Can we stop panicking now?

[Jake]

The panic and doom threads should stop now. This is a top 5 football team that is young and will be good for YEARS. The team is only going to get better. In a wide open year where there isn’t one clear dominant team, there’s no reason why the Cowboys shouldn’t represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

When they do, you heard it here first.

If I had a dollar for every Super Bowl prediction I've read on the internet this century...

I'm still not sold on this defense. But yesterday was quite enjoyable.

 

[Sydla]

I said during the offseason following the draft and before training camp started the front office made the calculated decision, with it's eyes wide open, to let a bunch of defensive vets walk and go with a youth movement in the draft to shore up the defense, especially our secondary.

And this was going to AT LEAST cost us a few early games as the rookies played their way into the league.

As the last 3 games have shown, there's nothing wrong with that offense. It's the defense collapsing in the 4th that cost us wins vs the Rams and then the Packers. 2-3 key plays and we're looking at 5-1 instead of 3-3.

Well so be it. It is what it is. A choice was made, the consequences have to be faced. The defense isn't there yet. Too many new pieces, including our 'redshirt' MLB Jaylon Smith. We have a CHANCE that the coaches and the players on that defense can get it together over the remaining 10 games so that we don't drop that many more contests where the offense puts up 30+.

We knew going into this year the defense was a work in progress and a lot hinged on if that unit can come together and forge itself in at least an average NFL unit. I liked what I saw today, but there's a ways to go.

Here's the problem.

You could have made a shift to the youth movement while also protecting yourself somewhat.

So go and draft Awuzie and Lewis and Woods. But then bring in a better vet than Nolan Carroll to help bridge the gap. Bring in a veteran safety who can help the development of the younger players and not turn it over to Heath. Go out and find a real 1 tech to make sure you can at least stop the run and not have your defense susceptible to the run and the pass while you are breaking in young players.

Other than the DBs taken in the draft, this offseason was largely a dud from the front office and I suspect part of the issue was them just being overly frugal again.

 

[Zekeats]

We just beat a zero win team. Can we stop panicking now? No.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

We beat a winless team so everything's okay now? Still work to be done.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Really? Who are the rookies who are giving up all of these big plays while everyone else isn't apparently doing their jobs?

I've heard this excuse used repeatedly and it has never added up or been supported by actual evidence.

You haven't seen Jaylon make any mistakes? Or Anthony Brown? Or Heath? Or Woods? Or Collins? Or Taco?

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

We beat a winless team so everything's okay now? Still work to be done.

Its bigger than that though. In the scheme of things.....no. It means nothing. But all week I heard "Oh the 49ers are not that bad......no one beats them by more than 3 points"......

This is the same team the Deadskins just struggled with.

It was a nice win. Shouldn't stop us from worrying or from taking this week to week though.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

Its bigger than that though. In the scheme of things.....no. It means nothing. But all week I heard "Oh the 49ers are not that bad......no one beats them by more than 3 points"......

This is the same team the Deadskins just struggled with.

It was a nice win. Shouldn't stop us from worrying or from taking this week to week though.

Well the 49ers are bad. Knowing our defense I figured it would be a close game though. Cowboys played great yesterday. Absolutely should enjoy it but the real test start next week. If we lose to the Deadskins we'll be 3-4 and still mediocre with the hardest part of our schedule coming up.

 

[Stash]

You haven't seen Jaylon make any mistakes? Or Anthony Brown? Or Heath? Or Woods? Or Collins? Or Taco?

Is Heath a rookie? Is Collins? Is Brown?

This blanket thrown over "young players" is a poor excuse, especially when guys like Woods are playing better than guys like Heath, who have been in the league for years. Or disappointments like Byron Jones.

No, there are plenty of veterans who have been in the league for a while who are making the mistakes.

Blaming it on "young players" is a lazy, inaccurate copout.

 

[JW82]

Let's put up a statue because we beat a winless team when we had 2 weeks to prepare. Win 3 of the next 4 and they will be on track. So far we have 3 wins against 3 teams with a combined record of 4-16.

 

[Sydla]

They haven't.......but I think the main culprit is the youth on defense which is holding this team back.

Well in fairness, part of the problem is the front office and coaches who thought the "youth" could handle this. I mean who made the decision to turn over the SS to Heath, for example? That was Marinelli and the front office.

Blaming the "youth" is simply a convenient excuse for the coaching staff and some of the veterans who had underperformed.

The whole "vision" on defense has been flawed.

 

[CowboyRoy]

The last two weeks were a special kind of punishment, reading all of the doom threads on CZ. After this win, I hope now that everyone can come to their senses and realize that we’re a really darn good football team that will be in the thick of it come January.

This offense is the same offense that we had last year - but better. The Cowboys are averaging more than 32 - that’s right, 32 - points per game over the last four games. Dak’s game has improved as well, and the chemistry with Dez is noticeable.

The average age of our o-line starters is 25. Dak is 24 and Elliot is 23. The offense is going to be good for a very, very long time.

Last year the defense was the culprit. It still is, and was in all three losses this year. However it is noticeably better than last year, and it’s much younger.

On defense we are generating more pressure than last year - a lot more. Last year we had 36 sacks for the entire year. This year, DLaw alone has 9.5 sacks through 6 games and we’re on pace for 60 for the year. And what’s better, the sacks are coming from the defensive line, so we haven’t needed to blitz.

The secondary is young - three of the four starters have two or less years of experience, and they’re balling. You can see them coming together before your very eyes.

Our weak point has been at linebacker, broken tackles and overrunning plays, and especially weak against the run. But in two of our three losses, we were missing both Lee and Hitchens. We gave up 35 points in both of those games.

Oh yeah, and we still have the most accurate kicker in NFL history on the roster (pending his injury today, of course).

The panic and doom threads should stop now. This is a top 5 football team that is young and will be good for YEARS. The team is only going to get better. In a wide open year where there isn’t one clear dominant team, there’s no reason why the Cowboys shouldn’t represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

When they do, you heard it here first.

So what is more silly?

A: Posters getting upset that we go 2-3?

Or

B: A poster declaring we are going to the SB because we blow out a 0-6 team?

 

[CowboyRoy]

This is the Cowboys Fandom.... Panic will Not stop.

I recall quite clearly last week you talking about how this season was not looking good. Nice flip flop.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Well in fairness, part of the problem is the front office and coaches who thought the "youth" could handle this. I mean who made the decision to turn over the SS to Heath, for example? That was Marinelli and the front office.

Blaming the "youth" is simply a convenient excuse for the coaching staff and some of the veterans who had underperformed.

The whole "vision" on defense has been flawed.

I don't blame the front office for what they did. I think by the end of the season it will be the right move. But it's going to be some bumps along the way. There's potential there and this team is young enough to be able to get younger on defense and live through the bumps.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Is Heath a rookie? Is Collins? Is Brown?

This blanket thrown over "young players" is a poor excuse, especially when guys like Woods are playing better than guys like Heath, who have been in the league for years. Or disappointments like Byron Jones.

No, there are plenty of veterans who have been in the league for a while who are making the mistakes.

Blaming it on "young players" is a lazy, inaccurate copout.

Took the words right out of my mouth. Nicely put.

 

[Stash]

Well in fairness, part of the problem is the front office and coaches who thought the "youth" could handle this. I mean who made the decision to turn over the SS to Heath, for example? That was Marinelli and the front office.

Blaming the "youth" is simply a convenient excuse for the coaching staff and some of the veterans who had underperformed.

The whole "vision" on defense has been flawed.

And it attempts to give them a pass for the awful personnel choices of letting McClain go for Thornton and Paea and signing Carroll over keeping Carr or Claiborne.

But sure, blame the young guys...

 

[Sydla]

I don't blame the front office for what they did. I think by the end of the season it will be the right move. But it's going to be some bumps along the way. There's potential there and this team is young enough to be able to get younger on defense and live through the bumps.

I don't blame the front office for wanting to get some young players in the secondary. I do blame them for taking a 13-3 team and basically acting like they had a 7-9 team. They could have done a much better job at getting some pieces on defense that could have helped.

To suggest they did everything right this offseason is just homerism, plain and simple.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I don't blame the front office for wanting to get some young players in the secondary. I do blame them for taking a 13-3 team and basically acting like they had a 7-9 team. They could have done a much better job at getting some pieces on defense that could have helped.

To suggest they did everything right this offseason is just homerism, plain and simple.

No one said they did everything right. They were 13-3 despite the defense last year. And when it came down to it....that defense looked like it was a 7-9 defense when it mattered in the playoffs.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

And it attempts to give them a pass for the awful personnel choices of letting McClain go for Thornton and Paea and signing Carroll over keeping Carr or Claiborne.

But sure, blame the young guys...

So you expect for the young guys to come in and be Pro Bowlers off the back? Did you watch the playoffs? I'm one of the few that defended Carr and Claiborne but what did they do last year to warrant coming back?

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I recall quite clearly last week you talking about how this season was not looking good. Nice flip flop.

In your desire to make a person who may disagree with you look bad and also try to gain double points if said person is a mod...where exactly did I flip flop?

I said it is the Cowboys Fandom Way..the panic will not stop...and it will not stop unless we go on some crazy winning run...which I also laughed at the idea of happening earlier last week as well.

So...please again...show me where I flip flopped.

I will sit back and wait for your goal post moving to try and prove something you cannot prove...or for your admittance that you were wrong, without actually saying you were wrong by saying something like...Oh..>I gotcha ya,

 

[Jason 82 Witten]

Like I said yesterday in the game thread, people were saying let’s not get excited it’s the 0-6 49ers, however had the Cowboys barely won, people would be saying the Cowboys struggled to beat a 0-6 49ers team