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Pretty good game, yes the defense has holes and needs some work. Yes the OL again couldnt generate the kind of psuh we want to see. But its coming. We'll get there.
At 1-7 this team was an utter disgrace, arguably the biggest trainwreck in franchise history. We could EASILY be 5-0 under Jason Garrett right now, and we've done that despite using a 38yr old backup QB for everyone of those snaps. The two losses we do have were by 3pts each to argubly the two best teams in the conference.
1) I'm 110% sold on Garrett as HC, and I hope Jones is too. This doesnt even remotely resemble the team we saw under Wade and I have no doubt in my mind that if had been the coach since day one this yr that we'd probably be in first place even with Romo's injury. I'm really excited to see what he does in terms of his staff once the season is over. I suspect a massive overhaul is coming, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
2) The run defense had been really good since Garrett took over, and for the first two and half quarters of last night it was outstanding too. Then McCoy popped that long run. Not sure what happened on the final drive, but the run defense failed at that point. Part of the issue is most teams would play 8 or 9 men up in that situation, but our 8th and 9th guys are Sensabaugh and Ball, who are awful in run support. I think last night was the first time we REALLY missed Marcus Spears, who despite the constant hate on this forum IS the best DE on the team. He's a better player than most of you give him credit for, and its easy to see why Wade and the defensive coaches kept him in the starting lineup. I'd like to see us keep him if possible. Olshansky can go away.
3) I see alot of railing away on T New. I guess I shouldnt be surprised, since he gave up a big play on the first play of the game. But that was pretty much it. Jackson had 4 catches for 210 yds, and 91 was on that catch & run when Jenkins just missed the defelection. One of Jackson's other big playss came when Sensabaugh blew a coverage on Jenkins side of the field. Other than that, the Eagles had a TOTAL of 12 catches for 60 yards.
4) Really saw the effect of losing Dez Bryant on punt and kickoff returns last night. McCann and Ogletree were both pretty bad. The Eagles also caught a big break by not having to play against him on defense. They doubled Austin all night long. They even doubled Roy Williams some. Thats why you saw so many throws to Witten and Bennett.
5) For those crying for more long passes, the few attempts Kitna did throw down the field should be further proof of why we arnt seeing it more. Bennett was wide open for what would have been an easy score (wouldnt have counted anyway, as they flagged Gurode) but Kitna underthrew him. He also threw a couple others that had no chance. That said, I think the coverages dictated alot more of where the passes were thrown than anything else. I rarely saw Philly put 8 men in the box, and alot of times they seemed to be stopping our run with just 6 guys up. They were constantly running LB's out into space downfield.
6) I really think sticking with Buehler is gonna pay off for us down the road. He's kicking really well. He's 18/24 now, and is actually 3/4 over 50+, the one miss being that 59 bomb that he just missed on.
7) I dont see the need to say much more about what Choice did. The people that are in love with him see nothing wrong with what he did, but it was a bush league move and might ultimately be his ticket out of here. I've never seen that done in 25 years of watching football. I think Jimmy might have cut the guy immediately if he was here.
8) The run blocking just has to be a priority in the offseason. Its not as bad as it was the first 8 weeks (nothing is) but its still not good enough. I suspect we'll see 2 new starters on the OL for sure, and 3's a possibility.
9) I guess Bob Sturm was the only one who agreed with me, but DeMarcus Ware was really good last night. He was all over and laid some big hits on guys when he got the chance. I thought Newman and Jenkins were both alot better than what people on here gave credit for. Spencer seemed a little more active to me. Bradie James was pretty good for most of the game too. I thought Scandrick had another pretty good game too. He's definitely a different player since Wade was let go.
10) Jesse Holley was credited for 5 special teams tackles last night. Now I'm not a ST stat guru, but I'd tend to think 5 in one game is alot for one guy. He blew the block on the punt block TD last week, but otherwise he has been pretty good at what they brought him up for.
The bottom line for me is we are seeing dramatic improvement. Not having Romo is a massive handicap for us and we're still playing solid offense and have had a legit chance to win every game since Garrett took over. With an offseason to make staff changes and some personnel tweaks, I have little doubt we can be really good next yr.
At 1-7 this team was an utter disgrace, arguably the biggest trainwreck in franchise history. We could EASILY be 5-0 under Jason Garrett right now, and we've done that despite using a 38yr old backup QB for everyone of those snaps. The two losses we do have were by 3pts each to argubly the two best teams in the conference.
1) I'm 110% sold on Garrett as HC, and I hope Jones is too. This doesnt even remotely resemble the team we saw under Wade and I have no doubt in my mind that if had been the coach since day one this yr that we'd probably be in first place even with Romo's injury. I'm really excited to see what he does in terms of his staff once the season is over. I suspect a massive overhaul is coming, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
2) The run defense had been really good since Garrett took over, and for the first two and half quarters of last night it was outstanding too. Then McCoy popped that long run. Not sure what happened on the final drive, but the run defense failed at that point. Part of the issue is most teams would play 8 or 9 men up in that situation, but our 8th and 9th guys are Sensabaugh and Ball, who are awful in run support. I think last night was the first time we REALLY missed Marcus Spears, who despite the constant hate on this forum IS the best DE on the team. He's a better player than most of you give him credit for, and its easy to see why Wade and the defensive coaches kept him in the starting lineup. I'd like to see us keep him if possible. Olshansky can go away.
3) I see alot of railing away on T New. I guess I shouldnt be surprised, since he gave up a big play on the first play of the game. But that was pretty much it. Jackson had 4 catches for 210 yds, and 91 was on that catch & run when Jenkins just missed the defelection. One of Jackson's other big playss came when Sensabaugh blew a coverage on Jenkins side of the field. Other than that, the Eagles had a TOTAL of 12 catches for 60 yards.
4) Really saw the effect of losing Dez Bryant on punt and kickoff returns last night. McCann and Ogletree were both pretty bad. The Eagles also caught a big break by not having to play against him on defense. They doubled Austin all night long. They even doubled Roy Williams some. Thats why you saw so many throws to Witten and Bennett.
5) For those crying for more long passes, the few attempts Kitna did throw down the field should be further proof of why we arnt seeing it more. Bennett was wide open for what would have been an easy score (wouldnt have counted anyway, as they flagged Gurode) but Kitna underthrew him. He also threw a couple others that had no chance. That said, I think the coverages dictated alot more of where the passes were thrown than anything else. I rarely saw Philly put 8 men in the box, and alot of times they seemed to be stopping our run with just 6 guys up. They were constantly running LB's out into space downfield.
6) I really think sticking with Buehler is gonna pay off for us down the road. He's kicking really well. He's 18/24 now, and is actually 3/4 over 50+, the one miss being that 59 bomb that he just missed on.
7) I dont see the need to say much more about what Choice did. The people that are in love with him see nothing wrong with what he did, but it was a bush league move and might ultimately be his ticket out of here. I've never seen that done in 25 years of watching football. I think Jimmy might have cut the guy immediately if he was here.
8) The run blocking just has to be a priority in the offseason. Its not as bad as it was the first 8 weeks (nothing is) but its still not good enough. I suspect we'll see 2 new starters on the OL for sure, and 3's a possibility.
9) I guess Bob Sturm was the only one who agreed with me, but DeMarcus Ware was really good last night. He was all over and laid some big hits on guys when he got the chance. I thought Newman and Jenkins were both alot better than what people on here gave credit for. Spencer seemed a little more active to me. Bradie James was pretty good for most of the game too. I thought Scandrick had another pretty good game too. He's definitely a different player since Wade was let go.
10) Jesse Holley was credited for 5 special teams tackles last night. Now I'm not a ST stat guru, but I'd tend to think 5 in one game is alot for one guy. He blew the block on the punt block TD last week, but otherwise he has been pretty good at what they brought him up for.
The bottom line for me is we are seeing dramatic improvement. Not having Romo is a massive handicap for us and we're still playing solid offense and have had a legit chance to win every game since Garrett took over. With an offseason to make staff changes and some personnel tweaks, I have little doubt we can be really good next yr.
