2020 Season | Week 3 | Gameday Chatter | Cowboys at Seahawks | 9/27/2020

[p1_]

This was a team that was supposed to have all the pieces and it looks more disjointed than ever.

Of course injuries to, and poor play from, an offensive line is the quickest way to get pennies on the dollar from every other skill position, which is definitely happening to us now, and we are still getting decent offensive production (albeit lots of it in the much maligned “throw out the playbook and let the QB bail us out because we are down two scores,” time that was always much talked about here).

But the D is an absolute train wreck right now. They can’t stop anything. Allowed essentially forty points in back to back weeks, following an opener in which they allowed “only” twenty but got pushed all over and couldn’t get off the field to save their lives - and were spared embarrassment by the Rams not converting in the red zone.

The D is completely limp and lifeless right now, and it’s essentially so without any real injuries to their expected DL for some time now. Yes McCoy is gone but he was gone weeks ago and they have plenty of decent bodies and supposed Star power there.

The secondary is nicked up but they’ve got a lot of depth at corner and linebacker. How are they so bad? I’m not sure Brown, Awuzie, and Lee returning fixes any of this.

Safety play absolutely blows

 

[armadillooutlaw]

With 50+ pass attempts, can expect zero turnovers?

Of course not.
You'd expect more from the running game to balance things out.
The OL isn't generating much push, especially Conner Williams.

 

[Simpleton]

The 1-2 record on its face doesn't bother me too much considering the two teams we lost to are 3-0 and both games went down to the wire with the margin only being 10 points combined.

The problem is the general lack of discipline/focus killing us, particularly early in games. The inability to get turnovers, losing the TO battle by 2 and 3 the last two games, giving away points on special teams.

That isn't all coaching but a lot of it is, and so far I'm quite disappointed in McCarthy in that regard.

 

[Cujo]

The good news is that our two losses came against two pretty damn good teams.

The bad news is that we are yet again coming up short consistently agains the pretty damn good teams.

Beating the mediocre and bad teams and finishing 9-7 or 10-6 and getting bounced in the first two rounds of the playoffs isn’t gonna make anyone happy.

And as unhappy as I am with this one, it was without both our starting tackles.

 

[armadillooutlaw]

The 1-2 record on its face doesn't bother me too much considering the two teams we lost to are 3-0 and both games went down to the wire with the margin only being 10 points combined.

The problem is the general lack of discipline/focus killing us, particularly early in games. The inability to get turnovers, losing the TO battle by 2 and 3 the last two games, giving away points on special teams.

That isn't all coaching but a lot of it is, and so far I'm quite disappointed in McCarthy in that regard.

So far the most disciplined game was against the Rams. And that one wasn't good.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

I'm just ready for some fucking guys to come back from injury

 

[data]

I'm just ready for some fucking guys to come back from injury

and Everson Griffin and Demarcus Lawrence to return from sabbatical.

 

[1bigfan13]

Dak played really well today, but the overall game that he had today was a confirmation of what some of us have felt for a while now -- he is a really good NFL quarterback but not a special or elite one.

He can get your team back into a game and he never stops fighting. But he's also not one of those guys who the other team fears having the ball in his hands at the end of a game.

Likewise, I rarely have any real confidence when we have the ball last that he's going to find a way to get us to score.

His two turnovers were basically the difference in the game. His interception right before the half and his fumble right after the half basically did them in.

Yes, the defense is a dumpster fire and it's probably not going to get much better than this. But Dak still had plenty of opportunities to win this game and he didn't.

He's going to need coaching advantages and an improved defense for him to reach a Super Bowl. This is not the worst situation in the world to be in, but he's not one of those guys who are destined to get to the big game.

He needs the right things around him to get you to a SB.

That's just how I see it.

Feels like we're headed down the same road that we traveled with Romo where bad defense and spotty coaching only netted you occasional playoff appearances that were capped off by early round exits.

Pretty much every QB except for maybe the top 5 guys need coaching advantages and a solid defense. I can't think of any QBs who've had to score 30+ per game just to reach the Super Bowl. But that appears to be what it will take in order for the Cowboys to reach a Super Bowl. So I don't look at it as a negative that he needs coaching and a supportive defense.

Even the Chiefs defense manned up and carried their weight last year. They even made up for Mahomes throwing a couple of INTs in the Super Bowl.

It's just a shame that going on 10 years now the Cowboys defense has largely just been along for the ride. And they don't bail out the offense nearly as much as the offense bails them out.

 

[armadillooutlaw]

Feels like we're headed down the same road that we traveled with Romo where bad defense and spotty coaching only netted you occasional playoff appearances that were capped off by early round exits.

Pretty much every QB except for maybe the top 5 guys need coaching advantages and a solid defense. I can't think of any QBs who've had to score 30+ per game just to reach the Super Bowl. But that appears to be what it will take in order for the Cowboys to reach a Super Bowl. So I don't look at it as a negative that he needs coaching and a supportive defense.

Even the Chiefs defense manned up and carried their weight last year. They even made up for Mahomes throwing a couple of INTs in the Super Bowl.

It's just a shame that going on 10 years now the Cowboys defense has largely just been along for the ride. And they don't bail out the offense nearly as much as the offense bails them out.

I'm still confident that McCarthy will eventually get things going in the right direction given his track record in Green Bay, but it hasn't looked good so far.

 

[data]

Pretty much every QB except for maybe the top 5 guys need coaching advantages and a solid defense. I can't think of any QBs who've had to score 30+ per game just to reach the Super Bowl. But that appears to be what it will take in order for the Cowboys to reach a Super Bowl. So I don't look at it as a negative that he needs coaching and a supportive defense.

spot on. Not even your threshold of holding opponents under 30 points, id guess a supermajority of playoff winners (over 67%) the last 20 years gave up <21 points.

 

[1bigfan13]

The good news is that our two losses came against two pretty damn good teams.

The bad news is that we are yet again coming up short consistently agains the pretty damn good teams.

Beating the mediocre and bad teams and finishing 9-7 or 10-6 and getting bounced in the first two rounds of the playoffs isn’t gonna make anyone happy.

I went through this rationalization in my head a little earlier.

The 2 teams we lost to have a combined 5-1 record with that one loss being to a 3-0 team.

But our one win came against the 0-3 Falcons, so there's that. Feels like we're a 9-7 team doomed for another 1st or 2nd round exit in the playoffs.

I'm hoping we can hit the bye with at least a 5-4 record. Many of our key players should be back from injury by then and we'd be set up nicely to take control of our weak division.

They should be able to win 3 of their next 4 games.

Browns
Giants
Cardinals
@ Washington

Assuming we lose one of those (Arizona), that would put us at 4-3.

Next would be back to back games against the Pennsylvania teams.

@Eagles
Steelers

Hopefully we can at least draw a split. We're better than Philly so I feel confident in being able to at least win that one. That would put us at 5-4 with our final 7 games not looking nearly as tough as it did when the schedules were released.

 

[Simpleton]

9-7 takes the division this year, we should be able to easily hit that. If guys like LVE and the OT's are back by then and we're still playing undisciplined shitty football I think it's going to be a pretty big indictment on McCarthy.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

I went through this rationalization in my head a little earlier.

The 2 teams we lost to have a combined 5-1 record with that one loss being to a 3-0 team.

But our one win came against the 0-3 Falcons, so there's that. Feels like we're a 9-7 team doomed for another 1st or 2nd round exit in the playoffs.

I'm hoping we can hit the bye with at least a 5-4 record. Many of our key players should be back from injury by then and we'd be set up nicely to take control of our weak division.

They should be able to win 3 of their next 4 games.

Browns
Giants
Cardinals
@ Washington

Assuming we lose one of those (Arizona), that would put us at 4-3.

Next would be back to back games against the Pennsylvania teams.

@Eagles
Steelers

Hopefully we can at least draw a split. We're better than Philly so I feel confident in being able to at least win that one. That would put us at 5-4 with our final 7 games not looking nearly as tough as it did when the schedules were released.

Right now I agree. But there is still time to get things rolling. Our defense had moments today where they appeared to start to get it. I'm willing to give them time. And the injuries have been insane for us. We have been hit as hard as anyone in the NFL. Maybe when guys get healthy, an added Earl Thomas and this team can get in a groove. We clearly aren't in a groove right now.

 

[data]

Feels like we're headed down the same road that we traveled with Romo where bad defense and spotty coaching only netted you occasional playoff appearances that were capped off by early round exits.

With Romo in playoffs, 0-4 when giving up 21 points or more. 2-0 when less than 21.

Aikman 9-1 when giving up less than 21 and 2-3 when 21+

 

[data]

Thank goodness for Cincinnati.

 

[Simpleton]

The Giants are literally going like 2-14, the Redskins probably 5-11 or 6-10, and the Eagles seem 50/50 at best to even get to 8 wins.

McCarthy is one lucky guy because in another world the seat would already be heating up somewhat. The shit box division is going to buy him at least half a season to get the team on the right page.

 

[UncleMilti]

Sucks to come crashing back to earth after the miracle win against Atlanta.
But holy shit...so may issues on this team right now. Defense, Elliott, ST's, its a clusterfuck.

Elliott is the most concerning to me...like others have posted the guy has turned into a fullback type workhorse when the NFL game is really about guys like a Kamara who can break it at any snap. Elliott has lost a gear or something.

 

[p1_]

and Everson Griffin and Demarcus Lawrence to return from sabbatical.

No show mofos

 

[lostxn]

When the Vikings finally fire Zimmer, I want him back as our 4-3 coordinator.

 

[Clff15701]

If the old Dlaw shows up we win this game. Seems like none of our star players can play like stars in the same year.