This game was on Shotty - heres why

[Frosty]

Shotty is coaching this team like they are the LA Rams or the Seahawks. Coaching like he has a seasoned veteran staff, season veteran players....when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Blame this on Shotty in experience as HC. Why

1) Not playing the starters in preseason - simply thinking like he is coaching the LA Rams. When in fact, this team had so many changes on defense, so many changes on the OL that the team has NO time to jell in a game time situation.
2) Coaching....the Cowboys have young in experienced coaches who have never been in there position before...think no experience as HC, DC, etc or are new on the team...Make no bones about it, the Cowboys got OUT COACHED.
3) Not understanding the problem or no how to solve the problem.....How do they FIX the communication on Defense....we saw the same defense again as we did in 2025...Did Shotty fix the problem...NO..does he even understand what the problem IS... or lack the experience to no how to FIX IT.

its called coaching INEXPERIENCE....and we saw it first hand last night....same Shotty team..same results.

 

[Frosty]

Does Jerry have the patience to let a young inexperienced coaching staff gain experience to be competitive..or does Jerry Jones jsut pull a Mike McCathy and shut down all the spending and player acquisition....

 

[John813]

1. I don't believe this to be a huge issue. Outside of younger players, a drive here and there would do nothing for Dak, CDL, Pickens, Ferg, Steele etc... They run scrimmages vs other teams during camp. Preseason is a way for the NFL to charge seat ticket prices for a glorified practice.
2. I agree with this. CP may be a smart football coach, but this was his first time being that guy, the DC. When his gameplan didn't deliver results, how would he react? Would we see a change on the field or stay the course? we saw our secondary lost at time, and that end of the 1st half drive by the Giants was just awful. Reminded me of last year.
3. Goes with #2. CP saw his defense get kicked in the mouth most of the night. We didn't give up huge explosive plays, but death by 1000 cuts. Giants said here's our big fullback, we are running it and we didn't stop it consistently enough to force them to longer 3rd downs. And then when the Giants did pass, Dart had time or open receivers.

 

[jazzcat22]

The thing with this loss. Was ca stunner in a way. Anything can and will happen in game 1.
Though this loss stings, and starts us off in a hole losing a division game.

it can also be a wake up call. We fans (well some fans including myself) way over estimated this team for game 1 based on past history with the NYG.

Now it is how they bounce back. One of the questions was how does this team handle adversity. We will see next week in pretty much a must win game against another division rival.

 

[acr731]

Shotty is coaching this team like they are the LA Rams or the Seahawks. Coaching like he has a seasoned veteran staff, season veteran players....when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Blame this on Shotty in experience as HC. Why

1) Not playing the starters in preseason - simply thinking like he is coaching the LA Rams. When in fact, this team had so many changes on defense, so many changes on the OL that the team has NO time to jell in a game time situation.
2) Coaching....the Cowboys have young in experienced coaches who have never been in there position before...think no experience as HC, DC, etc or are new on the team...Make no bones about it, the Cowboys got OUT COACHED.
3) Not understanding the problem or no how to solve the problem.....How do they FIX the communication on Defense....we saw the same defense again as we did in 2025...Did Shotty fix the problem...NO..does he even understand what the problem IS... or lack the experience to no how to FIX IT.

its called coaching INEXPERIENCE....and we saw it first hand last night....same Shotty team..same results.

Don't burst my bubble, man. I heard it here that Parker was going to do magical things and become the best DC the NFL has ever seen. Surefire HC candidate as well....

Are you saying it may have been a bit premature to bathe him in the anointing oil?

 

[jazzcat22]

Don't burst my bubble, man. I heard it here that Parker was going to do magical things and become the best DC the NFL has ever seen. Surefire HC candidate as well....

Are you saying it may have been a bit premature to bathe him in the anointing oil?

Bath water just warming up. Wait and see.

As disappointing as this performance was. Let's see what happens next week.
And if / how they improve.

But they looked horrible. They entire team did.

 

[atlantacowboy]

Shotty is coaching this team like they are the LA Rams or the Seahawks. Coaching like he has a seasoned veteran staff, season veteran players....when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Blame this on Shotty in experience as HC. Why

1) Not playing the starters in preseason - simply thinking like he is coaching the LA Rams. When in fact, this team had so many changes on defense, so many changes on the OL that the team has NO time to jell in a game time situation.
2) Coaching....the Cowboys have young in experienced coaches who have never been in there position before...think no experience as HC, DC, etc or are new on the team...Make no bones about it, the Cowboys got OUT COACHED.
3) Not understanding the problem or no how to solve the problem.....How do they FIX the communication on Defense....we saw the same defense again as we did in 2025...Did Shotty fix the problem...NO..does he even understand what the problem IS... or lack the experience to no how to FIX IT.

its called coaching INEXPERIENCE....and we saw it first hand last night....same Shotty team..same results.

I could have sworn we brought in CP to "fix the problem". Apparently, he is either not allowed to make defensive adjustments or doen't know what he's doing.

 

[jazzcat22]

I could have sworn we brought in CP to "fix the problem". Apparently, he is either not allowed to make defensive adjustments or doen't know what he's doing.

Building blocks are there. He just needs to assemble them better. But those building block need t be smarter. Kind of like AI building blocks.

 

[Verdict]

Dak started off slow, as he always does. Then he woke up and stat padded in the second half. Dak is good enough to win a SB. But only if Dak gives you 4 legit quarters.

Dak only shows up about the last 2.5 quarters of a game. Until we fix that, we are going to be behind the 8 ball. The other team got ahead and once that happened they made it their life’s ambition to cheap up clock. And it worked.

 

[mardwin]

Does Jerry have the patience to let a young inexperienced coaching staff gain experience to be competitive..or does Jerry Jones jsut pull a Mike McCathy and shut down all the spending and player acquisition....

Jerry stubbornness is the reason tis franchise hasn't won in 30 years. He wasted a decade on a Jason Garrett internship not because he was a promising head coach but because it made Jerry comfortable.

 

[mardwin]

Dak started off slow, as he always does. Then he woke up and stat padded in the second half. Dak is good enough to win a SB. But only if Dak gives you 4 legit quarters.

Dak only shows up about the last 2.5 quarters of a game. Until we fix that, we are going to be behind the 8 ball. The other team got ahead and once that happened they made it their life’s ambition to cheap up clock. And it worked.

Dak is not good enough to win it all, didn't you watch the playoff games vs San Francisco?

 

[acr731]

Dak is not good enough to win it all, didn't you watch the playoff games vs San Francisco?

We're not allowed to blame Dak, remember?

 

[Ranching]

Don't burst my bubble, man. I heard it here that Parker was going to do magical things and become the best DC the NFL has ever seen. Surefire HC candidate as well....

Are you saying it may have been a bit premature to bathe him in the anointing oil?

Young coach like that, needs a seasoned HC and especially, one that isn't a play caller. He doesn't have time to get involved with the defense. During the week, he doesn't have time to watch film, put his stamp of approval on the game plan, meet with position players in the film room etc.....during the game, we all see it, but there is so much more to it. Parker doesn't have a crutch. He's gonna have to start walking without one and hopefully break into a run as the season goes. He just better hurry before he losing the respect of his players, if he hasn't already

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Don't burst my bubble, man. I heard it here that Parker was going to do magical things and become the best DC the NFL has ever seen. Surefire HC candidate as well....

Are you saying it may have been a bit premature to bathe him in the anointing oil?

The media who cover this team were actually asking questions about what the team's succession plan was when Parker was inevitably hired away as a head coach next year. Before he'd called a single game in the NFL.

 

[CWR]

Building blocks are there. He just needs to assemble them better. But those building block need t be smarter. Kind of like AI building blocks.

I refuse to believe the talent hasnt been massively improved from last season.

Hopefully this was a case of styles making fights and CPs inexperience haunting us.

It really is week 1 of a very long season and anything can happen. That said it is highly concerning to see how unprepared this team was to actually compete. All the praise being heaped upon this team has once again shown to be unwarranted. Any positive thoughts I had from the off season are pretty well crushed. Its a matter of proving it each week now.

 

[shabazz]

it can also be a wake up call. We fans (well some fans including myself) way over estimated this team for game 1 based on past history with the NYG.

Well done with this admission.

The CZ operates in a vacuum like most fanatic forums but there's always those of us that want to see proof first.

The path to group delusion

1. Overvalue a 1st time DC as the savior while blaming last DC entirely

2. Overvalue the preseason games without starters at any point

3. Declare the draft a sucess based on training camp hype

4. Assume the offense will still be elite without upgrading a single position

"These are just a few of my fa-vo-rite things".........

 

[cowboyec]

the whole group contributed to this.
no one looked prepared.
except maybe for our oline.
they played well.

 

[Cmac]

We're not allowed to blame Dak, remember?

Not true......this game clearly showed our D wasn't able to compete, Dart hardly received any pressure, secondary coverage made Nabors/Likely Player of the Week candidates, third down conversation rate too high, time of possession was a glaring disadvantage, got beat physically and punk'd on a few occasions........Basically, if this staff is in the offense's face or Dak before addressing the defensive side............we in BIG trouble.

 

[Floatyworm]

The thing with this loss. Was ca stunner in a way. Anything can and will happen in game 1.
Though this loss stings, and starts us off in a hole losing a division game.

it can also be a wake up call. We fans (well some fans including myself) way over estimated this team for game 1 based on past history with the NYG.

Now it is how they bounce back. One of the questions was how does this team handle adversity. We will see next week in pretty much a must win game against another division rival.

Must win in game 2 sounds absurd...until you realize it's a divisional game...and there is only 6 of those. Lose then week...then the rest of your division games become must wins if you have any hope of winning the division.