Sturm - Morning After Commanders

[StarBoyz83]

maybe two years at 4-12? maybe that will do it.,

Maybe lol

 

[Stash]

I think we should get used to the fact it's almost a certainty that we will not be getting Goff. Once he (or whoever it is) is anointed as the franchise guy by Kiper & McShay they hype machine kicks in and there's no way he gets by Cleveland. The only thing they have left to sell is hope and their fan base will demand a QB.

So - we now have to accept the fact that we are looking at whoever is the #2 QB in the draft and everything you stated will now come into play including can we make him better. Then we have to weight his future agains the needs of the team now and whether an impact player changes us dramatically. I think maybe Elliott could do that. An explosive RB could really open up the offense.

Either way it's going to be a tough call.

I'm a big fan of Elliott, but even I can't see taking him at #4 overall.

If Goff is exiled to Cleveland purgatory, I'd have to quickly rethink where I wanted to go.

 

[JPostSam]

I agree with you that we need to find the Next QB in Dallas but, I don't have any confidence that this front office & coaching staff
has a clue how to evaluate and select QB's. Not only that but, when they do go get one, they have no one on the staff to
coach them. It's probably better for Jones to pay up to get a proven QB because they sure as heck can't select or develop one.

this is a common gripe.

i love how everyone thinks it's so easy to replace elite quarterbacks.

quick: who replaced terry bradshaw, dan marino and jim kelly? (if you say stoudt and malone, huard and fiedler, collins and flutie, you googled it first.)

also: how did jeff george, todd marinovich, rick mirer, and a dozen others turn out?

the reason we all want a young stud brought in is that the dropoff from a guy like romo to weeden or cassell is so big. but the reason it's almost never successful is that elite players are, by definition, hard to find.

relying on veterans as back-ups hasn't been wrong until now -- it just hasn't been enough.

 

[Alexander]

this is a common gripe.

i love how everyone thinks it's so easy to replace elite quarterbacks.

quick: who replaced terry bradshaw, dan marino and jim kelly? (if you say stoudt and malone, huard and fiedler, collins and flutie, you googled it first.)

also: how did jeff george, todd marinovich, rick mirer, and a dozen others turn out?

the reason we all want a young stud brought in is that the dropoff from a guy like romo to weeden or cassell is so big. but the reason it's almost never successful is that elite players are, by definition, hard to find.

relying on veterans as back-ups hasn't been wrong until now -- it just hasn't been enough.

And all of those teams you mentioned decided to wait.

Or get by with bandaids mainly because they were still contending.

Get that last year out of Bradshaw, Marino or Kelly.

We saw it first hand with Aikman.

If this was truly the mulligan season, there is no reason not to just swing for the fences because since we are so good, we won't see the top 10 again in a long time, right?

This is a golden opportunity to get a head start. If they squander it, don't expect results different from what you mentioned.

 

[JPostSam]

And all of those teams you mentioned decided to wait.

Or get by with bandaids mainly because they were still contending.

Get that last year out of Bradshaw, Marino or Kelly.

We saw it first hand with Aikman.

If this was truly the mulligan season, there is no reason not to just swing for the fences because since we are so good, we won't see the top 10 again in a long time, right?

This is a golden opportunity to get a head start. If they squander it, don't expect results different from what you mentioned.

oh, i agree, and i hope we grab a guy in the first or second round.

but just drafting a guy doesn't make him great. this is probably the hardest position in sports to get right.

 

[perrykemp]

If Jerry was focused primarily on money or making business decisions he would sell the team.
He has had MULTI-BILLION dollar offers many times.

NOTHING he does matters to him more than the team or winning and leaving this team to his family.
He employs half the clan in this business.

He makes a lot of money because he's good at it. He can do it any time in almost any field.

He keeps running the Cowboys because it is much harder and a lot more fun.

Saying he cares more about money than winning is literally stupid on every level.
He makes a lot more money WHEN he wins.
He has ignored selling the team which is the maximum money made.
He has never shied away from spending on players or coaches in order to win.
He ate a cap penalty for paying Miles Austin of all people.

This entire thought process is goofy and flawed. It is the poor guy argument.

All true.

Jerry likes owning the Cowboys because he is very rich and the Cowboys are his plaything.

Same reason the other 6-7 NFL owners who are more wealthy than Jerry own teams -- yes its maybe for some of the profit aspect -- but most of all it strokes their ego.

 

[LittleD]

If Jerry was focused primarily on money or making business decisions he would sell the team.
He has had MULTI-BILLION dollar offers many times.

NOTHING he does matters to him more than the team or winning and leaving this team to his family.
He employs half the clan in this business.

He makes a lot of money because he's good at it. He can do it any time in almost any field.

He keeps running the Cowboys because it is much harder and a lot more fun.

Saying he cares more about money than winning is literally stupid on every level.
He makes a lot more money WHEN he wins.
He has ignored selling the team which is the maximum money made.
He has never shied away from spending on players or coaches in order to win.
He ate a cap penalty for paying Miles Austin of all people.

This entire thought process is goofy and flawed. It is the poor guy argument.

Nonsense, why is Jerry investing all that money into the Frisco facility. I hear he is
developing a first class hotel, with restaurants, shops, etc. This is all about money,
power and the art of the deal. Jerry is taking lessons from Trump my friend. He uses
the Cowboys brand to bring him lots of money. Surely you don't think he would ever
sell the goose that lays golden eggs do you???

 

[waving monkey]

My thoughts on this Coaching staff this year. This team was arguably talented in a lot of areas going into the season. Through injuries and suspensions, an opportunity was placed before this staff to do something special under some adverse conditions. Add to the injury and suspension fronts, a very big opportunity placed before this staff, the NFCE was terrible at best. The other three teams in the division literally laid the Division Title at the Cowboys feet for the taking.

So what did this coaching staff do? They not only failed to do something special, they totally failed to take the division with a team still talented enough to win 8 or 9 games even with the injuries which would have won the division. It's easy to look at a coaching staff when things are going well and wins are piling up and say, "Hey, these guys are good". Put a little adversity in front of them and they fall on their faces? Now we can see what bums these guys really are. The sample size is large enough right now to determine that we have a crappy coaching staff.

so 2014 there was no adversity remember that defensive line that was assembled with off the street
FA's and a rookie Pro Bowl guard.These are the same coaches tht put that team together.

 

[waving monkey]

All true.

Jerry likes owning the Cowboys because he is very rich and the Cowboys are his plaything.

Same reason the other 6-7 NFL owners who are more wealthy than Jerry own teams -- yes its maybe for some of the profit aspect -- but most of all it strokes their ego.

PKemp I like your post and of course there is merit to this ego thing. But the ego theory is natural
to and drives the desires and sorrows of us all. The profit motivation of course is central because the NFL
is an enormous cash cow.There's not another owner who cant be described under those terms.
JJones is possessed with a public persona that isn't likable. But mostly people who know
him speak really highly of him.

 

[DandyDon52]

"One year after scoring 467 points in the 2014 season (29.2 points per game) and making offense look easy and simple, the team scored only 275 (17.2 ppg). Now, you can say that is all Romo and Dez Bryant, but to give you an idea of just how bad 275 points is in a season, the year Jon Kitna played QB for 9 games and Stephen McGee 1 more, the team scored 394 (24.6 ppg). They could never, ever score this season. It was just too impossible to accomplish actually accumulating points."

1.Murray not worth the money
2.we can franchise Dez
3.Anyone can run behind this line
4. We can protect Tony
5.We dont need Callahan
6.we dont need Harris,Carter,Durant,S. Moore
7.We will have a DL that can sack qb's and constant pressure.

It all added up to what we saw in 2015.

Should be better in 2016, but not a lot better. 8-8 to 10-6

 

[Dodger12]

Wow....it's absolutely incredible the level of historical futility this team has experienced under Garrett. It's epic.......

From the article:

Beyond that, the details are stupefying.

• The Cowboys have only had 3 seasons in their 56 years of football where they won fewer than 4 games - 1960, 1988, and 1989. Think about that for just a moment. That means this is the 4th worst season in Cowboys' history and all three of the seasons below it are the epitome of "rock bottom". The year the franchise was born, the year Tom Landry was shown the door, and the year Jimmy and Jerry took over and tried to clean everything out and start over. If you are asking how come nobody saw this year coming, that is like asking how come you didn't see that house fire coming when you lived in that house your whole life? Some things are just out of nowhere.
• One year after scoring 467 points in the 2014 season (29.2 points per game) and making offense look easy and simple, the team scored only 275 (17.2 ppg). Now, you can say that is all Romo and Dez Bryant, but to give you an idea of just how bad 275 points is in a season, the year Jon Kitna played QB for 9 games and Stephen McGee 1 more, the team scored 394 (24.6 ppg). They could never, ever score this season. It was just too impossible to accomplish actually accumulating points.
• The offense gave the ball away 33 times which is something that reminded us of the Quincy Carter/Dave Campo era which was roughly the last time the Cowboys would average 2 giveaways per game for an entire season. If you want to look at one of the main reasons why a team can't score points, look no further than 33 giveaways and a fair amount of those (including on Sunday) occurring right when you are on the verge of gathering points down on the attacking end of the field.
• Speaking of Carter/Campo, this year's 3rd down offense was the worst since 2001 and 2002. They converted just 66 of 191 3rd downs (34.6%) which was the worst year the Cowboys have had since those two 5-11 seasons. All of this, of course, the year after the Cowboys appeared to have 3rd downs figured out as well as any team in football when they converted 95 of 201 (47.3%) and were near the top of the league.
• Interestingly enough, with a better showing yesterday (don't get me started about that 1st Quarter), the Cowboys 2015 defense could have actually been at about the same exact points allowed number as they were in 2014. This, of course, is an odd number that requires context (such as the opponent often was not compelled to try to score more points when they are in a winning position), but the 2015 defense conceded 374 (23.4 per game) and in 2014 were at 352 (22 per game). This defense hung around in games, however, collapsed in the 4th Quarter repeatedly and if they had given up 8 more points in the final quarter all season, they could have overtaken the Saints and the Giants for the league's very worst 4th Quarter scoring defense. Next year.
• And let's not forget this one: IN THE HISTORY OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL RECORD KEEPING, NO TEAM HAS EVER HAD FEWER TAKEAWAYS THAN THE 2015 DALLAS COWBOYS. In fairness, the 2013 Houston Texans had just as few (11), but now the Cowboys can imagine how many teams and how many years of football has been played to consider just what that means. Pick any team and pick any year you can think of from the time you were a baby or perhaps even when your father was a baby, and that team in that given year took the ball away more than 11 times. While it may seem impossible to fathom, it is true.
• And while it is hard to believe, the -22 turnover margin that the team put up with their large giveaway (33) and small takeaway (11) totals was not historically bad. Sure, it was the worst in the NFL in 2015 and for that the team should be recognized for being 32nd out of 32, but let's take a moment and credit the 2000 San Diego Chargers for setting the bar at -28 and therefore out of the Cowboys reach with a stunning year from the Ryan Leaf-led Chargers. So, from that stand point, history won't fully recognize them.

 

[Alexander]

Wow....it's absolutely incredible the level of historical futility this team has experienced under Garrett. It's epic.......

Season futility like you described, then the games where we had history making blown leads and so on. He's definitely made his mark in Cowboy history.

 

[DogFace]

I think we won last year in spite of Garrett. Most of the criticism he gets is well deserved. The problem is those on here that criticize him criticize virtually everything. So it's hard to take them serious. They're right on this one though.

 

[jterrell]

I think we should get used to the fact it's almost a certainty that we will not be getting Goff. Once he (or whoever it is) is anointed as the franchise guy by Kiper & McShay they hype machine kicks in and there's no way he gets by Cleveland. The only thing they have left to sell is hope and their fan base will demand a QB.

So - we now have to accept the fact that we are looking at whoever is the #2 QB in the draft and everything you stated will now come into play including can we make him better. Then we have to weight his future agains the needs of the team now and whether an impact player changes us dramatically. I think maybe Elliott could do that. An explosive RB could really open up the offense.

Either way it's going to be a tough call.

I look at it like this.
There are 5 potential young, franchise QBs available.
Manziel, RG3, Goff, Lynch, Wentz.
Now some of that is/will be fool's gold for sure.
But I believe those 5 will be solutions for someone.

Dallas almost certainly gets 1 of them.
As you note Goff seems the best bet and the one Dallas will not have a shot at because he is insanely likely to go 1#.
Lynch may also go because CLE is taking a QB.

But what if Dallas got Manziel for a late conditional pick and also took Wentz in r2?
That would be a lot of bet hedging but also a pretty good chance for immediate help at #4.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

And that's a plan?!?!?

Crossing your fingers and hoping that a 36-year old quarterback somehow manages to stay healthy because that fixes everything wrong with this team?

Unbelievable! Just endorse your paycheck to Jerry Jones and be done with it. You obviously want to be free from the burden of unnecessary thinking anyway.

That's been the plan the last few years. This team has no dept at all. Any injuries and the season's over...sometimes before it even starts.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

I think we won last year in spite of Garrett. Most of the criticism he gets is well deserved. The problem is those on here that criticize him criticize virtually everything. So it's hard to take them serious. They're right on this one though.

Last year they finally had a plan. Run the ball down the opposition's throat. If they could go out and find a stud RB, I might be more optimistic.

 

[jterrell]

I think we won last year in spite of Garrett. Most of the criticism he gets is well deserved. The problem is those on here that criticize him criticize virtually everything. So it's hard to take them serious. They're right on this one though.

Garrett is not as good as it appeared last year nor is he as bad as people pretend now.
He is your basic mid-level manager type.
He is a "process" guy.
Dallas can almost certainly do better but they've also done worse.

That 4 wins is the best thing we could have gotten. Had we won 7 I'd have been insanely frustrated.
I wish the Eagles to go 1 game below the playoffs every year of their existence.
That is literally purgatory.

We never bottomed out under Campo and it was foolish.
We did bottom out under Tom/Jimmy. Both those guys had seasons below 4 wins.
Funny how that is never part of this recent narrative.

 

[gmoney112]

Nonsense, why is Jerry investing all that money into the Frisco facility. I hear he is
developing a first class hotel, with restaurants, shops, etc. This is all about money,
power and the art of the deal. Jerry is taking lessons from Trump my friend. He uses
the Cowboys brand to bring him lots of money. Surely you don't think he would ever
sell the goose that lays golden eggs do you???

Making money, power, legacy, and the challenge of the game aren't all mutually exclusive. In fact, they go hand in hand more often than not. Most wildly successful people are successful because they do just that, it's not just money, it's personal and they love a challenge.

He'd be an idiot to sit idle with the Cowboys brand, his wealth of capital, connections in Dallas and across the world I'm sure, and not expand on it. What's he supposed to do, sit on his hands on a private island "enjoying" all the spare time? Jerrys a different breed, he is a wildcatter. I'm guessing his routine has probably been fairly standard for 40 years. His success, and efforts toward his business aren't motivation, it's routine.

Football is the ultimate chess game for Jerry. He can win in pretty much any area of business, but his knowledge of capital utilization, break evens, IRR's, can't win him a Super Bowl.

 

[Alexander]

Football is the ultimate chess game for Jerry. He can win in pretty much any area of business, but his knowledge of capital utilization, break evens, IRR's, can't win him a Super Bowl.

That and that little pesky thing about him not knowing talent from a hole in the ground and being the final decision maker. We truly appreciate being at the mercy of him trying to understand how to play chess, especially when he has four or five people telling him which piece to move because he really does not know.

 

[tyke1doe]

• One year after scoring 467 points in the 2014 season (29.2 points per game) and making offense look easy and simple, the team scored only 275 (17.2 ppg). Now, you can say that is all Romo and Dez Bryant, but to give you an idea of just how bad 275 points is in a season, the year Jon Kitna played QB for 9 games and Stephen McGee 1 more, the team scored 394 (24.6 ppg). They could never, ever score this season. It was just too impossible to accomplish actually accumulating points.

• The offense gave the ball away 33 times which is something that reminded us of the Quincy Carter/Dave Campo era which was roughly the last time the Cowboys would average 2 giveaways per game for an entire season. If you want to look at one of the main reasons why a team can't score points, look no further than 33 giveaways and a fair amount of those (including on Sunday) occurring right when you are on the verge of gathering points down on the attacking end of the field.

And Cowboys fans want to criticize the defense for not making a crucial stop to win the game.
The defense was GASSED because the offense could not score.

Having said that, this was an excellent piece by Strum. He castigates everyone - offense, defense and, especially, the front office and the coaches.