State of the Cowboys

[jterrell]

First I want to announce that losing sucks!
Had 6 weeks break from it and it still sucks just as much as it did week 17.

The most interesting thing to me is we sit here at 6-2 and probably should have won both games we lost.
That I like.

That's what playoff game winners look and feel like. --yea I know from history and other sports smart alecs.

I am also glad we have to eat this losing feeling one less day.
If you are going to suck and lose do so on a short week.

This team has some holes and is far from perfect.
It's biggest stat is 3rd down efficiency.
We aren't making enough big plays to score without hitting on 3rd down.
And this defense isn't good enough to continually face long drives without breaking.
3rd down is key.

Sterling Moore is OK but he isn't good beyond 10 yards.
Carr is likewise a quality CB within 10-15 yards but longer plays are a challenge.

The pass rush is mediocre to bad.

That is not a good combo yet Dallas has played fairly well defensively because they've made it really hard to beat them with the run or with cheap underneath stuff.

Offensively the Romo or no Romo argument is tired and pointless. I do not think the season is fully over if Weeden has to play but I also realize Romo is a Ring of Honor guy and Weeden is a career back up at best. But that OL is truly magical. I am and was loathe to have the best group on the team be the OL because they can truly dominate and you can still lose... but man I have to admit it is really fun to watch those guys put NFL players on skates. Tyron Smith is slightly overrated if I am being honest but Zach Martin is arguably the best interior OL I have seen all year. And the dude is a friggin rookie that we "had to" take because no one else wanted him?? Wow. It's similar to us hitting on Emmitt after failing on the 3 LB targets.

DeMarco Murray has to focus more on ball control and less on yards. Yards are pointless when you don't have the ball. At some point Garrett has to make that clear with severe repercussions to change Murray's habits. Talking about it clearly doesn't work. Murray is running like every yard is worth 50 bucks and he may well be right. But it's the wins that will earn him the truly big payday and we can't get those if he keeps fumbling.

 

[boysfanindc]

DeMarco Murray has to focus more on ball control and less on yards. Yards are pointless when you don't have the ball. At some point Garrett has to make that clear with severe repercussions to change Murray's habits. Talking about it clearly doesn't work. Murray is running like every yard is worth 50 bucks and he may well be right. But it's the wins that will earn him the truly big payday and we can't get those if he keeps fumbling.

I find DeMarco's approach interesting/confusing at times, especially after his comments of yesterday that he will continue fighting for every yard. Most of the time his attitude to be a punishing runner and get every yard serves him well, I just think he needs to be aware of the situation.

I have seen him run out of bounds when close the the sidelines instead of taking the big hit when there is one player around him and I have seen him fight for every inch when there are 4 or 5 players on him in the middle of the field. On the play he fumbled I was screaming at the TV, get down get down.

Seems his approach should be the opposite, one player around you, lower your head and plow forward, 2 guys standing you up and 2 trying to strip the ball get down.

Now maybe he was fighting for the EZ on that play, but it seems more bad things can happen in that circumstance (2 guys on you and 2 guys trying to strip the ball) then good things.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

I agree with most of this. However, I don't fault Murray for fighting for more yards. I fault him for not holding onto the ball in those situations (and others). It's simply unacceptable. And that deer-in-the-headlights look after his fumble Monday kinda pissed me off. Dude, I love ya, but you keep doing it. Fix it, Murray.

 

[conner01]

so far this year we have been great on 3rd downs and thats alot of why we have been winning. last year we were bad on 3rd downs and it cost us games. those 3rd downs are a major key and very important if we want to continue to run the ball. if you run the ball you have to convert 3rd downs

 

[conner01]

I agree with most of this. However, I don't fault Murray for fighting for more yards. I fault him for not holding onto the ball in those situations (and others). It's simply unacceptable. And that deer-in-the-headlights look after his fumble Monday kinda pissed me off. Dude, I love ya, but you keep doing it. Fix it, Murray.

the key is you can't allow yourself to get stood up. nothing good can come from that. fighting for yards is his style but when multiple players are on you you have to get down because if they stand you up it's hard to hold on to the ball. fight for yards but when its over you have to know it's over

 

[lostar2009]

First I want to announce that losing sucks!
Had 6 weeks break from it and it still sucks just as much as it did week 17.

The most interesting thing to me is we sit here at 6-2 and probably should have won both games we lost.
That I like.

That's what playoff game winners look and feel like. --yea I know from history and other sports smart alecs.

I am also glad we have to eat this losing feeling one less day.
If you are going to suck and lose do so on a short week.

This team has some holes and is far from perfect.
It's biggest stat is 3rd down efficiency.
We aren't making enough big plays to score without hitting on 3rd down.
And this defense isn't good enough to continually face long drives without breaking.
3rd down is key.

Sterling Moore is OK but he isn't good beyond 10 yards.
Carr is likewise a quality CB within 10-15 yards but longer plays are a challenge.

The pass rush is mediocre to bad.

That is not a good combo yet Dallas has played fairly well defensively because they've made it really hard to beat them with the run or with cheap underneath stuff.

Offensively the Romo or no Romo argument is tired and pointless. I do not think the season is fully over if Weeden has to play but I also realize Romo is a Ring of Honor guy and Weeden is a career back up at best. But that OL is truly magical. I am and was loathe to have the best group on the team be the OL because they can truly dominate and you can still lose... but man I have to admit it is really fun to watch those guys put NFL players on skates. Tyron Smith is slightly overrated if I am being honest but Zach Martin is arguably the best interior OL I have seen all year. And the dude is a friggin rookie that we "had to" take because no one else wanted him?? Wow. It's similar to us hitting on Emmitt after failing on the 3 LB targets.

DeMarco Murray has to focus more on ball control and less on yards. Yards are pointless when you don't have the ball. At some point Garrett has to make that clear with severe repercussions to change Murray's habits. Talking about it clearly doesn't work. Murray is running like every yard is worth 50 bucks and he may well be right. But it's the wins that will earn him the truly big payday and we can't get those if he keeps fumbling.

I feel neutral towards this post. I do agree turnovers is an issue. But this team has the best 3rd down efficiency in the league. And no, you know the rules for the "ring" of honor.

 

[Eddie]

We could have won both games we lost.

We could have also lost two other games.

We're lucky we're not 4-4 right now.

 

[boysfanindc]

Every D coordinator we play, will be preaching to his guys to stand him up and try and strip the ball, until Murray proves it will not work.

Situational awareness is what he needs to understand.

 

[RS12]

The pass rush is mediocre to bad.

Unless Lawrence comes and gives the team a consistent rush, I see this as being the teams down fall. They made Colt McCoy look like an NFL QB the other night.

 

[Doomsday101]

I agree with most of this. However, I don't fault Murray for fighting for more yards. I fault him for not holding onto the ball in those situations (and others). It's simply unacceptable. And that deer-in-the-headlights look after his fumble Monday kinda pissed me off. Dude, I love ya, but you keep doing it. Fix it, Murray.

I agree. Murray says he is not going to stop running like he does but he also knows he has to do a better job of securing the ball and that is one thing we all agree with.

 

[AsthmaField]

I agree with most of this. However, I don't fault Murray for fighting for more yards. I fault him for not holding onto the ball in those situations (and others). It's simply unacceptable. And that deer-in-the-headlights look after his fumble Monday kinda pissed me off. Dude, I love ya, but you keep doing it. Fix it, Murray.

Getting stood up and giving a couple of defenders time to find the ball, get a good hold on it and yank on it isn't just a matter of holding on to the ball. If the defenders don't have to worry about containing the runner (2 other guys besides the 2 tacklers) they can find the ball and pull hard enough to get it out much of the time. Murray was holding it well there, unlike some of his fumbles earlier this season. It took the defense a while to get it out. He just stayed up too long, the Commanders found a handle on it, and finally yanked it out.

Getting down was the right thing to do there IMO and something Murray needs to be aware of.

Believe me, no matter how hard you're holding on to the ball, if they have time to hold you up and find it, they can get it out.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

Unless Lawrence comes and gives the team a consistent rush, I see this as being the teams down fall. They made Colt McCoy look like an NFL QB the other night.

I am so sick of every QB looking like world beaters against us. Most QBs we face seem to have career days, no matter their experience level. No QB we've played this year has been sore after the game. That really bugs me, especially since our O-line is great, but Romo keeps getting pummeled.

 

[AsthmaField]

I am so sick of every QB looking like world beaters against us. Most QBs we face seem to have career days, no matter their experience level. No QB we've played this year has been sore after the game. That really bugs me, especially since our O-line is great, but Romo keeps getting pummeled.

That has a LOT to do with lack of pass rush, IMO. You give a QB time in the pocket and he will make better decisions than he would under pressure.

Getting to the QB consistently and getting pressure on McCoy completely changes that game. That is this team's biggest weakness by a long shot, and they need to do what they can to speed up the clock in opposing QB's heads. Hopefully, Lawrence can provide some of that along with Crawford simply getting better and Melton getting healthier. There is a chance it improves as the season goes along. It would greatly help the Cowboys if it does.

 

[JoeKing]

After 8 weeks we have 6 wins, that speaks for itself. In 4 more wins our chances to make the playoffs is pretty darn good. I think we got this. Making the playoffs is all that matters for now. I don't care about winning the division. Once the playoffs start, the objective is always to win the Super Bowl. I like this teams chances. We have things to fix but so does every team. I give the Cowboys 4 out of 5 stars.

 

[Hook'em#11]

We could have won both games we lost.

We could have also lost two other games.

We're lucky we're not 4-4 right now.

This..

I can see some are once again, eating the cheese on this team. This has 2007 written all over it again.. There are smokescreens all over this team.

 

[Idgit]

Getting stood up and giving a couple of defenders time to find the ball, get a good hold on it and yank on it isn't just a matter of holding on to the ball. If the defenders don't have to worry about containing the runner (2 other guys besides the 2 tacklers) they can find the ball and pull hard enough to get it out much of the time. Murray was holding it well there, unlike some of his fumbles earlier this season. It took the defense a while to get it out. He just stayed up too long, the Commanders found a handle on it, and finally yanked it out.

Getting down was the right thing to do there IMO and something Murray needs to be aware of.

Believe me, no matter how hard you're holding on to the ball, if they have time to hold you up and find it, they can get it out.

Holding onto the ball is way, way more important than getting an extra yard when you've already been stood up by a defender. That's elementary stuff, and with the problems we've had holding onto the football in the running game this season, it should be a given. I love the long runs, too, but I"m sorry: that was a stupid play by Murray. I know everybody's been clamoring for running the ball wherever and whenever you can, but the two fumbles and not handling protections with the blitzes is what killed us on Sunday.

The fumbling has to stop, or the runners have to sit. For my money, a back who fumbles ought to be sitting the next series or two from here on out. The guy who doesn't fumble gets the carries. It needs constant attention in practice, and if it doesn't stop, I"m opening a roster spot and bringing up Ryan Williams from the PS and giving him a shot, just to make a point. There's no point in running it effectively if you can't score as a result of putting the ball on the carpet in the red zone at the end of the drive.

 

[LandryFan]

First I want to announce that losing sucks!
Had 6 weeks break from it and it still sucks just as much as it did week 17.

The most interesting thing to me is we sit here at 6-2 and probably should have won both games we lost.
That I like.

That's what playoff game winners look and feel like. --yea I know from history and other sports smart alecs.

I am also glad we have to eat this losing feeling one less day.
If you are going to suck and lose do so on a short week.

This team has some holes and is far from perfect.
It's biggest stat is 3rd down efficiency.
We aren't making enough big plays to score without hitting on 3rd down.
And this defense isn't good enough to continually face long drives without breaking.
3rd down is key.

Sterling Moore is OK but he isn't good beyond 10 yards.
Carr is likewise a quality CB within 10-15 yards but longer plays are a challenge.

The pass rush is mediocre to bad.

That is not a good combo yet Dallas has played fairly well defensively because they've made it really hard to beat them with the run or with cheap underneath stuff.

Offensively the Romo or no Romo argument is tired and pointless. I do not think the season is fully over if Weeden has to play but I also realize Romo is a Ring of Honor guy and Weeden is a career back up at best. But that OL is truly magical. I am and was loathe to have the best group on the team be the OL because they can truly dominate and you can still lose... but man I have to admit it is really fun to watch those guys put NFL players on skates. Tyron Smith is slightly overrated if I am being honest but Zach Martin is arguably the best interior OL I have seen all year. And the dude is a friggin rookie that we "had to" take because no one else wanted him?? Wow. It's similar to us hitting on Emmitt after failing on the 3 LB targets.

DeMarco Murray has to focus more on ball control and less on yards. Yards are pointless when you don't have the ball. At some point Garrett has to make that clear with severe repercussions to change Murray's habits. Talking about it clearly doesn't work. Murray is running like every yard is worth 50 bucks and he may well be right. But it's the wins that will earn him the truly big payday and we can't get those if he keeps fumbling.

Truth be told, every yard is worth a whole lot more than $50...2000 yds would only be $100K.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

It is a situational awareness thing. I agree with this.

In a situation where you've just ran for 51 yards, go down and live to run another play.

In a situation where you are 2nd and 2 in overtime, fight for every damn yard for 3 seconds after the whistle blows.

 

[jazzcat22]

I remember when it drove me nuts when Murray would run out of bounds instead of going for the extra yards. Now he finally goes for the yards but gives up the ball.
Maybe he should go back to running out of bounds.

 

[jterrell]

I feel neutral towards this post. I do agree turnovers is an issue. But this team has the best 3rd down efficiency in the league. And no, you know the rules for the "ring" of honor.

I'll take neutral but not sure exactly what you mean as you begin to specify?

Yes we have been good on 3rd down... that's precisely why we are 6-2.
We lost the 2 games we weren't real good on 3rd down.

You don't think Romo is going in the Ring of Honor?? --If not you probably need to take a minute and think that through.