CoCo
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Congrats to the Giants on beating the Pats, something that obviously had not been done this year. And while my congrats are sincere (despite my dislike for their team) I am keeping their accomplishment in perspective. This, IMO, was not the early season juggernaut that was upset yesterday.
Haven't done any in depth analysis on the issue other than to go back and check weekly point differentials of the Cowboys & Pats from week 1 forward. Both started the season as a house afire winning games by big margins, in the Pats case ridiculously big. But somewhere along the way the margins of victory began to shrink. The Pats had a couple very close calls, the Cowboys had some as well and even dropped that game to the Eagles before the finale vs the Skins.
But check the Pats point differentials and you'll see their late season trend very much mirrors the Cowboys. I actually graphed it but couldn't figure out how to post it here.
Dallas has been roundly criticized for a trend of December fades with suggestions that player and/or coach "character" is at the root of it. Its an implication that when the going really gets tough, this Cowboy team simply folds. I disagree by pointing to plenty of situations where our team has come through when the chips are down. Now here's a different angle.
Maybe the Cowboys didn't fade this year as much as other teams eventually figured out ways to slow us down. We certainly were on everyone's radar.
My point in this thread isn't so much to focus on how to fix the fade as much as suggest an alternative reason beyond calling our players and coaches out as having insufficient character, or commitment, or discipline or whatever. When you see a similar trend line with what was being called perhaps the greatest team of all-time, its worth a glance IMO.
And as exhibit B I give you the Giants, who again, have my respect for the run they made, but whom I really think mostly got hot at the right time and had some breaks go their way. Still, you do have to have enough talent to create that possibility and that they do have. But no more than our Cowboys IMO.
Haven't done any in depth analysis on the issue other than to go back and check weekly point differentials of the Cowboys & Pats from week 1 forward. Both started the season as a house afire winning games by big margins, in the Pats case ridiculously big. But somewhere along the way the margins of victory began to shrink. The Pats had a couple very close calls, the Cowboys had some as well and even dropped that game to the Eagles before the finale vs the Skins.
But check the Pats point differentials and you'll see their late season trend very much mirrors the Cowboys. I actually graphed it but couldn't figure out how to post it here.
Dallas has been roundly criticized for a trend of December fades with suggestions that player and/or coach "character" is at the root of it. Its an implication that when the going really gets tough, this Cowboy team simply folds. I disagree by pointing to plenty of situations where our team has come through when the chips are down. Now here's a different angle.
Maybe the Cowboys didn't fade this year as much as other teams eventually figured out ways to slow us down. We certainly were on everyone's radar.
My point in this thread isn't so much to focus on how to fix the fade as much as suggest an alternative reason beyond calling our players and coaches out as having insufficient character, or commitment, or discipline or whatever. When you see a similar trend line with what was being called perhaps the greatest team of all-time, its worth a glance IMO.
And as exhibit B I give you the Giants, who again, have my respect for the run they made, but whom I really think mostly got hot at the right time and had some breaks go their way. Still, you do have to have enough talent to create that possibility and that they do have. But no more than our Cowboys IMO.
