Hostile
The Duke
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I expect the Offense in 2008 to break the team record for points in a season. That means eclipsing 1983's 479 points scored, or perhaps it could mean eclipsing 1966's average of 31.8 points per game. To equal that mark we'd need to score 509 points in 2008.
Call me crazy but I don't think that is impossible.
What would it take to achieve that? Well, the immediate answer would be Tony Romo would have to light it up. That's very true but there are so many things that could contribute to this.
Field position might be number one. The shorter the field, the easier it is to score. We probably need some Special Teams and Defensive scores added to the mix, but mostly we need the Special Teams to return the ball better than we have had in many years and the Defense to take it away and casue 3 and outs.
We have a Secondary assembled who should accomplish the takeaways aspect of this. The front 7 can add to this by getting after the QB and the ball carriers and forcing some fumbles. Pressure on the QB will always lead to some hasty throws. Against the assembled talent on the Corners this year that could be suicide. Jacques Reeves and his blazing speed isn't back there to pick on any more. If Henry and Newman are healthy this year no one will want to test us much. I think Mike Jenkins is going to be a stud. He's going to be the one DCs decide is the most likely target to pick on, and I don't think he will let us down. Prior to the Combines he was the top CB on every list out there. The only reason he fell is because a couple of other CBs got elevated by workout numbers.
Bold prediction time, DeMarcus Ware will get close to 20 sacks this year. Tighter coverage means he has more time to get to the QB. I'd love to see Ellis have another solid year. I'd prefer to see Spencer do it if I am being truthful. Not because I dislike Ellis or am sick of him. It's about beyond this year. If he comes on like we hope this team is so much the better for it. Zach Thomas could be a key to Ware getting that many sacks too. He's better at TE coverage than we have had in a long while. Take away the safety valve and the deer is in the headlights.
Would scoring 509 points mean we're running it up? Only if it means our starters are still in the game or we are throwing the ball 60% of the time with a solid lead. I don't want to do that. I want to see Felix Jones and Tashard Choice get meaningful carries in garbage time. I'd like to see our young O-linemen get time as well. Young WRs liek Stanback and Hurd and a young TE like Martellus Bennett are capable of scoring and I'd liek to see them do it and develop. I believe they can all still produce some points and kill the clock.
Mostly I want to see us put teams away, not allow them to hang close. I hate Prevent Defense. I hate it when the Offense stops trying to move the ball and is just playing the clock. Continue to play the opponent, continue to pressure the QB, continue to try and move the chains. Just don't do it with our starters in there. Go for the jugular vein and step on the gas.
We know who the stars are supposed to be and we know they can score a lot of points and do it quickly. It's the rest of the roster that will bridge the gap to the rest of the points.
In truth, I don't care if we break Offensive records or not. I just want to win every game. If that means it's the Defense who mashes the accelerator to the floor and holds teams to a club record fewer than 13.0 ppg to equal 1978's Defense. If we can break Defensive scoring records instead of Offense, that's just as acceptable.
Keeping the accelerator mashed down means cruise control is not an option. The post Thanksgiving swoon is my biggest Maalox moment. How great would it be to keep the Maalox on the shelf and not be on the fingernail diet? If anything I want to see this team more intense after Thanksgiving than they are before we eat turkey. Think of it like an amplifiere and turn up the damned volume.
I'd like it to be that once the playoffs arrive the rest of the NFL is scared to death how to face us. I don't want anyone to be chanting "we want Dallas." Let them chant, "please beat Dallas" so that they don't have to face us.
In the immortal words of Conan, "crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of the women." Step on the gas and pay no attention to the mile markers flying by, just get there.
Call me crazy but I don't think that is impossible.
What would it take to achieve that? Well, the immediate answer would be Tony Romo would have to light it up. That's very true but there are so many things that could contribute to this.
Field position might be number one. The shorter the field, the easier it is to score. We probably need some Special Teams and Defensive scores added to the mix, but mostly we need the Special Teams to return the ball better than we have had in many years and the Defense to take it away and casue 3 and outs.
We have a Secondary assembled who should accomplish the takeaways aspect of this. The front 7 can add to this by getting after the QB and the ball carriers and forcing some fumbles. Pressure on the QB will always lead to some hasty throws. Against the assembled talent on the Corners this year that could be suicide. Jacques Reeves and his blazing speed isn't back there to pick on any more. If Henry and Newman are healthy this year no one will want to test us much. I think Mike Jenkins is going to be a stud. He's going to be the one DCs decide is the most likely target to pick on, and I don't think he will let us down. Prior to the Combines he was the top CB on every list out there. The only reason he fell is because a couple of other CBs got elevated by workout numbers.
Bold prediction time, DeMarcus Ware will get close to 20 sacks this year. Tighter coverage means he has more time to get to the QB. I'd love to see Ellis have another solid year. I'd prefer to see Spencer do it if I am being truthful. Not because I dislike Ellis or am sick of him. It's about beyond this year. If he comes on like we hope this team is so much the better for it. Zach Thomas could be a key to Ware getting that many sacks too. He's better at TE coverage than we have had in a long while. Take away the safety valve and the deer is in the headlights.
Would scoring 509 points mean we're running it up? Only if it means our starters are still in the game or we are throwing the ball 60% of the time with a solid lead. I don't want to do that. I want to see Felix Jones and Tashard Choice get meaningful carries in garbage time. I'd like to see our young O-linemen get time as well. Young WRs liek Stanback and Hurd and a young TE like Martellus Bennett are capable of scoring and I'd liek to see them do it and develop. I believe they can all still produce some points and kill the clock.
Mostly I want to see us put teams away, not allow them to hang close. I hate Prevent Defense. I hate it when the Offense stops trying to move the ball and is just playing the clock. Continue to play the opponent, continue to pressure the QB, continue to try and move the chains. Just don't do it with our starters in there. Go for the jugular vein and step on the gas.
We know who the stars are supposed to be and we know they can score a lot of points and do it quickly. It's the rest of the roster that will bridge the gap to the rest of the points.
In truth, I don't care if we break Offensive records or not. I just want to win every game. If that means it's the Defense who mashes the accelerator to the floor and holds teams to a club record fewer than 13.0 ppg to equal 1978's Defense. If we can break Defensive scoring records instead of Offense, that's just as acceptable.
Keeping the accelerator mashed down means cruise control is not an option. The post Thanksgiving swoon is my biggest Maalox moment. How great would it be to keep the Maalox on the shelf and not be on the fingernail diet? If anything I want to see this team more intense after Thanksgiving than they are before we eat turkey. Think of it like an amplifiere and turn up the damned volume.
I'd like it to be that once the playoffs arrive the rest of the NFL is scared to death how to face us. I don't want anyone to be chanting "we want Dallas." Let them chant, "please beat Dallas" so that they don't have to face us.
In the immortal words of Conan, "crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of the women." Step on the gas and pay no attention to the mile markers flying by, just get there.
