Fair blame for Zeke

[Lutonio]

Don't get me wrong. The number one problem last night was Red, followed by Marinelli/Richard.

But Zeke was downright atrocious. I was curious (actually curious, not rhetorical questions) how much of a pass he gets due to the Vikings investing so heavily is stopping him.

Maybe at first I considered it, but once I zoom out he really needs to be raked over the coals for not only last night but this season. He just doesn't look good, and I think he has played worse than his stats suggest. I don't think you necessarily can put any running back behind a good line, but he is making an argument for that.

If he's going to cause such a problem with a holdout and get paid like he does, then he has to produce at least a little something even in games where they hyper focus him.

(Credit for his pass protection though. He good good taking on pass rushers. Maybe that's the problem? He's too beefy.)

 

[Sydla]

The Zeke crowd has made the excuse that you can't expect him to play well if the OL plays poorly.

But if that's the case, then it was horrendously stupid to pay your TB $100 million bucks if he's so reliant on the OL giving him holes.

 

[ShiningStar]

Dont blame Zeke because the FO is stupid. he played them, good for him. You want better contracts and a better understanding of talent , get a smarter FO. Dont blame a player for taking more money when its clear hes not worth it. In fact i encourage our players to leave for any amount of money if they want success, you will not find it in Dallas. However if you want the money and stay in Dallas, you accept the result, more money but you will go no where. See Romo and Witten, than look at DeMarcus Ware.

 

[SlammedZero]

I like Zeke as a player, and we know he has talent, but he definitely hasn't looked himself this season. Cook was easily the best RB on the field last night.

I do wonder about the design of this offense though. You saw Minn doing different things with Cook. Dallas seems to always want to run Zeke up the middle. Some creativity would go a long way.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

The Zeke crowd has made the excuse that you can't expect him to play well if the OL plays poorly.

But if that's the case, then it was horrendously stupid to pay your TB $100 million bucks if he's so reliant on the OL giving him holes.

I think it goes hand in hand. I'm the opposite though. I don't have the highest paid offensive line in the league if they can't create holes for ZEke. Blaming both is a cop out but I do. Offensive line got dominated and Zeke....who's usually the guy who gets you 2 or 3 yards when their's nothing there? He wasn't there.

And you know every week I sit here and defend Dak....but I'm officially concerned. I didn't want to bring Zeke back on that contract but this is not what I Thought they were getting when they signed him. Its early but this does not look like Zeke. I'm not even concerned with the breakaway touchdowns. He's falling on first contact.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Dont blame Zeke because the FO is stupid. he played them, good for him. You want better contracts and a better understanding of talent , get a smarter FO. Dont blame a player for taking more money when its clear hes not worth it. In fact i encourage our players to leave for any amount of money if they want success, you will not find it in Dallas. However if you want the money and stay in Dallas, you accept the result, more money but you will go no where. See Romo and Witten, than look at DeMarcus Ware.

That's crap. They paid Zeke that doesn't give him or anyone else a right to talk a step back. Now if you want to blame him for not being in training camp then yeah blame the FO there. If they were going to pay him they should've sped up this process.

 

[Cydios]

Zeke was bad, but in all fairness he was hit 3 yds in the backfield by more than one defender on more than one occasion

 

[ShiningStar]

That's crap. They paid Zeke that doesn't give him or anyone else a right to talk a step back. Now if you want to blame him for not being in training camp then yeah blame the FO there. If they were going to pay him they should've sped up this process.

Zeke isnt as good as many thought. accept it, he got paid, he and the rest of the NFL KNEW FLAT OUT HES NOT WORTH THE CONTRACT. Only Dallas ponied up to sell jerseys and keep the PR machine rolling.

 

[Sydla]

I think it goes hand in hand. I'm the opposite though. I don't have the highest paid offensive line in the league if they can't create holes for ZEke. Blaming both is a cop out but I do. Offensive line got dominated and Zeke....who's usually the guy who gets you 2 or 3 yards when their's nothing there? He wasn't there.

And you know every week I sit here and defend Dak....but I'm officially concerned. I didn't want to bring Zeke back on that contract but this is not what I Thought they were getting when they signed him. Its early but this does not look like Zeke. I'm not even concerned with the breakaway touchdowns. He's falling on first contact.

The offensive line did get dominated but it doesn't change the fact paying a TB as much as we did and he can't come up big in big games because the OL didn't play well just screams you got suckered.

It was a horrendous decision by Jones. That contract is going to be an anchor. Think Dez Bryant.

 

[CyberB0b]

It is a myth that they heavily invested in stopping him. They rarely brought a safety down.

 

[simplycowboys210]

Dude this is ridiculous. Watch the all-22 the holes were just not there dude. They played the run alllll night, there defense was better than ours on the run, plain and simple. It's not always Zeke dude, or Dak. Garrett needs to go.

 

[simplycowboys210]

It is a myth that they heavily invested in stopping him. They rarely brought a safety down.

Harrison Smith played the line the whole game, I don't know what you were watching.

 

[Sydla]

Dude this is ridiculous. Watch the all-22 the holes were just not there dude. They played the run alllll night, there defense was better than ours on the run, plain and simple. It's not always Zeke dude, or Dak. Garrett needs to go.

So our $100MM TB needs a lot of holes to be successful?

That smells like money well spent. LOL.

 

[Sydla]

It is a myth that they heavily invested in stopping him. They rarely brought a safety down.

I don't know. Harrison Smith was up on the line quite a bit. They moved him around a lot. He also blitzed more than he normally does.

 

[simplycowboys210]

So our $100MM TB needs a lot of holes to be successful?

That smells like money well spent. LOL.

Name a running back right now that doesn't need holes to run the ball? Do you think Cook was juking 5 people in the back field on his runs? LMAO. Do you not think if he wins the rushing title he wont ask for a big contract? You guys are ridiculous.

 

[superonyx]

A question for the Zeke haters.

Should the Giants blame Barkley for this performance yesterday?
13 carries for a total of 1 yard and handed Adams the ball a Jets defensive TD.

What about Dalvin Cooks 16 carries for 41 yards against the eagles
or his 14 carries for 35 yards against the Bears?

Hey what about Christian McCaffery's 22 carries for 31 yards this year?
Or his 16 carries for 37 yard stinker?

Anyone who blames any of these backs doesnt understand football or is a huge troll.

 

[Sydla]

Name a running back right now that doesn't need holes to run the ball? Do you think Cook was juking 5 people in the back field on his runs? LMAO. Do you not think if he wins the rushing title he wont ask for a big contract? You guys are ridiculous.

Yes, I think Cook would have done better last night than Zeke behind our OL. He's quicker to the hole, has more wiggle than Zeke.

And all that being said, I wouldn't pay Cook $100MM either. It's nothing against Zeke, I think paying large contracts to TBs is idiotic.

Because TBs are way to reliant on the OL to warrant being paid all that money.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

The offensive line did get dominated but it doesn't change the fact paying a TB as much as we did and he can't come up big in big games because the OL didn't play well just screams you got suckered.

It was a horrendous decision by Jones. That contract is going to be an anchor. Think Dez Bryant.

I don't disagree with any of it. I was for letting Zeke walk. I was concerned with letting him walk becauseI think the players do like him but I would've at least let him play out that deal and if he stayed away from the team then so be it.

There are two issues here. Its amazing to me they are being stingy with Dak and to a less extent Cooper's deal....but couldn't wait to hand out money to that offensive line. And I love what Collins is this year but they handed him money like it was nothing along with the rest of those guys. And it's not adding up. The highest paid offensive line does not look like the best line in football and neither does the highest paid running back.

I don't know. Harrison Smith was up on the line quite a bit. They moved him around a lot. He also blitzed more than he normally does.

Yeah I noticed that. They got torched doing that too. If teams are going to play Dak like that they need to continue to leave the ball in his hands. But I guess even the Vikings know that they wouldn't stick with Dak for long. They'd just bail them out.

 

[Sydla]

A question for the Zeke haters.

Should the Giants blame Barkley for this performance yesterday?
13 carries for a total of 1 yard and handed Adams the ball a Jets defensive TD.

What about Dalvin Cooks 16 carries for 41 yards against the eagles
or his 14 carries for 35 yards against the Bears?

Hey what about Christian McCaffery's 22 carries for 31 yards this year?
Or his 16 carries for 37 yard stinker?

Anyone who blames any of these backs doesnt understand football or is a huge troll.

It's not Zeke hate.

It's hate for overpaying a position that is massively reliant on another position to be successful. I wouldn't pay Barkley or Cook or McCaffery $100MM either.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

A question for the Zeke haters.

Should the Giants blame Barkley for this performance yesterday?
13 carries for a total of 1 yard and handed Adams the ball a Jets defensive TD.

What about Dalvin Cooks 16 carries for 41 yards against the eagles
or his 14 carries for 35 yards against the Bears?

Hey what about Christian McCaffery's 22 carries for 31 yards this year?
Or his 16 carries for 37 yard stinker?

Anyone who blames any of these backs doesnt understand football or is a huge troll.

Listen....I want to agree with you here...but we shouldn't be comparing our line to the Giants. If Zeke had the Giants offensive line then I'd agree. But this is the best line in football I'm told. They aren't blameless though. I'm not with scapegoating Zeke. At the very least though to me Zeke should at least be at 4 yards a carry with this line. But this line got DESTROYED yesterday and they shouldn't but its happened before.