Cowboys Game Report Card

[MTK]

Time to hand out the grades:

Offense: B-
Played well at times, not so well at others. As a unit they seem to be coming around.

Defense: A
Another great effort, the Cowboys couldn't run the ball and they didn't do much in the air either. Sucks that we had yet another game where the opponent gets points on the board and it's not the D's fault.

Special Teams: B
Coverage was solid, nothing much to talk about here but sometimes that's a good thing.

Coaching: C-
I'm sure the coaching grade is going to draw the most discussion today. The negatives, the clock management was piss poor, timeouts were burned at bad times and the goal line play calling could have been much better.

Some positives, the team is not quitting and they play hard from start to finish. Something we haven't been able to say about this team since Gibbs left. I have no doubt Gibbs will get this ship headed in the right direction.

[JoeGibbs2004]

What grade would you give the individual performance of Sean Taylor for his first start? To me, he seemed like he was only one step from making some major big plays (i.e. like the trick play touchdown). I do not profess to be an expert on Safeties so I would like to hear the views...

[illdefined]

Sean Taylor made some BAAAAAAD non-tackles throughout the first half. (almost as bad as Ryan Clark, why the hell was he out there? MNF vs. Dallas is no place to be testing players!). he warmed up later in the game, and was onscreen more everytime the ball was thrown, but he's not near the force he was in preseason. wonder if the lights shook him.

[Redskins_P]

I'd give Taylor a C+. He missed some tackles, and I was hoping he could come up with a big play. But he did defend a couple of passes pretty well. He'll come around eventually.

[MTK]

Taylor needs to think about wrapping up and going for the sure tackle first and going for the knockout shot second.

[sportscurmudgeon]

Sean Taylor is a head-hunter. He'll make some bodacious hits that make the highlight reels and will stick in your memory. And for every one of them, he'll give up extra yards on four or five other plays where a good sound fundamental tackle would have saved the yardage. He gave a first down away in the first half to a tight end when he went head-hunting.

Also, he was about 5 yards away from the TD pass in the endzone. Nice hustle trying to get to the ball, but that is a highlight reel play and not an effective one.

Sean Taylor has a whole lot to learn about the NFL before he is valuable. Please recall that he was the almost unanimous pick here to be defensive rookie of the year. After 3 games, the only vote he should get for that honor is from his family.

[MTK]

On the TD he was late on did anyone notice him fly through the air about 10 yards? The guy literally looked like he was flying! Check out the replay I swear he had a cape on his back.

His closing speed is amazing for a guy his size. He also had a nice play on a pass defense against Keyshawn, the play where he got nicked up.

[Big C]

how do u gardner haters feel about him after last night

[MTK]

RG had a great game, now let's see him continue to play at a high level.

1 game isn't going to change what he's done his entire career. He needs to be consistent, that's always been the knock on him.

[Gmanc711]

Offense - B. The first half was like a C/C-, the Second half was about a B+
Defense- A. We didnt play as well on defense as some of the other games, but that unit is keeping us in every game.
S.T. - Punt Coverage was awsome, kick coverage is still average at best. Kick/Punt returns suck. Chad Morton isnt doing anything.
Coaching - Alot of people have critized the coaching, I Think it was alright. The replay challenge was kinda stupid, but the real problem I had was on the goaline.

[sportscurmudgeon]

I am not a Gardner-hater but I do criticize him a lot.

What do I think today? About the smae thing I have thought about him since his rookie year.

Makes great plays sometimes and makes disastrously bad plays sometimes. Cannot rely on him.

This is his 4th season, right? Assuming that's correct, it means he has been in 51 games so far. He has a 51-game history of unreliability. Now to change my mind, I'll need more than one very good game which is what he had last night.

You want to know who Gardner reminds me of? Michael Westbrook - - without the antisocial tendencies.

[AnonEmouse]

Originally Posted by Gmanc711

Offense - B. The first half was like a C/C-, the Second half was about a B+
Defense- A. We didnt play as well on defense as some of the other games, but that unit is keeping us in every game.
S.T. - Punt Coverage was awsome, kick coverage is still average at best. Kick/Punt returns suck. Chad Morton isnt doing anything.
Coaching - Alot of people have critized the coaching, I Think it was alright. The replay challenge was kinda stupid, but the real problem I had was on the goaline.

OK, I just watched the game tonight (not staying up until 6AM UK time to watch it!) and I'd say this:

Offense - agreed on the B. 2nd half was all but phenomenal. Showed (but for bad CM) we can do the comeback. We did outscore them by 4 after all, after half time. Also you can't critique Brunell on the 1st half without accounting for all the penalties that put us in long yardage sits. Oh yeah, and who said he had a noodle arm?

Defense - B. Why? OK, for most of the game we kept Dallas in check, but their 2nd TD drive we just seemed a step behind the play the whole drive and that half back option should earn #25 his waiver wire ticket. It's one thing for LB's and safeties to be suckered in, but CB's know their #1 priority is keep the WR in your sights until you KNOW it's a run. I know I've played the position myself.

ST - C. Don't get down on Morton because our blocking is not there yet. I saw improvements on it over week one, but we have to learn to open lanes for the returner. When he gets hit by 5 guys at the same time before he gets 10 yards, then we are not blocking properly. TUPA, OTOH, is doing the business!

Coaching - C. Play calling on O deserves a B for the first half up until the 1 yd line and an A for the 2nd, but the gl stalemate deserves an F for lack of imagination (not normally a JG problem) and the clock management (play calling f' up?) in the 2nd likewise gets an F. Brings it to an average C. Defensive calling I'd give a B. All but that one drive were excellent, but if we are relying on our D early in the season, we can't go to sleep on on or two drives. IF we can't score more than 20 pts a game, the D have to stay awake all game and keep the otehr team at 14 or below.

Officiating - E. The 2 PI calls were so bogus - it does happen every now an again, but twice in one game is shocking. The fumble is one of those judgement calls, so I'll not get down on them for that. The Portis catch on the other hand was awful officiating, that fortunately helped us!

The officiating aside, I'd rate us an overall B. Too many penalties, too many dropped balls, too many sacks from holding onto the ball too long (how many reading this said that was Ramsey's problem?) and falling asleep on D on occasion all add up. But in the end the O finally turned up and the D carried on the mostly good work. IF we iron out the mental errors from everyone (JG inc.) then we will start winning more than we lose.

The futures so bright... :cool-smil

[That Guy]

sean looked like a rookie with amazing talent... missed some tackles and was just a bit shy of making some huge plays... i'm not really worried about him, but he does reek of rookie right now...

i think franz should have been in instead of ryan clark, what gives?

OL run blocking - needs improvement

refs need to be lynched

coles had a dislocated finger, he should have told someone and let trash fill in... i know his tough, and he can play injured... but if you insist on playing hurt, YOU BETTER PLAY WELL...

coaching wasn't great on the goal line, besides that it wasn't too bad

portis gets an A, he'll do everything... much better than davis...
defense without lavar and daniels isn't as good, but is still capable... (held dallas to 50yd rushing and held testes 120yds below his average)

brunell wasn't anything special in the first half (though dropped passes really hurt), but he definately came alive and hit the deep routes.

overall - B