Can we agree on one thing?

[Bleu Star]

We weren't as good as we thought we were last year and we're not as bad as we think we are this year.

Surely we can all agree on that very logical assumption given the variables from both seasons.

2016
Rookie QB
Rookie RB
Both playing behind a stellar offensive line. We put up an abundance of points clearly off of sheer talent and the lack of familiarity opposing defenses had with either of those two guys.

2017
Roger Goodell made sure we suffered.
Zeke perhaps should have taken the suspension earlier in the season so he could have reacclimated himself long before the stretch run.
Teams studied Dak and Zeke long & hard. They devised strategies to stop them and those strategies worked mostly because of a clearly understood lack of ability by our coaching staff to adjust.

So.. Can we at least agree that the truth lies somewhere between the 13 wins from last season and the 8 we will have this year?

I believe the key is how we handle revamping the whole offensive strategy. It's antiquated, predictable, and the person running it does not adjust well to change on the fly.

 

[conner01]

I think two things really will be the major factors in next years success
We’ve got to have an offensive scheme that’s fits our personnel
We have to get our QB to grow into the position
Those are the big two
We need our young defensive backs to continue to grow, add some depth at LB, OT and maybe a new #1 WR
But if those first two aren’t accomplished nothing else will matter

 

[ShiningStar]

i think we can all agree, JJ the owner wont fire JJ the GM, JJ the GM has been a problem for 20 plus years. If we can agree there, than going down the chain is easier. JG has been a mediocre mess at best. the coaching staff and im afraid any coach under both JJ and JG will be hand cuffed, i dont blame Linehan soley, but im afraid after the changing, it wont matter who comes in. My fear, not reality.

and than we can bicker over the players who are 50 perceent hamstrung by the coaching staff.

 

[samilpa4life]

We weren't as good as we thought we were last year and we're not as bad as we think we are this year.

Surely we can all agree on that very logical assumption given the variables from both seasons.

2016
Rookie QB
Rookie RB
Both playing behind a stellar offensive line. We put up an abundance of points clearly off of sheer talent and the lack of familiarity opposing defenses had with either of those two guys.

2017
Roger Goodell made sure we suffered.
Zeke perhaps should have taken the suspension earlier in the season so he could have reacclimated himself long before the stretch run.
Teams studied Dak and Zeke long & hard. They devised strategies to stop them and those strategies worked mostly because of a clearly understood lack of ability by our coaching staff to adjust.

So.. Can we at least agree that the truth lies somewhere between the 13 wins from last season and the 8 we will have this year?

I believe the key is how we handle revamping the whole offensive strategy. It's antiquated, predictable, and the person running it does not adjust well to change on the fly.

We should have went to the Super Bowl last year, it was a magical season, a perfect storm, no major injuries, seasons like that do not happen every year, we have to take advantage of that!! Oh and we had the best back up QB ever, Romo. This year has been a major cluster%$#^. I really do think Goodell told the refs to stick it to us, no holding calls for over 30 quarters and then they miss a big time holding call on Taco on one of the biggest plays vs the Seahawks

 

[noshame]

Yep offensive scheme that doesn't put Square pegs in round holes and isn't so obvious defenses are calling out the plays.

I mean teams may have studied Zeke n Dak but mainly we just morph the offense back to the 2015 offense which was run at the middle of the defensive line and wait for short passes to open up unfortunately teams can stop that I mean we had bad quarterbacks in 2015 for sure but not that bad
And when he finally got moore in there he added some routes that weren't there before more came in some Fades out of the slot and they caught defense is off guard.
So yeah give me a guy that'll move Dak around
Keep feeding the ball to Zeke inside and especially outside where nobody could stop him this year but yet we never stuck with it
And I'm voice texting as usual on my phone so if this message sucks I'm too lazy to correct everything use your detective skills

 

[nycowboyfan]

Agreed. We have a few things we need to address.

The O line is also an issue not being talked about enough. It’s far from a bad line. But it’s also not great anymore and they make too many mistakes.

And we clearly need receivers. And most important. Receivers that can catch the damn ball. I was Dez’s biggest fan. But he really has to go. I have less issues with him getting open than catching the ball. He drops way too many balls. At least 2-3 drops this year led to INTs.

And we desperately need Speed and playmakers on the O. A deep threat receiver. And another player that can create a play on his own. I don’t care if it’s a RB or a receiver.

The D still needs some help but it’s finally heading in the right direction. Franchise DLaw. A 1 tech is needed and I would love to add a top notch safety. Have to keep Hitchens. Don’t create another hole.

Biggest need. A HC. but that’s only a dream.

 

[CowboyRoy]

We weren't as good as we thought we were last year and we're not as bad as we think we are this year.

Surely we can all agree on that very logical assumption given the variables from both seasons.

2016
Rookie QB
Rookie RB
Both playing behind a stellar offensive line. We put up an abundance of points clearly off of sheer talent and the lack of familiarity opposing defenses had with either of those two guys.

2017
Roger Goodell made sure we suffered.
Zeke perhaps should have taken the suspension earlier in the season so he could have reacclimated himself long before the stretch run.
Teams studied Dak and Zeke long & hard. They devised strategies to stop them and those strategies worked mostly because of a clearly understood lack of ability by our coaching staff to adjust.

So.. Can we at least agree that the truth lies somewhere between the 13 wins from last season and the 8 we will have this year?

I believe the key is how we handle revamping the whole offensive strategy. It's antiquated, predictable, and the person running it does not adjust well to change on the fly.

the injuries to the Oline and guys like Lee also played a huge part.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

We're a mediocre team, not an abysmal one and certainly not a championship one.

 

[John813]

Roger Goodell didn't make us get embarrassed in Denver, or not show up in the second half of the Rams game. This team before losing Zeke was showing cracks in multiple spots in the foundation and the walls.

 

[MonsterD]

Oh I expected us to be about 7-9 or 8-8 this season. Not caught off guard.

 

[FLCowboyFan]

Here is how I see it. Our players talents are between last year and this. Our coaches play a vanilla offensive scheme so anyone can defend it if we don't execute at a high level. Because of this we end up getting beaten by the best teams because we can't out-talent them so they beat us by stopping what they know we are going to do.

If we put the same talent in an offense that uses bunch formations, rub routes, roll outs, and mixes up the play calling better, they are likely to produce at a higher level. That's not to say that we have the perfect personnel. Dez and Witten are past their primes and we don't have a field stretcher. But imagine Dez being freed up on a rub route and allowed to run after the catch vs being covered like a blanket and needing to be "thrown open".

 

[Rockport]

Oh I expected us to be about 7-9 or 8-8 this season. Not caught off guard.

Most people were predicting 9-7 or 10-6 due to suspensions on d-line, Zeke cloud, tougher schedule and new secondary.

 

[Verdict]

We weren't as good as we thought we were last year and we're not as bad as we think we are this year.

Surely we can all agree on that very logical assumption given the variables from both seasons.

2016
Rookie QB
Rookie RB
Both playing behind a stellar offensive line. We put up an abundance of points clearly off of sheer talent and the lack of familiarity opposing defenses had with either of those two guys.

2017
Roger Goodell made sure we suffered.
Zeke perhaps should have taken the suspension earlier in the season so he could have reacclimated himself long before the stretch run.
Teams studied Dak and Zeke long & hard. They devised strategies to stop them and those strategies worked mostly because of a clearly understood lack of ability by our coaching staff to adjust.

So.. Can we at least agree that the truth lies somewhere between the 13 wins from last season and the 8 we will have this year?

I believe the key is how we handle revamping the whole offensive strategy. It's antiquated, predictable, and the person running it does not adjust well to change on the fly.

I'll buy that. We were very fortunate last year and snake bitten with the odds stacked against us last year.

 

[Verdict]

The defense also showed signs of life later in the year. Hitchens may get paid, well.

 

[Floatyworm]

Let this sink in....we were 5-4 w/ Zeke. And in 4 out of the 5 wins....those games could have gone either way.

We are a poorly coached team. And a poorly run organization...from head to toe. Jerry cares about one thing. And that's making money.

90.00 for a pair of sweats....52.00 for a double shot of crown and coke tell me so. And the booze is watered down...and not even full shots.

 

[Aven8]

We are right where we are. Mediocre. We did nothing to improve last years squad outside of drafting a young secondary. We knew that was going to take time. The LB core and Oline depth was pathetic. All of our signed FA's are gone already. Dak regressed which goes squarely on JG, Linny, and Wilson. Our WR's are awful. Marinelli is the only coach that earned his paycheck IMO.

It looks bad, but a new staff could turn this bunch around in one offseason. I don't trust Stephen and JG to do this.

 

[MikeT22]

We're a mediocre team, not an abysmal one and certainly not a championship one.

22 years and counting thanks to Owner/GM Jerry Jones.

 

[DogFace]

We weren't as good as we thought we were last year and we're not as bad as we think we are this year.

Surely we can all agree on that very logical assumption given the variables from both seasons.

2016
Rookie QB
Rookie RB
Both playing behind a stellar offensive line. We put up an abundance of points clearly off of sheer talent and the lack of familiarity opposing defenses had with either of those two guys.

2017
Roger Goodell made sure we suffered.
Zeke perhaps should have taken the suspension earlier in the season so he could have reacclimated himself long before the stretch run.
Teams studied Dak and Zeke long & hard. They devised strategies to stop them and those strategies worked mostly because of a clearly understood lack of ability by our coaching staff to adjust.

So.. Can we at least agree that the truth lies somewhere between the 13 wins from last season and the 8 we will have this year?

I believe the key is how we handle revamping the whole offensive strategy. It's antiquated, predictable, and the person running it does not adjust well to change on the fly.

Looks like you inadvertently created a thread for some to whine about how bad we are and completely miss your point.

Some get it and you’re right on the money. Except, I believe the coaches can adjust. They just will not. Which is worse in some ways.

 

[superonyx]

Roger Goodell didn't make us get embarrassed in Denver, or not show up in the second half of the Rams game. This team before losing Zeke was showing cracks in multiple spots in the foundation and the walls.

While true the same thing can be said for any team in almost any season. We have some real issues that I feel have been going on long before we even had drafted Zeke and Dak. Romo was forced to change every play at the LOS to get us out of bad calls and formation mismatches. This offensive system is a bad one that even Tom Brady wouldn't be able to succeed in consistently.

This is a worst to first and a first to worst league so with a new offensive scheme I would not be surprised if we win the superbowl next year and I wont be surprised if we are drafting top 5 again next year either.

The key will be incorporating an offensive scheme and making sure we have the right personnel to match that system.

 

[Zimmy Lives]

Lots of great opinions/comments!

We can all agree this team was fortunate last year and handicapped this year. Hopefully we can agree that with no suspensions, better offensive scheming and no major injuries next year, this is a playoff team. With improvement from the QB position, it is a Super Bowl team.