Atlanta's Team Is Cowboys Best Hope - Page 3 - Dallas Cowboys Forum

Shinywalrus · 01-14-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigD5

Don't compare the Dallas Cowboys or tony Romo to the Falcons. There is no comparison. They are better than Dallas 10 ways to Sunday.

Better coaching. Better organization. Better Qb. Better wrs. Better rbs. Better offense and defensive lines.

That's why they are 13-3 and in the conf champ game and Dallas is 7-9 or 8-8 (whatever they ended up being) and sitting at home for the 3rd year in a row. And is no longer known as the premier organization in professional football. Only know as the butt of the joke of the NFL now

You're selling it like it's a major win for Atlanta across the board, but it's not that simple, and the bigger point is that they are very similar in style, strengths and weaknesses.

Offensively, the teams are built very similar. Both teams have a QB who is capable of taking their team to the promised land but hasn't. Both teams have average to slightly below average backs. Both teams have top of the league starters at WR and TE. Both teams have weaknesses inside on the offensive line. I'd give them the edge in these position groups, but it's not dramatic, and the areas of strength are very similar. Is it really difficult to think that, with Dez's emergence and a healthy Demarco, that we're 1 OL upgrade away from being a very similar offense?

Defensively, where are they truly better, except perhaps on the backend with their safeties? We have better outside pass rush, slightly better interior lineplay and vastly better linebacker play. It's just not possible to say that Atlanta's starting front 7 is better than Dallas'.

Why is Atlanta on their way to the NFC Championship while the Cowboys are looking in? Because their offense IS slightly better in several areas, and because their line IS a bit better on the offensive side of the ball. They also run a scheme that doesn't fight their players' skills, but rather emphasizes it. More than anything, they've been quite healthy, in general.

The NFL is a very close league. If you think we're more than 1-2 players and a good season of health away from the Atlanta Falcons, you haven't been watching football for very long, or you're being intentionally provocative. (By the same token, we're probably 1-2 players and a similar season of injury to 2012 away from being the Philadelphia Eagles. That's how the league works.)

LittleD · 01-14-2013

We are what we are and what our past record says we are... Mediocre or average at best. We have two All Pro players on the Cowboys and they are second team. Ware & Witten can't carry this team to the playoffs. We actually have 4 or 5 good players on defense and 3 or 4 players on offence that are pretty good. Our problem is that the rest of our players are scrubbs and couch sitters who shouldn't be in the league. Romo could carry us if we had a great team around him, but we don't and aren't likely to during his career. Say what you want, but the so called media who have always said we have so much talent to not win championships are just pumping sunshine up our losing butts.

This team with bad offensive & defensive lines is not even close to competing for a division title let alone a conference title.

I know the truth hurts but even Jerry knows the truth and just trying to get butts in the seats with changes. More losing on the way.... The cubbord is bare...

Oh_Canada · 01-14-2013

One thing I noticed about the Falcons is that they RARELY let the play clock run down to five seconds, let alone one second and sometimes zero like the turtle like Cowboys offense. Same went for pretty much every other playoff team outside Brady/Pats who occassionally did so. On the other hand there were many times the Pats would go to the quick snap...still waiting to see that once from the Cowboys other than when they are trying to avoid a review call.

jjktkk · 01-14-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oh_Canada

One thing I noticed about the Falcons is that they RARELY let the play clock run down to five seconds, let alone one second and sometimes zero like the turtle like Cowboys offense. Same went for pretty much every other playoff team outside Brady/Pats who occassionally did so. On the other hand there were many times the Pats would go to the quick snap...still waiting to see that once from the Cowboys other than when they are trying to avoid a review call.

This might have to do with Atlanta's and NE's continuity on their perspective Olines. This will still be a problem for Dallas next season imo, because of the continued overhaul of the Oline.

cowboysooner · 01-14-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shinywalrus

You're selling it like it's a major win for Atlanta across the board, but it's not that simple, and the bigger point is that they are very similar in style, strengths and weaknesses.

Offensively, the teams are built very similar. Both teams have a QB who is capable of taking their team to the promised land but hasn't. Both teams have average to slightly below average backs. Both teams have top of the league starters at WR and TE. Both teams have weaknesses inside on the offensive line. I'd give them the edge in these position groups, but it's not dramatic, and the areas of strength are very similar. Is it really difficult to think that, with Dez's emergence and a healthy Demarco, that we're 1 OL upgrade away from being a very similar offense?

[View Full Quote]

Thanks.

Whether we matchup in every area and are slightly weaker or stronger in some areas was not the point of the post. We get topic after topic about the 49er offensive line and Seattle's front 7 and intimidating safeties. Those are all great but we are unlikely to build out our team like that because our bottoming out is/was quite brief and we have money and draft picks tied up in qb, receivers, tight ends, corners and edge pass rushers. The NFL is an exercise in scarcity and you can't have everything plus it is relatively expensive to change what you have most of the time.

If we made fewer mistakes (dumb interceptions and offensive penalties) had a few less injuries then we might be able to replicate Atlanta's performance which is honestly higher than what their DVOA indicates they should be.

We played them on that field and held them to 19 points and lost by 5. We are not 5 players away. We are one or two average to above average offensive linemen and lots of discipline away from where they are. They have no run anchor on defense. Peria Jerry is an awful first round pick at defensive tackle. Their offensive line has one very good starter in Clabo and another good one in Blalock from Dallas and UT. The rest is just another guy or worse. Abraham is a shadow of the shell we saw late from Demarcus Ware.

They even traded two #1 draft picks for a wide receiver. They took a will linebacker at #20. Can you imagine if the Jerrah did that?

They look more like us in their construction and their cap than any of the other divisional teams. New England is not remotely the same as us. The two NFC west teams with running qbs and strong defenses are nothing like us. Peyton Manning is not walking through that door, but I do think our defenses could be similar. Houston-not really. Baltimore, I honestly am not sure how they are where they are but I don't think they are that similar to us. Green Bay is even more skill-centric than we are but Aaron Rodgers is a different species of quarterback compared to Romo.

Atlanta throws 63% of the time, bends on defense and is built to play in a dome. That is quite a bit like us. A better version to be sure, but a similarly constructed team.

strasscat · 01-14-2013

They average 4 penalties a game, wae average 8 or 9.

They have discipline, we have none.