Both Good And Bad In Pre-Season Game

Well, the Cowboys first pre-season game is over, and there was both good and bad things about it. They lost it 31-17, but that's not important. The first year they won the Super Bowl, they lost four pre-season games. Let's talk about the good first.

The first team offense looked great. They weren't on the field for very long, but they were able to move the ball while they were out there. The first team defense also looked pretty good. I'm starting to believe they will be much better than last year.

For the most part, the second team offense and defense looked pretty bad. There were some exceptions. The running backs all showed themselves to have some talent. Felix Jones, Tashard Choice and Alonzo Coleman looked good when given a chance to carry the ball.

A couple of receivers also looked really good -- Sam Hurd and Miles Austin. Both look like they're ready to step up and help the Cowboys this year. Can't say the same for my favorite newcomer -- Danny Amendola. He only touched the ball three times -- two punt receptions and one pass. On the punts, he had a fumble and a fair catch. He dropped the pass. He's going to have to do better than that if he wants to make the team.

The back-ups in the secondary didn't make heroes of themselves either. There were three pass interference calls that gave the Chargers the ball inside the five-yard line. They're going to have to do much better than that.

But perhaps the worst weakness that showed up last night was on the special teams. They didn't do very well when kicking or receiving. They gave up way too many yards on returns when they kicked, and got very few yards on returns when receiving. This is the number one thing that has got to improve, because poor special team play translates into poor field position.

However, this was just the first pre-season game, and you can expect some rough edges. Now the coaches know what they have to work on. Hopefully, the problems will all be solved by the start of the season.