Cowboys played their best game this season

[DiResta]

I just think he's at the end of his career and making business decisions on the field. I'm not blaming him but could we imagine a faster Witten?

i can see Rico taking those 4 yard gains and making them 12 yards or more and being a big redzone threat

 

[mahoneybill]

The fact is that when Rodgers plays well (and by well, I mean that level of QB play that literally only he, Manning and Brady have ever achieved) GB is almost unbeatable. In addition to being maybe the best passer ever, he is far more mobile than Brady or Manning ever were.

Think about it: If Brady or Manning was playing QB today, they get sacked on that third and 8 and GB is attempting a 55 yard FG to tie.

He's just a machine when he's on. The other side is that when he isn't, GB had almost nothing else.

He has that stutter step shuffle down to a science and throws darts..... separates him from. The rest

 

[xwalker]

No. Drafting Dalvin Cook would have been an awful awful decision to make. How many premium resources do you want to put into the easiest position in football to find?

How exactly would we get DeAndre Hopkins without giving up at least two first round picks as he just signed a monster contract a few months ago?

Hopkins shows up as a free agent on some lists.

Nobody ever regrets drafting Super Stars after the fact.

The Cowboys passed on LeSean McCoy because they had Felix and Barber. How did that work out?

 

[Seven]

i can see Rico taking those 4 yard gains and making them 12 yards or more and being a big redzone threat

Absolutely. BUT...will Rico be able to play football? I mean he's STILL dealing with a concussion from months ago. And as a side note who's going to be as football savvy as Witten?

 

[Direwolf63]

They didn't get the win against Green Bay but they played their best game overall.

Rodgers is much better than the other QBs they've faced.

Did anybody notice how often Aikman said that Rodgers was frustrated? Several times he could not find an open receiver.

The defense intentionally over-focused on the pass and dared Green Bay's run game to beat them. They played a 3-tech DT most of the game with starter Paea out. The DL played all snaps in pass rush mode which caused then to be out of position on some runs.

The Cowboys running game looked it's best this this season. Zeke finally had a few runs like last year where it looked like he would be stopped for about 3 yards but ended up with about 8 and a 1st down.

This was Dak's best game. The INT was primarily on TWilliams. It was about 6 inches off target but should not have been a difficult catch and at worse case should have bounced forward out of his hands, not allowed to go through his hands.

Dez was a more efficient target. He had more yards in the last game but dropped less balls this time. He did drop a TD that hit both hands but got bailed out by a penalty on GB.

The biggest negative was Jaylon. He is just not very good.

Penalties probably cost the Cowboys the game. The facemask by Hitchens and the Personal Foul by Mayowa kept GB drives alive. A non-call on interference against Witten probably cost 4 points.

I really like the young secondary. They often frustrated Rodgers. Lewis is the best CB. They had Brown in over Scandrick on some of the 2 CB sets. Scandrick looks stiff. Awuzie has barely played this season but looked good when he did.

Woods is playing a lot of snaps in Dime. Frazier was inactive but previously played more Safety snaps than Woods. Maybe people get their wish at some point with Woods over Heath. For another week Heath was not as bad as people claim but he's not really good either. He should have been in better position on that final TD by GB.

I would seriously play the Safety Frazier over Jaylon if there are no other options at LB.

Wilson played SLB early but Wilber played there most of the game. I don't know if Wilson was injured or got benched.

The DL got great pressure early but then the pressure faded. I think Green Bay waits until the game gets going before their OL starts holding because refs call a tighter game at the beginning. They have really practiced the art of holding without getting caught.

Fred got called for a hold that was less egregious than what Green Bay does on most snaps but we did get at least one favorable call on the dropped TD pass by Dez.

Oddly the biggest needs on this team for next sesson are likely WR and LB. An elite RDE would always be nice but they don't need to add mid-level talent there as they have a lot of good but not great options. Mid level talent at WR would be an upgrade.

I guess what you are saying is that had the Cowboys defense played poorly, Rodgers would have dropped an 80 burger on us.

Not exactly encouraging.

 

[TheFinisher]

Defensive touchdowns are one of the most impactful plays in determining wins and losses.

Teams that score a defensive TD win the game ~90% of the time.

Special teams TDs have a similar effect.

We had a pick 6 against GB and a muffed punt that resulted in a TD a few plays later for the Rams.

Those two plays are probably the reason we're not 4-1 right now, that's how close the difference is between winning and losing in the NFL. Line 1, don't beat yourself.

 

[perrykemp]

Those two plays are probably the reason we're not 4-1 right now, that's how close the difference is between winning and losing in the NFL. Line 1, don't beat yourself.

You could probably argue had 2-3 plays gone the other way in the two games the Cowboys won -- the team could easily be 0-5.

The margin between winning and losing in the NFL is razor thin.

 

[School]

The fact is that when Rodgers plays well (and by well, I mean that level of QB play that literally only he, Manning and Brady have ever achieved) GB is almost unbeatable. In addition to being maybe the best passer ever, he is far more mobile than Brady or Manning ever were.

Think about it: If Brady or Manning was playing QB today, they get sacked on that third and 8 and GB is attempting a 55 yard FG to tie.

He's just a machine when he's on. The other side is that when he isn't, GB had almost nothing else.

I think Green Bay has done a disservice to Rodgers by not surrounding him with a better supporting cast. As bad it was for the cowboys to not make at least a Superbowl trip with Romo/Ware/Written, I think it's nearly as bad to only have 2 Superbowl victories to show for all those years having Favre and Rodgers.

He is really the only thing that keeps GB afloat. No running game to speak of outside of last week, a below average defense yet again that gets eviscerated by good offenses, and overrated wrs to boot.

What was the difference between Brady and Rodgers last year? When Rodgers began trying to make a comeback against the Falcons, his defense gave up touchdowns after scoring drives. Brady's got stops.

The Packers live and die by the draft, outside of a few token FA signings. I think it's too one-sided, and I hope Dallas doesn't fall into that strategy.

 

[xwalker]

I guess what you are saying is that had the Cowboys defense played poorly, Rodgers would have dropped an 80 burger on us.

Not exactly encouraging.

The score was 35-31.

TWill caused 7 points for the Packers.

Points allowed by defense:
Cowboys - 28
Packers - 31

 

[Direwolf63]

The score was 35-31.

TWill caused 7 points for the Packers.

Points allowed by defense:
Cowboys - 28
Packers - 31

I understand what you are saying. And I'm not being critical.

But if the defense played well and they still gave up 28 points, how many points would they have given up had they played poorly? 40? 50? More?

In fact, the Packers point production was reduced because the Cowboys dominated time of possession. Had time of possession been 30/30, they probably would have scored 2 more TD's. At least.

I get it. Rodgers is a great QB. But he basically did whatever he wanted with almost no resistance. I think they punted once all game.

To me, the defense is a huge concern. I don't see this team in the playoffs with this defense.

 

[xwalker]

I understand what you are saying. And I'm not being critical.

But if the defense played well and they still gave up 28 points, how many points would they have given up had they played poorly? 40? 50? More?

In fact, the Packers point production was reduced because the Cowboys dominated time of possession. Had time of possession been 30/30, they probably would have scored 2 more TD's. At least.

I get it. Rodgers is a great QB. But he basically did whatever he wanted with almost no resistance. I think they punted once all game.

To me, the defense is a huge concern. I don't see this team in the playoffs with this defense.

The rule of thumb in the modern NFL is that your offense needs to score at least 30.

The Cowboys punted once and the Packers punted twice.

They also held them to field goals on some drives.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

I understand what you are saying. And I'm not being critical.

But if the defense played well and they still gave up 28 points, how many points would they have given up had they played poorly? 40? 50? More?

In fact, the Packers point production was reduced because the Cowboys dominated time of possession. Had time of possession been 30/30, they probably would have scored 2 more TD's. At least.

I get it. Rodgers is a great QB. But he basically did whatever he wanted with almost no resistance. I think they punted once all game.

To me, the defense is a huge concern. I don't see this team in the playoffs with this defense.

Not unless the offense gets back to where they were last year. Running the ball.

 

[Diehardblues]

Totally agree. That's the best I've seen our offense .

And the most thrilling Cowboy game this year.

Unfortunately it didn't go our way . But no shame in losing to a perineal elite team and one of the greatest QB this era.

 

[DallasEast]

This was Dak's best game. The INT was primarily on TWilliams. It was about 6 inches off target but should not have been a difficult catch and at worse case should have bounced forward out of his hands, not allowed to go through his hands.

Good observation. Six inches off target should always be catchable for a high school receiver as long as if the ball is thrown within his boxed wingspan. Williams is a professional receiver. His mishandling is inexcusable.

Big time players make big time plays. Williams sideline catch against the Seahawks in 2014 was a big time play. Williams cannot be branded a big time player though because of crucial miscues like the one last weekend. I am not ranting about debatable situations of judgment like Williams not getting out of bounds against the Giants last season. I am talking about all receivers' primary responsibility. A receiver cannot let their team down flubbing a catch like that one when the game is still winnable but it happened anyway. Catch the <expletive> ball, Williams. /rant

Very good overall OP, @xwalker.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

Good observation. Six inches off target should always be catchable for a high school receiver as long as if the ball is thrown within his boxed wingspan. Williams is a professional receiver. His mishandling is inexcusable.

Big time players make big time plays. Williams sideline catch against the Seahawks in 2014 was a big time play. Williams cannot be branded a big time player though because of crucial miscues like the one last weekend. I am not ranting about debatable situations of judgment like Williams not getting out of bounds against the Giants last season. I am talking about all receivers' primary responsibility. A receiver cannot let their team down flubbing a catch like that one when the game is still winnable but it happened anyway. Catch the <expletive> ball, Williams. /rant

Very good overall OP, @xwalker.

And Williams is the biggest culprit of that game. We wouldn't have needed that last TD if he would have caught the ball.

 

[DallasEast]

And Williams is the biggest culprit of that game. We wouldn't have needed that last TD if he would have caught the ball.

I am hesitant placing ratios of blame on certain players and coaches but Williams' mistake is glaring as far as the final score is concerned.