Report card: Special teams come through
Rushing Offense
The Cowboys' patchwork offensive line got whipped way too often by the Browns' front seven. Dallas running backs were dropped for a loss on six of their 19 carries. Felix Jones and Lance Dunbar combined for 53 yards on 19 carries, an average of 2.8 per pop. The right side of the Cowboys' offensive line was especially poor, with tackle Doug Free and fill-in guard Derrick Dockery consistently getting knocked backwards. The Browns' pass rushers were able to pin back their ears because the Cowboys couldn't run the ball with any consistency.
Passing Offense
Dez Bryant dominated, catching 12 passes for a career-high 145 yards and a touchdown, but the Cowboys should have had much more success throwing the ball against an injury-ravaged Browns secondary. Tony Romo's protection was terrible, as evidenced by his career-high seven sacks. He did a poor job protecting the ball on one of those, resulting in a lost fumble while the Cowboys were protecting a late lead. Romo threw for 313 yards, but he averaged only 6.3 yards per attempt, primarily because the Cowboys couldn't block well enough to let him attack downfield.
Rushing Defense
The Browns pounded away with stud rookie running back Trent Richardson and the Cowboys did a decent job holding their ground. He finished with 28 carries for 95 yards, with the Dallas run defense growing stronger late in the game. Richardson gained only 18 yards on eight carries in the fourth quarter and overtime. Safeties Danny McCray and Gerald Sensabaugh were especially strong in run support. Outside linebacker Anthony Spencer, as usual, was also a force against the run, recording six tackles, including one for a loss.
Passing Defense
The Cowboys weren't able to rattle a rookie quarterback. Brandon Weeden completed 20 of 35 passes for 210 yards, hitting tight end Ben Watson for two touchdowns. Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan didn't blitz often and the Cowboys struggled to get pressure on Weeden, who tends to commit turnovers when he has heat on him. Dallas had only two sacks, one shared by DeMarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher and one by Anthony Spencer that was a trifecta (sack, forced fumble, fumble recovery). The Cowboys had two golden opportunities for interceptions when they got pressure on Weeden, but Spencer and nose tackle Josh Brent dropped the ball.
Special Teams
The Cowboys twice made the mistake of punting to Cleveland's Josh Cribbs and paid a steep price both times. His 20- and 22-yard returns set up the Browns' two touchdown drives. Brian Moorman booted the ball out of bounds on his other five punts, including three that landed inside the 20. Dallas' Dwayne Harris made a critical big play on a punt return for the second consecutive week. After taking one to the house in Philadelphia, Harris had a 20-yard return to set up the game-winning field goal. Dan Bailey was 3-for-3 on field goals, including the winner. An onside attempt was unsuccessful, but the Browns didn't convert that field position into points.
Coaching
Jerry Jones gushed about the halftime adjustments made by Jason Garrett and Rob Ryan. Well, how about the preparation during the week? It's inexcusable to have dug a 13-point hole at halftime against a two-win team. The offense was especially awful in the first half, accounting for only 68 total yards. It shouldn't have taken Garrett two quarters to figure out that his offensive line wasn't good enough to allow Romo and the receivers to attack the Browns vertically. The Cowboys managed to pull out the win -- or the Browns found a way to lose -- so this won't go down as a disaster. But it certainly doesn't inspire confidence that Garrett is the right guy.
Tim MacMahon
ESPNDallas.com- Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009
- Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks
- Appears regularly on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM
TEAM RESOURCES
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Calvin Watkins
Calvin Watkins joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He's covered the Cowboys since 2006 and also has covered colleges, boxing and high school sports.
Todd Archer
Todd Archer joined ESPNDallas.com in November 2010. He's covered the NFL since 1997 and the Cowboys since 2003. He covered the Bengals and Dolphins before arriving in Dallas. A Massachusetts native, Archer lives in the Dallas area with his wife and two children.
Tim MacMahon
Tim MacMahon joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. Tim covers the Cowboys and Mavericks. He has covered the local sports scene from high schools to colleges to pros during his six-year tenure at The Dallas Morning News. MacMahon is a graduate of UNT.
Jean-Jacques Taylor
Jean-Jacques Taylor joined ESPNDallas.com in August 2011. A native of Dallas, Taylor spent the past 20 years writing for The Dallas Morning News, where he covered high schools sports, the Texas Rangers and spent 11 seasons covering the Dallas Cowboys before becoming a general columnist in 2006.
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Play Podcast Todd Archer joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss what he took away from the Dallas Cowboys' rookie minicamp.
UPCOMING GAMES
| W-L | PF | PA | HM | AW | STK | L10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIA | 0-0 | .0 | .0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | W0 | |
| DAL | 0-0 | .0 | .0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | W0 |
| W-L | PF | PA | HM | AW | STK | L10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAL | 0-0 | .0 | .0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | W0 | |
| OAK | 0-0 | .0 | .0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | W0 |
| W-L | PF | PA | HM | AW | STK | L10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAL | 0-0 | .0 | .0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | W0 | |
| ARI | 0-0 | .0 | .0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | W0 |
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