Dallas lost because they were tactically outcoached

[duane33]

look I'm not reading any of that I'm just going to go by the headline because I think most of us have already agreed we'd like to see a full staff coaching change,

however the biggest one probably leave it on his own Dan Quinn all season but really since mid-season has been the worst coached group it's been the most underachieving OVERrated defense I've ever seen because everyone's trying to blame everything but the defense!!!

the defense has been bad in many many games think about it think about the Seattle game that is what this has come down to you're asking our head coach offensive coordinator and quarterback to do what we did in Seattle and scoring every down and try not to punt because as soon as the other team gets the ball back they're probably going to get 7 in about 3 minutes that is how most games have went we even gave him a lead in the Miami game in Miami and all we could talk about is we scored too quick and we didn't score enough but don't blame the defense for not being able to hold the lead they've done this all year the 49ers Arizona Buffalo they've got walked down the field like it was a scrimmage it literally looked 11 on 7..

It was so bad that Mike McCarthy who came into the season thinking he was going to have a championship defense first one to score twenty wins the game, so create a conservative offense so that way they don't mess up they don't turn the ball over they give the defense rest.​

After five games he realized this isn't going to be that defense and it's gotten worse all year,

he literally now is trying to coach to where the pressure is so bad on offense that it feels like you have to score on every single drive and not make any mistakes because God forbid the defense has to actually do work anybody who ever uses the phrase we scored too quick are secretly saying the defense sucks, so bad you're scared to put them back out there.

And in the case of the playoffs this season in this last game the defense has looked the same the last eight games against the better teams you could pick whatever game you want they have been walked down the field far too many times on the first drive and then the first drive out of halftime!!!

we've been seeing it if they wanna play with the lead how are they going to do that when they allowed the team to score so easily they gave up 21 points to start the second-half there was no chance to make any kind of comeback for the offense and I don't care about the mistakes made in the first half there are a lot of games in this NFL,

I mean last year's playoffs Trevor Lawrence had four interceptions they won that game, same playoffs Josh Allen had three turnovers had one roll out of bounds or it would have been four and for some reason they were able to win that game I saw Matthew Stafford lead the league in interceptions and then have two in the Super bowl guess what they won that game you know why they won that game because the team had their backs the defense bowed up and they made some stops and they made some adjustments and it gave the offense a chance to come back..

Ohh by the way one of the Buffalo Super Bowls in the first half Troy Aikman played like garbage we were down by 10 I believe he did throw a pick six maybe it was just a regular interception that turned into seven points doesn't matter the defense came out in the second-half and made enough stops got a big play they might have got a pick six of their own got us back in the game we play catch up using the run game and then Troy did enough to help win the game but he wasn't playing well and they won that Super Bowl didn't matter because the defense played the team picked him up it happens all the time Troy was never asked to carry your team by himself... They didn't talk about firing the offensive coordinator or getting rid of Troy because they didn't have to the team was just better we did not have that kind of team around here things have to go perfect for you to win a game in the the quarterbacks asking to be Superman and be perfect and by the way those interceptions first one defensive back clearly shoved cooks from behind also grabbed his shoulder that's not on deck the other one was supposed to be a timing he let that ball go assuming his guy was gonna get there and once again there were three routes being run in the same area and another guy who wasn't covering just broke off and picked the ball off how many times do we see that last year with Kellens route trees?? I'm not letting Mike McCarthy or Prescott off the hook but our defense is so bad it gave us no chance to win that game even if they would have not made those mistakes and tried to score on every drive we still would have probably lost that game... If you can't make stops if you can't get the offense more possessions you just are not a good defense.... I mean the defense basically gave up 32 to 38 points if you wanna take off some points for the offense that's fine but you're not winning playoff games that way giving up that many points....

So I don't need to read all that we definitely need to make some changes at coaching whether it's the whole staff or not the biggest one is Dan Quinn he can take everyone with him I don't care he's the biggest problem it showed in Atlanta unless he has the legion of boom type players he cannot consistently run a defense out that can play straight up and make stops that is apparent he's the biggest problem and I can't wait till he leaves I wish he would have already left...

Rant over

Their talent is always overrated . Haven’t drafted well . And yea the defense other than a few games to start season is awful

 

[Rayman70]

This kind of thing is who we are for the last 30 years. Goes back to camp, and how we train, draft, prepare, and practice. This is why football operations can't be mixed into the marketing side of it...Jerry must separate the 2. Then we must admit, MM and DQ aren't a fit. Time to get some real discipline in here at HC/DC. We are too much Hollywood and not enough football. It infects everything we do, like a plague.

 

[America's Cowboy]

First, let's start with the defense



Its painful to watch but relevant. If you look at the running plays, the Packers are frequently running the same blocking scheme that has killed the Cowboys for a while. All of the linemen immediately go one direction. There is no pulling or complicated scheme. What is happening here is that defenders are trying to hold their gap as the gap rapidly moves to one side. With the size limitations of the defenders involved, eventually one of the gaps opens and Jones is free to pick it. GB isn't running plays into specific holes as much as just letting Jones go where the defense isn't. This isn't new. Teams have been doing this and it worked. There are fixes for this, like putting 8 in the box, 5 linemen, etc. and but I have seen no effort by Quinn to fundamentally change the tactics to address this weakness.

The issues with the team for some reason starting the game in a soft zone have been well documented. I have no idea why this was tried, much less why Dallas kept doing it when it obviously was not working.

......

When Dallas was on offense, GB didn't copy recent teams. I'll give them credit. They sat down and figured out a good number of Dallas' plays at a fundamental level. Dak has publicly commented that they were changing at the snap. If you have followed him all year, what Dak does is he gets a pre-snap read and that tells him which side of the field to throw to. He then usually has a single high/low read leading to a quick throw. This has been the offense all year and for the most part, it worked well. What GB did is figured out a way to break Dak's read progression. That's why he had the deer in the headlights look. The offense is set up for quick throws off 1 2 reads. Again, like the defense, there are fixes for this that can be done with playcalling and personnel. McCarthy didn't do anything and just kept feeding the players into the meatgrinder.

..........

Before the game, McCarthy was quoted as saying something to the effect of "you do what got you here". Quite frankly, this is reminiscent of a lot of Garrett's philosophy of just line up and beat your man. On offense, the team seemed to have absolutely no game specific plays or plans. McCarthy seemed to be treating it like a preseason game while LaFleur had prepared like it was the super bowl.

I do not blame the players nearly as much as others here do. I didn't see a ton of fumbles or missed assignments or dropped balls leading to a loss. Dak wasn't air mailing balls 10 feet over people's heads. They were put in a bad situation tactically and were not prepared to play. The NFL is a coach's league in that regard. GB took guys like Parsons and CeeDee out of the game which is possible when the Cowboys staff just sits on their hands and ignores the game being played in front of them.

I think McCarthy has done some good things in Dallas. Same with Quinn. That said, they both seem to have the same fundamental flaw in that they are not great preparers or in game coaches. If their base tactics don't work or things start going against them, they are powerless to change things up. This was a knock against them prior to their time in Dallas and it all came together on Sunday. This was also a knock on Garrett, who also was no tactical or game preparation genius.

As others have said, this all eventually falls back on Jerry but I'll be specific about it. Jerry doesn't know enough about football apparently to evaluate if the coach talking in front of him knows what he is talking about. As a result, he just falls for their lines about "analytics" hook line and sinker. Dallas is going to keep falling into the same trap as a result. Until the cowboys have a disciplinarian head coach backed up by tactically smart assistants, they will always fall short.

Relevant old article that really shows how brain dead Jerry is regarding coaching:
https://www.espn.com/blog/dallas-co...lls-2005-cowboys-staff-has-seventh-head-coach

Wow...

**POST OF THE PAST 28 COWBOYS SEASONS!**

 

[ChuckA1]

Your players can only be put in a position to win if they are coached properly. Period.
One of the youngest teams in the league. And we played like it mentally. And that is 100% percent on coaching.

I agree with you. But, when the owner only hires yes-men coaches, is the REAL problem with the coaches or the owner?

How many years has the team been one of the most penalized teams?

How many in-game clock management problems were there over the last three years?

How many times was Sam Williams flagged for mindless penalties this season?

How many years will ownership put up with this nonsense?

 

[glimmerman]

First, let's start with the defense



Its painful to watch but relevant. If you look at the running plays, the Packers are frequently running the same blocking scheme that has killed the Cowboys for a while. All of the linemen immediately go one direction. There is no pulling or complicated scheme. What is happening here is that defenders are trying to hold their gap as the gap rapidly moves to one side. With the size limitations of the defenders involved, eventually one of the gaps opens and Jones is free to pick it. GB isn't running plays into specific holes as much as just letting Jones go where the defense isn't. This isn't new. Teams have been doing this and it worked. There are fixes for this, like putting 8 in the box, 5 linemen, etc. and but I have seen no effort by Quinn to fundamentally change the tactics to address this weakness.

The issues with the team for some reason starting the game in a soft zone have been well documented. I have no idea why this was tried, much less why Dallas kept doing it when it obviously was not working.

......

When Dallas was on offense, GB didn't copy recent teams. I'll give them credit. They sat down and figured out a good number of Dallas' plays at a fundamental level. Dak has publicly commented that they were changing at the snap. If you have followed him all year, what Dak does is he gets a pre-snap read and that tells him which side of the field to throw to. He then usually has a single high/low read leading to a quick throw. This has been the offense all year and for the most part, it worked well. What GB did is figured out a way to break Dak's read progression. That's why he had the deer in the headlights look. The offense is set up for quick throws off 1 2 reads. Again, like the defense, there are fixes for this that can be done with playcalling and personnel. McCarthy didn't do anything and just kept feeding the players into the meatgrinder.

..........

Before the game, McCarthy was quoted as saying something to the effect of "you do what got you here". Quite frankly, this is reminiscent of a lot of Garrett's philosophy of just line up and beat your man. On offense, the team seemed to have absolutely no game specific plays or plans. McCarthy seemed to be treating it like a preseason game while LaFleur had prepared like it was the super bowl.

I do not blame the players nearly as much as others here do. I didn't see a ton of fumbles or missed assignments or dropped balls leading to a loss. Dak wasn't air mailing balls 10 feet over people's heads. They were put in a bad situation tactically and were not prepared to play. The NFL is a coach's league in that regard. GB took guys like Parsons and CeeDee out of the game which is possible when the Cowboys staff just sits on their hands and ignores the game being played in front of them.

I think McCarthy has done some good things in Dallas. Same with Quinn. That said, they both seem to have the same fundamental flaw in that they are not great preparers or in game coaches. If their base tactics don't work or things start going against them, they are powerless to change things up. This was a knock against them prior to their time in Dallas and it all came together on Sunday. This was also a knock on Garrett, who also was no tactical or game preparation genius.

As others have said, this all eventually falls back on Jerry but I'll be specific about it. Jerry doesn't know enough about football apparently to evaluate if the coach talking in front of him knows what he is talking about. As a result, he just falls for their lines about "analytics" hook line and sinker. Dallas is going to keep falling into the same trap as a result. Until the cowboys have a disciplinarian head coach backed up by tactically smart assistants, they will always fall short.

Relevant old article that really shows how brain dead Jerry is regarding coaching:
https://www.espn.com/blog/dallas-co...lls-2005-cowboys-staff-has-seventh-head-coach

Everytime we are outcoached. This time it was like they looked past them. Quinn brought no pressure. Played zone instead of trying another CB. Allowed them to gain so much confidence love felt like brady. Parsons was finally getting the holding calls against him and couldn’t get pressure. Ran all over us.

MM running on stacked boxes and passing on 4 man fronts. Playcalling and clock management has to be taken away from MM. Then in second half we finally started catching traction and Defense couldnt get off the field. They started playing prevent like 2016 and we came back only to have Marinelli go prevent on second to last play.

 

[Robster8989]

add slowik as OC in houston who comes from that tree and has done a great job with stroud and had that team take apart a tough cle def. he should get a HC job this year most likely.

Right.
I forgot about Slowic.
Not a HC yet, but will be after this season, and won his first playoff game, absolutely taking apart a great defense.

 

[Robster8989]

I agree with you. But, when the owner only hires yes-men coaches, is the REAL problem with the coaches or the owner?

How many years has the team been one of the most penalized teams?

How many in-game clock management problems were there over the last three years?

How many times was Sam Williams flagged for mindless penalties this season?

How many years will ownership put up with this nonsense?

Agreed.
I know Jerry will yell and scream a lot, but ultimately, we will bring MM back and extend Dak, and everything will remain the same.
I'm not even a big BB guy. I think he deserves a ton of respect but he had the GOAT (and the GOAT played for way under his market value, which really helped that organization).
I think BB has the resume to tell Jerry to stay the hell out of the on the field stuff.
He's also a defensive minded guy who likes to run the football.
I may differ from others on this board, in that I believe we have a very talented roster.
Jerry just gets too cute at times. A DC who plays 6 DBs against the run, taking a blocking TE in the 2nd round when we needed a mauling IOL and there was a great one there for us, thinking he can get away with mediocre talent at best on the IDL because he has superstar DEs etc.
Jerry is the ultimate marketer and salesman, and this team reflects that. We need some tough as nails guys, especially in the trenches.
I believe BB would deliver that, and with the exception of a total rebuild (which I don't see JJ having the balls to make happen), BB is our best option.
But I know it's not going to happen.

 

[duane33]

Right.
I forgot about Slowic.
Not a HC yet, but will be after this season, and won his first playoff game, absolutely taking apart a great defense.

Anyone in Dallas area keeping track of JJ’s plane, if it has left the area at all?
Going to meet any candidates?

 

[ChuckA1]

Over the first 36 years of Dallas Cowboys football when there was always a strong head coach and GM combination: (8)- SB appearances with (5)- victories.

Over the last 27 years when there were pliable coaches and Jerry Jones as the GM: (0) SB appearances.

And this gets worse when you analyze playoff appearances and victories.

Nothing will change until a new GM and excellent HC with unlimited authority are hired.

 

[75boyz]

Its weird to me cuz some here give out praises to McCheese's past GB coaching resume that includes a SB.

But as for me I think he way under achieved with an in his prime Rodgers for all those years with several GB personnel and post season game decisions that prevented further success.

Opinions vary I guess.
Not a fan.

 

[NumOneQB]

Sure players are to blame, but coaches need to ride them, bench them if dogging it. It’s why Parcells was so good. Has to be consequences if going thru the motions. But I guess today’s coaches have to be friends with the players , can’t be a hard ***. Need to get the most out of each player, coaching staff not doing that

Players have more contract freedom and there’s way more money in the game than 20 years ago. Coaches like Parcell’s aren’t going to succeed in today’s game. Iron fist atmosphere won’t cut it. There has to be a balance but there definitely needs to be accountability.

 

[Creeper]

These running plays by GB actually demonstrate what is wrong with the Cowboys running game. Big runs come from blocking downfield, not just at the LOS. Notice how Jones runs through the hole up front and there is no one there to fill the gap and tackles him after a few yards. Everyone is blocked before they can get to the RB to cut him off. This is the result of 4 things. First, our 2nd level guys over pursue too often and there is no one to look for the cut back. Second, they are too small and easily blocked. They can't get off the blocks to make a play. Thirds, they are slow to recognize the play and cant' get to the hole before the blockers get to them. Fourth, the DL is not strong enough to hold up the blockers so they can't get to the 2nd level.

One final note, longer runs or those screens or outlet passes require downfield blocking by the TEs and receivers. The Cowboys WRs are awful blockers and this is why these plays do not work for Dallas.

How do we fix this? It will not be easy in Jerry world. First you need a DC that believes in being big and physical up front. You need to find big physical players to play DT and DE. You need LBs who are instinctive, like Sean Lee.

We can fix this but I think it will require Jerry to accept he needs to put some attention and resources to positions he has not prioritized in the past.

 

[Bagman]

The coaching was horrendous.

Point blank if you ask any GM in the league, they would tell you Dallas had a better roster than GB. Most would tell you significantly better. To be down 27-0 at home in the 2nd quarter against an objectively inferior playoff opponent is unacceptable.

To get boat raced in the fashion they were goes beyond players, the Xs and Os matter.

Playing soft zone against an offense that actually struggles against man and eats zone defense up is brain dead. To allow Micah Parsons to be continually neutralized with a TE trap is brain dead. To play 200 lb linebackers behind a 4 man front all game while you’re getting run on is brain dead.

To continually run the ball on 2nd down and get yourself into tough 3rd down situations is brain dead. To run plays so predicable and worn out that the other team is breaking on the ball seconds before it is thrown is brain dead. To allow the high low west coast read to be completely neutralized without a single counter punch is brain dead.

All around, Dallas was annihilated in the coaching department. Mike and DQ must be relieved of their duties and a new staff needs brought in.

It’s hard enough to win in the NFL as is, but trying to win big while having your coaching staff actively undermining your chances is unacceptable.

Excellent post. Nailed every point. Great analysis too. Anyone even remotely objective could see the Cowboys gameplan was horrific. Trotting that garbage out there for a playoff game should be a 100% fireable offense. If I owned the team, immediately after the game I would have told both of them to clean out your offices.

 

[ChuckA1]

Players have more contract freedom and there’s way more money in the game than 20 years ago. Coaches like Parcell’s aren’t going to succeed in today’s game. Iron fist atmosphere won’t cut it. There has to be a balance but there definitely needs to be accountability.

Parcells didn't have any more success in Dallas than McCarthy has. The common denominator is the GM.

 

[bewp7]

same as every other year with mccarthy

he is a huge dis advantage every time in the play offs but o he win 12 in the regular season so he gotta stay what a load of crap

he dont have aaron rodgers to pick up the slack from his garbage coaching he have another idiot at qb with dak

mccarthy have never out coached any body he sucks

do u know how much dis advantage it is to be out coached in the nfl and football it is huge

 

[BleedSilverandBlue]

Excellent post. Nailed every point. Great analysis too. Anyone even remotely objective could see the Cowboys gameplan was horrific. Trotting that garbage out there for a playoff game should be a 100% fireable offense. If I owned the team, immediately after the game I would have told both of them to clean out your offices.

Yeah honestly I don't know what Jerry could possibly be waiting for.

I would have fired Mike and DQ within 12 hours of that performance. It was that completely and utterly unacceptable.

Losing a game is one thing. Sometimes that just happens, but to get nearly 50 balled on your home field by a 7-seed while trotting out obviously inept game plans is so disgusting that there is no other option but to fire the coaching staff.

 

[noshame]

They lost because there are zero consequences for not being prepared to play a football game..
Just like there's are 0 consequences for false start, for lining up in the neutral zone, for late hits, for illegal motion, the list goes on and on.
every year every time

There is a small percentage of these guys that just don't give a damn about playing football.
It's just a job.
They tell you that all the time. they're more concerned about what they're doing during the off-season then making it to a Super Bowl..

 

[duane33]

Yeah honestly I don't know what Jerry could possibly be waiting for.

I would have fired Mike and DQ within 12 hours of that performance. It was that completely and utterly unacceptable.

Losing a game is one thing. Sometimes that just happens, but to get nearly 50 balled on your home field by a 7-seed while trotting out obviously inept game plans is so disgusting that there is no other option but to fire the coaching staff.

If Jerry keeps MM and re-signs Dak he shouldn’t be stunned and floored when it happens again

 

[glimmerman]

MM and DQ did a poor job during the week. The messaging must have been almost null and void. Maybe we thought they would shake in their cleats when the game started and lay down? They hit us in the mouth in the first drive, scored and that was ball game. We went into the fetal position on defense. THAT is horrific optics. I never seen us lay down and give up like that at home in a play off game. so something was very wrong.

Something very wrong. There had to talk to Lamb before we went on Offense. I think MM wanted to establish a run game and was obvious when he ran against stacked boxes.

I think Lamb watched our Defense get scored on so easy he knew we needed to keep pace. They had a beat up CB and I believe Lamb wanted to be moved around to get his match up and strike deep. They wanted to keep the same schemes that didn’t work. Refused to switch tactics until second half. Would maybe have worked but our Defense was toast. Gave up 3 more tds in second half.

Was a sick display and something was going on. Like they did no homework. They werent prepared at all. Heads should roll.

 

[Whirlwin]

I agree with you. But, when the owner only hires yes-men coaches, is the REAL problem with the coaches or the owner?

How many years has the team been one of the most penalized teams?

How many in-game clock management problems were there over the last three years?

How many times was Sam Williams flagged for mindless penalties this season?

How many years will ownership put up with this nonsense?

Exactly what I’m saying, the coaches suck