CFZ Time to get real!

[Big D]

This season is very simple. It's 3 things...

1. Can the OL be decent especially with pass protection? Dak must be kept clean.
2. Can the WR group produce enough until Gallup and Washington are healthy?
3. Can we get the best version of Big Mike and will he do more to make sure Moore doesn't suck?

That's it. If Dallas can get these 3 things the season is going to be a good one.

Does defense or special teams have anything to do with it?
how about
4. Defense not allowing teams to run at will or convert 3rd downs on penalties.
5. The Kicker make the extra points and not shank FGs under 40 yds.

 

[MountaineerCowboy]

So you think losing cooper, ,williams, collins, and wilson while adding Tyler, Peters, Ferguson, Turpin, etc. drops the offense from 1st to worst?

Not worst. I never said that.

But a significant step back? Absolutely.

 

[Swagger]

Not worst. I never said that.

But a significant step back? Absolutely.

Plus other teams will be stepping forward whilst the Cowboys offense likely stagnates

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

I'm saying that it won't matter when you're weak at the most important position on the team.

How many current QB's have won multiple Super Bowls? You only have 5 SB winning QB's currently in the league as starters. So only 16% of the QB's in this league have proven themselves and only one has done it multiple times. So, this weakness that you speak of, is rampant. A good GM can build a team around that weakness and make it irrelevant. And that's what 84% of the league struggles with... overcoming their own weaknesses.

What does it take to overcome weaknesses? A strong defense and a good rushing attack. We've had the good rushing attack without a strong defense. Now it appears we have a strong defense but won't have a good rushing attack. And that's why an great offensive line is soooooo, important.

 

[MountaineerCowboy]

How many current QB's have won multiple Super Bowls? You only have 5 SB winning QB's currently in the league as starters. So only 16% of the QB's in this league have proven themselves and only one has done it multiple times. So, this weakness that you speak of, is rampant. A good GM can build a team around that weakness and make it irrelevant. And that's what 84% of the league struggles with... overcoming their own weaknesses.

What does it take to overcome weaknesses? A strong defense and a good rushing attack. We've had the good rushing attack without a strong defense. Now it appears we have a strong defense but won't have a good rushing attack. And that's why an great offensive line is soooooo, important.

I don't care about "multiple Super Bowls" at this point.

Let's win multiple playoff games for crying out loud. That would be a nice start.

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

Plus other teams will be stepping forward whilst the Cowboys offense likely stagnates

 

[john van brocklin]

I think it is safe to say that it has been a long off-season for all of us. The result of the playoff game against the 49ers might have been the worst feeling we've had this side of "a knee to Tony Romo's back" in the 2016 pre-season game against the Seahawks. (In recent times)

With that said, a lot has happened (or not happened) this offseason. It's really elusive to judge how this off season has gone. The team lost 2 or 3 starters on offense including a receiver that I think generally scared the bejesus out of opposing defenses, a starting caliber O-lineman, flawed for sure but when in shape he was capable... Then we get the terrible YouTube videos of Tyron Smith going down on a seemingly mild play and hear that his "hamstring ripped from his bone", made everyone shutter. Injuries happen but DAMN. No one wanted THAT. We all know he was going to be out 4 or 5 games but that was just brutal.

Once the dust cleared, 99.9% of all fans realized...wow, the Front Office is really in question. They pinned all hopes on Tyron Smith staying healthy and drafting Tyler Smith to bolster the line. Good idea BUT...cheap and not realistic. There was absolutely no plan-B after that. Am I the only one that finds that insane as hell?

I think it took a a couple hours hilariously, but Cap Boy and his Dad realized their mistake pretty fast. They were on the phone for sure.

Enter...Jason Peters.40 year old guy that had a good season with the Bears last year. Started 15 games and his YouTube film and PFF scores were something we could only dream of after seeing the video of Tyron going down. Let's hope it goes like that after a couple games.

Many today are trying to give the "Jones boys" all the credit but I am thinking, why weren't they shaking trees in the off-season to bring in a known commodity or two for the OL? They knew they didn't want Collins, they knew they were going to draft a guy and they absolutely knew that Tyron Smith has been injured for some part of the season for 3 years straight! Didn't they?!! Crazyness.

Well here we are.Tom Brady is coming to town Sunday night. He's one of the best to ever do it. He and his team have their own issues but the great ones can always compartmentalize. That's what they do.

We are again stuck with a team that we aren't sure about.

Will last ditch "Flex-Tape" level moves be enough? Will a well coached and up & coming defense be enough?

I do like Defense...

Yes sir,
I was banging the drum this off season about the need for Oline help.
A quick correction, Tyrone has not played a full season in 6 years.
Unbelievable they did not sign a swing tackle this off season until Tyrone went down and the position reached critical mass.
This front office is our biggest impediment towards improving.
They really don't have a great coherent plan with roster building.

 

[Whyjerry]

Does defense or special teams have anything to do with it?
how about
4. Defense not allowing teams to run at will or convert 3rd downs on penalties.
5. The Kicker make the extra points and not shank FGs under 40 yds.

I liked 3 things that are in my opinion up in the air. I KNOW the defense is going to be good. I also KNOW K is going to be a problem. If you like 5 I will try for 5 next time.

 

[jterrell]

If you don’t count Dak. Whether or not you feel he’s a “top” guy, he can put up yards on Philly, whichll hurt our D ranking.

Wentz may not be great, but he’ll do better than Heinecke. I think Jones will be benched in NYG, and they’ll improve there. So all 4 of those divisional games should put up more of a fight than last year, and Dallas hopefully less

Defensive rankings can be tough because so much is game dependent.
The Eagles have added firepower on offense but that may well mean more turnovers as well as more yards/TDs.
That tends to drive up the output for the other team as well.

The Eagles look like a pretty balanced team but the QB stands out as iffy.
An offense built around QB runs and TE passes actually helps the defense quite a lot. See Baltimore.
But it can definitely have a ceiling. Also see Baltimore.
If they open it up with a lot more outside passing action that may create far more week to week disparity in results.
But they do need to see what they have in Hurts so it makes sense.

 

[Big D]

I liked 3 things that are in my opinion up in the air. I KNOW the defense is going to be good. I also KNOW K is going to be a problem. If you like 5 I will try for 5 next time.

Do you know if the run defense specifically will be good? If so, we're good to go!

 

[Whyjerry]

Do you know if the run defense specifically will be good? If so, we're good to go!

I am typing on a fan forum so what to I really know. That said the front 7 looks stout with depth. A healthy Gallimore and Hill, beef with Ridgeway, Watkins and Bohanna, good edge guys that are also responsible run defenders, the LB corp looks solid and I think LVE will play for his football life. It looks very promising. Quinn is a good coach and the talent is there. I also expect Odiggy and Parsons to elevate their games. Its going to be good. This group is not going to be gashed like the recent defenses.

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

I don't care about "multiple Super Bowls" at this point.

Let's win multiple playoff games for crying out loud. That would be a nice start.

Like I said we need a strong defense and a good offensive line. We could have both of those things if we didn't spend so much money on our offensive skill positions. The RB and the TE are two positions that a team should never shell out huge contracts too. You can find decent guys for cheap at those positions. So, our GM is stopping us from overcoming our own weaknesses, because of where he spends the money.

 

[Big D]

I am typing on a fan forum so what to I really know. That said the front 7 looks stout with depth. A healthy Gallimore and Hill, beef with Ridgeway, Watkins and Bohanna, good edge guys that are also responsible run defenders, the LB corp looks solid and I think LVE will play for his football life. It looks very promising. Quinn is a good coach and the talent is there. I also expect Odiggy and Parsons to elevate their games. Its going to be good. This group is not going to be gashed like the recent defenses.

None of us really know so it's all good I tend to agree with you that it looks promising but I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

[Verdict]

A quality LT would not have signed to be the backup to Tyron.

They drafted a LT in the first round.

It feels like they've had Jason Peters as an option for a long time. He wanted to stay in Texas where he lives. I'm not certain that he would have played elsewhere. Bears players and fans wanted him to return.

The only thing the Cowboys did not do was to sign a swing tackle. Would another Ty Nsekhe or Cam Fleming really have made a difference.

I don't know if you can't use logic or if emotion causes you to avoid using it.

Posters here have plenty to blame Jerry and Co about, but a don’t get all the handwringing about “failing to plan for Tyron’s eventual injury”.

We drafted a player who the Cowboys wanted to draft to eventually replace Tyron. He was going to play guard, but it was clear he was drafted to be Tyron’s replacement. He will sink or swim, but either way, the Cowboys clearly took action to eventually fill that void.

The swing tackle options on the open market tend to be expensive and not all that great. We also drafted Ball and Waletzko to help fill that void. Both have some degree of potential and Ball was expected to go higher in the draft than he did.

The emotional over reaction here is almost comical.

 

[Blackrain]

I doubt Peters or Fisher were going to sign to be bench players/swing tackles. And that’s what they would’ve been before Tyron’s injury. It just wasn’t feasible. Some of you seem to think we can just go out and sign anyone at any time. It doesn’t work that way.

I don't know what they would sign for but it could have been explored rather than ignored and the center position needed to be addressed and still does for that matter but it's too late now.

There is no such thing as having too good an offensive line or too many good offensive line man.
But we have certainly seen what happens when your offensive line sucks and most intelligent fans would like to see that avoided if possible

 

[DogFace]

Dallas had the 19th best defense last year with nearly the same players. How are they suddenly top 5?

Practice. Yes. We are talking about practice. Practice.


*Though, I didn’t say top 5, but I like the way you think!!!

 

[jterrell]

Yes sir,
I was banging the drum this off season about the need for Oline help.
A quick correction, Tyrone has not played a full season in 6 years.
Unbelievable they did not sign a swing tackle this off season until Tyrone went down and the position reached critical mass.
This front office is our biggest impediment towards improving.
They really don't have a great coherent plan with roster building.

Why the heck do you or anyone care when they signed the swing tackle??
They signed a guy who started 15 games at LT last year.
That's a solid swing tackle option and he did not want to go to training camp as a 40 year old.
The prior two years they did sign veteran swing tackles and they got beat out 2 years running.

I get the basic complaint but the whining is so over the top.
They drafted an OL R1 AND signed a vet swing Tackle before week 1.

 

[CowboyRoy]

I think it is safe to say that it has been a long off-season for all of us. The result of the playoff game against the 49ers might have been the worst feeling we've had this side of "a knee to Tony Romo's back" in the 2016 pre-season game against the Seahawks. (In recent times)

With that said, a lot has happened (or not happened) this offseason. It's really elusive to judge how this off season has gone. The team lost 2 or 3 starters on offense including a receiver that I think generally scared the bejesus out of opposing defenses, a starting caliber O-lineman, flawed for sure but when in shape he was capable... Then we get the terrible YouTube videos of Tyron Smith going down on a seemingly mild play and hear that his "hamstring ripped from his bone", made everyone shutter. Injuries happen but DAMN. No one wanted THAT. We all know he was going to be out 4 or 5 games but that was just brutal.

Once the dust cleared, 99.9% of all fans realized...wow, the Front Office is really in question. They pinned all hopes on Tyron Smith staying healthy and drafting Tyler Smith to bolster the line. Good idea BUT...cheap and not realistic. There was absolutely no plan-B after that. Am I the only one that finds that insane as hell?

I think it took a a couple hours hilariously, but Cap Boy and his Dad realized their mistake pretty fast. They were on the phone for sure.

Enter...Jason Peters.40 year old guy that had a good season with the Bears last year. Started 15 games and his YouTube film and PFF scores were something we could only dream of after seeing the video of Tyron going down. Let's hope it goes like that after a couple games.

Many today are trying to give the "Jones boys" all the credit but I am thinking, why weren't they shaking trees in the off-season to bring in a known commodity or two for the OL? They knew they didn't want Collins, they knew they were going to draft a guy and they absolutely knew that Tyron Smith has been injured for some part of the season for 3 years straight! Didn't they?!! Crazyness.

Well here we are.Tom Brady is coming to town Sunday night. He's one of the best to ever do it. He and his team have their own issues but the great ones can always compartmentalize. That's what they do.

We are again stuck with a team that we aren't sure about.

Will last ditch "Flex-Tape" level moves be enough? Will a well coached and up & coming defense be enough?

I do like Defense...

I doubt Cooper scared anyone.

 

[john van brocklin]

Why the heck do you or anyone care when they signed the swing tackle??
They signed a guy who started 15 games at LT last year.
That's a solid swing tackle option and he did not want to go to training camp as a 40 year old.
The prior two years they did sign veteran swing tackles and they got beat out 2 years running.

I get the basic complaint but the whining is so over the top.
They drafted an OL R1 AND signed a vet swing Tackle before week 1.

Ok, this is my opinion feel free to disagree:
Peters is not the swing tackle.
He should be signed to replace Tyrone.
Tyler should be at LG, as an improvement over last year's starter.
That still leaves a need for a swing tackle.
We should look to improve the oline.
My plan does.
Thanks

 

[McKDaddy]

Defense can be better yet statistically worse. Lot depends on the situations they are put in. Just saying.

I expect them to be pretty good but acknowledge that sometimes bad things happen outside your control. If this offense falters, it will have a negative impact on the D.