Did McCarthy and his staff sense it yesterday?

CouchCoach said:

Already heard that practice didn't go well last week but I didn't hear or see any of that before this game.

Most coaches base how their team is going to play based on how they practiced, how sharp they were with no drops and plenty of energy.

Their hope is that the team will "wake up" before the game but I wonder if McC and his staff thought they were still sleepwalking when the game started? Did they think they'd already won it?

McC has gone for it on 4th down before so that's not out of character but was he trying to instill something in his team by doing that yesterday? It wasn't about analytics as much as lethargy. Was he trying to build the fire? They didn't even have a smoldering one that needed fuel, they had no fire.

Watch that play again and the other 4th down attempt. Did you see any heightened level of enthusiasm or does that look like just another play?

Did McC and his staff get the feeling they were dealing with Parcells and Saban's worst nightmare, a team that believes it's press clippings? Parcells referred to it as "taking the cheese" and Saban's is "rat poison".

Failure is tough for any athlete but success playing for the Cowboys might be just as hard. Funny that Parcells waits for his 4th stop to use that "let's not get out the anointing oil just yet". They sell that stuff in the malls in North Texas.

The Dallas Cowboys are an anomaly in one regard, just being a Cowboy is something special and I flat do not get that. They've barely been relevant in two and half decades but the glow still remains.

I am undecided on McC and his staff at this point but this game Sunday will get me off that fence.

Another 4-4 team is coming into ATT with a win in the last game and looking to get up in the playoff hunt by spanking America's Team and this will be a most watched game so far in the season because the Cowboys got totally knocked off their feet and down for the count in the previous game.

Will they come up off that mat swinging or ready to be knocked out again? Can McC get their attention without risking a game by going for it? Will his players respond or continue to think they are just better?

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Bobhaze said:

One of the things you mentioned Coach that I think is underrated- maybe hard for fans to understand. When you play for the Cowboys and are playing well, it actually adds another challenge to deal with- the hype.

The owner here is the king of hype and I’ve always felt the Cowboys needed a balance from its head coach to offset the over-heated hype that always surrounds this team when they play well. It’s why Jimmy was the ying to Jerry’s yang. Jimmy kept his team grounded and focused.

This is one of Big Mac’s biggest challenges- keeping his players grounded, humble and hungry. We will see in the next few weeks how well he is able to do that.

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CouchCoach said:

Already heard that practice didn't go well last week but I didn't hear or see any of that before this game.

Most coaches base how their team is going to play based on how they practiced, how sharp they were with no drops and plenty of energy.

Their hope is that the team will "wake up" before the game but I wonder if McC and his staff thought they were still sleepwalking when the game started? Did they think they'd already won it?

McC has gone for it on 4th down before so that's not out of character but was he trying to instill something in his team by doing that yesterday? It wasn't about analytics as much as lethargy. Was he trying to build the fire? They didn't even have a smoldering one that needed fuel, they had no fire.

Watch that play again and the other 4th down attempt. Did you see any heightened level of enthusiasm or does that look like just another play?

Did McC and his staff get the feeling they were dealing with Parcells and Saban's worst nightmare, a team that believes it's press clippings? Parcells referred to it as "taking the cheese" and Saban's is "rat poison".

Failure is tough for any athlete but success playing for the Cowboys might be just as hard. Funny that Parcells waits for his 4th stop to use that "let's not get out the anointing oil just yet". They sell that stuff in the malls in North Texas.

The Dallas Cowboys are an anomaly in one regard, just being a Cowboy is something special and I flat do not get that. They've barely been relevant in two and half decades but the glow still remains.

I am undecided on McC and his staff at this point but this game Sunday will get me off that fence.

Another 4-4 team is coming into ATT with a win in the last game and looking to get up in the playoff hunt by spanking America's Team and this will be a most watched game so far in the season because the Cowboys got totally knocked off their feet and down for the count in the previous game.

Will they come up off that mat swinging or ready to be knocked out again? Can McC get their attention without risking a game by going for it? Will his players respond or continue to think they are just better?

Click to expand...

VaqueroTD said:

100% agree. And I still think Big Mike is a good balance for that. He's more of a player's coach than Jimmy, but he rounds it off well with his Pittsburgh blue collar approach.

If I had a nickel for every post here that says: "It didn't come from Jerry first?" He's nowhere near as bad as he used to be, but I've come to realize that hype thing here is a problem too.

You can hear it in interviews with other team players. There is a perception that Dallas players are softer, more Hollywood. The locker room this week is where we find the true value of McCarthy.

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Diehardblues said:

It’s really becoming hilarious all of the attempts on 4th down. You’d think Jethro would shut it down.

Maybe this will give him the excuse to fire his butt and make Moore HC.

It’s becoming like Big Dumb Mikey is trolling Cowboys nation on every 4th down. Never seen anything like it.

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cowboy_ron said:

Moore isn't ready yet.

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CouchCoach said:

It was a quote from Lamb about the practices this week. I don't know if that was a comment from a post game but I saw it in writing.

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Bobhaze said:

One of the things you mentioned Coach that I think is underrated- maybe hard for fans to understand. When you play for the Cowboys and are playing well, it actually adds another challenge to deal with- the hype.

The owner here is the king of hype and I’ve always felt the Cowboys needed a balance from its head coach to offset the over-heated hype that always surrounds this team when they play well. It’s why Jimmy was the ying to Jerry’s yang. Jimmy kept his team grounded and focused.

This is one of Big Mac’s biggest challenges- keeping his players grounded, humble and hungry. We will see in the next few weeks how well he is able to do that.

Click to expand...