Coaching Matters

[Cowboysheelsreds053]

Klint. The guy that just ran riot on you a few hours ago.

Lol

 

[FanofJerry]

My tried and true debate still firmly holds water here.
The only question is the "IF" factor in both scenarios of my debate.
And those 2 scenarios are "IF" Jerry ever hired a Reid, Harbaugh, Tomlin, Payton type of HC or
IF he could ever draft a true franchise QB...

how would it affect our ability to compete for trophies?
I say we would consistently be deep run playoff contenders with those 2 positions filled by the right choices.

We would be annual playoff big boys regardless of Jerry's meddling.
I say again, regardless of Jerry meddling.

This is a coaches and quarterbacks league.
Ours both suck at playoff football.
Period.
And here we are.

I think the QB debate at this point in Dak's career is a wash. He is not horrible, doesnt turn the ball over and is a positive in the locker room and has a leader. Youre just not going to get much better without luck being a key factor, imo.

Chasing a First Round QB because of pedigree just doesnt really seem smart to me.

The Cowboys are probably negligent for not using a pick a few years ago and grooming a prospect behind Dak that provides competition in camp. Now that Dak is in his 30's...they should definitely use a pick sometime in the next two years on a QB and groom him.

I probably agree that Dak isnt the 'elevator' I once thought...but he is still good and safe with the ball for the most part. It will be very hard to get a clearly better player without luck.

All that being said...I think the issue is creative play calling on offense(How does Reid have a new wrinkle or two every week and we cant seem to come up with anything?) and out-schemed on defense. At least for the past few years in the playoffs.

Its more a coaching problem at this point with me. But...a QB with pedigree should be drafted to provide competition in camp.

 

[KMY_Amber]

I probably agree that Dak isnt the 'elevator' I once thought...but he is still good and safe with the ball for the most part. It will be very hard to get a clearly better player without luck.

All that being said...I think the issue is creative play calling on offense(How does Reid have a new wrinkle or two every week and we cant seem to come up with anything?) and out-schemed on defense. At least for the past few years in the playoffs.

Its more a coaching problem at this point with me. But...a QB with pedigree should be drafted to provide competition in camp.

100% agree. No, I don't think this team is loaded with talent at most positions, so I think this means we need more creativity and scheming from the coaching staff, not less. And with McCarthy, he's simply not a good Xs and Os coach for the offense. And he's not even good at getting the overall team ready to play in these big games. No great halftime speeches. Nada. So, yes, he was NEVER going to be able to produce a deep Cowboys playoff run. It's not him to get his team ready to play multiple games in the playoffs, and to help outcoach/outscheme the other team.

And lord knows, for all the praise Zimmer received week 1 (unwarranted given the Browns were missing both offensive tackles and one of the best RBs in the league), the defense stunk it up today, and were clearly outschemed. So he definitely has some work to do. Dallas' personnel is clearly not good enough to play a lot of teams straight up on 1st and 2nd downs, so Zimmer is going to have to get creative on early downs too...so more early down blitzing, from the CB, nickle back and LB. Both the Cowboys coordinators call plays like the Cowboys walk on the field with superior talent, so no consistent creative playcalling and schemes are needed. NOPE. It's the opposite.

Having said that, the Cowboys do have some talent, but it's not good enough to cover-up all the positions where the players are average at best.

And Parsons, he's just overrated. He has his moments, but on many key downs, he's a non-factor.

McCarthy is a dead coach walking for sure...and by Thanksgiving, Jerry will already start looking for the Cowboys 2025 coach.

And that new coach needs to come in with a new staff and a new philosophy, but it may not matter much since The Jones will still be picking the groceries for this lackluster meal.

Parcells: “If I'm going to be asked to cook the meal, I'd like to be able to pick the groceries.”

 

[kskboys]

We've always had flaws on our teams, but we have also had talent. There was a thread here the other day, we have what the most drafted pro bowlers since 2014?The problem has always been coaching. Dave Campo, Wade Phillips, Jason Garret was allowed to not win here for 10 years. The only guy that actually did more with less was bill parcels (and that was with a flawed roster).

We can talk offense, we can talk defense. Who's at fault. But coaching matters in the nfl, culture matters. The minute Mike Mccarthy was allowed to stay on as coach after the GB debacle it sent a message of mediocrity. I can guarantee if Bellicheck is your coach today's game doesn't happen. Because he holds guys accountable. The culture of being losers wouldn't be a thing.

News flash for everyone, every nfl roster has some flaws. None are perfect. It's coaching that makes the difference. Unfortunately it isn't a priority for this franchise and the owner. Same old story.

We lack talent at DT.

 

[thunderpimp91]

Bro, this is nothing but loads of excuses. Simple as that. First of all, the saints OL and RB are nowhere near as good as what you just saw today. Second of all, they had all of these players last year and did none of this. Third, it’s not a coincidence that every Shanny disciple destroys us. And just because you don’t know what the solution is on offense doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. MM and his scheme ever offers anything. It’s go out and beat your man. There’s a reason we struggle vs good teams

Not trying to make excuses at all, at least no more of an excuse than people bailing out the players because of bad play calling, I'm just trying to have the discussion. I've been calling out the front office all offseason for not making more move to improve the roster so its not like I'm completely changing my tune based on the outcome of the game. Defensively the Cowboys certainly have no excuse as the talent on that side of the ball is among the best in the league, I'm just not sure that i feel the same way about the offense. NO also has 3 new starters on their OL after being a bad unit a year ago so they didn't completely just run it back.

Honestly what players do the Cowboys have outside of Lamb to really scheme around? This is the piece that I worry about.

I mean McCarthy has won a super bowl and had the #1 ranked offense last season so its not like he just doesn't know how to call plays.

This week Miami put up 10 points. SF 17. LAR 10 points. GB put up 16 points so its not like the Shanahan coaching tree is just dunking on the rest of the league week after week. A lot of these scores are likely down because of injury, but thats my point is that you have to have the players on the field to set up these plays to scheme guys open. Just like NO did today they hit the play action for a long TD, they got the ball to Kamara but it all got set up with those stretch runs that got the defense moving and started to get those safeties to step up. Had they not executed those early runs its likely the rest of the game maybe doesn't get out of hand like it did.

 

[unionjack8]

Honest question here, what do you want McCarthy to do differently?

Did it look like they were prepared ? That's a serious question.

The answer is not in the slightest.......thats coaching , outside of al Harris I'm not sure I'd keep a single one of them on merit

 

[kskboys]

It's also possible the Saints are just a better team than anticipated. They had a perfectly conceived and very well executed game plan today. Playing with discipline and focus usually pays dividends as was evident in today's game. You don't necessarily have to have an all star roster. Rather a roster of players that play their role and do their job consistently. I mean it is the NFL so to me everyone is an all star just having the talent and toughness to make an NFL roster.

Why? I truly don't get it.

 

[Floatyworm]

We've always had flaws on our teams, but we have also had talent. There was a thread here the other day, we have what the most drafted pro bowlers since 2014?The problem has always been coaching. Dave Campo, Wade Phillips, Jason Garret was allowed to not win here for 10 years. The only guy that actually did more with less was bill parcels (and that was with a flawed roster).

We can talk offense, we can talk defense. Who's at fault. But coaching matters in the nfl, culture matters. The minute Mike Mccarthy was allowed to stay on as coach after the GB debacle it sent a message of mediocrity. I can guarantee if Bellicheck is your coach today's game doesn't happen. Because he holds guys accountable. The culture of being losers wouldn't be a thing.

News flash for everyone, every nfl roster has some flaws. None are perfect. It's coaching that makes the difference. Unfortunately it isn't a priority for this franchise and the owner. Same old story.

 

[Floatyworm]

Did it look like they were prepared ? That's a serious question.

The answer is not in the slightest.......thats coaching , outside of al Harris I'm not sure I'd keep a single one of them on merit

 

[JBS]

Not trying to make excuses at all, at least no more of an excuse than people bailing out the players because of bad play calling, I'm just trying to have the discussion. I've been calling out the front office all offseason for not making more move to improve the roster so its not like I'm completely changing my tune based on the outcome of the game. Defensively the Cowboys certainly have no excuse as the talent on that side of the ball is among the best in the league, I'm just not sure that i feel the same way about the offense. NO also has 3 new starters on their OL after being a bad unit a year ago so they didn't completely just run it back.

Honestly what players do the Cowboys have outside of Lamb to really scheme around? This is the piece that I worry about.

I mean McCarthy has won a super bowl and had the #1 ranked offense last season so its not like he just doesn't know how to call plays.

This week Miami put up 10 points. SF 17. LAR 10 points. GB put up 16 points so its not like the Shanahan coaching tree is just dunking on the rest of the league week after week. A lot of these scores are likely down because of injury, but thats my point is that you have to have the players on the field to set up these plays to scheme guys open. Just like NO did today they hit the play action for a long TD, they got the ball to Kamara but it all got set up with those stretch runs that got the defense moving and started to get those safeties to step up. Had they not executed those early runs its likely the rest of the game maybe doesn't get out of hand like it did.

That’s the point of scheming it up! To propel talent. You think that RB in SF is all world? He’s not. And I’m not talking cmc, the new guy. You think Darnold is good? He’s not. It’s coaching. There are loads of examples. You make it easier for your guys to play well. MM doesn’t make it easier on anyone. And I apologize if I come off strong , it’s good you want to discuss, I was under the impression you were just blindly defending MM

 

[JonesBoys]

Let’s relax a little guys.

The Cowboys will be fine.

Judge them in the playoffs.. Stuff happens in the regular season but no showing in the playoffs is what should be the cause of all of our gripe.

Our division is trash and I’m not so sure the entire conference isn’t trash.

Playoffs? Playoffs? You kidding me, playoffs? I just hope we can win a damn game. Even if they do make the playoffs which I don’t think they are, the entire world knows what will happen wild card weekend.

 

[Ranching]

Honest question here, what do you want McCarthy to do differently?

Unless they are at the practices, film sessions, coaches meetings etc, they can't answer that question...hell, even if they were, most wouldn't be able to answer that question....lol

 

[Floatyworm]

I have 2 problems with MM. Clock mgt and also I think he is below average with in-game adjustments.

And his playbook is crap.....Honestly. All you have to do is watch the slot receivers.....other than Lamb. They all run fades or out patterns. They aren't fooling anyone. It's a HS playbook @ best.....and Prescott struggles with it.

 

[thunderpimp91]

Did it look like they were prepared ? That's a serious question.

The answer is not in the slightest.......thats coaching , outside of al Harris I'm not sure I'd keep a single one of them on merit

I mean yes and no, its a tough question because its such a broad term. I think you can always say a losing team wasn't prepared on some capacity. I think there is probably a very good argument that defensively they were not prepared. They got beat early on a couple of outside runs and looked overaggressive after that which is what set up the next two TDs. Its kind of like the old Mike Tyson quote about having a plan until you get punched in the face. I have no doubt the Cowboys felt prepared going into this game, but that went out the window after that first drive, and this defense still hasnt figured out how to get back on track once they go off the rails.

Offensively I think they just got beat physically more than they were truly unprepared. The offense grinded early on and had a 13 and 14 play drives followed by the TD pass to Lamb. 13 points off your first 3 drives is enough to get you the lead more often than not. I think the Oline just got abused for the second week in a row and outside of Lamb they just dont have the skill players to win matchups. I think offensively they were about as prepared as they could given the holes they have on that side of the football. I wanted to give this unit a fair chance after last weeks win, but its painfully obvious they are fighting an uphill battle.

 

[JBS]

Let’s relax a little guys.

The Cowboys will be fine.

Judge them in the playoffs.. Stuff happens in the regular season but no showing in the playoffs is what should be the cause of all of our gripe.

Our division is trash and I’m not so sure the entire conference isn’t trash.

No they won’t be fine bc coaching - especially on offense is still a major problem. That isn’t going to change come the playoffs. So it’s not fine.

 

[thunderpimp91]

That’s the point of scheming it up! To propel talent. You think that RB in SF is all world? He’s not. And I’m not talking cmc, the new guy. You think Darnold is good? He’s not. It’s coaching. There are loads of examples. You make it easier for your guys to play well. MM doesn’t make it easier on anyone. And I apologize if I come off strong , it’s good you want to discuss, I was under the impression you were just blindly defending MM

All good man, I just enjoy talking ball and appreciate different perspectives. If I go back and forth with you it simply means I'm not annoyed by you lol. I get what your saying, but Darnold has Justin Jefferson in addition to a big free agent RB acquisition in Aaron Jones Minnesota has also done a nice job developing the Nailor kid and spent a 1st round pick recently on Jordan Addison. SF has maybe the best TE in the league in addition to spending a 1st round pick on Aiyuk even though they had Deebo.

As I said before we start to get into a chicken or the egg type of debate in terms of talent vs scheme, which is why I try to be open to both sides, but what I'm seeing are other teams with a Lamb/Dak type of foundation for their offense continue to go out and supplement their roster. The Cowboys simply have not done that, at least with their skill positions, and continue to shop for bargains. I actually like a lot about what they are building along the OL, but these guys are about as raw as you can get.

 

[thunderpimp91]

Unless they are at the practices, film sessions, coaches meetings etc, they can't answer that question...hell, even if they were, most wouldn't be able to answer that question....lol

Its why I like to challenge people on these questions a little bit. There may be some good answers out there, and I can appreciate it when I get a good thought out answer to a question like that, but I'm sure most are just throwing the HC under the bus because thats the easiest thing to do as well as the most likley scapegoat if things dont improve.

 

[Hennessy_King]

Problem is we only hire boom ers and dinosaurs.

 

[DallasDW00ds0n]

Honest question here, what do you want McCarthy to do differently?

Honest question as well, what are you hoping stays the same?

 

[Risen Star]

Honest question here, what do you want McCarthy to do differently?

I should add that I don't expect him to work out intensely right after this though.