Dallas Cowboys First-Quarter Grades

By Adam Dobrowolski
Cold, Hard Football Facts Cowboys beat man

It may be just four weeks into the 2011 season, but the Dallas Cowboys already showed how good and how bad they can be. In each Cowboys game, a team came back from a fourth-quarter deficit to win. With a 2-2 record, Dallas arguably stole two victories while choking away two games. The game-high deficit for each winner: 14, 14, 7, 24. Talk about a rollercoaster ride in BIg D.

Of course, with that comes the media's well-exposed story of quarterback Tony Romo's season. He best symbolizes the first quarter of 2011 for the Cowboys. But how does the rest of the Cowboys stack up so far? It's Professor Dobrow here to assess some of the star-studded pupils:

QB Tony Romo: C+
He blew two games and saved his team from two losses. By that alone, he deserves grade somewhere near a C. However, in his two choke jobs, he played near perfect before the point of collapse. His 133.0 passer rating through three quarters in Week 1 was the second-best mark against the Rex Ryan Era Jets. He follow that up with a 137.20 passer rating in Week 4 before the pick Lions pick six.

Romo owns a 33.06 passer rating in the two collapses combined. Take those two collapses away, and his passer rating rockets to 111.86. That would rank second in the league, only behind Aaron Rodgers. Of course, that's the career catch with Romo. He plays all-time great football statistically until a few perplexing stretches ruin his reputation with the pigskin pundits.

The Cowboys ranking 13th in Real Quarterback Rating, 10th in Offensive Passer Rating and 4th in Real Passing Yards per Attempt. That's not terrible, considering two collapses by Romo.

WR Miles Austin: A, WR Dez Bryant: B+
The two players could be key factors after the team's bye. Austin caught 14 passes for 233 yards and four touchdowns in two games before he aggravated a hamstring injury. Bryant  caught 10 passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns in three games despite being limited by a quad bruise. If these players can play at 100 percent after the bye, then Romo may not need to resort to such antics that led to two collapses. (Then again, blowing a 24-point lead is basically inexcusable.)

Remember, Laurent Robinson can be blamed for Romo's second pick six. If Austin is in that spot, he's not likely to be re-routed on a slant pattern by Chris Houston.

Following in the typical pattern of shiny hood ornaments, the Dallas passing offense doesn't rely on Austin and Bryant's health. However, when those two return, it's likely that the offense will run with more efficiency. That certainly will be needed when the Cowboys return from their bye to face the Patriots.

Offensive line: B-
According to the NFL's offensive line stats, the Cowboys field the 29th-most experienced offensive line. For that reason, there were many concerns about the line holding up in front of Romo. So far, the line allowed seven sacks (tied as the eighth-fewest) and 20 hits (tied as 18th-fewest). For that reason is performing better than expected.

However, with that comes the disappointment of the run blocking. The Cowboys are averaging 3.44 yards per carry (25th) largely because the line isn't opening up many holes for Felix Jones or his two backups (Tashard Choice and DeMarco Murray).

Overall, the Dallas line ranks 20th in the Offensive Hog Index, but part of that relates to the team's overall average play on third down and the negatively plays caused by Romo and center Phil Costa. (Costa individually earns a D+.)

TE Jaosn Witten: A
As usual, he's been a stud in the receiving game as Romo's safety blanket. Witten is second in receptions (27) and tied for sixth in receiving yards (366). He also caught six receptions of at least 20 yards and 17 passes for first downs, both of which are among the top ten. He also does at least a solid job blocking, so there's nothing to complain about in this department.

RB Felix Jones: INC
Sadly, due to scheme and the offensive line problems, there isn't much reason to judge his performance. There was a great chance to see exactly what Jones was made of on Sunday, especially when the Cowboys were leading 27-3. Instead, they let Romo to pass to start the second drive in the third quarter...and the rest is history.

Front seven: A
Oh, where to start? This may be the team's greatest strength so far. The Cowboys are stopping the run fantastically while using outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware in his usual dominant ways. Furthermore, inside linebacker Sean Lee is now a tackling machine. Both Ware and Lee are putting up A+ seasons so far.

The Cowboys rank sixth in the Defensive Hog Index, but that's weighed down by the 17th-ranked third down defense. The secondary definitely contributes to that issue.

Secondary: B+
Still, the secondary is performing well also. For a team that currently ranks eighth in both Defensive Real Passing Yards per Attempt and Defensive Real Quarterback Rating, it's amazing to think how bad the pass defense was last year. As expected, this unit bounced back, but the bounce back is going better than expected. However, one problem here (along with Romo's mistakes) is that the Cowboys rank dead last in Bendability. Allowing seven passing touchdowns in four games isn't going to help the team's Bendability, and it certainly isn't good enough to earn the secondary a top grade.

Special Teams: C
Outside of a blocked punt that resulted in a Jets touchdowns in Week 1 and a Dan Bailey missing a 21-yard field goal in Week 2, this unit is looking solid at the surface. Bailey is 12-of-13 so far, which gives him two more made field goals and one more attempted field goal than any other kicker. Imagine if the Cowboys did better than having to settle for three field goal attempts on Sunday. Meanwhile, he and David Buehler are getting decent kickoff distance while Mat McBriar is booming some punts.

However, there's nearly an 11-yard difference between McBriar's gross punt average and net punt average. Defensive lineman Sean Lissemore owns the team's longest return of the season. And that blocked punt still counts big. (It cost the Cowboys a win.) Therefore, an average grade seem apropos for the unit's performance.

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Read more: Dallas Cowboys, Dan Bailey, David Buehler, DeMarco Murray, DeMarcus Ware, Dez Bryant, Felix Jones, Jason Witten, Laurent Robinson, Mat McBriar, Miles Austin, NFL, Phil Costa, Sean Lee, Sean Lissemore, Tashard Choice, Tony Romo