Been saying this for years

[CyberB0b]

I don’t think Dak plays well with his back to the ball. You also need a credible run game. Rolling out Dowdle and Zeke didn’t put anyone on their heels.

Whatever the issues are, guys are paid a lot of money to analyze and fix.

 

[Aven8]

This would require a fresh start. Not necessarily w/ MM, but at least a new oline coach and Schottenheimer gone.

If they bring those two dudes back this thing isn’t going anywhere

 

[Hawkeye0202]

It’s also not quite as simple as saying “we want to run the ball.” Mike said they were going to do that, and supposedly why Moore was gone.

You have to be good at it to be at the top of the league. You can’t keep running the ball when you’re down by 3-4 scores in the third quarter.

Well... you start the season with 45-year old Zeke as your starting RB and pass the torch to low-tier Rico. Strong RB room right there......

 

[blueblood70]

The reference to those guys were the fact, they are the top 6 rushing teams but they have heavy investments at the QB spots money wise. But the running game is definitely something that will fix both sides of the ball and bring balance to this team.

I think a good example is CJ Stroud they may have made the playoffs but he had a sophomore slump in a way and I think most of it has to do with not having as dynamic a run game they changed runners and didn't seem to rely on the run as much and they were trying to air it out when they had three pretty good wide receiver options and I think that hurt their production...

I get that, I'm not debating that,

I for sure agree the run game can help even though I've seen Prescott had one of his best years without much of a run game last year without much of a good scheme....​

​

so yeah I'm fully support them getting back to that which I believe they will again show me the years other than 2015 or this year where they didn't address the running back position we've always had one of the best running backs in the league for some strange reason they really thought like in 2015 when they brought in McFadden and it didn't help I believe that year we lost the quarterback as well so I'm looking forward to our run game getting back on track I don't know if he needs to be under center all the time I understand what you're saying the run game does work better that way in a lot of cases but I think it's just get the offensive line moving in One Direction the best 5 from day one game one coming into the season coming out firing like you wanna win games and commit to the run game we did that at the end of the year with Rico I can imagine if they did it from game one this would have been a different start to the season although the defense sucked balls too so..​

There isn't anything that really didn't go wrong this year outside of our kicker. So it's really hard to make these claims when it all fell apart but again I get it we need a stronger run game but we don't need to bring in a $9 million veteran to do it we need to draft a stud running back and then commit to the run and have a plan when the runs not working to scheme the run and the pass better.


I just think that offensive scheme and the play calling in the game plans and the adjustments were just bad and got the two little too late for Mike McCarthy that is one reason I do not want him back here I just don't believe he plays to win games I think he plays to lose games until it's too late and that kind of philosophy leaks through your team I mean there's no sense of urgency the 1st six games of the year it's the same two years in a row the fact that Prescott had one of his best years last year shows just how good he actually is and he's underrated around here he's picked on way too much he's literally playing one-dimensional football most times especially in the bigger games where teams know they can easily shut our rundown and then just clog up all the lanes make it hard on the quarterback it's been that way for a while now I wish Mike McCarthy the best but I don't want to back here as the offensive coordinator so they need and starts with the coaching staff..

If Mike comes back he needs to not be handling the offense they need to find a little bit more dynamic and fresh eyes on the offensive side all of them change out the whole offensive staff....

Because I believe what most people talked about here and I know nobody wants to hear Jerry but some of us are on that thought process that Henry and Barkley would not have anywhere near the years they had here given the way our offensive coordinator is the way our offensive line wasn't anywhere near Philadelphia's,

I didn't really watch a lot of the Ravens but I can tell you this the Ravens having a threat as a running quarterback nearly getting 1000 yards it's just a better situation for both guys..

so I don't want to sit here and think that those two dudes could have helped this year with all the injuries we had again with the slow start a bad play calling they may have had good years better than Rico but if you to give Rico the ball 20 * a game from game one and on and really try to establish the run game this year could have been better either way...

 

[blueblood70]

Agreed, it requires, good OL coaching, scheme, creativity on offense and maximizing your personnel which we arent good at.

It 100% starts there and it's more important than just the names on the back of the jersey there wasn't a whole lot of commitment to the run earlier this year they didn't pick the best 5 offensive lineman they didn't correct anything they didn't choose the right running back so yeah I mean I don't care Barkley or Henry had great years I don't think they would have had close to those years here with this team in this offense...

 

[Zordon]

I dont disagree but MM doesnt have a focus on running the ball. Mr. Run the d--- ball, has run the ball less in Dallas and in his career than Kellen Moore did % wise in Dallas. He isnt that coach to focus on the run.

Ideally this philosophic change would come from the GM in a top down approach. Then the GM would hire a HC/OC to implement this philosophy. But we know there is nothing of the sort here. The GM has no football acumen, he relies on others to make these types of decisions after they "consult" him. The comfort is there w/ MM so Jerry will most likely keep him. Therefore, we're relying on MM to make these changes after nearly three decades of doing it his way. Lol let's see where this goes, but I agree w/ Ed Werder's assessment just not sure who in this organization has the initiative to make the change.

 

[Redsfan_83]

Totally inaccurate. If they had got the deal done earlier and not waited it out we would have had more than enough. We have 17M thats been sitting on the cap. They could have definitely address the running back position so - maybe you need to go back and reassess the numbers. Bc the only reason we didnt was bc they didnt want to.

Like I said $60 large ones have limited our ability to spend, not even mentioned the contract for 88. Fact is, Jerry waited, which has steamrolled everything else. Further to my point ithough s even if the contract was done earlier, it still is a waste of money...no mater when it was signed. There are a couple of teams in the playoffs who aren't paying that kind of money for younger QB's who had magical seasons, and with Micah coming due, this team is handcuffed to build the type of offense we are talking about

 

[bluemagic4ever]

Like I said $60 large ones have limited our ability to spend, not even mentioned the contract for 88. Fact is, Jerry waited, which has steamrolled everything else. Further to my point ithough s even if the contract was done earlier, it still is a waste of money...no mater when it was signed. There are a couple of teams in the playoffs who aren't paying that kind of money for younger QB's who had magical seasons, and with Micah coming due, this team is handcuffed to build the type of offense we are talking about

respectfully disagree. They will have access to 100 m next year so lets stop with the handcuffed.

 

[zrinkill]

To late ....... Dak's body is done ...... that ankle will not last a full season.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

we chose NOT to have a good RB, remember we couldn't afford it lol

yeah, we couldn't afford it with 23M on the cap and being 27th in cap spend...closer to cap floor than cap ceiling.

"lets see what zeke can do!".

"I made a mistake thinking 2 rookie OL men can replace two veterans!"

 

[mardwin]

Absolutely spot on!!!

Making Dak a better QB isn't rocket science stuff. But the Cowboys refuse. Very frustrating.

You don't pay Dak 60M to have him play like Cooper Rush and Trey Lance.

 

[Redsfan_83]

respectfully disagree. They will have access to 100 m next year so lets stop with the handcuffed.

what will Micah count towards this? Jerry and Jr have already stated the team is poor, and will not spend. What degree of confidence do you have that they would spend even if that access was 3x the amount? The excuses this year were there is no money after the 2 contracts, how on earth does this money appear after Micah counts on the books in 2025?

 

[Chocolate Lab]

As far as the Xs and Os portion of the OP, I still think Dak is the reason we don't do this more. We've heard several commentators and people around the team say that Dak loves his shotgun empty sets more than anything. They also said Rush checked out of run plays less often than Dak.

I'm the number one fan of the Shanahan/Kubiak system where almost every play looks like a run and every pass is off play action, but it doesn't matter if the Franchise QB and the owner devoted to making him comfortable won't agree to it.

 

[bluemagic4ever]

what will Micah count towards this? Jerry and Jr have already stated the team is poor, and will not spend. What degree of confidence do you have that they would spend even if that access was 3x the amount? The excuses this year were there is no money after the 2 contracts, how on earth does this money appear after Micah counts on the books in 2025?

All depends how it structured. He has a 5th year option, they can structure a low cap hit and provide more free cash in this year very similar to what they did for Lamb. Bc he contract freed up 10 m last year after he signed. So, I don't anticipate much different than that.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

You don't pay Dak 60M to have him play like Cooper Rush and Trey Lance.

you don't buy a ferrari and then put cheapest tires and oil on the car. you don't bring in Zeke and replace two veteran OL men with two rookies, go cheap cheap cheap on DT and saftey and just fill the 53 man roster.

now, I am 1000000000000% sure somebody will say Dak needs a lot of help if we need all of that, but then you look at Detroit, GB, Philly, Ravens, and you see what they did in filling all of the said positions. and they are all in playoffs and competing.....

now, if you are going to do what we did, then yeah, don't sign a QB, just go cheap and make money.

 

[nalam]

Absolutely spot on!!!

Making Dak a better QB isn't rocket science stuff. But the Cowboys refuse. Very frustrating.

You can’t pay him like elite QB and dedicate resources for run first offense ( involves heavy investment in OL , RB and coaching)

 

[Risen Star]

"The Cowboys" gave Mike a broken down Zeke as a starting RB and two rookie starting OLmen this year.

Ben Johnson would have figured that out.

You can tell by how he uses Gibbs and Montgomery behind one of the best offensive lines.

When will coaching stop holding us back?!

 

[Chasing6]

I have been saying this FOREVER... Dak is hands down better in run first, play action heavy approaches, his numbers don't lie. This has to be a focal of the offense. Money doesn't increase skillset, so money doesn't justify putting him in situations that aren't geared towards his strengths. Which is how people think, he makes the most so he should be able to throw more. NO, he makes the most bc of the market and bc of Dallas horrible negotiations but that doesnt mean keep putting him in shotgun. You asked for the worse version of him. He can do it on occasions but not every game. Focus on OL, RB and phsyicality and play calling,

Kinda sounds like what Troy had around him when he was successful. Strange.

 

[Chasing6]

"The Cowboys" gave Mike a broken down Zeke as a starting RB and two rookie starting OLmen this year.

Gave it to Mike, but not to Dak?

It's not Mike's fault, but some how it Dak's fault?

 

[morat1959]

respectfully disagree. They will have access to 100 m next year so lets stop with the handcuffed.

Dak’s ability not his pay check is what handcuffs this team.