My Take On Season and Ending

TwoDeep3

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I don't normally do this, but felt the urge to put into words my thoughts.

First, what an exciting season. Not one person here can truthfully say they saw 13-3 coming. When Romo was on the ground in the preseason this entire board let out a primal scream. But then the preseason revealed Dak could play a bit.

The Giant's opening game was a heart breaker, and there were many of us that felt this would be business as usual for the 2016 Cowboys. Maybe stay close in some, perhaps most, but lose late.

Then the winning started, and continued week after week. And in all this we were reminded weekly that Dak and Zeke were rookies, but more and more this board was convinced that didn't matter. I know I sure was.

In the big scheme of things, it didn't matter that they were rookies. Because their play forced Romo to sit except for one insignificant series in the last game of the year. take that in, a rookie caused the most prolific quarterback this team has ever fielded to sit and watch when he was healthy.

The Green Bay game was tough. All the stats posted on this board about how improved the defense was felt hollow to me as time wore on. I don't believe in stats, nor do I believe that stats are indicative of the truth. They cherry pick their meaning and like every documentary you have ever seen, they are a reflection of the posters/directors point-of-view. They seem good when you are debating football, but we saw how that top five defense looked yesterday

However...

Two major penalties and significant dropped passes stopped drives which appeared to be headed for points allowed Green Bay to lead 21-3. This was not poor play on the play makers, but mistakes by the supporting cast which scuttled those drives. And yet Dallas made adjustments and shut down the Green Bay offense in the second half, holding Green Bay, the ultimate offense, to 13 points.

Don't think they were not trying to throw and do what they did in the first half. The adjustments by Dallas worked.

Today is rainy and bleak in Dallas, both figuratively and literally. I see the posts stating there are no guarantees from one year to the next, and understand after 20 years of beat down where this comes from.

But truthfully this entire offense will be back, with perhaps a better tackle when Free forced to step aside, and a replacement for Williams, who chest catches balls and allows them to bounce off and kill drives.

Realize what you saw yesterday. Regardless of where the Green Bay defense rated, Dallas with a rookie quarterback tied the game late. Team with huge leads have an easier time against the one that trails most times, yet Dallas made a contest of this.

I would like to know who called for the spike. Was that a sidelines decision or Dak's. It was a mistake no matter what. If the sidelines, they panicked and should have called for the time out. If Dak's, I have confidence he will learn.

The real score by Green Bay that hurt the most was the touchdown in the second half. Stop that and turn it into a field goal or punt and the game plays out differently.

Being unhappy today is where we all are. But to assume this team will disappear because that is the way it works ignores the offense that was outstanding all year long.

We will see what Jerry and his cadre of coaches, scouts and upper management can do about putting teeth in this defense. And perhaps that will come with the trading of Romo.

I see no scenario where they allow Romo to walk without some compensation. They will eat the 2017 contract before they do that. And as they should since the team will need a competent back-up.

But no matter what, all off-seasons are long. Yet for the first time in a very long time, next year's team has meaning.

Keep your chin up and remember the 1991 Dallas Cowboys and that beat down in Detroit. From the ashes rises hope.
 

Sydla

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One little nit............ not all stats indicated this defense was pretty decent. Opposing passer rating showed the defense to be mediocre. Advanced stats like Football Outsiders showed the defense to be average to below average. People just cherry picked things like points against and concluded they were good. But a deeper look at all the stats showed it was a highly flawed defense.
 

perrykemp

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The Cowboys great offense that dominated in TOP masked deficiencies with the defense.

They were an average defense in reality -- not Top 10 at some of the stats indicated but definitely not bottom 10 like they had been the past couple of years.
 

Proximo

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Good post OP.

And while nothing is guaranteed from year to year, I'm going to allow myself to feel good about this teams potential in the 2017 season. Our arrow is pointing up.
 

ShiningStar

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at the end of the year, Dallas did better than expected but how much blames is spread around, or do you clean a few spots and pick a new direction for the new core?
 

Ranching

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We all knew our defense was suspect coming into the season, the fact that our offense played so well with a rookie QB was a pleasant surprise. Offense seems pretty set moving forward, GM Jerry needs to find a way to upgrade the defense with the RKG, no need to disrupt team chemistry like he did with the addition of Hardy last year.
Garrett.......never been a fan, but I admit, he started growing on me this year, however, yesterday's game reminded me that he is more of a motivational speaker and cheerleader. I won't go into the spike, but a head coach should be ALL over his coordinators to make in game adjustments. Waiting til halftime is too late. He should have been in Linehan's ear to run the DANG ball on short yardage situations. GB had no answer for Elliott, and if Rodgers can run the zone option, why the hell cant Dak...
 

Jake

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First thing I thought about after the game.

The future is bright.

Pittsburgh went 15-1 in Roethlisberger's rookie year, only to get blown out by the Patriots in the playoffs. He won a couple rings over the next few seasons.

Dak actually played better than he did as a rookie, but Ben was helped going forward by a stout defense. We need that.
 

SoBlue128

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First thing I thought about after the game.

The future is bright.


Yeah I was thinking the same thing when the Boys were down 21-3. I posted in another thread that I think last night and as a whole this season was just a teaser of what's to come. I'm already excited for the draft
 

LittleBoyBlue

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In the end....

Because it doesn't matter what happened up until that point... in the end....


The game was lost due to poor decisions... in the end...

It doesnt matter if your defense gives up 100 points.... if the game is there to be won ....


In the end.


You CANNOT lose the game for your team.

He did.
We did.


In the end....
Destiny was altered!
 

Oh_Canada

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The Cowboys great offense that dominated in TOP masked deficiencies with the defense.

They were an average defense in reality -- not Top 10 at some of the stats indicated but definitely not bottom 10 like they had been the past couple of years.

This is true and why I never really believed this team was good enough this year.
 

RS12

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Forget advanced stats. If you have seen thousands of games what do your eyes and memory tell you? If your front seven cant consistently get pressure on a good QB, games like yesterday result. Yesterday was a slightly different variation of two years ago.
 

btcutter

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I don't normally do this, but felt the urge to put into words my thoughts.

First, what an exciting season. Not one person here can truthfully say they saw 13-3 coming. When Romo was on the ground in the preseason this entire board let out a primal scream. But then the preseason revealed Dak could play a bit.

The Giant's opening game was a heart breaker, and there were many of us that felt this would be business as usual for the 2016 Cowboys. Maybe stay close in some, perhaps most, but lose late.

Then the winning started, and continued week after week. And in all this we were reminded weekly that Dak and Zeke were rookies, but more and more this board was convinced that didn't matter. I know I sure was.

In the big scheme of things, it didn't matter that they were rookies. Because their play forced Romo to sit except for one insignificant series in the last game of the year. take that in, a rookie caused the most prolific quarterback this team has ever fielded to sit and watch when he was healthy.

The Green Bay game was tough. All the stats posted on this board about how improved the defense was felt hollow to me as time wore on. I don't believe in stats, nor do I believe that stats are indicative of the truth. They cherry pick their meaning and like every documentary you have ever seen, they are a reflection of the posters/directors point-of-view. They seem good when you are debating football, but we saw how that top five defense looked yesterday

However...

Two major penalties and significant dropped passes stopped drives which appeared to be headed for points allowed Green Bay to lead 21-3. This was not poor play on the play makers, but mistakes by the supporting cast which scuttled those drives. And yet Dallas made adjustments and shut down the Green Bay offense in the second half, holding Green Bay, the ultimate offense, to 13 points.

Don't think they were not trying to throw and do what they did in the first half. The adjustments by Dallas worked.

Today is rainy and bleak in Dallas, both figuratively and literally. I see the posts stating there are no guarantees from one year to the next, and understand after 20 years of beat down where this comes from.

But truthfully this entire offense will be back, with perhaps a better tackle when Free forced to step aside, and a replacement for Williams, who chest catches balls and allows them to bounce off and kill drives.

Realize what you saw yesterday. Regardless of where the Green Bay defense rated, Dallas with a rookie quarterback tied the game late. Team with huge leads have an easier time against the one that trails most times, yet Dallas made a contest of this.

I would like to know who called for the spike. Was that a sidelines decision or Dak's. It was a mistake no matter what. If the sidelines, they panicked and should have called for the time out. If Dak's, I have confidence he will learn.

The real score by Green Bay that hurt the most was the touchdown in the second half. Stop that and turn it into a field goal or punt and the game plays out differently.

Being unhappy today is where we all are. But to assume this team will disappear because that is the way it works ignores the offense that was outstanding all year long.

We will see what Jerry and his cadre of coaches, scouts and upper management can do about putting teeth in this defense. And perhaps that will come with the trading of Romo.

I see no scenario where they allow Romo to walk without some compensation. They will eat the 2017 contract before they do that. And as they should since the team will need a competent back-up.

But no matter what, all off-seasons are long. Yet for the first time in a very long time, next year's team has meaning.

Keep your chin up and remember the 1991 Dallas Cowboys and that beat down in Detroit. From the ashes rises hope.


Batman Begins........
 

gmoney112

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Great season, but the ending has basically put a nail in my excitement for football.

When it counts, there will always be some weird, crazy interpretation of the rules or some egregious "misses" that does the Cowboys in during the postseason. The huddle penalty hasn't been called in 30 years, the catch in 2014. 10 points off the board on two officiating errors with the huddle and Witten "miss".

I guess anyone that works in business isn't too surprised. The league is centered around the NE, specifically NY with the league office there and Goodell, Blandino getting Starbucks with Mara a few times a week. Or the fact notorious anti Cowboy Rooney, and the Stealers, are also in proximity and just seem to always benefit from the leagues officiating. Kraft as well. ESPN being a NE enterprise, gladly reporting and hiring anti Cowboys news for views, glossing over the fact the league is in total officiating disarray. Amazing how that works. Jerry is obviously not a part of the inner circle, and they seem to gladly play antagonist.

Not too surprising, the NFL is an ATM for billionaires. If anyone thinks their goal is a truly "fair" endeavor, I'd say lend me some naivety.

As much as I want, I just can't get excited about the league anymore. It is what it is, and until it stops being a cash cow they really couldn't care less if people have a problem with their narrative.
 

percyhoward

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All the stats posted on this board about how improved the defense was felt hollow to me as time wore on. I don't believe in stats, nor do I believe that stats are indicative of the truth. They seem good when you are debating football, but we saw how that top five defense looked yesterday
That's not a problem with stats, it's the problem of a little knowledge being a dangerous thing. We were a top 5 defense in large part due to offensive TOP that kept our defense off the field. And although we had improved on the amount of big scoring plays we allowed, and were forcing more fumbles, our defensive passer rating ranked 24th. Against QB who ranked an average of 18th when we faced them.

I know it's hard to catch every thread, but this was all discussed in this forum within the past month.
 

TwoDeep3

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That's not a problem with stats, it's the problem of a little knowledge being a dangerous thing. We were a top 5 defense in large part due to offensive TOP that kept our defense off the field. And although we had improved on the amount of big scoring plays we allowed, and were forcing more fumbles, our defensive passer rating ranked 24th. Against QB who ranked an average of 18th when we faced them.

I know it's hard to catch every thread, but this was all discussed in this forum within the past month.

Preaching to the choir, Percy. I have said this over and over about TOP and was told I didn't know shate from shinola about football here on ***BLOCKED***

Fact is I said this when they drafted Zeke during the time the Draft Ramsey people were throwing their tantrums for picking Zeke..
 

Broges74

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In the end....

Because it doesn't matter what happened up until that point... in the end....


The game was lost due to poor decisions... in the end...

It doesnt matter if your defense gives up 100 points.... if the game is there to be won ....


In the end.


You CANNOT lose the game for your team.

He did.
We did.


In the end....
Destiny was altered!
Destiny you say? That pass that grazed Lee's ear hole, a 56 yard fg that was making a bee line right but suddenly stopped hooking, a 51 yd fg that was drifting left then went right, 3rd and 20 with 35 seconds left and a pin point pass hits a TE that stops on a dime. Not to mention an int that was called back by a grab that had no real bearing on the play.

If there is destiny, it was on the side of the Pack last night.
 

CCBoy

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We all knew our defense was suspect coming into the season, the fact that our offense played so well with a rookie QB was a pleasant surprise. Offense seems pretty set moving forward, GM Jerry needs to find a way to upgrade the defense with the RKG, no need to disrupt team chemistry like he did with the addition of Hardy last year.
Garrett.......never been a fan, but I admit, he started growing on me this year, however, yesterday's game reminded me that he is more of a motivational speaker and cheerleader. I won't go into the spike, but a head coach should be ALL over his coordinators to make in game adjustments. Waiting til halftime is too late. He should have been in Linehan's ear to run the DANG ball on short yardage situations. GB had no answer for Elliott, and if Rodgers can run the zone option, why the hell cant Dak...

The Cowboys started to make adjustments in the second quarter...
 
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