Those Who Answered the Call (and those who never heard the bell)

[BulletBob]

Wade had said “no excuses” when asked about how injuries would affect the game plan and execution. He said that this was an opportunity for some of the second team players to step up and perform.

Who do you think answered the call and responded given their chance to move up a notch in the lineup?

IMHO:

Answered Immediately and Well

• Spencer – he played pretty well for his rookie debut. He certainly made his presence known, and actually had a sack (though not a statistically relevant one) on that 2-pt conversion attempt.
• Ratliff – filled in fairly well for the injured Ferguson. I’m still worried about our middle against the run (I hate seeing those 2-yd gains ripped into 7-yd chunks straight up the gut), but all-in-all I’d have to say that he stepped up when it was his time. He also had our only sack of the night!
• Crayton – How about Patrick filling out the 2nd WR role? I’d venture to say that he did a pretty strong job of providing a valuable target as an alternate to TO.
• Hurd - He came up big as a #3 when his number was called at the end of the game.

Answered (but somewhat muddled)

• Reeves – I guess he did a serviceable job considering this was his first outing (Wade said as much), but that TD to Burress was really difficult to swallow. Cushion by design is one thing, but nobody designs a cushion 3 yards deep in the end zone (except on a Hail Mary).

OK – so some of the young bucks stepped up and answered the call. What bothered me were the veteran guys who are supposed to answer the call every week, but didn’t.

Veterans Who Never Even Heard the Bell

• Roy Williams – I have been a huge supporter, but I am honestly running out of excuses – he is out of position way too much. He provided zero impact on this game.
• Ayodele – He is Claude Raines out there.
• Spears – Different coach, same impact.
• Canty – At least had one tackle for a loss, but zero pressure on Eli.
• Henry – Really needed to step up given Newman’s injury. Meh.

What say you?

 

[Kangaroo]

Wade had said “no excuses” when asked about how injuries would affect the game plan and execution. He said that this was an opportunity for some of the second team players to step up and perform.

Who do you think answered the call and responded given their chance to move up a notch in the lineup?

IMHO:

Answered Immediately and Well

• Spencer – he played pretty well for his rookie debut. He certainly made his presence known, and actually had a sack (though not a statistically relevant one) on that 2-pt conversion attempt.
• Ratliff – filled in fairly well for the injured Ferguson. I’m still worried about our middle against the run (I hate seeing those 2-yd gains ripped into 7-yd chunks straight up the gut), but all-in-all I’d have to say that he stepped up when it was his time. He also had our only sack of the night!
• Crayton – How about Patrick filling out the 2nd WR role? I’d venture to say that he did a pretty strong job of providing a valuable target as an alternate to TO.
• Hurd - He came up big as a #3 when his number was called at the end of the game.

Answered (but somewhat muddled)

• Reeves – I guess he did a serviceable job considering this was his first outing (Wade said as much), but that TD to Burress was really difficult to swallow. Cushion by design is one thing, but nobody designs a cushion 3 yards deep in the end zone (except on a Hail Mary).

OK – so some of the young bucks stepped up and answered the call. What bothered me were the veteran guys who are supposed to answer the call every week, but didn’t.

Veterans Who Never Even Heard the Bell

• Roy Williams – I have been a huge supporter, but I am honestly running out of excuses – he is out of position way too much. He provided zero impact on this game.
• Ayodele – He is Claude Raines out there.
• Spears – Different coach, same impact.
• Canty – At least had one tackle for a loss, but zero pressure on Eli.
• Henry – Really needed to step up given Newman’s injury. Meh.

What say you?

I say henry played worse than Reeves the 1st long td was on him. henry was giving the same cushion as reeves a lot and all he was able to do was tackle guys after they made catches

 

[Mavs Man]

What troubled me about the defensive performance was the lack of consistent pressure on the QB. Losing Ferg is going to kill us, especially against the run, unless Ratliff or someone else can fill in satisfactorily. But all week I've been hearing about the Giants' revolving door at Left Tackle, and all summer about our new, formidable pass rush, yet Ratliff notched our only sack. Maybe that had something to do with Manning's big night?

Getting back Newman will help this defense immensely, but it won't make Henry or Williams into better cover men. In fact, they'll just get thrown to more often.

But the important thing to keep in mind is, if our offense can score 45 points a game none of the above really matters.

 

[TNCowboy]

What troubled me about the defensive performance was the lack of consistent pressure on the QB. Losing Ferg is going to kill us, especially against the run, unless Ratliff or someone else can fill in satisfactorily. But all week I've been hearing about the Giants' revolving door at Left Tackle, and all summer about our new, formidable pass rush, yet Ratliff notched our only sack. Maybe that had something to do with Manning's big night?

Getting back Newman will help this defense immensely, but it won't make Henry or Williams into better cover men. In fact, they'll just get thrown to more often.

But the important thing to keep in mind is, if our offense can score 45 points a game none of the above really matters.

Did you see the Bears' D yesterday? They played their guts out against an offense that is probably at least our equal. The Bears defenders all fly to the ball and tackle like their life depends on it.

Most of our guys tackle like their goal for each play is to not get hurt.

 

[Doomsday101]

What troubled me about the defensive performance was the lack of consistent pressure on the QB. Losing Ferg is going to kill us, especially against the run, unless Ratliff or someone else can fill in satisfactorily. But all week I've been hearing about the Giants' revolving door at Left Tackle, and all summer about our new, formidable pass rush, yet Ratliff notched our only sack. Maybe that had something to do with Manning's big night?

Getting back Newman will help this defense immensely, but it won't make Henry or Williams into better cover men. In fact, they'll just get thrown to more often.

But the important thing to keep in mind is, if our offense can score 45 points a game none of the above really matters.

When Newman returns at least Dallas can slide Hamlin over to Henry side and allow Newman to lockdown 1 on 1 and have Roy up in the box as was planned from the get go. With Newman down Dallas was forced to keep the safeties back most of the time.

 

[cobra]

MBIII answered the call.

That run on 4th and 1 was stellar. He continually puts forth the effort and results to demand more PT. I am dumbfounded why he doesn't get it.

Yeah, ok, I get it. Need to split carries. Fine. But why not a 65% MBIII/35% JJ split instead of the 60% JJ/40% MBIII split we had last night?

 

[KLJ]

i thought the o-line was great in pass protection... best i have seen them in a long time.. run blocking was o.k. nothing great..

 

[Mavs Man]

Did you see the Bears' D yesterday? They played their guts out against an offense that is probably at least our equal. The Bears defenders all fly to the ball and tackle like their life depends on it.

Most of our guys tackle like their goal for each play is to not get hurt.

Sadly, I missed it. If we could see that kind of effort from our defense every play every game I don't think there would be a problem.

 

[Mavs Man]

When Newman returns at least Dallas can slide Hamlin over to Henry side and allow Newman to lockdown 1 on 1 and have Roy up in the box as was planned from the get go. With Newman down Dallas was forced to keep the safeties back most of the time.

Yeah, using Roy as more an extra LB would be a much for effective use of his talents. I'm looking forward to Newman's return.

 

[theogt]

MBIII answered the call.

As did that QB with the goofy grin on his face.

 

[Mavs Man]

i thought the o-line was great in pass protection... best i have seen them in a long time.. run blocking was o.k. nothing great..

Good point. The OLine looked improved - except in the area of dumb penalties. We still commit far too many (Flozell, I'm looking at you). I don't have the numbers, but we have to have been one of the most penalized OLine's in the NFL the last couple of years, and that looks unchanged, albeit after only one game. Anyone know where to find stats on that?

 

[anava]

When Newman returns at least Dallas can slide Hamlin over to Henry side and allow Newman to lockdown 1 on 1 and have Roy up in the box as was planned from the get go. With Newman down Dallas was forced to keep the safeties back most of the time.

I just hope with how bad the D looked last night they dont rush Newman back. Could be a long season if he injures his foot worse.

 

[zrinkill]

Showed up

The Offense (minus Kosier and Jones)
Spencer
Ware
Ratliff


Did not show up

J.Jones
Kosier
Roy
Henry
Spears
Canty


Hopefully everyone is firing on all cylinders next Sunday.

 

[dbair1967]

When Newman returns at least Dallas can slide Hamlin over to Henry side and allow Newman to lockdown 1 on 1 and have Roy up in the box as was planned from the get go. With Newman down Dallas was forced to keep the safeties back most of the time.

the voice of reason

Newman's loss is a huge impact...then when you throw Ellis and Ferguson on top of it, well...

I was disappointed in the blitz designs though...I really think getting Burnett back will be a boost too, because he is a good blitzer and has a knack for finding the seam or beating someone outside...most of our other guys either did the wrong thing last night or what they were asked to do, maybe they didnt understand...not sure, but it looked bad

David

 

[Cochese]

Roy was flat out terrible last night, he slept through the bell. I understand that it was a team wide meltdown on the defensive side of the field, but Roy was one of the worst players on the field. We all know about his problems in coverage, but now it looks like he cant even tackle. He lost weight and is playing in a new defense, the excuses are over. I just cant believe the way he played in his rookie year could be the best we ever see from him.

 

[dbair1967]

Showed up

The Offense (minus Kosier and Jones)
Spencer
Ware
Ratliff


Did not show up

J.Jones
Kosier
Roy
Henry
Spears
Canty


Hopefully everyone is firing on all cylinders next Sunday.

nobody on D showed up save Ware

and whats wrong with what Jones did last night? He had the bad play where he ran out fo bounds late, but otherwise, whats the problem?

David

 

[skinsscalper]

Did you see the Bears' D yesterday? They played their guts out against an offense that is probably at least our equal. The Bears defenders all fly to the ball and tackle like their life depends on it.

Most of our guys tackle like their goal for each play is to not get hurt.

I was thinking that all night long last night. I watched the Bears/Chargers game yesterday and BOTH defense were just FIRING off the ball at the snap.

Fast forward to the first series of the game last night and Dallas defense seemed an entire step slower than the Bears or the Chargers. I am so sick of seeing this defense letting the O-line dictate to them play after play after play. FIRE OFF THE ******* BALL! They just seem to stand up and let the O-linemen get right up into them instead of firing up into the line and forcing the O-line to react to THEM. It's getting painful to watch.

SS

 

[Hostile]

I like the premise of this thread.

Answered the call...

The O-line. They kept the Giants off Romo when it counted most and opened holes for the Backs.

TO. No drops, no attitude, just results.

Witten. Owned the middle of the field where the game is toughest.

Romo. I think the networks can get over the bobble. He has. (I bet we see it every week.)


Never heard the bell...

Special Teams Coverage units. Saw a lot of attempted arm tackling.

Special Teams blocking units. How do you let the wedge get busted that easily?

The Secondary. Needed to step up with best cover guy Newman out. Didn't.

 

[fortdick]

Roy was flat out terrible last night, he slept through the bell. I understand that it was a team wide meltdown on the defensive side of the field, but Roy was one of the worst players on the field. We all know about his problems in coverage, but now it looks like he cant even tackle. He lost weight and is playing in a new defense, the excuses are over. I just cant believe the way he played in his rookie year could be the best we ever see from him.

I am with you on this. I am starting to think Roy's critics may be right. He is so bad in coverage it offsets anything he does against the run.

 

[BARRYRAY]

Man you're leaving out Carpenter, did he go for pizza early. Honestly I thought Reeves did better than I thought, he had a pick, it was the safety on at least one of those TD's, they were playing zone and the guy did a post and Roy waived at him. I do think that without TN they were afraid to do to man coverage, and eventhough they lit us, we did slow them to fgs a couple of times so maybe it worked eventhough it was ugly. Our pass rush ain't there yet but I believe that however the season turns that its time to get young and live with it, Fergy is probably over the hill, he joins Glenn and the rest of the BP boys into the sunset. The best thing we have going eventhough it may hurt in the present because we have needs now is the draft next year, it will be the key to this franchise. The thing to remember is that we have our injuries/issues but so do all the others or will have somewhere along the road. The thing that I saw this year which I didn't last year was the coaches making adjustments during the game. BP wouldn't change, the NFL is a chess match, what works one week or even a half is out the next, our D will have a different look next week. Bet TN returns and we man up next week and bring more rushers. You got to admit spencer did ok unlike our other underperforming picks..