Which (L) Game derailed Dallas's 2013 season?

[Redball Express]

Please don't answer with the last game, because obviously that game ended our season. Lets look deeper then that, which game in your opinion that we lost derailed any chance of success we had, was it the heart breaker against Denver? Or the defensive collapse against Detroit? Or the collapse against Green Bay at home late in the season? You don't have to pick any of these though, you can pick any game we lost.

I'll go first. In my opinion, I think our season was derailed Oct 27, against the Lions on the road. Dallas was 4-3 coming off an impressive win against the hyped up Eagles offense, which was an outstanding defensive effort in which we only allowed the Eagles 3 points.

Everyone was starting to get back on the Dallas bandwagon looking for them to break their mediocre roots, and to finally get back to a dominant team. Until that point, Dallas's season was looking very promising, they were 4-3 and currently had a 2 game winning streak against 2 division rivals. Even though they had 3 losses, most people were still excited because in all their previous losses they took 3 playoff caliber teams to the final second. Many were looking ahead into the upcoming weeks, seeing they had a very realistic chance to reach 6-3 before facing off against an offensive juggernaut in the Saints.

Then reality struck, Dallas was going to be the same mediocre team that we've become accustomed to for the past years. They had the Detroit game well wrapped up, only a minute left and looking superb with a very realistic chance at a 6-3 record. It was time for the HYPE TRAIN! Or so we thought, next thing we know, Tyron Smith gets a holding call on a run to the left and Detroit is getting the ball back with a minute left to win it, and we all know how these things play out for Dallas. A minute later and all our hopes of breaking away from mediocre were washed down the drain, Dallas was now sitting back again at .500.

I think had we not lost the Detroit game, we'd possibly have finished around 10-6 or 11-5 and made the playoffs, instead we finished 8-8. I think that game really took a toll on everyone, especially since it was only 3 weeks after the crushing lose to Denver. I really believe that game derailed our season, and it possibly influenced 2-3 other outcomes during the season, it definitely set the tone for mediocre.

So which game do you guys think was the one to derail our 2013 season?

P.S. - Off season sucks!

I strongly feel it was Denver.

The fact the team played that team so closely..

I think gave many a false sense the Cowboys were for real.

We s9n learned again..

they weren't.

So I think it set false expectations for the players, coaches and media.

That was a critical mistake in this season.

 

[HappyOnions]

That was the Commanders game on 12/22 where Romo did Romo things late in the game. You're getting your games mixed up again. Try to do better.

Yes... Tony Romo barely beat a far inferior team. Good for him. Romo Romo'd away more games this season than he won.

 

[Szczepanik]

I won't say the DET was the worst because it was a relatively close game.

The Green Bay lead getting wasted, and failing to utilize the run game when Murray was doing well was indicative of the coaching staff. That moment ensured me we wouldn't do anything well to get into the post season.

 

[Idgit]

I strongly feel it was Denver.

The fact the team played that team so closely..

I think gave many a false sense the Cowboys were for real.

We s9n learned again..

they weren't.

So I think it set false expectations for the players, coaches and media.

That was a critical mistake in this season.

If that DEN game didn't make the point that we need to defend the pass better, still, I don't know what will. Playing closely doesn't matter if you can't stop them when they're throwing for the wins.

 

[logan]

Detroit, I think. That was the game that showed everyone these were the same old mentally weak Cowboys. The Green Bay game ended up being irrelevant. Even if we had won we still would have needed to beat the Eagles to win the division.

 

[percyhoward]

The Denver loss was a heartbreaker, because it showed us we weren't going anywhere with that defense. It was Romo's second loss with 300+ yards, 4+ TD, and a 140 rating, which is unreal.

A QB has put up those numbers in a game 83 times since 1960. Romo is 1-2, and everyone else is 80-0.

 

[Next Years Champ]

If that DEN game didn't make the point that we need to defend the pass better, still, I don't know what will. Playing closely doesn't matter if you can't stop them when they're throwing for the wins.

oh no doubt.

Thats where we really knew the future.

Many, including me..

thought Dallas had a clue despite the injuries and the defensive breakdowns.

But Hatcher was already losing some steam..

Selvie had sort of popped his bubble after his great start..

..and the Posse that was the rest of the DL and Lber/safeties were just overwhelmed.

 

[StarBoyz83]

Detroit was the most obvious for sure. But you could tell after the first 2 games we were pretty much the same team. Except maybe thinking that we'd have a half decent defense after the fluke in week 1.

 

[theSHOW]

It was the 1st 2 games. We had a huge lead on New York and let them back into the game and held on for a close win at home. Then game 2 vs KC on the road we failed to establish the run. Good teams don't play this. They put teams away and control enough of the clock to help there own teams defense.

 

[SilverStarCowboy]

Detroit and Green Bay...........exposed our coaching

Saints and Chicago................exposed our talent.


Funny thing is that for the most part, we are going to have the exact same players and the exact same coaches for 2014.....................why would we expect a different result?

Very agreeable, the Saints and the Bears were the eye openers for the talent or lack thereof and that doesn't bode well for next Season.

 

[Mr Cowboy]

SD game showed me that an above average QB was all that was needed to shred this defense apart. I felt that we could hang in and beat teams with inferior QB play, but would have a hard time beating a real QB. I was right. We had pretty much a healthy defense when we played SD.

The Detroit game was a heartbreaker, but not unexpected. I posted before the half in the game thread, that we needed to be scoring TDs and not FGs, and I got a responses telling me that I was just a negative poster who was never happy with the team scoring. Well guess what?

 

[Floatyworm]

Can't believe the Saints game isn't getting more votes. That was the beatdown of all beatdowns!!!!! It exposed Jeff Heath as a fraud @ FS. It showed our coaching staff couldn't adjust on the run. They were content in just getting their heads kicked in. We couldn't stop the run.(Not enough talent up front) We couldn't stop the pass. (Passsive scheme)It was pathetic. And you knew from that point we were just gonna be over matched for the rest of the year because of injuries. That people...was the real back breaker!!!!

 

[rynochop]

Im with you on NO game. I actually had a little bit of confidence we could steal that game..what a trainwreck.
I remember being lit pretty good for end of that det game, and even I saw that sneak coming..geez

 

[CyberB0b]

It's short-sided to think 1 game cost us the season.

We converted from a 3-4 to a 4-3, but drafted no defensive linemen. We paid Spencer 10+ million, when guys like Osi, Freeney, Bennett, Avril, and others were signing for about half that. We hired a geriatric defensive coordinator, whose own son had to run him out of town because his defense was so terrible. We randomly changed offensive playcallers. We made the mistake of thinking Jay Ratliff would be a contributor. We made the mistake of thinking Sean Lee could last a whole season.

We didn't get unlucky. We got beat before we even started preseason.

 

[Beast_from_East]

New DC. New play caller. New TE coach. Plus at least one new assistant. That's not 'exact same coaches' by any stretch of the word 'exact' or 'same.'

Criticizing our ability to add talent through the draft, VFA, and CFA is not the same thing as having the 'exact same players,' either. You may be right that we aren't able to add any talent, but you're obviously wrong to suggest the roster won't change.

I'm well aware of the record the last several seasons, but that's not the point of the thread and it wasn't the point of your post. And you weren't even 'just guessing.' You were making a bad argument because you feel like being critical. That's your prerogative, but it being your prerogative doesn't make your logic sound.

I guess you missed the part where I said "for the most part"..............that is synonymous with "mostly".........synonymous with "mainly"..........never said it was 100% exact.

Reading comprehension my friend............don't be so quick to type a snarky response before reading and understanding what you are responding to.

 

[Idgit]

I guess you missed the part where I said "for the most part"..............that is synonymous with "mostly".........synonymous with "mainly"..........never said it was 100% exact.

Reading comprehension my friend............don't be so quick to type a snarky response before reading and understanding what you are responding to.

Ah! My bad. You meant "exactly, for the most part the same." In that context, you're making perfect sense. For the most part.

And by that I mean, exactly none at all.

 

[Hoofbite]

Green Bay. It exposed every single weakness, from poor defense, to the lack of trust in the things that were working to the deplorable clock management.

As bad as the Detroit game was, you could chalk it up to a once in a lifetime miracle win for the Lions. And we did actually recover from that loss to put ourselves in the position to win the division only to blow it in epic fashion to the Packers. A win there and the division was basically ours for the taking.

I thought 2011 against Detroit would have satisfied that quota.

What would take any normal coach 2 lifetimes to achieve has already been accomplished by Jason in just his 3 short years as head coach. He's so far ahead of the game it's laughable.

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

I don't know about derailed. I think our train traveled off track most of the season…
but the chiefs game made me realize where we stood. And the SD game confirmed it.

 

[cajuncocoa]

Detroit was the beginning of the end.

 

[Next Years Champ]

I don't know about derailed. I think our train traveled off track most of the season…
but the chiefs game made me realize where we stood. And the SD game confirmed it.

yep..

hope springs eternal.

DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE

nothing else matters in Dallas.

The problem you have to avoid is to establish good defense while also not dropping your offensive aggression once the defense improves.

That's a problem many teams can't blend well.

They start to play for 24-20 type games scoring wise and thats not the way the league works anymore.