Cowboys: Dak returns

TFisNEXT

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Yeah, I think we see “good” Dallas this week. I’m expecting a strong performance and Cowboys W.
The run game seems to really perform better when Tyron Smith is healthy. It sounds like he’s pretty healthy now (almost totally over the ankle injury) so that bodes well. When the run game is clicking, Dak becomes really tough to stop as well because opposing teams get annihilated on play-action…and they can’t really blitz Dak either because he murders the blitz on average.

Teams have had some success stopping the Dallas offense when their front 7 can slow the Cowboys run game and they drop back and make Dak beat them with over-the-top help.
 

scott bankheadcase

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The run game seems to really perform better when Tyron Smith is healthy. It sounds like he’s pretty healthy now (almost totally over the ankle injury) so that bodes well. When the run game is clicking, Dak becomes really tough to stop as well because opposing teams get annihilated on play-action…and they can’t really blitz Dak either because he murders the blitz on average.

Teams have had some success stopping the Dallas offense when their front 7 can slow the Cowboys run game and they drop back and make Dak beat them with over-the-top help.
Niners basically never blitz. Ryan runs the Saleh philosophy of creating pressure with front 4 in different ways and then dropping back (Sf has decent safeties but CBs are suspect).

If Dallas can run on the niners it’s absolutely game over. But no one has run well on the niners recently (Warner/greenlaw and D.J. Jones are all really good run stoppers).

I don’t get all the money on SF. But I do think this is the most interesting matchup of the weekend.
 

BigSoxFan

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Yeah, I think we see “good” Dallas this week. I’m expecting a strong performance and Cowboys W.
Or not. Sorry, guys. This team will be back but McCarthy showed exactly why so many hated that hire. Just completely unprepared and undisciplined. OL coach is not going to survive this either.

Lack of running game once again hurts them.
 

Greg29fan

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Or not. Sorry, guys. This team will be back but McCarthy showed exactly why so many hated that hire. Just completely unprepared and undisciplined. OL coach is not going to survive this either.

Lack of running game once again hurts them.
Everybody will be back unless Quinn or Moore get a head coaching job. For all this talking head nonsense of Jerrah rapid, machine-gun firing people, it's not his style.
 

BigSoxFan

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Everybody will be back unless Quinn or Moore get a head coaching job. For all this talking head nonsense of Jerrah rapid, machine-gun firing people, it's not his style.
The OL was a recurring problem in the games I saw. You may be right but I don’t know how you don’t look for improvement there. Injuries played a role for sure but today was ugly. Clearly, McCarthy, Moore, and Quinn are likely all remaining unless someone plucks Moore.
 

TFisNEXT

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The OL was a recurring problem in the games I saw. You may be right but I don’t know how you don’t look for improvement there. Injuries played a role for sure but today was ugly. Clearly, McCarthy, Moore, and Quinn are likely all remaining unless someone plucks Moore.
The O-Line was downright brutal down the stretch and today was the worst of them all. It was a pretty drastic turnaround too as the Cowboys may have had the best O-line through about 2 months.

Conor williams is not playing well at all and they can’t count on Tyron Smith to stay healthy. They need to upgrade in the off season.

Mike McCarthy likely isn’t going anywhere but they have to find some way to cut down on the penalties. They were the worst team in the NFL in penalties.
 

Greg29fan

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One of the first things this organization needs to do as a whole is stop running up to the podium after every game and giving the business to the officials. Yes, I think Dallas often takes the short end of the stick, but it does no good to complain about it incessantly in public and only puts more attention on you.
 

soxhop411

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One of the first things this organization needs to do as a whole is stop running up to the podium after every game and giving the business to the officials. Yes, I think Dallas often takes the short end of the stick, but it does no good to complain about it incessantly in public and only puts more attention on you.
Yah. This is going to be “walked back” by tomorrow AM. Though it’s too late already. It should have been walked back at that moment.

not only is this going to result in a huge fine for Dak, I doubt the refs will give him the benefit of the doubt going forward.
View: https://twitter.com/therealmarklane/status/1482919476999958528?s=20
 

rodderick

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Yah. This is going to be “walked back” by tomorrow AM. Though it’s too late already. It should have been walked back at that moment.

not only is this going to result in a huge fine for Dak, I doubt the refs will give him the benefit of the doubt going forward.
View: https://twitter.com/therealmarklane/status/1482919476999958528?s=20
The worst part is that every Dallas penalty was either procedural or obvious. Can't remember a single ticky tacky call that went against them. And to blame the refs on that final play is just ridiculous.
 

RedOctober3829

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BigJimEd

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Yeah, that's disappointing. Big fine coming for that. I'm as big a critic of NFL referees as there is but you can't be advocating for things like that.

More to the point for Dak, he needs to accept responsibility. If you want to improve you need to acknowledge your mistakes. That play was on Dak and the rest of the game was sub par as well.
 

RedOctober3829

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I actually thought that game was extraordinarily well officiated.
If Dak was pissed at the last play, he should go and ask his HC and OC why they were so unprepared and thought 14 seconds was enough time to run 20 yards down the field then spike it. Or why they didn't take multiple shots to the end zone. Or he could ask why his defensive linemen were bear hugging the 49ers OL in plain sight. I agree with you. It was well officiated.
 

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Was it ever confirmed that the QB draw was a deliberate play call by Cowboys coaches?
 

Oil Can Dan

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Yes, McCarthy said they wanted to run 5 verticals from the 25 instead of a Hail Mary from the 40.
I think he actually said a Hail Mary from the 50, which is wrong. Kind of funny how the lack of attention to detail at the top seems to roll on down to the team there, huh? Could anyone imagine Belichick getting that wrong?
 

Bergs

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Yes, McCarthy said they wanted to run 5 verticals from the 25 instead of a Hail Mary from the 40.
Even though there was time for 2 (maybe even 3, though doubtful) Hail Mary's from the 40. So stupid.
 

TFisNEXT

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Yeah that is really disappointing from Dak…he’s usually a very stand-up guy and doesn’t make excuses.

If there was any legit criticism of the refs, it’s that they didn’t make some obvious calls on SF (that offensive holding against Diggs was really bad and they missed a few other holding calls). The calls made against Dallas were pretty obvious IMHO.

The Cowboys weren’t prepared to play and you typically don’t get away with that against a disciplined team like SF and they got what they deserved. McCarthy can blame himself for the lack of discipline.
 

Dahabenzapple2

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Yeah that is really disappointing from Dak…he’s usually a very stand-up guy and doesn’t make excuses.

If there was any legit criticism of the refs, it’s that they didn’t make some obvious calls on SF (that offensive holding against Diggs was really bad and they missed a few other holding calls). The calls made against Dallas were pretty obvious IMHO.

The Cowboys weren’t prepared to play and you typically don’t get away with that against a disciplined team like SF and they got what they deserved. McCarthy can blame himself for the lack of discipline.
McCarthy loves to punt and it took him until the middle of the second quarter to play Pollard. He got 4 carries. He’s among the most explosive backs in the league and of course as expected McCarthy trots out a slow Zeke as per usual.
 

BigSoxFan

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McCarthy loves to punt and it took him until the middle of the second quarter to play Pollard. He got 4 carries. He’s among the most explosive backs in the league and of course as expected McCarthy trots out a slow Zeke as per usual.
In addition, the inability to get Lamb going was a bad sign. Would love to know if SF focused on him or not because he was completely invisible.
 

mauf

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Dak seems like a good guy, and certainly is a smart guy. Once he calmed down, and someone asked him how he’d feel if fans pelted him with debris and anyone associated with the league condoned it, I’m sure he realized he was wrong. It will take him a while to live down his ill-considered remarks, but when his career ends a decade or more from now, this incident won’t even merit a footnote.

I’m sure he’ll also be more circumspect around the media going forward. Dak knew nothing about the incident with the fans. The reporter who asked him about it was looking for controversy, not insight. That doesn’t excuse what Dak said, but it illustrates there are good reasons why seasoned pros speak in platitudes to the media, especially in postgame press conferences. He won’t repeat his mistake.
 
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BigSoxFan

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Dak seems like a good guy, and certainly is a smart guy. Once he calmed down, and someone asked him how he’d feel if fans pelted him with debris and anyone associated with the league condoned it, I’m sure he realized he was wrong. It will take him a while to live down his ill-considered remarks, but when his career ends a decade or more from now, this incident won’t even merit a footnote.
Yup. And his own fans will continue to care more about the play itself than the comment he made in frustration right after a bitter loss that he didn’t play particularly well in.
 

MuppetAsteriskTalk

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His apology seemed like a real apology too, and not one of those, "sorry if what I said upset you," type of non-apologies.
 

Justthetippett

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His apology seemed like a real apology too, and not one of those, "sorry if what I said upset you," type of non-apologies.
My reading too. For once, a genuine apology. I wish more public relations/comms people would advise this approach. “I messed up, I’m sorry” is the quickest way to get through a news cycle. Of course it helps to mean it.
 

Trlicek's Whip

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The O-Line was downright brutal down the stretch and today was the worst of them all. It was a pretty drastic turnaround too as the Cowboys may have had the best O-line through about 2 months.

Conor williams is not playing well at all and they can’t count on Tyron Smith to stay healthy. They need to upgrade in the off season.

Mike McCarthy likely isn’t going anywhere but they have to find some way to cut down on the penalties. They were the worst team in the NFL in penalties.
McCarthy is the X-factor when predicting Dallas's future success. I feel like he needs to have a bulletproof, absolutely stacked team in all three phases to overcome the carelessness his teams always seem to have (iffy time management, penalties, inconsistency). Especially in light of being unprepared for situational football like in their WC loss.

And with Dak's unfortunate comments about the refs; that's essentially the same flex as McCarthy explaining in the moment what happened when they ran out of time and at one point mumbling about the ref not getting the ball cleanly set up for the last play instead of taking responsibility for not being ready for managing that in real time. The coach reflects how a team carries stuff like that because they take their cues from him. That's not the "swagger" you're looking for.
 
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TFisNEXT

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McCarthy is the X-factor when predicting Dallas's future success. I feel like he needs to have a bulletproof, absolutely stacked team in all three phases to overcome the carelessness his teams always seem to have (iffy time management, penalties, inconsistency). Especially in light of being unprepared for situational football like in their WC loss.

And with Dak's unfortunate comments about the refs; that's essentially the same flex as McCarthy explaining in the moment what happened when they ran out of time and at one point mumbling about the ref not getting the ball cleanly set up for the last play instead of taking responsibility for not being ready for managing that in real time. The coach reflects how a team carries stuff like that because they take their cues from him. That's not the "swagger" you're looking for.
McCarthy should be gone, but he won't be. He shouldn't have been hired in the first place so my guess is Jerrah waits another season before canning him.

I don't think a lot of casual fans realize how good this Cowboys team was or should have been. It's the best defense they've had in over a decade (prob since at least the 2009 squad), an exceptional ST unit that did everything well except kick extra points, and an explosive (even if sometimes inconsistent) offense. This Cowboys team with a good coach should have been the #1 seed.

I wasn't a huge Jason Garrett fan, but at least the team was somewhat disciplined under him. He hated penalties much like Parcells did when he was in Dallas. You never saw those teams near the top of the league in penalties. The 2021 Cowboys were the most penalized team in football. That is just inexcusable and reflects directly on the coach. The last coach who was like this was Wade Phillips....and oh, probably not a coincidence that the last time the Cowboys finished at the top of the league in penalties was when Phillips was coaching in 2008. His other seasons in Dallas weren't much better. 3rd in 2009 and 7th in 2007.

The only weird part about it is that McCarthy's Green Bay teams weren't heavily penalized. I do think he under-achieved in Green Bay but it wasn't because of penalties.
 

Tony C

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Dak seems like a good guy, and certainly is a smart guy. Once he calmed down, and someone asked him how he’d feel if fans pelted him with debris and anyone associated with the league condoned it, I’m sure he realized he was wrong. It will take him a while to live down his ill-considered remarks, but when his career ends a decade or more from now, this incident won’t even merit a footnote.

I’m sure he’ll also be more circumspect around the media going forward. Dak knew nothing about the incident with the fans. The reporter who asked him about it was looking for controversy, not insight. That doesn’t excuse what Dak said, but it illustrates there are good reasons why seasoned pros speak in platitudes to the media, especially in postgame press conferences. He won’t repeat his mistake.
It does seem like a sincere apology and probably you're right it'll end up as a footnote. That said:
-to put this on the reporter seems weird. Legit question and Dak got all whiny about it and the reporter had to correct him in re the target of the peltings. Dak then not only did a 180 but he doubled down on it; asked if he stuck by that position he said he did. The questions were soft and they literally gave him a chance to correct himself: this is all on Dak.

-this wasn't in the heat of the moment -- he was showered, dressed, etc.

-it has nothing to do with being too specific/not talking in platitudes: he volunteered a truly atrocious opinion with no prompting.

The more important thing is it was of a piece with him and his coach taking responsibility only in, yes, vague platitudes but on specifics refusing to recognize their responsibility and instead casting blame to those who had no blame. The Cowboys mistakes on that last play were obvious to even casual football fans and the penalties called on them throughout the game tended to be obvious and egregious. For Dak and his coach to whine about the refs speaks to a very unprofessional mindset that, taking things full circle, has a lot to do with their failures on the field.
 

mauf

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It does seem like a sincere apology and probably you're right it'll end up as a footnote. That said:
-to put this on the reporter seems weird. Legit question and Dak got all whiny about it and the reporter had to correct him in re the target of the peltings. Dak then not only did a 180 but he doubled down on it; asked if he stuck by that position he said he did. The questions were soft and they literally gave him a chance to correct himself: this is all on Dak.

-this wasn't in the heat of the moment -- he was showered, dressed, etc.

-it has nothing to do with being too specific/not talking in platitudes: he volunteered a truly atrocious opinion with no prompting.

The more important thing is it was of a piece with him and his coach taking responsibility only in, yes, vague platitudes but on specifics refusing to recognize their responsibility and instead casting blame to those who had no blame. The Cowboys mistakes on that last play were obvious to even casual football fans and the penalties called on them throughout the game tended to be obvious and egregious. For Dak and his coach to whine about the refs speaks to a very unprofessional mindset that, taking things full circle, has a lot to do with their failures on the field.
I didn’t mean to suggest it’s the reporter’s fault. It’s Dak’s fault. He was wrong. He knows it.

Nearly all of us have thoughts that go through our heads that would get us in a lot of trouble if we said them out loud in public. For those of us who aren’t famous, it just takes a little bit of self-discipline to stay out of trouble. For someone like Dak who lives and works in a media spotlight, it takes a more concerted effort. Part of that is not talking to people who don’t have your best interests at heart, or giving them nothing but platitudes if avoiding them isn’t an option (as with reporters at a postgame press conference).

A reporter who was interested in informing his/her readers about the incident where fans threw debris at the officials would have been chasing down those officials, or stadium security, or maybe Jerry Jones. There was no reason to think Dak knew anything about the incident. That doesn’t mean the reporter was wrong to ask — covering the NFL is more like covering Hollywood than it is like covering the Pentagon, so there’s nothing wrong with fishing around for an entertaining or provocative quote from the most famous person who will talk to you. But Dak needs to be wise to that and tread very carefully.
 

E5 Yaz

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In another story out of the McCarthy press conference, this one boggles my mind:

As for his team's inability to get the snap off for a spike, McCarthy disputed the suggestion that Prescott should have handed the ball to George instead of his center.
"The center can spot the ball. The receiver can spot the ball. So (the opinion) of you can't spot the ball is not correct. So, the center can spot the ball. Our guys are trained to spot the ball exactly how the referee spots the ball. … Obviously, the umpire has to come in and all he has to do is touch it."
McCarthy added: "You're in a 3, 2, 1 situation, you snap the ball. Obviously that didn't happen, right there at that point, so as far as the training of Dak getting the ball to Tyler (Biadasz), Tyler getting it down on the hashmark that part was intact. So obviously we gotta factor in what happened there, at the end of that play because we've repped it, like I said, there's training that's gone into that situation."


So, McCarthy believes that a center can arbitrarily spot the ball on a play such as that? Regardless if it's spotted at the proper at the proper LOS? That's bullshit. Part of the problem, as has been pointed out is that the center didn't spot it properly at the point designated as the end of the play. No, you clueless dolt, the umpire doesn't just have to touch it ... he has to make sure it's on the proper place on the field.

https://www.nfl.com/news/cowboys-hc-mike-mccarthy-defends-last-second-draw-play-we-had-great-confidence-i
 

BigSoxFan

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In another story out of the McCarthy press conference, this one boggles my mind:

As for his team's inability to get the snap off for a spike, McCarthy disputed the suggestion that Prescott should have handed the ball to George instead of his center.
"The center can spot the ball. The receiver can spot the ball. So (the opinion) of you can't spot the ball is not correct. So, the center can spot the ball. Our guys are trained to spot the ball exactly how the referee spots the ball. … Obviously, the umpire has to come in and all he has to do is touch it."
McCarthy added: "You're in a 3, 2, 1 situation, you snap the ball. Obviously that didn't happen, right there at that point, so as far as the training of Dak getting the ball to Tyler (Biadasz), Tyler getting it down on the hashmark that part was intact. So obviously we gotta factor in what happened there, at the end of that play because we've repped it, like I said, there's training that's gone into that situation."


So, McCarthy believes that a center can arbitrarily spot the ball on a play such as that? Regardless if it's spotted at the proper at the proper LOS? That's bullshit. Part of the problem, as has been pointed out is that the center didn't spot it properly at the point designated as the end of the play. No, you clueless dolt, the umpire doesn't just have to touch it ... he has to make sure it's on the proper place on the field.

https://www.nfl.com/news/cowboys-hc-mike-mccarthy-defends-last-second-draw-play-we-had-great-confidence-i
Absolutely zero introspection with McCarthy. Rather than own the stupid strategic decision, he’s extra defensive and defiant. We’ve all worked with these people. He is going to ruin a ridiculously talented team. Should thank his lucky stars that Rashard Mendenhall fumbled in the SB.
 

E5 Yaz

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Absolutely zero introspection with McCarthy. Rather than own the stupid strategic decision, he’s extra defensive and defiant. We’ve all worked with these people. He is going to ruin a ridiculously talented team. Should thank his lucky stars that Rashard Mendenhall fumbled in the SB.
Albert Breer made an interesting point on radio this week. If Dan Quinn (especially) and/or Kellen Moore get head coaching gigs, McCarthy will be having a major say in their replacements. By keeping him as head coach, the Cowboys might be setting themselves up for a setback season or two by delaying the inevitable. Breer seemed to think that the Dallas move might be to jettison McCarthy and eventually name Quinn as the replacement
 

BigSoxFan

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Albert Breer made an interesting point on radio this week. If Dan Quinn (especially) and/or Kellen Moore get head coaching gigs, McCarthy will be having a major say in their replacements. By keeping him as head coach, the Cowboys might be setting themselves up for a setback season or two by delaying the inevitable. Breer seemed to think that the Dallas move might be to jettison McCarthy and eventually name Quinn as the replacement
Dallas is in a tough spot. McCarthy is not the right guy and they have 2 coordinators who are licking their chops for a HC gig. And they have a team that’s ready to win now. They can’t mess around here while Diggs, Parsons, and Lamb are all cheap.
 

TFisNEXT

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Dallas is in a tough spot. McCarthy is not the right guy and they have 2 coordinators who are licking their chops for a HC gig. And they have a team that’s ready to win now. They can’t mess around here while Diggs, Parsons, and Lamb are all cheap.
I would absolutely take Quinn as HC if Jerrah believes the only way to keep him is to fire McCarthy. Unfortunately, I don’t think he will admit this soon that he made a mistake with McCarthy even though he really needs to change now for the reasons you stated above.
 

BigSoxFan

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I would absolutely take Quinn as HC if Jerrah believes the only way to keep him is to fire McCarthy. Unfortunately, I don’t think he will admit this soon that he made a mistake with McCarthy even though he really needs to change now for the reasons you stated above.
Yeah. Truthfully, I think Quinn with Kellen playing the McDaniels role would be a really good combo. Just need to get MM out of the way.