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Bob Sturm / Contributor
SportsDayDFW phoned The Ticket's Bob Sturm to comment on the Cowboys' loss to the Eagles. The following is a transcription of highlights of the interview:
On his instant reaction:
It's on one hand again a very close entertaining and energetic football from the Cowboys, but over the course of 60 minutes, we saw the Eagles are the better football team with greater weapons. They have DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy. The Cowboys don't have their starting quarterback of Dez Bryant. The playmakers on the Eagles made absolutely huge plays at times, and the Cowboys' offense had to work extremely hard to get their points. Their offense looks really one-dimensional and full of holes.
It was a rather poor night for run blocking. Kitna looked like Kitna, unlike last week when people thought he was better than Romo, which I thought was crazy.
What are your thoughts on DeSean Jackson and his 91-yard touchdown catch and run.
He's not a little faster than every Cowboy on the field, but a lot faster. You're going to take a chance as a cornerback to jump the route to knock the pass down. If you get beat to the inside there is a chance another defender can help you out but if you get beat to the outside that's where it can be a backbreaker. Once that play got going you could see the Cowboys safeties were no match. He ran by (Gerald) Sensabaugh without any effort. Jackson was just toying with the defense on that play and most of the night.
On the Cowboys holding Mike Vick to a season-low 16 yards rushing
I thought it was a tenacious effort to keep him corralled. DeMarcus Ware looked world-class. I think he's had his ups and down this season. Tonight he brought everything he had and played a great game. Anthony Spencer had his moments. But for the third consecutive week, the Cowboys had a chance to make a stop and give this team a chance to win but they could not get a stop. I see the Eagles scored on their final four possessions (final drive took a knee). The Cowboys defense does not have enough in the tank to make a stop and we've seen that three consecutive weeks.
On the Cowboys struggling to get the ball downfield and to their receivers (Roy Williams and Miles Austin had just two catches each).
We're going to see more and more of that. Without Tony Romo you don't have the arm that can beat you all over the field. You're playing without your arguably best playmaker. The options become fewer and fewer. Not only are you choosing from fewer options, but the defense is sitting on those options and making you do things you're not comfortable doing.
They can't get anything going in the running game except on some trickery. Their traditional running game is so punchless right now, and I'm not sure I would blame the running backs that much because it looks like they don't have much to work with. I see the Cowboys not winning enough blocks at the point of attack. If you don't win at the point of attack, your running back doesn't have a prayer.
On the Cowboys' allowing just one sack against a tough Eagles blitz:
Yes they had just one sack, but the blitz still affected the routes and the plays the Cowboys could run. Part of that pass protection is a lot of quick short passes and what that does is it requires you break a few of them for massive gains. Otherwise you're trying to move the football at 4-5 yards a pass. That means you have to march the field without making mistakes. And when you have to do that. and the Eagles can hit a 91-yard pass. you see the difference in the offense.
Do the Cowboys have to play a perfect game to win?
Against good teams with (the Cowboys having their) backup quarterback, it's going to be difficult to win with their B-minus, C-plus game. You can beat the Lions or the Colts with a plus-4 turnover margin. An OK effort might be able to beat the Redskins and Cardinals. The Giants and the Colts both helped the Cowboys a bit. I imagine Andy Reid told his team tonight "If we don't beat ourselves it s going to be difficult for Dallas to beat us."
On how many games the Cowboys will win the rest of the year (vs. Washington, at Arizona, at Philadelphia):
I'd really like them to get the next two and feel pretty good about a six-win finish after a 1-7 coaching change. Assuming the Eagles need Week 17, I have a hard time seeing them winning at their place. If they play to their level, they are playing very hard now. And I am optimistic. Effort is one thing; it still comes down to players.
SportsDayDFW phoned The Ticket's Bob Sturm to comment on the Cowboys' loss to the Eagles. The following is a transcription of highlights of the interview:
On his instant reaction:
It's on one hand again a very close entertaining and energetic football from the Cowboys, but over the course of 60 minutes, we saw the Eagles are the better football team with greater weapons. They have DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy. The Cowboys don't have their starting quarterback of Dez Bryant. The playmakers on the Eagles made absolutely huge plays at times, and the Cowboys' offense had to work extremely hard to get their points. Their offense looks really one-dimensional and full of holes.
It was a rather poor night for run blocking. Kitna looked like Kitna, unlike last week when people thought he was better than Romo, which I thought was crazy.
What are your thoughts on DeSean Jackson and his 91-yard touchdown catch and run.
He's not a little faster than every Cowboy on the field, but a lot faster. You're going to take a chance as a cornerback to jump the route to knock the pass down. If you get beat to the inside there is a chance another defender can help you out but if you get beat to the outside that's where it can be a backbreaker. Once that play got going you could see the Cowboys safeties were no match. He ran by (Gerald) Sensabaugh without any effort. Jackson was just toying with the defense on that play and most of the night.
On the Cowboys holding Mike Vick to a season-low 16 yards rushing
I thought it was a tenacious effort to keep him corralled. DeMarcus Ware looked world-class. I think he's had his ups and down this season. Tonight he brought everything he had and played a great game. Anthony Spencer had his moments. But for the third consecutive week, the Cowboys had a chance to make a stop and give this team a chance to win but they could not get a stop. I see the Eagles scored on their final four possessions (final drive took a knee). The Cowboys defense does not have enough in the tank to make a stop and we've seen that three consecutive weeks.
On the Cowboys struggling to get the ball downfield and to their receivers (Roy Williams and Miles Austin had just two catches each).
We're going to see more and more of that. Without Tony Romo you don't have the arm that can beat you all over the field. You're playing without your arguably best playmaker. The options become fewer and fewer. Not only are you choosing from fewer options, but the defense is sitting on those options and making you do things you're not comfortable doing.
They can't get anything going in the running game except on some trickery. Their traditional running game is so punchless right now, and I'm not sure I would blame the running backs that much because it looks like they don't have much to work with. I see the Cowboys not winning enough blocks at the point of attack. If you don't win at the point of attack, your running back doesn't have a prayer.
On the Cowboys' allowing just one sack against a tough Eagles blitz:
Yes they had just one sack, but the blitz still affected the routes and the plays the Cowboys could run. Part of that pass protection is a lot of quick short passes and what that does is it requires you break a few of them for massive gains. Otherwise you're trying to move the football at 4-5 yards a pass. That means you have to march the field without making mistakes. And when you have to do that. and the Eagles can hit a 91-yard pass. you see the difference in the offense.
Do the Cowboys have to play a perfect game to win?
Against good teams with (the Cowboys having their) backup quarterback, it's going to be difficult to win with their B-minus, C-plus game. You can beat the Lions or the Colts with a plus-4 turnover margin. An OK effort might be able to beat the Redskins and Cardinals. The Giants and the Colts both helped the Cowboys a bit. I imagine Andy Reid told his team tonight "If we don't beat ourselves it s going to be difficult for Dallas to beat us."
On how many games the Cowboys will win the rest of the year (vs. Washington, at Arizona, at Philadelphia):
I'd really like them to get the next two and feel pretty good about a six-win finish after a 1-7 coaching change. Assuming the Eagles need Week 17, I have a hard time seeing them winning at their place. If they play to their level, they are playing very hard now. And I am optimistic. Effort is one thing; it still comes down to players.