Cowboys Video Rewind

I have some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that I don't think we need to go mothballing those Brian Dawkins jerseys just yet.

The bad news is that while the Eagles definitely have the offensive firepower to stay with anyone in the league, the defense does not look like it has the pieces in place to be a truly dominating unit. 

Let's start with Dawkins.  Obviously I spent a lot of time scrutinizing his every play on the field:

• On the first defensive series, Dawk walked down into the box and then spotted a run early, knifing into the backfield and dropping Barber for a two-yard loss.  This was a very important play, particularly because Bunkley got blown up (more on him later).  Dawk looked plenty quick here.
• Dallas' second possession was the kick return and the third was the quick interception.  On the fourth series, it was Dawk (again down in the box) who was the first to recognize what had happened in the end zone with Romo.  He quickly charged the play and forced the second fumble that gave the Eagles their touchdown.  It's fair to say that if the player in Dawk's position had been a little less quick to see what was happening and charge Romo, then the Cowboys might have gotten out of that with just an incomplete pass.
• Fifth series was the semi-long drive that ended with the Owens touchdown against Dawks.  Three points on this play:  1) Terrell Owens on the goal line is a tough cover for anyone, as evidenced by the PI called against Asante later in the same situation;  2) Even had Dawk covered Owens perfectly, the Cowboys would still have scored because someone (looked like Mikell) neglected to cover the fullback after play action -- he was wide open on the other side;  3) After watching the play 20 times, I think it's at least possible that Gaither was supposed to provide inside help on that play.  I'm not saying I'm even 50 percent confident in that assessment, just that there's a chance.
• Couple series later came the long pass to Witten.  Dawk didn't look good on this play and it's the one that's given us all the most angst, but it's worth mentioning that this was zone coverage, a couple other guys could have helped out, and it was a pretty nice throw by Romo.  Also, it wasn't just a straight line sprint.  Dawk kind of got himself turned around a bit -- he wasn't running full out.
• Next series was the great play by Dawk on the sideline to knock that ball away with his helmet.  Good speed to get outside.
• And then nothing on the next couple drives before my recording cut out.

After watching all this again, I think it's pretty clear that Dawk isn't quite the player he used to be.  He's just not as explosive.  With that said, I'm far, far less concerned about him than I was Tuesday morning.  He looks fine.

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While we're on safeties, a quick word -- only one -- in defense of Sean Considine on that big play to Owens.  Something I missed in real time is that Romo actually pumpfaked to sell the deep in and go that TO ran.  He still got burned, there's no question, but if the guy fakes the in route and the QB pumps, you can see why Considine bit.   

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The next guy I focused in on was Brodrick Bunkley.  Just as a reminder, this guy was the 14th overall selection in the 2006 draft.  That's the Pro Bowl section of the draft. 

The positive with Bunkley is that for the most part he can stand his ground.  I only noticed a couple of plays where you could really say he lost (including the 11-yard Barber run that set up the short Owens TD when Bunk was absolutely annihilated by Andre Gurode).  The difference between Patterson and Bunkley on any given play is what happens after the initial engagement.  Bunk stands the guy up, holds his ground, and then generally just stays stalemated.  Patterson actually finds a way to get off the block and make some plays. 

I don't want to sound too critical of Bunkley.  He doesn't get run over.  He doesn't abandon his lane responsibilities.  He always hustles to chase things down side to side.  But the fact of the matter is that if you can't ever get penetration, you're pretty much a non-factor on passing downs.  That's a significant problem.

I noticed something else with Bunkley too.  A lot of times the Cowboys were choosing to have Gurode take Bunkley one-on-one.  That's not really an easy block for a center, since he has to slide immediately to cut the guy off, who isn't directly in front of him.  Gurode is a Pro Bowl player -- deservedly -- so he can do it, but with all of Bunk's quickness, how is it that he never really got by him?

I went frame-by-frame with the DVR pre-snap on a handful of plays.  What I noticed is that Bunkley -- despite the fact that he's the closest person to the ball -- is generally the last defensive linemen moving off the snap.  Cole was first (unsurprisingly), then Patterson, then Parker, then finally Bunkley.  (Howard was about as slow as Bunk).  We're not talking about huge time differences here, but every bit helps.

Finally, as the game went on, Johnson started calling a few more stunts with Bunkley up front, including one where he looped around both the tackle and the end on his way to the quarterback.  They had some minimal success the first couple of times, leading me to write "maybe this is the way to use him on passing downs," but then they became less effective as the Cowboys got used to seeing them.

Again, I'm not saying Bunkley is "the problem" with this defense, but given where he was drafted and his obvious physical abilities, I thought we'd be seeing more from him by now.

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The linebackers really didn't shine in this game.  I didn't watch their every snap, so mostly just saw them when they screwed stuff up, but Gaither was pretty invisible, Bradley was a little up and down and lost more physical battles with linemen than I've seen before, and Gocong continues to struggle with recognizing what's happening out there sometimes.

We've remarked before on Gocong's tendency to get sucked in by counter action.  It happened again this game a couple of times.  Barber's 18-yard run to open the second half came on a counter where both Gocong and JP came inside.  With that said, the Cowboys tried to run the exact same play three plays later (flipped formation) and this time Gocong recognized it immediately and sliced into the backfield to blow it up.

It's funny.  Last year, with two solid cornerbacks, Jim Johnson played a ton of nickel.  This year, when he has three "starters" to play with, he keeps his linebackers out on the field a lot more.  My guess is that he's trying to get these guys as many reps as possible now so that by the end of the season they have the experience needed to play at a higher level.  

Still, Gocong, two games, three solos ... that's not much production.

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Overal theory on the two defenses:  When the Cowboys defense stopped us, it looked like a guy made a great individual play and beat the man in front of him.  When our defense stopped the Cowboys, it looked like everyone did his job and the scheme worked.  I'm a little concerned by the apparent difference in up-front talent on the two units. 

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Closing out the defensive part of this rewind, I have another theory about JJ.  During the game, none of us could figure out why he wasn't blitzing more.  However, during the drive at the beginning of the 4th quarter, Johnson actually dialed up a fair number of blitzes.  The problem was that Romo recognized them quickly and kept efficiently hitting his hot receivers.  He didn't seem at all flustered.

With that said, it was a blitz that finally ended that series (third-and-nine, blitz came, Romo unloaded to Witten, Dawk stopped him short of the sticks), but I think Johnson may have thought that the Cowboys had probably spent three months preparing to beat the Eagles' blitz, their offensive gameplan was built around that idea, so he would try to cross them up by sitting back and instead playing coverages.

Yeah, it didn't work, but that's my theory. 

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On special teams, just a couple of points:

• Akeem Jordan had a terrible game.  On the Jones' TD, Jordan moved to his right to try to shoot through a gap in the wall.  That's what opened up the lane for Jones.  From that point, it was just about speed.
• Jordan also had one of the stupidest penalties I've ever seen.  Remember the punt touchback where the Eagles still had a block in the back called against them?  I figured, you know, two guys locked up, these things happen ... No.  Jordan was running downfield, the punt was clearly deep, and he just shoved the Cowboy in front of him to the ground.  Stupidest penalty I've ever seen.  I hope he got his ass chewed for that one.
• Hunt blew the block on the one semi-promising sideline return by Demps.
• Akers looked good, though.  That's positive, right?

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On the offensive side, there wasn't as much to review.  Everything pretty much worked, with a couple of minor exceptions.

A few points:

• Jamaal Jackson is the clear weak link on the offensive line.  It's not easy handling those nose tackles right on top of you, but Jackson was the one guy who got beaten multiple times by DTs on the way to McNabb.  Jackson is also playing way too heavy.  A promising screen pass was snuffed on the first series because Jackson was too slow to get out to Zach Thomas.
• I saw perhaps two runs all game with a fullback lead block.  Everything came out of one back sets or shifts into one back sets.  I know Hunt got hurt, but still, the Eagles have a problem at fullback. 
• Still not convinced?  Watch the game again, fast forward to the 1:56 mark and tell me who Tony Hunt blocks on this play. 
• The answer is Jamaal Jackson.  Knocks him on his can, too.

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Other observations:

• The Cowboys continually motioned tight ends and wide receivers to the outside of Owens to give him different match-ups.  It "worked" in the sense that the Eagles would slide the CB out to the new guy, but Owens actually seemed to do most of his damage on the plays he was outside.
• Klecko always stands out when he rotates in.  If he could teach Bunkley how to penetrate like he does, we'd really have something.
• The Cowboys ran the slowest-developing screen pass in history and STILL none of our linebackers recognized what was happening, even though all four linemen seemed to.
• From the waist up, Todd Herremans looks like a tight end.  The guy seems to be in incredible shape.
• DeSean Jackson did not catch that ball on the first drive.  He never secured it.  The people criticizing Reid for not challenging that call are wrong.   
• Officiating was as terrible as everyone has said.  In addition to all the other calls, the refs also missed a clear facemask as well as an illegal chop block (defender already engaged) on Jon Runywan.  The facemask came on the play where Westbrook was hit late out of bounds with no call, so that one evened out.
• Jackson ran on to the field after Westbrook cleaned up his fumble mess.  Presumably to thank him for picking him up.