The first weekend of football was amazing as it always is! The 7 month layoff was well worth it. The first weekend has some surprises, some great plays, and some terrible plays. I think that most of the games turned out to be really good games. I would like to say that I consider myself a football fan first and a Dallas Cowboys fan second. Speaking of those Cowboys, they didn’t look to good yesterday.
This is the first year in a while that the Cowboys entered the season with literally no expectations. Many think the defense will reach a historic low this season. Some people don’t think that Tony Romo’s back will last the entire season and Brandon Weedon will have to come in. Whatever you believe, this team shouldn’t have any expectation. They have been mediocre the last three season and didn’t do much this offseason in terms of improving. I say, you have to earn expectation. This team has got to show people that they have the testicular fortitude to play hard every Sunday and win the games they’re supposed to. With that said yesterday against the 49ers was a train wreck. I feel that game can be viewed in two ways.
The first way you to view the Cowboys performance is in an optimistic light. Tony Romo didn’t play much in the preseason, and he didn’t do much in training camp and it showed. It was very clear that Romo tried to go out and prove everyone wrong that thinks is back is a problem. There were a number of bad reads and forced throws that Tony just usually doesn’t make. Don’t get me wrong he makes his fair share of bad throws but to try and force the ball into triple coverage is uncharacteristic. The excuse can be made that Romo was a little rusty and the Romo we saw against the 49ers isn’t the Romo that we will see all season. Romo also plays great after a bad game. That’s looking on the bright side!
One of the few bright spots was the offensive line, they played amazing! There was plenty of times that Romo had time to throw the ball and there just wasn’t anyone open. The offensive line also created gaping holes for Demarco Murray to run through.
Demarco Murray is another bright spot. Murray seems to have learned that he needs to play a full seasons and wasn’t taking a ton of unnecessary hits. He was also going down when he saw a bunch of defenders around him. I really like the vision he showed on his cuts and he read the bodies of the offensive linemen perfectly. He really impressed with is ability to catch out the backfield. I just wish the Cowboys would give him the ball a lot more this season.
Another bright spot was defense. I know, the only reason I’m considering the defense a bright spot is because they didn’t’ give up 400 yards to the 49ers. Marinelli made some adjustments during the game and he played the bend but don’t break style of defense. I’m sorry Cowboys fans but that’s what this team is going to have to do in order to be competitive this season. If the offense can score between 20-25 pts a game then this approach to defense will be good enough to beat most teams. I thought the linebackers were very good in run support, not so much in coverage but that didn’t look horrible there either. The defensive line looked like I thought they would, scrappy! At times they put pressure on Kap, and even looked stout against the run. If they can play like this all season then wins and losses will hinge on how good this supposedly high octane offense can play.
The second way to view the Cowboys is the realistic ligth. There is a reason this team doesn’t have any expectations, they aren’t that good. The San Francisco 49ers are probably the second best team in the conference. There is no way in hell you beat them with four turnovers. There is no way in hell you beat any team with four turnovers. This team is going through a rebuild as far as personnel is concerned and they just don’t have the type of talent to beat a team like the 49ers.
There are no more excuses for Tony Romo, he has been in the league 12 seasons and has been a starter for 9 of those season. His performance yesterday was inexcusable! Then had the nerve postgame to say, “I have to play better”, really Romo, you think? If this team has any shot of winning 9 or 10 games this offense is going to have to carry the team, and that starts with him.
The play calling was pretty much the same as it’s been since Garrett became the play caller. This whole passing game coordinator and running game coordinator is a joke. The running game was successful and they continued to call pass plays even though the quarterback was struggling. This team just can’t seem to do what’s oblivious, and that’s give Murray the ball. They guy was a monster yesterday, the 49ers hadn’t allowed a 100 yards rusher in a long time and he was gashing them. Romo played horribly but the play calling was worst.
I’m not going to crush this team only because this is week one. If they continue to play like this, there won’t be a need to crush them, the teams in the league will handle that. This team has to play better if they want any shot of escaping mediocrity.
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