Our Defense Has No Toughness!

[Drederick Tatum]

I'll take shoe string tackles for losses over big hits down field any day of the week.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

There's no debate Dallas defense needs to step it up as a whole... The only guy that played pretty good was Sensabaugh.

 

[yimyammer]

I agree with this post. For me its not about the points or the yards its about the intensity. When you look at the Steelers, Eagles, Ravens, Giants, and even Washington, they come at you with a violent intensity. They don't just want to get you down on the ground, they want to inflict damage as they are doing it.

If you go back and look at all of Ware's sacks last year, you see him pulling the QB down by the shirt in almost all of them. Compare that to Harrison and you can see two players with completely different intentions. Ware and the Cowboys are trying to get off the field on third down, these other teams are trying to hurt and intimidate on the way to getting off the field.

This is my sense as well, why is this incorrect or anti-Cowboy to discuss?

I'm the first one to admit I don't understand x's & o's or the fine nuances of football, so by all means, please enlighten me. Having said that, outside of a few games (ex: 3-1/2 quarters against the Steelers in 08', @Philly in 07', @ Chicago 07', Green Bay in 07, Indy @ Home in 06' are a few that come to mind), I've rarely seen consistent intensity, aggressiveness and violence coming from our defense. Isn't this the part of the roster that is loaded with high round picks? I'd just be happy with consistently strong fundamentals and great tackling ability.

If this is an incorrect observation, can someone please indulge me (us) with a technical explanation why this perception is faulty? Seriously, I may just not understand what I'm looking at, so please, by all means enlighten me (us). I got no dog in this hunt and would love to be better educated about what I'm looking at.

By the way, I'm not saying this simply because of the Bucaneers game, I've been thinking this since 06'

Things that I like:

• Ware's consistently high performance, effort and character
• I love all the sacks our defense got last year and sure hope they can repeat or exceed that effort this year (+ TURNOVERS!!)
• Jay Ratliff!
• I love what I hear about Scandricks' intensity and work ethic.
• Newman when he's healthy (wish he'd get more picks tho)

We seem to have plenty of tools to get the job done, we've certainly spent enough high draft picks on defense to have high expectations of our D.

How does Pittsburgh look and perform so well? Nobody here honestlly thinks our D compares to Pitt do they?

 

[BAT]

I will give credit where credit is due. However, this is our third year playing the Phillips 3-4 and I just don't see the killer attitude that other teams show year in and year out with less pedigree than our defense.

The fourth quarter choke job against the Steelers when we were up 13-3 with ten minutes left, the two 70+ yard runs we gave up when Romo was bringing us back against the Ravens and the 44-6 season finale debacle against our division rival with the playoffs on the line give me very good reason to doubt the heart of this team and it's soft defense.

I can honestly say I have never been more disappointed by a Cowboys season in my life and I've been a loyal fan since the early 70's.

You didn't like the 13-3 season? And you must have been in a coma during the historically bad Campo years if you were "most" disappointed by Wade's tenure. Not to mention the dismal first few seasons when Landry & Jimmy first came on board (plus the transition between the 2). And Parcells & Gailey's times here were just slightly above average.

I call BS on you being a fan since the 70's.

 

[davidb257]

Maybe we're a finesse defense

 

[DallasEast]

The simple concept that an offensive coordinator, who implements a gameplan (which a defensive coordinator doesn't have adequate film to prepare his defense for), that generates freakishly offensive results, BUT doesn't actually come close to beating the other team, sails far above some folks' heads.

 

[zrinkill]

The simple concept that an offensive coordinator, who implements a gameplan (which a defensive coordinator doesn't have adequate film to prepare his defense for), that generates freakishly offensive results, BUT doesn't actually come close to beating the other team, sails far above some folks' heads.

Yup ..

 

[Disturbed]

Soft defense = losing season (Emmitt may have been right 7-9)

I hope you guys are wrong, but fear you are right.

Our defense seemed lost at times and unable to make tackles throughout the game. No heart? Leadership? Or just not as talented as we all thought?

 

[Idgit]

Can we get a quick show of hands: how many of the posters who freaked out all offseason about our WR corps and our QB are now in this thread or elsewhere on the board freaking out about the interior run defense?

 

[TD-33]

I question the heart of our teams willingness to be "punishers" like some teams but- I do like Wade's defense I think he is a top 5 defensive coordinator and I believe that we will see a VERY different animal against our division rival Sunday.

 

[Everson24]

You didn't like the 13-3 season? And you must have been in a coma during the historically bad Campo years if you were "most" disappointed by Wade's tenure. Not to mention the dismal first few seasons when Landry & Jimmy first came on board (plus the transition between the 2). And Parcells & Gailey's times here were just slightly above average.

I call BS on you being a fan since the 70's.

First of all I did like the 13-3 season of 2007 up until the loss in the playoffs and believe me I do remember the Campo years. The difference is in the expectations.

It was pretty easy to see our total lack of talent in the 1989 season. I had no hopes that we would make the playoffs back then. Even when we had a chance in 1990 I new it was a long shot but I could see us improving nearly every game.

The decline from the Jimmy Johnson years was expected by me as well. We were very fortunate to get to the Super Bowl in 1995. It took the good luck of San Fran losing home field advantage on the last day of the season and for Green Bay to beat the Niners for us to get there. The lack of discipline in those Barry Switzer teams was evident to everyone and along with the heavy losses in free agency the slump was dissapointing but easily predicted.

The Chan Gailey years (1998-1999) actually gave me some hope when we signed Rocket Ismail to compliment Micheal Irvin but the defense was lacking especially in the secondary. After we lost Irvin in the fourth week of the 1999 season my hopes quickly faded. I was dissapointed in the drafting but not the effort in Gailey's teams. I was one fan who thought Gailey did a good job.

The same can be said of the Campo years. The players played hard but the lack of talent was impossible to overcome. At this point I was upset with Jerry Jone's refusal to hire a GM or at least a good scouting director (The late Landry years also had this same problem and the outcome was very predictable).

When we hired Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland my hopes naturally went up. I had seen how quickly Bill had improved terrible teams like the Patriots and the Jets. In 2003 he didn't disappoint. We made the playoffs only to lose the eventual NFC champs. Injuries ruined the 2004 season early and the 2005 season late. However the improvement in the overall talent level was encouraging except at the quarterback position. When Tony Romo started in game six of that season everyone's hopes were lifted. Following the thanksgiving day game against the Bucs, I was certain we had found the next Kurt Warner or even Peyton Manning. Once teams started to game plan for Tony he struggled late but still had the Cowboys in the playoffs. Only a bad replay on the Witten catch and Tony's fumbled snap kept us from a good chance to be playing in the NFC championship game. This was extremely disappointing to say the least but we at least made the playoffs and the arrow was pointing up for Romo and our team.

The 2007 team was the accumulation of all that Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland built along with a more aggressive 3-4 defense brought in by head coach Wade Phillips. We played hard and only lost to a team that was considered head and shoulders better than the rest of the league. We seemed to be a team with good leadership and good team chemistry. We were also very young and very little drama (other than Jessica Simpson) followed the team even with T.O. on the roster. Looking back, the loss to the Giants should not have been all that surprising. We were a little flat on the first Giants drive evidenced by the poor tackling. I credit Steve Spagnolo with the nerve to man up on an injured T.O. and bring every blitz they had at us. The breakdown in our protection left many big plays on the field along with a poor game by Patrick Crayton. As dissapointing as that loss was I felt the team stuck together to the end and fought hard to the end. We even did better against the Giants than the 16-0 Patriots did in the Super Bowl.

Last season was filled with such high expectations. Everyone was picking us to be in the Super Bowl or at the very least he NFC Championship game. We were returning 13 pro bowl players along with two first round draft picks that were supposed to help us right away.We dominated our opponents in the first three games and there was even talk about going undefeated. All was right with the world. Then came the Washington Commanders game and leaks began to appear in the dam. The Commanders put out the blueprint on how to play an aging T.O. and how to dictate Tony's audibles. T.O. started to whine after this game as well even though he was targeted 19 times in the offense. After struggling to beat a poor Bengals team things really started to unravel after a heartbreaking loss to the Cardinals along with injuries to Romo, Felix and McBrier. The failure of our GM to bring in a competent back up cost us potentially two games. When Tony returned he was never himself. Many of his passes sailed high and when Barber got hurt our running game suffered even tough Tashard Choice did a great job. However we found a way to win three straight and our defense was playing it's best ball of the year.

The Steelers game is when it really began to all fall apart in my opinion. We had Big Ben on the ropes for the first three quarters (they only had 93 total yard up to that point). But somehow we managed to give up 17 points in the last 10 minutes and afterward T.O. went off complaining that Romo and Witten were drawing up plays in their Hotel room. The meltdown against the Ravens in the last game at Texas Stadium and the totally heartless effort in the 44-6 finale against the hated Eagles just reinforced my disappointment. On top of all that a very mediocre Cardinals team goes to the Super Bowl and gets beat by the very average offense of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That 6th Super Bowl Trophy of theirs should be on display in Valley Ranch right now but our team would rather be stars on HBO's Hard Knocks or be the lead story on ESPN's SportCenter.

The bottom line is I want a hard nosed, mentally tough team. A team that the opponent fears when they see us on the schedule. A team that plays together as a team and a coach who wont let one player's ego hold the entire team hostage. The Steelers and Patriots seem to accomplish this year in year out why cant we?

And finally just because I criticize the Cowboys does not mean I am not a fan. Some watch the game and see what needs improvement(Bill Parcells,Mike Tomlin,Bill Belichick) and some watch it with a Pollyanna mindset(Wade Phillips, Dave Campo) where they are mostly pointing out the good things we do.

I have not missed a Cowboys game since the 1986 season and have spent thousands of my hard earned dollars following this team. I think that qualifies me as a diehard fan.

 

[TD-33]

First of all I did like the 13-3 season of 2007 up until the loss in the playoffs and believe me I do remember the Campo years. The difference is in the expectations.

It was pretty easy to see our total lack of talent in the 1989 season. I had no hopes that we would make the playoffs back then. Even when we had a chance in 1990 I new it was a long shot but I could see us improving nearly every game.

The decline from the Jimmy Johnson years was expected by me as well. We were very fortunate to get to the Super Bowl in 1995. It took the good luck of San Fran losing home field advantage on the last day of the season and for Green Bay to beat the Niners for us to get there. The lack of discipline in those Barry Switzer teams was evident to everyone and along with the heavy losses in free agency the slump was dissapointing but easily predicted.

The Chan Gailey years (1998-1999) actually gave me some hope when we signed Rocket Ismail to compliment Micheal Irvin but the defense was lacking especially in the secondary. After we lost Irvin in the fourth week of the 1999 season my hopes quickly faded. I was dissapointed in the drafting but not the effort in Gailey's teams. I was one fan who thought Gailey did a good job.

The same can be said of the Campo years. The players played hard but the lack of talent was impossible to overcome. At this point I was upset with Jerry Jone's refusal to hire a GM or at least a good scouting director (The late Landry years also had this same problem and the outcome was very predictable).

When we hired Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland my hopes naturally went up. I had seen how quickly Bill had improved terrible teams like the Patriots and the Jets. In 2003 he didn't disappoint. We made the playoffs only to lose the eventual NFC champs. Injuries ruined the 2004 season early and the 2005 season late. However the improvement in the overall talent level was encouraging except at the quarterback position. When Tony Romo started in game six of that season everyone's hopes were lifted. Following the thanksgiving day game against the Bucs, I was certain we had found the next Kurt Warner or even Peyton Manning. Once teams started to game plan for Tony he struggled late but still had the Cowboys in the playoffs. Only a bad replay on the Witten catch and Tony's fumbled snap kept us from a good chance to be playing in the NFC championship game. This was extremely disappointing to say the least but we at least made the playoffs and the arrow was pointing up for Romo and our team.

The 2007 team was the accumulation of all that Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland built along with a more aggressive 3-4 defense brought in by head coach Wade Phillips. We played hard and only lost to a team that was considered head and shoulders better than the rest of the league. We seemed to be a team with good leadership and good team chemistry. We were also very young and very little drama (other than Jessica Simpson) followed the team even with T.O. on the roster. Looking back, the loss to the Giants should not have been all that surprising. We were a little flat on the first Giants drive evidenced by the poor tackling. I credit Steve Spagnolo with the nerve to man up on an injured T.O. and bring every blitz they had at us. The breakdown in our protection left many big plays on the field along with a poor game by Patrick Crayton. As dissapointing as that loss was I felt the team stuck together to the end and fought hard to the end. We even did better against the Giants than the 16-0 Patriots did in the Super Bowl.

Last season was filled with such high expectations. Everyone was picking us to be in the Super Bowl or at the very least he NFC Championship game. We were returning 13 pro bowl players along with two first round draft picks that were supposed to help us right away.We dominated our opponents in the first three games and there was even talk about going undefeated. All was right with the world. Then came the Washington Commanders game and leaks began to appear in the dam. The Commanders put out the blueprint on how to play an aging T.O. and how to dictate Tony's audibles. T.O. started to whine after this game as well even though he was targeted 19 times in the offense. After struggling to beat a poor Bengals team things really started to unravel after a heartbreaking loss to the Cardinals along with injuries to Romo, Felix and McBrier. The failure of our GM to bring in a competent back up cost us potentially two games. When Tony returned he was never himself. Many of his passes sailed high and when Barber got hurt our running game suffered even tough Tashard Choice did a great job. However we found a way to win three straight and our defense was playing it's best ball of the year.

The Steelers game is when it really began to all fall apart in my opinion. We had Big Ben on the ropes for the first three quarters (they only had 93 total yard up to that point). But somehow we managed to give up 17 points in the last 10 minutes and afterward T.O. went off complaining that Romo and Witten were drawing up plays in their Hotel room. The meltdown against the Ravens in the last game at Texas Stadium and the totally heartless effort in the 44-6 finale against the hated Eagles just reinforced my disappointment. On top of all that a very mediocre Cardinals team goes to the Super Bowl and gets beat by the very average offense of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That 6th Super Bowl Trophy of theirs should be on display in Valley Ranch right now but our team would rather be stars on HBO's Hard Knocks or be the lead story on ESPN's SportCenter.

The bottom line is I want a hard nosed, mentally tough team. A team that the opponent fears when they see us on the schedule. A team that plays together as a team and a coach who wont let one player's ego hold the entire team hostage. The Steelers and Patriots seem to accomplish this year in year out why cant we?

And finally just because I criticize the Cowboys does not mean I am not a fan. Some watch the game and see what needs improvement(Bill Parcells,Mike Tomlin,Bill Belichick) and some watch it with a Pollyanna mindset(Wade Phillips, Dave Campo) where they are mostly pointing out the good things we do.

I have not missed a Cowboys game since the 1986 season and have spent thousands of my hard earned dollars following this team. I think that qualifies me as a diehard fan.

Wow dude great read. I share your frustrations lol. :bravo:

 

[yimyammer]

First of all I did like the 13-3 season of 2007 up until the loss in the playoffs and believe me I do remember the Campo years. The difference is in the expectations.

It was pretty easy to see our total lack of talent in the 1989 season. I had no hopes that we would make the playoffs back then. Even when we had a chance in 1990 I new it was a long shot but I could see us improving nearly every game.

The decline from the Jimmy Johnson years was expected by me as well. We were very fortunate to get to the Super Bowl in 1995. It took the good luck of San Fran losing home field advantage on the last day of the season and for Green Bay to beat the Niners for us to get there. The lack of discipline in those Barry Switzer teams was evident to everyone and along with the heavy losses in free agency the slump was dissapointing but easily predicted.

The Chan Gailey years (1998-1999) actually gave me some hope when we signed Rocket Ismail to compliment Micheal Irvin but the defense was lacking especially in the secondary. After we lost Irvin in the fourth week of the 1999 season my hopes quickly faded. I was dissapointed in the drafting but not the effort in Gailey's teams. I was one fan who thought Gailey did a good job.

The same can be said of the Campo years. The players played hard but the lack of talent was impossible to overcome. At this point I was upset with Jerry Jone's refusal to hire a GM or at least a good scouting director (The late Landry years also had this same problem and the outcome was very predictable).

When we hired Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland my hopes naturally went up. I had seen how quickly Bill had improved terrible teams like the Patriots and the Jets. In 2003 he didn't disappoint. We made the playoffs only to lose the eventual NFC champs. Injuries ruined the 2004 season early and the 2005 season late. However the improvement in the overall talent level was encouraging except at the quarterback position. When Tony Romo started in game six of that season everyone's hopes were lifted. Following the thanksgiving day game against the Bucs, I was certain we had found the next Kurt Warner or even Peyton Manning. Once teams started to game plan for Tony he struggled late but still had the Cowboys in the playoffs. Only a bad replay on the Witten catch and Tony's fumbled snap kept us from a good chance to be playing in the NFC championship game. This was extremely disappointing to say the least but we at least made the playoffs and the arrow was pointing up for Romo and our team.

The 2007 team was the accumulation of all that Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland built along with a more aggressive 3-4 defense brought in by head coach Wade Phillips. We played hard and only lost to a team that was considered head and shoulders better than the rest of the league. We seemed to be a team with good leadership and good team chemistry. We were also very young and very little drama (other than Jessica Simpson) followed the team even with T.O. on the roster. Looking back, the loss to the Giants should not have been all that surprising. We were a little flat on the first Giants drive evidenced by the poor tackling. I credit Steve Spagnolo with the nerve to man up on an injured T.O. and bring every blitz they had at us. The breakdown in our protection left many big plays on the field along with a poor game by Patrick Crayton. As dissapointing as that loss was I felt the team stuck together to the end and fought hard to the end. We even did better against the Giants than the 16-0 Patriots did in the Super Bowl.

Last season was filled with such high expectations. Everyone was picking us to be in the Super Bowl or at the very least he NFC Championship game. We were returning 13 pro bowl players along with two first round draft picks that were supposed to help us right away.We dominated our opponents in the first three games and there was even talk about going undefeated. All was right with the world. Then came the Washington Commanders game and leaks began to appear in the dam. The Commanders put out the blueprint on how to play an aging T.O. and how to dictate Tony's audibles. T.O. started to whine after this game as well even though he was targeted 19 times in the offense. After struggling to beat a poor Bengals team things really started to unravel after a heartbreaking loss to the Cardinals along with injuries to Romo, Felix and McBrier. The failure of our GM to bring in a competent back up cost us potentially two games. When Tony returned he was never himself. Many of his passes sailed high and when Barber got hurt our running game suffered even tough Tashard Choice did a great job. However we found a way to win three straight and our defense was playing it's best ball of the year.

The Steelers game is when it really began to all fall apart in my opinion. We had Big Ben on the ropes for the first three quarters (they only had 93 total yard up to that point). But somehow we managed to give up 17 points in the last 10 minutes and afterward T.O. went off complaining that Romo and Witten were drawing up plays in their Hotel room. The meltdown against the Ravens in the last game at Texas Stadium and the totally heartless effort in the 44-6 finale against the hated Eagles just reinforced my disappointment. On top of all that a very mediocre Cardinals team goes to the Super Bowl and gets beat by the very average offense of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That 6th Super Bowl Trophy of theirs should be on display in Valley Ranch right now but our team would rather be stars on HBO's Hard Knocks or be the lead story on ESPN's SportCenter.

The bottom line is I want a hard nosed, mentally tough team. A team that the opponent fears when they see us on the schedule. A team that plays together as a team and a coach who wont let one player's ego hold the entire team hostage. The Steelers and Patriots seem to accomplish this year in year out why cant we?

And finally just because I criticize the Cowboys does not mean I am not a fan. Some watch the game and see what needs improvement(Bill Parcells,Mike Tomlin,Bill Belichick) and some watch it with a Pollyanna mindset(Wade Phillips, Dave Campo) where they are mostly pointing out the good things we do.

I have not missed a Cowboys game since the 1986 season and have spent thousands of my hard earned dollars following this team. I think that qualifies me as a diehard fan.

Right on brotha, I especially like the bolded parts.

One thing that kills me is that I've seen our defense play really great and intense at times, but they can't seem to bring the intensity on a consistent, week to week basis for four quarters. The goal line stand at Pittsburgh last year was awesome, I loved their fire and energy on that play. I dare say it was Kenny Norton-esque. I thought we had the game in the bag after that play, I was stunned it unraveled so fast and I still get queesy thinking about it.

I also think the defense of the 70's and 90's really spoiled us. After seeing the effort and intensity of past defenses, you can't help but notice a difference.

On a side note, what makes random yahoos think they have the authority to decide who and what a fan is anyway? Reminds me of the soup ****...I don't like your opinion! Poof!, you're no longer a fan. Thank god these folks don't have any real power in life.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

First of all I did like the 13-3 season of 2007 up until the loss in the playoffs and believe me I do remember the Campo years. The difference is in the expectations.

It was pretty easy to see our total lack of talent in the 1989 season. I had no hopes that we would make the playoffs back then. Even when we had a chance in 1990 I new it was a long shot but I could see us improving nearly every game.

The decline from the Jimmy Johnson years was expected by me as well. We were very fortunate to get to the Super Bowl in 1995. It took the good luck of San Fran losing home field advantage on the last day of the season and for Green Bay to beat the Niners for us to get there. The lack of discipline in those Barry Switzer teams was evident to everyone and along with the heavy losses in free agency the slump was dissapointing but easily predicted.

The Chan Gailey years (1998-1999) actually gave me some hope when we signed Rocket Ismail to compliment Micheal Irvin but the defense was lacking especially in the secondary. After we lost Irvin in the fourth week of the 1999 season my hopes quickly faded. I was dissapointed in the drafting but not the effort in Gailey's teams. I was one fan who thought Gailey did a good job.

The same can be said of the Campo years. The players played hard but the lack of talent was impossible to overcome. At this point I was upset with Jerry Jone's refusal to hire a GM or at least a good scouting director (The late Landry years also had this same problem and the outcome was very predictable).

When we hired Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland my hopes naturally went up. I had seen how quickly Bill had improved terrible teams like the Patriots and the Jets. In 2003 he didn't disappoint. We made the playoffs only to lose the eventual NFC champs. Injuries ruined the 2004 season early and the 2005 season late. However the improvement in the overall talent level was encouraging except at the quarterback position. When Tony Romo started in game six of that season everyone's hopes were lifted. Following the thanksgiving day game against the Bucs, I was certain we had found the next Kurt Warner or even Peyton Manning. Once teams started to game plan for Tony he struggled late but still had the Cowboys in the playoffs. Only a bad replay on the Witten catch and Tony's fumbled snap kept us from a good chance to be playing in the NFC championship game. This was extremely disappointing to say the least but we at least made the playoffs and the arrow was pointing up for Romo and our team.

The 2007 team was the accumulation of all that Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland built along with a more aggressive 3-4 defense brought in by head coach Wade Phillips. We played hard and only lost to a team that was considered head and shoulders better than the rest of the league. We seemed to be a team with good leadership and good team chemistry. We were also very young and very little drama (other than Jessica Simpson) followed the team even with T.O. on the roster. Looking back, the loss to the Giants should not have been all that surprising. We were a little flat on the first Giants drive evidenced by the poor tackling. I credit Steve Spagnolo with the nerve to man up on an injured T.O. and bring every blitz they had at us. The breakdown in our protection left many big plays on the field along with a poor game by Patrick Crayton. As dissapointing as that loss was I felt the team stuck together to the end and fought hard to the end. We even did better against the Giants than the 16-0 Patriots did in the Super Bowl.

Last season was filled with such high expectations. Everyone was picking us to be in the Super Bowl or at the very least he NFC Championship game. We were returning 13 pro bowl players along with two first round draft picks that were supposed to help us right away.We dominated our opponents in the first three games and there was even talk about going undefeated. All was right with the world. Then came the Washington Commanders game and leaks began to appear in the dam. The Commanders put out the blueprint on how to play an aging T.O. and how to dictate Tony's audibles. T.O. started to whine after this game as well even though he was targeted 19 times in the offense. After struggling to beat a poor Bengals team things really started to unravel after a heartbreaking loss to the Cardinals along with injuries to Romo, Felix and McBrier. The failure of our GM to bring in a competent back up cost us potentially two games. When Tony returned he was never himself. Many of his passes sailed high and when Barber got hurt our running game suffered even tough Tashard Choice did a great job. However we found a way to win three straight and our defense was playing it's best ball of the year.

The Steelers game is when it really began to all fall apart in my opinion. We had Big Ben on the ropes for the first three quarters (they only had 93 total yard up to that point). But somehow we managed to give up 17 points in the last 10 minutes and afterward T.O. went off complaining that Romo and Witten were drawing up plays in their Hotel room. The meltdown against the Ravens in the last game at Texas Stadium and the totally heartless effort in the 44-6 finale against the hated Eagles just reinforced my disappointment. On top of all that a very mediocre Cardinals team goes to the Super Bowl and gets beat by the very average offense of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That 6th Super Bowl Trophy of theirs should be on display in Valley Ranch right now but our team would rather be stars on HBO's Hard Knocks or be the lead story on ESPN's SportCenter.

The bottom line is I want a hard nosed, mentally tough team. A team that the opponent fears when they see us on the schedule. A team that plays together as a team and a coach who wont let one player's ego hold the entire team hostage. The Steelers and Patriots seem to accomplish this year in year out why cant we?

And finally just because I criticize the Cowboys does not mean I am not a fan. Some watch the game and see what needs improvement(Bill Parcells,Mike Tomlin,Bill Belichick) and some watch it with a Pollyanna mindset(Wade Phillips, Dave Campo) where they are mostly pointing out the good things we do.

I have not missed a Cowboys game since the 1986 season and have spent thousands of my hard earned dollars following this team. I think that qualifies me as a diehard fan.

be careful making sense around here...I am convinced a lot of these 'fans' have NO CLUE what they are watching when they watch the games. And also, didn't you get the memo that TO practiced hard, therefore he deserved to wear the star? And the HBO TV cameras had NOTHING to do with our lack of focus (sarcasm off)

Here is the funny thing about the HBO cameras....the REAL cowboys (Witten, James and Newman) have pretty much confirmed that they had little use for them. It was the CLOWNS, most who are gone, that hammed it up and were the biggest part of the show on a weekly basis.

 

[Juke99]

You know this after one game?

how are you at picking LOTTO numbers?

 

[ringmaster]

Good post.

While some of that is true there is definetely some things we need to improve on.

Plus I feel like nobody is giving Tampa any credit.

Some of those catches they made were just absolutely amazing plays. Nothing you could do about it.

And even on their 1st scoring drive, on 3rd down, they tip the ball up 15 feet in the air and it just somehow goes to a wideopen guy.

I expect a different ball club when they get back home out of the humidity but the run defense is something to be a little concerned about.

That is what I notice too that most of Cadillac's big runs came up the middle, with all do respect to Ratliff, he's a little light for the NT spot of the 3-4.

If Wade, is here next season I think he would need to draft a traditional 3-4 NT, like Alabama's Terrence Cody, that is what is missing in this defense a Jamal Williams type of player.

 

[ringmaster]

Doubt it.

Some fans have such an anti-Wade Phillips agenda that nothing short of a shutout with fewer than 100 yards in total offense will shut them up.

Check that, it wouldn't shut them up. They'd say, "Yeah well, let's see 'em do it two weeks in a row."

If the defense holds an opponent to 100 yards of offense then the detractors would say "The team they played wasn't very good".

 

[ringmaster]

I agree with this post. For me its not about the points or the yards its about the intensity. When you look at the Steelers, Eagles, Ravens, Giants, and even Washington, they come at you with a violent intensity. They don't just want to get you down on the ground, they want to inflict damage as they are doing it.

If you go back and look at all of Ware's sacks last year, you see him pulling the QB down by the shirt in almost all of them. Compare that to Harrison and you can see two players with completely different intentions. Ware and the Cowboys are trying to get off the field on third down, these other teams are trying to hurt and intimidate on the way to getting off the field.

No matter how you slice it this team will never satisfy most of you.

 

[Doomsday101]

That is what I notice too that most of Cadillac's big runs came up the middle, with all do respect to Ratliff, he's a little light for the NT spot of the 3-4.

If Wade, is here next season I think he would need to draft a traditional 3-4 NT, like Alabama's Terrence Cody, that is what is missing in this defense a Jamal Williams type of player.

Cadillacs 35 yard ran did come on a 2nd and 10 with Dallas looking to put pressure on the QB leaving a hole wide open on the delayed handoff. Dallas was also in a nickle formation on the play

 

[ringmaster]

Cadillacs 35 yard ran did come on a 2nd and 10 with Dallas looking to put pressure on the QB leaving a hole wide open on the delayed handoff. Dallas was also in a nickle formation on the play

Oh ok that is a strategy I think Dallas, will try to employ on the G-Men, with Umenyoria, and Tuck itching to get to Romo, this Sunday.