The Core of this Team is Done

[Bluestang]

Thank you for looking past hope and change and coming to the conclusion that this is the players.

But JG needs to go because he couldn't motivate girl scouts to chase an ice cream truck.

Whoever comes in, needs a completely new slate.

 

[CyberB0b]

Whoever comes in, needs a completely new slate.

All of those guys you listed will be gone, with the exception of Romo and Witten.

A lot of blame needs to go to the new group of younger players:

Lee - Can't play 16 games
Carter - See above, also, huge regression
Murray - See above
Smith - Not a top 10 talent
Claiborne - See above
Free - Very mediocre to bad
Church - Good tacker, but outclassed as a safety

Let's not forget that we have a revolving door at guard, and we have neglected the defensive line for years.

 

[SportsGuru80]

It's time to break it up and rebuild everything....

 

[khiladi]

This is just so hilarious and the stench of hypocrisy is strong... I thought the team fights for Garrett.. Now, it's the players fault for giving up on him? Lol....

 

[MRV52]

If the Cowboys were an apple the core would be rotten.

 

[khiladi]

Maybe, but I can't help but wonder if Parcells saw it coming.

I thought JG had turned over the roster and affected his culture change... How did Parcells see this when the Garrett culture is here....

 

[The Natural]

These are the guys that I are the core of this team...the "old" faces of the franchise.

Romo - he's losing the deep ball, his mechanics get worse each year, and his new found involvement in the weekly game planning is concerning considering the circumstances.

Austin - he's been hurt more the last few years than healthy.

Witten - can't get open against the younger, faster LBs and Ss in the league.

Spencer - the knee is a major concern.

Ware - he's falling apart year after year before our eyes.

The problem I see is that there is no coach that is going to turn around there physical limitations.

Should have blew this thing up 2 years ago, now we're paying for it. Ware would have fetched a first rounder 2 years ago, even Romo could have went for a first to some desperate team last year. If we had it my way we'd be a legitimate championship contender in the mold of a Seattle/San Francisco team built strong through the draft

 

[coult44]

Losses sure do bring em out.

This wasn't just a loss. This was an *** woopin. A take you behind the shed and beat the crap out of you beat down. The team wasn't prepared because the coaching staff had NO idea what to do to prepare them.

 

[tyke1doe]

Bingo. Nothing will change until they finally rebuild and start over. Figure out what kind of team they want to be and structure free agency/the draft around it.

I believe what we keep seeing over the last seven years is a mix of random pieces put together but there was never any official construction/rebuilding done. That all goes to Jerry not knowing how to construct a team from scratch and instead, keeps trying to add new pieces (players and coaches/coordinators).

Jerry keeps believing if he gets one additional key piece, we'll get back to the Super Bowl. But it's not just one piece. It's a strategy. Yet, Jerry Jones did the same thing with Aikman, believing if we just got one more player, one more receiver for Aikman, we'd take that next step to the Super Bowl. But that team got old fast because Jerry kept trying to squeeze out another Super Bowl.

Jerry is trying to squeeze from this team, this core a Super Bowl appearance not realizing that this core is a year older and a year closer to retirement. They're just not going to get us there.

 

[khiladi]

Austin and Spencer are now the core of the roster? Lol....

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

When I talk about the core, I mean the old core and I think the OP meant the same. The guys who have blood on their hands from disastrous seasons dating back to 2008: Garrett, Romo, Austin, Witten, Spencer, Ware. They've all got to go and Witten may be the only exception, since this team has yet to get the whole drafting a TE thing right.

I agree but I think its irrelevant to mention guys like Witten and Austin. They are no longer the core of this team. This team is built around their younger guys and Romo. Sean Lee, Dez, Romo, Brandon Carr.....i'd consider those the core. Ware to me is a guy who shows up to play and lead by example.

When people talk about this "core" being done? Or trying to rebuild? It won't be a rebuilding a process. This team is young. If you truly wanted to get away from your older guys it would be Witten, Ware and Romo. Three guys. Maybe Hatcher and Spencer if you consider them the core. Will that make us a Super Bowl Champion?

 

[RS12]

and they are dragging the future stars with them.

How many more coaches is it going to take?

If JG is fired than the core of this team needs to go as well. They don't fight back when they are punched in the mouth and they make the same silly mistakes that drove Parcells nuts. Everyone has seen it on Sundays and enough is enough...

I'm willing to bet money that the next HC is going to have the same problems as the previous ones' have had if this core group stays together.

Time to hand out a few more extensions.

 

[Coy]

That's what really bothers me, the Garrett hiring wasted the best years of Romo, Witten and Ware.

 

[Bluestang]

All of those guys you listed will be gone, with the exception of Romo and Witten.

And those two need to go as well especially Romo.

I'm a Romo-lover but watching him this season has been painful because I've come to the realization that his best days are behind him.

It sucks but if you can't see that because you want to hang onto his 4th qtr comeback wins, or all time passer ratings then by all means keeping pushing those stats. At the end of the day there are the ones that get it done and the ones that go home empty-handed...

 

[The Natural]

When people talk about this "core" being done? Or trying to rebuild? It won't be a rebuilding a process. This team is young. If you truly wanted to get away from your older guys it would be Witten, Ware and Romo. Three guys. Maybe Hatcher and Spencer if you consider them the core. Will that make us a Super Bowl Champion?

The only thing I can definitively say is those older guys haven't made us a champion or bought this franchise any success, so it's time to move in another direction building around the younger guys. Getting a young QB to throw to our Wrs, some fresh young DL to get after the QB, etc

 

[tyke1doe]

Romo, Witten and Ware represent the "core" of this team. Sean Lee, Tyron Smith and Dez Bryant aren't the core of this team.
The core are the guys who were here during the Parcell years who are considered leaders and who we were counting on to produce similar results like in 2007, minus, of course, the first-round playoff exit against the Giants.

 

[Zman5]

Where do you think we would be now if we had hired Harbaugh instead of JG? Same players, different HC.

 

[Coy]

The core of this team has been done. That interception against Washington should've been the last straw for Romo, instead they reward this guy with a $108 million dollar extension. Look at the Texans, 2 straight years with 10+ wins and at the first sign of a major stepback they throw Schuab's sorry behind in the bushes. Meanwhile we're 9 years into this thing headed for a 3rd straight 8-8 season.

I can't believe peolple are blaming Romo, he played like crap tonight but our defense set all kind of negative records, the problem here is Garrett, he should be fired.

 

[Cowboyz88]

I agree. They're old and the culture of losing is so engrained, I don't think there's anything they can do anymore.
This season we need to begin a rebuilding process, starting with the coaches. Ware, Romo and Witten are basically done. They're not going to be winning any more big games for us. We've basically wasted their better years.

We just need to start from scratch.

I was ridiculed - years ago - for saying that there was something wrong with the "core."

Any time Romo's name is mentioned, there's a deluge of stats…best 4th Quarter QB, ever. Top 5 QB Rating, Most yards in 100 games, most "clutch" QB, and on and on and on.

Witten #2 TE all time. Future Hall of Famer.

Ware… Cowboys All time sack leader, All-time Top 10 in sacks, etc. Future HOFer.

These were also the same players that led the give-up on Wade. They were on the field for 44-6. Minnesota and Giants Playoffs. Etc.

As tyke said, the "core" really only knows personal stats and a losing team culture which they helped to foster.

Great personal stats. Minimal team success.

Everyone wanted them to be leaders, but aside from their play, they just aren't/weren't - no matter how badly some want them to be.

It's not totally there fault, of course, but 15-20 years from now, they will be the poster children for the worst era in Cowboys history.

 

[The Natural]

I can't believe peolple are blaming Romo, he played like crap tonight but our defense set all kind of negative records, the problem here is Garrett, he should be fired.

That's the problem, I'm not just talking about tonight. Tonight is just a microcosm of what this team has been the better part of the last 8 years, an utter embarrassment. And when I look at all the change this franchise has seen, the foul stench of a decaying core (including the HC) is the one common denominator