We have overperformed this year.

[Cowboy Brian]

I make this statement fully understanding the amount of flame that will come my way. However let me defend it:

Last year we were a 6-10 team, with no direction, careless players and discraceful coaching.

This year we are a team that is rebuilding, with a new head coach with his first head coaching gig with a few good veteran players(Austin, Ware, Romo, Witten) but a lot of holes. We do have a bright future with players such as Murray, Bryant, Lee, Bailey and Smith emerging however we have liabilities such as Free, a declining Ratliff, a sub-par pass rush outside of Ware and a ton more.

Quite frankly we have too many questions to be a super bowl contender. We have too many issues to even be a legitimate playoff team. I said we were rebuilding before the season and I stand by this now. We could easily win out and enter the playoffs, but I don't think we will make much of a run. We have many holes to fill.

Did Garrett cost us a playoff birth with coaching mistakes? Yes.
Is it to Garrets credit that we were even in the playoff discussion to begin with? Yes.

 

[casmith07]

Well if that's the case Miles Austin certainly had no hand in the overachieving this year.

 

[SDCowboy]

Well if that's the case Miles Austin certainly had no hand in the overachieving this year.

:laugh2:That's not nice to do to R2A.

 

[Hoofbite]

Bull****.

 

[Tricericon]

I make this statement fully understanding the amount of flame that will come my way. However let me defend it:

Last year we were a 6-10 team, with no direction, careless players and discraceful coaching.

This year we are a team that is rebuilding, with a new head coach with his first head coaching gig with a few good veteran players(Austin, Ware, Romo, Witten) but a lot of holes. We do have a bright future with players such as Murray, Bryant, Lee, Bailey and Smith emerging however we have liabilities such as Free, a declining Ratliff, a sub-par pass rush outside of Ware and a ton more.

Quite frankly we have too many questions to be a super bowl contender. We have too many issues to even be a legitimate playoff team. I said we were rebuilding before the season and I stand by this now. We could easily win out and enter the playoffs, but I don't think we will make much of a run. We have many holes to fill.

Did Garrett cost us a playoff birth with coaching mistakes? Yes.
Is it to Garrets credit that we were even in the playoff discussion to begin with? Yes.

This is wrong. It's normal for teams coming off of one down year - especially one fueled by injuries! - to rebound sharply. Garrett is neither to credit nor to blame for the improvement from last year or dropoff from '09 - he's Just Another Coach.

You'll have a tough time arguing he cost us a playoff berth, either, since we still ain't dead yet.

 

[CATCH17]

We have solid talent.

The teams who minimize mistakes win in this league.

Look at the Bronco's and 49ers right now for example.


If the Cowboys weren't incredibly mistake prone they would be fighting for a 1st round bye right now.

 

[ShiningStar]

I ant agree fully, there is no reason this team shouldnt have 10 wins by now, its a horrible defense, let me explain, should have won a few of the games we lost, lets not bring up the Cardinals, and won the games we should have won, and didnt win the game we had a chance of winning.

What is irking me is the state of which the Cowboys are in, and players and coaches should pay the price come offseason.

 

[RS12]

You are what your record says you are.

 

[The Emperor]

I don't think we've overperformed.

I think we're right on target.

 

[Cowboy Brian]

Bull****.

I don't like to think about it either, but it's true. We are not an elite team. We are missing something, and what it is I could not tell you.

 

[ShiningStar]

I don't like to think about it either, but it's true. We are not an elite team. We are missing something, and what it is I could not tell you.

we are missing a lot not one player, not one coach, a few good parts. We as fans cant accept it, but come offseason maybe Garrett and RR will see it from the film as well.

 

[jimmy40]

I see an underperforming team myself.

 

[casmith07]

In all seriousness I think we're right where we should be. Good, not great, building, and headed in the right direction.

Yes we have some holes, and we have some positions that need to be upgraded due to age or free agency, but we're doing things right and opting to build through the draft instead of free agency.

 

[Doomsay]

Overperform is not even a word.

 

[CATCH17]

In all seriousness I think we're right where we should be. Good, not great, building, and headed in the right direction.

Yes we have some holes, and we have some positions that need to be upgraded due to age or free agency, but we're doing things right and opting to build through the draft instead of free agency.

I actually watched the season and we are not at all where we should be.

 

[Eskimo]

I think there is some legitimacy to what R2A writes. Unfortunately Jerry made many poor personnel decisions in FA from 2007-9. The biggest mistakes were the contracts given to Barber, the trade for RW11 compounded by that contract, contract for Bigg Davis, drafting Felix (don't draft backups in the first), drafting MartyB (don't draft backups in the second), drafting ST players in 2009 and failing to draft OL.

I do think we are finally headed in the right direction for the organization starting with the 2010 draft. This conintued with the firing of Wade, the 2011 draft, releasing poor, overpaid players (Bigg, Barber, Columbo, RW11, Flo, Hamlin, Gurode), dealing with the dead money in 2012 by going cheap this year when we couldn't contend and multiple good low-key moves in the offseason and early season (Fiammetta, Laurent Robinson, Elam) that have given us a better but still flawed roster today.

We still have a roster with some great players and many bad players. The level of play from bad players often cannot be made up by stars just as strong links do not compensate for weak links in a chain-link fence. This is what is wrong with our team. The second thing is wrong is that many of the pieces do not fit together well to make a cohesive unit: the OL we have right now have different strengths and not all of them can play the way Garrett wants, the CBs as a group aren't bad but all of them do different things well. Jenkins likes to press, Oscan is best playing off in zone, Tnew is best in press but is afraid to do so. Holland and Costa's game is power and positioning but Kosier, Smith and Free are best on the move.

I to think it will take a bit of time to make this team a reflection of what Garrett wants. However, I do think he has a vision and I believe he may have Jerry believing in that vision. I think about half of the roster still has to be turned over and we now have the salary cap flexibility needed to do that next season. I think the danger Garrett needs to watch out for is becoming complacent with his vets and not being proactive about trading them while they still have value in a trade instead of extending them just as they are about to decline and eating up cap dollars as dead money - I worry that he has already made this mistake this year with Rat but time will tell. I think we will learn a great deal based on how much they are willing to pay Laurent in FA next year - his value as a player or an exaggerated value based on his production from this year from Romo's improvisation skills.

I do like Garrett's vision on offense. I'm not sure about what Ryan's vision is on defense and maybe he is too hamstrung by the roster to get the results he will get with the players he needs. My one concern for a guy like Ryan is that he will bolt as soon as he has success and that will compromise our continuity so I would seek to replace him with a failed HC who is a great DC as soon as possible - maybe Nolan or Capers can be the guys who build a legacy for Cowboys defense for many years into the future.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

Agree. We have top many holes. If we somehow makes the playoffs it's a successful season in my eyes.

 

[Idgit]

In all seriousness I think we're right where we should be. Good, not great, building, and headed in the right direction.

Yes we have some holes, and we have some positions that need to be upgraded due to age or free agency, but we're doing things right and opting to build through the draft instead of free agency.

I think, and thought, this should have been a 10-6 team. We're performing pretty close to that level right now, but have blown several opportunities to actually overachieve. I think that's been the root of some of the frustration.That said, those individual lapses aren't all that important if we're going about the process of building a championship-calliber team the right way. We'll see what happens.

 

[CowboyStar88]

People keep saying this team over achieved and this is a team on the rebuild we are lucky to be where we are. Well I say bull crap! We have Witten, Romo, Austin, Smith, Bryant, Jones, Robinson, Free, Ware, Jenkins, Lee, Sensy, Elam, Rat etc... On this team. Outside of Smith none of these guys are Rookies and have played in the NFL for a while now. If this team is over achieving and is not a "contender" what does that make the Patriots??? They have a far worse defense then us. Are they not a contender? They have an Elite qb , walker, Hernandez, gronk and a couple of defensive players. I say we have more talent then them and they are a contender.

 

[Idgit]

People keep saying this team over achieved and this is a team on the rebuild we are lucky to be where we are. Well I say bull crap! We have Witten, Romo, Austin, Smith, Bryant, Jones, Robinson, Free, Ware, Jenkins, Lee, Sensy, Elam, Rat etc... On this team. Outside of Smith none of these guys are Rookies and have played in the NFL for a while now. If this team is over achieving and is not a "contender" what does that make the Patriots??? They have a far worse defense then us. Are they not a contender? They have an Elite qb , walker, Hernandez, gronk and a couple of defensive players. I say we have more talent then them and they are a contender.

They're also better coached, with a better QB.