NFL Network Replaying 2014 Packers-Cowboys Playoff Game

[Plankton]

I just re-watched the 1979 divisional playoff loss to the Rams this morning when Billy Waddy beat us with a deflected pass. That loss still hurts because it was Roger Staubach's last game and I think we had a better team than the Steelers that year. We could have gotten revenge on the Steelers for the Super Bowl XIII loss.

The Cowboys lost to the Steelers that season 14-3 in a game where Staubach suffered another concussion. The Steelers were a better team in 1979 - the Steelers had the top scoring offense in the league that season, and were 5th in points allowed. The Cowboys were 5th in scoring offense, but 12th in scoring defense. The defense took a major step backward in 1979 with the retirement of Ed Jones and Hollywood Henderson going off the rails completely, and being released after the Commander loss in November.

 

[KJJ]

That year, Murray lost the Commanders, Packers, and arguable the 49ers game with fumbles. He tried to do the same against the Rams, too.

I watched every game he played at OU, too, and he hurt the Sooners with plays like that the whole time he was there.

Murray had an MVP caliber year setting a franchise rushing record and leading the league in rushing by over 500 yards. He accounted for a huge percentage of our offense in 2014 so mistakes were going to be made by him when he had to carry the ball as much as he did. He carried the ball more times in 2014 than Emmitt or Adrian Peterson ever carried the ball in a season. He also had 57 receptions in 2014 for over 400 receiving yards that's close to 2300 all purpose yards which is the main reason the team went 12-4 that season and kept Romo from only missing one game. You're putting almost every loss we had that season on Murray which is ridiculous! What lost the Commanders game was our DEFENSE! Our D allowed a journeymen QB McCoy to have a career day do you have to be reminded of that? He completed over 83% of his passes against us and killed us in OT and you're putting that loss on Murray??? Romo got sacked 5 times in the game and suffered another back injury was that also Murray's fault? Had Murray not had the great year he did it would have been another 8-8 season or worse and home for the playoffs for a 5th straight season. As for the opening day loss to the 49ers Romo had 3 picks and our defense got shredded by Kap in the first half that's what lost that game. The hate on Murray continues!

 

[mrmojo]

The Cowboys lost to the Steelers that season 14-3 in a game where Staubach suffered another concussion. The Steelers were a better team in 1979 - the Steelers had the top scoring offense in the league that season, and were 5th in points allowed. The Cowboys were 5th in scoring offense, but 12th in scoring defense. The defense took a major step backward in 1979 with the retirement of Ed Jones and Hollywood Henderson going off the rails completely, and being released after the Commander loss in November.

I believe Waters was also out for the season and it was Cliff Harris last year.

 

[erod]

Murray had an MVP caliber year setting a franchise rushing record and leading the league in rushing by over 500 yards. He accounted for a huge percentage of our offense in 2014 so mistakes were going to be made by him when he had to carry the ball as much as he did. He carried the ball more times in 2014 than Emmitt or Adrian Peterson ever carried the ball in a season. He also had 57 receptions in 2014 for over 400 receiving yards that's close to 2300 all purpose yards which is the main reason the team went 12-4 that season and kept Romo from only missing one game. You're putting almost every loss we had that season on Murray which is ridiculous! What lost the Commanders game was our DEFENSE! Our D allowed a journeymen QB McCoy to have a career day do you have to be reminded of that? He completed over 83% of his passes against us and killed us in OT and you're putting that loss on Murray??? Romo got sacked 5 times in the game and suffered another back injury was that also Murray's fault? Had Murray not had the great year he did it would have been another 8-8 season or worse and home for the playoffs for a 5th straight season. As for the opening day loss to the 49ers Romo had 3 picks and our defense got shredded by Kap in the first half that's what lost that game. The hate on Murray continues!

Murray had one magical season. Never before, and last year was awful. And yes, he was part of the problem in Philly. Matthews looked far better.

 

[KJJ]

Murray had one magical season. Never before, and last year was awful. And yes, he was part of the problem in Philly. Matthews looked far better.

Last year he played in Philly for a coach who got himself fired for adding several of the wrong pieces. Murray was awful in Philly and the Cowboys were awful without him. They were a great match for each other and the breakup hurt us and him.

 

[Plankton]

I believe Waters was also out for the season and it was Cliff Harris last year.

Excellent point. Waters tore up his knee in the preseason against the Seahawks (got it caught in a seam on the turf). Waters ended up working as a color analyst on the radio for the memorable come from behind win over the Commanders in Staubach's last regular season game.

 

[erod]

Last year he played in Philly for a coach who got himself fired for adding several of the wrong pieces. Murray was awful in Philly and the Cowboys were awful without him. They were a great match for each other and the breakup hurt us and him.

One year was enough for Philly, which is eating big money to get rid of him. Few teams were interested last summer, and few teams were interested when the Eagles dumped him.

 

[BigStar]

Despite Dez's catch being overturned the Cowboys still had plenty of time to win that game. With over 4 minutes to play the defense couldn't stop the Packers allowing our offense one more opportunity with the ball. FANS can continue blaming that loss on a call but it was our defense that cost us that game.

Complacency in the first half with a noticeably hobbled Rodgers is what cost this team the game; we stuck with the run game which was ineffective in the 1st half. We only went deep to Dez out of desperation...that connection could have gone on all game. The D had to keep up with the GB O once Rodgers returned to himself in the 2nd half and was ready to start slinging the rock. We couldn't keep up by that point and relied on a hail mary to keep us in the game.

Hobbled Rogers in 1st half = Conservative DAL Offensive gameplan to allow them to hang around?

Many forget we barely SQUEAKED by DET in the wildcard RD.

 

[KJJ]

One year was enough for Philly, which is eating big money to get rid of him. Few teams were interested last summer, and few teams were interested when the Eagles dumped him.

That was all Kelly's fault he brought in several pieces including Bradford that didn't workout and it got him fired. Few teams were interested in Murray because of the price tag Oakland reportedly offered him more money than Philly. You can try spinning things anyway you want but Murray was a very good player for us and only injuries kept him from being real productive every season.

He was the best back we've had since Emmitt and now some are projecting that the Cowboys may use the 4th overall pick on an RB instead of on our defense where we need the most help. Had we kept Murray there's no talk about taking an RB at #4 overall.

 

[perrykemp]

At all levels of football, some of the best rushes by running backs have occurred countless times without perfectly executed textbook blocks by offensive linemen. Regardless, there are some who always imply or outright state Zack Martin was the reason DeMarco Murray fumbled in Green Bay. To this day. Still. Every replay, from every angle, is summarily negated. Basic blocking techniques are either misconstrued or flat out ignored. Seriously, no one could make this stuff up. It's... it's like watching squirrels hopped up on crack.

A freakish 6'7" tall, future HOF DE athlete, Julius Peppers, made a freakish play

I thought Martin did fine on the play.

 

[KJJ]

Complacency in the first half with a noticeably hobbled Rodgers is what cost this team the game; we stuck with the run game which was ineffective in the 1st half. We only went deep to Dez out of desperation...that connection could have gone on all game. The D had to keep up with the GB O once Rodgers returned to himself in the 2nd half and was ready to start slinging the rock. We couldn't keep up by that point and relied on a hail mary to keep us in the game.

Hobbled Rogers in 1st half = Conservative DAL Offensive gameplan to allow them to hang around?

Many forget we barely SQUEAKED by DET in the wildcard RD.

We didn't need to go deep to Dez out of desperation there was over 4 minutes to play and the Cowboys were facing a manageable 4th and 2. Romo made one of the few bad decisions he made all day by going deep to Dez on a 50/50 jump ball when hitting Witten or Beasely would have easily netted the first down. We may have been able to run the ball in from there we certainly could have eaten up some of the clock leaving us with a fad to Dez in the endzone and the Packers with little time to answer back.

You don't go deep on a 4th and 2 with a 50/50 jump ball requiring your receiver to make acrobatic catch unless you're down to less than a minute to play. Had the Cowboys scored on that play Rodgers had plenty of time to either tie the game with a FG had the Cowboys converted for two or win the game with a TD. Rarely do I use the word "suck" to describe anything with the Cowboys but their defensed sucked that day.

 

[DallasEast]

A freakish 6'7" tall, future HOF DE athlete, Julius Peppers, made a freakish play

I thought Martin did fine on the play.

Exactly. The defense gets paid to do their job also. Peppers should receive his share of the credit for making a decisive play even though the ball shouldn't have hit the ground if Murray had protected the ball better.

 

[BigStar]

We didn't need to go deep to Dez out of desperation there was over 4 minutes to play and the Cowboys were facing a manageable 4th and 2. Romo made one of the few bad decisions he made all day by going deep to Dez on a 50/50 jump ball when hitting Witten or Beasely would have easily netted the first down. We may have been able to run the ball in from there we certainly could have eaten up some of the clock leaving us with a fad to Dez in the endzone and the Packers with little time to answer back.

You don't go deep on a 4th and 2 with a 50/50 jump ball requiring your receiver to make acrobatic catch unless you're down to less than a minute to play. Had the Cowboys scored on that play Rodgers had plenty of time to either tie the game with a FG had the Cowboys converted for two or win the game with a TD. Rarely do I use the word "suck" to describe anything with the Cowboys but their defensed sucked that day.

Why let it get to that situation was more of the theme I intended and aimed at the first half opportunity lost, etc. Haily mary was just hyperbole to make my point. With that, agree that 4th and 2 should have been a different pass target/easier route.

 

[KJJ]

Why let it get to that situation was more of the theme I intended and aimed at the first half opportunity lost, etc. Haily mary was just hyperbole to make my point. With that, agree that 4th and 2 should have been a different pass target/easier route.

It got to that situation because of defense couldn't make several critical stops. If the defense would have stepped up with only 29 seconds to go in the half and not allowed the Packers to drive into FG range giving up a cheap 3 points the Cowboys would have only been down by 2 points with just over 4 minutes to play. We wouldn't have felt the need to go for broke on a 50/50 jump ball with an opportunity to take the led with a FG. Countless defensive mistakes cost the Cowboys that game.

 

[TheKey]

We win the game if DeMarco doesnt carry the ball like a loaf of bread through a hole you could drive a truck through

 

[BigStar]

It got to that situation because of defense couldn't make several critical stops. If the defense would have stepped up with only 29 seconds to go in the half and not allowed the Packers to drive into FG range giving up a cheap 3 points the Cowboys would have only been down by 2 points with just over 4 minutes to play. We wouldn't have felt the need to go for broke on a 50/50 jump ball with an opportunity to take the led with a FG. Countless defensive mistakes cost the Cowboys that game.

Last drive of the first half How did we utilize a hobbled Rodgers in the first via being more aggressive on O?

 

[KJJ]

Last drive of the first half How did we utilize a hobbled Rodgers in the first via being more aggressive on O?

Have another one on me...cheers!

 

[mrmojo]

Excellent point. Waters tore up his knee in the preseason against the Seahawks (got it caught in a seam on the turf). Waters ended up working as a color analyst on the radio for the memorable come from behind win over the Commanders in Staubach's last regular season game.

Randy Hughes also was hurt, so our defensive backfield was hurting, not one of Landry's strongest teams defensively. I remember Earl Campbell killed us on thanksgiving.

 

[BigStar]

We win the game if DeMarco doesnt carry the ball like a loaf of bread through a hole you could drive a truck through

That too

 

[DandyDon1722]

I still cant bring myself to watch this game.... Or the 2007 playoff game vs the Giants.

And...you're a Knicks fan. Man - that's a heavy burden brother.