DMN: Laufenberg: What the Cowboys' running back situation is likely to look like next season

[LatinMind]

If so, it would be smart to get a good rookie. I think McFadden is maxed out. What you see at his best and worst this year is exactly what you get.

I do not even waste a lot of time counitng on Dunbar. He is coming off of injury and despite some excitement for him earlier in the year, I don't see any reason to simply hold open a job for him in 2016.

Dallas could draft Barry Sanders Jr in the 6th round and get what Dunbar gives you

 

[RS12]

Laufenberg: What the Cowboys' running back situation is likely to look like next season

He has no clue.

 

[plasticman]

Several of those SB winning teams you mentioned had defenses that could apply pressure to the QB, force turnovers and make critical stops. NO won their SB by picking off Peyton Manning for a pick-six when the game was on the line. Both the Giants SB wins were aided by containing Tom Brady and the Pats high powered offense. Both the Steelers SB wins under Roethlisberger were aided by #1 defenses and forcing turnovers. The offenses of those SB winning teams leaned on the passing game which is why you can name those QBs with several being named SB MVP's. The Cowboys have never had a defense under Romo they can depend on to make critical stops and win games which has put a lot of pressure on him to have to carry the team. Not having a solid defense or a consistent running game is what led to those three straight 8-8 seasons. If you put too much on Romo to have to win games he presses like he did against Carolina and it leads to turnovers.

He had the most efficient season of his career last year due to having a solid running game that took pressure off him and the defense. Controlling the ball with the running game kept the defense off the field an average of 13 fewer plays than the previous season and it led to Romo having a career low in pass attempts. Romo can only carry the Cowboys so far before the floor caves in. He plays his best when he's not having to do too much. He knew how dependent the team is on him and he clearly pressed against Carolina which led to a miserable performance and the re-injuring of his shoulder. The Cowboys have never won a championship without an elite runner in their backfield. Romo needs a solid, consistent running game for him to be the best QB he can be.

Does the name "DeMarcus Ware" ring a bell?

The Cowboys were ranked #1 in sacks in 2008 and were perennial top ten from about 2006 to 2009 and in 2009 they had the #2 ranked defense in scoring. That same year they shut out their last two opponents to get into the playoffs and then held their first opponent, Philadelphia to 7 points until another garbage score late.

Of course, in the playoff game against the Vikings, it didn't help when Romo fumbled the ball three times and threw an INT to give the Vikings two drives that started in the Cowboys redzone. Nor did it help when the offense could only score a total of three points.

Tony Romo and the Cowboys had their opportunities and that whole "Tony didn't have this, Tony didn't have that" argument is totally unfounded.

Tony Romo cannot carry the Cowboys without help. The Cowboys win only 40% of the time he throws more than 35 passes and 75% of the time when he throws less.....meaning that Tony Romo requires a balanced offense to be successful....as do 95% of all QB's.

I'm not getting on Tony Romo, but I am far from deifying him. Anyway, this was about the running game, don't know what defenses had to do with it except that a defense's best friend is a successful running game.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

If so, it would be smart to get a good rookie. I think McFadden is maxed out. What you see at his best and worst this year is exactly what you get.

I do not even waste a lot of time counitng on Dunbar. He is coming off of injury and despite some excitement for him earlier in the year, I don't see any reason to simply hold open a job for him in 2016.

I disagree with you on Dunbar. If his knee is fine and he plays like he did early this year, I think he's a key part of the offense because he creates a great mismatch as we saw. We would have seen it in 2014 as well, but we decided to run Murray to death. What's good about Dunbar is that he can get 3-5 carries a game and still be efficient. So the opposing defense can't count on him only catching passes whenever he is in the game. We started to used him this year and it paid dividends until he got injured.

I agree with McFadden. The problem I see is that we have a zone scheme and McFadden is not good running on zone plays. That would make for a good backup, but it is obvious he needs carries to get going. So, do we really want to change our zone scheme to fit 1 tailback (who is also injury prone) or are we better off finding a zone run tailback. Turbin has shown that he can play the #2 tailback position and he doesn't need carries to get a rhythm.

The bigger issue is where will we find this tailback. This year's rookie RB class isn't exactly lighting it on fire and that means they may have to go to FA and I'm not sure there are any good FA running backs out there.






YR

 

[darthseinfeld]

Turbin could play himself into a role for next season yet too.

Babe said:

I seem to recall Jimmy putting Aikman in for the 2nd half, but maybe that was a different game. And the only reason he didn't start was he wasn't fully 100% IIRC. Eitherway, we did have some good backups for Aikman for a period there...they made it a priority. Initially it was Steve Walsh, then Steve Beuerlein, then Rodney Peete, then Randall Cunningham.

Bernie Kosar as well

 

[KJJ]

Does the name "DeMarcus Ware" ring a bell?

The Cowboys were ranked #1 in sacks in 2008 and were perennial top ten from about 2006 to 2009 and in 2009 they had the #2 ranked defense in scoring. That same year they shut out their last two opponents to get into the playoffs and then held their first opponent, Philadelphia to 7 points until another garbage score late.

Of course, in the playoff game against the Vikings, it didn't help when Romo fumbled the ball three times and threw an INT to give the Vikings two drives that started in the Cowboys redzone. Nor did it help when the offense could only score a total of three points.

Tony Romo and the Cowboys had their opportunities and that whole "Tony didn't have this, Tony didn't have that" argument is totally unfounded.

Tony Romo cannot carry the Cowboys without help. The Cowboys win only 40% of the time he throws more than 35 passes and 75% of the time when he throws less.....meaning that Tony Romo requires a balanced offense to be successful....as do 95% of all QB's.

I'm not getting on Tony Romo, but I am far from deifying him. Anyway, this was about the running game, don't know what defenses had to do with it except that a defense's best friend is a successful running game.

Demarcus Ware rings a bell but how many other defensive players can you name along with him that consistently contributed on defense? Ware was a diamond amongst trash which is why despite all his sacks the defense never became a solid unit. The secondary has been bad ever since the late 90's early 2000's. Jay Ratliff was a real effective player for about 2-3 seasons until he started being double teamed reducing his effectiveness. Spencer was inconsistent through the years but started coming on at the end of the 09 season which contributed to the back to back shutouts to end that season and the playoff win over Philly. However his play dropped off the next season which is why the Cowboys resisted signing him to a long-term contract. There was always a big drop-off between Ware's sacks and everyone else. When Ware had 15.5 sacks in 2010 Spencer was second with only 5 sacks. In 2011 when Ware had 19.5 sacks the next closest player to him only had 6 sacks. Many complained that Ware didn't impact many games and that was because he was one of the only good defensive players we had.

One great player isn't going to make a great defense. The Legion of Doom in Seattle isn't being led by one player. In the playoff loss to Minnesota in 09 the OL fell apart contributing to Romo's fumbles. He didn't play well and neither did the defense that got shredded by Favre for 4 TD's. Hardy missed the first 4 games this season and still leads the team in sacks it's the same problem with the defense year after year. You have Hardy and Lee and a lot of inconsistency around them. A lot of the same issues that plague the defense now plagued it when Ware was here. I've said all along Romo needs help because when he has to do too much it leads to what we saw against Carolina on Thanksgiving. Despite good seasons one of which Romo had a 102.5 passer rating which was his career high at the time the Cowboys kept going 8-8 and missing the playoffs due to having to heavily depend on him in the passing game and not having a solid defense.

You're not telling me anything I haven't preached on this board over the years. Anyone who's being true to themselves knows why the Cowboys had a good season in 2014. It was due to a consistent running game led by the leagues leading rusher which enabled Romo to play within himself not having to carry the team. It led to a career low in passing attempts and a career high passer rating. He also tied a career low in int's. Romo only had one game in 2014 where he had to attempt 40 passes. He started this season having to attempt 45 passes in the opener carrying the Cowboys to a win. He was on pace for another 40 plus passing attempt game when he was injured in Philly. In less than 4 games this season he had 7 int's including 2 pick-sixes. Most of us knew he wouldn't have as good a season or last the season if he had to revert back to carrying the team. The lack of a running game and a solid defense will spell doom for Romo next season and end up retiring him sooner rather than later if the Cowboys don't improve in those areas.

 

[plasticman]

Demarcus Ware rings a bell but how many other defensive players can you name along with him that consistently contributed on defense? Ware was a diamond amongst trash which is why despite all his sacks the defense never became a solid unit. The secondary has been bad ever since the late 90's early 2000's. Jay Ratliff was a real effective player for about 2-3 seasons until he started being double teamed reducing his effectiveness. Spencer was inconsistent through the years but started coming on at the end of the 09 season which contributed to the back to back shutouts to end that season and the playoff win over Philly. However his play dropped off the next season which is why the Cowboys resisted signing him to a long-term contract. There was always a big drop-off between Ware's sacks and everyone else. When Ware had 15.5 sacks in 2010 Spencer was second with only 5 sacks. In 2011 when Ware had 19.5 sacks the next closest player to him only had 6 sacks. Many complained that Ware didn't impact many games and that was because he was one of the only good defensive players we had.

One great player isn't going to make a great defense. The Legion of Doom in Seattle isn't being led by one player. In the playoff loss to Minnesota in 09 the OL fell apart contributing to Romo's fumbles. He didn't play well and neither did the defense that got shredded by Favre for 4 TD's. Hardy missed the first 4 games this season and still leads the team in sacks it's the same problem with the defense year after year. You have Hardy and Lee and a lot of inconsistency around them. A lot of the same issues that plague the defense now plagued it when Ware was here. I've said all along Romo needs help because when he has to do too much it leads to what we saw against Carolina on Thanksgiving. Despite good seasons one of which Romo had a 102.5 passer rating which was his career high at the time the Cowboys kept going 8-8 and missing the playoffs due to having to heavily depend on him in the passing game and not having a solid defense.

You're not telling me anything I haven't preached on this board over the years. Anyone who's being true to themselves knows why the Cowboys had a good season in 2014. It was due to a consistent running game led by the leagues leading rusher which enabled Romo to play within himself not having to carry the team. It led to a career low in passing attempts and a career high passer rating. He also tied a career low in int's. Romo only had one game in 2014 where he had to attempt 40 passes. He started this season having to attempt 45 passes in the opener carrying the Cowboys to a win. He was on pace for another 40 plus passing attempt game when he was injured in Philly. In less than 4 games this season he had 7 int's including 2 pick-sixes. Most of us knew he wouldn't have as good a season or last the season if he had to revert back to carrying the team. The lack of a running game and a solid defense will spell doom for Romo next season and end up retiring him sooner rather than later if the Cowboys don't improve in those areas.

There was a dropoff between Ware and just about every other pass rusher in the NFL. But that's irrelevant.

During the four combined seasons of 2006 through 2009 the Cowboys ranked #1 in sacks, #10 in points allowed, #6 in yards allowed. This is despite the fact that they spent the tenth longest amount of time on the field.

Any debate on defensive help is over. The Cowboys had a very good defense, with multiple Pro Bowlers on the D-line.

But I'm curious. If you are one that believes Romo to be elite, then why the debate on Romo not having an elite defense, elite runners, etc?

 

[KJJ]

There was a dropoff between Ware and just about every other pass rusher in the NFL. But that's irrelevant.

During the four combined seasons of 2006 through 2009 the Cowboys ranked #1 in sacks, #10 in points allowed, #6 in yards allowed. This is despite the fact that they spent the tenth longest amount of time on the field.

Any debate on defensive help is over. The Cowboys had a very good defense, with multiple Pro Bowlers on the D-line.

But I'm curious. If you are one that believes Romo to be elite, then why the debate on Romo not having an elite defense, elite runners, etc?

Overall rankings don't tell near the entire story of the issues the Cowboys have had defensively over the years they mask the real problem. The Cowboys haven't had a very good, consistent defense during the Romo era. The defense has been good at times but in the big games during Dec/Jan they've faltered in critical situations that's aided in the issues Romo has had during those months. Ware was able to be contained in many of the big, critical games the Cowboys had and no one else defensively stepped up. It's not that difficult to exploit a defense by neutralizing the only player that makes plays and scares anyone. The overall defensive rankings don't disclose the lack of turnovers the Cowboys have had especially in critical games. In the 07 playoffs vs the Giants the defense struggled the entire game making critical stops on 3rd down and pressuring Eli. The D could hardly move Eli off his spot all day.

We've seen the same problems in all the elimination/playoff losses the Cowboys have had under Romo. Although he played terrible vs Washington in the season finale in 2012 that had the NFC East on the line the defense was equally as bad allowing a rookie RB to gain 200 yards and a limping RG3 to gain almost 70 yards on the ground picking up key 3rd downs. Last year in the playoffs vs Green Bay despite an efficient game by Romo and Murray averaging 4.9 on the ground the defense couldn't apply pressure to a limping Aaron Rogers who shredded the defense in the second half. We saw missed tackles the entire game and not being able to stop Green Bay in critical 3rd situations in the final 4 minutes that allowed the Packers to eat up the clock. What else is new? I've never claimed Romo was "elite" I've argued he isn't which has caused some to twist that I hate him. I've maintained through the years despite the criticisms I've had with parts of his game that he's a very good QB who's capable of playing as well as any QB in the league when he has a solid running game and players stepping up around him.

A lot of his big game turnovers have been a result of him feeling the need to do a lot because he doesn't receive a lot of help and knows how much the team depends on him. This is what caused his meltdown vs Carolina on Thanksgiving. He knew he was going to have to take charge and play a great game for the Cowboys to win and he pressed resulting in 3 int's and a blowout loss. As for having a bunch of Pro Bowlers that's also misleading just look at the 2007 team that had 13 Pro Bowlers how far did that get us? The Cowboys had more Pro Bowlers that season than the Packers and Steelers combined when they met in the SB in 2010. There's issues with the Cowboys that rankings don't expose. Watching the games expose the issues with the team not the statistical rankings.