It would appear that the defense is the issue, but

[OmerV]

Atlanta game was the same thing...only difference is we didn't get a miracle to win it yesterday..and if getting a miracle every week late in the 4th is our teams gameplan we are in big trouble!

Of course we will be in trouble if we have to rely on late game heroics to win. I didn't suggest otherwise. But the game doesn't just end when one team gets a sizable lead, and the Atlanta game is an example of that. The teams are supposed to fight to the end, and that's supposed to be a good trait, even if the things they did to cause the deficit were bad things.

And I wouldn't exactly call it a "miracle" - the Falcons made a mistake on the onside kick, and the Cowboys made a good kick and play. So, unlikely, yes, but a miracle? If we are are going to dismiss a victory because the opposing team made mistakes, then why don't we dismiss the Brown's victory because of Cowboy mistakes.

The obvious reason is that mistakes, just like successes, are part of every football game, and who wins and loses comes down as much to who makes fewer and/or less costly mistakes as it does who makes great plays. Accordingly, if the Cowboys make too many mistakes, or costly mistakes, they deserve to lose, and the same applies to Atlanta.

 

[OmerV]

That is what you call a loss not a comeback

And you aren't nitpicking...? lol

You said by definition a team has to win - show me that definition.

Comeback, is a return to a previous state or condition. That's it. The Cowboys returned to a competitive score. That, by definition, is what a "comeback" is.

 

[Dracula]

The Cowboys have had 146 points scored against them, easily the most in the NFL. Only the Seahawks have scored more points than the Cowboys.

You and the OP need to get a clue, Count.

And that stat means diddly when your beloved offence does nothing for two full quarters, absolutely nothing, for two full quarters but turns on the switch in the fourth. How the hell is it possible, to be that motivated to score, when the game is at 41-14 but not motivated to even get close enough for a field goal when the game is somewhere between 14-7 and 14-41? Find that clue, Sherlock.

 

[Rockport]

Dak and the offense disappeared for two quarters today.
The Cowboys offense disappeared after a turnover by Dak and then another by Zeke- and stayed gone for the second and third quarter.
Now, you can blame the defense- and I'm sure Mike Nolan is getting walking papers ready for a few "hotboyz" holdovers that don't fit his scheme, but we repeatedly see Dak fold when the pressure is on.
He didn't even seem to try until they got a couple of breaks against the prevent defense.
As usual, he pads his stats against prevent defense, but if the Browns had not been kind enough to drop a few of Dak's passes, this game might have gotten even further out of hand.
Why do the Cowboys continue to struggle now that Garrett is gone? Because his philosophy is too engrained in too many holdovers from the last ten years.
Nolan will get the defense under control. By mid season or sooner the kinks worked out. Next off season there will likely be a mass exodus of players that don't fit Nolan's scheme.
But the Garrett 2.0 quarterback is still shutting down under pressure. And he's actually pretty good if he would just hang in there through the struggles. But he doesn't.
You saw it yourself again today.

Go away Troll.

 

[G2]

Ok so we can call it a comeback loss? LOL...your splitting hairs

But your definition is wrong.

 

[conner01]

By definition It's not a comeback if you don't win! It's called falling short

But they came back to within a FG of a tie
How is that garbage time?
Garbage time is when the game is mostly over and you put up yards
You seem to be saying we should have not even tried to win the game since it created stats you consider garbage

 

[SackMaster]

Daks been fumbling the ball his entire career, this is not some anomaly of three games where he has fumbled the ball.

Yes Dak has fumbles every year. But the question is how much worse is he compared to other QBs / MVPs?

2020: Dak has 3 fumbles - Tied 4th in the NFL. MVP odds leader so far, Russell Wilson has 1.

2019: Dak fumbled 6 times - Tied for 25th most in the NFL. MVP winner had Lamar Jackson had 10.

2018: Dak fumbled 12 times - Tied for 3rd most. MVP winner Patrick Mahomes had 11.

2017: Prescott had 4 - Tied for 35th most. MVP winner Tom Brady had 8.

2016: Rookie Dak had 9 his first year - Tied for 5th most. MVP Matt Ryan had 7.​

So he has had 2 good years, with two bad years with this year not looking good so far. Still, he is right around what the MVP winner from each year did, even in his two worst years.

Therefore it is not nearly as bad as your comment suggests. It sounds like you believe he is as bad as Carson Wentz or something. (Wentz has 53 fumbles in 60 career games vs Dak with 34 in 68 career games)

Just Sayin'

 

[Austin 3-16]

It would appear that the defense is the issue, but I'm bad at prioritising so I'll like to showcase that fact with this thread.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

There is no denying that the Dallas D sucked but you continue to deny the offence had contributed any stink to this game. Scoring 24 in the fourth means diddly when you're behind 27, especially, when you contributed nothing, zilch, nada, to help the defence for two full quarters. You can have your moral victory. My position is both sides of the ball stunk.

I think the offense could have done better in the 2nd and 3rd quarter. but I am not going on top of a building, holding a sign, screaming, the offense didn't score for 2 quarters.... that's not the reason we lost this game. not even close.

and again, and again ang again and again....we were down 31-14 by half time..... that's being in the whole. just because you offense couldnt' score in one quarter? seriously.... you think the reason we lost was because we didn't score in two quarters of the game...... no other reason?

dude, we gave up 300+ yards rushing on the ground. show me one team...one team ever that won a game giving up 300 yards on the ground...

and like I said before, you are expecting the offense to be perfect. if they are not, we have no shot. you have said it several times already, even here....they didn't score in 2 quarters its their fault we lost.'

and any other team would have thrown in the towel. this team. this offense didn't. you say the 24 points in the 4th quarter don't matter...diddly you say..too far in the whole, then perhaps that defense could have hold the other team to 31 points by 4th quarter and not 41...... then it wouldn't need to be a 27 point come back.

and no matter how you cut this. how you spin it. no matter what you do...here is the game...about 4 minutes to go. down 3....... let me say it again. about 4 minutes to go...down 3......could have been 17-14, 24-21 or what ever....4 minutes to go you are down 3......make a stop...give the ball back to your offense....and lets pull it out..miracle or no miracle...

there is no way in hell you can pin this loss on the offense. the game is 4 quarters. all scores count in every quarter, trying to spin it that in the middle of the game we didn't score...same spin..in the middle of the game the defense made ZERO stops....gave up TD after TD after TD...why don't you go harp on that a little bit. for 2 quarters. the defense made zero stops. gave play after play and the other team never punted. not once until end of 3rd quarter......

come on dude...I know you hate Dak. I know you are trying reeeeaaallly hard to pin this on offense, but you know sometimes, just accept the facts that yesterday was defense total collapse and let down. 300 yards rushing. 49 points. 41 by end of third quarter. scored on 7 of first 8 possessions. and in the end when there was a chance despite everything that happened....gave up a 50 yard run to a WR!!!!! seriously......save your anger and hatred for another day when you may have a case...this one.,you have none

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

[QUOTE="CowboysFaninHouston, post: 10469135, member: 6090"]Bucs and brady put up 14 at the half....and brady threw a pic 6 to boot...

yet they won...because their defense gave up only 31....only if our defense could do that[/QUOTE]

100% correct, it is also true that the game was 24-14 LAC at the half , it is also true that Brady put 14 points on the board in the 3rd quarter and another 10 in the 4th quarter. Brady scored points in every quarter of the game and even after his pick 6 he and the Bucs offense did not go to sleep for 2 quarters like our offense did. LAC have a much better D than the Browns which make that even more impressive for Brady and the Bucs offense, as opposed to our vaunted offense that did nothing for half of the game while the Browns were pulling away

is it unusual for a team not to score in a quarter? and you left out the most important part of this.....their defense held the bucs to 31.....had they given up 49. scoring in all 4 quarters would not have led to a win. it would have led to a 49-35 loss...

and you still dismissed the one fact I put fort...... they scored 14 at the half....cowboys scored 14 at the half.... is scoring 7, 7 better than scoring 14,0?

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Considering they got within 3 I wouldn't call it garbage time. Scoring enough to be in the game isn't exactly garbage.

But granted that with a large lead the Browns would have allowed some underneath plays to keep from giving up big plays, but the Cowboys still managed to slide in some big plays too.

I find it funny, they want to call 24 points garbage.....but never acknowledge we got within 3 points with about 4 minutes to go.....yeah, its garbage time when you are within 3 points with that much time on the clock

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Well damn, they should have stopped the game when we got behind against Atlanta then, and stopped the game in the 3rd quarter yesterday. I wasn't aware playing the full game was no longer required. Thanks for the info.

to these guys, anything Dak does in the first 3 quarters counts...anything in 4th quarter is garbage time no matter the game. if we haven't beaten the team by first 3 quarters, then it doesn't count.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Atlanta game was the same thing...only difference is we didn't get a miracle to win it yesterday..and if getting a miracle every week late in the 4th is our teams gameplan we are in big trouble!

oh, no denying that...... we gave up 300 yards rushing. 31 by half. allowed cleveland to scored on 7 of their first 8 possessoins....we are not going to win many if the defense does that and our expectations are that the offense has to score like a basketball team for us to even have a chance to pull out a miracle. the offense can't be perfect. no offense is ever perfect. EVERY OFFENSE makes mistakes. has bad stretches, quarters. halves...but they are only 1/3 of the team out put. there is defense and there is special teams. not saying contribution of the special teams count, but they can certainly cost you games, ala Pollard bringing the ball out and falling on the 2 yard line against seattle....in a close game.......

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

And that stat means diddly when your beloved offence does nothing for two full quarters, absolutely nothing, for two full quarters but turns on the switch in the fourth. How the hell is it possible, to be that motivated to score, when the game is at 41-14 but not motivated to even get close enough for a field goal when the game is somewhere between 14-7 and 14-41? Find that clue, Sherlock.

did you just say the team wasn't motivated to score in the 2nd and 3rd quarters?

how does that even make sense....

and I guess the defense wasn't motivated at all. perhaps they were even trying to help cleveland score so the offense becomes motivated...hey we are spinning ridiculousness, so I am joining the party..

the defense gave up 31 points in the first half. almost 200 yard rushing....explain that one.....

 

[Northern_Cowboy]

oh, no denying that...... we gave up 300 yards rushing. 31 by half. allowed cleveland to scored on 7 of their first 8 possessoins....we are not going to win many if the defense does that and our expectations are that the offense has to score like a basketball team for us to even have a chance to pull out a miracle. the offense can't be perfect. no offense is ever perfect. EVERY OFFENSE makes mistakes. has bad stretches, quarters. halves...but they are only 1/3 of the team out put. there is defense and there is special teams. not saying contribution of the special teams count, but they can certainly cost you games, ala Pollard bringing the ball out and falling on the 2 yard line against seattle....in a close game.......

I don't disagree with you but it is becoming all to common for our Offense to disappear for long stretches of the game only to mount offense in the 4th quarter when the game is out of hand. I agree our D is horrid but the only reason this is a discussion is because our offense dissappears. If the game for example was 41-28 going into the 4th then there is a very strong argument that our offense did everything they could to stay in the game but couldn't overcome our lousy D but when the score is 41-14 after 3 with the offense not doing a thing in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the game, well then they deserve as much blame as the D. The offense stepped up in the 4th quarter but so did our D we don't score that many points if the D isn't getting the ball back for the offense...just saying

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

I don't disagree with you but it is becoming all to common for our Offense to disappear for long stretches of the game only to mount offense in the 4th quarter when the game is out of hand. I agree our D is horrid but the only reason this is a discussion is because our offense dissappears. If the game for example was 41-28 going into the 4th then there is a very strong argument that our offense did everything they could to stay in the game but couldn't overcome our lousy D but when the score is 41-14 after 3 with the offense not doing a thing in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the game, well then they deserve as much blame as the D. The offense stepped up in the 4th quarter but so did our D we don't score that many points if the D isn't getting the ball back for the offense...just saying

against seattle we scored every quarter.
against atlanta we scored in last 3 quarters
against rams, a low scoring affair of sorts, we scored in middle two quarters...

however defensively, we have had two quarters all season that we didn't allow a score. against atlanta, because they were up 20 and took their foot off the pedal. against the rams in the 4th quarter.

and it still doesn't excuse the defense giving up 31 points by half time to the browns and almost 200 yards rushing....

I think the offense knows this defense sucks. they won't say it, but they know they either have to score in bunches, take chances, risks and push it in order for this team to have any chance.....that's not good. that's not normal.

and regardless of how you want to spin this. the offense did still score 38 points. the offense did make it a 3 point game with about 4 to go. against seattle the same thing. against atlanta the same thing. the offense has to play fast break basketball for this team to have any chance of being in a game.

and no matter how you cut it. how you spin it. the offense as you said did step up...the defense never has.....it would be nice if our defense could.

 

[Northern_Cowboy]

against seattle we scored every quarter.
against atlanta we scored in last 3 quarters
against rams, a low scoring affair of sorts, we scored in middle two quarters...

however defensively, we have had two quarters all season that we didn't allow a score. against atlanta, because they were up 20 and took their foot off the pedal. against the rams in the 4th quarter.

and it still doesn't excuse the defense giving up 31 points by half time to the browns and almost 200 yards rushing....

I think the offense knows this defense sucks. they won't say it, but they know they either have to score in bunches, take chances, risks and push it in order for this team to have any chance.....that's not good. that's not normal.

and regardless of how you want to spin this. the offense did still score 38 points. the offense did make it a 3 point game with about 4 to go. against seattle the same thing. against atlanta the same thing. the offense has to play fast break basketball for this team to have any chance of being in a game.

and no matter how you cut it. how you spin it. the offense as you said did step up...the defense never has.....it would be nice if our defense could.

You seem to want to excuse the offense for their terrible play while admonishing the defense. We had 3 turnovers yesterday and 3 last week all of which put even more pressure on our horrible D. Our offense throws for 174 yards in the 1st quarter yesterday and 254 in the 4th quarter leaves only 74 yards in quarters 2 and 3 while the browns were scoring. This entire team is in dissaray not just the defense but also our smoke and mirrors offense

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

You seem to want to excuse the offense for their terrible play while admonishing the defense. We had 3 turnovers yesterday and 3 last week all of which put even more pressure on our horrible D. Our offense throws for 174 yards in the 1st quarter yesterday and 254 in the 4th quarter leaves only 74 yards in quarters 2 and 3 while the browns were scoring. This entire team is in dissaray not just the defense but also our smoke and mirrors offense

terrible play? because of two quarters? they still managed to score 38. any other team. any other day that would be enough for a win.

and that last turnover in the end of the game...when that's the only chance we have to make anything happen....there were two turnovers when it counted.....lets not forget Zeke has fumbling problems. and we have a turnstile or a ghost at RT. or are you conveniently forgetting how much pressure Dak was under yesterday, given it perhaps doesn't suit your arguement....

and again, what you are asking is for the offense to be out of this world every quarter. to be perfect. so as you are focused on the 2nd and third quarter, would it be better if they didn't have a hot start. would have perhaps gotten 90 yards and one score in the first quarter and then have 90 yards and another score in the second quarter? end up with the same score....would that make a difference in the outcome and how craapy this defense played and has played all year.

or do you expect them to ahve 174 yards per quarter? do you expect Dak to have 450 yards per game, every game? do you expect those yards to be evenly spread in each quarter? doe any other offense do the same? does KC offense do that? I mean this is beyond ridiculousness to point fingers and blame offense

and tell me about the other 3 games? you keep going to 2 quarters of play against cleveland. what's the defenses excuse in these other games. we scored in every quarter against seattle.

the facts, undeniable facts are that this offense knows the defense sucks. they played and practiced against them. they know, we either put the pedal to the metal, press, play aggressive, push push push or else we have no chance. that's not a way to play 4 quarters of offense. that's not a good offensive strategy.

and there will soon be a game, where Dak throws for 300 yards and you will be here blaming him for not throwing 450. he will have a 190 yard game and you will say he can't pass.

you have made your view very clear....its either this offense has to be perfect. or else you will find fault. show me an offense that scored every quarter of every game.

and please spin for me how this defense gave up 300 rushing yards.....and when was the last time any team won a game giving up more than 250 rushing.....

 

[BAT]

Dak and the offense disappeared for two quarters today.
The Cowboys offense disappeared after a turnover by Dak and then another by Zeke- and stayed gone for the second and third quarter.
Now, you can blame the defense- and I'm sure Mike Nolan is getting walking papers ready for a few "hotboyz" holdovers that don't fit his scheme, but we repeatedly see Dak fold when the pressure is on.
He didn't even seem to try until they got a couple of breaks against the prevent defense.
As usual, he pads his stats against prevent defense, but if the Browns had not been kind enough to drop a few of Dak's passes, this game might have gotten even further out of hand.
Why do the Cowboys continue to struggle now that Garrett is gone? Because his philosophy is too engrained in too many holdovers from the last ten years.
Nolan will get the defense under control. By mid season or sooner the kinks worked out. Next off season there will likely be a mass exodus of players that don't fit Nolan's scheme.
But the Garrett 2.0 quarterback is still shutting down under pressure. And he's actually pretty good if he would just hang in there through the struggles. But he doesn't.
You saw it yourself again today.

Nolan has not been a DC since 2014 with the Falcons.

For freaking good reasons.

Nolan is garbage, ask all Atlanta fans and 9ers fans. Nolan is still living off his Ravens reputation. And that Ravens defense did not even become legendary until Rex unlocked it, not Nolan.

 

[Dracula]

oh, no denying that...... we gave up 300 yards rushing. 31 by half. allowed cleveland to scored on 7 of their first 8 possessoins....we are not going to win many if the defense does that and our expectations are that the offense has to score like a basketball team for us to even have a chance to pull out a miracle. the offense can't be perfect. no offense is ever perfect. EVERY OFFENSE makes mistakes. has bad stretches, quarters. halves...but they are only 1/3 of the team out put. there is defense and there is special teams. not saying contribution of the special teams count, but they can certainly cost you games, ala Pollard bringing the ball out and falling on the 2 yard line against seattle....in a close game.......

Nobody is defending the D but you guys refuse, absolutely refuse, to put any stink on an offence that turns the ball over twice allowing Cleveland to have one very short field TD possession and one short field TD possession. An offence which put up 200+ yards in the first, with 14 points, and in the fourth with over 200+ yards and 24 points. Yet the same offensive group vs the same group disappears for two full quarters, not even a FG attempt, from Greg the Leg. All wer'e saying is that, at some point during this game both D and Offence stunk it up.