DMN: Machota: Cowboys, Packers, Seahawks; how I rank Dallas among that trio of teams

burmafrd

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perrykemp said:
I think all 3 teams have things that they probably think they can hang their hat on in terms of improving next season:
  • Dallas - dramatically improved DL with another year of experience for Lawrence, Crawford along with the additions of Hardy and Gregory. A weakness from last year becomes a strength. Pass defense should get better also with the addition of a #1 draft pick. Finally the OL should be better with a bit more experience for Leary, Martin, and Frederick and the possible addition of Collins. This will be the 2nd year in Linehan's offense which will be a positive. Finally, Romo seemed to come into his own last year in a way we've never seen before -- totally in control of every situation. It's exciting to see if he can continue it this year.
  • Seahawks -- a very young team will continue to improve. They now have a dominant TE to go with their dominant running game -- potentially a lethal combination. They draft well and are well coached. They will be a threat.
  • GB - #1 scoring offense in the league returns with only a single started (Rodgers) over the age of 30. Davonte Adams is an ascending and formidable #3 WR. On defense they have an ascending player in Ha Ha Clinton Dix an in general the Packers felt their defense improved dramatically in the 2nd half of the season last year and they are hoping for carry-over.
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totally ignores a weakened Seattle O line
 
ErikWilliamsHeadSlap

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MichaelWinicki said:
The other thing that doesn't get enough attention IMO is that Seattle gave up their best offensive lineman (Unger) in order to get a non-blocking TE in Jimmy Graham (and the 1st round pick).

Graham will help their passing game some, but he won't have the impact he had in New Orleans,

And Seattle's Oline, which wasn't any great shakes last year has gotten even weaker.

Finally I think that horrible call by Carroll at the end of the SB is going to haunt this club mentally.
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I completely agree. You do not just bounce back from moments like that. It lingers. There will always be doubt and second guessing in those situations. It is human nature. Quite honestly if I was a player, my anger would fester and eventually explode. Green Bay is the only team I am concerned about. And that goes for the entire league.
 
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Idgit

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perrykemp said:
I think all 3 teams have things that they probably think they can hang their hat on in terms of improving next season:
  • Dallas - dramatically improved DL with another year of experience for Lawrence, Crawford along with the additions of Hardy and Gregory. A weakness from last year becomes a strength. Pass defense should get better also with the addition of a #1 draft pick. Finally the OL should be better with a bit more experience for Leary, Martin, and Frederick and the possible addition of Collins. This will be the 2nd year in Linehan's offense which will be a positive. Finally, Romo seemed to come into his own last year in a way we've never seen before -- totally in control of every situation. It's exciting to see if he can continue it this year.
  • Seahawks -- a very young team will continue to improve. They now have a dominant TE to go with their dominant running game -- potentially a lethal combination. They draft well and are well coached. They will be a threat.
  • GB - #1 scoring offense in the league returns with only a single started (Rodgers) over the age of 30. Davonte Adams is an ascending and formidable #3 WR. On defense they have an ascending player in Ha Ha Clinton Dix an in general the Packers felt their defense improved dramatically in the 2nd half of the season last year and they are hoping for carry-over.
Click to expand...

SEA has a young team, and they run the organization well. I don't really like what they've done on paper. Their draft was questionable, especially by not adding OLs early to replace the ones they lost. And I have to think there's some residual frustration in that locker room around Wilson and how that drama all went down last season.

GB just did what it always does: stay quiet, retain the players they want to retain, and draft their board. They're going to be a contender again, and if they hit on a second S pick, they'll be better on defense.

For my money, though, those two teams didn't do as much as DAL did to get better this offseason. Neither in FA or in the draft. The Hardy acquisition was a legitimate top 5 player at our position of greatest need, and there shouldn't be any disputing that we netted more out of this rookie draft class than the other contenders. I liked our draft better before the Collins addition, and the Collins addition was huge.
 
ufcrules1

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I think Dallas, GB, and Seattle are all relatively close and one of the 3 makes it to the super bowl this year. Only way it will be us is if we improve our RB situation. The odds of DMF lasting all year is super slim and nobody reallt knows what Randle can do or if he can keep his head straight.

Our biggest strength on this team is easily our offensive line and if we take advantage of it with a solid RB, then I can easily see us doing as well as we did last year. The DLine has a ton of promise if all the new guys gel and stay healthy. Getting Sean Lee back will be huge too.
 
PJTHEDOORS

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Hopefully we can get some use out of our 4th or maybe 5th wr's this year. Last year it was Dez, TWill and Beasley, that was it. Harris gave us nothing and Street was in learning mode. Let's see if Street can take that next step and maybe one of our talented UFA's can make the team. We could possibly be 5 deep at the wr position. Our strongest in some time there.
 
DFWJC

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It doesn't bother me if someone puts us behind GB and Seattle.

It's a little irritating when they put us in the 13-19 range in the whole league though...like some have. That seems ridiculous.
 
Bullflop

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With reasonably good health being a prerequisite, I'd put the Cowboys up to competing well with the best and most elite teams throughout the upcoming season. Their talent level and coaching should be on par to make it so, imho.
 
jnday

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ufcrules1 said:
I think Dallas, GB, and Seattle are all relatively close and one of the 3 makes it to the super bowl this year. Only way it will be us is if we improve our RB situation. The odds of DMF lasting all year is super slim and nobody reallt knows what Randle can do or if he can keep his head straight.

Our biggest strength on this team is easily our offensive line and if we take advantage of it with a solid RB, then I can easily see us doing as well as we did last year. The DLine has a ton of promise if all the new guys gel and stay healthy. Getting Sean Lee back will be huge too.
Click to expand...

I agree that the RB position could be the reason that Dallas doesn't make it this year.
 
jnday

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PJTHEDOORS said:
Hopefully we can get some use out of our 4th or maybe 5th wr's this year. Last year it was Dez, TWill and Beasley, that was it. Harris gave us nothing and Street was in learning mode. Let's see if Street can take that next step and maybe one of our talented UFA's can make the team. We could possibly be 5 deep at the wr position. Our strongest in some time there.
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One of the short-comings of this coaching staff has been the limiting of opportunities for some of these young guys . I believe Harris will do a good job for the Giants as a role reciever . He didn't get many opportunities in Dallas. I am just using him as an example of course.
 
MRV52

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Because we lost Murray were are third meanwhile improving our Defense, LOL the entire NFL knows squat about our RB situation and how good we will be. We can take any one on this year and do well.
 
SultanOfSix

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I think his is a fair assessment. All the good teams tend to improve, presuming they don't lose people who are significant. This author seems to classify Murray as the latter. I think we have the potential to be better, but the results obviously have to manifest on the field.
 
jnday

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SultanOfSix said:
I think his is a fair assessment. All the good teams tend to improve, presuming they don't lose people who are significant. This author seems to classify Murray as the latter. I think we have the potential to be better, but the results obviously have to manifest on the field.
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I was not a Murray fan, but he was a better RB than all of the current RBs combined. He was a major loss considering the lack of a quality RB to replace him.
 
Section446

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This one is pretty easy:
1. Seattle.
2. GB.
3. Dallas.

We're definitely on our way up, but we're still playing catch-up.
 
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