With the team we have right now, how good can we be?

[75boyz]

A one and done playoff pretender.
Not contender. Because they still have:
1. The same GM, who is poor at overall roster construction.

2. The same head coach, who is clueless as a Cowboys playoff HC.
3. The same QB, who sucks at playoff football.
Soooooo...
The answer is same as they've always been.
Or for the last 3 decades anyway.

 

[RonnieT24]

Yes we have some holes that need to be filled, with that said, we have some good players on this team. We have some young players that we'll be counting on as Rookies, and guys that have been here on the team for a few years that we will need major contributions from. With that said, how good can we be, how many games can we actually win with this current team as it is??? Please give your thoughts, let's be positive for once!!

This team will have a top 10 at worst defense, a top 10 at worst QB, a top 5 WR and a top 10 at worst coaching staff. Anything less than 11 wins would be a total shock to me. As for the youngsters needing to step up, I think part of the reason the Cowboys were so willing to let some middling vets walk is that the younguns are talented. Tolbert might not be any more physically gifted than Gallup but he has a more diverse route tree and two healthy knees. Sam Williams is probably more talented than any of the DEs that left. Overshown, Kendricks and Clark will be better than Clark and some safeties. Parsons' body will continue to mature into his grown man body and will wear down a little less every year. Tank will be Tank and Kneeland will spell him and look a lot like Tank. We know we need Osa and Mazi to ball out if the run defense is going to take a step forward.. I choose to think they will. Because Zim will demand it.

 

[RonnieT24]

WASH could easily take a huge step forward.

Maybe if Daniels pulls an RG3 on us.. But I was not impressed with his passing skills in college. I think he's a year or two away from being an NFL passer. He also takes a lot of unnecessary hits very much like RG3. If he don't fix that he too will have a very brief career.

 

[ICP]

Meh

 

[Manster_Mash]

It's a 2 team race. And until Philly shows they are over whatever it was that crippled them last year, then it is the Cowboys division to lose.

I think what crippled them was their secondary, and it looks on paper that they've greatly improved there. And the last time Washington had a threat at QB they cleaned our clock. Both of these are unproven as of now, but very real possibilities for this season.

 

[MWH1967]

Does it really matter? No one here thinks they are good enough to win in February so, just enjoy what you get.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

We are the exact same team we have been for 3 years now. There is no mystery here.

For the most part I agree.....with a twist.

Can we run the football? Nothing we've done since the end of last year provides any evidence that we can run the football better than we did last year.

Can we stop the run? Nothing we've done since the end of last year provides any evidence that we can stop teams the want to run the football from running the football.

Coaching? We've change out the defensive coordinator. It's not as if replaced Quinn with an "in his prime" Bill Belichick. So maybe we've stayed the same, but we are certainly not better.

So what's the twist? If we are basically the same team as last year with it being more likely that we've downgraded in some areas as opposed to stay the same or upgraded, it really comes down to the schedule. And I would argue our schedule is tougher. So that all leads to us being a 10-win team, with the possibility of winning 11 as our ceiling....or 8 as our floor because there are enough bad teams to win 8 games.

The bottom line is that we don't beat good teams with any level of consistency and that is due to our inability to run, stop the run and coaching. Dak and this coaching are not good enough to beat good teams more than 50% of the time and/or win 4 straight games in the postseason. So, our floor is missing the playoffs, and our ceiling is losing in the WC round.

 

[Bobhaze]

Obviously, none of us know for sure what kind of win total we will have. But as this team stands right now, I don’t see it winning in the playoffs should they make it.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

8 wins...9 if we're lucky. It depends on how the schedule pans out. Maybe some of our tough opponents will have off years. I could also see us completely falling apart after the way it ended last year. Probably enough mediocre teams to prevent that though.

 

[75boyz]

For the most part I agree.....with a twist.

Can we run the football? Nothing we've done since the end of last year provides any evidence that we can run the football better than we did last year.

Can we stop the run? Nothing we've done since the end of last year provides any evidence that we can stop teams the want to run the football from running the football.

Coaching? We've change out the defensive coordinator. It's not as if replaced Quinn with an "in his prime" Bill Belichick. So maybe we've stayed the same, but we are certainly not better.

So what's the twist? If we are basically the same team as last year with it being more likely that we've downgraded in some areas as opposed to stay the same or upgraded, it really comes down to the schedule. And I would argue our schedule is tougher. So that all leads to us being a 10-win team, with the possibility of winning 11 as our ceiling....or 8 as our floor because there are enough bad teams to win 8 games.

The bottom line is that we don't beat good teams with any level of consistency and that is due to our inability to run, stop the run and coaching. Dak and this coaching are not good enough to beat good teams more than 50% of the time and/or win 4 straight games in the postseason. So, our floor is missing the playoffs, and our ceiling is losing in the WC round.

Great post.
Nailed it.

 

[plasticman]

I was in my fifth year as a Cowboys fan in 1974. I had seen the Cowboys lose a Super Bowl, win a Super Bowl and lose an NFC championship game.

In 1974 I experienced, for the first time, the Cowboys without double digit wins and not making the playoffs.

Fair enough, I thought. I was disappointed but I also knew that all the great players, many future Hall of Famers, were at the end of their careers. The Washington Whatevers and the St. Louis Cardinals, both in the NFC East, were very strong looking.

Going into 1975, I expected the first season of a rebuilding process that would take a few years.

Do you see where I am going with this?

They opened against the Rams who played in the NFC championship game the year before. They had the #1 defense in 1974 and would again in 1975. Unfortunately for the Rams, their offense wouldn't score until the last minutes of the 4th quarter when it was too late. The Cowboys won 18-7.

The next game was against the Cardinals, last season's NFC East Champion. Again, this was when the NFC East had 5 teams. The Cardinals, under HC Don Coryell, had stars everywhere on offense. The Cowboys would outscore them in an overtime game as Staubach threw for over 300 yards, rare in those days.

Anybody would have marked those two games as losses prior to the start of the season.

The Cowboys would end up 2nd place in their division but with the single NFC wildcard entry into the playoffs. A Hail Mary and two weeks later they were in the NFC championship game where they destroyed the Rams 37-7.

In 1975 I predicted a dismal rebuilding year where the players on my team were either too old or too young to compete.....and they went to the Super Bowl. Then they went again in 1977....and 1978.

So, how good can this team be? I can't wait to find out.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

I was in my fifth year as a Cowboys fan in 1974. I had seen the Cowboys lose a Super Bowl, win a Super Bowl and lose an NFC championship game.

In 1974 I experienced, for the first time, the Cowboys without double digit wins and not making the playoffs.

Fair enough, I thought. I was disappointed but I also knew that all the great players, many future Hall of Famers, were at the end of their careers. The Washington Whatevers and the St. Louis Cardinals, both in the NFC East, were very strong looking.

Going into 1975, I expected the first season of a rebuilding process that would take a few years.

Do you see where I am going with this?

They opened against the Rams who played in the NFC championship game the year before. They had the #1 defense in 1974 and would again in 1975. Unfortunately for the Rams, their offense wouldn't score until the last minutes of the 4th quarter when it was too late. The Cowboys won 18-7.

The next game was against the Cardinals, last season's NFC East Champion. Again, this was when the NFC East had 5 teams. The Cardinals, under HC Don Coryell, had stars everywhere on offense. The Cowboys would outscore them in an overtime game as Staubach threw for over 300 yards, rare in those days.

Anybody would have marked those two games as losses prior to the start of the season.

The Cowboys would end up 2nd place in their division but with the single NFC wildcard entry into the playoffs. A Hail Mary and two weeks later they were in the NFC championship game where they destroyed the Rams 37-7.

In 1975 I predicted a dismal rebuilding year where the players on my team were either too old or too young to compete.....and they went to the Super Bowl. Then they went again in 1977....and 1978.

So, how good can this team be? I can't wait to find out.

You know I have to say it...."Jerry, is that you?"

 

[doomsday9084]

If everything goes perfectly (defense change, Mazi learns, O line gels, etc.) I think that there is still an issue with the run game. If the team trades for a RB in training camp, it could be as good as last year and hopefully not choke in the playoffs.

But as I said, that depends on a ton of things going well. The team very well might have a terrible O line and D line, in which case they will struggle to break 0.500. We shall see.

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

It's going to depend on how badly our opponents are injured. If the other teams don't get slammed by the injury we aren't going to be better than last year.

 

[conner01]

Yeah, but no one predicted the extremity of the Philly implosion.

It’s hard to predict because so many things can happen. Teams lose players, players really improve or get worse. It’s just a guess and I’ve never been right lol

 

[plasticman]

You know I have to say it...."Jerry, is that you?"

Jerry was never a Cowboys fan until he bought the team despite anything he says to the contrary.

Jerry isn't Tex Schram, McCarthy is no Landry, and Dak is far from being Roger Staubach.

Still......

Sometimes a team gets some early breaks, builds confidence, wins some close ones towards the end of the seasons and build momentum just at the right time. This is a young team that should find a way to improve each game.

I'm not predicting. I'm just saying the possibility, no matter how small, does exist.

 

[Cowboys5217]

That Cleveland game will be a huge tell.

If they win then I could see the 10 or 11 wins, but I still would not feel confident they would be anything more than 1 & done. heck, I'd feel the same way even if they went 17-0 in the regular season. It would be the ultimate fail, and the only way the Cowboys, holders of numerous underachievement NFL playoff records, could outdo themselves.

If they get run all over while failing on offense to run the ball, then they will get blown out and we will be off to a "Wade-gets-fired" kind of season.

 

[kskboys]

Jerry was never a Cowboys fan until he bought the team despite anything he says to the contrary.

Jerry isn't Tex Schram, McCarthy is no Landry, and Dak is far from being Roger Staubach.

Still......

Sometimes a team gets some early breaks, builds confidence, wins some close ones towards the end of the seasons and build momentum just at the right time. This is a young team that should find a way to improve each game.

I'm not predicting. I'm just saying the possibility, no matter how small, does exist.

Not w/o a dominating facet to their team.

 

[Flamma]

This team will have a top 10 at worst defense, a top 10 at worst QB, a top 5 WR and a top 10 at worst coaching staff. Anything less than 11 wins would be a total shock to me. As for the youngsters needing to step up, I think part of the reason the Cowboys were so willing to let some middling vets walk is that the younguns are talented. Tolbert might not be any more physically gifted than Gallup but he has a more diverse route tree and two healthy knees. Sam Williams is probably more talented than any of the DEs that left. Overshown, Kendricks and Clark will be better than Clark and some safeties. Parsons' body will continue to mature into his grown man body and will wear down a little less every year. Tank will be Tank and Kneeland will spell him and look a lot like Tank. We know we need Osa and Mazi to ball out if the run defense is going to take a step forward.. I choose to think they will. Because Zim will demand it.

If I had to guess, I'd say 10-11 wins. 11 if I could only pick one. Mainly because we have a very favorable home/away schedule. But if you remember the offseason after 2016, we did nothing. There was no urgency. We trotted out the same team and won 4 less games. So it wouldn't surprise me if we won less than 10 or 11.

 

[Flamma]

That Cleveland game will be a huge tell.

Week 8 at San Francisco will tell us all we need to know about the Cowboys. Good or bad.