FEATURED Thoughts after watching it on DVR for the first time

[RoyTheHammer]

While you can't be certain I don’t think it too much of a leap of the imagination to say that a decent lead would have forced the Vikings to pass more and relay less on Peterson.

And say what you will about our defense they do generate turnovers and knowing that Ponder is far more likely to pass would only help matters in that department.

I kind of agree here.. i mean im not saying its not likely we could have gotten a few more turnovers had he been forced to pass more, just saying its also likely that he burns this defense for more yardage/points.

 

[IrishAnto]

I kind of agree here.. i mean im not saying its not likely we could have gotten a few more turnovers had he been forced to pass more, just saying its also likely that he burns this defense for more yardage/points.

We'll never know for sure

 

[RoyTheHammer]

We'll never know for sure

I'm just very sour on this defense with all the historic performances we've given up.

For all the talent we have on this defense, its embarassing to see the yardage totals given up every week. Even the weakest teams seem to have no trouble sustaining drives against us all game long.

 

[IrishAnto]

I'm just very sour on this defense with all the historic performances we've given up.

For all the talent we have on this defense, its embarassing to see the yardage totals given up every week. Even the weakest teams seem to have no trouble sustaining drives against us all game long.

I agree that for quite a number of years the defense (whether under Parcells, Phillips or Garrett) has given up too many yards, at least this years version is generating turnovers (and scoring) which is not something previous incarnations have managed to do (even when we had 59 sacks).

The offense just hasn't taken full advantage of it so far.

However to say "all the talent on this defense" is frankly wrong.

When you actually look at what we have available to put on the field of play recently, it’s mostly low round draft picks and street free agents many(most) of whom weren’t on the team for the first game of the season let alone for OTA’s and training camp.

Frankly it’s a minor miracle they do a well as they do i.e. give the team a realistic chance to win.

 

[Wood]

It is still Garrett's scheme and philosophy.

Compare that to a restaurant.......a menu offers 50 entrees(sub-par food) and the chef is chosen to cater an event. He is free to pick and choose the entrees to fit the occasion but they still have to come from the menu and he is not allowed to create his own items. In the end, there won't be too much of a difference due to the sub-par items on the menu.

how do you know that? unless your sitting in the meetings we have no idea. Its completely possible that Jason has very little input in actual plays being called and adjustments being made during game. I highly doubt Callahan would accept that position as token gesture while Jason is secretly still running offense. Maybe just maybe....it's not the coaching that's is failing on the field.

 

[dfense]

I didn't catch the game today as I was out and about. I did follow the score on Gamecast. I just finished watching the game on DVR. Since I already knew the outcome, I took my time, looking for trends and interesting aspects of the game that might not have been fully appreciated in real time. At one point, I tried to chart the two teams' 'stupid mistakes' but gave up as it's really tough to make judgement calls regarding what's an error of execution and what's a stupid mistake. The long and the short of that is that most of our penalties occurred in the 4th when we blew a lead and Romo missed passes and his receivers made some dumb drops. Ponder missed a few passes badly as well, which of course helped. Here's what else I came up with in the end.

• Big Picture: This confirms my signature. JG really doesn't know how to run an offense and, to the extent that he has a philosophy, it can not too uncharitably be defined as 'abandon the run early and often'. Yes, our offensive numbers are actually pretty good but they really should be great. We continue to look like the opposing defense is dictating to us, despite having multiple great weapons and one of the best OLs we've had in a long while.
• I continue to be mystified by people who complain about Witten. Yes, he had a drop and a penalty but he also had several important catches, including of course the awesome TD early on.
• Scandrick over the past three or four seasons might be pound for pound the most valuable and most underrated player on this team. He was great today. Without Scandrick, we lose, no ifs, ands or buts.
• Carr played pretty well too. He didn't have any great plays, and his man made a bunch of catches but they were usually pretty well contested and he had multiple breakups.
• The defense generally bent without breaking and, once again, forced some turnovers and even scored. It's okay to give up yards if you're creating turnovers, generally forcing the offense to settle for FGs and occasionally scoring yourself.
• Both the kicker and punter had nice tackles that greatly helped the effort in this very close win. Once again, our special teams were better.

Here's what I saw:

JG isn't calling the plays. Maybe he should again. Callahan isn't very aggresive and same ol same ol as far as throwing a 2 yard pass on 3rd and 3.

Carr played better after getting roasted last week. However, watching him stand at the goal line with his hands in his pockets on Ponder's TD run bothered me. It's a carpet Carr, you won't get any grass stains on you if you stick your head in there and get a shot on the QB.

Run defense was not very good. The team does have OLB's right? I just didn't see any whenever Peterson ran wide and gained chunks. The middle of the line was much better stopping him.

 

[btcutter]

Here's what I saw:

Run defense was not very good. The team does have OLB's right? I just didn't see any whenever Peterson ran wide and gained chunks. The middle of the line was much better stopping him.

Run defense must start and ends with the DL. Sure the LB's should shoot gaps and make plays but when your DL was getting dominated and allowing their OL to get to 2nd level it makes the jobs for the LBs very difficult. Yesterday Viking continues to expose our major weakness (DL).

 

[CowboyStar88]

You're like a dog with a new bone. Keep chewing at that inside out thin. Maybe you'll convince someone it's the key to all our failures.

I've been preaching it for a long time dude. If you can't see a problem with it then you are like an old blind dog. But hey go ahead and think everything is Rosie and peachy

 

[Iago33]

I've been preaching it for a long time dude. If you can't see a problem with it then you are like an old blind dog. But hey go ahead and think everything is Rosie and peachy

I wasn't aware I thought everything was rosy and peachy. I don't think our QB progression is the problem, though. You don't really need to post the same thing in every thread.

 

[pugilist]

JG isn't running the offense though, is he? isnt't that callihan?

i 100% agree that for some mysterious reason we abandon the run. for an even bigger mystery, we put it all on romo.

all of it.

if he makes a mistake he sucks, not we should never rely on 1 player in a team sport. murray has some issues, i'll grant that. but we simply do not want to have a running game.

that's callihan, not garrett. i don't get why people continue to dog on garrett when he's no longer calling the plays.

they're both to blame. the buck stops with Garrett, if he doesn't like a play that is being relayed to Romo he has the power to change it

 

[CowboyStar88]

I wasn't aware I thought everything was rosy and peachy. I don't think our QB progression is the problem, though. You don't really need to post the same thing in every thread.

You missed the point but it's expected. I will post whatever I want as it pertains to this offense and how the scheme and philosophy has ruined Romo and the run game. If you don't like it that's not my problem. If you feel it's wrong back it up with something substantial. There problem solved obviously you are happy with the scheme and design. I'm not and haven't been for years. We've wasted Tony Romo's career

 

[Clove]

See this is what annoys me.

I believe the Cowboys are 2nd in the league in 1st drive points scored....

The offense hasn't been great the last few weeks but if we're going to criticize the unit it'd be great if we did so objectively.

Objectively? If you'd bother to use your eyes and not read the writing you will see EVERYTHING objectively. From your OWN eyes, have you seen the offense move the ball and score early a lot in the first half in the last several games? I know you're out to protect someone in particular on the offense, but this was a lame attempt to do that. Try again.

 

[strongarmqb]

We play to the level of the competition. They seemed down for this game. Looking ahead to New Orleans a little bit I think

 

[iceberg]

they're both to blame. the buck stops with Garrett, if he doesn't like a play that is being relayed to Romo he has the power to change it

so you don't want to understand the entire picture, just find a single point of blame.

got it.

 

[pugilist]

so you don't want to understand the entire picture, just find a single point of blame.

got it.

first of all, i said BOTH were to blame. there is nothing singular about that statement

second, what is there to understand in your point? the entire picture is just as I said, Callahan calls the play (from Garrett's playbook), that play gets sent to Romo, Garrett hears the play via his headset.
from that point Garrett has every opportunity to change it (whether it be from a passing play to a running play and vice versa). Not only is it part of his role as a head coach to make sure everyone is on the same page as far as playcalls are concerned but they are HIS plays.

Garrett, Callahan, and Romo (to a certain degree) seem to always be on different wavelengths and it severely diminishes the offense's effectiveness in both facets of the game

 

[iceberg]

first of all, i said BOTH were to blame. there is nothing singular about that statement

second, what is there to understand in your point? the entire picture is just as I said, Callahan calls the play (from Garrett's playbook), that play gets sent to Romo, Garrett hears the play via his headset.
from that point Garrett has every opportunity to change it (whether it be from a passing play to a running play and vice versa). Not only is it part of his role as a head coach to make sure everyone is on the same page as far as playcalls are concerned but they are HIS plays.

Garrett, Callahan, and Romo (to a certain degree) seem to always be on different wavelengths and it severely diminishes the offense's effectiveness in both facets of the game

"the buck stops with garrett".

single point to blame.

 

[BAT]

why couldn't he do it earlier in the game??? Just saying.....

8 dropped passes and lack of separation by his receivers might have had a bit to do with it I'm thinking.

 

[visionary]

JG isn't running the offense though, is he? isnt't that callihan?

quote]

as predictable as the garrett offense

there you have it, we have our scapegoat

 

[fanfromvirginia]

"the buck stops with garrett".

single point to blame.

Sorry I didn't respond to your earlier post. I'll do it here. You make a good point. Yes, Callahan has to share significant part of the blame but for me this make it up as you go along/take what the D gives you approach looks too much like what JG ran as OC and head coach calling the plays. Switching out Callahan wouldn't affect things much. Switching out JG would.