CFZ Thoughts for the beginning of the regular season

[jwitten82]

Reading the refs are out to get us is the most annoying one

 

[noshame]

I'm going for the best defense in cowboy's history, with just a little bit of rest from the offense.

 

[RD21]

Glad it's that time of year again. All the talk, & hype, becomes irrelevant soon.

I have my usual cautious optimism for this season. I believe it's poop or get off the pot time for MM. No HC has survived longer than 4 seasons besides Garrett, under Jones.

I'm the most excited to see how the defense does this year. Could they be "special", or is that just more hype..?

Something else that made me scratch me go "Hmmmm"...... I watched the Raiders game. I thought Dak did really well calling the plays. Well enough that I was a little bit impressed. Was Kellen Moore the issue..? Be interesting to see how the offensive play calling/scheming goes this year.

 

[Aven8]

Just win baby!

 

[Flamma]

After a long winter, spring and summer; after free agency, the draft, mini-camps, training camp and preseason games…FINALLY the regular season is nearly here. The real football games that matter are upon us. And I have big hopes for this year’s team.

Here’s some things I try to remind myself at the beginning of each regular season:

• It usually takes at least 4 games to get a good read on any team. Don’t judge an entire season on game one. Win or lose.
• Champions are not crowned in September. So if we have a really hot start or a bad one, keep that in mind.
• ”Style points” and margins of victory don’t matter in the NFL. It’s always only about wins and losses.
• It takes an entire TEAM to win a championship.
• Talent alone is never enough to win a championship. It takes talent of course, along with good coaching, player development, mixed with mental and physical toughness to be a championship caliber team.
• ALL great teams must overcome some kind of adversity. Adversity happens every year. It could be an injury, a bad call, bad luck, a rough stretch in the schedule. Whatever. The best teams are mentally tough enough to handle rough seas because they will come.
• Don’t look at the schedule and pick wins and losses. Every NFL team can beat you. And we can likewise beat any team on our schedule.
• There are surprise teams every year. A team we thought was good won’t be. And another we thought was easy will be tough. That’s the NFL!

I‘m excited to see another season of Cowboys football. Any other reminders you have?
Here’s hoping Lombardi #6 will be raised!

Great post!!! Agree 99%. People have to understand teams change during the season. What you see in September is rarely the team you see in December. All teams change. The only exception to that rule were Tom Landry led Cowboys teams. What we saw in week 1 we saw in week 14. I don't know how he did it.

Why did I give the 99%? Because last year the Eagles had a free ride with zero adversity. I don't know of an easier path to the SB than that team had in the history of the NFL. Which is why I was so glad they lost. Because all SB victories are just that. A SB victory. I didn't want that team in the record books.

 

[TWOK11]

Biggest concern is a slow start. Watching the NY preseason game Saturday they got first teams some action .

Coming out of the gates in September with a couple losses could be tough to overcome early.

Hoping we are at least 3-3 at the Bye. Pretty tough opening stretch. 4-2 looks optimistic.

There was a guy on Twitter who broke down early season success comparing teams that played their starters in preseason vs those that didn’t going back a decade. There was absolutely no correlation whatsoever.

 

[Einstein]

Can't wait!

Only thing I'd add is you need a little luck along the way too.

 

[Praxit]

....hear, hear, .. Bullet. *toasting to #6* .... ..

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

I actually think week 1 is far more important this year than the past two.

1) They're not playing against a Super Bowl roster
2) It's a division game
3) Philly has easy games early in the year and could realistically start 7-1 or 8-0. Even with something like a 5-2 start, losing to Philly week 9 could put them three games back and the division would essentially be over.

 

[Bobhaze]

You should be writing professionally for a media outlet getting paid.Your post are just as good or better than most sports reporters.

Thank you sir.

 

[75boyz]

Well written as always but I also believe Diehard's concern over a slow start is valid.
Even if your first 4 games is as you described, a dress rehearsal process to becoming the team you eventually become, dropping more than 2 in the standings absolutely can't be minimized when talking playoff seedings and home field.
Especially in this division.
This year.
Plus all those historical statistics surrounding slow starts with regard to teams not making the playoffs.

 jmo

 

[TennesseeCowboy]

A double dose of NY football is exactly what we need to get off to a hot start. I'm eying week 1 as an extension of the preseason.

 

[foofighters]

People say this all the time, and it just isn’t true. Point differential in the regular season is the single strongest predictor of postseason success there is, even more so than regular season wins or what seed you are in your conference.

For perspective, the team with the #1 or #2 best point differential has participated in 49 of 57 Super Bowls and won 32 of them. No team with the #1 point differential has ever been eliminated prior to the divisional round of the playoffs, and only two teams with a top-3 point differential have ever missed the playoffs.

Style points ABSOLUTELY matter because they are the strongest indicator of overall team quality.

2007 Giants say, "What?"

 

[CowboyRoy]

After a long winter, spring and summer; after free agency, the draft, mini-camps, training camp and preseason games…FINALLY the regular season is nearly here. The real football games that matter are upon us. And I have big hopes for this year’s team.

Here’s some things I try to remind myself at the beginning of each regular season:

• It usually takes at least 4 games to get a good read on any team. Don’t judge an entire season on game one. Win or lose.
• Champions are not crowned in September. So if we have a really hot start or a bad one, keep that in mind.
• ”Style points” and margins of victory don’t matter in the NFL. It’s always only about wins and losses.
• It takes an entire TEAM to win a championship.
• Talent alone is never enough to win a championship. It takes talent of course, along with good coaching, player development, mixed with mental and physical toughness to be a championship caliber team.
• ALL great teams must overcome some kind of adversity. Adversity happens every year. It could be an injury, a bad call, bad luck, a rough stretch in the schedule. Whatever. The best teams are mentally tough enough to handle rough seas because they will come.
• Don’t look at the schedule and pick wins and losses. Every NFL team can beat you. And we can likewise beat any team on our schedule.
• There are surprise teams every year. A team we thought was good won’t be. And another we thought was easy will be tough. That’s the NFL!

I‘m excited to see another season of Cowboys football. Any other reminders you have?
Here’s hoping Lombardi #6 will be raised!

Best thing so far i can tell is the changes to the offense. The shorter, quicker reads and dump offs to backs. It completely fits our personnel and will force dak to get the ball out.

 

[InPhiltraitor]

After a long winter, spring and summer; after free agency, the draft, mini-camps, training camp and preseason games…FINALLY the regular season is nearly here. The real football games that matter are upon us. And I have big hopes for this year’s team.

Here’s some things I try to remind myself at the beginning of each regular season:

• It usually takes at least 4 games to get a good read on any team. Don’t judge an entire season on game one. Win or lose.
• Champions are not crowned in September. So if we have a really hot start or a bad one, keep that in mind.
• ”Style points” and margins of victory don’t matter in the NFL. It’s always only about wins and losses.
• It takes an entire TEAM to win a championship.
• Talent alone is never enough to win a championship. It takes talent of course, along with good coaching, player development, mixed with mental and physical toughness to be a championship caliber team.
• ALL great teams must overcome some kind of adversity. Adversity happens every year. It could be an injury, a bad call, bad luck, a rough stretch in the schedule. Whatever. The best teams are mentally tough enough to handle rough seas because they will come.
• Don’t look at the schedule and pick wins and losses. Every NFL team can beat you. And we can likewise beat any team on our schedule.
• There are surprise teams every year. A team we thought was good won’t be. And another we thought was easy will be tough. That’s the NFL!

I‘m excited to see another season of Cowboys football. Any other reminders you have?
Here’s hoping Lombardi #6 will be raised!

Here's my reminder:

Stay away from making the rash comments within a single game. Too many recency bias stances are taken on small sample sizes or without being aware of what transpired during the entirety of a play or game. After the Raider game Luepke was the 2nd coming of Peyton Hillis and Greir was knocking on the door of All-Pro.

Quick, know-it-all comments leave the door wide open for piles of egg on your face. Based on what I've seen from our draft selections, my thoughts are being tugged in a specific direction but I'm far from burying them or from borrowing Parcells' anointing oils. Don't get down on a player for a handful of plays. Being mindful and trying to understand offensive and defensive sets may shed light on why the player you're dogging appears to be out of position. Is it the structure of the play-calling that's putting a player in a bad position, or possibly those to his left and right are not handling their assignments.

I guess if I have a point, try to make sure you're viewing the entire scope of what's happening before slapping down a "he sucks" card, and give guys a decent sample size before casting your final judgement.

 

[75boyz]

2007 Giants say, "What?"

Yep. A plus 22 regular season point diferential Giants team defeating that Patriot team in the SB that has the highest point differential in the history of pro football still at plus 315.

And then to make matters worse, that Giant team came back 4 years later with a "negative 6" regular season point differential and beat the Patriots in the SB again.

A true outlier of outliers.

Freakin' almost caused me to require therapy during those years.

 

[Bobhaze]

Well this post will definitely keep people from getting ahead of themselves and jumping to conclusions!

We will have fans ready to bail the season on the first three and out!

 

[Runwildboys]

We will have fans ready to bail the season on the first three and out!

As usual.

 

[stuckindc]

Yep. A plus 22 regular season point diferential Giants team defeating that Patriot team in the SB that has the highest point differential in the history of pro football still at plus 315.

And then to make matters worse, that Giant team came back 4 years later with a "negative 6" regular season point differential and beat the Patriots in the SB again.

A true outlier of outliers.

Freakin' almost caused me to require therapy during those

Crayton and a helmet catch…..ugghh

 

[StarOfGlory]

• Talent alone is never enough to win a championship. It takes talent of course, along with good coaching, player development, mixed with mental and physical toughness to be a championship caliber team.

Too may people forget this.