Offseason - Around the NFL

[NoFlyZone]

47 minutes ago, Northland said:

There was a time when the team was hated.  I think they are pitied now. The fans are hated.  Delusional best describes them. Every year all I hear is this is the year; it's a deep playoff run for sure.  God help you if you critique the Cowboys.  Do you really believe they were one of the best in the NFC?  Their record was aided by a lot of wins against less than stellar opponents.   For all of the great drafting and Pro Bowlers the one constant has been failure.  I mean they have not even come close to contending for a championship.  What is your explanation for almost 30 years of absolute futility?

Pitied? No. No one cares about pity. It's still hate. I don't know how you could miss the constant jabs and swipes that are taken at this team at every opportunity, at every falter. Fans around the league wait with bated breath for this team to fail. You say that you hear every year that "this is the year; it's a deep playoff run"... but from who?? From absolute casual fans on an in person basis? Even in the case of fans possibly having that opinion... who cares? Of course a fanbase is going to be hopeful. Outside of that, who has been consistently propping up this team, saying that this is their year and that they're bound to win it all? No one. Again, I swear you guys write your own narratives. I'm not sure if it's self defense or what.

Yes, I do believe they were one of the best in the NFC. The only reason you don't is because you're still upset that they were one and done in the playoffs. You know who else was? The Green Bay Packers, who everyone was so enamored with all season long until they suffered the same exact fate as the team that you believe is fraudulent. You say they simply stacked up a lot of wins against less than stellar opponents... but here's the thing, so did the SB champion LA Rams. So did every other NFC power. Good teams beat inferior competition. You don't win 12 games by not being one of the best teams in your conference -- saying otherwise is totally laughable.  It sucks that they ran into a Niners team that almost carved their way into the SB before falling just short to the eventual SB champs (a team they had beaten twice this season) themselves... but that doesn't mean that everything was smoke and mirrors with this football team.

This place is becoming incredibly sensationalist about things. For all your talk about glitz, glamor, and this team being overhyped... your behavior is the exact opposite. Both takes are irrational. Why can't we just put feelings aside and see it for what it is? This team went from a dismal 6-10 record to a strong 12-5 in just one season. While they perhaps weren't Super Bowl champion caliber this year, that doesn't mean they were nothing. The all or nothing mentality is ridiculous. A team can fall short of the ultimate prize and still objectively be analyzed for their strengths and weaknesses. Just as we can say the Green Bay Packers were a very good football team despite having no play off wins to show for it this season... you can say the same for the Dallas Cowboys. Hate, double standards, and overreactions from within the fanbase don't change that. 

Sorry for the long post -- and I'm not going to repeat it to other users because the message applies to all --  but at some point the self damnation needs to stop. You guys seem truly miserable... if its that bad for you perhaps don't support the team. I don't even mean that in a snide way -- I mean that sincerely. I know you're upset about supporting the team for a long time and feeling like you have nothing to show for it... but when it comes to analyzing this football team ancient history does not matter. Teams from 20, 10, even 5 years ago have nothing to do with analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the current roster. Let's try to eventually get around to being rational about this. I'm disappointed as well, but that doesn't mean I'm going to act like the team is a bunch of pretenders that have no chance going forward. 

Edited February 14, 2022 by NoFlyZone

[Northland]

41 minutes ago, NoFlyZone said:

Pitied? No. No one cares about pity. It's still hate. I don't know how you could miss the constant jabs and swipes that are taken at this team at every opportunity, at every falter. Fans around the league wait with bated breath for this team to fail. You say that you hear every year that "this is the year; it's a deep playoff run"... but from who?? From absolute casual fans on an in person basis? Even in the case of fans possibly having that opinion... who cares? Of course a fanbase is going to be hopeful. Outside of that, who has been consistently propping up this team, saying that this is their year and that they're bound to win it all? No one. Again, I swear you guys write your own narratives. I'm not sure if it's self defense or what.

Yes, I do believe they were one of the best in the NFC. The only reason you don't is because you're still upset that they were one and done in the playoffs. You know who else was? The Green Bay Packers, who everyone was so enamored with all season long until they suffered the same exact fate as the team that you believe is fraudulent. You say they simply stacked up a lot of wins against less than stellar opponents... but here's the thing, so did the SB champion LA Rams. So did every other NFC power. Good teams beat inferior competition. You don't win 12 games by not being one of the best teams in your conference -- saying otherwise is totally laughable.  It sucks that they ran into a Niners team that almost carved their way into the SB before falling just short to the eventual SB champs (a team they had beaten twice this season) themselves... but that doesn't mean that everything was smoke and mirrors with this football team.

This place is becoming incredibly sensationalist about things. For all your talk about glitz, glamor, and this team being overhyped... your behavior is the exact opposite. Both takes are irrational. Why can't we just put feelings aside and see it for what it is? This team went from a dismal 6-10 record to a strong 12-5 in just one season. While they perhaps weren't Super Bowl champion caliber this year, that doesn't mean they were nothing. The all or nothing mentality is ridiculous. A team can fall short of the ultimate prize and still objectively be analyzed for their strengths and weaknesses. Just as we can say the Green Bay Packers were a very good football team despite having no play off wins to show for it this season... you can say the same for the Dallas Cowboys. Hate, double standards, and overreactions from within the fanbase don't change that. 

Sorry for the long post -- and I'm not going to repeat it to other users because the message applies to all --  but at some point the self damnation needs to stop. You guys seem truly miserable... if its that bad for you perhaps don't support the team. I don't even mean that in a snide way -- I mean that sincerely. I know you're upset about supporting the team for a long time and feeling like you have nothing to show for it... but when it comes to analyzing this football team ancient history does not matter. Teams from 20, 10, even 5 years ago have nothing to do with analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the current roster. Let's try to eventually get around to being rational about this. I'm disappointed as well, but that doesn't mean I'm going to act like the team is a bunch of pretenders that have no chance going forward. 

Why are there constant jabs against the team as you claim?  Its not like the Cowboys are the Patriots. Its not lije Dallas has had recent success. Whats the reason for the hate?  Enlighten me. For the record I'm not miserable at all.  You're  just a tad presumptious there. Do you honestly think some sports team is that important to me?  Give your head a shake. I was over the loss when it happened.  Why?  I knew Dallas would lose.  In fact I bet on the Niners.  I'm walking away from Dallas because I just don't have the energy to support a team that goes through the motions.  

[NoFlyZone]

1 hour ago, Northland said:

Why are there constant jabs against the team as you claim?  Its not like the Cowboys are the Patriots. Its not lije Dallas has had recent success. Whats the reason for the hate?  Enlighten me. For the record I'm not miserable at all.  You're  just a tad presumptious there. Do you honestly think some sports team is that important to me?  Give your head a shake. I was over the loss when it happened.  Why?  I knew Dallas would lose.  In fact I bet on the Niners.  I'm walking away from Dallas because I just don't have the energy to support a team that goes through the motions.  

Being great with any degree of recency is not the only criteria for hating a team. The team’s popularity is hated more than anything. If you don’t think the Dallas Cowboys is a hated franchise then I don’t know what to tell you. 
 

If you don’t feel your stance is based in misery then so be it — not gonna tell you how you feel about it. That doesn’t take away from the meaning of my post, though. 

Edited February 14, 2022 by NoFlyZone

[Northland]

22 minutes ago, NoFlyZone said:

Being good with any degree of recency is not the only criteria for hating a team. The team’s popularity is hated more than anything. If you don’t think the Dallas Cowboys is a hated franchise then I don’t know what to tell you. 
 

If you don’t feel your stance is based in misery then so be it — not gonna tell you how you feel about it. That doesn’t take away from the meaning of my post, 

I think the best thing to do moving forward will be to ignore each other's posts.  It won't be hard because I won't be posting much here anyway.  

Edited February 14, 2022 by Northland

[Matts4313]

2 hours ago, Tony7188 said:

I wonder what @Matts4313have to say about the Rams now? So opposed to what the Rams did in FA, talking about “the Rams having won sheet” and now look at them. But like I said during the season, that’s how you go after a Super Bowl. Making moves to win. Not being scared of FAs like the Dallas frauds are. Rams know what to do to build a SB winning team, unlike the frauds. 

UHHHHH... what?

[DaBoys]

2 hours ago, NoFlyZone said:

If Dak had the game that Burrow just had this fan base would be losing its mind. 

And I don’t think he played poorly. 

I’m not sure why Dak is being brought up in conversation but not surprised. You guys are obsessed. 

 

Joe Burrow SB loss QB rating: 100.9

Dak playoff loss QB rating: 69.3

[NoFlyZone]

16 minutes ago, DaBoys said:

I’m not sure why Dak is being brought up in conversation but not surprised. You guys are obsessed. 

 

Joe Burrow SB loss QB rating: 100.9

Dak playoff loss QB rating: 69.3

Eh, perhaps not necessary, but it’s just something that I feel to be true. I wasn’t meaning to make a direct comparison specifically to Dak’s playoff game, though. I just feel like Burrow had a ho-hum, pedestrian game behind a bad o-line performance… in the biggest game of the season. Guess I just feel that a double standard exists, and that we’d be hearing words of Dak underperforming/ not rising to the occasion if he was in Burrow’s spot. 

[The_Slamman]

1 hour ago, NoFlyZone said:

Eh, perhaps not necessary, but it’s just something that I feel to be true. I wasn’t meaning to make a direct comparison specifically to Dak’s playoff game, though. I just feel like Burrow had a ho-hum, pedestrian game behind a bad o-line performance… in the biggest game of the season. Guess I just feel that a double standard exists, and that we’d be hearing words of Dak underperforming/ not rising to the occasion if he was in Burrow’s spot. 

Uh, if Dak plays a team that wins 60% of its games, it’s a give that Dak will not rise to the occasion… regular season or playoffs.  Dak will fail.  The only chance of beating a good team is for either the running game to carry the offense or the defense to dominate. 

[DaBoys]

8 hours ago, NoFlyZone said:

Eh, perhaps not necessary, but it’s just something that I feel to be true. I wasn’t meaning to make a direct comparison specifically to Dak’s playoff game, though. I just feel like Burrow had a ho-hum, pedestrian game behind a bad o-line performance… in the biggest game of the season. Guess I just feel that a double standard exists, and that we’d be hearing words of Dak underperforming/ not rising to the occasion if he was in Burrow’s spot. 

Bottom line is Dak Prescott is overrated. He isn’t an elite QB. He doesn’t have elite mechanics. He doesn’t have elite accuracy. He doesn’t have elite athleticism he is average to above average. Which can be good with a good roster. I remember during the great Dak Contract Debates being forced to list out my top 20 QBs in here and caught absolute hell for listing the then Lions QB Matt Stafford over Dak. 
 

Dak is not that dude. He will never be that dude. He’ll be 29 years old next season. He isn’t a young up and coming QB. He is what he is, which isn’t bad at all. But he needs help. We can’t afford guys like Byron Jones,  and Chido Awuzie, and now Gregory and Schultz because we paid Dak like he doesn’t need them. it’s only getting worse imo unless we get a Parsons type player in every single draft. 1 Taco could really set us back. 

[Rtnldave]

Dak can win a SB with this team. He will need 3 things to help mask some of the shortcomings mentioned above.

1. A roadgrating O Line.

2. A Running game that imposes its will (see SB 28 3rd quarter)

3. A run stuffing, pocket pushing DT.

All 3 of these things are attainable THIS offseason via FA.

We need:

C,LG

DT

We have:

Elliott, Pollard

If this FO cannot find 3 players in FA to accomplish this, they are not worth their salt.

As for our WR, DL, LB, CB, S, etc I think we are in good shape.

But if Dak had a powerful running game to support his passing game and he is not being asked to do it all, I believe he can win.

Of course,the culture has to change from being too soft and make players and coaches accountable. Until that happens, it won't make ant difference.

 

[Texas_OutLaw7]

I was pretty struck by how bad the play calling offensively it was from two offensive minded head coaches. 

[DaBoys]

2 hours ago, Texas_OutLaw7 said:

I was pretty struck by how bad the play calling offensively it was from two offensive minded head coaches. 

I thoughts both defenses really made things difficult. The Rams are an all star unit so that’s to be expected. I was very surprised and impressed by the Bengals defense 

[Texas_OutLaw7]

13 minutes ago, DaBoys said:

I thoughts both defenses really made things difficult. The Rams are an all star unit so that’s to be expected. I was very surprised and impressed by the Bengals defense 

Defenses played well at times to be sure. But some of the playcalling was just really inefficient. And odd. 

[WizardHawk]

This would be quite the black eye 

[quiller]

I should probably just go away....  but I will say this and then Duck...   If you changed QB's Stafford and Dak.. Rams would still have a super bowl win... I didn't watch every play..  But I watched Stafford miss a wide open receiver in the back of the end zone.  Then get a huge assist from the ref's on another incompletion that gave them 1st goal on the five... which ultimately lead to the winning TD.  I didn't see Staffords two interceptions..  but I guess all the negatives and bad plays of the game go away if you WIN.  

YES Stafford made the one throw that matters most the TD pass to help his team win..  supplemented by a huge assist from the D stopping Cincy 2nd and 1 at mid field when then just needed a FG... to get to OT....

So yes like a number of QB's Stafford now has something you can't take away a super bowl win...  but that doesn't magically make him a "great" QB..  A good one top ten level but then IMO so is DAK despite all the hate he seems to get because he hasn't won a super bowl yet.....

AND also YES DAK does not get off scot free and deserves some hate after he had arguably one of his worst or next to worst games over the last two years in the SF play off game.   But just because he deserves the criticism just like Rogers deserves his criticism does not mean.