CFZ Thoughts/Opinions about yesterday's loss to the Cardinals!

[Cowboyny]

But if Cooks doesn't start delivering more, we've got a problem. Gotta have at least one WR stretching the field and threatening to beat you over the top or it becomes a very short field.


The obviously sensible offensive strategy against us.

We have to remember this offense has a new scheme and there are going to be some early growing pains. As teams will start taking away the underneath passes, that's when the deep shots will open up. Very hard at this juncture taking shots will a rash of OL injuries, as they get more healthy, then you can see the offense open it down the field if teams are sitting on those short routes.

 

[VaqueroTD]

Think the majority of Cowboy Nation and even the players started reading the press clippings how good they are. They haven't accomplished anything thus far, yesterday's loss was a big piece of humble pie. 1 loss isn't a season ender, but it showed several weaknesses this team has and needs to work on.

Offense

-Thought the make shift OL played generally well. Edoka appeared to struggle the most, especially in the 1st half.
-Gannon comes from the Fangio coaching tree, he was daring the Cowboys to beat them underneath or run the football against light boxes. Cowboys had success taking what was given throughout the game. Did hit a couple of big plays.
-Cardinals had great success defending us in the red zone, this has been a problem this entire season, where this team was #1 last year. Thought both fade routes were penalties, but you cannot rely on the refs to bail you out. Why was the Cowboys running the football so much late? They were given that up and playing extra men in coverage. Playcalling was bad, so was the execution. Coaches need to figure out this fast or they will struggle to beat any team.
-Nice to see Gallup having a strong game. He was the offensive star of the day and looked like his pre-injury self.
-I believe Pollard had his 1st 100 rushing yard game, Dowdle continues to impress. Wonder why we didn't see much of Duece or Turpin, both could of been weapons down in the red zone due to their quickness.
-Penalties are drive killers, especially in the red zone. They get a mulligan this week, due to the make shift line, but it is something to watch.

Defense

-Their run defense reared it's ugly head from prior seasons. Arizona was running directly at Parsons with great success. Thought the entire safety group had an awful day: Wilson over aggressiveness caused the long QB run, Kearse takes a bad angle that led to the long WR run for TD. Bell seemed to get caught up in the trash. Lve has issues with misdirection. Players weren't flying to the football at all. After saying all this, it was corrected in the 2nd half. Run defense is all about being disipline and playing with effort, neither was there in the 1st half.
-Really struggles getting off the field on third downs, the Cardinals scored on every single drive in the first half, that will get you beat by any team in this league. So many penalties extended drives, pass rush was non-existent against an average line, defensive turnovers never happened.
-Thought Bland played ok, outside of the PI early on. Gilmore had his struggles against speed on the outside.
-Lack of communication was a big issue throughout the day. Cannot give up so many chunk plays due to blown assignments.

Special Teams

-Didn't see where the offsides occurred on the FG attempt, but it extended a drive.
-Huge penalty on Turpin's punt return

Most disappointing thing in this loss was that the defense let Diggs injury deflate their momentum. Micah, Kearse and others more concerned with what Bart Scott says on edited Twitter captions, than they are on their opponent. Don't fall for the hype, and be as soft as Dem Hotboyz! Very disappointing! Looking like that undisciplined squad two seasons ago with huge penalty games.

Only concern I have for the team is red zone offense. That needs to change quickly. I feel, and hope, they will recover from the rest -- especially allowing the opponent to run all over them. Get ready, it's coming again. Everyone in the league saw that and said "same old Cowboys" and is revving up their run game.

 

[Cowboyny]

Most disappointing thing in this loss was that the defense let Diggs injury deflate their momentum. Micah, Kearse and others more concerned with what Bart Scott says on edited Twitter captions, than they are on their opponent. Don't fall for the hype, and be as soft as Dem Hotboyz! Very disappointing! Looking like that undisciplined squad two seasons ago with huge penalty games.

Only concern I have for the team is red zone offense. That needs to change quickly. I feel, and hope, they will recover from the rest -- especially allowing the opponent to run all over them. Get ready, it's coming again. Everyone in the league saw that and said "same old Cowboys" and is revving up their run game.

Yes, teams are going to follow the same blueprint, running against this defense. As for the redzone, they need to be more creative. They have the players, just need to execute. Think the loss of Shultz/Zeke shows up here. What we do have this season is super quick players that they need to utilize down there in Pollard, Turpin, Cooks & Duece. They also have two real good receivers for the fade.

 

[buybuydandavis]

We have to remember this offense has a new scheme and there are going to be some early growing pains. As teams will start taking away the underneath passes, that's when the deep shots will open up. Very hard at this juncture taking shots will a rash of OL injuries, as they get more healthy, then you can see the offense open it down the field if teams are sitting on those short routes.

A reasonable excuse for the last game. But what of the first 2?

I don't know of any reason, prior to the limited production of the last 3 games, to believe that Cooks is done. I'm not counting him out yet.

*IF* Cooks doesn't start showing more ...

It was an if.

 

[Cowboyny]

A reasonable excuse for the last game. But what of the first 2?

I don't know of any reason, prior to the limited production of the last 3 games, to believe that Cooks is done. I'm not counting him out yet.

*IF* Cooks doesn't start showing more ...

It was an if.

1st two games the defense was playing so well, where the offense just needed not to turn over the football. I am not worried about Cooks. Heard Broaddus say this week, he believed MM got gun shy early in the game when Edoka struggled in pass protection. Also, let's not forget it was reported Cooks had a knee sprain, probably not near 100%.

 

[Captain-Crash]

" we did not score in the red zone, that is the story of the game" end quote.

 

[KJJ]

I’m just glad we don’t have to play Chicago and Denver. Both teams have looked terrible this season and the Cowboys likely wouldn’t show up for either game and get waxed.

 

[KJJ]

" we did not score in the red zone, that is the story of the game" end quote.

That was only part of the story. Our defense especially against the run got shredded.

 

[Captain-Crash]

That was only part of the story. Our defense especially against the run got shredded.

Your hero qb made that statement. lol. at least he knows he is the problem.

 

[buybuydandavis]

1st two games the defense was playing so well, where the offense just needed not to turn over the football. I am not worried about Cooks. Heard Broaddus say this week, he believed MM got gun shy early in the game when Edoka struggled in pass protection. Also, let's not forget it was reported Cooks had a knee sprain, probably not near 100%.

I am a little worried about Cooks, because it wasn't just a lack of production, it was a lack of production *per target*. It's not like they were winning and didn't need to throw to him. When they threw to him, they weren't connecting.
Maybe it's Cooks, maybe it's Dak, maybe it's both. But the completion percentage was horrendous.
The most recent game turned it around. Not much production, but 100% completion rate.
There was general agreement that our receiving corps was a liability last year, and the player we added to turn that around was Cooks. Fortunately, Tolbert seems to have made a jump, so we've upgraded on what we had before.
But we still need that guy to stretch the field, and Cooks hasn't been that guy yet. He hasn't even been a reliable possession receiver. I expect he will be both. But we ain't seen it yet.

 

[Cowboyny]

I am a little worried about Cooks, because it wasn't just a lack of production, it was a lack of production *per target*. It's not like they were winning and didn't need to throw to him. When they threw to him, they weren't connecting.
Maybe it's Cooks, maybe it's Dak, maybe it's both. But the completion percentage was horrendous.
The most recent game turned it around. Not much production, but 100% completion rate.
There was general agreement that our receiving corps was a liability last year, and the player we added to turn that around was Cooks. Fortunately, Tolbert seems to have made a jump, so we've upgraded on what we had before.
But we still need that guy to stretch the field, and Cooks hasn't been that guy yet. He hasn't even been a reliable possession receiver. I expect he will be both. But we ain't seen it yet.

He knows Lamb/Gallup better, but you are right need to start taking some deep shots. Think MM is so focused on protection thus far.