What a sickening display of offensive football we witnessed in the first half against the Miami Dolphins on Saturday. Is it time to panic, or do we just scratch this performance as one bad half of preseason football?
A lot of what we heard throughout camp and the preseason was how the offense would need to carry this team, and just hope the defense can be serviceable to give the Cowboys a shot at the post-season. What we saw on Saturday didn’t instill confidence with that logic. Here are some of the highlights from that game: NFL.com – Cowboys vs. Dolphins preseason highlights.
Romo and Co. were out of sync and worse yet, the touted offensive line allowed too much pressure on Romo, making him look scared and tentative. Romo was battered and bruised in one half of play, his offensive line allowing three sacks. If there is even a resemblance of this during the regular season then I think we are in for a long one.
San Francisco comes into town for the season opener on Sept. 7. When the schedule was released I started to think what the score would be and my prediction at that time was 34-20 Dallas. My thought process was that this offense would dominate and keep the defense off the field. The 49ers would need to score, and with Colin Kaepernick forcing the issue, the defense would be able to create a turnover or two. Well, that thought quickly faded as I was watching the disaster on offense unfold vs. Miami.
The Cowboys cannot allow Romo to fight for his life out there.
His back is and has been a question mark all during camp. Can it hold up if he’s getting hit and running around looking for receivers all the time? Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPNDallas.com shared some of these same views: Miami batters Romo, beats Cowboys.
Even more concerning… was where was the running game? Why didn’t Dallas run the ball like they did in the other two games to keep the pressure of the QB? Call me concerned.
If they’re only going to flirt with the running game, I think their goose is cooked.
The hope is the defense bends but doesn’t break, and although they have had some problems, they have created turnovers which should give some sense of hope to that philosophy. However, if the offense does not score points and – more importantly – control the clock, then their chances for the playoffs will quickly evaporate.
