From: klbartle@david.wheaton.edu (Kevin Bartlett)
Subject: Re: Dallas was beaten by bad luck, not the eagles!
Organization: Wheaton College, IL
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 21:17:54 GMT

In article <1992Oct8.060206.26286@PacBell.COM> jpglori@srv.PacBell.COM (John P. Gloria) writes:
>In article <1992Oct7.162708.19337@oakhill.sps.mot.com> floydg@oakhill.sps.mot.com (Floyd Goodrich) writes:
>>jpglori@srv.PacBell.COM (John P. Gloria) writes:
>>
>>>Do I hearing "moooing" here. Come on 'Boyz, you were beat. It wasn't
>>>like the score was 31-30, Eagles favor. This was a stomp you, spit in
>>>your face, call your sister a SL*T, and embarrass you nation wide
>>>telecast. I guess the lights were too bright and the crowd was too
>>>loud and biased. 'Boyz want a lollypop?
>>
>>Dallas played well on Monday night against Washington in a game that had
>>all the hype that this one did.  Why do you think it was the spotlights
>>that caused this loss instead of just the Eagles beating Dallas?  Do you
>>think Dallas was really better and just choked under the lights?  I don't.
>>Or were you just baiting Dallas fans?
>>
>First things first. I am neither an Eagles or Dallas fan. I just
>dislike Dallas more. Secondly, it was sacarasm, taunting and
>whatever to give the Dallas folks a "dig". With all the woofing
>they spewed out prior to this game, I figured they deserved it.
>
>>>Please don't start with your IF's and lucky breaks, or whatever. A
>>>good team will convert TOs into points. That is what separates 
>>>Men from the 'Boyz. If Cunningham is just *so, so*, what is 
>>>Troy "Can't get no satisfaction" Aikman.
>>
>>Well, while I disagree with a lot of what the original poster said, I 
>>do think that Dallas held their own for 2-3 quarters against the best 
>>team in the NFL.   While the Eagles forced a lot of breaks, you
>>can't always count on the bounces to go either for you or against you.
>>Now I'm not going to start with IFs about this game, but I do think
>>you have to look at why Dallas lost.  In spite of the 31-7 score, Philly
>>had to fight to earn the victory.  Dallas can look at this game in order
>>to focus on what they can do to beat Philly next time....
>>
>I quite don't understand your point about bounces or breaks. The
>Cowboys had some TOs and the Eagles converted them into points.
>That is not luck.
>
>>Was there nothing positive for the Dallas team to think about the Philly 
>>game?  Bottom line was they lost.  How can they do better in the future?
>>Simple, they have to focus on what they did well in this game and eliminate
>>the mistakes they made.  (I can't remember the last time Dallas turned the
>>ball over 4 times and won.)
>>
>You asked the questions and answered them, so there is not much I
>can add here.
>
>>OK, what would you say to your team if you were the Dallas coaching staff?
>>You have to reinforce the positives, eliminate the negatives, and try to
>>do better next time. (Was there nothing good to say about SF's loss to Buffalo?)
>>I might start by saying that we got our butts kicked, primarily because
>>of turnovers and not being able to keep the ball long enough for the 
>>defense to get any rest.  On the positive side, Dallas moved the ball well
>>at times, only to piss away good scoring opportunities.
>
>>And I would look at the turnovers:
>> 1) interception - Aikman underthrows the ball by a couple of yards.  The
>>    coverage was good, there wasn't heavy pressure.  Don't do that again
>>    Troy, improve your execution, that was your fault.  Bad execution.
>>
>A couple of yards, a couple of inches, an INT is an INT in my book.
>Beyond that, ALL QB's make mistakes.
>
>> 2) interception in end zone- Troy, what did you think you could accomplish 
>>    with that?  OK, it was a lucky bounce into the arms of the Eagles, but
>>    you can't take that chance.  Bad decision (mostly) and a little bad luck.
>>
>This particular pass, lucky bounce as you put it, is one of those
>that "could have" "gotten in" to the intended receiver. We have all
>seen it happen in prior games, right? The only difference is if he
>makes it, it is referred to a as "great pass", "right between the numbers"
>or "he put it where only the receiver could get it".  This pass was
>INT'd and now everyone is saying, "bad decision", "should have 
>thrown it away", or "he should run in", or whatever. That is life.
>
>> 3) wounded duck interception - OK, Troy, your arm got hit when you threw
>>    the ball.  You really couldn't have done anything about that.  Granted,
>>    90% of the time, this ball falls to the ground for an incomplete pass,
>>    but this is the Eagles.  They have a nasty habit of coming up with big
>>    defensive plays.  Good Eagles execution but a weird play.
>>
>This is where "luck" comes into play, more so than the INT in the
>end zone, IMHO. On the plus side, for the Eagles, it takes alert,
>quick reacting defenders to come up with the ball. As you stated,
>the ball usually hits the ground.
>
>> 4) fumble by offensive lineman - that he ended up with the ball was sheer
>>    inanity.  That he tried to run and fumbled was more of the same.
>>
>Bad discipline by idiotic lineman. As you state, he should have just
>fallen on the damn ball. On the flip side, if he were to have picked
>it up and ran it in, he would have made the highlights and he would
>have kept the ball and gotten high-fived in the end zone. :-) Those
>are the breaks of the game.
>
>>Summary:  1 bad decision (plus a fortunate bounce), 1 bad execution, 
>>          2 weird ones.  
>>
>>Result:  21 Eagles points and lost a chance at a FG for Dallas.
>>
>>Three of these turnovers came when Dallas was moving the ball fairly well.
>>They killed the present drive and the momentum of the Cowboys' offense.
>>Now the Eagle defense caused these turnovers.  Take nothing away from them.
>>IMO, this is why the Eagles have such a good defense:  they don't make the
>>big play constantly, they do what they did against Dallas.  They give up 
>>a few yards, Dallas seems to be driving, then BOOM a turnover off a freak
>>play.  BOOM a turnover off a bad decision by the QB.  The drive is over
>>and the Eagles have the ball 50 yards away from the end zone.
>>
>Dallas had a couple of opportunities to convert TOs into 14 points,
>but THEY didn't. It seems good, all around teams, will convert these
>TOs into points a great percentage of the time. Oops, a statistic.  :-)
>
>>The Eagles converted a high percentage of third downs on their (short) TD
>>drives, but they never drove the ball at will (until the game was already
>>out of hand) and they never went on long, sustained drives to score.  Philly
>>made their breaks in the first half (or else they could have been down 14-3)
>>and continued to do so in the second half to build their lead.  By 24-7, the
>>game was over and the Eagles D knew Dallas had to pass.
>>
>>The Dallas D got to Cunningham.  He fumbled twice, but Dallas couldn't 
>>recover.  They sacked him 3-4 times I think and pressured him on other
>>occasions.  They intercepted him for the first time this year.  But they
>>got worn down when they couldn't stay off the field in the second half.
>>Walker ran wild.
>>
>>I think IF Aikman can overcome the mental block about playing vs. Philly,
>>the second game will be much closer.  A couple of breaks go Dallas' way and
>>they could win the next game.  But IF Aikman makes the decisions he made 
>>in this game, the score will be about the same.  As poorly as they played,
>>there were still positives for Dallas to focus on:  Dallas still moved the 
>>ball on O; Philly never sustained a long drive on O (on the few occasions
>>they had the opportunity to); Dallas return teams played fairly well.  
>>And all this against what looks for now to be the best team in the league.
>>
>You are slipping into the "IF" twilight zone.:-)
>>
>>Floyd Goodrich
>>floydg@oakhill.sps.mot.com
>
>
>-- 
>  ---------  John Gloria - jpglori@sysengr.pacbell.com	--------	
>  Let us be thankful for the fools; but for them the rest
>  of us could not succeed.  -   Mark Twain

Why don't you just publish it next time?
:-)

					. . . the Mantis

Randall Cunningham for president.
Go EAGLES!