Talent or Toughness?

[Teague31]

Which is the bigger culprit in our downfall?

 

[Mikexike]

Which is the bigger culprit in our downfall?

Biggest down fall is Toughness.

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

Talent.

There's no such thing as a tough team that doesn't have talent.

Everyone talks about how Bell is so undersized and the defense is super soft in part because of that, but there he is, every week, banging bodies. Is that not tough? He's as tough as it gets. But as a LBer, he's not very talented, so nobody gives him credit for being a tough player.

 

[Aven8]

Talent.

There's no such thing as a tough team that doesn't have talent.

I disagree. Vrabel’s defenses have always been tough. That’s how he beat Miami late in the year and Jacksonville will really no offense. Talent was very limited on D.

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

I disagree. Vrabel’s defenses have always been tough. That’s how he beat Miami late in the year and Jacksonville will really no offense. Talent was very limited on D.

The Titans defenses have been terrible.

He's a defensive coach, he should have a defense that you can point to every now and then.

They also have more defensive talent than Dallas this year, except at Edge.

 

[TwentyOne]

Which is the bigger culprit in our downfall?

Still talent at the QB position.

Everthing else will take care by itself. When players at the defense see it is worth to fight because the dude at QB knows what he is doing and is able to do it.

You will be even able to carry those cancers like DFlaw.

 

[Roadtrip635]

Mentality, they're not mentally tough.

 

[75boyz]

I'll go with toughness.

And I'll add from a previous post that a few older fans on this forum have 70s era team toughness as the gold standard compared to today's modern era game toughness or even stronger than that of that 90s level team toughness as well.

I happen to be one of them.

This team is not physically or mentally tough. For any era.

jmo

 

[diamonddelts]

They suck. All the toughness in the world ain't gonna change that.

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

Still talent at the QB position.

Everthing else will take care by itself. When players at the defense see it is worth to fight because the dude at QB knows what he is doing and is able to do it.

You will be even able to carry those cancers like DFlaw.

I love how you're arguing that the QB is the problem but saying that the defense doesn't play hard lol

 

[nalam]

Which is the bigger culprit in our downfall?

Toughness, when hit on the mouth , our boys prefer to lay flat. LOL
Talent against less talented produces lot of glamour and our guys drink their own cool aid , until a physical no - nonsense team hands the rear to them. Even in the run up to playoffs we couldnt hang with physical teams - Buffalo, Lions ( except for the Dan C debacle), Miami . The Arizona and SF loss also because we were physically outmatched.

Because of GB record , we might have not known they are A physical team , they did prove against us and against SF , SF had to sweat for the victory ( Better D)

 

[Aven8]

The Titans defenses have been terrible.

He's a defensive coach, he should have a defense that you can point to every now and then.

They also have more defensive talent than Dallas this year, except at Edge.

I never said they were any good I said they were tough. We barely beat their backups and they smacked us around

 

[IceStar-D7]

Coaching....players get both from coaching.......

 

[TwentyOne]

I love how you're arguing that the QB is the problem but saying that the defense doesn't play hard lol

I dont think you got a grasp of what i meant.

 

[CowboyinMD]

Mentioned this in another thread.

Jerry and Stephen as GMs do a pretty good job with the roster management aspect BECAUSE they leave it largely up to McClay and the pool of scouts. However, because the Joneses aren't good at player evaluation themselves, when there needs to be a tie-breaker in the war room among McClay and the scouts, they do not have the expertise in this department compared to, for example, a John Lynch or Eric De Costa. Plus, they're too top heavy in terms of roster salaries (esp Dak), and too cheap with other team's players that hit free agency ("we like our guys").

Not withstanding the crappy 2023 draft (from all accounts right now), again, the Cowboys overall are doing at least an okay job personnel wise, maybe even better than okay.


Ahhh, but now let's talk culture. Cameras are always on this franchise. Lots of glitz and glamor in Big D, especially in Jerry World, the 9th wonder of the world (old Astrodome was the 8th wonder..). To be fair, that's not something the owner and GM can tackle very well. THAT HAS TO COME FROM THE COACH.

How do you get players to play as a TEAM and not individuals? That comes from the coach. See JJ and BP, how they managed that. Granted JJ had the heart (E Smith), the soul (Irvin), and mind (Aikman) -- the triplets that were clear leaders in the locker room well after JJ left. And if showed.

How do you get players to not buy into the hype? Tell them to stay off SM. Tell them to stop celebrating after every play. Tell them to not plan parties after WC games. Because as JJ would say..."you do realize we have more games left!"

Get them to play as a team, not as a bunch of entitled, millionaire players who deep down may actually be glad the season is over because why not start the off-season now if we still get paid?

That's on the HC folks. It's no small wonder that this franchise started turning around after Parcells was hired. After him, lots of talent on the roster, but no disciplinarian, alpha HC type. That's the only kind of coach who can successfully navigate a team in Big D. Which is why I wanted a Harbaugh. Pick one. I hear Jim is available.

 

[Hardline]

Both

 

[KJJ]

Mental toughness seems to be one of our biggest issues. It doesn’t take much for the good teams we’ve had over the past couple of decades to fold under playoff pressure.

 

[Mr_437]

Both

Thank you, Frontrunners lacking at both.

 

[Rockport]

Which is the bigger culprit in our downfall?

Toughness. I’ve never seen a team so ill-prepared for a playoff game. Especially on the defensive side. This team has no chance against any team with a good running game.

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

I dont think you got a grasp of what i meant.

No I did. It was stupid.

The idea that the defense needs a certain level of QB play to be motivated means that they aren't tough. Blaming defensive effort on the QB is dum.b