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Moore: Cowboys didn't know what was coming, weren't ready for 49ers
Published: 08 September 2014 11:36 PM
The Dallas Morning News' David Moore and Rick Gosselin joined Fox Sports Southwest's Dana Larson on SportsDay OnAir Monday. Here are some highlights:
On how big of a letdown it was to start with a penalty and a fumble:
Gosselin: "You saw it coming. This team was not ready to start the season. You look at the exhibition schedule, quarterback barely played, starters barely played, offensive line wasn’t together, defensive line, you should’ve played them in the fourth game. This team was not ready and reflected by the penalties and the turnovers. They weren’t ready, and it showed."
Moore: "Jason Garrett said they were ready, which is a very hard declaration to wrap your head around because there was nothing in this game to indicate they were ready. Jason Garrett’s always talking about, it’s not just enough to play hard. You have to know what you’re doing, you have to play well, you have to know what’s coming. This team didn’t look like it knew what was coming. They were not ready for the speed of the game to start the season. In my mind, in essence, the second half was an extended preseason game in how they approached it even though they were out of it competitively because they needed to get the reps. You mention Demarco Murray, here’s a guy who lost only one fumble all of last season, the first time he touches the ball in the regular season, he loses it and is returned for a touchdown. He also fumbled a ball in the preseason. So again, the miscues here are stemming from what we saw and didn’t see come together in training camp."
On the Cowboys’ defensive performance:
Gosselin: “I felt good, but only because they kept their head above water, they didn’t get drowned by San Francisco. But again, the 49ers didn’t really have to try. In the first quarter, they ran four offensive plays, had four first downs and a 21-3 lead. When that game is over after 15 minutes, the Niners didn’t exert much energy on offense over the next three quarters except to convert third downs, which were fairly simple. Granted they only managed two touchdown drives against this defense, the other two scores were gifts from the offense, but the fact is they were competitive, they did a good job stopping the run, there’s still a lot work that needs to be done in coverage, but the front seven held up for a day and that’s a positive sign.”
Moore: "They looked good because, it is a little more in my mind because I believe the 49ers were competitively disinterested in the second half of this game. I point to Colin Kaepernick had a quarterback rating of 125.5. They did not come close to stopping Anquan Boldin any slant plays. They had no idea where Vernon Davis was, you know the primary target, no one was within 10-or-15 yards of him on many plays on third down when you know they’re going to go to Vernon Davis. So their coverage, forcing no turnovers, quarterback rating over 125.5, they still allowed an average of 4.1 yards per carry. They certainly aren’t the reason the Cowboys lost that game, that’s all on Romo and the offense, there’s no question about that. But I think it’s just because Romo and the offense were so inept that we’re actually looking at the defense and going, 'well, they weren’t that bad.' They weren’t that bad, but that’s not going to win you any games in the NFl, not being that bad.”
Published: 08 September 2014 11:36 PM
The Dallas Morning News' David Moore and Rick Gosselin joined Fox Sports Southwest's Dana Larson on SportsDay OnAir Monday. Here are some highlights:
On how big of a letdown it was to start with a penalty and a fumble:
Gosselin: "You saw it coming. This team was not ready to start the season. You look at the exhibition schedule, quarterback barely played, starters barely played, offensive line wasn’t together, defensive line, you should’ve played them in the fourth game. This team was not ready and reflected by the penalties and the turnovers. They weren’t ready, and it showed."
Moore: "Jason Garrett said they were ready, which is a very hard declaration to wrap your head around because there was nothing in this game to indicate they were ready. Jason Garrett’s always talking about, it’s not just enough to play hard. You have to know what you’re doing, you have to play well, you have to know what’s coming. This team didn’t look like it knew what was coming. They were not ready for the speed of the game to start the season. In my mind, in essence, the second half was an extended preseason game in how they approached it even though they were out of it competitively because they needed to get the reps. You mention Demarco Murray, here’s a guy who lost only one fumble all of last season, the first time he touches the ball in the regular season, he loses it and is returned for a touchdown. He also fumbled a ball in the preseason. So again, the miscues here are stemming from what we saw and didn’t see come together in training camp."
On the Cowboys’ defensive performance:
Gosselin: “I felt good, but only because they kept their head above water, they didn’t get drowned by San Francisco. But again, the 49ers didn’t really have to try. In the first quarter, they ran four offensive plays, had four first downs and a 21-3 lead. When that game is over after 15 minutes, the Niners didn’t exert much energy on offense over the next three quarters except to convert third downs, which were fairly simple. Granted they only managed two touchdown drives against this defense, the other two scores were gifts from the offense, but the fact is they were competitive, they did a good job stopping the run, there’s still a lot work that needs to be done in coverage, but the front seven held up for a day and that’s a positive sign.”
Moore: "They looked good because, it is a little more in my mind because I believe the 49ers were competitively disinterested in the second half of this game. I point to Colin Kaepernick had a quarterback rating of 125.5. They did not come close to stopping Anquan Boldin any slant plays. They had no idea where Vernon Davis was, you know the primary target, no one was within 10-or-15 yards of him on many plays on third down when you know they’re going to go to Vernon Davis. So their coverage, forcing no turnovers, quarterback rating over 125.5, they still allowed an average of 4.1 yards per carry. They certainly aren’t the reason the Cowboys lost that game, that’s all on Romo and the offense, there’s no question about that. But I think it’s just because Romo and the offense were so inept that we’re actually looking at the defense and going, 'well, they weren’t that bad.' They weren’t that bad, but that’s not going to win you any games in the NFl, not being that bad.”
