For those convinced Atlanta is a better team

[Chocolate Lab]

LOL. Holly crap I guess you watched a complete different team then I do.

Same here. I actually thought Atlanta looked worse than I expected on that Sunday night game. I really thought they'd steamroll the Bears, but instead they had to struggle to beat them.

I felt a lot better about our chances after seeing them for a full game.

And I like how all the pessimists, er, realists only talked about Atlanta's offense and Ryan, White, and Gonzalez. There's another side of the ball, too, and I think our offense can have some success against them.

 

[Falcon88]

Here's the main matchup. Teams with above average QBs gain a tom of yqrds on them. Teams with good TEs kill them over the middle. Dallas has the advantage there because we have an above-average QB and a 2-TE offense featuring one of the game's best TEs.

Now Atlanta has been good defensively in the red-zone because of their great CB play. While their starters are solid they have NO depth, and they just lost their best CB late in the Chicago game. So this advantage of being good defensively in the red-zone disappears. Dallas just needs ot take advantage since they seem to struggle scoring in the red-zone, not because of the players but because of horroble play calling. It's put-up or shut-up time for Garrett in this game.

On offense, all Atlanta has is an above-average QB and an above-average TE that is their primary receiver. They also have a good back, but I like our LBs against good backs. But Dallas is getting Sensibaugh (sp?) back, who is a master at blanketing TEs. They laso don't have any WRs that scare anyone, so the safeties can worry about the TE without our defense being spread too thin. Sorry but this advantage goes to Dallas.

Finally, on special teams, they are average at best. Dallas is better talent-wise. Advantage Dallas.

Home-filed avantage: Dallas.

Rest coming off the bye: Advantage, Dallas.

Getting healthier while the opponetn gets un-healthier: Advantage, Dallas.

Coaching: Advantage Falcons. (This is where Dallas can lose this game)

So all the way around, this is Dalls' game to win. If Dallas' loses, it won't be because of anything Atlanta did that could not have been overcome. So if Dallas id finally poised to take their game a notch higher, I see no way that they lose this one.

I'll give you the secondary but the no WR that scare me?

Special teams average at best?

And again, its been this way all season, even when we win, it's not us winning it's the other team losing. Guess its gonna take awhile to get some props.

 

[DallasDomination]

Dallas has better athletes......Falcons have smarter more disciplined players


IF Dallas plays a little smarter and more disciplined they will win.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I'll give you the secondary but the no WR that scare me?

Special teams average at best?

And again, its been this way all season, even when we win, it's not us winning it's the other team losing. Guess its gonna take awhile to get some props.

Please, don't bother with the victim card. Everyone knows your team is very good.

Just hang around here and you'll see about ten times as many people trashing the Cowboys as compared to the Falcons.

 

[big dog cowboy]

I actually thought Atlanta looked worse than I expected on that Sunday night game. I really thought they'd steamroll the Bears, but instead they had to struggle to beat them.

I felt a lot better about our chances after seeing them for a full game.

I'm in this boat 100%. A Bears fan I work with was surprised also.

 

[DCBoysfan]

Nice stats, but the Falcons are a good team, they are 4-1, but I feel that we can beat them, thats not taking anything away from them.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

They are 4-1. And 4-1 is 4-1. So that alone tells me they have a good shot to win.
But they have had the benefit of playing 3 of their first 5 at home While we've played three road games

Are we supposed to fear a team that's been out gained by thier opponents? By a team who defends the run as poorly as they do?

We have one opponent in common whom we played the week ater they did. We gained 170 yards more while Atlanta came up short over 70 yards.

Unlike the Falcons, we've out gained our opponents. Huge margins in our three wins and slight deficits in our two losses.

I hear ya... but that tells me that they are smart enough to stay close in games where they are not dominating and STILL WIN. Whereas we can dominate a team and STILL LOSE.


As far as home and away. Romo seems to play better on the road. He doesnt like things like grand opening of new stadiums and things like that.

 

[EPL0c0]

IMO, Dallas *SHOULD* be better than 3-2, but they just can't seem to help from a) shooting itself in the foot and/or b) allowing teams to come back on them.

Atlanta is the kind of team that can score fast and come back. The important thing is to build a lead, a significant lead; that means scoring TDs when they get into the redzone, not settling for FGs.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

IMO, Dallas *SHOULD* be better than 3-2, but they just can't seem to help from a) shooting itself in the foot and/or b) allowing teams to come back on them.

Atlanta is the kind of team that can score fast and come back. The important thing is to build a lead, a significant lead; that means scoring TDs when they get into the redzone, not settling for FGs.

I am going to disagree a little. While a big lead would be nice. I would prefer scoring drives and running the ball to control the clock. Keep their offense off the field. Otherwise if you can lead to your b) point.

 

[sonnyboy]

Another person who thinks stats tell the whole story

Just go watch the games. Atlanta is a more disciplined team that doesnt self-destruct in critical situations. Their QB is playing better than ours. Most importantly, they do not have an inept head coach and offensive coordinator.

Was expecting more responses like this. No they don't tell the whole story, but I thought it might be a little more useful than starting another Atlanta thread based soley on my opinion of the team.

Stats have meaning.
Atlanta is on a pace to perhaps go 12-4. Go find me a 12-4 team that was out gained by its opponents. You won't find one.
I'd also bet dollars to donuts that you won't likely find a 12-4 team who was outgained over any 5 game stretch during that 12 win season.

Statistical abbreations happen often in small samples. I've seen teams dominate games only to end the game with 100 or so fewer yards gained.
Winning team goes into run out the clock mode and the losing teams plays 2 min offense the whole 4th Q. It happens.

But that's not the case in any of the Falcons 4 wins. Thay were all close except the 49ers who we're so far behind they never went into 2 min mode at any point in the game and just excepted the defeat.

Just because stats don't mean everything, doesn't mean that they are useless and tell you nothing.

Dallas and Atlanta have one common opponent. Both games were home and played on consecutive weeks.
Just look at the offensive production Carolina had against that Falcon's defense. Just one week before we almost completely shut them down.

How many 300 yard passing days do you think Delhome will have this year. Hell, he just put up 65 yards in a win last weekend.

And we're supposed to fear this team?

I don't know what will happen Sunday. I just don't get all the "Oh my god the Falcons are coming" or "I just can't see a win".

Well if you can't or don't see a win, you're just not looking that close.

 

[sonnyboy]

They beat a team with a winning record we haven't.

They were also completely dominated by a good team. That hasn't happened to us and we've played two good teams.

 

[sonnyboy]

I'm not sure what you expect the thread to accomplish, but we've got plenty of question marks of our own. There's nothing about Atlanta that scares me, there is plenty of bumbling by the Cowboys to make me feel like we could just as easily end up losing though.

That's exactly what I'm trying to accomplish. Just looking to shed some light on the big scarey monster that has many of our members spooked.

 

[Falcon88]

That's exactly what I'm trying to accomplish. Just looking to shed some light on the big scarey monster that has many of our members spooked.

Besides the Big Scarey monster, which I don't believe we are, I expect you will get a good dose of the Hurry up this week. We haven't gone to it much this year which make no sense to me because everytime we do it works really well. Ryan does a great job of reading the D and finding the miss match.

 

[sonnyboy]

Besides the Big Scarey monster, which I don't believe we are, I expect you will get a good dose of the Hurry up this week. We haven't gone to it much this year which make no sense to me because everytime we do it works really well. Ryan does a great job of reading the D and finding the miss match.

Welcome to the board.

Hurry up may work well against the Cowboys considering the poor 2 min defense we've played so far.

 

[Disturbed]

Dallas just played a terrible KC team and it took overtime to win. Are you kidding me... The Cowboys have looked bad all year, either defensively or offensively, they find a way to let the fans down almost weekly.

Atlanta does not scare you. I hope it scares the Cowboys, so the focus and effort in the game is better than the first 5. If they play like they have so far this year they will get beat. If they Cowboys don't show up and they go 3-3 then the season may be very long indeed.

 

[SharutoX]

Coaching: Advantage Falcons. (This is where Dallas will lose this game)

Fix'd.

How are you going to say Witten is a one of the league's best(which he is probably the best.) and call Tony Gonzalez a above average TE? He's at least 2nd or 3rd behind Witten and Gates.

Roddy white should be a WR you should be scared of. Especially with our secondary who always gives up big plays at the end of games.

 

[ScipioCowboy]

Like it or not, the Falcons have been a better team than the Cowboys...so far. Atlanta has a better record, and a wider point differential.

However, the Cowboys can change all of that this weekend with a win.

 

[deeboo]

The Falcons won't scare anyone if you're looking at the stats but the stats don't tell the true story about that team. They're a well coached bunch that knows how to win. While they won't always be pretty, a win is a win.

 

[Aikbach]

There isn't a team in the NFL that can't win if you don't show up ready to play them and the Falcons play in the NFL and have amassed an 80% win ratio thus far compared to Dallas' 60% and won games they were supposed to win.

Good teams win what they're supposed to and beyond, Dallas has underperformed so as a TEAM Atlanta is better regardless of Dallas' supposed talent level.

 

[tyke1doe]

For all the hype over Atlanta, they're one game better than the Cowboys. If Dallas wins (which is entirely possible), both teams will be 4-2 and Dallas will hold the tie-break advantage. But even if this happens, there will still be *****ing and moaning after the game. Too many posters on here have higher standards for the Cowboys than they do the opposition, causing them to inflate the greatness of every other team while downplaying whatever the Cowboys accomplish.

That goes without saying, doesn't it?

Of course, Cowboys fans are going to have higher standards for their team than other teams just as parents should have higher standards for their children than other people's children.

As a fan I'd like to see my team win every game. But if we're not going to win every game, at least try not to kill ourselves with stupid mistakes. Is that too hard to ask as a fan? Is that too much to expect from your favorite team?