Not all Cowboys failures are created equal

[Verdict]

it has been about 21 years since we last played in an NFC Championship Game. Many people lump that 21 years of famine into one category. I personally do not.

The first several years of our NFC Chanpionship drought can be blamed on free agency, the modern salary cap, the lack of a QB, poor coaching and poor talent acquisition in the draft.
We can loosely refer to that time as the pre Parcells era. However you want to slice that time period it really all gets laid at the feet of poor management.

Then you had the Parcells era. We were much improved, and drafted somewhat better, but the big Tuna also bailed out during the reclamation project. I'm not sure you can lay that at Jerrys feet totally.

Then you get the Wade/Camp cupcake years. We had a pretty damn good team. We fielded a pretty good product, but Wade's weak *** coaching probably cost us a shot at the title.

The Garrett years. Garrett started cleaning house and eliminating bloated contracts. He started building through the draft. The Cowboys talent acquisition process is better at any time since the super bowl years.

Yet we are still without an NFC title appearance. Is it our fault as a team? Maybe. But you could easily make the argument that if not for biased officiating we would be playing in our second already under Garrett.....and I don't think you would be wrong.

I told my girlfriend the other day that the Packers, the Patriots and the Steelers get all the calls. The refs bent the Cowboys in favor of the Packers and the Chiefs got bent in favor of the Steelers in the same weekend.

I don't care if it sounds like sour grapes or not, the anti Cowboys bias has got to go. If I was Jerry I would be spitting nails mad!

We get penalized for violating a cap that doesn't exist, have rules made that effectively wipe out one of our best players (Roy Williams) our appeals to ban players get heard in record time (Gregory) and they are still trying to suspend Zeke without any evidence.

I for one am absolutely sick to death of the anti Cowboys bias and the league and the officials can go **** themselves.

We have had the Dez no catch two years ago and now we have phantom pi calls, rules pulled out of the archives that haven't been enforced in so long that no one even knows they exist.

The Packers have 2 penalties the entire game and Witten gets **** hammered and he gets a no call? Get ******* real.

 

[Blackspider214]

We are not going to win with Garrett on the sidelines. Your description of Garrett and his strengths is that of a GM/player personnel guy. Even Sturm alluded to this. Garrett would make a good GM one day. But one thing he still does not do well at all is coach. This far in and he still has no sense of clock management at times. I see him more as a motivator than someone who can scheme and do well with xs and os.

We did not stick to our identity yesterday. We did not establish Zeke right off the bat. He should have ended up with about 30 carries, not just 22. We are a run based offense that controls the clock and hits our spots with passes. Yesterday, it was the opposite. If we had more time consuming drives, Rodgers does not get all these chances and it keeps the defense off the field. I don't get it.

 

[cowboyuptx]

I can't go along with the refs being at all to blame... I saw the Cowboys players getting away with some pretty blatant penalties... Plus, why would the NFL go against the team that's the biggest draw in terms of viewership? Cowboys in the SB this season would've destroyed the all-time record for TV ratings, which would also equal record prices for advertising slots...

 

[stilltheguru88]

So Garrett is the reason Crosby hit two crazy fgs? And the reason our d couldn't stop a nose bleed? I'm no fan of his but stop it

 

[Verdict]

I can't go along with the refs being at all to blame... I saw the Cowboys players getting away with some pretty blatant penalties... Plus, why would the NFL go against the team that's the biggest draw in terms of viewership? Cowboys in the SB this season would've destroyed the all-time record for TV ratings, which would also equal record prices for advertising slots...

How do you justify the Cowboys getting penalized for violating a cap that didn't exist and then giving that cap to the other teams that colluded? That's being hit twice.., once for the cap hit and second for giving it to the other teams.

 

[DandyDon52]

How do you justify the Cowboys getting penalized for violating a cap that didn't exist and then giving that cap to the other teams that colluded? That's being hit twice.., once for the cap hit and second for giving it to the other teams.

I am hazy on all that, but wash was also penalized, there was no cap officially, but the owners had agreed verbally not to exceed a certain amount.
The others did not, and jerry and wash did so........

 

[Verdict]

I am hazy on all that, but wash was also penalized, there was no cap officially, but the owners had agreed verbally not to exceed a certain amount.
The others did not, and jerry and wash did so........

So if there is no rule it is ok to pretend that there is and **** a team for violating the rule that doesn't exist? In what world is that fair?

 

[DandyDon52]

As for the refs, it actually is bogus calls trying to influence the games and who wins, then it is about the gambling industry,
it isnt about a bias against cowboys.
The cowboys however attract a lot of bettors, so a lot of money is on their games each week.
These playoff games could be where the game is influenced to help the bookmakers make the big money.
It is the only thing that makes sense.
The nfl is the owners, and they cant collude against certain other owners or teams, and the refs cant all want dallas to lose lol.
I see calls against other teams too, even NE, and I see a lot of no calls that should have been called.

Dallas should have been called for several things in this game and they were not called even though obvious, and probably on the
packers too.
But if your going to fix games with refs, the no calls would be necessary to make it look crazy and hard to explain.

The other thing that I find odd, is breaking up the year long officiating crews, and making new crews for the playoffs, then
they can say oh they are not used to working together ! lol well duh then why do that ?? especially for the playoffs !
Well to give a added excuse for the bogus calls, thats why.

 

[DandyDon52]

So if there is no rule it is ok to pretend that there is and **** a team for violating the rule that doesn't exist? In what world is that fair?

there was an agreement, and they broke that.
There are 32 owners, and I imagine they vote and majority wins.
So a majority of other owners voted that dallas and wash be punished and did violate some agreement.

 

[IrishAnto]

it has been about 21 years since we last played in an NFC Championship Game. Many people lump that 21 years of famine into one category. I personally do not.

The first several years of our NFC Chanpionship drought can be blamed on free agency, the modern salary cap, the lack of a QB, poor coaching and poor talent acquisition in the draft.
We can loosely refer to that time as the pre Parcells era. However you want to slice that time period it really all gets laid at the feet of poor management.

Then you had the Parcells era. We were much improved, and drafted somewhat better, but the big Tuna also bailed out during the reclamation project. I'm not sure you can lay that at Jerrys feet totally.

Then you get the Wade/Camp cupcake years. We had a pretty damn good team. We fielded a pretty good product, but Wade's weak *** coaching probably cost us a shot at the title.

The Garrett years. Garrett started cleaning house and eliminating bloated contracts. He started building through the draft. The Cowboys talent acquisition process is better at any time since the super bowl years.

Yet we are still without an NFC title appearance. Is it our fault as a team? Maybe. But you could easily make the argument that if not for biased officiating we would be playing in our second already under Garrett.....and I don't think you would be wrong.

I told my girlfriend the other day that the Packers, the Patriots and the Steelers get all the calls. The refs bent the Cowboys in favor of the Packers and the Chiefs got bent in favor of the Steelers in the same weekend.

I don't care if it sounds like sour grapes or not, the anti Cowboys bias has got to go. If I was Jerry I would be spitting nails mad!

We get penalized for violating a cap that doesn't exist, have rules made that effectively wipe out one of our best players (Roy Williams) our appeals to ban players get heard in record time (Gregory) and they are still trying to suspend Zeke without any evidence.

I for one am absolutely sick to death of the anti Cowboys bias and the league and the officials can go **** themselves.

We have had the Dez no catch two years ago and now we have phantom pi calls, rules pulled out of the archives that haven't been enforced in so long that no one even knows they exist.

The Packers have 2 penalties the entire game and Witten gets **** hammered and he gets a no call? Get ******* real.

The last 21 years have Jones’s fingerprints all over them.

Some good, some bad and unfortunately the bad outweigh the good.

Jones has by and large hired HCs that would allow him to interfere way beyond what would be expected of your average GM.

Parcells was the exception, however when Jerry brought in Terrell Owens, Parcells thought “I’m too old for this cr$*p” and retired IMO.

Jerry is the one constant in all this and as Great an Owner as he is, he’s not up to the job of GM in the current NFL governed by the salary cap and free agency.

In addition I’m not sure his offspring are necessarily up to the job either.

And since none of them are going anywhere then “Houston we have a problem”.

Can we overcome that?

Well so far we haven’t and I’ve trouble seeing the current crew doing so.

 

[DogFace]

Calls were missed on both...blah blah **** off. Packers were called for two penalties. Key. Key missed calls and calls that changed the game were all in the Packers favor. You haven't seen it before and you won't see another unsportsmanlike penalty on the huddle. How hard did he study to dream up that call?That call set the theme for what the refs role would be.

Is it why we lost?? There are several factors and terrible calls were one.

There is no conspiracy. There is a bias.

 

[visionary]

There is a bias clearly. Jerry is one if the most powerful owners in the NFL so why does this keep happening year after year ?

You're crazy to think he does not see this or can't get it fixed but he saves his influence for when the NFL comes after his money or when he has the chance to make millions like helping the Rams move to LA and then landing a lucrative contract from the new owner

Jerry is and always has been all about the money and his ego. Winning and actual football come a very very distant third

 

[Silver N Blue]

I can't blame the refs...however it sure seems in the "big" games something always happens be it a missed call, bad call, stupid penalty, or a turnover or non turnover. I do agree those three teams do get all the calls look no further than the stealers last two SB wins. I just don't remember this kind of bad karma in the late 70s, 80s, and 90s. Give or take one to three very good regular seasons since 95 this team is a losing mediocre team. Until this steak or curse is broken losing teams just seem to find a way to lose and winning teams seem to find a way to win. I'm not implying our great Cowboys are losers in any stretch..what I am implying is there is an atmosphere of losing that out weighs the wining the past 21 years. I'm sick of it and don't get it. This is not the browns, lions, etc etc...this is the cowboys...maybe this offseason IF we start to see those top FA want to play in big D the tide may be shifting...if we don't for me that is pretty telling. When is the last time a young in his prime FA STUD came to Dallas. I'm not talking about Carr, Glover, etc etc..good players but not great. Jerry built the stadium, practice facility, and we here about this new atmosphere around the team...let's see if this translates into something meaningful. This 21 year curse of having a losing atmosphere needs to end. It takes a lot to shake off an atmosphere of losing especially one as long as this team. Look how long it took the cubs and they had some darn good teams before last year.

 

[Silver N Blue]

So Garrett is the reason Crosby hit two crazy fgs? And the reason our d couldn't stop a nose bleed? I'm no fan of his but stop it

What about coming out and being flat? This is the playoffs don't give me the time of excuse. What about his staff going away what worked in GB earlier this past year? He doesn't deserve all the blame but the guy holding the manager/head coach label is the one who is held accountable.

 

[ksadler1]

So Garrett is the reason Crosby hit two crazy fgs? And the reason our d couldn't stop a nose bleed? I'm no fan of his but stop it

Not at all. But a (non call) blatant holding penalty put them in position for the winning FG. We may have lost in OT anyway, but we weren't going to get that chance were we?

 

[landroverking]

If you don't believe the Refs played a factor, your not paying attention.
I do feel the big problem is the All Star Crews.

 

[dfense]

it has been about 21 years since we last played in an NFC Championship Game. Many people lump that 21 years of famine into one category. I personally do not.

The first several years of our NFC Chanpionship drought can be blamed on free agency, the modern salary cap, the lack of a QB, poor coaching and poor talent acquisition in the draft.
We can loosely refer to that time as the pre Parcells era. However you want to slice that time period it really all gets laid at the feet of poor management.

Then you had the Parcells era. We were much improved, and drafted somewhat better, but the big Tuna also bailed out during the reclamation project. I'm not sure you can lay that at Jerrys feet totally.

Then you get the Wade/Camp cupcake years. We had a pretty damn good team. We fielded a pretty good product, but Wade's weak *** coaching probably cost us a shot at the title.

The Garrett years. Garrett started cleaning house and eliminating bloated contracts. He started building through the draft. The Cowboys talent acquisition process is better at any time since the super bowl years.

Yet we are still without an NFC title appearance. Is it our fault as a team? Maybe. But you could easily make the argument that if not for biased officiating we would be playing in our second already under Garrett.....and I don't think you would be wrong.

I told my girlfriend the other day that the Packers, the Patriots and the Steelers get all the calls. The refs bent the Cowboys in favor of the Packers and the Chiefs got bent in favor of the Steelers in the same weekend.

I don't care if it sounds like sour grapes or not, the anti Cowboys bias has got to go. If I was Jerry I would be spitting nails mad!

We get penalized for violating a cap that doesn't exist, have rules made that effectively wipe out one of our best players (Roy Williams) our appeals to ban players get heard in record time (Gregory) and they are still trying to suspend Zeke without any evidence.

I for one am absolutely sick to death of the anti Cowboys bias and the league and the officials can go **** themselves.

We have had the Dez no catch two years ago and now we have phantom pi calls, rules pulled out of the archives that haven't been enforced in so long that no one even knows they exist.

The Packers have 2 penalties the entire game and Witten gets **** hammered and he gets a no call? Get ******* real.

Take into account Favre couldn't win anything until the 90s Cowboys demise. It's quite possible if Aikman and company held it together for a couple more years he may have never won anything.

 

[LandryFan]

So if there is no rule it is ok to pretend that there is and **** a team for violating the rule that doesn't exist? In what world is that fair?

I'm no lawyer, so I may well be wrong, but I believe that the stupid *** owners that conspired to penalize Dallas and Washington for violating a cap rule that didn't exist will come back to bite them in the butt big time down the road. If that wasn't a blatant case of "collusion" amongst the vast majority of the owners, then I don't know what collusion is. They thought they were being slick at the time, but they will find out when it comes time to negotiate the next contract with the NFLPA that the NFLPA lawyers will have an open and shut case that NFL owners do collude and the court will agree with them. Now maybe some of our site members who are law-savvy will chime in on what I'm missing here, if anything.

 

[DFWJC]

I think this year and 2007 were the biggest missed opportunities. We were at home and favored to advance.
But that 2007 team was fading down the stretch while this one looked poised to go to the Super Bowl.

The two home playoff games between those two games--in 2009 and 2104--were wins by Dallas.

 

[ksadler1]

I know it was brought up in another thread, but explain why Gregory gets the book thrown at him, yet Steelers RB Bell basically gets a slap on the hand. And wasn't there a player charged with marijuana possession last week that is still playing now? Want to bet that they won't hear that case until after the SB? Gregory's case was sure expedited tho, wasn't it? How can people deny the bias in the NFL?