bbgun

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Sportsradio 1310 AM/96.7 FM The Ticket host Bob Sturm grades the Dallas Cowboys in their win over the Tampa Bay Bucs on Sunday night:

OFFENSE: B

The yardage productivity returned with great ease on Sunday night against a defense that had been on a tremendous roll. Despite another huge day of 449 yards, the scoreboard did not flatter the production because of several damaging penalties and a few missed chances on third down. The team will want to clean these issues up, because eight scoring drives (adding in the two missed field goals) resulting in just 26 points makes the game far more difficult than it needs to be. That said, Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott led the way again with the skill they have showed all year. It was a tremendous bounce back effort.

DEFENSE: B

The defense has been rolling along in December but finally got rocked a few times right out of halftime when Jameis Winston and Tampa Bay started putting plays together and scored back-to-back TDs to take the lead. But the defense stood tall in the fourth quarter. The Buccaneers had five possessions and totaled one measly first down from them all. David Irving destroyed all of the backup right tackles Tampa Bay tried to throw at him and once again demonstrated some pass-rush quality from the edge that certainly appears to be rare on this roster. We can only wonder why he doesn't own an automatic spot on passing downs.

COACHING : B-

You could certainly argue that the coaches had a very shaky outing again at times. They seemed to sometimes ignore the high probability options, such as giving the ball to Elliott on third and 2, to instead find ways to get Lucky Whitehead involved. You could also question the idea of kicking a field goal to go up 26-20 instead of trusting your offensive line and running back to convert a fourth and 1 to put the game away. Despite all of that, they deserve credit for installing a game plan that not only helped their rookies find success but also kept Tampa Bay wide receiver Mike Evans to a real quiet night. Solid job.

OVERALL: B

It was more difficult than some would have hoped, but this bounce back against a hot opponent was exactly what the Cowboys needed to do to prove to themselves that everything was fine. Their quarterback endured a rather messy week in the public and quieted all of that noise down by making some impressive throws and injecting confidence back into the doubters. All told, the Cowboys put in a quality night's work and crept closer to closing everything down in the NFC, which they can do as soon as next week. They have fought hard to get to 12-2 and now can go for the knockout against Detroit. A strong performance all around.
 

cmd34

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I want David Irving to win the LDE job, he is ideal there.


It would allow the team to either:
a) Let Terrell McClain walk and move Crawford back inside.
b) re-sign McClain and cut Crawford and that ridiculous contract they gave him
 

Doomsday

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Irving was unnerving last night. Took over the game like we haven't seen in Dallas in a LONG time.
 

NoMoRedJ

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How could you give the coaching a B- there???

Its a mystery. You cant even call that grading on the curve.

The red headed clapper will be the reason we dont win the Super Bowl. The team has been able to overcome and win in spite of him in the regular season but the post season will be different most likely.
 

Bob Sacamano

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I want David Irving to win the LDE job, he is ideal there.


It would allow the team to either:
a) Let Terrell McClain walk and move Crawford back inside.
b) re-sign McClain and cut Crawford and that ridiculous contract they gave him

It kind of looked like Marinelli was lining Irving up in that wide-9 stance. That would be the thing to do with those long arms of his. Just have him like Collinsworth said; spidermanning his way around the OT.
 

Scot

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Its a mystery. You cant even call that grading on the curve.

The red headed clapper will be the reason we dont win the Super Bowl. The team has been able to overcome and win in spite of him in the regular season but the post season will be different most likely.

I agree 100%
I think we stand a good chance at making the Super Bowl

But I do believe our coaching is our limiting factor to winning it ALL

midway through the season I would have said our defense would be what holds us back, but those motherfuckers are playing their asses off and well above their potential. With all the missing pieces we've had on D this season we should have had a tougher time than we have. But these guys are just gettin it done even with D Law, Gregory, Thornton and the rest who have missed games this season

"If" we lose in the playoffs or in the SB it will be clear that it was because we were out coached! And because we got away from what got us there which is running the ball
 
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