Rapid Reactions Week 1: 31-29 Win Vs Cowboys

[Primeminister]

@Tnbandwagoner the 2nd play you’re referencing was Tryon. He was torn between trying to make sure the passing lane was guarded and rushing Dak.

That’s as far as I’ll go down this “football is fixed” road.

[acmillis]

I think it's clear if we could add one player to this team, a true #1 CB ala Jalen Ramsey would be it. Davis would be an excellent #2, and everyone could just slide down a spot.

I really was thinking this during the game. Can't we just convince somebody to take half our practice squad in exchange for a ballhawk?

...and the $21M/year he's getting would force us to cut how many of our players..yeah, no thanks!

[Noles1724]

If "they" control what we see, then wouldn't this imagine not be viewable?

It was captured but not in the timeframe for them to do anything about it that they already knew they didnt want to do anything about it

so they control what we see so they don't have to see it when it happens and then they are forced to make a call that they didn't want to make? ok

[Tnbandwagoner]

@Tnbandwagoner the 2nd play you’re referencing was Tryon. He was torn between trying to make sure the passing lane was guarded and rushing Dak.

That’s as far as I’ll go down this “football is fixed” road.

I can buy that somewhat. It would make more sense if he had been further away from Prescott - my recollection is he was one step away and could've easily had a sack.

[King Bootz]

I really was thinking this during the game. Can't we just convince somebody to take half our practice squad in exchange for a ballhawk?

...and the $21M/year he's getting would force us to cut how many of our players..yeah, no thanks!

The Rams believe they are contenders. Outside of giving them Brady, Evans, DW, and some 1st round picks, Jalen Ramsey is completely off the market anyway.

[BLT]

Well if the NFL is truly scripted, then everything we've ever seen is completely invalid and fake. Is that truly the direction anyone wants to go? Because there is no other logical conclusion.

I don't like to consider that possibility, but there were a couple plays last night that made me wonder. One was one in the second half when the Cowboys RB was stopped two yards short of a first down on a run, one of the commentators commented that it would be third-and-two, and then, inexplicably, with no comment or explanation from the announcing team, one of the refs took the ball and walked it two yards up to the first-down line, spotted it, and signalled first down as the broadcast scoring window at the bottom changed to show it was first down.

The second was less obvious. We were on defense, and on one play one of our D-linemen or linebackers got around his blocker and had a straight path to Prescott...and then stopped, for a full second at least, to wait for Prescott to throw the ball...

I was watching a college game, with my Vols, a few years ago, and the team we were playing had a long play - I don't remember whether it was a completed pass, or a run. What I do remember is that the player with the ball was running down the sideline, only had one guy to beat...And the guy he had to beat, got to the spot before he did - but ran straight out of bounds, didn't even try to tackle him, as though he were communicating to NFL scouts, "Look, I'm in position here to make this play but it's not in the script."

It would be more logical to say that all of reality is scripted.

[BLT]

There were two that I recall. Both I believe were deflected by a diving defender.

I think Evans would admit he should've caught both since they reached his hands, certainly that first one.

Not his best performance, but with our weapons we can absorb a C- type of game from Evans once in a while. It's a nice luxury.

The first one wasn't touched. You can see on the replay Mike thought it was picked off and didn't even try to catch it, he was so surprised it got through.

No, it was grazed and ever so slightly redirected within close proximity to Mike's hands. He did seem to have trouble concentrating yesterday though. He could have caught it - not easily - but there wasn't even an effort.

[Dread]

Our CBs are fine providing the top 3 guys are healthy imo.

Sure it would be great to have Jalen Ramsey. But he was a top 5 pick who the Rams gave up multiple 1st rounders to acquire and pay $20+ million per year to.

It would be great to have Aaron Donald and Pat Mahomes as well if we want to live in fantasyland.

Meanwhile our CBs are the same who were good enough to defeat 3 NFL MVP and future HoF QBs last postseason.

Let's not overreact over a week 1 game vs an offense that has alot of talent and executed well.

[Caradoc]

Random thoughts:

The Cowboys brought their A game. Playcalling was excellent. Dak's throwing motion was off early, but corrected as he loosened up and got the adrenaline flowing. But it will still bear watching for Cowboy fans.

Losing SMB so early really threw a monkey wrench into things. Already missing Whitehead, then losing Edwards for a large portion and having him part gimp really hurt us.

This is arguably the best OL we'll face during the regular season. It showed how much our pass D is reliant on our pass rush. Pass rush is going to get home against lesser lines.

The refs were hyperactive. We kept getting flags for ticky tack shit. It surprised me because they were more hands off last season, but this looked like vintage Buc game refereeing. Cowboys were holding a shitload and got away with it. Not gonna go near that "NFL is scripted" crap, but I think we all know that this was primed to be a blowout, and the NFL did NOT want a blowout in the season opener.

It's nice not being the team with the crappy kicker.

We played a sloppy game, but both the Rojo and Godwin fumbles were great/lucky plays by their defense. The first INT was just a crazy fluke. Without those plays though, this game really wouldn't have been close. That's not a turnover ratio that will continue consistently, and if that's what it takes to keep a team with a very good offense in the game with us I'm not going to panic.

After watching this game though, you can see what the game plan will be for other teams on offense. Short passes primarily outside, don't bother running. Sprinkle in a lot of misdirection. Keep extra protection in to nullify our pass rush and then pick on our secondary. Not everyone is going to be able to do that as well as Dallas did though.

While I'm not gonna panic, I can't say I'm not disappointed. It was a perfect storm against us last night - refs, great play and playcalling by their offense, crucial turnovers, unfortunate injuries, struggling secondary, and horrible drops by Evans and Godwin at key moments. On the one hand there's a lot to expect better from our guys on, and on the other is these things don't all happen together consistently.

One thing that does piss me off is how quickly Michaels went to try and create a controversy on the catch at the end. It wasn't OPI, but now all I'm gonna hear for at least 10 days is "oooh, the refs love Brady!" even though the refs were fucking us over all night and that wasn't a controversial call at all.

[Snake]

Our CBs are fine providing the top 3 guys are healthy imo.

Sure it would be great to have Jalen Ramsey. But he was a top 5 pick who the Rams gave up multiple 1st rounders to acquire and pay $20+ million per year to.

It would be great to have Aaron Donald and Pat Mahomes as well if we want to live in fantasyland.

Meanwhile our CBs are the same who were good enough to defeat 3 NFL MVP and future HoF QBs last postseason.

Let's not overreact over a week 1 game vs an offense that has alot of talent and executed well.

Right. Our DB group is average at best and can play above their heads when the front 7 is kicking ass. A tale as old as football.

[Primeminister]

So honestly, which other defense in the league could've just brushed off going into the game without their starting safety, then losing a starting corner, then losing the backup safety for the middle of the game, against a highly motivated Dak that has tons of weapons to work with?

Which other defense would've for sure got more pressure against the Cowboys oline that played very well?

I'm curious about which defense would've STILL shutdown the Cowboys given our injuries and context of the game.

Exactly and why everyone needs to calm down

[Rocker]

So honestly, which other defense in the league could've just brushed off going into the game without their starting safety, then losing a starting corner, then losing the backup safety for the middle of the game, against a highly motivated Dak that has tons of weapons to work with?

Which other defense would've for sure got more pressure against the Cowboys oline that played very well?

I'm curious about which defense would've STILL shutdown the Cowboys given our injuries and context of the game.

I wish you could be this objective in the game day threads. Everyone gets caught up in the moment to a degree, no doubt, but you get WRAPPED up in it.

Solid post, take my updoot.

[Patrick McIrish]

There were two that I recall. Both I believe were deflected by a diving defender.

I think Evans would admit he should've caught both since they reached his hands, certainly that first one.

Not his best performance, but with our weapons we can absorb a C- type of game from Evans once in a while. It's a nice luxury.

The first one wasn't touched. You can see on the replay Mike thought it was picked off and didn't even try to catch it, he was so surprised it got through.

Both balls were touched, glazed might be the better word but there was contact by the defender.

Disagree with Dread though that both should have been caught.....

That bit about "hit receiver in the hands" thing sounds great (and I tend to agree) but not on tipped balls a yard or two in front of you.

It's almost impossible to make any kind of adjustment with that late of a deflection unless you just get lucky.

I do agree though Evans seemed a bit preoccupied throughout much of the game.

[Moozician]

The first one wasn't touched. You can see on the replay Mike thought it was picked off and didn't even try to catch it, he was so surprised it got through.

Both balls were touched, glazed might be the better word but there was contact by the defender.

Disagree with Dread though that both should have been caught.....

That bit about "hit receiver in the hands" thing sounds great (and I tend to agree) but not on tipped balls a yard or two in front of you.

It's almost impossible to make any kind of adjustment with that late of a deflection unless you just get lucky.

I do agree though Evans seemed a bit preoccupied throughout much of the game.

I agree that Evans isn't to blame for missing the two tipped passes... especially having to react to a tipped ball three feet from him. Kinda like trying to catch a butterfly in midair.

He did still look like in a fog for most of the game. I don't know if that's due to a lingering injury/playing through pain, or slippery field conditions, or what.

Hopefully this win we eked out acts as a "WAKE UP!" call.

[Patrick McIrish]

@Tnbandwagoner All but impossible to fix football games and/or play them out with a script.

NFL players make too much to bribe and there are just so many moving pieces that are in play.

Sports that get fixed are boxing, tennis, perhaps even hoops where fewer individuals are involved.

I will say though the concept of dirty officials and so on has been proven over time. The NBA ref recently? Name escapes me.

But I seriously can't give much consideration to any sort of "scripted NFL season", just not very practical.

Kind of same reason these idiots think 9/11 was a hoax, LOL. The amount of people required alone would deem it impossible.

[Patrick McIrish]

Both balls were touched, glazed might be the better word but there was contact by the defender.

Disagree with Dread though that both should have been caught.....

That bit about "hit receiver in the hands" thing sounds great (and I tend to agree) but not on tipped balls a yard or two in front of you.

It's almost impossible to make any kind of adjustment with that late of a deflection unless you just get lucky.

I do agree though Evans seemed a bit preoccupied throughout much of the game.

I agree that Evans isn't to blame for missing the two tipped passes... especially having to react to a tipped ball three feet from him. Kinda like trying to catch a butterfly in midair.

He did still look like in a fog for most of the game. I don't know if that's due to a lingering injury/playing through pain, or slippery field conditions, or what.

Hopefully this win we eked out acts as a "WAKE UP!" call.

Same here.

Yeah sometimes #1's lose focus when they aren't getting balls and/or the defense is taking them away.

Not saying that's the case, just another possibility perhaps because looked like Dallas was sliding help his way.

The good news for him is after AB's game defenses might begin to give him more room out on the field.

[Patrick McIrish]

Anyone mention that late time-out thing that "saved" 10 seconds off the clock?

There was 55 seconds left at the time, I might have saved the time-out in that situation?

Not that it's a big deal but I made a point to check and after a Gronk catch it took 13 seconds to snap the next play.....

That suggests to me the time-out was more valuable than the 10 seconds. I could see it if there was 20-25 seconds in the game.

Nothing I feel strongly about, just curious if others think we did the right thing.

[Snake]

Arians makes perplexing decisions. Re: Timeouts, challenges.

[Snake]

[King Bootz]

Arians makes perplexing decisions. Re: Timeouts, challenges.

Definitely kept us from getting points at the end of the 1st.

[Dread]

Anyone mention that late time-out thing that "saved" 10 seconds off the clock?

There was 55 seconds left at the time, I might have saved the time-out in that situation?

Not that it's a big deal but I made a point to check and after a Gronk catch it took 13 seconds to snap the next play.....

That suggests to me the time-out was more valuable than the 10 seconds. I could see it if there was 20-25 seconds in the game.

Nothing I feel strongly about, just curious if others think we did the right thing.

I was torn. Not only is it a 10 second runoff, but also a running clock on whistle so you lose a few seconds there also.

So think the better decision is take the timeout and regroup so you can get on the same page about how to execute the last couple plays you need to get you in FG range. Even with no timeouts left, 55 seconds is enough to get the two chunk plays needed even if we got tackled in bounds on both.

Like you said it wouldn't have mattered either way with how we executed in that final minute.

[Patrick McIrish]

Good post Dread. I don't entirely agree but I can't disagree with your points either.

I do think it being your last time-out I'd run off the 10 seconds and keep the time-out in most situations with almost a full minute to play.

It's safer, you keep more control.

You can get guys tackled in bounds, like Gronk almost did a play earlier, and you can have players just make mental mistakes.

I see it all the time, no time-outs but they cut up field to pick up a few more yards, LOL. Guys laying on the pile and time drifts away.

Or the QB gets sacked. Or you get another penalty with less time and are forced to take the 10 second count off.

I also like that last time-out for even when things go perfectly you can run the clock down, then run the ball to the middle of the field (or where ever your kicker likes it) , and then use that final time-out.

Keeping it in your pocket is my preference but I do agree it's close.

Of course me not having Brady as my QB would play into that as well......

I think Arians knowing who was behind center made the decision to burn the last time-out a little easier than a rookie QB for example.

[Patrick McIrish]

BTW we need to do a better job of not burning time-outs early, games are too close not to keep them.

Felt like Gruden in the old days, no time-outs and there's still 4 minutes left in the 3Q, LOL.....

Or call b2b time-outs then get a delay of game. Good riddance Chucky.

Anyway it worked last night with just 1, hell we were even throwing the ball away but still prefer to have all 3 in these situations.....

Never know when you might need one.

[Moozician]

BTW we need to do a better job of not burning time-outs early, games are too close not to keep them.

Felt like Gruden in the old days, no time-outs and there's still 4 minutes left in the 3Q, LOL.....

Or call b2b time-outs then get a delay of game. Good riddance Chucky.

Anyway it worked last night with just 1, hell we were even throwing the ball away but still prefer to have all 3 in these situations.....

Never know when you might need one.

Gruden had them "Right X Jet smoke Forest Fire Qtip Hash" plays... The QB's would "wut?" Timeout!
I agree keeping the timeout SEEMED more prudent, but maybe they had game-planning down to the second. Still, a sack...

[mdb1958]

People have taken my post and run with it. I said the office has taken control of what's going on. It's a made for TV moment with the refs waiting to hear something in their ear.

My point was the NFL is changing the way the game is played and viewed.

[Doctor]

I was very impressed with the Cowboys OL. It was a game of inches and Dak played very well too. I think they tested us outside and we held up rather well.

The offense is pumping out 30 points like candy. I think the defense can keep every offense in the NFL under 30 most days. And it'll only get better when they start catching those tunovers and turning near misses to sacks.

[Doctor]

I think our defense is better than we saw last night. The game plan sucked on defense. Yes, Dak is the best QB against the blitz. But that doesn't you continuously drop your best pass rushers into coverage. I don't know what Jamel Dean is good at. But bail coverage ain't it. He got picked on big time. And Ross Cockrell? Yea, I don't buy the "he put up good snaps last season" defense. He's got to step it up with SMB like to miss a couple of games.

Disagree. Each game is a game of chess. There's no one right way to just run a defense all the time. Yes, our rush is our strength but it's not our only tool in the toolbox. The Cowboys line was doing a great job blocking and they were hitting us outside with their superior athletes. Bowles pulled back and instead made the windows for Dak smaller and shrunk the open field for the studs in space. It worked. Cowboys scored one TD in the second half.

[Snake]

Cowboys o-line was tremendous until the penalties towards the end. Bucs would have numbers on them and they still couldn’t break through. Let’s not do that again.

[mdb1958]

I was very impressed with the Cowboys OL. It was a game of inches and Dak played very well too. I think they tested us outside and we held up rather well.

The offense is pumping out 30 points like candy. I think the defense can keep every offense in the NFL under 30 most days. And it'll only get better when they start catching those tunovers and turning near misses to sacks.

28 points plus 28 points instead of the turnovers, then Brady twists the knife for 7 more at the end.

63


We will get there!

[mdb1958]

Herb Miller
Antonio Hamilton
Javan Hagan

New Guy?

[mdb1958]

I was very impressed with the Cowboys OL. It was a game of inches and Dak played very well too. I think they tested us outside and we held up rather well.

The offense is pumping out 30 points like candy. I think the defense can keep every offense in the NFL under 30 most days. And it'll only get better when they start catching those tunovers and turning near misses to sacks.

28 points plus 28 points instead of the turnovers, then Brady twists the knife for 7 more at the end.

63


We will get there!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We had 13 possessions dammit, I only requested nine of them to be touchdowns.

[Rocker]

28 points plus 28 points instead of the turnovers, then Brady twists the knife for 7 more at the end.

63


We will get there!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We had 13 possessions dammit, I only requested nine of them to be touchdowns.

In what kind of Lizard People society is 69.25% of possessions resulting in a touchdown do you live in?

That's a level of efficiency you will never, and I mean NEVER witness.

[mdb1958]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We had 13 possessions dammit, I only requested nine of them to be touchdowns.

In what kind of Lizard People society is 69.25% of possessions resulting in a touchdown do you live in?

That's a level of efficiency you will never, and I mean NEVER witness.

Well, I have been meaning to have a talk with Todd, Bruce, and Tom about consistency.

[mdb1958]

Did you notice how the NFL "office" waited to dole out it's punishment to Collins? I call that control, there was too much at stake, the NFL didnt want to risk injury to Dak his first game back. Lets see how good they look in game 2.

[King Bootz]

Did you notice how the NFL "office" waited to dole out it's punishment to Collins? I call that control, there was too much at stake, the NFL didnt want to risk injury to Dak his first game back. Lets see how good they look in game 2.

So the league didn't want to risk injury to Dak so they "let" La'el Collins play but they didn't allow their All-Pro guard to play. Makes perfect sense....