Shortcomings were clearly on display last night

TheHerd said:

The thang he fumbled on?

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Once.

Trouty said:

I like Whitehead, too. We need to see how the rest of the season plays out with him. He had a bad game, but he has abilities that others on our team don't. Remember, Zoners, the disaster that was Beasley returning kicks and punts??

I'd like to give him more of a chance.

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Yeah had a rough game but every time a player has a rough game seeing fans want to cut or replace him as become a joke around here. I don't know how many times I have seen T Williams catch hell from fans who wanted him replaced. Lucky has done some very good things this season as well. He is not a HOF or a pro bowler but by and large he does the role he is asked to do very well.

Gameover said:

How about Minny is really good in some areas that happened to cause match up problems for us? As good as the Hawks defense is, it's largely been a favorable match up for us. Minnesota front was not favorable for us. Styles make fights. If you went into this game without concerns, you're not being realistic. They were number 1 in the league in passing yards allowed. And unlike Baltimore, they hadn't fatten'd up their stats on Cleveland and a couple of other bad offenses. Don't panic. We'll be fine vs the Giants.

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Not worried, just letting everyone know that fatigue is a legit reason for some of the poor play.

Wonderboyromo said:

He made a mistake for sure. But that play has been GREAT for us this year, until one time last night. I hope they keep running it with him.

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Agreed , but Landry said something in the early 70s I'll never forget. He said not turning the ball over is critical to success, and that a turnover is worth 100 yards.

Lucky has clearly made some nice plays. But no turnovers please. That's why the fumbles by Dak are my only concern with him right now.

TheHerd said:

Agreed , but Landry said something in the early 70s I'll never forget. He said not turning the ball over is critical to success, and that a turnover is worth 100 yards.

Lucky has clearly made some nice plays. But no turnovers please. That's why the fumbles by Dak are my only concern with him right now.

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No one likes turnover but even HOF players have made them.

TheHerd said:

Agreed , but Landry said something in the early 70s I'll never forget. He said not turning the ball over is critical to success, and that a turnover is worth 100 yards.

Lucky has clearly made some nice plays. But no turnovers please. That's why the fumbles by Dak are my only concern with him right now.

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I think Lucky is too turnover prone on punts returns. I really hate seeing him about to return one.

Yeah, Dak holding onto the ball too long and not feeling the pressure before getting hit and fumbling is about my only concern with him at the moment. I like that he doesn't get happy feet in the pocket (like, at all), but that's something he definitely needs to correct.

Wonderboyromo said:

HOWEVER, he makes me incredibly nervous when returning punts/kicks. Not sure what it is, but I think it's his tendency to want to run it out all the time. There will be a guy on bearing down on him on a punt and he tries to catch and run. He makes bad decisions too often there. I can see the argument for replacing him on the team. I'd give him more time, though. He does some nice things.

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My exact thoughts. I could easily see him blowing a game for us with a costly special teams fumble. I'd prefer to put Beasley in for punt and kick returns for nothing else other than being reliable at this point.

Doomsday101 said:

No one likes turnover but even HOF players have made them.

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Yup, everyone makes them. The key is to understand that it is far more important to prevent a turnover than take a chance on a high risk/reward play.

I'm a Romoholic, and don't want to turn this into a Romon thread, but that's one thing Tony never totally figured out. He was never a turnover machine, but his nature is to go for it, for good or bad.

Idgit said:

If you're not in the game threads, sometimes the posts the first few days after a game are surreal. After 11 straight wins, this is what passes for a loss reaction around hear.

That MIN defense is really good. It showed last night. We were lucky to come out with the win, but it's pretty amazing what this team accomplished the last 11 days. Against some good teams.

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I can't like this enough. No offense to the OP, but what weaknesses? We put up 17 points, we could have put up more if it called for it, but that's what we were able to do in a raucous stadium, against a TOP DEFENSE, a stingy defense, with a 4th round rookie, with Scandrick barely moving and no MO, no Randy Gregory. Are we supposed to score 30 every week against every team we play?

I'd like for guys to go back and look at the Cowboys points/differential from their Cowboys years and tell me what you see. 1992, SUPER BOWL COWBOYS -They had a 17-10 victory, and a 16-10 victory that year. 13-3 was their record. Please, let's get realistic here. Oh yeah, they had the top defense in the country, they had games of 28-23-20-27 that year with the number one defense in the country. IT'S NOT HOW YOU WIN, JUST WIN.

Philmonroe said:

How would you know the Hitchens play was luck ole,wise one? What are your football credentials to come up with this deduction? The rest is lol. Jones makes plays just not interceptions don't know what games your watching. As bad as the D was they gave up 15 pts and y'all still want to whine smh. We know they aren't the greatest so whining every week about common knowledge is,just pointless. It doesn't mean y'all will stop though but until the offseason it is what it is. I just hope and pray they keep doing just enough since its nobody really to make a difference this year.

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Does claiming that my opinion holds no weight somehow make you think your own opinion is more true?

You contradict yourself, so I probably shouldn't even entertain your rant. But you want to claim how wrong I am and that I have no "credentials" to say that the defense doesn't make plays, yet in the the very next line of text, you say that the defensive deficiencies are "common knowledge", and that you're just tired of the "whining".

If you're going to slam me for my opinion, at least tell me I'm wrong and keep it that way.

DBOY3141 said:

I think Traylor was signed to Baltimore's PS a couple of weeks ago.

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Yeah, I think he's bounced on and off. But if we want him, we can sign him to our active roster, which I believe we should.

I actually trust Whitehead not to fumble more than TWill. He got tackled from behind by a big that he did not see.. it wasn't like he was holding a loaf of bread in traffic. I don't think there is another punt returner on this team from a body build and quickness perspective. The threat of the jet sweep opens things for Zeke and Dak.

I'm not as down on Carr, but he does struggle against certain receivers. The Cowboys are still not a good zone D team.

Escobar I just don't understand. If we are not going to use the TE in pass game, might as well bring in a better blocker. He is like the Bobby Carpenter of tight ends.

The pass rush is the biggest issue.. we can't even get home on blitzes more than 20% of the time. Our best line seems to be Irving, Crawford, McClain, Lawrence but with the rotation they are rarely all together. Lawrence is better sized for the left side. He doesn't have the bend, hips and the quickness to be a consistent speedrush RDE and he doesn't have the moves or strength of Bruce Smith to effectively bull rush or collapse the pocket. For now dropping they are just trying to stop the run and drop extra men into coverage, but that just slows teams down and puts pressure on the offense to score. Bradford is usually running for his life with the line he has, but blitzing was the only thing that even made him a little uncomfortable. I don't know what the answer is going to be other than to come up with better games/schemes or blitzes. These guys can't win one on one straight up.

ABQcowboyJR said:

I agree with some of the things you brought up. I have not really understood why Lucky has been on the team from the jump. I love the talent he has, speed and explosiveness, but the guy rarely shows it. When he is returning punts pick a lane and go man, way too much dancing around an tentativeness in his game. Is it lack of creativity from the OC, not enough trust in him...probably a mix of both, but either way he doesn't provide much for us IMO. I'll for sure be looking to draft his replacement come next offseason.

Now when it comes to Pablo we just don't use him right. I fully place the blame of his failure on the coaching staff. They need to play him like a WR all of the time. He is going to be a guy that has a decent career somewhere other than here. It almost feels like if a guy doesn't fit right into the JWit mold he can't be used in the offense. The coaches need to be able to adjust the offense a little to fit the skill set of players. I think 89 has talent and can be a valuable piece if you cater to his skill set. Watch Brees turn him into a pro bowler...

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We need to stop with the Escobar worship. The guy just can't play.

Clove said:

in a raucous stadium,

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Attendance record for that stadium. Rookie QB. 3rd game in 12 days, 4th in 18. I would not have been upset or down on them if they had lost.

Idgit said:

If you're not in the game threads, sometimes the posts the first few days after a game are surreal. After 11 straight wins, this is what passes for a loss reaction around hear.

That MIN defense is really good. It showed last night. We were lucky to come out with the win, but it's pretty amazing what this team accomplished the last 11 days. Against some good teams.

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Who cares what they accomplished the past 11 days? This ain't college basketball. There are no regular season champion trophies. What are they going to do in January?

Idgit said:

If you're not in the game threads, sometimes the posts the first few days after a game are surreal. After 11 straight wins, this is what passes for a loss reaction around hear.

That MIN defense is really good. It showed last night. We were lucky to come out with the win, but it's pretty amazing what this team accomplished the last 11 days. Against some good teams.

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The game threads are mostly unbearable. I was going to log into last night's sometime during the 2nd quarter, hesitated, and was then like "nah". I imagine it was pretty rough.

Every team has warts, and things they should be concerned about. Hell, NE barely beat the Jets a week or so ago. The Raiders almost took an L to a Panthers squad that's looked lost and confused all year.

Like you said, we just played 3 tough teams in 12 days, and beat them all. I'm just enjoying it right now, I'll be "concerned" some other time.

links18 said:

Who cares what they accomplished the past 11 days? This ain't college basketball. There are no regular season champion trophies. What are they going to do in January?

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Winning 3 games against 3 potential playoff teams in 11 days is certainly not a reason to panic about January. It guarantees nothing, but it's still a very good thing.

hornitosmonster said:

How about the team was beat-up and tired because the NFL did them no favors on this stretch of the schedule. On paper this should have been a loss, it wasn't!!

Now we get a mini bye week before going to New York.

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The Vikings also played 3 games in 12 days. That's not an excuse.

Theres no doubt this team has shortcomings laid out in the OP. But so does every team in the league. There are no truly complete teams out there.

The question then becomes which team can do the best job at covering up their shortcomings? Right now the Cowboys are better than most.

RXP said:

The Vikings also played 3 games in 12 days. That's not an excuse.

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What is it an excuse for? Both teams were worn down and tired. Chances were you weren't going to have a clean, polished game. And alas! You didn't. No one is using it as an excuse (excusing a win..?). But it certainly contributed to both teams being sloppy, and I believe it evens the playing field, even if both teams are in the same circumstance.