The Cowboys have won nothing yet

5Stars

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That truly is what Garrett does best, I think. It makes for boring press conferences, but for a young team that is susceptible to getting enamored with their own press clippings, he is perfect.

lol....there is one thing that annoys the hell out of me during games though. Every time the Cowboys score a touchdown, the first thing that Garrett does is raise his hand showing one finger (meaning go for the extra point instead of going for two).

The Cowboys could be up by 21 and if they score a TD, up comes that one finger! lol
 

5Stars

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Jimmy was the master at pushing the right buttons and keeping the team focused. OC and DC had a job to do and so did Johnson.

And Garrett confers with the Jimester and I'm sure that Jimmy is helping Garrett in some way during the offseasons.
 

5Stars

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What I like is Garrett talks with a lot of top coaches in and out of football.

And, to top that off, he played the actual game! The genius Chip Kelly looks like he could not throw a football 20 yards! lol
 

sbark

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Bill Parcells is a relic of the past and should never be invoked on this site to describe anything. His era, and his tenure as coach is ancient history. 10 years ago.

some things are just inherent to human nature and never change...........we can sit and watch that fact daily.
 

GimmeTheBall!

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jday

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catch me if i'm wrong here, but neither has any other team....

I could have used a more clever title, I think. But I knew there would be a certain group of zoners that would not want to read this and wanted to make it as clear as possible they should look no further than the title.
 

AsthmaField

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Get back to work! :laugh:

J/K

Nice detailed post of the impending apocalypse!

But you are right. I agree whole-heartedly that most years I've been stoked about this team, they've been a disappointment and visa versa. But here's what I think...

It's the law of averages, my man. The law of averages. And the law hasn't been very kind to us in the recent past. But the worm WILL turn. It has to. I honestly think we've just had a bad stroke of luck over the past decade or so. Flip a quarter 10 times and it should come up 5 heads and 5 tails. But it never seems to work that way, does it? Try it.

I really think that a team is as good as the talent, and the work they put into achieving excellence. There is no doubt that we have both the talent and the work ethic. The coaching staff is among the best in the biz. We've simply had a stroke of bad luck. "The Law of Averages" says that that will change. We get a bounce here. They lose a bounce there. Most of the team stays intact. You get the picture.

I have a good feeling about this year. And yes, I've gone into many years having a good feeling which, as you said, didn't turn out so hot; with the reverse being true as well. But the worm WILL turn my friend. It certainly will. So I'm going into this year with full blown optimism that the Cowboys can and will get it done this year. Everything seems to be falling in place this year, with a bright outlook for years to come.

It's a good time to be a Dallas Cowboys fan! :starspin:

You and I tend to see things similarly most of the time but here, I disagree.

By saying it is the law of averages, you're effectively saying this 2015 team is comparable to the Wade Phillips years when they made the playoffs but didn't end the year well. Those teams (IMO) made their own bad luck by being complacent, making mistakes that cost games, and just generally not being prepared and focused enough.

Teams tend to have bad luck when they've let the talent in the trenches slide to criminally low levels, have no running game and, for the most part, have let their defense slide.

By saying that the law of averages are going to fall the Cowboys' way, you're glossing over how much better their drafting is now. How this 2015 team has a direction and an identity, while those earlier teams did not. How this team plays focused, physical, and smart while those other teams certainly did not.

There are differences everywhere. You could see the discipline and drive of those Wade Phillips team deteriorating the deeper you went into Phillips' tenure with the team. It was heading in the wrong direction and it was plain to see. With Garrett, the longer he is here, the more he has the respect and attention of the team. He has a total control of the players that is tightening down more and more as he grows into the head coach position.

And those teams that disappointed every time expectations were raised, didn't get that result by luck or happenstance... they earned those losses. They lacked direction, depth, focus and coaching. It is surprising that they even had good seasons to get everyone excited about the next season. They petered out in the 4th quarter of games, couldn't deal with injuries, and lacked mental and physical toughness as a team.

Camp cupcake indeed.

The drafting of those teams also helped earn that disappointing label. They made some horrific choices and did little to nothing to help critical areas of the team.

By that same token... There won't be a whole lot of luck involved if this team does what many expect. They have a young, deep, talented roster that has been built almost completely by very strong drafting. They have been taking care of the salary cap, have worked diligently to fix their lines. The coaches have the players focused on the here and now, and playing with discipline and smarts. They are consistently the most physical team on the field and now, it is the other teams that are wearing out by the 4th quarter. These guys are bullies instead of getting bullied. This team is the alpha male now... not the other teams.

What they did to Seattle in their house says more about this team than I ever could. The Seahawks are used to intimidating teams in that stadium, and pushing them around until they finally submit. This Dallas team would have none of that and by the end of the game, it was the home team that rolled over on their backs.

This team will pound you, doesn't back down, and has depth and talent. The way they play produces repeatable results. There is no smoke and mirrors to what they do. There isn't a whole lot that teams can do to change things unless they simply have more talent and can out play the Cowboys.

So, if Dallas does win a lot of games this year... it isn't going to be luck that gets them there. No law of averages is going to kick in to finally let the team meet expectations. These Cowboys have earned these expectations and them winning will be no accident.

Dallas is going to bludgeon teams and they're going to do it every game. That is how this team plays.

Will it result in a lot of wins? The NFL is about to find out.
 
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the_h0wey

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Saddled with the patriotic responsibility of monitoring a slow-dripping inbound telemarketing sales line, I have some spare time on my hands. With the recent signing of Dez and the reduction of time from Hardy’s suspension, the Cowboys seem to have everything going their way. Am I the only one who finds that to be disconcerting?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to shift the overall mood of the board back to the doom-and-gloom days of just a year ago (couldn’t if I was trying, right?), but this Cowboys team always seems to do better when the expectations are low. When expectations are high, the Cowboys of the last decade have notoriously failed to come even close to meeting them. It seems to never fail.

With that in mind, and boredom as my motivation, I thought it would be a good idea to dig up some reasons why the nation’s high expectations for the Cowboys this year may be ill-founded.

My first stop should be obvious; no more Demarco Murray. I agree with the sentiment that he left yards on the field. I agree Philly paid him too much money. I agree that Randy Gregory was a steal where the Cowboys were able to get him in the 2nd round and given their apparent need for a pass-rush the Cowboys would have been foolish to pass him up. And, finally, I agree that by the 3rd round all of the difference making running backs who would be considered an upgrade over what the Cowboys already have had been taken.

What I don’t agree with is the idea that a combination of JoRan, DeMac, Dunbar, and/or Williams somehow replaces what Demarco Murray produced. Granted, he wasn’t the fastest guy…what burst he had was over quickly and often led to him being dragged down from behind….often times by guys that had no business running down an NFL runningback…but I digress. What Demarco Murray did do made a whole lot of difference to this entire football team.

Demarco straight up punished defenses. He set a tone. When the Cowboys needed that 1 yard, Demarco got it. And it made all the difference in the world to all three phases of the football game to the Cowboys. Demarco may never be the same guy he was in 2014, but nevertheless, that guy very well could be severely missed in 2015.

Injuries. Need I say more? Probably not, but again I’m bored so here goes.

I’m not sure exactly when it started, but it seems for the Cowboys of the last half-decade, injuries to starters has notoriously topped the list of excuses for perennial contention failure. Admittedly, part of this has been due to the Cowboys front office gambling on talented players with spotty injury history, Sean Lee and Demarco Murray being prime examples. With that said, I am sure I will not be alone in the act of holding my breath as the injury list comes out each day from training camp to the end of the season, wherever that may be.

Some may say that injuries will not be as much of an issue as it has been in previous years because the Cowboys have improved depth.

Oh really?

If so, name the starter you would be comfortable with being replaced and by whom?

Sure, La’el Collins looks to be a great get for the Cowboys, all things considered, but as a rookie there is no guarantee he is the second coming of Zach Martin. The same could be said of Randall Gregory and Byron Jones. Again, they look to be solid players, but looks can be deceiving as many of us learned from the acquisition of Morris Claiborne. So I understand many of you wouldn’t mind seeing the Cowboys field their shiny new toys in lieu of starters like Mincey, Carr, and Free/Leary, conventional wisdom tells us at the moment the Cowboys have almost as many question marks in their depth as they did last year, though I’m sure they feel considerably better about it just the same.

Regression. Coming into last year, there were absolutely no laurels to rest on for anyone. The nation and fans-alike had already written the Cowboys off as 8 and 8 or less and many were leaning towards a year of epic failure.

At the time, I contributed a thread of a different sort sighting the Cowboys had question marks, but it wasn’t hopeless. My intent, is somewhat the same with this contribution, only now I am asking Cowboy nation to put the glass of blue and silver koolaid down for a second and not allow their hopes to get too high… especially before the season has even began. Many of the same questions from last year still haunt the Cowboys.

But the one new one that could sneak up on us is players not working like they did entering 2014. In 2014 their mission was simple. Prove the football-watching nation wrong! Now, unlike last year, they are proven. They will not sneak up on any team. And every team the Cowboys face this year will likely have that date circled.

The question is, did all 53 players that eventually make this team continue to work like everyone still didn’t believe? Because if they didn’t, we may see regression. We may see players report to camp overweight. A few players got shiny new contracts; will they continue to work and perform like they are still chasing the money? A few players got older; can they maintain at a pro level?

Regression in some form or another happens to ever team every year, be it due to aging, sophomore slumps, contractual contentment, pure laziness or other. It is one of the secret ingredients to the parity of this game. But the Cowboys have a history of regressing in particular following great years. Having gone 12 and 4 last year, the Cowboys could be due for another dose of relapse.

Schematic Effectiveness or lack thereof. Last year, Jason Garrett’s vision for how this offense should and could work was fulfilled. What he has preached from the moment he took the Head Coach whistle took shape and the Cowboys in many games embarrassed the opposition….dominated them even.

How the Cowboys performed last year, made many organizations sit up and take notice. Some of these teams will make the attempt to copy what the Cowboys did. Other more established organization will probably stay true to their scheme, however, they will be looking to implement slight changes in an attempt to thwart the Cowboys attack…and, it should be noted, some will succeed in doing just that. It is the reality, nature and beauty of football; no one scheme is perfect and unbeatable. Every approach has its pros and cons.

So while on paper, the Cowboys roster looks set to improve on the execution of last year’s scheme, dependent on how other teams respond to last year tape could mean a step in the wrong direction for this year’s iteration of the Cowboys.

While I am sure there are new and creative ways the Cowboys could find to epically fail, I’m pretty sure the most likely culprits of 2015 have been covered in the previous. Again, this is not intended to depress anyone…just trying to keep the board grounded in their expectations…that and as I mentioned repeatedly before, I’m bored…

To say the Cowboys have won nothing yet is ludicrous. We have 5 Super Bowls and even last year we won the NFC East...
 

AsthmaField

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That Dallas team didn't quit on Garrett any more than the Patriots quit on Belichick when they lost to Kansas City last year 41-14.

Those games happen sometimes. It happened to Jimmy Johnson. It happened to Tom Landry... and it happened to Garrett. Sometimes teams are just off.
 

AsthmaField

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To say the Cowboys have won nothing yet is ludicrous. We have 5 Super Bowls and even last year we won the NFC East...

I think he means that Dallas hasn't won anything yet in the 2015 season. He is likely referencing the high expectations that some fans and media have for this year's team.
 

USMarineVet

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You and I tend to see things similarly most of the time but here, I disagree.

By saying it is the law of averages, you're effectively saying this 2015 team is comparable to the Wade Phillips years when they made the playoffs but didn't end the year well. Those teams (IMO) made their own bad luck by being complacent, making mistakes that cost games, and just generally not being prepared and focused enough.

Teams tend to have bad luck when they've let the talent in the trenches slide to criminally low levels, have no running game and, for the most part, have let their defense slide.

By saying that the law of averages are going to fall the Cowboys' way, you're glossing over how much better their drafting is now. How this 2015 team has a direction and an identity, while those earlier teams did not. How this team plays focused, physical, and smart while those other teams certainly did not.

There are differences everywhere. You could see the discipline and drive of those Wade Phillips team deteriorating the deeper you went into Phillips' tenure with the team. It was heading in the wrong direction and it was plain to see. With Garrett, the longer he is here, the more he has the respect and attention of the team. He has a total control of the players that is tightening down more and more as he grows into the head coach position.

And those teams that disappointed every time expectations were raised, didn't get that result by luck or happenstance... they earned those losses. They lacked direction, depth, focus and coaching. It is surprising that they even had good seasons to get everyone excited about the next season. They petered out in the 4th quarter of games, couldn't deal with injuries, and lacked mental and physical toughness as a team. Camp cupcake indeed.

The drafting of those teams also helped earn that disappointing label. They made some horrific choices and did little to nothing to help critical areas of the team.

By that same token... There won't be a whole lot of luck involved if this team does what many expect. They have a young, deep, talented roster that has been built almost completely by very strong drafting. They have been taking care of the salary cap, have worked diligently to fix their lines. The coaches have the players focused on the here and now, and playing with discipline and smarts. They are consistently the most physical team on the field and now, it is the other teams that are wearing out by the 4th quarter. These guys are bullies instead of getting bullied. This team is the alpha male now... not the other teams.

What they did to Seattle in their house says more about this team that I ever could. The Seahawks are used to intimidating teams in that stadium, and pushing them around until they finally submit. This Dallas team would have none of that and by the end of the game, it was the home team that rolled over on their backs.

This team will pound you, doesn't back down, and has depth and talent. The way they play produces repeatable results. There is no smoke and mirrors to what they do. There isn't a whole lot teams can do to change things unless they simply have more talent and can out play the Cowboys.

So, if Dallas does win a lot of games this year... it isn't going to be luck that gets them there. No law of averages is going to kick in to finally let the team meet expectation. These Cowboys have earned these expectations and them winning will be no accident.

Dallas is going to bludgeon teams and they're going to do it every game. That is how this team plays.

Will it result in a lot of wins? The NFL is about to find out.

I see what you're thinking I meant Bro.. and I understand how what I said could be perceived that way.

What I meant by the law of averages is with respect to how bad our luck has been lately. Jday was pointing out how X, Y and Z could go wrong and I was responding to that by saying the law of averages has to even out to where we actually get a break from all of that sooner or later.

I didn't mean we're going to win just because we get lucky. I'm just saying "the law of averages" has to point to us actually getting through a training camp without a major injury. A playoff deciding call has to go our way. (Which it did with Detroit but not with G.B) Where Murray doesn't get stripped of the ball with nothing but daylight in front of him in the same game.

Basically all I meant by that was where we can get through a season without having to pick up guys off the street because our front 7 couldn't stay on the field. That's all I meant by that.

I can promise you I know that when we go on to have another stellar year this year it will only be because of hard work on my different levels. By that I mean from scouting right up through the finished product on the field.

You're right to call me out on that assumption, but by no means did I mean we're gonna win because, well, that law of averages says so. LOL.. Uh uh.. I know it doesn't work that way. I was just pointing out that with regards to Jday's OP of all the things that could go wrong, the dreaded "law of averages" says that it is our year to get cut a break. Lee's gonna make it through TC unscathed with no one following him in last year's footsteps. Our RB by committee approach is actually going to be effective. Our defense is going to much improved. You know, hypothetically, the law of averages says that this year we are going to see all their hard work pay off.

I do admit that I can be a bit vague when I get going in some of my posts. Especially when I'm shooting off the hip on a thought I have. That's why I screen a lot of my posts before I click reply so that I don't come off saying something I didn't mean. LOL...
 

AsthmaField

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I see what you're thinking I meant Bro.. and I understand how what I said could be perceived that way.

What I meant by the law of averages is with respect to how bad our luck has been lately. Jday was pointing out how X, Y and Z could go wrong and I was responding to that by saying the law of averages has to even out to where we actually get a break from all of that sooner or later.

I didn't mean we're going to win just because we get lucky. I'm just saying "the law of averages" has to point to us actually getting through a training camp without a major injury. A playoff deciding call has to go our way. (Which it did with Detroit but not with G.B) Where Murray doesn't get stripped of the ball with nothing but daylight in front of him in the same game.

Basically all I meant by that was where we can get through a season without having to pick up guys off the street because our front 7 couldn't stay on the field. That's all I meant by that.

I can promise you I know that when we go on to have another stellar year this year it will only be because of hard work on my different levels. By that I mean from scouting right up through the finished product on the field.

You're right to call me out on that assumption, but by no means did I mean we're gonna win because, well, that law of averages says so. LOL.. Uh uh.. I know it doesn't work that way. I was just pointing out that with regards to Jday's OP of all the things that could go wrong, the dreaded "law of averages" says that it is our year to get cut a break. Lee's gonna make it through TC unscathed with no one following him in last year's footsteps. Our RB by committee approach is actually going to be effective. Our defense is going to much improved. You know, hypothetically, the law of averages says that this year we are going to see all their hard work pay off.

I do admit that I can be a bit vague when I get going in some of my posts. Especially when I'm shooting off the hip on a thought I have. That's why I screen a lot of my posts before I click reply so that I don't come off saying something I didn't mean. LOL...

Ah, I see.

Wasn't really calling you out though. I know your posting style enough to know I typically agree with you. I had just read a lot of people around the internet comparing the 2014 season to the 2007 and 2009 seasons, and I feel strongly that the circumstances are utterly different surrounding this year's team than what we saw in 2008 and 2010.

If I seemed to be scolding, I wasn't. That's not at all what I intended. My bad. I just get tired of people comparing this year to the Phillips teams. Night and day.
 

Blackspider214

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it is quite simple, dont read or post in threads like this, and you can be happy and picture SB rings for this year.

Huh?? I never said anything about a super bowl ring. And I have not seen anyone else say we are lock.

But heaven forbid people are excited about the season to start seeing how we did last year and the moves we made this year.

You and the OP are what's wrong with fans. Have to made dumb comments like this. And create some false narrative that because fans have excitement, that means they think we are definitely winning it all.

You mist be the life of the party.
 

Beast_from_East

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This season is huge for Garrett, if the team makes a deep playoff run, he could start getting accolades for being one of the top coaches in the league.

If we miss the playoffs last season will be chalked up to being a fluke and Garrett will still be considered a 500 coach
 
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