One More Idiot's Opinion on What's Wrong With The Cowboys

[jobberone]

I think it was a very good post. This team does not reflect an overall philosophy because you have Garrett running the offense and Wade the defense and no one seems to know what to do about STs. And there is a GM/coaching problem when ST players won't play.

After that is mostly on the OL, play calling and Romo although there is plenty else wrong.

 

[DallasEast]

One of the best posts ever made on this board.

The part about throwing on 3rd and 18 made me think...they've definitely found a way to be too nonconservative.

Made you think, huh?

Wayne described that 3rd & 18 situation as one which followed a penalty.

Question.

Whenever Terrell Owens intentionally creates an unsportsmanlike penalty, maybe, say,
a 15-yarder, have any of those totally unnecessary penalties of his ever "made you think"?​

Just curious.

 

[Zaxor]

I agree Wayne

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

Very nice post.

But the core problem is Wade. Or, should I say, his (non)leadership.

Beyond that, this is the kind of post I like to read and reread and digest. Thoughts on which to keep us thinking through the agony of the offseason.

Muy cool post, indeed.
I always knew you could make something out of your self.

 

[wileedog]

I don't think our problems are as deep or significant as others do...I really think the 3 phases need to operate more as a team, and the offense needs to have part of its philosophy set by Wade Phillips.

I disagree completely. I think when you hire a guy who has only ever succeeded as a DC to be your HC, its not all that surprising that while you may get some improvement on that side of the ball, the offense and special teams are completely out of whack. And that is because the guy in charge doesn't have the ability to grasp and manage all three phases of the game.

Heck he wasn't even grasping the defense all that well until Stewart failed so bad it forced him to take over. Wade is simply overmatched as a head coach.

There's no shame in it, people are "Peter Principled" above their skill levels all the time in the corporate world. But it is depressing that Jerry who is from that world doesn't see it.

 

[Beast_from_East]

I disagree completely. I think when you hire a guy who has only ever succeeded as a DC to be your HC, its not all that surprising that while you may get some improvement on that side of the ball, the offense and special teams are completely out of whack. And that is because the guy in charge doesn't have the ability to grasp and manage all three phases of the game.

Heck he wasn't even grasping the defense all that well until Stewart failed so bad it forced him to take over. Wade is simply overmatched as a head coach.

There's no shame in it, people are "Peter Principled" above their skill levels all the time in the corporate world. But it is depressing that Jerry who is from that world doesn't see it.

I think Norv has shown that this is just not true.

A successful coordinator, but unsuccessful HC in the past, can become a very good HC in the future.

Norv was considered a very good OC, but not a very good HC after being fired twice as a HC. However, he took over the Chargers and last year went to the AFC Championship and this year made it to the Divisional round of the playoffs.

That sounds like a pretty successful hire for San Diego. I know that if I hired a new coach and his first year he takes the team to the Conference Championship and his second year he makes it to the Divisional round and has a pair of Division Championships as well...........I would be very happy with that as an owner.

 

[Chuck 54]

Sigh. Gil LeBreton stated the obvious in today's column:

My math is fuzzy on this, but someone recently advanced the theory that in today’s balanced NFL, a franchise can reasonably expect to win a minimum 10 games in four of every 10 seasons. Anything more than that should be deemed overachieving. It also means that at least two times every 10 years, your team should have a solid chance to make the Super Bowl.

So, tell me again why Jerry Jones is the most beloved owner among the local pro sports franchise owners?

There isn’t another team in the NFL who wouldn’t fire a general manager who hadn’t won a playoff game in 12 years. But Jones, of course, won’t fire himself. He’s sworn as much.

Forgive me for again barking at the moon. There isn’t a media voice in town who hasn’t castigated Jones for not replacing himself with a "real" general manager.

It’s not that Jones isn’t a so-called "football man." I’ll grant him that. He won’t leave the team alone.

The old argument about Tex Schramm (who was a PR man and journalist) and Gil Brandt (baby photographer) not being "football men" when they started the Cowboys isn’t valid, either. Both learned their jobs well enough to become the best in the NFL at them, and they won playoff games and championships to prove it.

Jones, meanwhile, is still grasping at straws — and straw coaches — 15 years after Johnson left.

I think you would fire the gm....except for the fact that he has obviously put together a talented roster according to, well, everyone...if the problem is coaching, then he'll address that next season, but if this year was an aberation, we'll know that next season too.

Philosophically, JJ, the gm, gets the same pass Wade gets after going 13-3 last season...he gets one year to fix it...then they are both gone.

but that's philosophically...realistically, we all know JJ is the gm no matter what happens.

 

[Chuck 54]

Post of the week,IMO Wayne. You hit on one of the Steelers and Ravens strengths in their game management philosophy. The one strength they both have that isn't normally talked about,and makes this management philosophy possible,is their conditioning. They know that there will be stretches where their defense will be on the field for an extended time;Long enough for the "field position" battle to swing their way. It just seems to me that their defenses relish the task.This is something we don't have.

I think you're onto something there....it's like when the coach decides to onside kick or go for it on 4th at midfield...the defense sees it as confidence in them that he even tried it.

However, that should happen 2-3 times a season, I think....we can't have the offense, on 3rd and long from our own 20, scrambling and throwing way down field...unnecessary risks unless we're behind at the end of a game.

 

[Chuck 54]

Wow....as usual, lots of very diverse opinions.

I will say this, after this many years as owner and gm, Jerry Jones is probably as much a "football man" as most gms. It's not like most of them ever played the game or coached it.

Now, that's not to say Jerry is a wise football man who has it figured out, but he is as much a football guy at this point as most gms, I think.

As for whether Jerry, Wade, and Garrett can get back to the 13-3 formula and win in the playoffs next season with this so-called talented team....there's no way to determine that other than to play the season. Some of us think they will; some are positive they need to be fired.

I'll just reiterate my original opinion from other posts...I don't really know, but I do positively believe that Wade Phillips and his staff deserve at least a 3rd year. Finishing 13-3, followed by a terrible year and missing the playoffs, was disappointing, but I think any coach deserves a 3rd year.

We'll either be set next year, or we'll be looking for another coach. But I'm glad we're not looking for one right now, a year early in my opinion.

 

[proline]

I question the hearts of players who tank a critical last game of the season and then are totally OK with it and joking around on the flight home.

I question the intelligence of players who continually get called for stupid penalties, and who allow the two longest rushing plays by an opponent to occur back to back in a critical home game to close out a historic stadium.

I question a coach who thinks that players with the attitudes ours have will not walk all over him if he can't be more of a harda$$, and who makes silly excuses for his teams performance while citing meaningless statistics.

I question an OC who can go an entire game without getting his electrifying rookie tailback the ball after the kid had done nothing but make impact plays the previous games.

I question a ST coach for too many reasons to list!

I just wish someone would find the answers .....

 

[notherbob]

Nate Newton put it best a few weeks ago when he said he observed in training camp that we have several players averse to contact.

Everyone celebrated when Bruce Read was fired, but as Nate and Grady Tinker said, in training camp, Read was begging guys to listen to him, to practice, to hit somebody, and was generally ignored.

The whole franchise is poisoned from the top. They're soft and obviously feel no pressure to succeed, and in some cases, to really try. Unfortunately, most of the starters have sweet long-term deals in hand, so they have nothing beyond their own pride to motivated them right now, and that appears to be sadly lacking. I see little or no hope for improvement with the current regime. The only shot is if Jones hires real football people and gets out of their way, but that isn't happening any time soon.

More than likely, 2009's team will crater, the apologists will applaud Jones for "collecting talent", ignoring yet another squandered year.

True. This group of people have many problems and they boil down to lack of any cohesiveness as a team. Lotsa well-paid egos and smug satisfaction but too many have no athletic pride and don't motivate themselves, yet can't be cut. The cliques are suspicious of each other and feel little loyalty to the whole of the team. There are simply too many dignitaries and too few grunts.

Welcome to the new NFL where players see themselves more as individual mercenaries than players loyal to any team. Their stats are their stock in trade and they go where the money is and don't stay in any one place very long.

I predict more of the same for 2009 and some real craziness in 2010, the uncapped year. That's going to be interesting.

Like him or not, Jerry is the one who will make all meaningful decisions and it's going to be his way, just like it has been ever since Jimmy left 15 years ago. You and I don't have to like it, we only have to accept it because that's the way it is and will be for the foreseeable future.

Jerry is as Jerry does.

 

[Iago33]

One voice. One directive. It can happen here in Dallas, but it's going to take everybody, no exceptions allowed, from the top down.

You may saaaaay I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope some daaaay you'll join us--and the world will be as one!

 

[Kangaroo]

I think Norv has shown that this is just not true.

A successful coordinator, but unsuccessful HC in the past, can become a very good HC in the future.

Norv was considered a very good OC, but not a very good HC after being fired twice as a HC. However, he took over the Chargers and last year went to the AFC Championship and this year made it to the Divisional round of the playoffs.

That sounds like a pretty successful hire for San Diego. I know that if I hired a new coach and his first year he takes the team to the Conference Championship and his second year he makes it to the Divisional round and has a pair of Division Championships as well...........I would be very happy with that as an owner.

I am a firm believer in giving a guy a second chance but in like Wade the third time is not a charm and Talk about how the heck did they make the playoffs in San Deigo was mind boggling with an 8-8 record

 

[yimyammer]

Dallas (Cowboys) is as Jerry does.

FYP..

 

[wileedog]

I think Norv has shown that this is just not true.

A successful coordinator, but unsuccessful HC in the past, can become a very good HC in the future..

Can be? Sure.

What in Wade's performance the last two years point to the fact that he has developed as a HC the way Norv may have in this latest stint with SD?

The success of Norv doesn't negate the failure of many coordinators to take the next step, nor does it give any indication at all that Wade will.

The guy is 62 and in his 5th coaching stint. Odds are not good he will magically develop into Tom Landry this season.

And while I give credit to Norv this season, the best part of what he did this season was dig his team out of a 4-8 hole. If he had lost any of those last 4 games or the Bronco's hadn't collapsed, there is a better than even chance Norv would be looking for work right now too given the expectations for that team and the utterly crappy division they play in.

 

[DallasEast]

You may saaaaay I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope some daaaay you'll join us--and the world will be as one!

:laugh2: