Smart football

[Temo]

For all the crap Demarco gets about fumbling, he had the same fumble rate last year as Marshawn.

 

[erod]

Fumble rates as a whole were way higher back in the day than they are now. For example Murray had 6 fumbles last year, double his previous high. Jim Brown never had a season with fewer than 6 fumbles, and he never came close to Murray's 392 carries (Brown maxed out at 305).

Also, go watch some old games. Defensive players would lay dudes out and stand over them taunting all the time. They just never got flagged for it, because taunting penalties are relatively new.

That's because players didn't wear gloves, and now they wear these ultra-sticky gloves that are like flypaper. That, and teams can prepare their own footballs these days unlike before.

The second part is right. But guys then seemed to know the rules in place and the situation better.

 

[Doomsday101]

Last couple of years Dallas has been about mid pack when it comes to penalties. 2 big areas was offensive false starts 15 of them and defensive holding 17
on another note our opponents had 104 penalties vs us while we had 105 penalties so calls where pretty even in our games

 

[Idgit]

For all the crap Demarco gets about fumbling, he had the same fumble rate last year as Marshawn.

My problem wasn't as much with the rate as much as it was with how he protected the football. Or didn't, as the case may be. It drove me nuts.

Otherwise, it was about my only criticism of Demarco. That, and him running into downfield tacklers for whatever reason.

 

[DenCWBY]

Draft smart players, play smart.

And coach game awareness.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

This is a bit silly to me. Players have been making dumb plays since the advent of the game.

If anything, given the complexity of the game (which has increased decade over decade over decade)....i'd argue today's players are more intelligent than their fore-bearers.

 

[DenCWBY]

Here comes a little old man's syndrome for you, lest you be warned.

I swear there was a time when players knew the rules. They understood the situation. They had a better grasp of risk/reward. It was a much rarer event when a player did something just point-blank stupid. And coaches ripped these guys into raw sinew when they did.

Somewhere in the 90s, it changed. Players started trying to scoop-and-score everything, often bobbling the ball and giving it back to the offense. Guys began getting into lulled into personal fouls after making a good play or a key 3rd-down stop. Celebrations and taunting became cool, no matter what it did to the team's situation as a result of the penalty. Late hits, unsportsmanlike penalties, untimely laterals, dropping the ball before entering the end zone, you name it.

The Cowboys have improved in this regard under Garrett, but there are still far too many instances of knucklehead plays. The NFL as a whole is a brain-dead exercise in futility, and it must drive coaches mad. So many games are lost because some goofball didn't understand the proper play to make, or not make.

Demarco Murray was a repeat offender. He'd swing the ball wildly in traffic just begging for a fumble. Even worse, he'd do so trying to get one more yard in a pile when he'd already gotten the first down. The Green Bay play was unforgiveable. He contributed heavily to the losses against San Francisco and Washington, and almost Houston, with sloppy fumbles in traffic when nothing more was there.

We saw it against Detriot in the playoffs when Demarcus Lawrence didn't just recover Matt Stafford's fumble to seal the game for good. That was the WORST time to scoop and score, and he almost gave the Lions the game. Earlier, Dekoda Watson roughed the punter in the end zone when Dallas was about to get the ball in great field position. And Dez was extremely lucky he didn't get called for going out on the field to talk to the referee on the pass interference call that was reversed against the defense.

Scandrick needs to be careful with his whoofing after plays, as does Wilcox and McClain. (This is way out of control in the NFL.) We all saw it. Celebrate with your teammates and go back to the huddle, and STOP MOUTHING AT THE OPPOSING SIDELINE. It's selfish and ugly to watch.

Even Dez, in that infamous play, has to understand that the catch itself was enough with plenty of time left. Secure that first and foremost. Truth be known, some extra time to kill before scoring could have been beneficial. Obviously, this one is nit-picking a bit, but I will say players used to consider these things more back in time.

I'm sure you can think of many more examples, but you get the point. Some teams do this kind of thing every series.

The Cowboys have high hopes, and they should. However, well over half the games in the NFL are decided by 7 points or less, and it's these kind of things that often determine that. It could be the difference between 13-3 and 9-7.

I'm proud to say the Cowboys seem to be joining the smarter teams in the league - like the Patriots, Steelers, and Packers - when it comes to this. That's good, and that trend must continue.

As Jimmy Johnson used to say, it's not the number of great plays you make. It's the number of mental mistakes you don't make.

Good write up. It immediately brought back the last offensive play of the Seahawks when Scan gets up in front of the Seahawk bench and starts dancing and jawing to their players. It could have easily resulted in a unsportsman-like-conduct penalty with a fresh set of downs for Seattle to score. Luckily some of our players pulled him away.
Could you imagine if Seattle won that game because of that boneheaded act of Scans?

 

[FLcowboy]

Here comes a little old man's syndrome for you, lest you be warned.

I swear there was a time when players knew the rules. They understood the situation. They had a better grasp of risk/reward. It was a much rarer event when a player did something just point-blank stupid. And coaches ripped these guys into raw sinew when they did.


Somewhere in the 90s, it changed. Players started trying to scoop-and-score everything, often bobbling the ball and giving it back to the offense. Guys began getting into lulled into personal fouls after making a good play or a key 3rd-down stop. Celebrations and taunting became cool, no matter what it did to the team's situation as a result of the penalty. Late hits, unsportsmanlike penalties, untimely laterals, dropping the ball before entering the end zone, you name it.

The Cowboys have improved in this regard under Garrett, but there are still far too many instances of knucklehead plays. The NFL as a whole is a brain-dead exercise in futility, and it must drive coaches mad. So many games are lost because some goofball didn't understand the proper play to make, or not make.

Demarco Murray was a repeat offender. He'd swing the ball wildly in traffic just begging for a fumble. Even worse, he'd do so trying to get one more yard in a pile when he'd already gotten the first down. The Green Bay play was unforgiveable. He contributed heavily to the losses against San Francisco and Washington, and almost Houston, with sloppy fumbles in traffic when nothing more was there.

We saw it against Detriot in the playoffs when Demarcus Lawrence didn't just recover Matt Stafford's fumble to seal the game for good. That was the WORST time to scoop and score, and he almost gave the Lions the game. Earlier, Dekoda Watson roughed the punter in the end zone when Dallas was about to get the ball in great field position. And Dez was extremely lucky he didn't get called for going out on the field to talk to the referee on the pass interference call that was reversed against the defense.

Scandrick needs to be careful with his whoofing after plays, as does Wilcox and McClain. (This is way out of control in the NFL.) We all saw it. Celebrate with your teammates and go back to the huddle, and STOP MOUTHING AT THE OPPOSING SIDELINE. It's selfish and ugly to watch.

Even Dez, in that infamous play, has to understand that the catch itself was enough with plenty of time left. Secure that first and foremost. Truth be known, some extra time to kill before scoring could have been beneficial. Obviously, this one is nit-picking a bit, but I will say players used to consider these things more back in time.

I'm sure you can think of many more examples, but you get the point. Some teams do this kind of thing every series.

The Cowboys have high hopes, and they should. However, well over half the games in the NFL are decided by 7 points or less, and it's these kind of things that often determine that. It could be the difference between 13-3 and 9-7.

I'm proud to say the Cowboys seem to be joining the smarter teams in the league - like the Patriots, Steelers, and Packers - when it comes to this. That's good, and that trend must continue.

As Jimmy Johnson used to say, it's not the number of great plays you make. It's the number of mental mistakes you don't make.

Great analysis of how the game is changing. Unfortunately, it is mirroring society

 

[erod]

Good write up. It immediately brought back the last offensive play of the Seahawks when Scan gets up in front of the Seahawk bench and starts dancing and jawing to their players. It could have easily resulted in a unsportsman-like-conduct penalty with a fresh set of downs for Seattle to score. Luckily some of our players pulled him away.
Could you imagine if Seattle won that game because of that boneheaded act of Scans?

Yep, remember it well. McClain did it, too. Lots of guys do it in the NFL, and I wish they'd start calling it. It's ugly.

 

[Doomsday101]

Yep, remember it well. McClain did it, too. Lots of guys do it in the NFL, and I wish they'd start calling it. It's ugly.

and Irvin was one of the biggest trash talkers in the game. I agree there is a fine line and player do not want to cross it but I like the fire that they play with and do not want to see that taken from them.

 

[DenCWBY]

Yep, remember it well. McClain did it, too. Lots of guys do it in the NFL, and I wish they'd start calling it. It's ugly.

Yes these days the players are too busy watching themselves dancing on the stadium big screens, ESPN, Madden and on their own phones. That Oakland/KC game was sick last year where the two Oakland players danced after a sack, not even realizing the KC offense was lining up. They looked like idiots and lucky for them Justin Tuck called a timeout and reamed them afterwards.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...-tuck-saves-raiders-from-embarrassing-penalty

 

[big dog cowboy]

Draft smart players

The Cowboys seem to have moved in that direction the last few years.

 

[Temo]

Good write up. It immediately brought back the last offensive play of the Seahawks when Scan gets up in front of the Seahawk bench and starts dancing and jawing to their players. It could have easily resulted in a unsportsman-like-conduct penalty with a fresh set of downs for Seattle to score. Luckily some of our players pulled him away.
Could you imagine if Seattle won that game because of that boneheaded act of Scans?

Not totally sure, but I think the unsportsman like would have happened after the pick and the play was blown dead, so the 15 yards would have been assessed to the Cowboys on offense, right?

 

[DenCWBY]

Not totally sure, but I think the unsportsman like would have happened after the pick and the play was blown dead, so the 15 yards would have been assessed to the Cowboys on offense, right?

Could be mistaken but perhaps the Scans play was the play before the pic? or even the possession before the Seahawks last possession. I think Scan was involved on the play and the ball was just badly underthrown on the play I'm thinking of.