Best draw in the opening round for the Cowboys

[CouchCoach]

I see some apprehension from some about facing the Niners in the opening round but this is a double-edged sword opportunity. Depends on whether you think they can get all the way to the Super Bowl or just make some progress by getting past the division round.

There is one ingredient that's been missing from this team for many seasons and it is necessary to advance in the playoffs and especially on the road as they will most likely have to go. Toughness, both mentally and physically because road playoff games are more demanding of concentration and focus, the necessary ingredients for mental toughness.

Now the Niners come to town as "that team no one wants to play". What an absolutely cowardly and nonsensical idea. These men are competitors, they have competed all their lives for starting positions, playing time and against each other as well as the members of the other teams. Think they shrink from any team, fear any team, any player?

The Niners are the bullies in the playoffs. Win or lose, doesn't matter, they pride themselves on being more physical and tougher than the other teams. And that goes for their RB, WR's and especially that TE. They have out toughed the Rams for years and it drives McVay nuts and one thing they are particularly mentally tough about, running that ball. They just don't give up when even down by 17 and looking like this is going south. They do not give up. The tough never do give up.

Say one thing about them, those fans might still be the "cheese, pate and wine crowd" but they're wearing hardhats. That team comes to hit.

Steel sharpens steel and that's just what the Cowboys need if they are to have a playoff season and one loss isn't a playoff season. They have to out tough the toughest team in the NFL.

The Cowboys have the toughest opponent in the opening round, I firmly believe that. And so do the Niners believe that and they count on that. The Cowboys have to go toe to toe and blow to blow with them in what could be the street fight game of the opening weekend.

This isn't about the QB's and WR's; it is going to be a game playing along that line of scrimmage with each player being challenged as to how tough he is, how much does he want to win? It's going to be trench warfare in this game.

You're probably thinking what? Is this guy nuts? Why does he want the toughest opponent in the opening round? Because I want to go further than the opening round. And toughness, mentally and physically tougher than the other teams is what it is going to take to get there.

But if they can go mano a mano and meet them in the toughness, they can take that on the road against any team in the playoffs and win. It is the trial by fire in toughness in the playoffs.

Those teams in the 90's. They just didn't think they were better than the other teams; they knew they were tougher. Their swagger wasn't about talent, it was about toughness.

Every team will have some inconsistencies during a game, the Niners certainly had theirs against the Rams but they were never not tough. Being tough means being consistent. That's why the Niners came back on them, they out toughed the Rams.

Best draw the Cowboys could have gotten and let all that "team that no one wants to play" nonsense keep going. I hope the players are paying attention to that. The bully is coming to their playground and they're being called out as not as tough.

Time to find out.

 

[Runwildboys]

I hope MM is telling our team the same thing you just said. I don't want these guys going out there trying to play a finesse game and getting beat up.

 

[pancakeman]

Inspiring words.

But I also think of the 2018 team that won a very tough first playoff game against the Seahawks, and then looked like they had nothing left against the Rams the following week. Sometimes those tough games may be just be exhausting rather than invigorating.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

I see some apprehension from some about facing the Niners in the opening round but this is a double-edged sword opportunity. Depends on whether you think they can get all the way to the Super Bowl or just make some progress by getting past the division round.

There is one ingredient that's been missing from this team for many seasons and it is necessary to advance in the playoffs and especially on the road as they will most likely have to go. Toughness, both mentally and physically because road playoff games are more demanding of concentration and focus, the necessary ingredients for mental toughness.

Now the Niners come to town as "that team no one wants to play". What an absolutely cowardly and nonsensical idea. These men are competitors, they have competed all their lives for starting positions, playing time and against each other as well as the members of the other teams. Think they shrink from any team, fear any team, any player?

The Niners are the bullies in the playoffs. Win or lose, doesn't matter, they pride themselves on being more physical and tougher than the other teams. And that goes for their RB, WR's and especially that TE. They have out toughed the Rams for years and it drives McVay nuts and one thing they are particularly mentally tough about, running that ball. They just don't give up when even down by 17 and looking like this is going south. They do not give up. The tough never do give up.

Say one thing about them, those fans might still be the "cheese, pate and wine crowd" but they're wearing hardhats. That team comes to hit.

Steel sharpens steel and that's just what the Cowboys need if they are to have a playoff season and one loss isn't a playoff season. They have to out tough the toughest team in the NFL.

The Cowboys have the toughest opponent in the opening round, I firmly believe that. And so do the Niners believe that and they count on that. The Cowboys have to go toe to toe and blow to blow with them in what could be the street fight game of the opening weekend.

This isn't about the QB's and WR's; it is going to be a game playing along that line of scrimmage with each player being challenged as to how tough he is, how much does he want to win? It's going to be trench warfare in this game.

You're probably thinking what? Is this guy nuts? Why does he want the toughest opponent in the opening round? Because I want to go further than the opening round. And toughness, mentally and physically tougher than the other teams is what it is going to take to get there.

But if they can go mano a mano and meet them in the toughness, they can take that on the road against any team in the playoffs and win. It is the trial by fire in toughness in the playoffs.

Those teams in the 90's. They just didn't think they were better than the other teams; they knew they were tougher. Their swagger wasn't about talent, it was about toughness.

Every team will have some inconsistencies during a game, the Niners certainly had theirs against the Rams but they were never not tough. Being tough means being consistent. That's why the Niners came back on them, they out toughed the Rams.

Best draw the Cowboys could have gotten and let all that "team that no one wants to play" nonsense keep going. I hope the players are paying attention to that. The bully is coming to their playground and they're being called out as not as tough.

Time to find out.

I am not sure if they are the easiest draw. we have to find a way to get through this round....the niners are a physical team, both offense and defense and we have struggled against physical teams, both on offense and defense....denver, AZ, chiefs all played us physical. their physical defenses overwhelmed our offense. our WRs are good, but they are all finesse type. Gallup was the most physical WR we had and now he is injured. Cooper is a great route runner, but he is not very physical and if a defender gets on him, he tends to get rerouted.....Wilson is similar.

our OL is not physical and physical defenses give us trouble, specially in the run game. we get no push upfront and are a better zone blocking team than line them up and go at it...biadasz is weak. williams is the same....so I hope to see more zone blocking in this game.

our defense is not very physical and smallish....outside of parsons the other LBs are soft including LVE. their physical brand of offense may wear out this team and we may have trouble containing their run game. with that said, AZ, KC had scrambling QBs, where Grapolo is not that, so if we focus right and contain assignments we may find some success.

with that said, we have a lot of talent and they have to account. we need to go the route of pick your poison like earlier in the year (cooper shut your mouth) and take what they give us. I would love to see some tosses to the outside, utilize pollard early and get their DL chasing to the outside and tire them out. they are a physical team, but not a deep team, so being fresh in 4th quarter is key.

we have a chance in this game (so do they) and its going to come down to our play in the 4th quarter.

 

[JBS]

Ehh. It’s arguable whether Sf is the toughest opponent. Most people would argue that they aren’t. And they probably aren’t. But they are a tough opponent and if Dallas is going to make any noise this postseason , they’re going to have to beat multiple good teams. Bring ‘em on.

 

[CWR]

Inspiring words.

But I also think of the 2018 team that won a very tough first playoff game against the Seahawks, and then looked like they had nothing left against the Rams the following week. Sometimes those tough games may be just be exhausting rather than invigorating.

If memory serves the Hawks were the #1 rushing offense in the league that year. Ironically we got past them, in part because Carroll kept the ball out of Wilson's hands. Then we got gashed for 3 hours by a lesser running team.

 

[MoistMayonnaise]

We're going to need to punch SF in the mouth, early and often. We saw what happens if you let up, even a little bit, on them.

 

[followthestar]

There are the toughest, or fastest, or most talented, or best coached, or luckiest, or healthiest, or some combination off all - we are one of those. The Niners are another. Better QBs weigh in most on what happens and I have to believe Dak will get it done. Are the Niners tougher than us? I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[CouchCoach]

I hope MM is telling our team the same thing you just said. I don't want these guys going out there trying to play a finesse game and getting beat up.

Runny, they've watched that team play and they will be watching film and if I were McC, I'd be cherry picking some pieces of games that illustrate their toughness because it is there. It is not a reputation they didn't earn.

It is an intimidation factor that the Raiders and Steelers used successfully in the 70's and some have re-created, mainly defenses like the 85 Brears, 00 Ravens and 03 Bucs but they are already in the team's head before the game starts. And most teams start out tough on even ground, just like the Rams did yesterday, but the Niners never stopped being tough.

If I am the OLC, I've got that OL watching that DL all week long, until they're seeing them in their sleep.

The Cowboys are already down on one toughness battle, TE. Schultz isn't tough at all and Kittle is the toughest. I watch that guy play and see a "Braveheart" warrior in a helmet. I think he digs the pain.

 

[Runwildboys]

I am not sure if they are the easiest draw. we have to find a way to get through this round....the niners are a physical team, both offense and defense and we have struggled against physical teams, both on offense and defense....denver, AZ, chiefs all played us physical. their physical defenses overwhelmed our offense. our WRs are good, but they are all finesse type. Gallup was the most physical WR we had and now he is injured. Cooper is a great route runner, but he is not very physical and if a defender gets on him, he tends to get rerouted.....Wilson is similar.

our OL is not physical and physical defenses give us trouble, specially in the run game. we get no push upfront and are a better zone blocking team than line them up and go at it...biadasz is weak. williams is the same....so I hope to see more zone blocking in this game.

our defense is not very physical and smallish....outside of parsons the other LBs are soft including LVE. their physical brand of offense may wear out this team and we may have trouble containing their run game. with that said, AZ, KC had scrambling QBs, where Grapolo is not that, so if we focus right and contain assignments we may find some success.

with that said, we have a lot of talent and they have to account. we need to go the route of pick your poison like earlier in the year (cooper shut your mouth) and take what they give us. I would love to see some tosses to the outside, utilize pollard early and get their DL chasing to the outside and tire them out. they are a physical team, but not a deep team, so being fresh in 4th quarter is key.

we have a chance in this game (so do they) and its going to come down to our play in the 4th quarter.

Not sure if you need clarification or if that's just the way I took it, but he didn't say they were the "easiest draw", but the "best draw". What I think he means is that if the Cowboys can beat them, they have the toughness they need to beat anyone.

 

[CouchCoach]

We're going to need to punch SF in the mouth, early and often. We saw what happens if you let up, even a little bit, on them.

Yep, McVay thought he finally had them and so did his players, watching them on the bench with the lead. The Niners just hadn't gotten started.

And I will say one thing about them, I think they have the best chance of any WC team to go on the road and win it all.

 

[CouchCoach]

I am not sure if they are the easiest draw. we have to find a way to get through this round....the niners are a physical team, both offense and defense and we have struggled against physical teams, both on offense and defense....denver, AZ, chiefs all played us physical. their physical defenses overwhelmed our offense. our WRs are good, but they are all finesse type. Gallup was the most physical WR we had and now he is injured. Cooper is a great route runner, but he is not very physical and if a defender gets on him, he tends to get rerouted.....Wilson is similar.

our OL is not physical and physical defenses give us trouble, specially in the run game. we get no push upfront and are a better zone blocking team than line them up and go at it...biadasz is weak. williams is the same....so I hope to see more zone blocking in this game.

our defense is not very physical and smallish....outside of parsons the other LBs are soft including LVE. their physical brand of offense may wear out this team and we may have trouble containing their run game. with that said, AZ, KC had scrambling QBs, where Grapolo is not that, so if we focus right and contain assignments we may find some success.

with that said, we have a lot of talent and they have to account. we need to go the route of pick your poison like earlier in the year (cooper shut your mouth) and take what they give us. I would love to see some tosses to the outside, utilize pollard early and get their DL chasing to the outside and tire them out. they are a physical team, but not a deep team, so being fresh in 4th quarter is key.

we have a chance in this game (so do they) and its going to come down to our play in the 4th quarter.

Not the easiest at all, they are the toughest out in the playoffs.

By best draw I meant for us, for the Cowboys to get further in the playoffs. We need to toughen up for the road and they're just the ticket.

 

[Runwildboys]

Runny, they've watched that team play and they will be watching film and if I were McC, I'd be cherry picking some pieces of games that illustrate their toughness because it is there. It is not a reputation they didn't earn.

It is an intimidation factor that the Raiders and Steelers used successfully in the 70's and some have re-created, mainly defenses like the 85 Brears, 00 Ravens and 03 Bucs but they are already in the team's head before the game starts. And most teams start out tough on even ground, just like the Rams did yesterday, but the Niners never stopped being tough.

If I am the OLC, I've got that OL watching that DL all week long, until they're seeing them in their sleep.

The Cowboys are already down on one toughness battle, TE. Schultz isn't tough at all and Kittle is the toughest. I watch that guy play and see a "Braveheart" warrior in a helmet. I think he digs the pain.

It might be a little extreme to compare them to the 70's teams, because they can't get away with the things those teams did...but honestly, I don't see these guys being intimidated by physicality, at least not our defense. I think Zeke, Lamb, Wilson, Pollard, and even Dak will deal with it okay. The ones I worry about are the already challenged OL, Cooper, and maybe Schultz (though he's a pretty big boy too.) As long as the officials let our guys do everything their guys do, I like our chances.

 

[CouchCoach]

Inspiring words.

But I also think of the 2018 team that won a very tough first playoff game against the Seahawks, and then looked like they had nothing left against the Rams the following week. Sometimes those tough games may be just be exhausting rather than invigorating.

That is a possibility. We'll see if the Niners lost any of theirs after out toughing the Rams.

Toughness can't be a sometime thing, has to be an all the time thing, that is the consistency. I'd bet they think they're coming to ATT to hand out some lessons on toughness.

And the Cowboys secondary better strap up tight when tackling Samuel and Kittle. Those are my two favorite players at that position to watch play the game with fire.

 

[CouchCoach]

It might be a little extreme to compare them to the 70's teams, because they can't get away with the things those teams did...but honestly, I don't see these guys being intimidated by physicality, at least not our defense. I think Zeke, Lamb, Wilson, Pollard, and even Dak will deal with it okay. The ones I worry about are the already challenged OL, Cooper, and maybe Schultz (though he's a pretty big boy too.) As long as the officials let our guys do everything their guys do, I like our chances.

I like our chances as well. I do think the Cowboys have a problem at the C-LG area of the OL and they will exploit that so Dak is going to stay on his toes with pocket awareness and get outside on the move more.

 

[john van brocklin]

I see some apprehension from some about facing the Niners in the opening round but this is a double-edged sword opportunity. Depends on whether you think they can get all the way to the Super Bowl or just make some progress by getting past the division round.

There is one ingredient that's been missing from this team for many seasons and it is necessary to advance in the playoffs and especially on the road as they will most likely have to go. Toughness, both mentally and physically because road playoff games are more demanding of concentration and focus, the necessary ingredients for mental toughness.

Now the Niners come to town as "that team no one wants to play". What an absolutely cowardly and nonsensical idea. These men are competitors, they have competed all their lives for starting positions, playing time and against each other as well as the members of the other teams. Think they shrink from any team, fear any team, any player?

The Niners are the bullies in the playoffs. Win or lose, doesn't matter, they pride themselves on being more physical and tougher than the other teams. And that goes for their RB, WR's and especially that TE. They have out toughed the Rams for years and it drives McVay nuts and one thing they are particularly mentally tough about, running that ball. They just don't give up when even down by 17 and looking like this is going south. They do not give up. The tough never do give up.

Say one thing about them, those fans might still be the "cheese, pate and wine crowd" but they're wearing hardhats. That team comes to hit.

Steel sharpens steel and that's just what the Cowboys need if they are to have a playoff season and one loss isn't a playoff season. They have to out tough the toughest team in the NFL.

The Cowboys have the toughest opponent in the opening round, I firmly believe that. And so do the Niners believe that and they count on that. The Cowboys have to go toe to toe and blow to blow with them in what could be the street fight game of the opening weekend.

This isn't about the QB's and WR's; it is going to be a game playing along that line of scrimmage with each player being challenged as to how tough he is, how much does he want to win? It's going to be trench warfare in this game.

You're probably thinking what? Is this guy nuts? Why does he want the toughest opponent in the opening round? Because I want to go further than the opening round. And toughness, mentally and physically tougher than the other teams is what it is going to take to get there.

But if they can go mano a mano and meet them in the toughness, they can take that on the road against any team in the playoffs and win. It is the trial by fire in toughness in the playoffs.

Those teams in the 90's. They just didn't think they were better than the other teams; they knew they were tougher. Their swagger wasn't about talent, it was about toughness.

Every team will have some inconsistencies during a game, the Niners certainly had theirs against the Rams but they were never not tough. Being tough means being consistent. That's why the Niners came back on them, they out toughed the Rams.

Best draw the Cowboys could have gotten and let all that "team that no one wants to play" nonsense keep going. I hope the players are paying attention to that. The bully is coming to their playground and they're being called out as not as tough.

Time to find out.

We just need to play our game, if we do, we win.

 

[Red Dragon]

If memory serves the Hawks were the #1 rushing offense in the league that year. Ironically we got past them, in part because Carroll kept the ball out of Wilson's hands. Then we got gashed for 3 hours by a lesser running team.

Yes they were the No. 1 rushing offense but all game long kept plowing their RB into piles of Dallas defenders up the middle for no gain.

 

[CWR]

Yes they were the No. 1 rushing offense but all game long kept plowing their RB into piles of Dallas defenders up the middle for no gain.

Yeah, when they gave Russ the ball we had a more difficult time, but they were beyond committed to the run game. I guess Caroll thought he'd dance when the one that brought him lol.

 

[Verdict]

I see some apprehension from some about facing the Niners in the opening round but this is a double-edged sword opportunity. Depends on whether you think they can get all the way to the Super Bowl or just make some progress by getting past the division round.

There is one ingredient that's been missing from this team for many seasons and it is necessary to advance in the playoffs and especially on the road as they will most likely have to go. Toughness, both mentally and physically because road playoff games are more demanding of concentration and focus, the necessary ingredients for mental toughness.

Now the Niners come to town as "that team no one wants to play". What an absolutely cowardly and nonsensical idea. These men are competitors, they have competed all their lives for starting positions, playing time and against each other as well as the members of the other teams. Think they shrink from any team, fear any team, any player?

The Niners are the bullies in the playoffs. Win or lose, doesn't matter, they pride themselves on being more physical and tougher than the other teams. And that goes for their RB, WR's and especially that TE. They have out toughed the Rams for years and it drives McVay nuts and one thing they are particularly mentally tough about, running that ball. They just don't give up when even down by 17 and looking like this is going south. They do not give up. The tough never do give up.

Say one thing about them, those fans might still be the "cheese, pate and wine crowd" but they're wearing hardhats. That team comes to hit.

Steel sharpens steel and that's just what the Cowboys need if they are to have a playoff season and one loss isn't a playoff season. They have to out tough the toughest team in the NFL.

The Cowboys have the toughest opponent in the opening round, I firmly believe that. And so do the Niners believe that and they count on that. The Cowboys have to go toe to toe and blow to blow with them in what could be the street fight game of the opening weekend.

This isn't about the QB's and WR's; it is going to be a game playing along that line of scrimmage with each player being challenged as to how tough he is, how much does he want to win? It's going to be trench warfare in this game.

You're probably thinking what? Is this guy nuts? Why does he want the toughest opponent in the opening round? Because I want to go further than the opening round. And toughness, mentally and physically tougher than the other teams is what it is going to take to get there.

But if they can go mano a mano and meet them in the toughness, they can take that on the road against any team in the playoffs and win. It is the trial by fire in toughness in the playoffs.

Those teams in the 90's. They just didn't think they were better than the other teams; they knew they were tougher. Their swagger wasn't about talent, it was about toughness.

Every team will have some inconsistencies during a game, the Niners certainly had theirs against the Rams but they were never not tough. Being tough means being consistent. That's why the Niners came back on them, they out toughed the Rams.

Best draw the Cowboys could have gotten and let all that "team that no one wants to play" nonsense keep going. I hope the players are paying attention to that. The bully is coming to their playground and they're being called out as not as tough.

Time to find out.

We should beat them like a drum. We are playing at home, on longer rest, after having pretty much putting the game on cruise control in the second half. Some starters got “rest”.

Their QB isn’t all world. He may be the worst QB in the playoffs. I don’t think they can play with us if we get a lead on them.

We should win this game if we don’t have a negative turnover differential this game and don’t start off the game sleepwalking.

 

[black label]

-3 not good