After two games: What we know and don’t know

I always believe it takes at least 4-6 games to have a good idea what an NFL team’s identity is. So after two weeks and two wild games for this team, I still believe it’s trying to find itself.

Here are a few things I believe we do know about this team, although it could still change:

• The defense is a mess. We knew going into this season it was our weak link, and so far that has clearly proven out. It must improve for us to have any shot to do anything this year. Injuries to several starters don’t help.

• The OL is no longer a top position unit in this league. Injuries along with the Travis Frederick retirement have made this unit less than stellar. Rookie Terrance Steele and and second year retread Brandon Knight have shown some promise, but it’s way too early to know if those guys can be consistent.

• Dak Prescott is an outstanding QB in this league. The anti-Dak Cowboys fans cannot say Dak sucks and be able to call themselves objective. He has become one of the top young QBs in this league and he’s still only 27. He’s not Mahomes (no one else is) but he’s really good.
  
  
• Zeke has continued to play at a high level. Most RBs by their 5th year begin to show some wear on the tire tread. Zeke has played very well to start the season, even with a makeshift OL.

• Mike McCarthy seems to be trying too hard to make a statement- I like a HC who takes risks, but there’s a difference between risk and stupid. The decision to go for two with 4 min left and down 9 yesterday was incredibly foolish. He got rescued by Dak’s playmaking and poise late along with the mindlessly stupid falcon special team players who apparently didn’t understand you have to recover an onside kick, lol. Relax Coach Mac. Don’t try too hard.

What we don’t know yet:

• Will this rash of injuries to start the season continue, and if so can we overcome them?Overcoming injuries are part of the game too many fans don’t seem to realize. The ability of the coaching staff to coach up backup players is huge. If the backups can perform well enough to keep the team afloat, we will still have a chance.
  
  
• The identity of this team is still in doubt- is this team mentally tough enough to overcome its problems? Mental toughness is huge when injuries have ravaged your team. Will be interesting to see if this team can develop a swagger despite being banged up.

• Will this defense be able to improve? If not, this is clearly not a playoff team. If it is to improve, it will need to come from some unproven players like Diggs and several other young and unproven players. Can Mike Nolan cobble together a defense that can improve to a level of at least average?

It’s still way too early to start looking at the schedule and declaring where the wins will come from. Many fans will of course, but this team after two games is damn lucky to be 1-1. If this team is to become something better than mediocre, there is a lot of work to be done.

We know this defense absolutely sucks.

Injuries may take a significant role with practically every team this season.

DallasEast said:

Injuries may take a significant role with practically every team this season.

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The ability to overcome injuries enough to stay alive in a playoff race is what separates the contenders from the pretenders.

Bobhaze said:

The ability to overcome injuries enough to stay alive in a playoff race is what separates the contenders from the pretenders.

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Yep. There may have been signs of that contender potential witnessed in yesterday's game. Time will tell.

I think it's a real shame that all the risks MM has taken have fallen flat because we have been screaming out for this riskier approach for years. He has deserved more luck than he has so far got but i for one hope he continues in the same vein.

Bobhaze said:

• Dak Prescott is an outstanding QB in this league. The anti-Dak Cowboys fans cannot say Dak sucks and be able to call themselves objective. He has become one of the top young QBs in this league and he’s still only 27. He’s not Mahomes (no one else is) but he’s really good.

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I'm a Dak fan, I just don't think he's worth near the money he wants. He's not an Elite QB. Very good, even great at times, but he's not Elite, and therefore should not make Elite money.

Until this defense gets better play from the tackles and linebackers, they will continue to gash them in the middle of the field. At some point you need to pull the plug on Jaylon, he is a good person, but a terrible linebacker. Even when he makes a tackle, he is always hitting the guy high. I think he is too top heavy and has issues bending. He is just not a good linebacker.

Bobhaze said:

• Mike McCarthy seems to be trying too hard to make a statement- I like a HC who takes risks, but there’s a difference between risk and stupid. The decision to go for two with 4 min left and down 9 yesterday was incredibly foolish. He got rescued by Dak’s playmaking and poise late along with the mindlessly stupid falcon special team players who apparently didn’t understand you have to recover an onside kick, lol. Relax Coach Mac. Don’t try too hard.

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The decision to go for 2 is the right call. There is no logic in not going for it at that point. Most teams do this the wrong way, and fans just mindlessly go right along with it. It's as if they think that extra point is just going to magically appear out of thin air at some point.

My gut tells me they are going to get embarrassed in Seattle playing like they have the past two weeks.

DallasEast said:

Injuries may take a significant role with practically every team this season.

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San Francisco took a huge hit yesterday.

Retread? Interesting verbiage for Knight.

Defense is disappointing early on for looking similar to Rod's bend and hopefully not break style.
Pressure is non existent, and guys like Griffen,Law and Smith are healthy. Lack of interior pressure stinks too.
But, for this game early on, I can't fault the defense for the 1st quarter debacle. They were not given any favors by the offense for field position.
The gloves by our corners must be made of concrete.

Other questions...
How long will Tyron be out? Clearly, his injury was severe enough that Knight assumed he’d be playing all week. He could be back this week or gone all season.

Just because Collins and Lee are eligible to return after 3 weeks on IR doesn’t mean they will return. Hip injury and hernia surgery could keep them both out much longer than the next game. How long?

We know Anthony Brown will be out longer. Can Jordan Lewis play better than he did on Sunday when he was awful?

Can this team find a pass rush?

Bobhaze said:

I always believe it takes at least 4-6 games to have a good idea what an NFL team’s identity is. So after two weeks and two wild games for this team, I still believe it’s trying to find itself.

Here are a few things I believe we do know about this team, although it could still change:

• The defense is a mess. We knew going into this season it was our weak link, and so far that has clearly proven out. It must improve for us to have any shot to do anything this year. Injuries to several starters don’t help.

• The OL is no longer a top position unit in this league. Injuries along with the Travis Frederick retirement have made this unit less than stellar. Rookie Terrance Steele and and second year retread Brandon Knight have shown some promise, but it’s way too early to know if those guys can be consistent.

• Dak Prescott is an outstanding QB in this league. The anti-Dak Cowboys fans cannot say Dak sucks and be able to call themselves objective. He has become one of the top young QBs in this league and he’s still only 27. He’s not Mahomes (no one else is) but he’s really good.
  
  
• Zeke has continued to play at a high level. Most RBs by their 5th year begin to show some wear on the tire tread. Zeke has played very well to start the season, even with a makeshift OL.

• Mike McCarthy seems to be trying too hard to make a statement- I like a HC who takes risks, but there’s a difference between risk and stupid. The decision to go for two with 4 min left and down 9 yesterday was incredibly foolish. He got rescued by Dak’s playmaking and poise late along with the mindlessly stupid falcon special team players who apparently didn’t understand you have to recover an onside kick, lol. Relax Coach Mac. Don’t try too hard.

What we don’t know yet:

• Will this rash of injuries to start the season continue, and if so can we overcome them?Overcoming injuries are part of the game too many fans don’t seem to realize. The ability of the coaching staff to coach up backup players is huge. If the backups can perform well enough to keep the team afloat, we will still have a chance.
  
  
• The identity of this team is still in doubt- is this team mentally tough enough to overcome its problems? Mental toughness is huge when injuries have ravaged your team. Will be interesting to see if this team can develop a swagger despite being banged up.

• Will this defense be able to improve? If not, this is clearly not a playoff team. If it is to improve, it will need to come from some unproven players like Diggs and several other young and unproven players. Can Mike Nolan cobble together a defense that can improve to a level of at least average?

It’s still way too early to start looking at the schedule and declaring where the wins will come from. Many fans will of course, but this team after two games is damn lucky to be 1-1. If this team is to become something better than mediocre, there is a lot of work to be done.

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I think this team showed yesterday that they are mentally tough. To be down 29-10 at the half and come back to win was an impressive showing of mental toughness. However, we were incredibly fortunate to win that game. I agree wholeheartedly that McCarthy is trying too hard to make statements and show that he's a risk taker. The 2 fake punt decisions were examples of this. Chris Jones can't throw. He's certainly no Johnny Hekker. Why trying to fake with him throwing made no sense. The fake punt run on the second attempt was daft!!! It was 4th and 5! Did he honestly think we'd get the first down on that? If we were going to go for it there, then we should have done that normally. I personally don't mind going for 2 when we did because we'd have to do so eventually anyway. So, I don't mind us trying to get that out the way there. I just thought the play call there was incredibly stupid. I don't mind McCarthy taking chances, but the way he was doing it made no sense.

I love how much poise Dak has. For those that rip on Dak, tell me 1 QB that could bring a team back after 4 turnovers in that game where we were getting annihilated at the half to win that game like that. That was amazing!! I think our oline will be fine once Collins and Smith are back, especially if we can get Leary back. I loved using Antwaan Woods at FB on that sneak. I think we should use him more there. Is there a rule against a player being a 2 way player in the current NFL?

Kevinicus said:

The decision to go for 2 is the right call. There is no logic in not going for it at that point. Most teams do this the wrong way, and fans just mindlessly go right along with it. It's as if they think that extra point is just going to magically appear out of thin air at some point.

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No that isn’t the right call with 4 min left. By not making it, you were going to have to score twice in 4 min to win. Which they did in spite of the decision.

I rewatched the game at 5am this morning. Pathetic I know but I was up early so what the hell. Here is my take...

The OL was terrible in the 1st but really stepped up. It’s remarkable how well the tackles played given who they are. Long term that’s good for Dallas.

CeeDee reminds me of Michael Thomas. Not a blazer but a shifty guy with great route running. He is also tough after the catch. I think he can put on 10 pounds and that will only help.

The WRs as a whole were excellent. They all made big plays. People here rip on Cooper. That catch was amazing. The guy can play.

Zeke has no burst. He is no longer a home run hitter but he is a bull. They need to be careful that he doesn’t hurt himself with that punishing style.

I have been real hard on Schultz. He shut me up. Fumble was bad but he played well. Maybe he just needed a chance.

The fake punts didn’t bother me on further review. Both plays should have worked. I think having the threat to fake a punt will help them down the road.

Dak is a star QB. Period. He is not Pat Mahomes but who is? Dak is a winner. He played a great game despite taking a few shots.

Jaylon Smith is terrible. I don’t care what the stats say. Even on the blitzes he is not close to getting home. Late in the 3 Q he flat out gave up on a big play to Hurst. He just stopped running. The coaches have to see that. Guy needs to be a healthy scratch for a couple weeks and find some humility.

Biggest play in the game, late 3rd down. Griffen makes a coverage sack. No Tank. No Tank a lot of the game. I need to check the stats but he got a little more than half the snaps. Not what you pay 105 million for. Even when he was in he would get stood up at the line and often carried out of the play. If he is not hurt he also needs to be a healthy scratch when Gregory is ready. Tank and Smith are going to be salary cap albatrosses.

Chido is the worst CB on the team. By far. That guy has no dawg in him at all and is easily defeated. Diggs on the other hand has gotten beat the first 2 weeks but you can tell he is a special player. Got beat and came right back to make a nice play. While Chido looks gassed to me late, Diggs looks like a Bama player. Still strong late in a wild game.

Aldon Smith looked like a guy that needs a couple more weeks to get in game shape. It’s a shame that Dallas has had to rely on him heavily early on. Lawrence’s lack of any production hurts this team.

Poe had very limited impact. Very. We all wanted a run stuffer DT. He is no longer that. Hill was again the best interior defender. If he can check his attitude he might become something special.

The on sides kick was one of the best I have seen. It was so good it seemed to bedazzle the Falcons.

Garrett does not win that game,

JakeCamp12 said:

Until this defense gets better play from the tackles and linebackers, they will continue to gash them in the middle of the field. At some point you need to pull the plug on Jaylon, he is a good person, but a terrible linebacker. Even when he makes a tackle, he is always hitting the guy high. I think he is too top heavy and has issues bending. He is just not a good linebacker.

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And Jaylon is frequently out of position as well. You're perfectly right by saying what you've said about Jaylon. He's just not a very good linebacker. At least not at the spot he's in. Maybe shifting him to a different side of LB will help.

Bobhaze said:

The ability to overcome injuries enough to stay alive in a playoff race is what separates the contenders from the pretenders.

Click to expand...

yes and we made a huge comeback and a 3point loss on the road after passing up an easy 3 to tie from being 2-0

its true game of inches and crazy things happen week to week..
new staff , defense turned over like 70% of the players now going into week 3 will take ton of time to adjust and gel.. they did only give up 20 points to the rams and the rams dropped 37 on the eagles defense. Try to look at it in a positive way we were close to being 2-0 as 0-2 people choose to see it how they see it..

I choose to have faith and patience given all the circumstances and this is not the old staff.. we owe them the benefit of the doubt..

Bobhaze said:

No that isn’t the right call with 4 min left. By not making it, you were going to have to score twice in 4 min to win. Which they did in spite of the decision.

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You have to go for 2 at some point. Failing to convert, no matter when, means you still need an extra possession. Waiting just increases your chances at wasting time and losing.

Where are you getting that extra point from?

You kick there, then you get a later touchdown and have to go for two (and perhaps ran off a bit more clock). Then you fail...what then?

Like I said, there is no logic that supports kicking it.

Kevinicus said:

The decision to go for 2 is the right call. There is no logic in not going for it at that point. Most teams do this the wrong way, and fans just mindlessly go right along with it. It's as if they think that extra point is just going to magically appear out of thin air at some point.

Click to expand...

I agree, you have to go for it at some point so why not do it early and know if you have a 1 or 2 possession game?

Putting it off is really for ratings/fan engagement more than giving your team the best chance to win.