Shortcomings were clearly on display last night

[Idgit]

The game threads are mostly unbearable. I was going to log into last night's sometime during the 2nd quarter, hesitated, and was then like "nah". I imagine it was pretty rough.

Every team has warts, and things they should be concerned about. Hell, NE barely beat the Jets a week or so ago. The Raiders almost took an L to a Panthers squad that's looked lost and confused all year.

Like you said, we just played 3 tough teams in 12 days, and beat them all. I'm just enjoying it right now, I'll be "concerned" some other time.

I hide out in the chats because I can't take the threads. Not sure why it's different, but the vibe in the chats is better, in my opinion.

 

[Stash]

Not defending Free who had a rough night, but just to be fair,

Free's man--1 strip for fumble, 0 sacks
Smith's man--2 sacks

Smith is the far superior player, so I guess he gets some lattitude; Free is the inferior player, and he gets destroyed for every missed block or penalty.

Sorry, but you'll have to back up this claim.

 

[Philmonroe]

Does claiming that my opinion holds no weight somehow make you think your own opinion is more true?

You contradict yourself, so I probably shouldn't even entertain your rant. But you want to claim how wrong I am and that I have no "credentials" to say that the defense doesn't make plays, yet in the the very next line of text, you say that the defensive deficiencies are "common knowledge", and that you're just tired of the "whining".

If you're going to slam me for my opinion, at least tell me I'm wrong and keep it that way.

You must be the long lost Manning brother Straw. Nowhere did I say and or claim your opinion holds no weight. Spare me with that emotional made up stuff. I don't want to claim anything you're the one feeling insecure because you have no credentials. I'll gladly tell you I have none outside of playing football so again spare me. I asked for your creditentials on the Hitchens play not the whole D can you read with understanding? I didn't edit the post its still there for you to read clearly.

You should stop jumbling up what I said to make a new point that doesn't work because as I said before the post I originally posted is still there for anybody to see. Please don't be emotional and post mixed up lies I didn't post. Just read with understanding.

 

[Idgit]

Who cares what they accomplished the past 11 days? This ain't college basketball. There are no regular season champion trophies. What are they going to do in January?

Like it or not, multiple games with limited rest or downtime takes a toll on teams, which is why the fact that last night was a road win on the back end of the 11 day run is relevant.

We're not talking about a regular season trophy. We're talking about perspective regarding last nights *win.*

 

[Eddie]

If these problems caused us to go 11-1, then I'll take these problems in a heartbeat.

 

[Proximo]

Who cares what they accomplished the past 11 days? This ain't college basketball. There are no regular season champion trophies. What are they going to do in January?

LOL wut?

Some of y'all are funny.

Can't play January games until January bro. And I'm pretty sure none of us can see the future.

Maybe try enjoying the ride? Just a suggestion.

 

[Philmonroe]

I hide out in the chats because I can't take the threads. Not sure why it's different, but the vibe in the chats is better, in my opinion.

Ive never been in the chat but the threads probably aren't people complaining after every bad play about this, that, and the other. They probably have more people that just let the game happen. I want to watch the game with other Boys fans at times but even IRL its people doing too much play by play whining when we aren't dominating. It becomes a tad annoying honestly.

 

[CATCH17]

As this magical season and record-setting win streak continues, I can't help but be more and more concerned as this team's weak links continue to be exposed. While I think they have popped up here and there from time to time over the course of this season, they seemed to happen collectively last night.

Maybe it was coincidence? Maybe it was a great defense helping to expose them?

But, whatever the reason, they were more glaring last night than I think they've been all season.

Doug Free - The guy was awful last night, and that's outside of a bogus 'holding' call that negated the biggest running play of the night. He was beaten like a drum repeatedly in pass protection and gave up two sacks at minimum and was responsible for the forced fumble.

It was so obvious that Collinsworth specifically called him 'the weak link' of the Cowboys' line. That's something we all knew, but it said a lot that it was pointed out by a commentator too. It's unfortunate that Chaz Green can't stay healthy to give the team another option, but something needs to be done about Free's issues, for both the long and short term. Adjustments need to be made in blocking and a long term replacement needs to be found.

Jason Pierre-Paul is coming on, and he's repeatedly given Free problems. I worry this could be a huge factor in the upcoming game against the Giants.

Brandon Carr - the guy just isn't very good. Other than being available every week, he doesn't bring much to the table. It's one thing for rookie Anthony Brown to struggle, it's quite another for a veteran who's been around as long as Carr has. Zero playmaking, poor awareness, plays soft, gives too much cushion, mediocre tackler. You name it, if it's bad, he's showing it. Cornerback becomes a bigger need every week.

Lucky Whitehead - time to end this failed experiment. After what looked like signs of development and improvement, it's obvious that it's not happening. He's showing why he was an undrafted free agent. It's one thing to Ben a 'one trick pony', but when you can't even handle that 'one trick', it's time to look elsewhere. Besides the big fumble, he continues to be indecisive and dangerous on punt returns. And if he can't do that, he has little to no value. And his issues are forcing the team to use Beasley out there to fair catch every punt when he's out there.

Gavin Escobar - His status as a draft bust was already secure, but he went to great lengths to eliminate any doubts last night. The guy just provides little to nothing to this team. While he might be able to contribute in the passing game, the team simply doesn't use him in that way. And, right or wrong, he can't handle what they are asking him to do. And the combination of he and Vince Mayle are hurting this team's blocking, not helping it. One of them should go for a capable blocker. I think bringing back Austin Traylor would be a smarter move at this point than wasting more time with these two.

The 'pass rush' - and the obvious lack thereof. The team played against arguably the very worst offensive line they will see all year and the results were still disappointing. The Tyrone Crawford experiment looks worse and worse all the time. What they're paying that player to do so little is just an awful return on investment. And it speaks volumes that he wasn't able to make an impact lining up against a 3rd team right tackle. Overall, I still fear that the obvious weakness from this group will be this team's undoing and ultimately cost them a chance for a championship.

I don't think that any of these points are ground-breaking or haven't been discussed before, but I felt that they were more glaring last night than they have been all season, and this team is fortunately that they didn't cost them the game.

I very much hope that some, if not all, can somehow be improved upon or corrected before it's too late.

I agree with everything you said except the part about pass rush being our undoing. I don't think our defense will lose a game for us unless we need a stop with the game on the line.


Also, I think a lot of the things you posted were magnified by playing 3 games in 11 days.

The team looked lacked luster last night. We should just be glad we got the win and move on.

 

[links18]

LOL wut?

Some of y'all are funny.

Can't play January games until January bro. And I'm pretty sure none of us can see the future.

Maybe try enjoying the ride? Just a suggestion.

I don't want to be the 98 Vikes or the 04 Steelers. I want a Lombardi. Its there for the taking.

 

[Mr Cowboy]

Minny put out the blueprint on how to play the Cowboys; have your HC have emergency eye surgery late on Wednesday night, have him stop by and give a motivational, speech to go win one for the gipper and to play desperate to save their playoff lives. Minny laid all out and left everything on the field, but were beat by the better team, who played their worst game of the year. The Giants coach hasn't told the team that he will have emergency eye surgery just yet, he's going to surprise them on the Saturday before the game!

 

[Proximo]

I don't want to be the 98 Vikes or the 04 Steelers. I want a Lombardi. Its there for the taking.

Okay?

I'm pretty sure that's what everyone around here wants- a SB win.

Doesn't make these regular season games any less significant.

 

[Idgit]

Ive never been in the chat but the threads probably aren't people complaining after every bad play about this, that, and the other. They probably have more people that just let the game happen. I want to watch the game with other Boys fans at times but even IRL its people doing too much play by play whining when we aren't dominating. It becomes a tad annoying honestly.

I like making fun of players names, and commercials, and the announcers and such during a game. I spend less time getting angry and most of my time just being an idiot. The chats move so fast that you can kind of ignore the angst and try to hang on to the thread of the conversation. And then they're too stupid to go back and read later, which is why I think I don't remember the complaining so much.

When I have to wander into the game threads to moderate, jesus. I can't go in without waders on. If we're losing, even the waders don't help.

 

[Proximo]

Ive never been in the chat but the threads probably aren't people complaining after every bad play about this, that, and the other. They probably have more people that just let the game happen. I want to watch the game with other Boys fans at times but even IRL its people doing too much play by play whining when we aren't dominating. It becomes a tad annoying honestly.

Agreed- except I'd say it's extremely annoying, in my opinion.

 

[Stash]

I agree with everything you said except the part about pass rush being our undoing. I don't think our defense will lose a game for us unless we need a stop with the game on the line.

I hope you're right, but even the most average offensive lines and passing games are having success against this defense. At some point, I worry that good enough won't be good enough.

Also, I think a lot of the things you posted were magnified by playing 3 games in 11 days.

Both teams did, so I don't see how it's any excuse for Dallas' performance.

The team looked lacked luster last night. We should just be glad we got the win and move on.

Despite what the 'Content Cops' might like people to believe, just because someone expresses concerns over obvious issues doesn't mean that we're not glad we got the win. But unlike those people, I can handle acknowledging team weaknesses that need to improve. Weaknesses that very likely would have cost the team that win they want to point to while acknowledging nothing else.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

I rather have a bad win than a good loss any day. What do some of you want....go back to our moral victory days?

 

[Stash]

I rather have a bad win than a good loss any day. What do some of you want....go back to our moral victory days?

So it's completely either/or then? Nothing in between?

In that case, shut the place down until the next game. No point in discussing anything if we win, right?

 

[CATCH17]

I hope you're right, but even the most average offensive lines and passing games are having success against this defense. At some point, I worry that good enough won't be good enough.



Both teams did, so I don't see how it's any excuse for Dallas' performance.



Despite what the 'Content Cops' might like people to believe, just because someone expresses concerns over obvious issues doesn't mean that we're not glad we got the win. But unlike those people, I can handle acknowledging team weaknesses that need to improve. Weaknesses that very likely would have cost the team that win they want to point to while acknowledging nothing else.

They are having success but they are struggling to score points.

At what point do we say that our defense does a good job not allowing touchdowns? Maybe that is just who they are?

It may not be a conventional defense but we aren't a conventional team.

The league passes 60% of the time Dallas has a perfect balance of 50/50.

Dallas is operating different than the rest of the NFL and it seems like the goal is keep offensive point totals low and lets have long drives that chew clock and score TD's.

Everyone else is in shootout mode.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

So it's completely either/or then? Nothing in between?

In that case, shut the place down until the next game. No point in discussing anything if we win, right?

I understand complaining after a loss but this team is 11-1. OK the Cowboys didn't play well. No team plays well every week. Seattle only scored 5 points last week. Just don't see all the gloom that some do.

 

[SportsGuru80]

Oh boy...

 

[Stash]

They are having success but they are struggling to score points.

At what point do we say that our defense does a good job not allowing touchdowns? Maybe that is just who they are?

It may not be a conventional defense but we aren't a conventional team.

The league passes 60% of the time Dallas has a perfect balance of 50/50.

Dallas is operating different than the rest of the NFL and it seems like the goal is keep offensive point totals low and lets have long drives that chew clock and score TD's.

Everyone else is in shootout mode.

I'm not denying that the overall strategy is working. That's clear.

But, personally, I'm seeing the margin for error shrinking and the wins growing closer and closer to being losses. And I'm seeing the obvious shortcomings (which all teams have for sure) becoming more and more glaring.

And while that might be forbidden to talk about for some people whose sensibilities are easily offended, I'm not afraid to talk about them.