This team isn't who we thought they were

[CyberB0b]

We all thought the defense would be terrible and they aren't. They aren't top 10, by any means, but they are a middle of the pack defense. Going into the season, everyone said if they could find a way to not be the last team in the league, this team would go places. That hasn't been the case.

The offense has been pretty awful, to be honest. They play sloppy, undisciplined football. The Cowboys are the 4th worst team in giveaways. The offense is literally giving games away. We were able to overcome this against bad like Titans, Rams, Saints, and Giants.

The Great Wall: They've been exposed. They just aren't very good at pass blocking, period. I expect them to get better, but as of now, they are a great run blocking team, and a sub par pass blocking team. They are still getting confused by simple stunts and fire blitzes.

Dez Bryant: He has been dropping a ton of balls lately. I really think this contract negotiation has him distracted. There is no way I would pay this guy anywhere close to Calvin Johnson money. I wouldn't even give him Vincent Jackson or Mike Wallace money. He just isn't worth it.

Linehan: The last couple of games have shown that he can be as stubborn as Garrett was. Against Washington, he kept running 10+ yard routes when Romo was getting killed. He refused to max protect, until Weeden came in. He hasn't been running very many screens. I understand being handicapped by Brandon Weeden, but he needs to do a better job.

I was pretty hard to the defense going into the season, but they have shown up. This offense keeps putting them in bad positions and they hold their ground. They aren't great, and have a lot of warts, but they aren't the problem. This sloppy offense is letting teams hang around.

 

[jrumann59]

We all thought the defense would be terrible and they aren't. They aren't top 10, by any means, but they are a middle of the pack defense. Going into the season, everyone said if they could find a way to not be the last team in the league, this team would go places. That hasn't been the case.

The offense has been pretty awful, to be honest. They play sloppy, undisciplined football. The Cowboys are the 4th worst team in giveaways. The offense is literally giving games away. We were able to overcome this against bad like Titans, Rams, Saints, and Giants.

The Great Wall: They've been exposed. They just aren't very good at pass blocking, period. I expect them to get better, but as of now, they are a great run blocking team, and a sub par pass blocking team. They are still getting confused by simple stunts and fire blitzes.

Exposed maybe but you are running with your 2nd string LG and 2nd String RT, in the running game in particular you need your best interior guys but yesterday Arizona had zero respect for the passing game and Weeden showed why.

Dez Bryant: He has been dropping a ton of balls lately. I really think this contract negotiation has him distracted. There is no way I would pay this guy anywhere close to Calvin Johnson money. I wouldn't even give him Vincent Jackson or Mike Wallace money. He just isn't worth it.

He has dropped a lot of contested balls, some is on him, some is on the QBs and some is on the coverage

Linehan: The last couple of games have shown that he can be as stubborn as Garrett was. Against Washington, he kept running 10+ yard routes when Romo was getting killed. He refused to max protect, until Weeden came in. He hasn't been running very many screens. I understand being handicapped by Brandon Weeden, but he needs to do a better job.

I will agree here, they are stubborn to fault about things. Yesterday probably should have passed more but Weeden showed he could not get a ball to spot if his life depended on it.

I was pretty hard to the defense going into the season, but they have shown up. This offense keeps putting them in bad positions and they hold their ground. They aren't great, and have a lot of warts, but they aren't the problem. This sloppy offense is letting teams hang around.

 

[DoctorChicken]

With our starting QB out, two OLinemen out, and still trying to adjust to losing one of our LBs for the year, we lost to an extremely good team.

Oh noes!

 

[CyberB0b]

With our starting QB out, two OLinemen out, and still trying to adjust to losing one of our LBs for the year, we lost to an extremely good team.

Oh noes!

Let's not act like going from Leary to Berney or Free to Parnell is a drastic change. The Cardinals have won games with their 3rd string QB. The Eagles won with Butt Fumble at QB. The Skins beat us with Colt McCoy throwing the ball.

 

[romothesavior]

If we had lost that game in such ugly fashion with Romo in there, I'd agree with you. We had a joke of a QB with no clue what he was doing, and two of our starting offensive linemen out, and we kept it to a one score game until the last ten minutes. It's clear Romo is easily worth 10-15 points a game.

Given this team's history, I can understand the concern, but I'm not ready to panic yet. Win this weekend, get guys healthy over the bye, and we are in good shape.

 

[cowboyblue22]

personally I agree with cyber bob. I also think that this team is in trouble not sure they will recover to win many more games.

 

[perrykemp]

The Great Wall: They've been exposed. They just aren't very good at pass blocking, period. I expect them to get better, but as of now, they are a great run blocking team, and a sub par pass blocking team. They are still getting confused by simple stunts and fire blitzes.

They are the best run blocking OL in the NFL. They are distinctly average pass blocking, however, that's not surprising given their overall youth and should improve in the 2nd half and certainly by next season.

Dez Bryant: He has been dropping a ton of balls lately. I really think this contract negotiation has him distracted. There is no way I would pay this guy anywhere close to Calvin Johnson money. I wouldn't even give him Vincent Jackson or Mike Wallace money. He just isn't worth it.

The Cowboys have done the right thing and taken a wait-and-see approach on Dez's season. His yards and yards-per-reception have been trending down now since his 2012 break-out season and I believe either his back or something else has stopped him from emerging from the clear cut mega-dominant super-star WR we thought he was going to be.

 

[khiladi]

The Great Wall: They've been exposed. They just aren't very good at pass blocking, period. I expect them to get better, but as of now, they are a great run blocking team, and a sub par pass blocking team. They are still getting confused by simple stunts and fire blitzes.
.

What's new? It's clear this has been an issue with our schemes since the beginning of the Garrett era. Now we got legit OL players and we still see the same issues. Long vertical routes and weak short passing game.

Our WRs are taught not to adjust their routes, from what I have found out, meaning it surprised me we have no real 'hot reads' when they send in the house on a 3rd and long blitz. How many men can you end up blocking? We should be making teams pay big-time when they do that.

 

[Frosty]

well said

We all thought the defense would be terrible and they aren't. They aren't top 10, by any means, but they are a middle of the pack defense. Going into the season, everyone said if they could find a way to not be the last team in the league, this team would go places. That hasn't been the case.

The offense has been pretty awful, to be honest. They play sloppy, undisciplined football. The Cowboys are the 4th worst team in giveaways. The offense is literally giving games away. We were able to overcome this against bad like Titans, Rams, Saints, and Giants.

The Great Wall: They've been exposed. They just aren't very good at pass blocking, period. I expect them to get better, but as of now, they are a great run blocking team, and a sub par pass blocking team. They are still getting confused by simple stunts and fire blitzes.

Dez Bryant: He has been dropping a ton of balls lately. I really think this contract negotiation has him distracted. There is no way I would pay this guy anywhere close to Calvin Johnson money. I wouldn't even give him Vincent Jackson or Mike Wallace money. He just isn't worth it.

Linehan: The last couple of games have shown that he can be as stubborn as Garrett was. Against Washington, he kept running 10+ yard routes when Romo was getting killed. He refused to max protect, until Weeden came in. He hasn't been running very many screens. I understand being handicapped by Brandon Weeden, but he needs to do a better job.

I was pretty hard to the defense going into the season, but they have shown up. This offense keeps putting them in bad positions and they hold their ground. They aren't great, and have a lot of warts, but they aren't the problem. This sloppy offense is letting teams hang around.

 

[CyberB0b]

Our WRs are taught not to adjust their routes, from what I have found out, meaning it surprised me we have no real 'hot reads' when they send in the house on a 3rd and long blitz.

Where did you see that? I find it hard to believe that any NFL team would not have hot routes. Even high school offenses have hot routes these days.

 

[cowboyblue22]

and if they lose to Jacksonville which Is possible then they will not recover.

 

[boysfanindc]

Health is going to be one of the big deciding factors, not really any great revelation. But Romo and the rest of the team stays healthy, I think this team can potentially compete with anyone. Then it will come down to the 3 or 4 plays that always decide games in the playoffs.

But 2 or 3 more of the wrong injuries and this team might not make the playoffs.

The bye is coming at a good time, could be 1 game better, but still nice to have it out there.

 

[mldardy]

It's amazing how in 1 week people jump off the bandwagon. What are you talking about the team isn't who we thought they were. We are 6-3, a half game out of first place. Who the heck thought that at the beginning of the season. It's not like we had high expectations and are failing to meet them. This team has plenty to play for. We are going through a little slump and a key injury to our starting QB.

 

[LandryFan]

We all thought the defense would be terrible and they aren't. They aren't top 10, by any means, but they are a middle of the pack defense. Going into the season, everyone said if they could find a way to not be the last team in the league, this team would go places. That hasn't been the case.

The offense has been pretty awful, to be honest. They play sloppy, undisciplined football. The Cowboys are the 4th worst team in giveaways. The offense is literally giving games away. We were able to overcome this against bad like Titans, Rams, Saints, and Giants.

The Great Wall: They've been exposed. They just aren't very good at pass blocking, period. I expect them to get better, but as of now, they are a great run blocking team, and a sub par pass blocking team. They are still getting confused by simple stunts and fire blitzes.

Dez Bryant: He has been dropping a ton of balls lately. I really think this contract negotiation has him distracted. There is no way I would pay this guy anywhere close to Calvin Johnson money. I wouldn't even give him Vincent Jackson or Mike Wallace money. He just isn't worth it.

Linehan: The last couple of games have shown that he can be as stubborn as Garrett was. Against Washington, he kept running 10+ yard routes when Romo was getting killed. He refused to max protect, until Weeden came in. He hasn't been running very many screens. I understand being handicapped by Brandon Weeden, but he needs to do a better job.

I was pretty hard to the defense going into the season, but they have shown up. This offense keeps putting them in bad positions and they hold their ground. They aren't great, and have a lot of warts, but they aren't the problem. This sloppy offense is letting teams hang around.

I agree that Dez seems to be a bit off, but I doubt that his contract has anything to do with it. I can't imagine that when he's playing in a game or even practicing that he's thinking about his contract status. I really think that kind of stuff gets overblown. The next couple of weeks are going to be vital to giving this team a chance down the road. They HAVE to beat Jax and heal up some.

 

[jazzcat22]

Guess this will be a week of panic posts....
I don't recall some of these concerns during the winning streak being posted. Guess losses bring out the negative nancies to post more....

I can understand some of them, and the concern. But not going into panic mode.
Have you thought that the opponents may just have something to do with the outcome of the plays and the calls.....

 

[romothesavior]

If we win this weekend and go into the bye at 7-3, and give Romo, Free, Leary, and Co. a chance to rest up, all this wailing will seem a little premature.

If we lose this weekend, well... then you can count me in the "season is over" crowd.

 

[LandryFan]

Where did you see that? I find it hard to believe that any NFL team would not have hot routes. Even high school offenses have hot routes these days.

I've heard players reference adjusting/not adjusting their routes a hundred times already this year.

 

[khiladi]

Where did you see that? I find it hard to believe that any NFL team would not have hot routes. Even high school offenses have hot routes these days.

They do have 'hot routes' per say. They are just not coached to change their patterns, unless I misunderstood.

http://cowboyszone.com/threads/btb-...e-washington-blitz.304904/page-4#post-5776782

Go to #70, by ABCCowboy in response to a question by Percy Howard...

 

[Boyz981]

 

[cowboyblue22]

a lot of jobs and careers are hanging in the balance of the next few weeks if things don't go well then there will be lots of players and coaches that will not be back next year.