The hurdle nobody mentions

[DLCassidy]

I think their inability to close out the game came down to a few things:

1. Awful O-Line play. They simply were not opening holes. You could blame the RB's, but after seeing Julius tear up one of the best run defenses in Carolina when he was getting some holes and Barber doing the same to Seattle, the fact of the matter was the O-Line was the culprit. Closing out games is about being able to get first downs running the ball so you can control the ball and the clock. While Dallas was great at winning time of possession, when it came crunch time they were mediocre at best in this area.

2. FG Kicking I think there's a fine line between settling for a FG too easily and getting killed by bad FG kicking. Guys like Shottenheimer love to "settle" for FG's instead of getting the first down and assuring the win. While Payton seemed to "settle" a bit for FG's compared to Parcells, this teams was killed more by just awful FG kicking. I think teams in general should look back at how many key victories the Pats had due to Vinatieri making clutch FG's and they should be more adamant about finding and developing good kickers.

Anyway, Dallas ranked dead last in FG % from 30-49 yards last year and considering they play in almost dome like conditions, that's ugly.

3. Pass Rush it was better, but it still wasn't where it needed to be. Good pass rushes that last well into the 4th quarter help come up with key turnovers.

4. Free safety Usually Davis was the culprit of screwing up on a play or getting beat for a big pass that led up to a TD. Pile wasn't much better.


Rich................

We don't always agree Rich but you post sense a lot more than most on this board.

 

[InDakWeTrust]

I agree with your reasons, but I think you have them in reverse. Let MB soften the D up and in the 4th let JJ run past all the tired banged up defenders.

I will use the Steelers as an example. They let Willie Parker play a majority of the first three quarters, except for shortyardage situations and then Bettis comes in for the final quarter while they knockout a team.
Julius>Willie
MB3<Bettis

So we need a more dominante line and a reliable kicker to overcome not being able to put away teams. Signing Jamal Lewis to a one year deal would make me really happy about this.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Bottom line: Dallas needs to find a way to deliver that knock-out punch, or whatever happens this offseason will be irrelevent.

Truer words have yet to be posted!
:clap2:

 

[StanleySpadowski]

First I will say that last offseason was mediocre at best. The draft looks terrific but it's a little early to judge (remember how great the '02 draft looked after one season) and the free agents were average at best except the great signing of Glenn.

Henry had a few picks and some fans fell in love, but he had an up and down season before injury then couldn't even get off of special teams late in the year. Ferguson was so so at NT, which is bad for the money he go and not nearly the signing that Williams was in Minnesota. Rivera doesn't fit in the OL and looks to be money spent poorly. The only good thing about Bledsoe is that he only has a few more years to come up small when it matters so there's hope for the future.


The biggest problem with last offseason is that other than CB, the major needs weren't addressed sufficiently. They went into the season with stiffs like Davis starting and no plan for RT.