Appropriate credit due along with perspective

[Bobhaze]

Getting a win on the road in the NFL is always an accomplishment, even when it’s a really bad jets team. Getting a win on the road with 8 starters out is a real accomplishment.

When an injury happens, we all hear the phrase, “Next man up.” Yesterday the phrase needed to be, “Next MEN up.”

The Cowboys showed some tough grit and adaptive coaching talent in a refreshing way yesterday. I have to admit I did not expect that kind of performance from our OL missing everyone but Terance Steele. Kudos are deserved for this coaching staff and even more to the QB too many of our fans knee jerk blame for everything.

So appropriate credit it due for a road win yesterday.

But…let’s also have some perspective. I’m not ready yet to call this team a playoff contender, much less as successful as some were claiming in the post game excitement threads last night. I’m still keeping my blue fan glasses off until this team shows it can win a game against a good team. We will find out soon enough.

Not all bad; Not all good. Here’s some examples of the good and bad of our season so far:

• Our two wins in five games are from the ugly New York twins - the giants and the jets. Combined they have exactly 1 win between them.
• Dak Prescott is playing very well. The criticism of him by some on this board is bordering on ugly obsession. Yes he has failed to play well in some of our biggest games but this team is 0-5 without him this year.
• Brian Schottenheimer has made lemonade out of lemons so far this year. Anyone think Jason Garrett could get a road win with even one starter out?
• We still have a bad defense that can’t stop the run. The jets were gashing us in the run game yesterday before they had to pass.

Bottom line for me - Great win on the road against arguably the worst team in the league. But we did it with 8 starters out. Kudos to the coaches. Our QB is playing very well. The defense has a long way to go. Baby steps. We have 70% of the season ahead.

 

[Risen Star]

U mad, Bob?

 

[Bobhaze]

U mad, Bob?

Who wouldn’t be mad when Jaydon Blue only gets 4 carries? The secret stud remains a secret!
(For those unfamiliar with sarcasm, )

 

[Rayman70]

Getting a win on the road in the NFL is always an accomplishment, even when it’s a really bad jets team. Getting a win on the road with 8 starters out is a real accomplishment.

When an injury happens, we all hear the phrase, “Next man up.” Yesterday the phrase needed to be, “Next MEN up.”

The Cowboys showed some tough grit and adaptive coaching talent in a refreshing way yesterday. I have to admit I did not expect that kind of performance from our OL missing everyone but Terance Steele. Kudos are deserved for this coaching staff and even more to the QB too many of our fans knee jerk blame for everything.

So appropriate credit it due for a road win yesterday.

But…let’s also have some perspective. I’m not ready yet to call this team a playoff contender, much less as successful as some were claiming in the post game excitement threads last night. I’m still keeping my blue fan glasses off until this team shows it can win a game against a good team. We will find out soon enough.

Not all bad; Not all good. Here’s some examples of the good and bad of our season so far:

• Our two wins in five games are from the ugly New York twins - the giants and the jets. Combined they have exactly 1 win between them.
• Dak Prescott is playing very well. The criticism of him by some on this board is bordering on ugly obsession. Yes he has failed to play well in some of our biggest games but this team is 0-5 without him this year.
• Brian Schottenheimer has made lemonade out of lemons so far this year. Anyone think Jason Garrett could get a road win with even one starter out?
• We still have a bad defense that can’t stop the run. The jets were gashing us in the run game yesterday before they had to pass.

Bottom line for me - Great win on the road against arguably the worst team in the league. But we did it with 8 starters out. Kudos to the coaches. Our QB is playing very well. The defense has a long way to go. Baby steps. We have 70% of the season ahead.

Just win . Nobody will care how or against whom. Just get into the tournament. Style points aren't a thing. We dog walked an NFL team that was desperately looking to win. These kinds of wins change culture , they build a belief within the building that manifests come late in the year. No one will care what happened in Chicago or week 1 by then. What matters is who we become by December. Oh as you correctly pointed out, winning without 8 of your starters , 4 just on the oline, is legendary because it plants seeds of confidence and belief in each other as men, that we CAN do this no matter who is out here. That's huge for any team that's trying to improve. This was huge for our defense. It means more than we know.

 

[Reality]

Getting a win on the road in the NFL is always an accomplishment, even when it’s a really bad jets team. Getting a win on the road with 8 starters out is a real accomplishment.

When an injury happens, we all hear the phrase, “Next man up.” Yesterday the phrase needed to be, “Next MEN up.”

The Cowboys showed some tough grit and adaptive coaching talent in a refreshing way yesterday. I have to admit I did not expect that kind of performance from our OL missing everyone but Terance Steele. Kudos are deserved for this coaching staff and even more to the QB too many of our fans knee jerk blame for everything.

So appropriate credit it due for a road win yesterday.

But…let’s also have some perspective. I’m not ready yet to call this team a playoff contender, much less as successful as some were claiming in the post game excitement threads last night. I’m still keeping my blue fan glasses off until this team shows it can win a game against a good team. We will find out soon enough.

Not all bad; Not all good. Here’s some examples of the good and bad of our season so far:

• Our two wins in five games are from the ugly New York twins - the giants and the jets. Combined they have exactly 1 win between them.
• Dak Prescott is playing very well. The criticism of him by some on this board is bordering on ugly obsession. Yes he has failed to play well in some of our biggest games but this team is 0-5 without him this year.
• Brian Schottenheimer has made lemonade out of lemons so far this year. Anyone think Jason Garrett could get a road win with even one starter out?
• We still have a bad defense that can’t stop the run. The jets were gashing us in the run game yesterday before they had to pass.

Bottom line for me - Great win on the road against arguably the worst team in the league. But we did it with 8 starters out. Kudos to the coaches. Our QB is playing very well. The defense has a long way to go. Baby steps. We have 70% of the season ahead.

The one thing I hated about Garrett more than anything was his teams struggled when they lost one or two key players no matter who that was.

When McCarthy showed he could win with next-man-up replacements even when that spanned 2 or 3 key players, it was enjoyable to watch regardless of player injuries.

I was worried that Schottenheimer was going to struggle (most coaches do) when that happened and without Bland and with a still-recovering Diggs to start the season, it really looked like that was going to be true.

You are right, the Jets are not a good team and the Cowboys were supposed to win that game if for no other reason the Jets' "bad" was worse than the Cowboys' "bad".

However, for the Cowboys to be missing their primary offensive player in Lamb along with FOUR starting offensive linemen (and the starter that did play had to be the worst one) and still play a solid game (regardless of who the opponent was, it's still the NFL) was definitely a welcome surprise and hopefully it instilled some confidence in the players as well.

 

[Cowboys93]

This is the type of game they would historically lose. As a matter of fact we lost this exact type of game in the same situation; the only time Sam Darnold looked good on the Jets. They went in with excuses ready to go but they exceeded expectations. Hats off to Schotty, Dak and the defense

 

[Pompey-Cowboy]

If you look at the 5 teams the Jets have lost against, we are arguably the best of them, thats how bad the Jets are. That said, you can only beat the team you are playing against and we did, convincingly.

We are better than I thought we were but only a bit.

 

[VaqueroTD]

If you look at the 5 teams the Jets have lost against, we are arguably the best of them, thats how bad the Jets are. That said, you can only beat the team you are playing against and we did, convincingly.

We are better than I thought we were but only a bit.

I was also looking at the stats on the Jets losses, and except for the Steelers who barely passed us in week one, we gave up the most yards of all their opponents in 2025. A lot of those winning teams shut them down to less than 200 yards.

 

[Rayman70]

The one thing I hated about Garrett more than anything was his teams struggled when they lost one or two key players no matter who that was.

When McCarthy showed he could win with next-man-up replacements even when that spanned 2 or 3 key players, it was enjoyable to watch regardless of player injuries.

I was worried that Schottenheimer was going to struggle (most coaches do) when that happened and without Bland and with a still-recovering Diggs to start the season, it really looked like that was going to be true.

You are right, the Jets are not a good team and the Cowboys were supposed to win that game if for no other reason the Jets' "bad" was worse than the Cowboys' "bad".

However, for the Cowboys to be missing their primary offensive player in Lamb along with FOUR starting offensive linemen (and the starter that did play had to be the worst one) and still play a solid game (regardless of who the opponent was, it's still the NFL) was definitely a welcomed surprise and hopefully it instilled some confidence in the players as well.

Games like these we would lose in years past. Overcoming massive adversity due to tons of key injuries, winning, makes us grittier by years end.

 

[Rayman70]

Defensively, it's not who we are now that matters, but by late December. We seem to be taking any steps defensively. But we will get there. This was a nice win. Onto Carolina.

 

[Coogiguy03]

Getting a win on the road in the NFL is always an accomplishment, even when it’s a really bad jets team. Getting a win on the road with 8 starters out is a real accomplishment.

When an injury happens, we all hear the phrase, “Next man up.” Yesterday the phrase needed to be, “Next MEN up.”

The Cowboys showed some tough grit and adaptive coaching talent in a refreshing way yesterday. I have to admit I did not expect that kind of performance from our OL missing everyone but Terance Steele. Kudos are deserved for this coaching staff and even more to the QB too many of our fans knee jerk blame for everything.

So appropriate credit it due for a road win yesterday.

But…let’s also have some perspective. I’m not ready yet to call this team a playoff contender, much less as successful as some were claiming in the post game excitement threads last night. I’m still keeping my blue fan glasses off until this team shows it can win a game against a good team. We will find out soon enough.

Not all bad; Not all good. Here’s some examples of the good and bad of our season so far:

• Our two wins in five games are from the ugly New York twins - the giants and the jets. Combined they have exactly 1 win between them.
• Dak Prescott is playing very well. The criticism of him by some on this board is bordering on ugly obsession. Yes he has failed to play well in some of our biggest games but this team is 0-5 without him this year.
• Brian Schottenheimer has made lemonade out of lemons so far this year. Anyone think Jason Garrett could get a road win with even one starter out?
• We still have a bad defense that can’t stop the run. The jets were gashing us in the run game yesterday before they had to pass.

Bottom line for me - Great win on the road against arguably the worst team in the league. But we did it with 8 starters out. Kudos to the coaches. Our QB is playing very well. The defense has a long way to go. Baby steps. We have 70% of the season ahead.

Shotty is doing something right, the previous regimes wouldn't have done well with this many guys out

 

[beware_d-ware]

Dak is legitimately playing at an MVP level, but we're going to waste that season with a horrible defense.

 

[youngjerryjones]

Petitioning for Maxx Crosby

 

[TwoCentPlain]

@Bobhaze ”Kudos are deserved for this coaching staff and even more to the QB too many of our fans knee jerk blame for everything.”

What about all those so-called fans suffering from Jerry Derangement Syndrome (to which you are a card carrying member and biggest sufferer) who knee jerk blame everything on the GM.

Funny how you give kudos to everyone but the GM today. Had the Cowboys lost to the Jets you would have been in heaven ripping GM Jerry.

 

[Rayman70]

This is the type of game they would historically lose. As a matter of fact we lost this exact type of game in the same situation; the only time Sam Darnold looked good on the Jets. They went in with excuses ready to go but they exceeded expectations. Hats off to Schotty, Dak and the defense

Correct. Well said. Shotty looks like a pretty good leader of men right about now. I knew it. I supported this hire before they announced they were considering him. How's he looking compared to Glenn in NY? Hmmm. All we heard was how Glenn or Johnson should have been the hire. Jury is still out on Johnson I suppose but Shotty ain't chopped liver either. Glenn on the other hand might be one foot out the door already. A failure in NY. The players there just aren't meshing with his style. Reminds me of when Mike Singletary became the hc of San Francisco and quickly flamed out. His coaching style was that of a fiery player. No tact. He couldn't cut it. I think the same is happening in NY. Sometimes you admit the failures and cut bait. With Shotty, at least right now, I'm glad we hired him instead of the alternatives. Just ask the Raiders if they regret hiring Pete Carroll. I bet ya privately, they do. Because it ain't working.

 

[zrinkill]

who knee jerk blame everything on the GM.

30 years ......... knee jerk

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

For now...I'm approaching it like the players/team should:

one game at a time.

 

[Rayman70]

@Bobhaze ”Kudos are deserved for this coaching staff and even more to the QB too many of our fans knee jerk blame for everything.”

What about all those so-called fans suffering from Jerry Derangement Syndrome (to which you are a card carrying member and biggest sufferer) who knee jerk blame everything on the GM.

Funny how you give kudos to everyone but the GM today. Had the Cowboys lost to the Jets you would have been in heaven ripping GM Jerry.

Exactly. Credit when it's due needs to be given, equally as any criticism. McClay and the two Jones boys hit on a bunch of good affordable players and draft picks. It's showing out. Good on them.

 

[Rayman70]

For now...I'm approaching it like the players/team should:

one game at a time.

Same

 

[StarLord]

Dak is legitimately playing at an MVP level, but we're going to waste that season with a horrible defense.

Ok but the offense looks good in large part because it's the only thing the GM seems to understand or build up. We have to have weapons weapons weapons.

Ok we have weapons.. now can we pretend for a while that defense matters?