A Fingertip And A Foot

[TwoDeep3]

Originally Posted by Apollo Creed

If Dez's finger stays in bounds against the Giants and Bailey's kick doesn't hook left against Baltimore. Dallas would be 10-4, Giants would be eliminated from playoff contention and we would basically be a lock for the NFC east.

Truly is a game of inches.

So lets think about, is this team really that far away?

For a team missing countless starters, under these circumstances, they've done an incredible job.

I know hindsight is 20/20 but for a team that 'has the worst offensive lien in football' a 'GM that has no idea what he's doing' and a coach 'learning on the job.'

They are 13 inches away from being the best team in east and possibly playing for a first round bye right now.

So, are they really that far away - especially in today's league or parity, I like my teams chances just as good as anybodies in the NFC.

The offensive line is poor. No amount of rewriting history will change that.

Woulda shoulda coulda is a fun game, but Dallas lost. They didn't almost win.

[TwoDeep3]

Originally Posted by jday

Funny. I'm 13 inches away from being Pamela Anderson's boyfriend.

Best post of 2012, and maybe best post EVER!

[JPostSam]

let's say that we "coulda, shoulda, woulda" been 16-0. well, so what? what does that mean? what kind of action do you think it should trigger?

the only reason this is a worthwhile discussion is if you frame it the way the front office will frame it once the season is over, which is like this:

"do we have a good team that got unlucky with some losses that broke bad, or do we have a bad team that got lucky with some wins it didn't deserve?"

they need to know what needs to be fixed, how much it would cost and whether the expense would be worth it. if they think this team is one stellar right tackle and a hulking nose tackle away from a super bowl appearance, then they might trade up in the draft or pay big bucks in free agency for those last pieces of the puzzle. but if the holes are too many to plug in one offseason and the stars too few and too old, they might take a longer term approach.

[TwoDeep3]

Originally Posted by JPostSam

let's say that we "coulda, shoulda, woulda" been 16-0. well, so what? what does that mean? what kind of action do you think it should trigger?

the only reason this is a worthwhile discussion is if you frame it the way the front office will frame it once the season is over, which is like this:

"do we have a good team that got unlucky with some losses that broke bad, or do we have a bad team that got lucky with some wins it didn't deserve?"

they need to know what needs to be fixed, how much it would cost and whether the expense would be worth it. if they think this team is one stellar right tackle and a hulking nose tackle away from a super bowl appearance, then they might trade up in the draft or pay big bucks in free agency for those last pieces of the puzzle. but if the holes are too many to plug in one offseason and the stars too few and too old, they might take a longer term approach.

This is a great post.

[Apollo Creed]

The two plays I mentioned came in the last 10 seconds or less and would've directly impacted the result of the game. Not just oh well 'we didn't deserve to win that one'.

[TwoDeep3]

Originally Posted by Apollo Creed

Dude our fans suck.

Find another team to hate.

The two plays I mentioned came in the last 10 seconds or less and would've directly impacted the result of the game. Not just oh well 'we didn't deserve to win that one'.

I was eight years old and sat in the stands and watched the very first Cowboy regular season game.

Think on that. Stealers at Dallas.

I have invested a lifetime with this team. Several things I've learned over the years.

One of the most important.

Almost never wins the game.

Another thing - it ain't just one play.

Jackie Smith did not lose the game by himself. Those plays you mention don't matter, because there were a bunch of other ones that cost the game.

Making up results doesn't change the problem with this team.

I am not going to find another team. I am going to point out you are rewriting history, because in this scenario, you are the one making up results.

[Idgit]

I think a more logical take is that the league has created an environment where a few dozen plays make the difference between success and failure for almost every team. Even the teams who consistently win 12, 13 games or more have multiple games per season that could have gone either way if not for a play or two. And there's another dozen teams who finish at the 6-10 level and thereabouts who are literally all those couple-dozen plays from somehow qualifying for the playoffs. The margin is razor-thin, and the things that can have you winning or losing those games are too numerous to guess at or manage effectively. It can be coaching, personnel, scheduling, the relative health of your team, the relative health of the teams you're playing, matchups, home or away, do you have a QB?

The best teams manage these factors consistently, and it shows up over multiple seasons. What makes it gut-wrenching is that it's a game of inches in a lot of cases, but that's not how you measure progress. Probabilities say that any team is going to lose it's share of toss-up plays. The best teams find a way to keep a larger percentage of their regular season games out of the toss-up category, and then consistently find a way to win a higher percentage of the toss games they inevitably do get into.

We've done a much better job of the latter this season than we have in a long time, and that's hopeful. We've done a poor job of the former. Romo said it in his interview this week that the team understands that, with all the injuries, they're going to have to win their games by making plays in crunch time every week. This group is mentally tough, and that's how they're winning, but they're not talented enough at this point to win the games going away.

I can live with that. I think the mental toughness part has been lacking since before Parcels, and I couldn't be happier to see it surfacing now. We'll have a challenge against another really, really good offense this weekend. If we survive that, we'll have what's going to be (with the possible exception of the CIN game, under exceptional circumstances) the most mentally-challenging game of the season in WAS. If the team holds up, it's a very, very good sign in my book. We're demonstrating that we can add talent under this current administration. If we're also able to build a team of players who can win a statistically significant number of the toss-up situations every NFL team has to win in order to advance, we'll be in good shape. If we can't, it's a long slog trying to find the solution to this bog we've been in under the last four head coaches.

[Future]

Originally Posted by TonyRomo09

I'm sorry, but you are being a tad ridiculous.. He said that the finger and the kick leave us at 12-4. And you're contention is that it would not have. It only would have made the percentage chance that we win those games somewhere like 99.99% so you don't "KNOW". We better just shut down the forum guys! we can't talk about any possibilities... nope... no discussion on how close we could be to this record or that with Vin Deisel over here...

You're missing the point. The OP was saying that with a couple of breaks, we might a piece or two away from being a serious contender.

All I'm saying is that with a couple breaks the other way, we might be out of the playoffs playing the draft game already.

The only thing I did initially was say that if we are going to count the breaks that didn't go our way and say that they'd be wins, you can do the same thing the other way and we end up with more losses.

[Idgit]

Originally Posted by Future

You're missing the point. The OP was saying that with a couple of breaks, we might a piece or two away from being a serious contender.

All I'm saying is that with a couple breaks the other way, we might be out of the playoffs playing the draft game already.

The only thing I did initially was say that if we are going to count the breaks that didn't go our way and say that they'd be wins, you can do the same thing the other way and we end up with more losses.

You can measure, though, in terms of how often good teams win those toss-up games. I agree that looking at a play or two in a game or two isn't a good way to make the point. I also think we're doing a better job under Garrett of winning the games we should win and of at least staying competitive in games where we're overmatched. At least so far this season, anyway.

[godeep]

Originally Posted by RXP

Every team in the league can come up with another 2-3 wins playing the "what if" game.

It's all pretty pointless.

This.

Give it a rest already.

[Future]

Originally Posted by Idgit

You can measure, though, in terms of how often good teams win those toss-up games. I agree that looking at a play or two in a game or two isn't a good way to make the point. I also think we're doing a better job under Garrett of winning the games we should win and of at least staying competitive in games where we're overmatched. At least so far this season, anyway.

I would say that we've started winning those games more in the second half of the season than early on, but other than that I agree with everything there.

[Idgit]

Originally Posted by Future

I would say that we've started winning those games more in the second half of the season than early on, but other than that I agree with everything there.

Yeah, that's definitely true. At least this run has included a couple games against some pretty good teams in CIN and PIT. The next two games will tell us a lot about where we really are. WAS is a good team with some uneven talent that's really hot right now. NO is playing wildcard football right now if they hadn't buried themselves early. Two really fun games coming up if we measure up.

[DavidAK]

You are what your records says you are. We've played a lot of close games, a lot of teams could of done something different to come out on top. The fact is, Dallas is 8-6 and has lost some close games and won some close games.

By the way we did lose to the Bears and Seahawks when we were still pretty darn healthy with our best players. Lets keep things in perspective here.

8-6...Lets see what happens.

[BraveHeartFan]

It definately goes both ways but yes you can definately make the case and see how if those two things had went the other way we'd be 10-4 right now. That would be nice for sure.

There are others though, like Cincy, where you could see it going the other way and right now us being 6-8.

[Apollo Creed]

The point is, these guys are battling, to the very end. No matter if Hostile is out there trying to play FB for us, you know these guys always have a shot.

It's a tired cliche but if these boys win 2 straight and get into the tournament anything can happen, I don't think Seattle would wanna see us in our house. We gave that last game away to them.

After an offseason of really focusing on the interior OL, NT, and a solid safety that'll make Sensy better this team is just as good as anyone in the NFC.

It's a league of parity, anything can happen.