jobberone
Kane Ala
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The Cowboys lack of offense has been bemoaned by management for some time. Their fanbase has also clamored for change. Well at least some have.
We have traded for saviors to hook up with Aikman and resurrect those glorius SB years. The Galloway experiment was a failure. Irvin proved irreplacable and no further SBs came to Dallas. Slowly those players drafted or brought to Dallas for those teams fell away. There was to be no further Troy Aikmans to lead Dallas to the promised land again. There wasn't even to be another Novachek until possibly very lately.
And with the loss of those players went the very dominating offenses that helped bring Dallas three SBs. While glimpses of steadfast defenses tantalized at times, there were arguably no more championhip quality defenses to defend their Doomsday heritage. Still, those defenses did the job of limiting opponents the majority of the time to what is statistically a good enough number to win.
Here are some stats to satisfy those more skeptical fans:
2005 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 9 - 7 -
Head Coach: Bill Parcells Points scored: 325 (#15 of 32 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 308 (#12 of 32 in the NFL)
2004 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 6 - 10 - 0
Head Coach: Bill Parcells Points scored: 293 (#25 of 32 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 405 (#27 of 32 in the NFL)
2003 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 10 - 6 - 0
Head Coach: Bill Parcells
Points scored: 289 (#21 of 32 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 260 (#2 of 32 in the NFL)
2002 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 5 - 11 - 0
Head Coach: Dave Campo Points scored: 217 (#31 of 32 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 329 (#13 of 32 in the NFL)
2001 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 5 - 11 - 0
Head Coach: Dave Campo Points scored: 246 (#30 of 31 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 338 (#20 of 31 in the NFL)
2000 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 5 - 11 - 0
Head Coach: Dave Campo Points scored: 294 (#23 of 31 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 361 (#22 of 31 in the NFL)
1999 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 8 - 8 -
Head Coach: Chan Gailey Points scored: 352 (#11 of 31 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 276 (#5 of 31 in the NFL)
1998 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 10 - 6 - 0
Head Coach: Chan Gailey Points scored: 381 (#9 of 30 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 275 (#3 of 30 in the NFL)
1997 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 6 - 10 - 0
Head Coach: Barry Switzer Points scored: 304 (#22 of 30 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 314 (#14 of 30 in the NFL)
1996 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 10 - 6 - 0
Head Coach: Barry Switzer Points scored: 286 (#25 of 30 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 250 (#3 of 30 in the NFL)
1995 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 12 - 4 - 0
Head Coach: Barry Switzer Points scored: 435 (#3 of 30 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 291 (#3 of 30 in the NFL)
Here is the reference for the above and for more in depth stats as well:
http://www.pro-football-reference.com
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the major problem. We haven't really scored well since the last time we won the SB. If you give up an average of 17 pts per game and score 23 you are going to be in the hunt. That's roughly 370 pts scored and 275 given up.
Any team that scores over 25/game is going to almost always be in the SB hunt.
We do play games one at a time. Obviously you only have to score more than your opponent. It's only normal to look at it a game at a time. However, if you look back on the season or in this case a decade of trend, then you can see the overall problem.
Our worse three seasons in the last 11 years we were the 22nd, 20th, and 27th defensive team in the league. Otherwise we finished at worse 14th and five of those years we were in the top five in the NFL (3,3,3,5,2).
We've gotten used to 17-10 or closer wins. Or losses.
No one really knows what this years defense will do. I suspect from watching them in the preseason and yesterday, we will be a top ten defense and could be in the top five. That's not good enough even if you do love a good defense.
There is one major factor that can help Dallas. That factor could not only be one of the largest reasons for the defenses' finish in the NFL, but will likely determine if Dallas can return to the Super Bowl.
And that factor is the ability of the offense to score points. Not only must they score the magical 25-35 points a game, they must allow the defense a chance to be effective. They need to score, keep the ball long enough to keep the opponent's offense off the field, and allow the defense to stay fresh enough to play well. Winning the time of possession is just important.
So after ten years Dallas is still waiting on another championship offense. Dallas has players with the pedigree and talent to do that.
The sixty-thousand dollar question is can they do it.
We have traded for saviors to hook up with Aikman and resurrect those glorius SB years. The Galloway experiment was a failure. Irvin proved irreplacable and no further SBs came to Dallas. Slowly those players drafted or brought to Dallas for those teams fell away. There was to be no further Troy Aikmans to lead Dallas to the promised land again. There wasn't even to be another Novachek until possibly very lately.
And with the loss of those players went the very dominating offenses that helped bring Dallas three SBs. While glimpses of steadfast defenses tantalized at times, there were arguably no more championhip quality defenses to defend their Doomsday heritage. Still, those defenses did the job of limiting opponents the majority of the time to what is statistically a good enough number to win.
Here are some stats to satisfy those more skeptical fans:
2005 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 9 - 7 -
Head Coach: Bill Parcells Points scored: 325 (#15 of 32 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 308 (#12 of 32 in the NFL)
2004 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 6 - 10 - 0
Head Coach: Bill Parcells Points scored: 293 (#25 of 32 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 405 (#27 of 32 in the NFL)
2003 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 10 - 6 - 0
Head Coach: Bill Parcells
Points scored: 289 (#21 of 32 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 260 (#2 of 32 in the NFL)
2002 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 5 - 11 - 0
Head Coach: Dave Campo Points scored: 217 (#31 of 32 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 329 (#13 of 32 in the NFL)
2001 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 5 - 11 - 0
Head Coach: Dave Campo Points scored: 246 (#30 of 31 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 338 (#20 of 31 in the NFL)
2000 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 5 - 11 - 0
Head Coach: Dave Campo Points scored: 294 (#23 of 31 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 361 (#22 of 31 in the NFL)
1999 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 8 - 8 -
Head Coach: Chan Gailey Points scored: 352 (#11 of 31 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 276 (#5 of 31 in the NFL)
1998 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 10 - 6 - 0
Head Coach: Chan Gailey Points scored: 381 (#9 of 30 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 275 (#3 of 30 in the NFL)
1997 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 6 - 10 - 0
Head Coach: Barry Switzer Points scored: 304 (#22 of 30 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 314 (#14 of 30 in the NFL)
1996 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 10 - 6 - 0
Head Coach: Barry Switzer Points scored: 286 (#25 of 30 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 250 (#3 of 30 in the NFL)
1995 Dallas Cowboys
Record: 12 - 4 - 0
Head Coach: Barry Switzer Points scored: 435 (#3 of 30 in the NFL)
Points allowed: 291 (#3 of 30 in the NFL)
Here is the reference for the above and for more in depth stats as well:
http://www.pro-football-reference.com
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the major problem. We haven't really scored well since the last time we won the SB. If you give up an average of 17 pts per game and score 23 you are going to be in the hunt. That's roughly 370 pts scored and 275 given up.
Any team that scores over 25/game is going to almost always be in the SB hunt.
We do play games one at a time. Obviously you only have to score more than your opponent. It's only normal to look at it a game at a time. However, if you look back on the season or in this case a decade of trend, then you can see the overall problem.
Our worse three seasons in the last 11 years we were the 22nd, 20th, and 27th defensive team in the league. Otherwise we finished at worse 14th and five of those years we were in the top five in the NFL (3,3,3,5,2).
We've gotten used to 17-10 or closer wins. Or losses.
No one really knows what this years defense will do. I suspect from watching them in the preseason and yesterday, we will be a top ten defense and could be in the top five. That's not good enough even if you do love a good defense.
There is one major factor that can help Dallas. That factor could not only be one of the largest reasons for the defenses' finish in the NFL, but will likely determine if Dallas can return to the Super Bowl.
And that factor is the ability of the offense to score points. Not only must they score the magical 25-35 points a game, they must allow the defense a chance to be effective. They need to score, keep the ball long enough to keep the opponent's offense off the field, and allow the defense to stay fresh enough to play well. Winning the time of possession is just important.
So after ten years Dallas is still waiting on another championship offense. Dallas has players with the pedigree and talent to do that.
The sixty-thousand dollar question is can they do it.
