DMN: 5 thoughts from Cowboys' loss at Seahawks

[ThoughtExperiment]

Offensive play design of the game:

Tavon Austin, probably the smallest player on the team. Motions inside and lines up as a TE, then tries to run block.

Predictable outcome, Zeke runs to wear play is designed to go, gets trampled by the guy Austin was trying to block for no gain.

And this isn't the FIRST time they've tried something like that this year.

But Princeton

 

[Dupree89]

Does the same thing apply to coaches?

Look at the damage that's done by keeping fucktards like Garrett in place for as long as he has had.

A great call to WFAN sports talk radio in NY the other day.

Caller calls in and says.....the Giants were fools for getting rid of Tom Coughlin

The host (Francesa, good friend of Parcells) says..

listen we all love Tom Coughlin. He won 2 Super Bowls. But his last 3 years, his teams didnt sniff the playoffs. And in the NFL today, 3 years is a long time to right the ship.


when i heard it....I was thinking....FUCK MY LIFE AS A COWBOYS FAN

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

The NY media actually holds people accountable.

And they were fools for getting rid of him. If they thought he was too old to coach, they should have coaxed him into moving upstairs like with the Jags. He's done an amazing job there.

 

[theoneandonly]

The NY media actually holds people accountable.

And the Dallas media plays footsie so they can sell premium content to rubes.

 

[Dupree89]

this was the toughest interview I ever heard in NY sports radio. I actually remember listening to it live and I felt uncomfortable. lol

its when the yankees were in the middle of their dynasty and Joe Torre as AL all star manager chose 7 yankees as reserves. Imagine Garrett or Jerry handling this.

part 1
Chris "Mad Dog" Russo interviews Joe Torre-Part 1 - YouTube

part 2

Chris "Mad Dog" Russo interviews Joe Torre-Part 2 - YouTube

 

[yimyammer]

He'd be on the trade block if I ran things.

are you crazy, he's the best coach in the building

 

[Scot]

Glass vagina strikes again!

 

[TheZoneSucks]

In regards to Lee, I'm already seeing Ztoners wanting Sean Lee as LB coach. Hey! I'm all for that... AFTER Lee spends some time as a high school coach, low level college coach, big time college coach, etc, THEN he can be LB coach.

Jerry has trained some of these guys to agree with the entry level coaching status of the Cowboys franchise.

 

[icup]

"sean lee is a quick healer"

 

[icup]

Film room: 3 things we learned from Cowboys' loss to Seahawks

By John Owning | Contact John Owning on TwitterJohnOwning



The Seattle Seahawks (1-2) bullied the Cowboys (1-2) on Sunday at CenturyLink Field, dominating Dallas in a 24-13 win.

It was an ugly day for the Cowboys, who committed three turnovers, looked tired on defense and out of sync on offense.

The Seahawks controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and their stars took advantage of the big-play opportunities they were given. Russell Wilson looked like his old play-making self while Earl Thomas, who had two interceptions, made the Cowboys pay for their indecisiveness in trading for the All-Pro safety.

After two valiant efforts to start the season, the Cowboys defense finally showed some chinks in its armor, as the pass rush failed to generate pressure, exacerbating the holes in the secondary.

While the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins were able to escape Sunday with victories, the loss to the Seahawks causes the Cowboys to lose ground in the NFC East.

It was a bad performance all around for Dallas, so, without further ado, let's take a look at a few things we learned from the disappointing loss.


The offense is bad

Inaccurate throws, dropped passes, missed blocks and inopportune penalties -- the Cowboys offense had it all Sunday afternoon.

Dak Prescott's arm continued to fail him as he finished 19 of 34 for 168 yards -- good for an abysmal 4.9 yards per attempt -- with a touchdown and two interceptions. Prescott wasn't able to stretch the field against Seattle, once again settling for short throws that were unable to create chunk gains. On the season, Prescott has completed just three passes at, or over, 15 yards.

Furthermore, he struggled to make tight-window throws, and the Cowboys passing attack failed to find a rhythm. Prescott's interception in the fourth quarter is a great example:

Here, the offense finds itself in the red zone, driving to get to within one score. After the ball is snapped, the offensive line holds up well in protection, giving Prescott a beautiful pocket to throw from.

After scanning the field, Prescott tries to find Blake Jarwin near the first-down marker with a tight-window throw between two defenders. However, Prescott places the ball on Jarwin's left shoulder instead of his right, allowing Bobby Wagner to deflect the pass that ends up in Earl Thomas' arms for the game-ending interception. If Prescott had properly placed the ball near Jarwin's right shoulder, he would have had an excellent chance to make the catch for a first down.

Prescott has struggled with his ball placement all season and it came back to bite the Cowboys once again Sunday, causing many to wonder whether he deserves to be Dallas' quarterback of the future.

A week after putting together one of its better performances, the offensive line struggled, especially in pass protection, allowing five sacks. Tyron Smith struggled mightily opposite Frank Clark, whose get-off gave Smith fits all game.

Here, Clark is lined up on the outside edge of Smith. Once the ball was snapped, Clark exploded out of his stance and beat Smith to the edge with his four steps, forcing the Cowboys left tackle to turn and run in an attempt to push Clark past the quarterback. While Clark did fall off Prescott on his sack attempt, Seahawks linebacker Mychal Kendricks was in perfect position to clean up after the Cowboys quarterback stepped up in the pocket.

Clark's speed was a consistent problem for Smith, who didn't look anything like his usual All-Pro self. With Travis Frederick out of the lineup, the Cowboys need Smith, Zack Martin and La'el Collins to play up to their abilities each and every Sunday. Smith failed to do that against the Seahawks.

On top of that, the Cowboys offense was terrible on third down, converting just 3 of its 13 opportunities.

Many will criticize the Cowboys coaching staff for not calling more quarterback runs this week, but the Seahawks defense did a phenomenal job of staying disciplined, taking away Prescott's opportunity to keep the ball on zone reads. When Prescott dropped back to pass, Seattle's defensive line stayed in its rush lanes, making it difficult for Prescott to make plays with his feet.

After running for 127 yards on 16 carries, Ezekiel Elliott's performance on the ground will be overshadowed by a couple of unfortunate mishaps, as he had a devastating lost fumble in Seahawks territory during the fourth quarter and was called for illegal touching after stepping out of bounds on a would-be-touchdown pass.

The design and play-calling looked fine Sunday, but something needs to change on the Cowboys offense. Poor protection is causing Prescott to speed up his process, leading to errors with his mechanics and inconsistent placement with his throws. Dallas' inability to stretch the field is allowing teams to load up the box and make things difficult for its running game.

As long as the passing attack is among the worst in the NFL, the Cowboys offense will continue to struggle and minimize the efforts of the defense.

Maybe Jason Garrett needs to play a bigger part in the play-calling, or maybe the Cowboys offense needs to execute better. Whatever the case may be, something needs to change -- and quickly.


Absence of pass rush hurt the defense

Against an offense that gave up six sacks in each of its first two games, the Cowboys pass rush failed to do its part Sunday, finishing with just two sacks against Seattle.

The Seahawks did a good job of helping their offensive line -- particularly whoever was lined up across DeMarcus Lawrence -- with extra blockers and chip blocks, but the Cowboys defensive line failed to take advantage of the one-on-one opportunities it did see. The Seattle touchdown at the end of the second quarter illustrated just that:

On this play, the Cowboys have their best pass-rush personnel on the field while Seattle faces a third-and-9. Randy Gregory is isolated on the edge with Seahawks left tackle Duane Brown, Tyrone Crawford and Lawrence align as defensive tackles while Taco Charlton aligns on the left edge.

After the ball is snapped, Gregory tries to set up an inside move with his speed but is easily stymied by Brown. Charlton is effectively taken out of the play by the double team between the tight end and right tackle Germain Ifedi. Lawrence and Crawford ran a twist, failing to generate any pressure.

The result? A seemingly effortless 52-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Tyler Lockett. Without any pressure in his face, Wilson was able to drop back in rhythm and find an open receiver in between zone coverage.

The defensive tackles were particularly unimpressive rushing the passer despite Seattle missing two starters on the interior offensive line. The defensive ends weren't much better, as Charlton, Gregory and Dorance Armstrong failed to make Wilson uncomfortable in the pocket all game.

After a strong start to the game, the defense started to wane as the game went along. Seattle was finding open receivers against Dallas' Cover 3 defense while putting itself in manageable second and third downs with a consistent running game. The Seahawks took advantage, converting on 7 of 16 third-down opportunities.

Without having to run for his life, Wilson was accurate and made smart decisions throughout the game, finishing with an efficient 16-of-26 passing for 192 yards and two touchdowns. When he did feel pressure, he was able to maneuver in or break the pocket to find an open receiver.

While the offense did the defense no favors, the Cowboys must get more production from their pass rush. If not, offenses will be able to sit back and pick Dallas apart in the short-to-intermediate zones, just as Wilson did.


Byron Jones is the biggest bright spot in defeat

During a game where seemingly nothing went right for the Cowboys, Byron Jones played exceedingly well. We told you about Jones' fast start to the season last week, and he showed no signs of slowing down against the Seahawks.

Wilson wasn't afraid to target Jones in coverage, but the Cowboys cornerback's length, speed and stickiness in coverage served him well. Jones did an excellent job of staying patient when he was in press coverage while playing with impressive awareness in zone coverage.

Jones' eyes are always in the right place, allowing him to properly cover his zone within the construct of the Cowboys defense, and he has a knack for getting his hands on the ball at the catch point.

On this play, Jones is locked in press-man coverage against receiver Brandon Marshall. It's third and 6 and the Seahawks are looking to take advantage of Marshall's one-on-one coverage with a fade route for the first down -- bad decision.

After the ball is snapped, Jones remains square to the line of scrimmage and stays patient with his feet, allowing himself to disrupt Marshall's release. Despite Marshall yanking his face mask, Jones remains in-phase with Marshall, staying tight to the receiver's inside hip as he bursts down the sideline.

Once the ball is in the air, Jones does an excellent job of getting to the receiver, turning his head around and getting his hands on the ball as it reaches the catch point, forcing the incompletion.

Jones played well even when he wasn't in coverage, as he was solid in run support, making two stops for short gains.

While Chidobe Awuzie went through some growing pains, Jones continued to prove that he is the best Cowboys cornerback. After another stellar performance, Jones' play is starting to become a trend, as he has been one of the best cornerbacks in football through the first three weeks.

The only thing missing is an interception, which will come soon enough as long as Jones continues to play at a high level.



John Owning writes about NFL player evaluation for SportsDayDFW.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnOwning.

 

[yimyammer]

another one of those games where we heard all week how the mighty "Hot Boyz" were gonna dominate Seattles putrid O-line and per usual the pre gamed hyped "advantage" turns out to be a big

WHIFF!

 

[dbair1967]

another one of those games where we heard all week how the mighty "Hot Boyz" were gonna dominate Seattles putrid O-line and per usual the pre gamed hyped "advantage" turns out to be a big

WHIFF!

Amazing Coach Garrett motivational skillz in action again

 

[yimyammer]

Amazing Coach Garrett motivational skillz in action again

as well as everyone from jeri on down over-valuing the tiniest of farts from any player with a star on his helmet