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03:23 PM CDT on Friday, August 13, 2010
Column by TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News | tarcher@dallasnews.com
ARLINGTON – Two preseason games down, no offensive touchdowns for the Cowboys.
Brandon Sharpe has scored the only touchdown, and he’s a linebacker.
Anybody worried?
Let’s put it another way: Had the Cowboys scored 50 points in each of their first two preseason games against Cincinnati and Oakland, would you have been ready to predict a run at the single-season scoring record?
Patrick Crayton has been around here long enough, first as a Cowboys’ fan growing up in DeSoto and for the last seven seasons as one of their wide receivers, to know the angst that is boiling after two preseason games.
“It’s early,” Crayton said. “If we were getting nothing, it’d be a different story. We’re just not finishing.”
The first-team offense had 14 plays against the Bengals. On Thursday, they had 18 plays against the Raiders before Tony Romo went to the sideline.
That's 32 plays and 6 points.
Like it did against Cincinnati, the first-team offense drove inside the opponent’s red zone – this time to the Oakland 16 – and settled for a field goal. Romo was sacked on first down for a 9-yard loss. His second-down pass went for 2 yards. He was sacked again on third down for a 3-yard loss.
In came David Buehler for a 42-yard field goal attempt.
“Trust me, you want all of it to be good all of the time,” assistant head coach Jason Garrett said, “but you’ve got to step back.”
Garrett is not interested in the big picture yet. It’s about a quarterback making the right read even if the pass falls incomplete. It’s an offensive lineman picking up the blitz. It’s about the running back hitting the right hole. It’s the wide receiver beating the jam even if the football goes to the other side.
They are not explaining away the miscues, just being honest about what’s important in the middle of August.
The Cowboys had just one healthy tight end (Jason Witten ) that knew the entire offense. Things were so scuttled that backup guard Pat McQuistan took some tight end snaps with Martellus Bennett (ankle), John Phillips (knee) and Scott Sicko (concussion) out and newcomer DajLeon Farr in only his third day as a Cowboy.
After a game Sunday in Canton, Ohio, the Cowboys did not practice much at all. They had a pair of walkthroughs on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“We know what the expectations are,” Witten said.
The best thing for the Cowboys is today’s flight to Oxnard, Calif.
They have not had a real practice in more than a week. Yes, Allen Iverson, we’re talking about practice.
“I don’t know that it’s starting over from scratch, but we have to get back to that training-camp mode,” Garrett said. “Practice two times a day, then practice two times a day … We just have to keep banging away.”
At this time, maybe it is difficult to remember that this is an offense that was ranked second in the league at 399.4 yards a game last year, that Romo threw for 4,483 yards, that Miles Austin had 1,320 yards and 11 touchdowns, that the running game went for 2,103 yards, that Dez Bryant was drafted in the first round.
But if you can’t get past that, then just look at the first-team defense. It has not allowed a point in the first two preseason games.
Column by TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News | tarcher@dallasnews.com
ARLINGTON – Two preseason games down, no offensive touchdowns for the Cowboys.
Brandon Sharpe has scored the only touchdown, and he’s a linebacker.
Anybody worried?
Let’s put it another way: Had the Cowboys scored 50 points in each of their first two preseason games against Cincinnati and Oakland, would you have been ready to predict a run at the single-season scoring record?
Patrick Crayton has been around here long enough, first as a Cowboys’ fan growing up in DeSoto and for the last seven seasons as one of their wide receivers, to know the angst that is boiling after two preseason games.
“It’s early,” Crayton said. “If we were getting nothing, it’d be a different story. We’re just not finishing.”
The first-team offense had 14 plays against the Bengals. On Thursday, they had 18 plays against the Raiders before Tony Romo went to the sideline.
That's 32 plays and 6 points.
Like it did against Cincinnati, the first-team offense drove inside the opponent’s red zone – this time to the Oakland 16 – and settled for a field goal. Romo was sacked on first down for a 9-yard loss. His second-down pass went for 2 yards. He was sacked again on third down for a 3-yard loss.
In came David Buehler for a 42-yard field goal attempt.
“Trust me, you want all of it to be good all of the time,” assistant head coach Jason Garrett said, “but you’ve got to step back.”
Garrett is not interested in the big picture yet. It’s about a quarterback making the right read even if the pass falls incomplete. It’s an offensive lineman picking up the blitz. It’s about the running back hitting the right hole. It’s the wide receiver beating the jam even if the football goes to the other side.
They are not explaining away the miscues, just being honest about what’s important in the middle of August.
The Cowboys had just one healthy tight end (Jason Witten ) that knew the entire offense. Things were so scuttled that backup guard Pat McQuistan took some tight end snaps with Martellus Bennett (ankle), John Phillips (knee) and Scott Sicko (concussion) out and newcomer DajLeon Farr in only his third day as a Cowboy.
After a game Sunday in Canton, Ohio, the Cowboys did not practice much at all. They had a pair of walkthroughs on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“We know what the expectations are,” Witten said.
The best thing for the Cowboys is today’s flight to Oxnard, Calif.
They have not had a real practice in more than a week. Yes, Allen Iverson, we’re talking about practice.
“I don’t know that it’s starting over from scratch, but we have to get back to that training-camp mode,” Garrett said. “Practice two times a day, then practice two times a day … We just have to keep banging away.”
At this time, maybe it is difficult to remember that this is an offense that was ranked second in the league at 399.4 yards a game last year, that Romo threw for 4,483 yards, that Miles Austin had 1,320 yards and 11 touchdowns, that the running game went for 2,103 yards, that Dez Bryant was drafted in the first round.
But if you can’t get past that, then just look at the first-team defense. It has not allowed a point in the first two preseason games.