A Good Loss?

[tyke1doe]

Yes, I know it's kind of oxymoronic, and it's a very disappointing loss.

BUT, I see a lot of potential positives from this loss.

1. We now know that we can't eat the cheese. Things were coming too easy for the Cowboys, and the team needed to see that if it's not motiviated and not commited, Dallas can be beaten and beaten badly.

2. Better Romo face adversity now and learn how to rebound than face it in the playoffs.

3. The Cowboys defense and coaches (Zimmer) know they have to device a way to stop the Saints if we should meet them in the playoffs. Better to be exposed now and be able to do something about it than to be exposed in the playoffs and go home.

4. If we should meet the Chargers in the Super Bowl - a large if at this point - the Saints have provided the blueprint in how to attack the Cowboys. I say the Saints are the only team in the NFC that could have exposed the Cowboys like they did because of the threat of Reggie Bush. LT is the only other back that possesses the talent to make you respect him as a rushing and receiving threat. We take the film from this game and learn and prepare for the upcoming road ahead.

5. We need to commit to the running game. I was a bit surprised how we moved away from the rushing game so quickly. I think even the coaching staff bought into the Romo hype and put the game too much in his hands - a point Madden accurately made last night. In the playoffs, it's about running the ball and running some more. Romo is good. What happen last night doesn't detract from his play this year. But he is still a young quarterback who needs to be protected with a good running game. In the playoffs, teams will game plan more for him. He still needs a strong running game to complement his talents.

6. The offensive line understands Romo is only as good as the protection he receives. He's not always going to be able to roll out of trouble. So they have to work on blocking.

The Cowboys, if they have the heart of a champion, have to bounce back against Atlanta.

Personally, as much as I would have liked to have seen the Cowboys win and gain an advantage in the race for a bye and the second seed, I'm less concerned about playing New Orleans in the Superdome or the Bears in Chicago because the cold weather will be a neutralizer and favors the team with a better running game.

Anyway. Thought? Any additional points?

 

[Deputy493]

I don't see any good in a 42-17 shalacking at home in an important game in December, other than maybe this wakes the team up a bit and makes them realize they aren't quite as good as they thought they were.......or as good as the media was making them out to be.

 

[Doomsday]

How could losing any reasonable shot at a 1st round bye in the playoffs be a good thing? Now we have to worry about winning the division with Philly surging and the team struggling the last 2 weeks.

 

[burmafrd]

Seattle has to play SD; and the saints still have three games. Not to mention the Bears as well. though it is hard to imagine the aints losing 2 games now.

 

[tyke1doe]

How could losing any reasonable shot at a 1st round bye in the playoffs be a good thing? Now we have to worry about winning the division with Philly surging and the team struggling the last 2 weeks.

If your team is not good, then you have to go beyond and above to do those "extra" things to win. That's what this loss does.

I think many people - including many posters on this board and media "experts" - had Dallas as the best team in the NFC.

We can dispense of that foolishness now.

But we still control our own destiny and have to learn from this loss if we hope to get to the playoffs and, eventually, the Super Bowl.

I think Peyton threw the book at us. So now we know what to expect.

If we learn this lesson, the loss could have been a good one.

 

[lspain1]

Maybe I still have a "loss hangover" from yesterday, but I think we are in trouble. A lot of things were exposed yesterday but really represented longer term problems. I do not believe these problems are going away any time soon.

Lack of a rush...vulnerability in the flats.....inability to adjust.....

All of these seem systemic and longer term problems to me.

I just see us as a flawed team right now.

 

[Doomsday]

If your team is not good, then you have to go beyond and above to do those "extra" things to win. That's what this loss does.

I think many people - including many posters on this board and media "experts" - had Dallas as the best team in the NFC.

We can dispense of that foolishness now.

But we still control our own destiny and have to learn from this loss if we hope to get to the playoffs and, eventually, the Super Bowl.

I think Peyton threw the book at us. So now we know what to expect.

If we learn this lesson, the loss could have been a good one.

Learn a lesson? What happened last night was just a microcosm of the entire season. Safeties getting toasted, no rass rush, inability to cover the backs in the flat. Everything that happened last night has been happening in smaller chunks all season. if they havent figured it out by now I dont think they ever will. In my opinion the defensive struggles were a result of weaknesses being exploited more then just a bad game.

 

[wileedog]

Learn a lesson? What happened last night was just a microcosm of the entire season. Safeties getting toasted, no rass rush, inability to cover the backs in the flat. Everything that happened last night has been happening in smaller chunks all season. if they havent figured it out by now I dont think they ever will. In my opinion the defensive struggles were a result of weaknesses being exploited more then just a bad game.

Agreed. NO didn't do anything novel last night, they just exploited the things which have been hurting us all season. Only difference was we couldn't generate any offense to get the D off the field.

Bottom line is we will win games when we can overcome these deficiencies and lose when we don't. But I don't think at this point there is some magical coaching scheme we can install that is going to make Roy/Davis/Watkins better in coverage, our LBs pick up RBs in the flat better, or give Canty/Spears the ability to get to the QB.

 

[CoCo]

I think many people - including many posters on this board and media "experts" - had Dallas as the best team in the NFC.

We can dispense of that foolishness now.

But we still control our own destiny and have to learn from this loss if we hope to get to the playoffs and, eventually, the Super Bowl.

It was no more foolish to consider ourselves the "NFC's best" before last night than it is to think we can still get to the Super Bowl this year.

Decide for yourself if its foolishness or not. But you can't separate the two IMO just because we got the "benefit" of being humiliated last night.

 

[jazzcat22]

There is nothing any good about a loss...period.

I know what your trying to say. But it is not good.

 

[Wimbo]

I hear ya, Tyke. The team will be very focused on the next 3 games. Sometimes it is good for a team to be reminded that the other guys are not going to lay down. If this loss gets the players' heads out of their... um, out of the clouds, then it is not necessarily all bad.

 

[DipChit]

It's not a GOOD loss but it's only ONE loss.. even though it feels like 5.

Yeah the same weaknesses we already knew we had were exposeed to the ultimate degree. But if WE already knew we had them how is it that we won 4 in a row or 5 out of 6? All the other coaching statffs cluless compared to Payton too insofar as not being able to exploit them like that?

Games are all about match-ups and that team happens to prevent nightmarish ones for us. Other teams dont. As such we could very well beat a team that beats NO.