CFZ Perspective on pre-season games

[Bobhaze]

It’s always good to see the return of football. We are now less than a month away from the start of real football - the regular season - when the games actually count.

Yesterday’s pre-season opener vs the rams was the unofficial start to the 2024 season. And typical of all pre-season football games it was a sloppy contest of FGs, poor execution, vanilla playbooks and only one touchdown between the two teams. For anyone wondering if yesterday’s game is any indication of what the 2024 team will be - thankfully it is not. Very few of the players we will be counting on when it matters most played yesterday.

So here’s some general truths about PS games to keep in mind…at least IMO:

• Under Mike McCarthy, most of the key starters this team will be counting on in the regular season will not be on the field in PS games. So it’s very hard to judge a team when so many key players aren’t playing.
• Usually no more than 25% of the playbook on both sides of the ball will be used. Coaches usually use the more vanilla portions of the playbook choosing to not reveal in particular any new wrinkles on both sides of the ball.
• Unlike the regular season, there is zero game planning done for these games.
• The matchups in PS games are usually just a pairing of backup players or even players at the end of the roster who will NEVER play a meaningful down of NFL football. Keep in mind many players who may make some good plays are often doing it against guys who won’t make an NFL roster.
• The primary purpose of PS games is to evaluate the margins of your roster and possibly evaluate key draft picks and their ability to integrate into the pro game.

If the Cowboys lose every pre-season game this August, it will probably reveal almost nothing about what kind of regular season we will have. It may reveal an occasional diamond in the rough or that someone we thought had great potential is not that good.

My hope for PS games: Let’s get through it with no major injuries. The games that really matter start in September.

 

[maryquality]

It’s always good to see the return of football. We are now less than a month away from the start of real football - the regular season - when the games actually count.

Yesterday’s pre-season opener vs the rams was the unofficial start to the 2024 season. And typical of all pre-season football games it was a sloppy contest of FGs, poor execution, vanilla playbooks and only one touchdown between the two teams. For anyone wondering if yesterday’s game is any indication of what the 2024 team will be - thankfully it is not. Very few of the players we will be counting on when it matters most played yesterday.

So here’s some general truths about PS games to keep in mind…at least IMO:

• Under Mike McCarthy, most of the key starters this team will be counting on in the regular season will not be on the field in PS games. So it’s very hard to judge a team when so many key players aren’t playing.
• Usually no more than 25% of the playbook on both sides of the ball will be used. Coaches usually use the more vanilla portions of the playbook choosing to not reveal in particular any new wrinkles on both sides of the ball.
• Unlike the regular season, there is zero game planning done for these games.
• The matchups in PS games are usually just a pairing of backup players or even players at the end of the roster who will NEVER play a meaningful down of NFL football. Keep in mind many players who may make some good plays are often doing it against guys who won’t make an NFL roster.
• The primary purpose of PS games is to evaluate the margins of your roster and possibly evaluate key draft picks and their ability to integrate into the pro game.

If the Cowboys lose every pre-season game this August, it will probably reveal almost nothing about what kind of regular season we will have. It may reveal an occasional diamond in the rough or that someone we thought had great potential is not that good.

My hope for PS games: Let’s get through it with no major injuries. The games that really matter start in September.

So, I was reading where Zimmer was calling plays without using his play sheet. Does that mean he has all his plays memorized, or was he going "off script"?

 

[Bobhaze]

So, I was reading where Zimmer was calling plays without using his play sheet. Does that mean he has all his plays memorized, or was he going "off script"?

I think it means he only wanted to use his most vanilla defensive formations and not reveal anything of substance about what this team will be defensively.

 

[RodeoJake]

I won't make judgements on any player after the first PS game. For one, first game jitters come into play even in a meaningless game. In the case of Lance, it was his first game action in almost two years. As for the trenches, the guys playing together have no cohesion. They were thrown out there and told to play next to whoever lined up next to them.

 

[maryquality]

I think it means he only wanted to use his most vanilla defensive formations and not reveal anything of substance about what this team will be defensively.

Makes sense.

 

[foofighters]

It’s always good to see the return of football. We are now less than a month away from the start of real football - the regular season - when the games actually count.

Yesterday’s pre-season opener vs the rams was the unofficial start to the 2024 season. And typical of all pre-season football games it was a sloppy contest of FGs, poor execution, vanilla playbooks and only one touchdown between the two teams. For anyone wondering if yesterday’s game is any indication of what the 2024 team will be - thankfully it is not. Very few of the players we will be counting on when it matters most played yesterday.

So here’s some general truths about PS games to keep in mind…at least IMO:

• Under Mike McCarthy, most of the key starters this team will be counting on in the regular season will not be on the field in PS games. So it’s very hard to judge a team when so many key players aren’t playing.
• Usually no more than 25% of the playbook on both sides of the ball will be used. Coaches usually use the more vanilla portions of the playbook choosing to not reveal in particular any new wrinkles on both sides of the ball.
• Unlike the regular season, there is zero game planning done for these games.
• The matchups in PS games are usually just a pairing of backup players or even players at the end of the roster who will NEVER play a meaningful down of NFL football. Keep in mind many players who may make some good plays are often doing it against guys who won’t make an NFL roster.
• The primary purpose of PS games is to evaluate the margins of your roster and possibly evaluate key draft picks and their ability to integrate into the pro game.

If the Cowboys lose every pre-season game this August, it will probably reveal almost nothing about what kind of regular season we will have. It may reveal an occasional diamond in the rough or that someone we thought had great potential is not that good.

My hope for PS games: Let’s get through it with no major injuries. The games that really matter start in September.

I'll probably get roasted for this but I haven't watch a preseason game in quite some time. I don't watch for the reasons you've listed. Unfortunately my interest in the game lessens each year. I lack the patience to sit through a bunch of annoying commercials (I stream everything virtually commercial free now except live TV which a rarely watch) and yellow flags like I used to. I will watch when the first official game starts but there is so much that is going to change from now to then that I just don't care see what's going on.

 

[foofighters]

It’s always good to see the return of football. We are now less than a month away from the start of real football - the regular season - when the games actually count.

Yesterday’s pre-season opener vs the rams was the unofficial start to the 2024 season. And typical of all pre-season football games it was a sloppy contest of FGs, poor execution, vanilla playbooks and only one touchdown between the two teams. For anyone wondering if yesterday’s game is any indication of what the 2024 team will be - thankfully it is not. Very few of the players we will be counting on when it matters most played yesterday.

So here’s some general truths about PS games to keep in mind…at least IMO:

• Under Mike McCarthy, most of the key starters this team will be counting on in the regular season will not be on the field in PS games. So it’s very hard to judge a team when so many key players aren’t playing.
• Usually no more than 25% of the playbook on both sides of the ball will be used. Coaches usually use the more vanilla portions of the playbook choosing to not reveal in particular any new wrinkles on both sides of the ball.
• Unlike the regular season, there is zero game planning done for these games.
• The matchups in PS games are usually just a pairing of backup players or even players at the end of the roster who will NEVER play a meaningful down of NFL football. Keep in mind many players who may make some good plays are often doing it against guys who won’t make an NFL roster.
• The primary purpose of PS games is to evaluate the margins of your roster and possibly evaluate key draft picks and their ability to integrate into the pro game.

If the Cowboys lose every pre-season game this August, it will probably reveal almost nothing about what kind of regular season we will have. It may reveal an occasional diamond in the rough or that someone we thought had great potential is not that good.

My hope for PS games: Let’s get through it with no major injuries. The games that really matter start in September.

Oh, I do come here the day after the preseason games to get a chuckle though!!

 

[zrinkill]

Not gonna get too high or to low on preseason performance.

Overall I am as happy with what I saw except for the dumb penalties like hitting a guy out of bounds or hitting a guy laying on the ground

 

[blueblood70]

I have no perspective no expectations you watch these knowing that the goal is not to look good and win the game it's to look at players the young players rookies and under three-year guys that might have a role on this team and you're interested in seeing how they play in a live game... And a lot of the players that we were looking at did a pretty good job last night especially Guyton and BeeBee everyone was worried about, and I know it was against backups but it's a good start against live action,

Kneeland / Liafu looked ok they were HELD a lot i mean looked like a weak pass rush until you watched how much the OL got away with mega holds including the final TD..

Overshown picked up right were he left off..dont want to see him much more shelve him soon. Bubble wrap. LOL

Cropper saved Lance from looking even worse. I had no idea really who he was but made a lot of tough catches and looks good.

 

[John813]

IMO it's mainly for individual performances. Does the WR run the right route, correctly in terms of distance and cutting even if the pass sucked or he wasn't targeted?

Does the Defensive tackle maintain his responsibility in the assigned gap even though there was a 30 yard run cause the linebacker was awol? Defense may of "sucked" but with the lack of cohesion due to tweener 1's playing with 2's and 3's, I'd go one a limb and it's mainly seeing how guys do their role.

Etc, stuff we don't know without proper knowledge of the playcall or what the coaches wanted out of a snap.

 

[big dog cowboy]

It's shocking to me watching the overreaction to preseason games every year.

Do some not realize this is preseason and what it is intended for?

 

[beware_d-ware]

So, I was reading where Zimmer was calling plays without using his play sheet. Does that mean he has all his plays memorized, or was he going "off script"?

I remember Brian Urlacher saying that back in the mid-2000s, Lovie Smith could literally call a full game with five defensive plays. Cover 2, Cover 3, man blitz, zone blitz, and a weekly wrinkle they'd scheme based on opponent.

Zimmer probably wasn't getting any more complicated than that.

 

[Bobhaze]

I remember Brian Urlacher saying that back in the mid-2000s, Lovie Smith could literally call a full game with five defensive plays. Cover 2, Cover 3, man blitz, zone blitz, and a weekly wrinkle they'd scheme based on opponent.

Zimmer probably wasn't getting any more complicated than that.

Same could probably be said about offense in pre-season games. They probably run the most basic of plays. I saw McCarthy said after rams game he called a ton of just basic drop back passing plays for Trey Lance just to test his basic grasp of the passing game as a drop back passer.

 

[rambo2]

Oh, I do come here the day after the preseason games to get a chuckle though!!

It is funny. I got a kick out of the game threads.

 

[rambo2]

It's shocking to me watching the overreaction to preseason games every year.

Do some not realize this is preseason and what it is intended for?

You just have to laugh at them. This over blown Trey Lance thing is out of control. 37 of these camp practice players aren't going to be on the team. Hopefully, we make it through the preseason without any more serious injuries. We can already see that our draft was good to excellent and we have a good team, but we do have an issue with dline depth.

 

[MoistMayonnaise]

Not sure there is any value watching these games, at least for me. I don't know what the coaching staff is trying to do or evaluate so it ends up being three hours of W.T.F.

Looking forward to the regular season, maybe.

 

[Rockport]

It’s always good to see the return of football. We are now less than a month away from the start of real football - the regular season - when the games actually count.

Yesterday’s pre-season opener vs the rams was the unofficial start to the 2024 season. And typical of all pre-season football games it was a sloppy contest of FGs, poor execution, vanilla playbooks and only one touchdown between the two teams. For anyone wondering if yesterday’s game is any indication of what the 2024 team will be - thankfully it is not. Very few of the players we will be counting on when it matters most played yesterday.

So here’s some general truths about PS games to keep in mind…at least IMO:

• Under Mike McCarthy, most of the key starters this team will be counting on in the regular season will not be on the field in PS games. So it’s very hard to judge a team when so many key players aren’t playing.
• Usually no more than 25% of the playbook on both sides of the ball will be used. Coaches usually use the more vanilla portions of the playbook choosing to not reveal in particular any new wrinkles on both sides of the ball.
• Unlike the regular season, there is zero game planning done for these games.
• The matchups in PS games are usually just a pairing of backup players or even players at the end of the roster who will NEVER play a meaningful down of NFL football. Keep in mind many players who may make some good plays are often doing it against guys who won’t make an NFL roster.
• The primary purpose of PS games is to evaluate the margins of your roster and possibly evaluate key draft picks and their ability to integrate into the pro game.

If the Cowboys lose every pre-season game this August, it will probably reveal almost nothing about what kind of regular season we will have. It may reveal an occasional diamond in the rough or that someone we thought had great potential is not that good.

My hope for PS games: Let’s get through it with no major injuries. The games that really matter start in September.

You mean there are folks who think preseason records mean something?

 

[eromeopolk]

It’s always good to see the return of football. We are now less than a month away from the start of real football - the regular season - when the games actually count.

Yesterday’s pre-season opener vs the rams was the unofficial start to the 2024 season. And typical of all pre-season football games it was a sloppy contest of FGs, poor execution, vanilla playbooks and only one touchdown between the two teams. For anyone wondering if yesterday’s game is any indication of what the 2024 team will be - thankfully it is not. Very few of the players we will be counting on when it matters most played yesterday.

So here’s some general truths about PS games to keep in mind…at least IMO:

• Under Mike McCarthy, most of the key starters this team will be counting on in the regular season will not be on the field in PS games. So it’s very hard to judge a team when so many key players aren’t playing.
• Usually no more than 25% of the playbook on both sides of the ball will be used. Coaches usually use the more vanilla portions of the playbook choosing to not reveal in particular any new wrinkles on both sides of the ball.
• Unlike the regular season, there is zero game planning done for these games.
• The matchups in PS games are usually just a pairing of backup players or even players at the end of the roster who will NEVER play a meaningful down of NFL football. Keep in mind many players who may make some good plays are often doing it against guys who won’t make an NFL roster.
• The primary purpose of PS games is to evaluate the margins of your roster and possibly evaluate key draft picks and their ability to integrate into the pro game.

If the Cowboys lose every pre-season game this August, it will probably reveal almost nothing about what kind of regular season we will have. It may reveal an occasional diamond in the rough or that someone we thought had great potential is not that good.

My hope for PS games: Let’s get through it with no major injuries. The games that really matter start in September.

All you want from preseason is no major injuries, young talent compete to push starters to start, establish starters look crisp, and show that you compete to win. Win or lost records are for the regular season to win the division and qualify for the playoffs. Neither is up for grabs now.

 

[Bobhaze]

Not sure there is any value watching these games, at least for me. I don't know what the coaching staff is trying to do or evaluate so it ends up being three hours of W.T.F.

Looking forward to the regular season, maybe.

Yeah PS games are hard to watch for me. Yesterday I felt like I was watching an NFL Europe or USFL game. Yeah it was football but watching 7 FGs and 1 TD, and about 25% of the playbook is not my idea of entertaining football.

As I’ve said many times, I respect my fellow Cowboys fans here who do enjoy PS games. But for me, the best part of pre-season games is there are only 3. September is when real football starts.

 

[jwitten82]

Im already over preseason. Ready for the regular season to start