The Dilemma In 2008, How Do You Improve On 13-3?

[Hostile]

Well, at first glance and addressing the completely obvious, the regular season record is secondary to fixing two things. We have got to win in the post season and to do that it means we cannot hit cruise control after Thanksgiving. By far for me, the most glaring issue with this team is that after Thanskgiving every year there is a let down. Going back all the way to 1996, which as we know is the last time we won a post season game, here is how the Cowboys have fared after Turkey day.

1996...3-1, 1-1 in the post season. The last year there is something to hang hope on.

1997...0-3, plus a loss on Thanksgiving, 5 straight losses overall. Goodbye Barry Switzer.

1998...2-2, plus a loss on Thanksgiving, 0-1 in the post season.

1999...2-3, 0-1 in the post season.

2000...1-3, plus a loss on Thanksgiving.

2001...3-3.

2002...0-4.

2003...2-2, plus a loss on Thanksgiving, 0-1 in the post season.

2004...2-3.

2005...2-3.

2006...2-3, 0-1 in the post season.

2007...2-2, 0-1 in the post season.

That's 21-32 since 1996, plus 1-4 in the post season.


13-3 was a lot of fun. Watching that slide and crumble happen yet again was not. How do you fix that? I believe a couple of things have been addressed and at least one more needs to be.

2008 is the last year we will watch games in our beloved Texas Stadium. I've never really shared this, but to me the name Texas has always been short for Texas Earnest Schramm as much if not more than the state of Texas. There is no better way to send the old girl off than with a 6th Super Bowl Championship and I believe this team is within sight of that kind of potential.

It is a huge thing to me that our O-line is returning completely intact from last year. I would have to double check, but I believe we've had O-line changes every single year since 1995-1996. Coincidence that those are our last years of pride? I don't know. I think it's a factor. The re-signing of Flozell Adams in the off season was by far the biggest improvement we could have made. It meant our OL as a unit returns. It doesn't make us better so much as it keeps us from going backwards to get forwards. The OL is where winning and losing begins and ends for an Offense. The goal is to keep Tony Romo upright and grinning.

We needed to improve the RB situation and I think we did. Unlike some, I did like Julius Jones, but I was not enamored at all with Tyson Thompson. I felt he jogged too often on Kick Returns and was really only effective if the running play was a sweep. On top of that he was not a good blocker on picking up a blitz. Accuse me of drinking the Koolaid if you wish but I think Tashard Choice will pick up blitzes and do more than run sweeps. I like the fact we are going to pound teams with Marion Barber and then make them shift gears to try and keep up with Felix Jones. I think the running game was greatly improved.

This is a passing team. I've made no secret about the fact that I'd like to see a veteran WR opposite Terrell. I think this is the biggest glaring weakness on the team if Owens gets hurt. I really like Terry Glenn, but I hesitate to say he can return to anything like what we used to have from him. I like Patrick Crayton, but to me he is more dangerous as a #3 WR than as a #2. After June 1st when teams can lessen the cap hit if I were in Jerry's shoes I would once again try and acquire a veteran WR. I would package a draft pick with a couple of players if necessary. I feel great about what we have at TE and would have even if we had kept Fasano and not drafted Bennett. I do think Bennett is a potential improvement. I like Hurd and Miles, but I'm more anxious to see if Stanback can contribute to this team than in continuing to give them shots. I have a feeling the Amendola kid that everyone is so excited about is on the PS, unless they are afraid of losing him. If he is on the active roster it is either to protect us from losing him or he actually has something.

Switching to Defense and starting at the D-line. I have a feeling Tank Johnson will make contributions that will benefit this team this year. he came in at the midpoint of last season when everyone else had a head start. I don't see him replacing Ratliff as the starter, but I can see him at NT on passing downs with rat moved to DE on accasion. The thing I like is that we have depth at DL and can keep guys fresh. This year that would be a big goal of mine. Keeping our D-line fresh and in attack mode. I like the chance sof the Dixon kid replacing Bowen. I think Jason Hatcher gets a very real chance to start this year. I think Spears is one of the vets who could be shopped for the WR I mentioned above. I am not like others here who think he is a bust. I just am looking at it from the standpoint of cap and oncoming talent behind him with huge upside. Hatcher and Canty as bookends has a very nice look to it.

The LBs drive this Defense. I don't think there can be any doubts about that. Zach Thomas is the only veteran Free Agent acquisition this team made. He will be better in Nickel coverage than Ayodele was and he is going to be an example of how to be a student of the game. Bradie, Carp, and Burnett just got the best mentor they could ask for. All of the ILBs will contribute this year. I think Burnett better fits Wade's style of Defense and could replace Bradie as the starter at some point. The OLB's now have a better secondary behidn them and this year should be heat seeking missles on QBs and RBs. To me it is a travesty that Ware is not the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. I think this year he will explode on QBs. Spencer will get more PT and will be a huge asset this year. Could Ellis be traded? Remote chance, and only if Spencer is really on fire and ready to start. Ellis could be a situational 3rd down guy if Spencer starts. A fresh Ellis on every 3rd down is not a bad thing.

The biggest area of improvement this off season is the Secondary. Forgive me, but the 3 guys who left did nothing for me. I am excited about the arrivals of Jenkins and Scandrick, and I can't deny that Jones can make this an elite unit. Perhaps only the Chargers have as talented a secondary as the Cowboys...potentially.

Finally, Special Teams. The idea of Jones and Jones as the Kickoff and Punt Return weapons is probably the area that could show the greatest benefit to the team in 2008. If we constantly have great field position for this Offense to work with it could be what makes us have an equal to or better record than 13-3 in 2007.

That leaves fixing the post Thanksgiving swoon as the biggest issue. I don't have an answer here because I don't know what the team is doing after that day that throws us into low gear. Hunger is the only thing I can think of to make them improve. How to make them hungry? Well, for starters if the media is all over them all year it could piss them off enough to work harder. I'd like to see that. A countdown to the game after Thanksgiving as the target date of a the coming swoon might have a positive effect. Depth will help.

Something has to. Winning a post season game is not enough for me this year. Especially if we do acquire a veteran WR. Nothing less than a 6th trophy is acceptable to me this year. It's about raised expectations in 2008. Building on 13-3 and a positive off season raised the bar.

Now it's up to the fellas who wear the stars.

 

[Seven]

Honestly. I don't care if we go 10-6 and go in as a wildcard. As long as we finally play some post season football the way we're capable of. The collapse tag is becoming written in bold in association with this team.

To improve over all...........I think these guys need to be focusing on mistake free football all season long. From the first day of trainig camp. JMO.

BTW........Great read.

 

[Doomsday101]

By taking the next step which would be advancing in the post season. I don't know if the Cowboys will manage 13-3 this coming season but hey 12-4 or 11-5 and advancing in the post season would have to be seen as another step for this team

 

[reddyuta]

I have one word -Momentum.

We lost ours sometime after the GB game and never recovered.

We are not a team that can coast into the playoffs by sitting our starters and playing scared and not to get hurt.

Hopefully our running game is improved so even if Romo has an average day we can still win the game-which is contingent on how our O-line plays.

 

[Brandon]

There really is no way to improve on 13-3.

I don't care if we go 8-8, just make the playoffs and win a game for starters.

 

[Chief]

13-3 was a lot of fun.

Woo-Hoo! 13-3!

Nothing less than a 6th trophy is acceptable to me this year.

Uh-oh




(By the way, good post Hos)

 

[big dog cowboy]

Nicely done Hos.

Good read. Thanks for posting.

 

[goliadmike]

That was a nice read Hos but its simple: all they have to do is win a playoff game or two or three would be great!!!

 

[Little Jr]

Great post Hos. Cant disagree with any of it. Especially nothing less than a 6th Lombardi. I really felt like we left one on the table last year. To me, that was the toughest loss since the 94 NFC Championship game.

 

[burmafrd]

BS to this just win a playoff game . From day one it should be clear that nothing short of the SB is enough this year. Anything else is a failure.
And to do that means winning games after thanksgiving. Means winning in December. No more play it safe, etc/ we tried that and it blew right up in our face.
wade needs to start turning the screws right after thanksgiving and challenge the whole team right in their faces.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Meh.

I ask again -- does anyone really think that Tom Coughlin was such a genius that he held his team back in October and November? Did he plan to coast for a while and then turn it on at the end? Did he want to lose that wretched game with the Commanders in December at home that was one of the ugliest games of the year so he'd have more in the tank for the playoffs?

Of course not. It's the NFL. You try as hard as you can to win every single game each and every week. You add them up as you go along and there you are.

People don't want to believe it, but there IS such a thing as luck. When T.O. hurt his ankle and Romo hurt his thumb at the end of the year, it did make a difference. Does anyone really want to argue that if those injuries had happened in week twelve and they'd been healthy by week 16 that the year would have played out exactly the same way? Of course it wouldn't have. Just like there was some degree of luck that the Giants got rolling their last couple games of the year. I can promise you they didn't pre-program it that way.

Look, all you can do is try to give yourself the best chance to succeed every year. It's exactly like Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods in golf. Pick another sport like race car driving if you like. But Nicklaus and Woods are the best who ever lived, and yet they have tons of second and third place finishes in majors. Why? Because you aren't always going to be hot at the right time, you can't control the other players, and you can't control unlucky bounces. That's just the way it is. But they know that if they put themselves in position to contend enough times, they'll win their share.

That's all we need to do. Keep playing well, put ourselves in position late in the year, try to stay healthy, and we'll eventually break through. Look at the Landry teams -- they didn't win it in their first or even second or third try. But they finally did it. I can only imagine how many millions of times Landry would have been fired by internet posters before he finally broke through.

That's why this talk of "we have to do it this year or bust" is ridiculous IMO. We have a good young QB, a pretty young team, and we're on the right track. No team can insist that in any one year they "should" win it all -- especially in May.

 

[burmafrd]

When your team does the same thing 12 years in a row you need to change SOMETHING.

 

[peplaw06]

Honestly. I don't care if we go 10-6 and go in as a wildcard. As long as we finally play some post season football the way we're capable of. The collapse tag is becoming written in bold in association with this team.

I'm good with a less than stellar regular season if we end the season well and get on a roll in the playoffs.

It's going to be painful on the board if we have a worse record, but who cares? If we were 16-0 people here would find something to complain about. I only want some modicum of postseason success, possibly even a Super Bowl.

 

[Little Jr]

I'm good with a less than stellar regular season if we end the season well and get on a roll in the playoffs.

It's going to be painful on the board if we have a worse record, but who cares? If we were 16-0 people here would find something to complain about. I only want some modicum of postseason success, possibly even a Super Bowl.

I agree. I actually have us going 11-5 but 10-6 would not suprise me at all. I really dont care as long as we win when it counts.

 

[bbgun]

Look at the Landry teams -- they didn't win it in their first or even second or third try. But they finally did it. I can only imagine how many millions of times Landry would have been fired by internet posters before he finally broke through.

Well, aside from years like 1983, his teams were not synonymous with late-season collapses. Also, his squads, even the ones that broke your heart, advanced deep into the playoffs. Conversely, the modern-day Cowboys haven't sniffed so much as a wild card win in over a decade. Landry deserved some latitude because he earned it. Wade's leash is much shorter, and it should be. The scary thing is that his successor isn't guaranteed to be any better.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

The difference is that no matter how many times I see it written otherwise, I know that what happened 10 or 12 years ago has absolutely ZERO bearing on this group of Cowboys. Why people think it would is beyond me -- I guess because the uniforms are the same. But that's incredibly shallow. Ten years ago the likes of Demarcus Ware and Chris Canty and Marion Barber were barely out of middle school, for crying out loud.

I consider this generation of team to have begun in 2005, when Parcells went to the 34 and we drafted Ware, Canty, Barber, Ratliff, and Spears. Last year was the third year of that group and the first time they'd won a division. And we did it with new coaches, new systems, and a brand new quarterback.

The point being that this team is still very early in its life cycle, and to this point they've progressed just fine. It's way too soon to start giving up on them.

 

[Eskimo]

I still think there are 4 areas to really improve upon:

1. We need a running attack that the opposition respects. I think part of our late season sputters offensively was due to teams disregarding our running attack and selling out on preventing deep passes to take away our big play potential.

2. To open up our deep passing game we need to get RBs more involved in the passing attack. It would add a big wrinkle to our offensive attack. Last year we mainly used RBs for dumpoffs. Hopefully now that we have Felix we can be a bit more creative here.

3. Special teams were terrible outside of the FG kicker, punt returner and Austin. Everything else can use improvement.

4. Defensive secondary coverage and tackling needs to be much better this year.

I think we have made some moves that should hopefully improve us in these areas but the proof is in the pudding.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

There is no doubt that the Cowboys, for whatever reason, seem to have a post-thanksgiving letdown.
Aside from having a coach last year who just shrugged and kept saying "we're fine" when things did not appear fine, it might something peculiar the Cowboys are doing that tires them out after Thanksgiving.

Hos, I propose a mini-mini-camp (one day) to clear out the mental clutter and stretch and run passing routes and some walk-throughs by the offense.

On the defensive side, maybe some technique practice (get to the QB!) and some pep talks by invited ex-players. Or maybe defensive team meetings led by Ware/Newman.

The approach, yes, should be different this year as the team nears the playoffs. I believe that most clear-thinking fans, the U.N. commission on Athletics and the Free World would back me up on this proposal.

 

[5Stars]

One way to overcome the post ThankGiving slump that the Cowboys seem to get into every year is to grab a "Kodak" moment!

Hey!! It worked for the Patriots....

 

[Eddie]

We are making some serious assumptions here.

We've assumed that we've upgraded our RB and 2ndary, and that's going to lead to post November success.

Let's not be so hasty. Julius Jones tailed off in 08, but we can't automatically assume Felix Jones will outplay him. There's no guarantee. Choice is also a 4th round draft pick ... how much can we really expect out of him in his rookie year?

I'd like to believe Jenkins and Scandrick are improvements over Reeves and Nate Jones. But there's no guarantee. The guys we lost had a combined 6 years NFL experience. The guys we're replacing them with have 0. Jenkins may pan out, but may also turn into a dud. That's why the Texans paid Reeves so much money ... he's not great, but he's not a dud either. Scandrick is a 5th rounder. Putting aside the wet dreams that some pundits listed him as a 2nd round talent, he's still a 5th rounder ... which puts him in the same boat as Reeves and Jones when they were rookies.

Pacman may not even make the field due to his troubles.

To automatically assign a grade of improvement to both the RB's and the 2ndary is making some serious assumptions.