dbair1967

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I'm sure most of what I put out there is the same stuff most saw from this game. It was pretty much a snoozer with a bunch of bad offense (both teams) combined with some flashes of good defense.

1) I'll start with what had to be the most obvious to everyone, Kellen Moore was just dreadful. He looks (and plays) like a Pop Warner player. On one he literally had to have a running start on one throw to get it 15 or so yards downfield to the sideline. Most of his throws were dink passes that were also poorly thrown in many cases. The few downfield throws he tried were awful. he got one pass batted down because he's a smurf. I cant understand how they can watch this guy day in and day out and think he even remotely resembles a quality NFL backup. I get that he is like another coach out there, but if so make him a coach and get him off the roster. I don't see how he could perform well enough to win us even one game if he had to play. Contrary to retards in CZ, I don't think Cooper Rush is worthy of #2 status now either, although he is an interesting developmental #3 guy. if it were me running thins, he and Prescott would play the next two games, with Rush getting all the snaps in the 5th preseason game. After final cutdowns I'd get a real backup in here pronto.

2) Good news, the Cowboys forced 5 fumbles (and probably a 6th, it got overturned) but the bad news, they only recovered 1 (save for the one that got overturned). I think other than 1 of them, the Cowboys had clean shots to recover the others and botched them. They almost botched the one they did recover, despite having 3 or 4 guys all closest to the ball. Jeff Heath cost us a TD when he couldn't recover a ball in the air on a great play from Anthony Hitchens to jar a ball loose on the GL.

3) Good games on defense for Taco Charlton, David Irving, Xavier Woods, Damien Wilson, Kavon Frazier & Lenny Jones (although he did miss one open field tackle that I saw). Demontrae Moore was pretty active too. Bad news here is Irving and Moore are already suspended, and Wilson seems likely to be suspended too.

4) In typical ****** CZ fashion, after seeing TJ Watt get two sacks against the Giants, the mass overreaction of "uhhhhhh!!!! we should have drafted Watt!!!!!! Charlton is a bust!!!!!!" Couple things, first while Watt did get two sacks, on one he really wasn't blocked and on the other, the QB ran right into him scrambling towards the LOS. Second, while getting the two sacks was nice, no idiot Zoners mentioned that in the game the Steelers had a total of 7 sacks, and some JAG journeymen LB Arthur Moats had THREE sacks (and an interception). Charlton had a much better 2nd game than his debut vs Cards. Really nice sack near the GL, another good pressure (although the pass was completed because receiver was wide open) and some good run defense. I cant believe people continue to be so dumb as to overreact on rookie based on some early preseason game results, or a few practices where a guy gets his ass kicked by the best LT in the game.

5) Similar to our coaching staffs year over year infatuation with backup QB's that cant play and have rag arms, the return position is another they seemingly cant evaluate. This Lenoir guy has no business being on this roster (or anyone elses). It's hard to believe they could find someone who is actually WORSE than Lucky Whitehead. I know this will likely work itself out when Ryan Switzer gets out there fulltime, but geez.

6) While the backup QB position is alarmingly bad (although if Tony Romo really is the fallback option should something bad happen to Prescott, it might not be a total disaster) another area I am starting to think should be a priority at final cutdowns is the backup OL. Virtually all those guys that played last night were bad and one of them is very likely to be a starter at LG on opening day. Byron Bell was flagged for two bad holding calls and should have gotten a 3rd. I think it might have been Chaz Green that was destroyed by some backup Ram DL and knocked 5 yards in the air backwards. After that he didn't play anymore that I saw and it might have been his only series. Either he was so awful they took him out (despite badly needing reps) or perhaps he injured himself again. Emmett Cleary started at LT again and was pretty dreadful, especially in pass protection. Jonathan Cooper looks like a jag to me. Joe Looney is hurt but he was awful last week vs Arizona anyway. The other issue is while ultimately Lael Collins might be an upgrade over Doug Free, the fact is that TODAY he is not. The same inconsistency that he seemed to have at LG is still there at RT. I wasn't overly impressed with his game vs Arizona and the game last night wasn't much (if any) of an improvement. He has way more power and athletic ability than Free, but technically he is not as good. Until he improves that, he is going to be an up and down guy.

7) Only standouts on offense were Rico Gathers, Cooper Rush and maybe Noah Brown. Brown's fumble was not good but he otherwise had a few nice plays. Gathers has been impressive as a receiver two games in a row now and is clearly a potential matchup nightmare for opposing defenses, IF they'll actually put some plays for him in and not ignore the 2nd TE position in the pass game the way they've done since the red headed idiot came back to Dallas. he's definitely not there as a blocker though and needs a lot of work in that area. On Rush, while I don't believe he is the answer for the backup QB this year, he does have some interesting developmental traits and if they want him to stay here, they'll likely have to keep him on the 53 (based on what we've seen so far). Plenty of teams that like keeping 3 QB's could easily put a waiver claim in for him if the team tried to sneak him on the practice squad.

8) I've said pretty much all I need to say on the Elliott suspension in the other thread. Bottom line is if he hit the girl he probably deserves a suspension, though I'm not sure it definitely warrants 6 games considering all the other circumstances. The whole thing reeks of a corrupt, biased ploy to help Goodell land a few political points and maybe some new viewers from the left wing feminist crowd. The commentary from the league itself on this and some of these "panel" people was a fucking joke the other day.

9) Another year with a preseason where hardly any rookies play in the preseason games due to injuries. Last night our 2nd, 3rd and 4th rd picks all sat out. Jaylon Smith was also held out again, even though it looks like he is ready to play in real games and badly needs reps if he is going to really contribute this year.

10) Depending on what Noah Brown does the rest of preseason, he may force them to make a tough decision on having to keep a 6th WR. If he shows well some more, it seems likely he would be claimed by someone if we expose him to waivers to get him on the PS. He was regarded as a guy who could potentially be a late 1st or 2nd rd pick next yr had he stayed in school and performed well. While he has some upside, I have yet to see much of anything from the two other guys picked in the 7th rd on the DL.

11) We were stuck with the Rams broadcast last night, and it was abysmal. Might have been one of the worst commentated games ever. The main announcer was horrendous.

It was a pretty ho-hum night other than a few highlights, but the things that bother me are the facts we still didn't play most of the starters despite this being a 2nd preseason game. I get wanting to be cautious with Prescott because Tyron Smith didn't play, but Prescott is a 2nd yr player who still needs live reps himself, especially considering we may have to lean more on him the first 6 games now with Elliott likely gone. I still see too many missed tackles and blown blocking assignments, and to me that's a direct reflection on Garrett's lack of being able to prepare a team, which is a year over year occurrence with this bunch. This was a 13-3 team that should be building on that to take the next step, and yet they still coddle too many guys and keep guys out who might be a "little" injured, and there's so little real practice that flaws unrelated to actual talent rear their ugly head now. Maybe things will change when more of the starters play the next two games
 

theoneandonly

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In typical ****** CZ fashion

They are also saying the offense will be fine without Zeke. It wont.
Virtually all those guys that played last night were bad and one of them is very likely to be a starter at LG on opening day.

Been saying this since we knew there would be changes on the O Line, they need to jell and fast or Dak could easily regress.
 

Doomsday

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This was a 13-3 team that should be building on that to take the next step
It was not. It is a 8-8 team that finished with a aberrant winning record, as it has been wont to do in some odd years since Garrett took over.

We won't be sneaking up on anyone this year. Might as well brace yourself for the 7-9 season that is looming.

Great writeup otherwise though. Good observations especially on the dismal backup QB situation, the return game and Rico.
 

bbgun

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Moore is so bad that Kaepernick is starting to look good/plausible. Year after year these games are borderline unwatchable because our backups are so dreadful, esp on the o-line. Remember Green trying to pass block for Flowers last year? Ugly. There might not be a bigger dropoff in talent in all of football.
 

bbgun

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They are also saying the offense will be fine without Zeke. It wont.


Been saying this since we knew there would be changes on the O Line, they need to jell and fast or Dak could easily regress.

yeah, I'm worried about Dak being forced to be the guy. I just don't think he's dynamic enough to pull it off all by his lonesome minus a credible running game.
 

dbair1967

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It was not. It is a 8-8 team that finished with a aberrant winning record, as it has been wont to do in some odd years since Garrett took over.

.

Eh, we would have to agree to disagree then. It wasn't a team that had a bunch of fluky plays go there way that led to more wins, it was a team that played well and had a pretty significant point differential. They got arguably the best rookie year ever for a QB, had the best OL and running game in football and at least statistically played well enough in most games.

The numbers don't support what you are claiming Dooms.
 

Doomsday

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The numbers don't support what you are claiming Dooms.
The numbers for the one, fluke season when we were sneaking up on people with a new QB and a new RB they had no book on. We won't be sneaking up on anyone this year. Might as well brace yourself for the 7-9 season that is looming.
 

dbair1967

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The numbers for the one, fluke season when we were sneaking up on people with a new QB and a new RB they had no book on. We won't be sneaking up on anyone this year. Might as well brace yourself for the 7-9 season that is looming.

You don't sneak up on people for 13 wins Dooms.

Maybe some people took for granted he was a rookie coming from a spread offense would eventually fall back to earth, but he played just as good the 2nd half of the season and even the playoff loss, perhaps even better.
 

Doomsday

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You don't sneak up on people for 13 wins Dooms
Sure you do. It often takes a offseason of intense film and tendencies study to get the correct book on new players. You're only 5 wins better than 8-8, sneaking up on people accounts for those 5 wins.
 

ThoughtExperiment

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I liked Noah Brown and to a lesser degree Frazier. I think Brown could turn into a useful 3/4 WR if he develops.
 

dbair1967

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And they might go 7-9 this season, but if they do it has nothing to do with last season being a fluke.

They have a lot of really good players. If they go 7-9 it probably has a lot more to do with too many young guys on defense, losing Zeke (probably the teams best player) for 6 games and whomever else of importance they lose for significant time. Garrett himself will have a potential negative impact too.

But last years team was 13-3 because they played pretty good, not because they were a fluke. Like I said if they had relied on a multitude of fluky plays to win games or had the ball last and scored against a bunch of lousy teams, that would have been one thing. But they didn't, and they had quite a few good wins and probably should have beaten GB in the playoffs as well.
 

Doomsday

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But last years team was 13-3 because they played pretty good
8-8 teams can and often do play pretty good. That wasn't the meter. Last season was and is a FLUKE, for the same reason every other 11-plus win season since 2007 has been.

BECAUSE THEY CAN'T STRING TOGETHER TWO OF THEM IN A ROW.

We played well last season, nowhere have I said we didn't.
 

dbair1967

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Sure you do. It often takes a offseason of intense film and tendencies study to get the correct book on new players. You're only 5 wins better than 8-8, sneaking up on people accounts for those 5 wins.

Sneaking up on people isn't 13 wins Dooms.

They won 12 games and a playoff game in 2014. They lost a ton of close games in 2015, the vast majority of which you could point to awful QB play as the main reason.

I don't think we're a championship team yet, but they are better than you are giving them credit for.
 

Doomsday

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Sneaking up on people isn't 13 wins Dooms.
It is, for 5 of your wins over 8-8. Are you not reading? Sneaking up on people makes all the difference between 8-8 and 13-3.
I don't think we're a championship team yet, but they are better than you are giving them credit for.
It is a 8-8 mediocre team that occasionally strings together 3-5 more wins than that. And until i see at least two years in a row where they do string together those 3-5 more wins, they remain a 8-8 mediocre team that occasionally strings together 3-5 more wins.

I remain unconvinced that this team is any better than 8-8. They gotta show me another 11-plus win season this year, to begin to convince me.
 

dbair1967

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It is, for 5 of your wins over 8-8. Are you not reading? Sneaking up on people makes all the difference between 8-8 and 13-3.

Like I said Dooms, the numbers don't support your argument.

"Sneaking up" on teams might happen early in a season when there isn't a ton of tape on someone or a group of guys, or maybe the schedule falls your way. But 13 wins is 13 wins. You don't sneak up on anybody over the course of a whole year. Other teams are smarter than that.
 

Doomsday

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"Sneaking up" on teams might happen early in a season when there isn't a ton of tape on someone or a group of guys, or maybe the schedule falls your way. But 13 wins is 13 wins. You don't sneak up on anybody over the course of a whole year. Other teams are smarter than that.
There's coaches, then there's players and until you are physically on the field against a Zeke or a Dak, you really do NOT know what they can do. That's called "sneaking up." And it is worth 5 more wins for this 8-8 team.

That's also over now - we're not going to be sneaking up on anyone. Might as well brace yourself for the 7-9 season that is looming.
 

Doomsday

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Which by the way, dbair... It really doesn't matter what players we have, we are still a 8-8 team because of the loser CULTURE in Dallas.

The biggest success of Dak and Zeke is they served as a hydrocodone treatment to the cancer that is our loser culture. Like all cancers, it will come roaring back after it develops resistance to the hydrocodone. They were only a temporary treatment for symptoms - the disease remains.

Get it yet? I am not saying we are 8-8 only because of our roster. I am saying we are a 8-8 team because of our cancerous, rotten, loser culture that Dak and Zeke penetrated for one season.
 

spiderfan_MJ

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I am saying we are a 8-8 team because of our cancerous, rotten, loser culture that Dak and Zeke penetrated for one season.

I disagree in that, I think Dak and Zeke will continue to keep the Cowboys above 8-8 because of their greatness. They will continue to overcome the loser culture and win games inexplicably and cause Stephen A. Smith much sadness.
 

Doomsday

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I disagree in that, I think Dak and Zeke will continue to keep the Cowboys above 8-8 because of their greatness. They will continue to overcome the loser culture and win games inexplicably and cause Stephen A. Smith much sadness.
Hope springs eternal. The Romosapiens said this same stuff about Tony, for years.
 
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