Week 8 GDT: Dallas Cowboys @ Washington Redskins

[matt79511]

Make that 5 straight W's for Dallas at Washington.

[Dallas94Ware]

If Irving is going to play like that and Lawrence has truly grown into his own after 4 years, this defense is going to be something fierce once the missed tackle situation gets sorted out.

[project T.O]

2 hours ago, Dallas94Ware said:

If Irving is going to play like that and Lawrence has truly grown into his own after 4 years, this defense is going to be something fierce once the missed tackle situation gets sorted out.

And some consistency from the secondary. 

Or really just consistency overal for the entire defense. 

 

Side note had to watch the game later ( thank you dvr) as I had to work so didn't follow along with game thread. But did anyone else seem to think refs were making some very Ticky tack calls this game? A lot of holding calls that maybe holds but are not usually called. For example Smith's hold on zeke's run where he stayed in between the shoulder pads and never really extended. And then some on plays where maybe blocker extended an arm a bit as defender went by but never substantially impaired the defender. A play that happens multiple times a game and is never called ( was done multiple time to Lawrence without flags).

[Dallas94Ware]

36 minutes ago, project T.O said:

And some consistency from the secondary. 

Or really just consistency overal for the entire defense. 

 

Side note had to watch the game later ( thank you dvr) as I had to work so didn't follow along with game thread. But did anyone else seem to think refs were making some very Ticky tack calls this game? A lot of holding calls that maybe holds but are not usually called. For example Smith's hold on zeke's run where he stayed in between the shoulder pads and never really extended. And then some on plays where maybe blocker extended an arm a bit as defender went by but never substantially impaired the defender. A play that happens multiple times a game and is never called ( was done multiple time to Lawrence without flags).

Smiths holds were blatant and grabs. Two were so sadly obvious I called them during the live action. He had his hands inside the pads even. Had he held the jersey and tugged, maybe itd have been a little ticky tacky. But he got his fingers under the pads and held him out of the lane.

[WizardHawk]

Finished up watching game. Zeke looked terrific. Defense looked solid. Anthony Brown struggling. All in all, good win. 

Looking ahead to off season quick....DLaw is going to get paid, David Irving is playing himself into a big contract too. He's a difference maker. Add in Martin, Hitch, Cooper, and a bunch of depth guys, going to be interesting. Some tough decisions to be made. 

[Dallas94Ware]

8 hours ago, WizardHawk said:

Finished up watching game. Zeke looked terrific. Defense looked solid. Anthony Brown struggling. All in all, good win. 

Looking ahead to off season quick....DLaw is going to get paid, David Irving is playing himself into a big contract too. He's a difference maker. Add in Martin, Hitch, Cooper, and a bunch of depth guys, going to be interesting. Some tough decisions to be made. 

You really think Zeke looked good? He looked more DeMarco Murray to me than Ezekiel Elliott.

He was often brought down by the first real tackle attempt and fell forward, and that bothers me. Running with some patience, following the blocks and falling forward after contact was Murrays MO - Zeke is supposed to be finishing with long gains and broken tackles, taking these to the house. Yesterday what I saw was someone content with whats easily available, not that warrior slashing and gashing his way for more.

With how this blocking was developing, dont you think its a little fishy that his longest run was under 20 yards?

[Northland]

17 hours ago, Dallas94Ware said:

If Irving is going to play like that and Lawrence has truly grown into his own after 4 years, this defense is going to be something fierce once the missed tackle situation gets sorted out.

I'm cautiously optimistic about the DL.  They should look dominant against Washington given the injuries the Skins have.  Let's see how they do against KC, and the rest of the schedule.

[DaBoys]

2 hours ago, Dallas94Ware said:

You really think Zeke looked good? He looked more DeMarco Murray to me than Ezekiel Elliott.

He was often brought down by the first real tackle attempt and fell forward, and that bothers me. Running with some patience, following the blocks and falling forward after contact was Murrays MO - Zeke is supposed to be finishing with long gains and broken tackles, taking these to the house. Yesterday what I saw was someone content with whats easily available, not that warrior slashing and gashing his way for more.

With how this blocking was developing, dont you think its a little fishy that his longest run was under 20 yards?

He admitted he was having a hard time holding on to the ball. After the first fumble that became his prime focus. He said the ball was difficult to grip even with two hands in the 4th when the rain really started slamming. He said, "that's honestly all I was thinking about."

 

I don't think you are understanding the conditions. He ran really well. His 72 yard scamper in sunny San Fran should be proof positive that he is capable of breaking the long one.

[DaBoys]

JG on Elliott:

“Obviously he was outstanding today, and he had to be. Obviously the fumble in the first play was not a good play for him or for us, but I thought our defense did a good job responding to that – holding them to a field goal – but then he carried it 32 more times. He did a great job taking care of the ball. They were coming after the ball late. He just did a really good job controlling the game for us really throughout.”

 

 

 

Elliott on the weather:

“That weather is real tough out there. Not only was it rainy, but it was real cold. So late in the game, it got tougher. That last drive, when we were trying to run the time out, I barely was able to hold on to the ball even with two hands. So I was just focusing on protecting that ball.”

[Dallas94Ware]

18 minutes ago, DaBoys said:

He admitted he was having a hard time holding on to the ball. After the first fumble that became his prime focus. He said the ball was difficult to grip even with two hands in the 4th when the rain really started slamming. He said, "that's honestly all I was thinking about."

 

I don't think you are understanding the conditions. He ran really well. His 72 yard scamper in sunny San Fran should be proof positive that he is capable of breaking the long one.

Oh, im not saying he isnt capable of the big one! I dont think anyone would doubt that. I just dont see how, even holding onto the ball with two hands, prevents him from slipping such poor tackling attempts by such players as a third string safety. Balance is an issue when youre clutching the ball in fear of fumble, any coach or player can attest to that.

But some of these runs, I just didnt even see the same burst as Im used to. And where is the power? Not even an attempt to lower the shoulders most of the time. No high steps away from fingertip tackles? I expect more. We all should. Its like having a new ferrari but you have trouble popping it into third - then whats the point of that high end ferrari?

Im not afraid Zeke has lost something, or cant break that big one. But on a day when the blocking was outstanding, and the only guy in his way is some scrub barely making a roster, Zeke needs to make that guy miss, rain or no flippin rain.

[WizardHawk]

2 hours ago, Dallas94Ware said:

You really think Zeke looked good? He looked more DeMarco Murray to me than Ezekiel Elliott.

He was often brought down by the first real tackle attempt and fell forward, and that bothers me. Running with some patience, following the blocks and falling forward after contact was Murrays MO - Zeke is supposed to be finishing with long gains and broken tackles, taking these to the house. Yesterday what I saw was someone content with whats easily available, not that warrior slashing and gashing his way for more.

With how this blocking was developing, dont you think its a little fishy that his longest run was under 20 yards?

I can't rewatch game, but I'm buying none of this. 

[Dallas94Ware]

7 minutes ago, WizardHawk said:

I can't rewatch game, but I'm buying none of this. 

Well, hey, as DB pointed out, the weather was not doing him any favors. And the early fumble probably did effect his mindset the rest of the storm drenched game.

Still, I want to see some missed and broken tackles. You cant do that in only sunny and warm weather. What happens come January, Snowy Philadelphia or cold and rainy Carolina or high Wind and rain/sleet Seattle? Think Zeke can get away with what the blockers give him against those defenses and use the weather as an excuse for not slipping tacklers? 

[WizardHawk]

23 hours ago, Dallas94Ware said:

You really think Zeke looked good? He looked more DeMarco Murray to me than Ezekiel Elliott.

He was often brought down by the first real tackle attempt and fell forward, and that bothers me. Running with some patience, following the blocks and falling forward after contact was Murrays MO - Zeke is supposed to be finishing with long gains and broken tackles, taking these to the house. Yesterday what I saw was someone content with whats easily available, not that warrior slashing and gashing his way for more.

With how this blocking was developing, dont you think its a little fishy that his longest run was under 20 yards?

Murray was credited with 55 forced miss tkls in 2014. Zeke 36 last year. Not sure where you're going here. 

DaBoys....time for a new GDT.

[Dallas94Ware]

14 minutes ago, WizardHawk said:

Murray was credited with 55 forced miss tkls in 2014. Zeke 36 last year. Not sure where you're going here. 

DaBoys....time for a new GDT.

And in 2006 Roy Williams had 5 INTs while Newman had 1. Stats can be very misleading, especially a stat like the one youre quoting which can be very in the eye of the beholder - you arent actually meaning to imply Murray was/is a better runner than Zeke are you? lol

Murrays Mo was following a block with good patience and falling forward on contact. Good efficient running, but nothing special. Zekes supposed to be staying balanced after contact, not getting 2-3 yards more and going down, but staying on his feet and breaking off another dozen. 

[WizardHawk]

7 minutes ago, Dallas94Ware said:

And in 2006 Roy Williams had 5 INTs while Newman had 1. Stats can be very misleading, especially a stat like the one youre quoting which can be very in the eye of the beholder - you arent actually meaning to imply Murray was/is a better runner than Zeke are you? lol

Murrays Mo was following a block with good patience and falling forward on contact. Good efficient running, but nothing special. Zekes supposed to be staying balanced after contact, not getting 2-3 yards more and going down, but staying on his feet and breaking off another dozen. 

Eye of the beholder is right. You say he's following Murray's MO, and complaining he isn't breaking tackles, yet Murray has a 1/3 more. Murray actually was credited with 43 last year...more than Zeke on 30 less carries. So yeah, maybe Murray is better at breaking tackles than Zeke...or maybe Zeke is simply better at avoiding contact. Whatever the case, there isn't an issue to be had here.