CFZ A Review- Thirty Percent into the Season

[Bobhaze]

We have played 5 of 17 regular season games- to be exact, it’s 29.4% of the regular season. In my view with about 30% of the season done, we have a lot of good indicators along with some concerns.

As a review of the season so far, let’s look at what we’ve strengths and growth areas this team has 5 games in:
STRENGTHS

• The defense is obviously the strength of this team. It has yet to surrender 20 points in a game, which is getting into “Doomsday Defense” territory. That’s the kind of defense that wins in the playoffs.
• The pass rush is top shelf. Between Parsons, D-Law and Armstrong, opposing QBs are constantly under duress.
• Dorance Armstrong is the poster child of a development project. He has been a very underrated part of this defense’s emergence.
• It’s clear Dan Quinn has a great grasp of how to use effective rotations. His use of multiple DL players has kept the defense fresh.
• Cooper Rush has been excellent in his role. He never tries to play hero ball and has yet to throw a pic, and he seems to buy into the idea that he has a role to play to help this team win.
  
• The “running back by committee” approach is working. Zeke and Pollard together make an excellent combo. Pollard still needs more touches but at least he’s on the field a little more.
• Team chemistry- seems pretty obvious that these guys enjoy playing together and they all seem to know their roles.

CONCERNS

• The offense is still anemic. As long as the defense can hold people under 20, the offense doesn’t have to be a scoring machine. But that won’t be enough in the playoffs. It must improve if we’re going places this year.
  
• Drops- Cedee Lamb needs to continue improving in this area. Gallup too. Drops are going to happen. But it cannot remain a pattern. Drops are so often drive killers and this offense cannot afford to lose possessions because of drops.
• Pass blocking is still a concern. It’s understandable when a future HOFer like Aaron Donald has a great game. But our tackles have not been that great in pass blocking. Good news is they are both very young and have tons of upside.

KEYS TO FUTURE SUCCESS

• Stay hungry- we’re only 5 games in. This team cannot stop improving because it still has a long way to go to be a team that can go far in the playoffs. A 4-1 start is exciting, but there’s nothing to celebrate yet.
• Offensive improvement- as good as we feel about this D, the offense must improve or this team will have another short post season.

I’m impressed with this team so far. They have proven to be a mentally tough team. But only 30% of the season has been played. Lots and lots of football left to be played.

 

[Jake]

Yesterday's start could not have gone better, except for the botched PAT attempt. It was 9-0 before the Cowboys ever got a first down. That allowed them to lean on the run game and limit how many times they'd have to pass protect vs Aaron Donald. The one time LA took the lead, Rush hit a pass on third down then Pollard housed it to regain control of the game. After that, the defense took over and slammed the door.

The Rams are the defending champions, but this was the 3rd time in 5 games they've been held to 10 points or less. They're not the same team, but that's not our problem. Dallas went in there with a plan and executed it. That said, 100 yards passing and holding the opponent to 10 points can't be the long term formula. There will come a day when you'll have to do more, offensively, but for now it's working.

But given where this team was after week one, to be 4-1 is remarkable and exciting. Looking forward to the Eagles game. Who plays QB is not my call. I'll root for either of them.

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

Balance is key.
A good offense and a good defense?
We haven't had that since the 90's!

 

[75boyz]

While many lament the offensive production, I actually applaud the conviction shown to the running game and conservative principles.
Because I highly doubted the HC and OC's ability to stay on this course with their pass happy backgrounds.

I welcome the new identity of conservative play calling. Because I believe leaning on defense, field position and special teams is the right path to take with this team and its new identity.

My doubts are when the starter returns he does not stick to the existing recipe that has proven to be successful. I further fear that between either the QB, the OC or both, that there will be too much high volume passing to justify a contract similar to Zeke getting more carries than Pollard.

I prefer to let the defense carry either of these game managers Dilfer/Johnson style.

I believe Dak's inability to adjust or personal ego will prevent what's best for the team.

jmo

 

[75boyz]

While many lament the offensive production, I actually applaud the conviction shown to the running game and conservative principles.
Because I highly doubted the HC and OC's ability to stay on this course with their pass happy backgrounds.

I welcome the new identity of conservative play calling. Because I believe leaning on defense, field position and special teams is the right path to take with this team and its new identity.

My doubts are when the starter returns he does not stick to the existing recipe that has proven to be successful. I further fear that between either the QB, the OC or both, that there will be too much high volume passing to justify a contract similar to Zeke getting more carries than Pollard.

I prefer to let the defense carry either of these game managers Dilfer/Johnson style.

I believe Dak's inability to adjust or personal ego will prevent what's best for the team.

jmo

And no, I will swear in a court of law I did not just parrot Colin Cowherd's take no matter how similar. I promise. I just now watched the Cowherd take, lol.

 

[Doomsday101]

Cowboys need to to really improve on 3rd down conversions. Cowboys are currently sitting at 29th in converting 3rd down.

 

[nalam]

While many lament the offensive production, I actually applaud the conviction shown to the running game and conservative principles…..

My doubts are when the starter returns he does not stick to the existing recipe that has proven to be successful. I further fear that between either the QB, the OC or both, that there will be too much high volume passing to justify a contract similar to Zeke getting more carries than Pollard.

Notes to Big Mac !

Handcuff KM and take his play calling sheet away , if he tries to go pass pass pass in any possession.

similarly if Dak options couple of run calls into passes , immediately call him to the sideline and bench him!

They will get the message.

 

[75boyz]

Notes to Big Mac !

Handcuff KM and take his play calling sheet away , if he tries to go pass pass pass in any possession.

similarly if Dak options couple of run calls into passes , immediately call him to the sideline and bench him!

They will get the message.

EXACTLY.

 

[ShortRound]

Stay healthy. Need to watch Micah, I don't think he knows how to pull back lol, he's 1000% all the time.

 

[Rockport]

We have played 5 of 17 regular season games- to be exact, it’s 29.4% of the regular season. In my view with about 30% of the season done, we have a lot of good indicators along with some concerns.

As a review of the season so far, let’s look at what we’ve strengths and growth areas this team has 5 games in:
STRENGTHS

• The defense is obviously the strength of this team. It has yet to surrender 20 points in a game, which is getting into “Doomsday Defense” territory. That’s the kind of defense that wins in the playoffs.
• The pass rush is top shelf. Between Parsons, D-Law and Armstrong, opposing QBs are constantly under duress.
• Dorance Armstrong is the poster child of a development project. He has been a very underrated part of this defense’s emergence.
• It’s clear Dan Quinn has a great grasp of how to use effective rotations. His use of multiple DL players has kept the defense fresh.
• Cooper Rush has been excellent in his role. He never tries to play hero ball and has yet to throw a pic, and he seems to buy into the idea that he has a role to play to help this team win.
  
• The “running back by committee” approach is working. Zeke and Pollard together make an excellent combo. Pollard still needs more touches but at least he’s on the field a little more.
• Team chemistry- seems pretty obvious that these guys enjoy playing together and they all seem to know their roles.

CONCERNS

• The offense is still anemic. As long as the defense can hold people under 20, the offense doesn’t have to be a scoring machine. But that won’t be enough in the playoffs. It must improve if we’re going places this year.
  
• Drops- Cedee Lamb needs to continue improving in this area. Gallup too. Drops are going to happen. But it cannot remain a pattern. Drops are so often drive killers and this offense cannot afford to lose possessions because of drops.
• Pass blocking is still a concern. It’s understandable when a future HOFer like Aaron Donald has a great game. But our tackles have not been that great in pass blocking. Good news is they are both very young and have tons of upside.

KEYS TO FUTURE SUCCESS

• Stay hungry- we’re only 5 games in. This team cannot stop improving because it still has a long way to go to be a team that can go far in the playoffs. A 4-1 start is exciting, but there’s nothing to celebrate yet.
• Offensive improvement- as good as we feel about this D, the offense must improve or this team will have another short post season.

I’m impressed with this team so far. They have proven to be a mentally tough team. But only 30% of the season has been played. Lots and lots of football left to be played.

Good stuff! However, the offensive line has only allowed 9 sacks which is in the top 3rd of the NFL. Running game is decent as well with the run blocking. The only weakness is at the QB position.

 

[Haimerej]

Pass blocking is still a concern. It’s understandable when a future HOFer like Aaron Donald has a great game. But our tackles have not been that great in pass blocking. Good news is they are both very young and have tons of upside.

Something else to keep an eye on is penalties. Tyler has 5 total flags (only 3 olinemen have more) and Steele has 4.

 

[MWH1967]

• Offensive improvement- as good as we feel about this D, the offense must improve or this team will have another short post season.

BINGO!!

​

 

[nate dizzle]

We have played 5 of 17 regular season games- to be exact, it’s 29.4% of the regular season. In my view with about 30% of the season done, we have a lot of good indicators along with some concerns.

As a review of the season so far, let’s look at what we’ve strengths and growth areas this team has 5 games in:
STRENGTHS

• The defense is obviously the strength of this team. It has yet to surrender 20 points in a game, which is getting into “Doomsday Defense” territory. That’s the kind of defense that wins in the playoffs.
• The pass rush is top shelf. Between Parsons, D-Law and Armstrong, opposing QBs are constantly under duress.
• Dorance Armstrong is the poster child of a development project. He has been a very underrated part of this defense’s emergence.
• It’s clear Dan Quinn has a great grasp of how to use effective rotations. His use of multiple DL players has kept the defense fresh.
• Cooper Rush has been excellent in his role. He never tries to play hero ball and has yet to throw a pic, and he seems to buy into the idea that he has a role to play to help this team win.
  
• The “running back by committee” approach is working. Zeke and Pollard together make an excellent combo. Pollard still needs more touches but at least he’s on the field a little more.
• Team chemistry- seems pretty obvious that these guys enjoy playing together and they all seem to know their roles.

CONCERNS

• The offense is still anemic. As long as the defense can hold people under 20, the offense doesn’t have to be a scoring machine. But that won’t be enough in the playoffs. It must improve if we’re going places this year.
  
• Drops- Cedee Lamb needs to continue improving in this area. Gallup too. Drops are going to happen. But it cannot remain a pattern. Drops are so often drive killers and this offense cannot afford to lose possessions because of drops.
• Pass blocking is still a concern. It’s understandable when a future HOFer like Aaron Donald has a great game. But our tackles have not been that great in pass blocking. Good news is they are both very young and have tons of upside.

KEYS TO FUTURE SUCCESS

• Stay hungry- we’re only 5 games in. This team cannot stop improving because it still has a long way to go to be a team that can go far in the playoffs. A 4-1 start is exciting, but there’s nothing to celebrate yet.
• Offensive improvement- as good as we feel about this D, the offense must improve or this team will have another short post season.

I’m impressed with this team so far. They have proven to be a mentally tough team. But only 30% of the season has been played. Lots and lots of football left to be played.

I'm not as concerned about the offense as some. I think we've done a great job of keeping it very simple and conservative, which, when you have a defense like ours is what you SHOULD do. Have you noticed that in the past few games, whenever the other team has gotten close or gone ahead we've immediately had an answer? We open it up when we have to and let our defense go out and feast on turnovers while not turning it over ourselves.

Winning football 101.

 

[Bobhaze]

I'm not as concerned about the offense as some. I think we've done a great job of keeping it very simple and conservative, which, when you have a defense like ours is what you SHOULD do. Have you noticed that in the past few games, whenever the other team has gotten close or gone ahead we've immediately had an answer? We open it up when we have to and let our defense go out and feast on turnovers while not turning it over ourselves.

Winning football 101.

I don’t disagree with your point about being conservative yesterday. But not every game has the same circumstances. Yesterday’s game would have been completely different without that defensive scoop and score fumble return. Without the sack fumble and the blocked punt, the offense produced 13 points.

Getting a bonus TD from the defense or STs is great but those don’t happen every week. Scoring less than 20 no matter how good your defense is will get you beat in the playoffs. This offense must be able to consistently score more than they’ve been able to this season. Being in the bottom 3 in most offensive categories is not going to get us very far in the playoffs.

 

[nate dizzle]

I don’t disagree with your point about being conservative yesterday. But not every game has the same circumstances. Yesterday’s game would have been completely different without that defensive scoop and score fumble return. Without the sack fumble and the blocked punt, the offense produced 13 points.

Getting a bonus TD from the defense or STs is great but those don’t happen every week. Scoring less than 20 no matter how good your defense is will get you beat in the playoffs. This offense must be able to consistently score more than they’ve been able to this season. Being in the bottom 3 in most offensive categories is not going to get us very far in the playoffs.

Maybe. However, last year we had a top offense and 7th ranked defense and we saw how that worked out.

 

[Haimerej]

Being in the bottom 3 in most offensive categories is not going to get us very far in the playoffs.

To be fair, 20% of the total numbers was game 1 where they abandoned the run and never reached the red zone.