But. What. If

[northerncowboynation]

But. What. If.

The offense never gets to the point where it averages more than @24ppg?

And/or the defense, which looked world-class against the worst O-line in the league, gamely but vainly protecting The Statue Of Eli, comes back to earth against savvy and accurate pocket-passers (ARog, Brees, etc) who can beat a pass rush with 3-step drops against young/inexperienced LBs and DBs...you know, the kind of QBs that have usually knocked us out of the postseason since our last SB appearance?

So many "what ifs". so little space and time to write them all down

 

[jrumann59]

That is not necessarily true. When Brice was on the field, he was usually either playing in place of Dez or TWill, so he was matched up against the first or second corner in most cases. The only time he would face the 3rd or 4th is if they lined him up in the slot and I don't recall him getting much work in the slot.

Actually looking at many of his highlights he usually was on the field with Dez and Witten and he usually was left man to man with the defense keying on Dez or Witten or Beasley when he was in their for the 3rd WR.

 

[jday]

I tend to cut JG a lot of slack. Yes, it has been 10 years but quite a few fans were quick to cut Romo slack because we didn't have the talent around him. Since JG coached those teams I make the same assessment, he didn't have enough talent around him either. If it's a good argument for Romo then it's a good argument for JG unless we maintainn that JG is also responsible for talent procurement. He isn't, that falls on SJ's and WM's sshoulders as direcors of player personnel. Note to any HC that ever comes here: (1) do not clap and (2) if you have red hair, dye it immediately and buy a wig.

Yes the end results of 2014 and 2016 sucked for fans, players AND HC. Your choice of topics is perfect. Too many I hate JG as a coach, I hate Dak as a QB fortunately the I hate JJ threads have thinned out, now it's I hate SJ because he's cheap. haters gotta hate man. It's a life choice

You touched on a great point there. One of the big problems with choosing who to hate within the organization is the fact that we really don't know for a certainty who is responsible for what and how much blame to assign accordingly. The truth is, within the Cowboys organization, while JJ may have the final say, he is listening to alot of voices and because we aren't within the organization, we really have no idea where to point the finger.

My biggest issue with Jason was demonstrated in Sunday's game...and, by the way, I had this same issue with Parcells. If you were watching then, you might recall The Tuna's tendency to let off the gas as soon as he had a lead (even if it was just 3 points) and put the onus on the defense to keep that lead. I really hate that strategy. I get that it works and is even the smart move at times, but it can also bite you in the butt like it almost did this past Sunday. I just think be it in game or in practice, you always practice to win. Taking your foot off the gas, in my opinion, is practicing losing...and I'm not a fan of that at all.

I want this team to put there foot on the oppositions throat and keep swinging until the final whistle. Maybe if we get a 3 score lead, I'd be cool with grinding out the clock with the run game, but only if it's working. If that approach is creating alot of 3 & outs, and exposing my defense to too much time on the field, I would go back to what worked.

Now, having said all that, I also understand their is a difference between what I would do as a fan and what I would do when I have millions of my own money on the line. It's kinda like when you play that game of what you would do if you became a millionaire. The problem with that game is that the poor version of you is talking. The millionaire version of you would probably do something completely different...which is another reason why I rarely voice my opinion on the coaches...

 

[jday]

Of Course...But Maybe...I love that routine!

 

[jday]

But. What. If.

The offense never gets to the point where it averages more than @24ppg?

And/or the defense, which looked world-class against the worst O-line in the league, gamely but vainly protecting The Statue Of Eli, comes back to earth against savvy and accurate pocket-passers (ARog, Brees, etc) who can beat a pass rush with 3-step drops against young/inexperienced LBs and DBs...you know, the kind of QBs that have usually knocked us out of the postseason since our last SB appearance?

Um...then the Cowboys will probably lose...and my life will go on as usual.

 

[jday]

Actually looking at many of his highlights he usually was on the field with Dez and Witten and he usually was left man to man with the defense keying on Dez or Witten or Beasley when he was in their for the 3rd WR.

And in 2016, when Dez was sidelined for 3 to 4 games and Brice and TWill were the lead receivers, who did he face then? Did the Head Coach of the opposition say to himself, "I think I'll give my starting corners a rest today?" If so, that would explain why we won all of those games in Dez's absence....

 

[visionary]

The question of who replaces him is one of the reasons I waffle on rather or not the coaches should be fired.

I see the good he brings to the team as well as the bad. That's why I write very little on that topic...I don't have definitive opinion there.

That makes total sense because in the last 5 years no NFL teams have hired young up and coming coaches who have had any success in the NFL

The excuses people come up with to excuse KNOWN mediocrity are bizarre

 

[32BellyOption]

But.What.If

This were shorter and I could actually read it ?

Hmmm....

Lol! I’m sure it was a good post but I don’t have the time to read a book. I need the Readers Digest condensed version.

 

[jday]

That makes total sense because in the last 5 years no NFL teams have hired young up and coming coaches who have had any success in the NFL

The excuses people come up with to excuse KNOWN mediocrity are bizarre

Like I said in another response above, it is so easy for us to sit here and make decisions where we are immune to consequences. But making that same decision with millions and millions of dollars on the line is a completely different animal entirely...

What's funny is mediocrity is evil in Dallas, and yet there are quite a few fandoms that would settle for that in a heartbeat. Mediocrity is one step away from greatness; better that than being a cellar dweller.

Furthermore, that is taking Jason's tenure here and putting it in a vacuum. It ignores context. It ignores injuries. It ignores the ugly truth that more than just the Head Coach at the end of the day is responsible for Win / Loss ratio. Ultimately all the Garrett hate boils down to certain people needing one person to blame...they can't be bothered with the reality that blame for losses can be assigned to alot of people and alot of circumstances beyond the Head Coaches control...they need one person to focus their hate on.

Now don't get me wrong...games like the one against Atlanta are inexcusable. But who do you really blame for that? Garrett, whose playcalling duties were stripped away a long time ago? Linehan, who in my opinion should probably own the lion-share of the blame. Or Jerry who stripped Jason of playcalling duties and did not provide him a roster that could seamlessly replace Tyrone Smith, Ezekiel Elliott and Sean Lee, who were all missing during that game?

The truth is you can do that same exercise for every loss...so you can either be lazy and just blame the one person who is on the face of things, you can try to dig deeper and see if you can't determine who is more at fault, or you could do what I do and accept the things beyond your control....and that is why I rarely bring up coaching...no amount of complaining on mine or your part will change a thing, so why waste time and energy on it. But that's just me...

 

[Whyjerry]

But. What. If.


By themselves, those words do little. But combined together, they do much of the heavy-lifting for my overall optimism regarding the Dallas Cowboys. If you are familiar with my contributions, this is not a new offering. Much like my Ring Side Seats concept (which grants me the opportunity to give voice to my inner-optimist, pessimist and realist), it doesn’t foolishly ignore the reality of the Cowboys situation (they are good, but not great); it merely points out that with a few things going the Cowboys way, greatness is in fact well within reach.


After two weeks, I have sat and watched quite a bit of football…and not just the Cowboys. Aside from my love of the game itself, I watch because it allows me to keep both the Cowboys accomplishments and failures in perspective.

Consider:

The loss to the Panthers was ugly…no question. The Cowboys offense could not get out of their own way and on many drives against the Giants, that unpleasant trend continued. But then when you stop to consider all the games that transpired over that same weekend, very few teams looked great, even the Panthers themselves whose efforts still led to a win.


The win against the Giants this past weekend was ugly…admittedly made uglier by the almost-comeback the Giants engineered towards the end. But when you stop to consider that are young overall inexperienced defense looks to be in mid-season form and did so without 3 key starters (Xavier Woods, Randall Gregory, and David Irving) on Sunday, you should realize that what has looked great so far, (with a little luck on the injury front) could look even better down the stretch.


Therein is the epitome of the “But What If” concept. Let’s keep playing shall we?


But What If – David Irving comes back with his hair on fire?


Never mind the fact that at times when you look at his hairdo through squinty eyes it literally looks on fire, the guy possesses the ability to single-handedly take over games…and he has done this in the past with nowhere close to the same talent-pool he will be surrounded by in his first game back against the Texans. You could fill a defensive line rotation with the players new to the fray and making noise in the early going – Randall Gregory (had a sack against the Panthers), Antwaun Woods (had a sack against the Giants) and Dorance Armstrong (has done little in limited work, but did put a starting RT on skates in a goalline drill that led to the Giants settling for a field goal).


The fascinating and encouraging aspect of the Cowboys defensive performance this past Sunday was not simply due to the Cowboys getting to Eli 6 times but the fact that 6 different players were responsible for those sacks from 3 different levels (defensive line, linebackers, secondary) of the defense. When one guy is responsible for that pressure, you know who exactly the opposition is going to give “the treatment” next Sunday. But when the pressure is coming from every player on the line as well as in the secondary, the opposition has to hazard a guess at where the help should go (which will most likely be Demarcus Lawrence) and hope for the best regarding everyone else.


For Seattle this upcoming Sunday, that proposition should be disconcerting to say the least. But for the Texans in just two short weeks facing a Cowboys defense with pressure coming from everywhere, a defensive line rotation that is already 8 deep, and a David Irving with fresh legs….

Texans fans be like:

But What If – Dak Prescott is better than what we’ve seen so far in 2018?


We saw it in his rookie year and the first half of 2017: He was accurate more often than not, even hitting targets in stride occasionally allowing for the run after the catch. He consistently made good to great decisions with the football, understanding that it is better to throw the ball away and live to play another day then take the sack. And he decisively took whatever the defense gave him, be it deep, intermediate, short or with his legs. Following the infamous game against Atlanta last year, however, he has been indecisive, inaccurate, and when his pass is caught, much of the time it robs his target of their momentum, effectively shutting down any opportunity of a run after the catch.


Against the Giants, Dak’s former-self flashed. It was short. If you blinked, you probably missed it. But for a moment, Dak was back to being the Dak we all fell in love with. If we were to forget for a moment all that he has accomplished up to this point, and just considered his efforts based on what he did this past Sunday against the Giants, we might come away slightly discouraged overall. But, when you consider his play from Sunday against what he did in the first week against the Panthers, the difference is significant…in that light he appears to be ascending.


The problem is, our memory of 2016 and 2017 befuddle that view quite a bit; in year 3, after all, we want a QB who has figured things out, knows what is expected, and consistently meets his obligations as the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. But with an offensive line that has been influx since the beginning of his second year, and a largely retooled weapons catalogue with new faces at both TE and WR, perhaps our expectations for 2018 thus far have been a bit too high.


Should this notable “Dak-scension” continue throughout the season (and there is no reason to expect he won’t get better with time), the offense just might catch up to the defense….and if that happens…


Cowboys fans will be like:

But What If – Butler is the better option for Dallas over Josh Gordon?


To begin the season, the question was: But What If…the Cowboys don’t really need a #1 receiver?


When you skip to the end of that debate, I suspect most football people would say, you don’t necessarily need a clear cut #1 receiver, but if you don’t have one, you do need a great to elite quarterback who by extension can make lesser receivers great, in the same vein that Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Drew Brees tend to make their targets better than what they really are. And since at this point Dak is not on their level, most would agree the Cowboys need to add a #1 receiver and fast.


Exacerbating this issue was the recent acquisition of Josh Gordon by the Patriots for a 5th round pick. The local media and fans just about lost their mind that the Cowboys wouldn’t pull the trigger on such a cheap investment in a player with his elite ceiling.


Cowboys Fans be like:

The local and national Media be like:

Oppositions Fans be like:

I get it. I’m not blind. The Cowboys offense is clearly not firing on all cylinders thus far and for some, a #1 receiver would be just what the doctor ordered. But would it really? The cure for anything depends completely on the problem being properly diagnosed, and I don’t think the lack of #1 has been the predominant issue for the Cowboys offense. Paralysis by Over-Analysis on the part of one Dak Prescott has been the primary issue and I suspect that very well may be a symptom of his not establishing a good connection with all of his new targets yet due to an abbreviated preseason for the starting offense.


To hit a player in stride on a pass, for example, Dak has to know that players speed coming out of his break or streaking down the field. It can’t be something he has to think about…he just has to innately know it for each and every one of his targets. That’s not something you can develop overnight and therefore a new receiver (however talented he may be) may actually cause more issues for this offense than it would fix.


And that is why I suspect the Cowboys favored bringing back Brice Butler over losing a “2019 5th round pick” (assuming the asking price would be the same for the Cowboys, which is not necessarily true, mind you) in the acquisition of a player who faces the same challenges as Randy Gregory and is one poor decision away from a lifetime ban from the league. Dak has already established a repoirt with Brice; Butler already knows most (if not all) of the playbook...he is a plug’n’play receiver.


For now, fans are welcome to doubt the wisdom of this approach but once you see this…

…just know your doubts were misplaced.


But What If…the Cowboys are better than anyone presently is expecting?


That would be nothing new to the game of football…after all, it’s not how you start but how you finish that defines a team. The Cowboys are clearly not the best version of themselves now, on Offense, Defense or Special Teams. But given the overall youth of this team, while older teams may lose steam in December, this team will likely be hitting its stride. If the defense can at the very least maintain what they have demonstrated thus far and the offense can steadily improve at the rate they improved from the Panthers to the Giants, this team will be next to impossible to stop in December.


It is a simple formula, really. A great defense, supplemented by a good to great run game that allows your offense to control the clock and an efficient QB who won’t get you beat with untimely turnovers will win in this league more often than not….and especially in the playoffs and Super Bowl. That’s the winning formula and the Cowboys are as close as anyone presently to capturing and applying that principle.


Right now the Cinderella stories are the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but we Cowboys fans have seen this story too many times before:


Pat Mahomes is lighting defenses up in the first two weeks, scoring 38 points against the Chargers and 42 points against the Steelers. Because they won in those efforts, no one really cares at this point in the season what the opposition did (Chargers – 28; Steelers – 37, allowing a grand total of 65 points in two weeks)…but, make no mistake, down the stretch that very fact will come back to haunt them. The brand of football they are currently playing is (simply put) not sustainable in December through February.


The Bucs? Same story; different team. They are 2 & 0 and their defense has allowed a combined 61 points thus far this year. Both the Chiefs and the Bucs for the moment are looking like locks for the playoffs, but considering both how they are achieving those points and the points they are allowing, they won’t last long.


Opposing defenses will eventually catch up to what it is they are doing and when that happens, both of their defenses will get exposed. As I said before, we Cowboys fans absolutely should know better because this exact phenomenon has played itself out for our viewing displeasure both in 2014 and 2016. The term “War Daddy” was first uttered by Jerry Jones in the early part of 2017. Why? Because at the end of the day, he realized our collective inability to get to Aaron Rodgers whilst he was hobbled and a statue in the pocket was the primary reason the Cowboys didn’t survive the Packers in the Playoffs…hence the Cowboys current defense today.


I make no promises. I offer no encouraging predictions. I merely know from years of watching and noting various trends in the game I love that as of right now the Cowboys are going about it the right way.


There are no guarantees when you bury and water a seed that a plant will grow. But you can hedge your bets in that proposition by using the soil mixed with good compose and climate that seed prefers to grow in. That is how I view the Cowboys team presently:


We want to grow wins, right?


Youthful team that will get better as the year progresses?


Check.


Good to great defense?


Check.


A good to great run game that will help you win games in winter?


It’s a work in progress, but check…with Zeke and that offensive line the potential is clearly off the charts!


A QB who protects the ball like it is his favorite son?


Check


Again, I offer no guarantees, but I do know beyond a shadow of a doubt that wins will grow in that soil and climate.


If the Cowboys can survive the growing pains of being a youthful team, avoid the injury bug all together, and simply keep getting better week after week in all 3 phases, there is absolutely no reasons they cannot…

Thoughts?

These streams of consciousness kill me. Too funny.

 

[visionary]

Like I said in another response above, it is so easy for us to sit here and make decisions where we are immune to consequences. But making that same decision with millions and millions of dollars on the line is a completely different animal entirely...

What's funny is mediocrity is evil in Dallas, and yet there are quite a few fandoms that would settle for that in a heartbeat. Mediocrity is one step away from greatness; better that than being a cellar dweller.

Furthermore, that is taking Jason's tenure here and putting it in a vacuum. It ignores context. It ignores injuries. It ignores the ugly truth that more than just the Head Coach at the end of the day is responsible for Win / Loss ratio. Ultimately all the Garrett hate boils down to certain people needing one person to blame...they can't be bothered with the reality that blame for losses can be assigned to alot of people and alot of circumstances beyond the Head Coaches control...they need one person to focus their hate on.

Now don't get me wrong...games like the one against Atlanta are inexcusable. But who do you really blame for that? Garrett, whose playcalling duties were stripped away a long time ago? Linehan, who in my opinion should probably own the lion-share of the blame. Or Jerry who stripped Jason of playcalling duties and did not provide him a roster that could seamlessly replace Tyrone Smith, Ezekiel Elliott and Sean Lee, who were all missing during that game?

The truth is you can do that same exercise for every loss...so you can either be lazy and just blame the one person who is on the face of things, you can try to dig deeper and see if you can't determine who is more at fault, or you could do what I do and accept the things beyond your control....and that is why I rarely bring up coaching...no amount of complaining on mine or your part will change a thing, so why waste time and energy on it. But that's just me...

MANY other NFL teams have done it
It's not rocket science

WE KNOW Garrett is trash

Not complicated

 

[jday]

MANY other NFL teams have done it
It's not rocket science

WE KNOW Garrett is trash

Not complicated

"We?" I hope you aren't including me in that "We."

I know that Garrett probably got handed a Head Coaching job too soon in his development as a coach. I know Garrett has made countless mistakes...just like every coach has had to make to get to a point where they don't make those same mistakes anymore. I know that Garrett is a much better coach now than what he was 10 years ago. And I know he still has alot more learning to do. These are the things I know.

Throwing around labels like "trash" is a strong indication you are overly emotional about that sport you follow. You should have that looked at.

 

[visionary]

"We?" I hope you aren't including me in that "We."

Of course not
I would never presume to include you in any sensible group

 

[jday]

Of course not
I would never presume to include you in any sensible group

Cool.

And thanks for the bump!

 

[buybuydandavis]

against lesser talent. Everyone in the NFL knew he was likely the 5th option if Zeke was on the field, and he was defended by either 3rd or 4th corner or a safety. To say well if he got more opportunities is being dishonest because if he is a threat he would be seeing the likes of Norman or teams betters corners.

It's a good point to say that Butler wasn't likely treated as the 1st threat, but I doubt he was treated as the 5th.

The guy who I think that applies to even more is TWill. He's a conundrum. His efficiency numbers look great, but when you see him play, he doesn't pass the eyeball test. I think that discrepancy comes from exactly the dynamic you describe: players down the threat list will have greater productivity than you'd think because they defense is paying them so little attention. If they paid him more attention, his production would go down.

The thing about Butler, is that fast is fast. You can can be a great corner, but a slight misstep, and he's just running by you, and there's nothing you can do about it. He doesn't need skill to beat you at that point, he just needs to run.

We saw that with Austin. A slight misstep by Jenkins, and Austin was gone. And there wasn't anything Jenkins could do about it. I think Jenkins is their top corner, but it didn't matter. Fast is fast.

That's one way to beat a crowded box. It's the most straightforward. Leave your corners on an island, and we don't care how good they are. We're faster than you. You're gonna make missteps. And we're going to make you pay for some of them.

That's what Butler brought last year, and we saw it in the numbers. Yeah, he doesn't get 10 of those a game. But a TD a game if you don't adjust, or you do adjust and back off and give us as many short passes to him as we want, or you back off a safety from the box. All those are wins for us.

With Dez and Twill, they could press man just not worry about getting beat over the top.

Lots of run pass option for Dak. Defense plays way off, you throw it. They play close, you see if the WR has gotten an edge, and if so you take the shot deep. It doesn't happen often, but it doesn't have to. And all the times it doesn't, you hand to Zeke.

Combine the run pass option with a read option. Instead of Dak just reading the DE, read the DE and keep an eye on the WR on the DE's side. Every play, three options. To fight the read option, the DE can't crash. To fight the pass option, either you give up the short pass, or you have your S play off to provide help over the top.

That's what Butler and his speed give you, that TWill and Dez just can't.

 

[AlienBoy]

And in 2016, when Dez was sidelined for 3 to 4 games and Brice and TWill were the lead receivers, who did he face then? Did the Head Coach of the opposition say to himself, "I think I'll give my starting corners a rest today?" If so, that would explain why we won all of those games in Dez's absence....

Weren't Dak's best games that year when Dez was out due to injury? That's what I recall.

 

[jday]

Weren't Dak's best games that year when Dez was out due to injury? That's what I recall.

Weren't Dak's best games that year when Dez was out due to injury? That's what I recall.

Best games? Not necessarily; if you look at QB rating, he had really good days without Dez (114.7 against SanFran, 117.9 against Cinci, 117.4 against Green Bay), but his best days came later in the year against Cleveland (141.8), Pittsburgh (121.7) and Baltimore (127.2) with Dez. You could make the argument, though, that really didn't have as much to do with having Dez as it did Dak getting more comfortable with the offense and he faced some pretty poor secondaries.