What is this team lacking?

CowboysFaninHouston said:

several resources .... but not all22....

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I'm thinking "film" isn't what you think it is. Unless you're hacking Cowboys offices.

USArmyVet said:

2 of Dak's 3 most passing yard games were losses......so 778 of his 2,932 passing yards, or 26.5%, came in losses. Also of note, Dak's 4 most passing attempts games were ALL Dallas LOSSES.

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Nevermind that the defense gave up an average of 33.5 points per game in those two losses, and the running game only mustered 62 yards per game and a 3.3 yards per carry in those 2 games. Also never mind one of those losses was against the defending Super Bowl champion.

But if the expectation is Dak has to throw the ball, run the ball and play defense for the entire team, I'm afraid he's going to come up short sometimes.

Cowboy Lover said:

I'm thinking "film" isn't what you think it is. Unless you're hacking Cowboys offices.

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Well perhaps...maybe I should say researched the game

CowboysWillRise said:

Fair officiating, and durability.

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less covid.

Whirlwin said:

In your opinion , is the quarterback. Is it the defense backfield . Is it that we don’t have a great offensive line . Is it the head coach. Is it the defensive line. Is it the linebackers.

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I think it's lacking good fans....

The team is lacking 10 more players like Parsons on defense.

CowboysFaninHouston said:

Well perhaps...maybe I should say researched the game

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Okay....fair enough.

OmerV said:

Nevermind that the defense gave up an average of 33.5 points per game in those two losses, and the running game only mustered 62 yards per game and a 3.3 yards per carry in those 2 games. Also never mind one of those losses was against the defending Super Bowl champion.

But if the expectation is Dak has to throw the ball, run the ball and play defense for the entire team, I'm afraid he's going to come up short sometimes.

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People keep making the defense an excuse.

There's no doubt our defense has problems. Historic worst last year. Improved....this year but hey dak isn't the only guy missing players.

And....if the offense is sluggish....who takes the brunt....the defense has to.
So don't blame the defense without dak getting some of it too.

Cowboy Lover said:

Okay....fair enough.

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Meant to type rewatched. Auto correct changed it

Cowboy Lover said:

People keep making the defense an excuse.

There's no doubt our defense has problems. Historic worst last year. Improved....this year but hey dak isn't the only guy missing players.

And....if the offense is sluggish....who takes the brunt....the defense has to.
So don't blame the defense without dak getting some of it too.

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It's not an excuse, it's part of the problem. Obviously Dak isn't perfect, and he's not Brady, Rodgers or Mahomes. There were certainly a couple of throws in the last game Dak would like another shot at (always are in a loss). But people can't just blame everything on the QB because they don't like the idea of pointing out other problems, or because it's convenient to point the finger at one person.

But I agree that it's intertwined - offense can affect defense and visa versa.

Still, at the end of the day the offense is responsible for putting up yardage and points and the defense is responsible for preventing the opponent from putting up yardage and points. By and large, if one side performs in a game at a level at or near the top of the league average, and the other at or near the bottom, do you really point more of the blame on the one that was at or near the top?

I think we lack the following:

1. A core group of durable players
2. A WR with speed to stretch the field
3. A quality OC and LG
4. A high level DT
5. A good FS

1. We carry too many injury prone players on the roster, we have for a number of years IMO, and it’s hard to build a successful season around players that aren’t consistently on the field. I don’t think we should have drafted guys like LVE, Jaylon, signed players like Kazee, and I don’t think we should have paid Tank, Crawford.

2. Hard to fault our WR group which is pretty awesome but it’d be nice to pair Amari’s route running and Ceedee Lamb with a guy that stretches the field. It’s a nice to have but not a necessity.

3. We are getting beat a bit on the interior whether it’s short yardage runs, penalties, or pressures and it’s definitely not Martin.It’s been a big factor when you against good DT’s like Vea, Jones and the like.

4. We just don’t have the cattle on the interior of our defence to cause problems. IMO it’s our weakest position group by a fair way.

5. We aren’t getting a lot from our free safety at the moment. I think it’s better than past years but it’s still not great and there hasn’t been a lot of splash plays.

But despite all this, I think if things line up right we are right there with the best teams in the league and capable of winning. No team is perfect.

Pass rush depth
O-line depth
A reliable kicker

OmerV said:

It's not an excuse, it's part of the problem. Obviously Dak isn't perfect, and he's not Brady, Rodgers or Mahomes. There were certainly a couple of throws in the last game Dak would like another shot at (always are in a loss). But people can't just blame everything on the QB because they don't like the idea of pointing out other problems, or because it's convenient to point the finger at one person.

But I agree that it's intertwined - offense can affect defense and visa versa.

Still, at the end of the day the offense is responsible for putting up yardage and points and the defense is responsible for preventing the opponent from putting up yardage and points. By and large, if one side performs in a game at a level at or near the top of the league average, and the other at or near the bottom, do you really point more of the blame on the one that was at or near the top?

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Okay...it's hard to keep track of all the back and retracking from people.
The offense doesn't just score points. Ball control and top are crucial. You criticized the d for 33 points.....but how many 3 and outs? What was top? You can't just throw points around.
I say 2016 was a model for success. So good a rookie could do it. I'm not sure how good the defense really was. And the offense wasn't dynamite and fireworks. But we did know how to control the game through the offense..

Does that mean we can exactly replicate it? Probably not....but we can use that as a model.

A Sextuple Guarantee®

Whirlwin said:

In your opinion , is the quarterback. Is it the defense backfield . Is it that we don’t have a great offensive line . Is it the head coach. Is it the defensive line. Is it the linebackers.

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I’m not that worried about this offense. I think in the end, it’s the defense that is this team’s biggest issue in its attempt to be a contender. Sure it’s better than last year, but look at how low that bar was. Parsons is an absolute generational talent this D can build around but there’s still more building to do.

But the DL still struggles to stop the run and too many of the young members of the secondary take too many chances, this are more vulnerable to big plays. This is a very young defense that has a lot of upside. There’s still time to make this D more competitive.

Consistently. Not sure why, either.

USArmyVet said:

2 of Dak's 3 most passing yard games were losses......so 778 of his 2,932 passing yards, or 26.5%, came in losses.

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Of course. When you're playing from behind, you have to pass more. And when you're playing from behind, you usually lose. That falls under the category of duh.

The interesting exception is the TB game, where the pass-heavy offense was the plan from the beginning. Yes, they lost on a last-second FG but that doesn't invalidate the offensive approach, which worked brilliantly.

USArmyVet said:

Also of note, Dak's 4 most passing attempts games were ALL Dallas LOSSES.

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That's false, whether you're looking at this year or at his whole career.

Cowboy Lover said:

Okay...it's hard to keep track of all the back and retracking from people.
The offense doesn't just score points. Ball control and top are crucial. You criticized the d for 33 points.....but how many 3 and outs? What was top? You can't just throw points around.
I say 2016 was a model for success. So good a rookie could do it. I'm not sure how good the defense really was. And the offense wasn't dynamite and fireworks. But we did know how to control the game through the offense..

Does that mean we can exactly replicate it? Probably not....but we can use that as a model.

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Got it. Scoring points fast is a sign of a bad offense, and allowing the other team to score points is a sign of a bad offense.

I'll note that the defense gave up half the Raiders' points in the first 15 minutes of the game on Thursday. The defense being tired because of TOP was not the issue.

Bobhaze said:

I’m not that worried about this offense. I think in the end, it’s the defense that is this team’s biggest issue in its attempt to be a contender. Sure it’s better than last year, but look at how low that bar was. Parsons is an absolute generational talent this D can build around but there’s still more building to do.

But the DL still struggles to stop the run and too many of the young members of the secondary take too many chances, this are more vulnerable to big plays. This is a very young defense that has a lot of upside. There’s still time to make this D more competitive.

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I just hope in a couple years down the road when we mature, because we are young. We still have some other more talented players with us. The future is always Bright but it’s been great for how many years

Whirlwin said:

In your opinion , is the quarterback. Is it the defense backfield . Is it that we don’t have a great offensive line . Is it the head coach. Is it the defensive line. Is it the linebackers.

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toughness, it is a mindset. Troy said it best not long ago, too many players too d@mn happy to play for the Cowboys. That is the biggest difference b/w this team and the 90s team. The 90's team was tough. Talked shish and backed it up.