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Bob Sturm analysis: Tony Romo off; no game-changers on 'D'; kicker has no rope
Posted at 4:00 PM on Sun., Sep. 19, 2010 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
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We called Bob Sturm -- the host of BaD Radio on The Ticket 1310 AM Mondays through Fridays at 12-3 p.m. -- for his thoughts on the Cowboys' 27-20 loss to the Bears on Sunday. The following is a transcription of his thoughts:
General thoughts about the loss: Not good enough. Minus-3 in turnover battle is a certain recipe for disaster. On both sides of the ball there is enough good things to say there is promise, but there are not enough consistent results. The defense played with a lot of solid intensity. All it took were a couple blown coverages to end with a result that is not going to get you a victory.
For the offense, it's a theme we are getting used to: a lot of yards and a mistake that sabotages your play
On the inability for the Cowboys' defense to get turnovers: That's a complicated question. If you look around the league there are certain guys who end up with big plays that end of many are in the secondary: Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Charles Woodson. These players -- in any scheme -- continually turn the ball over. My suggestion, despite having a great pass rush, the Cowboys have not been able to find proper playmakers who can take the ball away. Charles Tillman today can cause turnovers, that's what he's done in Chicago for many years. The Cowboys' secondary has good traits about them but they never take the ball away. Apparently, sacks do not lead to turnovers as we were led to believe. Pressure causes interceptions, but not in Dallas.
On Tony Romo being off: That's absolutely right. Romo has not been able to find his trademark accuracy and this is somewhat reminiscent of some of his September play last year. In Week 2 against the Giants and Week 3 against Panthers, Romo was somewhere between really off and off. He appears to be in that spot again. That led to the Jason Witten interception that led to the missed wheel route with Tashard Choice. They have to get that fixed. It makes you wonder about their crispness they didn't find in preseason.
On the lack of running game: I would give the credit to the Chicago front, seemingly manhandling the line of scrimmage. They made the Cowboys one-dimensional by throwing their linebackers into the running lanes. And there's no question Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher were winning a lot of those battles. And before long, there's no running lanes to be had. This is disconcerting because we've seen it all through training camp and now through two weeks of the regular season. The Cowboys do not seem to be a team that finds great success on the ground whenever they want it like they did in long stretches last season;
On getting back Kyle Kosier and Marc Colombo on the offensive line: I certainly think it helps; it doesn't solve all their problems. I'm reminded Colombo and Kosier were in Minnesota last year when the Cowboys front was dominated (in the playoff loss). We should consider the fact that a fully healthy Cowboys offensive line doesn't make it a superior line in this league. Colombo and Kosier are really nice players, but they're really about league average. And their mere presence is not going to give the Cowboys ownership of the line of scrimmage, especially against the front like the Chicago Bears.
On the Cowboys' penalties: They took a backseat to the turnovers. The Oshansky, Hamlin punt return penalty and the Keith Brooking roughing the passer penalty all hurt, but three giveaways, zero takeaways -- that is what I would really be examining. And the blown coverage of Greg Olsen on the long touchdown. Those mistakes are far more damaging.
How much rope does kicker David Buehler have after missing two field goals in two games? I would say next to none. This is one of the more confounding or perhaps dumfounding decisions the Cowboys made in the off-season to not push him with competition. It seems a recipe for disaster and you could make the case they already have reaped disastrous results.
Can the Cowboys recover from an 0-2 start? They have certainly made the task far more difficult 0-2 is a very deep hole with the schedule that lies ahead. At the same time, it is an extremely long season. And here's where we find what sort of character this team has. They will be underdogs and perhaps rather severe underdogs going into a Week 3 hostile situation (at Houston). If the wrong result happens there, then the bye week coaching change will certainly be discussed. For a number of reasons, I don't think Jerry would ax his head coach, not the least of which appears to be financial and then the prospect of who would be the coach. But for fans, I would imagine that Wade would go to the top of the list.
Top priorities for next week: They need to establish some level of ownership of the line of scrimmage on offense. Without any sort of running game, the entire design of this offense must be carefully reviewed. They depend on a running game and they are not getting one at all. Beyond that, the 0 takeaways absolutely must be improved upon. If there's one thing we know, it's a Wade Phillips' defense has not generated takeaways.
Good signs? The game-breaking ability of Dez Bryant; Colombo's return was an improvement at right tackle although they gave him quite a bit of help; the pass rush was impressive but I can't possibly understand how that matchup only resulted in one sack. They had cutler running for his life early. But close is the theme of this team. The defense, like the offense, come close, but apparently isn't closing the deal.
Posted at 4:00 PM on Sun., Sep. 19, 2010 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
SportsDayDFW sports Bio | E-mail | News tips
We called Bob Sturm -- the host of BaD Radio on The Ticket 1310 AM Mondays through Fridays at 12-3 p.m. -- for his thoughts on the Cowboys' 27-20 loss to the Bears on Sunday. The following is a transcription of his thoughts:
General thoughts about the loss: Not good enough. Minus-3 in turnover battle is a certain recipe for disaster. On both sides of the ball there is enough good things to say there is promise, but there are not enough consistent results. The defense played with a lot of solid intensity. All it took were a couple blown coverages to end with a result that is not going to get you a victory.
For the offense, it's a theme we are getting used to: a lot of yards and a mistake that sabotages your play
On the inability for the Cowboys' defense to get turnovers: That's a complicated question. If you look around the league there are certain guys who end up with big plays that end of many are in the secondary: Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Charles Woodson. These players -- in any scheme -- continually turn the ball over. My suggestion, despite having a great pass rush, the Cowboys have not been able to find proper playmakers who can take the ball away. Charles Tillman today can cause turnovers, that's what he's done in Chicago for many years. The Cowboys' secondary has good traits about them but they never take the ball away. Apparently, sacks do not lead to turnovers as we were led to believe. Pressure causes interceptions, but not in Dallas.
On Tony Romo being off: That's absolutely right. Romo has not been able to find his trademark accuracy and this is somewhat reminiscent of some of his September play last year. In Week 2 against the Giants and Week 3 against Panthers, Romo was somewhere between really off and off. He appears to be in that spot again. That led to the Jason Witten interception that led to the missed wheel route with Tashard Choice. They have to get that fixed. It makes you wonder about their crispness they didn't find in preseason.
On the lack of running game: I would give the credit to the Chicago front, seemingly manhandling the line of scrimmage. They made the Cowboys one-dimensional by throwing their linebackers into the running lanes. And there's no question Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher were winning a lot of those battles. And before long, there's no running lanes to be had. This is disconcerting because we've seen it all through training camp and now through two weeks of the regular season. The Cowboys do not seem to be a team that finds great success on the ground whenever they want it like they did in long stretches last season;
On getting back Kyle Kosier and Marc Colombo on the offensive line: I certainly think it helps; it doesn't solve all their problems. I'm reminded Colombo and Kosier were in Minnesota last year when the Cowboys front was dominated (in the playoff loss). We should consider the fact that a fully healthy Cowboys offensive line doesn't make it a superior line in this league. Colombo and Kosier are really nice players, but they're really about league average. And their mere presence is not going to give the Cowboys ownership of the line of scrimmage, especially against the front like the Chicago Bears.
On the Cowboys' penalties: They took a backseat to the turnovers. The Oshansky, Hamlin punt return penalty and the Keith Brooking roughing the passer penalty all hurt, but three giveaways, zero takeaways -- that is what I would really be examining. And the blown coverage of Greg Olsen on the long touchdown. Those mistakes are far more damaging.
How much rope does kicker David Buehler have after missing two field goals in two games? I would say next to none. This is one of the more confounding or perhaps dumfounding decisions the Cowboys made in the off-season to not push him with competition. It seems a recipe for disaster and you could make the case they already have reaped disastrous results.
Can the Cowboys recover from an 0-2 start? They have certainly made the task far more difficult 0-2 is a very deep hole with the schedule that lies ahead. At the same time, it is an extremely long season. And here's where we find what sort of character this team has. They will be underdogs and perhaps rather severe underdogs going into a Week 3 hostile situation (at Houston). If the wrong result happens there, then the bye week coaching change will certainly be discussed. For a number of reasons, I don't think Jerry would ax his head coach, not the least of which appears to be financial and then the prospect of who would be the coach. But for fans, I would imagine that Wade would go to the top of the list.
Top priorities for next week: They need to establish some level of ownership of the line of scrimmage on offense. Without any sort of running game, the entire design of this offense must be carefully reviewed. They depend on a running game and they are not getting one at all. Beyond that, the 0 takeaways absolutely must be improved upon. If there's one thing we know, it's a Wade Phillips' defense has not generated takeaways.
Good signs? The game-breaking ability of Dez Bryant; Colombo's return was an improvement at right tackle although they gave him quite a bit of help; the pass rush was impressive but I can't possibly understand how that matchup only resulted in one sack. They had cutler running for his life early. But close is the theme of this team. The defense, like the offense, come close, but apparently isn't closing the deal.