Weekly Game Threads !

[Fierce1]

Dan Quinn gets the game ball after win today. Not sure how I feel about that after his lack of effort last week.

Last week was a bad week for all the NFC contenders.

But one potential weakness of this Cowboys team is the run defense.

Denver was able to keep the Dallas offense off the field because the Cowboy defense couldn't stop the run.

We still have Lawrence and Gregory out. Hopefully that will improve big time when they soon get back. Although it is a bit demoralizing when the offesne constantly goes for it in their own end and leave the defense in such bad spots.

Yeah, Lawrence is good against the run.
Hopefully he returns this month.

But stopping the run is more on the DTs than the DEs.
The good news is the Cowboys have big DTs.

The Rams got beat badly by the 49ers because the Rams couldn't stop the rushing attack of the 49ers.
Reason why the Rams couldn't stop the run is because their defensive line is not big.

[bluejerseyjinx]

We now go into a stretch of 3 games in 12 days. Hopefully we can stay healthy throughout this stretch.

[bluejerseyjinx]

I think if we had Lawrence and Gregory this week we could win big. And I mean big !!

[bluejerseyjinx]

Appears we are not as good as we think.

[Fierce1]

Appears we are not as good as we think.

Which is a good thing.

The Cowboys still need to improve on defense, especially the run defense.

[Fierce1]

The Dallas offensive line is also not the same without Tyron Smith.

[Micah Prescott]

The defense played well this game, we held the Chiefs to just 19 points and created 2 turnovers.

Our offense failed us completely.

Here's the thing though, no Cooper, no Lamb, no Tyron is HUGE. Those are 3 star players.

I honestly feel like if our offense is healthy we win that game.

[bluejerseyjinx]

Lost two of last 3 games. It took longer this year but it is starting to look like Dak once again, can't put the team on his shoulders and make everyone around him better. Yet Colt McCoy can go out and win 2 of 3 in a tougher division without Hopkins. Offensive line is starting to suck and be inconsistent as we head down the stretch. Here we go again. I knew this was going to happen. Looks like we are a one and done team. We can't beat a top team when it matters. Nothing has changed.

[Fierce1]

Cowboys will be fine IF they win the next 2 games.

I mean come on, nobody expected the Cowboys to go 16-1 or 15-2.

A 12-5 record is what I expect.

Even better if it's 13-4.

[Micah Prescott]

Welp that was a disappointing Thanksgiving game. I think I am going to try and block it out of mind because there is absolutely zero doubt in my mind that we win that game with Cooper and Lamb. Those two open up the entire field. Without them the Raiders were able to shut down Zeke/Polard and force Dak to throw at less talented WRs. Gallup is a great WR but he isn't on Coop/Lamb level and then Wilson/Brown are just there for depth and aren't elite threats at all.

We get Coop/Lamb back vs the Saints, and ALSO D-Law and Gregory. So no excuses with this next one.

[Micah Prescott]

Another reason I am trying to block this game out of mind is because the reffing was next level atrocious. Holy F--- those were some bad calls on Brown.

[bluejerseyjinx]

Cowboys will be fine IF they win the next 2 games.

I mean come on, nobody expected the Cowboys to go 16-1 or 15-2.

A 12-5 record is what I expect.

Even better if it's 13-4.

I never predicted the Cowboys win 15 or 16 games. I know way better than that, especially during a Jerry Jones era squad. Cowboys will not win 12 games either. They have been exposed on both sides of the ball, the kicking game, the coaching and lately Kellen Moore has lost his touch because Jerry want certain players to get the ball more. Every time Jerry starts interfering and doing most of the press releases, this always happen. The man just can't just shut the **** up and let the football people do football. And then it trickles down to McCarthy who I BLAME FOR ALL THE LACK OF DISIPLINE I have been mentioning all season. Way to many penalties even in games we win. This is not acceptable unless you prefer to continue being mediocre like we have been since 2002. Losing 3 of the last 4 games in the Month of November is a huge and total red flag. Defense sure looks different when Diggs isn't getting 2 turnovers a game. Over 500 yards we gave up to the Raiders is beyond acceptable. What is Dan Quinn doing on the side line during the game? Choking his chicken would be my guess.
This team will struggle going forward and we will be lucky to hold on to the division and get our ass kicked in the first round of the playoffs. Jerry loves showing us this movie over and over again every year.

[Fierce1]

Yup, too many penalties against the Raiders.

I still think 12-5 is doable.

We'll see.

[bluejerseyjinx]

Yup, too many penalties against the Raiders.

I still think 12-5 is doable.

We'll see.

You really think we are going to run the table or lose only one game going down the stretch?

[Fierce1]

Yup, too many penalties against the Raiders.

I still think 12-5 is doable.

We'll see.

You really think we are going to run the table or lose only one game going down the stretch?

Yeah, the schedule is weak.

4 games against NFC east.

The only tough game is against the Cardinals.

[Micah Prescott]

We should sweep the NFCE. These games I think are somewhat important because it looks like the 4th seed will be stuck playing whoever is in 2nd in the NFCW either Rams or Cardinals. 3rd or 4th seeds are looking at teams like the Vikings (who we beat without Dak) or 49ers.

Pretty big difference. We don't want to start out against Rams or Cards.

[bluejerseyjinx]

You really think the Cowboys sweep both games vs. Washington? I don't. Rivalry goes way back.

[Fierce1]

Cowboys offense was just average for most of the game against the Saints.

But man, the defense was great!

I think the Cowboys are a contender because their defense is very good.

If the Cowboys are to make it to the NFC title game, the defense will have to be this good.

[Micah Prescott]

I want to give the Dallas defense a lot of credit but it was Taysom Hill with a lack luster WR core. I mean yeah he's going to be throwing into bad situations especially late in the game when down 10 points.

Also New Orleans went for 405 yards which is not good.

Dallas offense looked "okay" and somehow they are still #1 overall in yards per game, even after those games missing Cooper/Lamb.

I don't know, I'm glad we won and it's great to see turnovers but at the same time it wasn't the most convincing win.

[Micah Prescott]

Also I think this game finally put Pollard over Zeke for me. It's always been close but now I think the gap has finally closed.

looking at numbers -

Ezekiel Elliott: 173/765 - 4.4 YPC
Tony Pollard: 107/602 - 5.6 YPC

Zeke has been more of the workhorse and will likely have a 1,000+ yard season so it might not be fair to view an overly rested Pollard come in with fresh legs and burst when we are steady grinding Zeke into the ground. That said Pollard clearly has more burst.

I do expect Zeke to be released after this season. Which makes me sad because I do think he is a great RB, just not worth the $$$ at this point.