This thing is not a 1 off-season fix

[Cowboy06]

You don't need perfection, just less flawed than the other 31 teams.

 

[rockj7]

I agree with that

 

[rockj7]

I agree with that

 

[KJJ]

Meh this team is more talented than the same time in the 2014 season.

Remember how frantic teams were when we let go of Ware/Hatcher in the same offseason couple that with a much worse Romo injury? I remember USA Today 1-15 predictions.

Heading into 2014 no one ever imagined the great year Murray would have and that both he and Romo would have MVP caliber years. Their play was the key to that season. We rode Murray to that 12-4 record and the playoffs. It was his performance that led to Romo having the best season of his career. Our running game was so efficient it kept the defense off the field an average of 13 fewer plays than in 2013 which kept that unit from being exposed as much. Romo attempted the fewest number of passes of his career in which he played at least 15 games and only had one 40 attempt game all season. The lack of efficiency running the ball last season led to a lot of our issues. The Cowboys were the worst team in the league on 3rd and one and not being able to move the chains consistently put a lot of pressure on our QBs. It led to our defense spending more time on the field causing them to wear down in games which created a lot of the problems we saw during our 8-8 seasons.

The Cowboys will be 2 seasons removed from their 12-4 season that team is long gone. Romo is aging and is coming off an injury plagued season in which he only played 2 full games. Last season he was back having to carry the offense due to the lack of efficiency in the running game that didn't produce when he was in there. He no longer has a solid back to lean on unless we find a solid option in the draft. His best days have come and gone and the challenge we face is whether he can stay healthy a full season. The defense has more holes than Bonnie and Clyde's death car and Dez is coming off an injured foot he should have never been playing on. We'll just have to see if playing in that foot did any permanent damage and if he can return to the same receiver he was before the injury.

Our secondary remains a liability and the re-signing of Claiborne and the possible return of Carr will keep it that way unless we find a better option at corner in the draft. It's going to take a great draft with at least 2 rookies making a significant impact for the Cowboys to break 500 in 2016. It's hard to be optimistic about a team that has the same issues defensively every season and that has an aging QB who can't stay healthy. The 2014 season was an aberration due to a couple of offensive players having career years. With the never ending defensive issues, Romo's injury problems and not having a top rusher along with lack of a strong head coach makes for a challenging season in 2016.

 

[robjay04]

Heading into 2014 no one ever imagined the great year Murray would have and that both he and Romo would have MVP caliber years. Their play was the key to that season. We rode Murray to that 12-4 record and the playoffs. It was his performance that led to Romo having the best season of his career. Our running game was so efficient it kept the defense off the field an average of 13 fewer plays than in 2013 which kept that unit from being exposed as much. Romo attempted the fewest number of passes of his career in which he played at least 15 games and only had one 40 attempt game all season. The lack of efficiency running the ball last season led to a lot of our issues. The Cowboys were the worst team in the league on 3rd and one and not being able to move the chains consistently put a lot of pressure on our QBs. It led to our defense spending more time on the field causing them to wear down in games which created a lot of the problems we saw during our 8-8 seasons.

The Cowboys will be 2 seasons removed from their 12-4 season that team is long gone. Romo is aging and is coming off an injury plagued season in which he only played 2 full games. Last season he was back having to carry the offense due to the lack of efficiency in the running game that didn't produce when he was in there. He no longer has a solid back to lean on unless we find a solid option in the draft. His best days have come and gone and the challenge we face is whether he can stay healthy a full season. The defense has more holes than Bonnie and Clyde's death car and Dez is coming off an injured foot he should have never been playing on. We'll just have to see if playing in that foot did any permanent damage and if he can return to the same receiver he was before the injury.

Our secondary remains a liability and the re-signing of Claiborne and the possible return of Carr will keep it that way unless we find a better option at corner in the draft. It's going to take a great draft with at least 2 rookies making a significant impact for the Cowboys to break 500 in 2016. It's hard to be optimistic about a team that has the same issues defensively every season and that has an aging QB who can't stay healthy. The 2014 season was an aberration due to a couple of offensive players having career years. With the never ending defensive issues, Romo's injury problems and not having a top rusher along with lack of a strong head coach makes for a challenging season in 2016.

You left the offensive line out of your entire post which should be better than 2014 without a doubt.

The purpose of my post is that the NFL is completely unpredictable. Not many of us would've predicted the Panthers to be 15-1 and none of us would've predicted the Cowboys to be 4-12. Does Dallas have a chance to run the ball as effectively as 2014 this upcoming season? Absolutely, we don't know who will dominate carries.

As I said, the point of my post is that the NFL is unpredictable. We were in every game but two going into the fourth quarter, that is a fact. That just shows that a couple plays here and there could've meant the world of a difference in a 4-12 season. You wrote an essay to basically argue against me by saying the NFL is predictable? Dallas was successful in 2014 because of some kind of predictable circumstances? Absolutely not. We are in a poor division and we had some horrible luck with injuries, we can turn it around easily. It is possible...is it predictable? No but it doesn't have to be to happen.

 

[KJJ]

You left the offensive line out of your entire post which should be better than 2014 without a doubt.

The purpose of my post is that the NFL is completely unpredictable. Not many of us would've predicted the Panthers to be 15-1 and none of us would've predicted the Cowboys to be 4-12. Does Dallas have a chance to run the ball as effectively as 2014 this upcoming season? Absolutely, we don't know who will dominate carries.

As I said, the point of my post is that the NFL is unpredictable. We were in every game but two going into the fourth quarter, that is a fact. That just shows that a couple plays here and there could've meant the world of a difference in a 4-12 season. You wrote an essay to basically argue against me by saying the NFL is predictable? Dallas was successful in 2014 because of some kind of predictable circumstances? Absolutely not. We are in a poor division and we had some horrible luck with injuries, we can turn it around easily. It is possible...is it predictable? No but it doesn't have to be to happen.

I left out the OL because it didn't look as good last season not having a solid, productive runner behind it or a solid QB. We found out that the back matters and that the OL couldn't make any back a 1500+ rusher. Some can stick their chest out over McFadden's 1089 yards and 3 TD's but Julius Jones put up 1084 yards and 4 TD's in 2006 running behind an OL that wasn't near as good as the line McFadden had last season. The addition of Collins along with Martin and Frederick gaining another year of experience made the OL even stronger than in 2015 but we didn't have as talented a back running behind it and it hurt us especially in short yardage. The OL is the strongest area of the team but to take advantage of it we need a talented runner. The Cowboys can't seem to put all the pieces together at once if they get strong in one area they get weak in another. Allowing Ware and Murray to leave came back to haunt the team some can deny it all they want but it's a fact. Had we kept Ware we would have had a better pass rush in 2014 because we had 6 fewer sacks that season than we had in 2013.

Ware might have provided the rush we desperately needed vs the Packers in the playoffs for the Cowboys to advance to their first NFC title game in 20 years. Had we kept Murray it may have kept Romo from having to throw so much the first 2 games and he might not have gotten injured. He was on pace for back to back 40 attempt games when he was injured in Philly. Not having a great running threat enabled defenses to pin their ears back and come after him. We were fining ourselves in a lot of 3rd and long situations that played into the hands of the defense. Romo was injured in Philly on a 2nd and 11 and was injured again vs Carolina on a 2nd and 10. He was back having to carry the offense like he did during those 8-8 seasons and nothing will change next season with McFadden as our lead back. We've done nothing so far to improve on Claiborne and Carr the draft will be our only real hope for an upgrade. The Cowboys going 4-12 wasn't all that surprising once Romo went down in week 2 because most of us have said for years if we lose him we're done.

Being in a poor division made last seasons 4-12 record look even worse with 3 of our 4 wins coming within a crappy division we finished last in. As for the injuries we can't keep putting the blame on them injuries happen to every team. Several playoff teams lost their starting QB for part of last season including a few other players and still made the playoffs. Denver survived 7 games without Manning and went on to win the SB. The Cowboys have become predictable. Many us figured the 2014 season was an aberration and didn't expect nearly as good a season in 2015. No one was expecting or predicting 4-12 but if we all knew we would be without Romo for 12 games that's the record most would have predicted. I'm certainly not throwing in the towel for next season but it's hard to be optimistic about 2016 when you look at the injury issues Romo's been having and all the holes we have on defense that are going to be hard to fill. Then you have to look at what we're stuck with at head coach.

 

[robjay04]

I left out the OL because it didn't look as good last season not having a solid, productive runner behind it or a solid QB. We found out that the back matters and that the OL couldn't make any back a 1500+ rusher. Some can stick their chest out over McFadden's 1089 yards and 3 TD's but Julius Jones put up 1084 yards and 4 TD's in 2006 running behind an OL that wasn't near as good as the line McFadden had last season. The addition of Collins along with Martin and Frederick gaining another year of experience made the OL even stronger than in 2015 but we didn't have as talented a back running behind it and it hurt us especially in short yardage. The OL is the strongest area of the team but to take advantage of it we need a talented runner. The Cowboys can't seem to put all the pieces together at once if they get strong in one area they get weak in another. Allowing Ware and Murray to leave came back to haunt the team some can deny it all they want but it's a fact. Had we kept Ware we would have had a better pass rush in 2014 because we had 6 fewer sacks that season than we had in 2013.

Ware might have provided the rush we desperately needed vs the Packers in the playoffs for the Cowboys to advance to their first NFC title game in 20 years. Had we kept Murray it may have kept Romo from having to throw so much the first 2 games and he might not have gotten injured. He was on pace for back to back 40 attempt games when he was injured in Philly. Not having a great running threat enabled defenses to pin their ears back and come after him. We were fining ourselves in a lot of 3rd and long situations that played into the hands of the defense. Romo was injured in Philly on a 2nd and 11 and was injured again vs Carolina on a 2nd and 10. He was back having to carry the offense like he did during those 8-8 seasons and nothing will change next season with McFadden as our lead back. We've done nothing so far to improve on Claiborne and Carr the draft will be our only real hope for an upgrade. The Cowboys going 4-12 wasn't all that surprising once Romo went down in week 2 because most of us have said for years if we lose him we're done.

Being in a poor division made last seasons 4-12 record look even worse with 3 of our 4 wins coming within a crappy division we finished last in. As for the injuries we can't keep putting the blame on them injuries happen to every team. Several playoff teams lost their starting QB for part of last season including a few other players and still made the playoffs. Denver survived 7 games without Manning and went on to win the SB. The Cowboys have become predictable. Many us figured the 2014 season was an aberration and didn't expect nearly as good a season in 2015. No one was expecting or predicting 4-12 but if we all knew we would be without Romo for 12 games that's the record most would have predicted. I'm certainly not throwing in the towel for next season but it's hard to be optimistic about 2016 when you look at the injury issues Romo's been having and all the holes we have on defense that are going to be hard to fill. Then you have to look at what we're stuck with at head coach.

Only argument is that you can't predict what will happen in this league. I don't necessarily feel optimistic going into next season but I didn't in 2014 either.

As far as Peyton Manning? He was worse than Matt Cassel statistically last season. Denver won because of their defense so that is not a good comparasion. Manning was the worst starter in the league last season and basically retired because nobody wants him anymore.

 

[KJJ]

As far as Peyton Manning? He was worse than Matt Cassel statistically last season. Denver won because of their defense so that is not a good comparasion. Manning was the worst starter in the league last season and basically retired because nobody wants him anymore.

Despite Manning having a poor statistical year Osweiler still had to perform well to keep Denver in the race while Manning was out. Denver still felt more comfortable with Manning heading into the playoffs than the inexperienced Osweiler. Although Denver had a great defense Osweiler was far from a bus driver passing for almost 2000 yards and 10 TD's in 8 games. Osweiler had to air it out for over 40 attempts in 3 of his 7 starts including 51 attempts vs Oakland. His play got him a huge free agent contract from Houston.

 

[plasticman]

There really isnt that much to fix. Tbe Cowboys didnt suddenly become.terrible. a series of events, each one compounding the issues created by the first one led to a very poor start that a young team could not overcome.

They lost their runningback before tbe season then proceed to lose tbeir qb and wr. Imagine tbe team of the 90's losing the triplets.

Then two important defenders are also suspended. They lost some very ose games early om and it snowballed on them.

Just keep Romo healthy, and keep tne.momentum of the RB in the 2nd half of last year. Also, het improvement from young defenders and add a quality draft.

I see them going 10-6.

 

[Typhus]

So, help me understand. We are really rebuilding now?

lol, ya man , we are currently exploring that option.... long term rebuild project. Allll aboard.

 

[KJJ]

Manning was the worst starter in the league last season and basically retired because nobody wants him anymore.

Not true he retired because of injuries and he wanted to go out on top. He was never released by the Broncos and made available so it's inaccurate to say no one wanted him. Had he been available and still wanted to play I'll promise you he would have drawn some interest this is Peyton Manning we're talking about. Prior to being hurt he had a couple of very productive games the first half of the season against Detroit and Green Bay where he completed over 70% of his passes and threw for over 300 yards.

He won his first 7 games last season and was 10-2 overall and it wasn't just Denver's defense. You have to remember Kubiak changed the offense to take pressure off Manning so it was figured entering the season that his numbers would be down. There's no question he was in decline but there would have been teams interested had he wanted to continue playing.

 

[KJJ]

There really isnt that much to fix. Tbe Cowboys didnt suddenly become.terrible. a series of events, each one compounding the issues created by the first one led to a very poor start that a young team could not overcome.

They lost their runningback before tbe season then proceed to lose tbeir qb and wr. Imagine tbe team of the 90's losing the triplets.

Then two important defenders are also suspended. They lost some very ose games early om and it snowballed on them.

Just keep Romo healthy, and keep tne.momentum of the RB in the 2nd half of last year. Also, het improvement from young defenders and add a quality draft.

I see them going 10-6.

The Cowboys have been mediocre for years and out of nowhere had ONE good season in 2014. The main contributor to that season who we rode to the playoffs was allowed to walk and it resulted in a completely different team in 2015. Just imagine had Jerry allowed Emmitt to walk during the 1993 season in which the team was 0-2 without him. Everything the Cowboys did on offense revolved around Emmitt just like everything the team did in 2014 revolved around Murray and our running. The running game took pressure off Romo and the defense. Without a great running game Romo was back having to carry the offense and the defense was spending more time on the field getting worn down. The Cowboys looked like the same 8-8 team we had been seeing prior to 2014. Without Romo they were a terrible team winning only one game all season which points to issues that go beyond the QB position. When you go 1-11 with 3 backup QBs including 2 veterans that had over 30 wins between them your problems are much deeper than QB.

In the 2 seasons Romo missed significant time the Cowboys never won more than 6 games. The Steelers lost Roethlisberger for several games having to go through 2 backup QBs and they lost their top rusher Bell for the season and still went 10-6 and made the playoffs. Several teams including Denver lost their QBs for part of the season and still made the playoffs. You can't bank on staying healthy every year and always use injuries as an excuse. If you don't have players that can step up you're not a good "team." The Cowboys were as heathy as they had been all season in the opener and looked like the same mediocre team we saw from 2011 to 2013 against a Giants team that also wasn't any good. Had it not been for a clock management gaffe by the Giants the Cowboys would have started the season 0-1.

The Cowboys have a long way to go to be a good, solid, consistent team it's going to take some better players and some better coaches for them to get out of this 20 year rut they've been in. They've only made the playoffs 7 times the past 20 years with only 2 playoff wins. They've only made the playoffs once the past 6 years with only one winning season over that period. This team has a lot of holes starting with the head coach and until that gaping hole is plugged it's going to continue being the same sad story with this team every year. See how many current NFL head coaches have only had one winning/playoff season the past 5 years and still have a head coaching job with that same team.