Back away from the ledge

[Verdict]

Great, well balanced post that caused me to stop and consider what I think about the team. Stealing a page from Peter King, here is what I think (and to be fair, there is probably nothing new or revolutionary in my comments)

• I think JG is an average coach - nothing more, nothing less - and what we see now is pretty much what we will see in the future.
• Maybe so, but I'm not sure we have seen his ceiling. He has shown he has balls recently.
• I think Dallas has a good nucleus of young talent, but...
• Yes. We have drafted better than average. And we seem to be getting smarter about the cap.
  
• 
  
• I think that, sometimes, change for change sake is a good thing and that regardless how the remainder of the season goes, we need to change (at the very least) the HC, OC and DC.
• Sometimes you can't do any worse, but this isn't one of those cases. We COULD do worse. I would keep Garrett and Linehan, even with their warts. I would find a good defensive coordinator and pay what it took to get him. Marinelli isn't very good.

• I think that, despite his performance to date, Jaylon Smith will be a very good player for the Cowboys, but perhaps not at MLB. I think his best position is WLB.
• I tend to agree with you on this point. I do not think MLB suits his skill set very well.

• I think that, borrowing analogy from baseball, the Cowboys need to upgrade the middle defense - DT1, MLB and SS. I think the Cowboys are wasting the talents of David Irving and Maliek Collins without a complimentary "Booger MMCFarland".
• Agreed on the 1 tech. I would either get a stud MLB in the draft or move Lee back to MLB. We may be slightly better off at safety than you think, although I am never opposed to upgrading if the opportunity arises.
• I think Dal Prescott is a franchise QB. Period.
• Agreed. He isn't a fluke. I wish he would run a bit more. I think he could also be coached up a bit better. The Cowboys and Dez need to leave him alone about forcing it to Dez. Why would yo coach someone to make a poor decision?
• As much as I love the player and man, I think it is time to replace Jason Witten and I think, regardless the development of Rico Gathers, we need to upgrade the position.
• Agreed. He needs to go. He still has value, but as long as he is here we will continue to let him run his own show. That's piss poor coaching.
• I think, despite having 3 Pro-Bowlers, the OL has under-performed and, I think it is much more than replacing Leary and Free with Cooper and Collins.
• It is possible that they have drank too much kool aid. It is also possible the two weak lings around them are affecting their performance. Hard to tell.
• I think Dallas needs to invest (again) a high draft choice on the OL if for no other reason than Tyron Smith's back.
• People will piss and moan about this, but you are right. I wouldn't be opposed to using a first rounder again on the line.
• I think that despite his outstanding performance on the field and his infectious enthusiasm, Zeke's off-field behavior will not fundamentally change.
• I hope like hell that you are wrong about this, but if he doesn't learn from this he isn't going to.
• I think it is time to stop swinging for the fences with the second round draft picks and focus on small ball (I like baseball analogies).
• I think you just have to wait and see what is available. I agree with you in theory, but we could also catch lightening in a bottle.
• I know I will always be a Cowboy fan
• I feel the same way. I have been with them though the good times and the bad. I will say that I have a bitter taste in my mouth concerning all of the stuff that is going on in the NFL and I am more disenfranchised with the NFL than ever before as a result of it.

Ok, flame away.

 

[xwalker]

Great, well balanced post that caused me to stop and consider what I think about the team. Stealing a page from Peter King, here is what I think (and to be fair, there is probably nothing new or revolutionary in my comments)

• I think JG is an average coach - nothing more, nothing less - and what we see now is pretty much what we will see in the future.
• I think Dallas has a good nucleus of young talent, but...
• I think that, sometimes, change for change sake is a good thing and that regardless how the remainder of the season goes, we need to change (at the very least) the HC, OC and DC.
• I think that, despite his performance to date, Jaylon Smith will be a very good player for the Cowboys, but perhaps not at MLB. I think his best position is WLB.
• I think that, borrowing analogy from baseball, the Cowboys need to upgrade the middle defense - DT1, MLB and SS. I think the Cowboys are wasting the talents of David Irving and Maliek Collins without a complimentary "Booger MMCFarland".
• I think Dal Prescott is a franchise QB. Period.
• As much as I love the player and man, I think it is time to replace Jason Witten and I think, regardless the development of Rico Gathers, we need to upgrade the position.
• I think, despite having 3 Pro-Bowlers, the OL has under-performed and, I think it is much more than replacing Leary and Free with Cooper and Collins.
• I think Dallas needs to invest (again) a high draft choice on the OL if for no other reason than Tyron Smith's back.
• I think that despite his outstanding performance on the field and his infectious enthusiasm, Zeke's off-field behavior will not fundamentally change.
• I think it is time to stop swinging for the fences with the second round draft picks and focus on small ball (I like baseball analogies).
• I know I will always be a Cowboy fan

Ok, flame away.

I don't see how moving Jaylon to WLB would help.

For now I would like to see Wilson and Hitchens as the 2 LBs in Nickel and possibly Wilson, Hitchens with Wilber at SLB in base.

It is odd that Witten plays more snaps than Dez. They could try some 4 WRs set with either Switzer or Brown replacing Witten.

 

[mrmojo]

I'm already freefallng and with my luck the Boys will win on Sunday

 

[Montanalo]

I don't see how moving Jaylon to WLB would help.

For now I would like to see Wilson and Hitchens as the 2 LBs in Nickel and possibly Wilson, Hitchens with Wilber at SLB in base.

It is odd that Witten plays more snaps than Dez. They could try some 4 WRs set with either Switzer or Brown replacing Witten.

I am not an expert, but my thinking was simply to take better advantage of his speed and athleticism. I am not suggesting he start - perhaps I should have stated that upfront

 

[Beast_from_East]

BLUF: "With adversity comes opportunity"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We took a butt whoopin' on Sunday and there will be no attempt on my part to insult anyone's intelligence by sugar coating it. Embarrassing. There's also no reason for the level of hand-wringing just yet as the Falcon were guaranteed to show flashes of their 2016 form, at least a few times this year. Unfortunately, their 2016 form showed up at a time when our team was off-balanced from changes to roster/availability. We play that game 10 more times, in the same situation, and we still lose at least 9 of 'em.

Are we beating Philly this Sunday with a similar active roster? Probably not. Can we find some sort of groove and beat some teams coming up? I feel so. Are we slipping through the cracks to make the playoffs? 50/50. Where does our future point? I don't know, but what matters to me the next couple of games is seeing the young players being ushered to mature at a fast pace under these stressful circumstances (Lewis, Woods, Brown, Switzer, Taco and hopefully Chidobe).
Even in a losses, I still find enjoyment watching the rookie/2nd year players develop on screen.

This loss should more importantly force the coaching staff to shake things up and come with a more aggressive/uncomfortable for their liking gameplan (didn't work in 2015 because the QB's sucked).
Let's face it, the coaching staff came into Atlanta with the the whole "We implement OUR gameplan, impose our will. Next man up...we feel good about about our depth in the position groups, etc." kinda attitude and it was eggs on faces. Garrett and company came away looking like confident idiots by not building enough variety into their weekly practice plays to switch gears when ole' plan-A didn't make hay. This embarrassing performance no doubt resulted in their pride taking a hit and that good ole' reality of the circumstances is sinking in.

The All Omnipotent Overlord, Big Daddy Emperor Jerry is not happy with his coaching children and has voiced as much. When Daddy raises his voice, the household listens...even the mice. Garrett's chain just got yanked yet again. Good..sink or swim. I'm not an old guy (40's) but am the youngest child of an old school family of bakers. The situation upon the team is now like the flour sifter. The impurities of trash players, coaches and complacent gameplanning isn't going to pass through the screen and will be left at at the top for all to see.

Good night and sleep well.

For the record, I'm heavily sampling Bourbon Barrel Quad by Boulevard.

Jerry just said on the Fan that apparently the coaching staff had no idea what the "wide 9" defense was and that totally gave them major problems.

Had no idea how to counter this new exotic defense called the Wide 9 Atlanta was running

I'm literally speeches at the ineptitude of this coaching staff................wow

 

[Fletch]

Yes.

Something to that effect.

Well...

Dilly! Dilly!

 

[CT Dal Fan]

Too late. I'm done for this year. Hopefully they make it enjoyable the rest of the way, but there is no way this team gets to the Superbowl. I don't even see this team progressing to attempt to get to one. Enough of "It a process" , "Next Man Up" crap. After 8 years of it, we are no closer to being a consistent winner. Watching an Eagles team that look destroyed after Chip, 2 years later, they're one of the top teams. Here we are 8 years later, and look pathetic too many times. What a waste of talent.

As you can tell, I'm still really mad.

Let's not give Philly a trophy yet. Last year the Cowboys started 11-1. Not suggesting the Eagles implode (although I hope they do), but nobody gets rings for what they do halfway through a season.

 

[xwalker]

I am not an expert, but my thinking was simply to take better advantage of his speed and athleticism. I am not suggesting he start - perhaps I should have stated that upfront

His issues would not be resolved by moving him to WLB. He is making a lot of mental mistakes and WLB is actually considered a little more complicated than MLB in this scheme.