THE OFFICIAL 2023 DALLAS COWBOYS OFF-SEASON THREAD || Cowboys Gonna Cowboy

[slicknick951]

any word on dez? and i thought bringing in callahan meant yall would run the ball more? demarco murray should be a 25-30 carry back with how strong he runs. hopefully he stays healthy

He got 20 carries and 8 catches that is a perfect game in my eyes. Thats 28 snaps where romo doesnt have to force a down feild throw. It brings more balance to the offence

 

[kid fiasco]

I'm hoping BW Webb emerges into something. With Mo iffy, and Scandrick taking plays off... 

Webb showed some goods in preseason... Would like for us to have 3 above average CB's with these pass happy teams. 

 

[blackboyfly]

Dez MRI also came back negative, he might not practice much but he'll play Sunday. Mo will be able to play Sunday.

This season just feels different. With our luck last year we would've been placing them both on IR right now

 

[thachosen123]

Dez MRI also came back negative, he might not practice much but he'll play Sunday. Mo will be able to play Sunday.

This season just feels different. With our luck last year we would've been placing them both on IR right now

Word

When Mo went down I let out the biggest W.T.F.......Dude can't seem to stay healthy for ****. Hopefully that dislocation doesn't bother him too much going forward

 

[blackboyfly]

For me, Sunday night was a blast.

I got to watch my Cowboys in a meaningful game for the first time since that crushing, gut-punch loss to Washington at the end of last season when we missed the opportunity to make the tournament. After a long off-season of salary-cap finagling, draft fiascoes and flat-out flawed memes, we finally got to see some real live action.

I got to watch my favorite team defeat a hated rival. Not just that, they beat them at home, AT&T Stadium, where the opponent and their fans were gleefully referring to our palace as their vacation home. How cute.

I got to watch my team, who couldn't turnover a piece of paper in 2012 much less their opponents, get not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, but six turnovers last night. Whattup LeBron.

Yeah but, they got six turnovers and almost lost.

Ummm, what? Ex-squeeze me? Come again?

Yeah but, the offense didn't do enough to win.

I'm sorry, when I looked up at the final scoreboard it said "Cowboys win, suckas". When I watched the game I'm pretty sure I saw the Cowboys offense take the field on several occasions.

Yeah but, the defense scored two touchdowns. You have to take that into account for their 36 points.

I missed the memo that when talking about a team, only achievements made by certain parts of the team count.

The refrains in the Twitterverse came at me over and over again. Yeah, the Cowboys won, but they sure didn't look good doing it.

Well here are my yeah buts to counter their yeah derrieres.
Yeah, but the Cowboys won a game where Dez Bryant only caught half of his targets, 4 receptions for only 22 yards and had the lowest yards-per-catch and yards-per-target of all Cowboys receivers. Not to mention the fact that Dez was molested twice that went uncalled and it took a referee from the oppo side of the field to throw a flag on the one that was called.

Yeah, but the Giants seemed to get away with egregious, flagrant penalties on a large majority of their big plays, including obvious holding on Orlando Scandrick on Victor Cruz's first touchdown catch and several other plays.

Yeah, but the Cowboys showed unique things that they hadn't shown before. Dedication to a no-huddle, pistol formations, 12 and 13 personnel galore.

Yeah, but the Cowboys won a game where Tony Romo didn't have to pass for 400 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Yeah, but the Cowboys ravaged defensive line that was missing two starters and rotating three street free agents who weren't with the team last year balled out.

Yeah, but the reason that Da'Rel Scott was in the game at the end to have bad timing with Manning that led to the sealing pick-six? That was because we stripped the number one running back of the ball, twice, and forced him to the bench.
Don't get me wrong (which often happens on twitter). Me saying that people shouldn't be doing the "Yeah, but" routine is not the same thing as me saying everything is roses. Sure, Will Allen frightens me, too. Watching DeMarco have to make his own way again isn't my preference. If Icarus fell from the sky and landed on the cushion that Claiborne was giving up, we'd probably never have had one of the best video games ever.

Big picture though, the Cowboys outscored 30 of the other 31 teams that suited up for week one. That's impressive, no matter how likely it is for us to ever get six turnovers again.

Saying Dallas can't plan on getting 6 turnovers is a moot point to me, because I'm also not planning on Dez Bryant being shut down on a regular basis, on Mo Claiborne being that gawd-awful rusty, on Anthony Spencer not being there, on Mackenzy Bernadeau ever being in a starting lineup again, et cetera, et cetera.

Week 1 means that any and every storyline which occurred has as much chance of continuing as it does never being heard from again. No one knows. So why have "yeah, but" be the first thing out your mouth, or fingertips, after the game ends? Why sit and dwell on saying they only won because, without saying I don't think that bad stuff rears it head again?

It was one game. That we won.

Most people have said it takes a year and a half to learn a new defense. The Cowboys are a week into the Montinelli and personally, I'd call this last game a good first step. Football's 16-game season is too small a sample size to begin with, so to look at just one game as anything more than a loss or a victory seems mighty short-sighted. If we get to Game Four and have these problems, then we can start fretting over "winning ugly".

For now, put some lipstick on that swine and dance a piggy-jig. The Cowboys are 1-0.

http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2013...defeat-the-giants-36-31-to-start-1-0-yeah-but

Blogging the boys

If you guys don't read their site I highly highly recommend it. By far the best coverage of the Cowboys. And sports in general honestly.

 

[captainsneakerhead23]

One of the writers from Blogging The Boys is a NT member, Chiacrack, real name is Archie Barberio ... writes some great articles. Not sure if he's a frequent vistor in this thread but I'll send him the link.

 

[mr s j king]

The team seems a lot stronger and more physical.
Can't wait until Sean Lee fully grasp this defense.
Bruce Carter is a tackling machine.
The d-line didn't get any push up the middle but they didn't give anything up either.

 

[chiacrack]

One of the writers from Blogging The Boys is a NT member, Chiacrack, real name is Archie Barberio ... writes some great articles. Not sure if he's a frequent vistor in this thread but I'll send him the link.

my dude Captain just sent me this link, didn't know we had a thread!

yup was a front page writer for BTB, just had to step down because of work, but I do plan on coming back there by next season

lets start with the win, huge win, a lot of positives to take away from, but some negatives too

The OL looked damn good, a lot better than we are used to seeing. Bernadeau is the weak link, just as he was last year. If Brian Waters can come in and replace him, then the OL should be very good. They do need to run block better, but when they ran more zone based runs, we looked good running the ball. It was the straight ahead power stuff that looked weak. Romo wasn't on the other night, once he gets going watch out because he can light a defense up with time.

Dez was triple covered, they had a single high safety, press coverage CB and a LB shading the inside of the field which meant no slants, he couldn't be effective with post and go routes because of the CB and S shading him. If this happens 16 games, Dez may not accumulate much stats, but we will win 12 games because of it. Now on the one throw where he beat the coverage, Romo severely underthrew him, had his ribs not been sore, that's a TD or a 75 yard play. One complaint, Romo didn't force throws there, which was great, but you still need to let Dez go up and get the football, he is one of the best in the league at that and honestly we've never really given him the chance to do that a lot.

As for the defense, I thought the DL was outstanding. Selvie looked like a defensive end who has finally found a role in the NFL, remember this guy was a beast at USF with JPP. Nick Hayden looks like another huge find by the scouting department. Don't expect much from Rat, he clearly doesn't want to be here. Claiborne will be fine, he missed the entire pre-season so don't worry about him. The play where Nicks had that huge gain, Claiborne played his coverage right, he was funneling the route back inside which is exactly what he was supposed to do, except Will Allen (who was terrible all night besides that INT) was supposed to be the inside guy there and he was nowhere to be found.

The pass defense wasn't very good, they got lucky a few times and there were no adjustments to Cruz. This is an area to really focus on, because pass defense was a problem in 2012.

 

[chiacrack]

The team seems a lot stronger and more physical.
Can't wait until Sean Lee fully grasp this defense.
Bruce Carter is a tackling machine.
The d-line didn't get any push up the middle but they didn't give anything up either.

Bruce Carter is going to thrive in this defense, especially if they allow him to blitz more.

 

[mr s j king]

I was against playing a division team the first week, but it actually may work in our favor.
The players in the league see the Giants as one of the baddest MF'ers in the NFL.
The way we handled them should make our opponents game planning sessions a lot more difficult.
But that is only going to happen if we put together a string of victories where our defense and running games are unstoppable.
This weeks game is a message game.
We have to let the league know THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN!

 

[chiacrack]

What concerns me is Dallas went to NY last year and beat the Giants and they looked like a playoff team, then they went to Seattle the very next week and got absolutely destroyed. Hopefully we don't see that again when they go to KC. A loss is understandable but getting dominated on every aspect of the game is not acceptable.

 

[blackboyfly]

What concerns me is Dallas went to NY last year and beat the Giants and they looked like a playoff team, then they went to Seattle the very next week and got absolutely destroyed. Hopefully we don't see that again when they go to KC. A loss is understandable but getting dominated on every aspect of the game is not acceptable.

Yep. This game will tell us alot about the Cowboys. Even though Seattle was unstoppable at home last year I don't think they should've been dominated like that. Should win these next three games.

 

[jmause3]

This is a huge week for us. We cant come out and lay an egg. Defense did its thing for us last week, now its our offenses turn to step up. this is a good test for us with KC's front 7.

Lets continue to give Murray more touches, as Waters should help with the run game. Hopefully Williams has those jitters out and cuts down on the mental mistakes

 

[chiacrack]

We need to get Bernadeau out of there, even a 38 year old Waters is an upgrade over him. TWill will be fine, he's a young rookie who really only ran two or three routes at Baylor. In this offense its a lot of read/option routes where the receiver has to read the defense and adjust their route according to the coverage, EXCEPT when Romo throws a hand signal thats a hot route adjustment. Once he learns the offense, he will be a great deep threat and big play threat.

 

[mr s j king]

Biggest difference this year going into week two is the defense.
They have tasted the blood and they like it.
I expect 3 or 4 forced turnovers this week.
Jamal Charles may have a 100yd game, but I can live with that as long as we shut down the passing attack.

 

[captainsneakerhead23]

This is a trap game, hopefully we don't need another 250 yard performance from Miles Austin to squeak out a victory in KC

 

[mr s j king]

Would be nice for Terrence Williams to have a break out game for 250 though.
Then Dez goes off for 150 a game for the rest of the season

 

[blackboyfly]

Everyone is at practice. Spencer, limited, Mo doing everything except 1vs1. Dunbar full go, Dez full go(everyone is saying there's no noticeable effects from the sprain) Romo full go. McCray is also back at practice. First time all 61 guys practiced

 

[mpire]

^^ peeped that info while I was work and was gonna post. Everyone is back. Dez is a full go, which is a miracle consider how ugly that tackle looked. Spencer should be back this Sunday also.

Rewatched the game last night and Dez was triple covered for the majority of the night. The last time I seen a team do this to the Cowboys was in 2007 when we played the Lions. Lions had a safety over the top and a LB shading on the inside to T.O.'s side. T.O. went for 3 rec 27 yards, and it took a comeback drive from Romo to Witten to win by 1 point.

Its funny how back then, teams FEARED when Romo had the ball with time left on the clock. So much that Brian Westbrook purposefully laid down at the 1 yard line the following week when we played the Eagles and lost 10-6 and had fantasy owners LIVID. Romo is excellent in the 4th contrary to the perception by haters.

But Dez is our most dangerous weapon and we have to get him involved. This is part of the problem with Garrett's offense. Where are the bunch formations to create mismatches and get Dez open? Why do we never put Dez in motion? Why doesn't Dez line up in the slot? Garrett is so friggin vanilla its ridiculous. I tried to tell you dudes that even with Callahan calling the plays, it doesn't mean much because its still Garrett's offense. Its only week 1 but we'll see.

But Garrett has a very limited imagination when it comes to his play book. 80% of our plays are ROmo in shot gun in a 3 WR set.

Swear Garrett is stuck in the 90s...

EDIT: **** Danny Mccray. God he's so wack

 

[chiacrack]

I saw Dez is in the slot more times against the giants the other night than I've seen him play the slot in an entire season before. They've been trying to put him there and that's new to me.

Garrett's passing system Air Coryell is deep routes that attack. Callahan is west coast, he wants to run the ball more. I also saw more zone blocking and when they effectively blocked Murray made the correct cutback and hit the hole. I still thank Dunbar will thrive in this zone blocking scheme, think Jamaal Charles and his speed making one cutback and blowing by defenders after. Also Randle will look great because he has better vision than Murray and he doesn't mess around he makes one cut gets upfield very quickly

 

[blackboyfly]

This girl on Twitter (@girllovesports) is saying she'd take Danny Amendola over Dez Sad thing is she's serious. Citing him being "shut down by Aaron Ross) as one reason. Never knew a corner playing press with a lb underneath and a safety doubling = being shutdown by one corner. Guess the Vikings Cb that was covering Megatron shut him down too. She writes for Blacksportsonline so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

 

[mpire]

I saw Dez is in the slot more times against the giants the other night than I've seen him play the slot in an entire season before. They've been trying to put him there and that's new to me.

Garrett's passing system Air Coryell is deep routes that attack. Callahan is west coast, he wants to run the ball more. I also saw more zone blocking and when they effectively blocked Murray made the correct cutback and hit the hole. I still thank Dunbar will thrive in this zone blocking scheme, think Jamaal Charles and his speed making one cutback and blowing by defenders after. Also Randle will look great because he has better vision than Murray and he doesn't mess around he makes one cut gets upfield very quickly

The problem with Air Coryell is that it the routes take time to develop and require and offensive line that gives their QB time, something the cowboys don't have. Although I will say that the offensive line was rather impressive this week. Ironically enough, we did not go deep at all.

Callahan's system may be west coast but the offensive playbook is Garrett's. Callahan is just calling Garrett's plays. Garrett's ego probably prevented Callahan from implementing the offense as he wanted.

Just looking at Garrett on the sidelines Sunday, you could tell he seemed upset he wasn't calling plays

 

[mr s j king]

Yeah it looked to much like Garretts play book.
Somethings telling me he still has his hands deep in the play calling process.
I think it's Garrett on first and second down, and Callahan on third or fourth.
Hence all the slants we saw on third down.

 

[chiacrack]

The problem with Air Coryell is that it the routes take time to develop and require and offensive line that gives their QB time, something the cowboys don't have. Although I will say that the offensive line was rather impressive this week. Ironically enough, we did not go deep at all.


Callahan's system may be west coast but the offensive playbook is Garrett's. Callahan is just calling Garrett's plays. Garrett's ego probably prevented Callahan from implementing the offense as he wanted.


Just looking at Garrett on the sidelines Sunday, you could tell he seemed upset he wasn't calling plays

And that is one problem with Coryell and our team, our OL doesn't hold up sometimes. We still need a speed guy, dont get me wrong Terrence Williams is a deep threat, but I've always thought a guy with similar quickness and speed like Randall Cobb or Percy Harvin would be a huge difference maker for this offense. Amendola was a Cowboy, we cut him his rookie season because "he couldn't play special teams". By far one of the worst mistakes the franchise has made in the last ten years.

 

[captainsneakerhead23]

Cole Beasley could easily have the same type of success as Amendola. Just needs to stay on the field.