State of the Team (3 games in)

[Galian Beast]

Offense - The offense is reeling. There is only so much that the offense can do if we're unwilling to throw the ball 10+ yards. That will get you exposed quickly, which is exactly what happened against the Falcons. Everything was fine until Weeden threw that interception, which put them right back into the game, and allowed a depleted defense to get exposed against a multifacted offense in the Falcons.

Defense - Defense is depleted, more so than the offense actually. It would have been great to take that game against Atlanta, and hope that Brees didn't play this weekend, but that's not what happened. This defense needs to beat New Orleans as is, and we'll probably have to take a L against New England, but after that, it gets a lot easier. That was the second hardest game on the schedule that we'll face without Romo, and we could have had it.

Start Cassell as soon as possible.
Trade for BOTH Matt Forte and Alshon Jeffery. They're both free agents, so yeah, this is a rental, but I still don't care. These guys can help us until Romo and Bryant return, and they can help us even more after they do return. I've said it for a while and the Falcons game reinforced it, Terrance Williams is not dependable at all. Williams has one more year left on his contract, and I don't see us resigning him. I'd give Chicago a 2nd and Randle for Forte and Jeffery.

Activate Christine Micheal.

Actually use Darren McFadden. He has quietly played really well I think, with the few opportunities that he got. Despite a poor second half, Randle actually has impressed me this year. O-Line needs to shake off this rust and get it together. Running game should be fine, but it could be really impressive with Forte and McFadden.

Stunned Linehan isn't getting more creative here. Use Beasley and Escobar more for goodness sake.

I was really disappointed to see Sean Lee, the leader of this defense basically sit out a drive and a half because of a split lip. Someone please tell me there was more to it than that.

 

[RunDMC]

You don't care what Dallas would have to give up has to give up for Jeffrey and Forte? Dude that's a horrible mindset to have. That's how the Cowboys have gotten in trouble many of times. Don't just trade valuable picks for guys who are gonna be rentals. With Hardy coming back I'm not even sure we have the cap to absorb either of those contracts.

Offense is reeling? Please. Against the Giants the only thing stopping them from dropping 40 against the Giants was turnovers. Against Atlanta they put up 28. That should be enough to win a home game. Defense needs to play better simple as that. Despite injuries guys were in position to make plays and simply didn't do it. Poor discipline and poor technique really doomed us against the Falcons.

 

[Alexander]

The defense is not more depleted than the offense.

 

[Corso]

You don't care what Dallas would have to give up has to give up for Jeffrey and Forte? Dude that's a horrible mindset to have. That's how the Cowboys have gotten in trouble many of times. Don't just trade valuable picks for guys who are gonna be rentals. With Hardy coming back I'm not even sure we have the cap to absorb either of those contracts.

Offense is reeling? Please. Against the Giants the only thing stopping them from dropping 40 against the Giants was turnovers. Against Atlanta they put up 28. That should be enough to win a home game. Defense needs to play better simple as that. Despite injuries guys were in position to make plays and simply didn't do it. Poor discipline and poor technique really doomed us against the Falcons.

I agree with the first half, but the second half- you're just giving excuses for the fact that the offense is truly reeling.
Turnovers= offense reeling. Sorry.
28 points in the 1st half? Great. BUT:
2nd half to close out the game and secure the win and absolutely zero and I mean zero?
Offense reeling.

The excuses are real. This team is decimated and it's affecting even the healthy players as they try to make up for it.
But call a spade a spade. No shame in that and it's not being pessimistic. Just honest.

 

[ActualCowboysFan]

Sadly three games in and you really can't judge anything at this point. Just got to try to survive.

 

[RunDMC]

I agree with the first half, but the second half- you're just giving excuses for the fact that the offense is truly reeling.
Turnovers= offense reeling. Sorry.
28 points in the 1st half? Great. BUT:
2nd half to close out the game and secure the win and absolutely zero and I mean zero?
Offense reeling.

The excuses are real. This team is decimated and it's affecting even the healthy players as they try to make up for it.
But call a spade a spade. No shame in that and it's not being pessimistic. Just honest.

How am I making excuses? When did I excuse the offense for not putting up points? I'm saying the defense is why we lost. They gave up damn near 40 points against the Falcons. They were absolutely pathetic. The offense sputtered, but they weren't the reason we lost. What more do you want from an offense playing without their star QB and WR. Are you really expecting to win a shootout with a backup quarterback?

 

[Staubacher]

Lee probably had to go through concussion protocol

 

[black label]

Offense - The offense is reeling. There is only so much that the offense can do if we're unwilling to throw the ball 10+ yards. That will get you exposed quickly, which is exactly what happened against the Falcons. Everything was fine until Weeden threw that interception, which put them right back into the game, and allowed a depleted defense to get exposed against a multifacted offense in the Falcons.

Defense - Defense is depleted, more so than the offense actually. It would have been great to take that game against Atlanta, and hope that Brees didn't play this weekend, but that's not what happened. This defense needs to beat New Orleans as is, and we'll probably have to take a L against New England, but after that, it gets a lot easier. That was the second hardest game on the schedule that we'll face without Romo, and we could have had it.

Start Cassell as soon as possible.
Trade for BOTH Matt Forte and Alshon Jeffery. They're both free agents, so yeah, this is a rental, but I still don't care. These guys can help us until Romo and Bryant return, and they can help us even more after they do return. I've said it for a while and the Falcons game reinforced it, Terrance Williams is not dependable at all. Williams has one more year left on his contract, and I don't see us resigning him. I'd give Chicago a 2nd and Randle for Forte and Jeffery.

Activate Christine Micheal.

Actually use Darren McFadden. He has quietly played really well I think, with the few opportunities that he got. Despite a poor second half, Randle actually has impressed me this year. O-Line needs to shake off this rust and get it together. Running game should be fine, but it could be really impressive with Forte and McFadden.

Stunned Linehan isn't getting more creative here. Use Beasley and Escobar more for goodness sake.

I was really disappointed to see Sean Lee, the leader of this defense basically sit out a drive and a half because of a split lip. Someone please tell me there was more to it than that.

 

[TrailBlazer]

There's this thing called lockerroom chemistry and it's real. If you trade for Jeffrey or Forte it shows a complete lack of trust in the players you already have and that doesnt play well in the lockerroom especially when you do it midseason. This isn't madden. You don't give up valuable resources for 1 year rental guys midseason.

I agree they should start Mcfadden and have more of a 50/50 split.

 

[Super_Kazuya]

I wonder if anyone ever thought that Matt Cassel, whose picture could appear in the dictionary next to "dink and dunk", would ever be clamored for as the guy who can bring a deep passing element to your team... to Devin Street and Brice Butler no less. The times we live in...

 

[Bleu Star]

Cmon man. That's cruel. You pulled out the Stephen A card.

 

[Doomsay]

Falcons looked up the AZ formula for Weeden control at the half, applied a liberal dose and wilted the marvelous arm entirely for the rest of the game. Upcoming teams won't wait 2 quarters to neutralize his under ten yard game plan.

 

[Idgit]

Sheesh.

 

[Corso]

How am I making excuses? When did I excuse the offense for not putting up points? I'm saying the defense is why we lost. They gave up damn near 40 points against the Falcons. They were absolutely pathetic. The offense sputtered, but they weren't the reason we lost. What more do you want from an offense playing without their star QB and WR. Are you really expecting to win a shootout with a backup quarterback?

I expect more than 3 first downs in a half.
You?

 

[Bleu Star]

Offense - The offense is reeling. There is only so much that the offense can do if we're unwilling to throw the ball 10+ yards. That will get you exposed quickly, which is exactly what happened against the Falcons. Everything was fine until Weeden threw that interception, which put them right back into the game, and allowed a depleted defense to get exposed against a multifacted offense in the Falcons.

My biggest beef with the offense right now is the coaching. With a much cooler head, I can't even really blame Weeden for the lack of downfield throws. It just feels like the coaching staff went to an unfathomable depth of conservatism after halftime and the players played within those boundaries (unsuccessfully).

Defense - Defense is depleted, more so than the offense actually. It would have been great to take that game against Atlanta, and hope that Brees didn't play this weekend, but that's not what happened. This defense needs to beat New Orleans as is, and we'll probably have to take a L against New England, but after that, it gets a lot easier. That was the second hardest game on the schedule that we'll face without Romo, and we could have had it.

I remember telling my buddy at the bar "that FG before the half is going to come back to haunt us". I was livid with the way our defense mentally checked into the locker room in that last 90 minutes of the 1st half. That said, I'm confident Marinelli will continue to tweak and fix until that Defense realizes it's full potential. We will be getting some guys back very soon and the difference will be palpable.

Start Cassell as soon as possible.

Agree BUT he has to be ready to not only call plays but also call make the adjustments necessary pre-snap in order to be successful. If Weeden falters early again New Orleans, I fully expect to see Cassell if he's ready. Weeden did pretty well driving the bus but I just feel like his leash is short.

Trade for BOTH Matt Forte and Alshon Jeffery.

Alshon. ABSOLUTELY. He would be an incredible stop gap and best friend of Weeden or Cassell while also being an incredible #1.5 receiver when Dez returns. Forte? I'm not in favor of that. He's aged and we already have Christine Michael chomping at the bit to get in.

I'm not even going to address Terrence Williams. He is starting to remind me more and more of Miles Austin...

Activate Christine Micheal.

Not soon enough....... FREE CHRISTINE

Actually use Darren McFadden. He has quietly played really well I think, with the few opportunities that he got. Despite a poor second half, Randle actually has impressed me this year. O-Line needs to shake off this rust and get it together. Running game should be fine, but it could be really impressive with Forte and McFadden.

This is where I feel we could easily sit DMC and improve our offense by doing so. Randle and DMC are both similar in what thet do with DMC perhaps having slightly more power at the point of attack. That said, both go down easily when confronted. This is where I feel CMike will make a difference. He's a shifty bully of a rb. He needs to get some PT.. This is getting old already. If we are to survive this stretch without our big dogs on offense, CMIKE needs to be in there helping to move those chains. Chain movement = clock dissipation. Simple stuff.

Stunned Linehan isn't getting more creative here. Use Beasley and Escobar more for goodness sake.

I'm standing right there next to you on this one.

I was really disappointed to see Sean Lee, the leader of this defense basically sit out a drive and a half because of a split lip. Someone please tell me there was more to it than that.

That was pretty baffling..lol. I have to give him the benefit of the doubt though because he is indeed a badddd baddddd man.

 

[Idgit]

Lee probably required a significant number of stitches, and since it was to a part of the body that was going to continue to get irritated as long as he was wearing the helmet, they had to stitch him up.

It's also possible they ran him through the concussion protocol. Given what's been going on with Kuechly, it's not a bad idea.

And the issue in the second half was execution and talent, and not the coaching.

 

[NEODOG]

At least you take craptacular post of the day

Maybe even week....

Keep working at it

 

[Zordon]

Lee probably required a significant number of stitches, and since it was to a part of the body that was going to continue to get irritated as long as he was wearing the helmet, they had to stitch him up.

It's also possible they ran him through the concussion protocol. Given what's been going on with Kuechly, it's not a bad idea.

And the issue in the second half was execution and talent, and not the coaching.

i read somewhere that his lip was split completely thru.

i was upset too when he came out. i was upset when church left the game for the locker room too. this team has too many damn injuries. it's frustrating b/c we all know the window is closing and we all know this is a weak year in the nfc and we are legitimate super bowl contenders for once if we could just get healthy!!!!

 

[Dave_in-NC]

Lee probably required a significant number of stitches, and since it was to a part of the body that was going to continue to get irritated as long as he was wearing the helmet, they had to stitch him up.

It's also possible they ran him through the concussion protocol. Given what's been going on with Kuechly, it's not a bad idea.

And the issue in the second half was execution and talent, and not the coaching.

He's never make it in the NHL

 

[sureletsrace]

@Galian Beast I normally love your posts, but the whole Alshon and Forte thing is crazy.