After we calmed down now, how you feeling?

[John813]

0-17 and bounced out of the wild card is still my prediction.

 

[GoCowboysGo]

The game went exactly as expected, even the injuries. This team will be lucky to win three games.

 

[Whyjerry]

I will add the Tampa defense is a speed defense that likes to blitz. It was obvious after the first series that the offense was going to struggle. Tampa was all downhill because they knew Dallas was going to throw the ball no matter what. Even when the wideouts were struggling Dallas was throwing it. Zeke got off to a good start and Pollard is a stud. They should have rammed those guys down Tamp’s throat. That would have softened the D up for shots downfield. Instead Tampa just kept coming.

 

[bewp7]

Dak can be successful. He isn’t Mahomes but he can win a lot of games. I will die on that hill. Rewatch the game and tell me why you wouldn’t start pounding the ball after the first 3 series. Moore is terrible. Really really terrible.

yes dak can be we saw he can when u design the whole offense to be dumb down and surround him with very good very expensive player every where but u cant do that when he is making $40,000,000 a year and it is silly to even think about some thing like that when u can get the same result and have the same problem by spending a lot less on some teddy bridgewater or some thing just for a example

that is why i do not like dak and his contract

 

[Flamma]

I was pretty mad Sunday. I mean that was as bad a home opener as I can remember. Dak’s injury is a big deal despite what the haters say. The fall off between he and Rush is huge. Tampa has a good defense and the WRs are injured but I think the biggest culprit is Moore. I rewatched the game and it’s hard to believe how bad he is. I could not figure out what he was trying to do. It was obvious early that the WRs were going to be no help. Lamb btw is a clown. He should have gone heavy and ran Zeke and Pollard hard. I would also gotten both of those guys in space with screens and quick hitches. I am thinking 40 total touches between the 2 of them. Yet they had a fraction of that. It had to be done given zero help from the wideouts. Yet he made no attempt. The guy is terrible.

I thought this was a 11-6 team. I knew the first 6 we’re going to be rough but I thought 3-3 was possible. Now I just can’t see it. Opening the season with 2 home losses will sink a season fast. The defense is going to be good. I am positive about that. Gallup and Washington are around the corner. Dak back by the end of October. The team which can’t steal a game ever needs to do just that. I think a week 2 home game is a must win. Another loss and I am afraid this is a 10 loss season.

This franchise is teetering. In my opinion like never before.

You guys finding any rays of sunshine?

I'm not feeling it. The only ray of sunshine is I think our D will get better. But the offense, they won't even be as good as last year. Even when Gallup and Washington come back. But they'll be slightly better. The offense is too predictable.

The D was the reason Dallas was 12-5. Otherwise they would have been 8-9 or 9-8 like they were in 2019. Same offense, better D in 2021.

The offense last year beat a depleted Giants team in both games. Backups in two other games in the division. A lot of stats piling there. Then they went 6-5 outside the division.

We're still going to have offensive problems similar to last year even when Dak returns. The difference is the NFCE don't have the bottom feeders they were last year.

 

[RS12]

Dak can be successful

Not here. It would have to be in a better organization with better coaching and an owner that is happy monitoring his bank account instead of looking foolish on an annual basis. Maybe in NE but even then odds are low.

 

[Denim Chicken]

 

[AsthmaField]

I’m about where I was Sunday night:

The defense looked good and will be strong this season. Micha is even better than he was last year.

The offense looked terrible. The offensive line, considering McGovern went out in the first quarter, was surprisingly solid. However about everything else on that side of the ball sucked donkey *****. The QB looked flummoxed, just like he did in the second half of the season last year. The WR’s didn’t seem to be giving him much help, and the play calling seemed uninspired.

I’m somewhere in the middle on Dak, but if they can’t figure out what defenses are doing to slow him down, then you have to use another QB, because there are games where he just can’t do much.

I will say this: Once Peters gets in on the OL, I think this line is going to be significantly better at run blocking than last year’s line. If they can just manage to move the ball on the ground, things will open up more for Dak, or whoever is at QB.

If the offense can do just a little to help out the defense, that side of the ball is going to be very good. Even being behind Tampa for the whole game, the defense made it damn near impossible for Brady to score a TD. Had the offense gotten ahead of TB, the defense would have really been giving Brady fits.

Finally, I’ll say that Bowles and the Tampa defense are really good and to be applying this type of defense to every team Dallas plays is not what is going to happen. They are really good and they had a great game plan against Dallas Sunday night.

Much like they did to Mahomes in the super bowl, they just confounded Dak and the Dallas offense with a similar game plan. Moore needed to stick to the ground game more but he got away from it as Tampa kept adding field goals.

Anyway, I always try to have 3 or 4 games before I judge a team, which I have to remind myself of, because this one just makes me want to jump to snap decisions. However, I’ll wait for a couple more games before I have a good feel for how the team will be… but without the starting QB, it won’t be easy to win any of those games.

 

[morat1959]

Stop drinking the koolaid years go. I feel better after this game than I have in years. Maybe we’ll finally bottom out. A rebuild needed to be in place many years go.

 

[morat1959]

I was never upset. The outcome was what I expected. Forget the coaches, forget the players, the ownership prevents anything but middling results. The team will win 5 or 6 games, fire the coach, make a few personnel changes and will start the back on the road to inevitable mediocrity again in 2023/

I hope not! If this season doesn’t open JJ’s eyes, nothing ever will.

 

[charron]

Like they still win 6 games.

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

0-17 and bounced out of the wild card is still my prediction.

You think the cowboys make the postseason with 0 wins?

 

[JoeKing]

I want my vote back from the CZ Poll... how many wins will the Cowboys get? I now think we can win a few games.

 

[fivetwos]

Who here DOESN'T think the second half of last year wasn't about Moore not adjusting?

What did you see different on Sunday?

This season is over and it ain't about Prescotts thumb.

Bring Moore back next year and that's over too.

 

[ItzKelz]

How we utilize our playmakers offensively is concerning. Penalties were drive killers....shout of to Steele. Dak threw the worse interception he has ever thrown in his professional career.

Defensively......we have a chance to be great.

 

[ShortRound]

Meh … I had low expectations before, let’s see who steps up.

 

[Ranching]

Stuff happens...gotta move on.

 

[Scottishcowboy]

I feel no better.

I like Dak a lot but have sadly come to the realisation that he cannot string 3 good games together against quality opposition and that is in essence what is needed come playoff time (not necessarily this year but ANY future seasons).

I also had lingering doubts about Lamb and while 1 game could be on overreaction, he hasn't delivered in games last year when Cooper was out. I also keep picturing the way he handled draft day when he snatched the phone from his girlfriend.....didn't sit well with me. He's got the look of a diva. Watching some of the other younger receivers in the league deliver isn't fun and I also suspect he will get the "Jerry knows best" massive contract after this year too.

So in summary, I'm a miserable old git and don't see much light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[CWR]

I was pretty mad Sunday. I mean that was as bad a home opener as I can remember. Dak’s injury is a big deal despite what the haters say. The fall off between he and Rush is huge. Tampa has a good defense and the WRs are injured but I think the biggest culprit is Moore. I rewatched the game and it’s hard to believe how bad he is. I could not figure out what he was trying to do. It was obvious early that the WRs were going to be no help. Lamb btw is a clown. He should have gone heavy and ran Zeke and Pollard hard. I would also gotten both of those guys in space with screens and quick hitches. I am thinking 40 total touches between the 2 of them. Yet they had a fraction of that. It had to be done given zero help from the wideouts. Yet he made no attempt. The guy is terrible.

I thought this was a 11-6 team. I knew the first 6 we’re going to be rough but I thought 3-3 was possible. Now I just can’t see it. Opening the season with 2 home losses will sink a season fast. The defense is going to be good. I am positive about that. Gallup and Washington are around the corner. Dak back by the end of October. The team which can’t steal a game ever needs to do just that. I think a week 2 home game is a must win. Another loss and I am afraid this is a 10 loss season.

This franchise is teetering. In my opinion like never before.

You guys finding any rays of sunshine?

Alright brother, I'm with you, however here's an alternate ending....

We lose in a slightly more dignified way vs the Bengals. In the loss we have success on the ground, and the defense plays well. In the end Burrow, Chase, Higgins, Boyd and Mixon are too much.

The following couple of weeks we adapt from what we have learned. Peters is a big help and we start gashing other teams. Rush performs well with play action and limited passes. His stat lines consist of about 18-20ish pass attempts per game. Zeke and Pollard eat; the defense starts to ball out because they aren't constantly on the field AND we get a couple of wins vs our division rivals.

This brings us to 2-2. The next 3 games we pull off one more win and lose a couple close ones, sitting at 3-5 when Dak comes back.

Now we have established the run game and an identity. The coaches decide to stay the course and continue this style of play with Dak, who is better at taking advantage than Rush. We play our tails off and finish the season winning 7-8 games out of the next 9 and head in to the playoffs as a running team with a tough defense.

Yes not likely, but like I said it's a plot twist, AND in my opinion the only way we pull anything together this season.

Unfortunately I have no faith in KM to adapt. He's already proven to be incapable of doing so after an entire off-season. What did anyone expect from the JG coaching tree?

 

[DCwarrior]

My butt still hurts! Was hoping to see a lot more than what they put out on the field.