Hostile
The Duke
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Back when I was still going to college I took a film class where they talked about Mise En Scene. It is a French phrase that means basically how the scene is created. The class was about Western movies. I bet you're wondering why I would take that class huh?
:wink2:
In two of the movies we watched I noticed something very similar that I did a paper on. One of the films was Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven." The other was John Wayne's "The Searchers." There were similar scenes in each with what I called a "Posture of Dominance."
In "Unforgiven" it was the scene where Bill Munny is above a prone Little Bill about to kill him. The scene has you looking up at Clint as if you are down there with Litle Bill. In "The Searchers" it is the scene where Ethan kills Scar and then scalps him. In both scenes the victims are in a posture of submission, whereas the victors are in a "posture of dominance."
This is where I want the Dallas Cowboys to be this year. I want to see a "Posture of Dominance." I don't see any reason why it can't be done. How can they get there? By simply putting teams away rather than letting them hang around to see if they can get a lucky play late.
There have been 42 Super Bowls so far. In 19 of them the NFC Representative has been a team from the NFC East. By far the NFC East has a "Posture of Dominance" in representing the Super Bowl. Four teams have represented the NFC in 45% of the Super Bowls. That means the other 12 teams in the NFC have represented in 55% of the Super Bowls. Dominance.
The NFC East also has 11 Super Bowl Champions between 3 teams. That is over a quarter (26%) of the Champions coming from three teams in one division. That means less than 3/4 (74%) of the Super Bowls are won by the other the 28 teams in the seven other Divisions. Again, dominance.
The NFC East has been around since 1970 when the NFL merged with the AFL. Prior to that the Cowboys had been in several different Divisions. Since 1970 here are the NFC East Champions.
Cowboys...70, 71, 73, 76, 77, 78, 79, 81, 85, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 98, 07
Giants...86, 89, 90, 97, 00, 05
Eagles...80, 88, 01, 02, 03, 04, 06
Commanders...72, 82*, 83, 84, 87, 91, 99
Cardinals...74, 75
* = Strike year, no Division Champions were crowned, but Washington was the NFC Champion, so I give them full credit.
Breaking it down.
Cowboys...16 NFC Crowns
Giants...6 NFC Crowns
Eagles...7 NFC Crowns
Commanders...7 NFC Crowns
Cardinals...2 NFC Crowns
16 Division Crowns in 38 years is 42% for 1 team. That leaves the other 4 teams to share the Division crown 58% of the time. Dominance.
We need that kind of dominance to continue and if possible to magnify on what was started in 2007. To do that, we will need to do four things.
1. Score more points. We scored 455 points in 2007 for an average of 28.4 points per game. There is no reason why this offense can't be better in 2008.
2. Allow fewer points. We allowed 325 points in 2007 for an average of 20.3 points per game. That isn't acceptable and I think the Defense has to know it. Better depth and a better understanding of Wade's system should contribute to this.
3. We need more takeaways than turnovers. Last year Tony threw 19 INTs and as a team we also had 19 INTs. We recovered 10 fumbles and gave away 5. So 29 takeaways and 24 giveaways. That means for the year we were only +5 in the turnover ratio. That has to improve.
4. Special Teams improvement. I hate ot say it, but the only real standouts on Special Teams were the Kickers. Now we have drafted and traded for some Return men so we should expect better field position. That means that our Coverage units (a 2007 weakness IMO) have to show marked improvement. They will have to do this depsite us losing perhaps our best Special Teams tackler in Keith Davis. They can do this. Last year we had positive contributions from several players and they should be able to improve.
If these four things happen there exists the possibility of all of our goals coming true. Another Division Crown, another Conference Championship, and maybe, just maybe, the first team to 6 Super Bowl Championships.
That's dominance.
:wink2:
In two of the movies we watched I noticed something very similar that I did a paper on. One of the films was Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven." The other was John Wayne's "The Searchers." There were similar scenes in each with what I called a "Posture of Dominance."
In "Unforgiven" it was the scene where Bill Munny is above a prone Little Bill about to kill him. The scene has you looking up at Clint as if you are down there with Litle Bill. In "The Searchers" it is the scene where Ethan kills Scar and then scalps him. In both scenes the victims are in a posture of submission, whereas the victors are in a "posture of dominance."
This is where I want the Dallas Cowboys to be this year. I want to see a "Posture of Dominance." I don't see any reason why it can't be done. How can they get there? By simply putting teams away rather than letting them hang around to see if they can get a lucky play late.
There have been 42 Super Bowls so far. In 19 of them the NFC Representative has been a team from the NFC East. By far the NFC East has a "Posture of Dominance" in representing the Super Bowl. Four teams have represented the NFC in 45% of the Super Bowls. That means the other 12 teams in the NFC have represented in 55% of the Super Bowls. Dominance.
The NFC East also has 11 Super Bowl Champions between 3 teams. That is over a quarter (26%) of the Champions coming from three teams in one division. That means less than 3/4 (74%) of the Super Bowls are won by the other the 28 teams in the seven other Divisions. Again, dominance.
The NFC East has been around since 1970 when the NFL merged with the AFL. Prior to that the Cowboys had been in several different Divisions. Since 1970 here are the NFC East Champions.
Cowboys...70, 71, 73, 76, 77, 78, 79, 81, 85, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 98, 07
Giants...86, 89, 90, 97, 00, 05
Eagles...80, 88, 01, 02, 03, 04, 06
Commanders...72, 82*, 83, 84, 87, 91, 99
Cardinals...74, 75
* = Strike year, no Division Champions were crowned, but Washington was the NFC Champion, so I give them full credit.
Breaking it down.
Cowboys...16 NFC Crowns
Giants...6 NFC Crowns
Eagles...7 NFC Crowns
Commanders...7 NFC Crowns
Cardinals...2 NFC Crowns
16 Division Crowns in 38 years is 42% for 1 team. That leaves the other 4 teams to share the Division crown 58% of the time. Dominance.
We need that kind of dominance to continue and if possible to magnify on what was started in 2007. To do that, we will need to do four things.
1. Score more points. We scored 455 points in 2007 for an average of 28.4 points per game. There is no reason why this offense can't be better in 2008.
2. Allow fewer points. We allowed 325 points in 2007 for an average of 20.3 points per game. That isn't acceptable and I think the Defense has to know it. Better depth and a better understanding of Wade's system should contribute to this.
3. We need more takeaways than turnovers. Last year Tony threw 19 INTs and as a team we also had 19 INTs. We recovered 10 fumbles and gave away 5. So 29 takeaways and 24 giveaways. That means for the year we were only +5 in the turnover ratio. That has to improve.
4. Special Teams improvement. I hate ot say it, but the only real standouts on Special Teams were the Kickers. Now we have drafted and traded for some Return men so we should expect better field position. That means that our Coverage units (a 2007 weakness IMO) have to show marked improvement. They will have to do this depsite us losing perhaps our best Special Teams tackler in Keith Davis. They can do this. Last year we had positive contributions from several players and they should be able to improve.
If these four things happen there exists the possibility of all of our goals coming true. Another Division Crown, another Conference Championship, and maybe, just maybe, the first team to 6 Super Bowl Championships.
That's dominance.
