Quote:
Originally posted by: OutletPass
Consider a few things that football professionals look at in evaluating team performance:
The Cowboys didn't win; the Giants lost. If Bryant had simply kicked a low bouncing line drive to the 20 or so, we'd be talking about how the Cowboys blew a big lead in the 4th quarter.
Cundiff nailed 7 field goals...but what does that say ? It says he Cowboy offense wasn't efficient; that drives were stalled and there were way too many penalties and mistakes. 1 Offensive touchdown isn't encouraging...especially given the great field position provided by Zuriel Smith's runbacks in the first half. Simply put, the Cowboys can't control the ball on offense for large amounts of time or yardage.
The defense allowed NY to come from 16 down to 3 up...a 19 point swing. I do have to give props to a better pass rush, but c'mon a 19 point swing isn't exactly encouraging. And we got another 2nd half collapse...not the mark of a good team.
It was a sloppy, poorly played game by both sides....the final score would indicate that it was exciting...maybe that's all that counts to fans.
But if Bryant had made even a mediocre kickoff with 11 seconds left, we'd all be asking why the offense couldn't score and why the defense fell apart in the second half.
This won't cut it with the league's most difficult schedule coming up.
It's not about individual performances; it's about team performance and efficiency.
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The Giants did screw up at the end. However, they still didn't just give the game away. Carter still has to make that 20 yard completion to Bryant after the bad kickoff. The Giants blitz was working great almost the entire second half, and, their defense was fairly rested, why didn't it work there? We, and at least I, might have said that it was the Cowboys that lost the game instead of the Giants winning if Bryant didn't kick so poorly. I'm not too familiar with Parcell's coaching, even though his reputation precedes him, but, I'm not sure that his conservative style at the end was very good for the offense. That's what I'd call coaching not to lose, instead of coaching to win.
I don't think Cundiff's kicking has anything to say about penalties. There were penalties, but his kicking is not related. And the Cowboys time of possession was nearly double the Giants.
A 19 point swing isn't encouraging, but a 16 point lead is, and the methodical way they built that lead is encouraging. I'm not sure that the Cowboys get those fg opportunities with Campo. They didn't do well scoring tds, but they did do well putting points on the board.
I do agree that the game was very sloppily played by both teams, and that kind of play will not work for either team in November.
I am glad they won, b/c that game ended terribly late.