Game Review: Cowboys OLine & TEs vs Bengals

I reviewed 4 of the 5 starters (No need to review Zack Martin).

I reviewed all of the blocking plays by the TEs.

• I watch 1 player then rewind the play and watch the next player, etc..
  • Then proceed to the next snap.
• For many snaps I rewind multiple times per player depending on the play.

• Unsung hero of the game: Matt Farniok
  • Farniok was better in this game than McGovern was in any of his 4 starts in 2021.
  • Farniok was far from perfect, but he was good relative to expectations…
  • Better than expected for his 1st ever NFL start.

• Tyler Smith
  • Very good overall.
  • Some mistakes, but La'el made more mistakes per game in 2021…
  • Tyler makes it look easy physically.
  • His power is off the charts.
  • His athleticism is very good, especially relative to his size/power.

• Steele
  • Very good game.
  • He is a much smarter player than La'el.
  • He has good power. More powerful than last season.

• Biadasz
  • Good enough.
  • Looked better than last season.
  • Had to play vs monster DT D.J. Reader on many snaps.
  • Had a really good play where he pulled out into the flat and made a key block.

• Farniok
  • Definitely good enough.
  • He showed surprising power vs 340 pound DT Josh Tupou.
  • He also fared well overall on a few 1-on-1 snaps vs monster DT D.J. Reader.
  • He is 'chippy' showing a bit of tough guy type attitude.
  • When he did made a mistake, it generally didn't automatically kill the play like a penalty would.

• TE Jake Ferguson
  • Make some really good blocks and was consistent as a blocker.
  • He looks very confident.
  • Shows good awareness & understanding of the scheme.
  • Good on the Pollard goalline run.

• TE Payton Hendershot
  • This guy has an in your face attitude.
  • I saw it in the preseason and again in his few snaps in this game.
  • Good on the Pollard goalline run.

• TE Dalton Schultz
  • Meh.
  • He makes a few good blocks showing that he can do it at times.
  • However, he often leaves a lot to be desired as a blocker.
  • I question his effort on some blocking plays.
  • Overall there is just something squirrelly about him.
  • Sometimes makes me think of the "Finesse LB" comment about Bobbie Carpenter…

• FB Luke Gifford
  • LB Gifford was a FB for 1 snap on the Pollard goalline TD run.
  • He looked ok. They ran behind his block.

• OL Summary
  • The young OLinemen made some really good blocks on the big near-TD play by Pollard.
  • They all made some high degree of difficult run blocks in this game (reach blocks, etc..)
  • They also had some really good blocks on another of Pollards's best runs.

• TE Blocking Summary
  • They gave the easy backside blocking assignment to Schultz on the Pollard goalline TD run.
    • Pollard ran behind good blocks by Ferguson and Hendershot.
  • Overall I thought Ferguson looked better than Schultz as a blocker.