The 2026 NFL (and Cowboys) Reset

[Bobhaze]

Each summer, during training camp and pre-season game time, fans and sports pundits look at the draft, FA signings, previous season performance, and upcoming season schedules then confidently predict how the NFL season will play out. It’s a tradition we all usually participate in.

Then the season starts and reality sets in.

After nearly 25% of the season - surprise!! - we have some surprises. Who had the giants leading the NFCE at 3-1? Who had the raiders at 3-1 after 4 games? Who had Cle at 3-1 and leading the AFC North? Who had the Texans and that (supposed) “great” defense starting 0-4? Who had the “mighty” rams fighting to be 2-2? The e-girls looking bad at 2-2? The list goes on….

I know - It’s way too early to say these surprise teams or trends are a lock. Things will change. But it’s not too early to recognize the NFL is always in a state of flux.

Truth is the NFL resets itself every year. And the Cowboys are also certainly also in a reset. Especially on defense.

The Cowboys defense is full of young players who will take some time to develop and learn the scheme that their 34 year old rookie DC is trying to implement. After 4 games it’s obvious this defense is still (to put it kindly) a long way from being good. But it can get better because the talent level is better than last year. But it may take weeks.

Here are the simple truths about what the Cowboys are so far:

• This is a team with a very good offense that needs to score 30 every week to win.
• This is team with a very young defense trying to find itself.
• Right now, this team is exactly what its record says it is - mediocre.

The NFL is in a reset like it does every year. And the Cowboys are certainly in one too. Our 2-2 record says exactly who we are so far. Good on offense, bad on defense. If the defense can improve as we go, we might be a playoff team. If not, the reset continues into 2027.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Right now, this team is exactly what its record says it is - mediocre.

While true, Dak hit Pickens at the end of the Baltimore game and we are 3-2. Really changes your perspective.

Say we beat TB and GB (as we should) over the next two games. Then we’d be 4-2. Does that suddenly mean we’ve turned things around and are now a much better team? No. But we’d be 4-2!!! And at the end of the day, that’s what matters. The season isn’t over, and a couple of wins can completely change the way things look. Right now we are in the middle of it and how you finish is more important.

 

[CWR]

Each summer, during training camp and pre-season game time, fans and sports pundits look at the draft, FA signings, previous season performance, and upcoming season schedules then confidently predict how the NFL season will play out. It’s a tradition we all usually participate in.

Then the season starts and reality sets in.

After nearly 25% of the season - sunrise! - we have some surprises. Who had the giants leading the NFCE at 3-1? Who had the raiders at 3-1 after 4 games? Who had Cle at 3-1 and leading the AFC North? Who had the Texans and that (supposed) “great” defense starting 0-4? Who had the “mighty” rams fighting to be 2-2? The e-girls looking bad at 2-2? The list goes on….

I know - It’s way too early to say these surprise teams or trends are a lock. Things will change. But it’s not too early to recognize the NFL is always in a state of flux.

Truth is the NFL resets itself every year. And the Cowboys are also certainly also in a reset. Especially on defense.

The Cowboys defense is full of young players who will take some time to develop and learn the scheme that their 34 year old rookie DC is trying to implement. After 4 games it’s obvious this defense is still (to put it kindly) a long way from being good. But it can get better because the talent level is better than last year. But it may take weeks.

Here are the simple truths about what the Cowboys are so far:

• This is a team with a very good offense that needs to score 30 every week to win.
• This is team with a very young defense trying to find itself.
• Right now, this team is exactly what its record says it is - mediocre.

The NFL is in a reset like it does every year. And the Cowboys are certainly in one too. Our 2-2 record says exactly who we are so far. Good on offense, bad on defense. If the defense can improve as we go, we might be a playoff team. If not, the reset continues into 2027.

Id expand on that and say teams "reset" throughout the year as well. I cant count how many times we've looked dominant in the beginning of the season only to have teams adjust and embarrass us later in the year. Its essential to be playing your best ball in December and forward. At that point most teams have you figured out, its just a matter of can they stop you.

 

[Bobhaze]

While true, Dak hit Pickens at the end of the Baltimore game and we are 3-2. Really changes your perspective.

Say we beat TB and GB (as we should) over the next two games. Then we’d be 4-2. Does that suddenly mean we’ve turned things around and are now a much better team? No. But we’d be 4-2!!! And at the end of the day, that’s what matters. The season isn’t over, and a couple of wins can completely change the way things look. Right now we are in the middle of it and how you finish is more important.

Big Dog, my take on the Cowboys at this point is because the defense is still a mess trying to figure it out, our offense must score on almost every possession.

Unfortunately that puts enormous pressure on the offense. There will be a few times we run into a defense that can get a few stops. Which then puts us in danger.

Until that dilemma is fixed, we will remain a mediocre football team.

 

[Kwyn]

While true, Dak hit Pickens at the end of the Baltimore game and we are 3-2. Really changes your perspective.

Say we beat TB and GB (as we should) over the next two games. Then we’d be 4-2. Does that suddenly mean we’ve turned things around and are now a much better team? No. But we’d be 4-2!!! And at the end of the day, that’s what matters. The season isn’t over, and a couple of wins can completely change the way things look. Right now we are in the middle of it and how you finish is more important.

Similarly we would have definitely lost the Houston game if we don’t convert on South down. Really changes your perspective.

Those two plays, and having a single play determine the outcome is mediocrity.

I’m hopeful. The season is young. But I have no illusions about how tight this season will be.

 

[shabazz]

Each summer, during training camp and pre-season game time, fans and sports pundits look at the draft, FA signings, previous season performance, and upcoming season schedules then confidently predict how the NFL season will play out. It’s a tradition we all usually participate in.

Then the season starts and reality sets in.

After nearly 25% of the season - sunrise! - we have some surprises. Who had the giants leading the NFCE at 3-1? Who had the raiders at 3-1 after 4 games? Who had Cle at 3-1 and leading the AFC North? Who had the Texans and that (supposed) “great” defense starting 0-4? Who had the “mighty” rams fighting to be 2-2? The e-girls looking bad at 2-2? The list goes on….

I know - It’s way too early to say these surprise teams or trends are a lock. Things will change. But it’s not too early to recognize the NFL is always in a state of flux.

Truth is the NFL resets itself every year. And the Cowboys are also certainly also in a reset. Especially on defense.

The Cowboys defense is full of young players who will take some time to develop and learn the scheme that their 34 year old rookie DC is trying to implement. After 4 games it’s obvious this defense is still (to put it kindly) a long way from being good. But it can get better because the talent level is better than last year. But it may take weeks.

Here are the simple truths about what the Cowboys are so far:

• This is a team with a very good offense that needs to score 30 every week to win.
• This is team with a very young defense trying to find itself.
• Right now, this team is exactly what its record says it is - mediocre.

The NFL is in a reset like it does every year. And the Cowboys are certainly in one too. Our 2-2 record says exactly who we are so far. Good on offense, bad on defense. If the defense can improve as we go, we might be a playoff team. If not, the reset continues into 2027.

Ive been broken recording that 2027 is the 1st foreseeable year to " making a run"

And of course that predicated on marked and tangible improvement during this current season.

If the last few weeks of the season still look like this on defense, the next thing I'll be posting is 2028.

 

[BigD5]

While true, Dak hit Pickens at the end of the Baltimore game and we are 3-2. Really changes your perspective.

Say we beat TB and GB (as we should) over the next two games. Then we’d be 4-2. Does that suddenly mean we’ve turned things around and are now a much better team? No. But we’d be 4-2!!! And at the end of the day, that’s what matters. The season isn’t over, and a couple of wins can completely change the way things look. Right now we are in the middle of it and how you finish is more important.

Man you are terrible with numbers.
If dak hit Pickens we would be 3-1. If we then beat the Bays we would be 5-1

 

[Bobhaze]

Ive been broken recording that 2027 is the 1st foreseeable year to " making a run"

And of course that predicated on marked and tangible improvement during this current season.

If the last few weeks of the season still look like this on defense, the next thing I'll be posting is 2028.

The biggest thing to overcome IMO is the Jones FO.

Yeah I know that is a broken record and some are tired of hearing it. BUT - the biggest reason that is our biggest problem is Jerry and Stephen are really bad at rebuilds. They don’t know how to construct a roster that wins playoff games.

When you look at the best teams we’ve had since our last SB run in ‘95…Parcells built the team that got the #1 seed in 2007 and underperformed in the divisional round. Then the 2014-18 teams were pretty good. Those 2021-2023 teams were Big Mac’s influence….i guess.

But none of them got us anywhere in the playoffs outside of an occasional wc win.

JJ and SJ can market better than anyone. But roster builders they ain’t. Will McClay is a decent talent scout. That’s not enough. Until they get some real roster building talent, we will probably keep getting what we’ve been getting.

 

[Pentagruel]

The biggest thing to overcome IMO is the Jones FO.

Yeah I know that is a broken record and some are tired of hearing it. BUT - the biggest reason that is our biggest problem is Jerry and Stephen are really bad at rebuilds. They don’t know how to construct a roster that wins playoff games.

When you look at the best teams we’ve had since our last SB run in ‘95…Parcells built the team that got the #1 seed in 2007 and underperformed in the divisional round. Then the 2014-18 teams were pretty good. Those 2021-2023 teams were Big Mac’s influence….i guess.

But none of them got us anywhere in the playoffs outside of an occasional wc win.

JJ and SJ can market better than anyone. But roster builders they ain’t. Will McClay is a decent talent scout. That’s not enough. Until they get some real roster building talent, we will probably keep getting what we’ve been getting.

I agree with you Bob, 30 years and all that is pretty compelling evidence. Yet the line is finer than a lot of people realize. The cowboys weren’t that far off in those games versus San Francisco for example. This is a hard league to win in, maybe the hardest to win in consistently. That’s why there are only a few consistently good teams out there. Only the elite front offices or those lucky enough to have a Mahomes or Allen are consistently in the hunt. The rest come and go and have to take advantage of the years where everything clicks. The Cowboys among them. I think there are worse front offices out there that keep their franchises as perennial bottom dwellers. That’s not the cowboys. But they are obviously not among the elite. To win a Super Bowl you have to be among the elite front offices or you have to be decent and lucky.

 

[75boyz]

The biggest thing to overcome IMO is the Jones FO.

Yeah I know that is a broken record and some are tired of hearing it. BUT - the biggest reason that is our biggest problem is Jerry and Stephen are really bad at rebuilds. They don’t know how to construct a roster that wins playoff games.

When you look at the best teams we’ve had since our last SB run in ‘95…Parcells built the team that got the #1 seed in 2007 and underperformed in the divisional round. Then the 2014-18 teams were pretty good. Those 2021-2023 teams were Big Mac’s influence….i guess.

But none of them got us anywhere in the playoffs outside of an occasional wc win.

JJ and SJ can market better than anyone. But roster builders they ain’t. Will McClay is a decent talent scout. That’s not enough. Until they get some real roster building talent, we will probably keep getting what we’ve been getting.

This is the problem.
As with everything else Cowboys related Will McClay is also mediocre.

He is decent to good at scouting offense. He is poor at scouting defense. What makes this worse is his Arena League's coaching background was as a defensive coordinator. That really makes this issue even worse. BUT this is still the reality of their issues going forward.

And that is this reality of mediocrity will continue on until they get someone in the war room who really knows how to scout NFL defensive talent.

There needs to be an extreme defensive scouting upgrade.

My opinion.

 

[MarcusRock]

While true, Dak hit Pickens at the end of the Baltimore game and we are 3-2. Really changes your perspective.

Say we beat TB and GB (as we should) over the next two games. Then we’d be 4-2. Does that suddenly mean we’ve turned things around and are now a much better team? No. But we’d be 4-2!!! And at the end of the day, that’s what matters. The season isn’t over, and a couple of wins can completely change the way things look. Right now we are in the middle of it and how you finish is more important.

And if the refs don't help us against Washington AND Houston we could be 0-4.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Big Dog, my take on the Cowboys at this point is because the defense is still a mess trying to figure it out, our offense must score on almost every possession.

Unfortunately that puts enormous pressure on the offense. There will be a few times we run into a defense that can get a few stops. Which then puts us in danger.

Until that dilemma is fixed, we will remain a mediocre football team.

It's really great seeing Dak in top 10 passing and CeeDee just a few yards shy of #1.

But I'm leary of our run game. I think if we could lean on it more (like especially when it's working! I'm looking at you Ravens in Rio!)...it would help our TOP and keep the ball out of opposing offenses hands.

I'd like to see them score early more often. Change opposing offense's approach....keep THEM chasing US.

Not sure if just scoring points alone is the only thing that can help. Yes...on the surface, "scoring every possession" seems the most one could possibly do. But I think it has to include "controlling the game".

 

[LouBrown]

And if the refs don't help us against Washington AND Houston we could be 0-4.

This is a stupid game to play, especially when they beat WAS by 17 lol

The refs don't call the garbage hold on Steele against NYG and we beat them.