dpf1123
DCC 4Life
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2013
- Messages
- 2,174
Cowboys Morning After, Week 5 - The Beatdown in Santa Clara
Dallas was given a measuring stick opportunity and shown they don't measure up
BOB STURM
OCT 9, 2023
It is quite a story of sports in Dallas-Fort Worth in October of 2023 that reveals the range of emotions this form of entertainment can offer.
If you happen to run a DFW sports newsletter operation, you can actually summarize two different sports on the same night and capture different feelings. In fact, just before the Cowboys played in San Francisco on Sunday Night, I was putting the finishing touches on a write-up about the Texas Rangers defeating the top-seeded team in the American League and winning a playoff game some 2,850 miles away from where the Cowboys were.
That missive would take folks down the road of potential possibilities from where the ball club currently sits, where one of those paths would seem to end with their wildest dreams coming true in just a few weeks. All those years of waiting for the Texas Rangers to play competent baseball on a big stage may be paying off for those loyalists who hung in there with a franchise that has done nothing but bring disappointment most years.
But, the Dallas Cowboys? Despite their countless conquests that, which gained them many trophies, they could not seem further away from true victory than they do at this moment.
For on this very same day, where one DFW team seems capable of greatness on one coast, the other franchise that it shares parking lots with seems incapable of anything great.
Such is life in this sports city.
The Cowboys felt like this was their game of the year. Yes, there would be many others, but if any date stuck out greatly when the schedule was released, it was Oct. 8 in San Francisco, Sunday Night Football, where revenge could be had and a score could be settled.
Those 49ers may not have yet become Super Bowl Champions under Kyle Shanahan, but they sure feel like the top standard the league right now. And if they are not that lofty standard, they are at least the one that will possibly end the current regimes of very-high ranking Dallas Cowboys operatives as it currently stands.
This 42-10 humiliation at the hands of those same 49ers who ended the 2021 and 2022 seasons, was thorough. In fact, thorough may not fully and properly summarize how easily San Francisco cut right through the Dallas lines and destroyed every plan. The yardage was 421-197 and the turnovers were 4-1. Dallas not only lost this game, but they lost confidence, morale, hope, and respect from others witnessing this annihilation.
The 49ers touched the ball ten times by the time this game was 46 minutes old and had scored 42 points. The vaunted Dallas defense had given up huge swaths of real estate all night and were well-positioned to witness all six San Francisco touchdowns, but evidently unable to prevent any of them from occurring.
Shanahan’s troops had Dan Quinn’s defensive group on the run all night. His young and composed QB Brock Purdy was hardly touched all night by the group that spooked Daniel Jones and his unrelated QB brother Mac Jones in prior weeks.
This, of course, is not the Giants or Patriots, though. This 49ers team looks like an offense that can teach the course to the rest of football about the competitive advantages provided by innovative coaching and how it becomes invincible when married with top talent at the key spots.
Shanahan manipulates your defense and isolates pieces both vertically and horizontally into a state of confusion. His brilliant usage of motion and shifting before each play takes an aggressive and violent defense and makes them tentative. Before long, the processing malfunctions and they will leave players running free in the middle of their defense and even line up completely offside to start a play. They took many of the schematic tactics that Arizona would use, but insert a all-pro tight end and running back to make the advantages more convincing.
The Dallas defense looked like a shell of itself and the swagger of top players evolved quickly into frustration when they realized they could not control a game against this offense. They were asked to limit the 49ers damage and create multiple takeaways to be considered the “generational defense” they want to be. If they could get the ball even once per half, hypothetically, they could offer their offense a short field once in a while in a game like this.
Instead, they allowed 42 points on 421 yards and their lone takeaway was an odd fumble recovery where Jourdan Lewis was being trucked on a running play by Christian McCaffrey. One takeaway versus six touchdowns conceded was never going to work. The consistent wide open receivers running across the middle of the secondary will properly quiet any historical measurements for a bit.
But, let’s not get it twisted.
The devastation hurt most in two specific places and the defense was not on that list because they had a passing grade in January for sure. We touched on this on our pre-game piece and I am not suggesting we were in any way terribly original in these most obvious thoughts on who needed to perform well in this spot:
The offense was absolutely and completely atrocious. To make changes as significant as they did last spring and to be objectively worse is a massive twist in the plot that could get leadership relieved of their duties in some places. I assume this place is not one with those standards given their willingness to ride out a decade with this head coach’s predecessor, but I digress.
The ability for Prescott and McCarthy to get anything done last night was going to speak volumes about how seriously we should take this new iteration of the Cowboys. I have bad news about the conclusions. We have done this a dozen times over the years where we wonder about the latest tweak or strategic change, only to find that it is either as bad as the last effort, or in the case of last night, even worse than it was before.
The Texas Coast offense was brutally bad. There were no schemed-up solutions that suggested the minds behind it are able to match wits with the guys across the field. This new approach was not effective and it surely wasn’t saving its best surprises for the 49ers game. Even more laughably, Trey Lance did not reveal secrets that would lead to his old team’s demise – if he knew those secrets, he might be their QB right now.
And, no, Dak Prescott could not out-play Brock Purdy, again.
This offense was unable to find a first down in the first four drives. The first ten offensive plays gained a grand total of 8 yards. The opening script that was to demonstrate to the defense that most troubled them and caused them to rethink their entire approach to that side of the ball where they have invested so much could not gain multiple first downs on any drive but their one touchdown score in the second quarter.
They had the ball 13 times last night, 11 while the Cowboys were still attempting to compete. On seven of those drives they were unable to get a first down. On three others they achieved just one. That was it. Four punts, four giveaways, a touchdown, a field goal, and a merciful half time run-off.
As you know, this space is historically patient with Cowboys coaches and quarterbacks. I am routinely criticized for always protecting both positions over the years. “It’s all the same, only the names have changed” seems a song lyric to best describe my approach to Cowboys football.
I do this because you cannot build championship teams quickly. There are no shortcuts to the top. Kyle Shanahan was hired in 2017 and still is trying to find the last steps to glory. Patience and logic will always win over rage and temper-induced firings for humiliating defeats. We must not launch a complete rebuild every time the guys wearing your favorite uniform fall short. We must understand that winning is very difficult in this league and winning big is nearly impossible for most.
But, what we saw last night felt pivotal to the foundation of this era. It felt like the kind of performance that can lose the room or the belief from ownership that this group has a chance.
Will the guys in the room lose belief in their leaders? That is for them to answer in the weeks to follow. But, things can go south in a hurry when you show up like this.
It calls into question everything we once thought of with this current Cowboys operation and makes the masses wonder again if they are anywhere close to leaving the football wilderness of 10,000 days and counting.
For what seems like countless Dallas Cowboys seasons, there is a point every year where those who love this franchise begin to believe that this team is the same as the others and this group isn’t the group to change the narrative of this frustrating journey.
The Cowboys did not need to win to stay on course. But, they did need to represent themselves properly and demonstrate that they are headed in the right direction, and that they should be taken seriously as title contenders.
Instead, they were humiliated in every way possible.
They were beaten physically in the trenches – something that wasn’t the case in January. They walked into the bully’s yard and were beaten severely to a point where the body blows sustained will leave marks. They did not seem able to dictate terms, but were appearing shell-shocked when adversity was collapsing on top of them.
To often, this sport is distilled down to coach and QB. While I will always suggest that is an oversimplification of a very complex process, there are certain times where we shouldn’t complicate this situation more than it needs to be.
At quarterback, the Cowboys needed their most important player to be part of the solution. For the third meeting in less than 21 months, Dak seemed a bigger part of the problem than the solution. Incidentally, 21 months ago, Brock Purdy was busy trying to get drafted and the Senior Bowl had decided that he wasn’t quite good enough to warrant an invitation. This sport is incredible. My belief after last year’s playoff game is the same as it is this morning – I would slam the brakes on any talk of a contract extension at this point and ponder the wisdom of a Prescott-era off ramp based on what we see in the remainder of this season.
At coach, the Cowboys needed Mike McCarthy to demonstrate that he is still a great offensive mind. You have the solutions that Kellen Moore lacked? Great, we look forward to seeing them in Week 5 against the 49ers.
What?
You racked up 197 yards of offense and just 10 points?
Let’s look at all of the times the Cowboys have had their starting QB and had that horrendous production – under 200 yards and 10 points or less – in the last 21 seasons back to the day Bill Parcells was hired (we will eliminate final week games where the starters don’t play):
To suggest the trust in McCarthy has eroded on the heels of this rout is fair. This was as brutal a performance in a big spot as I can remember.
It makes you wonder if there is a response to this embarrassment or if the end is actually near once again.
It also makes you wonder how long until the Rangers play again.
Dallas was given a measuring stick opportunity and shown they don't measure up
BOB STURM
OCT 9, 2023
It is quite a story of sports in Dallas-Fort Worth in October of 2023 that reveals the range of emotions this form of entertainment can offer.
If you happen to run a DFW sports newsletter operation, you can actually summarize two different sports on the same night and capture different feelings. In fact, just before the Cowboys played in San Francisco on Sunday Night, I was putting the finishing touches on a write-up about the Texas Rangers defeating the top-seeded team in the American League and winning a playoff game some 2,850 miles away from where the Cowboys were.
That missive would take folks down the road of potential possibilities from where the ball club currently sits, where one of those paths would seem to end with their wildest dreams coming true in just a few weeks. All those years of waiting for the Texas Rangers to play competent baseball on a big stage may be paying off for those loyalists who hung in there with a franchise that has done nothing but bring disappointment most years.
But, the Dallas Cowboys? Despite their countless conquests that, which gained them many trophies, they could not seem further away from true victory than they do at this moment.
For on this very same day, where one DFW team seems capable of greatness on one coast, the other franchise that it shares parking lots with seems incapable of anything great.
Such is life in this sports city.
The Cowboys felt like this was their game of the year. Yes, there would be many others, but if any date stuck out greatly when the schedule was released, it was Oct. 8 in San Francisco, Sunday Night Football, where revenge could be had and a score could be settled.
Those 49ers may not have yet become Super Bowl Champions under Kyle Shanahan, but they sure feel like the top standard the league right now. And if they are not that lofty standard, they are at least the one that will possibly end the current regimes of very-high ranking Dallas Cowboys operatives as it currently stands.
This 42-10 humiliation at the hands of those same 49ers who ended the 2021 and 2022 seasons, was thorough. In fact, thorough may not fully and properly summarize how easily San Francisco cut right through the Dallas lines and destroyed every plan. The yardage was 421-197 and the turnovers were 4-1. Dallas not only lost this game, but they lost confidence, morale, hope, and respect from others witnessing this annihilation.
The 49ers touched the ball ten times by the time this game was 46 minutes old and had scored 42 points. The vaunted Dallas defense had given up huge swaths of real estate all night and were well-positioned to witness all six San Francisco touchdowns, but evidently unable to prevent any of them from occurring.
Shanahan’s troops had Dan Quinn’s defensive group on the run all night. His young and composed QB Brock Purdy was hardly touched all night by the group that spooked Daniel Jones and his unrelated QB brother Mac Jones in prior weeks.
This, of course, is not the Giants or Patriots, though. This 49ers team looks like an offense that can teach the course to the rest of football about the competitive advantages provided by innovative coaching and how it becomes invincible when married with top talent at the key spots.
Shanahan manipulates your defense and isolates pieces both vertically and horizontally into a state of confusion. His brilliant usage of motion and shifting before each play takes an aggressive and violent defense and makes them tentative. Before long, the processing malfunctions and they will leave players running free in the middle of their defense and even line up completely offside to start a play. They took many of the schematic tactics that Arizona would use, but insert a all-pro tight end and running back to make the advantages more convincing.
The Dallas defense looked like a shell of itself and the swagger of top players evolved quickly into frustration when they realized they could not control a game against this offense. They were asked to limit the 49ers damage and create multiple takeaways to be considered the “generational defense” they want to be. If they could get the ball even once per half, hypothetically, they could offer their offense a short field once in a while in a game like this.
Instead, they allowed 42 points on 421 yards and their lone takeaway was an odd fumble recovery where Jourdan Lewis was being trucked on a running play by Christian McCaffrey. One takeaway versus six touchdowns conceded was never going to work. The consistent wide open receivers running across the middle of the secondary will properly quiet any historical measurements for a bit.
But, let’s not get it twisted.
The devastation hurt most in two specific places and the defense was not on that list because they had a passing grade in January for sure. We touched on this on our pre-game piece and I am not suggesting we were in any way terribly original in these most obvious thoughts on who needed to perform well in this spot:
- We try not to put everything on the QB, but Dak Prescott needs to be on his game on Sunday Night. Usually, it is overcooked to say this is about the team that has better QB play, but honestly, so much in this game seems pretty equal. The difference in this game could easily be the same as it was in January – who has the better playmakers in their offense? And even more specifically, can Dak Prescott outplay Brock Purdy?
- What will Mike McCarthy’s offense show us in this situation? It is absolutely vital that the number one hurdle the Cowboys jump in this game is to demonstrate they have some idea of how to generate offense. The entire offensive overhaul was because the 49ers defense has muzzled Kellen Moore’s offense for two straight playoff years and it was more than enough to merit a different direction.
The offense was absolutely and completely atrocious. To make changes as significant as they did last spring and to be objectively worse is a massive twist in the plot that could get leadership relieved of their duties in some places. I assume this place is not one with those standards given their willingness to ride out a decade with this head coach’s predecessor, but I digress.
The ability for Prescott and McCarthy to get anything done last night was going to speak volumes about how seriously we should take this new iteration of the Cowboys. I have bad news about the conclusions. We have done this a dozen times over the years where we wonder about the latest tweak or strategic change, only to find that it is either as bad as the last effort, or in the case of last night, even worse than it was before.
The Texas Coast offense was brutally bad. There were no schemed-up solutions that suggested the minds behind it are able to match wits with the guys across the field. This new approach was not effective and it surely wasn’t saving its best surprises for the 49ers game. Even more laughably, Trey Lance did not reveal secrets that would lead to his old team’s demise – if he knew those secrets, he might be their QB right now.
And, no, Dak Prescott could not out-play Brock Purdy, again.
This offense was unable to find a first down in the first four drives. The first ten offensive plays gained a grand total of 8 yards. The opening script that was to demonstrate to the defense that most troubled them and caused them to rethink their entire approach to that side of the ball where they have invested so much could not gain multiple first downs on any drive but their one touchdown score in the second quarter.
They had the ball 13 times last night, 11 while the Cowboys were still attempting to compete. On seven of those drives they were unable to get a first down. On three others they achieved just one. That was it. Four punts, four giveaways, a touchdown, a field goal, and a merciful half time run-off.
As you know, this space is historically patient with Cowboys coaches and quarterbacks. I am routinely criticized for always protecting both positions over the years. “It’s all the same, only the names have changed” seems a song lyric to best describe my approach to Cowboys football.
I do this because you cannot build championship teams quickly. There are no shortcuts to the top. Kyle Shanahan was hired in 2017 and still is trying to find the last steps to glory. Patience and logic will always win over rage and temper-induced firings for humiliating defeats. We must not launch a complete rebuild every time the guys wearing your favorite uniform fall short. We must understand that winning is very difficult in this league and winning big is nearly impossible for most.
But, what we saw last night felt pivotal to the foundation of this era. It felt like the kind of performance that can lose the room or the belief from ownership that this group has a chance.
Will the guys in the room lose belief in their leaders? That is for them to answer in the weeks to follow. But, things can go south in a hurry when you show up like this.
It calls into question everything we once thought of with this current Cowboys operation and makes the masses wonder again if they are anywhere close to leaving the football wilderness of 10,000 days and counting.
For what seems like countless Dallas Cowboys seasons, there is a point every year where those who love this franchise begin to believe that this team is the same as the others and this group isn’t the group to change the narrative of this frustrating journey.
The Cowboys did not need to win to stay on course. But, they did need to represent themselves properly and demonstrate that they are headed in the right direction, and that they should be taken seriously as title contenders.
Instead, they were humiliated in every way possible.
They were beaten physically in the trenches – something that wasn’t the case in January. They walked into the bully’s yard and were beaten severely to a point where the body blows sustained will leave marks. They did not seem able to dictate terms, but were appearing shell-shocked when adversity was collapsing on top of them.
To often, this sport is distilled down to coach and QB. While I will always suggest that is an oversimplification of a very complex process, there are certain times where we shouldn’t complicate this situation more than it needs to be.
At quarterback, the Cowboys needed their most important player to be part of the solution. For the third meeting in less than 21 months, Dak seemed a bigger part of the problem than the solution. Incidentally, 21 months ago, Brock Purdy was busy trying to get drafted and the Senior Bowl had decided that he wasn’t quite good enough to warrant an invitation. This sport is incredible. My belief after last year’s playoff game is the same as it is this morning – I would slam the brakes on any talk of a contract extension at this point and ponder the wisdom of a Prescott-era off ramp based on what we see in the remainder of this season.
At coach, the Cowboys needed Mike McCarthy to demonstrate that he is still a great offensive mind. You have the solutions that Kellen Moore lacked? Great, we look forward to seeing them in Week 5 against the 49ers.
What?
You racked up 197 yards of offense and just 10 points?
Let’s look at all of the times the Cowboys have had their starting QB and had that horrendous production – under 200 yards and 10 points or less – in the last 21 seasons back to the day Bill Parcells was hired (we will eliminate final week games where the starters don’t play):
- October 26, 2003 - Tampa Bay 16, Dallas 0
- October 8, 2023 - San Francisco 42, Dallas 10
To suggest the trust in McCarthy has eroded on the heels of this rout is fair. This was as brutal a performance in a big spot as I can remember.
It makes you wonder if there is a response to this embarrassment or if the end is actually near once again.
It also makes you wonder how long until the Rangers play again.
