Umm, the OL is as bad now as it was under Parcells.

[slogriff]

OL is one place where I wouldn't spell players, though. Doug Free only needs one big mistake to have Romo lost of the year.

How can you allow any position to be in a situation where you can't afford to sit a player for as little as 1 series? What would you do if the guy (ie Flozell) blows his knee out and is out for the season? Sending a message to the starter (ie Adams) would outweigh the very slight chance of a greater risk of injury to Romo. IMO

 

[Idgit]

How can you allow any position to be in a situation where you can't afford to sit a player for as little as 1 series? What would you do if the guy (ie Flozell) blows his knee out and is out for the season? Sending a message to the starter (ie Adams) would outweigh the very slight chance of a greater risk of injury to Romo. IMO

Depends on the position. You don't mess with LT--where your tackle is on an island against the other team's best pass rusher--to send a message. You lose your LT for a season, and you have to change your offensive game plan around to chip on that side to make sure your protection stays in place.

Flozell was also playing hurt much of the season, so benching him as a result doesn't really send much of a message to anyone.

 

[UKCowboysFan]

I know the O-Line have underperformed this year, but don't forget the second half of the Play-off loss to the Giants last season.

Once the Gnats realised that they could pin their ears back & come after Romo, the O-Line couldn't stop them then either.

I don't believe it's just down to the change of coach, there is something fundementally wrong with our blocking & blitz pick-up.

I don't know what the answer is, if I did i guess I'd be getting paid big money to sort it out.



PS I know it's tough to win with a poor O-Line, but ours isn't as bad as the Steelers, an how many games did they win?

 

[This is Our Year]

Through the Parcells era the only o-line unit that has been very good was last years.................hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 13-3 what a surprise.

 

[The Curly One]

This is the result of refusing to move on from Flozell Adams who is the very definition of inconsistant and mistake prone. He sets the tone for the whole line's play.

Supposedly Flosmell is the anchor of our line yet I think he is the weakest link. He gets beat on every play that he does not get a holding or false start penalty. That is pretty consistant even if it is consistantly bad. The whole offensive line has not performed good since before Troy Aikman left in fact the lack of protection is what forced Aikman to retire. Flosmell came here and they expected so much from him. There was always some lame excuse, "He was still learning the system" "He was hurt" "He did not understand what Parcells wanted from him" (one of my personal favorites! Try blocking maybe? Just a thought) "He can not hear the calls" or what ever but he has never produced for what ever reason or excuse.
Then I liked lets give him a big contract raise and I am sure he will pick up his play. See how well that worked out. Now what is plan B? Since obviously plan A worked out so well.

It is not like he is a cancer or anything. Just like the TO apologist there is always some lame excuse but nobody wants to accept responsibility and face the facts.

The reason we went to the playoffs with Quincy Carter is because he was the best scrambling Quarterback we have ever had. Now he could not throw a very accurate pass but he was good at avoiding sacks with virtually no protection. I did not like Quincy for many reasons but even I have to admit when you do not have an offensive line you better have a quarterback who can scramble. Quincy and Bledsoe have proved that theory both ways.

The reason Romo does pretty good is because he is good at avoiding sacks with no protection. Think what he could do if we had an offensive line!
Imagine the recievers having enough time to run their routes? Maybe it is only a pipe dream but imagine having enough time to run deep routes to really spread open the field of play!!!
Who are we kidding, we have Flosmell.
Dont get me wrong we have other problems on the team like the cancer. Just a thought. Maybe I am asking for too much here.
Lets fix the biggest problems first like Flosmell and the Cancer.

 

[burmafrd]

With the Hotel its all about his attitude. He can pretty much take on any rusher in the NFL and at least hold his own (no pun there guys). BUT he needs a real tough coach to stay on his butt every game. And it seems clear that Sparano could do that and Houck cannot.

 

[The Curly One]

Flozell has had one good year in Dallas. Just one. The rest have been the same as what you saw this season. Been watching this guy false start and whiff block for the better part of a decade now. He keeps getting rewarded for playing like an idiot with huge sums of money, because he looks like he should be a good player. I believe this creeps into the heads of the other lineman who feed off Flo's bad habits.

Ah the Famous "Flosmell Whiff Block" a technique not only invented by Flosmell but what a master he is at it. Others have tried but none have mastered it quite like Flosmell and that may be why they named it after him. Quite an honor I am sure. He must be so proud. When he first got into the league the Whiff Block was a little known or used block. Some said it was because he was new to the league but he has really stepped up his game and made it an art. The last few years Larry Allen was here Flosmell and Allen worked on perfecting the technique and bringing it to a whole new level. A few of the other Cowboys linemen try but surprisingly very few other teams use this technique. It appears that even Houston has abandoned the Whiff Block that had such an impact with David Carr's career. Washington also tried the Whiff Block techniqe a few years ago but it did not work out too good for them. Possibly due to their rookie quarterback Patrick Ramsey. While Ramsey on paper (as did David Carr) appeared to have soo much potential he never worked well with the Whiff Block technique. Some people are just never able to fit into the system. David Carr and Patrick Ramsey may both be very good Quarterbacks in a system with conventional blocking, who knows?
Amazingly Romo has survived under this system but yet I can not help but to think there is so much more potential there that we just can not see under the current system. Bledsoe did not fare quite as well. Some said Bledsoe with the Whiff Block system looked like a statue or a deer caught in the headlights. He just was not able to adapt.
So until a good team like the Patriots. Colts or Giants adapt and use the Whiff Block system with success I am going to hold my opinions on it.

 

[Apollo Creed]

Rob Pettiti. Torrin Tucker.

Poor guys never had a chance.

 

[The Curly One]

Flozell has had one good year in Dallas. Just one. The rest have been the same as what you saw this season. Been watching this guy false start and whiff block for the better part of a decade now. He keeps getting rewarded for playing like an idiot with huge sums of money, because he looks like he should be a good player. I believe this creeps into the heads of the other lineman who feed off Flo's bad habits.

Flosmell had one good year? Crap and I missed it! Just for curiosity when was it? When he was hurt? When he did not understand what Parcells wanted from him? When he was a rookie? When he could not hear the snap count?

The whiff blocks, false starts and holding penalties really tell me just what kind of player he is and what a big influence he is on this team.

 

[newlander]

I've been ranting and raving about the Oline for years now. Colombo is the only consistently good lineman right now. Can't win with only one of those....Gurode and Flo are dumb, fat and overpaid. Kosier: serviceable, but not much more than that. Holland? Hard to say...not a good situation moving forward.

 

[wileedog]

I've been ranting and raving about the Oline for years now. Colombo is the only consistently good lineman right now. Can't win with only one of those....Gurode and Flo are dumb, fat and overpaid. Kosier: serviceable, but not much more than that. Holland? Hard to say...not a good situation moving forward.

I think Kosier is better than you give him credit for. He is easily the most athletic of our lineman, does very well in space on sweeps and screens, and some have said he helps Gurode with the line calls, which may have been part of the issues this year.

I'm wondering if part of our problem is we are always looking for the biggest guys we can find - we consistently have one of the biggest lines in the league every year, going back to before this bunch. Might be part of the reason we break down so bad in December. I'm wondering if we should be looking for more athletic linemen who are better with technique.

The Pats lines have been great during their run, and they certainly aren't close to the biggest line in the league.