Did we actually collapse?

[Suave]

Too much turd polishing going on in this thread. Dallas had the division in the palm of their hands at 7-4, but they allowed it to slip away. Call their late season failure whatever makes you sleep better at night.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

Umm we lost 3 double digit leads how is that not a collapse?

 

[FadeToBlack]

You're reading too much into it.

The Dallas Cowboys collapsed.

 

[MapleLeaf]

...and the last thing I want to do is bore the forum to death...is we did not collapse.

We played to fairly close to where I expected us to with our talent.

I expected 9-7 and we went 8-8. I never expected us to "hang" with NYG, NYJ, NE or the Eagles.

I never expected the ARZ game to be so close though. I pegged that as a win.

Garrett speak is its a "process". I just prefer to say that the culture and the right players are not in place yet.

The hardest part of the "process" will not be getting the players. I think Garrett can accomplish this. It will be the culture.

Is JG able to create an environment where the players are held responsible for their "professionalism" on and off the field?

If this happens then we may just see a Cowboys team play consistently up to its talent level.

This is what has been missing for many years on this team. This is why you see the terrible Decembers of recent and the unsatisfactory results when a game is on the line.

 

[Established1971]

I know this may be an unpopular viewpoint on this board but there is a feeling that our play dropped off in the second half of the season with close wins against Washington and Miami ("Bad teams", two close losses to NYG and Arizona (two "bad teams") and two solid beatdowns from NYG and Philly (two "bad teams").

However, when you look at how Philly closed out the season once they were healthy and the fact they were top 10 in defense and offense I get the feeling they were a team who was trying to gel. The thing that held them back this year was mostly injuries and turnovers. They are 8-8 and like us but played much better than mediocre when we played them.

Now look at our 2 losses against NYG. Again there was the early part of the second half of the season where they struggled. But towards the end when they got some key players back (Osi and Bradshaw) they got hot again winning 4 of 5 with only a narrow loss to the then unbeaten Packers. They now just went into the playoffs and whipped Atlanta easily.

Now look at Arizona. This team really struggled early but then their defense came on like gangbusters lead by Calais Campbell. That team went 7-2 in their last 9 games with two losses to playoff teams (SF and Cin). The week before they narrowly lost to Baltimore 30-27. Down the stretch run they beat Philly, SF, Dallas and Seattle. Maybe they are on the verge of becoming a very good young team - especially if they can get decent QB play out of Kolb.

Now look at Miami. In their last 8 games excluding their close loss to us they went 6-2. Their two losses were to the surging Eagles and NE (24-27). Maybe we just ran into a team that was starting to hit its stride.

I guess my point is we actually played a bunch of teams that were stronger than their records indicated at the time we played them. Many of them were just coming into a period when they had really started to play well and we were caught somewhat offguards as opposition fans as we hadn''t quite realized yet how well those teams were playing.

I only bring this up because some are dismayed at our 8-8 record while playing what many believe to be an easy schedule. I happen to think we were playing decent down the stretch but ran into some teams that were playing very well and played pretty well outside of the Giants finale. Even in that Giants finale we took a pretty good run at them in the 2nd half going from 21-0 to 21-14 before our defense collapsed again in the 4th quarter.

Maybe there can be more optimism about our prospects for next year especially if we can get our secondary and interior OL patched up. I know we play a buzzsaw of a schedule next year and Philly and NYG look really tough but I still think a playoff berth may be possible (even though I think it is unlikely).

It will be a very interesting offseason. I hope Jerry and Garrett make some good personnel decisions in the draft and FA and bring in some top coaches to fill out our staff.

a two game lead then lose 4 of 5, are you kidding if that isnt the definition of collapse then what is

 

[ufcrules1]

that list is pretty much on par

This year, yes, that list was on PAR.

 

[ChopBlock]

No we didn't. We actually won 4 of our last 5 and will be playing this weekend.

 

[visionary]

:laugh2: :laugh2:

more excuses
more distraction

whatever gets you through the day

i think i read somewhere that we beat one team that finished above .500

read what oyu want into it but we are not a very good team and it starts with the coaches and GM and ends with the players

 

[DFWJC]

If not for two missed/blocked FGs, the team finished 3-2 vs 1-4. So the play of the 95% of the team was about the same.
By the end of the year, both the Giants (the healthier D-line version) and Eagles just seemed like better teams to me. That's painful to say, but that's how I feel.

 

[Alexander]

Let's see:

34-22 4th quarter lead against the hated New York Giants, in Jerry's Palace, and the Giants come back and win with only 5:41 left in the game. national television...icing on the cake...

1. Newman dropped pick six

2. Terrible Tony Fiammetta "block" on bend-x

3. Horrendous route and technique by Miles Austin

Execute one of the three plays above, and the Cowboys win the division and get the Falcons at home.

4. Blocked FG after made FG (before a timeout)

You could focus on these same coulda shoulda woulda scenarios in every single game. If they did not execute them, they were not good enough.

The term collapse is completely applicable when you needed but a few wins, but blow double digit leads in three losses. People really need to come to grips with that fact.

 

[TNCowboy]

I think Bob Sturm described it best: the Cowboys have a handful of good and great players who carry the rest of an otherwise substandard roster. When those players get hurt and worn down as the season progresses, there's no one to step into the gap when one of those guys can't. So I think there's elements of truth in the OP, but also in other theories.

Bottom line, the team just isn't good enough. Physically or mentally. Whether you want to blame it on the elite players mental fragility or a lack of overall depth, the team needs more good players. Several more good players. There is a distinct lack of talented young players compared to many other teams. For the most part, the team is still living off players acquired 5+ years ago.

They also need to figure out if guys like Miles Austin are key components or just wasting cap space.

 

[HoosierCowboy]

we were an 8-8 team from start to finish

did some good things: running game, Romo, Lee, Laurent, etc.
some big disappointments: entire defense

 

[magic-sword]

It's all about winning.

We were 7-4 and went 1-4 down the stretch. The one win was against the Bucs who I believe came into the game ona 7 game losing streak.

Did the 4 losses all come against teams playing pretty well at the time? Yes
But that's not good enough. We're not good enough.

I thought we were after 6 weeks. 3-3 against excellent competiton and the defense was playing real well.

We just lost something in that 7th game against the eagles. Perhaps they laid out the proper blue print on how to attack our defense........IDK.

The blueprint is - hit them in the chest then they go through the motions because the heart goes away. You have them once the finer-pointing and ground staring happens.

 

[Alexander]

we were an 8-8 team from start to finish

did some good things: running game, Romo, Lee, Laurent, etc.
some big disappointments: entire defense

We were a 7-4 team that could not close the deal to take the division when it was in the palm of our hands.

You could say the team overachieved to get to 7-4 but to say it was 8-8 from start to finish is just glossing over the missed opportunities that we could not seize.

 

[Risen Star]

I think Bob Sturm described it best: the Cowboys have a handful of good and great players who carry the rest of an otherwise substandard roster. When those players get hurt and worn down as the season progresses, there's no one to step into the gap when one of those guys can't. So I think there's elements of truth in the OP, but also in other theories.

Bottom line, the team just isn't good enough. Physically or mentally. Whether you want to blame it on the elite players mental fragility or a lack of overall depth, the team needs more good players. Several more good players. There is a distinct lack of talented young players compared to many other teams. For the most part, the team is still living off players acquired 5+ years ago.

They also need to figure out if guys like Miles Austin are key components or just wasting cap space.

I think it's more a case of having star talent in glamour positions and having next to no talent in less visible but critical positions like the offensive and defensive lines.

You can't lose at the line of scrimmage every week and expect to be a contender.

 

[Gaede]

We just weren't good enough to compete this year. This team overachieved, I think, in even getting to 8-8. Mainly thanks to Romo.

So I don't think we collapsed that horribly. Everyone's expectations were too high for this team. So that would explain the feeling of collapse. Just cause we've got a great QB doesn't mean the team is great and has a shot at winning it all.

I do have high expectations for next year however. Dallas is primed to jettison a bunch of losers, develop some promising young players and turnover the roster in a significant way, get some new coaches, sign some FA (lots of cap room) and have a great draft (our draft pick is really nice). The team should really try and take the bull by the horns this offseason.

 

[Fritsch_the_cat]

No we didn't. We actually won 4 of our last 5 and will be playing this weekend.

Ha! I like that attitude.

"I reject your reality and substitute my own."

 

[Alexander]

I think Bob Sturm described it best: the Cowboys have a handful of good and great players who carry the rest of an otherwise substandard roster. When those players get hurt and worn down as the season progresses, there's no one to step into the gap when one of those guys can't. So I think there's elements of truth in the OP, but also in other theories.

Health-wise, we came out okay. Not great, but other teams lost superstars and had the depth to deal with it. We did not have a single injury that we could not have recovered from.

Bottom line, the team just isn't good enough. Physically or mentally. Whether you want to blame it on the elite players mental fragility or a lack of overall depth, the team needs more good players. Several more good players. There is a distinct lack of talented young players compared to many other teams. For the most part, the team is still living off players acquired 5+ years ago.

Most teams are living off an experienced core. What some are doing is fortifying around them, not thinking they can continue to carry the load. Romo did not have a good runner until Murray. We saw how that opened things up until he was injured. Now we need to protect him.

The team also is not built right. There are too many talented players at the skill positions, too many marginal players as grunts. Too many chiefs, not enough indians. It helps to have a good QB and elite pass rusher, with good receivers. But when you have a poor interior OL, ineffective DL and a pass rush supplied by basically one player, you are not a complete team. And those mental issues are going to continue to show. Our young players are not good enough to push the aging starters we either have or got rid of.

They also need to figure out if guys like Miles Austin are key components or just wasting cap space.

Worrying about if Miles Austin is underperforming his contract is what you worry about when you can do the basics consistently well, like rushing the passer, protecting the passer and winning the battles at the line of scrimmage.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

You're reading too much into it.

The Dallas Cowboys collapsed.

This.

What else do you call losing four out of your last five games when you start 7-4?

And it's not even like, say, 2008 when we finished with five playoff teams and three conference championship teams. We played one above-.500 team.

 

[Alexander]

This.

What else do you call losing four out of your last five games when you start 7-4?

And it's not even like, say, 2008 when we finished with five playoff teams and three conference championship teams. We played one above-.500 team.

What is concerning is that if the Giants rip off another victory or two, it will supply Jones and his enabling fans ammunition. See? We're proud of them and the fact we could compete with them!