2 Things I Get Tired of Hearing From the Talking Heads

[LACowboysFan1]

A ton of things would have to go right for that to happen. Including 4 rookies playing like vets. IMO, Top 10 is more of a next year hope.

The question is of course was Nolan that bad of a DC or was it the lack of sufficient camp and otas due to the Covid to allow the players to get acclimated to the new defensive scheme? Would Quinn have done any better if he'd been here last year? What if Nolan had kept the same defense as the year before?

Can't go back and re-play the season and find out. Personally I do think it was more the lack of off season work with the new scheme, more than anything, that was the problem.

Apparently this year we will have a full off season, with players back in more of the old scheme, not to mention that it appears LVE is better and we have Parsons, Cox et al raising the talent level. Will we also see if Woods, Woods, et al weren't that good, or they were pretty good, but the coaching was sub-par?

Should be interesting at the least...

 

[GMO415]

Our LBs were sick lame and lazy. Adding one rookie will not turn it around.

 

[JBS]

Do I expect that? No. But coaching goes a long way. If this team can go from being one of the worst to top 20....then that itself should be enough.

Agreed

 

[LACowboysFan1]

Yep. I'll gladly take an average defense at this point in his first year.

Average covers a lot of ground, so I think you'll get your wish....

 

[LACowboysFan1]

Our LBs were sick lame and lazy. Adding one rookie will not turn it around.

Don't forget about Cox, he will probably be a niche player but teams can use those as well as starters. Parsons by himself probably won't fix the defense, but LVE had the surgery, he only played 10 games and clearly the neck bothered him when he did play. So he may be back to form, or at least better than last year. Also added some free agents, they don't have to be All Pro, just better than who we had last year.

I see reasons to think the defense can markedly improve. Maybe they won't, but it doesn't depend on just Parsons to "turn it around"...

 

[75boyz]

Quinn definitely does not need to re invent the wheel here. Get the defense ranked in the low twenties or 19 gosh forbid, and he's gold. I believe Mountaineer said he has a pretty easy job this year if the bar is just to improve upon last year's results.

But what if he accomplishes that and the offense doesn't meet all their lofty expectations...what then, lol?

To be continued.

 

[Sydla]

If one needs a scapegoat this year, I am sure it will not be another DC. Can’t go back to that well back to back years.

Let's be honest though. Quinn has serious questions as well. But he's not carrying the baggage Nolan did.

It's bizarre that you keep wanting to lament this idea that Nolan was a scapegoat. You admit that he wasn't good but are upset he was largely blamed for it? Again, it's easier and quicker and smarter to kick the crap DC to the curb than tear apart an entire defensive roster and let that crappy DC build a new one.

 

[Jake]

I'm tired of not hearing the talking heads discuss the Cowboys in late January and early February.

 

[jazzcat22]

Negativity and controversy sell and require minimal effort.

If everyone would quit listening to the talking heads, they would go away.

Maybe that needs to be applied to some on here also.
The negative Nancies.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

Let's be honest though. Quinn has serious questions as well. But he's not carrying the baggage Nolan did.

It's bizarre that you keep wanting to lament this idea that Nolan was a scapegoat. You admit that he wasn't good but are upset he was largely blamed for it? Again, it's easier and quicker and smarter to kick the crap DC to the curb than tear apart an entire defensive roster and let that crappy DC build a new one.

I don’t recall saying Nolan ‘wasn’t good.’ I never said he was a good hire. I did say he was the scapegoat for poor defensive performances early. I did say a lot of it was not his fault and put the blame on the players, injuries, potent opponent offenses to start the year, Cowboy offense turning the ball over too much early in the season, offense not sustaining drives and scoring early, and no time to practice. No DC could have weathered that. The perfect storm.

Belichick got canned in Cleveland in a year or two. Stuff happens. Yes, I know there is a difference between Nolan and Belichick.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

. . . about our Cowboys:

#1 The Cowboys defense sucked in 2020 and thus they'll suck again in 2021. I hear things like this team quit, the players were out of position, they are nearly talentless on the defensive side of the ball. I'm not here to argue this defense sucked. They did ! When they took the fiels there was always a loud whoooshing sound. Undeniably so.

But what I have never heard from the so-called experts is the probable reasons for this. They passingly refer to Dab Quinn coming in to "fix" the D without mentioning what broke the D. If a talking head is going to rag on the D at least come up with a plausible explanation of what was happening in 2020. Not even a glossing over of the system that Mike Nolan attempted to implement. I'm submitting that the system was the culprit. No offseason, due to COVID-19, to implement a system with complicated assignments. Any opponent could see this defense was lost and thus power house offenses like WFT and the NYG were hanging large point totals on us.

If Quinn is worth his salt, and I don't know if he is with his hybrid D, this will change. If he gets the effort we should be significantly better. My prognostication on this defense is with more time to implement and teach there will be significant improvement. I also think better interior DL play is one of the main keys.

#2 Zeke is washed up. The Head's narrative: " Under 1,000 yards, only 4yds per carry, slow, very mid-level RB". Never hear the fact this OL was missing 2,3,4 pro-bowlers and at least 2 HOF'ers that are still potentially very high level players. There were multiple OL combinations . . . dozens, with 2nd AND 3rd stringers. Rare would be any RB that would look good. I also think that we will see a different running game this year with more consistency and greater avg. per carry.

I'm looking forward to this year. No playoff predictions, no record predictions but I think we'll see a product on the field that is much better. If I'm wrong then heads need to roll.

I agree on point 1, the issue was scheme, so you hear players being in wrong place, its because they didn't understand their assignments based on the defensive reads.....and that leads to break down somewhere and big plays given up. so leads to frustration and people quitting perhaps.....we didn't have talent at DT. there is no denying that. talent at Saftey was not that good, despite everyone's penchant for pumping up Wilson. Nolan wanted to fit the players to his system, as opposed to fit the system to what players are available. Perhaps Quinn will be better than that. simplify the reads, assignments and responsibilities to allow the 11 to be on same page.

regarding Zeke, perhaps his demise is exagerated, but he is underwhelming. Emmitt made the OL, where we truly had only 1 HOFer (larry allen). now zeke has diminished and we are saying he is needing 4 probowlers and 2 HOFers to succeed. could we have gotten similar production for 1/10 the cost? Henry is a difference maker as a RB for Titans. how many probowlers and HOFers on his line? what about Dalvin Cook? Aaron Jones? few others who were better than him. I get that we had back ups playing, but Zeke as the top paid RB in the league needs to lift his team and his team mates. not fumble and become below average.

he may not be washed up. he is good. but if he needs all those HOFers and probowlers to get to 1300, I think we could do it cheaper...everyone rags on Dak's contract. we should be focused on Zeke's contract.

 

[DanTanna]

I can't remember if Pollard had career lows in every category last year.

 

[Typhus]

Nolan was a turd. Why do you struggle at to admit that? He couldn't sniff a DC job until his friend, McCarthy, pulled him out of moth balls. There were former players who criticized his scheme, etc.

It was a terrible hire.

It was a terrible season to be a marginal DC. Hard to judge anything from last season, but I never personally liked the Nolan hire to begin with but Im intrigued with Quinn and how much authority he has been granted.

 

[Sydla]

I don’t recall saying Nolan ‘wasn’t good.’ I never said he was a good hire. I did say he was the scapegoat for poor defensive performances early. I did say a lot of it was not his fault and put the blame on the players, injuries, potent opponent offenses to start the year, Cowboy offense turning the ball over too much early in the season, offense not sustaining drives and scoring early, and no time to practice. No DC could have weathered that. The perfect storm.

Belichick got canned in Cleveland in a year or two. Stuff happens. Yes, I know there is a difference between Nolan and Belichick.

But was he really the scapegoat? Yeah they fired him. But they also tried to overhaul the secondary. They drafted two LBs that could replace LVE and Smith, two guys that underperformed. Seems to me they scapegoated more than just Nolan.

Again, it's easier to fire a DC than basically rip apart the entire defensive roster. That takes time.

A lot of it was his fault. He was a horrible DC. Again, it's crazy that you are arguing here that he was basically let down by the players.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

But was he really the scapegoat? Yeah they fired him. But they also tried to overhaul the secondary. They drafted two LBs that could replace LVE and Smith, two guys that underperformed. Seems to me they scapegoated more than just Nolan.

Again, it's easier to fire a DC than basically rip apart the entire defensive roster. That takes time.

A lot of it was his fault. He was a horrible DC. Again, it's crazy that you are arguing here that he was basically let down by the players.

In part, he was let down by the players. Some players did not work hard to memorize the new play call terminology, did not know their assignments, freelanced, blamed scheme to initiate fingerprinting to mention a few.

There were numerous reasons why the defense failed. I have a lot of reasons why before I get down to DC. But, someone had to go and players are insulated by contracts. So, Nolan picks up 5-years worth of guaranteed pay for a couple months work. I am sure he is not sweating it much.

 

[Sydla]

In part, he was let down by the players. Some players did not work hard to memorize the new play call terminology, did not know their assignments, freelanced, blamed scheme to initiate fingerprinting to mention a few.

There were numerous reasons why the defense failed. I have a lot of reasons why before I get down to DC. But, someone had to go and players are insulated by contracts. So, Nolan picks up 5-years worth of guaranteed pay for a couple months work. I am sure he is not sweating it much.

But again if the fact players struggled with terminology and didn't know their assignments was a problem that plagued him in previous jobs (like has been alleged by former players) then the notion that it was the players who let him down seems like a reach. This wasn't just a one time thing for Nolan. It wasn't just in Dallas that some of these issues creeped up. You'd have a much better argument here if his previous stints, especially recently, had resulted in good defenses. But they weren't great stints. And some of the very same problems we saw here showed itself in Atlanta and other places.

I guess that was just a coincidence, huh?

 

[fivetwos]

is that david Byrne from the Talking Heads?

IIRC the goal was to shrink his head.

Looks like it went well.

 

[CowboyRoy]

. . . about our Cowboys:

#1 The Cowboys defense sucked in 2020 and thus they'll suck again in 2021. I hear things like this team quit, the players were out of position, they are nearly talentless on the defensive side of the ball. I'm not here to argue this defense sucked. They did ! When they took the fiels there was always a loud whoooshing sound. Undeniably so.

But what I have never heard from the so-called experts is the probable reasons for this. They passingly refer to Dab Quinn coming in to "fix" the D without mentioning what broke the D. If a talking head is going to rag on the D at least come up with a plausible explanation of what was happening in 2020. Not even a glossing over of the system that Mike Nolan attempted to implement. I'm submitting that the system was the culprit. No offseason, due to COVID-19, to implement a system with complicated assignments. Any opponent could see this defense was lost and thus power house offenses like WFT and the NYG were hanging large point totals on us.

If Quinn is worth his salt, and I don't know if he is with his hybrid D, this will change. If he gets the effort we should be significantly better. My prognostication on this defense is with more time to implement and teach there will be significant improvement. I also think better interior DL play is one of the main keys.

#2 Zeke is washed up. The Head's narrative: " Under 1,000 yards, only 4yds per carry, slow, very mid-level RB". Never hear the fact this OL was missing 2,3,4 pro-bowlers and at least 2 HOF'ers that are still potentially very high level players. There were multiple OL combinations . . . dozens, with 2nd AND 3rd stringers. Rare would be any RB that would look good. I also think that we will see a different running game this year with more consistency and greater avg. per carry.

I'm looking forward to this year. No playoff predictions, no record predictions but I think we'll see a product on the field that is much better. If I'm wrong then heads need to roll.

#1 I feel like blaming the scheme for everything is lazy. This defense hasnt been good for a long time. In 2019 they were one of the worst vs the run and last in the NFL in interceptions. People seem to have a selective memory on all the injuries we had to start the season as well. Starters missing almost half the season. There is a mountainous lack of talent on defense. Then the big elephant in the room is no TC and preseason to implement the new scheme. Nolan putting in too much stuff was a poor decision, but it wasnt the scheme ONLY that was the biggest issue.

#2 Zeke isnt what he was and neither is the line.

 

[Hardline]

Thanks. Now I have that dang song stuck in my head.

 

[MoistMayonnaise]

They'll say the exact opposite next week.

Solution: pay them no mind.