Lacking killer instinct

[Redsfan_83]

Our killer instinct will have to be on D, for 25 years we have shown that no lead is safe with this team. If this was same old same old, we lose that game. These animals on D are hiding our offense, unlike the oppposite in years past

 

[droopdog7]

Yesterday had virtually nothing to do with killer instinct. It had everything to do with an offense that’s still struggling.

What is being called killer instinct was nothing more than the coaches deciding the game was over and running out the clock. That was fine, given the offenses struggles.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

It seems to me the Cowboys played two totally different halves of football both offensively and defensively. I can understand trying to save players like Zeke or those dealing with injuries. I'm more concerned with the coaches taking the foot off the pedal with the play calling. For the most part this team is a young team still learning. As a fan I want see my team go for the throat when they see blood. I think players want that too. Let's be honest, the last two game the defense created 4 turnovers and that's not going to happen every week. We should have WON the last two games my 30 points each. Championship team bury teams when handed the chance.

very true...and its totally different than earlier in the year when we came out in the 3rd quarter and dominated...

and the team tends to relax in the 4th......their offense did nothing for 3.5 quarters and then the defense just collapsed...I am not blaming the defense, because the offense was bad. inconsistent. missed opportunities. the game should have been 38-0 at least before the 4th.....but man we can't have defense collapse and I was screaming at Dak for that awful awful awful awful throw for the interception returned for a TD. that was all him and it was all bad.

 

[TheHerd]

Bucs were winning 21-0 today and needed refs and OT to win. Do we still consider them a championship team or nah? Need to make sure my facts are correct when talking about champion teams to other people.

They have Brady and will always get calls when needed, so yes, they are a championship team.

 

[INCowboysFan]

It seems to me the Cowboys played two totally different halves of football both offensively and defensively. I can understand trying to save players like Zeke or those dealing with injuries. I'm more concerned with the coaches taking the foot off the pedal with the play calling. For the most part this team is a young team still learning. As a fan I want see my team go for the throat when they see blood. I think players want that too. Let's be honest, the last two game the defense created 4 turnovers and that's not going to happen every week. We should have WON the last two games my 30 points each. Championship team bury teams when handed the chance.

You mean like Tampa did yesterday against the Bills?

 

[blueblood70]

I guarantee you wouldn’t be saying this had Washington came back to beat us today would you. Sorry but this isn’t your kids tee ball where everyone gets a participation trophy just for playing. Nice story though.

he doesn't have to you are making up a hypothetical that didn't happen. You are off base..get over it..no grades for wins and losses its either a W or an L and you move on to the next game..they dont give an .5 game addition for style points, lmao..

live in reality's a wins a win..thats it

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

No, championship teams don't always bury teams dude, but good story. The point is to win the game, period. Beating your opponent by 50 points or by 1 don't matter. Only wins do. You play to win right? Not to beat vegas odds man. The team with the most points wins. If a team loses by 1 point, they didn't do enough to win. I shouldn't even have to explain this.

Aww...that's cute. Hell..why even watch the game then if you are only concerned about a win?

We watch the games because we want to see good competent, competitive and adept football. If we can barely handle a bad decimated football team like TFT....what's the prognosis when we play a tough good team? We'll just magically rise to whatever occasion, right?

 

[cowboyec]

i don't think so.
at one point in the game we had more points than they had yards on offense.
27-8 with 4min to play.
couple garbage td's at the end doesn't change how dominant our defense was/is.
they made the plays when we needed them to.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

You mean like Tampa did yesterday against the Bills?

And tampa showed you they are a tough competent football team. Or did you already forget about Thanksgiving Day?

 

[OmerV]

It seems to me the Cowboys played two totally different halves of football both offensively and defensively. I can understand trying to save players like Zeke or those dealing with injuries. I'm more concerned with the coaches taking the foot off the pedal with the play calling. For the most part this team is a young team still learning. As a fan I want see my team go for the throat when they see blood. I think players want that too. Let's be honest, the last two game the defense created 4 turnovers and that's not going to happen every week. We should have WON the last two games my 30 points each. Championship team bury teams when handed the chance.

I think that's largely on the coaches. Certainly in this game. They started coasting in the 3rd quarter, and that was way too early and the lead wasn't big enough for that. I'm less concerned about them resting Zeke than defensive players. Some of those players that were responsible for dominating Washington were pulled from the game way early, and with the defense being so sporadic they needed the defense to maintain that level.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

i don't think so.
at one point in the game we had more points than they had yards on offense.
27-8 with 4min to play.
couple garbage td's at the end doesn't change how dominant our defense was/is.
they made the plays when we needed them to.

That's two games in a row the offense sputtered late in the game. If we're gonna make a run, this can't happen. Good teams will make us pay dearly.
You expecting those kinds of defensive gifts every game? Hmmm....I'm leery of counting on that.

 

[Creeper]

If the defense didn't get all those turnovers and sack the QB 5 times, they may have lost this game 13-6 or something like that. Even the best defenses need just a little help from the offense. With Dak playing as poorly as he has it might look like they don't have the killer instinct, but it is something else wrong with Dak. Go back to 2019 and the Eagles game in December for all the marbles. Dak soiled the sheets and every one blamed it on his bad shoulder. The Cowboys scored only 9 points that day. But it wasn't his bad shoulder. The following week Dak had a big game against Washington. The Cowboys won 47-16. Dak threw for 303 yards and 4 TDs. His shoulder sure did heal quickly.

What we are seeing this year from Dak is what we saw in 2019. It's too bad Dak got hurt in 2020, because he started hot in 2020 but got hurt in game 5. We never got to see if Dak would have faded in the 2nd half of the season like he did in 2019. Jerry had to make his decision to sign him on incomplete information. But this is why I would never have signed Dak to a $40 million contract. So at this stage of Dak's career, who is he? Is he the MVP candidate we saw in games 1 through 7? or is his MO to play well early and then fall apart when the going gets tough in the second half of the season?

IMO, until Dallas wins 2 more games, the division is still up for grabs. And honestly, the way Dak is playing, I am not considering any game easy, not even the Giants.

 

[mrmojo]

very true...and its totally different than earlier in the year when we came out in the 3rd quarter and dominated...

and the team tends to relax in the 4th......their offense did nothing for 3.5 quarters and then the defense just collapsed...I am not blaming the defense, because the offense was bad. inconsistent. missed opportunities. the game should have been 38-0 at least before the 4th.....but man we can't have defense collapse and I was screaming at Dak for that awful awful awful awful throw for the interception returned for a TD. that was all him and it was all bad.

The defense collapsed? They gave up one drive, the other TD was a hail mary and heck of a catch.... if Dak and the offense played average, the final score wouldn't have been as close....need to fix this offense.....

 

[OmerV]

i don't think so.
at one point in the game we had more points than they had yards on offense.
27-8 with 4min to play.
couple garbage td's at the end doesn't change how dominant our defense was/is.
they made the plays when we needed them to.

No, it doesn't change how dominant the defense was, but I would hardly call them garbage TDs. Washington had the ball with 3 minutes left and trailing by only 7 points. They were clearly in the game, and thankfully the defense forced a fumble..

The point is, the defense did the job, but the coaches didn't. They were the ones that started trying to coast way too early. McCarthy and Quinn have been in the league long enough to know better.

 

[cowboyec]

That's two games in a row the offense sputtered late in the game. If we're gonna make a run, this can't happen. Good teams will make us pay dearly.
You expecting those kinds of defensive gifts every game? Hmmm....I'm leery of counting on that.

i wouldn't call how our defense played "gifts".
they were dominant.
the offense needs to do a better job of protecting the ball.
our defense is capable of winning more important games for us.
the offense just needs to not get in the way til they "right" themselves.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

i wouldn't call how our defense played "gifts".
they were dominant.
the offense needs to do a better job of protecting the ball.
our defense is capable of winning more important games for us.
the offense just needs to not get in the way til they "right" themselves.

Okay whatever. My point is that it's dangerous to expect that many TOs and points from our defense. If-n-when we get to the really good teams.

I made a thread awhile back and I believe it's still relevant. Our win percentage and defense rating go hand in hand, with only a couple cross-over games.

I have no problem with a dominant defense....that is a huge part of Super Bowl success. But the offense cannot fade either.

I think we're MOSTLY in agreement here.

 

[conner01]

No, championship teams don't always bury teams dude, but good story. The point is to win the game, period. Beating your opponent by 50 points or by 1 don't matter. Only wins do. You play to win right? Not to beat vegas odds man. The team with the most points wins. If a team loses by 1 point, they didn't do enough to win. I shouldn't even have to explain this.

Very few NFL games are blow outs and even less divisional games
If anything I felt on offense we stayed too much in attack mode and that left time on the clock that isn’t a great idea

 

[CCBoy]

I've been saying that for a long time. At least since 2016.

Andy Reid already learned that lesson while at Philadelphia and dominating Dallas for ten years...and one can see it at Kansas City.

Jerry has been content to be a show boat for way too long.

A team is just fooling itself in thinking that unless intensely in the heat of battle, a team can suddenly turn it on and off while on the carpet!

 

[Echo9]

You might want to ask Heinicke if the Cowboys lack the "killer instinct". His opinion slightly differs, I suspect.

It was a Dallas-Washington game. One of them could have been undefeated and the other winless and you would probably still get a game much like you saw today,

Cowboy-Exskins games are always ugly. They are always out of character for both teams. A person would have to be crazy to bet on a game between those two. I don't even know why they bother setting a point spread.

The Exskins! I love it. It really should be used more often. Just had to say that.

 

[MyFairLady]

The defense played like monsters. The offense stunk. The offense was basically net 13 points scored and we still won the game. Never would have imagined that would be possible.