When did we become a team of individuals?

[RainMan]

When did this team lose a "team" mentality?

Remember Bradie James' comment (from the preseason or very, very early in the season) saying we couldn't win like the Patriots? That we couldn't do their "team" stuff? We had too many egos and had to find our own way to win, he said.

Why is this?

This team isn't a collection of personalties that was assembled in one offseason. Largely, the core of the team has been together for some time, and it seemed to have great chemistry ever since Romo took the reigns. The Cowboys' record the latter parts of '06 and in '07 reflects as much. Never last season did I look at this team and think, "Ugh. They're a bunch of prima donnas." They bounced back from every loss (never lost two in a row) and always outplayed inferior competition.

So what's the deal now? Is it the big contracts everyone now has? Was it the celebrity of Hard Knocks? Did Pacman singlehandedly ruin the team structure?

This has been driving me crazy for weeks and I just can't surmise an answer. We went from being a good team with a few personalities to a team that can't win as a team? I especially don't get it since Pacman, Zach Thomas and Felix were our only significant offseason additions. The core of this team has been in place for years, so why the sudden shift?

 

[dadymat]

I dont know im still stunned by the sudden turn this thing has taken..............

 

[Boysboy]

When did this team lose a "team" mentality?

Remember Bradie James' comment (from the preseason or very, very early in the season) saying we couldn't win like the Patriots? That we couldn't do their "team" stuff? We had too many egos and had to find our own way to win, he said.

Why is this?

This team isn't a collection of personalties that was assembled in one offseason. Largely, the core of the team has been together for some time, and it seemed to have great chemistry ever since Romo took the reigns. The Cowboys' record the latter parts of '06 and in '07 reflects as much. Never last season did I look at this team and think, "Ugh. They're a bunch of prima donnas." They bounced back from every loss (never lost two in a row) and always outplayed inferior competition.

So what's the deal now? Is it the big contracts everyone now has? Was it the celebrity of Hard Knocks? Did Pacman singlehandedly ruin the team structure?

This has been driving me crazy for weeks and I just can't surmise an answer. We went from being a good team with a few personalities to a team that can't win as a team? I especially don't get it since Pacman, Zach Thomas and Felix were our only significant offseason additions. The core of this team has been in place for years, so why the sudden shift?

IMHO-while you have some good points, the structure and the weak mental aspect of this team have been going on since the Parcells-era. For example, regardless the coach, we would always crack in Dec. And it's not like we always bounced back after a loss and trounced an inferior opponent. Remember we lost to the lowly Lions at home after getting trounced by the Eagles at home on xmas.

Pt being that this isn't exactly some strange phenomenon that's developed over the last couple of weeks. They've been on the bubble for a long while, until the straw eventually broke the camel's back. A nucleus developed for awhile now? Seriously-GOOD nucleuses don't crash and burn in Dec and beyond, period.

Big contracts? Hardly-there are teams with locker room issues et al b/c their respective FOs are *cheap*, so I can't see how Jerry being generous would make things worse.

Hard Knocks? So were we doing Hard Knocks when we became the first NFC #1 seeded team to go 1 and done in the playoffs? Did we do Hard Knocks during the Tuna-era?

Pacman ruining the team structure? Hardly...with Newman out, would we REALLY have succeeded with Henry playing man, 2 rookie corners, and Alan Ball? The Pac has majority of our passes defended-we prolly would have chalked up 2 more losses.

So all in all...these issues have existed for a long time. If the best leaders we can offer are Bradie James(he was a PARCELLS pick, sorry you Parcells-apologists), this also explains why we were in trouble since day 1.

 

[THUMPER]

When did this team lose a "team" mentality

When Jimmy Johnson left. :bang2: :bang2: :bang2:

Jerry has "Steinbrenner's Disease", the idea that if you just bring in enough big name players you will win championships. That is NOT how football is played but Jerry still doesn't seem to understand that. He may not have it to the extent that Danny Snyder does but it is still there.

Bringing in Parcells was a good attempt at fixing the problem but BP has "old man's disease" now and wasn't willing to lead the team the way he did back in the day.

Guys like Deion Sanders, Terrell Owens, Adam Jones, etc. are talented players but they are not TEAM players and the other players on the team resent the special treatment they receive(ed). They may not come out and say that but they do. No one who is part of a team appreciates it when other players are shown favoritism or get away with stuff that they don't.

There is always a "star system" on every team where the truly talented players get a little bit more leeway but not to the extent that ours do. When Deion or Owens can "go directly to the owner" it undermines any authority the coaching staff might have had and circumvents the entire TEAM concept.

Jerry's problem is that the Cowboys are his toy. He always wanted to play in the NFL but never got the chance, now he has an opportunity to be "one of the Boys" and he is taking full advantage of it.

Initially, it was fun because his college buddy, Jimmy Johnson, was running the team and they were winning! But then their egos clashed over who was getting the credit for the success and that was the end of it. Since then, Jerry has tried to run the team and has had no success whatsoever (except for the 1995 SB which was won with mostly Jimmy's players and assistant coaches).

I am beginning to wonder if this team will ever win another championship with Jerry as the owner/GM. Not that I have lost all hope or even given up on this season, but this team is NOT living up to its talent level and that is quite demoralizing.

There, that's my rant for the morning.

 

[Mojoscowboys43]

The perception of the Cowboys being a "me first" team and a team full of prima donnas is completely media driven. This was never a concern until Romo went on vacation with Jessica Simpson. This wasnt even a concern when we signed Owens. Our quarterback went on vacation with his girlfriend during a bye week, and took a few teamates with him. This happens every year, with just about every team. But no one notices it until a member from the Cowboys does it.
I dont think this is a team full of prima donnas, and I dont think this is a team that is full of guys out trying to pad their stats. These excuses are all media based and are drawn up by people that know absolutely nothing about football. My point is this: none of us have a ******** clue why were not playing well, we just have opinions. Were not at practice, were not on the sidelines. So heres mine: these guys are playing hard. They play with intensity. The problem is that were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Our coverages are disguised poorly. If I was an NFL quarterback playing against us, it would not be hard for me to find the holes in our defense. Our guys dont know where they are supposed to be. We dont run the ball enough. We stray from our lanes in kickoff coverage. Why didnt Felix Jones have any carries against Washington? These are my concerns, not the heart of this team.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

DROP the team and that is what we have become

 

[theebs]

I could tell you exactly when, But I will spare everyone.

 

[Bach]

When Jimmy Johnson left. :bang2: :bang2: :bang2:

Jerry has "Steinbrenner's Disease", the idea that if you just bring in enough big name players you will win championships. That is NOT how football is played but Jerry still doesn't seem to understand that. He may not have it to the extent that Danny Snyder does but it is still there.

Bringing in Parcells was a good attempt at fixing the problem but BP has "old man's disease" now and wasn't willing to lead the team the way he did back in the day.

Guys like Deion Sanders, Terrell Owens, Adam Jones, etc. are talented players but they are not TEAM players and the other players on the team resent the special treatment they receive(ed). They may not come out and say that but they do. No one who is part of a team appreciates it when other players are shown favoritism or get away with stuff that they don't.

There is always a "star system" on every team where the truly talented players get a little bit more leeway but not to the extent that ours do. When Deion or Owens can "go directly to the owner" it undermines any authority the coaching staff might have had and circumvents the entire TEAM concept.

Jerry's problem is that the Cowboys are his toy. He always wanted to play in the NFL but never got the chance, now he has an opportunity to be "one of the Boys" and he is taking full advantage of it.

Initially, it was fun because his college buddy, Jimmy Johnson, was running the team and they were winning! But then their egos clashed over who was getting the credit for the success and that was the end of it. Since then, Jerry has tried to run the team and has had no success whatsoever (except for the 1995 SB which was won with mostly Jimmy's players and assistant coaches).

I am beginning to wonder if this team will ever win another championship with Jerry as the owner/GM. Not that I have lost all hope or even given up on this season, but this team is NOT living up to its talent level and that is quite demoralizing.

There, that's my rant for the morning.

You had me at 'hello'.

 

[Apollo Creed]

I could tell you exactly when, But I will spare everyone.

I'm rather curious, and I seriously hope you aren't insinuating when we added the player that elevated us from an average 9-7 team to a 13-3 offensive juggernaut.

 

[STSINAZ]

When did this team lose a "team" mentality?

Remember Bradie James' comment (from the preseason or very, very early in the season) saying we couldn't win like the Patriots? That we couldn't do their "team" stuff? We had too many egos and had to find our own way to win, he said.

Why is this?

This team isn't a collection of personalties that was assembled in one offseason. Largely, the core of the team has been together for some time, and it seemed to have great chemistry ever since Romo took the reigns. The Cowboys' record the latter parts of '06 and in '07 reflects as much. Never last season did I look at this team and think, "Ugh. They're a bunch of prima donnas." They bounced back from every loss (never lost two in a row) and always outplayed inferior competition.

So what's the deal now? Is it the big contracts everyone now has? Was it the celebrity of Hard Knocks? Did Pacman singlehandedly ruin the team structure?

This has been driving me crazy for weeks and I just can't surmise an answer. We went from being a good team with a few personalities to a team that can't win as a team? I especially don't get it since Pacman, Zach Thomas and Felix were our only significant offseason additions. The core of this team has been in place for years, so why the sudden shift?

Injuries effected depth and that has effected the play. We are the walking wounded. Flo guro kosier romo hurd felix witten. All hurt. Burnett wat roy w pac gone. Newman. Henry. Bradie. Ellis spencer. Ncbriar. Folk. K davis. That's why we can't run anymore because we are too injured to block. That's why we can't pass anymore. No time. That's why we are terrible at s teams. That's why we can't cover. What's wrong with you people. 18 people are hurt or gone. Do you realize that? Am I in the twilight zone. No its 19 I forgot about tank and I am conceding that barber and rat are ok from their previous injuries too.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

notice that the comments came from Bradie James. One of the many guys on this team that are probably the most vocal because their talent does not match there mouth. The cowboys have hitched there wagon to too many of the wrong horses. They cannot handle the expectations of winning. Rightly or wrongly ( I say wrongly)....Jerry amped the pressure up on this team by overselling this team, overypaying a lot of guys and bringing in the wrong head coach for the media glare that comes with being Dallas. Many of you have read my post about how many of the guys with average talent on this team need to play above there heads to match the Super Bowl like effort most teams give Dallas. And from the coaching staff on down...there are not enough guys in this lockeroom that can handle that.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

I could tell you exactly when, But I will spare everyone.

We spare no one at the CowboysZone.

 

[Apollo Creed]

Injuries effected depth and that has effected the play. We are the walking wounded. Flo guro kosier romo hurd felix witten. All hurt. Burnett wat roy w pac gone. Newman. Henry. Bradie. Ellis spencer. Ncbriar. Folk. K davis. That's why we can't run anymore because we are too injured to block. That's why we can't pass anymore. No time. That's why we are terrible at s teams. That's why we can't cover. What's wrong with you people. 18 people are hurt or gone. Do you realize that? Am I in the twilight zone. No its 19 I forgot about tank and I am conceding that barber and rat are ok from their previous injuries too.

Usually a plague of injuries to that many players isn't indicative of bad luck, its an obvious sign of poor conditioning.

 

[theebs]

Injuries effected depth and that has effected the play. We are the walking wounded. Flo guro kosier romo hurd felix witten. All hurt. Burnett wat roy w pac gone. Newman. Henry. Bradie. Ellis spencer. Ncbriar. Folk. K davis. That's why we can't run anymore because we are too injured to block. That's why we can't pass anymore. No time. That's why we are terrible at s teams. That's why we can't cover. What's wrong with you people. 18 people are hurt or gone. Do you realize that? Am I in the twilight zone. No its 19 I forgot about tank and I am conceding that barber and rat are ok from their previous injuries too.

Did ya see what buffalo did last year? Did ya see what buffalo did to san diego this week with a bunch of injuries?

Everyone has injuries.

 

[Doomsday101]

Moose kind of touched on this during the game as guys are free lancing too much and blowing their assignments in the process. Defensively guys have got to maintain their responsibilities not run around chasing the ball.

 

[SultanOfSix]

This team is mentally weak. But, I think it also suffers from a lack of confidence in the coaching staff, particularly Stewart and Read. Now that they have been demoted, we will see if this has an impact and that they will trust their teammates in maintaining their assignments. All professional sports games are highly mental.

This team also doesn't seem to have the understanding that the little things matter, except for a few players. The extra effort to jump on a ball (uhum, Gurode), the lack of a keep working attitude of Ratliffe for other members of a team, paying attention to details when waiting for a snap count, not protecting the ball appropriately (uhumm, Crayton with his one handed crap on punt returns), etc. These things add up eventually and cost games.

 

[Dave_in-NC]

Did ya see what buffalo did last year? Did ya see what buffalo did to san diego this week with a bunch of injuries?

Everyone has injuries.

You didn't get the memo? We are THE only team in the NFL that has injuries.
Not the Pats, Buffalo or any one, just us.

Luckily we ARE the only team with Jerry Jones as GM.
:bang2:

 

[ElvisNixon1]

When did this team lose a "team" mentality?

When Tom Landry left.

 

[Alexander]

This has been driving me crazy for weeks and I just can't surmise an answer. We went from being a good team with a few personalities to a team that can't win as a team? I especially don't get it since Pacman, Zach Thomas and Felix were our only significant offseason additions. The core of this team has been in place for years, so why the sudden shift?

Coach Parcells leaving is what did it. Installing Phillips who allows people to "be themselves" and "men to be men" is exactly what has slowly allowed the mentality he tried so hard to install deteriorate.

It will not change until the personnel changes, I am afraid. Until weak "leaders" like Greg Ellis and Roy Williams move along, this is what we should expect.

That would be one area I would target in April. Leaders and team players who get literally sick if they lose, regardless of the position. Just getting talented individuals who don't have themselves mentally squared away is not a solution.

 

[Boysboy]

Did ya see what buffalo did last year? Did ya see what buffalo did to san diego this week with a bunch of injuries?

Everyone has injuries.

Now wait a minute-you said that injuries derailed our (promising) '05 season.

Now you're saying our current injuries are no excuse?

You can't have it both ways.