This team’s identity

Diehardblues · Sep 23, 2020

Bobhaze said:
We shouldn’t be scared of anyone. The NFL no longer has dominant teams.

They still have dominant talents though , especially at QB.

When we look at the Seattle, Green Bay, KC and Balt of the league which I’d argue appear to at least early on and returning from last year to be the more dominant , they all have one key elite talent. Their QB. Which for the most part still separates the Elite teams.

cern · Sep 23, 2020

at 1-1 it's hard to establish an identity.

CouchCoach · Sep 23, 2020

Until they're not on the ropes to start a game, they only have the identity of a scrapper comeback team.

We haven't seen the strategy of the offense revealed yet because they have to go to tactics so early in the two games they've played.

Can you imagine McC, Moore and Nolan watching the Rams just march down the field against them with what was a problematic OL and their RB1 gone? They're figuring it will take a while for the teams to settle in and the Rams fired on all cylinders on their first opening drive of the season. That set off an alarm for the defense with Nolan immediately. Add to that his DL was a no show while the Rams wrecked the Cowboys OL.

I don't know if this will continue but the identity of this team is a boxer analogy, counter puncher. That could really blow up on them with SEA as they don't stop to take a breath.

CowboyRoy · Sep 23, 2020

Irvin88_4life said:
I don't think our defense is that bad. Seattle has the 32nd rank pass defense, can't get worst then that. They also give up the most 10+ yard plays in the league

Only reason our ranking isn't worse is because the Rams had no problems running it down our throats so they barely had to pass.

Our defense is bad against the run and the pass. The opposing team just has to figure out which one they want to attack.

Seattle offense is scoring big time so teams are throwing to keep up.

Jarv · Sep 23, 2020

So far we are a team that allows more points on defense than our offense scores-Bad

We have more rushing TDs than passing-Good to nuetral

We can move the ball passing or running-Good

We lost a game where we won the turnover battle and won a game where we lost the turnover battle-Weird and funny

Our special teams seems to be a mixed bag with 2 failed fake punts and one good on-side kick last week. Pollard keeps on taking chances with KR-Nuetral

MM seems to be more of a risk taker than JG was-I like this better.

Small sample size, but that is what I have so far.

Bobhaze · Sep 23, 2020

foofighters said:
We don't have a football identity. The Cowboys are basically Rocky Balboa before the first fight against Clubber Lang in Rocky III. Hotboyz...it's a lifestyle and all that nonsense.

Jerry has said he values the sizzle as much as the steak. Which is a ridiculous notion for a GM to say. Thus, we have the last 25 years.

DanA · Sep 23, 2020

I really think the defining identity is going to be tempo.

Full throttle and super aggressive when chasing the game. Grinding it out slow and methodically when we have a lead.

Bobhaze · Sep 23, 2020

Jarv said:
So far we are a team that allows more points on defense than our offense scores-Bad

We have more rushing TDs than passing-Good to nuetral

We can move the ball passing or running-Good

We lost a game where we won the turnover battle and won a game where we lost the turnover battle-Weird and funny

Our special teams seems to be a mixed bag with 2 failed fake punts and one good on-side kick last week. Pollard keeps on taking chances with KR-Nuetral

MM seems to be more of a risk taker than JG was-I like this better.

Small sample size, but that is what I have so far.

All excellent points. And as you said, a two game sample size is not very instructive. What I will consider a good sign will be seeing this HC run this team to its strengths, not what he wants the strengths to be. It seemed to me that Garrett made a lot planning and decisions based on what he wanted them to be rather than what they actually were.

CouchCoach · Sep 23, 2020

Bobhaze said:
Jerry has said he values the sizzle as much as the steak. Which is a ridiculous notion for a GM to say. Thus, we have the last 25 years.

Unfortunately for us, for him GM stands for Grand Marketer. He doesn't perform the other duties of GM's around the league, never has and never will. He only does what he wants to do. And as the Grand Marketer, he has no equal in the history of professional sports.

Sizzle sells, especially when the steak isn't prime.

Reverend Conehead · Sep 23, 2020

I want that running/ball control identity back. I kept hoping we would retain that and then add a top notch defense. That would make a championship team. And the 2016 team did have a better defense than the 2014 one, though I wouldn't classify it as elite.

Bobhaze · Sep 23, 2020

CouchCoach said:
Unfortunately for us, for him GM stands for Grand Marketer. He doesn't perform the other duties of GM's around the league, never has and never will. He only does what he wants to do. And as the Grand Marketer, he has no equal in the history of professional sports.

Sizzle sells, especially when the steak isn't prime.

It would be fun to analyze this team by identifying what we have that’s steak and what is actually just sizzle. As you said, “Sizzle sells” but it shouldn’t over time if it doesn’t include some playoff wins. I’m not interested in sizzle as a fan but there are a ton of fans who buy it at any costs. They are Jerry’s market.

kwcool619 · Sep 23, 2020

Irvin88_4life said:
KC struggled big time against the chargers and a rookie QB getting his first start. I'm not scared of KC

For the past couple of days on L.A. radio, that's the issue. Herbert was impressive against KC, and most Charger fans went him to be the starter. Some are on Tyrod Taylor's side stating he earned the starting position.
Through the past two games, KC looks beatable. Mahomes' worst games have been against the Chargers.

MyFairLady · Sep 23, 2020

We are nothing but Jerruh's play toy. We are basically his dildo.

LACowboysFan1 · Sep 23, 2020

Irvin88_4life said:
KC struggled big time against the chargers and a rookie QB getting his first start. I'm not scared of KC

KC had to come from behind in all 3 playoff games last year, and has had to do the same in one game this year.

That's happened to many teams before. No team has, or can continue to, do that week after week, year after year. One of two things always happens:

1. The team finally learns how to get ahead, and stay ahead. Come from behind wins aren't needed much.
2. The team starts to fail at comebacks, and falls back into mediocrity, or worse.

KC is on the clock, which team will they become?

conner01 · Sep 23, 2020

Your identity developes over time

eromeopolk · Sep 23, 2020

Bobhaze said:
Every football team develops an identity- what it knows about its strengths and weaknesses, and how that relates to winning.

Here’s how we know it’s too early in the season to know what your team is.....ask yourself this question: What is the Cowboys’ identity as a team this year? To me, it’s too early to tell because I don’t think any of us can answer that question with any certainty yet.

Remember the 2014 and 2016 teams? Both had outstanding time of possession offenses with decent defenses that didn’t have to be on the field as much. Seems like that identity is gone now.

But if you were speculating....what is this current team’s identity? New coaching staff, numerous new players. The options below are too limited, but it’s just to create some discussion. What is this team?

A. A great offense, built around scoring 30+ to win- strong passing game, good running game with a mediocre defense that is opportunistic with TO’s

B. An average offense and average defense, each week. You never know which unit will step up and play well.

It’s still too early to really know what this team’s identity is. But in order to build a winner, a team has to know what it’s strengths are and play to that. The next few weeks that identity will start to emerge.

What kind of team is this? What is your description of its identity? What are it’s strengths and weaknesses if you’re being honest and not wearing the homer fan glasses?

I think a record of 1-1 answers that question for you. You are average at this point of the season.

Bobhaze · Sep 23, 2020

conner01 said:
Your identity developes over time

It does. I'm interested in what people think we're going to become...as in what are our strengths? It's pure speculation at this point.

eromeopolk said:
I think a record of 1-1 answers that question for you. You are average at this point of the season.

What do you see this team becoming?

Bobhaze · Sep 23, 2020

Reverend Conehead said:
I want that running/ball control identity back. I kept hoping we would retain that and then add a top notch defense. That would make a championship team. And the 2016 team did have a better defense than the 2014 one, though I wouldn't classify it as elite.

But is this team capable of that anymore? I don’t think so. This team no longer has an OL that can impose its will on anyone. That 2016 team could do that but the 2020 version can’t.

Reverend Conehead · Sep 23, 2020

Bobhaze said:
But is this team capable of that anymore? I don’t think so. This team no longer has an OL that can impose its will on anyone. That 2016 team could do that but the 2020 version can’t.

I wonder if some of our woes are due to not gelling yet because of no preseason. If this team can't run ball control/TOP strategies effectively this season, then I would like to see that addressed in the draft and in the off season. When we're able to do the grind-it-out running to hog the clock, we've had excellent seasons. I don't think Dak is the type of QB who can carry the load in a pass happy offense.

CouchCoach · Sep 23, 2020

Reverend Conehead said:
I want that running/ball control identity back. I kept hoping we would retain that and then add a top notch defense. That would make a championship team. And the 2016 team did have a better defense than the 2014 one, though I wouldn't classify it as elite.

The OL isn't good enough and dominating NFL D's with a run game is a tough challenge, unless you have a running QB.

The other part of this is this team has spent two 1sts on WR's and 20M on one of them and the passing game is THE thing in the NFL now as the fans want more scoring. 31M to a QB doesn't enhance the run game.

This team’s identity

Diehardblues

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cern

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CouchCoach

CowboyRoy

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Jarv

Loud pipes saves lives.

Bobhaze

DanA

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Bobhaze

CouchCoach

Reverend Conehead

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Bobhaze

kwcool619

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MyFairLady

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LACowboysFan1

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conner01

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eromeopolk

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Bobhaze

Bobhaze

Reverend Conehead

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CouchCoach