Hard realities

[ShiningStar]

Did you have a stroke when writing this?

no, just some fans need more than 30 years to accept reality.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

oh lords

no, they are not clueless, they are doing their jobs.

YOU are cluess.

you think this is about football, for 30 years, JJ has saod NO, its about making money.

now look at it from that persepective.


there you go. now you know how it works and now it makes sense.

this is NOT about football. making money.

you have to change your view to suit the reality of it.

you are clueless, JJ changed the game before your eyes and it didnt take long.

That's a bit of a mini rant and somewhat condescending....but yes...

Jerry admitted keeping the Cowboys relevent, and working with his kids are his highest priroities.

 

[ShiningStar]

That's a bit of a mini rant and somewhat condescending....but yes...

Jerry admitted keeping the Cowboys relevent, and working with his kids are his highest priroities.

yes, and yes you are correct, i was not being civil.

but to your point, JJ has said for 30 years, this is not about winning a SB.

he built a new formula, it makes him money, it doenst cost him money. thats his goal. Hang out with the kids, enjoy life, and money rolls in.

 

[MapleLeaf]

So here’s our first hard reality: This defense does not have much talent. A “better” scheme and a 4th new defensive coordinator in 21 months will not solve our problems.

It certainly feels like a rebuilding year. I'm not sure, but it feels like this is what it would be if we were in the midst of one.

I am just hoping we are not going to spiral down into the Campo years again with empty slogans like "lunchpail guys" while the team is devoid of talent and depth in the cupboard.

 

[Johannes44]

We could try some tea tree oil.

Not this organization. They would rather treat the problem with an extension - more please, we need more mediocre play at the QB position because we just can't get enough.

 

[boysfanindc]

Watching the Game Day thread yesterday, the only thing that surprised me was the number of fans that seemed genuinely shocked at how bad our defense played. The screams for Matt Eberflus’ head is understandable but would solve 0% of our problems. Because this defense is really, really bad.

So here’s our first hard reality: This defense does not have much talent. A “better” scheme and a 4th new defensive coordinator in 21 months will not solve our problems.

In the 2023 season, our last season with realistic playoff hopes, 3 of our best defenders on that team are no longer on this team. And 3 others are currently hurt. And that 2023 defense was not great to begin with.

• Micah Parsons - best talent we’ve had on defense in two decades. Traded to GB. Predictably tearing it up in GB.
• Demarcus Lawrence - one of the most underrated Cowboys in recent years, was lost in FA to Seattle. (Too many fans here only looked at sack numbers) DLaw was a real talent who has already made an impact in Sea.
• Jourdan Lewis - a real leader and underrated talent, lost in FA to the Jags. Has two picks in 3 games.

The above players weren’t enough to make our defense good enough in the playoffs as we saw in the horrible GB playoff disaster. But the guys who have replaced the above better players we had are all a major step down.

And most of the other talent we have on D now is hurt. Trevon Diggs isn’t right, Deron Bland has a bad foot, and DeMarvion Overshown - who knows if he will ever be the same. Osa Odighizhua is a complimentary piece that will never be dominant without help, and Kenny Clark is clearly not the same guy he once was.

The second hard reality I have accepted and it’s the hardest to overcome: A complete lack of front office cohesiveness beyond how to market this team. Someone was quoted on Twitter last night saying, “The Dallas Cowboys are the Jacksonville Jaguars with better marketing.”And that’s not fair to the Jags. They have been to two conference championship games in the last 30 years.

The hard reality is this is not a roster with enough talent to be a playoff team. It can improve but not much IMO. Losing a lot of games this year is sadly in our team’s best interest.

One final question: Do you have faith that our front office knows how to rebuild? I wish I did but I don’t. We fans are just going to have to play the long game in hopes that real changes will happen at some point. It doesn’t take much football insight to know our FO is clueless when it comes to building a playoff roster.

I agree with all accept Lawrence, he played in what 4 games last year? Kneeland has better stats so far this year.

Jordan hurt because he was a dog and a leader and a damn good player and Micah of course was a pressure machine, you had to account for him which also helped others.

 

[Aven8]

You’re exactly correct Bob. Last year we lost Fowler and Armstrong just to name a few. Then as you stated we lost Dlaw, Micah, Lewis, and I would add in Kendrick’s who led the team in tackles. How did we replace that production? The LB core right now is atrocious. As bad as it’s ever been IMO. Without Bland this secondary feels like it’s playing a man short. The new DE’s cannot generate any pressure at all.

The Zone coverage scheme mixed with primarily man corners is puzzling as well. We drafted Revel to play Zone?! If I had my bets Jerry and his idiot son didn’t know what kind of D flus even ran when they hired him. But he was a familiar face…..

 

[DanTanna]

3-4 yard passes with no yac available on 3rd downs and 8-10 needed or 4th down.

This is Dak's style. Under ANY sort of pressure - whether is is two minute drill, redzone, behind by a mile... He resorts to the 3 yard check down when we need 15. He's done this for YEARS! SUCKS!

 

[Havic]

A lot of our good players were sent away. Lewis, Lawrence, Parsons, Armstrong, and I’m sure there are a few more im missing. Meanwhile, the guys we signed to replace them haven’t performed and the big contracts we’ve given out, especially Diggs aren’t performing either.

This is a bad football team and as injuries progress through out the season, you will notice our depth is even worse.

The last thing I want is Jerry trading picks acting like this season can be saved. The fact he views this team as a playoff team is scary.

 

[cheftjpeck]

You want real change?

Hope for a 1-16 record.

Because as long as we’re middle of the pack Jerry is just gonna think we’re a piece or two away from a Super Bowl run.

Unfortunately, if they go 1-16 Jerry will reflect back
on when he bought the team with a handshake and hired Jimmy Johnson and they went 1-15 and hits Super Bowl in just 3 more years
He’ll say how it’s all lined up to repeat and he has total confidence in Schotty like he did Jimmy Johnson to turn this team around and be even better than the 90’s team in a much quicker fashion
That will be the sales pitch and scary part is he will believe it because he can

 

[Bobhaze]

Good post. I believe this issues now are directly connected to the last offseason of the McCarthy era where GM Jerry let a lot of the solid depth players walk in FA i.e. Dorance Armstrong etc. To make matters worse they don't participate in FA properly to plug the holes created 2 years ago. It should have been a full rebuild at that time, but Jerry just couldn't let Dak walk, so now their stuck. A extremely top heavy team traded its best defender on a bad defense, and the Owner and some fans tried to spin that the team is better off, OK. Too many good players let go, and Jerry doesn't restock the shelves long story short.

The Cowboys are the only pro sports organization I can think of where throwing an entire season away is no big deal because the guys who orchestrate it are never held responsible.

It’s always the mid-level guys who are fired and held responsible for the roster they were handed. Not to mention in a league where there is no salary cap on coaches, this organization chooses to hire head coaches they can low ball and also micro-manage.

When the captain at the helm of the ship is drunk and too old to know what’s happening, the ship is going to sink every time.

 

[Eightneight]

This team has no identity. Offensive or defensive. Without an identity of "who we are" as a team, it's just a collection of some decent players and a whole lot of average to below average players, with zero plan on how to build it moving fwd. Helter Skelter roster strategy is not a strategy at all. This is all on the clueless FO. Has been for decades.

 

[visionary]

Dak is not the problem right now.

Do we need a QB? YES, but it doesn't need to happen in 2026. It can wait until 2027 if needed.

What we do need is a big do everything middle LB, stud do everything DE, stud RIght Tackle and a big/fast Safety who can tackle and cover/make interceptions. Those are our biggest concerns for next year's draft.

If you get a top 10 pick this year you take the QB since this is a good year for QBs

 

[Bobhaze]

This team has no identity. Offensive or defensive. Without an identity of "who we are" as a team, it's just a collection of some decent players and a whole lot of average to below average players, with zero plan on how to build it moving fwd. Helter Skelter roster strategy is not a strategy at all. This is all on the clueless FO. Has been for decades.

This team’s identity sits in the owner’s box. And that’s the way he has designed it.

 

[tm1119]

If you get a top 10 pick this year you take the QB since this is a good year for QBs

It is?? Carson Beck or Garrett Nussmeier are your franchise saviors? The upcoming QB class stinks

 

[montgod]

If you get a top 10 pick this year you take the QB since this is a good year for QBs

Yup and sell off anything else you can for additional picks (or cut for cap savings) that you know won't be part of the future (eg Milton or Dak, Steele, Mazi, Tolbert, Diggs, Wilson, etc - yes I know most of these aren't garnering anything in return of substance, but just mentioning areas that could be consolidated).

 

[Diehardblues]

Dak was not good yesterday. And yes he’s overpaid.(Who made that decision to pay him?) But he’s not the reason this team sucks.

We could have Pat Mahomes here and this team would still struggle mightily. (Even the chiefs are struggling offensively with him too, lol!)

I look forward to someday getting a better QB. But unfortunately there isn’t a QB tree to just go pick and get instantly better. Jalen Hurts is successful because he has a GM who has built the right talent around him to succeed.

We have the oldest GM in NFL history at the helm who is delusional and out of touch with what a modern NFL roster needs to win playoff games. We have three decades of receipts.

It’s delusional. And his knee jerk reaction after each embarrassing loss is a marketing pitch.

This is why it’s tough for me rooting to hit rock bottom other than watching Jethro squirm which brings some consolation.

We aren’t more likely to rebuild from scratch with his leadership. Remaining around the rim unfortunately is probably our greatest hope . It is what it is.

I’d rather be this borderline playoff contender ( some seasons a little more) than continuing to try and rebuild with leadership in total denial of a rebuild.

We could stay at bottom of the toilet for years with this fool. Hanging around the rim is unfortunately probably best scenario with Jethro Ball.

 

[leeblair]

Dak was not good yesterday. And yes he’s overpaid.(Who made that decision to pay him?) But he’s not the reason this team sucks.

We could have Pat Mahomes here and this team would still struggle mightily. (Even the chiefs are struggling offensively with him too, lol!)

I look forward to someday getting a better QB. But unfortunately there isn’t a QB tree to just go pick and get instantly better. Jalen Hurts is successful because he has a GM who has built the right talent around him to succeed.

We have the oldest GM in NFL history at the helm who is delusional and out of touch with what a modern NFL roster needs to win playoff games. We have three decades of receipts.

It’s delusional. And his knee jerk reaction after each embarrassing loss is a marketing pitch.

I personally don't think Mahomes is that good. When the NFL isn't working the Taylor Swift angle, and when defenses actually get to hit Mahomes, he is not that good.

 

[gtb1943]

I personally don't think Mahomes is that good. When the NFL isn't working the Taylor Swift angle, and when defenses actually get to hit Mahomes, he is not that good.

well that removes any doubt I had about your ability to evaluate players

I thought you were not very good

 

[boysfanindc]

This team’s identity sits in the owner’s box. And that’s the way he has designed it.

And there is no long term plan all done by the seat of his pants.