year he would break it out on a very rare occasion, but this season he's using it much frequently and it's paying dividends. Williams was handing Ware ok all night (you know, minus the blatant holds and tackles), but in the 4th quarter, Ware used the Freeney spin move on him and nailed Grossman forcing an incomplete and a punt. Williams struggled with Ware the rest of the game. Once the tackle has to stay aware of the inside move, and can't just rush to the cutoff point, it's over for them against a guy like Ware. On the last play, Williams rushed to the cutoff point, Ware went inside forcing a double team super hold by the LT and LG, and forcing Grossman out of the pocket where Spencer did his thing. Without that inside move, both tackles push Ware and Spencer past the pocket, and who knows what Grossman does, and who knows how that game ends.
Lee - It's kinda funny when a guy comes into the NFL with one reputation and then does exactly the opposite. Carpenter is a good example, a run stuffing college LB, who also played some DE and was known for making big plays. He goes to the NFL, can't beat any pass blocking at all, and is afraid to get hit. With Lee it's the other way around, he had a rep for flying around to the football and making plays. A lot of scouting reports I read said he doesn't take on blocks, prefers to go around them. After last year, watching him in limited action I thought we had our new SILB, a replacement for James after this season. He was stepping up in the hole and taking on blocks with the best of em. Now this season, he's playing in the WILB spot and making so many plays it's hard to even put your head around it. He's been so dang good in that role, I cannot imagine moving him next season. Makes me wonder if Carter is gonna be able to play the SILB spot. Either way, one thing all the scouting reports got right about Lee was instincts. One of the most instinctual LBs I've ever seen, so excited to be watching this kid for the next decade.
Jenkins and Newman - Funny how a pass rush can make our "overrated" set of CBs look pretty darn good huh? It's amazing what coaching and scheme can do.
Costa - Saved this one for last because it's sure to be the most controversal one. Costa is a pretty dang good center. I've watched the game 4 times now, once live, once on my DVR at home, and twice I've watched the all-22 film. Only twice in the game did a guy Costa was blocking even touch a player with the ball, and only once did he have any influence on the tackle. Costa was single blocking Coefield a lot, and blowing him off the ball with consistency. His pass blocking was solid, and his technique was sound. He completely whiffed on his block 3 times by my count, but it had no effect on the play on any occasion. It'll be very interesting to see how he plays this week, for two reasons. One, the obvious, he's gonna have to block Suh and Corey Willams, by far the best DT's he will have faced this season. Two, he's been covered by NT's every game this season, this will be the first game where he will be asked to release to the second level and hit moving targets. How he adjust to hitting guys in space will go a long long way toward determining how long he wears a star on his helmet. Obviously, the snap issue has to get worked out. With this being the NFL, it doesn't matter if it was the defense calling out the snap count, or something else, it has to get fixed. That's the nature of this game, the team isn't gonna wait on you for 5 games to figure it out. But if you're wondering why he was even allowed on the bus after nearly costing us the game 4 times in one night, it's because he's actually a dang good center. He could play for a long time in the league simply based on the fact that he can single block NT's with consistency.
Next week I'll focus on Nagy and Smith a little more and have a more detailed breakdown of them. Any other requests just leave them here. I tried my best to answer everyone's questions last week, if I missed yours I'm sorry. I only have 2 people on ignore (well, one was appointed a moderator the other day, so I think that ignore automatically disappeared), so I should be able to answer most questions.
1. Center play: Costa/Kowalski
Little did I know what a huge impact on the game that would have, the rest of the list was filled with special teams players. I'll get to Costa later, but I thought that was pretty interesting.
Romo - Is there a QB in the league that gets less help from the rest of his team than Romo? I don't understand it, I coached a semi-pro team once, and keep in mind in this league, the term semi-pro is being used very loosely. The guys had to pay for their own gear, we played on some terrible fields, and only got to practice once a week if we were lucky. But through all that, our guys all knew the plays inside and out, of course our playbook wasn't as complicated as an NFL playbook, but still.
Garrett - I think the biggest chink in the Jason Garrett armor is getting exposed more and more recently. I've been saying for a few seasons now that I can't understand why this offense seems unprepared week after week. Seems like there is always someone on the offense missing assignments. I don't know if it's the scheme, the verbiage, or what. I can't chalk it up to a lack of preparation because we all know Garrett is not lacking in that area. Whatever the issue is, I sure wish it would get worked out, there is simply no excuse for these things.
Free - He's been getting roasted around here, and I'm not entirely sure why. He's been beat some, but he played a ton better this week than last. The fact is, he's not an elite LT, he's a very good one. That in and of itself means he's gonna come up against guys he'll struggle with. Romo was only sacked once and only hit a handful of times. The worst play of Frees' night was the play on the goal line where Romo was sacked and fumbled, but the play was erased by a penalty. And, the play was designed for Romo to get rid of the ball much much faster, but the defense held the receiver forcing Romo to hold on it it. If there is no hold, Romo throws a TD, never gets hit, and the win is a lot less dramatic.
Ogletree -
Ware - I remember saying on here way back in like 2006ish, one of my very first posts that if Ware would learn and utilize an inside move, he'd be almost unstoppable. Last year he would break it out on a very rare occasion, but this season he's using it much frequently and it's paying dividends. Williams was handing Ware ok all night (you know, minus the blatant holds and tackles), but in the 4th quarter, Ware used the Freeney spin move on him and nailed Grossman forcing an incomplete and a punt. Williams struggled with Ware the rest of the game. Once the tackle has to stay aware of the inside move, and can't just rush to the cutoff point, it's over for them against a guy like Ware. On the last play, Williams rushed to the cutoff point, Ware went inside forcing a double team super hold by the LT and LG, and forcing Grossman out of the pocket where Spencer did his thing. Without that inside move, both tackles push Ware and Spencer past the pocket, and who knows what Grossman does, and who knows how that game ends.
Lee - It's kinda funny when a guy comes into the NFL with one reputation and then does exactly the opposite. Carpenter is a good example, a run stuffing college LB, who also played some DE and was known for making big plays. He goes to the NFL, can't beat any pass blocking at all, and is afraid to get hit. With Lee it's the other way around, he had a rep for flying around to the football and making plays. A lot of scouting reports I read said he doesn't take on blocks, prefers to go around them. After last year, watching him in limited action I thought we had our new SILB, a replacement for James after this season. He was stepping up in the hole and taking on blocks with the best of em. Now this season, he's playing in the WILB spot and making so many plays it's hard to even put your head around it. He's been so dang good in that role, I cannot imagine moving him next season. Makes me wonder if Carter is gonna be able to play the SILB spot. Either way, one thing all the scouting reports got right about Lee was instincts. One of the most instinctual LBs I've ever seen, so excited to be watching this kid for the next decade.
Jenkins and Newman - Funny how a pass rush can make our "overrated" set of CBs look pretty darn good huh? It's amazing what coaching and scheme can do.
Costa - Saved this one for last because it's sure to be the most controversal one. Costa is a pretty dang good center. I've watched the game 4 times now, once live, once on my DVR at home, and twice I've watched the all-22 film. Only twice in the game did a guy Costa was blocking even touch a player with the ball, and only once did he have any influence on the tackle. Costa was single blocking Coefield a lot, and blowing him off the ball with consistency. His pass blocking was solid, and his technique was sound. He completely whiffed on his block 3 times by my count, but it had no effect on the play on any occasion. It'll be very interesting to see how he plays this week, for two reasons. One, the obvious, he's gonna have to block Suh and Corey Willams, by far the best DT's he will have faced this season. Two, he's been covered by NT's every game this season, this will be the first game where he will be asked to release to the second level and hit moving targets. How he adjust to hitting guys in space will go a long long way toward determining how long he wears a star on his helmet. Obviously, the snap issue has to get worked out. With this being the NFL, it doesn't matter if it was the defense calling out the snap count, or something else, it has to get fixed. That's the nature of this game, the team isn't gonna wait on you for 5 games to figure it out. But if you're wondering why he was even allowed on the bus after nearly costing us the game 4 times in one night, it's because he's actually a dang good center. He could play for a long time in the league simply based on the fact that he can single block NT's with consistency.
Next week I'll focus on Nagy and Smith a little more and have a more detailed breakdown of them. Any other requests just leave them here. I tried my best to answer everyone's questions last week, if I missed yours I'm sorry. I only have 2 people on ignore (well, one was appointed a moderator the other day, so I think that ignore automatically disappeared), so I should be able to answer most questions.
