A complete team win

[SteveTheCowboy]

I‘m celebrating a great win today hoping this team learned something about itself.

Bob, come the play-offs when we meet a team that can and does punch us in the mouth.

We fight fire with fire & come out on top .

That's all I ask of this season.

Yes....stay focused...maintain confidence and dominance! We know we're good enough to compete. Don;t wilt!

 

[Bobhaze]

Spot on. While a lot of posters scoffed at the Zimm hire, it could be move the key move that gets this team finally over the top. He’s coached a lot of football since his last stint here. LB’s running to the football was a welcome change.

I was thinking this morning, “When was the last time our LBs were making plays and not just being played?” Those LBs were all over the field and were initiating things rather than waiting for things to get to them.

One game. But…Very encouraging.

 

[Bobhaze]

One other thing that was very important about the win in Cleveland in the opener - it washed away some…emphasis on some…of the awful feelings after the GB playoff loss last Jan.

Had we lost the game in Cle those bad feelings could have carried over into this season. It was a big psychological boost this team probably needed more than any of them would have admitted.

 

[DallasEast]

One other thing that was very important about the win in Cleveland in the opener - it washed away some…emphasis on some…of the awful feelings after the GB playoff loss last Jan.

Had we lost the game in Cle those bad feelings could have carried over into this season. It was a big psychological boost this team probably needed more than any of them would have admitted.

They should maintain that same energy, that same degree of team grit, week-in week-out. It could take them far.

 

[Diehardblues]

I was thinking this morning, “When was the last time our LBs were making plays and not just being played?” Those LBs were all over the field and were initiating things rather than waiting for things to get to them.

One game. But…Very encouraging.

Prob last time we had some talent at LB. Like with Vander Esch and Lee.

 

[LysleE]

No doubt the win was a good way to start the season, but Cleveland was short-handed without their starting OTs and RB; and let’s face it, Watson was missing a few easy throws and playing behind the chains quite frequently; and the lack of a running game made them one-dimensional…which plays into the hands of any defense. The Browns in no-way-shape-or-form resembled the playoff team they were last year.
While I celebrated the Cowboys win I am tempering my enthusiasm; let them play this way against the better teams: Ravens, Lions, Bengals, Eagles, Niners and Texans and I will start to think that maybe this season might end differently than all the others over the past two-decades.
Hopefully Jerry doesn’t start running his mouth about playoffs and Super Bowl after one game causing the team to “eat the cheese”…as they have known to do in previous years.
Need to keep getting better and improve on previous games…still too many penalties.

 

[Streifenkarl]

The Cowboys came out of the 2024 gate showing a model of what is needed to win multiple playoff games, not just regular season games. It wasn’t flashy or perfect. But it was a complete team win by doing these things:

• Playing well in all 3 phases of the game - offense, defense and special teams.
• Winning the turnover battle 2-0.
• Playing as a team; Not a collection of individuals.
• Well conceived and executed game plan that was able to help a rookie LT adequately handle the 2023 DPOY.

The most impressive thing of course is the bottom line - a W.

I’m always amazed after a win, how many fans point to stats and say, “We only had ____ yards”. Again, we got the DUB. That Cleveland defense is very good. And they were able to limit the Cowboys to less than 300 yards. Cle was 8-1 last year on that field. They beat Joe Burrow and the bengals 28-3 last year in the opener at Cleveland. Winning there yesterday was impressive.

Again, stats don’t tell the story yesterday. That TD pass Dak threw to Brandin Cooks against an all out blitz in the first half was as impressive as it gets in this league. There are not many QBs in this league who can make that play.

I‘m celebrating a great win today hoping this team learned something about itself. And remembering that each week is a new challenge. Yesterday was about 5.8% of the 2024 season. Go Cowboys!

Once again, a good write up Bob. Here's my take on the game for what it's worth:

Status of the Browns:

Their offense really is nothing to write home about. Watson outright sucked and Amari couldn't save the day. Their plays looked slow and uncreative. As if their OC has just woken up and has yet to find his stride. Their defense is ok, nothing yet like last year though. I wrote before the game on paper we should beat them as I had rated us higher than them on both sides of the ball even though we started all those rookies. Good first opponent.


Cowboys offense:

rungame: Lets start with the worst thing about the game. We basically don't have a run game. So we start right where we left off last season. Neither RB could get anything done. Especially throught the middle nothing happened. I did like Zeke's blocking and catching though.

O line: Left side was a problem. But your first game as a rookie with a still young guy next to you, against the best DE in the game? Definately nothing to get mad about. Loved Beebe on his first game. Ok game from Steele... all in all these guys will form a great o line over the years.

Receivers: Seen nothing from Fergusen until he got injured. Not worried though. CD is a real playmaker. Some catches were some true "something out of nothing" plays. The one in the first quarter on the sideline for some 40+ yards, sweet. But they got it going against one of the best secondaries in the league... cudos to them.

Dak: Inconspicuous I would call it. He did his job good enough but not good. I'd never expect more from him if it's a win though. Managing a game can be as good as lighting it up if the opponent doesn't do much. Rush would have won this game today. Today more just wasn't necessary. Everyone but the runners did their job and a one dimensional offense was plenty enough this time. His running has become really slow though. I would say this will be a problem against more explosive defenses but in the end he evaded Garrett, so, good enough for me. Overall a solid game from him, September 22nd will be his first real test. Side note: Liked his passes to Luepke hehe. Dak really uses all his weapons, always fun to see.



Defense:

Great. Zim had everything under control the whole time with just some bad points in garbage time. Nothing to see here. We need Micah like this in January... Things look like they're coming together. Just one game though against an inept QB like I said. But the d line shut down the middle, I guess that's what we want to see. Has to work against the better RBs too of course. Where was Mazi?

Haven't been missing Bland in the secondary, everyone did a good job today. This could grow into a real strong point of this team. For the first time in ages the Cowboys seem to be deep in this department. Very cool. Overshown seems to be a good draft after his injury.


ST: Crazy cool. Apart from the new kick off rules just look stupid, they really got it going. Yes, the first Browns return was nice, but overall nohting looked more interesting than last year. On our side it was Turpin time, this time for real. Nice.

Kicker: Yeeeeeees, picked it right off where he left it. Love the guy. At times it looked like he won the game before everyone else lol. Scored more points than the Browns in the first half.

Coaching: Mike was never under pressure, played it cool the whole time. But he (his fault, not the refs) killed Aubrey's record kick. Stupid. Once again.

Penalties: Delay of game... pfffff...


Overall: Caught Cleveland on a very bad day, they got nothing on us. But our defense played a very good compact game, where everyone did their job. Looking forward to see them grow into a great unit. Let's see how Zim handles pressure from competent offenses. Despite the 33 points the offense really did'nt have their best day. Aubrey ruled and everything else was good enough. Especially the o line needs some work but as said, they held the fort against one of the best (supposedly?) defenses of the league, what more do you want?

Nice first game, nothing more, nothin less.

 

[CCBoy]

The Cowboys came out of the 2024 gate showing a model of what is needed to win multiple playoff games, not just regular season games. It wasn’t flashy or perfect. But it was a complete team win by doing these things:

• Playing well in all 3 phases of the game - offense, defense and special teams.
• Winning the turnover battle 2-0.
• Playing as a team; Not a collection of individuals.
• Well conceived and executed game plan that was able to help a rookie LT adequately handle the 2023 DPOY.

The most impressive thing of course is the bottom line - a W.

I’m always amazed after a win, how many fans point to stats and say, “We only had ____ yards”. Again, we got the DUB. That Cleveland defense is very good. And they were able to limit the Cowboys to less than 300 yards. Cle was 8-1 last year on that field. They beat Joe Burrow and the bengals 28-3 last year in the opener at Cleveland. Winning there yesterday was impressive.

Again, stats don’t tell the story yesterday. That TD pass Dak threw to Brandin Cooks against an all out blitz in the first half was as impressive as it gets in this league. There are not many QBs in this league who can make that play.

I‘m celebrating a great win today hoping this team learned something about itself. And remembering that each week is a new challenge. Yesterday was about 5.8% of the 2024 season. Go Cowboys!

Dallas started off against a very tough defense and scored more than it's average game score as the top offense last season. 29+

The running game was very strong in game one. It can improve in productions now.

The defense played well and when the game was competitive, also shut down the run.

 

[CCBoy]

Jerry put together a great game plan!
Boot lickers, rejoice!

But were they playing football despite Jerry sitting in another stadium's booth?

 

[Whirlwin]

The Cowboys came out of the 2024 gate showing a model of what is needed to win multiple playoff games, not just regular season games. It wasn’t flashy or perfect. But it was a complete team win by doing these things:

• Playing well in all 3 phases of the game - offense, defense and special teams.
• Winning the turnover battle 2-0.
• Playing as a team; Not a collection of individuals.
• Well conceived and executed game plan that was able to help a rookie LT adequately handle the 2023 DPOY.

The most impressive thing of course is the bottom line - a W.

I’m always amazed after a win, how many fans point to stats and say, “We only had ____ yards”. Again, we got the DUB. That Cleveland defense is very good. And they were able to limit the Cowboys to less than 300 yards. Cle was 8-1 last year on that field. They beat Joe Burrow and the bengals 28-3 last year in the opener at Cleveland. Winning there yesterday was impressive.

Again, stats don’t tell the story yesterday. That TD pass Dak threw to Brandin Cooks against an all out blitz in the first half was as impressive as it gets in this league. There are not many QBs in this league who can make that play.

I‘m celebrating a great win today hoping this team learned something about itself. And remembering that each week is a new challenge. Yesterday was about 5.8% of the 2024 season. Go Cowboys!

Excelled in all three phases of the game.

 

[Bobhaze]

Excelled in all three phases of the game.

And that is very difficult to do. But it showed yesterday when any one of the 3 phases didn’t perform as well as planned another phase stepped up and made the difference. That’s complimentary football.

 

[KB1122]

That was great yesterday. All around.

 

[Rockport]

The Cowboys came out of the 2024 gate showing a model of what is needed to win multiple playoff games, not just regular season games. It wasn’t flashy or perfect. But it was a complete team win by doing these things:

• Playing well in all 3 phases of the game - offense, defense and special teams.
• Winning the turnover battle 2-0.
• Playing as a team; Not a collection of individuals.
• Well conceived and executed game plan that was able to help a rookie LT adequately handle the 2023 DPOY.

The most impressive thing of course is the bottom line - a W.

I’m always amazed after a win, how many fans point to stats and say, “We only had ____ yards”. Again, we got the DUB. That Cleveland defense is very good. And they were able to limit the Cowboys to less than 300 yards. Cle was 8-1 last year on that field. They beat Joe Burrow and the bengals 28-3 last year in the opener at Cleveland. Winning there yesterday was impressive.

Again, stats don’t tell the story yesterday. That TD pass Dak threw to Brandin Cooks against an all out blitz in the first half was as impressive as it gets in this league. There are not many QBs in this league who can make that play.

I‘m celebrating a great win today hoping this team learned something about itself. And remembering that each week is a new challenge. Yesterday was about 5.8% of the 2024 season. Go Cowboys!

Well said Bob and your last 2 bullets really stand out to me. That’s kinda cool and hope it continues!

 

[Rockport]

Cleveland was advertised as an above-average playoff team. So, what is the quality of this win? The pundits like to say the Cowboys can't beat a quality opponent. I give the Cowboys credit for making the Browns look pedestrian at best.

What was the most impressive to me is how the Cowboys handled the physicality of the Browns. It turned out that the Cowboys were the more physical team.

 

[Buzzbait]

That’s how Dallas needs to be for those 12- win seasons, just need it to carry over in January. Now that Dak is signed, no use begrudging it anymore. Dallas needs to build the defense even stronger, find a stout running game and that should guide this team further. Let Dak stay within himself and not asked to do too much like he’s Mahomes, especially in the postseason. Lets do this the old school way….defense wins championships!

Good post Tabasco, and you're right about Dak being signed, it is what it is and it's done. He's not elite but he's good, and IMO he's
not a $60M QB, but he's a Cowboy and he's the best we've got. Build on this defense, build this running game, and like you
said: Defense wins championships!

 

[SlammedZero]

Not to mention, we won on grass. A tough feat for this team in recent seasons. Hopefully, that monkey's off our back now.

 

[DogFace]

Kendricks was an extremely good pickup. Best vet pickup in a while. Overshown can be special. Our D is much improved.

 

[VaqueroTD]

The Cowboys came out of the 2024 gate showing a model of what is needed to win multiple playoff games, not just regular season games. It wasn’t flashy or perfect. But it was a complete team win by doing these things:

• Playing well in all 3 phases of the game - offense, defense and special teams.
• Winning the turnover battle 2-0.
• Playing as a team; Not a collection of individuals.
• Well conceived and executed game plan that was able to help a rookie LT adequately handle the 2023 DPOY.

The most impressive thing of course is the bottom line - a W.

I’m always amazed after a win, how many fans point to stats and say, “We only had ____ yards”. Again, we got the DUB. That Cleveland defense is very good. And they were able to limit the Cowboys to less than 300 yards. Cle was 8-1 last year on that field. They beat Joe Burrow and the bengals 28-3 last year in the opener at Cleveland. Winning there yesterday was impressive.

Again, stats don’t tell the story yesterday. That TD pass Dak threw to Brandin Cooks against an all out blitz in the first half was as impressive as it gets in this league. There are not many QBs in this league who can make that play.

I‘m celebrating a great win today hoping this team learned something about itself. And remembering that each week is a new challenge. Yesterday was about 5.8% of the 2024 season. Go Cowboys!

100% agree on the Dak TD throw to Cooks. One more underrated play I want to point out was the moves that Zeke put on the defense on that screen play in the second quarter. I haven’t seen him shake off someone like that in a long time.

 

[Roadtrip635]

Not to mention, we won on grass. A tough feat for this team in recent seasons. Hopefully, that monkey's off our back now.

The Browns also had the the best defense in the league last season when playing at home.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

The Cowboys came out of the 2024 gate showing a model of what is needed to win multiple playoff games, not just regular season games. It wasn’t flashy or perfect. But it was a complete team win by doing these things:

• Playing well in all 3 phases of the game - offense, defense and special teams.
• Winning the turnover battle 2-0.
• Playing as a team; Not a collection of individuals.
• Well conceived and executed game plan that was able to help a rookie LT adequately handle the 2023 DPOY.

The most impressive thing of course is the bottom line - a W.

I’m always amazed after a win, how many fans point to stats and say, “We only had ____ yards”. Again, we got the DUB. That Cleveland defense is very good. And they were able to limit the Cowboys to less than 300 yards. Cle was 8-1 last year on that field. They beat Joe Burrow and the bengals 28-3 last year in the opener at Cleveland. Winning there yesterday was impressive.

Again, stats don’t tell the story yesterday. That TD pass Dak threw to Brandin Cooks against an all out blitz in the first half was as impressive as it gets in this league. There are not many QBs in this league who can make that play.

I‘m celebrating a great win today hoping this team learned something about itself. And remembering that each week is a new challenge. Yesterday was about 5.8% of the 2024 season. Go Cowboys!

If we continue to do that I wouldn't mind at all. Win as a team each week