Shortcomings were clearly on display last night

[kramskoi]

Sometimes it seems fans don't think. Sure we have short comings, sure we need to get better players in places of need but every team suffers from the same sort of lesser players. Look at Minnesota, a great defense, probably the best in the NFL considering what they have to content with on offense. They spent the last few drafts and free agency acquiring very good to great defensive players, not so much on offense especially considering how bad Treadwell looked last night.

The off season will bring changes, exactly where is another question. I would like to see if Tapper is a difference maker, maybe Gregory comes back and is a changed person and makes an impact, Smith should provide great help as the MLB and then there is the draft. We can only hope that we do as well with the draft as last year yet on the defensive side of the ball but remember a couple of key items. We haven't and I don't expect us to sign any high price free agent so might dream of something else. In the draft we have gone with the best available player regardless of position for several years now so if a TE or OL or WR are the best when we draft don't expect them to reach for a DE or DT or CB because seriously doubt that happens.

We can complain about Carr but did he allow a TD last night, did Brown and Scandrick play good enough for the win, heck Minnesota had one drive, one that resulted in 6 so the defense did quite well for every other drive. Yes, we need more pressure on the QB but look at the remaining games and tell me which of those O lines are anything close to ours, none of them are. Sorry but the defense is getting it done to help us win. No it isn't great or even very good but good enough works also as long as the offense is clicking and when they aren't like last night the D did step up.

The Boys are making the right decisions when needed and if there was no salary cap then I am sure we would have another Doomsday Defense but the reality is that every team including the Boys are always going to find 5 or 6 guys that need replacing every year.

If they handle Romo right, they can save 5 to 9 million against the cap next year, which should be used in FA to bring in a DE with some chops. Gregory simply can't be trusted anymore...and waiting another 2 or 3 years on a rookie DE to "possibly" blossom won't do much during the window that Dallas has Dak for cheap. Lawrence needs a guy opposite of him that is potent and who might even command the occasional double-team. If they handle Romo right, then 2018 and 2019 become years where they have about 20 million (each year) to put into that defense, before it becomes time to pay Prescott his money. Manning and Cousins are two guys that could give the Dallas defense fits over the next few years without a serious, consistent pass rush.

 

[DallasDW00ds0n]

Unfortunately, this is looking like it's the case. He's been wildly disappointing since that extension. No disruption in his game at all.

Last year we excused his performance because of his injury, but this year he has done nothing but reinforce the idea that he cannot play DT.

 

[willia451]

Not every game is going to be a beat down blow out. I swear to God some people out here are simply trolling. Has to be. Not pointing the finger at anyone in particular. Just saying.

We've won 11 games in a row. LOL!!! Heck. 3 of them just in the past 11 days. Against some pretty good teams. BWAAAAHAHAHA.

Be happy.

 

[LocimusPrime]

The Vikings also played 3 games in 12 days. That's not an excuse.

Good point! People don't bring this up.

 

[Doomsay]

Yeah, I think he's bounced on and off. But if we want him, we can sign him to our active roster, which I believe we should.

We don't have to: Baltimore Ravens removed TE Austin Traylor from the practice squad. 11/18
Couldn't find him anywhere else. He certainly has bounced around the league this year, but as others have pointed out, we know that Escobar is a real liability blocking.....in his 4th year.

 

[NextGenBoys]

You can be happy we won, and still be troubled by what we've seen, and be objective about our weaknesses.

They aren't mutually exclusive

 

[LocimusPrime]

Go Cowboys

 

[Doomsay]

I think Traylor was signed to Baltimore's PS a couple of weeks ago.

Right before our game & then dropped after being pumped for information, NYG style.

 

[kramskoi]

We need to factor in the fact that we played 3 PHYSICAL teams in a short span. I imagine some of these guys were still hurting from the previous two games.

I for one agree on the pass rush situation. Despite that and with the absence of Mo in the secondary we're still finding ways from holding teams to FG. I know people love stats as a reference but I am at the point when a team hits our redone they're more and likely kicking a FG.

Defense makes opportunistic plays, ST does too. Our offense is really consistent and you can't argue that by looking at one game.

Last night Free struggled big time. I think we had to use TEs and RBs to help his side when we could've used those players as check downs. Minnesota is no joke. Their defense is really good. Their LBs did a good job closing lanes and eliminating screens with the way they covered ground.

I love the fact that their pumped up crowd went home wanting the result we netted whether it was ugly or not.

I was surprised to see Greenway still part of the LB corp...he goes back to 2009...Newman even earlier.

 

[SDCowboy]

The biggest thing that needs to be cleaned up from last night are the drive killing penalties that happened on almost every possession.

 

[reddyuta]

Can someone explain to me why Whitehead is still on this team? What does he provide to this team?

He's cheap.

 

[ajk23az]

We can't run that with Twill?

I dont think TWill would handle that well. Believe it or not, Lucky has more shiftiness than TWill to turn up field when needed. That play has worked for us all year when we use it.

Obviously you dotn keep a guy on a team for one play, and im sure Lucky knows that. He will have to fight for his roster spot next year for sure.

 

[Doomsay]

You can be happy we won, and still be troubled by what we've seen, and be objective about our weaknesses.

They aren't mutually exclusive

Especially when there are positions that might be addressed like Whitehead and Escobar. Overall, the team just looked beat - fully expect the OL to rally in NY.

 

[rwalters31]

Or Dunbar? Get McFadden out there.

Amen brother!!

 

[Little Jr]

11-1

 

[NextGenBoys]

Especially when there are positions that might be addressed like Whitehead and Escobar. Overall, the team just looked beat - fully expect the OL to rally in NY.

Spot on. If we play our A game, we beat NY by double digits

 

[Idgit]

The view from 30,000 feet is indeed impressive...and if they beat the Giants, they will have consecutively beaten four teams with winning records (at the time they played them)...with three of them road wins (three of them still have winning records to date). They are tied with Seattle at 4-1 in quality stats...so this team is definitely for real, when looking at what they have done over the last twelve weeks. They are indeed the biggest threat to Seattle going forward.

That said...I wouldn't pat them on the back too much after Minnesota. Yes they've been on the bit for 11 days or so, but they are entering the toughest stretch of the schedule. Moreover, NY and Seattle might decide that they are going to push them until the end of the month. Take the win, burn the tape and get ready to punch the Giants in the mouth, especially if they win at Pittsburgh...which hopefully they won't (the consensus opinion).

Last night was a playoff type atmosphere and the Cowboys should do their best to obtain HF throughout the playoffs, which would certainly help the offense avoid some of the pitfalls we saw due to noise.

No doubt this was their sloppiest game in quite some time. The exchange after Dak's slide that MIN reviewed to bring up the 3rd and 1 pretty much told the story of the offensive night. How often this season have we seen an execution error on something as fundamental as the Center-QB exchange?

We won two of the three phases of the game last night. The defense winning was not surprising because that MIN offense is really not good. I'm still shocked our STs outperformed theirs. That was really the reason for the win. What I think is cool is that the team is officially the type of team that can rely on its defense or its STs to gut out a win in a mini-playoff type atmosphere. We won't see too many situations like that going forward, but it's good to know it's at least a possibility.

And while I agree we shouldn't pat ourselves on the back too much over a sloppy win, I'd disagree with the idea that we're entering the toughest part of the schedule. I'd say the NY game actually ends the toughest run we've had here. Not that the remaining games are a cake walk, but PIT, WAS, MIN, NYFG with three of the four on the road is a pretty tough stretch.

 

[maxdallasfan]

This team had no business beating Pitt and Minn, but somehow they pulled them out. For that I rejoice and sing to Odin.

 

[lqmac1]

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 think the lack of pass rush is what's going to hurt us in the playoffs. If we let some of these top-tier quarterbacks just sit in the pocket, they will pick us apart. At this rate we cannot afford to have an off night at all by our offense.

 

[THEHEREAFTER]

Every team has shortcomings. We're not perfect but we were able to overcome our shortcomings as a team and gut out a tough win. We have a lot to improve upon moving forward.