Dallas Cowboys 2018 Regular Season Thread

[Vic Mackey 47027]

Well you said in a decade so I didn't go back that far to look. 

And yes, Marty B was a talented TE. There was a lot of politics at work that did not let him fully develop here. 

[irishtexan 11518]

12 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

Who is saying this? When healthy, sure they can be a top tier OL. But they are far from that right now. Martin and Travis are hurt. Tyron really should not be out there but he is because he's a tough SOB. But he's not the same. It's a makeshift OL right now that just can't block with any consistency. A lot of Zeke's runs are because of him. He longer has those gaping holes he had in 2016.

I'm afraid Tyron's days as a top-tier LT are behind him. His back seems perma-fucked. We'll see what happens with Travis. ZM should still be good for a while. Conner sucks. The OL is actually one of the worse units on the team. 

[Vic Mackey 47027]

I'm afraid Tyron's days as a top-tier LT are behind him. His back seems perma-fucked. We'll see what happens with Travis. ZM should still be good for a while. Conner sucks. The OL is actually one of the worse units on the team. 

Yep. Tyron went from an All Pro to a Pro Bowl player. Now he might not even be that. It's sad because he's still young. He was just drafted at such a young age. Injuries have taken their toll on his body. We need to look for his replacement sooner than later.

[futureman 22457]

5 minutes ago, irishtexan said:

I'm afraid Tyron's days as a top-tier LT are behind him. His back seems perma-fucked. We'll see what happens with Travis. ZM should still be good for a while. Conner sucks. The OL is actually one of the worse units on the team. 

next season I’d like to move la’el back to LG and with frederick and martin healthy again that will solidify the interior.  then worry about tyron’s health and maybe put cam fleming at RT or try connor there or sign a veteran. 

[C-Man 27221]

46 minutes ago, futureman said:

next season I’d like to move la’el back to LG and with frederick and martin healthy again that will solidify the interior.  then worry about tyron’s health and maybe put cam fleming at RT or try connor there or sign a veteran. 

Hell, I'm almost to the point where you use the 2nd on OL again.

[Patrick Bateman 3913]

1 hour ago, Nicole44 said:

In what scenario do we even make the super bow? I hate  Jerry Garterbelt Linehan and anyone who knows him or Jerry most of the teams save the Chargers and Bears are no good. Yep Pats too

Alternate universe/timeline.  This team isn't SB good....

 

[Patrick Bateman 3913]

Connor was always going to need time because of his age and lack of strength.  He's not very good right now but we shouldn't lose focus on the fact he was going to need development and a couple of years.  I agree about putting Collins back at guard.  He's a shitty RT, but could be a competent to good guard.  I'd like to kick Connor out to RT and see if he can develop knowing schematically we'd have to help him.  We definitely need to be looking at drafting and developing another OT.... preferably LT.

Our OL, when healthy, is still a good run unit especially with Swaim at TE.  Pass pro, they're ranked 30th in Adjusted sack rate by FO and have been bottom five pretty much all season.  Frederick can and hopefully will help a lot next season in solidifying the interior.  Looney has proven to be a solid backup but he got worked over yesterday.

Edited December 17, 2018 by Patrick Bateman

[txbroadcaster 110]

1 hour ago, Vic Mackey said:

Well you said in a decade so I didn't go back that far to look. 

And yes, Marty B was a talented TE. There was a lot of politics at work that did not let him fully develop here. 

There were no politics. Marty was immature and acted like it. He tried to succeed off his talent and talent alone. His attitude was absolute chit and he was terrible at things like studying the playbook and blocking. 

He "got better" simply because the teams he moved to threw at him more even though his catch rate was about the same as it was in Dallas and his blocking never really got better. 

[Gucci_Suit 2644]

44 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Connor was always going to need time because of his age and lack of strength.  He's not very good right now but we shouldn't lose focus on the fact he was going to need development and a couple of years.  I agree about putting Collins back at guard.  He's a shitty RT, but could be a competent to good guard.  I'd like to kick Connor out to RT and see if he can develop knowing schematically we'd have to help him.  We definitely need to be looking at drafting and developing another OT.... preferably LT.

Our OL, when healthy, is still a good run unit especially with Swaim at TE.  Pass pro, they're ranked 30th in Adjusted sack rate by FO and have been bottom five pretty much all season.  Frederick can and hopefully will help a lot next season in solidifying the interior.  Looney has proven to be a solid backup but he got worked over yesterday.

This is right. 

While at Texas, Conner had great footwork and a fucking mean streak. I think that 24 months from now he’ll make a fine RT. He needs muscle and confidence- that’s it.

Collins, I think, should be playing in position at RG. He solid, but not special  

Travis, I fear, is done. I’d bet that is announced next summer. 

Smith, I know, will only be slightly above replacement- and maybe not even that. But dude was stupid good for a long time. He’s still not even that old (29 next year), but a lot of the tread is gone. Pretty sure he’ll get close to playing out contract, but wonder if he’d move over for a younger player with quicker feet  

At LG, we actually have a lot of options but they’re mostly older vets. 

Zack is Zack

Somebody said upthread that they would not be mad if we spent our 2nd rounder on OL again this year. I will never disagree with OL at round 2... unless we could get the same dude in 3rd

got some guys that need replacing. 

Edited December 18, 2018 by Gucci_Suit

[txbroadcaster 110]

8 minutes ago, Gucci_Suit said:

This is right. 

While at Texas, Conner had great footwork and a fucking mean streak. I think that 24 months from now he’ll make a fine RT. He needs muscle and confidence- that’s it.

Collins, I think, should be playing in position at RG. He solid, but not special  

Travis, I fear, is done. I’d bet that is announced next summer. 

Smith, I know, will only be slightly above replacement- and maybe not even that. But dude was stupid good for a long time. He’s still not even that old (29 next year), but a lot of the tread is gone. Pretty sure he’ll get close to playing out contract, but wonder if he’d move over for a younger player with quicker feet  

At LG, we actually have a lot of options but they’re mostly older vets. 

Zack is Zack

Somebody said upthread that they would not be mad if we spent our 2nd rounder on OL again this year. I will never disagree with OL at round 2... unless we could get the same dude in 3rd

got some guys that need replacing. 

Fredrick will be back. He already is getting feeling back in his hands. As shocking as the news was..95% of people fully recover from it. 

[TornACL 7698]

2 hours ago, OatmealRaisinCookie said:

Went and looked, probably worst 2nd round pick since Quincy Carter in 2001. 

We've had some good hits in 2nd round: Sean Lee, Andre Gurode, Marty B, Tyrone Crawford, Jaylon Smith, DeMarcus Lawrence, Cheeto, and my personal fave, Bruce Carter (that was a MAN back there at LB).

We've had good drafts in general but yeah a lot of hits in Round 2.

As for worst, you're forgetting Jacob Rogers who never even played a game at OL, total waste of a 2nd Rd pick. 

[Tired Horn 738]

9 minutes ago, Gucci_Suit said:

Travis, I fear, is done. I’d bet that is announced next summer. 

Any actual news to that effect? 

Schlereth came back from it.

[Gucci_Suit 2644]

2 minutes ago, Tired Horn said:

Any actual news to that effect? 

Schlereth came back from it.

Nope. To be clear. Just a fear of mine and I hope I’m wrong. 

[Patrick Bateman 3913]

From what I understand, from reading and Doc friends, they caught Frederick's condition early enough whereby he should be able to regain full range of motion and eventually.... strength.  They feel, by the time TC comes around next year, he should be fully healthy again.  95-96% chance is what I got back.  That's pretty fucking great.  Collins - Frederick - Martin can still be a monster interior.  We'd be mediocre on the edges next year but we could try and scheme around by keeping TE/RBs in or chipping a ton.  Connor definitely need 9 months in the weight room and simply the chance for his body to mature.  He doesn't turn 22 until May.  For comparison, Zack was 23 going on 24 his rookie year.

[futureman 22457]

11 minutes ago, Gucci_Suit said:

Nope. To be clear. Just a fear of mine and I hope I’m wrong. 

fear based on what?  not on science.  not on odds.  so what then?

[Jameslaw121 4448]

Can we count the 2009 draft pick we traded for the remnants of a porto potty?

[Gucci_Suit 2644]

2 hours ago, futureman said:

fear based on what?  not on science.  not on odds.  so what then?

Well, it’s an incurable disease for starters. And most of the people who have it...and recover... aren’t NFL linemen. 

I didn’t say I’m “certain” he won’t play again. I fear he won’t because he won’t accept playing at a lesser level. 

Dunno. Like I said, I hope I’m wrong. 

[futureman 22457]

Just now, Gucci_Suit said:

Well, it’s an incurable disease for starters. And most of the people who have it...and recover... aren’t NFL linemen. 

I didn’t say I’m “certain” he won’t play again. I fear he won’t because he won’t accept playing at a lesser level. 

Dunno. Like I said, I hope I’m wrong. 

except that something like over 90% of people experience a full recovery.  a full recovery.  so, yeah, maybe less than a 10% chance he doesn’t play again.  ok, sure, that would suck. 

[Gucci_Suit 2644]

18 minutes ago, futureman said:

except that something like over 90% of people experience a full recovery.  a full recovery.  so, yeah, maybe less than a 10% chance he doesn’t play again.  ok, sure, that would suck. 

Cool

[futureman 22457]

7 minutes ago, Gucci_Suit said:

Cool

you think so?

[Tired Horn 738]

Hope for a full recovery.

Hell, even a little reduced capability Frederick would still be pretty good. 

[kopp0e 1135]

A throwback to when the Cowboys' rivals introduced the "skinny shorts" of the era: 😏

 

[Viper 12109]

good article looking at the issues that the team has had, even through the win streak.

https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2018/12/18/18144671/cowboys-shutout-exposes-problems-on-offense-that-were-there-during-their-five-game-winning-streak

Quote

Shutout exposes Cowboys problems on offense that were there during their five-game winning streak

Things went from bad to worse for the Cowboys offense on Sunday.

By DannyPhantom@DannyPhantom24  Dec 18, 2018, 8:00am CST

 

 

Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports

After a disappointing loss, it’s always good to take a step back, breathe a little bit, and take a long hard look at what we just witnessed before forming any conclusions. The mantra “look past the results” is one that holds a lot of meaning to me and it’s particularly useful whenever things get cloudy when it comes to the outlook of this football team. Are the Dallas Cowboys really this bad? Is the 23-0 shutout loss to the Indianapolis Colts really a good indicator as to how good this Cowboys team is? And all across the nation you should hear a resounding, ”No.”

While belief in such may take the sting off of Sunday’s loss a bit, there are some things going on with this team that should bring about a little soreness. The defeat to the Colts was just bad. The offense scored no points, the defense had problems tackling, and the mental mistakes were plentiful on both sides of the ball. There is nothing they put on tape to make us believe it was a valiant effort where a bad break here or there cost them the game. It was just bad football and they have to own it.

What is most alarming about Sunday’s performance is that it’s a collection of things that this team has been dealing with throughout the season, even during their winning streak. If we really believe in “looking past the results” we have to be honest with ourselves about what we have witnessed over the last several weeks, even if the emotions from defeat didn’t accompany it. And what we’ll see is a team that is struggling on offense.

Let’s check out a quick summary of the Cowboys five-game winning streak, except we’ll dial in on some blocks that are cause for concern:

• Win #1 (Eagles) - Cowboys had 13 points after three quarters
• Win #2 (Falcons) - Cowboys had six points after three quarters
• Win #3 (Redskins) - Cowboys trailed 13-10 in third quarter before offense got on track, helped by multiple interceptions from Colt McCoy
• Win #4 (Saints) - Cowboys only scored 13 points all game
• Win #5 (Eagles) - Cowboys had nine points after three quarters

If you throw in the losses on either side of this win streak, you’ll also get six straight quarters where the Cowboys have been shutout as they didn’t score in the second half of the Tennessee game as well as Sunday’s shutout. That’s a lot of offense that’s not happening for this team.

Spurts of offensive explosiveness is great. We love it. And the big plays of Amari Cooper has been a big part of that during this span. He’s been a savior and I don’t have to paint the picture of what things would look like for this team if we removed his big plays from the equation. But these big plays aren’t always there for the Cowboys and when they are forced to rely on large-play drives, this team is struggling getting points. The Cowboys are currently ranked 26th in the league with just 19.7 points a game. The teams below them are teams like Arizona, Oakland, Buffalo, and Jacksonville - all teams who will be picking early in the NFL Draft.

There are a lot of reasons for the Cowboys offensive struggles. The offensive line play is a big one. Dak Prescott has been sacked 51 times which would’ve been the most in the NFL had Deshaun Watson not been sacked six times on Saturday. Prescott doesn’t always help his cause by holding on to the ball longer than you’d like to see, but he’s still under quite of bit of duress. The Cowboys offensive line is banged up, specifically in the middle as both guard positions and the center are being manned by backups. Travis Frederick has been out all year and Zack Martin is now out with a knee injury. Both are All-Pro’s and both had never missed a game coming into this season, but just like that - both are unavailable. And the other All-Pro of the group, Tyron Smith, has missed a couple games as well. He’s back now, but he is a shell of his former self as he’s suddenly developed a bad habit of holding people.

And the holding penalties are an epidemic that has spread throughout the entire offensive line.

Any time the team is racking up a lot of penalties, that’s a problem, but it’s even more damaging when the offense hasn’t demonstrated the ability to get themselves out of trouble once they’re behind the chains. Repeatedly throwing dump off passes short of the sticks is just waiting to lose.

Even more disturbing than the team’s third-and-long ineptness is how much they struggle once they get deep in their opponents territory. Defenses tighten up and suddenly the Dallas offense becomes unable to score touchdowns. The list is plentiful as to why this happens. Sometimes a missed block/penalty causes a negative play, sometimes Dak throws a pick in the endzone, or sometimes a receiver will just blatantly drop an easy pass.

Some of this you can rationalize yourself to believe that it won’t continue. Dropped passes can’t go on forever, right? But some of this is just part of a recognizable pattern that has become the Cowboys red zone offense and it’s unsettling.

What does it mean when a team that had struggled with consistency offensively during a five-game winning streak rolls out a big goose egg? It means there’s a problem in Dallas and that this team has a lot of work to do if they want to make a splash in the postseason. The sky isn’t falling, but there are some dark clouds hovering around and they didn’t just recently show up.

 

I think the third and long play calling gets me. It seems any time it's 3rd and long, we run either a draw or a screen pass. Those are great plays and sometimes they work, but they only work because no one is expecting them. If you run them every time, then eventually they will be expected and no longer work, which is mostly where we're at now.

[Underdog 28620]

10 hours ago, kopp0e said:

A throwback to when the Cowboys' rivals introduced the "skinny shorts" of the era: 😏

 

Is that Ernest Borgnine on the left?

[futureman 22457]

1 hour ago, Viper said:

I think the third and long play calling gets me. It seems any time it's 3rd and long, we run either a draw or a screen pass. Those are great plays and sometimes they work, but they only work because no one is expecting them. If you run them every time, then eventually they will be expected and no longer work, which is mostly where we're at now.

oh wow, we can’t push the ball downfield through the air when we desperately need to?  what in the world could be the reason for that?

[SurlyBDR 22780]

3 minutes ago, futureman said:

oh wow, we can’t push the ball downfield through the air when we desperately need to?  what in the world could be the reason for that?

The OC isn't smart enough to create a package for Mike White on 3rd and longs

[Trey3216 15346]

2 minutes ago, SurlyBDR said:

The OC isn't smart enough to create a package for Mike White on 3rd and longs

[Vic Mackey 47027]

[Gene Parmesan 4006]

Why is Wentz ahead of Goff?  That seems ridiculous to me. 

[futureman 22457]

5 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

lulz.  is that from week 6, 2016?

[kopp0e 1135]

2 hours ago, Underdog said:

Is that Ernest Borgnine on the left?

For the timeframe, the guy you speak of is a bit too tall & fat to be Borgnine... 😏

[Vic Mackey 47027]

...

[futureman 22457]

joe mixon... I bet kareem hunt is back on that list by 2020. 

[babysdaddy 2721]

Assuming we win the division and are the #4 seed.  If we win first round we will most likely have to go and play in the Superdome in the Divisional round.  Not good

[Drew 2405]

22 hours ago, OatmealRaisinCookie said:

The myth that the Cowboys O-line is the best or tops in NFL is a horrible myth that only children who don't watch the games would believe.

Also, I know this is a Longhorns message board, but Connor Williams is a horrible 2nd round pick... and he doesn't even have dropfoot and a possibility of potentially being good if he can overcome his injuries.

 

22 hours ago, OatmealRaisinCookie said:

People on the radio. Also, Connor Williams is the worst 2nd round pick in a decade.

Just stupid takes.  First off, judging a 2nd rounder knee deep in his first season is absolutely ridiculous.  Then saying he's the worst in a decade? Jesus Christ man you just jumped way over the deep end.  Hell Jayon Smith was a worst 2nd round pick because it took 3 years for him to show out.

Williams was a solid draft pick.  EVERYONE knew he'd need time, and knew he wasn't a long term guard.  He needs more strength and an offseason to really have the technique and strength to be good.

20 hours ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Connor was always going to need time because of his age and lack of strength.  He's not very good right now but we shouldn't lose focus on the fact he was going to need development and a couple of years.  I agree about putting Collins back at guard.  He's a shitty RT, but could be a competent to good guard.  I'd like to kick Connor out to RT and see if he can develop knowing schematically we'd have to help him.  We definitely need to be looking at drafting and developing another OT.... preferably LT.

Our OL, when healthy, is still a good run unit especially with Swaim at TE.  Pass pro, they're ranked 30th in Adjusted sack rate by FO and have been bottom five pretty much all season.  Frederick can and hopefully will help a lot next season in solidifying the interior.  Looney has proven to be a solid backup but he got worked over yesterday.

All of this.

 

Oh, and Linehan is absolute Trash.  People still trying to act like he's not the BIGGEST problem just show they're clueless.

[Gucci_Suit 2644]

18 hours ago, futureman said:

you think so?

Yes

[totallynotabuttpirate 5396]

 

1 hour ago, Drew said:

 

Just stupid takes.  First off, judging a 2nd rounder knee deep in his first season is absolutely ridiculous.  Then saying he's the worst in a decade? Jesus Christ man you just jumped way over the deep end.  Hell Jayon Smith was a worst 2nd round pick because it took 3 years for him to show out.

Williams was a solid draft pick.  EVERYONE knew he'd need time, and knew he wasn't a long term guard.  He needs more strength and an offseason to really have the technique and strength to be good.

All of this.

 

Oh, and Linehan is absolute Trash.  People still trying to act like he's not the BIGGEST problem just show they're clueless.

 

I think we need to consider playing Mike White at guard. 

[Gucci_Suit 2644]

1 hour ago, Drew said:

 

Just stupid takes.  First off, judging a 2nd rounder knee deep in his first season is absolutely ridiculous.  Then saying he's the worst in a decade? Jesus Christ man you just jumped way over the deep end.  Hell Jayon Smith was a worst 2nd round pick because it took 3 years for him to show out.

Williams was a solid draft pick.  EVERYONE knew he'd need time, and knew he wasn't a long term guard.  He needs more strength and an offseason to really have the technique and strength to be good.

All of this.

 

Oh, and Linehan is absolute Trash.  People still trying to act like he's not the BIGGEST problem just show they're clueless.

But at this point we shpuld assume that Garrett is keeping his job unless he loses the next 2 games. But- Linehan will probably not be calling plays. 

So, who should be our next OC?

We have to promote Kellen Moore, right? Dude has been so good for Dak and he so Boise. 

[Drew 2405]

That's an option. But the real question is how can we get him to play QB, RB, OG and DE.

[irishtexan 11518]

1 hour ago, babysdaddy said:

Assuming we win the division and are the #4 seed.  If we win first round we will most likely have to go and play in the Superdome in the Divisional round.  Not good

How about we get our third playoff win in the last two decades before we start worrying about hypothetical matchups in the second round of the playoffs, ffs.

[Drew 2405]

Just now, Gucci_Suit said:

But at this point we shpuld assume that Garrett is keeping his job unless he loses the next 2 games. But- Linehan will probably not be calling plays. 

So, who should be our next OC?

We have to promote Kellen Moore, right? Dude has been so good for Dak and he so Boise. 

Yes Garrett is staying most likley.  Linehan will be gone, and no Moore isn't taking his job.  Jesus man, stop the hyperbole.

[Gucci_Suit 2644]

It’s more irony, or stupidity, than hyperbole. 

Like our Cowboys. 

Edited December 18, 2018 by Gucci_Suit
Gram

['stache 21806]

Seriously, I saw that fuckstain Moore on the sideline last week.  So ragey.  Go cut your teeth coaching in college, kid.  There is no way you are doing much of anything with the NFL franchise, and if you are, well fuck Jerry Jones and whoever is keeping him on staff.  He needs go the route of other youngsters looking to coach.  He can maybe bypass grad assistant, but go be a position coach at a small school first.  Hell maybe you can even get a D-1 position coaching job.  But do something other than tagging along with Linnehan and whoever else your clinging to.

[futureman 22457]

26 minutes ago, 'stache said:

Seriously, I saw that fuckstain Moore on the sideline last week.  So ragey.  Go cut your teeth coaching in college, kid.  There is no way you are doing much of anything with the NFL franchise, and if you are, well fuck Jerry Jones and whoever is keeping him on staff.  He needs go the route of other youngsters looking to coach.  He can maybe bypass grad assistant, but go be a position coach at a small school first.  Hell maybe you can even get a D-1 position coaching job.  But do something other than tagging along with Linnehan and whoever else your clinging to.

don’t be mad at moore.  if you’re him do you turn down working for the dallas cowboys?  hell no. 

[Mileslong 4727]

Yeah I wonder who GM3 is?

[Vic Mackey 47027]

Also not sure why Wentz is ahead of Goff. Wentz is injury prone and Goff is better. 

[DougO 5245]

On 12/17/2018 at 4:14 PM, OatmealRaisinCookie said:

People on the radio. Also, Connor Williams is the worst 2nd round pick in a decade.

I agree Goff is better than Wentz, even without the injuries. And Goff was the one that I feared may be injury prone due to his build.

I like Dak, he was a great fourth round pick, but GM3 went full retard picking Dak over Goff.

The Browns pick should have been "fire Hue Jackson."

[DougO 5245]

On 12/17/2018 at 4:04 PM, Nicole44 said:

In what scenario do we even make the super bow? I hate  Jerry Garterbelt Linehan and anyone who knows him or Jerry most of the teams save the Chargers and Bears are no good. Yep Pats too

 

Cowboys eek out a first round win with strong defense at home, second round opponent's plane is hijacked by terrorists and flown into NFC championship opponent's headquarters during team meetings.

[DougO 5245]

Connor will probably be OK, but the was a bit of a reach in mid second round. He really needed a year to get stronger and work on technique before being relied on as the starting left guard.

[Patrick Bateman 3913]

Goff is accurate but if the last 3 weeks has proven, very bad off schedule and a total system QB.  It'll be hard for him to be more due to his physical limitations.  That system is fantastic though and Goff with his mind and accuracy with a clean pocket can win a lot of games.