Maybe we're not so bad after all?

[Chocolate Lab]

I don't think the point of the article was to try and paint a picture of the Cowboys being contenders based on the fact that they almost made it to the playoffs. I think the writers intention was to try and put the state of the team into better perspective with some reasonable evaluation:

"On the defensive side of the ball, DeMarcus Ware is an excellent player. Cornerbacks Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne are very good. Linebacker Sean Lee is outstanding, and fellow linebacker Bruce Carter sure looked headed that way last season before his injury. Jason Hatcher was excellent last season, and so was Anthony Spencer, whether he's worth his $10.6 million franchise tender or not.

On offense, the Cowboys have excellent players at quarterback, tight end and both starting wide receiver spots. They have a very good running back and left tackle. Can you find fault with any or all of these players? Sure. But on balance, I just gave you 14 starting positions at which the Cowboys are at least above average, and in several cases much better.

The point? Well, as Cowboys fans bemoan the lack of cap space and resultant lack of activity in this first week of free agency, it might be worth remembering that there are some really good players on this team, and that it might not be the kind of team that needed to have a big first week of free agency."

I thought this part was well stated and I agree with pretty much all of it.

Well he's right about that part. We have better than 8-8 talent for sure.

 

[Oh_Canada]

I think the misconception by the writer of the article is that simply almost making it to a playoff in a weak division is an example of "contending". A contending team is one that has a decent chance of winning the Super Bowl. Even if the Cowboys had gotten into the playoffs, I doubt very seriously they would have won the next week.

The key fact that he and others in the media forget when they throw out the "had a chance in the last game" argument is that the division was weak. In most divisions, 9-7 would be second or third place at best.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not down on the Cowboys as I believe with the return of Lee, Carter and maybe Church, improvements in some weak positions like offensive and defensive lines and, most importantly, a new defensive scheme and coaching staff, this team has a chance to compete next season.

That said, even if the Cowboys had gone 9-7 the last two years and made it to the playoffs, I think most fans' opinions, good or bad, would be about the same. Spoiled or not, but Cowboys fans and I am sure Jerry Jones as well expect better seasons than 9-7.

/reality

Didn't the team in the same weak division that beat Dallas a year prior go on to win the Super Bowl?

Washington was up two td's before RG3's leg gave out this year.

NFC east is not weak, it just doesn't have a dominant team.

 

[Reality]

I don't think the point of the article was to try and paint a picture of the Cowboys being contenders based on the fact that they almost made it to the playoffs. I think the writers intention was to try and put the state of the team into better perspective with some reasonable evaluation:

"On the defensive side of the ball, DeMarcus Ware is an excellent player. Cornerbacks Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne are very good. Linebacker Sean Lee is outstanding, and fellow linebacker Bruce Carter sure looked headed that way last season before his injury. Jason Hatcher was excellent last season, and so was Anthony Spencer, whether he's worth his $10.6 million franchise tender or not.

On offense, the Cowboys have excellent players at quarterback, tight end and both starting wide receiver spots. They have a very good running back and left tackle. Can you find fault with any or all of these players? Sure. But on balance, I just gave you 14 starting positions at which the Cowboys are at least above average, and in several cases much better.

The point? Well, as Cowboys fans bemoan the lack of cap space and resultant lack of activity in this first week of free agency, it might be worth remembering that there are some really good players on this team, and that it might not be the kind of team that needed to have a big first week of free agency."

I thought this part was well stated and I agree with pretty much all of it.

As I said, I'm not down on the team and I think they have a good chance to compete this season. It's not that premise I was debating. My issue is that the media claiming "almost made it to the playoffs" as the basis or starting point for validating their opinion is pointless and baseless. They say we "almost" made it in while a 10-6 Bears team didn't make it. That same Bears team embarrassed the Cowboys in Dallas earlier in the year.

I do believe that if the team addresses the offensive and defensive lines and safety position that we will have a good team this year. But if we get to the last week with a 8-7 record and need a win to get into the playoffs, I will consider yet-another-wasted-year of Romo's, Ware's, Witten's, etc. careers.

/reality

 

[Reality]

Didn't the team in the same weak division that beat Dallas a year prior go on to win the Super Bowl?

Washington was up two td's before RG3's leg gave out this year.

NFC east is not weak, it just doesn't have a dominant team.

The NFC was definitely weak last year. Football is a game that lasts at least four full quarters. The Cowboys won a lot of second halves of games this past season, but they got beat worse in the first halves of those games so they lost the games. The Commanders lost that playoff game the moment Seattle caught up with them, not when RG3 went down.

The Eagles sucked last year. The Giants were average at best. The Cowboys were a team that struggled to win the games they did win. The Commanders got hot later in the season, but they weren't dominating. They simply found a way to win close games, which good teams do. I know we have a lot of NFC East bias here, and I'm guilty of that myself usually, but the NFC East was not a strong division last season.

/reality

 

[TwoDeep3]

If is a huge word on this board.

If this, if that....

I guess I like my coffee black, no sugar.

 

[burmafrd]

Sad so many are content with just contending for the playoffs....


Once upon a time we were satisfied with nothing less then contending for or winning the SUPER BOWL.

 

[jjktkk]

Sad so many are content with just contending for the playoffs....


Once upon a time we were satisfied with nothing less then contending for or winning the SUPER BOWL.

You have to crawl before you walk.

 

[weaver21]

Sad so many are content with just contending for the playoffs....


Once upon a time we were satisfied with nothing less then contending for or winning the SUPER BOWL.

That was like 15 years ago, man. Time to move on from the past and accept this average team for who they are or you're just gonna keep getting disappointed year after year.

Look at the Yankees this season... riddled with injuries before the season already has begun, old as hell and have no power in their lineup. Ask any Yankees fan and they'll tell you they will be happy to just make the playoffs this year. And this is the New York Yankees, a team that has 27 World Championships and is a World Series contender every year. You don't see Yankees fans expecting a World Series title because they were successful in the past or anything like that. Cowboys fans seem to hanging onto the glory days of the 90s and I feel sorry for you guys because you're just gonna keep getting disappointed with the current teams. I may sound like I'm accepting mediocrity, but I really am not... I'm 26 years old, I was 9 years old the last the Cowboys won the Super Bowl and I don't remember much of it.

I became a true follower of the Cowboys during the Campo days and since then, guess how much success I've witnessed? None. That's why my expectations aren't high for this team because they don't deserve it from me. I haven't witnessed anything the last few years that tells me this team is should be a Super Bowl contender and that I should expect anything less than a Super Bowl title. That would make me delusional and a true homer if I believed that.

 

[jobberone]

Sad so many are content with just contending for the playoffs....


Once upon a time we were satisfied with nothing less then contending for or winning the SUPER BOWL.

Just where did you read in this thread any member say they were satisfied just to contend?

 

[jobberone]

For quite awhile now either the defense or the offense failed the club. This last year the offense and defense failed. I chalk the defense up to the injuries, number of offensive turnovers, and injuries more so than a lack of talent or the scheme.

The offense has failed for the most part and not the defense over the years. I base both observations on lack of points scored and points given up. I look at 25+ for the offense and 17 or less for the defense as premium goals. I do think the 25+ points might need to be revisited with today's offenses.

I believe the defense can turn it around this year if they can stay healthy. If they can get to 20 or so points per game AND get some turnovers then I'll be relatively happy.

I'm not as optimistic about the offense but if they reduce the number of TOs and score several more points per game then they are in the hunt.

I agree there is still a relative talent deficit with the SB contenders as to depth but I do believe they are making inroads here.

I'll be a little surprised if the Cowboys do NOT make the playoffs. As to being SB contenders that's premature but not unlikely; just not as probable as some other teams.

 

[Big D]

Excerpt:

"Each of the past two seasons, they made it to the final game with a chance to win the division. By definition, that's a contending team, and as close to being a playoff team as one can get. They must improve in spots, most notably the offensive line, or it's going to be hard to believe they can make any big leap forward. But I don't agree with the perception that they're in big trouble because they were hamstrung this week in free agency. I think there are a lot of very good players on the Cowboys' roster who, if properly supported by a good draft and some smart free-agent bargain hunting, can make this a competitive team in 2013, just as it was in 2011 and 2012.

I think that's worth keeping in mind, is all."

:horse: How many times must this be said? I think over and over. I'm sure JJ and co are going into this thinking we're a top 15 offense with the current lineup and that is true BUT the line is not capable of controlling the game when need so at that point stats mean jack. We're very limited on resources so I think we need to be selective. Either beef up the O-line or figure out a way to have a dominant D.

 

[Szczepanik]

We are a very good team still. Once the fans realize that we have had almost our entire defense on the sidelines and still almost won the NFC title, the light will shine through.

Our defense should be better, and it was pretty darn solid last year. Up until the injury bug hit us, I thought our D was great.

This year we will not have Kevin Ogletree on our offense and hopefully Dez does not run the wrong routes.

Felix Jones will not be wasting a roster spot either.

Danny McCray will not be starting at safety either. I can't hate on the guy because it is hard to expect him to come in and fill the safety spot with elite play. He was honorable in his role.

Jason Garrett hopefully will not screw up our calls and give other teams wins. Remember the baltimore game?

Fans seem to forget that we beat the giants, should have beaten the SB champs in their house, and beat Cincy and Pitt in meaningful games for us.

Put up a great game against the red hot NO saints.

We should be a vastly improved team next year if we draft decently. Our offense will look completely different if we give Romo a few extra seconds.

 

[DC Cowboy]

Agreed. And I think after seeing the last couple of drafts I feel okay with this. I personally am not overly concerned about the lack of activity in free agency so far. We need to build through the draft.

:signmast:

 

[Snacks]

The Cowboys aren't bad, but I feel like they don't have enough reliable pieces going forward. Almost everybody who should be a building block is made of glass or hasn't played up to his potential yet. For all of the talk about how the Cowboys have drafted recently, there are plenty of unknowns with those guys. We don't have anyone I expect to be a perennial All-Pro. The guys propping up this team are the people on their way out. The Romos, the Wares and Wittens. If it were up to the Lees, Bryants, Carters and Murrays we'd be worse.

 

[LUVDABOYS]

The Eagles imploded, and the Gnats had their usual "bottom feeder" role after their Super bowl year. Otherwise I dont think we would have sniffed 8-8 last year. Just sayin
We were pretty bad, and this guys opinion is the same off base opinion that Jerry has every year. I'm hoping our new defense can save our butts, cause it's not looking good so far on the offensive side of the ball. More same ole, same ole I fear. And I'm almost always an optomist.

 

[Idgit]

Sad so many are content with just contending for the playoffs....

Once upon a time we were satisfied with nothing less then contending for or winning the SUPER BOWL.

Meh. You have to start with what's reasonable. It doesn't make any sense to be irate that you're not contending for Superbowls when you've struggled to make playoffs.

What matters is getting better, season after season, and building a contender. If that takes a couple years, it's not the end of the world as long as there's progress.

It's sadder, in my book, to turn one's nose up at progress because it doesn't represent *enough* progress. Some things take more than two off seasons to build.

 

[CATCH17]

Came across this article by Dan Graziano about the Cowboys and thought it was worth a mention on here (I apologize if this was already posted). Some of this guy's work is decent, and some of it is meh, but I thought this article was pretty objective and not too far off the mark.

Link:

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/49753/how-desperate-are-the-cowboys-really

Excerpt:

"Each of the past two seasons, they made it to the final game with a chance to win the division. By definition, that's a contending team, and as close to being a playoff team as one can get. They must improve in spots, most notably the offensive line, or it's going to be hard to believe they can make any big leap forward. But I don't agree with the perception that they're in big trouble because they were hamstrung this week in free agency. I think there are a lot of very good players on the Cowboys' roster who, if properly supported by a good draft and some smart free-agent bargain hunting, can make this a competitive team in 2013, just as it was in 2011 and 2012.

I think that's worth keeping in mind, is all."

If we've lowered our standards as Cowboy fans then yes we aren't so bad afterall.

 

[DenCWBY]

If is a huge word on this board.

If this, if that....

I guess I like my coffee black, no sugar.

That is the same thing I keep rolling my eyes too.
It's as if we will be immune from injuries this coming year since we had some significant injuries last year so depth really is not a concern. It's as if we'll definitely execute without penalties this year as opposed to last year. It's as if our D will immediately pick up and thrive in the 4-3 because we picked up an old coach (who was successful approx a decade ago) and pretty much lost touch with it ever since. It's as if we have a new QB who's now passed all the mental hurdles for a playoff atmosphere and has found his "elite" form. It's as if our coach has made up his mind to delegate play calling so he can focus on the bigger picture.
It's as if the Dline/Oline and Safety positions are completely fixed with the draft.
Not saying all these things can't happen or change for the better but I'll judge after our first 4 games and throughout December.
Until then the FACT is we are middle of the road.

 

[InmanRoshi]

The 6th most difficult schedule in the 2012 season according to adjusted winning% and the 5th most injury stricken team in the 2012 NFL in Football Outsiders Adjusted Games Lost. Even with no additions to the roster, there is a very likely chance of a better 2013 in terms of winning% with an easier schedule and a regression to mean on injuries.