Troy Aikman on current state of the Cowboys

[Idgit]

Current Cowboys take at about the 3 minute mark. On Tony Romo: he's a special player; On the team: it's close, but has some positional needs, especially in terms of the efficiency of the OL and health of the defense; On Jason Garrett: Jerry Jones put him in a difficult position by shaking up the staff and it's (skeptically) to be seen whether or not it's going to work.

I know, I know: he's a JG homer. But it sure sounds like he thinks the team was going in the right direction and simply needed to remain healthy and address the OL further this off season.

It's always good to hear huge support for Tony Romo as a player, not that there are many around anymore who really can't see the quality of our current QB play for what it is.

[UncFelix28]

8-8 two years in a row isn't headed in the right direction Troy. Jerry tried to let Garrett do it his way & that wasn't good enough, so in my opinion Jerry saw how strong Garrett's leadership among men has been & thinks he will continue to grow in that department & having him be a walk around HC with his eye on every part of the team shall help him, while still having control over the offense in gameplans and certain situations.

[Prossman]

what Jason has done right is change the environment of the team and get players who never stop fighting. he also addressed our defense woth fixing our horrid cb situation. Had the entire center of our defense not been wiped out, we would have won 2 more games and been in the playoffs. We were playing people off the street by the end of the year for petesake. If the cowboys go trenches on both sides of the ball, this team will be able to beat anyone on any given day. Ifelt that way at the begining of the season a year ago. being able to control the line of scrimmages will make this team dynamic.

[Idgit]

Originally Posted by Prossman

what Jason has done right is change the environment of the team and get players who never stop fighting. he also addressed our defense woth fixing our horrid cb situation. Had the entire center of our defense not been wiped out, we would have won 2 more games and been in the playoffs. We were playing people off the street by the end of the year for petesake. If the cowboys go trenches on both sides of the ball, this team will be able to beat anyone on any given day. Ifelt that way at the begining of the season a year ago. being able to control the line of scrimmages will make this team dynamic.

I feel the same way. Though, I think messing with the defensive coaching staff creates a hassle we don't need next season. If they stick with it, though, I ultimately like the scheme better than what we've had under the 3-4.

[Disturbed]

Originally Posted by Prossman

what Jason has done right is change the environment of the team and get players who never stop fighting. he also addressed our defense woth fixing our horrid cb situation. Had the entire center of our defense not been wiped out, we would have won 2 more games and been in the playoffs. We were playing people off the street by the end of the year for petesake. If the cowboys go trenches on both sides of the ball, this team will be able to beat anyone on any given day. Ifelt that way at the begining of the season a year ago. being able to control the line of scrimmages will make this team dynamic.

I agree the character of this team is better than it was a few years ago. A lot of problem/issue guys are gone, younger players replaced them, and key performers retained. Now if year three of the rebuilding process addresses the offensive and defensive lines, then the Cowboys may be much better.

The Cowboys still have the salary cap issue to deal with...and we need to draft solid "blue collar" hard working lineman (not flashy finesse guys).

[junk]

Originally Posted by Idgit

On Jason Garrett: Jerry Jones put him in a difficult position by shaking up the staff and it's (skeptically) to be seen whether or not it's going to work.
I know, I know: he's a JG homer. But it sure sounds like he thinks the team was going in the right direction and simply needed to remain healthy and address the OL further this off season.

It's always good to hear huge support for Tony Romo as a player, not that there are many around anymore who really can't see the quality of our current QB play for what it is.

I wonder if that is speculation on his part or if he's spoken to Garrett.

He makes a good point on the coaching changes though. They need to finish off the offensive staff and decide what they are going to do at OC before you can say one way or another. I do think taking playcalling and offensive design off Garrett's plate will help. I wish it was someone external to the organization, however.

[CoCo]

Originally Posted by junk

I wonder if that is speculation on his part or if he's spoken to Garrett.

He makes a good point on the coaching changes though. They need to finish off the offensive staff and decide what they are going to do at OC before you can say one way or another. I do think taking playcalling and offensive design off Garrett's plate will help. I wish it was someone external to the organization, however.

Pretty sure he says in the clip that he has NOT spoken with Garrett.

[NickZepp]

Originally Posted by UncFelix28

8-8 two years in a row isn't headed in the right direction Troy. Jerry tried to let Garrett do it his way & that wasn't good enough, so in my opinion Jerry saw how strong Garrett's leadership among men has been & thinks he will continue to grow in that department & having him be a walk around HC with his eye on every part of the team shall help him, while still having control over the offense in gameplans and certain situations.

Under Wade we probably had false hope because we were relying on over the hill guys to win right away. Last year was probably going to be a 12-4 type year if we didn't have all the injuries. We really weren't that far off from being a lot better than 8-8. Losing half our defense due to injuries and some key offensive players throughout the year ended up costing us.

I'm not sure about the switch to the 4-3. There's things where it fits a lot more but I'm not sure about the DLine and the DBs right now. It really helps our pass rushing and our LBs will be fine. I'll have to see where our defense is next year to really say we'll be a better team next year. But based on talent alone we should be 10-6 or better.

[erod]

Any fan that is truly being fair about it has to give Jason Garrett a lot of credit.

Yes, he's mismanaged a game clock a time or two. But I see this from pretty much every coach in the leage; we just focus on our own.

What Garrett has done is change the culture of the team, gotten rid of bad apples and old declining players, and restocked the team with some good young players to build on.

And they play four full quarters for him.

Stay the course. Cleaning up after Jerry is no short-term fix.

[sbark]

Originally Posted by NickZepp

Under Wade we probably had false hope because we were relying on over the hill guys to win right away. Last year was probably going to be a 12-4 type year if we didn't have all the injuries. We really weren't that far off from being a lot better than 8-8. Losing half our defense due to injuries and some key offensive players throughout the year ended up costing us. .

12-4 is tough to argue for. Did we beat a team that made the playoffs/winning record even before the majority of injuries--no. Sure we lost some close games during the year, but as pointed out many times since the end of the season, we won some close games that could've easily went the other way.

We are an 8-8 team until we prove otherwise, it goes back to the overall ranking of our roster vrs the rest of the league.

Now are those mediocore rankings based purely on talent, or the coaches ability to correctlty position and utilize that talent?

[DandyDon1722]

Boy you know things have changed around here when Aikman has not gotten ripped for calling Romo a special player and that is not to say he is perfect but its just a much better vibe now. Thank you.

[REDVOLUTION]

Originally Posted by erod

Any fan that is truly being fair about it has to give Jason Garrett a lot of credit.

You could stop right there.


Accurate.


8-8 this year ONLY because half of defense was missing and we had no RB.

[big dog cowboy]

Originally Posted by UncFelix28

8-8 two years in a row isn't headed in the right direction Troy.

[Idgit]

Originally Posted by junk

I wonder if that is speculation on his part or if he's spoken to Garrett.

He makes a good point on the coaching changes though. They need to finish off the offensive staff and decide what they are going to do at OC before you can say one way or another. I do think taking playcalling and offensive design off Garrett's plate will help. I wish it was someone external to the organization, however.

They've got to all just roll their eyes when Jerry goes on a fixing spree. The trick is to try to manage your boss in such a way that most of the damage is contained.

I'm sure JG is having to deal with some big decisions getting made for him, here. I also think that we've contained it relatively well, all things considered. And I think the take that JG's a puppet is unfair, since this is just the reality of working for Jerry. You take the good with the bad, and try to contain the bad. Everybody should know that by now, and I don't think JG loses many style points when it happens on his watch, too. The guy's the owner. If he doesn't want to pay a coach a few million dollars next year, he doesn't have to. That's a lot of money, and, even if you want your HC to have control over his staff, the coordinators should understand that, at the end of the day, it's part of their job to keep the guy who signs the checks happy, too.

[Idgit]

Originally Posted by big dog cowboy

Yeah, he kinda missed the point, huh?