THOMAS KINARDSHREVEPORT, LA
Is it just me or did J. J. Wilcox silence most of his critics with his play in the game Sunday night? He didn't seem to have any bad angles like we used to see, and the hit on Beckham was not only incredible but a clean hit. Your thoughts?*
Bryan: I thought Wilcox was outstanding in the way he played. What I especially liked from him was the fact that the defensive coaches showed confidence in his ability to play in coverage. There were two snaps where I saw him cover down against Odell Beckham Jr. in the slot and that's no easy task.
David:At the risk of making a knee-jerk reaction, I thought that was probably one of Wilcox's best games in a Cowboys uniforms. The big hit he made on Beckham takes the headlines, but Wilcox always seemed to be in good position on several other nice plays. The Giants' longest gain of the night was 19 yards, which says plenty about the Cowboys' success in coverage.
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JIM WHATLEYHENDERSON, TX
How did Randle grade on his pass protection?
Bryan: Thought it was a bit a mixed bag for him. Not that he went the wrong way or had any assignment errors – I thought his technique was not where it needed to be. There are still snaps where you see him try and cut block instead of staying on his feet and hitting square. In all honesty the back that played the best when it came to pass protection was Lance Dunbar, who had some textbook blocks.
David:Bryan's always going to have a better bead on this stuff than me, but it has to be encouraging for the Cowboys that Romo hardly took any shots despite dropping back a whopping 45 times. He only attempted 40 passes in one game last year, and that was the overtime game against Houston. Granted, a lot of that credit belongs to the offensive line, but there didn't appear to be any major breakdowns from the running backs.
