Cowboys at Bears | Week 14 Gameday Chatter Thread | 12/8/13

Rev said:

Don't think he is done. Just think he doesn't belong in a 4-3. He is still capable of being above average when the tackles can't get their hands on him and he can use his speed.


Yeah I would take what I could get.

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I agree with this. Sadly.

Iamtdg said:

Jesus Christ.

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It's amazing that this defense is hands down worse than the last two seasons under Ryan.

He was definitely scapegoated for shit personnel.

mschmidt64 said:

That was a pretty shit play, but overall, in that weather, with the success we were having in the running game (clearly reduced his numbers), I don't blame Romo.

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I have no problem with Romo delivering lower than expected numbers when we run the ball the way we did. But 104 yards? With the way he bitched out at times? That's unacceptable.

Maybe if McCown had struggled too I could buy the weather excuse. Stafford and Foles both looked like shit in a blizzard. But McCown found a way to deliver the ball on target every single time. Apparently the weather wasn't that big of a factor.

Cold wasn't an issue for Cowboys
December, 10, 2013

By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com

CHICAGO -- Monday's game was the coldest regular-season game in Dallas Cowboys' history. The temperature at kickoff was 8 degrees and the wind chill was minus-9.

"This was not my coldest game," quarterback Tony Romo said, "but it was definitely a cold game."

Romo said he played in a minus 20 or 25 game while at Eastern Illinois.

"For the most part I felt comfortable," Romo said. "It was windy in spurts. When we cut through the wind we did some things well. I'd like one throw back."

That was a third-down throw on the Cowboys' opening possession of the second half in which he overthrew Dez Bryant.

"He ran a good route," Romo said. "The guy had inside leverage and Dez had an in-breaking route. As I looked at him I didn't think he was going to be able to cross his face. Dez ran a heckuva route to get in there. In the process I was going to throw it high so he could go around him high, thinking the defender was inside. He wrapped in there real good and at the last second I didn't pull it down as much as I needed to."

Neither team had a turnover despite the frigid temps.

"It was cold but it seemed like everyone handled the ball pretty well," coach Jason Garrett said. "The quarterbacks threw it fairly well. They were accurate and there weren't a lot of balls dropped our coming out of guys' hands. I thought collectively both sides did a good job with the ball."

The Cowboys have now lost the coldest regular-season game in franchise history and the coldest game overall in team history. The coldest game remains the Ice Bowl, the 1967 NFL Championship in which they lost 21-17 in minus-13 degree temperatures.

Garrett's hands aren't clean on the defensive side of the ball anymore.

We ran all of Wade's boys out of town on the defensive side (appropriately). Ryan was reported to be Garrett's pick of DC. He was allowed to throw Ryan under the bus this year. It's been reported that he wanted a DC who would be no threat to "pull a Garrett" and replace him as HC, so we got a senior citizen that Garrett has ties (however weak) to. We half assed that transition however and kept a couple of Ryan's guys as position coaches so half of the defensive coaching staff would have to learn the scheme at the same time as the players.

Trying to make Garrett into the walk around coach is miscasting because he doesn't have enough coaching experience to have a clear idea of what he wants in any phase of the game except the passing game.

Clay_Allison said:

We ran all of Wade's boys out of town on the defensive side (appropriately). Ryan was reported to be Garrett's pick of DC. He was allowed to throw Ryan under the bus this year.

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I think it's pretty clear that Jerry told Garrett to fire Ryan and himself as playcaller. I'm not saying Ryan was a great hire either (and I think Ryan was more of a Garrett pick, or at least Garrett-approved pick), but Kiffin was a Jerry special obviously.

It's been reported that he wanted a DC who would be no threat to "pull a Garrett" and replace him as HC, so we got a senior citizen that Garrett has ties (however weak) to.

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Where was that reported?

We half assed that transition however and kept a couple of Ryan's guys as position coaches so half of the defensive coaching staff would have to learn the scheme at the same time as the players.

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It should be obvious to everyone right now that the 4-3 is not inherently superior to the 3-4, and in fact for us, that was a trainwreck of a bad idea.

I think you are overselling how vital it is that a position coach like the defensive line coach be versed in a 3-4 or 4-3. He's not teaching scheme as much as he is technique and fundamentals at that level.

Trying to make Garrett into the walk around coach is miscasting because he doesn't have enough coaching experience to have a clear idea of what he wants in any phase of the game except the passing game.

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I don't think Garrett is worse as a walk-around coach than he is with his hand on the offense. Though I do think it's a good thing he has stepped back into the offense a bit replacing Callahan. Though obviously yes, Garrett is not capable of fixing the defense by himself, he needs a coordinator to do that for him.

Deuce said:

I have no problem with Romo delivering lower than expected numbers when we run the ball the way we did. But 104 yards? With the way he bitched out at times? That's unacceptable.

Maybe if McCown had struggled too I could buy the weather excuse. Stafford and Foles both looked like shit in a blizzard. But McCown found a way to deliver the ball on target every single time. Apparently the weather wasn't that big of a factor.

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That was because the defense basically didn't show up. That was one of the worst defensive performances I've ever seen. Worse than against New Orleans easily.

mschmidt64 said:

It's amazing that this defense is hands down worse than the last two seasons under Ryan.

He was definitely scapegoated for shit personnel.

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No, he was scapegoated for your boy Garrett because heaven forbid he actually be blamed for anything.

Jerry doesn't want to have to fire his puppet, so he's done everything he can to avoid having to do just that at all costs.

Texas Ace said:

No, he was scapegoated for your boy Garrett because heaven forbid he actually be blamed for anything.

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If Garrett was fired, that would have been scapegoating for poor personnel too.

Because as we're seeing, coaching isn't the problem with this defense. Or at least wasn't last year.

Jerry doesn't want to have to fire his puppet, so he's done everything he can to avoid having to do just that at all costs.

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Well that can be true (and is true) but it doesn't mean that Ryan wasn't scapegoated for bad personnel.

At least they are not giving us the last second embarrassing losses anymore. They are just embarrassing themselves right out of the gate.

That's gotta be progress.

How many coordinators was Campo granted before he was finally cut down? I only remember 2.

Deuce said:

How many coordinators was Campo granted before he was finally cut down? I only remember 2.

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Campo wasn't fired because he picked bad coordinators.

mschmidt64 said:

Campo wasn't fired because he picked bad coordinators.

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No, he was fired because he was a bad coach just like Garrett. But they are as good a comparison as we can get considering their experience and being Jerry's favorite pet.

Deuce said:

No, he was fired because he was a bad coach just like Garrett.

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Campo was a much worse coach than Garrett.

Iamtdg said:

DeMarcus Ware says he needs to play better
December, 10, 2013

By Calvin Watkins | ESPNDallas.com

CHICAGO -- At the end of a long, cold night in old Solider Field, defensive end DeMarcus Ware was honest about himself.

He needs to play better.

"Health wise, I'm fine, I feel good, I was running around out there, I didn’t get tired," Ware said after the 45-28 loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday night. "At the end of the day I haven’t been playing like the DeMarcus of the past and I got to get back to that. It's December (and) people always say the light turns on in December and you set yourself apart from everybody and I got to get back on track with that."

Ware ended a two-game sack-less streak with a meaningless fourth-quarter takedown of Josh McCown. Ware has six on the season and with three games remaining in the regular season, his string of getting double-figures in sacks is nearing an end.

It's not like Ware it getting double-teamed on every snaps, tackles Jermon Bushrod and Jordan Mills, a rookie, held him for most of the night. Now Ware is dealing with some health issues, a stinger and a thigh injury, but he said he's healthy.

"I've been effective, but I have to go back to the fundamentals of practice and honing in on things, keying on things and making myself a better player," he said.

Added Cowboys coach Jason Garrett: "He’s coming off that injury he’s been dealing with that for most of the year. It’s just one of those deals he’s got to get himself going and start impacting the game a little bit more. Sometimes the conditions are tough on a night like this to do that, but we certainly need him down the stretch."

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He's spent, time to find a replacement.

mschmidt64 said:

Campo was a much worse coach than Garrett.

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I don't believe this is true. They both suck. Campo just a little bit more.

mschmidt64 said:

Campo was a much worse coach than Garrett.

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Why? Cause Garrett won more games? If you give Garrett QC at QB he'd probably only win 5 games too.

Deuce said:

Why? Cause Garrett won more games? If you give Garrett QC at QB he'd probably only win 5 games too.

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So your owner/GM hired a HC who wasn't ready yet, big deal.

A few more years Garrett'll be out of here and Jerry'll do what he has to to get them off ol' Jer's ass.

As an owner, he's just gotta get better.

mcnuttz said:

He's spent, time to find a replacement.

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Agreed.

Rev said:

Don't think he is done. Just think he doesn't belong in a 4-3. He is still capable of being above average when the tackles can't get their hands on him and he can use his speed.


Yeah I would take what I could get.

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I think his leg still lacks power and he's very rusty as a result. Ware is perfect as a 4-3 RDE, and his game is about quickness combined with power.

He lacks the burst we've seen as recently as the New Orleans game when he first returned.

Older players take longer to heal, and that's definitely been the case with Ware. I definitely think he reaggravated his quad.

He needs to discover how to be productive at 3/4 speed. If he can't do that, then he just might be done. He's not going to be the player he was-- at least not for long stretches, so he has to figure out when to turn on the juice and when to dial it back.