Sorry I missed this thread this week .... out of town (KY & TN) for the past 12 days
I'm very happy and also saddened by the game-play of the Giants. Sad primarily because they did not look good for much of the game, and the red-zone scoring issues still haunt them. That's going to be costly if not corrected.
But I'm happy that they figured out a way to win, even when they are not sharp. That's what happened two years ago and they went on to the SB win.
Obviously, Dallas can not turn the ball over like that and truely expect to win, especially against someone like the Giants, or Eagles for that matter. And for his $97 mission, Eli figured out a way to win ... I think Romo still needs another year or so to develop that level of confidence.
Smith was surprising, I kinda wondered if the Cowboys just looked past him in their prep. Not so surprised by Manningham, he's too new for anyone to have much of a read on him ......
Overall, happy with week #2 .....
What an entertaining weekend of football, (with one game left to play).
Sportswriters love to sensationalize the stadium and take great delight in Cowboys losses, which is fine and good. And TARD gets more passionate about the teams and people that he hates than the team he loves, (and he DOES love them), that I worry about the poor guy's heart. I'm also curious about the use of the "homo" slur to denote weakness or a lack of masculinity and therefore an insult. Not sure I'd go that direction buddy. There's got to be a more intelligent jab you could throw at Romo, TARD. C'mon buddy. I know you can do it without insulting homosexuality.
But anyway, the football contest featuring AMERICA' TEAM last night was entertaining and madly disappointing. Some thoughts:
Well, AMERICA'S TEAM really shot themselves in the collective feet, didn't they.
Romo's first interception was just horrible. Pierce and the Giants audible to Romo' coverage and Romo doesn't adjust. Instead he throws a ball that was so poorly thrown and innaccurate, that it really made me wonder. Who was he throwing to?
The third interception was ridiculous for two reasons. First, did he not see the deep safety. That's odd to me. Like, seriously odd. Romo is a smart QB, and to simply not see that safety really makes me wonder. On top of that, the ball was 7 yards, or so, overthrown to Hurd. Odd. Second, why was he throwing the deep ball on that play? That was maddening. They were on the gnats' 47 yard line with a 24-20 lead. They had momentum and were shredding the gnats' D with the running game. This is the time for Garrett and Phillips to pound the ball, run clock, tire out the gnats, and most importantly, keep the ball away from them. It drove me crazy that they were going for the long ball there. This is what drives me mad about Garrett. Last year he was so obsessed with quick-strike, down-the-field, taking chances. This Dallas team, with its huge offensive line and three great running backs and two great tight ends, is built for churning out long drives, controlling the clock, and wearing out the defense. AMERICA'S TEAM had an advantage running the ball, and they didn't pursue that. Had AMERICA'S TEAM continued running the ball that drive, there's a very good chance that they win the game.
If you want to talk about lucky bounces of the ball! Dude! And of course, absolutely, I acknowledge that the gnats took advantage of them, but, seriously! The interception off of Witten's foot! ***?! The commentators like to blame Romo for that because the ball was thrown behind Witten, but let's be realistic for once. Yes, he threw a bad ball behind Witten, but every QB throws some bad balls. This really was luck that it fell into the defense's lap. Credit the player for being alert and grabbing it and running to the end zone. But, wow. Second was the subsequent bobble on the TD grab. Credit the receiver for concentration and control, but man! He bobbles the ball and his just lands right in his lap as he's falling. Another fortunate bounce. And then the tipped pass on the gnats' final drive that was caught on the slant. Now, it was an all-out blitz so Jenkins (Dallas CB) can't allow the slant route to materialize and needs to jam his receivers, but its just another example of the ball bouncing NY's way.
AMERICA'S TEAM was shredded in the passing game. But everybody thought that the running D was in trouble. Now, credit Dallas for making the adjustment and shutting down the running game, but what is going on with the pass defense now. I'm encouraged that they made adjustments to their problems from last week's mistakes, but then they had the mistakes this week. What's concerning is that there's something missing from this team. There's some lack of cohesion or execution that is hurting them. They have no sacks and no turnovers yet this season. That didn't bother me against TB, because despite everyone's impression about Leftwich, he actually doesn't take many sacks. The lack of sacks against NY contributed to AMERICA'S TEAM's problems in the passing game.
But, the only thing that I can come to that's missing on this team ... the fault, the problem, what the French call a certain, oh, I don't know what ... is coaching. It's the only thing I can come to. Some people will say it's Romo because "he can't win the big game," but I think that that argument is reductionistic and not wholly accurate, (generally, big games are defined tautologically after a loss). I think that the problem comes from a mentality set by the coaches. Garrett can devise a great game plan, but his reluctance to run the ball toward the end of the game on pivotal drives was concerning. Still, I think he's good and can be very effective. There were plenty of calls of his that I liked last night. Phillips worries me more. I was very surprised when he survived at the end of last season. I think this team needs a different kind of leader, somewhat that will get generally pissed off at them when they screw a game up like they did last night.
Still, when AMERICA'S TEAM is efficient, they're downright scary good. The fact that last night came down to a last second field goal, and they had no sacks and a -4 TO ratio, but were still in the game, against a very good gnats team says that the potential is there. But they won't go anywhere if they don't learn to be more efficient more of the time.
