We are reminded every week that the NFL is extremely unpredictable. Most fans look at the schedule when it is released and immediately declare the wins and losses the Cowboys will have for the upcoming season. As if nothing has changed in the off-season. Every week the NFL reminds us that this is a very fluid and unpredictable league.
After last night’s gritty win vs the chargers, the Cowboys have completed approximately 36% of the season. Think about that. 64% of the season lies in front of us. And although we are still trying to figure out what this team is and can be, we can see some patterns developing. The key word is
developing because every team develops as the season progresses.
Here are some patterns I see with Cowboys (and other rivals) so far- good and not so good.
- The Cowboys best side of the ball is their defense. And it is not a great defense…yet. Still developing some young players.
- The offense is struggling to find its rhythm. But remember, this is a NEW offense and it appears to me the players are still trying to figure it out. But it’s time to step up.
- The Cowboys running game so far has been anemic. Is it the OL? The RBs? Both?
- The Cowboys have found a reliably outstanding kicker in Brandon Aubrey.
- The Cowboys have a penalty problem. (No the refs are not “out to get us”) The lack of discipline is a real problem.
- Opposing offenses have found ways to negate Micah Parsons at times. Can Dan Quinn find ways to respond?
- The eagles are 5-1 but they have problems too. Jalen Hurts has thrown 7 interceptions (3 more than Dak) and they have some mounting injuries.
- The Cowboys are still trying to figure themselves out. This is a different team than last year.
We have completed 36% of the season. This team (and all NFL teams) are evolving and developing. Don’t look at the rest of the schedule and pick wins and losses. None of us know what is going to happen. And that makes it very entertaining!
There are lots of other patterns. What are some you see?
1. The defense is lining up offsides a lot. There have been several penalties related to that and several times where it looked like a Cowboy player was lined up in the neutral zone. That’s just lack of focus.
2. DQ went from appearing almost invincible as a defensive coordinator to mortal just like every other DC.
3. Tyron is so done and has been for three years. It’s time to relegate Tyron to backup duty. Zack Martin is no longer the best guard in the league either. OL in general looks pretty iffy.
4. Running game looks poor. It’s hard to say why but it looks like several things are out of whack here. Pollard is part of that but not all of it.
5. The entire team seems to be acting like it is pressing too hard and as a result the final product is worse, not better.
6. On defense we could use better corner play (from Lewis and Gilmore) and some help at linebacker. I didn’t think that Diggs would make THIS much difference on defense all by himself.
7. You see an occasional play from Tank, but you don’t see his name called as often as you would expect for a guy with his cap hit.
8. M. Smith is a year away right now. Hankins is way overplaying his contract numbers.
9. I still think the defense can be elite. They just need to stop pressing and be assignment sound.
10. I’m remaining open minded on MM the play caller. At times he looks pretty bad, but this team could make any play caller look bad.
11. What happened to the MM run routes that we ran earlier this year? It’s like hey it worked, let’s never run them again.
12. If we are going to win with Dak at QB consistently, Daknis going to have to run the ball, intentionally about 5-6 times per game to keep defenses honest. QB runs demoralize a defense.
13. If Dak runs the ball more, maybe it opens up the running game via the backs.
14. Glad to see they are finally incorporating Cooks into the game plan.
