News: DMN: Sean Lee: Cowboys' locker-room culture not to blame for 2015 struggles; 'It was never...

[GimmeTheBall!]

Looking back on the Cowboys' 4-12 season, Sean Lee doesn't blame the disappointing year on problems inside the team's locker room.
According to Dallas' Pro Bowl linebacker, their issues were more about key injuries and failing to make plays late in games than anything involving everyone not being on the same page. 

"I thought if you watch our effort throughout games, we played extremely hard," Lee said Thursday on SiriusXM NFL Radio. "The issue with us was when we lost some of our best players -- Tony [Romo], Dez [Bryant] -- the margin for error became smaller. We weren't able to overcome adversity. We didn't make the critical plays, game-changing plays all the time. We didn't cause enough turnovers. Defensively, we didn't make the plays down the stretch in the fourth quarter. 

"That's why we lost football games. It was never because we weren't all-in. It was never because of effort. It was all because of execution, especially in critical times."

Lee was in Las Vegas Thursday, attending a post-football planning seminar conducted by Priority Sports.

Here are some other highlights from Lee's interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio host Alex Marvez.

Continue reading...

Good analysis, Sean!
Glad you are good with the words and things. You have found your TRUE calling!

Good luck in physical rehab, um, when and if it is warranted.

 

[mattjames2010]

I'm sure they played hard and competed but they didn't play THAT HARD. And Lee doesnt know any other culture so ill take that with a grain of salt.

You can't tell me that with a straight face we played hard and had good culture when McClain is nonchalanting around and guys aren't playing with their hair on fire. That's what separates the best teams from the average teams. You don't have to look too far back to see that.. 2000 ravens, 2002 bucks, 2007 giants, 2008 Steelers, 2013 Seahawks and 2015 Broncos. Those defenses played hard, disciplined and aggressive football.

I'm not comparing our talent to those teams by any means. But I watched all those defenses and that was playing hard.

Yeah, totally, I mean Lee just started football in 2010, right? The Cowboys locker room is all he's ever known. It's not like he was here to see the destruction that happened under Wade Phillips...

 

[jobberone]

I'm sure they played hard and competed but they didn't play THAT HARD. And Lee doesnt know any other culture so ill take that with a grain of salt.

You can't tell me that with a straight face we played hard and had good culture when McClain is nonchalanting around and guys aren't playing with their hair on fire. That's what separates the best teams from the average teams. You don't have to look too far back to see that.. 2000 ravens, 2002 bucks, 2007 giants, 2008 Steelers, 2013 Seahawks and 2015 Broncos. Those defenses played hard, disciplined and aggressive football.

I'm not comparing our talent to those teams by any means. But I watched all those defenses and that was playing hard.

All that losing takes some starch out eventually. But the team played hard IMO. JMO.

 

[Picksix]

That's the most baffling part to me too. I posted all of the additions, draft picks, and returns in another post, but they somehow managed to be worse.

Yes, we had those additions, but we also had some pretty significant subtractions. Scandrick being the most significant. But also, I thought losing Durant and T McClain were more significant than people realize, even though they both missed some games due to injury. Crawford played most of the year with one arm. Mincey, Church, and Wilcox all took a step back IMO.

Some of it had to do with our struggles on offense, too. I always felt that last year's defense was protected significantly by the offense maintaining the ball and getting leads. The defense last year wasn't anything to really shout about. They were good in some areas, especially in the turnover department. But I lost count of how many drives we gave up of 80 yards or more. Had to have been at least 15. And I still argue that the reason we lost to GB wasn't because of that play, but because we couldn't stop a gimpy Aaron Rodgers in the 4th quarter.

 

[DallasDomination]

Yeah, totally, I mean Lee just started football in 2010, right? The Cowboys locker room is all he's ever known. It's not like he was here to see the destruction that happened under Wade Phillips...

Well at least we're good at keeping it in house. It's not like any one of us are in that locker room to get a sense. One can only speculate unfortunately.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Looking back on the Cowboys' 4-12 season, Sean Lee doesn't blame the disappointing year on problems inside the team's locker room.
According to Dallas' Pro Bowl linebacker, their issues were more about key injuries and failing to make plays late in games than anything involving everyone not being on the same page. 

"I thought if you watch our effort throughout games, we played extremely hard," Lee said Thursday on SiriusXM NFL Radio. "The issue with us was when we lost some of our best players -- Tony [Romo], Dez [Bryant] -- the margin for error became smaller. We weren't able to overcome adversity. We didn't make the critical plays, game-changing plays all the time. We didn't cause enough turnovers. Defensively, we didn't make the plays down the stretch in the fourth quarter. 

"That's why we lost football games. It was never because we weren't all-in. It was never because of effort. It was all because of execution, especially in critical times."

Lee was in Las Vegas Thursday, attending a post-football planning seminar conducted by Priority Sports.

Here are some other highlights from Lee's interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio host Alex Marvez.

Continue reading...

Nice to hear it wasnt because of giving up. And certainly that is a feather in the cap of Garrett and his staff. But its really bad for this football team. They just stink without Romo and a Murray type back.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Ok how do other teams doit. Seems like every time we lose a important player the whole unit falls off. Dez goes down. Nobody steps up.. Tony goes down nobody steps up.. Scandrick goes down we get a interception. NE or Greenbay or Pitt brings guys off the street and keep winning.

Its pretty simple actually. This team depended on Romo for making big plays in the offense and carrying this team. WIthout Romo, Dez was useless. And then Murray was also a huge part of this offense. You take away Murray and Romo and what do you have? Not much. The defense was never that good.

First thing this team should do is get better RB's in here. Whether that be FA or the draft. And right along there is another Romo for the future. This offense will have to carry the defense until we can fix that as well.

 

[Beast_from_East]

Because he's not saying the problem was with the scheme or the coaching? But instead due to poor execution and to injury to the best players on the offense? It really shouldn't be all that interesting, but you're right that it probably will be.

Even with the injuries, you should not go 1-11 with backups unless you totally suck at player personnel decisions.

Both Jerry and Stephen have both said that with the resources devoted to the team last season that there is no logical reason to have gone 1-11, even with the injuries. Jerry literally said he was at a loss to explain it.

 

[Gameover]

Anybody thinking our problems were 'culture' related is Billick(stupid).

 

[waving monkey]

So who stepped up for GB when A-Rod was lost for the year? How about the Patriots? Or Pittsburgh?

thats the question you have to ask yourself
is it the culture or
is it lack of quality depth
I dont know

 

[mattjames2010]

Last I checked those 3 teams made the playoffs regardless of the excuses.

The Packers were one play away from beating the Cardinals. Aaron Rodgers willed and clawed his way through that mess of a team and almost won that game. That team delivered when it had zero business being in the same field as AZ.

The Steelers were decimated and Big Ben and comp. Almost beat the Champion Bronocs. They were in it until the very end.

The Patriots lost god knows how many key players and have a terrible offensive line. The shear notion of that team being one play away from another sb appearance speaks volumes to their organization.

Other teams find a way to keep the wheels on the rail. We happen to derail ourselves straight into a pit and look for excuses every ******** time. I'm sick of it.

The Green Bay Packers went 4-6 down the stretch. One game was won against the Lions on a last ditch effort and bomb to the end zone. If not for that, they were 3-7. That's simply with a team that just lost Nelson, they still had a healthy QB (One of the NFL's greatest). Pittsburgh Steelers didn't have Big Ben for 4 games, they went 2-2 in those games, but still had Bell and Brown on offense. Patriots are the modern day Bill Walsh 49ers, a great coaching staff that no one in this league matches. Sad fact, Patriots are a great franchise.

 

[RW31]

thats the question you have to ask yourself
is it the culture or
is it lack of quality depth
I dont know

It was a rhetorical question. Face it, if you have an All Time great QB and you lose him for the year the odds of your team making the playoffs are close to zero. That has nothing to do with lack of depth. You can't replace an all time great QB. Anybody that thinks we would have not EASILY won the division had Romo stayed healthy is just being ridiculous.

 

[RW31]

The Green Bay Packers went 4-6 down the stretch. One game was won against the Lions on a last ditch effort and bomb to the end zone. If not for that, they were 3-7. That's simply with a team that just lost Nelson, they still had a healthy QB (One of the NFL's greatest). Pittsburgh Steelers didn't have Big Ben for 4 games, they went 2-2 in those games, but still had Bell and Brown on offense. Patriots are the modern day Bill Walsh 49ers, a great coaching staff that no one in this league matches. Sad fact, Patriots are a great franchise.

Don't bother, you're wasting your time. Let him whine and complain and drown in self-pity.

 

[Idgit]

Even with the injuries, you should not go 1-11 with backups unless you totally suck at player personnel decisions.

Both Jerry and Stephen have both said that with the resources devoted to the team last season that there is no logical reason to have gone 1-11, even with the injuries. Jerry literally said he was at a loss to explain it.

Wins and losses are binary. That's the way it needs to be to fill a playoff bracket. That doesn't mean that that same binary approach is the right way to evaluate where a team is at. Like I said last year when we were 12-4: a handful of plays separated us from 8-8. The same thing applied to last years 4-12 team. Most of those games were a play or two from being victories. And some of the few wins were a play or two from being losses. It comes down to plays that get made. It always does. And better players make more plays. You take the best players on either side of the ball off the field, and you're going to lose big plays. That means somebody has to step up. And like Sean Lee says, we weren't able to last season.

 

[waving monkey]

It was a rhetorical question. Face it, if you have an All Time great QB and you lose him for the year the odds of your team making the playoffs are close to zero. That has nothing to do with lack of depth. You can't replace an all time great QB. Anybody that thinks we would have not EASILY won the division had Romo stayed healthy is just being ridiculous.

a few teams managed

 

[RW31]

a few teams managed

Great

 

[TheDude]

Wins and losses are binary. That's the way it needs to be to fill a playoff bracket. That doesn't mean that that same binary approach is the right way to evaluate where a team is at. Like I said last year when we were 12-4: a handful of plays separated us from 8-8. The same thing applied to last years 4-12 team. Most of those games were a play or two from being victories. And some of the few wins were a play or two from being losses. It comes down to plays that get made. It always does. And better players make more plays. You take the best players on either side of the ball off the field, and you're going to lose big plays. That means somebody has to step up. And like Sean Lee says, we weren't able to last season.

To a degree, I agree with you. Romo is likely good for 4-6 pure wins himself (think last years Houston game). However, this team didnt manage to score 30 points - the first time since 2002. Put most of that on not having a starter, I agree. But there were 4 games without a TD. A loss to Tampa scoring 6 points was the low point - that is more than just losing a starter. They have gone the seasoned vet backup route since 2008 and it has failed at every turn.

I cant seem to be able to muster up an excuse for anyone in the organization when they go into the season with Weeden, panic, then bring in Cassel after 3 games and after 4 weeks, the crescendo is 6 points against a bad team. Everyone knew what Weeden was, just like everyone who watched B Johnson in Preseason 2008 knew what he was. Still, he was told to be cpt checkdown (according to him) and did so. If you are going to pull the rip cord on Weeden that soon, there was zero reason to have him on the roster. The inevitable question someone seems to ask is "Well who do you get?" That seems like a red herring. There were players available in 2014 better than Weeden

And if you really look at the few games Tony played in, there was little to write home about. It took an epic brainfart by NY and Tony to basically play street ball in the 4th qtr to pull out an opening game miracle. The Philly game was atrocious. No TDs from the first team offense, it took a blocked punt for TD and a Weeden post to Williams to win that (Philly was not a good defense as seen throughout the year).

There is no debate that this is a QB driven league, we may never see a Def like Denver again that negates that. But it takes a special brand of mismanagement to only win 4 games on the year. 3 of those wins came in the division - which tells you how atrocious the East was.

 

[percyhoward]

I cant seem to be able to muster up an excuse for anyone in the organization when they go into the season with Weeden, panic, then bring in Cassel after 3 games and after 4 weeks.

After watching Weeden for an entire off-season, training camp, and preseason, Linehan came to the conclusion that Moore -- a guy who had been on the practice squad for two weeks -- should start week 3 against the Falcons.

 

[DallasDomination]

Don't bother, you're wasting your time. Let him whine and complain and drown in self-pity.

I have been a bit negative lately I'll admit that. Losing just puts a damper on things for a lot of people. The silver lining doesn't start for me until the draft and free agency. We're still technically in whine and complain off season

 

[mattjames2010]

After watching Weeden for an entire off-season, training camp, and preseason, Linehan came to the conclusion that Moore -- a guy who had been on the practice squad for two weeks -- should start week 3 against the Falcons.

I brought this up before while having a discussion with someone on here, I couldn't find the article though. Do you have the link?