Why demanding a blowout is silly

[Bobhaze]

Almost all week, these boards have been full of “If we don’t beat Miami by __ points, we suck.” That notion is silly. Why?

The only reason so many of fans want to see us win by a blowout Sunday is because margin of victory somehow affects how we feel about our team. That's the only reason. We as fans (and football writers) are quick to see a margin of victory in a win as some kind of confirmation of what we believe about our team. But actually, in the NFL, winning itself is the confirmation. Not point spreads. If we win Sunday by one point or fifty, we remain in first place of the NFC east.

This isn’t college football, where point spreads matter to impress voters. Thankfully NFL teams don’t qualify for the playoffs based on a vote of football writers.

What do I expect Sunday? I expect Dallas to win. By one or by fifty. Just win.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

A one point win against a crap team like Miami will feel like a loss. I expect at least a 3 TD win.

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

Totally agree. We should be hoping for 2 things

1. A win
2. The Cowboys leave Miami healthy or without adding bodies to the injury list..

 

[TWOK11]

I’m not demanding a blowout, it’s just gonna happen that way and there’s nothing Miami can do about it. They’re the worst NFL team in my lifetime and possibly on par with an elite college program in terms of talent.

Don’t sweat it

 

[jday]

Almost all week, these boards have been full of “If we don’t beat Miami by __ points, we suck.” That notion is silly. Why?

The only reason so many of fans want to see us win by a blowout Sunday is because margin of victory somehow affects how we feel about our team. That's the only reason. We as fans (and football writers) are quick to see a margin of victory in a win as some kind of confirmation of what we believe about our team. But actually, in the NFL, winning itself is the confirmation. Not point spreads. If we win Sunday by one point or fifty, we remain in first place of the NFC east.

This isn’t college football, where point spreads matter to impress voters. Thankfully NFL teams don’t qualify for the playoffs based on a vote of football writers.

What do I expect Sunday? I expect Dallas to win. By one or by fifty. Just win.

Not that anything you said was wrong, Bob, but the real reason it's silly to expect a blowout is because if you're a fan of the Cowboys you know what this coaching staff is going to do with a 3 possession lead: Bench the starters.

 

[garyo1954]

Totally agree. We should be hoping for 2 things

1. A win
2. The Cowboys leave Miami healthy or without adding bodies to the injury list..

The game is in Arlington. So number 2 on the list is guaranteed.

 

[viman96]

It depends how Garrett approaches the game. If he plays it safe and to not get starters hurt then the number points scored should expected to be less.

 

[Hennessy_King]

I need a 22.5 point win

 

[T-RO]

A one point win against a crap team like Miami will feel like a loss. I expect at least a 3 TD win.

You are confirming BobHaze's point. Miami held the Dolphins to 379 yards. The Pats scored 43 because of 5 Dolphin turnovers. There are no easy games in the NFL.

 

[Bobhaze]

A one point win against a crap team like Miami will feel like a loss. I expect at least a 3 TD win.

You confirmed one of my points in the OP:
“The only reason so many of fans want to see us win by a blowout Sunday is because margin of victory somehow affects how we feel about our team.”

 

[garyo1954]

I'll be satisfied with a close 73-0 game.

 

[MojaveJT]

I’m not demanding a blowout either but I want to see dominance on both sides of the ball.

Struggling to move the ball or seeing Miami march down the field is something I don’t want to see.

 

[Corso]

Almost all week, these boards have been full of “If we don’t beat Miami by __ points, we suck.” That notion is silly. Why?

The only reason so many of fans want to see us win by a blowout Sunday is because margin of victory somehow affects how we feel about our team. That's the only reason. We as fans (and football writers) are quick to see a margin of victory in a win as some kind of confirmation of what we believe about our team. But actually, in the NFL, winning itself is the confirmation. Not point spreads. If we win Sunday by one point or fifty, we remain in first place of the NFC east.

This isn’t college football, where point spreads matter to impress voters. Thankfully NFL teams don’t qualify for the playoffs based on a vote of football writers.

What do I expect Sunday? I expect Dallas to win. By one or by fifty. Just win.

Agreed my friend, unless you have dollar bills on the line...

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

You are confirming BobHaze's point. Miami held the Dolphins to 379 yards. The Pats scored 43 because of 5 Dolphin turnovers. There are no easy games in the NFL.

43-0 is an easy game, no matter how you spin it.

When you are playing a team in absolute turmoil, you have to beat them. We beat the Commanders by 10 and then Giants by 17, while any win is a win, there is no way on Earth that anyone can say they would be ok with barely beating the Dolphins. I will take that kind of win vs any other team except the Jets but this team is historically bad.

 

[Xelda]

I could be wrong, but I got the feeling from the first two games that our players are being used judiciously. Avoid injuries when possible. Winning by a large margin won't help if key players go out for any length of time. Just win, come home in one piece and live to fight another game.

 

[Jake]

A one point win against a crap team like Miami will feel like a loss. I expect at least a 3 TD win.

The key word being "feel" in this case, since it would still be 3-0.

It took all of two weeks for folks to go from "I hope we in" to "it had better be a blow out", despite this team never having won anything in 20+ years.

 

[GenoT]

Glad to see Garrett’s doing the right thing with blowouts; after building and holding a big lead, rest the starters and give the 2’s and 3’s their share of reps. At some point in a 16-game season, having experienced subs will pay off.

 

[JayFord]

I just want a win....its week 2 and last season midway into the season the colts looked like they were going 1-15 and then went to the playoffs

Teams treat dallas with extreme hatred because were the most hated team (like weve actually accomplished anything in 25 years) its like they want to shut our fans up because were the most “annoying” fans

 

[Bobhaze]

The key word being "feel" in this case, since it would still be 3-0.

It took all of two weeks for folks to go from "I hope we in" to "it had better be a blow out", despite this team never having won anything in 20+ years.

Great point!

 

[T-RO]

43-0 is an easy game, no matter how you spin it.

When you are playing a team in absolute turmoil, you have to beat them. We beat the Commanders by 10 and then Giants by 17, while any win is a win, there is no way on Earth that anyone can say they would be ok with barely beating the Dolphins. I will take that kind of win vs any other team except the Jets but this team is historically bad.

We do not know they are historically bad. We know they got clobbered by two of the best teams in the AFC. It was only 7-0 late into second quarter on Sunday. Patriots might have their best team in years.