Can anyone remember a thinner margin?

[Relayer]

Playoff quality means good enough to compete and not be one and done, not to simply make the playoffs.

Must be a fluid definition

 

[Mikexike]

its setting up for all the cylinders hitting when it matters late in the year.

 

[DandyDon52]

Yes dallas is a mystery this season, but so are other teams.
you not only have to have a good read on dallas, but also each team they play!!!!!!!!!!
I misread the jets this last game. They were worse than I thought, even playing dallas didnt help them!
I think dallas did play better on defense, but maybe it was just the jets were awful on offense??
Who knows.

 

[ElGatoGrande]

Must be a fluid definition

maybe to the uninitiated

 

[Chuck 54]

I’m trying to get a solid read on the current team and really struggling.

I am focused on the many positive things they have going right now and I think the future looks bright.

But while doing so, I keep coming back to the razor-thin margin that’s been the 2025 Cowboys.

They are THIS CLOSE to being a 4-1 team. Things go right at Philadelphia or vs Green Bay and they’re talking about an NFC contender.

Conversely, if Aubrey doesn’t save the day and the offense isn’t incredible vs the Packers, this team is 1-4 already and effectively out of it.

Instead, we’re right down the middle of both.

I can’t remember a season where things were THIS CLOSE.

They are a team on the rise. If everyone stays healthy, the offense will be excellent all year. I love our OL, TE, and WR depth, but I cringe to imagine what will happen to our run game if Williams goes down. We must add another bell cow type next year.

The defense is going to struggle all year. The talent is marginal at best. Dallas must rebuild the defense through FA and the draft. While I have hope, I don’t think you can make the playoffs with this defense. You certainly cannot have success in the playoffs with this defense. In my opinion, if Revell pans out, we will be okay at CB, but we need another stud DT. We need Eze to find his groove and be an impact rusher next season, and we need to find another impactful edge as well. I think we can be okay on the outside at LB with Overshown, James, and Liafau. Probably need 1 more. We definitely need to find another impactful a thumper at MLB who has instincts and intelligence.

 

[coult44]

I truly believe we would be winning a lot more if our defense was at least "middle of the road". Hard to win games when they are ranked #32!!

Are you one of those guys who want them to get better, but you want them to be better instantly? It’s not realistic. You didn’t see progress this week, or do you refuse to?

 

[ConstantReboot]

I wonder what things would be like if we had a better defensive coordinator and or, if we were actually healthier.

We had a better coordinator. He left and took some of our coaching staff with him. This is Jerry's fault for not hiring any of the assistants to continue what Quinn built. Instead, he hires a bum like Zimmer.

 

[plymkr]

I can’t remember a season where things were THIS CLOSE.

Me neither. I’ve watched for 47 years and this is about as thin as I’ve seen. Man I wish the clock operater in Dallas gave us a home field advantage with that 1 second and I wish Lamb caught the ball.

But that’s the NFL, emotional roller coaster at its best. I will say I am having way more fun this season than I thought I would be. So hey good deal.

 

[maryquality]

Are you one of those guys who want them to get better, but you want them to be better instantly? It’s not realistic. You didn’t see progress this week, or do you refuse to?

I don't think I said anything about "instantly". I realize it's not going to happen overnight. I would think by Game 6, we should be seeing improvements. And yes, the last game I saw a better pash rush. Baby steps!

 

[Whyjerry]

I wonder what things would be like if we had a better defensive coordinator and or, if we were actually healthier.

I think it's the injuries and roster decisions at LB and S more than ME. I suspect things improve if they can get healthy.

 

[blueblood70]

It doesn't matter.

Well too many people are complaining about those extra yards and the 16 points in the fourth quarter during garbage time online saying that Matt didn't make any positive changes and I believe the game was 30-6 And pretty much had the jets unlocked going into the fourth quarter.

Maybe they did back off a little too soon but also maybe they didn't wanna risk injury and they wanna save some energy going forward I mean they played a couple overtime games already they've been gassed to oblivion missing so many players who knows why they backed off so early in the 4th but a win is a win but they dominated that game and just because they made it look close in the 4th that would be garbage time so we should be ignoring it should be the same energy that we get when we make that kind of come back like against the Packers in the playoff game wasn't even anywhere close to that final score but the Cowboys made a run at the end because they were allowed to...

 

[blueblood70]

You're right, he does the same thing in the regular season against contenders.

I never said anything like that at all I'm not even sure what you're trying to insinuate and what I meant prescott does not play bad in most of these games turnovers does not mean somebody plays bad you do realize Matthew Stafford led the league in interceptions and threw two interceptions in the Super Bowl and it didn't matter because the team was good enough to overcome it they didn't expect him to be perfect troy was never perfect in the playoffs or the Super Bowl he threw a lot more interceptions than Prescott does...

I said is look at the team we've been dominated in the trenches in the bigger games against the better teams And yes at some point when you don't have a run game and nobody's blocking well and nobody's getting open the quarterback might look bad but you guys need to stop the nonsense about how he can't play against better teams because you want some examples 2020 look at how he started that year on fire no defense no real help hell even Ezekiel Elliott was fumbling the ball all the time they were behind the chains the offensive line was beat up and he was on an MVP pace against all the teams he played up until he got hurt..

About this year Didn't Prescott play really well game one against the Eagles or was I dreaming or something was it not CD lamb and Ferguson dropping passes sanders fumbling footballs that lost us that game bad defense in the first half or are we going to be blind to the real reasons we lose these games?

I mean I thought going into the game that energy the Packers were gonna dominate us and that Parsons was gonna have a record career day and embarrassed the hell out of the Cowboys and none of that happened and last I checked Prescott played great I mean what are we saying here aren't those two contenders?

The problem around here is you expect the quarterback to play perfect in all conditions and that's just not the way it works And by the way did did you see how Patrick Mahomes played in the Super Bowl he got dominated by that same team that Prescott did not get dominated by..

Did you see Patrick Mahomes pick 6 last night.. This is what I'm saying it's a team game the quarterback is not perfect he cannot play perfect games all the time he needs support they all need support and Patrick Mahomes probably the most elite out of all of them and it's starting to show when his team got rid of most of his better players that he's showing cracks in his game he's starting to force things..

Kansas City Chiefs the last four years the last four off seasons have done less than the Cowboys but people ignore it because they've been able to overcome it and they're still winning and they have Super Bowl rings but that don't mean that that GM and that ownership group hasn't been up to par they're not going all in they're not doing crazy things in free agency and they're getting rid of some of their best players..

Just remember around here the narrative is if we lose a game and a quarterback made a mistake it's all on him without bringing in the real facts you guys expect him to wear a Cape just forgot how much money he wears and I'm sorry that's the most ridiculous narrative I've ever seen in sports....

Teams pick up their players they play for each other they have each others backs they don't expect a quarterback to play perfect you need support you absolutely need an offensive line to at least play above average and create holes in a run game and then you guys get separation when none of that is really happening and on top of that you remember that game in the playoff they had 11 penalties on the offensive line every good play that was made was called back and they played behind the chains all day but sure that was on Prescott even though the defense didn't Trayvon diggs have two bad plays in there he could have made an interception and broke up a pass I mean didn't they give up ten yards per per carry to debo samuels but nobody remembers that they say it was a close game and it's all dacks fault...

 

[blueblood70]

I think it's the injuries and roster decisions at LB and S more than ME. I suspect things improve if they can get healthy.

Maybe it is but it was his job to make the best at the what he had and he did not do that the first four games he made no effort to bring more guys into the box to blitz more to run stunts twists and to create a scheme to help his players out that is all on him that is what he took he took the job he knew the roster he had an offseason he knew going into the season what it was going to look like he knew in the first half of the Eagles game it wasn't working and let he let it keep getting worse It was like rubbing dirt into a wound and why it was oozing and festering and you're probably going to get gangrene and have your arm cut off he waited till the last game to finally start working something with his defense meaning giving his players a better shot at success that is 100 percent his job..

Saying he's short handed because he is He lost Parsons before the season he doesn't have overshown a lot of guys been injured but we do know what he's been forcing out there and that's 100 percent on him trying to act like any different is making an excuse you would never give her some others..

Flown with the WhyJerry handle we know where your head's at you trying to blame everything on the roster no mike Zimmer and Dan Quinn made better adjustments with their rosters when they were in jeopardy.. Particularly they did more with less because they were willing to make changes to their normal philosophies they were willing to put their ego aside and make changes...


We get it we could use some better players but there were better players I would allege on the practice squad there were better players lower on the depth chart he refused to use more james Houston is one but not getting rid of some of his guys that he picked like Murray and Sanborn earlier or at least lower their snap count that's all on him It's all on him for not creating a 5th guy in the box and doing a little bit more pressure with blitzes that is all on him i'm sorry 100% on him...

 

[calicowboy54]

I truly believe we would be winning a lot more if our defense was at least "middle of the road". Hard to win games when they are ranked #32!!

i personally think its more of a health issue mixed with Scheme. looking at Bland and Diggs both were coming off something. we have JAG's behind them. so we have to play more zone to help them not have to run as much get them more healthy. also on flip side EB likes zone defense keep it in front, so that in his mind was a win win. we have 2 SS playing in the back half of the secondary. really Hooker is a coverage SS and Wilson is a in the box guy. so we do not have that coverage FS the tampa 2 requires. Health at LB. Overshown is a NO SHOWN so far. best coverage sideline to sideline guy and he's out. we lost our best DE/LB in Parsons and brought in a run Defending ILB in sandborn. Tampa 2 requires a Coverage LB with sideline to sideline ability we do not have that now due to injuries and putting an oval in a circle hole.

all in all its a bit of both.

 

[blueblood70]

i personally think its more of a health issue mixed with Scheme. looking at Bland and Diggs both were coming off something. we have JAG's behind them. so we have to play more zone to help them not have to run as much get them more healthy. also on flip side EB likes zone defense keep it in front, so that in his mind was a win win. we have 2 SS playing in the back half of the secondary. really Hooker is a coverage SS and Wilson is a in the box guy. so we do not have that coverage FS the tampa 2 requires. Health at LB. Overshown is a NO SHOWN so far. best coverage sideline to sideline guy and he's out. we lost our best DE/LB in Parsons and brought in a run Defending ILB in sandborn. Tampa 2 requires a Coverage LB with sideline to sideline ability we do not have that now due to injuries and putting an oval in a circle hole.

all in all its a bit of both.

Right because every team has superstars stacked on top of superstars and they can cover up Losing starters with ease.lol

Teams do their best under the salary cap they have to pay both their players like Digs and Bland to put someone behind them that is at least competitive but we're missing them you actually be wrong it's not really Jags they're just not as good and who think they would be that?

The better players are still on IR Revel and butler.. I mean who knows even Caisson might have been improved enough to be better in Matt's defense plus overshown he's our best defender now that Parsons is gone absolutely no doubt he's an elite type linebacker who can rush the passer and create havoc and he's missing..

But to the OPS point that's just the NFL there's been parity for a very long time narrow margins of either victory or defeat like they say there's it's usually a game of inches the difference between a game and the losses razor sharp nowadays it's usually five instances in a game that you can point out to why you lost the game Or even the why you won the game..

And I look at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and even the Eagles I mean they've been so lucky at the end of games to win some of these things Their record could be completely different had things gone just slightly different... I mean the Buccaneers been playing with fire I mean they've had to come down to the last two minutes of almost every game this year to come down and win the game and you can't be doing that on a weekly basis because then you'll start losing those same games.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Must be a fluid definition

8-9 Bucs were NOT "playoff quality". The next game we met one.

 

[Nova]

I can’t remember the margin for error being this thin in a game by game basis, either.

But I think the results are accurate, and we’ll likely be around 8-8-1 by seasons end.

In a lot of ways this feels like 2013.

A team with a young, ascending OL and run scheme. An aging QB playing at the top of his game but being asked to do too much to cover up a pretty bad defense. That equals a team that can beat, and lose to, just about anyone.

Hopefully next year is 2014 but we take defense seriously.

 

[coult44]

I don't think I said anything about "instantly". I realize it's not going to happen overnight. I would think by Game 6, we should be seeing improvements. And yes, the last game I saw a better pash rush. Baby steps!

Ok, my feelings exactly.

 

[aikemirv]

You are what your record says you are.

.500

Yeah when you have the number 1 offense and the last ranked defense you should be 500

 

[Cowboyny]

I’m trying to get a solid read on the current team and really struggling.

I am focused on the many positive things they have going right now and I think the future looks bright.

But while doing so, I keep coming back to the razor-thin margin that’s been the 2025 Cowboys.

They are THIS CLOSE to being a 4-1 team. Things go right at Philadelphia or vs Green Bay and they’re talking about an NFC contender.

Conversely, if Aubrey doesn’t save the day and the offense isn’t incredible vs the Packers, this team is 1-4 already and effectively out of it.

Instead, we’re right down the middle of both.

I can’t remember a season where things were THIS CLOSE.

The Romo year's with Marinelli were like this.