The starting offense was on the field for only two (somewhat disappointing) drives, and the local television coverage made it tough to spot some of the jersey numbers I'd planned to look for. With all the usual caveats (this is only preseason, etc.) here are my random observations - a little heavier on play-by-play, since a lot of you outside Dallas may never see the game.
 
Let's get the kicking situation out of the way first. Buehler was dead center on all three field goals, although the longest was only 42 yards. Late in the game, the team had a chance to get to a long, game-winning attempt, which would have been nice to see, but they never drove that far. All four of his kick-offs were touchbacks - three of them at least 6 yards deep in the end zone, and one right through the back of it. Our punter usually earns little comment, and that's probably a good thing, but I know the team doesn't take him for granted. Punting from midfield, he forced a fair catch inside the ten. Punting from the back of the Cowboys end zone (ball at the two,) he sailed one so deep the returner had to turn around and chase it back to the Raiders 30 to catch it. Even with a ten yard return, that's a net of 58 yards on a one-step punt. (Of course, it's the Raiders, so their own penalty pushed them back to their 22, but it won't go down as an 76 yard punt...)
 
The first-team defense looked pretty solid on the first few drives - but again, it was the Raiders. The linebackers really seem to close on the ball quickly, and give up almost nothing on those little dump-offs and swing passes. Newman nearly intercepted the game's first pass from Jason Campbell, and on the next drive, Scandrick broke up what would have been a third down conversion to force a second three and out. Bradie James was in on two of the stops during those two sets of downs. Again, the defense looked solid in their short appearance.
 
Offense was a different story. Although the team drove most of the field on the first possession, they got only one first down on the second, and a total of three points.
There were some positives on the two drives:

• A nice 18 yard throw to Witten on a coverage mismatch, but this is really all in a day's work with Romo to Witten.
• A beautiful 24 yarder to Austin, dropped with great touch between the corner and safety down the sideline. I loved Austin's adjustment, and really loved the throw.
• Terrific third down conversion, Austin and Romo reading a blitz from the slot DB, and adjusting to a quick slant pattern.

But, there were also more than a few red flags:

• They really couldn't seem to get the run going. Without looking up the stats, I think the long was a 5 yarder between the tackles by Felix. Even a reverse by Austin netted only three yards.
• Romo and Roy are still not on the same page, but it looks to me like maybe only one of them is on the wrong page. Romo had a near interception on the first drive where the corner undercut Roy on what was supposed to be a comeback timing route. Even the announcers wondered how Roy ended up behind the DB. TO his credit, Roy broke up the pass, but one pass break-up and a lot of hustle is what i was hoping to see last night out of Teddy Williams, not Roy Williams.
• I said before training camp that one area I wanted to see Romo improve was reducing sacks. He was dropped three times last night, and two of them (arguably all three) were coverage sacks. He fumbled (recovered by Kosier) on one of them. Quick refresher - things that can happen on a pass attempt, from best to worst: completion, incompletion, sack, interception. Romo needs to make the throwaway decision a little more quickly, I think. He did a nice job on one play taking the open field to run for a first down, but I really think he could have saved a few yards with a throwaway on one or two of those sacks.
• The Raiders ran a lot of man coverage, and, based on my note about the coverage sacks, you would have to say the Raiders won the battle. Romo was four for ten dropping back to pass, with three incompletions and three sacks. We all know there is not a lot of scheming in preseason, so you wish your receivers would do better in the one on one match-ups.

Now a few more random notes and observations (Wait, even more random than usual?! No, just the usual randomness.):

• We've been reading about this unbalanced line the team has been practicing, and we saw it at least six times last night. I don't know what they are calling it, but back-up OL Pat McQuistan reports eligible and lines up at TE. From this formation, they ran right, ran left, tossed right; they used it in short yardage and first down; they even passed once, I think. I got the impression they were just trying to figure out what works best from this formation (nothing really worked last night,) but from what i saw out of McQuistan the rest of the night, they might want to practice it with somebody other than 77, because I have a feeling he won't make the team.
• I didn't get as good a look at Jason Williams as I'd hoped, but on one third down conversion he looked like he kind of lost his guy in space out in the flat. He made the tackle, but gave up the first down.
• Brewster looked pretty bad. We all know depth is a problem on the OL. I am not coach, but on one sack that Brewster yielded, the end speed-rushed around, and he just looked like he was tap-dancing his way along, never getting his feet planted, just desperately flailing. Watching, I thought, "Oh, that's what they mean by 'bad footwork.'"
• I saw some nice things by both back-up nose tackles. Siavii completely collapsed the pocket for a sack (with Victor Butler nearly tearing through the tackle from the edge.) Josh Brent, on a screen play that Oakland broke for a good gain, turned and sprinted downfield about 15 or 20 yards, then extended himself for a diving ankle tackle. Pretty impressive for a big guy.
• Victor Butler looked really good again - on both pass and run.
• Bryan McCann, undrafted rookie out of SMU, had the kind of game an undrafted rookie needs to have if he wants to make the team. He broke up a deep ball, running step for step with a speedy wide-out don the sideline. He also did a nice job on punt returns, including a 28 yarder with some nifty moves. Even better, the nifty moves came only after heading straight up the field behind his blockers for the first ten. Keep an eye on McCann the rest of preseason.

That's really all I've got. It was a messy preseason game, and I'd have to throw up a yellow flag on the offense right now. Next up, the third preseason game, where hopefully we will see the starting offense for a little bit longer, and see them accomplish a little bit more.