The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, and The He Has To Go

[OmerV]

MM said players over scheme but hes forcing a 3-4 lol. Another coach that lies. But then again he lied to get the job. Another coward coach

I see 2 DE's abd 2 DTS on almost every play, so how is that a 3-4? What did McCarthy lie about to get the job?

 

[CoachD]

Even the ones that spin in place maintain better gap discipline that the 11 they trot out there in real life

The Cowboys have plenty of spinners on defense nobody knows where the hell the ball is!

 

[Shake_Tiller]

In today's game, the 3-4 vs. 4-3 thing is overblown. Most of the time, teams aren't in base. Mostly the Cowboys have 2 DTs out there. And only Gregory - to a limited extent - looks like a 3-4 LB.

To my eyes, the players don't trust each other to fulfill their responsibilities. LVE had that look last night.

I think this is pretty simple. The DL can't hold up, much less dominate. The LBs freelance too much trying to cover for it. Xavier Woods lines up so deep he is in another zip code and isn't effective when he is in position to react.

The Cowboys need much more talent on the DL. Their best hope, outside that, is that Gallimore takes a big step in his second season and Gregory improves dramatically with the rust knocked off. They must get at least one play-wrecking DT.

Did anyone else think Aldon Smith looked lasg night like he was 68 years old? I mean, he cooled off a lot after the first couple games, but last night he looked like Antwaun Woods trying to play DE. Maybe his recent illness was at work. I hope so. Otherwise, he is toast.

Nolan doesn't look like the answer at DC, but let's not kid ourselves about the talent. They need to replace 5-7 starters, depending on how a couple of these guys might look with more dependable players around them.

 

[jrumann59]

I agree I think there is a cohesion issue among the front 7. I think there is little trust in the scheme. There were times last night the formation the defense lined up in I knew it was going to be a bad play. Like the one on Jacksons TD run. The only thing that kept the Cowboys in the game is the fact Jackson has some of the worst mechanics of a QB I have seen in a while, I think RG3 has better mechanics.

 

[QuincyCarterEra]

I don’t think many people thought that. Statistically he’s been terrible every year and guys like Asante Samuel called him the worst coordinator he played for.

We didn’t expect elite. But we hoped at least middle of the pack. Not last in everything

Oh, but you'd be wrong.

I made a thread showing how poorly Nolan had faired, and it was all blamed on "lack of talent" he had to work with. 90% of posters were all aboard the Nolan train.

@cern will confirm. He bought in because he was "Mike's guy", I never understood why that meant that made Nolan any better.

 

[Captain43Crash]

Not me.

Or me.

Many fans thought Nolan was a mediocre higher at best.

 

[Captain43Crash]

Oh, but you'd be wrong.

I made a thread showing how poorly Nolan had faired, and it was all blamed on "lack of talent" he had to work with. 90% of posters were all aboard the Nolan train.

@cern will confirm. He bought in because he was "Mike's guy", I never understood why that meant that made Nolan any better.

Your just wrong! Why would anyone have been excited about Nolan being hired? He was a LBers coach when we hired him!
He had a mediocre record as a DC!

 

[ghst187]

Rex Ryan > Nolan sad

 

[DallasEast]

Oh, but you'd be wrong.

I made a thread showing how poorly Nolan had faired, and it was all blamed on "lack of talent" he had to work with. 90% of posters were all aboard the Nolan train.

@cern will confirm. He bought in because he was "Mike's guy", I never understood why that meant that made Nolan any better.

Perhaps I am overlooking the specific thread you are referring. There is a May 8th thread entitled 'Mike Nolan Stats By Team:

• Participating thread posters did not assign all blame due to lack of talent.
• The total number of participating thread members, who either stated or inferred an endorsement of the Nolan hire, does not remotely approach 90%.

Please post the title or link of the particular thread you are referring if I have selected and reviewed the wrong one. Indefinite pronoun, percentage, and generalization usage has always interested me, especially reading it here all these years on CowboysZone.

 

[cowboyed]

SADLY OUR STUPID MORONIC OWNER "likes his guys"

Oh, but you'd be wrong.

I made a thread showing how poorly Nolan had faired, and it was all blamed on "lack of talent" he had to work with. 90% of posters were all aboard the Nolan train.

@cern will confirm. He bought in because he was "Mike's guy", I never understood why that meant that made Nolan any better.

It's a combination of Nolan and a lack of defensive talent. The massive amount of injuries eroded any quality depth on both sides of the ball, and there wasn't enough time to really implement Nolan's scheme which is more complex than the players are accustomed to. McCarthy and the coaching staff found out the hard way that this team is not as talented as advertised as well. The players got the benefit of the doubt because of the lackluster results of the previous coaching regime. That brings us to not only drafting and acquiring free agent talented players, but the right kind of players to contend on both sides of the ball against competitive teams. One recent great draft does not compensate for the rest of the team.

 

[SlammedZero]

That kind of remark is tired and out of context. Obviously he doesn't keep every player year after year. Players come and go, just like with other teams, and the fact a few individual players last longer than we like doesn't change that. And Jerry does indicate at times the team needs help in certain areas, and even when he says "we like our guys" it is often said in a way that indicates they want to improve the position, but if the can't they will still be okay. Obviously Jerry doesn't want to alienate the existing players by saying they suck.

Don't get me wrong, I do not think Jerry does a good job as GM. I don't think that at all. But this has been overblown.

Agreed. People get way too hung up on every little thing he says. Besides, he is just being professional (well as much as Jerry can) with these answers. The Jones' boys are not going to go out there and throw players and coaches under the bus on a radio show.

 

[RS12]

Crazy how wrong all of you were thinking Nolan was this massive upgrade over Rod LMAO

My initial reaction to Jerry's "coaching haul" this offseason was I am pretty sure there is a reason these guys are sitting around in a barn unemployed. That initial reaction hasn't changed

 

[noshame]

The Good: How freakin good was the O-line last night! They gave up all of one sack (which was actually a coverage sack) and had all of one penalty. Many times Dalton had all day to throw and remember no Zack Martin and in case you didn't notice and I'm pretty sure you didn't the two tackles that started for the Cowboys Steele and Knight weren't mentioned once and that's a really good thing, well done guys. Actually I thought the offense played pretty well overall.

The Bad: Once again too many field goal attempts along with the red zone struggles the Cowboys have difficulty scoring touchdowns. Speaking of field goal attempts, Greg the Leg turned into Greg the Shank last night even his onside kick was feeble, someone tell him that the watermelon kick doesn't spin on grass the same way it spins on AstroTurf.

The Ugly: This one is obvious but I have a question first, does the Cowboy's defense practice during the week? It's the same damn thing every game. The Cowboy's defense gets absolutely dominated by every team in the NFL. The Ravens ran for 300 yards basically using the same formation over and over and over again. Now I know everyone is looking forward to the daft and so am I but if the Cowboys don't use their first FIVE picks on defensive players then they'll finish last in the division next year to.

The He Has to Go: Mike Nolan you have to be the worst D-coordinator in the history of the Dallas Cowboys and he needs to be fired expeditiously! You have no idea how to game plan or make adjustment during the game and why the hell do you keep running the 3-4 defense when you players are way too small up front. To run that defense you need a guy in the middle that at least weights 330 pounds if not more. All your D-tackles get man handled and it's embarrassing!

Look at Nolan's track record and explain how a GM let him be MM choice. Why is he still here?

 

[The Fonz]

Ive said it for 2 years...Stephen will be 5x worse than daddy. He is as bad in football assessment but no ability to get good FA

what about if Charlotte Jones become the Cowboys football team president and Jerry and Stephen kept running the business side of the organization ( not involved in football )

 

[cristglo]

I don't think it's the scheme at all. I can't count the number of times a LBer has left his gap only to have the RB or QB go right through it. Unless the scheme calls for one player to cover two gaps and just guess on each play, it's not the scheme. These players on defense just aren't very good, physically or mentally. Now, if you want to argue that is the coaches fault, I could buy in to a degree but for the most part it just looks like too many players on defense are either just not very good, don't really care, or both.

I think its a combination of both This core defense wasnt this bad last year. The grumblings is the players havent bought into the system. Now If Nolan had a proven track record of his scheme I could buy into that. Nolan has never had a very good defense and some of the players are not very clever on their assignments. LOL

 

[conner01]

I've seen better defense being played in electric football.

Now you are just giving away your age lol

 

[conner01]

Rex Ryan > Nolan sad

Rowdy is better

 

[ESisback]

IMHO, it’s a combination.

1)DC—trying to force 3-4 schemes on 4-3 players.
2)New scheme with LESS training camp.
3)Lack of talent. We have a couple of decent pass rushers, and a young DB with promise (out with injury), but that’s it.

Draft heavy on defense, and add through FA: 2 DT, 2 LB, 2 or 3 DB.

 

[QuincyCarterEra]

It's a combination of Nolan and a lack of defensive talent. The massive amount of injuries eroded any quality depth on both sides of the ball, and there wasn't enough time to really implement Nolan's scheme which is more complex than the players are accustomed to. McCarthy and the coaching staff found out the hard way that this team is not as talented as advertised as well. The players got the benefit of the doubt because of the lackluster results of the previous coaching regime. That brings us to not only drafting and acquiring free agent talented players, but the right kind of players to contend on both sides of the ball against competitive teams. One recent great draft does not compensate for the rest of the team.

Our defensive talent is better this year than last year, so talent isn't a good excuse when discussing Nolan vs Rod.

 

[jrumann59]

It's a combination of Nolan and a lack of defensive talent. The massive amount of injuries eroded any quality depth on both sides of the ball, and there wasn't enough time to really implement Nolan's scheme which is more complex than the players are accustomed to. McCarthy and the coaching staff found out the hard way that this team is not as talented as advertised as well. The players got the benefit of the doubt because of the lackluster results of the previous coaching regime. That brings us to not only drafting and acquiring free agent talented players, but the right kind of players to contend on both sides of the ball against competitive teams. One recent great draft does not compensate for the rest of the team.

Then Fat Mike needs to be fired. Remember this phrase, "Players over scheme" this year it has replaced, "Its a process"