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Updated: August 9, 2010, 3:11 AM
CANTON, Ohio - One of the biggest areas of concern for the Cowboys offense heading into this season was fixing the team's red zone woes.
Too many times last season the offense would get inside the opponents' 20, only to stall and settle for a field goal, and sometimes not even that.
So in the first opportunity to fix that problem, the starting offense got just one offensive possession Sunday night against the Bengals. But it didn't look too different from a year ago.
The Tony Romo-led offense marched the ball from the opening kickoff and had a first-and-goal from the Bengals' 2. Three straight incomplete passes later, the Cowboys were kicking a field goal for a 3-0 lead.
Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett didn't seem too concerned after just one possession of the first game.
"Well, they were bringing some heavy blitzes," Garrett said. "Coach (Mike) Zimmer is an aggressive defensive coordinator. He came after us early and often. It's good for us to have to handle those situations early on in the preseason."
In fact, the Cowboys were even fortunate to get the three points. Felix Jones fumbled the ball into the end zone, recovered by the Bengals on a play that appeared would give Cincinnati the ball at the 20. Instead, an offside penalty on the Bengals put the ball on the 2 yard line with a first down.
But the Cowboys never ran the ball. Tony Romo tried to hit Roy Williams on a back-shoulder that fell incomplete. On second day, the play broke down and a scrambling Romo over threw Williams on the next play.
And on third down, Romo again was hurried and lobbed a screen pass in the flat to Jones, but overthrew him badly in what looked more like a throwaway.
Like Garrett, Romo didn't sound worried, just like he wouldn't be overconfident had they been able to score a touchdown.
"You just have to continue to work on the things we've been doing through the offseason and in training camp," Romo said. "You're never sure until you get into a game-like mode, and some of the new stuff, it was nice to see it work out really well. It's a start. We have to build off of it, but we still have a ways to go, and we're on the way."
CANTON, Ohio - One of the biggest areas of concern for the Cowboys offense heading into this season was fixing the team's red zone woes.
Too many times last season the offense would get inside the opponents' 20, only to stall and settle for a field goal, and sometimes not even that.
So in the first opportunity to fix that problem, the starting offense got just one offensive possession Sunday night against the Bengals. But it didn't look too different from a year ago.
The Tony Romo-led offense marched the ball from the opening kickoff and had a first-and-goal from the Bengals' 2. Three straight incomplete passes later, the Cowboys were kicking a field goal for a 3-0 lead.
Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett didn't seem too concerned after just one possession of the first game.
"Well, they were bringing some heavy blitzes," Garrett said. "Coach (Mike) Zimmer is an aggressive defensive coordinator. He came after us early and often. It's good for us to have to handle those situations early on in the preseason."
In fact, the Cowboys were even fortunate to get the three points. Felix Jones fumbled the ball into the end zone, recovered by the Bengals on a play that appeared would give Cincinnati the ball at the 20. Instead, an offside penalty on the Bengals put the ball on the 2 yard line with a first down.
But the Cowboys never ran the ball. Tony Romo tried to hit Roy Williams on a back-shoulder that fell incomplete. On second day, the play broke down and a scrambling Romo over threw Williams on the next play.
And on third down, Romo again was hurried and lobbed a screen pass in the flat to Jones, but overthrew him badly in what looked more like a throwaway.
Like Garrett, Romo didn't sound worried, just like he wouldn't be overconfident had they been able to score a touchdown.
"You just have to continue to work on the things we've been doing through the offseason and in training camp," Romo said. "You're never sure until you get into a game-like mode, and some of the new stuff, it was nice to see it work out really well. It's a start. We have to build off of it, but we still have a ways to go, and we're on the way."
