The Things I Worry About for the 2021 Cowboys

[Point-of-the-Star]

Not worried about the DEFENSE? Do you even know what defense is? After all, you suggested that "Dak could help give the defense good field position". Still waiting for you to explain that one.

I'm going to spell this out to you in examples (I'm so surprised a football guru like you can't see this):

Example : Dak drives the offense to the opponents 45 and the drive stalls. Punt is killed inside the 5 yard line. Defense has the upper hand in that the opposing team's play calls are now somewhat limited and they have to make a quite substantial drive to score. Advantage defense!
( now for this scenario again we take into account the TEAM concept that the offensive team works in union for all possessions AND by your own admission the QB is THE most important member of the offense. He must read the defense and make the correct call and then be more than competent in his part of the play. If the offense is successful it is DIRECTLY related to the QB play on every play! EVERY play! If we take into account the drive started at around their own 25 as most d, then Dak had to be successful in gaining the 30 extra yards which then gave the D field position advantage.

Surely a great football mind such as yours can grasp this football concept.

No, I'm actually a bit optimistic about this defense of 2021. I think coaching and coaching concepts are very much improved. I could be wrong and I'm not a "the sky is falling" kind of fan so I'll have to wait for the season to play out to see if our FO and coaching have made successful moves.

 

[Point-of-the-Star]

Im just wondering what team you are watching. You devote an entire thread to what you are "worried about" and defense isnt listed once.

Its the biggest worry we have. Do you realize how ridiculous you look?

To be honest roy, I couldn't possibly care less how I look to you! In fact, since you started attacking my content and my character today I will wear it as a badge of honor! I also applaud you for your admission on not understanding the game of football. Takes a big man to admit their failures and weaknesses. So in that aspect you have grown in my eyes.


I addressed defense in another post BTW. But in summary I think it will pass muster. JMO tho.

 

[CowboyRoy]

I'm going to spell this out to you in examples (I'm so surprised a football guru like you can't see this):

Example : Dak drives the offense to the opponents 45 and the drive stalls. Punt is killed inside the 5 yard line. Defense has the upper hand in that the opposing team's play calls are now somewhat limited and they have to make a quite substantial drive to score. Advantage defense!
( now for this scenario again we take into account the TEAM concept that the offensive team works in union for all possessions AND by your own admission the QB is THE most important member of the offense. He must read the defense and make the correct call and then be more than competent in his part of the play. If the offense is successful it is DIRECTLY related to the QB play on every play! EVERY play! If we take into account the drive started at around their own 25 as most d, then Dak had to be successful in gaining the 30 extra yards which then gave the D field position advantage.

Surely a great football mind such as yours can grasp this football concept.

No, I'm actually a bit optimistic about this defense of 2021. I think coaching and coaching concepts are very much improved. I could be wrong and I'm not a "the sky is falling" kind of fan so I'll have to wait for the season to play out to see if our FO and coaching have made successful moves.

LOL.........so the offense is helping out the defense by not scoring and punting? And wouldnt that be the punter that is punting it inside the 5 and helping out the D?

Might be the dumbest angle I have EVER seen anyone take on here. Just admit it, you said it wrong. Watching you try to explain your way out of this is hilarious.

 

[Point-of-the-Star]

ok

 

[CowboyRoy]

To be honest roy, I couldn't possibly care less how I look to you! In fact, since you started attacking my content and my character today I will wear it as a badge of honor! I also applaud you for your admission on not understanding the game of football. Takes a big man to admit their failures and weaknesses. So in that aspect you have grown in my eyes.


I addressed defense in another post BTW. But in summary I think it will pass muster. JMO tho.

Well you attacked me in another thread so you better expect it in return. Just wondering how defense wasnt a worry at all to you seeing as though we broke records for bad defense.

 

[Point-of-the-Star]

I addressed the defense if you'd read the post. I'm not worried. If they are terrible thru the 17 game regular season I was wrong not to be worried about it. Big deal. I've certainly been wrong many times in my life. It was my opinion that gave you a panty wedgie after all . . . just my opinion. Go smoke a bowl and chill out! I'm through ***** with you for today. I have stock to feed. Have a good one.

 

[big dog cowboy]

No because none of our road games will be difficult.

Week one? Right out of the gate we are at the Super Bowl champs.

 

[ESisback]

I think we’ve improved on all three levels of the D. Remain healthier than last year, and our odds to win improve. I think we’ll win 10 or more, but I’m not gonna worry about what might happen too much.

 

[john van brocklin]

. . . and things I don't worry about :

Worries:

- MM in game decision making! He's been questionable here.
- MM's judgement . The guy's made me scratch my head a few times.
- Dan Quinn's schemes. Nolan was an utter disaster and MM allowed it. Here's hoping DQ is a better choice that aids our players and doesn't compromise their abilities.
- All the Cowboy coaches and their schemes. As this thread suggests, coaching can make or break this team.
- Health of the OL in general. If our starters stay in there and play up to their capabilities this team's offense will be smokin hot!


Not Worried:

- Not worried about Daks leg/ankle/throwing motion/mobility. I think the guy's mentally tough and a top 5 QB. He has gotten better at the position every year and noticeably better. Not worried about him breaking his leg/ankle again or it hindering him.

- Not worried about Jaylon Smith and LVE's play. I think both looking so bad in 2020 is DIRECTLY attributable to Nolan's complicated scheme. Actually nobody on the D was sure of their assignments and this is evidenced by the team's D starting to look better toward the end of the year . . . still had holes but looked a bit better.

- Not worried about our TE situation. I think our guys will easily be top 10 statistically combined.

- Not worried about our DL (strangely enough). I think Tank will get his 8-10 sacks and Gregory too. We'll do much better plugging the middle. The LB'ers will be much better. Safety will not be our strongest point but will be satisfactory. Overall the D improves a lot (if DQ does his job, and I think he will).

- Not worried about Jerry anymore. He's really calmed down over the last 5-6 years. He knows he has been a richard at his GM job over the years and now wants to get one more before he goes off into that next phase of life / death.

I am optimistic (again) about this team and the possibilities. No, I don't "expect" a SB but I expect us to surprise a few folks and be a pretty good team. I expect a playoff team! I don't expect to post a thread in January 2022 lamenting this teams lack of success. Feel free to add your worries or optimisms here!

Just win, baby!

Go Cowboys!

The defense

 

[The Fonz]

Mental toughness has been an issue with this team for too long. Can they win a difficult road game? Can they win divisional battles late in the season?

Despite some impressive numbers in recent years, too often the answers to those questions has been no. That has to change.

I am with you here ..i believe it when i see it..

 

[DandyDon52]

McCarthy is a better game manage than Garrett.
- They were operating in an underdog role last season. In that role teams might as well take chances because they're probably not going to win just playing "straight up".

That is debatable, he was actually as bad if not worse than JG, even early on, before they were actually underdogs.
Not kicking the fg to tie in first game, was a huge blunder.
I think he was going by analytic's, which is a flawed method.

I really saw nothing from MM to suggest he is any better than JG last year.
Will wait to see how he does this season.

 

[DandyDon52]

Im just wondering what team you are watching. You devote an entire thread to what you are "worried about" and defense isnt listed once.

Its the biggest worry we have. Do you realize how ridiculous you look?

Roy people have different opinions and worry's lol, it is ok.
My main worry/concern, is the coaching, game planning, play calling.
I think the defense will be better, but they need to get better in all 3 areas.

 

[DandyDon52]

Surely a great football mind such as yours can grasp this football concept.

evidently not

 

[Bobhaze]

I haven’t worried about the Cowboys for about 15 years. Obviously I want them to win and I’m thrilled when they do. If they don’t, it doesn’t bother me that much. As I’ve aged, I’ve enjoyed sports even more because I just don’t get upset.

So, instead of worries- what do I think the Cowboys potential problems are? IMO, the biggest problem this team has (and has had for a long time) is a lack of physical and mental toughness. If things are going well, they’re ok, but they need to get a lot tougher mentally and physically.

There are a lot of things that could be said good and bad about this team. But if it can get some grit and toughness I will feel a lot better about their chances of making some noise.

 

[JoeKing]

Next week the Cowboys will hold the only minicamp that is mandatory for all players this offseason. I'm glad we're not facing a situation where a player holds out for more money. Full participation in this offseason's minicamps has been commonplace. Kudos to the FO.

What I worry about is what happens between the time this minicamp concludes and the next time the team comes together at training camp in Oxnard. During that long break, players tend to get careless, get hurt, get stupid, get suspended. I pray for everyone's safe return so we can have full participation at training camp as well.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Roy people have different opinions and worry's lol, it is ok.
My main worry/concern, is the coaching, game planning, play calling.
I think the defense will be better, but they need to get better in all 3 areas.

I hear ya. There is just an overall lack of acknowledgement about the defense on here. Defense seems to always get a pass.

Why are you worried about the game planning and play calling? We were scoring 32 points a game last year with Dak?

Unless you mean the defensive coaching?

 

[waving monkey]

. . . and things I don't worry about :

Worries:

- MM in game decision making! He's been questionable here.
- MM's judgement . The guy's made me scratch my head a few times.
- Dan Quinn's schemes. Nolan was an utter disaster and MM allowed it. Here's hoping DQ is a better choice that aids our players and doesn't compromise their abilities.
- All the Cowboy coaches and their schemes. As this thread suggests, coaching can make or break this team.
- Health of the OL in general. If our starters stay in there and play up to their capabilities this team's offense will be smokin hot!


Not Worried:

- Not worried about Daks leg/ankle/throwing motion/mobility. I think the guy's mentally tough and a top 5 QB. He has gotten better at the position every year and noticeably better. Not worried about him breaking his leg/ankle again or it hindering him.

- Not worried about Jaylon Smith and LVE's play. I think both looking so bad in 2020 is DIRECTLY attributable to Nolan's complicated scheme. Actually nobody on the D was sure of their assignments and this is evidenced by the team's D starting to look better toward the end of the year . . . still had holes but looked a bit better.

- Not worried about our TE situation. I think our guys will easily be top 10 statistically combined.

- Not worried about our DL (strangely enough). I think Tank will get his 8-10 sacks and Gregory too. We'll do much better plugging the middle. The LB'ers will be much better. Safety will not be our strongest point but will be satisfactory. Overall the D improves a lot (if DQ does his job, and I think he will).

- Not worried about Jerry anymore. He's really calmed down over the last 5-6 years. He knows he has been a richard at his GM job over the years and now wants to get one more before he goes off into that next phase of life / death.

I am optimistic (again) about this team and the possibilities. No, I don't "expect" a SB but I expect us to surprise a few folks and be a pretty good team. I expect a playoff team! I don't expect to post a thread in January 2022 lamenting this teams lack of success. Feel free to add your worries or optimisms here!

Just win, baby!

Go Cowboys!

Aaron Rogers knew MM better well

 

[plasticman]

I am worried about a devastating rash of injuries that takes out every Pro Bowler we have, completely neutralizes any significant contributions from the rookie class, reduces critical positions to practice squad graduates, and sentences fans to a painfully slow season of watching their team being dominated like they were the neighborhood biatch.

You know, a typical Cowboy season.

 

[Joe Realist]

Feeling Fine at 8 and 9!!!

 

[DandyDon52]

I hear ya. There is just an overall lack of acknowledgement about the defense on here. Defense seems to always get a pass.

Why are you worried about the game planning and play calling? We were scoring 32 points a game last year with Dak?

Unless you mean the defensive coaching?

ok I know the defense was bad at times last season, so not giving them a pass.
Now do you agree, that the defense has little to do with how many points cowboys score?
32 points a game is deceptive, you have to look deeper than that or overall stats.
game 1
This was cowboys best game, and I think MM blew it when he didnt kick a short fg to tie the game at 20-20
But lets look at it by qrt's and halves. 0.14.3.0
2 qrt's with 0 points , that is bad and 1 with only 3 points. same for 2nd half, only 3 points, and it is hard to win games
when off can only score 3 points in 2nd half !
That isnt a #1 off or even a good offense. Now they were playing a good ram defense, but still that is not good.

game 2 0.10.14.16
here again they had 0 point in a qrt. they were down 29-10 at the half, not a good off showing imo.
Falcons let up thinking they had the game, and dallas scores 14 and 16, and the awful lol defense held the falcons to 0 points and then 10
in the 4th to help dallas in the comeback win, not to mention the screw up on the onside kick.
both the off and def rallied in 2nd half to help win this game, but as usual the off gets all the credit.

game 3 Seahawks 9.6.7.9
Cowboys managed to not have any 0 point qrt's thats good, but not one qrt with 10 or more points.
This game turned into a shoot out and the cowboys offense fell short.
Seattle 9.14.7.8 they had 1 qrt with 10 or more points and that was the difference. 38-31
Dallas was again down at the half 23-15
Wilson was hot at that point, so our defense didnt really do all that bad, and the seattle def was really bad at that point.

game 4 cleveland 7.24.10.8 dallas 14.0.0.24
again dallas has 2 0 point qrts , that is bad and puts defense in bad spots usually, as you can see while dallas was not scoring ANY points,
Cleveland scored 34 ! not a coincidence. Dallas was down 41-14 going in 4th so they let up and dak did good scoring the 24 garbage time points.
and had a chance to score a td for tie or lead but threw the int.
So even though dallas scored 38 points, it was too late in the game and partly due to cleveland playing prevent.

The bottom line is the offense was not very good in 1st 4 games, and I dont put all the blame on dak as some do, but thats where the
play calling, and game plans , game mgmt all come into play, and they were not good in any of those.
Really aside from a few early drives for td's they were only good when playing against a team that had a big lead..
They had 5 0 point qrt's in those 1st 4 games , and that is not a good offense.