Shortcomings were clearly on display last night

[Stash]

It was a joke, stash. Tough crowd.

Sorry, I guess I'm having a hard time differentiating between the jokes and the digs.

 

[Stash]

All good and fair points. However, we just finished playing 3 games in 11 days. Last night was ugly but in a tough place against a good and fired up defense. I agree and hope some of those areas can improve but we're 11-1 (best in NFL) with these issues and getting Clai back will be huge, IMO.

No doubt. It's a balance between feeling great being 11-1 and having legitimate concerns about these issues costing this team at some point this season, possibly to the point of losing a championship opportunity.

 

[Dale]

I'm sorry that's what you misinterpreted from it.

I think your assessment is absolutely on point in the sense that, look, we are 11-1 but we are ENTIRELY beatable. Everyone is. And we are most certainly not immune.

The players you outlined are definitely potential suspects in being the guys who get us beat. But what if Zeke coughs up one again, but in a big spot? Or Dak takes a blind side hit? Or Smith gives up 2 sacks in a playoff setting? What if Bailey EVER misses a field goal again? These are all very possible outcomes, and all things that can and would get us beat in a playoff scenario.

I don't disagree at all that the players you listed could get us beat. My only disagreement is that we can't have A-plus players at every position. Free is the weak link of our line, but that's a pretty darn good weak link, no? Even next season, it's easy to move on from Free, but what is the replacement plan? Green? He can't stay healthy. Pop Collins out to tackle? The Cowboys brass prefers him at guard. Spend a high draft pick? Ok, no real issue -- except then how do we improve the defense?

The same goes for Carr, Whitehead, etc. We aren't going to be able to improve every position where we'd love a dominant player. We're going to have to win with some guys who have weaknesses -- maybe even severe? -- in their game. Heck, I'm seeing a lot of Jeff Heath on the football field these days, and yet our defense gave up only 15 last night.

What I love about New England is that they don't worry about what players can't do, rather they worry about what the player CAN do. If we win a Super Bowl, it's going to be in part because a guy like Whitehead has a 13-yard run on 3rd-and-4; Escobar maintained a key block on a big run play; Free provided adequate pass protection on the right side; Carr doesn't get beat deep for a back-breaking TD.

Sorry for the novel, lol.

 

[Idgit]

Their safety play is enviable. Their defense is solid. Imagine how good the Vikings would be with a real offense.

I said before the season they were a Superbowl favorite. Imagine them with Peterson, Bridgewater, Berger and any number of their 5 IRd OTs. They'll be a good team next season. They just need to strengthen that OL and add to the offense.

 

[Stash]

I'm fine with Free. This was likely the best defensive line they faced all year. He's obviously the weak link, but they had a lot of pressure up the middle, as well.

I'm not. I'm concerned that Pierre-Paul is going to eat his lunch in this next game. He gave him plenty of problems in week one, and he looks to have gotten even better since then, while Free looks to me to have gotten worse.

 

[Idgit]

Sorry, I guess I'm having a hard time differentiating between the jokes and the digs.

If you can't handle a joking dig, maybe you shouldn't come out so strong on a take in the first place? Just a thought.

 

[Stash]

I think your assessment is absolutely on point in the sense that, look, we are 11-1 but we are ENTIRELY beatable. Everyone is. And we are most certainly not immune.

The players you outlined are definitely potential suspects in being the guys who get us beat. But what if Zeke coughs up one again, but in a big spot? Or Dak takes a blind side hit? Or Smith gives up 2 sacks in a playoff setting? What if Bailey EVER misses a field goal again? These are all very possible outcomes, and all things that can and would get us beat in a playoff scenario.

Sure, any of those things could happen. But the difference for me is that those other players you mention have been up a heck of an amount of 'positive equity' with me in terms of consistently making great plays while the players I've mentioned have not.

I don't disagree at all that the players you listed could get us beat. My only disagreement is that we can't have A-plus players at every position. Free is the weak link of our line, but that's a pretty darn good weak link, no? Even next season, it's easy to move on from Free, but what is the replacement plan? Green? He can't stay healthy. Pop Collins out to tackle? The Cowboys brass prefers him at guard. Spend a high draft pick? Ok, no real issue -- except then how do we improve the defense?

Neither I, nor the Cowboys, have an absolutely 'right answer' as of now. Given Green's own issues, I don't see how it would be wise to count on him. But it's clear that Free is the worst of the best, and that the team needs to search in earnest for another dependable option. It needs to be a priority.

The same goes for Carr, Whitehead, etc. We aren't going to be able to improve every position where we'd love a dominant player. We're going to have to win with some guys who have weaknesses -- maybe even severe? -- in their game. Heck, I'm seeing a lot of Jeff Heath on the football field these days, and yet our defense gave up only 15 last night.

What I love about New England is that they don't worry about what players can't do, rather they worry about what the player CAN do. If we win a Super Bowl, it's going to be in part because a guy like Whitehead has a 13-yard run on 3rd-and-4; Escobar maintained a key block on a big run play; Free provided adequate pass protection on the right side; Carr doesn't get beat deep for a back-breaking TD.

Every team does have weaknesses, but what's separates good teams from great teams are those that can maximize strengths and minimize their weaknesses. And if this team hopes to win it all, things like this need to be cleaned up and corrected. And players replaced if necessary.

Sorry for the novel, lol.

No apologies needed. It's good stuff.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

I love Cowboy fans!

I know, I would swear we lost the game

 

[Stash]

If you can't handle a joking dig, maybe you shouldn't come out so strong on a take in the first place? Just a thought.

I can handle it just fine and give as good as I get. Unlike some people. And if I want to say something, I'll say it clearly and not hide in ambiguity and grey area.

If anyone "can't handle" something, it's fans who "can't handle" any level of criticism of this team. That's their weakness, not mine.

 

[adamknite]

I don't know... I sorta looked at this game like I looked at the Eagles Thanksgiving day game in 2014 (we got blown out, but afterwards I just didn't feel like it meant much and went into the game thinking that was going to be the outcome. Iit felt like that was always going to be the outcome of that game to me)... Just like that game, I don't feel like this game was an indication of where we are at with our team. This was our 3rd game in 11 days, 4th (I believe) in a row against a tough team and it was in their place... it felt like a game we were going to lose just because "you can't win 'em all" and we were playing a heck of a defense... but we somehow managed to sneak out with a victory. We got a bit lucky, we stepped up a bit when it mattered and managed to get away... I'll take it. I fully expect us to look better next week though and again just don't feel like this game was representative of this team, I feel as if we'd have played better if we didn't have so much going against us going into the game.

You bring up some solid points and definitely some of those are weaknesses that we need to address this coming offseason (as I don't see much way of improving at this point during the season) but I think a game like this just put those weakness out there more, when usually they really aren't "that" bad (except for the pass rush part... that's just awful)... in fairness though: I'm a die hard Cowboys fan, so that may just be rose colored glasses too.

 

[ryanbabs]

I think your assessment is absolutely on point in the sense that, look, we are 11-1 but we are ENTIRELY beatable. Everyone is. And we are most certainly not immune.

The players you outlined are definitely potential suspects in being the guys who get us beat. But what if Zeke coughs up one again, but in a big spot? Or Dak takes a blind side hit? Or Smith gives up 2 sacks in a playoff setting? What if Bailey EVER misses a field goal again? These are all very possible outcomes, and all things that can and would get us beat in a playoff scenario.

I don't disagree at all that the players you listed could get us beat. My only disagreement is that we can't have A-plus players at every position. Free is the weak link of our line, but that's a pretty darn good weak link, no? Even next season, it's easy to move on from Free, but what is the replacement plan? Green? He can't stay healthy. Pop Collins out to tackle? The Cowboys brass prefers him at guard. Spend a high draft pick? Ok, no real issue -- except then how do we improve the defense?

The same goes for Carr, Whitehead, etc. We aren't going to be able to improve every position where we'd love a dominant player. We're going to have to win with some guys who have weaknesses -- maybe even severe? -- in their game. Heck, I'm seeing a lot of Jeff Heath on the football field these days, and yet our defense gave up only 15 last night.

What I love about New England is that they don't worry about what players can't do, rather they worry about what the player CAN do. If we win a Super Bowl, it's going to be in part because a guy like Whitehead has a 13-yard run on 3rd-and-4; Escobar maintained a key block on a big run play; Free provided adequate pass protection on the right side; Carr doesn't get beat deep for a back-breaking TD.

Sorry for the novel, lol.

I agree. Given this day in free agency, I'm very happy with the team we have and are building at the moment. They've exceeded my expectations 1000% and give props to this coaching staff. As always, there's room for improvement and I'm sure our defense will get better over time. We are still building something special here.

 

[Zimmy Lives]

I said before the season they were a Superbowl favorite. Imagine them with Peterson, Bridgewater, Berger and any number of their 5 IRd OTs. They'll be a good team next season. They just need to strengthen that OL and add to the offense.

Can they put it together in time before the defense begins to break up due to injury, age or free agency? That is the question.

 

[Clove]

I'm enjoying the fact that we won and have won 11 in a row too, believe me. This is still an amazing and enjoyable season. Magical in fact. Overall, the future is very bright. Nothing I'm saying here denies that.

As has been pointed out, enjoying the win and having concerns aren't mutually exclusive. It's not an either/or situation. A person can do both.

Let's say Lucky and Elliott doesn't fumble, what are you saying today? You act as if this is who we are as a team. We had a bad game, that's not the norm here. And I feel we had a bad game because we played a REALLY GOOD defense. If we play like this every week, or most weeks, you'd have a better argument.

 

[AzorAhai]

The pass rush was routinely getting pressure last night. Almost every time Bradford didn't throw the ball in under 2 seconds like they continued to show and talk about, he was pressured or hit. You aren't going to rack up sacks when the ball is out on a 3 or 5 step drop with the ball coming out as soon as the QBs back foot hits the ground.

 

[weaver21]

People just need to accept this defense for what it is and start enjoying the ride. It's not going to get any better, there's no injured or suspended players that are going to save them. I personally felt like they played really well last night and had consistent pressure on Bradford all night. I know statistics don't mean much, but the defense produced 3 sacks and hit the quarterback 9 times. If that's awful, then I must not know much about this sport than I thought lol. Last night we saw for the first time this offense get dominated, but the defense bailed them out by keeping them in the game.

Is the defense bad? You could make a case for them being a pretty average unit. But I firmly believe they kept us in the game last night due to the offense struggling all night. Will I be nervous if we have to face Atlanta or Washington in the playoffs? Absolutely. But I have no doubt their defenses can't stop this offense. I've been saying it the last couple weeks, but the only team that legitimately scares me is the Seahawks. Their defense is just as good as the Vikings, but they have a better offense. I know they just put up 5 points last week, but Wilson is still a very good quarterback and he's got weapons in Baldwin, Graham and Lockett.

 

[THEHEREAFTER]

What some fail to realize is that our great teams of the 90's were NOT plowing through every opponent. We had a similar ball control offense with a steady engineer at qb. Our defenses were also not "dominant" although we could certainly get after the passer. My point is we had several tight games like this one. Any good team does. Winning them is the difference between 14-2..HOA...and 11-5 type seasons.

 

[Idgit]

Can they put it together in time before the defense begins to break up due to injury, age or free agency? That is the question.

Tough to say, now. If it was just keeping their old starters healthy, or getting them back, sure. But they were only mediocre on the OL to start with in my opinion. Upgrading--even with vets--along the OL is another matter.

 

[Idgit]

....If anyone "can't handle" something, it's fans who "can't handle" any level of criticism of this team. That's their weakness, not mine.

You keep mentioning these fans as if they exist, or at least as if they're prominent on the board. Yet ample criticism of every level of the team exists in every thread. And I've yet to see a poster who's unwilling to accept or offer some level of rational criticism.

Of course, not everybody is willing to jettison long-time starters after a tough game--I mean, victory--against a good defensive team. Some can be critical of a play or a game or a season without setting fire to a whole career. Some can't.

 

[Clove]

I think your assessment is absolutely on point in the sense that, look, we are 11-1 but we are ENTIRELY beatable. Everyone is. And we are most certainly not immune.

The players you outlined are definitely potential suspects in being the guys who get us beat. But what if Zeke coughs up one again, but in a big spot? Or Dak takes a blind side hit? Or Smith gives up 2 sacks in a playoff setting? What if Bailey EVER misses a field goal again? These are all very possible outcomes, and all things that can and would get us beat in a playoff scenario.

I don't disagree at all that the players you listed could get us beat. My only disagreement is that we can't have A-plus players at every position. Free is the weak link of our line, but that's a pretty darn good weak link, no? Even next season, it's easy to move on from Free, but what is the replacement plan? Green? He can't stay healthy. Pop Collins out to tackle? The Cowboys brass prefers him at guard. Spend a high draft pick? Ok, no real issue -- except then how do we improve the defense?

The same goes for Carr, Whitehead, etc. We aren't going to be able to improve every position where we'd love a dominant player. We're going to have to win with some guys who have weaknesses -- maybe even severe? -- in their game. Heck, I'm seeing a lot of Jeff Heath on the football field these days, and yet our defense gave up only 15 last night.

What I love about New England is that they don't worry about what players can't do, rather they worry about what the player CAN do. If we win a Super Bowl, it's going to be in part because a guy like Whitehead has a 13-yard run on 3rd-and-4; Escobar maintained a key block on a big run play; Free provided adequate pass protection on the right side; Carr doesn't get beat deep for a back-breaking TD.

Sorry for the novel, lol.

 

[Clarkson]

I'm not. I'm concerned that Pierre-Paul is going to eat his lunch in this next game. He gave him plenty of problems in week one, and he looks to have gotten even better since then, while Free looks to me to have gotten worse.

Free has played some really solid games very recently. I'm not a huge fan of his, but it's not like he gets beat up every week.