I know some of you are furious at the result today, but honestly, I'm not angry like I usually am. There were some good things and some really bad ones.
1) We can't keep missing makeable kicks. As Mike pointed out in chat, Hopkins needs some pressure applied if he's going to continue to make unforced errors.
2) Some don't agree, but I think our offense looks more energetic and efficient with Allen under center. His ability to use his feet adds a threat we don't have with anyone else in there. He may have had the game-winning TD had he trusted that more on the final play. I like that, despite the mistakes, he rebounded from them and we were in a position to win the game despite his errors.
3) The INT and the careless fumble by Allen were ugly. As
Bulldog said, after Allen completed several 'must have' 3rd down conversions in the air, those plays are the reason why he's not considered a serious threat to be a consistent starter. I will remind folks he is still a very inexperienced young QB, so whatever excuses folks would be providing Haskins were he playing, you can feel free to generously provide Allen right now.
4) Despite the 2 big mistakes by Allen, this one was lost by the team overall. The OL did not consistently give Allen time (just as they didn't give Dwayne time) and he was the QB under pressure most of the day, not Jones. Our D, although they tightened up in the 2nd half as they have tended to do, was pretty woeful in the first half. The game easily could've been out of reach in the first half given their efforts. They did not come close to putting max pressure on Jones. They did not force turnovers. And they did not stop the run. The defensive backfield continues to give up first downs on 3rd and long over and over again.
5) I do feel as though we are sustaining drives more consistently. I get it - if we are not putting TDs up and continue to lose, it doesn't much matter. But improvement on offense has to start somewhere, and I feel like we had more 3rd down conversions to keep drives alive than I've seen in awhile.
Like I said, maybe I should be mad and irate, but I'm not. We are not a good football team. There are some good things we can look to as future positives - such as our young RB duo in Gibson and McKissic. But it's going to be a tough year. I'm sort of resigned to it.
Then again, if Dallas loses this weekend, we're still 1 game out of 1st place in the NFC East