Yakuza Rich: Dallas vs. Philadelphia Game Preview

[sonnyboy]

Nice post and I wouldn't be shocked if it ended as a 3,4 or even 10 point loss. Bigger upsets have certainly happened.

I don't see it happening. We are a 7 point choice for good reason, we are better and we are home.

We have an advantage in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Our OL will have any easier time pass protecting and run blocking against their front seven than the Eagles will have against our front seven.

We have the better receiving core. Our receivers demand more attention. I love Jackson and their TE Smith is a little underrated. But they do not compare to Owens and Witten. I'll take Crayton and Miles over Brown and Baskett any time.

With Newman out/limited, they have the better secondary. If they do win it will be won for them here.

Conventional wisdom gives them the advantage at RB with Westbrook. This game will begin to change that. This is Felix's coming out party.

We have the better QB. And I don't mean just over the last two years. I'm talking about right now with McNabb healthy. Tony Romo is a better QB than Donovan McNabb.


I don't know what I find more unusual. The idea that we can't loose this or the idea that we should.

 

[RCowboyFan]

As much as time you took to do analysis, one thing you are dead wrong on is Shuan Rogers is him not being quick. Thats the whole deal with that Fat Bastid, he is big and quick. And also tires real easy.

Thats why Shuan Rogers has the potential to be all pro every year, if he ever can play a whole game and whole season with same intensity.

 

[sbark]

I'm not trying to be courageous and I'm really not trying to be too impartial. Save the "it's not my job to root for Dallas" for the pikers in the local Dallas media. All I'm saying is that I think Dallas will lose this one because losses do happen, particularly to divisional rivals and I hope I'm dead wrong in this prediction. We're 11-3 on the road with Romo as the starting QB and all three losses were about as good of a loss as far as losing goes. OTOH, we're 8-5 at Texas Stadium with Romo as the starting QB, so we are far more suceptible to lose at home than on the road at this point.

So please, I hope Dallas crushes the Eagles and hope that Zach Thomas sends Westbrook home in butcher paper and then come Tuesday everybody can call me an idiot.

its good to be a pessamist.............either are proved correct or are pleasantly surprized by the outcome

a win win setup situation.......

 

[RCowboyFan]

Then Babe is almost dead wrong. I'm sure if Owens had his preference, he would prefer to not be bumped as I don't know a WR out there that likes to face the press coverage. But Owens routinely killed press coverage last year and has done it throughout his career. Furthermore, I would think given Owens' experience in the league teams would be pressing him every single down if they knew he was bad against the press coverage. Instead, the teams that didn't always press him had some success like Buffalo, New England, Detroit, St. Louis, etc. On the flip side, he killed press coverage teams like NYG, Philly (in the first game), Washington, Green Bay, Chicago, etc.

Owens did have some issues against press coverage in '06 from time to time, probably because of the finger and partly due to Parcells utilizing him incorrectly. But anybody who watched Owens closely last year could tell that press coverage was something he exceled against.

I guess Babe needs a talking point.





YAKUZA

Maybe, but what worked against Owens when he played Philly was, Dallas played Press with Newman on him. I think they had over the top coverage also at times.

I think the times it didn't work would be when there is no double team. But even if there is a double team, and its zone coverage, Owens will get open underneath, and thats what Babe was pointing out I think.

No offense, but I would take Babe's view over yours. I used to not be that way, but ever since he has been right no several occasions about players and games, I have come to respect Babe's opinion, not that he is correct all the time.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

As much as time you took to do analysis, one thing you are dead wrong on is Shuan Rogers is him not being quick. Thats the whole deal with that Fat Bastid, he is big and quick. And also tires real easy.

Thats why Shuan Rogers has the potential to be all pro every year, if he ever can play a whole game and whole season with same intensity.

He's not all that quick. It's actually a big reason why Marinelli let him go. Marinelli wants hand quickness first and foremost from his D-Linemen (like the ones he had at Tampa) and Rogers really isn't that type and was never really to Marinelli's liking.



YAKUZA

 

[DaBoys4Life]

Maybe, but what worked against Owens when he played Philly was, Dallas played Press with Newman on him. I think they had over the top coverage also at times.

I think the times it didn't work would be when there is no double team. But even if there is a double team, and its zone coverage, Owens will get open underneath, and thats what Babe was pointing out I think.

No offense, but I would take Babe's view over yours. I used to not be that way, but ever since he has been right no several occasions about players and games, I have come to respect Babe's opinion, not that he is correct all the time.

I think that was more of Newman being a best however if you go back to the Packers game and how he was being moved around a lot so AL harris couldn't jam him.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

its good to be a pessamist.............either are proved correct or are pleasantly surprized by the outcome

a win win setup situation.......

I don't think of myself as a pessamist. In fact, I have a disliking for pessamistic points of view. I just think Philly is a pretty good team that can beat Dallas on Monday Night. I also think Dallas can beat Philly. I'm hardly omnipotent, so it's not like I'm guaranteeing a loss for Dallas.




YAKUZA

 

[Boysboy]

He's not all that quick. It's actually a big reason why Marinelli let him go. Marinelli wants hand quickness first and foremost from his D-Linemen (like the ones he had at Tampa) and Rogers really isn't that type and was never really to Marinelli's liking.



YAKUZA

He was let go b/c he was unmotivated, lazy, and took every other play off.

Obviously now that he's with a new team, he has a chip on his shoulder.

 

[percyhoward]

I think one area you left out is going to be the area I think that is huge. Dallas running the football. I think that is where we win the game.

That's what I'm thinking, too. In the first game against them last year (in Philly when we won) we came out running the ball. Seven of the first eleven offensive plays were rushes. Remember the trap plays and shotgun draws? That was the most creative running attack we had all season long--in that game.

With Felix (and even Choice), we're a better running team now than we were when we faced them in the first game last year. The worst mistake we could make is to come out throwing, like we did in the second game against them last year, when seven of our first eleven offensive plays were passes.

I know Romo just thinks we missed some opportunities with the passing game and beat ourselves, and that may be true. But the way I see it, Johnson is gonna have to guess right early and often for our running game not to be dominating tomorrow.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I think that was more of Newman being a best however if you go back to the Packers game and how he was being moved around a lot so AL harris couldn't jam him.

According to my charting notes, here's the teams that played a lot of press coverage against Owens last season:

Week 1 - NYG - 3 catches, 87 yards, 2 TD's

Week 2 - MIA - 5 catches, 97 yards, 1 TD

Week 3 - CHI - 8 catches, 145 yards

Week 7 - MIN - 7 catches, 103 yards, 1 TD (was actually pressed by a linebacker with a corner over the top at times)

Week 9 - PHI - 10 catches, 174 yards, 1 TD

Week 10 - NYG - 6 catches, 125 yards, 2 TD

Week 11 - WAS - 8 catches, 173 yards, 4 TD

Week 13 - GNB - 7 catches, 156 yards, 1 TD (also had a TD pass that hit him right in the chest and popped out for an INT)

Week 15 - PHI - 2 catches, 37 yards (open on a few deep patterns but Romo missed him, possibly due to thumb injury)

Week 16 - CAR - 5 catches, 48 yards (missed 2nd half due to an injury)


Taking out the Carolina game since he only played the first half, that's an average of 6.2 catches per game, for 122 yards and 1.5 TD's.


If pressing Owens was the solution, opposing defenses would always do it and always have good success against Owens. The reality is Owens is extremely tough to defend because the goal should be to keep him in front of the corner, but he's so good on short and intermediate patterns that he can kill a team all day with those. So once the defense tries to press Owens to take away those short and intermediate patterns, he can slip past the corner and blow by the safety for a big play.

There's no doubt in my mind from charting games last year that after the Buffalo game Garrett understood this to a degree and realized that he needed to get Owens involved early with some short and intermediate pass patterns in order to set him up for the deep ball later in the game.

Babe needs to go back and watch the tape more closely. Troy Aikman and Chris Collinsworth know more about football than I do, but it doesn't preclude them from being dead wrong from time to time.








YAKUZA

 

[theebs]

Babe needs to go back and watch the tape more closely. Troy Aikman and Chris Collinsworth know more about football than I do, but it doesn't preclude them from being dead wrong from time to time.

wow. Relax. No one was saying you are right or wrong. Or babe is right or wrong. I am saying that is what he has said in the past and still says today.

I mean it is silly for you to say babe needs to watch tape more closely. From listening to the guy every game and basically every night I believe he has more of an understanding of what is going on with this team than anyone else in the media. He is a close friend of Jason Garret and his family. He has a good grasp of what the team is doing.

Is he wrong about owens being pressed. I dont know. I cant watch coaches film. When I watch the games in the stadium he seems to be fine when getting jammed. GB jammed him all night and in the first half he whipped their tails.

I was just simply relaying what he always says.

 

[Boysboy]

wow. Relax. No one was saying you are right or wrong. Or babe is right or wrong. I am saying that is what he has said in the past and still says today.

I mean it is silly for you to say babe needs to watch tape more closely. From listening to the guy every game and basically every night I believe he has more of an understanding of what is going on with this team than anyone else in the media. He is a close friend of Jason Garret and his family. He has a good grasp of what the team is doing.

Is he wrong about owens being pressed. I dont know. I cant watch coaches film. When I watch the games in the stadium he seems to be fine when getting jammed. GB jammed him all night and in the first half he whipped their tails.

I was just simply relaying what he always says.

Wasn't Babe also the first guy who broke the news how Romo had potential to be a successful starter in this league a few years back?

I like the guy b/c he's very sharp. It was this issue I disagree with him on, but overall, he knows his stuff.

 

[theebs]

Wasn't Babe also the first guy who broke the news how Romo had potential to be a successful starter in this league a few years back?

I like the guy b/c he's very sharp. It was this issue I disagree with him on, but overall, he knows his stuff.

Well, babe liked what he saw out of romo from day 1 in 03 at the first camp.

He talked about him getting a chance repeatedly, but everyone found out about it when he basically had a segment on his show the day bledsoe was signed. He lobbied for him to be the starter from then on.

He is at his best in the boothe, he has a knack for knowing exactly what is coming and knows exactly where each teams weaknesses are. He has a good sense of humor to go with his intelligence and that is why I love the guy.

 

[Boysboy]

Well, babe liked what he saw out of romo from day 1 in 03 at the first camp.

He talked about him getting a chance repeatedly, but everyone found out about it when he basically had a segment on his show the day bledsoe was signed. He lobbied for him to be the starter from then on.

He is at his best in the boothe, he has a knack for knowing exactly what is coming and knows exactly where each teams weaknesses are. He has a good sense of humor to go with his intelligence and that is why I love the guy.

I remember his playing days though...probably the worst QB ever to play the game. One of the on-running jokes I used to hear about him was, "He's a career 50%+ passer...on the SIDELINES".

 

[RCowboyFan]

He's not all that quick. It's actually a big reason why Marinelli let him go. Marinelli wants hand quickness first and foremost from his D-Linemen (like the ones he had at Tampa) and Rogers really isn't that type and was never really to Marinelli's liking.



YAKUZA

Pleaze, thats not the reason Marinelli let him go. Its because he couldn't count on him to play full time or rather full effort when he was on the field. Marinelli is all about Intensity and hard work/Full Effort. Shaun Rogers is antithesis to it.

Give it up man. I used to live in Detroit, so I still kind of follow lions pretty well. If had seen the guy extensively, you would know, that Shaun Rogers is pretty darn quick for his weight. He is just not reliable to be all effort all the time he was on field.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

Whaz up with that score Mr. Rich?

 

[TobiasEagle77]

Thanks for the preview YZ, I always like reading your stuff. I didn't even notice your score prediction until people got up in arms about it.

All signs point to this being a high-scoring game, which is why I think it's going to be an ugly defensive battle. It always seems to work that way. I think this is going to be a very ugly game, which is my personal favorite type to watch. Special teams could make a big impact in this game.

Phi 17
Dal 13

That's my off the cuff prediction.

Since Owens came up, I'll say that I think the best way to cover him is to roll coverage to his side. Disrupt his pattern with a linebacker while the corner stays above him, or let the corner watch the backfield while a safety covers over the top.

Supposedly Johnson is going to try to match-up Lito on TO as much as possible. Lito has never been a bump-n-run corner, he's best shadowing the reciever and taking gambles for the pick. Sometimes it works beautifully, other times it's a disaster

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Pleaze, thats not the reason Marinelli let him go. Its because he couldn't count on him to play full time or rather full effort when he was on the field. Marinelli is all about Intensity and hard work/Full Effort. Shaun Rogers is antithesis to it.

Give it up man. I used to live in Detroit, so I still kind of follow lions pretty well. If had seen the guy extensively, you would know, that Shaun Rogers is pretty darn quick for his weight. He is just not reliable to be all effort all the time he was on field.

I have a friend that works as a Lions beat writer and when Marinelli first took over it was known that he didn't really care much for Rogers because he didn't fit that really quick D-Lineman that Marinelli covets. Marinelli was lukewarm on Rogers from the beginning.






YAKUZA

 

[Boysboy]

Thanks for the preview YZ, I always like reading your stuff. I didn't even notice your score prediction until people got up in arms about it.

All signs point to this being a high-scoring game, which is why I think it's going to be an ugly defensive battle. It always seems to work that way. I think this is going to be a very ugly game, which is my personal favorite type to watch. Special teams could make a big impact in this game.

Phi 17
Dal 13

That's my off the cuff prediction.

Since Owens came up, I'll say that I think the best way to cover him is to roll coverage to his side. Disrupt his pattern with a linebacker while the corner stays above him, or let the corner watch the backfield while a safety covers over the top.

Supposedly Johnson is going to try to match-up Lito on TO as much as possible. Lito has never been a bump-n-run corner, he's best shadowing the reciever and taking gambles for the pick. Sometimes it works beautifully, other times it's a disaster

Hey, how's it going? Long time, no see.

Yeah-I too expect it to be a tough-as-nails NFCE battle. 2 very good offenses, but both have very good defenses nonetheless, which is why the latter could determine the outcome. Who knows what the result will be? But for a change, I hope it favors our side.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

wow. Relax. No one was saying you are right or wrong. Or babe is right or wrong. I am saying that is what he has said in the past and still says today.

I mean it is silly for you to say babe needs to watch tape more closely. From listening to the guy every game and basically every night I believe he has more of an understanding of what is going on with this team than anyone else in the media. He is a close friend of Jason Garret and his family. He has a good grasp of what the team is doing.

Is he wrong about owens being pressed. I dont know. I cant watch coaches film. When I watch the games in the stadium he seems to be fine when getting jammed. GB jammed him all night and in the first half he whipped their tails.

I was just simply relaying what he always says.

I was actually answering in part to RCowboysfan remark that he trusts Babe over me. Which is fine, but in the scenario of Babe saying that Owens doesn't do well against press coverage is dead wrong.






YAKUZA