To Rest or Not To Rest, That Is The Question, Whether 'Tis

LovinItAll

LovinItAll

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The title says it. My thoughts are....

....that I don't have any. Despite what armachair QBs here think, the coaches and staff know better than we do how to prepare a team to play a game and what is in the best interest of the team headed toward the playoffs. Whether you agree or disagree with play calling, roster selection, et al, they most certainly know EXPONENTIALLY more than you/me/us.

This I DO know: We've secured a playoff spot and at least one home game before week 17 is played. If you asked me before the seaon started, 'Would you take that, or would you prefer the uncertainty of even making it to the playoffs?', I'd say 'I'll take that' in a heartbeat.

More than anything, I want our Cowboys to make a deep playoff run. When I see things like:

'I hope they lose out and miss the playoffs, then they'll have to make a coaching change!'

...it honestly makes me want to smack someone. I'm SO glad we won't be entertaining that scenario this year.

As for the game yesterday, Vegas had us a 7 point favorite. What a coincidence.
FWIW: Before the year started, Vegas had the over/under at 8 games.

In the spirit of this post's title, this is what I would do if someone forced me to make a decision:

REST (no plays)
T. Smith
Z. Martin
Zeke
T. Crawford (obv, and hope for the best)
S. Lee
(I'm okay with anyone else the coaches choose for this category)

LIMITED SNAPS
Dak (1st half - or longer - and THROW THE BALL. DO NOT LET HIM RUN THE EFFEN FOOTBALL)
Jaylon Smith (reports are that he's 80-90% atm. 1st half and then outta there)
LVE - On the fence. Maybe give him some additional leadership responsibilities when Smith is out.

That's it. Onward!
 
Mr Prescott needs to play the whole game and keep practicing the forward pass till he can hit a wide open dude.

Little snarky but wow...easy pitch and catches. Step up in the dam pocket and throw the dam ball. Obvious to me teams know to pressure him up the middle and then he'll panic and try to peel off and the outside rushers nail him. That is how I'd play him every week till he learns to count to 3 and throw the dam ball.

Not a Mr Prescott hater...just want to see him take the next step. Love his attitude, determination etc but its just a matter of time before he gets hurt taking all these shots because he can't get rid of the dam ball.

Go Cowboys!
 
Rest Zeke and T Crawford. Everyone else needs every snap they can get. Especially Prescott. My 2¢..
 
dcstar said:
Mr Prescott needs to play the whole game and keep practicing the forward pass till he can hit a wide open dude.

Little snarky but wow...easy pitch and catches. Step up in the dam pocket and throw the dam ball. Obvious to me teams know to pressure him up the middle and then he'll panic and try to peel off and the outside rushers nail him. That is how I'd play him every week till he learns to count to 3 and throw the dam ball.

Not a Mr Prescott hater...just want to see him take the next step. Love his attitude, determination etc but its just a matter of time before he gets hurt taking all these shots because he can't get rid of the dam ball.

Go Cowboys!
Click to expand...

I don't disagree, that why I said 'throw the ball'. I'm never okay with losing, but I'm more interested in Dak slinging it around and getting some confidence. The flip side of that is that, if the o-line rests and Dak is under pressure, what effect would having a bad passing day have on his psyche is he's forcing passes due to pressure? I don't know the answers to these questions.
 
LovinItAll said:
The title says it. My thoughts are....

....that I don't have any. Despite what armachair QBs here think, the coaches and staff know better than we do how to prepare a team to play a game and what is in the best interest of the team headed toward the playoffs. Whether you agree or disagree with play calling, roster selection, et al, they most certainly know EXPONENTIALLY more than you/me/us.

This I DO know: We've secured a playoff spot and at least one home game before week 17 is played. If you asked me before the seaon started, 'Would you take that, or would you prefer the uncertainty of even making it to the playoffs?', I'd say 'I'll take that' in a heartbeat.

More than anything, I want our Cowboys to make a deep playoff run. When I see things like:

'I hope they lose out and miss the playoffs, then they'll have to make a coaching change!'

...it honestly makes me want to smack someone. I'm SO glad we won't be entertaining that scenario this year.

As for the game yesterday, Vegas had us a 7 point favorite. What a coincidence.
FWIW: Before the year started, Vegas had the over/under at 8 games.

In the spirit of this post's title, this is what I would do if someone forced me to make a decision:

REST (no plays)
T. Smith
Z. Martin
Zeke
T. Crawford (obv, and hope for the best)
S. Lee
(I'm okay with anyone else the coaches choose for this category)

LIMITED SNAPS
Dak (1st half - or longer - and THROW THE BALL. DO NOT LET HIM RUN THE EFFEN FOOTBALL)
Jaylon Smith (reports are that he's 80-90% atm. 1st half and then outta there)
LVE - On the fence. Maybe give him some additional leadership responsibilities when Smith is out.

That's it. Onward!
Click to expand...
Nope! Play them if they can play! Hide under a woman's skirt otherwise!
 
Ranching said:
Nope! Play them if they can play! Hide under a woman's skirt otherwise!
Click to expand...

That strategy is fine until Zeke takes another helmet hit on his thigh and can't run the following week, all because he played in a meaningless game.

Some positions, and I think RB is in that category, can take a week off without a drop off in production. I don't think QB falls into that category.
 
LovinItAll said:
That strategy is fine until Zeke takes another helmet hit on his thigh and can't run the following week, all because he played in a meaningless game.

Some positions, and I think RB is in that category, can take a week off without a drop off in production. I don't think QB falls into that category.
Click to expand...
BS. Everyone cried when he didn't play two years ago and we lost.
 
Everyone plays first half except a select few who can use the two-week rest like Martin and Tyron. Phase in the scrubs in the 3rd and let NY win to lessen their draft position :flagwave:
 
Just rest them all...there is no point in playing this game with starters. If we lose 50-0 then that's on Garrett to get them focused on the real game that matters in 2 weeks.

Why play Dak for 1-2 quarters if you're going to rest Martin and Tyron too? The "they need reps" argument is weak, they've had 15 games' worth of reps already. You're not going to discover some new wrinkle in the offense in a meaningless game like some think.

In 2016, there was a valid argument to play everyone since they already had the bye week so having 2 weeks off would have been too much. But in this case, we have a chance at just 1 week off...much needed.
 
TheCoolFan said:
Just rest them all...there is no point in playing this game with starters. If we lose 50-0 then that's on Garrett to get them focused on the real game that matters in 2 weeks.

Why play Dak for 1-2 quarters if you're going to rest Martin and Tyron too? The "they need reps" argument is weak, they've had 15 games' worth of reps already. You're not going to discover some new wrinkle in the offense in a meaningless game like some think.

In 2016, there was a valid argument to play everyone since they already had the bye week so having 2 weeks off would have been too much. But in this case, we have a chance at just 1 week off...much needed.
Click to expand...

Idk if getting reps, 'momentum', etc. really matters, but I do know we came out flat after the bye. I **think** some positions are less affected by rest than others, but I'm not a coach.
 
This is a perfect game for Dak to play loose and air it out. Try different things. Stop playing so tight and conservative. Maybe he gains a little more confidence to throw downfield. This all depends on the OLine play of course. Give Dak 1 maybe 2 Qtrs. Then it's Rush time.
 
Grevus said:
This is a perfect game for Dak to play loose and air it out. Try different things. Stop playing so tight and conservative. Maybe he gains a little more confidence to throw downfield. This all depends on the OLine play of course. Give Dak 1 maybe 2 Qtrs. Then it's Rush time.
Click to expand...

I kinda hope the coaches tell him to send at least one out of every few throws down the seams or midfield in general. I don't care if it turns into 10 interceptions.

Some of his passing charts lately have black holes in the entire midfield and I think slinging it there some might up his confidence.

After years and years of watching Witten play here, it's something else to watch Dallas try to drive without hitting between the hashes or up the seam.
 
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