The way I saw it Cowboys vs Giants II

As I said before this team is snakebit whatever can go wrong will go wrong. This is the 3rd game we had a chance to win after being at least -3 in tournovers.

1. First of Matt Cassel just looks more comfortable at QB than Weeden and he never panicked and always looked downfield, now about those INT's.

The first was just a bad throw, I initially thought it was on Williams but that's the way he always runs that route, he just sits down if the pass was on him it would at worst have been contested.

The second one seemed to slip out of his hand which was a shame because it was a great play call and Williams had his man beat, the timing was a bit off because he had pressure in his face.

The 3rd was a bad read the safety was sitting over the top and Cromartie was playing underneath the whole way, he had Beasley open on the other side but he tried to force it.

With that said I liked what I saw he showed a lot on that last scoring drive, he made 2 plays under huge pressure with big time throws.

Going back to the snakebit thing on the drive that ended on downs we would have scored a TD if not for the Merriweather tip, Williams was breaking wide open over the middle and would have scored easily if not for that tipped ball.

2. The bye did wonders for the o-line they were in sync and seemed to get much more initial movement, I think everybody is finally healthy.

Collins looked great he just moves so much better than Leary, his ability to combo block and stay balanced was eye opening, I would like to see his play against some DT's who have better movement skills but he was fine in this game.

3. I was nice to see some innovation again in the play calling, as I said after the Eagles game some reverses were much needed to loosen up those interior runs, the LB's could not attack the line of scrimmage as aggresivley as they had been and that backside guy had to be more honest.

We also pulled guys much more than we had all year which was nice to see, I hope this is a sign the offense can get untracked which will be needed over the next 2 weeks against the Seahawks and Eagles.

4. McFadden looked good he gave the offense some nice physicality but I think Randle would have had a big day as well he had some nice running lanes.

I also think he is the type of back that needs consistent carries to get into a rhythm, part of that is more carries and part of it is having the offense sustain some drives.

I would probably start him just to see if the success carries over and because I think Randle can still be effective getting spot carries.

5. Linebackers did not have a great day they overran a lot of things, I don't know if they were getting false keys or the RB was just finding creases but they were out of position a lot.

We also seem to be doing something different with Crawford this year he is slanting a lot and the lineman are just running out of the plays, he is getting good penetration but it's not disrupting much. He also has to get better at shedding blocks he is hand fighting to much, with that said he is getting double 75% of the time.

Overall I think the defense had a pretty good game they only gave up one TD and the long drive for a FG was on 2 fluky plays, a great throw and catch and a missed tackle for a long run, with that said this D is going to have to play better if we are going to have anything to play for when Romo gets back.

Agree about the O line however, I think if we feed Dmac 20 carries again, he'll be on IR next week.

Cujo said:

Agree about the O line however, I think if we feed Dmac 20 carries again, he'll be on IR next week.

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Could be but ride that horse until you can't.

I think the first int was definitely on Williams.

Carp said:

I think the first int was definitely on Williams.

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It was absolutely on Williams.

If that's "the way he always runs that route", then someone needs to give him a swift kick in the ass because he's not running the route right.

Carp said:

I think the first int was definitely on Williams.

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Could be but the way they usually run that route is to have him sit down instead of going to the sideline.

Jiggyfly said:

Could be but the way they usually run that route is to have him sit down instead of going to the sideline.

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It's still a basic part of football that you go get the ball, you don't wait for it to come to you and allow the defender to make the more aggressive play.

Clay_Allison said:

It's still a basic part of football that you go get the ball, you don't wait for it to come to you and allow the defender to make the more aggressive play.

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True he should have fought more for the ball but it looked like he was expecting the pass to be on him after he sat down.

Clay_Allison said:

It's still a basic part of football that you go get the ball, you don't wait for it to come to you and allow the defender to make the more aggressive play.

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I agree but I think the throw was late. I said before that it's the type of throw that is supposed to be on the WR when he is making the break. Instead the ball came out much later. I think a lot of that INT was just timing being off and to an extent that's to be expected with a QB who hasn't practiced much at all this year. So I guess I'd say it is a little bit QB and a little bit WR. Even if the ball isn't there on time, the WR needs to keep moving.

Jiggyfly said:

True he should have fought more for the ball but it looked like he was expecting the pass to be on him after he sat down.

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I guarantee you Dez comes back for that ball when he sees it's late.

Cowboysrock55 said:

I agree but I think the throw was late. I said before that it's the type of throw that is supposed to be on the WR when he is making the break. Instead the ball came out much later. I think a lot of that INT was just timing being off and to an extent that's to be expected with a QB who hasn't practiced much at all this year. So I guess I'd say it is a little bit QB and a little bit WR. Even if the ball isn't there on time, the WR needs to keep moving.

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Cassel throws reckless balls with or without practice. That is why he has moved around so much. He cannot seem to restrain himself from forcing an attempt even if he knows he is late on the route. His reputation has been established as being reckless. He is the other side of the coin from Weedin who is too conservative.
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Cowboysrock55 said:

I agree but I think the throw was late. I said before that it's the type of throw that is supposed to be on the WR when he is making the break. Instead the ball came out much later. I think a lot of that INT was just timing being off and to an extent that's to be expected with a QB who hasn't practiced much at all this year. So I guess I'd say it is a little bit QB and a little bit WR. Even if the ball isn't there on time, the WR needs to keep moving.

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Yeah it was definitely timing gut I would like to know what that route was supposed to be.

Jiggyfly said:

Yeah it was definitely timing gut I would like to know what that route was supposed to be.

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Whether it's an out or even a hitch, it's still designed for him to cut sharply to the sideline if it's the former, or plant his foot strongly into the ground and come back aggressively towards the sideline if it's the latter.

It's football 101 and in no way would they ask Williams to run a route in that area of the field and outside of the hash where he just turns around and just sits there. That doesn't make sense at all.

So even if the throw was late, Williams did not complete his route and it was the primary reason for the pick.

Timing issues are real. Remember Kitna's first game in 2010 vs Jacksonville (I believe) was also a multi-interception game.

After that the Cowboys went on a mini-tear until Roy Williams' fumble vs. New Orleans.

The next three games are some of the easiest on the schedule, and I think we have a chance to win most if not all.

Texas Ace said:

Whether it's an out or even a hitch, it's still designed for him to cut sharply to the sideline if it's the former, or plant his foot strongly into the ground and come back aggressively towards the sideline if it's the latter.

It's football 101 and in no way would they ask Williams to run a route in that area of the field and outside of the hash where he just turns around and just sits there. That doesn't make sense at all.

So even if the throw was late, Williams did not complete his route and it was the primary reason for the pick.

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On a hitch you do not keep going to the sideline you run the DB off and then sit down facing the QB.

Football 101.

What is Hitch Route?
A route run by a receiver in football that requires the receiver to sprint down the field a few steps as if running a long pattern, then stop and make a sharp turn to the inside or outside to receive a quick pass from the quarterback. The receiver then continues down the field after making the catch.

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Now I don't know if it was hitch or not buy I do knom a hitch does not continue to the sideline.

Jiggyfly said:

On a hitch you do not keep going to the sideline you run the DB off and then sit down facing the QB.

Football 101.



Now I don't know if it was hitch or not buy I do knom a hitch does not continue to the sideline.

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A hitch is generally run along the hash and inside the hash.

So while the route itself isn't literally a hitch, that's essentially what it is but yo the opposite side of the hash.

If it makes you feel better, you can call it a "comeback". Either way, the point remains true.

They would not have asked him to run a route in that area of the field where he lines up out wide and runs a route outside the hash and just sits there.

L.T. Fan said:

Cassel throws reckless balls with or without practice. That is why he has moved around so much. He cannot seem to restrain himself from forcing an attempt even if he knows he is late on the route. His reputation has been established as being reckless. He is the other side of the coin from Weedin who is too conservative.
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...and yet somehow his TD to int ratio is much better than Weeden. Not sure what your allegiance to Weeden is, but factor in everything. If Cassel is viewed negatively because he has moved around a bunch due to his riskiness...being cut loose by the always QB hungry Browns, 2 years after being a first round pick, must be a real poor mark on his record.

Carp said:

...and yet somehow his TD to int ratio is much better than Weeden. Not sure what your allegiance to Weeden is, but factor in everything. If Cassel is viewed negatively because he has moved around a bunch due to his riskiness...being cut loose by the always QB hungry Browns, 2 years after being a first round pick, must be a real poor mark on his record.

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You seem to think I am defending Weedin. Where did you come up with that?

L.T. Fan said:

You seem to think I am defending Weedin. Where did you come up with that?

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Just not telling the entire story...you mention he Weeden is conservative, but wouldn't a conservative QB have a better TD/int ratio?

Carp said:

Just not telling the entire story...you mention he Weeden is conservative, but wouldn't a conservative QB have a better TD/int ratio?

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I pointed out that Cassel shouldn't be viewed as the savior of the team because he was coming in with warts on his game also. Where Weedin was ultra conservative, Cassel would also potentially be as detrimental because he is prone to throwing interceptions. It's not who's ratio of picks to TD s that is important it was the number of picks. Cassel had thrown about 70 in his career and was prone to making bad throw.