by RiverDog » Mon Sep 24, 2018 6:05 am
This was a typical glass half full, glass half empty game to witness.
The glass half empty:
Dallas is not a playoff caliber team. Dak Prescott had a bad game, was generally off target and made some poor run/pass decisions. They gift wrapped 3 points, which gave us our two score final margin that proved insurmountable by committing a stupid is as stupid does USC penalty at the end of the first half. We lucked out by an opportunistic Earl Thomas being in the right place at the right time to pick of deflected passes, and Dallas fumbled inside the red zone in the 4th quarter that killed what looked like a promising come back for them. The penalty bug appears to still be with us as we committed 10 of them although there were some really ticky tack penalties including a very lame roughing the passer penalty. Rashard Penny doesn't look like a first round draft pick.
The glass half full:
Chris Carson looked great. First time in a long time that one of our running back provided more productivity than our QB. The line didn't provide him with gaping holes, but he did a good job of fitting through small openings and seemed to pick up a lot of yards after contact. He is head and shoulders above Rashard Penny and needs to be getting the lions share of the carries until Penny can prove himself, and they did just that. Our tight ends caught over a third of our complete passes with Nick Vanett hauling in some challenging catches. Russell played well, only took a couple of sacks, one of which was avoidable, and threw some absolute strikes into tight coverage, excellent 3rd down efficiency. And best of all, he didn't turn the ball over once. It was by far his best game of the season. On defense, Kendricks had another very good game and is proving himself to be a great pickup. Although the pressure waned as we were protecting a 3 score lead, we still got consistent pressure on Prescott through most of the game and kept him off balance. No critical breakdowns in pass coverage and they did a good job of getting off the field in 3rd and long situations.
In summary, it was a solid at home performance against a mediocre opponent, but it should keep the wolves away from the door for a few more weeks.