The Cowboys were on the road against the Dolphins, who most see as an average team, but they were the team that showed up and made plays; however, the Cowboys looked much the part of the average team.
To be frank, the Cowboys looked in 8-8 form and that is frustrating. The sloppy play, mental mistakes, special teams break downs and missed tackles have hounded the Cowboys for three consecutive seasons under Jason Garrett. This defense, with all its potential is in serious trouble.
We’re back to shuffling defensive players, and looking under every rock to plug someone in with hopes of finding a diamond. If the season started today, I wouldn’t feel confident in winning many games.
The plan is to let the offense pound the ball and help the defense out, but if the defense keeps getting ran over, the offense will have to abandon the run and go toe-to-toe in a shootout. Last nights offensive miscues are a concern too. Doug Free looked bad, looked his horrific 2012 version. Hopefully this was just a bad game for Free and not him reverting to the 2012 player we all wanted out of Dallas.
The Cowboys are not getting many sacks, and the Cowboys may need to make a trade or hope some decent sack guy hits the waiver wire.
Tyler Patmon stood out with a crazy game, last week’s Zach Minter did not manifest in this game, so we’re looking at which players can be consistent in every game and makes plays. Can Patmon be that player in the secondary? He may need to be. With a poor pass rush, the secondary will be challenged again.
Claiborne is Claiborne, so don’t expect the switch to go off – he’s a bust. You can bet he’ll be held out against the Broncos, and then we’ll put a rusty Claiborne on the field against the 49ers. He’ll get beat, he’ll get injured. I question whether Claiborne wants to play, seriously. He never plays in the preseason, its always something with this guy.
The Sean Lee injury leaves us in bad shape still. We still don’t know who the opening linebackers are going to be. The Cowboys have been experimenting with various combinations. Kyle Wilbur is the only player with his position locked up.
Look for the Cowboys to go heavy on defense again in the 2015 draft, which could extend our drought of drafting a QB in the 1st round. We need another cornerback and we need another heavy hitter on the defensive line.
This team is leaning on hope and potential and you simply don’t win many games like that. We hope Henry Melton will lineup on opening day and cause havoc, and we’re hoping the revamped offensive line can control the clock and keep Romo clean.
The saving grace for this team like the last 3 seasons is a weak NFC East. The Redskins are not playing well, and the Giants are not looking much better. The Eagles seem to be the only team on an upward tick, so they’ll be our main competition.
Obviously this can all change when the season starts and progresses, but if you feel good about the Cowboys right now, then you could be in for a bad surprise. To me, the symptoms are all too familiar. Hope is out the window, its time to shut up and dominate, and that’s what I want to see against the 49ers and the whole season. No more bs’ing around man.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
