Blame this player, blame that coach, blame ..

[SkinsandTerps]

Motto:

Try not to ever leave the game on the leg of the kicker.

It may have indeed been the worst play of the game.

Yet Cundiff is not the PRIMARY reason this game was lost.

To me it was poor decision making by the QB and poor play by the OL for rushing plays.

If forced to choose one, I will say the OL.

 

[Kilyin]

Motto:

Try not to ever leave the game on the leg of the kicker. .

That's like saying don't ever leave the game on the arm of a Quarterback. In a team sport, sometimes the game outcome does hinge on one position, and in this case it was the kicker.

 

[SkinsandTerps]

That's like saying don't ever leave the game on the arm of a Quarterback. In a team sport, sometimes the game outcome does hinge on one position, and in this case it was the kicker.

Bledsoe throwing a pick for a TD, is irrelevant than I guess.

Its more than one play or player usually.

He missed a kick, a kick that he should have made. However Bledsoe missed a pass a pass he should not have attempted or either thrown away, or thrown in a different direction.

And no, you should leave a game on the arm of a QB. There is a concept that many if not all HCs in the NFL believe in; You need to win in all 6 facets of the game: Special Teams, Offense, Defense, Clock Management, Turnovers, and Penalties. .

 

[Kilyin]

Bledsoe throwing a pick for a TD, is irrelevant than I guess.

Its more than one play or player usually.

He missed a kick, a kick that he should have made. However Bledsoe missed a pass a pass he should not have attempted or either thrown away, or thrown in a different direction.

Cundiff came into the game with an opportunity to put 3 on the board and give Dallas the lead, and he blew it. Was Bledsoe's interception part of the circumstances leading up to that scenario? Sure, but then you can't change history. Cundiff has to make the chipshot. He was in a position to seal the game away for his team and he failed.

And no, you should leave a game on the arm of a QB. There is a concept that many if not all HCs in the NFL believe in; You need to win in all 6 facets of the game: Special Teams, Offense, Defense, Clock Management, Turnovers, and Penalties. .

You don't need to win in all 6 facets, of course you'd like to, but often that is not going to be the case and you have to find a way to win.

 

[SkinsandTerps]

Cundiff came into the game with an opportunity to put 3 on the board and give Dallas the lead, and he blew it. Was Bledsoe's interception part of the circumstances leading up to that scenario? Sure, but then you can't change history. Cundiff has to make the chipshot. He was in a position to seal the game away for his team and he failed.



You don't need to win in all 6 facets, of course you'd like to, but often that is not going to be the case and you have to find a way to win.

Bledsoe, Key, Jones, Witten, Glenn, Ware, Newman, and others had arguably more opportunities to seal the game.

The key is to make plays. Sometimes they did, other times they didnt. Credit the Broncos or discredit the Cowboys, either way it will be more than just one play by one guy.

Did I say that you needed all 6 ? Or did I say that many coaches believe in the concept you need to win all 6 ?

Dallas on Thursday ?

ST : L
D : W
O : L
TOP : W
TO : L
Pen : W

 

[Kilyin]

ST : L
D : W
O : L
TOP : W
TO : L
Pen : W

ST: L
D: W
O: W
TOP: W
TO: Tie
Pen: W

 

[SkinsandTerps]

ST: L
D: W
O: W
TOP: W
TO: Tie
Pen: W

Could have sworn that the Broncos had a 3-2 advantage in TOs.

2.whatever YPCarry doesnt equal a W in the O column for me, compared to over 6.5 per.

 

[Chuck 54]

So what you're saying is the kicker doesn't get chance after chance after blowing a play like all the other guys. I wonder how many of them would blow a play if they knew thay only got one chance. hmmmmm
btw: I didn't see anyone *****ing after that 56 yarder last week.

and what's your point? No one complained when Cortez made his first FG's and helped us win either, did they? But when he started to cost us games, he was gone.

The bottom line is that kickers are paid to make those kicks and win games. Cundiff made a 56 yarder that he wasn't expected to make. He missed a 34 yarder that his coach always expects him to make. Hopefully that won't be a trend, but if it is, you are foolish to think Cundiff won't be on the street again. When a kicker misses a 34 yarder from down close, his coach isn't going to be looking at all the other chances other players had to make a difference...he's going to find another kicker.

I'm not sure why anyone would argue the truth behind that since we're already on our 3rd kicker in just a few weeks.

 

[Chuck 54]

Motto:

Try not to ever leave the game on the leg of the kicker.

It may have indeed been the worst play of the game.

Yet Cundiff is not the PRIMARY reason this game was lost.

To me it was poor decision making by the QB and poor play by the OL for rushing plays.

If forced to choose one, I will say the OL.

I actually agree with your overall assessment; however, it doesn't really apply to a Parcells coached team, at least not this one right now.

Parcells wants to play good defense and good special teams and keep all his games close. He knows his offense is suspect. He went into the season knowing that RT was a concern...he now must add inconsistency at C and the injury at LT. I'd also add the mediocre play of Rivera, who has been a good addition but not a dominator.

Right now, Parcells knows there's no magic words to say that can turn this OL into a dominating line...it's just not possible. He will be content to play good defense and close games, but that also means he must demand good special teams play in order to win games. A top kicker who can be depended on may be more important under Parcells than at any other time in Jerry Jones tenure as owner.

Cundiff is what he is...he was less than average last year...his stats support that. If he's less than average down the stretch, we'll have another kicker next season. That's just the nature of the game whether it's fair or not. The kicker has 1 job to do...he has to do it most of the time.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

You know, it's amazing to me how many people are so short sighted to think that Cundiff cost us the game. Of course, if Cundiff had made that field goal, the Cowboys would have been up 24-21 in the 4th quarter. However, if the Cowboys had the lead, the Broncos would have played completely different at the end of the game.

What if Bledsoe had not have audibled to Glenn on that 3rd and 1? What if Parcells had not played for the field goal instead of going for a touchdown on that kick Cundiff missed? What if on that last series of the 4th quarter there was no penalty after Newman had a great return? What if Bledsoe had not of thrown that horrible pass that led to an interception and touchdown for the Broncos? What if Newman had snagged that interception and ran it back for a touchdown?

The blame for the loss can be pointed at a lot of players and coaches, not just one. Like it or not, football is a team sport.
-Reality

idk bro, Cundiff left 3 points on the field, and in tight games, with 2 very good teams, you can't do that, and how do we know the Broncos would have played completely different? when we missed the FG, there was still plenty of time on the clock, did the Broncos all of a sudden, decide that since we missed the FG, that they were going to lallygag down the field, run out the clock, and go to OT, where they could risk us winning the coin toss and driving down the field to kick the game-winning FG? no, they were trying to drive down and end the game before OT by kicking a FG of their own, or scoring a TD, but they couldn't

every time an offense is in possession of the football, they try to score points, so this "they would have played differently" is a bunch of loo-loo...

yes, football is a team sport, but the team aspect of kicking, stops once the ball is snapped and the holder has it, and from all accounts, the snap was good, and the hold as well, now it's an individual play, and Cundiff couldn't make it

 

[Bob Sacamano]

I think the difference between a kicker and the other position players, like Bledsoe, Newman, Davis, etc, is that those players are on the field contributing play after play after play...you expect some mistakes like Bledsoe's int, Newman's drop, and Davis's missed tackle. However, they are on the field contributing positively on 40-60 other plays, giving them a chance to make up for it, giving them an extremely high percentage of successful plays that kept us in the game, whether it was with passes defensed, tackles made, or passes thrown and td's scored.

The kicker is here to kick-off and make fg's. Cundiff had 1 fg attempt. It was from 34 yards, a distance most kickers are almost automatic from. I can guarantee you Parcells wasn't covering his eyes and praying for that kick to go through...he expected it to go through. Cundiff didn't get the job done on the 1 play of the entire game where he was expected to help us win.

In fact, you are correct about the game being won on many other occasions. But you are wrong, imo, for deflecting blame from Cundiff. There's a reason Cortez and Suisham were both cut. Other games could have and should have been won by anyone else making a play or a coach calling the right play as well. But with kickers, they are paid a lot of money to go out there and make the 34 yarder late in the fourth quarter when everyone else has battled their guts out.

Kickers aren't perfect, but Cundiff didn't do his job, and it played a huge role in our losing the game. Let's not forget that while the Bronco's would have been playing the final minutes differently trailing by 3, that we also would have been playing defense differently if leading by 3...that missed kick was demoralizing and planted the "oh no" thought in everyone's minds, not just the fans.

Let Cundiff miss another of those at crunch time and you'll find that Parcells has a slightly different view of who lost the game. Cundiff blew it...he shouldn't be fired, but he is on notice....if there was a consistent kicker available, he'd be a Cowboy, but we have to deal with what we have.

*insert hammer emoticon*

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Yeah, you're such a genius. Go choke your chicken and fantasize some more about TO.

:jerk:

TO should have never put on those tights

 

[Reality]

idk bro, Cundiff left 3 points on the field, and in tight games, with 2 very good teams, you can't do that, and how do we know the Broncos would have played completely different? when we missed the FG, there was still plenty of time on the clock, did the Broncos all of a sudden, decide that since we missed the FG, that they were going to lallygag down the field, run out the clock, and go to OT, where they could risk us winning the coin toss and driving down the field to kick the game-winning FG? no, they were trying to drive down and end the game before OT by kicking a FG of their own, or scoring a TD, but they couldn't

every time an offense is in possession of the football, they try to score points, so this "they would have played differently" is a bunch of loo-loo...

yes, football is a team sport, but the team aspect of kicking, stops once the ball is snapped and the holder has it, and from all accounts, the snap was good, and the hold as well, now it's an individual play, and Cundiff couldn't make it

When you are tied, they're is much less of an urgency to be aggresive than when you're behind late in the game. A tied game means you play it safe and try to move into field goal range when the game is late in the fourth quarter. When you are behind late in the game, you take a lot more chances. Denver didn't have to do that because the game was tied. That is why if Cundiff had made the kick, their entire play calling would have been different. Doesn't mean they would have won but trying to say "Cundiff" lost the game is very short-sighted. The reality is that Cundiff "potentially" cost the game with the field goal. There are so many plays from that game that could have led to a Cowboys victory, blaming one player is extreme.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

how is blaming a player, that you know, for a fact, leaving 3 points on the field, extreme?

 

[Wolverine]

Bledsoe throwing a pick for a TD, is irrelevant than I guess.

Its more than one play or player usually.

He missed a kick, a kick that he should have made. However Bledsoe missed a pass a pass he should not have attempted or either thrown away, or thrown in a different direction.

And no, you should leave a game on the arm of a QB. There is a concept that many if not all HCs in the NFL believe in; You need to win in all 6 facets of the game: Special Teams, Offense, Defense, Clock Management, Turnovers, and Penalties. .

I have been trying to get this through to him Skins fan but he just does not get it. You said it better then me but good luck. See the problem is when God was handing out brains Kilyan thought he said grains and he asked for oatmeal.

 

[Kilyin]

I have been trying to get this through to him Skins fan but he just does not get it. You said it better then me but good luck. See the problem is when God was handing out brains Kilyan thought he said grains and he asked for oatmeal.

That was beyond lame, but so is most everything else you post. You're consistent, I'll give ya that!

 

[Reality]

how is blaming a player, that you know, for a fact, leaving 3 points on the field, extreme?

So, what about Drew Bledsoe who gave the other team 7 points with that first quarter interception? What about Keith Davis who missed a tackle that set up the game winning field goal for Denver? What about the missed interception by Newman that was a touchdown had he caught it? What about the penalty on the last punt by Denver when Newman had a good return that literally killed any chance Dallas had at winning the game before over time? What about Bledsoe audibling on 3rd and one when the coaches had called for a running play?

All of those plays were more of a factor in the loss to me than the missed field goal.

 

[Kilyin]

So, what about Drew Bledsoe who gave the other team 7 points with that first quarter interception? What about Keith Davis who missed a tackle that set up the game winning field goal for Denver? What about the missed interception by Newman that was a touchdown had he caught it? What about the penalty on the last punt by Denver when Newman had a good return that literally killed any chance Dallas had at winning the game before over time? What about Bledsoe audibling on 3rd and one when the coaches had called for a running play?

All of those plays were more of a factor in the loss to me than the missed field goal.

Because you don't know if the result of any of the plays you mentioned would have been points on the board for Dallas. To say they would, is conjecture. But you do know the Cundiff field goal would have. It's really that simple.

 

[Eddie]

I blame the dammed COIN !!!

We need to take that evil COIN and melt it down for scrap metal.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

So, what about Drew Bledsoe who gave the other team 7 points with that first quarter interception? What about Keith Davis who missed a tackle that set up the game winning field goal for Denver? What about the missed interception by Newman that was a touchdown had he caught it? What about the penalty on the last punt by Denver when Newman had a good return that literally killed any chance Dallas had at winning the game before over time? What about Bledsoe audibling on 3rd and one when the coaches had called for a running play?

All of those plays were more of a factor in the loss to me than the missed field goal.

no, they weren't, despite that INT, and missed audible, Bledsoe did his job, accounted for all our points, Cundiff makes that kick, and Keith Davis doesn't need to make that tackle, Cundiff makes that kick, we don't need the dropped INT, that may or not have been ran back, and despite those 2 miscues, Davis and Newman did their jobs

ok, how about this, I blame Cundiff for not doing his only job? which btw, cost us the 3 points needed to win