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 retard 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
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 retard 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
