Would you say that the Cowboys offense on paper is as good as the SB Champions of the 90s?

[NoLuv4Jerry]

Aikman beats Romo
Smith beats Zeke
Irvin and Dez are equal
Harper over Williams
Witten is better than Jay
Moose is better than whoever we put out there
Smith is better than Tui
Allen is better than Collins
Fred is better than Step
Martin is better than Nate
Williams is better than Free

90's win 6
2016 wins 4
and 1 tie that is debatable.

In my opinion.

Dez is better than Irvin? Wow. Just wow. Irvin was a great player. But his impact on that team was so much more than his numbers. He is my favorite ex-Cowboy. If ANYBODY bleeds blue and silver. It is Michael Irvin.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

Aikman hated making mistakes. Romo, until recently, struck me as nonchalant about mistakes. I'm sure Romo didn't want to make mistakes either.

But perception is reality sometimes, and you could see the frustration on Aikman's face and in his demeanor more so than you/I could see it with Romo. He almost had an "ah shucks" attitude.

To me...this is all with how you deal with being unsuccessful with yourself.

Tony has been pretty good over his career about being able to put whatever last mistake was behind him and move forward. Many athletes let mistakes hang around...like kickers...we'll talk about how they start missing and its got in their head. Tony never lets anything get in his head.

 

[zrinkill]

Dez is better than Irvin? Wow. Just wow. Irvin was a great player. But his impact on that team was so much more than his numbers. He is my favorite ex-Cowboy. If ANYBODY bleeds blue and silver. It is Michael Irvin.

Where did I say Dez is better than Irvin?
You should read a post before you respond to it.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

Where did I say Dez is better than Irvin?
You should read a post before you respond to it.

I stand corrected. But they are not CLOSE to being equal.

 

[zrinkill]

I stand corrected. But they are not CLOSE to being equal.

With all of Dez's shenanigans he has never come close to hurting this team as much as Irvin did.

He may not have done as much for this team as Irvin did but he also has not stabbed a teammate in the neck and gotten suspended for doing drugs and wasting another year of prime Troy.

The "whitehouse" was also his baby and it caused us to lose other important guys like Leon Lett and Eric Williams

And I think skill wise they are equal.

 

[tyke1doe]

No doubt that his rating, like Romo's , was worse when he was on worse teams.

Another irony--and again, no way I'm trying to argue that Romo is better (or worse)---both Aikman and Staubach not only had higher interception rates in the regular season, but FAR higher interception rates in the playoffs. Of course, Romo only has 6 games played, so the sample size is still pretty small. To be fair, most player's int rate goes up int he playoffs because the competition is great. So Staubach/Aikamn are not our of line at all.
Romo's is just very low (1.1)...and much lower than his regular season int rate (2.7).

So much has to do with the team around you.
I realize you already know that though.

Thank you for your insight and analysis.

 

[tyke1doe]

To me...this is all with how you deal with being unsuccessful with yourself.

Tony has been pretty good over his career about being able to put whatever last mistake was behind him and move forward. Many athletes let mistakes hang around...like kickers...we'll talk about how they start missing and its got in their head. Tony never lets anything get in his head.

Well, you may be correct. We often read a lot of things that aren't there based merely on appearance. Although appearances can be a window into the mindset of a person, appearances also can be deceiving. So your point is valid.

 

[plymkr]

I've never been in the camp to argue Romo over Aikman or Staubach, but regarding turnovers, I think the situations were very different..

The irony is that Aikman had a higher interception rate than Romo. He also had a worse QB rating in close, late-game situations.
The difference was mostly that Aikman's teams were great on offense AND defense, so the pressure to score (or lose) was not so constant

I also think Romo is a different type of quarterback. Airman, Marino, Brady is a different breed of QB than Romo, Young, Elway. The Aikman type QB is awesome when everything is clicking. The Romo group of QB's is good at making things happen if the play breaks down, improvising, scrambling.

If I have to pick a player right now to win the Super Bowl I would go with Aikman. If I have to pick a player for the 2:00, 4th qtr 2 timeouts, game winning drive in the Super Bowl I'm going with Romo. Troy was not that great at bringing teams from behind and winning games on a 2 minute offense drive. He didn't have to. we were usually way ahead. Romo has had to put the team on his shoulders more often, for better or for worse. Aikman couldn't do that or at least he didn't have to because the talent of the teams throughout their careers were vastly different. Aikman struggled a bit towards the end of his career when the offensive line started to lose talent, Irvin retired, Novacek retired etc and we were an 8-8 team in 98 and 99. That's why I get defensive when the media blames Romo for us being average. Well Aikman was the man and one of my favorite all time Cowboys but his teams were 500 when the talent diminished. Just shows you that even a great, first ballot HOFer can't overcome bad coaching, bad drafting, and injuries.

But to answer the original question, I have to give the nod to the 90's team as being better. No clue how Zeke will do, Irvin was better than Dez, Aikman was more consistent as long as everything went well, Novacek was in the prime of his career, Alvin Harper was WAAAYYYY better than Twill.

So one parameter for this post needs to be what 90's team are we talking about? 92 or 95. Because there's a big difference in those teams. 92-94, absolutely no way is our offense that good. 95, we may have a discussion. 96-2000 season- I'll take our present offense over that one, no questions asked

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

With all of Dez's shenanigans he has never come close to hurting this team as much as Irvin did.

He may not have done as much for this team as Irvin did but he also has not stabbed a teammate in the neck and gotten suspended for doing drugs and wasting another year of prime Troy.

The "whitehouse" was also his baby and it caused us to lose other important guys like Leon Lett and Eric Williams

And I think skill wise they are equal.

fair points

 

[plymkr]

Two Super Bowl wins would make them comparable. Until then...there really is no comparison.

The 90s teams were winners because they were a well-oiled machine and Aikman was the general leading the army. He could have put up the stats, but he didn't need to.

Man, when our offense was clicking, you could see the fear in the defense. I remember Pat Summeral saying that we had the best offense he's ever seen because the defense knew what we were going to do and we did it anyway. We forced our will upon them.

 

[Chuck 54]

Nope...not even close.

Romo may have records (so did Danny White), but Romo is not even close to being Aikman. Aikman--perhaps the most accurate passer ever, a rock in the pocket, a leader who demanded perfection, and a QB who came up big in the big games.

Dez may be more athletic than Irvin, but he's not even close as a WR. Irvin couldn't be covered on the slant, not even with a double-team, and he was the leader at practice and on game day. Our secondary receivers were better than what we've got as well.

Elliott is a rookie wannabee....lots of talent on paper and in the college game, but come on. He can't even be mentioned in the same paragraph with Emmitt until he's led the league in rushing and scoring at least once with one SB on his resume, not to mention carrying the team on his back for a few victories.

To be completely honest, the OL isn't even in that category yet. They could end of being even better than Tuinei, Allen, Newton, Googan, Gesek, Stepnoski, and Williams, but right now, nope---they don't have as many OL awards. I just named 7 OL from those SB teams who all went to the pro bowl in the 90's...lol, and even Tyron Smith (our best) hasn't reached what Larry Allen was yet.

TE is the lone exception. In his prime, Witten was head and shoulders above Novachek, but the SB era Novachek was a better TE than Witten is at this point on the downside of his career; however, that one is probably debatable.

 

[robjay04]

I think it's unfair to base these discussions from a historical standpoint.

Obviously Dez or Romo should not even be in the same breath as Aikman/Irvin based on longevity but at their best, are they better at their jobs? It can be argued.

 

[dallasdave]

If we have to account for the coaching aspect, then the comparison with the '90s teams might get muddied.

Yeah great point !!!!!!!!!!!!! Jimmy was the best !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

I think you have to context this. That Offense ran the ball a lot. Red Zone situations were overwhelmingly run heavy so a lot of potential TDs went to Emmitt and not Troy. Conversely, in that timing offense, it was so important to have WRs running the right routes at the right time and in exactly the proper position on the field. Aikman always had the ball at exactly the right place in his good years but the problem was that once we lost Jimmy and Norv and Irvin and Novacek, the continuity and the timing went out the window. That lead to a lot of turnovers IMO. Troy was still very accurate with the ball because in that Offense, the ball can be thrown perfectly but it might still look like a poor throw if the receivers are not exactly in the right spot.


I think Witten is/was better overall but Novacek was a much better athlete and he was much more of a down field threat then Jay is.





This I don't agree with. I think that in a few years, this might be a much better discussion but here and now, no way IMO, is this OL better then those OLs. JMO

In Aikman's defense, he had more pass completions down to the one or two yard line than any QB in history I believe. I used to just laugh.....and then Emmitt would get the cheapie score....I loved it, because I almost always had Emmitt on my fantasy team....LOL. What a stud he was in that.

 

[DallasDomination]

This goes back to the is talent the most important aspect in winning. This proves that it's not. On paper you would say yes most of the guys from this team are physically superior and more talented..but there isn't a person alive that believes they're better.

 

[WillieBeamen]

Nope


QB, RB, WR, FB from the 90s>>>>>now

This oline>>>>>the 90s

 

[Sarge]

The difference in the talent of the players can be comparable. The difference in the capabilities as it relates to coaching is a joke.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

Do you recall Aikman getting his brains beaten in his first few years in the league?

Let's not act like Aikman just happened to walk into a situation where he had a great OL in front of him from day one. That line took a few years to come together.

Romo's never had a team as bad as Aikman had when he first got into the league. I remember going to stores to buy Cowboy stuff and getting laughed at. That team grew together. There was no greater feeling when that team finally won a SB.

 

[jnday]

I'd say romo and Witten are better but nothing else. Especially the play calling isn't better.

Romo is not the leader or passer that Troy was. In Modern times Troy would be a Tom Brady type of QB. I like Romo, but I don't think he was a better QB than Danny White.

 

[jnday]

I would not at all.

Romo is frankly just a better quarterback than Aikman was. Until now, Romo just didn't have the parts in place.

Let's hope his body can still perform like 2014. If so, this offense is going to hum this season.

Yeah, Romo is much better than a three time winning Super Bowl QB that happens to be in the HOF. Much better.