Does anyone think we might be expecting too much this year?

[Chocolate Lab]

I think maybe we are.

You see these articles and some posters claiming that everything is in place, and we should expect to at least win playoff games this year or the season will be a failure. Well, I'm not sure that's fair to Wade or the team. Yes, he supposedly fits his defense to the talents of his players and might be more flexible than some coaches. But every coach wants to do things a certain way, and those ways demand different types of players. Parcells needed at least a couple of years to get his 3-4 in place. Is it really reasonable to expect a brand new coach and system to mesh perfectly right away with players he had no input in acquiring?

I only point this out because thanks to NFLN, I've seen many more teams in preseason than ever before, and it looks to me like several teams' defenses are a lot faster than ours. Philly's right now is that way -- and Jim Johnson's defensive philosophy is very similar to Phillips'. Even Buffalo's D looked much quicker and more aggressive than ours, IMO. I'm not sure the huge but slower players Parcells demanded are that well suited to what Wade wants to do.

Not to mention trying to beat talented teams like the Eagles, who have not only good players, but players who have been in the same systems for years now. Their assignments are second nature under fire, while our players are doing something new. That will make a difference when the regular season starts, game planning begins, and everything is truly at full speed.

Anyone agree? I think we'll be a good team this year, but I think having brand new coaches and systems on both sides of the ball will be a tougher hurdle to overcome than some expect. And we might well need another offseason to add some players that are more able to do what the new coach wants.

 

[tomson75]

In regards to our speed on defense...and I think everyone knows where I'm going with this...

I think we're pretty fast everywhere except ILB...and even then its really only our starters that aren't real fast ...and even then its really just James.

OK, I guess my point is...get rid of James.

...or at least make him a situational short yardage run stuffer.

 

[theebs]

Absolutely.

I still believe Parcells played it so close to the vest sometimes because he was protecting players on this team, defensive players from being asked to do too much.

Message boards and local media are always way overhype their teams. Its natural, watching the replays on nfl networks of most of the games so far, the local broadcasters act like their team shouldnt lose a game this year, I mean there is no way they can they have player x.

I think, and I have said this before, I think this is the toughest schedule we have had in 5 years, with this core group of guys. It is a difficult schedule and I think getting 10 wins with a new coaching staff would be quite an accomplishment.

I think we are an elite runner away from being a really sound football team. We are good, but the league is so close that you have to be good, lucky and catch breaks.

I think the eagles, saints and seahawks are better than us right now. I think we can play with chicago.

To do anything this year we have to play well in the division, win the division and get a home playoff game.

I do think this defense should function well, but saying some of the guys may not be suited to phillips style is a good and valid point. I am expecting to see alot of burnett, I think he would fit the mold as quick guy with a high energy level and that is why I scratched my head when mac engle said we may trade him.

anyway, I think everthing is a question mark right now and when you look at our schedule I think there is reason for concern. There is also reason for optimism, but being a playoff team last year has nothing to do with this year.

 

[dargonking999]

So going 23-0 is expecting too much?

oh well

 

[Champsheart]

I think maybe we are.

You see these articles and some posters claiming that everything is in place, and we should expect to at least win playoff games this year or the season will be a failure. Well, I'm not sure that's fair to Wade or the team. Yes, he supposedly fits his defense to the talents of his players and might be more flexible than some coaches. But every coach wants to do things a certain way, and those ways demand different types of players. Parcells needed at least a couple of years to get his 3-4 in place. Is it really reasonable to expect a brand new coach and system to mesh perfectly right away with players he had no input in acquiring?

I only point this out because thanks to NFLN, I've seen many more teams in preseason than ever before, and it looks to me like several teams' defenses are a lot faster than ours. Philly's right now is that way -- and Jim Johnson's defensive philosophy is very similar to Phillips'. Even Buffalo's D looked much quicker and more aggressive than ours, IMO. I'm not sure the huge but slower players Parcells demanded are that well suited to what Wade wants to do.

Not to mention trying to beat talented teams like the Eagles, who have not only good players, but players who have been in the same systems for years now. Their assignments are second nature under fire, while our players are doing something new. That will make a difference when the regular season starts, game planning begins, and everything is truly at full speed.

Anyone agree? I think we'll be a good team this year, but I think having brand new coaches and systems on both sides of the ball will be a tougher hurdle to overcome than some expect. And we might well need another offseason to add some players that are more able to do what the new coach wants.

I would not agree at all. Yes there will be some adjustment period from having new coaches, but that is not an excuse for this team to not win.
There is no reason for this team, with this talent, IN THE NFC, not to go to the playoffs and win. Dallas drafted the players, they like the players, the brought the coach in to take them to a different level. IT HAS NEVER TAKEN WADE LONG BEFORE.
The players think they should win big, the ownership and coaches do to. The expectations are high because we have the talent.
The only excuse would be if we have key players go down to injury, otherwise this is a playoff team, and one that should win at least 1 playoff game. I don't buy anything else at this point.

If we stay healthy and do not win a playoff game, than I would say we have the wrong players and coaches, but I do not think that is the case.

 

[Hostile]

Robert Browning said, "ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for."

Why dream of or expect mediocrity or outright failure?

 

[InmanRoshi]

The entire reason we hired Wade, a 60+ year old retread, was because he was a master of the 3-4 scheme. If he needs 2-3 years to ramp up taking over a team that has had a winning record 3 out of the last 4 years, then we hired the wrong guy. Saying Parcells needed 2-3 years to bring in "his type of players" isn't quite accurate. Parcells needed 2-3 years just to bring in talent, period, because the roster he took over had zilch after 10 years of The Jerry and Larry Show. Most of the players Parcells inherited in 2003 aren't even in the league anymore. Parcells needed 2-3 years to find a quarterback. Wade has a QB the very first day he takes over the job. Plus, according to Wade, he doesn't have a "type" of player ... he designs his scheme according to what he has.

 

[VACowboy]

I don't think we know what kind of speed we have on defense, as our defensive personnel has never been placed in a scheme that showcased speed. Ware and Newman are certainly two of the faster players in the league at their positions.

Our offense was top-five last year and should only get better in 2007.

I'm not sold on Seattle and I think you're way underselling Chicago.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Bradie is an example of someone who might not work. Our starting RB (whomever that is -- don't want to get into that again) might not be enough. Ken Hamlin might not be the right fit.

But beyond individual players, which we can argue about forvever, I'm just talking about an overall adjustment process. When Parcells came in, he was going to put his steely eye on everyone, weed out the non-hackers, and gradually acquire the players HE wanted -- as every new head coach should get to do. We have tons more talent than we did then; no doubt about that. Barring injuries, we're going to be a pretty good team. But I think Wade needs the same opportunity to evaluate and get at least a few of the players he wants on his team before we judge this team as a failure if they don't beat the upper-echelon teams in the league.

Sure, Wade has seen his guys in OTAs and training camp. But Parcells always talked about seeing guys "under fire" before he really judged them. Wade said he stood on the sidelines rather than the press box as a coordinator for the same reason -- so he could look players in the eye and see how they reacted when things didn't go well. There's no way to do that until the real games start. And thus the adjustments might take a while.

And this isn't even considering things like Jason Garrett being a brand new coordinator, or Wade possibly wanting to replace some coaches he initially kept (as Parcells did), or anything like that.

 

[Big Dakota]

I think we have as much talent as any organization(from top to bottom) in the NFC. We are drafting better and now hopefully our coaching will be willing to get after it on D. Our O is strong and we have 2 young guys in Romo and Jason ready to take off in the NFL. We have the players and i'm thinking 10-6 minimum and if we get on a roll no reason why 11-5 12-4 is out of the question. We need to win a PO game this year IMHO. It's time for the talent on this team to step up. We all but won that game last year on the road and this year i want 2 PO games. Second round of the PO's minimum. Those are my xpectations. Maybe it's too much, but that's what they are today.

 

[THUMPER]

Robert Browning said, "ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for."

Why dream of or expect mediocrity or outright failure?

I agree.

I always expect us to win it all or at least to go a long way into the playoffs. Why go into a season expecting to go 9-7 or 6-10, what's the point? Just so that if it happens you can say that you were right? Big whoop. So that you don't get disappointed? Are people really that afraid of being disappointed? Evidently.

Now I don't expect us to win every game but I do believe that if we play well then we should win a lot of games and go far into the playoffs. Maybe it stems from all those years under Landry when we ALWAYS expected to win it all. 20 winning seasons in a row, including 18 playoff appearances will tend to set your expectations pretty high.

Unless we suffer some major injuries I expect to see us in the SB this year. We have had one pre-season game so far, I wouldn't deduce too much from that. The Eagles looked horrible in their first game and like SB contenders the next. The Panthers were just the opposite, so I will at least wait until a few games into the season to see if I need to lower my expectations or not.

 

[InmanRoshi]

Our defensive coordinator said there is no excuse for them to not have the best defense in the NFL. I guess he thinks he took over a pretty talented roster with guys he can work with.

Again, comparing the roster Parcells took over in 2003 to the roster Wade is taking over is apples and oranges. Just the QB situation alone is night and day.

 

[cowboys19]

If Romo has indeed improved from last year, i have no doubts we will be in every game this year, and win at least 10 games.

Romo WILL lead us to glory in the near future.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

The entire reason we hired Wade, a 60+ year old retread, was because he was a master of the 3-4 scheme. If he needs 2-3 years to ramp up taking over a team that has had a winning record 3 out of the last 4 years, then we hired the wrong guy. Saying Parcells needed 2-3 years to bring in "his type of players" isn't quite accurate. Parcells needed 2-3 years just to bring in talent, period, because the roster he took over had zilch after 10 years of The Jerry and Larry Show. Most of the players Parcells inherited in 2003 aren't even in the league anymore. Parcells needed 2-3 years to find a quarterback. Wade has a QB the very first day he takes over the job. Plus, according to Wade, he doesn't have a "type" of player ... he designs his scheme according to what he has.

IR, you're a great poster, but this is kind of what I'm talking about. It's obvious that you're a huge Parcells fan, and think Wade is average at best. That's fine. But it sounds like you're setting up the new coach to fail.

If Parcells was so great, how is it reasonable to expect a totally average coach to come in behind him and win more games with only two new starting players? You can't have it both ways.

And BTW, I don't want this to become all about Parcells, but while there's no argument that we have tons more talent now than when we were starting from scratch in 2003, Parcells absolutely had to have his kind of player. Coakley and Glover were very good players, but not 34 power players. Bradie James is a big, physical ILB and Dat wasn't. You know that.

 

[burmafrd]

I disagree about the time needed for the players to adjust. BP basic 3-4 to SOB attacking 3-4 is NOT that big an adjustment- its not like going from the 4-3 to the 3-4. Now the question is do our players have the natural athletic ability to make it work. If Spears and Canty do not, Ratlif and Hatcher do. If James and AYodele do not, Carp and BUrnett do. With the exception of Spencer, all our players have at least one year of experience with the 3-4, and most have 2.
As regards offense, as the line goes so goes the offense. And of course how Romo goes counts large as well. But I do not see any real problems acclimating to a new system there.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Well... considering that last year we were always "a play here" or "a play there" away from winning or advancing... I would say we are not expecting to much.... just expecting us to take care of "unfinished business"... that being... advancing through playoffs

This team has all the makings of being "prolific" on offense

and

"dominating" and "scary" on defense

special teams has some special players there too....

Its quite conceivable that we have the most complete, strongest team going into season... and if not going in... then by midseason...

 

[Ren]

I'm not going to lower my expectasion, i want to see a run deep into the playoffs and anything short i consider a failure

 

[InmanRoshi]

IR, you're a great poster, but this is kind of what I'm talking about. It's obvious that you're a huge Parcells fan, and think Wade is average at best. That's fine. But it sounds like you're setting up the new coach to fail.

If Parcells was so great, how is it reasonable to expect a totally average coach to come in behind him and win more games with only two new starting players? You can't have it both ways.

And BTW, I don't want this to become all about Parcells, but while there's no argument that we have tons more talent now than when we were starting from scratch in 2003, Parcells absolutely had to have his kind of player. Coakley and Glover were very good players, but not 34 power players. Bradie James is a big, physical ILB and Dat wasn't. You know that.

How am I wanting it both ways? All I've heard is how Parcells single handedly held the entire team back with his conservative ways. So if we remove that from the equation, why shouldn't we be better? Isn't it wanting it both ways saying Parcells held the team back all offseason, and then two weeks before the season suddently get cold feet and claim it's unfair to expect more than what Parcells accomplished?

I think its a huge stretch to compare Parcells trying to fit a 280 lbs. defensive tackle like LeRoi Glover into a 3-4 NT compared to what Wade has to adapt to with this roster. Again, the defensive coordinator appears to like the talent Parcells left him with, considering he's already making "best defense in the NFL" predictions. All the players we have drafted were scouted heavily by the Chargers. If we would have taken Merriman, they would have taken Ware. If we would have taken Castillo, they would have taken Spears. Wade said they scouted Carpenter extensively at San Diego. If the two styles are such polar opposites, wouldn't they have been scouting completely different players? I think the board dogpile on Bradie James is absurd, he's not that bad as a 2 down ILB, but even if he is it's not like Wade isn't without alternatives ... he's got two Top 50 draft picks lined up behind him. Is Kevin Burnett too slow to play in Wade's scheme?

I think Wade is a great defensive minded coach. I"m more cautious about his history as a HC, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I was really impressed how crisp and mistake free they played by first preseason game standards last week. I'm just saying ... he's 60+ years old and a retread HC. That's not to disparage him, those are just the facts. Jerry said the reason he hired him is because he was an expert in the 3-4 scheme and he has HC experience so he doesn't have a learning curve ahead of him. Its obvioius Jerry hired him to win right away. If we need 2-3 years of rebuilding anyway, we should have just hired Jason Garrett, Mike Singletary, Ron Rivera or someone younger with more upside. By the time we're 2-3 years into rebuilding under Wade he'll be retirement age, and we're right back in the situation we were under with Parcells. Whether it's fair or not, with Mr. Garrett waiting in the wings, Wade doesn't have 2-3 years.

 

[5Stars]

"Does anyone think we might be expecting too much this year?"

"I think we are."

- Chocklate Lab

I'm sure glad you are not on the coaching staff.

Absoutely not, I say. I expect this team to do great this season. If a head coach has doubt about his team, if an assistant coach has doubts, if the players have doubts, then guess what? Right! The Cowboys will become losers.

Confidence breeds winners, doubt breed losers. Setting your expectations high allows you to have the confidence to become whatever you set your goal to become.

The Parcells vs. Wade thing is just nonsense! Parcells came in and had to rebuild a low-level college team! He also stifled all fun for the players without realizing (or maybe he did realize) that games are played so that you can have fun...that's why they call them games.

Your question in your initial post sounds like YOU are expecting failure so that in the event it does happen, you won't feel as bad.

 

[ZeroClub]

C'Lab - I think you are right about excessive expectations.

The Cowboys are good enough that they could have a great year, but they are not yet good enough that they should have a great year.

It is the difference between hope and expectation.