Why didn't the Cowboys fight back like the 49ers did?

[dacoming]

Both the Cowboys and 49ers were playing at home. Both teams were down by multiple scores.

One roared back behind timely defensive stops and a few momentum changing plays. The other went out with a whimper.

What is the source of the contrast? Is it talent? Is it intestinal fortitude?

I'll say this, Shanahan looked like you could fry an egg on his forehead at the end of the 1st half. He was visibly perturbed. I wish I could hear his halftime speech because his players, his leaders like Deebo, came out with a chip on their shoulder in the 3rd quarter. Top, down they have something that is a completely foreign concept in Dallas - football character.

Cowboys need to spend all offseason dissecting what is preventing them from fighting back when they are put in a corner like the 49ers did last night.

No heart

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

A lot of people will blame Dak, but in reality the 9ers defense making stops early in the 3rd was what gave them a legit shot at coming back.

And Purdy leading his offense to scores....helps too, don't you think?

 

[Nova]

Detroit helped the 49ers out a lot in that 3rd quarter.

this and /thread

I'm all for bashing our grit, but the 9ers had a lot of luck go their way.

A dropped 4th down conversion
A freak play resulting from what should've been an int.
A fumble in their own end.
A dropped 3rd down conversion

 

[EPL0c0]

This X 1,000,000,000

The Niners believed in their QB/Captain and played accordingly

Our guys clearly did not

That's why they thought they could still win and we folded. So sick of hearing about daks over hyped "leadership" cred. What a joke. There's maybe 5 guys in that locker room that truly trust him. Everyone else knew it was over the minute he threw that pick 6.

It wasn't Dak that gave up 5.6yd/carry and 3TDs to Aaron Jones.

 

[Aven8]

They got punched in the mouth by Brandon Jacobs and the NY Giants for years, we blamed it on Coach Cupcake.

They got punched in the mouth in the Romo years, we blamed the QB and a robotic head coach.

Here we are, it's happening again with an entirely different core/staff. Including a DC who had Seattle playing with incredible swagger for years and even took the lowly Falcons to the Super Bowl.

Demarcus Ware gets criticized for years for not showing up in big games, then shows up expediously in Denver.

I just don't get this franchise anymore. It seems everything we touch dies.

It’s the culture. Nothing can change it outside of a Parcell’s style Coach. That’s why we should have gotten Bill. But they don’t want to change. They just want to be relevant and do it their way.

 

[Zordon]

I think our defense basically quit.

My guess is they got wind of Quinn leaving and pouted so badly they couldn't even play. Which is of course ridiculous and unacceptable.

But I don't think it was just a bad day. Something else was going on.

I think the defense had a fatal weakness this year that was masked often times by an offense that could get rolling and overwhelm teams. When Dak in the Headlights showed up the weak spine of the defense got exposed and they just folded.

 

[CowboyoWales]

The better the competition, the more important mentality and toughness is over talent. In the playoffs, that ratchets it up even more.

Yep, there's less margin for error. Its similar to the Dak struggling over the last couple of play-off loses when needing a game winning TD in 2 minute offense....the focus and pressure's on .... usually against a better defense than usually faced in regular season.

 

[Beaker42]

Both the Cowboys and 49ers were playing at home. Both teams were down by multiple scores.

One roared back behind timely defensive stops and a few momentum changing plays. The other went out with a whimper.

What is the source of the contrast? Is it talent? Is it intestinal fortitude?

I'll say this, Shanahan looked like you could fry an egg on his forehead at the end of the 1st half. He was visibly perturbed. I wish I could hear his halftime speech because his players, his leaders like Deebo, came out with a chip on their shoulder in the 3rd quarter. Top, down they have something that is a completely foreign concept in Dallas - football character.

Cowboys need to spend all offseason dissecting what is preventing them from fighting back when they are put in a corner like the 49ers did last night.

Gutless, spineless, loser pu$$ie$.

 

[Zordon]

I think our defense basically quit.

My guess is they got wind of Quinn leaving and pouted so badly they couldn't even play. Which is of course ridiculous and unacceptable.

But I don't think it was just a bad day. Something else was going on.

But why? lol

They got everything they wanted with the #2 seed.

The sensitivity from Lamb was so perplexing. They've been known about Quinn inevitably leaving for 2 years.

The weakness from this group is sickening! We all thought this would end when the old core exited, but it's Groundhog Day around here.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I think the defense had a fatal weakness this year that was masked often times by an offense that could get rolling and overwhelm teams. When Dak in the Headlights showed up the weak spine of the defense got exposed and they just folded.

I do think Dak brings the whole team down when he goes on brainlock like that.

But other than the Bills game, which was just one of those games, the defense was pretty good late in the year. Miami and Detroit have two of the best offenses in the league and the D held them down pretty well. The offense was what struggled in those games.

But in the playoff game they barely even played. Five TDs in the first six drives is a joke. And it's not even like GB had to work very hard for those scores. Something else was going on.

 

[Captain-Crash]

I think Jerry called down to the team and told them to take it easy for the next game. He said this one didn't matter, and for dak to keep choking this game did not matter.

He told quinn medicine woman to try out some new crap too.

 

[CowboyoWales]

But why? lol

They got everything they wanted with the #2 seed.

The sensitivity from Lamb was so perplexing. They've been known about Quinn inevitably leaving for 2 years.

The weakness from this group is sickening! We all thought this would end when the old core exited, but it's Groundhog Day around here.

Yep, it was Lamb doing a Dez/ Amari.

 

[Vanilla2]

Detroit helped the 49ers out a lot in that 3rd quarter.

Dan Campbell is an idiot

 

[Chocolate Lab]

The sensitivity from Lamb was so perplexing. They've been known about Quinn inevitably leaving for 2 years.

The weakness from this group is sickening! We all thought this would end when the old core exited, but it's Groundhog Day around here.

In theory, yes, but this was the first time Quinn had multiple interviews lined up and it really looked like he was gone, like he wanted out. I suspect the players heard it and felt sorry for themselves.

I don't think it helps a bit that right after the game, all the guns were trained on the coaches. The media couldn't wait to run to Jerry and ask if Mike was gone. The players always escape serious scrutiny bc the drama is always when is the coach getting fired and who will replace him.

 

[zrinkill]

I hate when people ask leading questions to make an obvious point.

49'rs are a much better team than the Cowboys ...... we are the Glass Joe of the NFL

 

[btgboys41]

Yep, there's less margin for error. Its similar to the Dak struggling over the last couple of play-off loses when needing a game winning TD in 2 minute offense....the focus and pressure's on .... usually against a better defense than usually faced in regular season.

Yep and these are better defenses that have overcome lots of adversity and tests. The Cowboys got bloated mentally beating up on crap teams. They never really established a grind mode. They mostly got their doors blown off, or destroyed bad teams.

 

[Chuck 54]

Niners were down by 17. We were down by 27.

We have a QB who is a deer in the headlights. The team knew it. After Dak's first INT at the 20, everyone and their mom's knew the game was over. Same story ... same ending.

It helps that SF had a defense that didn't let the score get entirely away from them.
It also helped that Detroit fumbled a handoff that led to 7 points and that receivers dropped passes.
It also helped that Purdy threw three ints that hit defenders right in the hands that were all dropped in addition to the actual int. He had 4 the previous week. His lucky int drops allowed him to make 2-3 plays to win the game instead of getting the "choker" label. It's still a team game.

 

[Cmac]

Yep

Might explain the woes this team yields......can't look beyond one (1) player's flaws. Everybody else on the team is apparently immune to the reveals, reality, and displays on film too. Gpt it.

 

[acr731]

The simple answer is Dallas has a roster full of players who don't want it bad enough. They lack the passion and desire to fight for anything other than their paychecks. This isn't anything new either, it goes back to at least 2007. Remember that team? This was the last time Dallas had a #1 seed and where was the focus? It wasn't on the playoffs or a super bowl, it was a trip to Cabo and other vacations.

 

[MyFairLady]

Didn't you hear all is good we like our guys and we are gonna run it back.