The Dallas Cowboys Show Promise in Loss To San Diego

The Dallas Cowboys dropped the first preseason game of the 2015 season to San Diego Chargers by the score of 17-7 on Thursday night.

If you follow the preseason you know that all of the players who made big mistakes, especially on a good team, will probably be cut before the regular season starts. To put it in perspective the Cowboys went 0-4 last year before going 12-4 in the regular season.

Even without Tony Romo, Jason Witten, Lee, Dez Bryant, Smith and most of the other big names there were some positives to take away from the first football game for the Cowboys since the "Dez caught the ball" playoff game in Green Bay. The offense looked great on the opening drive until Brandon Weeden went full Oklahoma State Cowboy mode and missed the snap then slapped the fumble away like he was swatting a fly at a beauty pageant.

Cowboy Quarterbacks

Weeden overall looked fine going 4 of 5 for 42 yards on the opening drive. His only drive. In a perfect world he got pulled because the terrible fumble recovery attempt, but in reality he is the penciled in 2nd string QB and Vaughn and Showers are competing for the 3rd string role.

Vaughn, after a terrible start to camp, went 12 of 18 for 106 yards. It was a respectable showing for the West Texas A&M product, who many in the organization feel is the guy to take over for Tony Romo in a few years.

Fourth string QB / special teams role player Jamielle Showers looked like a rookie playing in his first NFL preseason game. With a tackle on special teams and 5 of 11 passing Showers did exactly what you would expect from the UTEP rookie. I would love to hold on to him for a few years on the practice squad to see if he develops.

The Cowboys broadcasters on the call last night compared Showers to Russell Wilson, but bigger. If he plays anything like Russell Wilson, but bigger he is definitely worth a roster spot.

The Rest of the Offense

None of the running backs who played last night will be on the opening day roster. Gus Johnson had a few good runs but had trouble finding the hole and did not show a lot of patience. Lache Seastrunk couldn't catch a cold last night and looked lost on most of his snaps. Showers showed the most running prowess, maybe he can add running back to his long list of duties in week 2.

The offensive line had one standout and one opposite of standout. La’el Collins was a beast after he shook off his rookie jitters. On the Gus Johnson touchdown Collins blocked two men blazing the path to the end zone. Later he shot to the second level and took a linebacker 10 yards downfield for the pancake.

This is a way too early, way too biased, preseason reaction but; Collins will challenge Ronald Leary for a starting guard position and by the end of 2015 the Cowboys will have four pro-bowl offensive lineman.

Darrion Weems was the worst offensive lineman of the night. He had trouble making a pocket and seemed to push guys inside a few times, inviting them to sack the QB. After the above average play of Parnell in the same role Weems is vying for, anything Weems does will pale in comparison. Weems will have to correct his pass protection if he wants a back up role on this team.

Gavin Escobar is alive and almost caught a touchdown!

Devin Street was the best wide out on the field last night catching 3 balls for 45 yards. Cole Beasley did Cole Beasley things getting just open enough to get close to a first down. For the Cowboys to build on the success of 2014, Beasley will have to continue his brilliant flashes he had down the stretch last year and Street will have to step up into a viable role. Terrance Williams who disappeared at times last year after a breakout year in 2013 will have to be the dominant receiver he was at the end of last year in the playoffs.

Tyler Clutts is a Putz. He may be the starting fullback this year but only because it takes too much paper work to sign a new one.

The Mediocre Dallas Defense

My High School Athletic Director used to say, "Call me anything but average and ordinary." In the opening game of the 2015 preseason the Dallas defense was both average and ordinary.

The pass rush was improved. Hardy played sparingly. Randy Gregory got a sack. Jack and Tyrone Crawford both got after it. The rush defense was weak most of the night, with the exception of a great read and tackle for loss from Damien Wilson.

Rookie corner back Byron Jones played a clean game. He got beat a few times but he also had a few plays with strong coverage. Corey White, who came over from the Saints, had two pass breakups that were almost interceptions. If White can keep putting himself in those situations he could make the roster at a surprisingly deep cornerback position.

Week 2 will bring a much better sense of what this defense is going to be. This San Diego game was all about seeing what kind of depth you really have.

Special Teams was really poor last night. Showers, the fourth string quarterback, made touchdown saving tackle in the kick coverage game. The Chargers were able to take every return for at least 10 yards and most for 20 plus.

Lucky Whitehead, the only returner the Cowboys trotted out last night, had a fumble on his first kickoff return and if this was 1993 and Jimmy Johnson was the coach Whitehead would have been cut on the spot. Lucky for Lucky Jason Garrett has a bigger heart and Whitehead took advantage with a kick return to the 40 yard line. Obviously, the Cowboys have him returning kicks for the big returns and not the fumbles.

The Cowboys, overall, can take a lot of positives away from San Diego. This coaching staff now has a much better idea what these back ups can do.

The next preseason game is on Sunday the 23rd of August at 7:00 pm.