CFZ Answers to these questions will determine the Cowboys success this season

[ArtClink]

IMO, the reason we haven’t made it to the NFC Championship in so long is that when our defense has to make a stop (4th &35 vs Green Bay in Dallas to win div rd, 4:58 left in Green Bay after refs cheated Dez out of a catch, any critical point in Div rd vs Rams 3-5 years ago, etc), our defense simply fails to mk stops indicative of a championship defense. That is what has to change because we’ve tried w Romo and Dak w the same end result. Something has to change about our defense no matter how high it is rated.

 

[shabazz]

IMO, the thing that has road blocked this team in recent years from at least getting to an NFC championship game mostly comes down to one thing: we simply have not been as physical as SF and PHI. Hopefully that has changed.

With the exception of adding Mazi ( who will struggle against great vets) who exactly have we added to the offensive and defensive lines that we should expect different results?

 

[Diehardblues]

At the beginning of each NFL regular season, optimism is usually high, especially for teams like the Cowboys who have a realistic shot at raising a Lombardi in February, 2024 if things play out as we hope.

Every team - even the best teams - have questions going into season, and the answers to those questions will ultimately determine a team’s results for that season.

Here are some of the key questions that seem most relevant to me for the Cowboys to have success this upcoming season:

• Will the Cowboys be able to produce a third straight 12 win (or more) season for the first time since the mid-90s?
• Will the Cowboys make the playoffs for the third straight year for the first time since the mid-90s?
• Will Mike McCarthy’s new offensive wrinkles be more or less effective than the Kellen Moore led offense?
• Will Dak reduce the number of interceptions from last year to this year?
• Will the offensive line be able to stay healthy enough to remain effective?
• Will Tyron Smith be able to stay healthy for at least 12 games for the first time since 2019? (If not, will there be enough depth in the OL to compensate for his loss?)
• Will the defense continue to be as good or better than the offense?
• Will Micah Parsons be as dominant or even more dominant than his first two seasons?
• Will the defense improve its ability to stop the run?
• Will new K Brandon Aubrey be a reliable and steady weapon for the entire season?
• Will Mazi Smith, Luke Schoonmaker, Deuce Vaughn, and the other young players on the roster develop into reliable players this season?
• Will this team remain relatively healthy?
• Will the Cowboys be able to give Trey Lance enough opportunities in practice and/or games to develop?
• Will this team be mentally tough enough to handle the adversity they will encounter?
• Will this team prove to be as physically tough (or tougher) than the other physical teams like SF and Philly?

There are probably a lot more questions. What are some q’s you have?

My biggest concern is how much has our divisional opponents improved along with top NFC contenders .

Does anyone in our forum provide any insight about our arch rivals and top teams .

I think most of us feel we have improved but what about the rest of the teams . And have we improved as much (more or less) than some of them.

 

[shabazz]

My biggest concern is how much has our divisional opponents improved along with top NFC contenders .

Does anyone in our forum provide any insight about our arch rivals and top teams .

I think most of us feel we have improved but what about the rest of the teams . And have we improved as much (more or less) than some of them.

Well for starters the Eagles picked up a quarter of Georgias team so that can’t be good

 

[Bobhaze]

IMO, the reason we haven’t made it to the NFC Championship in so long is that when our defense has to make a stop (4th &35 vs Green Bay in Dallas to win div rd, 4:58 left in Green Bay after refs cheated Dez out of a catch, any critical point in Div rd vs Rams 3-5 years ago, etc), our defense simply fails to mk stops indicative of a championship defense. That is what has to change because we’ve tried w Romo and Dak w the same end result. Something has to change about our defense no matter how high it is rated.

It’s interesting Art how many people put it all on the QB to win playoff games.

And no doubt the QB must play well consistently to win playoff games. But even some of the recent great QBs have had bad games but their team won because their defense bailed them out. Here are some examples:

• Rams SB win in Feb, 2022- Matt Stafford threw 2 pics but the rams won because of big plays by Aaron Donald and Von Miller. Stafford won the MVP but even he said his defense deserved it.
• Bucs NFC championship win vs GB in Jan 2021 despite Tom Brady throwing 3 INTs! He played much better in the SB but people forget he was not good in the NFC championship game that year. His defense bailed him out.
• In the Jan 2011 NFC championship game Aaron Rodgers threw 2 INTs vs the bears but his defense held the bears to 14 points. Without the defense in that game Rodgers doesn’t have a SB ring.

To be clear I’m not defending Dak’s poor playoff performances the last two seasons. But I am saying it takes more than great QB play to win multiple playoff games. The Cowboys defense has to share some of the blame.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Tre

At the beginning of each NFL regular season, optimism is usually high, especially for teams like the Cowboys who have a realistic shot at raising a Lombardi in February, 2024 if things play out as we hope.

Every team - even the best teams - have questions going into season, and the answers to those questions will ultimately determine a team’s results for that season.

Here are some of the key questions that seem most relevant to me for the Cowboys to have success this upcoming season:

• Will the Cowboys be able to produce a third straight 12 win (or more) season for the first time since the mid-90s?
• Will the Cowboys make the playoffs for the third straight year for the first time since the mid-90s?
• Will Mike McCarthy’s new offensive wrinkles be more or less effective than the Kellen Moore led offense?
• Will Dak reduce the number of interceptions from last year to this year?
• Will the offensive line be able to stay healthy enough to remain effective?
• Will Tyron Smith be able to stay healthy for at least 12 games for the first time since 2019? (If not, will there be enough depth in the OL to compensate for his loss?)
• Will the defense continue to be as good or better than the offense?
• Will Micah Parsons be as dominant or even more dominant than his first two seasons?
• Will the defense improve its ability to stop the run?
• Will new K Brandon Aubrey be a reliable and steady weapon for the entire season?
• Will Mazi Smith, Luke Schoonmaker, Deuce Vaughn, and the other young players on the roster develop into reliable players this season?
• Will this team remain relatively healthy?
• Will the Cowboys be able to give Trey Lance enough opportunities in practice and/or games to develop?
• Will this team be mentally tough enough to handle the adversity they will encounter?
• Will this team prove to be as physically tough (or tougher) than the other physical teams like SF and Philly?

There are probably a lot more questions. What are some q’s you have?

trey lance has little to do with sucess this year.

Oline is the #1 concern.

it would be nice if defense was better than our offense.

Hasnt been up until now in any dak season.

 

[CowboyRoy]

It’s interesting Art how many people put it all on the QB to win playoff games.

And no doubt the QB must play well consistently to win playoff games. But even some of the recent great QBs have had bad games but their team won because their defense bailed them out. Here are some examples:

• Rams SB win in Feb, 2022- Matt Stafford threw 2 pics but the rams won because of big plays by Aaron Donald and Von Miller. Stafford won the MVP but even he said his defense deserved it.
• Bucs NFC championship win vs GB in Jan 2021 despite Tom Brady throwing 3 INTs! He played much better in the SB but people forget he was not good in the NFC championship game that year. His defense bailed him out.
• In the Jan 2011 NFC championship game Aaron Rodgers threw 2 INTs vs the bears but his defense held the bears to 14 points. Without the defense in that game Rodgers doesn’t have a SB ring.

To be clear I’m not defending Dak’s poor playoff performances the last two seasons. But I am saying it takes more than great QB play to win multiple playoff games. The Cowboys defense has to share some of the blame.

A guy that understands football

 

[CCBoy]

Will the offensive line maintain a wall for a 2.0 period of time? If so, Dak Prescott will well run both a running and passing game.

Will the secondary hold up, and give depth to the running game defense?

 

[starfan1]

At the beginning of each NFL regular season, optimism is usually high, especially for teams like the Cowboys who have a realistic shot at raising a Lombardi in February, 2024 if things play out as we hope.

Every team - even the best teams - have questions going into season, and the answers to those questions will ultimately determine a team’s results for that season.

Here are some of the key questions that seem most relevant to me for the Cowboys to have success this upcoming season:

• Will the Cowboys be able to produce a third straight 12 win (or more) season for the first time since the mid-90s? No Im going with 10 but still getting to dance
• Will the Cowboys make the playoffs for the third straight year for the first time since the mid-90s? Yes
• Will Mike McCarthy’s new offensive wrinkles be more or less effective than the Kellen Moore led offense? I think so the new offense and better WR corps
• Will Dak reduce the number of interceptions from last year to this year? w ithout a doubt and we know that all of these werent on dak last year.
• Will the offensive line be able to stay healthy enough to remain effective? THIS IS MY BIGGEST CONCERN.
• Will Tyron Smith be able to stay healthy for at least 12 games for the first time since 2019? (If not, will there be enough depth in the OL to compensate for his loss?) NO
• Will the defense continue to be as good or better than the offense? Yes if healthy
• Will Micah Parsons be as dominant or even more dominant than his first two seasons? YES
• Will the defense improve its ability to stop the run? My second biggest concern
• Will new K Brandon Aubrey be a reliable and steady weapon for the entire season? hope so
• Will Mazi Smith, Luke Schoonmaker, Deuce Vaughn, and the other young players on the roster develop into reliable players this season? Yes
• Will this team remain relatively healthy? Well have limited injuried but my concern is they will be at the same position OL
• Will the Cowboys be able to give Trey Lance enough opportunities in practice and/or games to develop? Practice maybe ,games no
• Will this team be mentally tough enough to handle the adversity they will encounter? This is nt the same menatlly weak garrett teams. I like their mental toughness so yes
• Will this team prove to be as physically tough (or tougher) than the other physical teams like SF and Philly? I hope so

There are probably a lot more questions. What are some q’s you have?

How effective will our running game be?

Will our coaches be better game managers?

Will they release the Krakken? Dak running

How effective will this TE be that they had to have?

 

[CowboyFrog]

At the beginning of each NFL regular season, optimism is usually high, especially for teams like the Cowboys who have a realistic shot at raising a Lombardi in February, 2024 if things play out as we hope.

Every team - even the best teams - have questions going into season, and the answers to those questions will ultimately determine a team’s results for that season.

Here are some of the key questions that seem most relevant to me for the Cowboys to have success this upcoming season:

• Will the Cowboys be able to produce a third straight 12 win (or more) season for the first time since the mid-90s?
• Will the Cowboys make the playoffs for the third straight year for the first time since the mid-90s?
• Will Mike McCarthy’s new offensive wrinkles be more or less effective than the Kellen Moore led offense?
• Will Dak reduce the number of interceptions from last year to this year?
• Will the offensive line be able to stay healthy enough to remain effective?
• Will Tyron Smith be able to stay healthy for at least 12 games for the first time since 2019? (If not, will there be enough depth in the OL to compensate for his loss?)
• Will the defense continue to be as good or better than the offense?
• Will Micah Parsons be as dominant or even more dominant than his first two seasons?
• Will the defense improve its ability to stop the run?
• Will new K Brandon Aubrey be a reliable and steady weapon for the entire season?
• Will Mazi Smith, Luke Schoonmaker, Deuce Vaughn, and the other young players on the roster develop into reliable players this season?
• Will this team remain relatively healthy?
• Will the Cowboys be able to give Trey Lance enough opportunities in practice and/or games to develop?
• Will this team be mentally tough enough to handle the adversity they will encounter?
• Will this team prove to be as physically tough (or tougher) than the other physical teams like SF and Philly?

There are probably a lot more questions. What are some q’s you have?

Great points Bob too bad this will turn into a tunnel vision thread soon because thats what a few want...To me another good one is can this defense UP the turnover ratio, if they can the offense should flurish much easier. the reverse to this is can the offense find its 1 to 2 explosive passing game plays it had a couple years ago to go with what i think was an explosive run game in many games last year.

 

[Havic]

Really comes down to 3 things imo. I trust this defense 100%.

1. Dak - if he can limit mistakes and just take what the defense gives the scheme will allow him to succeed

2. Health. We have to stay healthy, especially on the offensive line.

3. Special teams - Turpin needs to not turn the ball over and is our kicker the answer? Time will tell

 

[ArtClink]

It’s interesting Art how many people put it all on the QB to win playoff games.

And no doubt the QB must play well consistently to win playoff games. But even some of the recent great QBs have had bad games but their team won because their defense bailed them out. Here are some examples:

• Rams SB win in Feb, 2022- Matt Stafford threw 2 pics but the rams won because of big plays by Aaron Donald and Von Miller. Stafford won the MVP but even he said his defense deserved it.
• Bucs NFC championship win vs GB in Jan 2021 despite Tom Brady throwing 3 INTs! He played much better in the SB but people forget he was not good in the NFC championship game that year. His defense bailed him out.
• In the Jan 2011 NFC championship game Aaron Rodgers threw 2 INTs vs the bears but his defense held the bears to 14 points. Without the defense in that game Rodgers doesn’t have a SB ring.

To be clear I’m not defending Dak’s poor playoff performances the last two seasons. But I am saying it takes more than great QB play to win multiple playoff games. The Cowboys defense has to share some of the blame.

Excellent points!

 

[nobody]

IMO, the reason we haven’t made it to the NFC Championship in so long is that when our defense has to make a stop (4th &35 vs Green Bay in Dallas to win div rd, 4:58 left in Green Bay after refs cheated Dez out of a catch, any critical point in Div rd vs Rams 3-5 years ago, etc), our defense simply fails to mk stops indicative of a championship defense. That is what has to change because we’ve tried w Romo and Dak w the same end result. Something has to change about our defense no matter how high it is rated.

It helps to not have a QB gift the other team points, too.

 

[rambo2]

At the beginning of each NFL regular season, optimism is usually high, especially for teams like the Cowboys who have a realistic shot at raising a Lombardi in February, 2024 if things play out as we hope.

Every team - even the best teams - have questions going into season, and the answers to those questions will ultimately determine a team’s results for that season.

Here are some of the key questions that seem most relevant to me for the Cowboys to have success this upcoming season:

• Will the Cowboys be able to produce a third straight 12 win (or more) season for the first time since the mid-90s?
• Will the Cowboys make the playoffs for the third straight year for the first time since the mid-90s?
• Will Mike McCarthy’s new offensive wrinkles be more or less effective than the Kellen Moore led offense?
• Will Dak reduce the number of interceptions from last year to this year?
• Will the offensive line be able to stay healthy enough to remain effective?
• Will Tyron Smith be able to stay healthy for at least 12 games for the first time since 2019? (If not, will there be enough depth in the OL to compensate for his loss?)
• Will the defense continue to be as good or better than the offense?
• Will Micah Parsons be as dominant or even more dominant than his first two seasons?
• Will the defense improve its ability to stop the run?
• Will new K Brandon Aubrey be a reliable and steady weapon for the entire season?
• Will Mazi Smith, Luke Schoonmaker, Deuce Vaughn, and the other young players on the roster develop into reliable players this season?
• Will this team remain relatively healthy?
• Will the Cowboys be able to give Trey Lance enough opportunities in practice and/or games to develop?
• Will this team be mentally tough enough to handle the adversity they will encounter?
• Will this team prove to be as physically tough (or tougher) than the other physical teams like SF and Philly?

There are probably a lot more questions. What are some q’s you have?

I don't have questions. I have a good feeling with the new personell that they have added. It is going to be so fun to watch this team. McCarthy is going to be able to do a lot of different things with this offense. A lot of new names that will be involved.

 

[CTcowboy203]

Some great points bob and agree with many of them. It’s a big season for the organization. While the super bowl is always the goal- for starters it would be huge for the team to advance to the nfccg. Be a huge step. That said I’m in the minority that if coach McCarthy guides this team to another 11,12 win season and at least the divisional round- he should come back. Baring a total embarrassment there.

I won’t be happy with falling short….again but it’s very hard to consistently be in the playoffs and going on runs.

 

[jazzcat22]

Will MM call the correct plays in the right situations.

Such as when needing a critical 1st down or any 1st down. Will he use analytics for a high % successful play. Instead of trying a 40 yard pass. Will he not use some stupid cute gimmick play when it fools no one.

Those can be huge differences.

 

[75boyz]

The 2 primary questions I want to see answered are:
-Is this SB winning, playcaller HC a weekly gameday advantage over his opponent and...
-Can this QB make "consistently" proper real time game decisions?ie not just avoiding picks, but good reads, accurate tight throws and taking runs when available that dont lead to team losses.

This will be my weekly broken record for 17 weeks and possibly beyond if playoffs are reached.

Answer both of those with a yes and this team will be hoisting its 6th Lombardi.
Regardless of anything else.

jmo

 

[Reid1boys]

How will DAK play in the playoffs. Thats it, thats the only question that matters. The O-Line will play close to what they normally do, wrs will play the same, defense will play close..... but it comes down to the QB, as it always does.

 

[Bobhaze]

How will DAK play in the playoffs. Thats it, thats the only question that matters. The O-Line will play close to what they normally do, wrs will play the same, defense will play close..... but it comes down to the QB, as it always does.

Reid what happens in the playoffs if the defense plays terrible but Dak plays great? I’m not predicting either of those I’m just curious what you think happens to this team in that scenario?

 

[CCBoy]

Will MM call the correct plays in the right situations.

Such as when needing a critical 1st down or any 1st down. Will he use analytics for a high % successful play. Instead of trying a 40 yard pass. Will he not use some stupid cute gimmick play when it fools no one.

Those can be huge differences.

He will challenge the opponent on his weaknesses and monitor momentums well...hey, it's football then.