Is Dallas Running Out Of Gas?

[STSINAZ]

The team that is at the top of the league in time of possession may be running out of gas.

A car is only as good as its parts. Let's look at it's parts and what made it successful earlier in the year.

Flozell - this part was an important cog for several reasons. Flozell was important in the run in that he has played for several years with his counterpart Larry Allen. They have formed a bond that you can't teach. I wouldnt say they are the most formidable tandem in the league, but they are at least in the top 15. I don't have to tell you how important the left tackle is to the quarterback also. Flozell was prone to a few misfirings at times but overall he got the job done. He is out for the year as we know and if you want to really judge his worth just look no further than the current situation at left tackle. You know a player is pretty good when what you fear on every play from the replacement is what you only got a small percentage of the time out of the starter. I think all of us would give our right arm to have Flozell back, no matter how bad he may have seemed to play at times this year.

Al Johnson- this part is a funny one. At times this part runs like new, doing it's job on tough invaders. Able to pull to the right or left and allow us to turn the corner at any given moment. At other times it seems to be non existent, even prone to allow the invaders to attack the engine. An enigma of sorts. Now we hear that the part may need to be replaced due to a breakdown of some sort. I have heard it may be put back in for this Sunday's showdown on the raceway, but IMO it may have trouble firing at all! We may need to go with a bigger but yet slower firing piece (Gurode).

Patrick Crayton - I hear he is coming back. Who knows at what level. He was important on the run. A very important cog in the wheel for us. An able blocker, able to hold it's own and stop any invader that came from the 2nd or 3rd line of defense that was running free. Something we didnt have last year. This part was very good finding seams in the passing game in the lanes untouched by others allowing us to get right in there when needed. How long with this part holdup when it comes back from the factory? NO one knows!

Julius Jones - Our fuel. When the engine is running good the fuel will work but when the engine starts to breakdown the fuel just becomes useless. It will even start to become rancid therefore cause it to even become useless even when the engine is fixed!

In missing part of our engine, also with our fuel becoming dirty, who knows if it has been made clean yet, our weaker parts of our engine are becoming even more debilitated due to this.

Rob Pettiti - RT - This weaker part of our engine was a new part. One that was going to get help from other parts all year and kind of get grafted in more to where it wouldnt need as much help. Due to breakdowns mentioned previously that help was decreased and our engine started to shake over there on the right side. He is holding his own at times but due to weaknesses is showing up more on the negative side of invasions.

Jason Witten - TE - this part can get down the track and take advantage of your invaders by pushing them back into areas foreign to them but when it has been time to defend these same invaders, this part has not held up! I believe they need to send this part back to the shop and get it retooled for Sunday's race. This part need is becoming an enigma also and needs to be able to defend. It is too much of a liability out there.

Polite - FB - this part was supposed to do one job this year. Stop any loose invader that wanted to debilitate our engine and strip us of our fuel. You might say it's the fuel injector. Our fuel injector IMO has been clogged all year. The job has not got done and it needs to be replaced!

All in all the bottom line of all of this is this: We lost a few of our strengths when it came to the running game, Adams, Crayton, Julius for a bit, Al J with his pulling plays...they were going to negate the weaker parts,,,,Polite, Witten, Pettiti. Now their replacement are the weaker parts. I.E. Tucker, Gurode-unable to pull as well but may hold up better in the passing game. A less than 100% Julius and Crayton doesnt help either. We also have older parts already in LA, Rivera, Bledsoe, Keyshawn, Glenn, and Campbell so I ask you. Are the Cowboys running out of gas? We will see very soon.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

we won the TOP battle last week, so I don't see how our team is slowing down, and we get Crayton back in the line-up, that's going to be huge

 

[Bob Sacamano]

btw, Parcells says our team is doing a pretty good job of picking up the blitz, just we aren't executing properly trying to exploit it

 

[Chuck 54]

We're picking up fewer yards each week which explains why our offense is dropping in the standings from week to week. Our red zone production has dropped off dramatically from early in the year.

The offense seems to be digressing a little as it did last season. Just my opinion. Of course, maybe good defensive play from other teams has something to do with it.

This Sunday isn't a "must win" game...losing will not ruin our season or playoff chances; however, this Sunday will tell us a great deal about our team.

Play a good, close game with the Giants, and win or lose, I'll have more confidence. Let the NY defense dictate the game to our offense, shut down our running game and batter Bledsoe, and then I think it will be a sign that we are not going to win the division...that we aren't really ready yet....that (gulp) they are the better team right now.

And our offense must control Tiki and Shockey...if not, again, it will be a telling sign about where our team is right now.

 

[Qwickdraw]

Thanks for reminding me.

My car is due for an oil change.

 

[notherbob]

This team has a lot of injuries and is playing depth guys right now. Just goes to show this team is deeper than it has been in a LONG time. BP is not perfect but he is doing his job well.

 

[Redball Express]

..but a case can be made that there are so many vets on the team from BP's past now, that there is a problem potentially with these older guys in key positions, not holding up over the course of the season.

Especially now in the stretch run of December where the team will lose or win it's bid to enter the playoffs.

I think we have seen some evidence of that, too. Bledsoe has dropped off, Terry Glenn has about disappeared, Key's production has dropped from what he was doing in the beginning of the season and the OL vets like LA and Rivera, have not got better as the seaon has gone on as one would hope. Dan Campbell has disappeared also as far as being effective at TE.

On defense, I think things are better with the vets holding up as there is alot more youth mixed in and that tends to lessen any loss in NOTICABLE play quality as guys like Ellis and Glover on the DL are rotating with the rookie linemen more or with Fergy at NT or Ware at DE.

And in fact, Ellis is obviously getting more sacks this year and doing well. Guys like RW, Tnew, Henry and the LBers are all younger to begin with.

So at most of the key positions defensively, we have younger players overall. And younger guys still rotating into the lineup all game.

This is why I think the defense is still playing strong and probably will continue barring any major injuries and especially if Henry can play at CB from here on out.

I don't see them running out of gas.

But with so much age on offense relatively at the key skill positions, I'd say yes, there is some concern about guys like Key and Terry Glenn and Bledsoe and LA and Rivera being able to not flatline here at crunch time due to the fact that they have no rotation guys to come in and spell them during games and over 16 games, it shows.

Even BP said in his PC this week that he's having to pay special attention in this area with his players because some of them need less physical work in practice and more mental work instead and others need to be ridden physically to keep them sharp for Sunday.

So even the HC knows there are dynamics involved in getting to the finish with so many vets on his team and wants to avoid running out of gas down the stretch.

I'd also tend to beleive, that vets, either consciously or unconsciously, do tend to hold back a bit at the mid-season because they KNOW the last 5-6 games is the most important games on the schedule to getting to any playoff spot and will tend to turn it up in December.

We see this in all the major sports, baseball, hockey and basketball, too. The drive to the playoff has to be led by the high-paid vets that have been there before and know how to get there.

So we'll see.

BP has obviously built this team knowing that the large number of former vet players he has brought here will fall in with this philosophy and know it's time to run the table if possible.

Or at the very least, it's time to bring the A-game each Sunday.

Big question is, is there any high octane left in the tank..not just are we running out of gas..?

High octane is needed right now, not just unleaded fuel. This team needs to establish it's finishing kick to the tape right now like a runner does in a race, if there is anything in reserve, it's got to be summoned.

Now is the time.

parcellswaterboy

 

[JDSmith]

I don't think age has anything to do with it. I also don't think the team is getting more worn down than anyone else. I think we've just got a few key injuries - Henry, Flozell and Crayton. Add to that the fact that we're playing a rookie RT who wasn't even drafted as a right tackle, and you're going to struggle at times. Of course we still put up 21 pts against Denver, and should have had 24 pts in regulation. And without Henry our D still picked Plummer, something that hadn't been done in 229 pass attempts. And we shut down Denver's vaunted running attack for all of regulation. So overall I don't see many signs of wearing down or falling apart, I just see some backups playing and the team as a whole chugging along as best they can.

 

[big_neil]

I think they wore down playing 3 games in 11 days. By OT they were out of gas. Now with 1 game in 11 days they should be ready.

I'm tired of close games. It's time for a blowout win to end all this Manning Bowl talk once and for all!

 

[CowboyExpress]

I think they wore down playing 3 games in 11 days. By OT they were out of gas. Now with 1 game in 11 days they should be ready.

I'm tired of close games. It's time for a blowout win to end all this Manning Bowl talk once and for all!

Right, we need to go OldSkool Cowboys (circa-1990's) on teams now; Put opponents away early...then worry about clock management. I'm not so worried about dishing out a blow-out at the moment as I am into just not letting it come down to that last couple of drives of the game. The running game should be the second half "knock-out punch", not the determining factor of the entire game wrapped around that annoying TOP stat which we only seem to care about. I mean it's great to keep games close, evens it out a tad, but I lack to see how it builds confiedence in an up 'n coming team like the one we have this year. A little momentum and I think we're riding alot higher at the moment going into the final month of the season.

As far as age; I am only seeing a disappearance from Glenn. Now some will say that teams specially prepare to take him out of the game, but that doesn't stop him early on in the season. So to me it's obvious that he's losing a step as the season progresses. Possibly even a few. Which we've seen for 3 years straight now, it trickles down throughout the entire offense when Glenn "slows", whether from injury or whatnot. However I do not see this same slowing from Bledsoe or Keyshawn, and admittedly have not paid special close attention to Larry or Marco to make a judgement there. Anyway that's why I brought up the question a few days ago whether or not perhaps Glenn was hurt and if he was possibly only out there for appearance sake so the past doesn't repeat itself and our season literally tank the second he goes down, as it seems to have his first 2 seasons with us.

*cough cough* I bet durabilty plays a big role in whom gets consideration to stay alongside TO when he comes in the spring. As far as the big debate of "Who Goes- Key or Terry?", I mean. Regardless of what Glenn can bring to the table when he's 100%, you have to notice what Key brings to the table at any %.

 

[DallasDomination]

You cant just run out of gas, this is the NFL and this is what they do....And if they for some reason do fall in that "out of gas" category then take them out of there, put a team that wants it bad enough.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Play a good, close game with the Giants, and win or lose, I'll have more confidence.

I don't believe you, since we played a good, close game against a better Denver team, and yet you lack confidence

 

[Bob Sacamano]

I don't think age has anything to do with it. I also don't think the team is getting more worn down than anyone else. I think we've just got a few key injuries - Henry, Flozell and Crayton. Add to that the fact that we're playing a rookie RT who wasn't even drafted as a right tackle, and you're going to struggle at times. Of course we still put up 21 pts against Denver, and should have had 24 pts in regulation. And without Henry our D still picked Plummer, something that hadn't been done in 229 pass attempts. And we shut down Denver's vaunted running attack for all of regulation. So overall I don't see many signs of wearing down or falling apart, I just see some backups playing and the team as a whole chugging along as best they can.

I don't need to say anything, good job

 

[Bob Sacamano]

As far as age; I am only seeing a disappearance from Glenn. Now some will say that teams specially prepare to take him out of the game, but that doesn't stop him early on in the season. So to me it's obvious that he's losing a step as the season progresses. Possibly even a few. Which we've seen for 3 years straight now, it trickles down throughout the entire offense when Glenn "slows", whether from injury or whatnot.

although Glenn has been getting doubled as of late, he's been open, just Bledsoe and the offense don't have the time to look for him deep, because we're running quick-hitting pass-plays to make up for the max-protection since Flozell has been down, it's not GLenn that's "slowing down", it's the circumstances surrounding the passing offense now that Flozell is out...

 

[Future]

The only thing worn out is payton's playcalling.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

The only thing worn out is payton's playcalling.

here we go again

 

[Future]

LOL, just thought id throw that in there. No harm meant

 

[lurkercowboy]

If Cundiff made that FG, or maybe if Dallas won the OT toss, would we be even having this conversation?

 

[chinch]

Is Dallas Running Out Of Gas?

Even with many dumb CALLS by Tuna/co (too many checkdown screens) we'd have won last week if we hit the easy FG. Take away one DUMB pass by Drew and we could have won by 10.

Every team has injuries, problems and major holes, including an undefeated team.

 

[kojak]

Huh? I remember when we were 2-2 at the start of the season. This was when we had all the players before the key injuries. "A team trying to find an identity" is what alot of people called us or viewed us.

We have went 5-2 since, possibly could have been 7-0 in that stretch. I don't think this is a team running out of gas. We have found ways to win games without a running game, without Flozell, Crayton, Henry, Julius, ect.

I just think it's Parcells game planning around our weaknesses giving us the best chance to be sucessfull. Now if we had went 3-4 in that stretch and losing games by a large margin you might have a case of a team running out of gas.

But the fact that we have found ways to win games without key players shows what kind of team this really is. Last yeat this wasn't the case, we dropped off the map completely with key injuries.

I think we will be ok. I think Crayton coming back will spark our offense and running game. Allow Parcells to open the playbook a little more( maybe not to everyone's liking) and be a little more aggressive in the offense.