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fansince62
Guest
A pleasant disclaimer: it was nice to win a meaningful game against a quality team. It was nice hitting the rack absent that mixed emotional state of frustration, anger and deadened expectations. Change is indeed in the air in Washington, DC. Maybe even hope!
But we dodged a bullet last night.
And so...some quicklook reactions:
Pros
- this looked like a more disciplined team; remarkably few penalities for first game. could it be? professionalism has returned to Skinsland?!!!
- pass blocking..while not there yet...was order of magnitudes better than the last few years
- we have a QB who knows how to maneuver in the pocket like the very best...that alone is going to make a big difference
- the play calling (more on this later) was less fixated on the dink and dunk patterns we have seen in the past; the middle of the field is in play and while the preseason pattern of not hooking up on deep passes continued...we're close
- the defense (more on this later...
....) did hold the opposing team to 2 touchdowns...ok...one if it makes you feel better
- the CBs seemed in better position than the recent past to make plays on the ball
- Landry is a missile who comes to play
- Hall plays smart...who woulda thunk the gambler would move up a rung?
- the defense didn't surrender any huge, gamebreaking sorts of plays
- portis came to play
- AH has got to get his act together. It's good he wanted to stay in the game. Pouting along the sidelies on national TV is BS.
- Ganno looked good. keeper who won the game.
- Thomas looked good on kick returns
Cons
- IMO the down 3 on the d-lie are average to weak; you almost never hear their names called.....they don't create an up field push..they're simply not athletic enough; while Haynesworth is a pain-in-the-arse...and it was clearer last night why the coaching staff is upset with his mistakes in execution...you can still detect a difference in level of play by the line when he is in or out; Goldstein is not an answer - you gotta love having a guy with his attitude - but I have been watching him get pushed backward for years
- the tackling was bad; gang tackling was good....but individual tackling was not to pro levels
- conceding Romo was taking quick drops and passes...I still didn't see the sort of pressure the Boys 3-4 was applying. where's the pass rush? could it be the down 3 aren't good in this departmenmt as well?
- sorry...but I have been commenting for years that rabach is a liability in pass protection. he simply doesn't have the body size and strength to deal with strong nose tackles
- the running game was not there. Portis had some good gains toward the end of the game. I can't tell yet whether the problem lies with the O-line or the RBs. I do know LJ isn't suited to ths offense...he's like Betts was early on - looking and dancing rather than seeing and bursting.
- didn't like play calling or personnel packages in the Red Zone. Gimme a break coaching staff....put Thomas in down on the goal line. He's the only big wideout option you have morons. Those two plays to Armstrong were wasted efforts on nice passes. don't put a dang midget in there. I'm more sensitive in this area cuz to me this sort of personnel package sniffs of ego - punishing a player like Thomas to the detriment of the team.
- get rid of Bidwell. He is a disaster waiting to happen. He's gonna suffer a couple blocked kicks this year and his distance stinks. why the got rid the last guy without so much as any competition is beyond me. stupid moive.
- why put Banks on the roster if you aren't going to use him?
- Doughty always seems two steps behind the play
- we gotta play smarter on sideline tackling; too many out of control tackles (Landry!) that are going to bite us one day in a close game
we got lucky last night. good game we would have lost last year - coaching does make a difference....
... but make no mistake - Dallas lost that game. we didn't win it.
But we dodged a bullet last night.
And so...some quicklook reactions:
Pros
- this looked like a more disciplined team; remarkably few penalities for first game. could it be? professionalism has returned to Skinsland?!!!
- pass blocking..while not there yet...was order of magnitudes better than the last few years
- we have a QB who knows how to maneuver in the pocket like the very best...that alone is going to make a big difference
- the play calling (more on this later) was less fixated on the dink and dunk patterns we have seen in the past; the middle of the field is in play and while the preseason pattern of not hooking up on deep passes continued...we're close
- the defense (more on this later...
....) did hold the opposing team to 2 touchdowns...ok...one if it makes you feel better- the CBs seemed in better position than the recent past to make plays on the ball
- Landry is a missile who comes to play
- Hall plays smart...who woulda thunk the gambler would move up a rung?
- the defense didn't surrender any huge, gamebreaking sorts of plays
- portis came to play
- AH has got to get his act together. It's good he wanted to stay in the game. Pouting along the sidelies on national TV is BS.
- Ganno looked good. keeper who won the game.
- Thomas looked good on kick returns
Cons
- IMO the down 3 on the d-lie are average to weak; you almost never hear their names called.....they don't create an up field push..they're simply not athletic enough; while Haynesworth is a pain-in-the-arse...and it was clearer last night why the coaching staff is upset with his mistakes in execution...you can still detect a difference in level of play by the line when he is in or out; Goldstein is not an answer - you gotta love having a guy with his attitude - but I have been watching him get pushed backward for years
- the tackling was bad; gang tackling was good....but individual tackling was not to pro levels
- conceding Romo was taking quick drops and passes...I still didn't see the sort of pressure the Boys 3-4 was applying. where's the pass rush? could it be the down 3 aren't good in this departmenmt as well?
- sorry...but I have been commenting for years that rabach is a liability in pass protection. he simply doesn't have the body size and strength to deal with strong nose tackles
- the running game was not there. Portis had some good gains toward the end of the game. I can't tell yet whether the problem lies with the O-line or the RBs. I do know LJ isn't suited to ths offense...he's like Betts was early on - looking and dancing rather than seeing and bursting.
- didn't like play calling or personnel packages in the Red Zone. Gimme a break coaching staff....put Thomas in down on the goal line. He's the only big wideout option you have morons. Those two plays to Armstrong were wasted efforts on nice passes. don't put a dang midget in there. I'm more sensitive in this area cuz to me this sort of personnel package sniffs of ego - punishing a player like Thomas to the detriment of the team.
- get rid of Bidwell. He is a disaster waiting to happen. He's gonna suffer a couple blocked kicks this year and his distance stinks. why the got rid the last guy without so much as any competition is beyond me. stupid moive.
- why put Banks on the roster if you aren't going to use him?
- Doughty always seems two steps behind the play
- we gotta play smarter on sideline tackling; too many out of control tackles (Landry!) that are going to bite us one day in a close game
we got lucky last night. good game we would have lost last year - coaching does make a difference....
... but make no mistake - Dallas lost that game. we didn't win it.
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LOVE the last sentence. It sure as heck makes a difference when you just feel this team is gonna get better as opposed to having no freaking clue if we'll even have a snowball's chance to win next week.
