Things I liked, Things I didn't like...D Town

[hutch1254]

Things I liked:

• The swing pass to Tanner.
• Sean Lee being a beast. Running like and RB and again with a convoy in front.
• On one defensive play, Drake Nevis thought they had gotten a turnover and he was ready to start blocking immediately. Although there wasn't actually a turnover on the play Drake was ready to go. Good awareness and more of the Rod school of teaching being instilled.
• In the 3rd qtr we seemed to have some success running with a mix of Dunbar, Randle and a T. Williams end around. It's too bad we didn't get a little more of that early on. May have opened some things up.
• The first Dez touchdown catch. Made me laugh and shake my head at how awesome he can be.

Things I didn't like:

• We didn't utilize screens, more Tanner like swing passes and Cole Beasley at all. Romo was uncomfortable in the pocket early. Never really he had a rhythm to get to the outside guys. Leaning on some underneath stuff may have backed Detroit off a bit.
• Mo getting held by the arm while trying to chase down Calvin on the long pass play and run. Is that a hold? not sure but it ticks me off.
• Stafford was comfortable all day....we didn't get home at all with any consistency.
• The game mismanagement from about 3:33 on. Just incredible and another log on the fire of JG led meltdowns.
• Waters going down.

I don't have a lot of gas left for this post. I'm ready to move on to Minnesota and frankly we don't need to keep dwelling on this Detroit game. It's only keeping an anger for a lot of us lingering.

I'll tell you this though when the game finished I went upstairs, ripped of my Dallas gear, threw in the corner and split firewood for an hour. I was hot, hottest in a long time.

Thoughts rolling around in my head:

• The New England game from 2011 popped in my head at about 1:04.
• Are Romo's interceptions of grandeur in important moments contributing to JG's mismanaged games? Maybe, but I think JG has a large enough canvas now showing he's quiet capable of mismanaging on his own.
• The Don Banks SI mediocrity article is just incredible....132-132.
  
• The door of opportunity has been open for years (division control, playoffs)...we're scared as hell to walk through.
• I really want to answer this but I'm still thinking. http://cowboyszone.com/threads/you-won-the-lottery-you-own-the-cowboys.271607/
• Waters going down really hurts. What it hurts is the development of T. Fred. This guy was probably absorbing Waters actions like a sponge. It was nice to see Free step up and make line calls, but it was obvious Waters was a Boss out there.
• I almost wish the bye week was now. It may have been perfect timing to fire Monte and install Rod or someone else into the mix. The defense is Turnover or give up a score only. The yardage given up is beyond epic. 5 turnovers against the Giants and they still had a shot at the end of the game. 4 turnovers to Detroit and lose. Sure you can say the offense didn't take advantage of the turnovers but every offense in the league is going to experience off weeks, off drive, off sequences. The yardage given up by the D at this point is a fireable offense.
• We're one dimensional. Romo's shoulder only. That shoulder has to battle no run game (only slightly improved with Murray in there), no D and poor end of game mismanagement from the sideline. On top of that, that shoulder sometimes betrays.
  
• The NFC East is a complete train wreck. We're still in a position to win it, divisional and conference record is obviously in good shape. My hopes are we get hot like a goaltender in the NHL playoffs and hot at the right time. That's the only way we're going deep based on the last bullet point above.

 

[kramskoi]

Things I liked:

• The swing pass to Tanner.
• Sean Lee being a beast. Running like and RB and again with a convoy in front.
• On one defensive play, Drake Nevis thought they had gotten a turnover and he was ready to start blocking immediately. Although there wasn't actually a turnover on the play Drake was ready to go. Good awareness and more of the Rod school of teaching being instilled.
• In the 3rd qtr we seemed to have some success running with a mix of Dunbar, Randle and a T. Williams end around. It's too bad we didn't get a little more of that early on. May have opened some things up.
• The first Dez touchdown catch. Made me laugh and shake my head at how awesome he can be.

Things I didn't like:

• We didn't utilize screens, more Tanner like swing passes and Cole Beasley at all. Romo was uncomfortable in the pocket early. Never really he had a rhythm to get to the outside guys. Leaning on some underneath stuff may have backed Detroit off a bit.
• Mo getting held by the arm while trying to chase down Calvin on the long pass play and run. Is that a hold? not sure but it ticks me off.
• Stafford was comfortable all day....we didn't get home at all with any consistency.
• The game mismanagement from about 3:33 on. Just incredible and another log on the fire of JG led meltdowns.
• Waters going down.

I don't have a lot of gas left for this post. I'm ready to move on to Minnesota and frankly we don't need to keep dwelling on this Detroit game. It's only keeping an anger for a lot of us lingering.

I'll tell you this though when the game finished I went upstairs, ripped of my Dallas gear, threw in the corner and split firewood for an hour. I was hot, hottest in a long time.

Thoughts rolling around in my head:

• The New England game from 2011 popped in my head at about 1:04.
• Are Romo's interceptions of grandeur in important moments contributing to JG's mismanaged games? Maybe, but I think JG has a large enough canvas now showing he's quiet capable of mismanaging on his own.
• The Don Banks SI mediocrity article is just incredible....132-132.
  
• The door of opportunity has been open for years (division control, playoffs)...we're scared as hell to walk through.
• I really want to answer this but I'm still thinking. http://cowboyszone.com/threads/you-won-the-lottery-you-own-the-cowboys.271607/
• Waters going down really hurts. What it hurts is the development of T. Fred. This guy was probably absorbing Waters actions like a sponge. It was nice to see Free step up and make line calls, but it was obvious Waters was a Boss out there.
• I almost wish the bye week was now. It may have been perfect timing to fire Monte and install Rod or someone else into the mix. The defense is Turnover or give up a score only. The yardage given up is beyond epic. 5 turnovers against the Giants and they still had a shot at the end of the game. 4 turnovers to Detroit and lose. Sure you can say the offense didn't take advantage of the turnovers but every offense in the league is going to experience off weeks, off drive, off sequences. The yardage given up by the D at this point is a fireable offense.
• We're one dimensional. Romo's shoulder only. That shoulder has to battle no run game (only slightly improved with Murray in there), no D and poor end of game mismanagement from the sideline. On top of that, that shoulder sometimes betrays.
  
• The NFC East is a complete train wreck. We're still in a position to win it, divisional and conference record is obviously in good shape. My hopes are we get hot like a goaltender in the NHL playoffs and hot at the right time. That's the only way we're going deep based on the last bullet point above.

I don't see the Cowboys going deep anywhere. I think they will be fortunate to win the wretched East and a home playoff game because on the road, their act is hideous at present. The quarterbacks they have left to face are a few that they would have to face in the playoffs. The better ones they have no answers for. The tentative ones they can push around. The only thing left in my opinion is to get the offense cranked up in every way imaginable. If Waters is lost for the season, it just places more pressure on the o-line and makes a running game that much more important. They can hide the defense if they can keep up the turnovers, but they will need to go all-in on offense...start fast, take more risks and be much more focused. No more of the stupefied, stolid and stagnant stupor that has plagued it since Denver.

 

[Spectre]

Loing Wates was huge. Randle isn't doing anything, but Murray isn't all that either. The Lions game exposed or rather solidified what this team is. Much like that game, we'll probably do just enough to keep afloat all season, make a 'big play' somewhere toward the end of it... and ultimately lose somehow through overconfidence and conservatism in final moments.

 

[dewby]

It honestly seems like we just get cocky towards the end, think we have the game stamped and just stop playing because of that. I honestly feel like, going through every one of our players heads towards the end of the game within the last minute, is "awhhh.. we got this, they're not gonna be able to move 80 yards in a minute. I'll just sit here and run with the guy for a lil bit and we'll go ahead and bring this back to the locker room and chill after a long days work"

Then 4 years later it seems like they still haven't figured it out. Seems like we come out of the locker room with that attitude every time we're up after halftime, too.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

To the OP. You are right, the amount of yards given up by this defense is inexcusable. But it is not that simple. When you consider that this defense requires that you get pressure on the QB with 4 down lineman, you quickly realize that this defense is playing with one hand behinds its back. Had the OFFENSE taken advantage of all of the turnovers the defense had generated.....it will lead to less yards being given up by this defense. First of all, if we do something other than go 3 and out. That is less time this defense is on the field and subsequently less yards this defense is giving up. Secondly, if we scored more consistently off of turnovers, we make the opposition one dimensional because they are playing from behind and we can perhaps blitz more thus getting to the QB more. This OFFENSE has not held up its end of the bargain. They are far more healthy than the other side of the ball. And have been in this offense for 6 or 7 years!

 

[hutch1254]

To the OP. You are right, the amount of yards given up by this defense is inexcusable. But it is not that simple. When you consider that this defense requires that you get pressure on the QB with 4 down lineman, you quickly realize that this defense is playing with one hand behinds its back. Had the OFFENSE taken advantage of all of the turnovers the defense had generated.....it will lead to less yards being given up by this defense. First of all, if we do something other than go 3 and out. That is less time this defense is on the field and subsequently less yards this defense is giving up. Secondly, if we scored more consistently off of turnovers, we make the opposition one dimensional because they are playing from behind and we can perhaps blitz more thus getting to the QB more. This OFFENSE has not held up its end of the bargain. They are far more healthy than the other side of the ball. And have been in this offense for 6 or 7 years!

I can't disagree with what you're saying. I mean there are a couple different ways to look at it, none of them are really wrong, I guess the one you go with is what you feel most strongly about. The defense has given up a ton of yards both when the offense did light it up and when the offense has not taken advantage of the turnovers given. At this point a better mix of running, passing efficiency and playcalling would go a long way to helping the defense out. After going through the box scores we're losing the TOP battle a bunch and even when we do win TOP we still have instances of giving up close 500 yards in 23 mins like the Giants game.

The defensive yardage given up isn't the sole issue but for many it appears to be the one most glaring until you dig deeper.