Cowboys vs. Panthers: Film Review

If the Panthers were in a rebuilding year the loss to the Cowboys would be viewed as a good loss if there is such a thing. Yet the reality is many people thought this team would compete for the NFC South. The Panthers did play hard the entire game and everything lined up in the Panthers favor except the refs, who apparently didn’t get the memo. With WR Terrell Owens on the sidelines with a tweaked ankle the Dallas offense was not nearly as potent. Sure, we couldn’t do much with RB Marion Barber but we still had a chance if the refs would have called that obvious pass interference play involving WR Drew Carter. That was a 3 point gift to the Cowboys who fielded the ensuing punt at the 50 yard line.

Being a NFL Network game I figure it’s a good time to break out a film review since many people may never get to see it. Before I get into the particulars of the film review I have to say something about QB Matt Moore.

I like Matt Moore even more than last week. He did struggle in the first quarter with a few errant passes but there were several beauties:

• The corner fade to Steve Smith was perfect
• The bomb to Drew Carter was on the money
• The long catch and run by Steve Smith was beautifully placed over the LB and in front of the S
• He again showed poise in the pocket, withstood some vicious hits and showed off a rocket arm

This kid has tons of potential and I think we need to lock him up for 3-5 years.

Here are my general observations series by series:

1st Quarter

1st Defensive Series (1-D): The Cowboys move the ball until they are just out of FG range and LB Na’il Diggs makes a nice tackle of Julius Jones to prevent a 1st down. Cowboys punt.

1st Offensive Series (1-O): Steve Smith (SS) gets a first down yet on later 3rd & 10 D-Will gets tackled from behind on a screen pass by DT Jason Hatcher. Nice pursuit by him.

2-D: The Cowboys passing game gets cranked up as TO and Romo hook up several times. Na’il Diggs makes a nice pass defense. The Panthers could do nothing with Terrell Owens. CB Ken Lucas was playing good coverage but Romo and TO are just playing pitch & catch out there. Who in the world thinks any of the Panther CB’s can handle TO on an island just 10 yards from the end zone? Richard Marshall was overmatched and I really don’t blame him to much. He should have had safety help. Cowboys 7-0.

2-O: Panthers go 3 and out as Moore throws an ugly pass behind Robinson that would have been a first down.

2nd Quarter

3-D: TO converts a first down but later Richard Marshall makes a nice pass defense against TO where Romo tried to get too fancy.

3-O: Ryne rips a great return for 35 yards straight up the middle of the field. After one first down by SS, Moore makes a bad pass behind SS on 3rd down. Good field position is wasted.

4-D: This one I will call "the Marion Barber" drive as he basically ran it down our throats with 5 carries for 63 yards highlighted by a 37 yard scamper. He capped it with a 5 yard TD. Cowboys 14-0. This TD comes with a price as TO be hurt on a short pass over the middle and doesn’t return. On another note, 4 of the 5 plays went over the left side against both DE Mike Rucker and then Stanley McClover. Barber is a FA this off-season and I salivate at the thought he might test the market. I doubt Jerry Jones would let himself get out bid for him.

4-O: RB DeAngelo Williams matches Barbers 37 yard scamper with one of his own. D-Will went off left tackle, got a nice block from FB Brad Hoover and cut backs right and out runs the left-side pursuit. TE Dante Rosario makes a nice catch for a 1st down on this drive. This kid has nice hands and is much faster than TE Jeff King. Moore makes his first TD pass as he hits SS on a fade to the corner. SS faked a quick pass which the CB Henry bit on and SS taps his toes in the end zone. Sweeet! Cowboys 14-7.

5-D: Cowboys drive the ball converting a few 3rd downs as they pick on S CJ Wilson playing in the nickel. The Panthers rotated a number of DB’s in this game trying to keep guys fresh against this Cowboy passing game.  Chris Gamble gets a sure pick if he has use of both hands but alas he has a broken finger. Charles Johnson makes a nice play for a loss. Cowboys get a FG 17-7.

5-O: Ryne makes a nice return on KO to the 34 yard line. Carter makes a nice run after a catch on a crossing route. Moore makes another ugly pass that gets picked by CB Anthony Henry. It looked like Moore would have better off going to Robinson on the fly as Henry was cheating towards SS. Moore got caught zooming on SS too much.

6-D: Jenkins stuffs a run play as the Cowboys drive the ball but run out of time. They didn’t manage the clock well and may have cost themselves 3 points here.

3rd Quarter

6-O: Ryne has another nice return of 42 yards to the Panther 44. This is the "Steve Smith" drive as he makes most of the positive yardage except for a nice run by D-Will to get to the one yard line. After a FS penalty on RG Hangartner two Cowboy sacks force the Panthers to kick a FG. A nice 7 minute drive. Cowboys 17-10.

7-D: Panthers give up a long KO run back to the Cowboys 44. The Panthers stuff the run game as DT Kris Jenkins and Chris Harris make plays for no gain. At times the Cowboys couldn’t block Jenkins. Punt.

7-O: After one 1st down off of D-Will runs, Matt Moore makes 2 bad passes to end the short drive. Punt.

8-D: Cowboys drive the ball for 2 downs one courtesy of a crappy pass interference call against Richard Marshall on Jason Whitten. They didn’t call at least three similar plays against the Cowboys earlier in the game but don’t worry, it gets worse later.

4th Quarter

LB Thomas Davis misses a sure INT when it hits him in the hands but then two plays later makes the INT at the three yard line. Funny, this one was a harder catch then the first one he dropped.

8-O: With the Panthers at the three the Cowboys keep the Panthers bottle up. On 3rd & long the Panthers go deep to Drew Carter who gets mugged by S Jacques Reeves but no call. It should have been 1st down at the 50 yard line.

9-D: Punting from their end zone the Panthers give the Cowboys good field position. After driving to the five yard line the defense tightens up and stuffs the run. Beason sticks Marion Barber to force the short FG. Cowboys 20-10.

9-O: Moore gets sacked by DT Chris Canty as Hangartner gets burned. In what looked like a long catch and fumble out of bounds by SS gets called incomplete. Punt.

10-D: Cowboys go three & out as the Panthers stuff the run. Ken Lucas makes a nice tackle of Barber to prevent him getting outside. Punt.

10-O: After a sack on 3rd & 1 on 4th and 9 Moore connects with SS for a 57 yard strike to the nine yard line. SS hurts his elbow on the tackle. Moore then gets leveled by DT Tank Johnson on a sack but Johnson gets the roughing call for helmet to helmet. Moore bounced up like it was nothing but I know it had to hurt. Moore is showing some toughness. Drew Carter then drops a sure TD and Moore makes a bad pass to SS. Panther settle for the FG.

11-D: The Panthers elect to kick off rather than try the on-side kick. Hindsight is always 20-20 but it seems the Panthers should have gone for it. In the end the Panthers couldn’t stop Marion Barber from getting two first downs to seal the victory.

The Panthers played tough the entire game and if the refs had made the correct calls they may have had a better chance down the stretch. I won’t say it cost the Panthers the game but it was too much to overcome.

The biggest difference between these two teams in my opinion is in the offensive and defensive lines. The Cowboy defensive line stuffed the Panthers all game. Take away the D-Will 37 yd run and the Panthers ran for 32 yards. The defensive line handled the run well put could not pressure Romo and the passing attack is where the Cowboys cash in. When the Cowboys needed a yard they got a yard though.