Was Mike McCarthy holding Dak back to entertain his game plan?

[Brax]

Exactly. The Cowboys beat a good team early in the year that suffers a ton of injuries and finishes with a losing record; and that is supposed to somehow diminish the credibility of the win?

The flip side also happens but when you look at big wins they happen against poor opponents that the whole season is bad or it’s a good team that happens to have been reduced by injuries. I look at the end of the season and go from there. Fortune’s can change anytime but historically the Cowboys seem to disappear in the big moments.

 

[GINeric]

Correction: the Dallas Cowboys are 23-25 in games Dak has started against teams with winning records.

I mean if you are going to blame Dak for the losses, shouldn't the team that supposedly carries him to wins also be at fault for defeats?

Thats just the thing.... all losses aren't solely on Dak. As a matter of fact, he has plenty of game winning drives. There were times HE carried the team to wins.

 

[GINeric]

Nice stat that’s done at the end of a season not record when played. He’s a beast against the low end but pressure games seem to change the dynamic. What’s this year’s day to this point? Keep playing the Panthers Giants patriots and all is well. He needs to show up against high level teams.

Apparently you have issues with reading and comprehending. So I'll help you out.

Dak is 23-25 vs WINNING TEAMS or TEAMS WITH WINNING RECORDS. You can put a spin on it all you want. The numbers don't lie my guy.

 

[DFWJC]

If we are just looking at Pass defenses (Philly's is bad, Commanders too) possibly Dak's best game was against the 5th ranked Jets pass D in the home opener.

We faced very few good pass defenses this year and we get some bad ones going forward too, beginning with 30th ranked Washington.

Fwiw, the Panthers had a pretty decent pass D

 

[DFWJC]

Top 5 Pass Defenses (we have 1 game)
1) Cleveland
2) Dallas....how bout dem boys
3) Baltimore
4) Kansas City
5) NY Jets (played them in Dallas)

Bottom 5 Pass Defenses (we have 5 games vs them)
32) LA Chargers (played them away)
31) Tampa
30) Washington (get them twice)
29) Jacksonville
28) Philly (get them twice)

some of this stuff is at least somewhat misleading though. The 49ers are so hard to run on that everyone tries to throw it...so the pass numbers are higher than they would be. I'm sure more serious analyses would show it better.

 

[jterrell]

Realistically, the lack of meaningful pre-season games and a brand-new offense that was just installed caused some drag on the offense, but the true culprits are the poor RT play and the dropped passes total.

I still don't know if I love this MM offense but I can't blame him for dropped passes or the lowest rated starting RT in the NFL.

All that said, you don't need to peak week 5. You want to peak about week 15 or in our case this year week 14 vs Philly.
Beat them and their little brother syndrome will kick in IMO and they'll fold up shop on the season.

 

[jterrell]

Top 5 Pass Defenses (we have 1 game)
1) Cleveland
2) Dallas....how bout dem boys
3) Baltimore
4) Kansas City
5) NY Jets (played them in Dallas)

Bottom 5 Pass Defenses (we have 5 games vs them)
32) LA Chargers (played them away)
31) Tampa
30) Washington (get them twice)
29) Jacksonville
28) Philly (get them twice)

some of this stuff is at least somewhat misleading though. The 49ers are so hard to run on that everyone tries to throw it...so the pass numbers are higher than they would be. I'm sure more serious analyses would show it better.

Dallas has played 1 bottom 5 defense. The Eagles might be in that statistical list but it won't be for long and it wasn't a bottom 5 pass defense once they added the Pro Bowl safety. They just held Mahomes to 177 yards passing.
Of the 3 teams most likely to drop into that bottom 5: Bengals, Bears, Texans; none of them are on the schedule.
But it should be a Happy Thanksgiving today versus the Command strips.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Does is seem like, post 49ers, they just threw away the original game plan and just let Dak play? Early on, it looks like the plan was to run, "dink and dunk," control the TOP and let Defense dictate the outcome. It just appears they seemed to unleash Dak and just said "to hell with it". Thoughts?

I think we are a better down field attacking team and his west coast short passing game offense wasn't working. the game has changed. teams want you to throw short, underneath passes and they control the game that way. we are built to go deep and he opened up the offense realizing his short passing game wasn't a fit for players he has. we also started to have WRs in motion to expose the defense and isolate WRs on a lot of deep crossing routes.

but the problem is that the niners are able to create pressure with their front 4, thus not allowing us to attack deep which take longer to develop. they play zone defense, forcing us to pass underneath, their athletic LBs take away the TEs easily and their front 4, can stop the run, and rush the passer. they are physical and not a great match up for us, not sure if we can run the same offense against them, and have to improve the short passing game.

 

[CowboyoWales]

Apparently you have issues with reading and comprehending. So I'll help you out.

Dak is 23-25 vs WINNING TEAMS or TEAMS WITH WINNING RECORDS. You can put a spin on it all you want. The numbers don't lie my guy.

Alternatively, just to even it up, he's 1-4 vrs winning teams in the play-offs.

The same old pro/con Dak argument with the answer lying somewhere in the middle, yes dropped catches, running game, penalties and O-Line Protection...but on occasion with the game on the line and facing the problems above he does need to replicate his mid-season form.
Can't totally absolve the guy with the ball.

 

[cowboyed]

In recent years we've seen the Rams, Bucs and Chiefs (twice) all win the Super Bowl relying on the QB's arm, so so running game and good defense. It's just a matter of the QB being good enough and the defense being good enough. Right now we look like we have both those elements.. but obviously need to see it over the long haul and in the playoffs to be sure.

Great coaching, quality player depth, and less impactful injuries, strength of schedule are also winning/losing factors. Right now we have the same 7-3 record as the Chiefs but as you imply over the win-loss long haul it will be subject to change.

 

[Brax]

Apparently you have issues with reading and comprehending. So I'll help you out.

Dak is 23-25 vs WINNING TEAMS or TEAMS WITH WINNING RECORDS. You can put a spin on it all you want. The numbers don't lie my guy.

Read this 0-2 this year so far. Have a nice thanksgiving.

 

[CCBoy]

Just remember Dak, behind or ahead, you're in the game!

 

[CCBoy]

Realistically, the lack of meaningful pre-season games and a brand-new offense that was just installed caused some drag on the offense, but the true culprits are the poor RT play and the dropped passes total.

I still don't know if I love this MM offense but I can't blame him for dropped passes or the lowest rated starting RT in the NFL.

All that said, you don't need to peak week 5. You want to peak about week 15 or in our case this year week 14 vs Philly.
Beat them and their little brother syndrome will kick in IMO and they'll fold up shop on the season.

To be specific, Steele has almost single handedly derailed the last two games on his own. He killed a lot of the passing game as well as much of the running game at that point of the field. The field was not a coordinated rhythm...good thing Lamb over came the dynamics and Dak was and is good now.

I blame focus upon Michael Gallup for losing focus as a group tendency. He has to regain that edge and leave prior injury off the hook for his productions. He has to again regain full body of work and contribution. He is still the most single covered receiver out there getting thrown to as he remains. That is on him now and he better fully recommitt and get it done. Not a single excuse for him and the team need at all...sorry guy, get it done!

As to penalties, get the offensive line again fully committed at maintaining contact, hear that offensive line coach? Get that done and both sides of the ball will respond.

 

[Jake]

Does is seem like, post 49ers, they just threw away the original game plan and just let Dak play? Early on, it looks like the plan was to run, "dink and dunk," control the TOP and let Defense dictate the outcome. It just appears they seemed to unleash Dak and just said "to hell with it". Thoughts?

They changed the offense and starters didn't play in preseason. It took time for it to come together and players to get comfortable with it.

It also hasn't hurt to play some bad pass defenses, including the Eagles (that's their weakness), during this stretch. They get another one today.

 

[kskboys]

Does is seem like, post 49ers, they just threw away the original game plan and just let Dak play? Early on, it looks like the plan was to run, "dink and dunk," control the TOP and let Defense dictate the outcome. It just appears they seemed to unleash Dak and just said "to hell with it". Thoughts?

Do you ever consider the strength of the opposing D?

 

[GINeric]

Read this 0-2 this year so far. Have a nice thanksgiving.

Ahhh.... that 23-25 stings you huh..... LOL!!! Your tears taste better than my Thanksgiving meal kid!!

 

[kskboys]

Geeeeezzz, do you guys ever listen to yourself w/ the silly conspiracy notions? I guess it's entertaining in your own head. Carry on.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

I think we are back to the Kellen Moore offense.

Last week, I saw the team fake a screen one way, then throw the screen back another way. That was a KM staple play.

LOL....rookie OC has created some brand new offense has HIS name....

Hi Kellen!

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Ahhh.... that 23-25 stings you huh..... LOL!!! Your tears taste better than my Thanksgiving meal kid!!

You drink tears?

Weird!

 

[morat1959]

Does is seem like, post 49ers, they just threw away the original game plan and just let Dak play? Early on, it looks like the plan was to run, "dink and dunk," control the TOP and let Defense dictate the outcome. It just appears they seemed to unleash Dak and just said "to hell with it". Thoughts?

We are playing bad teams. How can some folks not see this? When will Dak be “unleashed” on good teams in the playoffs?