Can we please have no "This is a must-win game" threads before November?

[KJJ]

A "must win" game is when you're down to do or die. The farther into the season you are the more critical games become depending on your record. Once you reach Dec you know where you stand and what you have to do to make the playoffs. Because the Cowboys have missed the playoffs the past 2 seasons by only one game some view every game on their schedule as a "must win" for them. Any game vs what some consider a softer opponent some view as a must win when you have several perennial playoff contenders on your schedule. When the schedule comes out every year a lot of fans mark down which games they feel will be wins and which games will be losses. Most feel because KC was 2-14 last season the Cowboys should win on Sunday. I'm sure that's one of the games everyone marked down as a win at the start of the season.

Every game is going to be a little more critical for the Cowboys than a team that routinely wins 10+ games every season. Sundays game vs the Chiefs certainly isn't a "must win" but when looking at the rest of the opponents on the Cowboys schedule it is a game they really need to win or they'll have to win 9 of their last 14 games if they want to assure themselves of a playoff spot. Even 10 wins might not guarantee a playoff spot as strong as the NFC appears so you really don't want to be losing in week 2 to a team that was 2-14 last season when you have Denver, New Orleans at the Super Dome, Green Bay, Chicago on the road in Dec and the Giants up in NY left on your schedule.

 

[Fredd]

no, people are allowed their opinion, that should be a must.

opinions? of course

spewing vitriol for sake of being negative? not so much It gets old REALLY fast

 

[Sarge]

Hyperbole gets very old, very quickly.


I'm sure there are many other Cowboys fans out there who are tired of posters proclaiming every single game from Week 1 through Week 17 as a "must-win." It really saps the term "must-win" of its meaning and just creates a certain "crying wolf" effect after a while.




The logic of many Cowboys fans goes something like this:

1. Game 1 is a "must-win," because it starts the season off on the right foot.
2. Game 2 is a "must-win," because it continues the momentum of Game 1, or corrects the course from a Game 1 loss.
3. Game 3 is a "must-win," because it keeps the momentum going, or corrects the course from a defeat the week prior.
4. Ditto for Games 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.
5. Game 13 is a "must-win," because now the Cowboys are likely in the month of December, and December is THE crucial stretch of the season.
6. Game 14 is a "must-win," because now the Cowboys are in the month of December, and December is THE crucial stretch of the season.
7. Game 15 is a "must-win," because now the Cowboys are in the month of December, and December is THE crucial stretch of the season.
8. Game 16 is a "must-win," because, well, it's the last game of the season.

And so forth, and so forth, each and every season.



So, just as an agreement on this forum, can we have no threads proclaiming, "This upcoming game is a must-win game" until November (or unless the Cowboys are having such a terrible season that their very playoff hopes are already in serious jeopardy as soon as October?)

I didn't see any "must win" posts until yours.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

This team has to learn how to win. The KC game isn't a must game but if they want to be more than an 8-8 team then they must show up and play well against a team they should beat. I don't think it will be an easy game. I think KC is better than their 2-14 record of last year but the Cowboys still should win. At the very least they shouldn't beat themselves. As someone else said, 10 wins might not get you in the playoffs in the NFC. Every game is important. There might only be one team from the NFC East making the playoffs. With the Giants playing Denver and the Commanders playing the Packers, the Cowboys have a chance to go 2 games up on both.

 

[RoyTheHammer]

Except that this is a message board for football fans. Starting threads telling fans that each game is a "must-win" isn't going to affect the players or coaches one bit.

Happy now that you had to open up the box?

Maybe next time at least wait until you see one of those threads to complain about them.. its really not a big deal anyway.

See thread.

Read title.

Don't click on thread.

 

[cowboys2233]

No, not every single game that you play to win is - mathematically speaking - a "must-win". That's the key word - "mathematically speaking." I'm talking about playoff math. Cold hard facts.


For an example, every NFL team plays to win Game 1, the opening game of the season. Every team wants to start the season 1-0. But not a single team in NFL history has ever been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention after a loss in Week 1.


That's what I'm referring to here.

But you suggested that we should hold off on the "must win" talk until November, implying that late season games are actually closer to being must-win games than early season games. Mathematically speaking, that's not true, all games have equal importance.

 

[DFWJC]

All games are big. But in the regular season, the priority goes

Division wins
Conference wins vs playoff contenders
Conference wins in general
Non conference wins

So, while all games are big, this is certainly not a must win.

 

[Deep_South]

If we plan to go undefeated this year, KC is a must-win game.

 

[ErikWilliamsHeadSlap]

Losing games like this one is why we have struggled over the years. If you want to compete year in year out then you win the majority of divisional games, your home games and you beat teams like KC. That is how you get in the habit of winning. That's the experience you draw from when things get dicey in playoff games. You learn to fight through the bad weather, the bad calls, the hostile crowds and the emotional let down games. You need to stack the wins now and build some confidence and some character and some chemistry.

 

[jobberone]

You must win enough games to make the playoffs. Must is relative.

 

[ShiningStar]

You must win enough games to make the playoffs. Must is relative.

whats the bar on that? would you allow a coach to think that way? we know some have to, but if the coach came out and said "well we only want enough wins to make the playoffs" how would that sit with you?

 

[Hoofbite]

Happy now that you had to open up the box?

Maybe next time at least wait until you see one of those threads to complain about them.. its really not a big deal anyway.

See thread.

Read title.

Don't click on thread.

This appears to much a much more difficult process for some than I would have ever anticipated. I've never understood why people go into threads that they know they will not be interested in.

 

[jobberone]

Wouldn'="ShiningStar, post: 5181924, member: 2356"]whats the bar on that? would you allow a coach to think that way? we know some have to, but if the coach came out and said "well we only want enough wins to make the playoffs" how would that sit with you?[/quote]

Wouldn't like it but that's not the point nor what I said. I'm goal oriented. So my first goal would be the NFC East. Then CC then SB. Must meet your first and intermediate goals before reaching your final goal. Then u start al over again with new goals. This was Tom Landry's method and is standard practice for leaders.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

whats the bar on that? would you allow a coach to think that way? we know some have to, but if the coach came out and said "well we only want enough wins to make the playoffs" how would that sit with you?

That's not what he said. Every player and every coach should want to win every game and should bust butt to make it happen. But in reality, teams almost never go 16 and 0 in the regular season. Only one team has ever done it (and another went 14 and 0 before the 16-game season). There isn't anyone saying, "Do just enough to get by." That attitude gets you a losing record. But the truth is it's HARD to win in the NFL. Coaches can put together great game plans that the players buy into and work their tails off to get ready for, but they're probably not going to go undefeated. But you don't have to go undefeated to make the playoffs. That's what he's saying; at least it's what I understood.

 

[Hardline]

Every game is a must win. If this game is not a must win then dont bother playing the game. And instead of turning your TVs on before game time. Just plan on a stroll at the local park.