The D on the last drive

[yimyammer]

You get older, you lose your fire, motivation and energy. Sure, there are exceptions, but I think Wade is stuck in his ways, doesn't have the creativity, energy and ambition of a younger coach, has never been an inspirational motivator and the likelihood of him ever becoming one is somewhere between slim and none (imo).

I think something that gets overlooked is the ability to spot good coaching talent (one of my biggest gripes with Jerry). Player talent identification as well as player development is always important, but in these days of parity I think a coach should take an approach similar to what they do in college by teaching and developing back-ups to take over for veterans (seniors/early graduates) who are going to demand big contracts but aren't worth the risk of signing.

I think its possible to remain competitive almost every year if the coaching staff takes this approach and is successful developing players to take over when the decision to release a veteran is made.

Sign franchise QB's and the few players that have the character and work ethic to perform regardless of how much they get paid to long term deals and then have the confidence in your system to bring in replacements so expensive, aging and more injury risk veterans can be released.

I'm not confident we have that here in Dallas, althought last years approach seems to be in this line of thinking. Hopefully Jerry & co see the effect a good coach like our special teams coach can have on the team and think about finding a young, up and coming no-nonsense guy to keep around for a long time. I think some continuity in the coaching staff from year to year would be beneficial as well.

I thought Garret may be worth giving a shot (and he still may be) but I have to wonder how he would handle the multi-tasking a head coach is required to do.

I just wish we had a coach (and staff) that I could feel confident about that would provide continued hope year in and out.

I had that with Jimmy (I realize he's never coming back and I'm not suggesting that), Parcells and most of the Landry years.

In regard to Jimmy, I could see a difference in the way the team played right off the bat (Parcells as well). I've said it before and I'll say it again, the 1-15 and 7-9 seasons under Jimmy were some of the most fun I've ever watched. You could see the passion they played with as well as improvement from week to week. They didn't win many games, but they were fun to watch and always seemed to care and be improving. I think most fans would be happy with this.

It's the consistently lost, passionless, mistake riddled performances that cause many fans to feel so disheartened about this team.

 

[notherbob]

You get older, you lose your fire, motivation and energy. Sure, there are exceptions, but I think Wade is stuck in his ways, doesn't have the creativity, energy and ambition of a younger coach, has never been an inspirational motivator and the likelihood of him ever becoming one is somewhere between slim and none (imo).

I think something that gets overlooked is the ability to spot good coaching talent (one of my biggest gripes with Jerry). Player talent identification as well as player development is always important, but in these days of parity I think a coach should take an approach similar to what they do in college by teaching and developing back-ups to take over for veterans (seniors/early graduates) who are going to demand big contracts but aren't worth the risk of signing.

I think its possible to remain competitive almost every year if the coaching staff takes this approach and is successful developing players to take over when the decision to release a veteran is made.

Sign franchise QB's and the few players that have the character and work ethic to perform regardless of how much they get paid to long term deals and then have the confidence in your system to bring in replacements so expensive, aging and more injury risk veterans can be released.

I'm not confident we have that here in Dallas, althought last years approach seems to be in this line of thinking. Hopefully Jerry & co see the effect a good coach like our special teams coach can have on the team and think about finding a young, up and coming no-nonsense guy to keep around for a long time. I think some continuity in the coaching staff from year to year would be beneficial as well.

I thought Garret may be worth giving a shot (and he still may be) but I have to wonder how he would handle the multi-tasking a head coach is required to do.

I just wish we had a coach (and staff) that I could feel confident about that would provide continued hope year in and out.

I had that with Jimmy (I realize he's never coming back and I'm not suggesting that), Parcells and most of the Landry years.

In regard to Jimmy, I could see a difference in the way the team played right off the bat (Parcells as well). I've said it before and I'll say it again, the 1-15 and 7-9 seasons under Jimmy were some of the most fun I've ever watched. You could see the passion they played with as well as improvement from week to week. They didn't win many games, but they were fun to watch and always seemed to care and be improving. I think most fans would be happy with this.

It's the consistently lost, passionless, mistake riddled performances that cause many fans to feel so disheartened about this team.

I doubt the coaching situation changes much as long as Coach Jerry is running things.

 

[yimyammer]

I doubt the coaching situation changes much as long as Coach Jerry is running things.

Me neither, but I'm still holding on to a little hope because Jerry did a couple of things I never thought he'd do: hire Parcells and release Owens. There was a little shift in his attitude in the last off season. Jerry seems to need to be completely humiliated before he'll finally relent. I can't stand the thought of this team having an awful year, but the upside is that it might be the blow needed to have Jerry finally give in to the notion that strong, talented coaching that demands excellence is what every team needs, especially here in Dallas where players heads can get too big simply because they have a star on their helmut.

 

[sonnyboy]

Ok.....after almost a week to calm down I can finally post this without going crazy :bang2:

Why in the world when the DB's had been struggling the entire game did Wade not call an aggressive D on that last drive. I know it must be something that defensive coordinators know that the average fan doesn't because they all seem to do it.

But with the game on the line the Giants dinked and dunked their way down the field on our DBs while we put no pressure on Manning. Look what Rex Ryan did the the Patriots! It kills me every time they do it because you know they are going to score. At least if you play aggressively and they beat you with a big play, you have time to go down and score. The way Wade called it we not only allowed them to score but also ran out of time :bang2:

I made a post on this earlier in the week. I've seen this situation come up often in the past and seldom seen a DC play it the right way.

You simply can not allow an opponent to milk the clock to nothing while setting up a chip shot FG.

There are a number of ways a DC should approach the possesion depending on the starting position and time remaining.

Giants starting around the 20 with 3:40 remaining.

In this senario I would've given our defense one shot to win the game playing it straight. See if we could keep them from getting even one first down.
As soon as they hit us for that first first down I would've gone into an extreme pressure mode.

What I mean is seven players rushing the QB and 4 DB's in tight coverage.
I don't want to be stupid here. I would give Manning different pre-snap looks each time.

But each play would have the same result. 7 guys going all out for Manning and 4 DB's left in tight coverage.
And the tight coverage is the key. I want to make any quick slant throw a lower probability play for Manning.

I want him going down the field on quick hitters. The goal is the have him either fail or succeed in less than 5 plays.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the 1-15 and 7-9 seasons under Jimmy were some of the most fun I've ever watched. You could see the passion they played with as well as improvement from week to week. They didn't win many games, but they were fun to watch and always seemed to care and be improving. I think most fans would be happy with this.

It's the consistently lost, passionless, mistake riddled performances that cause many fans to feel so disheartened about this team.

Most fans would not be happy with this. Just read the posts on here. No way would they be satisfied with 7-9, no matter how it was achieved.

I can only speak for myself, but these Cowboys are fun to watch. I am disappointed when they lose or fail to execute, but I immensely enjoy Cowboys football these days. In Sunday night's game, I was beside myself on scores by Barber, Witten, Romo and Jones. The long runs by Barber and Jones were also exciting. The Cowboys are struggling, but I see improvement on special teams, the offensive line and the running game. The defense and Romo need to get it together, but no way do I agree that it isn't fun to watch the Cowboys these days.

 

[Everson24]

I made a post on this earlier in the week. I've seen this situation come up often in the past and seldom seen a DC play it the right way.

You simply can not allow an opponent to milk the clock to nothing while setting up a chip shot FG.

There are a number of ways a DC should approach the possesion depending on the starting position and time remaining.

Giants starting around the 20 with 3:40 remaining.

In this senario I would've given our defense one shot to win the game playing it straight. See if we could keep them from getting even one first down.
As soon as they hit us for that first first down I would've gone into an extreme pressure mode.

What I mean is seven players rushing the QB and 4 DB's in tight coverage.
I don't want to be stupid here. I would give Manning different pre-snap looks each time.

But each play would have the same result. 7 guys going all out for Manning and 4 DB's left in tight coverage.
And the tight coverage is the key. I want to make any quick slant throw a lower probability play for Manning.

I want him going down the field on quick hitters. The goal is the have him either fail or succeed in less than 5 plays.

This is my thinking also. When a field goal will get you beat you simply cannot play a soft zone defense. If you watch the Steelers much this is the exact situation when they bring the most pressure.

I would also say the Ravens always play aggressive, but if you watched their last regular season game against Pittsburgh they went to soft zones and ended up giving up a TD when they had kept the Steelers out of the end zone all day. I bet Rex Ryan regrets that decision to this day. Had they stopped them that championship game would have been at Baltimore.

Again go back to last years Super Bowl. The Cardinals were shutting down the Steelers all second half by bringing pressure and jamming the receivers until that final drive. Their defensive coordinator got scared and had them in soft zones and 3 and 4 man rush schemes. Roethlisberger picks apart their secondary. Needless to say he will regret it for the rest of his life.

 

[TwentyOne]

Wade brought the heat 3 times on that drive with no success.

The problem is that teams go full protection against us. They let 2 te block and let the rb chip. We had brought preassure all day long but we couldn't get qiuck enough to the QB. Just ask those oposing QBs. They got hit all day long. Just always a bit too late.

What i don't understand is that we can't cover 2 WRs that go out to catch the ball. Like you wrote our young CBs make alot of mistakes. Like the one by Jenkins on 3-6 when he totally gave up the inside on an all out blitz. He didn't even bump his man. That can't happen. He has to understand how to play a specific scheme.

 

[MONT17]

In regard to Jimmy, I could see a difference in the way the team played right off the bat (Parcells as well). I've said it before and I'll say it again, the 1-15 and 7-9 seasons under Jimmy were some of the most fun I've ever watched. You could see the passion they played with as well as improvement from week to week. They didn't win many games, but they were fun to watch and always seemed to care and be improving. I think most fans would be happy with this.
.

WOW! that is soooo true.... ppl always say I was a fan since 1-15, like 1-15 was terrible orit was a badge of Cowboy fan honor! 1988, 3-13, is what I feel like with some of these Jerryland teams, that only care about picking up checks on Tuesday!

 

[yimyammer]

Most fans would not be happy with this. Just read the posts on here. No way would they be satisfied with 7-9, no matter how it was achieved.

I can only speak for myself, but these Cowboys are fun to watch. I am disappointed when they lose or fail to execute, but I immensely enjoy Cowboys football these days. In Sunday night's game, I was beside myself on scores by Barber, Witten, Romo and Jones. The long runs by Barber and Jones were also exciting. The Cowboys are struggling, but I see improvement on special teams, the offensive line and the running game. The defense and Romo need to get it together, but no way do I agree that it isn't fun to watch the Cowboys these days.

Good point, I agree most fans, me included, would not be happy with endless 7-9 seasons and I didn't mean to imply that we would, I just feel like most fans that see their team playing good football, displaying passion, making few mistakes but just getting beat by a better team can still walk away with a sense of pride & hope despite the loss. The performances against Baltimore, Philly, St Louis last year left me and I think many fans disgusted with the team and drastically reduced hope for their future success.

I must admit that I may not remember those seasons (1-15 & 7-9) so fondly had they not ultimately culminated in the success those teams had. What I think is different now and its certainly how I feel is that I had more hope in those teams than I did in last years or our current team (for many of the myriad of the reasons discussed throughout this forum).

What I think most fans would be happy with (and this may be too greedy) is if the Cowboys could make the playoffs in 3/5 to 6/10 years range, winning a few playoff games, being in the running for a Super Bowl in some of those playoff years and then winning one (or more) Super Bowls every 10 years. Then, in each of the off years where their record drops into the 7-9 to 9-7 range being the result of the team making personel changes and rebuilding for the future. Despite these changes, they finish these down years strong because the new players have developed and improved leaving fans encouraged for the next season.

And you're right, the games this team plays are fun to watch (although heart wrenching at times) EXCEPT when they pull heartless no shows like they did against Philly, Baltimore & St Louis last year. I also must say, I feel more pain in their losses than I do pleasure in their wins (which sucks and is stupid). Sseeing them throw games away like they did against the Giants last week and the Steelers last year leaves me borderline depressed (I know, it's pathetic but I don't know how to stop caring so much).

I wish I could be more loosy goosy and just be happy if the team makes a few good plays in most games and pulls out a win every once in a while, but I'm spoiled and I want more. That may be wrong, but its how I feel.

 

[yimyammer]

WOW! that is soooo true.... ppl always say I was a fan since 1-15, like 1-15 was terrible orit was a badge of Cowboy fan honor! 1988, 3-13, is what I feel like with some of these Jerryland teams, that only care about picking up checks on Tuesday!

We need Irvin to infiltrate the locker room and prepare a list of people content to just pick up checks and give that list to Jerry

 

[Yakuza Rich]

They were yelling at Wade to call a timeout. Why? Because the defense was ultra aggressive on that drive, blitzing like a mother. The corner play is horrendous right now, probably the reason why we sent the house after Manning. I'm not sure how clear that can be made when Collinsworth said to the effect 'he's sending them' right before the snap on the tipped pass that was caught.

I'd like to see more endurance from the team, but teams that blitz a lot tend to wear down easy. That's why the late Jim Johnson made it a point to stockpile D-Linemen because their zone blitzes and such can wear down those guys. However, Johnson was fantastic at getting the defense off the field, particularly doing it with sacks and turnovers. We're not getting those now.

The big difference to me is the corner play.




YAKUZA

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I'd like to see more endurance from the team, but teams that blitz a lot tend to wear down easy.
YAKUZA

Very good point Rich.

The big difference to me is the corner play.
YAKUZA

It'll be very interesting to see what sort of scheme the corners use come Monday night. I'm guessing that a lot more zone is going to shown.

 

[Rampage]

Very good point Rich.



It'll be very interesting to see what sort of scheme the corners use come Monday night. I'm guessing that a lot more zone is going to shown.

the scheme is only half the problem. Campo "coaching" them is the biggest problem.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

the scheme is only half the problem. Campo "coaching" them is the biggest problem.

Come'on Rampage, that's a cop-out. Yeah, I'd like to see these guys play the ball better, but to totally blow technique time after time? And it's not rocket-surgery either.

The corners quite frankly sucked that game, they didn't play smart.

They weren't that hot against Tampa either.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

I feel more pain in their losses than I do pleasure in their wins (which sucks and is stupid). Sseeing them throw games away like they did against the Giants last week and the Steelers last year leaves me borderline depressed (I know, it's pathetic but I don't know how to stop caring so much).

I wish I could be more loosy goosy and just be happy if the team makes a few good plays in most games and pulls out a win every once in a while, but I'm spoiled and I want more. That may be wrong, but its how I feel.

You're not alone. Losses have a negative effect on my week too. At least the first few days afterwards.

 

[Rampage]

Come'on Rampage, that's a cop-out. Yeah, I'd like to see these guys play the ball better, but to totally blow technique time after time? And it's not rocket-surgery either.

The corners quite frankly sucked that game, they didn't play smart.

They weren't that hot against Tampa either.

Campo showed up again last year and we got only 8 picks. now I'll be suprised if we even get that many the way our secondary has been playing. it also doesn't help that Wade keeps having them play 10 yards off the wr.

 

[dcfanatic]

They were yelling at Wade to call a timeout. Why? Because the defense was ultra aggressive on that drive, blitzing like a mother. The corner play is horrendous right now, probably the reason why we sent the house after Manning. I'm not sure how clear that can be made when Collinsworth said to the effect 'he's sending them' right before the snap on the tipped pass that was caught.

I'd like to see more endurance from the team, but teams that blitz a lot tend to wear down easy. That's why the late Jim Johnson made it a point to stockpile D-Linemen because their zone blitzes and such can wear down those guys. However, Johnson was fantastic at getting the defense off the field, particularly doing it with sacks and turnovers. We're not getting those now.

The big difference to me is the corner play.

YAKUZA

I don't know if they were calling for a timeout.

Listen to this...

Bryan Broaddus

I think Wade was out of sorts. He wasn't getting the calls in to the players and he didn't even think about calling any timeouts for the offense to get another shot at a FG with whatever time was left on the clock.

 

[Beast_from_East]

I made a post on this earlier in the week. I've seen this situation come up often in the past and seldom seen a DC play it the right way.

You simply can not allow an opponent to milk the clock to nothing while setting up a chip shot FG.

There are a number of ways a DC should approach the possesion depending on the starting position and time remaining.

Giants starting around the 20 with 3:40 remaining.

In this senario I would've given our defense one shot to win the game playing it straight. See if we could keep them from getting even one first down.
As soon as they hit us for that first first down I would've gone into an extreme pressure mode.

What I mean is seven players rushing the QB and 4 DB's in tight coverage.
I don't want to be stupid here. I would give Manning different pre-snap looks each time.

But each play would have the same result. 7 guys going all out for Manning and 4 DB's left in tight coverage.
And the tight coverage is the key. I want to make any quick slant throw a lower probability play for Manning.

I want him going down the field on quick hitters. The goal is the have him either fail or succeed in less than 5 plays.

I love your thinking here!!!!

I would hire you as my defensive coordinator tonight if I was Jerry.

 

[Beast_from_East]

I don't know if they were calling for a timeout.

Listen to this...

Bryan Broaddus

I think Wade was out of sorts. He wasn't getting the calls in to the players and he didn't even think about calling any timeouts for the offense to get another shot at a FG with whatever time was left on the clock.

Wade had that deer in the headlights look, seriously. He looked like he was panicing or something.

I am starting to think that he cant handle the pressure of coaching in big D anymore, seriously. This is not Denver or San Diego here, this is the "big stage in Vegas" as Parcells once said. Wade knows blowing home games to division rivals is unacceptable.

 

[notherbob]

I also must say, I feel more pain in their losses than I do pleasure in their wins (which sucks and is stupid). Seeing them throw games away like they did against the Giants last week and the Steelers last year leaves me borderline depressed (I know, it's pathetic but I don't know how to stop caring so much).

I wish I could be more loosy goosy and just be happy if the team makes a few good plays in most games and pulls out a win every once in a while, but I'm spoiled and I want more. That may be wrong, but its how I feel.

Been there, done that and fully understand.

I loved the game of football long before there ever was a Dallas Cowboys team and the Jerry Jones era has forced me to go back to my love of football over my preference for a particular team. I have had to learn all over again to appreciate good football plays regardless of who makes them. It is hard to overcome the years of prejudice in favor of one particular team but if you love football enough you can do it. I did.

These days I love to watch football but no longer get carried away with any particular team or player and that has allowed me to enjoy football again and if my favorite teams do not play well enough to win, then they don't deserve to win. Wins are for those who play well enough to get them not those who falter.

Life is good.