Amari Cooper has been the difference for Dallas

[Toruk_Makto]

For me, Ws matter infinitely more than how many points you score because a good defense will often go Negan on a good offense.

Yeah the best teams in the NFL right now and the last few years are dominant defenses.....oh wait no that's not true at all.

 

[Bleu Star]

Yeah the best teams in the NFL right now and the last few years are dominant defenses.....oh wait no that's not true at all.

How many of those current "best teams in the NFL" have won a Super Bowl with their lovely explosive offenses?

I'm trying hard not to think beyond Washington but I will tell you this.... When the Saints meet our defense, they're going to literally get stuck in the mud. We may end up losing that particular game but it'll be a very close score and the Saints won't score more than 27.

 

[J12B]

From a points per game perspective Cooper hasn't done anything.

Points are still important right?

We don't know that for certain. Without him the team may have only scored 15-16 points against Atlanta. Cooper had a great first down in the first half on a critical 3rd and 6 by breaking a tackle and picking up an extra couple of yards after the catch. The offense was around their own 20. Not only, did it allow the drive to continue, allowing the defense to rest, but it also resulted in 3. The game could have changed drastically had they needed to punt, giving Atlanta great field position.

Plays like that appear as trivial on a stat sheet, but when putting it into perspective, it's actually huge for the offense and team overall.

 

[Philmonroe]

Yeah, but one pass? One measly pass?

That's who Dak is and that's why I didn't like the trade. I didn't need to see Cooper stats looking like this to see that that's who Dak is. Hopefully for Cooper sake it gets better because he will be polite Dez when he gets paid putting up these numbers since quite a few never want to say Dak isn't a good passing qb.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

How many of those current "best teams in the NFL" have won a Super Bowl with their lovely explosive offenses?

I'm trying hard not to think beyond Washington but I will tell you this.... When the Saints meet our defense, they're going to literally get stuck in the mud. We may end up losing that particular game but it'll be a very close score and the Saints won't score more than 27.

The last defensive team to wint he Superbowl is Baltimore in 2013.

2014 - Seahawks and Russell (btw scored 43 points in the win)
2015 - New England which is defined by Brady and the offense
2016 - Broncos and Peyton - though you can argue Peyton on the downside of his career and Broncos did have a good defense but they also had Thomas and Sanders in their primes at WR and Peyton leading the attack
2017 - Pats who needed to score 31 unanswered points to win
2018 - Eagles who dropped 41 in the big game.

So to answer your question "How many of those current best teams in the NFL have won a Super Bowl with their lovely explosive offenses"....the answer is...most of them in the last 6 years.

 

[Bleu Star]

The last defensive team to wint he Superbowl is Baltimore in 2013.

2014 - Seahawks and Russell (btw scored 43 points in the win)
Was not an explosive offense and had a defense.
2015 - New England which is defined by Brady and the offense
Was not an explosive offense and had a defense.
2016 - Broncos and Peyton - though you can argue Peyton on the downside of his career and Broncos did have a good defense but they also had Thomas and Sanders in their primes at WR and Peyton leading the attack
Was not an explosive offense and had a defense.
2017 - Pats who needed to score 31 unanswered points to win
Was not an explosive offense and had a defense.
2018 - Eagles who dropped 41 in the big game.
Wince sucks (and had a defense)

So to answer your question "How many of those current best teams in the NFL have won a Super Bowl with their lovely explosive offenses"....the answer is...most of them in the last 6 years.

Defense wins championships sir. (& we happen to have one this year)

 

[Toruk_Makto]

Defense wins championships sir. (& we happen to have one this year)

2014 Seattle 9th in ppg
2015 New England 3rd in ppg
2016 Denver 21st in ppg - one year you can hang your hat on
2017 Philly was 1st in ppg and their opponent New England was 2nd in ppg
2018 New Orleans/Kansas City/Rams 1st/2nd/3rd in ppg (Dallas is 25th in ppg)

You're not doing much to convince me that being an elite offense is bad for your super bowl hopes.

 

[erod]

Defense wins championships sir. (& we happen to have one this year)

Like the one Tennessee faced here? Or the one that will get spanked by Brees?

Yes, our defense is much better than before, but far from great.

 

[Bleu Star]

Like the one Tennessee faced here? Or the one that will get spanked by Brees?

Yes, our defense is much better than before, but far from great.

Top 5 in every category (and getting better)

 

[Knotamus]

I won’t say I was happy ab the trade for Amari when I heard ab it, but I knew Amari was a good player. The compensation was the main thing that bothered me.

But after getting the details of the trade and seeing what He’s done for this offense (more indirectly), I’ve come around. And if most would consider the listed reasons below, they should be happy ab it. Especially since Dallas would have likely drafted a WR in the 1st round next year anyway.

1. 24yo: I honestly thought Amari was older than this. This alone changed my tune considerably. Exp when you factor in last drafts “projected pick” Calvin Ridley is only a year younger.
2. Experience: If we had drafted a WR, there’s no gaurantee they’d be as good as Amari. And typically WRs take awhile to get acclimated to the NFL, I.e.- Gallup. With Amari.. he hit the ground running and has made a significant difference to the whole offense.
3. The contract: I also didn’t realize Dallas was only paying Amari roughly 14mil over two years. That definitely dosent break the bank. Yes, I know.. if we drafted a 1st Rder, we’d have him on a rookie contract for five years. But then again, you’d be betting that the player could be AS good as Amari. We payed for a known commodity... and we NEEDED a playmaker. Amari was a safe bet.

Honestly, trading a 1st for anything other than a QB was the underline disappointment. I’m not hating on Dak bc I love everything about the guy.. except.. his throwing accuracy and Anticipation. Unfortunately for him, I believe that’s what’s going to keep him from being Great throughout his career. I know some here will argue, but that’s just my opinion. That said, I was holding out hope that a 1st rd QB may be in play next draft, of course that’s no longer the case. What does make me feel better about it though... from what I read, this coming draft isn’t a great draft for QBs anyway, but in two years there will be 3-4 very good QBs coming out of college. So, Dak has his #1 WR, a good OL, a good Defense, and a 1.5 years to audition a contract. I’ll be cheering him on the whole time, but now there are NO excuses.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

The last defensive team to wint he Superbowl is Baltimore in 2013.

2014 - Seahawks and Russell (btw scored 43 points in the win)
2015 - New England which is defined by Brady and the offense
2016 - Broncos and Peyton - though you can argue Peyton on the downside of his career and Broncos did have a good defense but they also had Thomas and Sanders in their primes at WR and Peyton leading the attack
2017 - Pats who needed to score 31 unanswered points to win
2018 - Eagles who dropped 41 in the big game.

So to answer your question "How many of those current best teams in the NFL have won a Super Bowl with their lovely explosive offenses"....the answer is...most of them in the last 6 years.

I'm not sure I agree with all of this.

Seahawks are known for the Legion of Boom Defense and while they may score points, it's often off turnovers forced by the Defense. I mean, the year Seattle beat Denver, the Broncos lead the league in scoring at 37.9 points a game. Seattle dominated them defensively and hung 42 points on them. Seattles season scoring average that year was only 26.1 that season.

While I agree with you that New England is defined by Brady, I would not say that it is the "Offense" per say. In fact, New England really hasn't had very good Offenses over the years. They have had great OLs, they have had a Great TE, they have had maybe the greatest QB of all time and they have had Great Coaching but I would not say great Offenses. In fact, I would say that they have been a much better Defensive team for most of those years. I mean, the year New England beat Seattle, the Hawks were 1st in the league defensively and New England was, I believe, 8th. that Super Bowl was a throw back game with New England winning 28-24.

Broncos vs Panthers, Broncos dominated Carolina Defensively and they were 4th in the league Defensively that year.

I would say that all of those teams were Defensive units.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

I'm not sure I agree with all of this.

Seahawks are known for the Legion of Boom Defense and while they may score points, it's often off turnovers forced by the Defense. I mean, the year Seattle beat Denver, the Broncos lead the league in scoring at 37.9 points a game. Seattle dominated them defensively and hung 42 points on them. Seattles season scoring average that year was only 26.1 that season.

While I agree with you that New England is defined by Brady, I would not say that it is the "Offense" per say. In fact, New England really hasn't had very good Offenses over the years. They have had great OLs, they have had a Great TE, they have had maybe the greatest QB of all time and they have had Great Coaching but I would not say great Offenses. In fact, I would say that they have been a much better Defensive team for most of those years. I mean, the year New England beat Seattle, the Hawks were 1st in the league defensively and New England was, I believe, 8th. that Super Bowl was a throw back game with New England winning 28-24.

Broncos vs Panthers, Broncos dominated Carolina Defensively and they were 4th in the league Defensively that year.

I would say that all of those teams were Defensive units.

2014 Seattle 9th in ppg
2015 New England 3rd in ppg
2016 Denver 21st in ppg - one year you can hang your hat on
2017 Philly was 1st in ppg and their opponent New England was 2nd in ppg
2018 New Orleans/Kansas City/Rams 1st/2nd/3rd in ppg (Dallas is 25th in ppg)

2016 I'll give you. But 3 of the last 4 champs have been top 9 in ppg. The other champ was a Peyton Manning led team.

It is what it is.

And look at the QBs in these games...Wilson, Brady, Manning and a hot as hell Foles (yes still shocks me as well).

 

[Xeven]

First problem is DC play not to lose. The next problem is Zeke was out too long and lost his bearing. Dak is not yet accurate on long throws. Last we needed a good deep WR. We let go of best keep Kicker in NFL.

Good news is it all seem to be gelling better despite Garret and Linihan basic plays and conservative play calling. Not going to win kicking field goals.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

2014 Seattle 9th in ppg
2015 New England 3rd in ppg
2016 Denver 21st in ppg - one year you can hang your hat on
2017 Philly was 1st in ppg and their opponent New England was 2nd in ppg
2018 New Orleans/Kansas City/Rams 1st/2nd/3rd in ppg (Dallas is 25th in ppg)

2016 I'll give you. But 3 of the last 4 champs have been top 9 in ppg. The other champ was a Peyton Manning led team.

It is what it is.

And look at the QBs in these games...Wilson, Brady, Manning and a hot as hell Foles (yes still shocks me as well).

And what were there defensive rankings?

 

[Knotamus]

And what were there defensive rankings?

I concur with your sediments. The last few post ab winning the SB with a top offense or defense seems to be watered down with cherry picked stats.

The old adage that “defenses wins championships” seems to have been misconstrued as of late due to the new NFL rules that have catapulted offenses, specifically in the passing game.

What seems to be lost in the above conversations is how much a top defense (rankings between #1-10) helps the offense.

1. Typically top defenses get turnovers that steals another offense drive from their opponent, thus giving thier own offense another chance to score.
2. Top defenses provides shorter fields for thier offense to drive down, thus scoring actually becomes easier.. even if it’s only a field goal, as we all know every point matters
3. And even if the opposition scores, it typically isn’t easy against a top defense. Thus giving the offense plenty of time to make adjustments between drives and study thier tablets to see how the opposing defense is attacking them.

See, I still wholeheartedly believe defenses win championships because with most of those teams that average top PPG.. they had a decent defense to assist them. Not to mention, I’ve seen plenty of teams that score a ton of points, yet get equalized by a very good defense.

I.e.- the only reason Dallas is even in the position they are in today is because of our defense. If we didn’t have this defense, we would be a 2-8 team at best this season.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

And what were there defensive rankings?

What's your point? The argument was that offense was not needed to win the superbowl. Only a defense was. That's....clearly not true.

 

[buybuydandavis]

That too. But don't underestimate what Amari's presence is doing for that offense.

While we began the season thinking we could get by without a true #1 WR, reality is that the organization was trippin. We are witinessing what a true #1 will do for an offense and we have only scratched the surface.

We could have gotten away without a #1 with a decent OC. We had plenty of speed to threaten teams deep, and we didn't use it. Threatening teams with speed deep is how you make teams pay for crowding the box.

Cooper is the fastest WR, and teams believe we'll use that. We could have done that last year with Butler, but like this year with Austin, he was the most productive per target by far but we just refused to keep using him.

We love Gallup deep, but he's significantly slower than Austin, Thompson, Butler, and Cooper. More genius coaching.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Whether we choose to like the giving of the #1 pick or not, I wholeheartedly agree with this article. Amari is now doing what Dez once did years ago before his injury. Amari is sucking up coverage and causing the secondary to pay attention. This, in turn, is opening up the rest of the field for other receivers and giving Zeke more robust lanes in which to run. His mere presence is making the offense click.

Lovingly,

Your boy Bleu
.

.

.


JONATHAN JONES
Wednesday November 21st, 2018
ATLANTA — Through three games with the Cowboys, No. 1 wideout Amari Cooper has 14 catches for 169 yards and one touchdown. Multiply his per-game averages by 16 and he’d have a season with 74 catches, 901 yards and five scores. Then consider he’s coming off his least-productive game of the season against the Falcons, catching just three passes for 36 yards.

Now realize that none of that matters. Sure, the Cowboys would love it if Cooper had the best three-game stretch of a mid-season trade acquisition in NFL history. But the stats don’t matter. For both the short and long term, Dallas getting Cooper was all about finally getting back to their 2016 ways of running the ball.

Cooper’s addition has forced defenses, for the first time this season, to show respect to the Cowboys’ passing game. Indeed, it has opened things up for quarterback Dak Prescott from Week 9 to 11, but it’s making defenses unload the box.

Follow the link for the rest of the story.
https://amp-si-com.cdn.ampproject.o...0/amari-cooper-dallas-cowboys-ezekiel-elliott

Cooper helps, but its more the play of the line then anything else. Just go watch last game a few times. The line is now getting a pushing in the run game and giving Dak a cleaner pocket to pass.

 

[CowboyRoy]

What's your point? The argument was that offense was not needed to win the superbowl. Only a defense was. That's....clearly not true.

These type of question are pointless. Whats important is what THIS TYPE if team needs to win. The Cowboys have been built around a power Oline and the run game with a bus driver/dual threat type QB. This is not a high flying, heavy pass offense. THIS type of team needs a great defense. VERY VERY much like the 90's Cowboys.

 

[buybuydandavis]

What seems to be lost in the above conversations is how much a top defense (rankings between #1-10) helps the offense.

Moreso the reverse - top offenses help defenses, particularly top run offenses.

Teams often (too often) go one dimensional when they're behind, letting the defense play downhill.
Later in the game, the defense really gets to look like champs as desperate teams have to take more and more risk to score quickly.
Ball control offenses keep their defenses fresh.