Key points to the game...

[bleys]

Not trying to go through all the threads and clarify poo.. Here's what I saw... Feel free to add or subtract as you see fit.

First, the negative, since my memory sucks and there's a lot to write down...

-Our running game. Where did it go? 2008 called and wants it's success back...

-Pass protection... 1st half seemed better than not, however, in the 2nd half, we absolutely are killing ourselves, and no, don't think about throwing Jake under the bus on this one.

-Jake and his interceptions.. Before you crucify the guy FOR THIS GAME... Well, Smitty can take the blame for the 2nd one. I'll gladly accept Jake under threw the 1st one to Moose, however- Moose didn't do poo and should shoulder at least 55 - 75% of the blame. Depending on your stance with Delhomme, would that figure slide up or down that scale..

-Our offense and penalties... The defense was very efficient in the 1st half. Drive killers and horrible run blocking/pass blocking kept them on the field too long. Eventually, they are going to wear down.

-2 out of 3 games, perhaps as expected, Pep went silent... No where to be found.

-Defense and tackling.. the two words do not belong in the same sentence, unless pointing out that they don't belong in the same sentence. But more importantly, with what I saw, we didn't react to put ourselves in position to make that tackle. This put us in position to reach out to make an arm tackle and of course, whiff on said tackle. Not making the tackle was obvious, but getting in position to make that tackle was the bigger offender, IMO...

-Defense and stopping the run... Wow, we are hurting there. About all that I can say. We got gashed all 3rd quarter (to carry over into the 4th..) 95 yards in the 3rd quarter is absolutely going to kill us. Unfortunately, our offense helped contribute more so than the Cowboys offense.

Some positives...

-Our defense.. They kept their heads in the game and made adjustments at the line as they saw fit. They played tough and had a great 1st half (minus the negatives already mentioned).

-Beason and Davis.. Well, Davis came out and did what he's been doing so far this season (making plays.) Beason came out and seems to be in better position to do the same. Both played very well. Unfortunately, we need more than 2 guys in the right position to make plays.

-Blitzing... Fox/Meeks. Great job at blitzing and being effective at doing so. We applied pressure throughout the game, mostly in the 1st. My concern is that now teams have tape on this. The problem will be can Fox stay creative at creating pressure, or just keep with "what works" until we see over and over it has quit working.

-Jarrett.. nice catch.. lol

-Special teams, we kept good field position on punt coverage (minus a play or 2).. However, we weren't able to make much when the ball was kicked to us (both KR and PR)

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I'm sure I'll remember more, but I'm wore out/extremely fatigued/a little buzzed/and extremely frustrated... GOODNIGHT!

[scpanther22]

the steve smith temper tantrum...the run defense sucked.i did not see a lot of harris or burton.jake spread the ball well but we let up in the 2nd half and lost.

[bleys]

agree with it all.. I think the offense sucking caused the effect of our defense being unable to stop the run..

Smitty, well, can't say I saw him wide open all the time like it seemed he thought. OUr oline never gave much of a chance to give that time. Although, he was covered up most of the game...

and I said at half time, let's now proceed to watch the Cowboys make adjustments, and well, I can only imagine we didn't... since the game completely fell out of grasp and we got almost 100 yards ran against us on the ground.. (going back to no 1st downs at all in the 3rd QTR)...

[firstdayfan]

-Special teams, we kept good field position on punt coverage (minus a play or 2)..

Sorry man but you couldn't be more wrong about this. Special teams (mainly the punt coverage) is what killed us in the third quarter. Two big returns gave good field position to the Cowboys while our defense was trying to catch their breath. To me it was ultimately what cost us the game, outside of the poor tackling, horrible offensive adjustments, bad coaching, and general panic that this team is in right now. The worst part is that this team is no where near as bad as the 1-15 team but somehow I feel like we are playing as bad as them. We haven't even been that close in any of the games. I guess you could say we had a chance against the falcons but we have lost by 28, 8, and 14. Its not like we are losing games in the last minute, its absolutely pathetic right now and I hope JR makes some drastic moves in the next two weeks.

[Panthers128]

-Muhammad is too old to be the #2 receiver, I'm not gonna bash Moose, I love the way he plays the game and he's given the organization a lot, but he's 35 or 36 and he doesn't get enough separation. he should be a #3 and we should have not necessarily a great receiver but an athlete who can catch something to help spread the field out.

-We will not be able to run the ball until teams respect or passing attack. Teams lean coverage towards Smith, Muhammad can't get open, we don't use 3-4 receiver sets and the plays take too long to develop waiting for Muhammad and tight ends to get open since they're all slow.

-Peppers does not contain on run plays, he is bated into the back field everytime, so a lot of runs go to his side.

-Steve Smith whines too much on the sideline, if it was TO or CJ they would be looked at as trouble makers.

-The Cover 2 sucks and doesn't work, Teal played his zone and Romo hit a deep pass right over his head. Another 3rd and 8 Richard Marshall couldn't get over soon enough to help Beason on the inside pattern for the TE. We don't have the talent for it. Cover 2 is the main reason we are continuously beat on 3rd and long.

-Team does not realize blitzes and runs straight into them even when they're obvious

those were my observations

[Dpantherman]

moose gave up on the first play. he could have even swatted it down. all he did was look at it. at the same time, i dont think he should go long to moose in double coverage.

[Raskle]

Can't really fault the coverage units when Baker sucked a lemon tonight. There was absolutely zero hang time tonight, and you have to give the guys a chance to get downfield to make those plays. Not giving them a pass or anything, but Baker's kicking tonight really screwed us over.

[Dpantherman]

and good Lord the penalties. We had a 79 yard touchdown axed because of offensive pass interference. screw this f%%*# team.