Are The Dallas Cowboys a Team On The Decline?

[perrykemp]

With all our injuries we still went 8-8 last year. That doesn't sound like the 21st best roster to me.

Roster = the entire 50+ player squad -- not just the starters.

I don't think the Cowboys roster should be ranked at 21, however, I think the depth has been pretty terrible for at least 2-3 years so I can't see ranking the Cowboys roster any higher than 16 or so which is completely befitting of a 8-8 team.

 

[Nation]

The Cowboys' championship window, in my opinion, was/is from 2007-2015. They are nearing the end and had better win a Super Bowl in John Elway-fashion or else it will be too late.

There are players on this roster that should be entering the prime of their careers in 2015. I agree that's the window with Romo, but if we hit the quarterback lottery that window will extend.

 

[Miller]

I don't agree that the talent is mediocre. For that to happen, that would mean the coaching has been great because 16-16 is not mediocre, particularly in today's system of parity.

I can see the point about the team being on the decline. The QB is at the tail end of his career. I think Witten is close to his tail end of his career. I think Ware is a little further away (he was banged up all last year and still managed double digit sacks).

Although it's not all bad. There are ways teams find to work around an aging and declining roster. If somebody like Dez becomes one of the dominant players in the league, it makes an aging Romo and Witten look a lot better. If Kiffin as the D-Coordinator works, guys like Ware and Ratliff don't look that old anymore. Or if Escobar and Frederick are good enough to alter what the Cowboys can do and make the offense into a high powered unit, then we have less to worry about with the defense.

It's really never cut and dry in the NFL.








YR

I agree with much of your post...in the NFL there is never cut and dry...but I'm trying to figure out the first sentence. Are you saying that 16-16 is good in a parity filled league? That's mediocre no matter how you slice it. If youre saying with parity we could be 11-5 and then 5-11 and thus 16-16, I guess that counts but overall I think long sustained .500 is mediocre...especially when you have more chances to bounce back and instead stay middle of the road.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

We have missed the playoffs 3 straight years, so what exactly are we declining from?

Well ... there are worse records than 8 and 8. That said, I think they're wrong. I think our record improves this season. I think the team brings home a 10 and 6 or a 9 and 7.

 

[CATCH17]

3 ways the Cowboys can always be in contention.

1. Have a Quarterback

2. Protect the Quarterback

3. Pressure the Quarterback



That is how you win in this league. That is the shortcut to having a good team every year in this league. We don't really draft with this in mind often enough.

 

[NeonDeion21]

3 ways the Cowboys can always be in contention.

1. Have a Quarterback

2. Protect the Quarterback

3. Pressure the Quarterback



That is how you win in this league. That is the shortcut to having a good team every year in this league. We don't really draft with this in mind often enough.

I disagree with this. And the fourth one on your list should be is to get guys who cover who the QB is throwing to. Look at it this way:

1. Have a Quarterback - We have got Tony Romo. No reason to draft someone yet.

2. Protect the Quarterback - Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick were both 1st round picks.

3. Pressure the Quarterback - DeMarcus Ware, Anthony Spencer were both 1st round picks. Both excellent players. Have spent multiple other picks on defensive lineman (Spears, Canty, Hatcher, Crawford, Wilbur, etc)

4. Stop the Quarterback - Morris Claiborne, Mike Jenkins, Orlando Scandrick, B.W. Webb, A.OA.

 

[17yearsandcounting]

No, the record pretty clearly indicates theyre a team spinning their wheels going absolutely nowhere.

 

[CATCH17]

I disagree with this. And the fourth one on your list should be is to get guys who cover who the QB is throwing to. Look at it this way:

1. Have a Quarterback - We have got Tony Romo. No reason to draft someone yet.

2. Protect the Quarterback - Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick were both 1st round picks.

3. Pressure the Quarterback - DeMarcus Ware, Anthony Spencer were both 1st round picks. Both excellent players. Have spent multiple other picks on defensive lineman (Spears, Canty, Hatcher, Crawford, Wilbur, etc)

4. Stop the Quarterback - Morris Claiborne, Mike Jenkins, Orlando Scandrick, B.W. Webb, A.OA.

We put too much of an emphasis on the guys surrounding the guys who protect and pressure.

We're loaded at corner, wideout, TE, RB, and linebacker.

We're thin at DL, & OL.

If we were elite at DL & OL and maybe lacking a little at Corner and Receiver we would be better off.

The way we have built this team will make it very tough to win a championship unless we have a great regular season and don't have to play on the road in the playoffs.

 

[Eskimo]

I disagree with this. And the fourth one on your list should be is to get guys who cover who the QB is throwing to. Look at it this way:

1. Have a Quarterback - We have got Tony Romo. No reason to draft someone yet.

2. Protect the Quarterback - Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick were both 1st round picks.

3. Pressure the Quarterback - DeMarcus Ware, Anthony Spencer were both 1st round picks. Both excellent players. Have spent multiple other picks on defensive lineman (Spears, Canty, Hatcher, Crawford, Wilbur, etc)

4. Stop the Quarterback - Morris Claiborne, Mike Jenkins, Orlando Scandrick, B.W. Webb, A.OA.

I think you're in some kind of time warp.

Subtract Jenkins and put in Carr.

Subtract AOA and put in Sterling Moore.

We have also attempted to upgrade Safety by adding in Matt Johnson, JJ Wilcox, Jakar Hamilton, Barry Church and Will Allen.

You can also add in better LB play in coverage in the base defense. We played most of last year with Dan Connor, Spencer, Albright and Sims in coverage. This year we'll get Lee, Bruce Carter and Durant/Holloman/Magee out there instead which will be a huge injection of speed and coverage skills.

 

[NeonDeion21]

I think you're in some kind of time warp.

Subtract Jenkins and put in Carr.

Subtract AOA and put in Sterling Moore.

We have also attempted to upgrade Safety by adding in Matt Johnson, JJ Wilcox, Jakar Hamilton, Barry Church and Will Allen.

You can also add in better LB play in coverage in the base defense. We played most of last year with Dan Connor, Spencer, Albright and Sims in coverage. This year we'll get Lee, Bruce Carter and Durant/Holloman/Magee out there instead which will be a huge injection of speed and coverage skills.

I was speaking of the draft picks we have used at the position recently.

 

[boscokt]

Again, I don't agree or disagree with his premise, I'm on the fence..just like them being .500 but Silva is much more than a blogger. He writes detailed analysis and articles year round. A very respected writer. Most of these guys do.

I used to read him when he worked for PFT. He basically rewrote update articles and went to 32 websites to look for information to post every day. Thats actually a lot worse than a blogger.

I seriously doubt he has done any film evaluation of Dallas.

 

[CATCH17]

I know everyone loves Dez and Sean Lee. So do I. I think they are really good players.

But instead of paying these guys almost 19 mill a year between the 2 imagine if we used those resources on signing 4 or 5 solid linemen on both sides of the ball.

Instead of giving Brandon Carr 10 mill a year we could've done something different there too. I like the player but a Corner isn't going to impose his will like a DL or OL can on the game.

We would be a better team for it because we could protect the QB better and pressure the QB better.

That is how you impose your will on teams with how the rules have changed.

The 9ers and Ravens get that.

 

[NeonDeion21]

I know everyone loves Dez and Sean Lee. So do I. I think they are really good players.

But instead of paying these guys almost 19 mill a year between the 2 imagine if we used those resources on signing 4 or 5 solid linemen on both sides of the ball.

We would be a better team for it because we could protect the QB better and pressure the QB better.

That is how you impose your will on teams with how the rules have changed.

The 9ers and Ravens get that.

Actually, the 49ers and Ravens got to the SB because they have DRAFTED offensive and defensive lineman. They haven't spend a lot of FA money on lineman. The Cowboys have to be better on both sides of the line of scrimmage. But they don't need to spend big FA money to do it.

 

[CATCH17]

Actually, the 49ers and Ravens got to the SB because they have DRAFTED offensive and defensive lineman. They haven't spend a lot of FA money on lineman. The Cowboys have to be better on both sides of the line of scrimmage. But they don't need to spend big FA money to do it.

When you don't draft well you have to spend money.

There have been guys out there to bring in but we refuse to spend money on those players.

Heck I wish we could've kept one of our own guys like Stephen Bowen but we just didn't want to pay.

Our OL and DL play just isn't good enough. It's not at the level we need it to be if we're going to go on the road and win late in the year.


All i'm saying is we need to quit building this team with WR's, DB's, and TE's and start bringing in quality OL & DL.

There is a very real chance that Doug Free may be a starter again this year for us. That is just not acceptable.

 

[Miller]

I used to read him when he worked for PFT. He basically rewrote update articles and went to 32 websites to look for information to post every day. Thats actually a lot worse than a blogger.

I seriously doubt he has done any film evaluation of Dallas.

Completely WRONG!

He constantly is studying film. Many of his Twitter updates include him going back abnd watchign EVERY game of a certain RB or he'll pick 4 games to evaluate a certain player and then write a detailed update. I know some guys who do this professionally in Houston and they were the ones that turned me on to him because of his anaylsis. You are doing the guy a disservice.

 

[SilverStarCowboy]

By shot in the dark Oline do you mean investing 2 1st rounders into the position and paying for the top tackle on the free agency market?

I'm just curious what you consider shot in the dark...

Talking about the rest of the Oline. Jerry tried to relive the 90s success for well over a Decade. That early success doomed the franchise like many said it would, the Yin of signing Haley and Sanders over time also had the Yang, and someone didn't account for:

1. Tom Landry having put in the work to field a good young team core intact with the #1 Overall QB on the Board in the Draft.

2. Jimmy Johnsons importance to the team concept of winning.

3. Hitting on totally "shot in the dark" Olinemen that turned into Pro Bowlers.

It has taken near 2 Decades for the process of Jerry getting to .500.

 

[xwalker]

1. Tom Landry having put in the work to field a good young team core intact with the #1 Overall QB on the Board in the Draft.

? I don't understand this comment. Of the starters that played for Jimmy, I can only remember 3 of them being on the roster prior to Jimmy's first year (Irvin, Newton, Tuinei). The only other Landry era player that I remember playing for Jimmy in the winning years was Bill Bates. I guess Herschel Walker would be also be included in a list of Landry era players that were beneficial to Jimmy's team.

 

[Rack]

We either need to get better in numbers or get lucky and find more superstars like Ware and Witten.

The clock is ticking for this team and next season looks like another year that we won't be good enough to win it all.


We could give ourselves a better chance year in and year out if we were great at protecting and pressuring the Quarterback.

we pressure our own qb just fine. and opposing qb's can't get much better protection when they play us.

 

[Deep_South]

I've been a Cowboys fan for a long time, and I don't think there is any doubt we are heading in the right direction. This is the best I've felt about the team since the 2006 draft. I think we're going to be back in the playoffs this year.

 

[blackbull]

I know everyone loves Dez and Sean Lee. So do I. I think they are really good players.

But instead of paying these guys almost 19 mill a year between the 2 imagine if we used those resources on signing 4 or 5 solid linemen on both sides of the ball.

Instead of giving Brandon Carr 10 mill a year we could've done something different there too. I like the player but a Corner isn't going to impose his will like a DL or OL can on the game.

We would be a better team for it because we could protect the QB better and pressure the QB better.

That is how you impose your will on teams with how the rules have changed.

The 9ers and Ravens get that.

You don't trade or let go of a dez Bryant. Period.