My take

cowboys1981

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First off, most on here will call me a homer. I have alot of optimism in general in life. I want to offer my take on the first quarter of the season.

We found ways to win two divisional games early on and that could eventually come in to play as inconsistent as our rivals have been.

Losing Gregory put us back down to relying solely on Mincey who is more of a run stuffer than pass rusher. He also provides leadership on the field. Losing McClain also hurt and we were impacted when both of these guys were out vs ATL. Last night we lost Lee and relied ob Hitchens to call our plays and despite the communication hiccup on the final play, he played relatively well. Wilson also played good and probably made Smith expendable.

Our secondary has been more consistent in coverage vs last year. Church is inconsistent in tackling angles and Wilcox seems to be better suited to be the SS while we need a true FS. I won't jump on Jones like some on here are already doing because he's coming in as a rookie trying to play two different spots. He's having to absorb twice as much as any other rookie who is called to play one spot. Mo has been the most consistent CB we've had and Carr has been ok with the exception of his tackling efforts.

Our Oline has looked good when the defense isn't loading the box and in the last two games they haven't looked as good in the second half in large part due to having more defenders coming through the LOS vs the number of capable blockers we have to counter. With Romo at the helm he keeps the defense honest and when Dez is lined up defenses can't play 8 in. With Romo out Weeden has proven to be a solid back up and his 91 yard drive should give our offense confidence moving forward. He's avg 24 ppg behind the center with defenses playing us tight.

As far as receivers go Williams is a prototypical number 2. He'll. Have good games and have some bad ones as well. People get upset when he doesn't play to number one status.

Running backs have been great in the first half and sub par in the second in large part due to adjustments defenses are making. We don't have an all in one back but they do compliment each other ok and I still would like to see Michael more on any situation where the run play isn't the obvious play.


Gameplan, overall we play our defense to a bend but don't break, offense to be conservative and our ST return game to a fair catch phenomenon. At some point we need to risk the ST game with Whitehead and give the kid a shot at it. Warm him up into it by at
least letting him in on kickoff returns and go from there.

Overall we're at .500 and this season is far from over. Anything can happen in this league as there are no certainties. Until this team is out I'm believing otherwise.
 
It's over man. Not like we're getting back three impact defensive players this week or arguably the best receiver in the league after the bye. We're cooked.

Overt optimism got us stitches last night. But I hear you.
 
I actually think we can beat Seattle, Giants, Eagles, and the Bucs. The Pats I think we will lose but it will be closer than most people think. Our defense is going to get better with the additions that are coming back (Gregory, Hardy,McLain) and with Bryant coming back I think it will open up the offense. Just my 2 cents.
 
I'm as optimistic as it gets, but we are screwed unless the rest of the NFCE lays an egg
 
I actually think we can beat Seattle, Giants, Eagles, and the Bucs. The Pats I think we will lose but it will be closer than most people think. Our defense is going to get better with the additions that are coming back (Gregory, Hardy,McLain) and with Bryant coming back I think it will open up the offense. Just my 2 cents.

Getting Bryant back will be huge. Even if it takes him a couple weeks to get back to normal, teams will still double him and that'll open it up for the rest of the offense.
 
Our defense is going to get better.

it better, because 2nd half vs atlanta and on 2 occasions with the game on the line last night, the defense was an embarrassment. No other way to put it, it's been a disgrace.
 
I'm as optimistic as it gets, but we are screwed unless the rest of the NFCE lays an egg

Or if we beat Phi and NY ontop of TB game. We'll have two weeks to prep for NY and Phily has a vanilla offense that we have pegged without the key players who are coming back. TB is no gimmie but I know we can come together as a team and push for that win. The Seattle game is winnable as well with their lame duck offense. Our defense had a similar game against them last year like their performance vs Philly in wk 2. They have a tough defense and I can see us winning that game 23-20.
 
Regardless of injuries, our coaches need to do a better job of scheming around what our players can do.

Green Bay was decimated in 2013, Arizona was decimated last year. Both teams made the playoffs, and Arizona got a 4 seed.

We have looked bad in each of our four games, regardless of health. Our offensive line struggling and our coaches doing nothing special are large reasons why we've lost two games, not just the injury excuse. I'm usually a "players have to execute" type of guy, and they most certainly do. But our coaches need to show some creativity with the game plan a bit, and the ability to adjust quicker.
 
Regardless of injuries, our coaches need to do a better job of scheming around what our players can do.

Green Bay was decimated in 2013, Arizona was decimated last year. Both teams made the playoffs, and Arizona got a 4 seed.

We have looked bad in each of our four games, regardless of health. Our offensive line struggling and our coaches doing nothing special are large reasons why we've lost two games, not just the injury excuse. I'm usually a "players have to execute" type of guy, and they most certainly do. But our coaches need to show some creativity with the game plan a bit, and the ability to adjust quicker.
Difference is Arizona started getting decimated after being like 9-1 or something.
 
Difference is Arizona started getting decimated after being like 9-1 or something.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/crd/2014_injuries.htm
They were without their top two pass rushers and their best linebacker almost all of the year. Plus they were winning with their backup QB for half the year, and a few games with their 3rd string.

Point is teams get hit, but if we could get a bit more with the coaching staff and the offensive line, we might be able to win some of these tight games.
 
First off, most on here will call me a homer. I have alot of optimism in general in life. I want to offer my take on the first quarter of the season.

We found ways to win two divisional games early on and that could eventually come in to play as inconsistent as our rivals have been.

Losing Gregory put us back down to relying solely on Mincey who is more of a run stuffer than pass rusher. He also provides leadership on the field. Losing McClain also hurt and we were impacted when both of these guys were out vs ATL. Last night we lost Lee and relied ob Hitchens to call our plays and despite the communication hiccup on the final play, he played relatively well. Wilson also played good and probably made Smith expendable.

Our secondary has been more consistent in coverage vs last year. Church is inconsistent in tackling angles and Wilcox seems to be better suited to be the SS while we need a true FS. I won't jump on Jones like some on here are already doing because he's coming in as a rookie trying to play two different spots. He's having to absorb twice as much as any other rookie who is called to play one spot. Mo has been the most consistent CB we've had and Carr has been ok with the exception of his tackling efforts.

Our Oline has looked good when the defense isn't loading the box and in the last two games they haven't looked as good in the second half in large part due to having more defenders coming through the LOS vs the number of capable blockers we have to counter. With Romo at the helm he keeps the defense honest and when Dez is lined up defenses can't play 8 in. With Romo out Weeden has proven to be a solid back up and his 91 yard drive should give our offense confidence moving forward. He's avg 24 ppg behind the center with defenses playing us tight.

As far as receivers go Williams is a prototypical number 2. He'll. Have good games and have some bad ones as well. People get upset when he doesn't play to number one status.

Running backs have been great in the first half and sub par in the second in large part due to adjustments defenses are making. We don't have an all in one back but they do compliment each other ok and I still would like to see Michael more on any situation where the run play isn't the obvious play.


Gameplan, overall we play our defense to a bend but don't break, offense to be conservative and our ST return game to a fair catch phenomenon. At some point we need to risk the ST game with Whitehead and give the kid a shot at it. Warm him up into it by at
least letting him in on kickoff returns and go from there.

Overall we're at .500 and this season is far from over. Anything can happen in this league as there are no certainties. Until this team is out I'm believing otherwise.

Great points across the board. I agree with everything you said. Great read
 
I actually think we can beat Seattle, Giants, Eagles, and the Bucs. The Pats I think we will lose but it will be closer than most people think. Our defense is going to get better with the additions that are coming back (Gregory, Hardy,McLain) and with Bryant coming back I think it will open up the offense. Just my 2 cents.

I think we can also beat the Patriots
 
I'm as optimistic as it gets, but we are screwed unless the rest of the NFCE lays an egg

I think you are right on the money here. We MUST win the East in all probability to get in the playoffs.

The Cards amd Hawks would seem to be good enough. The Packers are having it easy so far.

The Falcons and Panthers are looking good in a weak division.

Only one spot left and that would go to the winner of the East. Hopefully the Gmen have their annual implosion and the Commanders lack of a real QB over a long season causes them to fail.

The season is a long one, but if we need 10 wins, where do we get them?
 

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