December Momentum is Paramount

[Bach]

December holds no mythical powers, people. The 2007 Dallas Cowboys lost not because they performed poorly over the season's final month. They lost because they turned in a gutless and heartless performance against the Giants.

It's just a total coincidence this team plays their worst ball at the end of the year about every year this decade?

Ok, next...

 

[ScipioCowboy]

It's just a total coincidence this team plays their worst ball at the end of the year about every year this decade?

Ok, next...

Sure.

It's possible the magical, mythical month of December simply decides to zap the Cowboys each year this decade.

Of course, it's also possible the Cowboys have simply been a terrible team for the better part of this decade, regardless of the month in which they're playing.

Either way, you're missing the larger point here: A team's play in December does not determine its play in the playoffs. Some teams perform well in December and lose in the playoffs. Other teams perform poorly in December and win in the playoffs.

Rather than obsessing over the month of December, the Cowboys should focus on more important matters, such as excising this loser mentality that has permeated the franchise for over a decade now.

 

[windward]

Sure.

It's possible the magical, mythical month of December simply decides to zap the Cowboys each year this decade.

Of course, it's also possible the Cowboys have simply been a terrible team for the better part of this decade, regardless of the month in which they're playing.

Either way, you're missing the larger point here: A team's play in December does not determine its play in the playoffs. Some teams perform well in December and lose in the playoffs. Other teams perform poorly in December and win in the playoffs.

Rather than obsessing over the month of December, the Cowboys should focus on more important matters, such as excising this loser mentality that has permeated the franchise for over a decade now.

I agree wholeheartedly. I think if we expanded this study to previous years we would end up with the same conclusion.

 

[Bach]

Sure.

It's possible the magical, mythical month of December simply decides to zap the Cowboys each year this decade.

Of course, it's also possible the Cowboys have simply been a terrible team for the better part of this decade, regardless of the month in which they're playing.

Either way, you're missing the larger point here: A team's play in December does not determine its play in the playoffs. Some teams perform well in December and lose in the playoffs. Other teams perform poorly in December and win in the playoffs.

Rather than obsessing over the month of December, the Cowboys should focus on more important matters, such as excising this loser mentality that has permeated the franchise for over a decade now.

Maybe if you stopped concentrating so much on "the month of December" and replaced it with "towards the end of the regular season" it might make more sense to you.

I agree it has nothing to do soley with just "December". We didn't play well in the last 2 1/2 quarters of the GB game, which was in Nov. We didn't play real good in the playoff game, which was in January.

So it's not about "December", but rather it's about the end of the season. And there's nothing mystical about it, it's just a fact that we annually seem to go into a swoon or auto pilot or whatever term you want to call it that is the opposite of "playing good football."

 

[hermitkid]

More than anything coaches have to have the pulse of their team and never let them get too high or too low. If you look at coaches with multiple Super Bowl appearances and wins the one constat is that their teams never let up.

Once complacency takes hold and players start talking and start feeling comfortable about themselves it's usually too late.

Last years Chargers fell into that trap and Parcells had been battling that attitude in the Cowboys locker room ever since he got there. You can't relax until you actually win something and the way I see it, it happened all too often with the Cowboys.

The media is quick to hype the boys and proclaim that they're back and unfortunately some players started believing the hype.

You wouldn't see somebody like Crayton running his mouth playing on the Patriots, not on any of the teams that Parcells led to the supe, not on a Gibbs, Dungy or Coughlin led team. Heck, even under Jim Johnsons teams who were just oozing with talent you couldn't get away with running your mouth before you actually did something on the field.

The way I see it the Cowboys are too talented to just collapse next year, but a few bad breaks here and there and the coaching situation being as it is could have this whole thing fall apart rather quickly.

Outside of Ellis I don't see anybody on the current Cowboys team that has the kind of no-nonsense type of attitude winning teams need to have, and if it's not going to come from the coaches, where's it going to come from?

 

[ryanbabs]

I think some of this "momentum" stuff is due to luck, to be honest.

...and the Patriots have had it ALL season long and the Giants the past few weeks. Cowboys: Not so much recently, but we did early in the season (except when the Pats luck "overruled" our luck for one game).

 

[windward]

Maybe if you stopped concentrating so much on "the month of December" and replaced it with "towards the end of the regular season" it might make more sense to you.

I agree it has nothing to do soley with just "December". We didn't play well in the last 2 1/2 quarters of the GB game, which was in Nov. We didn't play real good in the playoff game, which was in January.

So it's not about "December", but rather it's about the end of the season. And there's nothing mystical about it, it's just a fact that we annually seem to go into a swoon or auto pilot or whatever term you want to call it that is the opposite of "playing good football."

and you still missed his point, namely that a team's performance at the end of the regular season has little, historically speaking, to do with a team's success in the postseason.

 

[ScipioCowboy]

Maybe if you stopped concentrating so much on "the month of December" and replaced it with "towards the end of the regular season" it might make more sense to you.

I agree it has nothing to do soley with just "December". We didn't play well in the last 2 1/2 quarters of the GB game, which was in Nov. We didn't play real good in the playoff game, which was in January.

So it's not about "December", but rather it's about the end of the season. And there's nothing mystical about it, it's just a fact that we annually seem to go into a swoon or auto pilot or whatever term you want to call it that is the opposite of "playing good football."

"Towards the end of the season?"

As I recall, I posed a similar argument to you mere weeks ago, and you wouldn't hear it.

I mentioned that Parcells included every game following Thanksgiving as the "end of the season." And, in this season's post-Thanksgiving stretch, Dallas went 3-2--the same record as both Green Bay and New York.

Now, perhaps you have a wider definition of "end of the season," and choose to include every game over the last half of the schedule. If so, you should know the Cowboys were 6-2 over that stretch--identical to Green Bay and 2 games better than New York, which finished 4-4.

Or, perhaps you have a more limited defintion of "end of the season," and choose to include only the last 3 games. Dallas was 1-2 over those games, just like New York.

You're still missing the larger point here: There's very little correlation between playing well in December and playing well in the playoffs. Ask the Commanders.

 

[Sarge]

One can argue this one way or the other but for my money - I'm wanting to play my best ball heading into the playoffs. I agree with what Jimmy Johnson says, "you can't just turn it on and turn it off."

Arguments can be made both ways, but I want to be playing my best ball headed into the playoffs.

 

[Bach]

Well for once, could we mabye try playing well late in the season and see what it does for us?

And just because a 6th seed Commanders team that barely squeaked into the playoffs lost on the road to Seattle, that doesn't mean playing bad late in the year is a non-factor.

 

[Bach]

One can argue this one way or the other but for my money - I'm wanting to play my best ball heading into the playoffs. I agree with what Jimmy Johnson says, "you can't just turn it on and turn it off."

Arguments can be made both ways, but I want to be playing my best ball headed into the playoffs.

I totally agree. At least I'd like to see what happens if we did that for once.

 

[windward]

Well for once, could we mabye try playing well late in the season and see what it does for us?

And just because a 6th seed Commanders team that barely squeaked into the playoffs lost on the road to Seattle, that doesn't mean playing bad late in the year is a non-factor.

2005 Colts
2002 Buccaneers
1997 Broncos
1995 Cowboys
1990 Giants
2004 Eagles
2006 Bears
1994 Chargers
1992 Bills
1989 Broncos
1986 Broncos
1980 Eagles

all these teams struggled "towards the end of the season yet had considerable success come playoff time.

 

[Bach]

2005 Colts
2002 Buccaneers
1997 Broncos
1995 Cowboys
1990 Giants
2004 Eagles
2006 Bears
1994 Chargers
1992 Bills
1989 Broncos
1986 Broncos
1980 Eagles

all these teams struggled "towards the end of the season yet had considerable success come playoff time.

That's 27 years and the Cowboys are on that list once.

I think I'll stick with wanting to see us have momentum down the stretch.

 

[CF74]

cowboys and colts also had their #1 WR (best in each league) at 60% or so.

cowboys and colts also have coach cupcakes.

the similarity is poor coaching not december record. if we had a legitimate playoff coach with urgency we could have lost our last two and came out like gangbusters in the playoffs. But instead we built our offensive foundation on penalty-machines on OL and two gimpy old WRs (one with 10 minutes in-game experience the ENTIRE YEAR. just frikin stupid).

and a QB who was worn down from his first full season, and injured.

Precisely, that's why we need quality depth in 4 key areas; CB, RB, WR, QB..