2026 Season | Week 4 | Gameday Chatter Thread | Cowboys @ Texans | 10/04/2026

[Rev]

WTF is a STOP? Is that somehow different than a tackle? I see he had 9 solo tackles and 9 STOPS.

How a Stop is Defined
Traditional tackle counts can be misleading because a defender might tackle a running back after a 12-yard gain on 1st-and-10—technically a tackle, but a win for the offense. A stop filters out those empty stats by requiring the tackle to limit the offense below specific yardage thresholds based on the down: [1, 2]

• • 1st Down: The offense gains 45% or less of the distance needed for a first down (e.g., 4 yards or fewer on 1st-and-10).
  • 2nd Down: The offense gains 60% or less of the distance needed for a first down (e.g., 6 yards or fewer on 2nd-and-10).
  • 3rd or 4th Down: Any tackle that prevents the offense from getting a first down or scoring (forcing a turnover on downs or a punt). [1, 2]

 

[data]

Sunday Night Football in Carolina

IIRC that was Romo’s first career start

 

[Cotton]

WTF is a STOP? Is that somehow different than a tackle? I see he had 9 solo tackles and 9 STOPS.

Another made-up stat, I'm sure.

 

[Cotton]

How a Stop is Defined
Traditional tackle counts can be misleading because a defender might tackle a running back after a 12-yard gain on 1st-and-10—technically a tackle, but a win for the offense. A stop filters out those empty stats by requiring the tackle to limit the offense below specific yardage thresholds based on the down: [1, 2]

• • 1st Down: The offense gains 45% or less of the distance needed for a first down (e.g., 4 yards or fewer on 1st-and-10).
  • 2nd Down: The offense gains 60% or less of the distance needed for a first down (e.g., 6 yards or fewer on 2nd-and-10).
  • 3rd or 4th Down: Any tackle that prevents the offense from getting a first down or scoring (forcing a turnover on downs or a punt). [1, 2]

I had never heard of it until just now.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

So tackles are like batting average?

 

[Rev]

I had never heard of it until just now.

Neither had I until a few weeks ago. I think I ran across it when I was trying to look up how Jacob was doing after week 1 or 2.

 

[NoDak]

So tackles are like batting average?

~sigh~

God damn it.

I hate myself for thinking the same thing.

F you, Geng.

 

[Rev]

On the bright side its good to know that J-Rod has created a whole new stat.

 

[Rev]

 

[Rev]

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Landing on that fucking yardage marker just has to be the icing on a very painful cake. A pole right in the middle of you back on a hard fall.

 

[bbgun]

I was so fucking wrong about McMillan. The pre-draft scuttlebutt was that he didn't love football, and I fell for it.

 

[Genghis Khan]

Goodell - you don’t saaaaay

~NFL announces Nickelodeon telecast in Minecraft graphics~

Don't tempt them, I could see it happening.

 

[Genghis Khan]

So tackles are like batting average?

Yes, tackles are fairly useless.

 

[Texas Ace]

Does @Texas Ace have a specific coworker that you can’t wait to be TMSAW tomorrow?

Nah.... Thankfully I got away from those douchebags but I've been drinking all day since we won and this is one of the sweeter victories in quite some time for me even if I can't rub it in anybody's face.

I think the only folks that can understand what I'm feeling right now are those of you who live in enemy territory like Philadelphia or DC or whatever.

You have to live in a city where a team and fan base reside that just hates the Cowboys with all of their being to understand how great it feels to win a game like this.

And to beat them the way that we did makes it even sweeter.

I'm a happy man.

 

[Bipo]

Ashton Jeanty is a JAG. Unbelievable.

 

[NoDak]

Yes, tackles are fairly useless.

 

[data]

Hey, puto, Dave Canales. I don’t like the way you look at Melissa Stark, either.

 

[data]

Don’t know why Detroits defense is playing vanilla. Don’t let it be so easy for Bryce Young to make these quick easy reads

 

[Simpleton]

For the people saying the defense is as bad as last year, the big reason it isn't is the run defense.

And I mean the traditional run defense, between the tackles, outside zone and so forth. There's a big difference between traditional run defense vs. stopping QB scrambles or jet sweeps.

Try this on for size last year, all from the first half of the season:

Rico Dowdle: 30/183 (6.1 YPC), JK Dobbins: 15/111 (7.4 YPC, RJ Harvey also had 7/46 in the same game for a total of 22/157), Emari Demercado (lol): 14/79 (5.6 YPC)

The worst we've allowed so far this year was like 18/80 against Skattebo, which is really nothing compared to some of those games from last year against pure JAG's. Of course they also did a great job on Henry and absolutely shut down the RB's for Houston and Washington.

The pass defense might be as bad as last season but once Porter is fully integrated and playing every snap I think they'll inevitably improve, not to mention Thompson and Locke returning. There are also legitimate building blocks in Williams, Downs, Barham and now Porter.

Before we traded for Williams last year our best defensive players were who? Osa, Clark, Bland (who needs to be cut), James Houston and Clowney (signed after week 2)?