Why do we continually struggle?

Redball Express

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I posted this in another thread but the topic is probably of interest.

Somebody asked why we have not been successful as a team.

You guys will have many answers and I have many questions as a fan for over 50 years.

Here is my answer to the question..

-----'---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They have not been successful becuz they take on too many hopeless headcases like Hardy and Gregory and Irvin and Rolando McLean.

They continually take on more like them in Austin, Claiborne, Carr and others who either can not stay healthy or under perform but have big contracts.

Now we have resigned Lee who never can finish a season and resigned Witten who bless his heart can't get deeper than a 5 yd. turn around pass.

This is depressing.

It's a pattern of hoping they are right and depending on a core of stars to carry the load and hope the rest come along.

Fully about 25 % of the roster is not productive and cannot contribute much.

Special teams is a joke..we have nobody who can return a kick past 10 yards and will not make fixing it a priority.

Jimster used to say you had to win 2/3rd of the offense, defense and special teams to succeed.

We win on offense or fight to a stalemate, we fall behind on defense and have to mount furious 4th Qt. comebacks and our kicking game is average with no returns to speak of.

Last year we were very lucky in the second half of the year that both the Commanders and Philly had QB problems and we caught them.

Do not plan on that again.

The odds are against us.

Now what?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's the off season and FA has not improved anything and not much has changed except we have lost 4 starters in Swaim, Gregory, Irvin and and a LBer to KC again..

and signed some camp bodies at TE and safety and a rotation DL.

This is a significant net loss so far and I am not looking forward to the draft as we are too far down to expect anything that is going to help replace these losses.

Add to that our schedule in 2019 will be more difficult this year and I am trying to see where to be positive.

I think I need some help.

:huh:
 

TruBluSince1982

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Well we have been successful in the strictest sense, but I'm certainly there with you.

We never do enough. We never patch our obvious holes. I see these every season. We lose quality players every season and our draft capital goes to replace these spots instead of where those picks "should" be going to finally get over the hump. Should be obvious already that is going to be a problem once again.

Our inability to properly utilize FA is where this stems from. Simple enough.


Our obvious predictability on offense is the other culprit. Although maybe or possibly that issue has now been corrected. We'll have to wait and see obviously.
 
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KingintheNorth

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The unique (unfortunate) situation of having an owner/GM is that there is a not a lot of accountability or consequences for his choices. A GM whose livelihood is tied to the success and failure of his acquisitions is going to be less willing to take chances on character/injury concerns players and will be more aggressive in attempting to improve the roster. Simply because they know if they don't get better, they will lose their job.

Jerry views success lately as marketing/popularity/franchise value success. Stephen seems to be running the team like a business, maximize profits while reducing costs, and there are a lot of yes people employed by the Cowboys, so no one really challenges them. We have too many comfortable people in critical positions who do not fear for their professional lives.
 

OmerV

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These ongoing declarations that Witten is only good for 3-5 yards (depending on the poster) has to eventually give way to common sense don’t they? Witten clearly isn’t, and will not be, what he once was, but you can’t average 9-10 ypc on 3-5 yard receptions.
 

noshame

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Jerry
It's that simple. if the owner would have opened his checkbook and stayed out of football operations we'd be the premier team in the league. Jerry could easily be the most successful owner in sports history.
 

BigCatMonaco

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These ongoing declarations that Witten is only good for 3-5 yards (depending on the poster) has to eventually give way to common sense don’t they? Witten clearly isn’t, and will not be, what he once was, but you can’t average 9-10 ypc on 3-5 yard receptions.

Especially considering he had 1.8 yards after catch in 2017. And averaged 9 yards per catch.

So he was on average getting at least 7 yards deep before the catch
 

OmerV

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Especially considering he had 1.8 yards after catch in 2017. And averaged 9 yards per catch.

So he was on average getting at least 7 yards deep before the catch

Yep. Never was a big run after the catch guy, and that aspect fell off even further as he aged
 

OmerV

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division champs 3 of last 5 years and 2 playoff wins doesn't say team struggling to me...it says we are getting close to the top of the mountain and have cone up short a few times.

I started to make a similar comment. I’m not happy about coming up short all the time, but “struggling” makes it sound like we are constantly at or near the cellar.
 

JoeKing

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When it's not your money it's so easy to say where it should be spent. I hate it when people say this team is not successful. The Cowboys have had far more success than most teams, even recently. But unfortunately, some people only consider a success if you've won it all and that is were we have fallen short. We struggle because every team struggles at some point. This team is in a good position and should do well in the coming season. Be glad for that rather than always dwelling on the gloom and doom that I see fans doing all the time.
 

BatteryPowered

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division champs 3 of last 5 years and 2 playoff wins doesn't say team struggling to me...it says we are getting close to the top of the mountain and have cone up short a few times.

Then maybe stagnant is a better word. I agree with the approach of building through the draft...and lately they have drafted better. But a window exist right now. It's time to supplement the talent you have drafted and developed. They may have to get a little creative with the cap, but that can be done without putting the franchise back in "cap hell". If nothing is done...the window with a cheap QB will disappear with nothing to really show for it.

They have Zeke for this season...then pick up the 5th year option. They can franchise him so that gets them three years (assuming he doesn't decide to sit). At that time he will be closing in on 30...are you going to give a huge, long-term contract to a RB with six years under his belt?

Remember...if you're not getting better, you're getting worse.
 

Bullflop

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Jerry Jones has already answered this. He said he would have fired Jerry (The GM) several times over by now.

So true, although, I believe Jerry made that comment over a decade ago before George Steinbrenner died, saying if he were George Steinbrenner, he would have fired himself several times.

In fact, it's ironic that Jerry acknowledges this, despite having refused to abandon his GM post for multiple decades now. He's wholly content to continue mismanaging his team, despite knowing that they consistently fall short of being a true Super Bowl contender.

Unfortunately for the fans, he apparently much prefers to revel in the fact that he's become such a successful business owner. Of course, he'll vehemently deny caring less than he has in the past about wanting a Super Bowl desperately. I can't help but suspect he'll deny that 'til the bitter end. :rolleyes:
 
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Brax

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I posted this in another thread but the topic is probably of interest.

Somebody asked why we have not been successful as a team.

You guys will have many answers and I have many questions as a fan for over 50 years.

Here is my answer to the question..

-----'---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They have not been successful becuz they take on too many hopeless headcases like Hardy and Gregory and Irvin and Rolando McLean.

They continually take on more like them in Austin, Claiborne, Carr and others who either can not stay healthy or under perform but have big contracts.

Now we have resigned Lee who never can finish a season and resigned Witten who bless his heart can't get deeper than a 5 yd. turn around pass.

This is depressing.

It's a pattern of hoping they are right and depending on a core of stars to carry the load and hope the rest come along.

Fully about 25 % of the roster is not productive and cannot contribute much.

Special teams is a joke..we have nobody who can return a kick past 10 yards and will not make fixing it a priority.

Jimster used to say you had to win 2/3rd of the offense, defense and special teams to succeed.

We win on offense or fight to a stalemate, we fall behind on defense and have to mount furious 4th Qt. comebacks and our kicking game is average with no returns to speak of.

Last year we were very lucky in the second half of the year that both the Commanders and Philly had QB problems and we caught them.

Do not plan on that again.

The odds are against us.

Now what?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's the off season and FA has not improved anything and not much has changed except we have lost 4 starters in Swaim, Gregory, Irvin and and a LBer to KC again..

and signed some camp bodies at TE and safety and a rotation DL.

This is a significant net loss so far and I am not looking forward to the draft as we are too far down to expect anything that is going to help replace these losses.

Add to that our schedule in 2019 will be more difficult this year and I am trying to see where to be positive.

I think I need some help.

:huh:
you could of answered your post question with 2 words. "Jerry Jones" no more is needed.
 

glimmerman

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We made the second round of the playoffs. It’s a start. They are doing ok. No FA splash so JJ has learned his lessons about big contracts with FA signings. He wants to build through the draft which keeps your team young. McClay has done well finding talent, especially in later rounds. Which is a good thing since we have no first rounder this year.
 

dckid

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When it's not your money it's so easy to say where it should be spent. I hate it when people say this team is not successful. The Cowboys have had far more success than most teams, even recently. But unfortunately, some people only consider a success if you've won it all and that is were we have fallen short. We struggle because every team struggles at some point. This team is in a good position and should do well in the coming season. Be glad for that rather than always dwelling on the gloom and doom that I see fans doing all the time.
I don’t understand your comment. Jerry is a billionaire because of the Cowboys. He earns more money than any other NFL owner. I don’t think fans begrudge him for that or for not going out and overpaying Free agents. Fans have been upset since 1994 when he became the GM. His refusal to hire a real GM, this team’s constant underperformance when we have actually had talent.
He does not know how to build a culture of winnnng and accountability.
Jimmy Johnson would cut guys for fraternizing with opponents, smiling and laughing when went 1-15. Cowboys fans are now accustomed to being losers.
We fall in love with Romo, Witten, Dak, you name the player.
 

Bobhaze

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Jerry
It's that simple. if the owner would have opened his checkbook and stayed out of football operations we'd be the premier team in the league. Jerry could easily be the most successful owner in sports history.
This...it is that simple. We struggle because of the way Jerral Wayne Jones chooses to run this franchise. Everything else is a distant second place.
 
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