Actually more concern about the offense!

[Cowboyny]

Lot of weak areas, but many teams are similar.
They do have to do better this season, and be more consistent.
And wouldnt it be nice if not so many penaltys !

Have to finish drives more consistently. Seems like many things go wrong in the red zone, penalties, questionable play calls, etc.

 

[Cowboyny]

You mean the top 5 offense from last year that is returning every starter?

Oh brother. This again? They are a better group than last year. Tell me, when was the last time the OT's wrecked a season?

I don't care what the stats were, I saw games against teams like Arizona, Chicago, Denver where they were completely shut down.

 

[blueblood70]

You mean you hope he does. Who are you kidding.

Rockport don't take that as something against Prescott, no it not unusual and if he does he still should be enough to win games,

it doesn't mean he's gonna suck,

The onus should not only be put on the quarterback in the offense it needs to be a way better defense way better special teams way better support less pressure from the tackles.

I mean let's improve the team without having your quarterback have to have an MVP year II would prefer him to have Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach numbers only happen to throw for 200 yards maybe one touchdown thrown the rest of it handed to the running back the offensive line and the defense and yes the special team in the coaching staff it would be nice for once that not have either one of our quarterbacks Romo or Prescott be expected to just be great at all times.

Think that's what people are missing remember how some people outside the organization would say that Troy was overrated even Roger to an extent look at their stats they're saying don't look at stats Well you have to look at stats because our quarterbacks the last 20 years have been expected to carry the entire team When anything goes wrong the quarterback gets blasted.

I watched plenty of those games, Just about every game II Troy very rarely needed to throw for 300 plus yards and two to three touchdowns They the offense went through Emmett Smith and the offensive line first then they use that to get the defense off balance and then threw the ball when they needed to yes they had a great passing game when needed but for the most part Troy threw for 200 yards and maybe a touchdown got a couple of field goals and you know what that's all he needed to do it would be nice for once for that to be for Romo or Prescott in the bigger games and in the games against playoff teams not even just in the playoffs The problem is our defense and special teams do not show up in those games they get ran over by teams like the Cardinals and the Broncos are let's name a bad team the Cowboys should have beat and they can't because the rest of the team doesn't show up..

So yes it would sure be nice if our quarterback had a small drop off and still could win games take a little pressure off him that would be very nice we already know he can put up big gaudy stats but you don't need to you shouldn't need to.

 

[Cowboyny]

I have said many times before that to assume the offense will be just as good as last year because they have all 11 starters returning is a mistake. That rarely happens in the NFL.

But, on the flip side, if they can clean up their red zone issues I think they can be even more effective, without having all the "stats".
What I mean is they moved the ball for a ton of yds last year and they did score a lot of points at times. But they struggled a lot as well, especially inside the 10 yd line. They also settled for a lot of long FGs for a lot of their points.
If they can be more efficient with their possessions, scoring more TD's when they get the chance to do so, they can be more effective as an offense. Possibly without all the super yardage stats to go with it.
Does that makes any sense? I hope I got my thoughts through good enough.

I think having such a bad defense inflated their stats as they had to keep scoring to have a chance.

If they truly want to be an elite offense, they have to consistently score TD's not settle for FG's. They were ranked in the middle of the league inside the redzone, that's not good enough.

 

[gtb1943]

When was the last time that happened with Guyton and Steele?

That's the only thing that matters.

so they are unique in the NFL for being bad and not yet gotten their QB subdivided?

 

[blueblood70]

Have to finish drives more consistently. Seems like many things go wrong in the red zone, penalties, questionable play calls, etc.

You're finishing plenty of drives the problem here is you're criticizing them in the red zone but not realizing they scored a lot from just outside the red zone Yes a lot of those things went wrong but you can also add to it we they could score at will most of those games but when the defense is playing like garbage the special teams is playing like garbage Now you're overly focused on every little thing the offense does..

The Cowboys did fumble and drop passes and do all that but for most of the part they could have won 12 to 14 games last year had the defense even been 50% better, The special teams would added to those games there are a lot of offenses that don't have great games every week even the ones that are Greatest Show on Turf and other teams I remember the Cowboys not being able to score more than 13 points in a few games with Troy or Roger but you know what they had great defenses sometimes you can win games like that...

I mean they were one of the highest scoring teams in the league last year and you're criticizing them for not even putting up more points and I get it the games that were 17 points or less but there were so many scenarios in those games that put too much pressure on the Cowboys and sometimes you feel that pressure as a coach and a player and a group on the field where it's all relying on you you make mistakes you press et cetera.

I understand what you're saying but when I look back on it the last two or three times this year we've had the same conversation It wasn't all that bad when you look at the red zone percentage it's bad but when you look at overall scoring it's a new year but it'd be nice if they had some help from the rest of the team..

 

[Cowboyny]

I think what you saw in Jake Ferguson reception wise last season is what he is. A high catch, low ypc TE that is consistent, a good leader and has a huge connection with his QB. Solid blocker as well. I like Span Ford's upside and that's where the improvement at the TE position will come from.

Teams are going to gameplan against Lamb/Pickens, players like Ferguson/Flournoy are going to need to be effective.

 

[Cowboyny]

Defense doesn't translate year-to-year, offense - specifically passing offense - does.

If the offense isn't dragged down by such a poor defense, it will actually be better.

The defense being so bad did two things:

1. Never gave any short fields. Dallas was, I think, dead last in drives starting in opponents' territory and had poor starting field position.
2. Forced the offense into being one dimensional. Doesn't matter how good the offense is if they can't be balanced.

People do not realize how much this offense was held down by the defense.

It is pretty galaxy brained for the offense to be a bigger concern.

Good points, especially becoming one dimensional as they had to keep on scoring as the defense was so bad. I think this also inflated there passing numbers.

 

[blueblood70]

I think having such a bad defense inflated their stats as they had to keep scoring to have a chance.

If they truly want to be an elite offense, they have to consistently score TD's not settle for FG's. They were ranked in the middle of the league inside the redzone, that's not good enough.

It really apparently you didn't watch the Super Bowl apparently you didn't watch some of the games with the better defenses That's not true at all you should be able to win a game with a touchdown in a couple of field goals You should be able to win in this league with 20 points maybe 27 points if you got help from your special teams in your defense got a couple scores every now and again you know the free ones a short fields to pick 6 That is what overall the rest of the league looks at the better teams do not need They have more scoring from their offense they need to have less scoring by having a better defense and having a better special team you have this all mixed up,

They could score more points and maybe they could be more efficient but being top 7 in no help from your defensive special team says they're better than you even have them listed as..

Did you watch the Super Bowl i've watched a lot of games last year and I kept pointing them out and nobody wanted to listen II was being sarcastic a little facetious every time I saw a team win a game with 20 points and not much offense or 17 points I've seen a couple last year including some with some of the teams that we always seem to prop up around here win a game with just like 13 points on offense That is how it really is drawn out.

People have been hypnotized around here thinking our office needs to be that good and that efficient No it does not It was never like that with Troy or Roger..

They won a lot a truly ugly close games in those eras and people just forget about them that is why you need a gritty physical defense and a better special teams and a way better coaching staff that stops playing checkers It starts playing chess with some of the better minds in football..

I get what you're saying but I'm not buying it I seen so many games last year including the playoffs you know how many playoff games we were watching that the defenses were holding teams under 17 points mostly under twenty. mostly under 20

Maybe you forgot how Baltimore the Ravens and the Bears and some of these great defenses we've even seen some more recently that held teams under 17 points for an entire season the Ravens at one year and I believe the Bears they held teams under 14 points on average for an entire season including the playoffs can you imagine if our offense could be playing with a defense like that Oh my maybe we should stop talking about the offense has to keep scoring and score more be more efficient and talk about the rest of the team..
.

 

[jazzcat22]

With Dak we know what the offense is

It’ll at worse be just outside the top ten

And i actually expect it to take a dip this year

Yardage possibly, if the defense gives them shorter fields to work with. And that is ok.
Scoring then needs to increase of course because of that.
Plus teams have had a year of film and time to dissect it more.
However, Dallas also had a year to devise a better scheme and adjust to those defenses.

 

[Cowboyny]

I have zero concerns about the offense because it's the same one from last year that you're trying to criticize. And they were a top five offensive most categories, top seven in scoring. And even though their red zone scoring was off a little bit, I've already had this discussion with you and a bunch of other people months ago. If they're scoring from outside the red zone, it's still scoring. If you're top seven in scoring, that's a big deal. And they did it with no short fields, no help from the defense, no help from the special teams. This was pure offense. So think about that. There are teams out there that had higher rankings though, but they were handed a lot of short fields. They were handed also free scores from the defense. We've seen that in the past. Cowboys function pretty well, but it was a mirage this Cowboys offered from last year did it all on their own.

Think about this. All this. And the defense is new that they're going to get you behind early, and you're pretty much going to have to throw the football the rest of the game. That's how bad that defense was last year. The other defenses couldn't wait because they knew it didn't matter how much the Cowboys scored, that their offense was going to get the score right back and all they had to do was go out there. And just open up one dimensional football, because that's what the Cowboys had to play with a lot of games. In those scenarios you're talking about, they got desperate. You get desperate when you one dimensional. It's happened in other games and playoff games in years past when you can't move the football. Or you can't count on your defense. Then it's pretty easy to defend you..

Forget what you're saying about the tackles, but again, I'm absolutely still only worried about the defense coming together. A bunch of new players, a bunch of new starters, a whole new green coaching staff and the special teams who I'm not sure we improved at all, but we'll find out that didn't get addressed. I think just having better players and better depth is going to improve that, but still, Nope, not concerned about the offense, not even a little bit...


Even on a bad day the Cowboys offense can score enough points to win a game if you had a better defense and better special teams and better coaching that's a fact why does the Cowboys always have to worry about their offense scoring 25 to 35 points when really there's a lot of teams out there that feel so comfortable They have a defense like the Houston Texans that you can score 20 and win a game easily You can score 17 and win a game that has not happened for the Cowboys last year it doesn't happen very often it's always about the offense the offense no I want to see for once that the defense's special teams makes it easier on our offense not in most regular season games in the big ones against playoff teams and in the playoffs we need to have an actual physical defense a smothering defense and a special teams that also add some help in those games..

I saw this offense have real struggles during last season, even against poor competition like the Cardinals for example. It is a good offense, but I don't feel like they are elite.

 

[blueblood70]

Good points, especially becoming one dimensional as they had to keep on scoring as the defense was so bad. I think this also inflated there passing numbers.

See that's not what it's all about you play 17 games 'cause you play the law of averages you're gonna have up games down games average games and you can expect the same from your opponent so you look at the whole picture the whole picture says the Cowboys had a top five offense with a top 7 in scoring with no help from the defense or special teams they didn't get a lot of short fields or free points Those points you talk about from other teams scoring came from some other places on their team we've seen that in the three year Dan Quinn years things were inflated things were a mirage that's why you just take the 17 games and you just look at it from that large perspective not micromanaging each game that could have meant something or it didn't mean something or it could have been different..

When you're one dimensional that means the defense knows that and should be able to stop it right pin their ears back they know they're going to pass that makes it even more impressive that they were able to score more because the defense knew it was coming and couldn't stop it.

 

[Cowboyny]

I agree with many of your points as places for improvement but at the end of the day the Cowboys were a top 5 offense last year and are bringing everyone back. Maybe they regress some but I don’t see them outside the top 10 next year. I don’t see the defense jumping into the top 10 this year, much less the top 5. It is going to be a work in progress.

I think some better management of Williams by using Demercado and Davis more to spell him and a healthy year from Tyler Guyton could actually improve the offense an bit and neither of those are outlandish expectations.

They have to become more consistent. Cannot have halves when they don't score a single point.

 

[Cowboyny]

You're finishing plenty of drives the problem here is you're criticizing them in the red zone but not realizing they scored a lot from just outside the red zone Yes a lot of those things went wrong but you can also add to it we they could score at will most of those games but when the defense is playing like garbage the special teams is playing like garbage Now you're overly focused on every little thing the offense does..

The Cowboys did fumble and drop passes and do all that but for most of the part they could have won 12 to 14 games last year had the defense even been 50% better, The special teams would added to those games there are a lot of offenses that don't have great games every week even the ones that are Greatest Show on Turf and other teams I remember the Cowboys not being able to score more than 13 points in a few games with Troy or Roger but you know what they had great defenses sometimes you can win games like that...

I mean they were one of the highest scoring teams in the league last year and you're criticizing them for not even putting up more points and I get it the games that were 17 points or less but there were so many scenarios in those games that put too much pressure on the Cowboys and sometimes you feel that pressure as a coach and a player and a group on the field where it's all relying on you you make mistakes you press et cetera.

I understand what you're saying but when I look back on it the last two or three times this year we've had the same conversation It wasn't all that bad when you look at the red zone percentage it's bad but when you look at overall scoring it's a new year but it'd be nice if they had some help from the rest of the team..

Look at the elite teams, they are the best converting inside the red zone, the Eagles for example for the best in the league.

 

[blueblood70]

I have said many times before that to assume the offense will be just as good as last year because they have all 11 starters returning is a mistake. That rarely happens in the NFL.

But, on the flip side, if they can clean up their red zone issues I think they can be even more effective, without having all the "stats".
What I mean is they moved the ball for a ton of yds last year and they did score a lot of points at times. But they struggled a lot as well, especially inside the 10 yd line. They also settled for a lot of long FGs for a lot of their points.
If they can be more efficient with their possessions, scoring more TD's when they get the chance to do so, they can be more effective as an offense. Possibly without all the super yardage stats to go with it.
Does that makes any sense? I hope I got my thoughts through good enough.

Seattle and New England had more scoring from their STs ie Fgs.. It's odd that Seattle can win a Super Bowl They also won a Super Bowl leading the league in penalties one year with Russell Wilson It's it's odd that when you try to squeeze this and push it all on Prescott and the offense and try to come up with all these weird scenarios and situations that seem like it was just a mirage no it was not Other teams use their field goal kickers just as much That is one of the worst narratives that get talked about in here is that we rely on the kicker too much when most teams do it a lot of the better teams last year that finished in the top 10 overall the playoff teams used their kicker as much or more seattle led the league in field goal attempts and they had a better defense and they won the damn Super Bowl if you looked at the Super Bowl that's what they did there was almost no scoring in the first half That's what great defense looks like..

Most Cowboys need to get in field goal range that means they're moving the ball efficiently to even settle for these field goals But most teams use their field goal kicker as part of their concept for winning games that is part of the NFL You do realize it's called Football Capital FOOT Foot a lot of things are done with their foot including kickoffs kicks punts If the kicking game is a vital part of every team it's important to have a great kicker why because they're used a lot..

No I am not agreeing with anything you said and even at Prescott dips a little yeah he had MVP type numbers many times he doesn't need to play like that but he won't be outside the top 10 he'll still be inside the top 10 but at least we expect the defense to be better and the special teams to be better or it's going to be back to them being one dimensional and being forced to play like that they're being forced to play like that..

False narrative is that the Cowboys are somehow alone in using the kicker too much when there were better teams playoff teams like I have to go with the Super Bowl champions that use their kicker more and they won the damn Super Bowl with great defense great special teams and not asking their offense to score 35 points a game yes that's a funny concept isn't it..

 

[Cowboyny]

It really apparently you didn't watch the Super Bowl apparently you didn't watch some of the games with the better defenses That's not true at all you should be able to win a game with a touchdown in a couple of field goals You should be able to win in this league with 20 points maybe 27 points if you got help from your special teams in your defense got a couple scores every now and again you know the free ones a short fields to pick 6 That is what overall the rest of the league looks at the better teams do not need They have more scoring from their offense they need to have less scoring by having a better defense and having a better special team you have this all mixed up,

They could score more points and maybe they could be more efficient but being top 7 in no help from your defensive special team says they're better than you even have them listed as..

Did you watch the Super Bowl i've watched a lot of games last year and I kept pointing them out and nobody wanted to listen II was being sarcastic a little facetious every time I saw a team win a game with 20 points and not much offense or 17 points I've seen a couple last year including some with some of the teams that we always seem to prop up around here win a game with just like 13 points on offense That is how it really is drawn out.

People have been hypnotized around here thinking our office needs to be that good and that efficient No it does not It was never like that with Troy or Roger..

They won a lot a truly ugly close games in those eras and people just forget about them that is why you need a gritty physical defense and a better special teams and a way better coaching staff that stops playing checkers It starts playing chess with some of the better minds in football..

I get what you're saying but I'm not buying it I seen so many games last year including the playoffs you know how many playoff games we were watching that the defenses were holding teams under 17 points mostly under twenty. mostly under 20

Maybe you forgot how Baltimore the Ravens and the Bears and some of these great defenses we've even seen some more recently that held teams under 17 points for an entire season the Ravens at one year and I believe the Bears they held teams under 14 points on average for an entire season including the playoffs can you imagine if our offense could be playing with a defense like that Oh my maybe we should stop talking about the offense has to keep scoring and score more be more efficient and talk about the rest of the team..
.

They didn't just struggle against good defenses, they had issues even against a team like Arizona who had no business dominating us like that.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

you forgot the most important part- Dak and the Offense were dismal in the red zone.our Defense was so horrific that we forgot how our Offense got the yips in the red zone.

Right. We had people actually SAY that. "Not gonna even look at offense with the defense so bad".

And "TOP FIVE OFFENSE!".

There's some smoke and mirrors in them there stats.

Schotty said very recently "we gotta stop with these long field goal asttempts". And not just preseason ones.

We need this offense to start games strong. Bob had a thread awhile back showing something like 7-10 point averages in the first half.

We need long clock-eating drives.

This offense MUST do a better job helping the defense stay fresh and confident.

 

[zrinkill]

Always concerned about the offense ......... whenever the playoffs roll around

 

[Rockport]

I saw this offense have real struggles during last season, even against poor competition like the Cardinals for example. It is a good offense, but I don't feel like they are elite.

The Chiefs have had real struggles from time to time. All teams do.

 

[blueblood70]

Look at the elite teams, they are the best converting inside the red zone, the Eagles for example for the best in the league.

It may be an issue or may not be an issue this is 2026 not 2025 It's not 2024 or 2023 we can go back to those years where they won 36 games two division titles went to the playoffs three straight years still failed because of their defense primary their defense failed the Cowboys because they were a mirage in the regular season we need a real defense better special teams and then we can talk about what it looks like to be a Cowboys offensive player put in ridiculous expectations and situations throughout the year.

It's nice to improve those areas but it would be also nice to have less scoring how about less scoring you want to be more efficient in the red zone great It's gonna even out in the end think about it bigger picture open your mind up a bit So yes they were forced to do all that this last year but what if they scored less from outside the red zone what if they have less big plays and now they substitute that for better red zone percentage and in the end they score the same in the end it doesn't matter only 17 games matter not the ones you're cherry picking..

I do understand what you're saying and it would be great to improve in some areas but you're gonna drop off in others in the end and you're gonna expect this offense to be one of the top 10 in the league whether it's from the red zone percentage inside the red zone or whether it's scoring big plays outside the red zone it doesn't matter as long as your team can score what we really need is to score less and have a better defense a much better defense. and have a better defense a much better defense

Again I get what you're saying but I'm not buying it this is a new year however they improve on offense it doesn't matter because in the end I think it's going to be the same no matter where you score from or how you score whether it's field goals trick plays big plays from way outside the red zone is scoring is scoring.


And yes the Cowboys had both scenarios think about the Eagle game They had a bunch of big plays that were dropped by CD lamb easily could have put us in scoring position and won that game we also had Sanders fumbling inside the five yes there were scenarios in which they could have been better. Definitely could have won that game had they not made the mistakes but in the end it doesn't matter They were in position to win those games because they could score from just about anywhere in a red zone Percentage doesn't matter when you can score from anywhere.

You think if you just clean up the penalties the mistakes and get your tackles better I don't care if we only scored 20 points a game that's where I'm looking at it I want the defense to do their damn job for once No not the mirage of Dan Quinn's defenses I want them to be really able to suffocate and stop a team from moving the damn football Because even when they played well in people's eyes they were allowing long drives even in the low scoring game they were allowing long time of possession drives they were letting them move the ball into at least scoring position The deepest needs to be heads and tails better like ridiculously better my expectations is the defense has been the biggest problem in the last 25 years oh wait a minute we're supposed to use the 31 year narrative than any other part of the team they are not physical enough they do not go into games and say we're going to make sure our offense can probably win this Game 6 to nothing.

That is my expectation the offense can easily win a lot of games just being themselves with no improvement from last year on the offensive side the improvement needs to come from the rest of the team..


I do understand your concepts i'm not denying that some of those were weak spots on the offense last year but even with the weak spots they can dominate we just need in those games that we couldn't score in the second half or whatever there was reasons 1 of them CD lamb got hurt right before halftime We had injuries we had problems with the defense knowing exactly what was gonna happen the rest of the game.

Just like to throw out the year before and let's just hope we're a better team overall this year I want a team that could be like the New England Patriots facing the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl and watch that game again how boring how low scoring it was and it didn't matter the defenses just kept playing until one of the offenses just happened to score enough to win the game whether it was with a field goal or how they scored in the red zone.. I mean I like to see the scoring from the Seattle Seahawks go do your research and tell me how they didn't attempt more field goals than anybody else in the league last year and their kicker led the league in points last year and tell me how that's different I'll tell you how it's different their defense was much better their coaching staff was much better

Yes this burns my butt when these come up when people want to pick apart our offense when it's been the strong point the last 20 plus years we have wasted Romo and Prescott's contributions to this team by not having a good complimentary defense and special teams and coaching staff we've been weak somewhere.

Gonna go back to the way this all started Prescott was Rookie of the Year regardless if you think he deserved it or not he played great for a rookie 4th round pick he gets into the playoffs and goes toe to toe score to score constantly brought this team back in 2016 playoffs against the Packers to only lose because of what the defense couldn't stop anyone this narrative would not be the same had the Demons been just a little better I think the Cowboys were on their way to an NFC championship game they had the offense they didn't have the defense..