CFZ Thoughts/Opinions about yesterday's loss to the Cardinals!

Cowboyny

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Think the majority of Cowboy Nation and even the players started reading the press clippings how good they are. They haven't accomplished anything thus far, yesterday's loss was a big piece of humble pie. 1 loss isn't a season ender, but it showed several weaknesses this team has and needs to work on.

Offense

-Thought the make shift OL played generally well. Edoka appeared to struggle the most, especially in the 1st half.
-Gannon comes from the Fangio coaching tree, he was daring the Cowboys to beat them underneath or run the football against light boxes. Cowboys had success taking what was given throughout the game. Did hit a couple of big plays.
-Cardinals had great success defending us in the red zone, this has been a problem this entire season, where this team was #1 last year. Thought both fade routes were penalties, but you cannot rely on the refs to bail you out. Why was the Cowboys running the football so much late? They were given that up and playing extra men in coverage. Playcalling was bad, so was the execution. Coaches need to figure out this fast or they will struggle to beat any team.
-Nice to see Gallup having a strong game. He was the offensive star of the day and looked like his pre-injury self.
-I believe Pollard had his 1st 100 rushing yard game, Dowdle continues to impress. Wonder why we didn't see much of Duece or Turpin, both could of been weapons down in the red zone due to their quickness.
-Penalties are drive killers, especially in the red zone. They get a mulligan this week, due to the make shift line, but it is something to watch.

Defense

-Their run defense reared it's ugly head from prior seasons. Arizona was running directly at Parsons with great success. Thought the entire safety group had an awful day: Wilson over aggressiveness caused the long QB run, Kearse takes a bad angle that led to the long WR run for TD. Bell seemed to get caught up in the trash. Lve has issues with misdirection. Players weren't flying to the football at all. After saying all this, it was corrected in the 2nd half. Run defense is all about being disipline and playing with effort, neither was there in the 1st half.
-Really struggles getting off the field on third downs, the Cardinals scored on every single drive in the first half, that will get you beat by any team in this league. So many penalties extended drives, pass rush was non-existent against an average line, defensive turnovers never happened.
-Thought Bland played ok, outside of the PI early on. Gilmore had his struggles against speed on the outside.
-Lack of communication was a big issue throughout the day. Cannot give up so many chunk plays due to blown assignments.

Special Teams

-Didn't see where the offsides occurred on the FG attempt, but it extended a drive.
-Huge penalty on Turpin's punt return
 

phillycard

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My main takeaway in all of this was McCarthy. He said he was outcoached, and he wasn't wrong. Some of the play calling was head scratching. To a man, the Boys have a better roster but Gannon to his credit crafted a great game plan, and was dialed in for 4 quarters unlike the loss to the Giants. You guys will be fine I believe. Not sure just how much this loss will help in the end, but I still believe that the Boys are a top team. Good luck the rest of the way fam.
 

Desperado

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The backup interior OL guys looked OK. Not great, but if they had a starter next to them they probably would be fine for fill in duty, at least. Good finds, IMO.
 

LittleD

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Parcells always said to stay away from the cheese. Too bad Fat Mike and his band of cowboys didn't pay heed. They were taken to the woodshed and got a good
ole fashion whippin!
 

75boyz

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The inability of the playcaller and his QB to score tds in the redzone is the single most glaring deficiency to preventing team success right now.

Longterm though and as Ive mentioned many times here, the offensive playcalling combined with QB decision making in real time are the fundamental keys to enjoying any type of team success for the whole year.

These elements of this team have to improve or they won't win against playoff level competition. And in some cases like yesterday, even non playoff level competition.

 jmo
 
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Cowboys93

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I think it all in all this team thought they could sleepwalk into Arizona and beat a team that was supposed to be tanking. Cardinals played us hard for 60 minutes and earned that win. Penalties, lack of execution, blown assignments, all and all a failure from coaches to players. This game may not matter in the grand scheme of things, but that’s only if this team can respond to adversity and get back to playing winning football. I have to say that RZ offense, run defense and OL health are problems that are not going away unfortunately though
 

baltcowboy

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Think the majority of Cowboy Nation and even the players started reading the press clippings how good they are. They haven't accomplished anything thus far, yesterday's loss was a big piece of humble pie. 1 loss isn't a season ender, but it showed several weaknesses this team has and needs to work on.

Offense

-Thought the make shift OL played generally well. Edoka appeared to struggle the most, especially in the 1st half.
-Gannon comes from the Fangio coaching tree, he was daring the Cowboys to beat them underneath or run the football against light boxes. Cowboys had success taking what was given throughout the game. Did hit a couple of big plays.
-Cardinals had great success defending us in the red zone, this has been a problem this entire season, where this team was #1 last year. Thought both fade routes were penalties, but you cannot rely on the refs to bail you out. Why was the Cowboys running the football so much late? They were given that up and playing extra men in coverage. Playcalling was bad, so was the execution. Coaches need to figure out this fast or they will struggle to beat any team.
-Nice to see Gallup having a strong game. He was the offensive star of the day and looked like his pre-injury self.
-I believe Pollard had his 1st 100 rushing yard game, Dowdle continues to impress. Wonder why we didn't see much of Duece or Turpin, both could of been weapons down in the red zone due to their quickness.
-Penalties are drive killers, especially in the red zone. They get a mulligan this week, due to the make shift line, but it is something to watch.

Defense

-Their run defense reared it's ugly head from prior seasons. Arizona was running directly at Parsons with great success. Thought the entire safety group had an awful day: Wilson over aggressiveness caused the long QB run, Kearse takes a bad angle that led to the long WR run for TD. Bell seemed to get caught up in the trash. Lve has issues with misdirection. Players weren't flying to the football at all. After saying all this, it was corrected in the 2nd half. Run defense is all about being disipline and playing with effort, neither was there in the 1st half.
-Really struggles getting off the field on third downs, the Cardinals scored on every single drive in the first half, that will get you beat by any team in this league. So many penalties extended drives, pass rush was non-existent against an average line, defensive turnovers never happened.
-Thought Bland played ok, outside of the PI early on. Gilmore had his struggles against speed on the outside.
-Lack of communication was a big issue throughout the day. Cannot give up so many chunk plays due to blown assignments.

Special Teams

-Didn't see where the offsides occurred on the FG attempt, but it extended a drive.
-Huge penalty on Turpin's punt return
You were right to be worried about Gilmore and the run defense all along. I do think the late week injuries had an effect on the game. Edoka was the issue at left tackle. They should just rip the bandaid off and put Richards out there. The Cowboys deserve to lose but the referees were really bad. They let the Cardinals mug our receivers. The penalty early on Bland was ridiculous. Something was off with the defense. They busted lots of coverages. Obviously the reason for that is late week injury of Diggs. Dak’s interception was a frustration interception that he just can’t throw. I think he wants to rip it and MM is making him take what is given.
 

MoistMayonnaise

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Cowboyny

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The inability of the playcaller and his QB to score tds in the redzone is the single most glaring deficiency to preventing team success right now.

Longterm though and as Ive mentioned many times here, the offensive playcalling combined with QB decision making in real time are the fundamental keys to enjoying any type of team success for the whole year.

These elements of this team have to improve or they won't win against playoff level competition. And in some cases like yesterday, even non playoff level competition.

 jmo
I agree the red zone offense has been poor, but it was a total team loss yesterday. Defense struggled just as much and there were so many penalties on both sides of the football.
 

Cowboyny

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You were right to be worried about Gilmore and the run defense all along. I do think the late week injuries had an effect on the game. Edoka was the issue at left tackle. They should just rip the bandaid off and put Richards out there. The Cowboys deserve to lose but the referees were really bad. They let the Cardinals mug our receivers. The penalty early on Bland was ridiculous. Something was off with the defense. They busted lots of coverages. Obviously the reason for that is late week injury of Diggs. Dak’s interception was a frustration interception that he just can’t throw. I think he wants to rip it and MM is making him take what is given.
-I would of started Tyler at LT and Edoka at LG. Edoka did really struggle early on, but got better as the game progressed.
-Defense was a total disaster in the 1st half, they couldn't stop the bleeding what so ever. Didn't generate much pressure at all. Teams are going to force the Cowboys to stop the run or this will continue.
-Gilmore is a good #2 corner at this stage, but will struggle to deal with speed.
-Gannon who comes from the Eagles knows the Cowboys well, take away the big passing plays and they are easier to defend. Teams will continue to play the Cowboys this way.
 

Cowboyny

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Cardinals have been sneaky good despite their record and we just overlooked them
Not only overconfidence by the players, but from the fan base. Many thought this was going to be an easy win, tried to say the same thing. Thought it was going to be a close game where the Cowboys would separate late. This team should of beaten both the Commanders/Giants, they were the more desperate team.
 

baltcowboy

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-I would of started Tyler at LT and Edoka at LG. Edoka did really struggle early on, but got better as the game progressed.
-Defense was a total disaster in the 1st half, they couldn't stop the bleeding what so ever. Didn't generate much pressure at all. Teams are going to force the Cowboys to stop the run or this will continue.
-Gilmore is a good #2 corner at this stage, but will struggle to deal with speed.
-Gannon who comes from the Eagles knows the Cowboys well, take away the big passing plays and they are easier to defend. Teams will continue to play the Cowboys this way.
The Patriots will go right at the defense with Zeke. I actually think Arizona has some offensive weapons. Brown and that slot receiver were fast. Dobbs is more athletic then I remember but they hid him in the second half.
 

rambo2

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Parcells always said to stay away from the cheese. Too bad Fat Mike and his band of cowboys didn't pay heed. They were taken to the woodshed and got a good
ole fashion whippin!
Parcells won a Super Bowl because the Bills missed a field goal. Who gives a **** what he said. See Bobby Carpenter.
 

ghst187

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Rubber band effect, Az was coming off two losses and season in jeopardy playing desperate. We were coming off two east wins.
Things revert to the mean. Pats coming off a win and us off a loss. We will win next game.
 

Mac_MaloneV1

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It is dead wrong to act like the run defense yesterday was anything like we've seen in recent seasons.

It was an unprecedently bad performance marked by blown assignments all over the place because they never showed up. It doesn't mean anything and it isn't predictive.

Run defense has never been a problem the way this board likes to imagine it has been, and it certainly hasn't been like that.

That said, their pass defense was still the bigger problem, by far.
 

Canada180

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I think it all in all this team thought they could sleepwalk into Arizona and beat a team that was supposed to be tanking. Cardinals played us hard for 60 minutes and earned that win. Penalties, lack of execution, blown assignments, all and all a failure from coaches to players. This game may not matter in the grand scheme of things, but that’s only if this team can respond to adversity and get back to playing winning football. I have to say that RZ offense, run defense and OL health are problems that are not going away unfortunately though
Thats coaching right there my friend
 

LittleD

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Parcells won a Super Bowl because the Bills missed a field goal. Who gives a **** what he said. See Bobby Carpenter.
Fellow, Parcells might have won another one with the Cowboys but, Jerry hoisted Owens on him which he detested. I agree though that Bobby Carpenter was trash.
 

pitt33

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First off, Dallas plays lousy in Arizona…

- linebacker play is bad. Clark is a project and LVE hasn’t been right in a few years.

- red zone play is broken. Big difference between Mike & Kellen there.

- Mike is too conservative. Not sure if it’s because of Dak but it got him fired in GB.

- run defense was a huge problem and will be all year.

I predicted a loss here. Dallas ALWAYS does this after a couple big wins. It’s a cultural thing that’s been entrenched for years.
 
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