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Dallas Cowboys 2020 Regular Season Thread: Finally No More Garrett!


Vic Mackey

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  On 9/21/2020 at 4:29 PM, Dr. Beeper said:

Terrible analogy. Why field a punt in the snow?  Why ever field anything if you’re a fat guy?

There was every reason to field the onside kick. You let it go 10 yards and all bets are off. This is ingrained in you at a really early youth football age. Like my 3rd grader’s team learned all about it last year. And it’s taught at the 7th grade level extensively. 

There is no explaining this away. Atlanta made an absolutely terrible, unforgivable play. I’m not kidding when I say that their ST coach should be fired today (hope they hire Fassell), the player yelling at his teammates to get back should be cut, and Quinn should be fired. That is how bad that play was, and how embarrassing it was. This is basic fucking football knowledge.  

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Lolz.  That’s the hill you want to die on?

I’m sure you’d support the player who attempted to fall on the ball in side 10 yards and blooped it out so idiotically on a play that never fucking works anyway.

Thank you for the Monday laugh, my friend.  And it’s not that you support one position or the other, but the scorched eearth reaction towards special teams while ignoring the defense that squandered the lead and offense that became impotent in the second half.

Nope, it all hinged on one play.

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  On 9/21/2020 at 4:39 PM, youdunnf'dup said:

I mean you obviously aren’t wrong, but from Atlanta’s hands team vantage point, touching the ball was the only chance we had. It looked 100% like that ball was stopping short or going straight out of bounds. They should’ve jumped on it, but I kinda understand why they didn’t in the moment. I’ve never seen an onside kick take a turn like that and I can understand why they wouldn’t expect for that to happen, even with the spin.

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I don't think an onside kick is ever the spot to assume that.  The ball was moving slow enough so none of this was split second thinking.  It's one thing to not jump on it immediately and risk not cleanly recovering it, but they completely froze.

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  On 9/21/2020 at 4:47 PM, Gene Parmesan said:

I don't think an onside kick is ever the spot to assume that.  The ball was moving slow enough so none of this was split second thinking.  It's one thing to not jump on it immediately and risk not cleanly recovering it, but they completely froze.

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Fair enough. Maybe I need to rewatch it in real time. 

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  On 9/21/2020 at 4:55 PM, Dr. Beeper said:

You know dying on a hill hyperbole has gotta stop on this site. I’m not going to “die on a hill” arguing with fucking slorch on his dipshit opinion on a Cowboys game. And your opinion is VERY dumb. You cannot compare this with Lett’s Miami blunder. 

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I didn't compare it.  You are.

I'm just saying that acting as if it was an automatic recovery if they jump on the ball is incorrect.  Then if they did fumble it, people like you would likely be rasing hell over why they took an unnecessary risk that cost them the game, on a ball obviously not going 10 yards.

Keep on with the personal insults and shots though.  They will make you more correct...  Your "fire everybody" reaction is almost as hilarious your "we disagree so you are 1000% stupid" assessment though.

 

Nah, we can't just disagree.   Really, dude?

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I believe Dak is showing signs of better awareness and decision making. He seems to be throwing well, certainly getting plenty of reps, and a minimum of ill-advised or wildly off-target throws, even under pressure behind a less than ideal OL situation.

On the other hand, Mike White has yet to throw an incomplete pass this season.

I still expect it to be a very up and down season. They need to fix a lot of things.

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On the onside kick thing, it was weird. But it's possible that Atlanta may actually be coaching it that way, perhaps in-advisably. The philosophy may be that they know the kicking team can't touch it before 10 yards, so if it's slow rolling and looking like it may die short of the 10, or kick back and go sideways, it's best to not risk a mishandle by the receiving team which makes it a live ball regardless of the 10 yards.

Not saying that's what a good special teams unit should do, but that's a possibility. You can practice all that stuff every day, but every onsides kick can look a little different, and you may not see everything, plus there's a big difference between live game action and practizing. I haven't heard any explanation from the Falcons, if any was offered

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  On 9/21/2020 at 5:23 PM, DougO said:

On the onside kick thing, it was weird. But it's possible that Atlanta may actually be coaching it that way, perhaps in-advisably. The philosophy may be that they know the kicking team can't touch it before 10 yards, so if it's slow rolling and looking like it may die short of the 10, or kick back and go sideways, it's best to not risk a mishandle by the receiving team which makes it a live ball regardless of the 10 yards.

Not saying that's what a good special teams unit should do, but that's a possibility. You can practice all that stuff every day, but every onsides kick can look a little different, and you may not see everything, plus there's a big difference between live game action and practizing. I haven't heard any explanation from the Falcons, if any was offered

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Dam Quinn ducked the question pretty hard no matter how the Atlanta media tried to word the question. But what is he really supposed to say. There is no explanation of that he could give that make everyone think “ok, that makes sense. It isn’t as bad anymore”, even though I think you might be right. I could see how they would be coached not to touch that ball during that timeout.

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  On 9/21/2020 at 5:23 PM, DougO said:

On the onside kick thing, it was weird. But it's possible that Atlanta may actually be coaching it that way, perhaps in-advisably. The philosophy may be that they know the kicking team can't touch it before 10 yards, so if it's slow rolling and looking like it may die short of the 10, or kick back and go sideways, it's best to not risk a mishandle by the receiving team which makes it a live ball regardless of the 10 yards.

Not saying that's what a good special teams unit should do, but that's a possibility. You can practice all that stuff every day, but every onsides kick can look a little different, and you may not see everything, plus there's a big difference between live game action and practizing. I haven't heard any explanation from the Falcons, if any was offered

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I hadn't even thought of it being an illegal kick if it dies short of 10 yards or goes out of bounds. That at least explains Dan Quinn's explanation that they knew the rule. I really don't think the Falcons thought they couldn't touch it within 10 yards. I found an SI article that sort of explains the kick strategy. The slowness of it makes the "hands" team think on their toes and cause confusion whether they should risk recovering it or hope that it dies short of 10 yards. I personally think you should always put it in your own hands by trying to recover. If it pops out, ok that sucks but shit happens. If you do what they did and hope it doesn't go 10 yards its out of your hands really and makes you look stupid or lacking confidence that you can cleanly handle a fucking football sitting right in front of you. I still think it was really dumb on their part but not as bad as it first looks.

Watching the replays though, didn't the Cowboys screw up too? Aren't they supposed to be blocking the Atlanta guys to at least put them out of position for a recovery or making it more likely that they don't recover it cleanly? They just ran past Atlanta and let them stand over the ball and any other team would likely just fall on it. Just a really weird play all around.

https://sports.yahoo.com/dan-quinn-says-falcons-players-knew-onside-kick-rule-but-video-tells-a-different-story-132927711.html

https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/09/21/mmqb-week-2-dallas-cowboys-onside-kick-nfl-injuries

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The more I watch it, the more bizarre it is, and might actually have been a brilliant kick and less about luck. It looks like he kicked it in a way that it went sideways 5 yards in and looks almost certain to die or go out of bounds, then with whatever spin he put on it, the ball turns up field to cover the rest of the 5 yards and you can see the moment #81 realizes its going to go 10 yards and dives for it after initially backing away. 

 

 

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  On 9/21/2020 at 4:15 PM, Catdaddyhorn said:

I haven't rewatched the game to confirm, but Junior Miller mentioned in the post game that when the ball was initially kicked one of the Atlanta players waved his teammates back as if to say "let it go". The player who did this just so happened to have gone to Yale. Football players in these odd or atypical situations tend to listen to the "smart guy" in the room. And a podcast I listen to mentioned that Atlanta called a timeout after Zuerlein first placed the ball on the ground without a tee. What was said during the timeout? No one will admit it, but I can just about guarantee you they told the team not to touch the ball thinking it wouldn't go 10 yards.

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It's quite obvious they thought it was going out of bounds before ten yards due to the initial trajectory of the kick.  I understand their initial analysis, however when it seemingly changed it's path and it was clear it was going to make it ten, they should have acted but some of them were out of position and probably not reactive enough.  Strange play and definitely a head scratcher for the Falcons.  It will haunt a couple of them.  

I assume they'll talk about surrounding the ball better and knocking it out of bounds being an option next time, but in the moment, a couple of them definitely panicked.  Dak and offenses ability to continue to grind and put that pressure on can be a direct contribution to that panic.

 

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  On 9/21/2020 at 4:23 PM, Dr. Beeper said:

Well we won the game. I don’t view “directly” the same as “solely”. It wasn’t his sole fault. He played well after the 1st quarter and certainly gave us a chance. But we still should’ve lost and he was a huge reason why. 

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Almost everyone on the field would have "directly" contributed to the loss.  Just as in the play you reference, the entire right side of the OL fucked up sliding over the protection which forced the jail break pressure and in turn the fumble.  So, Zack Martin and the rookie RT, and Zeke would have directly responsible just on that one play.  It's sort of a silly to attribute the word "directly".  Pretty much every starter would have directly responsible as they almost all made mistakes, from Dak all the way down to the backup DBs who blew coverage.

 

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It was both lucky and well played by the Cowboys. I don't think the kicker meant it to be quite that shallow a kick, it took a good roll when it looked like it might not get 10 yards. But that's the nature of onssides kicks. The odds are always against the kicking team and it takes a favorable bounce or roll or a bad handle to work. The rule changes made the ideal way to get one change, but teams are adapting and trying different methods. That's just good football.

 

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The Falcons special teams unit's play there is textbook overcoaching vs. teaching. Those players may have been coached the right mechanics of that play but they clearly didn't understand the nuance of it enough to make the right decision. Quinn won't survive until 2021. He might not survive 2020 after Brees and Brady get done with them.

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  On 9/21/2020 at 6:27 PM, BradInATX said:

The Falcons special teams unit's play there is textbook overcoaching vs. teaching. Those players may have been coached the right mechanics of that play but they clearly didn't understand the nuance of it enough to make the right decision. Quinn won't survive until 2021. He might not survive 2020 after Brees and Brady get done with them.

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I don’t know if this is accurate, but he passed Adam Gase for “first coach to be fired in 2020” according to Vegas. That changed after yesterday’s result. 

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  On 9/21/2020 at 6:55 PM, Dr. Beeper said:

Look the guy played a great game. I don’t hate Dak. What drives me nuts and makes me appear to be a Dak hater is the blatant apologism for him. He fumbled. He presided over an offense that fumbled 4 times in the first quarter losing three of them. He lost one himself. As the leader of the offense he is the most culpable for the team’s terrible start. I don’t know what is so hard to understand about that. 

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I’m not sure what is so hard to understand about Dak having absolutely nothing to do with 2 other guys fumbling the ball 3 times.  It was a freak deal.  Zeke fumbled 3 times last season, so it’s not like this has been an issue with him.

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  On 9/21/2020 at 7:00 PM, conVINCEd said:

I’m not sure what is so hard to understand about Dak having absolutely nothing to do with 2 other guys fumbling the ball 3 times.  It was a freak deal.  Zeke fumbled 3 times last season, so it’s not like this has been an issue with him.

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He should've reminded Zeke not to fumble.  That's on Dak.

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  On 9/21/2020 at 6:55 PM, Dr. Beeper said:

Look the guy played a great game. I don’t hate Dak. What drives me nuts and makes me appear to be a Dak hater is the blatant apologism for him. He fumbled. He presided over an offense that fumbled 4 times in the first quarter losing three of them. He lost one himself. As the leader of the offense he is the most culpable for the team’s terrible start. I don’t know what is so hard to understand about that. 

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Presided over 4 other fumbles??  WTF does that even mean?  He called the fumble play in the huddle?  C'mon bro 

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  On 9/21/2020 at 7:03 PM, 'stache said:

So Dak is now responsible for RB fumbles that happen long after the handoff or pass? That's a new one, but should be totally predictable with this fanbase. Does he also get credit for Pollard being down before his fumble? 

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Just know this. Dak is responsible for every single loss but has zero responsibility for any win. It's easier to understand this in the viewpoint of the mouth breathers. Dak is not an elite QB but anyone who thinks he is holding this team back and ignores the bottom of the league defense and weak special teams is ignorant as fuck. Which describes a lot of our fanbase and NFL fanbases in general.

At least we don't have the previous QB. He would have thrown a pick after we got the onsides.

 

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  On 9/21/2020 at 6:55 PM, Dr. Beeper said:

Look the guy played a great game. I don’t hate Dak. What drives me nuts and makes me appear to be a Dak hater is the blatant apologism for him. He fumbled. He presided over an offense that fumbled 4 times in the first quarter losing three of them. He lost one himself. As the leader of the offense he is the most culpable for the team’s terrible start. I don’t know what is so hard to understand about that. 

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Holy fucking shit. I think this post should put you in the HOF for being one of the biggest dumb fucks on here. He presided over a team that fumbled? Lmao. He fumbled once and that is all him but now it's his fault that Zeke fumbled twice and Schultz another. And Pollard did too even though he was down? If you were trolling and being sarcastic, this would actually be a brilliant post. But you aren't. You truly believe Dak is responsible for fumbles when he does not have the ball and this is his fault. This is legit one of the dumbest things I have ever read.

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  On 9/21/2020 at 7:04 PM, Vic Mackey said:

More and more people are cutting the cord and going streaming as the months go by. Either legally or pirating. These are not factored into these ratings. 

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streaming is counted in the nielsen #s.  pirating isn't going to account for an almost 30% drop in #s.  also the game was national over the air on fox.  something else is at play.  

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  On 9/21/2020 at 6:15 PM, Dr. Beeper said:

You crave the contrarian view. Stop

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Other regular posters in the thread agreed with my post. 

You're the one who went all haywire in the response with "Fire e'ryone associated with special teams because they all suck!"

 

Then further into the thread( this  page) you did it again with another take

 

Yep.  It's my fault.  LOlz.  You're so fucking reasonable.

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  On 9/21/2020 at 7:03 PM, 'stache said:

So Dak is now responsible for RB fumbles that happen long after the handoff or pass? That's a new one, but should be totally predictable with this fanbase. Does he also get credit for Pollard being down before his fumble? 

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Dude he "presided" over the offense. What is it that you don't understand?

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  On 9/21/2020 at 6:55 PM, Dr. Beeper said:

Look the guy played a great game. I don’t hate Dak. What drives me nuts and makes me appear to be a Dak hater is the blatant apologism for him. He fumbled. He presided over an offense that fumbled 4 times in the first quarter losing three of them. He lost one himself. As the leader of the offense he is the most culpable for the team’s terrible start. I don’t know what is so hard to understand about that. 

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The part I don’t understand is how he bears any responsibility for the other two lost fumbles, by virtue of being the “leader” of the offense. He lost a fumble on his side of the field in a 0-0 game in the first quarter, that led to a falcon td. That’s the extent of his role in the 20-0 first quarter. 

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This is what I’ll say about Dak. Part of why I didn’t think he could ever become elite was his reluctance to run in key situations. Definitely not talking designed runs, but like what you saw from Russ and Mahomes yesterday. Running on 3rd and 6 and picking up 9 to extend a drive. Like, as soon as you see you can obviously get the first down, just fucking take off and pick it up real quick so there’s no high risk pass. I feel like there were too many times last year (and throughout his career) where he just refuses to run in those spots and throws a contested ball on decent coverage instead. 
 

Maybe I’m just not remembering yesterday’s game (it was a blur full of a lot of frustration haha) but I feel like he’s run a lot more in those situations the last two games. I don’t know what’s gotten into him. Whether it’s McCarthy/Moore encouraging him to do it more, or if he’s doing it now that he has that franchise tag money, but I’ve always felt like that was going to be the thing to take his game to the next tier of qbs, and he’s absolutely doing that right now. 

Edited by youdunnf'dup
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  On 9/21/2020 at 9:07 PM, youdunnf'dup said:

This is what I’ll say about Dak. Part of why I didn’t think he could ever become elite was his reluctance to run in key situations. Definitely not talking designed runs, but like what you saw from Russ and Mahomes yesterday. Running on 3rd and 6 and picking up 9 to extend a drive. Like, as soon as you see you can obviously get the first down, just fucking take off and pick it up real quick so there’s no high risk pass. I feel like there were too many times last year (and throughout his career) where he just refuses to run in those spots and throws a contested ball on decent coverage instead. 
 

Maybe I’m just not remembering yesterday’s game (it was a blur full of a lot of frustration haha) but I feel like he’s run a lot more in those situations the last two games. I don’t know what’s gotten into him. Whether it’s McCarthy/Moore encouraging him to do it more, or if he’s doing it now that he has that franchise tag money, but I’ve always felt like that was going to be the thing to take his game to the next tier of qbs, and he’s absolutely doing that right now. 

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I assumed it was Garrett and the coaching staff not letting him run more

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  On 9/21/2020 at 9:17 PM, immortal13 said:

I assumed it was Garrett and the coaching staff not letting him run more

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When I think about what Dak could/should be, I think Donovan McNabb (ducks for cover). McNabb used to fucking kill us when he ran in those situations, and he was a pretty accurate passer. McNabb obviously had a great career, but he doesn’t have that career if he isn’t running in those key situations. I don’t see any reason Dak can’t be McNabb if he’s a more aggressive runner.

 

I’ll admit. I was pretty young for a lot of McNabb’s prime, so maybe I’m not remembering his style of play as well as I think i am.

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And just to officially jinx us, for all our flaws, how does this team not win the NFC East? The Giants are dog meat now, the Washington Football Team is about as exciting as its name, and Carson Wentz has turned into a pumpkin (I guess the Eagles saw that coming with their draft picks). So basically, all we have to do is stagger to the finish line upright.  

I'm not saying we're Super Bowl material. But the NFC East? Them's some easy pickins.

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  On 9/21/2020 at 9:26 PM, Loch Ness Monster said:

You can clean up fumbles but is the defense going to magically improve? May need to visit the free agency scrap heap. 

DL, LB, and secondary all look below average.

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I'm hoping some of it is getting used to a new scheme but generally, if you can cover, you can cover.  Trevon Diggs is going to be good but still just a rookie.  Chito is decent but not great.  After that..... The kid from Tulsa has been inactive.  Brown is on the IR.  Worley is mediocre, which is fine for a 5th guy but he's not that anymore, and Lewis seems to be below average.  But there have been some silver linings.  Aldon Smith has been good considering the time off.  Trysten Hill has had a few moments.  Joe Thomas was the best LB on the team yesterday although Jaylon played better other than looking slow in coverage.  Overall, the defense has been pretty poor but maybe they can pick it up as they get more acclimated to the system.

 

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  On 9/21/2020 at 2:42 PM, youdunnf'dup said:

Drew Dak played really well. But if we don’t get that onside kick it is 100.% an empty stats game. It wasn’t because we needed all those stats to complete a comeback, but if we don’t finish them off it’s definitely empty stats. You do realize someone can play well and also have empty stats, right? Why the fuck are you so defensive about Dak lol? I’ll never understand it. 

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I'm just going to vehemently disagree about it being empty stats.  If the final is 39-24? Yeah I can see that.  but not at 39-37 where he was DIRECTLY responsible for every single point scored either on his own, or making plays to get them in FG range for for Zekes lone TD.

People stills saying "he's just not the guy" after yesterday are just blind and/or biased.

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  On 9/21/2020 at 8:30 PM, Dr. Beeper said:

Maybe it was merely an isolated freak deal but I’ve seen enough evidence that Dak presides over sloppy play entirely too much. He needs to be a cocksucker sometimes. Again I’m surprised this is even controversial. I’m not saying it’s all his fault. I’m saying the unit he’s most in control of needs to get its shit together. Yesterday wasn’t on McCarthy, Fassell or the D. It was on the offense. 

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That's an interesting take considering the prevailing criticism of Dak has always been that he's too careful with the ball and is overly risk averse.  His INT totals during his career are 4, 13, 8, 11, and 0 respectively over the course of his 4 years and 2 gm career. 

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  On 9/21/2020 at 9:07 PM, youdunnf'dup said:

This is what I’ll say about Dak. Part of why I didn’t think he could ever become elite was his reluctance to run in key situations. Definitely not talking designed runs, but like what you saw from Russ and Mahomes yesterday. Running on 3rd and 6 and picking up 9 to extend a drive. Like, as soon as you see you can obviously get the first down, just fucking take off and pick it up real quick so there’s no high risk pass. I feel like there were too many times last year (and throughout his career) where he just refuses to run in those spots and throws a contested ball on decent coverage instead. 
 

Maybe I’m just not remembering yesterday’s game (it was a blur full of a lot of frustration haha) but I feel like he’s run a lot more in those situations the last two games. I don’t know what’s gotten into him. Whether it’s McCarthy/Moore encouraging him to do it more, or if he’s doing it now that he has that franchise tag money, but I’ve always felt like that was going to be the thing to take his game to the next tier of qbs, and he’s absolutely doing that right now. 

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He picked up a big 3rd &14 first down with his feet in a clutch situation in the playoff win over Seattle a few years back.  I wanna say he had 1 or 2 against Green Bay in the playoffs as well. 

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  On 9/21/2020 at 10:15 PM, Catdaddyhorn said:

He picked up a big 3rd &14 first down with his feet in a clutch situation in the playoff win over Seattle a few years back.  I wanna say he had 1 or 2 against Green Bay in the playoffs as well. 

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Yep he sure did. He also converted the 2pt conversion to tie up the Packers playoff game. He is dangerous when he runs. He isn't fast or shifty but he runs with a purpose and he's big. I gave no idea why we do not utilize this more. We seemed to more in his rookie year. He's very effective when he runs.

Last week against the Rams he picked up a 1st or damn near on a 3rd and long to salvage that drive. Where is the misdirection to make the defense respect him keeping the ball and running? You can do so much from this. Hand it to Zeke, keep the ball and pass or keep the ball and run. Dak works the best when it is quick reads and play actions. Quit making him some drop back passer and scanning the field the whole play. Never was that and never will be. Yet the Cowboys staff tries to make him this and then he is judged on this shit which is not his strengths.

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  On 9/21/2020 at 10:12 PM, Catdaddyhorn said:

That's an interesting take considering the prevailing criticism of Dak has always been that he's too careful with the ball and is overly risk averse.  His INT totals during his career are 4, 13, 8, 11, and 0 respectively over the course of his 4 years and 2 gm career. 

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Damn I have him on ignore so didn't even see that.  Dude actually said Dak was "sloppy"?  People been crying for years that he's "too scared/conservative" and I saw TONS Of idiots on social media saying he's afraid to throw more than 5 yards down the field.  Jesus, it's like the true Dak haters can't even keep their own shit strait.  

Is he a gambler/sloppy or is he a game manager?  He can't be both.

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