Cowboyny
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 19,427
- Reaction score
- 22,736
Long Post, bear with me.
The Tampa Bay Bucs Super Bowl run kind of reminded me of the Giants 2008. Wildcard team had to go on the road three straight weeks and beat a great team to win the championship in the Super Bowl. Giants beat TB (Washington), Cowboys (#1 Seed, great offense), Green Bay (#2 Seed, explosive offense), then the undefeated Patriots (historic offense.) Tampa Bay just beat Brees, Rodgers and Mahomes to win it all.
How did they do it? Brady, outside of the Super Bowl had his struggles, especially against Green Bay when he had three straight interceptions in the 2nd half. Their Defense on the other hand played outstanding; gave up 20 points to the Saints in their dome, 26 at Green Bay, in which Brady through 3 interceptions, 9 against the Chiefs. They were able to generate pressure with their front four, nobody ran against them with any success and with extra men in coverage, frustrated and confused two hall of fame QB's and possible 3 in Mahomes. Their secondary was very opportunistic, made several key turnovers at big points in every game.
On offense, outside of that 2nd half against GB, they didn't beat themselves, kept Brady clean, ran the football well and took advantage of their opportunities, especially right before half. Really reminded me how the Giants won with Manning that year.
How can the Cowboys fix their team and become legit contenders against the elite teams in this league?
-It starts up front within the OL. We saw that Mahomes was a shell of himself without the time in the pocket. Injuries wrecked their season. You could say the say thing about Green Bay as they lost their LT and just couldn't hold up. Health is important for the Cowboys moving forward, but they need to upgrade their line as well: is Connor Williams the answer at LG, is McGovern? What about Center. Team needs to start thinking about life without Tyron in the coming years. This scream Rashawn Slater, who could be an all-pro interior lineman and he start at Tackle if need be. Vera-Tucker has a similar skillset but probably more of an inside guy who can spot starter at Tackle.
-Next is the defensive line. What separates the Buc line to the Cowboys is their two interior defensive tackles. Neither are considered pass rushers, but they push the pocket, demand double teams and keep their pass rushers and linebackers clean. Cowboys have to upgrade this area in a big way and they don't need stars to do it, more good, role players. Hell, I would round up as many NT's I can find in the off-season. I think Tank, Gregory could be as good as Barrett and JPP if they start seeing less double teams. Probably also going to need another base, run defender like Tampa's Gholston. Just quality role players. A McNeil, one of those USC DT's would be huge upgrades. Suh is a fa, even at 34, worth the contract.
-What to do about our linebackers? We need a legitimate run stopping MLB and need to add another good coverage linebacker to the group. Once again, we don't need star players to fill these needs. A Perryman from the Chargers would be an excellent signing to play MLB, Bolton would be ideal in the draft. An Anthony Hitchens type could fill the MLB role nicely. As for coverage a player like Cox excels in that area. Nasirildeen could be an excellent hybrid to target on day 2.
-Free Safety is the biggest need within the secondary. Just look at the Super Bowl teams, have no named corners, but not at Free Safety. Moehrig, Grant are the must haves to this class if they decide not to address in fa. As for corner, Farley still very much in play due to his high level ball skills, but after him, they can look to address the need in day 2 and still land a quality option. A veteran will also be added to the mix.
The off-season focus has to be #1 fix the trenches, #2 land that high level free safety and then fill in the missing parts with quality role players. This is our guide to success, let's see how it would look like:
Tyron Slater Biaz Martin Collins
Gregory Suh/Tufele McNeil Tank
Lve Perryman/Jaylon Cox
Meli, Grant, Wilson, Diggs
The Tampa Bay Bucs Super Bowl run kind of reminded me of the Giants 2008. Wildcard team had to go on the road three straight weeks and beat a great team to win the championship in the Super Bowl. Giants beat TB (Washington), Cowboys (#1 Seed, great offense), Green Bay (#2 Seed, explosive offense), then the undefeated Patriots (historic offense.) Tampa Bay just beat Brees, Rodgers and Mahomes to win it all.
How did they do it? Brady, outside of the Super Bowl had his struggles, especially against Green Bay when he had three straight interceptions in the 2nd half. Their Defense on the other hand played outstanding; gave up 20 points to the Saints in their dome, 26 at Green Bay, in which Brady through 3 interceptions, 9 against the Chiefs. They were able to generate pressure with their front four, nobody ran against them with any success and with extra men in coverage, frustrated and confused two hall of fame QB's and possible 3 in Mahomes. Their secondary was very opportunistic, made several key turnovers at big points in every game.
On offense, outside of that 2nd half against GB, they didn't beat themselves, kept Brady clean, ran the football well and took advantage of their opportunities, especially right before half. Really reminded me how the Giants won with Manning that year.
How can the Cowboys fix their team and become legit contenders against the elite teams in this league?
-It starts up front within the OL. We saw that Mahomes was a shell of himself without the time in the pocket. Injuries wrecked their season. You could say the say thing about Green Bay as they lost their LT and just couldn't hold up. Health is important for the Cowboys moving forward, but they need to upgrade their line as well: is Connor Williams the answer at LG, is McGovern? What about Center. Team needs to start thinking about life without Tyron in the coming years. This scream Rashawn Slater, who could be an all-pro interior lineman and he start at Tackle if need be. Vera-Tucker has a similar skillset but probably more of an inside guy who can spot starter at Tackle.
-Next is the defensive line. What separates the Buc line to the Cowboys is their two interior defensive tackles. Neither are considered pass rushers, but they push the pocket, demand double teams and keep their pass rushers and linebackers clean. Cowboys have to upgrade this area in a big way and they don't need stars to do it, more good, role players. Hell, I would round up as many NT's I can find in the off-season. I think Tank, Gregory could be as good as Barrett and JPP if they start seeing less double teams. Probably also going to need another base, run defender like Tampa's Gholston. Just quality role players. A McNeil, one of those USC DT's would be huge upgrades. Suh is a fa, even at 34, worth the contract.
-What to do about our linebackers? We need a legitimate run stopping MLB and need to add another good coverage linebacker to the group. Once again, we don't need star players to fill these needs. A Perryman from the Chargers would be an excellent signing to play MLB, Bolton would be ideal in the draft. An Anthony Hitchens type could fill the MLB role nicely. As for coverage a player like Cox excels in that area. Nasirildeen could be an excellent hybrid to target on day 2.
-Free Safety is the biggest need within the secondary. Just look at the Super Bowl teams, have no named corners, but not at Free Safety. Moehrig, Grant are the must haves to this class if they decide not to address in fa. As for corner, Farley still very much in play due to his high level ball skills, but after him, they can look to address the need in day 2 and still land a quality option. A veteran will also be added to the mix.
The off-season focus has to be #1 fix the trenches, #2 land that high level free safety and then fill in the missing parts with quality role players. This is our guide to success, let's see how it would look like:
Tyron Slater Biaz Martin Collins
Gregory Suh/Tufele McNeil Tank
Lve Perryman/Jaylon Cox
Meli, Grant, Wilson, Diggs
