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

[Smitty]

The real conundrum with Dak, as many have alluded to, is that he is generally a good to really good QB, but he's just missing that extra gear guys like Mahomes/Wilson and Rodgers/Brees/Brady in their younger days could hit.

He can make elite plays/throws here and there but he just doesn't do it consistently enough, week in and week out, and in the biggest moments like the top tier guys do. He's basically a solid top 7ish QB who I don't think will ever be a top 2-3 QB.

Can you really afford to let that walk?

I don't think so, but it's going to be a real balancing act if you make him a top 2-3 paid QB in terms of building out the rest of the roster because he doesn't have that ability to win games on his own consistently. He'll often get you 90% of the way there, like he did yesterday, but he's just missing that last gear.

And I think ultimately we are gonna look back and say Romo at his best of times, had that final gear and could flirt with Rodgers/Brees/Brady territory, and Prescott cannot.

Not that he's a bad QB. He's certainly come a long, long way from when I used to argue 2 years ago that he couldn't consistently move the ball down the field through the air.

But I still hold him in lesser esteem than prime Romo.

And Romo was never anything close to the highest paid QB in the league, I don't think.

 

[Smitty]

That's exactly it.

He's a very good NFL QB, but not an elite one.

Unfortunately, you can't let that walk because it's not easy to replace. There are at least 20 NFL teams who would trade places with us at QB.

Like I said yesterday, I guess you just have to live with the fact that you're always going to have to help him. And I don't mean in obvious ways, I mean that he's always going to need to have certain pieces in place for him to get you where you want to go that the truly elite don't always need.

A defense that doesn't allow 40 a game would be a huge start.

But I have zero idea how to accomplish that. We are not talent bereft on that side of the ball.

Lawrence is a good player. Griffen is a good player. Poe is adequate. Crawford, Hill, Armstrong, etc, might be quiet players, but they should at least be decent in run defense. Jaylon is underwhelming, but he's not a liability. Joe Thomas is very serviceable as a backup LB and is playing ok. Woods, Awuzie, Lewis, Brown, and Diggs should be enough at DB that you aren't getting roasted. Worley is a decent depth back. Again, we are not talking about Nate Jones and Jacques Reeves level liabilities.

I don't know why this team is so bad on defense.

 

[p1_]

A defense that doesn't allow 40 a game would be a huge start.

But I have zero idea how to accomplish that. We are not talent bereft on that side of the ball.

Lawrence is a good player. Griffen is a good player. Poe is adequate. Crawford, Hill, Armstrong, etc, might be quiet players, but they should at least be decent in run defense. Jaylon is underwhelming, but he's not a liability. Joe Thomas is very serviceable as a backup LB and is playing ok. Woods, Awuzie, Lewis, Brown, and Diggs should be enough at DB that you aren't getting roasted. Worley is a decent depth back. Again, we are not talking about Nate Jones and Jacques Reeves level liabilities.

I don't know why this team is so bad on defense.

If it’s not a talent deficiency...scheme complexity has been noted

 

[boozeman]

If it’s not a talent deficiency...scheme complexity has been noted

I would get it if Nolan were some mad genius with a complex system. But he is not any of these things.

 

[boozeman]

 

[Smitty]

I will tell you that my eyes are on Joe Philbin (failed head coach), Mike Nolan (failed head coach and underwhelming coordinator), and Al Harris (first time position coach). These were hires that were a little underwhelming and they are all about to be on the hot seat.

Kellen Moore of course as well.

 

[Smitty]

These coaches should be embarrassed trying to convince people rolling out Darian Thompson would work out just fine. Even aside from Thomas there are legitimate starting safeties sitting at home, Eric Reid in particular.

There's no way anybody could convince me that Darian Thompson is better than Eric Reid right now. Maybe he "knows the scheme" since he's been through camp and everything but that's on the coaches, they should've gotten someone like Reid in here earlier and got him up to speed.

Eric Reid doesn't want to play in Dallas.

 

[p1_]

 

[Smitty]

Too bad we won’t be able to resign him

Maybe he cuts us a break for giving him a chance.

 

[Smitty]

Aldon Smith is simply a far more talented and better player than Lawrence. Smith was right there with JJ Watt his second year. Lawrence has never been on that level.

But then I've never been as high on Lawrence as many here. He's sort of second-tier good. I think he might have looked better than he was because we haven't had a great passrusher since Ware.

I said from the get go that we never should have given him that contract.

Should have traded him for a first and third like Frank Clark brought back.

 

[Cotton]

So, DLaw graded out better than Aldon? GTFOH.

 

[bbgun]

coaches and personnel change but the ineptness remains

 

[boozeman]

 

[Genghis Khan]

Are divisional round exits acceptable simply cause it's not Garrett now?

It's a much different thing in year 1 than in year 4, or year 6, or year 8. Garrett had TEN YEARS to get past the 2nd round. THAT'S why it wasn't acceptable with Garrett. In Garrett's first full season in 2011 a lot of people would have been thrilled with him making the playoffs (which incidentally he didn't).

If McCarthy rolls into year 4 (and after) and still is maxing out in the division round we probably should move on.

But in year 1? I'm ok with a playoff team that loses in the first or second round as a launching off point.

You can't compare a coach who had a decade to do something with a coach in his first season and hold them to the same standard. That's unrealistic.

And truthfully, McCarthy took over a team that was not even a playoff team last year (and it was a shitty division last year too), so losing in the first round of the playoffs is progress already.

It's just that it can't just stop there and expect people to be patient forever.

I do think if this team gets its stuff together it has the potential to compete deep into the playoffs, but I'm not going to hold mccarthy's feet to the fire in his first year absent something egregious. That doesn't seem realistic.

 

[p1_]

Wow, that coulda been really bad

 

[Smitty]

It's a much different thing in year 1 than in year 4, or year 6, or year 8. Garrett had TEN YEARS to get past the 2nd round. THAT'S why it wasn't acceptable with Garrett. In Garrett's first full season in 2011 a lot of people would have been thrilled with him making the playoffs (which incidentally he didn't).

Of course it is. Just saying that this is hardly something to be "fine," about - winning a bad division and getting bounced in the first or even second round. You also can't compare straight timelines because the state of the rosters in 2011 versus now were quite different. That was a team rebuilding on the fly, this one was billed as, and appeared, ready to win now.

McCarthy was supposed to be a big time improvement and so far I do not see it.

Give it time, sure.

I'm just quite underwhelmed at this point.

 

[Smitty]

So fine coming, right?

Seattle can't cry any crocodile tears from Hill rolling Carson's leg.

Not that we needed to see that video to know Seattle is the league's dirtiest team anyway.

 

[Cotton]

 

[Genghis Khan]

Of course it is. Just saying that this is hardly something to be "fine," about - winning a bad division and getting bounced in the first or even second round. You also can't compare straight timelines because the state of the rosters in 2011 versus now were quite different. That was a team rebuilding on the fly, this one was billed as, and appeared, ready to win now.

McCarthy was supposed to be a big time improvement and so far I do not see it.

Give it time, sure.

I'm just quite underwhelmed at this point.

The 2011 team had...

Tony Romo
Jon Kitna
Demarco Murray
Miles Austin
Dez Bryant
Jason Witten
Tyron Smith
Doug Free
Kyle Kosier
Jay Ratliff
Jason Hatcher
Anthony Spencer
Demarcus Ware
Sean Lee
Terence Newman
Orlando Scandrick
Marcus Spears
Dan Bailey

And that's leaving off some decent players like Sensabaugh, and James.

Let's not pretend they didn't have talent, or that there is some big huge disparity in talent between 2011 and 2020.

That 2011 team probably should have made the playoffs. There was enough talent there.

 

[Texas Ace]

Well I cant remember too many of those games at the moment. I do remember the Minnesota and I believe the consensus was on the play calling in the drive. Much like yesterdays game. I do think Dak isnt going to improvise and thats probably an issue. I think he runs what is called.

I think there are enough warts to worry about, though. I think his long throw accuracy bothers me more. I know a lot of times they still catch it but he almost never hits them in stride. They seem to always have to turn or lunge back.

That was something he got a lot better at last year.

For me, it's his short stuff across the field that has never gotten better. Whether it's a drag, a crossing route or a slant, far too many times it's behind the receiver and I'm starting to think that's just always gonna be a weakness for him in regards to accuracy.