My solutions for a better 2022

[RonnieT24]

This is pure speculation on my part but I feel like he's been coached to run less after the injury. What's not speculation is the designed QB runs are gone from the playbook. You are right though when Dak scrambles it adds an extra element to the offense. The TD that made it 23 to 17 is a prime example.

The maddening part is that it was there all day. We could have run that play 10 times and been successful on 7 of them. Yes I expect a defense to make the adjustments or just beat you sometimes but we could have had another 80-100 yards of offense and likely another TD if we just took advantage..

 

[Haimerej]

I'm sorry are you equating flag football with the NFL game? There's the not so small matter of 300 pound men crashing all around the QB's feet and getting in his face to deal with too.. Please never mention 7 on 7 again when discussing how football is played.

You probably think when they run 7 on 7 the QB is supposed to just wait for guys to get open instead of anticipating the routes, reading the defense, and making the throw.

I take issue with you acting as though dropping 7 in coverage is some kind of death sentence because guys can't get open. That's not how football works. You think other QBs never have 7 drop in coverage? You think every time they dropped 7 there wasn't an open window before one of those 4 rushers got home?

How many other excuses do you have for Prescott being an average QB?

 

[Creeper]

After the pain of this latest nut kick has calmed down enough.. we must endeavor to figure out to avoid a repeat next season. Here's mine..

#1 ) Fire Philbin - The o-line struggles are on him.. These guys are too good to be getting whipped with this much regularity. he gotta go...

#2) and maybe 1a) replace Williams.. too many holding calls and too many times pushed back into the QB or the running back.. He gotta go.

#3) Pray somebody hires Kellen Moore away.. When teams are all saying the same thing about how to stop your offense (and it keeps working) then it's time for a new offense. The Cowboys have never been good when they could not run the ball consistently.. and Moore does not want to run the ball at all. He gotta go.

#4) Draft another Micah Parsons.. no not necessarily another super freak linebacker.. just another hungry play maker on defense. Failing that, get us a dawg for the offensive line to replace either Williams or Biadasz.. better if we could replace both.. maybe one draft pick, maybe one FA vet.

#5) Get healthy.. Captain Obvious right.. The big three of Dak, Zeke and Tyron being dinged up frankly derailed this season as much as anything.. Neither of these guys was the same player after their injury and the cumulative effect on the offense when THEY dropped off was monumental.

#6) Put all the DTs on whatever program Neville Gallimore was on.. Dude clearly put on 25-30 pounds of muscle this offseason and came back a completely different body type. He now has 1-tech size and 3-tech agility.

#7) Pay whatever it takes to keep Dan Quinn.. that turnaround on defense was amazing. Even in this playoff game after getting run over early the adjustments to slow the 49ers down were impressive.

I'm sure there are other areas folks would like to give attention.. but these were the first ones that leapt to mind for me. By all means.. please share yours..

Overall I am on board with this plan. I cannot say I know enough to blame Philbin for the offensive line woes, but there are just too many plays where the OL messes up their assignments. The OL is playing like the defense did under Nolan.

Also, getting healthy is essential, but staying healthy is even more essential. Tyron has a history of getting injured and missing games. Zeke does not but maybe he started something this year. I just think Zeke has gotten to slow. He is slow making cuts and slow running. Love his blocking in the backfield but as a threat, Pollard is the guy. I think Dak's problems are in his head. He needs a QB whisperer who can turn Dak around when he loses his mental edge.

One more note on Zeke Pollard, did anyone see the video of David Carr talking about what his brother said about the Cowboys when the Raiders played them? David Carr asked his brother Derek who the Raiders fear most on the Cowboys offense and he said without hesitation Tony Pollard. Tony Pollard had 4 carries against the 49ers.

 

[glimmerman]

I don't know about that.. he had 170-ish yards 0 TDs and an INT. I didn't watch all their games this year but I guarantee you he had better games than that. But he got 170-ish yards RUSHING to back him up.. What's kinda ironic to me is that they ran their running back 27 times for 96 yards .. right around 3.5 ypc.. If we had done that with Zeke our fan base would be losing its mind about all the "wasted plays." Go figure.. Funny thing is Zeke averaged like 5 ypc on his edge runs.. and < 2 ypc on the middle runs on Sunday.. yet we never tried to just load up on the wide runs and do to the 49ers what they were doing to us which was spread the defense out, pull linemen and attack the edges of the defense. We kept plunging into the 2000 pounds of humanity up the middle.. and scratching our heads about why it wasn't working..

Was crazy that they never noticed outside runs worked. Pollards big run was outside.. If they kept pounding inside and outside we would have broken one. They never hang with it long enough..

 

[CowboyFrog]

I'll agree completly about letting KM go...but that does not fully explain how the entire teams comes out flat after a week of being trash talked by the other team and Media...I'm sure it will pass but right now I'm sick of hearing it, the BS after games, the excuses....At this point it may be time to turn over anyone who has JG on thier resume...Again I'm still fuming and it may pass ..but there is no excuse for not comming to play last Sunday....Might as well been watching the clapper on the sideline with how that went. At some point a rebuild would be fatser than this slow death we are living through....GRRRR.

 

[CouchCoach]

After the pain of this latest nut kick has calmed down enough.. we must endeavor to figure out to avoid a repeat next season. Here's mine..

#1 ) Fire Philbin - The o-line struggles are on him.. These guys are too good to be getting whipped with this much regularity. he gotta go...

#2) and maybe 1a) replace Williams.. too many holding calls and too many times pushed back into the QB or the running back.. He gotta go.

#3) Pray somebody hires Kellen Moore away.. When teams are all saying the same thing about how to stop your offense (and it keeps working) then it's time for a new offense. The Cowboys have never been good when they could not run the ball consistently.. and Moore does not want to run the ball at all. He gotta go.

#4) Draft another Micah Parsons.. no not necessarily another super freak linebacker.. just another hungry play maker on defense. Failing that, get us a dawg for the offensive line to replace either Williams or Biadasz.. better if we could replace both.. maybe one draft pick, maybe one FA vet.

#5) Get healthy.. Captain Obvious right.. The big three of Dak, Zeke and Tyron being dinged up frankly derailed this season as much as anything.. Neither of these guys was the same player after their injury and the cumulative effect on the offense when THEY dropped off was monumental.

#6) Put all the DTs on whatever program Neville Gallimore was on.. Dude clearly put on 25-30 pounds of muscle this offseason and came back a completely different body type. He now has 1-tech size and 3-tech agility.

#7) Pay whatever it takes to keep Dan Quinn.. that turnaround on defense was amazing. Even in this playoff game after getting run over early the adjustments to slow the 49ers down were impressive.

I'm sure there are other areas folks would like to give attention.. but these were the first ones that leapt to mind for me. By all means.. please share yours..

#1 is ridiculous, Philbin isn't the reason they're making pre snap mistakes, he can't do anything about to and they probably had to beg Booger to bench Williams for the penalties.
#7 isn't reasonable because money won't keep him in Dallas. The lack of a realistic opportunity might but not just paying him more.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

This is a good point.. But remember, most of Steele's improvement was credited to his hard work and dedication in the offseason program. He was one of the winners in the offseason weight training.. so maybe his improvement goes more to the strength and conditioning staff than to Philbin.. Not saying Philbin had nothing to do with it.. but maybe not as much as you think..

So all that praise Philbin got in late 2020 for putting together a competent line when all of these O-line GOATS were injured was just due to all the hard work those guys did by themselves. Who knew. Look, I don't even remotely care if Dallas lets go of Philbin, but what I am telling you to prepare to be disappointed if you or anyone else thinks that will fix the O-line without a talent infusion. This line is completely overrated and has been for a while.

- Tyron Smith - Missed over half of his starts since Philbin has been here. He can still dominate when healthy, but he hasn't lasted a full season for years now.
- Zack Martin has continued to play at an elite level, even when he was asked to step out as a tackle last season.
- Biadasz is a fourth round pick that the coaching staff was clearly looking to replace this past offseason.
- Connor Williams has played the exact same as he he did pre-Philbin. He cannot anchor against the better tackles in this league.
- Collins has missed over half of his starts since Philbin has been here, plus he was never as good of a tackle as he was at guard.

You have two players that are maybe league average and two more that have missed over half of their starts since Philbin has been here. That's four out of five positions that are liabilities at least 50 % of the games that this coaching staff has been in place. This group is not special and hasn't been for a while.

 

[offlimits]

I'm not going to judge him based on 12 games played on one leg.. I think it's more fair to judge him based on what he was BEFORE he got hurt.. which was 5.5 ypc and > 90 yards/game. I think most people would take that over the course of a season. The coaches and trainers blew it by not letting him get scoped right when he hurt it. Yes he might have missed 8-10 games but who cares? He would have been back breathing fire for the playoffs. The bigger question IMHO is why did they keep him in the lineup over Pollard and Clement et al if they knew he had a torn ligament in his damn knee. That was stupid by all parties involved.

Another year and more wear and tear. Draft a TB in the 3rd-4th rd and spot play Zeke. Pollard/Clement and DP should get the bulk of carries.

 

[Acceptablename]

After the pain of this latest nut kick has calmed down enough.. we must endeavor to figure out to avoid a repeat next season. Here's mine..

#1 ) Fire Philbin - The o-line struggles are on him.. These guys are too good to be getting whipped with this much regularity. he gotta go...

#2) and maybe 1a) replace Williams.. too many holding calls and too many times pushed back into the QB or the running back.. He gotta go.

#3) Pray somebody hires Kellen Moore away.. When teams are all saying the same thing about how to stop your offense (and it keeps working) then it's time for a new offense. The Cowboys have never been good when they could not run the ball consistently.. and Moore does not want to run the ball at all. He gotta go.

#4) Draft another Micah Parsons.. no not necessarily another super freak linebacker.. just another hungry play maker on defense. Failing that, get us a dawg for the offensive line to replace either Williams or Biadasz.. better if we could replace both.. maybe one draft pick, maybe one FA vet.

#5) Get healthy.. Captain Obvious right.. The big three of Dak, Zeke and Tyron being dinged up frankly derailed this season as much as anything.. Neither of these guys was the same player after their injury and the cumulative effect on the offense when THEY dropped off was monumental.

#6) Put all the DTs on whatever program Neville Gallimore was on.. Dude clearly put on 25-30 pounds of muscle this offseason and came back a completely different body type. He now has 1-tech size and 3-tech agility.

#7) Pay whatever it takes to keep Dan Quinn.. that turnaround on defense was amazing. Even in this playoff game after getting run over early the adjustments to slow the 49ers down were impressive.

I'm sure there are other areas folks would like to give attention.. but these were the first ones that leapt to mind for me. By all means.. please share yours..

Your reading my mail however Quinn is gone sorry. It ain’t money

 

[JBS]

No offense but this plan wont change anything

 

[RonnieT24]

You probably think when they run 7 on 7 the QB is supposed to just wait for guys to get open instead of anticipating the routes, reading the defense, and making the throw.

I take issue with you acting as though dropping 7 in coverage is some kind of death sentence because guys can't get open. That's not how football works. You think other QBs never have 7 drop in coverage? You think every time they dropped 7 there wasn't an open window before one of those 4 rushers got home?

How many other excuses do you have for Prescott being an average QB?

Obviously not since he completed 24 passes.. Nobody said anything about a death sentence.. Even when "struggling" the offense still managed to put up like 25 ppg and over 300 yards of offense. Just because they don't hang 40 on every team doesn't mean they suck. You're not going to hang 40 on good teams with any regularity.. That's kinda the way it works.. Quit acting like every time they don't then we need to remake the whole damn roster. We need to figure out how to score another TD against these good teams.. That is all. Do that and this team goes what? 14-3? 15-2? and would have been sitting home watching the playoffs waiting to see who is coming to Dallas this coming week. The biggest problem is that they continue to stumble out of the gate... That problem showed up when Kellen Moore took over the play calling. Before that the Cowboys were notorious for taking the ball when they won the toss and punching it in on their opening drive.

 

[RonnieT24]

No offense but this plan wont change anything

None taken.. what's yours?

 

[zrinkill]

Only changes that will matter will be if Jerry and Stephan both drink themselves to death.

They are the biggest hindrance to this team and winning.

 

[RonWashington]

I hope we draw the NFC Tundra division next season . The AFC West was a little rough on Dallas . Home games vs GB and Minny with away games in Detroit & Chicago be nice to go along with the half dozen glazed donuts the NFC East serves for breakfast every season .

 

[RonnieT24]

Only changes that will matter will be if Jerry and Stephan both drink themselves to death.

They are the biggest hindrance to this team and winning.

Well first of all let us all thank you for that well thought out input.. Very original too.

 

[JBS]

None taken.. what's yours?

I’m not going to lie. Fixing this situation isn’t easy. I’m not sure I have a great solution either but I’ll try.

ideal scenario

Fire MM and acquire S. Payton

let S. Payton select his own staff. New OC and new DC. The idea here is to let Payton come in and try and change the culture of this franchise. On the field, we need somebody that can help Dak elevate his game. Somebody that is going to be tough on him and demand him to improve and be better. Payton definitely has that hard *** in him. This situation is highly unlikely. For a lot of different reasons.

A more realistic scenario - while still a bit unlikely

Fire MM, hire DQ as head coach and allow Quinn to hire his own staff. Bye bye Moore.

word on the street is Quinn has an excellent staff in place for his next head coaching job (likely Denver)

I’ve seen it reported that it’s highly possible L. Getsy (GB passing coordinator)and J. Mayo (Patriots LB coach) are going to be his coordinators. Bring those guys to Dallas and let Quinn take over.

Neither are likely. Neither are guaranteed to work. But leaving MM in at HC definitely isn’t going to work, imo.

 

[RonnieT24]

I hope we draw the NFC Tundra division next season . The AFC West was a little rough on Dallas . Home games vs GB and Minny with away games in Detroit & Chicago be nice to go along with the half dozen glazed donuts the NFC East serves for breakfast every season .

I've never been one to worry much about the schedule.. other than that 3 games in 11 days crap around Thanksgiving pissing me off that is. The Cowboys need to play up to their capabilities regardless of who the opponent is.. If they do that then I will be fine with whatever the outcome may be..

 

[Haimerej]

Obviously not since he completed 24 passes.. Nobody said anything about a death sentence.. Even when "struggling" the offense still managed to put up like 25 ppg and over 300 yards of offense. Just because they don't hang 40 on every team doesn't mean they suck. You're not going to hang 40 on good teams with any regularity.. That's kinda the way it works.. Quit acting like every time they don't then we need to remake the whole damn roster.

Not sure why you're bringing up hanging 40 on every team. They scored 17 points in this game, not 25. Which has been pretty typical of how they performed against the teams that are still playing.

But let's go back to your initial statement. You said the solution for Dak to beat dropping 7 in coverage is for him to run the ball. That's ridiculous. The solution is for him to recognize the coverage, use his progressions, and make a decision. How you've brought that to, "remake the whole damn roster," just shows you're not reading what I'm saying, just making assumptions.

We need to figure out how to score another TD against these good teams.. That is all. Do that and this team goes what? 14-3? 15-2? and would have been sitting home watching the playoffs waiting to see who is coming to Dallas this coming week. The biggest problem is that they continue to stumble out of the gate... That problem showed up when Kellen Moore took over the play calling. Before that the Cowboys were notorious for taking the ball when they won the toss and punching it in on their opening drive.

McCarthy changed that, fwiw.

If you don't think Dak is an issue, why do teams say they want to make Dak beat them? I know you can't be happy with the run game this year, especially lately. Why would SF's HC say he liked the matchup of his banged up secondary vs Dak better than if DAL's run game got going?

Will we hear any other teams (other than SFs opponent) make a similar claim in the playoffs?

"Got to stop the run and make Rodgers/Brady/Allen/Mahomes/Stafford(maybe?) beat us." You just don't hear that about the good QBs.

 

[RonnieT24]

I’m not going to lie. Fixing this situation isn’t easy. I’m not sure I have a great solution either but I’ll try.

ideal scenario

Fire MM and acquire S. Payton

let S. Payton select his own staff. New OC and new DC. The idea here is to let Payton come in and try and change the culture of this franchise. On the field, we need somebody that can help Dak elevate his game. Somebody that is going to be tough on him and demand him to improve and be better. Payton definitely has that hard *** in him. This situation is highly unlikely. For a lot of different reasons.

A more realistic scenario - while still a bit unlikely

Fire MM, hire DQ as head coach and allow Quinn to hire his own staff. Bye bye Moore.

word on the street is Quinn has an excellent staff in place for his next head coaching job (likely Denver)

I’ve seen it reported that it’s highly possible L. Getsy (GB passing coordinator)and J. Mayo (Patriots LB coach) are going to be his coordinators. Bring those guys to Dallas and let Quinn take over.

Neither are likely. Neither are guaranteed to work. But leaving MM in at HC definitely isn’t going to work, imo.

Fair enough.. not a bad set of ideas either.. as unlikely as they might be.. I tried to be more realistic... focusing on what I think CAN be done ... I'm not ready to close the book on McCarthy yet but I would really like to see HIM calling the plays on Sunday instead of Moore.. But there has to be a reason why he is willing to stand there on the sideline and let Moore keep calling the same runs up the middle when the line is getting its collective arse kicked.. And all the deep drops despite the glaring inability to protect.. I just wish I knew what that reason was..

 

[zrinkill]

Well first of all let us all thank you for that well thought out input.. Very original too.

Thank you ..... Glad you liked it