Biggest mistake of off season? Name one only

[ufcrules1]

We just haven't been able to get those 2nd-level yards that came so easy last year when defenders were worried about the pass.

The defenders last year were put in a terrible position because our running game was so good last year they had to bring in extra defenders to try and stop it and THAT is what opened up the passing game. Not the other way around.

 

[percyhoward]

I think our TOP is skewed - we run the ball on 90% of 1st downs. Wouldn't that almost ensure that the clock keeps moving and run 35+ seconds off every time?

We've run the ball on 56% of our first downs this year, compared to 69% last year. Our TOP is greater this year because we've moving the chains without the big plays we had last year, especially long TD passes.

But it's not helping us, because it's not what wins games. This season is demonstrating how ball control is nothing more than a great complement to an effective passing game.

 

[percyhoward]

The defenders last year were put in a terrible position because our running game was so good last year they had to bring in extra defenders to try and stop it and THAT is what opened up the passing game. Not the other way around.

We had a perennial top 5-10 passing game for years that became #1 with help from an improved running game.

 

[Hook'em#11]

Demarco Murray.

 

[ufcrules1]

We had a perennial top 5-10 passing game for years that became #1 with help from an improved running game.

The run game wasn't simply improved, it was outstanding and so was the oline. #2 in the whole NFL. That is why Romo had his best season of his career. Defenders were put in a tough spot because we kept them honest with that outstanding running game, and when they tried to stop it, we got one on ones and Romo had forever to throw the ball behind on line. The only reason the running game has had ANY success this year is because of our oline. Not because DMF is a good RB.

 

[the_h0wey]

I am going with not making a deal happen for Adrian Peterson.

You?

Not signing a running back. I'm not saying Demarco, but you also had a shot at guys like Spiller, Ryan Matthews, or a RB in the draft.

 

[ZenItRam]

letting Bill Callahan go.

 

[CowboyRoy]

I agree. You do realize we are talking about Jerry Jones right? We could go 8-8 next year and the year after and I'd promuse you Garrett will still be here. Thr guy is made out of Teflon. I really don't think we should be arguing amongst ourselves as fans over how bad of a coach Garrett has proven to be. Whatever we do Garrett will remain employed. It's that simple.

Sadly enough, I agree. In reality, Jones is the problem in Dallas. His affinity, NOT to draft a young QB because he thinks it will create controversy. Did the same thing with Aikman and we suffered for 10 years. And its Jones that continues to hire lackey, puppet coaches that will bow to his every wish. Garrett is a horrid choice for a coach, but its Jones that hires him and continues to keep him employed. And in the same breath cutting the legs out from every coach that he does hire.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Sadly it is now !

Sadly indeed.

 

[KJJ]

This !! and I will add not keeping murray. and trying to franchise dez and if they were gonna sign him do it early back in april.
Keep that knucklehead in line and on track.

I think when murray left , so did our SB chances, and not because he is a great rb, it was partly mental and dealt with chemistry and belief.

I pointed out many times during the offseason that with Murray leaving so might our running game and our SB chances. I argued that if the running game isn't as good Romo could end up injured and that his efficiency would go down and his int's would go up. In the season opener Romo attempted 45 passes which was more than in any game last season. He carried the Cowboys to their opening day win over the Giants. I said immediately after that game that the Giants didn't look like a very good team and neither did the Cowboys and some took exception to that comment. Romo had only one 40+ passing attempt game all of last season and was on pace for another 40+ passing attempt game when he was injured vs Philly. He had 10 games in 2014 where he didn't even attempt 30 passes because he had a great running game to lean on but this season he was back having to carry the team which led to 7 int's in less than 4 games and 2 injuries to the same shoulder that cost him and the Cowboys their season.

The Cowboys were able to wear defenses down last season controlling the ball with the running game. Romo wasn't having to press in games like we saw against Carolina. I understand it would have been difficult signing both Murray and Dez but the Cowboys biggest mistake was depending more on the talent of their OL than the talent they had at RB. They could have gone after a better back like DeAngelo Williams who signed with the Steelers the same day the Cowboys signed McFadden. Williams has averaged 4.9 a carry with 6 TD's this season while McFadden has averaged 3.8 a carry and only 2 TD's. Jerry decided to go cheap at RB because he felt any back could be productive behind his young OL and he was wrong! The lack of a consistent running game put more pressure on our backup QBs to have to win games because our defense sure as hell can't. Had Jerry made the decision not to sign Emmitt during his holdout in 93 the Cowboys wouldn't have accomplished back to back SB wins or 3 championships in 4 years.

He found out in the first 2 games of the 93 season in which the Cowboys lost that his Great Wall of Dallas couldn't make an average back productive but apparently Jerry forgot about that when he made the decision to let Murray walk and depend on his OL. The team was totally unprepared at RB entering the season having to cut Randle who they knew had off the field issues but were foolish enough to trust. They ended up having to trade for a back who they eventually cut after only a few carries. They had to bring in Turbin to play musical chairs with. The Cowboys got caught with their pants down at RB because they put too much stock in their OL that hasn't been as good as advertised. Even Collins fell for the hype of the OL claiming immediately after he was signed that this OL will be the greatest OL ever. LOL The OL has a long way to go to ever be near that good. Every time this team gets full of itself it leads to a disastrous season.

 

[JoeKing]

The disaster that was and continues to be this season is injuries. I don't know of anything that could have been done to prevent it. We were highly favored coming into this season. We had a good draft and talent acquisition. The most controversial thing was not bringing back Murray but the running game has not been a major contributor to the losses this season so you can't say it was a big mistake. I don't know that there is a big mistake that if corrected in the off season would have made a big difference in the outcome of this season.

 

[KB1122]

Pushing more money further back into Romo's contract.

 

[JoeBoBBY]

for me, going with RBBC, and NOT getting a quality backup QB goes hand in hand. If youre going cheap at RB and exposing Romo then, for the love of..... get a quality backup. If they thought weeden was a quality backup.................then we got bigger problems;

and of course this is all hindsight. Some would think, its easy to say that now


But alot ,,,,,many of us were saying it in August;

 

[JoeBoBBY]

The disaster that was and continues to be this season is injuries. I don't know of anything that could have been done to prevent it. We were highly favored coming into this season. We had a good draft and talent acquisition. The most controversial thing was not bringing back Murray but the running game has not been a major contributor to the losses this season so you can't say it was a big mistake. I don't know that there is a big mistake that if corrected in the off season would have made a big difference in the outcome of this season.

i dont care what the "stats" say....... the running game isn't even close to what we had last year;

 

[JoeKing]

i dont care what the "stats" say....... the running game isn't even close to what we had last year;

I never said it was what it was last year. Last year was lightning in a bottle. If can't be duplicated, not even with the same ingredients. And it's not a necessity to having a winning team. You can like with and average to slightly above average running game.

 

[Junglist]

The biggest mistake in the off-season was the fact I bought season tickets again. Oh, are we talking about the team?

Running back and/or Callahan. I didn't think our line would regress THIS bad. Oy vey.

 

[cowboys2233]

The biggest mistake in the off-season was the fact I bought season tickets again. Oh, are we talking about the team?

Yup, similar for me. I'm disappointed that once again, this organization managed to suck me into thinking that things had changed, that the team was pointing up after so many years of futility.

I was wrong. Fire 'em all. This organization is a joke.

 

[Idgit]

The obvious answer to this is not having a deep enough QB position group.

Beyond that, though, I think the problem is more a compilation of a bunch of small things just not going right. Some key injuries, sure, but going to back to preseason we had niggling problems that kept the OL from playing together. Vaughan failed to take a step forward and we went with a low-quality backup QB. Randle's head was not right and that led to dithering about the RB position when we should have just named a starter. Dez got hurt, and hasn't been right since. We lost some key role players we were depending on schematically in Scandrick and Dunbar, and that affected the plan overall. Romo going down took away not just our best offensive player, but it also represented the single biggest talent drop off from starter to backup we probably had anywhere on the roster.
The DL got off to a slow start with the suspensions and ankle injury. The LB group had suspension and concussion and ankle issues early. There just wasn't a position group you could point to who was able to get off the blocks at a sprint. Getting Tony back finally and having a shot, and then losing him again. Just the worst.

Sometimes, the accumulation of little things can be a lot more important that single big things. This season has been death by a thousand paper cuts, plus a couple left hooks to the side of the head. The problem is, that stuff can take on a life of its own once it gets bad enough, and that's what I think we're dealing with here. This next game is going to tell us an awful lot about the team and the organization we've got right now.

 

[jobberone]

Not planning on injuries or the lack of turnovers.

 

[Pessimist_cowboy]

Drafting randy Gregory instead of Duke Johnson