Thoughts on the game

[NickZepp]

Great game last night. I was privileged to watch 2 great teams going at it. Both teams are at close to full form.

Felix Jones may be better than Marion Barber in the next couple of years. And I think Barber is one of the 5 best running backs in the league right now. Felix just has amazing explosiveness. He could be a L.T. type guy when all is said and done.

Barber is still the best back this team has and he can pound teams. Philly actually did a good job against him most of the game but he got his big gains when he was needed.

Romo had the 2 bad turnovers in the 2nd quarter but outside of that he was perfect for the game really. This offense will be fun to watch.

Our offense did have trouble picking up their blitzes at times but that's because Jim Johnson is great at making packages that seem to work against almost anyone. He's a defensive genius.

Our defensive coaches aren't. We rarely ever send any real blitzes outside of Ware and Ellis. We don't use any of our speed on defense to get to the QB except for Ware and Ellis and that burns us a lot. That's really the only negative thing I can say about this game. Yes we got to McNabb late and it paid off, but most of the game he had all day to throw and I don't care if you have 4 hall of fame DBs or 3 great CBs like we have. You give the other team all day to throw in this days NFL game they will find wide open receivers against anyone. That's what happened on defense. Also McNabb just makes plays against us every time we play him. As always I tip my cap to him. Every time we face good offensive lines our schemes will get beat just because we make it easier for them to get beat. At least we shut down the run game but we won't have a great pass defense with our lack of a pass rush/blitz packages.

The Eagles are the 2nd best team in the division IMO. Yes the Giants are off to an impressive start but against who? Washington who has no real offense and the Rams who are the worst team in the NFC and maybe in the NFL.

 

[TDHND]

only thing i can be unhappy about was the d's play,but like wade said maybe both offenses were just that good.

 

[JerryFan]

Great game last night. I was privileged to watch 2 great teams going at it. Both teams are at close to full form.

Felix Jones may be better than Marion Barber in the next couple of years. And I think Barber is one of the 5 best running backs in the league right now. Felix just has amazing explosiveness. He could be a L.T. type guy when all is said and done.

Barber is still the best back this team has and he can pound teams. Philly actually did a good job against him most of the game but he got his big gains when he was needed.

Romo had the 2 bad turnovers in the 2nd quarter but outside of that he was perfect for the game really. This offense will be fun to watch.

Our offense did have trouble picking up their blitzes at times but that's because Jim Johnson is great at making packages that seem to work against almost anyone. He's a defensive genius.

Our defensive coaches aren't. We rarely ever send any real blitzes outside of Ware and Ellis. We don't use any of our speed on defense to get to the QB except for Ware and Ellis and that burns us a lot. That's really the only negative thing I can say about this game. Yes we got to McNabb late and it paid off, but most of the game he had all day to throw and I don't care if you have 4 hall of fame DBs or 3 great CBs like we have. You give the other team all day to throw in this days NFL game they will find wide open receivers against anyone. That's what happened on defense. Also McNabb just makes plays against us every time we play him. As always I tip my cap to him. Every time we face good offensive lines our schemes will get beat just because we make it easier for them to get beat. At least we shut down the run game but we won't have a great pass defense with our lack of a pass rush/blitz packages.

The Eagles are the 2nd best team in the division IMO. Yes the Giants are off to an impressive start but against who? Washington who has no real offense and the Rams who are the worst team in the NFC and maybe in the NFL.

We blitz the MLB's a lot also. The 2nd half we got good pressure on Donovan he was just getting away from it. If it were damn near any other QB in the league we woulda have 4-5 sacks in the game easy. The first half was another story. He did have all day to throw the ball and any time that happens your D is in trouble.

 

[FCBarca]

Great game last night. I was privileged to watch 2 great teams going at it. Both teams are at close to full form.

Felix Jones may be better than Marion Barber in the next couple of years. And I think Barber is one of the 5 best running backs in the league right now. Felix just has amazing explosiveness. He could be a L.T. type guy when all is said and done.

Barber is still the best back this team has and he can pound teams. Philly actually did a good job against him most of the game but he got his big gains when he was needed.

Romo had the 2 bad turnovers in the 2nd quarter but outside of that he was perfect for the game really. This offense will be fun to watch.

Our offense did have trouble picking up their blitzes at times but that's because Jim Johnson is great at making packages that seem to work against almost anyone. He's a defensive genius.

Our defensive coaches aren't. We rarely ever send any real blitzes outside of Ware and Ellis. We don't use any of our speed on defense to get to the QB except for Ware and Ellis and that burns us a lot. That's really the only negative thing I can say about this game. Yes we got to McNabb late and it paid off, but most of the game he had all day to throw and I don't care if you have 4 hall of fame DBs or 3 great CBs like we have. You give the other team all day to throw in this days NFL game they will find wide open receivers against anyone. That's what happened on defense. Also McNabb just makes plays against us every time we play him. As always I tip my cap to him. Every time we face good offensive lines our schemes will get beat just because we make it easier for them to get beat. At least we shut down the run game but we won't have a great pass defense with our lack of a pass rush/blitz packages.

The Eagles are the 2nd best team in the division IMO. Yes the Giants are off to an impressive start but against who? Washington who has no real offense and the Rams who are the worst team in the NFC and maybe in the NFL.

I echo several of those thougts too.

There were moments there last night where you could see a Felix future at the RB position but for now I like the tandem 1-2 punch they can provide...Moreover, using Felix like Westbrook seemed like the logical and successful thing to do...The thing that is becoming more and more clear on Felix is that while he doesn't have Chris Johnson speed, he does have great vision and a knack for hitting the holes...He's a gamer...When I saw him lined up there for kickoffs, I was thinking finally...Who knew though, eh?

Those 2 turnovers, in back to back snaps no less, were bizarre...That floater of a pass that Samuel easily picked was bizarre...You'd think he threw it with his left hand on that one...But the K-ball incident in the endzone right after that topped it all...Not exactly the kind of highlight reel moment you want to add to your repertoire...Bizarre...Considering they spotted Philly 2 TDs right there, not bad in the comeback...But, I agree, Romo was pretty sweet for the rest of the night...Kid can play.

Right before the long TD to T.O., I was thinking Jim Johnson seems to scheme the Cowboys like he knows exactly what is going to happen...Got burned on that one but overall, he made life more difficult than many defensive coaches can, IMHO...Except maybe Spagnuolo...Are there any D coaches that do better against Dallas than these 2 guys?...Don't think so.

A win is a win is a win, true...But, I agree on the defense...Ever since Wade got hired and we heard all the hyperbole about how these guys on D were going to get to pin their ears back and be this attacking D it has never materialized...Some really vanilla defensive schemes...The zone with our DBs really seems bizarre to me, over and over...And apart from a few sequences, McNabb pretty much had all day to throw...Save for D-Ware...Great stop at the end in spite of it all.

I think there is going to be a fierce battle for the NFC East crown between Giants, Eagles and the Cowboys...Some real competitive teams there.

Other tidbits:

Desean may be a dodo but the kid can play.

Ratliff was again the player that I love.

Finally a TE screen, loved seeing it but why didn't we see it more?

Terrible officiating on the sequence after the INT...Since when does a WR tugging and holding a DB get the benefit of the flag for PI on the DB??...Moreover, that hold on Jenkins on the TD play to Westbrook?...RIGHT in front of the ref?...Come on, who are they kidding on that play?...Swallowing their whistles just goes to show you they call what they want to call.

Those fumbled handoffs to Westbrook from McNabb narrowly gets beat by Desean's 'fumble' and Romo's 'K-ball' incidents in bizarre moments of the game...How do two guys who play so much together and hand off that often blow those plays, not once but twice?

ST play improved, obviously...Felix was a threat EVERY time he had the ball, been awhile since we've seen that for Dallas...PacMan still isn't much of a threat on punt returns...Still some boneheaded plays from ST though...Kickoff out of bounds?...Stanback??...Fumble roney like that?...That was only exceeded in ineptitude by Romo's K-ball right after that....Still, anyone notice the kid's speed?...He caught up to Felix like everyone else was standing still on the TD

Hope for a speedy recovery for Roy but let's face it, this is a great chance to see how much better the D could be without him in there, non?...Should give the haters/lovers plenty to chew on over the next few weeks.

Crayton...He's just been spotted at home, still waiting to make an impact in the game.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Romo had the 2 bad turnovers in the 2nd quarter but outside of that he was perfect for the game really. This offense will be fun to watch.

Our offense did have trouble picking up their blitzes at times but that's because Jim Johnson is great at making packages that seem to work against almost anyone. He's a defensive genius.

He did miss a wide open Barber in the flat that would have sealed the game for us. It was a pretty easy throw. He was under pressure and the blitz was definatly coming but he had time to get the throw off and nobody was around Barber. He missed that but in the end, it worked out. However, it could have cost us dearly.

 

[dmoore]

There was a lot to like about last nights game. We definetly over came some adversary, and that's always good to see. Offense looked unstoppable. I'd like to see Felix get the ball more, because every time he touches it he can make something big happen. Love Barber, but I want to see the kid in there some more. I'd like to see them in the backfield at the same time, giving the D something else to think about.

Defensively, we made stops when we needed to. It wasn't the prettiest performance, but I think once Newman's completely back, and Adam Jones and our other new players on D get some experience in our system, I think we could have one of the best defenses in the league. Talentwise, there's no reason not to expect us to turn it around. I'm hoping we start seeing some production from our back-ups, because our defensive rotation is going to have to be deep. Our offense can just put up points so fast that sometimes our defensive starters just can't get a rest.

Great game, and I'm further convinced just how amazingly talented this team is.

 

[es22]

excellent post.

Philly is a nightmare matchup for us. They are so physical on the OL&DL's and Johnson is a mastermind with his blitzing.