My thoughts on Dak and this Team

[john van brocklin]

Teams that are really good have their key players playing up to or exceeding their contracts.

When you have large contracts and the player playing well below it, it kills your team because it ties up cap money and you can't keep quality players nor sign quality free agents.

Right now we have several large contracts that are not being lived up to.

1. Zeke, love the guy and he blocks his butt off, gets tough yards, but what else does he give you ?
2. Coop, Disappears several games a year.
3. Dlaw, has his moments, but has been hurt and not the consistent impact player he is being paid to be.
4. Dak, a Good but not elite player. Making elite QB dollars. We will win a lot of games with him, but he seems to really struggle against better teams. Really has a problem with being consistent with his mechanics.
I was really hoping that with Coach Mac being a QB guru that he could help Dak elevate his game and
improve.
And he did the first 7 games of the season.
But he has been so up and down the last 9 games.
I still have hope that whatever is broken can be fixed because we are tied to his contract with the guaranteed dollars.

 

[john van brocklin]

I guess I should have asked:
Any thoughts, comments, or rebuttals ?

 

[Vtwin]

Pretty much agree with everything you wrote.

It's hard for me to tell with Cooper. Does he disappear on his own or is it somewhat a product of the QB not giving him the opportunities in the 50/50 situations, or against certain coverages, that he might get from a more confident QB. I don't really know.

Injuries aside, Dlaw hasn't had much help until this season, and we are still not very strong in the middle of the line.

This is me trying to be optimistic.

 

[Aven8]

Teams that are really good have their key players playing up to or exceeding their contracts.

When you have large contracts and the player playing well below it, it kills your team because it ties up cap money and you can't keep quality players nor sign quality free agents.

Right now we have several large contracts that are not being lived up to.

1. Zeke, love the guy and he blocks his butt off, gets tough yards, but what else does he give you ?
2. Coop, Disappears several games a year.
3. Dlaw, has his moments, but has been hurt and not the consistent impact player he is being paid to be.
4. Dak, a Good but not elite player. Making elite QB dollars. We will win a lot of games with him, but he seems to really struggle against better teams. Really has a problem with being consistent with his mechanics.
I was really hoping that with Coach Mac being a QB guru that he could help Dak elevate his game and
improve.
And he did the first 7 games of the season.
But he has been so up and down the last 9 games.
I still have hope that whatever is broken can be fixed because we are tied to his contract with the guaranteed dollars.

Outside of the first 7 games we ran the ball. Since than we have scrapped it. It’s why our Offense is in a funk and I hope Moore is smart enough to get us out of this.

Remember we were trying to keep both backs fresh for the long season. It’s now or never

 

[tomsanders921]

Teams that are really good have their key players playing up to or exceeding their contracts.

When you have large contracts and the player playing well below it, it kills your team because it ties up cap money and you can't keep quality players nor sign quality free agents.

Right now we have several large contracts that are not being lived up to.

1. Zeke, love the guy and he blocks his butt off, gets tough yards, but what else does he give you ?
2. Coop, Disappears several games a year.
3. Dlaw, has his moments, but has been hurt and not the consistent impact player he is being paid to be.
4. Dak, a Good but not elite player. Making elite QB dollars. We will win a lot of games with him, but he seems to really struggle against better teams. Really has a problem with being consistent with his mechanics.
I was really hoping that with Coach Mac being a QB guru that he could help Dak elevate his game and
improve.
And he did the first 7 games of the season.
But he has been so up and down the last 9 games.
I still have hope that whatever is broken can be fixed because we are tied to his contract with the guaranteed dollars.

Agree.

And with regards to dlaw. Remember when people said he would have elite numbers if he had more help around him? Well he has plenty of help now but is the third best rusher on this team.

Granted, hes still a solid player, but hes making elite level money.

Remember Robert Quinn? We let him go because we couldn't pay him (had to pay dlaw). He has 18 sacks this year.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Teams that are really good have their key players playing up to or exceeding their contracts.

When you have large contracts and the player playing well below it, it kills your team because it ties up cap money and you can't keep quality players nor sign quality free agents.

Right now we have several large contracts that are not being lived up to.

1. Zeke, love the guy and he blocks his butt off, gets tough yards, but what else does he give you ?
2. Coop, Disappears several games a year.
3. Dlaw, has his moments, but has been hurt and not the consistent impact player he is being paid to be.
4. Dak, a Good but not elite player. Making elite QB dollars. We will win a lot of games with him, but he seems to really struggle against better teams. Really has a problem with being consistent with his mechanics.
I was really hoping that with Coach Mac being a QB guru that he could help Dak elevate his game and
improve.
And he did the first 7 games of the season.
But he has been so up and down the last 9 games.
I still have hope that whatever is broken can be fixed because we are tied to his contract with the guaranteed dollars.

What I will say is I liked seeing Dak on the move more. He's much more dangerous when he does that.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Teams that are really good have their key players playing up to or exceeding their contracts.

When you have large contracts and the player playing well below it, it kills your team because it ties up cap money and you can't keep quality players nor sign quality free agents.

Right now we have several large contracts that are not being lived up to.

1. Zeke, love the guy and he blocks his butt off, gets tough yards, but what else does he give you ?
2. Coop, Disappears several games a year.
3. Dlaw, has his moments, but has been hurt and not the consistent impact player he is being paid to be.
4. Dak, a Good but not elite player. Making elite QB dollars. We will win a lot of games with him, but he seems to really struggle against better teams. Really has a problem with being consistent with his mechanics.
I was really hoping that with Coach Mac being a QB guru that he could help Dak elevate his game and
improve.
And he did the first 7 games of the season.
But he has been so up and down the last 9 games.
I still have hope that whatever is broken can be fixed because we are tied to his contract with the guaranteed dollars.

this is a soft team. both physically and mentally. that includes Dak. he folded last night and he hasn't looked the same since the patriots game. he looks lost. he looks frustrated. he looks not confident. not sure why, but previous years, he had that "it" factor when things were down and he tended to just bring energy to the game during crucial times, but since Patriots game it has been the opposite as if the moment is too big for him and he plays scared.

and for that matter, the Running game hasn't been good. when you rush 12 times for 25 yards....that's less than 2.5 yards per game. then you have issues. and its going to be much tougher to do anything. when you miss opportunity after opportunity and don't make plays, then you have bigger issues....earlier in the year the team made those plays when things were down, but now they fold and continue to miss on those opportunities....that's Dak with his errant throws. that's zeke, pollard, schultz dropping balls. the whole team is playing nervous. they are not playing to win. they are playing not to mess up. they are more worried about not making plays than actually going out and making plays.

 

[lqmac1]

I think some of these defensive coordinators are dictating our game plan. They’re doing a good job with disguises and it’s starting to confuse Dak. The solution would be to integrate the run game even if you’re not getting huge gains in the first quarter. Keep at it and keep the defense honest.

I think it’s the main reason why our play action hasn’t been effective these past couple of months. They know it’s coming and they know we’ve neglected the run because it didn’t work in the beginning of the game and we only gained a yard on our first down run.

I’m not a coach and I know that when the run game isn’t clicking from the very beginning, the Cowboys neglect it. If I was a defensive coordinator, I would start the game in formations to shut down the run and turn the Cowboys into a one dimensional offense & anticipate with disguised coverages when the audibles start to come at the LOS.

When we were dominating in the first half of the year we were a very balanced team. That’s when people were saying we were unstoppable because we can beat you in so many different ways. However, the second half we’ve become very unbalanced and it’s costing us. Zeke has had 1 game over 50 yards rushing since the Denver game, I believe. He and Pollard should be getting 20+ carries a game. Pollard is a home run hitter and we’re barely seeing the guy on the field.

I think going back to the run game will help our offense tremendously and get us back to form.

 

[Aulac]

I guess I should have asked:
Any thoughts, comments, or rebuttals ?

Dak wouldn't win many games if he was in another NFC west division, on top of not having this stack roster. When he leave the Cowboys, he will be expose.

 

[RonnieT24]

Outside of the first 7 games we ran the ball. Since than we have scrapped it. It’s why our Offense is in a funk and I hope Moore is smart enough to get us out of this.

Remember we were trying to keep both backs fresh for the long season. It’s now or never

It's not about smarts.. it's about want to. and I don't think Moore wants to run the ball. I can see no signs of it in his play calling and demeanor. Aside from when Jerry called him out after the Tampa game and we went on that nice run using the running game he has been extremely reluctant to let it be anything but an afterthought.. That's who he is.. and I'm afraid he has taken Dak along with him because Dak certainly has as much power on the field to audible TO run plays just as he does away from them..

 

[john van brocklin]

It's not about smarts.. it's about want to. and I don't think Moore wants to run the ball. I can see no signs of it in his play calling and demeanor. Aside from when Jerry called him out after the Tampa game and we went on that nice run using the running game he has been extremely reluctant to let it be anything but an afterthought.. That's who he is.. and I'm afraid he has taken Dak along with him because Dak certainly has as much power on the field to audible TO run plays just as he does away from them..

What I cant understand is why no running plays wide such as sweeps ect.
Its like we only have 3 running plays up the gut in our playbook.
It's maddening.

 

[john van brocklin]

this is a soft team. both physically and mentally. that includes Dak. he folded last night and he hasn't looked the same since the patriots game. he looks lost. he looks frustrated. he looks not confident. not sure why, but previous years, he had that "it" factor when things were down and he tended to just bring energy to the game during crucial times, but since Patriots game it has been the opposite as if the moment is too big for him and he plays scared.

and for that matter, the Running game hasn't been good. when you rush 12 times for 25 yards....that's less than 2.5 yards per game. then you have issues. and its going to be much tougher to do anything. when you miss opportunity after opportunity and don't make plays, then you have bigger issues....earlier in the year the team made those plays when things were down, but now they fold and continue to miss on those opportunities....that's Dak with his errant throws. that's zeke, pollard, schultz dropping balls. the whole team is playing nervous. they are not playing to win. they are playing not to mess up. they are more worried about not making plays than actually going out and making plays.

Wonder if its the pressure of the early season success and the increased expectations that is brought?

 

[john van brocklin]

Agree.

And with regards to dlaw. Remember when people said he would have elite numbers if he had more help around him? Well he has plenty of help now but is the third best rusher on this team.

Granted, hes still a solid player, but hes making elite level money.

Remember Robert Quinn? We let him go because we couldn't pay him (had to pay dlaw). He has 18 sacks this year.

Yep DLaw has been solid to good.
But we are paying him elite money.
How many free agents are we going to lose this coming off season because of cap space ?

 

[john van brocklin]

What I will say is I liked seeing Dak on the move more. He's much more dangerous when he does that.

Dak has been reluctant to run since the injury and its a shame because it was a big part of his game.

 

[UncleRico]

Teams that are really good have their key players playing up to or exceeding their contracts.

When you have large contracts and the player playing well below it, it kills your team because it ties up cap money and you can't keep quality players nor sign quality free agents.

Right now we have several large contracts that are not being lived up to.

1. Zeke, love the guy and he blocks his butt off, gets tough yards, but what else does he give you ?
2. Coop, Disappears several games a year.
3. Dlaw, has his moments, but has been hurt and not the consistent impact player he is being paid to be.
4. Dak, a Good but not elite player. Making elite QB dollars. We will win a lot of games with him, but he seems to really struggle against better teams. Really has a problem with being consistent with his mechanics.
I was really hoping that with Coach Mac being a QB guru that he could help Dak elevate his game and
improve.
And he did the first 7 games of the season.
But he has been so up and down the last 9 games.
I still have hope that whatever is broken can be fixed because we are tied to his contract with the guaranteed dollars.

I actually thought DLaw and the DLine in general played alright and got a lot of pressure on Murray. Murray just had a great game and was able to evade our pass rush. I think we will feast on immobile QB’s like Stafford and Brady. I don’t want to play Murray or Rodgers

 

[john van brocklin]

I think some of these defensive coordinators are dictating our game plan. They’re doing a good job with disguises and it’s starting to confuse Dak. The solution would be to integrate the run game even if you’re not getting huge gains in the first quarter. Keep at it and keep the defense honest.

I think it’s the main reason why our play action hasn’t been effective these past couple of months. They know it’s coming and they know we’ve neglected the run because it didn’t work in the beginning of the game and we only gained a yard on our first down run.

I’m not a coach and I know that when the run game isn’t clicking from the very beginning, the Cowboys neglect it. If I was a defensive coordinator, I would start the game in formations to shut down the run and turn the Cowboys into a one dimensional offense & anticipate with disguised coverages when the audibles start to come at the LOS.

When we were dominating in the first half of the year we were a very balanced team. That’s when people were saying we were unstoppable because we can beat you in so many different ways. However, the second half we’ve become very unbalanced and it’s costing us. Zeke has had 1 game over 50 yards rushing since the Denver game, I believe. He and Pollard should be getting 20+ carries a game. Pollard is a home run hitter and we’re barely seeing the guy on the field.

I think going back to the run game will help our offense tremendously and get us back to form.

Not have a balanced offence with a run game is certainly a part of the problem.
Only having 3 running plays in our playbook does not help either.

 

[john van brocklin]

I actually thought DLaw and the DLine in general played alright and got a lot of pressure on Murray. Murray just had a great game and was able to evade our pass rush. I think we will feast on immobile QB’s like Stafford and Brady. I don’t want to play Murray or Rodgers

Me either!

 

[Creeper]

I guess I should have asked:
Any thoughts, comments, or rebuttals ?

Preaching to the choir, or at least me. I have been saying this since DLaw got a new contract. And the key point is those contracts are going to haunt the Cowboys next year and the year after.

If I was Jerry I would be looking for my next QB right now. He has a couple of years to find one but if the draft presents the right option he needs to jump on it no matter how much help they need elsewhere.

 

[john van brocklin]

Preaching to the choir, or at least me. I have been saying this since DLaw got a new contract. And the key point is those contracts are going to haunt the Cowboys next year and the year after.

If I was Jerry I would be looking for my next QB right now. He has a couple of years to find one but if the draft presents the right option he needs to jump on it no matter how much help they need elsewhere.

You always need to be considering the future needs of the team before it becomes a glaring hole.

 

[Ranched]

Totally amazes me how Kellen Moore repeatedly, gets a free pass from most of Dallas' fan base.