Don't be surprised if the Cowboys end up missing the playoffs

[BourbonBalz]

So just for argument sake if they win 3 out of the next 4 or all 4 or whatever next year are we going in saying the trend is that we'll win in December or does everyone have to be "well maybe we'll win 3 out of 4 but I'm going to predict 1-3 just to be safe so I don't get my hopes up again."?

And how long do we have to win games in December before people can have faith that we will, instead of sitting around waiting for the worst to happen because some trend tells us we have to, before believing in our team in December is no longer a homer thing but is ok again?

I'm just curious cause I need to know how long it'll be before believing in your team, and having faith and hope in them, isn't considered some sort of awful thing that makes us meanie heads for daring to do so.

I'll take one year. This one please.

 

[BourbonBalz]

Well what would it be then? Cause it seems to be the prevailing thought here that if you show any sort of belief or faith that this team will win that you're a blind homer who just isn't being realistic. That unless you're predicting doom and gloom then you're just being silly.

So if they run the table here and go 4-0 to streak into the playoffs then what is that? If it's not just blind luck on the part of the 'homers' what would it be then?

And for those who predicted doom and gloom if that happens then what does that mean for them? That they're still 'realists' who just happened to get something wrong? They were just unlucky that Dallas didn't just lose cause the trends say they're suppose to?

I'm curious as to what it says then. Are they suddenly no longer blind homers?

I have all the faith in the world that we CAN win and I expect us to win this coming weekend. However, at this point, the team has to prove it can do it this time of the year with so much on the line. Let's say I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

[Da Hammer]

i doubt anybody would be surprised if the cowboys miss the playoffs. History of tough decembers, combined with a coach that has had equally the same troubles doesnt equal for great results. However this weeks game is the key. If they beat the chargers there is no doubt they are in IMO because i think its the type of challenge that can bump a team into a roll of momentum at this time of year. But if they lose i think the season is over as far as making the playoffs after the Saints demolish the Boyz. This week's game will make or break our season...

 

[Fletch]

I'm not getting paid millions to have a clue how to win big games but I do know that lard butt on the sidelines has no clue how to win big games. Check his playoff record! :toast:

A coach can only do so much. Even the best coaches. At some point, the players have to hold each other accountable and execute the game plan. Just ask Mike Tomlin, who is hailed as a great coach and motivator. Do you think Tomlin has a clue as to why his defending world champions have lost their last 5 games (to crappy teams at that) and pretty much sealed their fate this season?

 

[KJJ]

A coach can only do so much. Even the best coaches. At some point, the players have to hold each other accountable and execute the game plan. Just ask Mike Tomlin, who is hailed as a great coach and motivator. Do you think Tomlin has a clue as to why his defending world champions have lost their last 5 games (to crappy teams at that) and pretty much sealed their fate this season?

I wouldn't be mentioning Wade Phillips in the same sentence with Mike Tomlin. Tomlin is an excellent young head coach who already has a ring and Wade has never even won a playoff game and has had trouble holding on to a head coaching job. Tomlin demands respect and has already proven he can take a team to the top. The Steelers are having trouble this season but when you look at the team they had last year they were lucky to go all the way then with no running game and a lousy OL that couldn't keep big Ben upright. It was their defense and Roethlisbergers ability to stay alive and make plays that got them that championship. Franky I'm not surprised by the season the Steelers are having this year.

The Cowboys had a more talented team last year than the Steelers and this year as well but the Cowboys are an underachieving team because they lack a strong leader at head coach. Wade simply cannot prepare a team for a playoff run his history is proof of that. He was a good coordinator but is in over his head as a head coach. He's always coddling and praising his players and he never makes them accountable. He's nothing but another Jerry Jones puppet and I doubt very seriously we'll be having to put up with him after this season...GOOD RIDDANCE!

 

[The30YardSlant]

A coach can only do so much. Even the best coaches. At some point, the players have to hold each other accountable and execute the game plan. Just ask Mike Tomlin, who is hailed as a great coach and motivator. Do you think Tomlin has a clue as to why his defending world champions have lost their last 5 games (to crappy teams at that) and pretty much sealed their fate this season?

It's pretty much a given at this point that the whole December thing is in our player's heads. Wade is a dreadful head coach, but Parcells team's choked, too.

At some point I think we have to consider the possibility that our players, or at least some of them, are just mentally weak and always will be. We played scared against New York. People will say that it is preposterous to suggest that has to do with it being December, but why is it that this happens every year with this group? It's in their heads, whether they want to admit it or not. The proof is in their on field performance.

 

[Bach]

Fair enough. I'm just saying it far to often on these boards gets attacked by so called realists simply because people choose to believe in the team rather than just accept that 'gosh darn it. This trend says we'll suck right now so I'll just sit back and accept that we're going to suck cause, darn it, that makes me real and keeps me from getting my hopes dashed."

And far too often anyone who states what they think gets attacked if it's not some rosey scenario. I said from the get-go that I thought they'd go 3-2 or 2-3 over the final five games but leaning towards 2-3. I also said that was based on the TOUGH SCHEDULE and the trend of them consistently not rising to the occasion and then folding late in the year. It's not about just the trend. If they played this same 5 game stretch in mid October I'd think we'd be doing good to get through it winning 3 of 5. We have two of the hottest teams in the league in N.O. and SD, plus all three divisional teams, two on the road.
But, it is a known fact this team also has consistently wilted down the stretch. That doesn't mean it's going to happen from here until eternity. But until they show they can win and up their intensity at this time of year then I'm going to be hesitant to give them the benefit of the doubt. And so far they met this late season push with a major dud effort against what should've been one of the two easiest games left on the schedule.

I believe each year the last few years that we've had a real good shot to be a good to great team and that we'll win more than we lose, we'll do well at the end, and we'll win some playoff games.

Obviously that hasn't worked out for me but it hasn't kept me from believing it the very next year. I don't get the attitude of just accepting that it will likely be bad because of recent years and just accepting that and going with it.

Somehow you get people though who just immediately label you foolish, stupid, silly, blind, and all that for *GASP* daring to not just go with the flow and accept that things will be this certain way cause history and trends say it will.

I go into every game hoping we'll win too. I went into this final five game stretching wanting to see us win all 5. But rationally, I don't think that will happen. But God forbid anyone dare mention what you rationally think around here.

Yeah I know you'll be sitting there rooting for them to win but like you said you'll be rooting for them to win, and hoping they do, while at the same time accepting that they probably won't and they'll just fail down the stretch again cause thats how it's been.

I prefer not to dwell on the negatives of the past and just accept that it's probably how it's going to be again. It just seems like such a defeatest attitude to me to sit around accepting that things will likely go bad for us again instead of just openly rooting for the team this year based on this year and nothing more.

*Shrugs* Maybe it makes me a bad person, I don't know, but I don't care.

It's not a defeatest attitude, it's a show-me attitude.

 

[Hostile]

It's pretty much a given at this point that the whole December thing is in our player's heads. Wade is a dreadful head coach, but Parcells team's choked, too.

At some point I think we have to consider the possibility that our players, or at least some of them, are just mentally weak and always will be. We played scared against New York. People will say that it is preposterous to suggest that has to do with it being December, but why is it that this happens every year with this group? It's in their heads, whether they want to admit it or not. The proof is in their on field performance.

No, it's in the media and fan's heads. The players are focused on coming together as a team. Where have you been? Under a rock?

 

[The30YardSlant]

No, it's in the media and fan's heads. The players are focused on coming together as a team.

If you don't think that the history of December flops entered into the minds of our players in the second half in New York, then I don't know what to tell you. That's just human nature and nobody, not even professional athletes, are immune.

Granted, it's in their heads BECAUSE the media and fans have pushed it so hard the last few years, but it IS in their heads. If nothing else the fact that they keep denying it is an issue is all the more proof that it is, in fact, an issue.

If you are willing to buy what they are feeding you, fine, but everything, from their demeanor on the sidelines to play on the field, says otherwise. Until they string together a few December wins, there is no reason to think the doubt will leave. They have to prove to themselves they can do it now that this culture of losing has set in here, that is the nature of being an athlete anywhere where you havent had success recently.

 

[Hostile]

If you don't think that the history of December flops entered into the minds of our players in the second half in New York, then I don't know what to tell you. That's just human nature and nobody, not even professional athletes, are immune.

Granted, it's in their heads BECAUSE the media and fans have pushed it so hard the last few years, but it IS in their heads. If nothing else the fact that they keep denying it is an issue is all the more proof that it is, in fact, an issue.

If you are willing to buy what they are feeding you, fine, but everything, from their demeanor on the sidelines to play on the field, says otherwise. Until they string together a few December wins, there is no reason to think the doubt will leave. They have to prove to themselves they can do it now that this culture of losing has set in here, that is the nature of being an athlete anywhere where you havent had success recently.

Blah blah blah. More nonsense. You have no idea what you are talking about but by all means blather on.

 

[The30YardSlant]

Blah blah blah. More nonsense. You have no idea what you are talking about but by all means blather on.

How is it nonsense?

I know you have, but I'll ask anyway for emphasis: Have you EVER participated organized athletics before?

Now, because I know you have, and because I have as well, I have every reason to believe that you know what I'm saying is true and are either afraid to admit it for fear of what that means with regards to these players and this season, or unwilling to admit it due to your pride and unwillingness to concede that I might be right.

 

[Bach]

If you don't think that the history of December flops entered into the minds of our players in the second half in New York, then I don't know what to tell you. That's just human nature and nobody, not even professional athletes, are immune.

If you are willing to buy what they are feeding you, fine, but everything, from their demeanor on the sidelines to play on the field, says otherwise. Until they string together a few December wins, there is no reason to think the doubt will leave. They have to prove to themselves they can do it now that this culture of losing has set in here, that is the nature of being an athlete anywhere where you havent had success recently.

Exactly. And you're right, it is in their heads, at least some of them. That's why at least one player texted after the game "SOS - same old $%@#"

In the 70's and early 80's there was a thing called the Cowboys "mystique". Now there wasn't really some mystical good luck around the Cowboys. What it amounted to was those teams expected to win no matter what the situation and time again they'd overcome many bad circumstances and pull off the improbable win.

Of course, the opposite can also be true. If in your mind you are just waiting for the other shoe to drop and at the first or second mistake you start thinking, 'oh here we go again', then more often than not they are going to come up short.

There's nothing magical about it or about December. It's just mostly mental and emotional. And until they go and finally come through and put this past them then it'll continue to be in the back (or forefront) of many of the players' minds.

 

[Bach]

How is it nonsense?

I know you have, but I'll ask anyway for emphasis: Have you EVER participated organized athletics before?

Now, because I know you have, and because I have as well, I have every reason to believe that you know what I'm saying is true and are either afraid to admit it for fear of what that means with regards to these players and this season, or unwilling to admit it due to your pride and unwillingness to concede that I might be right.

Don't worry about him, he's delusional, and this in this - willfully so.

 

[The30YardSlant]

Exactly. And you're right, it is in their heads, at least some of them. That's why at least one player texted after the game "SOS - same old $%@#"

In the 70's and early 80's there was a thing called the Cowboys "mystique". Now there wasn't really some mystical good luck around the Cowboys. What it amounted to was those teams expected to win no matter what the situation and time again they'd overcome many bad circumstances and pull off the improbable win.

Of course, the opposite can also be true. If in your mind you are just waiting for the other shoe to drop and at the first or second mistake you start thinking, 'oh here we go again', then more often than not they are going to come up short.

There's nothing magical about it or about December. It's just mostly mental and emotional. And until they go and finally come through and put this past them then it'll continue to be in the back (or forefront) of many of the players' minds.

Yes. Just as there is a culture of winning, their is a culture of losing, and both weigh heavy on a team's mental makeup

People really do underestimate the effect that confidence in you and your team have in performance. When you believe you will win, you have an advantage. When you are accustomed to losing, you start to wonder if you can get it done.

 

[The30YardSlant]

Don't worry about him, he's delusional, and this in this - willfully so.

He's not delusional. He's very intelligent and knowledgable.

Which is why I'm all but certain he knows that what I'm saying is a very distinct possibility.

 

[STSINAZ]

I hate being negative but this looks like the same exact team we saw last season. So much for TO being the problem with this team it's losing big games every December that creates all the frustration and bad chemistry. Just like after the loss to Pittsburgh last December another big stir up occurred by a member of the media as a result of yet another big December game loss. If the Cowboys don't beat the Chargers on Sunday they'll be staggering in full meltdown mode and may end up missing the playoffs all together. They're tied with Philly for the division lead and are only one game ahead of the Giants who'll they'll lose a tie breaker to if they both end the season with the same record. The Cowboys have the same record as GB who they gave new life to a few weeks ago when the Packers appeared to be on life support. GB will also win a tie breaker over us if we end the season with the same record.

We just gave the Giants new life when we could have pretty much buried them and they now have a very good shot to make the playoffs as at least a wildcard team. With New Orleans coming up the Cowboys will be in serious trouble if they lose on Sunday. Even a terminal homer would have a tough time feeling optimistic about the Cowboys beating the high powered Saints in the Super Dome while in the middle of another Dec swoon. Let's face it the Cowboys are staring at a MAJOR collapse that could make last years Dec meltdown pale in comparison if they don't step up Sunday and come away with a win. If they can't win an IMPORTANT game at home with all they have riding on the next 4 weeks this team is no better than the gutless team we saw go 1-3 last Dec in route to a 44-6 drubbing in the season finale at Philly.

kjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj...YOU KNOW i dont always agree with you but in this case I am sorry to say that you are right and we have NO HEART...there is a major problem...whether its with jerry, wade, garrett..romo...i dont know but we dont win big games....jerry is probably the problem who knows....

 

[Bach]

Yes. Just as there is a culture of winning, their is a culture of losing, and both weigh heavy on a team's mental makeup

People really do underestimate the effect that confidence in you and your team have in performance. When you believe you will win, you have an advantage. When you are accustomed to losing, you start to wonder if you can get it done.

I totally agree and this is a known fact in the sports world, as well as business world.

 

[Joe Realist]

Before the season, I felt 9-7 and no playoffs in a " transition year " . After beating the Eagles and going 6-2 in the first half, I thought, maybe they are turning it around. I like many, dread what happens in December. I am not going to write them off yet. There are 2 huges games in 6 days next week that will likely determine if there is anyting to play for that final weekend.

 

[The30YardSlant]

Before the season, I felt 9-7 and no playoffs in a " transition year " . After beating the Eagles and going 6-2 in the first half, I thought, maybe they are turning it around. I like many, dread what happens in December. I am not going to write them off yet. There are 2 huges games in 6 days next week that will likely determine if there is anyting to play for that final weekend.

My issue is that, after the last two December's under Wade, why will this one be different, especially after what we saw last week?

 

[Doomsday101]

My issue is that, after the last two December's under Wade, why will this one be different, especially after what we saw last week?

Because the upcoming games have not been played yet? I do agree that the talk of Dec past will only grow louder unless Dallas turns it around and right now they have a chance to do that this weekend at home vs SD.