mexicanjunior
10-27-2009, 08:28 AM
The Good:
* There was alot of positive things to take out of this game. Let's look at the QB first...Tony Romo had a terrific game. He did an excellent job of avoiding the Atlanta pass rush, taking what the defense gave him and not forcing balls to certain players regardless of coverage. I've noticed Romo seems more willing to take a 5-10 yard run when receivers aren't available as opposed to trying to shoehorn passes in, which I think has helped cut down on his interceptions. His play at the end of the first half was vintage Romo pre-2008, we need to see more of that working out in our favor.
* Miles Austin is continuing to be a revelation for this team and honestly is saving the season. He was the big play threat this team had been lacking the first 4 games of the year (except for the Tampa game). If he continues on this pace, Roy Williams days as a Cowboy may be numbered, regardless of how much we spent on him. It's just too bad the coaching staff didn't give him the PT he needed sooner, it might have been the difference in the NY and Denver losses.
* Despite giving up a couple of sacks, I thought the offensive line blocked relatively well and gave Romo the time he needed to find open guys in the secondary. I thought the RB's especially did a good job with the blitz pickups. It's too bad penalties continued to hurt this unit's overall performance.
* Joe DeCamillas is continuing to show that he may be the best coordinator on the Cowboys. Nick Folk was solid as always, Mcbriar downed 2 punts inside the 20 and kickoff coverage was stellar. Even after Rossum was injured, Crayton stepped up and made a play after the wedge busted a wide open hole for him. The only black mark on their day was Newman's ridiculous minus 11 punt return, which brought back memories of Pacman Jones.
* The defense as a whole really came together after the first Atlanta drive. The unit that stood out to me was the front 7, which put tons of pressure on Matt Ryan, forcing him into some east INT's for the secondary. If they can rush like this for the remainder of the year (big IF), they can compete with anyone. I was shocked to see even Anthony "No Cigar" Spencer made a play by recovering the fumbled strip by Demarcus Ware.
* Speaking of the secondary, I thought both Mike Jenkins and Gerald Sensabaugh had exceptional days. It may be time to possibly remove the "Cowboy Chicken" moniker from Jenkins (for his ole against the Giants last year). He is turning into the team's most reliable cornerback tackler (with Newman's constant shoulder whiffs). Sensabaugh was everywhere in coverage and made some great open field tackles. He also drew Tony Gonzales for most of the day and, outside of the first drive, did a great job taking him out of the game.
The Bad:
* It's hard to find alot of negative after the Cowboys play their most complete game of the year but there was plenty of flaws. Let's start with penalties...which is something that hasn't gotten any better since the opening game. I don't understand how this team cannot seem to find a way to improve in this department. Wade has got to do something...fines, laps, suspensions, loss of starting jobs...whatever it takes to fix this because it will cost them against the elite teams. The ones that kill me the most are the pre-snap ones...those are just flat out lack of concentration and should be the easiest to resolve.
* For all the talk of the 3 running backs being healthy, I thought all 3 were pretty pedestrian and Marion Barber is the biggest culprit. I don't know if he just isn't healthy right now or has simply just lost a step but he should not be starting and taking the majority of the attempts. Tashard Choice, to me, has shown enough to earn the starting job and not giving him any carries at all is just inexcusable. It's a shame Barber wasn't shopped before the trade deadline, he might have had some value before teams realize how much he has dropped off production wise.
* At the beginning of the year, there was not a player I was more excited about seeing play than Roy Williams. After 6 games, I am already wishing someone would take him off our hands. The guy has stone bricks attached to his wrists and doesn't understand the concept of catching the ball with his body when needed. It looks like he tries to alligator arm every throw down the middle, which is something you don't want out of your biggest and strongest WR. He still has time to turn things around but right now he is looking like a bust.
* Allan Rossum was supposed to step in and save the return game but he went out after the first kickoff. Was the guy just not in shape? A hamstring being blown out sounds to me like someone wasn't prepared for serious running since he was last on a stat sheet almost a month ago. Hopefully just his signing alone was enough to spark Crayton and Felix into doing a better job on returns.
* Every time Barbie Carpenter is on the field instead of Keith Brooking, Wade should fine himself for it. The guy makes no plays, celebrates when he had nothing to do with the tackle and makes it a routine to get blown up when blitzing the QB. He is a waste of space and should have been cut 2 years ago.
Overall...it was great to see the Cowboys finally put things together and win a game against a team that had actually won prior (unlike KC, Tampa and Carolina). The Falcons are a legit playoff team, so this win goes a long way in both tiebreaker scenarios and just giving Dallas some confidence that they can compete with anyone when they don't shoot themselves with turnovers and stupid penalties (which is still a problem). Wade the defensive coordinator had one of his best games but Wade the head coach still has a ways to go before convincing me he should stick around much longer.
* There was alot of positive things to take out of this game. Let's look at the QB first...Tony Romo had a terrific game. He did an excellent job of avoiding the Atlanta pass rush, taking what the defense gave him and not forcing balls to certain players regardless of coverage. I've noticed Romo seems more willing to take a 5-10 yard run when receivers aren't available as opposed to trying to shoehorn passes in, which I think has helped cut down on his interceptions. His play at the end of the first half was vintage Romo pre-2008, we need to see more of that working out in our favor.
* Miles Austin is continuing to be a revelation for this team and honestly is saving the season. He was the big play threat this team had been lacking the first 4 games of the year (except for the Tampa game). If he continues on this pace, Roy Williams days as a Cowboy may be numbered, regardless of how much we spent on him. It's just too bad the coaching staff didn't give him the PT he needed sooner, it might have been the difference in the NY and Denver losses.
* Despite giving up a couple of sacks, I thought the offensive line blocked relatively well and gave Romo the time he needed to find open guys in the secondary. I thought the RB's especially did a good job with the blitz pickups. It's too bad penalties continued to hurt this unit's overall performance.
* Joe DeCamillas is continuing to show that he may be the best coordinator on the Cowboys. Nick Folk was solid as always, Mcbriar downed 2 punts inside the 20 and kickoff coverage was stellar. Even after Rossum was injured, Crayton stepped up and made a play after the wedge busted a wide open hole for him. The only black mark on their day was Newman's ridiculous minus 11 punt return, which brought back memories of Pacman Jones.
* The defense as a whole really came together after the first Atlanta drive. The unit that stood out to me was the front 7, which put tons of pressure on Matt Ryan, forcing him into some east INT's for the secondary. If they can rush like this for the remainder of the year (big IF), they can compete with anyone. I was shocked to see even Anthony "No Cigar" Spencer made a play by recovering the fumbled strip by Demarcus Ware.
* Speaking of the secondary, I thought both Mike Jenkins and Gerald Sensabaugh had exceptional days. It may be time to possibly remove the "Cowboy Chicken" moniker from Jenkins (for his ole against the Giants last year). He is turning into the team's most reliable cornerback tackler (with Newman's constant shoulder whiffs). Sensabaugh was everywhere in coverage and made some great open field tackles. He also drew Tony Gonzales for most of the day and, outside of the first drive, did a great job taking him out of the game.
The Bad:
* It's hard to find alot of negative after the Cowboys play their most complete game of the year but there was plenty of flaws. Let's start with penalties...which is something that hasn't gotten any better since the opening game. I don't understand how this team cannot seem to find a way to improve in this department. Wade has got to do something...fines, laps, suspensions, loss of starting jobs...whatever it takes to fix this because it will cost them against the elite teams. The ones that kill me the most are the pre-snap ones...those are just flat out lack of concentration and should be the easiest to resolve.
* For all the talk of the 3 running backs being healthy, I thought all 3 were pretty pedestrian and Marion Barber is the biggest culprit. I don't know if he just isn't healthy right now or has simply just lost a step but he should not be starting and taking the majority of the attempts. Tashard Choice, to me, has shown enough to earn the starting job and not giving him any carries at all is just inexcusable. It's a shame Barber wasn't shopped before the trade deadline, he might have had some value before teams realize how much he has dropped off production wise.
* At the beginning of the year, there was not a player I was more excited about seeing play than Roy Williams. After 6 games, I am already wishing someone would take him off our hands. The guy has stone bricks attached to his wrists and doesn't understand the concept of catching the ball with his body when needed. It looks like he tries to alligator arm every throw down the middle, which is something you don't want out of your biggest and strongest WR. He still has time to turn things around but right now he is looking like a bust.
* Allan Rossum was supposed to step in and save the return game but he went out after the first kickoff. Was the guy just not in shape? A hamstring being blown out sounds to me like someone wasn't prepared for serious running since he was last on a stat sheet almost a month ago. Hopefully just his signing alone was enough to spark Crayton and Felix into doing a better job on returns.
* Every time Barbie Carpenter is on the field instead of Keith Brooking, Wade should fine himself for it. The guy makes no plays, celebrates when he had nothing to do with the tackle and makes it a routine to get blown up when blitzing the QB. He is a waste of space and should have been cut 2 years ago.
Overall...it was great to see the Cowboys finally put things together and win a game against a team that had actually won prior (unlike KC, Tampa and Carolina). The Falcons are a legit playoff team, so this win goes a long way in both tiebreaker scenarios and just giving Dallas some confidence that they can compete with anyone when they don't shoot themselves with turnovers and stupid penalties (which is still a problem). Wade the defensive coordinator had one of his best games but Wade the head coach still has a ways to go before convincing me he should stick around much longer.