Wild Card GDT: Green Bay Packers @ Dallas Cowboys

[HDsportsfan]

1 hour ago, Northland said:

Dallas helped set a record in this game.  Packers are the first #7 seed to win a playoff game.  Nice of the Cowboys to contribute.

I thought the Giants did the year they beat us/Romo when we had HFA throughout????

[NoFlyZone]

12 minutes ago, HDsportsfan said:

I thought the Giants did the year they beat us/Romo when we had HFA throughout????

Technically the #7 seed is a newer seed, given only 6 teams could make it until a 2-3 years ago or so. 

[textaz03]

I’ll just drop this one right here

 

Last 10 quarterbacks who the Dallas Cowboys have lost playoff games to:
- Jake Delhomme (Panthers)
- Matt Hasselbeck (Seahawks)
- Eli Manning (Giants)
- Brett Favre (Vikings)
- Aaron Rodgers (Packers)
- Aaron Rodgers (Packers)
- Jared Goff (Rams)
- Jimmy Garoppolo (49ers)
- Brock Purdy (49ers)
- Jordan Love (Packers)

 

https://x.com/rjochoa/status/1746726659166802432?s=46&t=ktd6JTByZwOAf6VhdnN4wg

[HDsportsfan]

1 hour ago, Tony7188 said:

What are you talking about. I’m one of the biggest critics of Dak Prescott. He sucked this game. But Aaron Rodgers/Tom Brady couldn’t have won this game with this defense.

I thought you were referring to the whole team, not specifically to Dak.

With that said....you or anyone can look back over the 10 years or more I've been on this site.....and I've never said anything like this. But it is time to make some major shake-up moves. Does that include trading Dak, maybe. But I think his contract would be problematic. Move on from a couple of corner pieces to get some draft picks and rookies on rookie contracts??

I don't know. If I did, I wouldn't be a keyboard warrior on the internet.

But besides coaches.....something has to be done.

We all know the definition of insanity. But as long as JJ stays GM and meddles, we're not going to see any positive changes.

I haven't been as critical towards Dak as others. Fair or not. But I do think it's time to move on from him. Yeah, gonna suck, not easy finding even average QB's. But F it, throw Lance in there and let's run with it.

Edited January 15 by HDsportsfan

[HDsportsfan]

Just now, NoFlyZone said:

Technically the #7 seed is a newer seed, given only 6 teams could make it until a 2-3 years ago or so. 

Ahhh, yes. Forgot #7 was a recent addition.

[Northland]

33 minutes ago, HDsportsfan said:

I thought the Giants did the year they beat us/Romo when we had HFA throughout????

Its what the media is reporting.  Regardless Dallas lays another playoff egg.  It's not that they lost.  They didn't even compete.  The team is soft.  Has been for years

 

[Rtnldave]

20 minutes ago, HDsportsfan said:

I thought you were referring to the whole team, not specifically to Dak.

With that said....you or anyone can look back over the 10 years or more I've been on this site.....and I've never said anything like this. But it is time to make some major shake-up moves. Does that include trading Dak, maybe. But I think his contract would be problematic. Move on from a couple of corner pieces to get some draft picks and rookies on rookie contracts??

I don't know. If I did, I wouldn't be a keyboard warrior on the internet.

But besides coaches.....something has to be done.

We all know the definition of insanity. But as long as JJ stays GM and meddles, we're not going to see any positive changes.

I haven't been as critical towards Dak as others. Fair or not. But I do think it's time to move on from him. Yeah, gonna suck, not easy finding even average QB's. But F it, throw Lance in there and let's run with it.

Love the post and agree 100%. I would add that NOBODY better post anything to the effect of "Running backs don't mean anything anymore...". 3 TDs to Jones today???

[HDsportsfan]

3 minutes ago, Northland said:

Its what the media is reporting.  Regardless Dallas lays another playoff egg.  It's not that they lost.  They didn't even compete.  The team is soft.  Has been for years

 

NFZ reminded me that the 7th team in the playoffs started a few years ago. I had forgotten about that.

[Dallas94Ware]

Mike McCarthy beat the Cowboys today.

The first two and a half quarters, the offense abandoned what worked all season - run Lamb up the field, Ferguson under him. Defense backpedals, you hit Ferguson. Defense comes up, you have Lamb further up field. It's been the money of this offense. But they made no attempt of it until their first red zone possession. Why?

The other meat and potatoes plays, the crossing patterns by Lamb with Cook playing deep off of it. Also wasn't seen until halfway through the 3rd quarter. Why?

Dak didn't play so well. But for that, I can tell you why. Because Mike McCarthy was calling the Kellen Moore offense, which we saw does not fit Dak as well as we all hoped it might. That's why Moore is in LA now.

Daks ability to escape is what even gave the offense a chance with Lamb, Cook, Gallup and Ferguson all frequently working deep in tandem, much like Moore had the offense do. That isn't Dak's strengths. So why do it?

I don't get jt.

Defensively. It looked like DQ wanted to throw a curve ball by running his old cover 3. But that isn't what made this D so good the last two-three years. He's used it less and less with increasing success. After the first drive, why wasn't it abandoned? That is partially on DQ. But more on McCarthy. He as the head coach has a responsibility to see something isn't going to work. And make the call to the coordinator and tell him to change up the plan. If the call sheet for the week didn't have enough man coverages and stunts etc installed for this week, that again falls on the lead man who has to APPROVE the call sheet whether he calls that side of the ball or not.

We can point fingers at specific plays, or throws, or players. But from this old former coaches perspective, coaching failed this team miserably tonight. Mike McMcarthy defeated Dallas, 48-32.

[downundermike]

[HDsportsfan]

1 minute ago, downundermike said:

Go F yourself numbnuts.

[downundermike]

2 hours ago, NoFlyZone said:

As much as Dak was bad at the start, moving on from him would be disastrous. He’s not to blame for the defense giving the team absolutely zero chance. I firmly believe Dak would have found the win if the defense could get a stop literally at all. No QB was going to survive that horrific defensive effort. 

Dude, he continues to fail in the playoffs.  At a point, your offense has to match the other team, and he never does in the playoffs.

The reason the Eagles won a Super Bowl, Nick Foles kept scoring points against the goat.

[Dallas94Ware]

I posted  my rational, football coach perspective. Now it's time for my broken hearted fan perspective:

F you Mike. F you Dak. F you Pollard.

Fired, gone, gone.

Quinn wants to take a job elsewhere? I'm fine with that, too.

I'd love to promote him, but I don't trust him to manage a team in big moments no more than I trust Mike. If Quinn were willing, I'd still promote him, but there has to be a veteran OC to come in who doubles as an assistant HC who isn't afraid to speak up and has some true authority over clock, game and personnel managements. If he isn't ok with that, F him too.

Dak. What can I say? He is a good QB. But he is lacking in the truly special category. Can you win with good? Yeah. But when you want to be paid like truly special, well then it's time to go for you, too. Let's roll the dice and see what the 23 year old with all.the special traits you could want in a QB can do if given the helm of such a deep and talented roster on offense. Lance had that in SF, but injuries and lost practice time, reps, and field time due to.those injuries derailed him horribly. But the traits are there. Roll the dice. Worst case? He's awful and the team ends up with a true chance to pay for, draft, or trade for a special or near special passer. We all know how even settling for the perceived second best can turn the history of a franchise around. 

And worse comes to worst, there is Arch Manning right around the corner. 

But if Good comes to great, Lance could be the answer or at least a short term solution for less, while the team invests early in the draft at the future.

And Pollard? Like I said. F him too. I said this all summer - Troy Hambrick effect. Behind Emmitt he was running for 5.5 ypc. Everyone, everyone! Wanted him to start. He got a chance and could barely scrape to 4 ypc. A smaller role sometimes allows a good player to shine.brighter than he will shine as the guy the team counts on full-time. You all said I'm nuts. I said we will see. Well, now we saw. And it's time to move on.

And you know who else I want to say F off to? Lawrence. Paid way too much for too little production. Yeah he's the leader. Yeah, he has a ton of hustle. But for that kind of cap hit, he needs to produce. And the production has been inconsistent for nearly a decade now. Time to move on

Tyron Smith? He has probably two good years left of him missing 10 or 12 more games in that same time frame. Probably the only player I can say honestly could net a decent pick in a trade. And if I could get a third or heavens, a second? I'm doing it. Time for these young picks to step up or step down, and the future to come now. Because the present has been unwrapped for a couple years now. And it was a great gift. But I want better.

Micah. Love him. So talented. He was my #1 player in that draft (check my history if you think I'm bean shooting). But he does not belong on the edge full time. I'd happily take 8 sacks of it means he's also making 100 tackles, 3 picks and knocking a few balls free. There's a reason he tapers off for three years now at the end of the season. He wears out. He isn't LT. He isn't built like LT. He is not a defensive end. He is a linebacker. And a great playmaker who can do more than pass rush. If you want to make best use of his pass rush talents over the rest of what he can do - which we sadly see so little of because of his usage - then this entire front needs to be rebirthed. Osa and Gallimore to the end. 350 pound Mazi at the nose. Sam Williams and Micah Parsons playing outside linebacker, with Micah able to, in a pinch,.put his hand in the dirt for a dime package or swap spots with overshown In the middle with Overshown getting a pass rush rep outside. Yes, I'm talking about a 34 front - or realistically, a 43 odd or 34 even. 

Give it to this front office. They built a hell of a team. They made some good choices in the draft. Free agency too. But they need to put their heads together and seriously nail down the coaching situation. And make some really tough choices with the personnel. Because the cap hits are too high for too little returns. And if it means rolling the dice with Lance and some mid round pick at tailback, and making a big risky trade on draft day for some splash of an impact player - pick a position, I don't care which, just give me a player who instantly improves this squad - and throw money in free agency (money freed up by the movement of guys like Dak, Lawrence and Smith) to build depth and find that one or two veterans who can make a serious Impact now, instead of scraping the bottom of the barrel or kicking old tires. Maybe not go out and severely overpay for one of the top FAs. But spend. 

And no. Don't even think Belichick. Regurgitating once successful coaches has not worked. No coach has ever won a SB as HC of two different teams. Possible? Sure. But also unlikely. And there are too many young candidates, both with and without experience, available this year. If you had to make a chance, this would be the year to do it. Vrabel, Flores, Bowen, Johnson, Fitzgerald, and many others I like, most with a defensive background which could bring the front Micah needs for longevity.

But it's just time. I'm not saying Dak's terrible, Pollards bad, Mike sucks, sell them all for bottom dollar in some over reactive classic Cowboys fan manner. But what I am saying is, it's just finally time for someone to change the menu. Not overpay for the same ingredients who have had a ton of chances to take the next step, but have failed to. It isn't that the ingredients were bad. Honestly, the meals they've.cooked were really good (12 win seasons and a couple playoff wins are very good times and great memories) but I'm ready for something different.

 

[Danger]

Ostensibly you could cut Dak and save 34M in 2024 by June-1sting him. But my biggest wonder is..

Who else do you bring in instead? Kirk Cousins is an older, likely lateral move at best. I think you're best off keeping Dak one more year under whatever head coach you bring in, and it doesn't work out then Dak can go the following season. Dak struggles in big games that aren't against Philadelphia. Why he always plays them so well over the years, I have no answer for you. But aside from those 3 or so games a year as described, he's a no doubt top 10 guy. 

Does a Ben Johnson help Dak get better in those key moments? Or is it simply in Dak's DNA. What happened with the defense tonight too? I didn't manage to catch the game. 

[Dallas94Ware]

@NoFlyZone

Very rational post about Dak. Thank you for being rational.

My only push for moving on from Dak is NOT related so much to his play, but his pay.

He is going to want the money of a guy who's been to the big game. Or at least a conference title game. And he hasn't reached that level. Sure. There's a ton more to it than just Dak. Defense gave up 20 points before Dak could even get a pass in Lambs hands really. That isn't on Dak. I get all that and I've defended Dak for years after every bad throw or loss..

But for the pay he is going to want, and with the lack of playoff success, it's time to move in a different direction. Maybe Lance can be at least near Dak's.level, and that wouldn't be so bad while the team looks for a long term solution. Maybe Lance is super special. Maybe he's a bum. But it's worth rolling the dice, and using that money to bolster other areas and lock in other key pieces like Parsons and Lamb. 

I don't blame Dak for today's loss. I know most run of the mill fans will, because the TV cameras focus on a QB and most fans don't see the movement of the Xs and Os well beyond the QB. They can't see the chess match behind the scenes. And that's okay. If they feel they need one specific player to blame, that's fine. But the truth is, Dak has far surpassed anything anyone could have expected of him coming from Miss St.He kept this team relevant following Romos final injury. Won tons of games. And holds tons of Dallas records. He isn't a bad QB at all.

 But, for the pay. For the point where this team is now, with Martin, Tyron, Lawrence, and the older core aging. With the new core all due for big payouts. It's time to make some major changes, reallocating some cap space. And making tough decisions. It hurt when Dallas cut Ware. Witten in a Raiders uniform broke my heart. Emmitt in Arizona was a knife in the back. But tough choices are necessary. And this seems to the off-season where some tough ones really need to be made with an eye on the future.

How do you stay relevant and not make vets like Lamb and Parsons want to leave when you boot Dak and other vets and put an eye towards the future? You hope Lance has enough talent to at least be a more physically talented Cooper Rush, and hope that whatever veteran you sign to help or rookie you draft is ready to go if Lance isnt. And make sureif Lance isn't an answer, that you damn well find that answer next off-season to give Lamb and Parsons and others at least a gleaming of hope that signing a long term deal in Dallas isn't going to doom their careers to mediocrity.