A good indicator of whether the Cowboys are a playoff team

[PA Cowboy Fan]

That is dependent on how and who they are playing. The other side of that is shouldn't the owners discount the tickets and issue refunds for the product that doesn't matter in week 17? But I guess since they charge full price for those pathetic pretend games, they can get full price for that pos played in PHL to end the season.

The integrity of the game should come first and foremost but sheep will be sheared and garbage will be sold as professional football.

How many teams need to learn the penalty for coasting. DEN did that and JAX kicked them out, the same happened to the Cowboys in 07 and 16 and in both of those games the team came out flat and was not at the top of their game to end the season.. What's the greater risk? Losing a player or two or getting kicked out of the 1st playoff game at home?

I like Parcells response when asked about resting players. "They're football player, they play football". Wonder how Booger felt giving those players full game checks to sit on the bench and then stink up the first playoff game?

That said, I lay all the blame on coaching in both of those playoff losses, neither Phillips nor Garrett had their teams ready to play. Before the one in 2016, Laufenburg made the observation that the Packers were all business and the Cowboys seemed too loose and comfortable and how did the teams come out?

The goal for the Cowboys seems to be the playoffs, not win in the playoffs. Big difference in how a team is handled.

 

[Billyd]

Bahawhawhaw. HOW teams play in the last game of the year, up to the teams..

In 2014, Jason chose to play the starters and get them out of the game quickly. THE cowboys Beat up on the colts in the 1st half and Wheedon came in and closed it out the second..Chunking a nice rainbow..about the only thing he did worth a crap...

If you want to rest your starters then you take a chance of a loss thats the teams choice... Like i said it means just as much as the win by Philly in October when our guys were out..However the Cowboys didnt have a choice..

WITH that the Cowboys and philly tied at 5-1 in division play last year..Ill say it again..Dallas needs to play better against the rest of the league..Not Philly..At least not overall. IF IT came down or does this year then so be it. THE Cowboys have been there before say 2014 When they crushed Philly and put their playoff hopes in the gutter where they belonged!! HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

 

[Blackrain]

You would think that fans of the Cowboys and Tom Landry would realize the roster differences, the flat differences between the game then and now, and would not even try to argue ignorant points like that..Yes I started following the Cowboys in 1970...,I hate JJ but Garrett is not the Overall problem..Lest you forget the black hole between Parcells and Jimmy..

Agreed Garrett is not the biggest problem but he is far from the solution . He would make a good GM . He is not a game day coach that you can win a championship with . No one has confidence in him to make the right adjustments or out think the other coach in big games . Hard for players to stay mentally tough when there coach gives them so little hope and comes up small in the biggest games .

Yes the biggest problem is Jerry who is trying to build the team his way with his hand picked people not necessarily the most qualified people but it his hobby and he is going to do it his way . He dosent care how long we go without a championship as long as when it happens it was done his way .

Speaking of the black hole Garrett is really good at keeping us in the NFL version of purgatory at 8-8 or 9-7 Not good enough for post seasons not bad enough to draft well LOL

 

[Direwolf63]

This giving veterans a few days off during TC is way overblown.

I don't remember anybody arguing in November or the December stretch run that if only Player X had practiced on that 3rd Wednesday of training camp, we would have won that game.

It's absurd

 

[MD2020]

Why are you responding to the point if it means nothing. SOS is SOS The eagles had a less competitive schedule than the Cowboys did last year. PERIOD. However you play the teams on your schedule, so no choice..Right?

Outside of the games played against each other, the Eagles and Cowboys shared 12 of their remaining 14 opponents. The win loss differential for both of these no common opponents was one win.

Again, outside of each other, both teams played 5 opponents that ended 2017 with winning records. Eagles went 3-2; Cowboys went 1-4. Similar with 2017 playoff teams: Eagles 2-1; Cowboys 1-2.

 

[Johnny23]

And I'm much more concerned about the mass of bad throws than that one horrible INT past Zeke.

I believe that horrible INT is indicative of the several bad throws he got away with in 2016 that were dropped picks or incompletions that could have been worse. That human nature kicks in and you think I can get awau with doing this instead of boy was that close I better not do it again.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

True Then again if you look at the global of that first half, a noncall on a corner blatently holding Witten coz was beat on the five yard line. THE Butler fiasco where judgment of an official was overturned by a coach, was some of the ugliest playoff officiating well besides you know. DAK was off but i really blamed that on the Cowboys Not going back to Romo @ game 9..(No rookie has ever taken his team to the sb) Hot hands aint sh_t in the playoffs!

I don't think Dak was the issue in the playoffs and I had no faith Romo would stay healthy

 

[charron]

You're right and this can't be emphasized enough. Luckily, one of Garrett's strengths seems to be his ability to get players to play hard for him.

I feel like we have a talented enough roster, just a matter of better handling of game day situations and play calling (especially halftime/late game adjustments) and I think we can go far.

Tired of the play calling excuses. Dropped passes, poor throws, are from bad execution.

This offensive system was top 10 of romo's 13 years as a starter and allowed Dak to lead us to 13 wins as a rookie. And talk about late game adjustments. Did you watch the Green Bay playoff game? They were on fire and we couldn't get hardly a 1st down through the half then we came back to take the lead. If it wasn't for Rodgers late drive heroics we would have won. That is textbook adjustments.

 

[Alexander]

Please Lord tell me you are being sarcastic.

 

[xwalker]

Mental toughness. The ability to overcome the adversity that WILL HAPPEN every season is what separates the contenders from the pretenders. Overcoming injuries, bad calls and sometimes even bad luck are all part of what makes a team successful in the playoffs. You can have talent at every position but if you collectively as a team can’t be tough mentally, it won’t matter.

Mental toughness is what most champions exhibit in droves. Hate to say it, but last year, that beagles team showed some grit losing all those key starters including their star QB, LT, star defender and several others, and still overcoming all that to beat the defending champs in the SB. Filly is talented sure, but I refuse to believe that they’re infinitely more talented than Dallas. What separates us from them last year was mental toughness and better coaching.

If this talented young Cowboys team can fight through whatever adversity lies ahead, they can be a team to be reckoned with. I like the talent we have. I’m not thrilled with he coaching but that too can be overcome.

The mental toughness checklist- Stick together. Accept no excuses. Hold each other accountable. Fight through every injury. Believe in your teammates. Fight to the end.

If our 2018 Cowboys are going to be what we all want them to be, let’s all hope they are tough as boot leather between the ears. Because it takes a lot more than talent to win a championship.

Were the Coeboys mentally tough in 2016 and not in 2017?

 

[Bobhaze]

Were the Coeboys mentally tough in 2016 and not in 2017?

They were mentally tough in neither.

 

[xwalker]

They were mentally tough in neither.

They were 13-3 with a rookie QB, the #1 WR missing 3 games, Doug Free giving up 9 sacks, getting only 9 total games from the the #2 and #3 TEs combined, rookie 6th round pick CB Brown starting 10 games, Scandrick only starting 10 games, Tyron missing 3 games with Chaz Green getting starts at LT, Tyrone Crawford starting and playing most of the season with a torn up shoulder, Jack freaking Crawford starting 11 games, Leary only starting 12 games and Byron Jones in his 1st season as the starting Free Safety.

 

[Bobhaze]

They were 13-3 with a rookie QB, the #1 WR missing 3 games, Doug Free giving up 9 sacks, getting only 9 total games from the the #2 and #3 TEs combined, rookie 6th round pick CB Brown starting 10 games, Scandrick only starting 10 games, Tyron missing 3 games with Chaz Green getting starts at LT, Tyrone Crawford starting and playing most of the season with a torn up shoulder, Jack freaking Crawford starting 11 games, Leary only starting 12 games and Byron Jones in his 1st season as the starting Free Safety.

They weren’t tough enough to win a playoff game.

 

[Cmac]

Excuse for 2018: "We're young.".

 

[Hadenough]

They were 13-3 with a rookie QB, the #1 WR missing 3 games, Doug Free giving up 9 sacks, getting only 9 total games from the the #2 and #3 TEs combined, rookie 6th round pick CB Brown starting 10 games, Scandrick only starting 10 games, Tyron missing 3 games with Chaz Green getting starts at LT, Tyrone Crawford starting and playing most of the season with a torn up shoulder, Jack freaking Crawford starting 11 games, Leary only starting 12 games and Byron Jones in his 1st season as the starting Free Safety.

In 2016 they were an unknown team. They had an easy schedule!

 

[Hadenough]

If there is one thing thats been a constant with Dallas is they have never handled success well at all. When faced with very important games they either fold or make mistakes and cant seem to over come them.

 

[Blackrain]

Excuse for 2018: "We're young.".

Excuse for the last 20 yrs . We had the Clampetts building our football team and hired Miss Jane to coach it

 

[Blackrain]

If there is one thing thats been a constant with Dallas is they have never handled success well at all. When faced with very important games they either fold or make mistakes and cant seem to over come them.

Yep Murry fumbles Dez cant secure the ball or his pinky is out of bounds . Romo gets your hopes up then throws a horrible pick and Garrett is a whole case study in big game panic . Who ices there own kicker but Garrett ??

As fans how much frustration are we expected to endure and try to put a positive spin on it but I will anyway . Its a new era the old guard is gone and at least one of these fresh faces will give us something to cheer for .

 

[Future]

I won’t argue with Bortles being worse than Dak and I’m sure Zeke would have padded those stats slightly but I doubt he would have made up for all of the short comings in te categories I mentioned. Sure, Tyron was hurt but I’d assume they had their injuries as well.

Defense also made have played a role, like when we had the No 1 rush defense in 2016, but regardless our offense is not far and away better IMO. I also don’t know where you’re coming up with 1.5 ppg difference, I’m seeing they were 4 ppg better.

That 4 ppg includes defensive and return touchdowns. Jax had 6 more than Dallas. If you only include offensive scoring, the diff is just 1.5 ppg.

Jax had 25 more drives than Dallas, but averaged a little more than a yard less per drive - that's completely indicative of the defense driving offensive output. The Cowboys' offensive drive success rate - drives that end in a first down or score - was better than Jax.

 

[aria]

That 4 ppg includes defensive and return touchdowns. Jax had 6 more than Dallas. If you only include offensive scoring, the diff is just 1.5 ppg.

Jax had 25 more drives than Dallas, but averaged a little more than a yard less per drive - that's completely indicative of the defense driving offensive output. The Cowboys' offensive drive success rate - drives that end in a first down or score - was better than Jax.

Gotchya. Makes sense but as with most stats ee can skew them to fit our narrative.

Ie Zeke is the best running back in the NFL because he led the league in rushing yards. He also averaged quite a few more carries than every other RB and plays behind one if the best O lines. Not saying he isn’t just saying stats can be misleading as you pointed out.

Ie Eli still sucks because his QBR was low (no idea if it was or wasn’t). He played behind one of the worst O lines in the league and was missing his starting receivers for a good portion of the game.

Anyways, we’ll just have to disagree. I don’t think there’s nearly as big of a gap in the offenses as you do.