A blessing in disguise

[kevm3]

This game was a bit of a wakeup call to the Cowboys in that they are not invincible and if they aren't focused, they will lose. I don't want to hear about Dak and Zeke out partying or see any kind of viral videos or any of that. These next few weeks needs to be all focus.

 

[Trouty]

I have been fighting this notion all second half of the season. Why? Because I like Ws... But I firmly believe we needed something like this to force kick everyone back in gear. That includes Linehan, Dak, and DEZ.

We were getting a little too full of ourselves and a game like that is just the medicine to help reestablish that focus in practice.

I have really been fighting this thought but I believe there's a lot of legs to it. Last night may be the game that propels us further than we think we will go into the playoffs.

I competely agree, Bleu. This is what the team needed.

And no, the past weeks didn't do this. The past two weeks, if anything, showed the team that "subbar play" (if you wanna call it that, Zoners... for me, the past two games we played great, but I digress) could still land a win.

Now they finally saw that subpar play results in a loss. Dez, Dak, Coaches (not Rob, he is a certified stud and has been all season). We have to go back to the drawing board and learn learn learn from this atrocious game.

And we will.

We needed to get punched in the mouth (so to speak -- with a loss -- more than the Giants almost equally lousy play) since we began such a dominant run.

Miss me with this "blueprint" malarkey, too, Zoners. The blueprint to beat Dak has been out since college. If Dez doesn't doesn't fumble, we keep driving and probably at least tie the game up.

GREAT OP Bleu, my dude. Lots of cray cray threads in the Zone this AM

 

[Trouty]

I hate being swept by this team. Their fans are obnoxious right now.

Let em be, we swept them in 07, if anyone should remain humble it should be them.

How did that regular season sweep work out for us, and them?

 

[Bleu Star]

I competely agree, Bleu. This is what the team needed.

And no, the past weeks didn't do this. The past two weeks, if anything, showed the team that "subbar play" (if you wanna call it that, Zoners... for me, the past two games we played great, but I digress) could still land a win.

Now they finally saw that subpar play results in a loss. Dez, Dak, Coaches (not Rob, he is a certified stud and has been all season). We have to go back to the drawing board and learn learn learn from this atrocious game.

And we will.

We needed to get punched in the mouth (so to speak -- with a loss -- more than the Giants almost equally lousy play) since we began such a dominant run.

Miss me with this "blueprint" malarkey, too, Zoners. The blueprint to beat Dak has been out since college. If Dez doesn't doesn't fumble, we keep driving and probably at least tie the game up.

GREAT OP Bleu, my dude. Lots of cray cray threads in the Zone this AM

Nailed it bro. Yeah. It's a bit crazy. A good night's sleep even did me some good. I'm not as mad at Dez as I was last night.

 

[Bleu Star]

When you have fringe players like Lucky freaking Whitehead getting the big head you know it's time for a focus rest.

 

[Joe Realist]

Maybe. Maybe Jerry will shut up. Maybe we can still win the East. Next week's game is a must win. Tampa has a really good defense and have won 5 in a row.

 

[toto1939]

Defense SUCKS! If they had held the Giants to 3 points, we would have won that game!

 

[Bleu Star]

Maybe. Maybe Jerry will shut up. Maybe we can still win the East. Next week's game is a must win. Tampa has a really good defense and have won 5 in a row.

It'll be a great test and we'll be up for it. Not like last night. Pressure has been relieved from the heads of numerous members of the organization. Thank goodness.

 

[dfense]

I believe we will overcome. Never would I have thought we'd be 11-2 at this stage of the game. We won several games we should have lost. We're still in the driver's seat.

NFC East games are a different beast. Last night's game was like watching the Twilight Zone. But all East games are like that.

Dak had problems with the pressure. The OL had problems with the pressure. The WR's had problems with the pressure. The OC had problems with the pressure.

But it was a 3 point loss. The FG at the end of the 2nd quarter would have made a difference. Who knows?

Both O's played poorly. Maybe it was the weather. The ball was slippery, and footing was treacherous.

Let's take this as a learning example. This makes all the three remaining games relevant. I hate wasting the final two games watching the scrubs lose. We play to win from here on in.

Let's summarize.....Dak could not get one down when needed. Not one. Could not get past his own 20.

 

[kevm3]

It's a blessing that we got this wakeup call BEFORE we got to the playoffs. You don't come prepared, then you lose. I also hope this is a wakeup call to Linehan to stop trying to get cute with the offense and keep on running with what works. Lance Dunbar should not be in the game. Hopefully this loss will dial back some of the hype around the team.

 

[fifaguy]

Eli did everything in his power to give this game away and the Cowboys couldn't take it, there is no blessing in this loss, it was just a bad loss.

And a very bad time to have such a loss.

 

[Bleu Star]

And a very bad time to have such a loss.

Is there ever a good time for a second loss? I mean seriously.. Would you have rather that second loss have come in our 1st playoff game?

 

[odog422]

It's Linehans base offense, defenses take away the short stuff, and force us to hold the ball. We did not run this offense for the first half of the season, but we've been morphing back to it every week. Did it not look like the same team that played last year? Every QB failed in this offense last year, and please don't give me the Romo won three out of four games, well so did Dak. Linehan was forced to adapt his offense, and we looked awesome for the first part of the season, but where are the screens, miss- direction, sweeps, slants, Beasely using his uncanny skills to shake defenders, and get open quickly? No we are back to predictable runs, forcing the ball to Dez, and not using Witten who is unstoppable 10 yds over the middle. This is where Garrett needs to drag Linehan into his office and lock Jerry out. How can you gain 100 yds in the first half and lose a game? Unbelievable.

Agree. Back to basics. As you said, we have slowly started morphing back to the empty backfield shotgun with regularity. 2nd down after positive run on 1st by Zeke is not the time to spread em out. Give yourself more options, keep play action as an option.

Hope they self scout the first few games of the streak when we dominated to get the flavor back.

 

[kramskoi]

I have been fighting this notion all second half of the season. Why? Because I like Ws... But I firmly believe we needed something like this to force kick everyone back in gear. That includes Linehan, Dak, and DEZ.

We were getting a little too full of ourselves and a game like that is just the medicine to help reestablish that focus in practice.

I have really been fighting this thought but I believe there's a lot of legs to it. Last night may be the game that propels us further than we think we will go into the playoffs.

What about the game before the Giants? 2 for 24 on third downs over 8 quarters of football is a trend that needs serious attention. The Bucs are up next and they have a better defensive passer rating (53.5) over the last three games than the Giants. They forced Brees into 3 INTs, with 0 TDs on Sunday. Whatever it is that is befuddling a once potent offense needs immediate correction. Another game like the last two and the calls for Romo will get much louder. Personally, after last night, I'm not sure Prescott has what it takes. The hardest part of the season is still ahead of them, and last night he was a deer in headlights.

 

[Zimmy Lives]

Eli did everything in his power to give this game away and the Cowboys couldn't take it, there is no blessing in this loss, it was just a bad loss.

Just a loss. For the Cowboys, a bad loss will come in the playoffs.

 

[SlammedZero]

Defense SUCKS! If they had held the Giants to 3 points, we would have won that game!

Please somebody tell me this is sarcasm.

 

[Eddie]

Please somebody tell me this is sarcasm.

It's a funny joke.

 

[SlammedZero]

It's a funny joke.

Ok. One bad thing about the internet is sometimes it's hard to feel out the vibe of certain comments. Sorry, wasn't trying to cause trouble!

 

[fifaguy]

It's a blessing that we got this wakeup call BEFORE we got to the playoffs. You don't come prepared, then you lose. I also hope this is a wakeup call to Linehan to stop trying to get cute with the offense and keep on running with what works. Lance Dunbar should not be in the game. Hopefully this loss will dial back some of the hype around the team.

We had 10 days to prepare for this game. Wakeup call????

 

[Eddie]

Ok. One bad thing about the internet is sometimes it's hard to feel out the vibe of certain comments. Sorry, wasn't trying to cause trouble!

True, I've lost friends because words were lost in translation on the internet.