Has a better core ever been wasted? (2006-2010)

[Nightman]

Got to disagree with you here.

Capo changed the direction of the team.

It was a huge distraction when the news broke

and the team and players were roasted nationally as immature and not focused.

And then a media who had embraced the team as the next Worlds Champions began to withdraw support of the franchise and slowly it's all crumbled.

No..I think you need to rethink what happened there.

I don't buy a word of that. Media distractions are just white noise. They don't change the game on the field. It's a weak excuse.

 

[TheDude]

I can't see Aikman, Irvin or Smith going to Cabo in that situation. Those three take winning seriously. I can't imagine Roger or Drew making that trip either. This says a great deal about the attitude of the players and the country club that has developed over the years. Jessica must have been one heck of a woman.

sexual napalm

 

[KB1122]

Were the Cowboys even the biggest waste of that era? San Diego had a lot going for it.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Seattle bobble season and 13-3 season should have been more fruitful for sure.

 

[Verdict]

One could argue that the Buffalo Bills' core with Kelly at QB might get top billing in this category.

 

[Redball Express]

I don't buy a word of that. Media distractions are just white noise. They don't change the game on the field. It's a weak excuse.

umm..

I'll respectfully disagree with you there.

if media distractions are insignificant..

how come back in 1992 Jimmy Jouhnson predicted that Dallas would beat the 49ers in the playoffs and said to print it in 3" letters..

that wasn't a distraction or didn't factor into that game in our favor?

Sure it did..

..in an age filled with media and Iphones, tablets and I-Pads..

..players, coaches, you and me..

..we are all media affected.

 

[ghst187]

That's sports in general. That's the NFL. Everyone can't win. There's only one ring. John Stockton, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Ladanian Tomlinson......

Everyone can't win.

That doesn't mean we should sit back and accept mediocrity or losing seasons but its just reality. Chargers had 13 wins and haven't had any success.

You want to talk about wasted opportunity's? The Bills made 5 Super Bowls and didn't win ONE. In recent memory our own Rangers made it to two World Series and nothing to show for it. It sucks. I know i'm upset about our lack of post season success. But its not limited to just the Cowboys.

Ya easily the bills. But certainly we're in the discussion as the biggest waste of talent.

 

[17yearsandcounting]

I don't buy a word of that. Media distractions are just white noise. They don't change the game on the field. It's a weak excuse.

I am not saying you are right or wrong, but a big part of being a big time athlete is the psychological game. There are two games, as far as I am concerned. The one on the field and the one in your mind-The reason why some players are money in the clutch and some arent, the reason why some crumble under criticism and some dont. It is all a part of the "x" factor that some players have and some dont. The intense media scrutiny that happened after the Cabo trip couldnt be easy for anyone to push past. especially when you add that into the whole TO mutiny thing that hung over the team the last 6 weeks of the season.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Ya easily the bills. But certainly we're in the discussion as the biggest waste of talent.

Its debatable. I think we'd have some company. Doesn't make me feel any better about that but you are correct. I don't buy the people who say "Well, we weren't that talented....." that people ran with after we underachieved. Make no mistake. We underachieved.

 

[17yearsandcounting]

And again, in response to my last post...I have seen some of the best athletes on the planet blow it under the lights with the pressure on. I am talking about soccer players taking penalty kicks to win a match. It is 1v1 from 12 yards and I have seen some of the best athletes on the planet kick the ball in to the stands. They are all grown men but they are all still human and still prone to pressure and scrutiny the way the rest of us are.

 

[Nightman]

And again, in response to my last post...I have seen some of the best athletes on the planet blow it under the lights with the pressure on. I am talking about soccer players taking penalty kicks to win a match. It is 1v1 from 12 yards and I have seen some of the best athletes on the planet kick the ball in to the stands. They are all grown men but they are all still human and still prone to pressure and scrutiny the way the rest of us are.

That is true, but it has nothing to do with media scrutiny. Some guys demand the ball late and Romo and Witten aren't the types that shy away from the pressure. They have not always come through, but Michael Jordan has more game winning misses than anyone in basketball.

I stand by my statement that the Cabo situation had ZERO effect on the outcome of the game. The entire team had the entire week off and a paparazzi snapped a couple pictures of them having lunch with their girlfriends...."the Horror...."

 

[jobberone]

Those Hall of Famers didn't let coke or hookers blur their performance ambitions. Those players had serious inner demons they harnessed and that served to amplify their performance on the field. Romo and the group he led in those years didn't have the inner fortitude to bend those influences to their will.

Being high on the field as well as sleep deprived is no way to play sports period much less professionally.

The 1978 Cowboys was the best team ever assembled that didn't win the Super Bowl. Of course the 77 team won it, however that nucleus, with so many HOF's should've won multiple superbowls.

So were the teams that lost to Cleveland two years in a row in the late 60s. There were wasted opportunities with those 65-83 teams which to me just shows you there are always going to be some good teams out there and you can't win it all every year. This isn't baseball up to the era of FA, hockey until the same and basketball until....wait...the period of FA started.

 

[Red Dragon]

Even if this 2006-2010 Cowboys core had played to its maximum potential, a Super Bowl title was still highly improbable.

The 2006 Colts and Patriots were great teams.

The Cowboys wouldn't have beaten the 2007 Patriots. Not enough pass rush.

2008? Maybe, but it's a long shot.

The 2009 Colts and Saints were great teams.

2010? Romo's injury might have been unavoidable.

 

[Red Dragon]

Long story short, even if this 2006-2010 Cowboys core had played to its maximum potential, I think they'd have won 3-4 more playoff games and that would be it.

They'd have been like the NFC's version of the 2006-2009 San Diego Chargers.

 

[percyhoward]

A better passing game has never been wasted, at least not in the history of this franchise. Romo, Witten, and a succession of three Pro Bowl caliber #1 WR (all at different times) have played on a team that has been below average overall from 2006-13.

 

[joseephuss]

In 1965 the Chicago Bears drafted Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus. They also still had a very good Mike Ditka on their team. They did nothing even though these core players were Hall of Famers.

 

[jobberone]

Its debatable. I think we'd have some company. Doesn't make me feel any better about that but you are correct. I don't buy the people who say "Well, we weren't that talented....." that people ran with after we underachieved. Make no mistake. We underachieved.

We underachieved some. Our teams haven't been ones where we were prohibitive favorites for most games much of the season. I don't think anyone saw 2007 coming for sure. And that team tailed off the last quarter although we did rest some starters. When we didn't we didn't have IT like we did early in the year. A fair amt of that was offense at the end.

 

[Fmart322]

Ok, I'm opening myself up to a ton of ripping but I've been pondering this topic over the past few days. My sample size of being a football fan is quite limited based upon my age, but since I've become competent enough to actually follow it, I don't think any team built up a really great core and did nothing with it outside of us and the San Diego Chargers. I think our core was better than there's. So I pose the question has a better core ever been wasted than the one that we had during the 2006-2010 period? This core produced a 2007 team which has the record for the most Pro-Bowl players (they had 13, think about that for a second...), and this was back when the Pro Bowl had some semblance of respect.

Scary to think how could those teams were, and how little we saw out of it - 1 playoff victory. So I pose the question, has a better core ever been wasted?

Yea, being as young as you are your sample size is small. The Cowboys in the years you show were not nearly are good as advertised. I don't think it's as big as a waste as you do because the Defense really wasn't that good, coaching was weak at best and the O-line wasn't as good as you need to go far in the post season. The Cowboys had a decent roster with no power on eithe lines of scrimmage.

The Eagles under Buddy Ryan had one of the best Defenses I've ever seen plus a very solid offense with Randell Cunningham. With all the talent they had they never won a playoff game with him as their HC. Now that's a waste of a great core of players.

 

[burmafrd]

Seattle bobble season and 13-3 season should have been more fruitful for sure.

2006 the saints EXPOSED our D and seattle was pretty much having its way with it so that season was doomed anyway bobble or not.

2007 IF we had managed to stay completely healthy we would have gotten to the SB and probably lost to the Pats. But it would have been a shootout.

2008 injuries and 2009 our O line started to fade.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

2006 the saints EXPOSED our D and seattle was pretty much having its way with it so that season was doomed anyway bobble or not.

2007 IF we had managed to stay completely healthy we would have gotten to the SB and probably lost to the Pats. But it would have been a shootout.

2008 injuries and 2009 our O line started to fade.

Not talking about Any of that.

There was a steal in there somewhere.... A wasted opportunity.