I'm a little late this week getting to reaction to last week's games, so I'll be brief.
North Carolina 28, Virginia 17
I finally finished watching this game for the first time today. An equally frustrating, encouraging, and forboding performance.
The good: The Virginia offense gained over 450 yards on what was a vaunted UNC defense. In fact, the Hoos outgained the Heels. Quarterback Michael Rocco was quite accurate at times and he also showed some good escapability and athleticism on a rushing TD. The line protected Rocco quite well, as he was only sacked once by a strong UVa defense. Coming into the game, no one had been able to run on UNC but the Hoos had 170 yards on the ground. The UVa defense got a few stops and was able to bottle up the Heels' rushing attack at times. The final score could have easily been closer than it was.
The bad: The Virginia offense shot itself in the foot time and time again, whether it was a fumbled snap, penalties, or just not being able to sustain drives once they got into UNC territory. The Cavs left possibly six points on the field in the first half when Robert Randolph missed his first kick of the year and later in the half when UVa elected to go for a first down on fourth down instead of try a kick, which would have been shorter than the one Randolph missed. Six points would have made the final score 28-23 and Virginia could have possibly been driving at the end for a game-winning score. Rocco still made a couple bad throws at the end and ended up with two interceptions. The Virginia defense was gashed yet again by the run, giving up 222 yards on the ground. The punt return game was nonexistent and the kick return game didn't do much for the Hoos, either. One time on a kick return, one return man tried to pitch it to another return man and there was a fmble and Virginia had to start the drive deep in their own territory. Though the score was 28-17, UNC fumbled very close to the UVa goal line and this was close to being a 35-10 or 35-17 game.
Bottom line is, Virginia moved the ball well enough at times to win, and with another TD, would have been an onside kick recovery away from driving for the win. But some ill-timed defensive breakdowns and the inability of the offense to turn yards into points did Virginia in. Whether UNC is better or worse than last year (I thought at the beginning of the year it was going to be worse but now I'm not so sure), UVa was destroyed 44-10 in Charlottesville last year by the Heels so a 28-17 loss on the road shows improvement. I'm encourgaged by the offense, like I was last year. It can move the ball and did so against what was a solid defense. It needs to produce more TDs though. That has been its main issue so far in three games. The defense is what concerns me the most. If we can't stop the run, it will be tough to get to six wins because our offense is good, but not great, and will likely get outscored more times than not. I hope the defense is doing things to get better against the run.
Cowboys 27, 49ers 24 OT
A week after his leadership and fourth-quarter ability was questioned, Dallas quarterback Tony Romo came through big time in the fourth quarter against the 49ers on Sunday. Romo was hit in the first half and suffered a fractured rib (and a punctured lung, though this was discovered after the game) and decided to reenter the game in the fourth quarter -- after being told to sit at the beginning of the second half -- and brought the Cowboys back from a 10-point deficit. It was great seeing him talk to receiver Jesse Holley near the end of the game and then have Holley deliver with a 77-yard catch and run down to the SF 1-yard line, which set up Dallas' game-winning field goal. Watching Holley celebrate the big play on the sideline was fun to watch. He hadn't caught a regular season pass since 2006 -- with North Carolina! Incredible story. It's what Dallas was down to, though. Wide receivers Miles Austin and Dez Bryant were out of the game at that point so Holley got a chance. Even though the comeback was against the rebuilding 49ers, I think Romo answered some of his critics with his gutty performance. And it wasn't neccessarily the comeback -- Romo has been good in the fourth quarter before. It was the way he did it, leading the young guys, and of course playing hurt.
The Dallas defense, a week after giving up over 300 yards of passing to Mark Sanchez, buckled down pretty good. It contributed greatly to the win by holding 49ers quarterback Alex Smith to 179 yards passing while sacking him six times. Frank Gore was limited to 47 yards on the ground. The Dallas defense is shaky, but looking better than it did last year and is hopefully improving week-to-week.
Now, Monday night, the Cowboys have their home opener and it's against the arch nemesis Redskins, who are 2-0. The Cowboys are decimated by injury but I think this is anyone's game. It should be a fun one to watch, as Cowboys-Redskins games should be and usually are.
North Carolina 28, Virginia 17
I finally finished watching this game for the first time today. An equally frustrating, encouraging, and forboding performance.
The good: The Virginia offense gained over 450 yards on what was a vaunted UNC defense. In fact, the Hoos outgained the Heels. Quarterback Michael Rocco was quite accurate at times and he also showed some good escapability and athleticism on a rushing TD. The line protected Rocco quite well, as he was only sacked once by a strong UVa defense. Coming into the game, no one had been able to run on UNC but the Hoos had 170 yards on the ground. The UVa defense got a few stops and was able to bottle up the Heels' rushing attack at times. The final score could have easily been closer than it was.
The bad: The Virginia offense shot itself in the foot time and time again, whether it was a fumbled snap, penalties, or just not being able to sustain drives once they got into UNC territory. The Cavs left possibly six points on the field in the first half when Robert Randolph missed his first kick of the year and later in the half when UVa elected to go for a first down on fourth down instead of try a kick, which would have been shorter than the one Randolph missed. Six points would have made the final score 28-23 and Virginia could have possibly been driving at the end for a game-winning score. Rocco still made a couple bad throws at the end and ended up with two interceptions. The Virginia defense was gashed yet again by the run, giving up 222 yards on the ground. The punt return game was nonexistent and the kick return game didn't do much for the Hoos, either. One time on a kick return, one return man tried to pitch it to another return man and there was a fmble and Virginia had to start the drive deep in their own territory. Though the score was 28-17, UNC fumbled very close to the UVa goal line and this was close to being a 35-10 or 35-17 game.
Bottom line is, Virginia moved the ball well enough at times to win, and with another TD, would have been an onside kick recovery away from driving for the win. But some ill-timed defensive breakdowns and the inability of the offense to turn yards into points did Virginia in. Whether UNC is better or worse than last year (I thought at the beginning of the year it was going to be worse but now I'm not so sure), UVa was destroyed 44-10 in Charlottesville last year by the Heels so a 28-17 loss on the road shows improvement. I'm encourgaged by the offense, like I was last year. It can move the ball and did so against what was a solid defense. It needs to produce more TDs though. That has been its main issue so far in three games. The defense is what concerns me the most. If we can't stop the run, it will be tough to get to six wins because our offense is good, but not great, and will likely get outscored more times than not. I hope the defense is doing things to get better against the run.
Cowboys 27, 49ers 24 OT
A week after his leadership and fourth-quarter ability was questioned, Dallas quarterback Tony Romo came through big time in the fourth quarter against the 49ers on Sunday. Romo was hit in the first half and suffered a fractured rib (and a punctured lung, though this was discovered after the game) and decided to reenter the game in the fourth quarter -- after being told to sit at the beginning of the second half -- and brought the Cowboys back from a 10-point deficit. It was great seeing him talk to receiver Jesse Holley near the end of the game and then have Holley deliver with a 77-yard catch and run down to the SF 1-yard line, which set up Dallas' game-winning field goal. Watching Holley celebrate the big play on the sideline was fun to watch. He hadn't caught a regular season pass since 2006 -- with North Carolina! Incredible story. It's what Dallas was down to, though. Wide receivers Miles Austin and Dez Bryant were out of the game at that point so Holley got a chance. Even though the comeback was against the rebuilding 49ers, I think Romo answered some of his critics with his gutty performance. And it wasn't neccessarily the comeback -- Romo has been good in the fourth quarter before. It was the way he did it, leading the young guys, and of course playing hurt.
The Dallas defense, a week after giving up over 300 yards of passing to Mark Sanchez, buckled down pretty good. It contributed greatly to the win by holding 49ers quarterback Alex Smith to 179 yards passing while sacking him six times. Frank Gore was limited to 47 yards on the ground. The Dallas defense is shaky, but looking better than it did last year and is hopefully improving week-to-week.
Now, Monday night, the Cowboys have their home opener and it's against the arch nemesis Redskins, who are 2-0. The Cowboys are decimated by injury but I think this is anyone's game. It should be a fun one to watch, as Cowboys-Redskins games should be and usually are.
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