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- Apr 7, 2013
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Just a few quick observations now that we've played approximately one-third of our schedule. Feel free to add your observations.
The Defensive Line
Once again poor personnel decisions (Jerry) are biting this team in the ass.
Back in March it was very evident that this team needed to add quality depth to the DL.
- Brent was pending legal charges and would likely be out for this year at a minimum.
- Jay Ratliff was nicked up and has been in a steady decline for several years. Plus he's been feuding with the staff.
- Hatcher is in a contract year as well as Spencer so you probably wouldn't be able to resign both of them.
So the smart move would have been to add a player or two, get them integrated into the defensive system for a year before the 2014 overhaul. Plus we'd have a few quality bodies to insert into the lineup in the event of injuries.
As we know that didn't happen and the pass rush has been spotty at best.
Just another example of how piss poor management continuously handcuffs the franchise.
The Secondary
Same as with the defensive line. The safety position is a position that knowledgeable fans have been begging for management to make an upgrade at for a couple of years now. The Cowboys decided to go the cheap route and it's biting them in the ass.
Church has been pretty solid but the Allen/Wilcox combo has yet to materialize. Again, instead of drafting for backups with 2nd round picks, a safety or DL would have helped this team a lot more.
I think the biggest problem that we're seeing from the safeties is that they aren't too strong in the area of reading the offense and aligning the defense to counter what they're seeing.
I've griped about the defense constantly giving up 7 or 8 free yards and Schmitty commented that that's kind of what the Tampa 2 does. I don't agree with that.
I remember watching the old Tampa teams and Lovie Smith's Bears teams and they didn't allow a team to march up and down the field 8 yards at a time. They were actually in position to break up some of those underneath routes.
Kiffin's got a lot of work to do but I also think part of it is the players aren't smart enough to make assignment adjustments based on the offenses formations, down and distance, and game situations. The football IQ just isn't there yet.
The Offense
I'm going to take a positive spin on this one......with an asterisk.
Yesterday we saw what this team is capable of if they approach a game with a sense of urgency. They came into that game knowing 25-30 points wouldn't get it done so they ratcheted it up.
So the question begs....why don't we see this every week?
Clearly they are capable of putting up over 30 every week so I say turn the offense loose. Throw more deep passes. With the way the defense is performing you can't count on 25 points being enough to win.
This falls on Garrett and Romo. The supposed leaders of the team.
If they can get the offense to perform well for the remainder of the year I could see us winning the division with a paltry 9-7 record.
Dicking around on offense like they did in the Chiefs and Chargers game won't cut it. It's all on the offense at this point and that's the way they should approach every game from here on out because the defense can't be counted on to stop any team with a halfway decent QB.
The Defensive Line
Once again poor personnel decisions (Jerry) are biting this team in the ass.
Back in March it was very evident that this team needed to add quality depth to the DL.
- Brent was pending legal charges and would likely be out for this year at a minimum.
- Jay Ratliff was nicked up and has been in a steady decline for several years. Plus he's been feuding with the staff.
- Hatcher is in a contract year as well as Spencer so you probably wouldn't be able to resign both of them.
So the smart move would have been to add a player or two, get them integrated into the defensive system for a year before the 2014 overhaul. Plus we'd have a few quality bodies to insert into the lineup in the event of injuries.
As we know that didn't happen and the pass rush has been spotty at best.
Just another example of how piss poor management continuously handcuffs the franchise.
The Secondary
Same as with the defensive line. The safety position is a position that knowledgeable fans have been begging for management to make an upgrade at for a couple of years now. The Cowboys decided to go the cheap route and it's biting them in the ass.
Church has been pretty solid but the Allen/Wilcox combo has yet to materialize. Again, instead of drafting for backups with 2nd round picks, a safety or DL would have helped this team a lot more.
I think the biggest problem that we're seeing from the safeties is that they aren't too strong in the area of reading the offense and aligning the defense to counter what they're seeing.
I've griped about the defense constantly giving up 7 or 8 free yards and Schmitty commented that that's kind of what the Tampa 2 does. I don't agree with that.
I remember watching the old Tampa teams and Lovie Smith's Bears teams and they didn't allow a team to march up and down the field 8 yards at a time. They were actually in position to break up some of those underneath routes.
Kiffin's got a lot of work to do but I also think part of it is the players aren't smart enough to make assignment adjustments based on the offenses formations, down and distance, and game situations. The football IQ just isn't there yet.
The Offense
I'm going to take a positive spin on this one......with an asterisk.
Yesterday we saw what this team is capable of if they approach a game with a sense of urgency. They came into that game knowing 25-30 points wouldn't get it done so they ratcheted it up.
So the question begs....why don't we see this every week?
Clearly they are capable of putting up over 30 every week so I say turn the offense loose. Throw more deep passes. With the way the defense is performing you can't count on 25 points being enough to win.
This falls on Garrett and Romo. The supposed leaders of the team.
If they can get the offense to perform well for the remainder of the year I could see us winning the division with a paltry 9-7 record.
Dicking around on offense like they did in the Chiefs and Chargers game won't cut it. It's all on the offense at this point and that's the way they should approach every game from here on out because the defense can't be counted on to stop any team with a halfway decent QB.
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