Win NFC East or Bust

[Diehardblues]

Well , that's not optimal.
I said in another thread that Jerry's good ship lollypop demeanor trickles down to the team.
Great teams play with an attitude and an edge that our teams seem to lack.
Jimmy's team played with swagger.

There is no optimal option with our toxic ownership.

Our franchise isn’t the same one we had decades ago. Fans must come to terms with it,

 

[rambo2]

Why are the really good regular season Cowboys so soft in the playoffs?

Were they soft last year?

 

[DandyDon52]

The Cowboys have had the top seed twice in the 2000s. Top seeds have only lost twice in the divisional round in the 2000s. Both times it was the Cowboys.

Seeding doesn't win anything. How you're playing in January does. McCarthy's SB win came as a 6-seed. They won 3 road games to get to the SB.

both of those were sort of rare , and last season to be more current, both top seeds made the SB.

 

[Loso86]

I’m an old local diehard going back to the early 60’s so hopping on another team isn’t an option. I know many fans around the country have abandoned their local or regional team to be a fan of Americas Team.

These last 3 decades have been very difficult to have more faith and I’ve become more of an apathetic fan. Fortunately I’ve had some experience supporting a less successful team as my Alma Mater for most of my life has been a Dormant and hapless football program.

Sure

 

[rambo2]

I’m an old local diehard going back to the early 60’s so hopping on another team isn’t an option. I know many fans around the country have abandoned their local or regional team to be a fan of Americas Team.

These last 3 decades have been very difficult to have more faith and I’ve become more of an apathetic fan. Fortunately I’ve had some experience supporting a less successful team as my Alma Mater for most of my life has been a Dormant and hapless football program.

Look alive man. Your Cowboys are good and exciting. A great time to be a Cowboys fan.

 

[john van brocklin]

There is no optimal option with our toxic ownership.

Our franchise isn’t the same one we had decades ago. Fans must come to terms with it,

I accept it, but I will never embrace it.

 

[john van brocklin]

Hard to play with a swagger when your coach is a puppet.

The dysfunctional ownership is a hurdle this team has not been able to overcome for 28 years and counting.

 

[Diehardblues]

Look alive man. Your Cowboys are good and exciting. A great time to be a Cowboys fan.

Maybe for you but compared to the first 4 decades this era has been very disappointing and frustrating.

 

[rambo2]

Maybe for you but compared to the first 35 years this era has been very disappointing and frustrating.

Lol, I love it. I love the ride. I love that we have won 5 Super Bowls with more to come. How can you not love it? We are as good as it gets. The 6th is coming. Now is the time to get excited.

 

[DandyDon52]

Top NFC seed in 2007.

Top NFC seed in 2016.

I would rather the team finish runner up in the NFC East, hungry, harden and prepped for a playoff run--than play for #1 seed in the conference and lack the fire of their fellow six playoff contenders.

good point, but in those years,07-16 it was the coaches and jerry that didnt establish the right culture, and the coaches who just
were not good in those 2 games.

 

[GMO415]

NFCE? Some people just have no expiations.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

Firing your HC and QB with a consistent playoff caliber team is insanity.

Exactly and it's not going to happen. However, I don't see MM getting an extension unless we play in the NFCCG. If that happens, I think JJ will gladly extend him after the season but if we go one and done, I think Jerry will make him play the last year of his contract as a lame-duck coach. As for Dak, things can get interesting, especially regarding his value. If we see A REPEAT of last year's playoff, I can see them saying yes we wanna keep him for NOT top 5 money. Of course, it we get to NFCCG, all bets are off, and Dak can pretty much write his price ( likely top 3 money ). JMO

 

[Hawkeye0202]

Not sure how we can be a SB team if we can’t even win our division which we aren’t expected to do?

As a rule, I agree but it's very possible we can have a top 3-4 NFC record and still not win the division coz of the Eagles. In other words, we can be 3rd or 2nd best team in the conference and make playoffs as a Wildcard and still be fav against a couple of division winners........unlikely but certain not impossible.

BTW.......I have said for many years, that our first priority is to win the division ( hopefully sweep ), get a few more wins, and let the chips fall during the playoffs.

 

[LysleE]

In seasons past, Dak and the Cowboys feasted on a weak NFC East; last year Dallas was the 2nd best in their division; and now they might be relegated to 3rd best this season given the improved Giants team. Maybe Dallas is the 3-4th best team in the NFC. It seems to me Dallas is stagnating while other teams are improving: Jacksonville and Detroit come to mind.
A lot of pundits, talking heads and fans talk about all the talent Dallas possesses; the FO talks playoffs and Super Bowl with good reason…it sells tickets and we all know how Jerry feels about selling. But what good is talent without the proper motivation, coaching and utilization of said talent? This is what the Cowboys lack. This is the difference between Dallas and the premiere teams in the NFL.
I think this season there is going to be a dogfight for both the Division and Conference. While I will remain positive about the Cowboys’ chances to not only reach the playoffs, but win; history has proven otherwise.

 

[Diehardblues]

In seasons past, Dak and the Cowboys feasted on a weak NFC East; last year Dallas was the 2nd best in their division; and now they might be relegated to 3rd best this season given the improved Giants team. Maybe Dallas is the 3-4th best team in the NFC. It seems to me Dallas is stagnating while other teams are improving: Jacksonville and Detroit come to mind.
A lot of pundits, talking heads and fans talk about all the talent Dallas possesses; the FO talks playoffs and Super Bowl with good reason…it sells tickets and we all know how Jerry feels about selling. But what good is talent without the proper motivation, coaching and utilization of said talent? This is what the Cowboys lack. This is the difference between Dallas and the premiere teams in the NFL.
I think this season there is going to be a dogfight for both the Division and Conference. While I will remain positive about the Cowboys’ chances to not only reach the playoffs, but win; history has proven otherwise.

Excellent point.

So much in this forum is made of how much our team has improved we rarely discuss how much the rest of our division and conference has improved .

 

[Diehardblues]

Exactly and it's not going to happen. However, I don't see MM getting an extension unless we play in the NFCCG. If that happens, I think JJ will gladly extend him after the season but if we go one and done, I think Jerry will make him play the last year of his contract as a lame-duck coach. As for Dak, things can get interesting, especially regarding his value. If we see A REPEAT of last year's playoff, I can see them saying yes we wanna keep him for NOT top 5 money. Of course, it we get to NFCCG, all bets are off, and Dak can pretty much write his price ( likely top 3 money ). JMO

Very good points …Could be ..

I’ve always thought that this was an opportunity for McCarthy to increase interest around the league which there wasn’t much before we hired him. If it ends well here I see him going elsewhere.

Otherwise this era under Jethro has mainly been a graveyard for HC’s and basically a last gasp or stop. Only Jimmy and Gailey have gone on to be HC’s elsewhere and it took Chan about 10 years to get another shot after a good run at Ga Tech.