Dallas Cowboys Thread

DvB

brinty wrote: »

I feel positive tbh sir.
Offensively we're in great shape and should score a lot its keeping the defensive mantra of bend not break that will decide how we do.
I think we're going to beat the giants on Sunday and should get between 10 and 12 wins for a playoff berth. And if we could get to the NFC championship game i'd be happy.

Agree, the NFC championship game really should be the target, still think the SB is a step too far for our defence.

DvB

Nice solid start to the season, would have ripped your arm off for a 16 point win over the only team that looked to have the beating of us last year before KO. Defence looked impressive & the offence did their job by holding on to the ball, to the extent the NYG defence looked gassed by HT... hopefully thats not a one off.

brinty

DvB wrote: »

Nice solid start to the season, would have ripped your arm off for a 16 point win over the only team that looked to have the beating of us last year before KO. Defence looked impressive & the offence did their job by holding on to the ball, to the extent the NYG defence looked gassed by HT... hopefully thats not a one off.

good start DvB, i'd have ripped your arm off for a one point victory, so 16 is even better.
Defence were good, but were the giants bad offensively. We'll se against Denver. Great to have Jaylon Smith on the field and that was a fumble. Silly officiating. The General was everywhere and the front guys worked so hard it left the secondary mainly untested. We could've had double the number of sacks quite easily and it wouldn't have been unjust. If we can get Damontre Moore and David Irving back and running hard we could have a great front.

Offence looked solid if unspectacular. La'el Collins got beat a few times and blew covers but JPP is a great player so that'll toughen up Collins at Right Tackle. Chaz Green was decent if untested at left guard so hard to say how he's shaping up. Zeke was zeke and if he gets 140 all purpose every week i'll be happy. Dez should and can do better. If he learned not to talk and just focus on the ball he could be a dominant top 5 guy. Dak had a mixed bag and should've ran in the ball from the three. His throws were off but got better as the game progressed so maybe some rust. Rec zone efficiency needs to improve but it was the first game of the season.

Special teams were great as usual, I'm looking forward to seeing Switzer at full pelt

Move on to week two and denver with a short turn around for them. Top 10 defence again (as it will be to through week 4) so i'd expect us to pound the rock up and blow holes in the defence. If we could get TD from Dz and Zeke and the defence plays as well i'd be happy with that. Mile high is not an easy place to go but Bronco's have not been scoring heavily so we have a chance.

DvB

Ouch.
That was a crash and a half. Went to bed at 7-7 and am trying to work up the courage to watch the 'highlights' of the game.

Always suspected this would be a tough one, but a 20+ pt defeat!?

brinty

DvB wrote: »

Ouch.
That was a crash and a half. Went to bed at 7-7 and am trying to work up the courage to watch the 'highlights' of the game.

Always suspected this would be a tough one, but a 20+ pt defeat!?

Don't bother mate it was awful, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Dak had two interceptions one in the last minute returned 103 yds for a touchdown, Zeke couldn't run the ball as they had eight in the box. Defence got shredded as they couldn't tackle, the secondary lost two players to HIA/ concussion protocols so we were down to bare bones there, the y couldn't stop the run... Too many penalties given away on both sides of the ball.

I could go on. I'm knackered today and just can't believe it.

But i think we needed a reality check. There's still too many passengers on this team. The fact that we have guys on their first contracts out performing guys we're paying a lot of money too says it all.

We have some cap room to make a few moves if needed but i dunno if we should do that either.

DvB

so from 13-3 last year to 2-3 this year... at this rate I'll be happy to get a wild card... went to bed at 21-6 last night & woke up to news of AR downing the boys again.... not liking how this season is shaping up at all, we look way off the pace to challenge which is such a disappointment after last year.

brinty

DvB wrote: »

so from 13-3 last year to 2-3 this year... at this rate I'll be happy to get a wild card... went to bed at 21-6 last night & woke up to news of AR downing the boys again.... not liking how this season is shaping up at all, we look way off the pace to challenge which is such a disappointment after last year.

Its not as bad as we think, I'll try and discuss a few things
1) O-Line is still gelling. Collins at RT and Cooper at LG are trying to build rhythm and tempo with the other three studs. This will take another few games. Leary going to Denver was always going to have a huge effect on the full line
2) D-Line starts great but gets worse as players get rolled into the line up. Lawrence has been shut down, but with Irving back we might settle that line up into a consistent unit
3) Linebackers are suffering without Lee in there. He should be fine in two weeks. Jaylon is out on his feet and is not at 100%. He could do with a couple of weeks out.
4) Secondary is young and needs a leader. Scandrick has done what he can but is a player not a leader. Byron Jones has not lived up to his billing and us almost anonymous in games. Our corners are young and still getting up to speed
5) Rookies - Have had no impact this year. Jourdan Lewis has been best of the bunch off no pre season. Charlton was never a plug in player and will need at least this season. Awuzie is injured again

There's hope there for the season and should still win the division. Eagles will eagle and fall. So if we can go 3-1 v them and the redskins we can win the East.

DvB

brinty wrote: »

Eagles will eagle and fall. So if we can go 3-1 v them and the redskins we can win the East.

The Eagles (I feel dirty even writing this) actually are looking good. They may easily win the East, their fixture list isn't the roughest either.

I'm hoping we come good & sneak into the play offs on a late run of form... as it stands, looking at our defence I'm not overly confident... though to be fair I always thought our first 5 games looked a tough start, as it turned out the Giants are muck & we've only managed 1-3 in the others, would have been hopeful of at least 3-2 at this stage but I suppose thats only 1 game out.... time will tell, but we need a couple of wins to bounce back from the 2 defeats or we could be out of the running before the season even gets interesting.

brinty

Stephen Paea (retiring) and Nolan Carroll (released) both departing Dallas today.

helimachoptor

Just reading on Paea apparently he retired, any health issues?

brinty

helimachoptor wrote:

Just reading on Paea apparently he retired, any health issues?

Dunno heli,it's a strange one bug think it was a low value Co tract but Carroll had $4m guaranteed which is crapola

SnakeHetfield

Once again the NFC is the most competitive conference in the league, especially the NFC South with no fewer than three teams in contention for the playoffs. With a 5-5 record and a look at our upcoming schedule, what do you reckon the chances of securing a wildcard slot are? Again with the Eagles (who are one of the best teams this season lets be honest) more or less guaranteed the division it's not all about division wins. I reckon we need at least 4 wins out of our next six to keep us in the running, which wont be easy when you look at the schedule. Do you think the secondary is strong enough? What do you think of Prescott's last two performances?

DvB

Given the injuries, suspensions & general play atm I wouldn't be confident of anything beyond an 8-8 season which is such a disappointment.

With respect to Dak, I feel he's really missing having Elliot there to offload to & unfortunately Des isn't really playing the way you'd hope your star WR would play, there just seems to be no real chemistry between the pair so offensively theres a lot on his shoulders atm & its not like he's being protected well either. A tough second season for our QB thats for sure.

My heart went out of the season as soon as Elliots suspension was confirmed & we rolled over at Altanta... I knew then our season was done.

I'll tackle the elephant in the corner at this stage too, as much as he seems alikeable guy JG has not got what it takes to take this team onto the next level IMO, we need a new head coach if we're to bounce back next year.

brinty

Hey guys, two great posts there and you've given me the kernal of an article i can do up for OTI. I was chatting to them over the weekend as the were looking for contributors. I think that the questions you have posed might form a good article.

In short I think DvB is right and I fail to see anything beyond an 8-8 season as of now and don't see us getting a wild card spot. Injuries, suspension and play have all contributed to a turgid season at best and only when Zeke has been firing do i feel like we're close to performing as a team. Dak is having a sophmore slump and not being aided by not only dez but his receiving corp as a whole. Dez has not had a 100+ yard game in 17 and that is unacceptable from your #1 wide receiver. But T will, brice and bease are not doing enough to help get attention off dez from safety cover.

On a change of head coach, i don't see it happening but i can see a change at offensive or defensive coordinator. I think Linehan can be a great coach when everything is working but when theres a breakdown he can't adjust. Marinelli loves his orphans but without a dominant player to compliment Sean Lee (who's a huge loss on defense) we're no getting enough turnovers. Its ok for D Law and Irving to be performing so well agianst canon fodder teams but they're not doing it against the bigger teams.

DvB

After last nights debacle I've revised my expectation to 6-10 for the season... this team is struggling badly. Cant buy a TD & defensively on the verge of collapse... its a complete mess. Dont know where we go from here.

brinty

DvB wrote: »

After last nights debacle I've revised my expectation to 6-10 for the season... this team is struggling badly. Cant buy a TD & defensively on the verge of collapse... its a complete mess. Dont know where we go from here.

Have faith sir, we're not as bad as we're playing.

O-line, not doing its stuff. Smith coming back and Martin going out didn't help last night. Collins at RT is still finding his feet and Left Guard should be addressed early in the draft if possible.
Receiving corps - no longer good enough and Dez is also not doing enough. on the interception returned Beasley just gave it up and didn't fight for the ball. Heck drag on corner and get offensive pass interference if you must but don't just give up.
QB - These both play into Dak being under huge pressure and not having time to make plays. Thus increased sacks and interceptions.
D-Line - over performed early and not impacting anymore. Chargers have a very good O-Line too but there was no pressure going onto Rivers and he had all day to work through his progressions.
Linebackers - without Sean Lee are rudderless. Jaylon did his best as did Hitch but not having a run stuffer here didn't help. We need help here too
Secondary - just hopeless. Corners giving up huge plays. Brown has been awful this season and left on Allen all day. Scandrick was a disgrace to the jersey, no impact. Lewis tried but had very little help. Byron Jones and Woods don't know how to tackle so can't stop plays. Jeff Heath (I love the guy) is then made to look stupid. He's the big hitter back there but he's so deep defending the pass and seeing chunk plays in front of him he's not getting a chance to challenge guys under pressure. Safety is now a huge free agency or draft need.

brinty

After the weekend i'm believing, however slim the hopes may be..

Double C

An Eagles win last night would have helped the Cowboys out a lot more. But, yeah, its the hope that gets you

DvB

brinty wrote: »

After the weekend i'm believing, however slim the hopes may be..

I admire your optimism. Not sharing it though. We just look too fragile.

With games against the seahawks & eagles left as well I'm not looking at anything beyond 8-8... unless Zeke coming back creates a christmas miracle or course!! Then all bets are off.

brinty

Eagles only need to win one game to wrap up the East and can't see them not winning one of the last four.. but stranger things..
With Giants in disarray we should win this weekend and then Raiders haven't been great so that's a toss up
Christmas and New Years eve will be a very angry Mr Elliot running hard at Seattle and Philly we could end up 7 and 9 or 9 and 7...

I'm already looking towards 2018 and prepping for the draft TBH

DvB

brinty wrote: »

I'm already looking towards 2018 and prepping for the draft TBH

Ditto.

brinty

DvB wrote: »

Ditto.

What direction do you think we go. I'm hoping we take a safety in the first, Line Backer in second and tight end or left guard in the third..

Ideally it would be Minkah Fitzpatrick (but doubt he's there when we pick and we rarely take Bama players), Malik Jefferson (but could be a bit green and my longhorn bias is at play) and Mark Andrews from Oklahoma (he's unlikely to be there either) so I'd take Gesicki from Penn or Fumigiali from Wisconsin at TE

I'd find it hard to pass up on Kirk or Ridley if they were there in the first and none of our needs could be addressed.

I'd also look out for one of McGlinchey and Nelson from the Irish or Conor Williams from Texas in the first too...

DvB

brinty wrote: »

What direction do you think we go. I'm hoping we take a safety in the first, Line Backer in second and tight end or left guard in the third..

Ideally it would be Minkah Fitzpatrick (but doubt he's there when we pick and we rarely take Bama players), Malik Jefferson (but could be a bit green and my longhorn bias is at play) and Mark Andrews from Oklahoma (he's unlikely to be there either) so I'd take Gesicki from Penn or Fumigiali from Wisconsin at TE

I'd find it hard to pass up on Kirk or Ridley if they were there in the first and none of our needs could be addressed.

I'd also look out for one of McGlinchey and Nelson from the Irish or Conor Williams from Texas in the first too...

TBH I havent been keeping up with the college ball this year at all so not sure who stands out in our preferred positions, but its clear we need a safety, that's a given. After than depending on who's available any of the positions you suggest should be filled, I'd have slightly looked moreso at left guard though as we clearly need reinforcing/upgrading there.

As usual I'll wait until christmas & then start looking more closely at the college ball & see who's worth hoping for!!

DvB

Time to bump this thread methinks.

First preseason game was a bit of a disappointment with the boys giving up two TD's at the death to lose 21-24 to the niners... defence looked less than impressive in the few bits I've seen, admittedly with key personnel missing. I dont put too much faith in preseason results (does anyone these days?) but its clear theres a big step up required if we're to stay on the coat tails of the Eagles this year.

DvB

Gonna be a long season.

brinty

DvB wrote: »

Gonna be a long season.

Its the hope that gets you but i think all is not lost its the first game of the season and Carolina will be a play off team so losing wasn't the low point. Clearly its the playing calling that's killing us. We're a run first team and barely threatened the Panthers on Sunday with Zeke and chunk plays. I'd have expected a lot more jumbo packages or 12/13 men with multiple tight ends but we rarely went that way unfortunately. The fact we're missing our all pro center and have a new left guard means we're weak to our left (Tyron giving up two penalties killed us) so we really need to bring in the swing tackle to strengthen that area up. The receivers really need to work on separation (was hoping sanjay lal would have improved this already) and Dak needs to trust them and let the ball go. Its a make or break season for him where he needs to prove he's a franchise quarter back or we could be looking for someone in the 2019 draft or free agency.

I think the fact several of our key players barely played all off season set us back and they didn't look match sharp. Sean Lee had his worst game in memory and really got owned by Cam Newton on multiple plays where he brought Lee inside and went outside. But 16 points conceeded is not a terrible outcome given the dominance and time in possession of Carolina.

I'd expect a much improved performance next week at home to the giants. I'd expect a focus on the run game to open up everything else including Run Pass option and QB runs.

DvB

To be fair I was amazed the defence only gave up 16 points given the amount of time they were on the field. Given the poor performanc that might bode well for us defensively. Newton is no mug & for all their dominance had the defence struggled we would have coughed up 30+ points easily.

Sunday is huge. A win, with an improved all round offensive performance would be both welcome & a relief. A loss would be terribly demoralising.

brinty

ShoulderChip wrote:

Can't be too many they are America's least favoruite team:

1-1
Top of NFC East
Six sacks on Eli...
O B Who??

brinty

I'm already scouting receivers, tight ends and some quarter backs.

These positions are just not good right now. I don't think Dak is the answer now.

DvB

First things first, Garret & Linehan have to go. Garret has been there since 2011 & we've made the playoffs twice with 1 post season game win. Thats not good enough.

His record after 5 games every year has been 3-2 (twice, 2014 & 2016 where we made the playoffs) & 2-3 (every other year & we didnt make the palyoffs) so I think we can see where this season is headed. 2 playoffs in 8 years with no clear sign of progress = time to make the change.

I'm already disillusioned with this season, Sunday was the turning point, the decision to punt at 4th & 1 in OT told me this team has no nerve to go for it & wants to play it safe.