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Some good things. Some not so good things. They have more work to do and need to clear up some of the special teams inconsistencies, although I suspect some of that is because so many different guys are playing different roles.
1) I was looking through the game thread at some of the whining and bitching, and hardly anyone acknowledges what should be the most obvious positive after two preseason games. The OL is better. It doesn't look "a little better", its looks pretty good. The pass protection for Romo and Orton (over both his games) has been nearly flawless. The run blocking is eons better than anything we saw the past few seasons. Yes its preseason. But we played over 7 quarters of preseason before a single running play was stopped for a loss. Romo must have had 10 seconds or so to throw on the one play where he took the sack instead of throwing to a wide open Miles Austin for easy TD. Comments on the individual OL follow:
2) Tyron Smith has looked great. Travis Frederick is the real deal at C, although I think its time they give up the reps at RG with him. Its not that I think he'd stink there, its just that he is so much better at C. Leary looked really solid again last night and appears to be a significant upgrade over Nate Livings. Doug Free looks nothing like the guy we saw most of the last two seasons and more like the guy we saw in 2009/2010. Even Bernadeau looked adequate last night. I think Costa is a decent backup guy. I read this morning where the team is still wanting to sign Brian Waters though, meaning Bernadeau might be relegated to backup duties sooner rather than later. We need Parnell healthy though. Still not impressed with any of the backup OT's. If they signed Waters and he were in good shape and an upgrade over Bernadeau, we could be in really great shape up front.
3) The backups on defense struggled some at times last night, but when the starters (or most of them) were in there its obvious this scheme will work and IMO, be a massive improvement over the past two seasons. These guys get upfield quick. They run to the ball better than anytime in recent memory. Ware and Hatcher played one series and I don't think either was blocked at all. That Sean Lee guy is really good. Nick Hayden looks like a decent backup DT. Kyle Wilbur may end up being fairly one dimensional, but he has explosiveness off the ball and can turn the corner. If that's all he can ever do and is a career #3 DE, that wont be too bad. I'm still amazed at the recover of Barry Church, who I firmly expected to be a liability out there because I didn't see any possible way he could be quick enough, yet there he was blowing up a couple different guys and closing fast on plays in front of him. Didn't notice Will Allen, which is a good thing compared to safety play from last few seasons.
4) JJ Wilcox led the team in tackles and had a really nice endzone interception. But he also took one really bad angle on a play that ended up being a 40 yd gain for the Raiders. But I think the physical talent is there and by all accounts, he works very hard. There's a lot of upside for Jerome Henderson to do something with there. I don't think he starts early in the season, but I could see him starting later in the season if he cleans up a few things. Already mentioned Frederick, he looks like a really good player and will be a mammoth upgrade for us at C. Escobar cant block, period. He needs a year in the weightroom bad. He still could have some impact as a receiver, but his blocking has gotta improve. BW Webb isn't going to play much this year until he shows he can tackle better. He did have a few nice tackles (he was credited with 4 last night and 3 last week) but he misses far too many tackles. Fortunately Scandrick has looked solid and assuming he is healthy, we're in good shape at the #3 CB this year. Joseph Randle played well again last night but had a couple plays in the 4th where the OL (one was Escobar) failed and he got blown up for a loss. Also showed good hands on a nice catch and run. Really like D Holloman. Will be very interested to see T Williams next week and the rest of preseason.
5) Thought Cole Beasley had a really good game, but then got hurt and needed x-rays. Kyle Orton continued to show why signing him was a really good move. After all the negative reports on him in camp (just like last yr) when he plays in the games, he looks solid.
The not so good or bad:
1) Special teams were bad. One FG was blocked and Bailey's first one was also nearly blocked. Kick return coverage was poor. Stupid penalty on Frampton on one punt return. BW Webb failed miserably trying to catch one punt, resulting in a turnover. Fortunately we have Dwayne Harris as our #1 guy there, and he is really good at punt returns.
2) Backup defense struggled and allowed too many 3rd down conversions. After becoming the latest in the annual preseason Cowboy HOF run, George Selvie was steamrolled last night. Despite playing what appeared to be extensively, he had only 2 tackles never came close to the QB from what I saw. Don't see how Caleb McSurdy has a chance here. Good tackler, but is just too slow. Perhaps he ends up with fat Rob in New Orleans.
3) Gavin Escobar (as noted above, and by many others) is just not a good blocker at all right now. Maybe he will be adequate eventually, but today he is a liability. James Hanna didn't appear to be much better either.
4) Still am not seeing any reason why either of these young backup QB's should get a spot on the 53 this yr. I'd think one will get a PS position and if I had to guess now I'd say it would be Nick Stephens. He through a really awful pick on his first throw of 2nd half, but did have a couple of NFL caliber throws afterward and showed some decent escapability. Appears to have a much stronger arm than Tanney does.
Couple other observations:
1) After last week throwing quite a few passes to the TE's and running a ton of plays from base 2TE (or even 3TE) sets, last night they hardly used them. Maybe it was by design, but on Romo's two series they were with 3 WR's and 1 TE on almost every play I think. I think for the entire game the TE's were only targeted on two passes, and none caught a pass.
2) While the overall numbers weren't as good as last week rushing the ball, other than two plays the run game was pretty effective again. Murray looked really good in his limited time. Lance Dunbar is a really pleasant surprise. He got all the 2nd team RB reps and ran/caught the ball exceptionally well. 3 runs and 3 receptions for overall good yardage. He could end up being a real sleeper weapon on 3rd down this year. Phillip Tanner and Randle both looked good again, and Randle showed he might be a quality KR guy. He had two returns for 50 yds, gaining 25 both times. We are really in good shape at the RB position.
3) Dez looks uncoverable out there. Miles Austin looks healthy. If T Williams is as good as advertised, we could really present a nightmare for opposing secondaries, especially if the OL continues to play well. Romo could be in for a monster season.
4) Tyrone Crawford goes on record as having fastest recovery from Achilles rupture in history of man. Perusing the boxscore, Crawford was credited with two tackles last night. (it was actually Selvie, both have the same uni nmbr)
5) Fat Rob defense first series last night. Chiefs go 15 plays, 80 yds and score a TD against the Aints first team defense.
6) The one complaint I had with Garrett last night (as opposed to a couple others, who cried about him appearing to have a good time) was the challenge on the GL play after the catch by Amos. Yeah he was probably right, it should have been a TD and in a game that matters its worth the challenge because you never know what can happen afterward. But in a meaningless preseason game I'd think having a chance to work on a real GL drill on 1st and goal from the 1 would be more of a priority. I have no issue with him smiling, high fiving guys, encouraging guys etc etc. I think he looks at ease right now and in part, I think its because the team looks better in several areas where we all had major concerns. (OL, new scheme defensively).
There's still some things they need to clean up, but I am encouraged and think things we needed to show improvement at are going in the right direction.
1) I was looking through the game thread at some of the whining and bitching, and hardly anyone acknowledges what should be the most obvious positive after two preseason games. The OL is better. It doesn't look "a little better", its looks pretty good. The pass protection for Romo and Orton (over both his games) has been nearly flawless. The run blocking is eons better than anything we saw the past few seasons. Yes its preseason. But we played over 7 quarters of preseason before a single running play was stopped for a loss. Romo must have had 10 seconds or so to throw on the one play where he took the sack instead of throwing to a wide open Miles Austin for easy TD. Comments on the individual OL follow:
2) Tyron Smith has looked great. Travis Frederick is the real deal at C, although I think its time they give up the reps at RG with him. Its not that I think he'd stink there, its just that he is so much better at C. Leary looked really solid again last night and appears to be a significant upgrade over Nate Livings. Doug Free looks nothing like the guy we saw most of the last two seasons and more like the guy we saw in 2009/2010. Even Bernadeau looked adequate last night. I think Costa is a decent backup guy. I read this morning where the team is still wanting to sign Brian Waters though, meaning Bernadeau might be relegated to backup duties sooner rather than later. We need Parnell healthy though. Still not impressed with any of the backup OT's. If they signed Waters and he were in good shape and an upgrade over Bernadeau, we could be in really great shape up front.
3) The backups on defense struggled some at times last night, but when the starters (or most of them) were in there its obvious this scheme will work and IMO, be a massive improvement over the past two seasons. These guys get upfield quick. They run to the ball better than anytime in recent memory. Ware and Hatcher played one series and I don't think either was blocked at all. That Sean Lee guy is really good. Nick Hayden looks like a decent backup DT. Kyle Wilbur may end up being fairly one dimensional, but he has explosiveness off the ball and can turn the corner. If that's all he can ever do and is a career #3 DE, that wont be too bad. I'm still amazed at the recover of Barry Church, who I firmly expected to be a liability out there because I didn't see any possible way he could be quick enough, yet there he was blowing up a couple different guys and closing fast on plays in front of him. Didn't notice Will Allen, which is a good thing compared to safety play from last few seasons.
4) JJ Wilcox led the team in tackles and had a really nice endzone interception. But he also took one really bad angle on a play that ended up being a 40 yd gain for the Raiders. But I think the physical talent is there and by all accounts, he works very hard. There's a lot of upside for Jerome Henderson to do something with there. I don't think he starts early in the season, but I could see him starting later in the season if he cleans up a few things. Already mentioned Frederick, he looks like a really good player and will be a mammoth upgrade for us at C. Escobar cant block, period. He needs a year in the weightroom bad. He still could have some impact as a receiver, but his blocking has gotta improve. BW Webb isn't going to play much this year until he shows he can tackle better. He did have a few nice tackles (he was credited with 4 last night and 3 last week) but he misses far too many tackles. Fortunately Scandrick has looked solid and assuming he is healthy, we're in good shape at the #3 CB this year. Joseph Randle played well again last night but had a couple plays in the 4th where the OL (one was Escobar) failed and he got blown up for a loss. Also showed good hands on a nice catch and run. Really like D Holloman. Will be very interested to see T Williams next week and the rest of preseason.
5) Thought Cole Beasley had a really good game, but then got hurt and needed x-rays. Kyle Orton continued to show why signing him was a really good move. After all the negative reports on him in camp (just like last yr) when he plays in the games, he looks solid.
The not so good or bad:
1) Special teams were bad. One FG was blocked and Bailey's first one was also nearly blocked. Kick return coverage was poor. Stupid penalty on Frampton on one punt return. BW Webb failed miserably trying to catch one punt, resulting in a turnover. Fortunately we have Dwayne Harris as our #1 guy there, and he is really good at punt returns.
2) Backup defense struggled and allowed too many 3rd down conversions. After becoming the latest in the annual preseason Cowboy HOF run, George Selvie was steamrolled last night. Despite playing what appeared to be extensively, he had only 2 tackles never came close to the QB from what I saw. Don't see how Caleb McSurdy has a chance here. Good tackler, but is just too slow. Perhaps he ends up with fat Rob in New Orleans.
3) Gavin Escobar (as noted above, and by many others) is just not a good blocker at all right now. Maybe he will be adequate eventually, but today he is a liability. James Hanna didn't appear to be much better either.
4) Still am not seeing any reason why either of these young backup QB's should get a spot on the 53 this yr. I'd think one will get a PS position and if I had to guess now I'd say it would be Nick Stephens. He through a really awful pick on his first throw of 2nd half, but did have a couple of NFL caliber throws afterward and showed some decent escapability. Appears to have a much stronger arm than Tanney does.
Couple other observations:
1) After last week throwing quite a few passes to the TE's and running a ton of plays from base 2TE (or even 3TE) sets, last night they hardly used them. Maybe it was by design, but on Romo's two series they were with 3 WR's and 1 TE on almost every play I think. I think for the entire game the TE's were only targeted on two passes, and none caught a pass.
2) While the overall numbers weren't as good as last week rushing the ball, other than two plays the run game was pretty effective again. Murray looked really good in his limited time. Lance Dunbar is a really pleasant surprise. He got all the 2nd team RB reps and ran/caught the ball exceptionally well. 3 runs and 3 receptions for overall good yardage. He could end up being a real sleeper weapon on 3rd down this year. Phillip Tanner and Randle both looked good again, and Randle showed he might be a quality KR guy. He had two returns for 50 yds, gaining 25 both times. We are really in good shape at the RB position.
3) Dez looks uncoverable out there. Miles Austin looks healthy. If T Williams is as good as advertised, we could really present a nightmare for opposing secondaries, especially if the OL continues to play well. Romo could be in for a monster season.
4) Tyrone Crawford goes on record as having fastest recovery from Achilles rupture in history of man. Perusing the boxscore, Crawford was credited with two tackles last night. (it was actually Selvie, both have the same uni nmbr)
5) Fat Rob defense first series last night. Chiefs go 15 plays, 80 yds and score a TD against the Aints first team defense.
6) The one complaint I had with Garrett last night (as opposed to a couple others, who cried about him appearing to have a good time) was the challenge on the GL play after the catch by Amos. Yeah he was probably right, it should have been a TD and in a game that matters its worth the challenge because you never know what can happen afterward. But in a meaningless preseason game I'd think having a chance to work on a real GL drill on 1st and goal from the 1 would be more of a priority. I have no issue with him smiling, high fiving guys, encouraging guys etc etc. I think he looks at ease right now and in part, I think its because the team looks better in several areas where we all had major concerns. (OL, new scheme defensively).
There's still some things they need to clean up, but I am encouraged and think things we needed to show improvement at are going in the right direction.
