You don't need elite QB play to win playoff games

[nate dizzle]

All 4 TEAMS are better than the cowboys. All for GMs are better than Jerry

And this year all 4 QBs were better than Dak

You're right, all of those teams are better than Dallas. However, if you put Dack on any one of those teams they lose

 

[Blue&Silver]

but Lamar is the best in scrambling, yet his team lost.
Stroud Rushed for 42, but his team lost

IMHO, the difference was defenses. whose DL played better.

The teams that lost all turned the ball over.

 

[starfan1]

You're right, all of those teams are better than Dallas. However, if you put Dack on any one of those teams they lose

You don’t know that . Maybe you’re right maybe you’re not. Your agenda is showing. But I’ll say this if you put this years Dak on those teams you’re right they might fail but last years Dak is another story.

And why was this years Dak worse ? Because the rest of the team was also worse

I get wanting to move on and I’m ok with it even though it’s not happening but this business about it’s the QB that so many fans in here pimp is just false

It’s the GM and has been since jimmy left

 

[phildadon86]

OP leaving out Hurts and Allens rushing numbers on purpose.

Allen had 20 yards and 2 rushing TDS.

Hurts had 70 yards and 1 rushing TD.

Don't let OP fool ya'll. QB play matters, especially when the weather is brutal.

QB play doesnt matter in Arlington.

Montana couldnt save this franchise from its own culture.

 

[Ken]

Some QB stats from the divisional round. All these elite qbs and none of them put up huge numbers. You need to have a complete offense and not turn the ball over. People overrate how good you have to play to win a playoff game.

	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR	RTG
Mahomes	16/25	177	7.1	1	0	66.3	98.2
Hurts	15/20	128	6.4	0	0	49.4	91.2
Lamar	18/25	254	10.2	2	1
Allen	16/22	127	5.8	0	0

Need a good defense and running game, same as it always has been.

Anyone who watches Jalen Hurts and thinks he is a good QB....please explain it. One of the worst qbs in the league IMO.

If they had Dak on that Eagles team, they would be putting up 40 every week.

 

[Creeper]

I think people like to make winning all about 1 player. Football is a team sport and it takes a team playing together to win. Mediocre QBs have won Super Bowls.

The key to winning IMO is not making mistakes, be it turnovers, penalties, or just blown assignments. All 11 guys have to do their jobs - the coaches too. QBs can throw INTs, for sure that is a problem. But RBs and receivers can fumble, drop passes or run bad routes leading to turnovers too.

Defense is necessary as well. That lesson was learned by Detroit this week. Score 31 points and get beat because the defense couldn't get a stop. Cowboys fans can appreciate this. You don't need the best defense in the NFL, but you need a consistent defense.

Of course it doesn't hurt to have a future HoF QB like Mahomes, but I don't think it is absolutely necessary either.

The problem in Dallas is they are not a good team. It is not just Dak. Compare the Cowboys offense player by player to Detroit, or the Eagles and the Cowboys come up far short. Even Washington is better at the skill positions than Dallas. Dallas is 7-10 because they lack talent all over the offense and defense.

 

[blueblood70]

Need a good defense and running game, same as it always has been.

Anyone who watches Jalen Hurts and thinks he is a good QB....please explain it. One of the worst qbs in the league IMO.

If they had Dak on that Eagles team, they would be putting up 40 every week.

Correct,

it's a team game and I wish we'd stop talking about the quarterbacks Jared Goff and the lions were supposed to be the next great champion the next dynasty begins, and they choked!!

they lost to a six seed with a rookie..hmm

I mean isn't that the narrative, we get to talk about how a rookie beat a big money veteran that not only was supposed to be better than Dak but his running back was running at 10 yards per carry in the first half finished the game at like 7 yards per carry, Gibbs was running out of control ,Goff had no reason to force the ball, and yet he did he did not need to go overboard but guess what I'm betting him looking over at that defense his defense not doing much put a little pressure on him that they needed to get bigger plays faster ,same with the play calls some of those Ben Johnson play calls seem desperate to me little crazy not by the book smacks of desperation but guess what that is what happens in games like this this isn't just a Dallas cowboy problem this isn't a Prescott problem , this happens in games like this but I still don't understand it you get Prescott that run game and he's not turning the ball over three times..

Same thing with Lamar turn the ball over twice another player fumble that's three turnovers their defense while they play decently, couldn't really make the big stops when they needed to early, different game..​

​

I mean the lions got smashed ,this was a good game but Henry did not make a difference, did he?? I just want to point this out Derek Henry was supposed to be what put Lamar and this Ravens team over the top it was something they were missing right??​

​

we should've got Derrick Henry because it could've got us further ,really?? Disagree I don't think any of these top free agent running backs would help this Cowboys team given all the circumstances and situations with injuries we had...​

​

so a team with the bye week, that should have plenty of rest ready to play they lost with Derrick Henry that beast of a man, how could they lose a game with a running quarterback who can't be stopped who's an MVP candidate with Derrick Henry and yet small mistakes turnovers and a drop 2 point conversion that is what lost in the game??​

​

Irony here , is I hear ESPN talking about mark Andrews lost in the game that's odd because here in the nation if that's Prescott he's getting roasted and yet Goff and Jackson seem to be getting a pass, they're blaming the team which is probably good to point out that some of their team made enough mistakes that they lost but whenever it's Prescott he can't win the big game well Lamar Jackson's 3-5 in the playoffs and now they provided him with Derrick Henry and he did not help them just like Christian McCaffrey did not get San Francisco past where they've been before they're still short a Super Bowl win with and without McCaffrey, he was not a difference maker, and yes the only one left out of all the talk about free agents big time running backs the top five running backs in the league there were six strong running games in the league in the playoffs, there's only one left standing, and that's Saquon Barkley out of all the teams with the big running backs, he's the only one left that's still in it and still has a chance to prove maybe the running back does matter but if they lose to Washington, Washington has an average run-of-the-mill back but he's good ,but they didn't seem to need Derrick Henry Saquon Barkley Gibbs or Jones etc​

so yes, back to my point back to the point it's a team game and typically when you're in the playoffs against teams that you're generally even matched with the one who makes the least number of mistakes the ones that stay on script typically win these games it's that close.

 

[blueblood70]

I think people like to make winning all about 1 player. Football is a team sport and it takes a team playing together to win. Mediocre QBs have won Super Bowls.

The key to winning IMO is not making mistakes, be it turnovers, penalties, or just blown assignments. All 11 guys have to do their jobs - the coaches too. QBs can throw INTs, for sure that is a problem. But RBs and receivers can fumble, drop passes or run bad routes leading to turnovers too.

Defense is necessary as well. That lesson was learned by Detroit this week. Score 31 points and get beat because the defense couldn't get a stop. Cowboys fans can appreciate this. You don't need the best defense in the NFL, but you need a consistent defense.

Of course it doesn't hurt to have a future HoF QB like Mahomes, but I don't think it is absolutely necessary either.

The problem in Dallas is they are not a good team. It is not just Dak. Compare the Cowboys offense player by player to Detroit, or the Eagles and the Cowboys come up far short. Even Washington is better at the skill positions than Dallas. Dallas is 7-10 because they lack talent all over the offense and defense.

Most of that's true but you lost me with the last statement no the Cowboys were 7 and 10 more so because of the injury riddled season they had they may not have had many more wins but I think we would have got on track if we didn't keep hemorrhaging players key players and some two to three key positions that just got ravaged we would have been a better team by the way that Washington team they lost to our backups in the first game and they nearly lost to our backups in the second game and you're giving flowers to their quarterback who got pulled for Marcus Mariota do we forget so easily in such a short time frame that this is what happened when our backups face that Washington team imagine if it was our starters like in the past most of our starters on this team have a history of dominating the NFC East we were injury riddled and I realized we didn't have a good start to the season before all the injuries happened but still there were key positions that got hurt before the season even started and then it was weekly when these guys were dropping so I'm not trying to make excuses but stop acting like we can't compete against those two teams in our Division I say we can when healthy we can the eagles in Washington both faced our backups neither one of them faced our starters...

Like I said I get your point but you're overselling this do not try to sell this to a real football fan to a real football guy that's not a casual I saw Washington struggle against us I saw the eagles get a pass because they didn't have to face Prescott in either game so let's calm down you know things that happen within the division are completely different then when you start playing better teams outside your division yes these things become more serious and more important there will be a priority to get a better run game here in Dallas... That has to be a priority we need balance that's the point of this thread it doesn't just need to fall on Prescott we can go back and I'm not gonna do it but if you want me to go copy and paste it here of all the problems we've had in the playoffs it's been more than Prescott it's been penalties and other turnovers drop passes bad play calls getting dominated from the other coaching staff and a lot of it's been defense...

So yes the point of this threat isn't to pick on Prescott we're just simply stating it's a team game but you're going too far by being scared of Washington just because of what they look like right now and they ended up in the NFC championship game doesn't mean the Cowboys are now being gapped and outpaced because of where we're at now most of those were injuries and somebody was schematic somebody was coaching I think we're gonna get most of that fixed I don't worry about what goes on within the division the Cowboys have been very competitive in the division and they will continue to be i'm not worried about anyone in the division right now..

.

 

[CowboyoWales]

the cap is not the issue. Hurts makes 7M less. you want to tell me 7M is the difference between cowboys making NFCG and not?
Goff makes 5M less. they went 15-2. so the difference between 7-10 and 15-2 is 5M?

Philly's top 6 contracts are 193M.
Dallas top 6 contracts are 163M...

how did they do it? how did we become totally paralyzed as an organization because of a single contract?

you are allowing your bias against Dak to repeat what Stephen and Jerry want you to think. they want to blame the contracts for their ineptitude.
and this is not endorsing or saying the Dak deserved the contract. just that the contract is not the issue. we are no different than any of these other successful teams in cap issues. they just have better GMs. better coaches. better culture. better focus.

There's actually a $31m CAP difference between Dak and Hurts this year alone.

As for Eagles comparison on top 5 contracts:
2025: Eagles -$86m , Cowboys -$177
2026: Eagles - $120m, Cowboys -$155m (and that's without Micah's contract).

Dak had his ALL-IN year (well in Jerry World) in 2023, for which $40m of his contract was restructured into this contract. The failure of the team, highlighted, that it AND particularly Dak hasn't enough ability to succeed even with a pretty excellent roster.
Let it go, we are in a mess, Dak and Jerry are now indelibly linked, due to the contract.

 

[IceStar-D7]

You ONLY need good defense!!! And this idiot GM will draft offense. Fine. But at least FA defense. You moron!!!

 

[kskboys]

Some QB stats from the divisional round. All these elite qbs and none of them put up huge numbers. You need to have a complete offense and not turn the ball over. People overrate how good you have to play to win a playoff game.

	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR	RTG
Mahomes	16/25	177	7.1	1	0	66.3	98.2
Hurts	15/20	128	6.4	0	0	49.4	91.2
Lamar	18/25	254	10.2	2	1
Allen	16/22	127	5.8	0	0

Elite play is not about big numbers. Elite QB play is specifically about moving the ball and not turning it over. Notice that out of the 4 Qbs you listed, the only INT came from the loser.

The passing yards leader has won the super bowl exactly one time in NFL history, and that's Mahomes in 2022. And KC immediately switched to a ball control O. Why? Two reasons: 1)paying WRs at the top of the market leads to a team falling out of contention. 2)Mahomes was taking a beating. Just look at Stroud. KC sacked him 8 times. No, that's not a misprint, 8 sacks in one game.

So, why did they sack Stroud so much? Easy answer, way too many long developing downfield passing plays. Houston just won't do those little unguardable quick hitters, the type that the Bills used to beat BALT.

Ball control O and interior pass rush. Those are the two answers to super bowl contention.

 

[kskboys]

If you don't "need" elite QB play, why exactly are we paying wak Prescott 60M a year if Rush or any other rethread can step in and "win" in the playoffs? Why?! This was obviously an apologist thread but they don't realize this star proves how expandable Dak is and how foolish it was to pay him top dollar

The OP simply misdefined/doesn't understand elite QB play.

Volume yardage in no way indicates elite QB play.

 

[SlammedZero]

"You need to have a complete offense and not turn the ball over."

Which is exactly what Dak does every playoff game. You can count on it.

 

[Vanilla2]

OP leaving out Hurts and Allens rushing numbers on purpose.

Allen had 20 yards and 2 rushing TDS.

Hurts had 70 yards and 1 rushing TD.

Don't let OP fool ya'll. QB play matters, especially when the weather is brutal.

We get it you love the eagles.

 

[MountaineerCowboy]

We get it you love the eagles.

We get it.

You want to downplay the importance of the QB position to protect loser Dak.

 

[MikeT22]

But you do need someone better and more clutch than Dak

 

[MountaineerCowboy]

But you do need someone better and more clutch than Dak

"If I'm going to have a low IQ QB then I want that QB to also be an immobile statue" - Dak fans.

 

[MikeT22]

Correct,

it's a team game and I wish we'd stop talking about the quarterbacks Jared Goff and the lions were supposed to be the next great champion the next dynasty begins, and they choked!!

they lost to a six seed with a rookie..hmm

I mean isn't that the narrative, we get to talk about how a rookie beat a big money veteran that not only was supposed to be better than Dak but his running back was running at 10 yards per carry in the first half finished the game at like 7 yards per carry, Gibbs was running out of control ,Goff had no reason to force the ball, and yet he did he did not need to go overboard but guess what I'm betting him looking over at that defense his defense not doing much put a little pressure on him that they needed to get bigger plays faster ,same with the play calls some of those Ben Johnson play calls seem desperate to me little crazy not by the book smacks of desperation but guess what that is what happens in games like this this isn't just a Dallas cowboy problem this isn't a Prescott problem , this happens in games like this but I still don't understand it you get Prescott that run game and he's not turning the ball over three times..

Same thing with Lamar turn the ball over twice another player fumble that's three turnovers their defense while they play decently, couldn't really make the big stops when they needed to early, different game..​

​

I mean the lions got smashed ,this was a good game but Henry did not make a difference, did he?? I just want to point this out Derek Henry was supposed to be what put Lamar and this Ravens team over the top it was something they were missing right??​

​

we should've got Derrick Henry because it could've got us further ,really?? Disagree I don't think any of these top free agent running backs would help this Cowboys team given all the circumstances and situations with injuries we had...​

​

so a team with the bye week, that should have plenty of rest ready to play they lost with Derrick Henry that beast of a man, how could they lose a game with a running quarterback who can't be stopped who's an MVP candidate with Derrick Henry and yet small mistakes turnovers and a drop 2 point conversion that is what lost in the game??​

​

Irony here , is I hear ESPN talking about mark Andrews lost in the game that's odd because here in the nation if that's Prescott he's getting roasted and yet Goff and Jackson seem to be getting a pass, they're blaming the team which is probably good to point out that some of their team made enough mistakes that they lost but whenever it's Prescott he can't win the big game well Lamar Jackson's 3-5 in the playoffs and now they provided him with Derrick Henry and he did not help them just like Christian McCaffrey did not get San Francisco past where they've been before they're still short a Super Bowl win with and without McCaffrey, he was not a difference maker, and yes the only one left out of all the talk about free agents big time running backs the top five running backs in the league there were six strong running games in the league in the playoffs, there's only one left standing, and that's Saquon Barkley out of all the teams with the big running backs, he's the only one left that's still in it and still has a chance to prove maybe the running back does matter but if they lose to Washington, Washington has an average run-of-the-mill back but he's good ,but they didn't seem to need Derrick Henry Saquon Barkley Gibbs or Jones etc​

so yes, back to my point back to the point it's a team game and typically when you're in the playoffs against teams that you're generally even matched with the one who makes the least number of mistakes the ones that stay on script typically win these games it's that close.

Tldr

 

[kskboys]

Tldr

You mean NGOSS, didn't read.

No Grammar Or Sentence Structure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[kskboys]

We get it you love the eagles.

Very weird conclusion.