Why people be trippin bout the "strength of schedule?"

[shabazz]

Oh wow I had not even noticed that they did it to us anyway.. just moved it up a week. Which I still contend is better than the other way around. Having that meat grinder end on Thanksgiving followed by 10 days off should be superior physically to having it end the week after Thanksgiving. But yeah, Goodell managed to sneak a compressed set of games in there per usual. Female Parent Fornicator!

If Demarcus Lawrence said him and the guys were tired and gassed last season, what will be the outcome this time?

His words.....not mine

 

[RonnieT24]

Maybe I'm missing the obvious, but wouldn't any team that plays on a Thursday night have 3 games in 11 days? I guess the exception would be a bye week on either side of that game.

I mean we have this early in the year too with three games from the 15th - 26th of September because of TNF.

• Week 2: New Orleans Saints (Sun. 9/15, 12:00 p.m. on FOX)
• Week 3: Baltimore Ravens (Sun. 9/22, 3:25 p.m. on FOX)
• Week 4: at New York Giants (Thurs. 9/26, 7:15 p.m. on Prime Video)

Is there just some specific issue around Thanksgiving that I'm missing?

You're not wrong. But two words come to mind about Thanksgiving, rest and recovery. Look at the Raven/Giants two step here. Let's say the Ravens game ends at 7pm central time. A full 4 days will have passed before they kick off on Thursday night against the Giants. Since the Ravens game is at home most of the players will be in their own beds by 10 pm and will not have to sit their battered bodies on a bus to the airport and then on a plane for several hours and MAYBE get into their own beds by 3 am? Anyone who has ever had to take a late flight that lands in the wee hours can attest to what that does to your body. Fast forward to the Thanksgiving pivot. They play a noon game at the Commodores. If that game ends by 4 pm Central, by the time they shower, dress, bus to the airport, fly back lets say that whole process takes 7 hours. They're in their own beds by 11 pm but they're stiffer for having dealt with the whole bus and flight thing after the game. Then they play the 3:00 game on Turkey day. On the surface it would seem like the 4 hours lost rest would be no big deal but you add in the extra 7 hours getting home from the previous game they've really lost 10 or 11 hours. Now I expect them to still spank the Giants on Thanksgiving, but I think playing an actual good team on that schedule is a huge disadvantage. Oh and thanks to the Monday night game this year the Cowboys will play 3 games in TEN days around Thanksgiving. Thanks a lot Goodell.

But all of that only addresses the "rest" part of the equation. The second half is recovery. We know these players come out of games feeling like they've been in several car wrecks. It can take days and sometimes weeks for the body to get right after a game. And then 7 days later to do it again is insane but that's what they get paid for. The Thursday night game compresses one of those recovery weeks which in turn elongates the recovery. Having that happen in September allows 12-15 weeks to get the players' bodies right after going through it. Doing it in early December? Not so much. You get 3-4 weeks to get your body right before the playoffs. For some guys that's more than enough time. For others, not even close. When the Cowboys have drawn that Thursday night game the week AFTER Thanksgiving I just don't think they've been able to get enough guys back right before the playoffs. I think this has had a large part to play in why the teams have looked mostly lethargic in January for the last 20 years.

The bottom line is that the talent level between NFL teams is frightfully even. So everything that impacts player performance must be considered. Anything that gives one team and advantage over the other should be avoided if possible. After watching the Cowboys stumble through that Thanksgiving horror in 2014 after playing the SUNDAY NIGHT GAME at the Giants even Goodell recognized how unfair that was and we've not seen a repeat. That game ended after midnight and the Cowboys did not get back to DFW until 6 am. What showed up at the stadium on Thursday was nothing like the team they truly were. My guess is Jerry had a talk with Goodell about that one..

Obviously all of this is speculation on my part and I am truly relating how my own body would have reacted in those situations to professional athletes which is almost never a true comparison!

 

[kskboys]

Personally, I'm not fretting at all. Looking forward to the first 7 games. Lots of tough defenses in there based on last year. Should give us answers to a lot of questions real fast.

I never do fret over the schedule. I prefer it to be tougher to show our mettle. Can't beat the big dogs, it's time to add the requisite pieces so you can. Of course, you gotta know what those pieces are. Hint: They're not WR's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[kskboys]

You're not wrong. But two words come to mind about Thanksgiving, rest and recovery. Look at the Raven/Giants two step here. Let's say the Ravens game ends at 7pm central time. A full 4 days will have passed before they kick off on Thursday night against the Giants. Since the Ravens game is at home most of the players will be in their own beds by 10 pm and will not have to sit their battered bodies on a bus to the airport and then on a plane for several hours and MAYBE get into their own beds by 3 am? Anyone who has ever had to take a late flight that lands in the wee hours can attest to what that does to your body. Fast forward to the Thanksgiving pivot. They play a noon game at the Commodores. If that game ends by 4 pm Central, by the time they shower, dress, bus to the airport, fly back lets say that whole process takes 7 hours. They're in their own beds by 11 pm but they're stiffer for having dealt with the whole bus and flight thing after the game. Then they play the 3:00 game on Turkey day. On the surface it would seem like the 4 hours lost rest would be no big deal but you add in the extra 7 hours getting home from the previous game they've really lost 10 or 11 hours. Now I expect them to still spank the Giants on Thanksgiving, but I think playing an actual good team on that schedule is a huge disadvantage. Oh and thanks to the Monday night game this year the Cowboys will play 3 games in TEN days around Thanksgiving. Thanks a lot Goodell.

But all of that only addresses the "rest" part of the equation. The second half is recovery. We know these players come out of games feeling like they've been in several car wrecks. It can take days and sometimes weeks for the body to get right after a game. And then 7 days later to do it again is insane but that's what they get paid for. The Thursday night game compresses one of those recovery weeks which in turn elongates the recovery. Having that happen in September allows 12-15 weeks to get the players' bodies right after going through it. Doing it in early December? Not so much. You get 3-4 weeks to get your body right before the playoffs. For some guys that's more than enough time. For others, not even close. When the Cowboys have drawn that Thursday night game the week AFTER Thanksgiving I just don't think they've been able to get enough guys back right before the playoffs. I think this has had a large part to play in why the teams have looked mostly lethargic in January for the last 20 years.

The bottom line is that the talent level between NFL teams is frightfully even. So everything that impacts player performance must be considered. Anything that gives one team and advantage over the other should be avoided if possible. After watching the Cowboys stumble through that Thanksgiving horror in 2014 after playing the SUNDAY NIGHT GAME at the Giants even Goodell recognized how unfair that was and we've not seen a repeat. That game ended after midnight and the Cowboys did not get back to DFW until 6 am. What showed up at the stadium on Thursday was nothing like the team they truly were. My guess is Jerry had a talk with Goodell about that one..

Obviously all of this is speculation on my part and I am truly relating how my own body would have reacted in those situations to professional athletes which is almost never a true comparison!

Most are under 32 YOA. Who needs rest at that age?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[RonnieT24]

Most are under 32 YOA. Who needs rest at that age?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everybody does after participating in 60 car wrecks. Age only determines how MUCH rest one needs. The fact that they need it is not really open for debate.

 

[kskboys]

Everybody does after participating in 60 car wrecks. Age only determines how MUCH rest one needs. The fact that they need it is not really open for debate.

Well, obviously. I think I was being a bit silly, hey?

 

[RonnieT24]

Well, obviously. I think I was being a bit silly, hey?

I thought I played straight man to perfection as well, no?

 

[kskboys]

I thought I played straight man to perfection as well, no?

U dawg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[jazzcat22]

Everybody does after participating in 60 car wrecks. Age only determines how MUCH rest one needs. The fact that they need it is not really open for debate.

Walter Payton after he retired tried car racing.

He was asked what he preferred, hitting a wall at 200 MPH or getting hitting on the sideline by a 250 pound LB at 15 MPH.

He said hitting the wall. Because you are strapped in, as opposed to body parts flying around so anything can happen and get broken.

 

[Sarge]

If you’re good enough, the schedule should not concern you. Having said that, you should be concerned.

 

[visionary]

All i can say is

Welcome back Regular season @RonnieT24 , we will wait for you to disappear once Dak chokes in the playoffs

 

[PAPPYDOG]

Way back in the leather helmet days when I played, we just made it our mission to beat who they put in front of us, never paying much attention to who it was. Now I will say I know the days rest between games is a real issue but if I'm not mistaken the Cowboys didn't get the stupid 3 games in 11 or 12 days around Thanksgiving nonsense this season so they caught a break there. No one will ever convince me that meat grinder does not have lasting effects on the guys' bodies during the stretch run and into the playoffs. So I'm really happy we don't have to do it. That does still mean two Thursday games and I think I heard two Monday night games too but this team should be able to manage that. My main hope is that the Cowboys be the better team come game time. If they are, then they will win most of their games. If they're REALLY good they'll win almost all of them and have HFA in the playoffs. But we won't know the answers to those questions until they play some games. But this business about fretting over how "tough" the schedule is? Man that's for the birds. Line up and play football.

Because our fans fear our QB who sucks against playoff teams.
There are not too many Dogs on the schedule this season.
By week 10, we might be 2-7 and our QB on the bench!

 

[RonnieT24]

All i can say is

Welcome back Regular season @RonnieT24 , we will wait for you to disappear once Dak chokes in the playoffs

Yeah I am still mad at Dak for all those missed tackles and blown coverages in the playoffs. I'll probably never forgive him.

 

[fivetwos]

If I thought they actually had a shot to make a deep playoff run this year I’d be happy about this schedule.

Six of the final nine at home? When does that ever happen? Usually we are blessed with a brutal ending and fade away.

Maybe by some miracle the opposite happens this year, but they need to tread water early on, and many many unexpected things need to go right. Probably too many.

 

[RonnieT24]

Because our fans fear our QB who sucks against playoff teams.
There are not too many Dogs on the schedule this season.
By week 10, we might be 2-7 and our QB on the bench!

Is that the same QB that beat the Eagles, Rams and Lions last season.. Asking for a friend.

 

[RonnieT24]

If I thought they actually had a shot to make a deep playoff run this year I’d be happy about this schedule.

Six of the final nine at home? When does that ever happen? Usually we are blessed with a brutal ending and fade away.

Maybe by some miracle the opposite happens this year, but they need to tread water early on, and many many unexpected things need to go right. Probably too many.

I agree that having the home slate heavy stretch run could change things up some. Also I think having the other Thursday night game not follow an already abbreviated week over Thanksgiving is going to pay dividends for the players' bodies. I'm not going to fall into the trap of condemning them to being a bad team in June. I will decide what I think about them when I see them play and not before. Games are not won in May and June and they certainly aren't won "on paper" which is all this strength of schedule nonsense is.

 

[fivetwos]

I agree that having the home slate heavy stretch run could change things up some. Also I think having the other Thursday night game not follow an already abbreviated week over Thanksgiving is going to pay dividends for the players' bodies. I'm not going to fall into the trap of condemning them to being a bad team in June. I will decide what I think about them when I see them play and not before. Games are not won in May and June and they certainly aren't won "on paper" which is all this strength of schedule nonsense is.

Here’s the problem I’m having….and it’s gonna veer a bit off topic. While I want to be optimistic about certain things going right, it would only enforce the Jones way of being cheap and only drafting and signing their own. I feel as if they have to fail badly before they realize that another strategy has to be implemented and that they aren’t qualified to put together a winner themselves.

Back to originally scheduled programming….Mike could easily lose this team early, but if they can tread water and have that not happen somehow (new defense, OL needs to gel), you never know what could happen in this league. Just wish they didn’t think relying on that was a sound plan.

 

[Jayinem]

I'm not sure why people think Cowboys will be gud, unless they hit on all of their draft picks, and Guyton is more of a project.

The easiest and cheapest position to get a good player is running back, and they couldn't bother in the draft or free agency. It almost seems like they don't care to be good so why should I think they're going to be good?

 

[FVSTONE]

https://www.dallascowboys.com/schedule/

November 18: Houston Texans
November 24: at Washington Commanders
November 28: New York Giants

If the Boys can't find some type of run stopper, is it really going to matter????????? Also, don't forget that it takes roughly two years to fully come back from knee surgery so where does that put our expected two defense starters Treven Diggs & DeMarvion Overshown????????

 

[visionary]

Yeah I am still mad at Dak for all those missed tackles and blown coverages in the playoffs. I'll probably never forgive him.

LOL, youll be first in line clapping (well, behind DakAttack of course because he is an even bigger Dak jock sniffer) when he gets paid 60+ million/y, the franchise be darned