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Yes, 22nd straight year of no Championship Game appearance. They even showed how truly sad the history is on screen yesterday after showing how many NFC Title games the franchise was in from 1970-1995, as opposed to the last 22 years.
I said all week I thought it would be a tough game and that of the three teams we could have faced, Green Bay was the least favorable IMO. But I did think that ultimately we'd win the game and that if we didn't, it was likely to be because we turned it over too much because well, frankly rookie QB's don't fare well in the postseason. Instead, we dug a huge hole that had nothing to do with a rookie QB that was created in large part due to mistakes and inept defense (some mistakes inexcusable, like that 12 man on the field on GB's opening drive)
1) So I'll start with what I pretty much have since the first preseason game. While Dak Prescott wasn't perfect yesterday for most of the game he was really good, and he was outstanding after the one bad turnover he did have. I think they showed that he had possibly the best postgame ever for a rookie QB during the game, and this after posting one of the best seasons a rookie QB has ever had (I think #1 all-time in QB rating). I don't ultimately care that he wasn't the "first choice", he wasn't the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th or 7th (maybe even lower) for every team in the league it appears. The only thing that matters is WE DO have him, and the kid appears to be a major winner. All the leadership skill/intangible stuff you could hope for, and despite being a mid rd pick coming from a spread offense, his throwing ability is FAR better than anyone could have hoped for already. It's almost a consensus that a QB improves the most from year one to year two if they work hard, so its scary exciting to think where he can be in another year or two. Unlike Tony Romo (like I mentioned in another thread yesterday) I think Prescott will DRIVE teammates to do all the little things to improve and not settle for losing or mediocrity (ie, like Staubach or Aikman for us previously).
2) Scott Linahan deserves a ton of credit for how good the offense is and for that matter I think we finally now all have to throw some kudos at Wade Wilson too for the work (QB mechanics, footwork etc etc and jumping all in on Prescott early in the draft process). That said, it is inexplicable and mind boggling why they continued to waste offensive plays in key times by having Zeke sit on the sidelines for no talent flub Lance Dunbar. He had plenty of rest (barely half a game vs Detroit, then being off for essentially 3 weeks afterward). He is an outstanding receiver and his other huge attribute is his blitz protection. He shouldn't be off the field save for a few plays here or there when he truly needs a breather (like they'd do with McFadden and Morris) but honestly he probably shouldn't have come off the field hardly any in the biggest game of the year. Next yr I hope the plan is just a first half series or a few plays here and there as a breather. Otherwise YOU ARE DOING THE OTHER TEAM A FAVOR by taking him out. I had three big complaints with the play calling/designs during the game yesterday. One was on the first drive where we had 3rd and 2 at the edge of FG range. I thought Prescott made one of his poorer decisions to try and force it deep to Dez there. Instead, wouldn't it have been smarter to run Elliott again (if not two more times, going for it on 4th if needed) because settling for FG's was going to ultimately lose the game anyway. The other situation was before halftime after Beasley's first down reception. We had about a 1:15 or so left, why take Elliott (and even the threat of Elliott) out there and not at least run the ball once. Why risk giving Rodgers another possession? Instead, Zeke goes out for Dunbar and they throw 3 straight times, settling for another FG. The last complaint wasn't so much a play call, but a play decision. To spike that ball on our final drive was not well thought out at all. Dunbar should not be on this roster next year, period, end of story. And while I think McFadden has been decent enough, I wouldn't re-sign him either unless its a 1yr deal for vet minimum.
3) I'm sure the local media and many fans (and probably Johnny Walker GM himself) will get caught up in "it was an EPC GAME!!!!"...."one for the ages!!!!"...."we just came up a little short but what a way to battle back!!!!! "fight scratch claw!!!!!!!" but the end result is the same result we've had for TWENTY TWO STRAIGHT YEARS. Jason Garrett has now had ten seasons here (3 1/2 as OC, 6 1/2 as HC). Yes, its nice that the team overcomes adversity and hangs in games when maybe past teams/coaches would have folded tent and collapsed. But the question that needs to be asked is WHY does that continue to be the story? WHY do they get into these situations SO OFTEN? In ten yrs, our team has won two playoff games with Garrett involved. TWO. I've used the analogy before and its one that I would think even a drunk fool like Jerry should be able to grasp because of what he made his wealth in. Would you continue to waste resources, time & money into drilling over and over and over again in a well that hasn't sniffed oil in eons, especially if others point out the flaws or facts to show there's nothing there? That's Jason Garrett, there is nothing there. He is not going to get the team over the hump in big games and certainly has proven he cant get them over the hump in the playoffs. I don't care how much you "like" him and while there are some things he should get SOME credit for, the bottom line is winning postseason games. He cant get it done. It's wasted keystrokes I'm sure, but its frustrating to see that the only chance we have to make a serious run is if the team is just so overwhelmingly loaded in talent. They are close on the offensive side to that, but they have a ways to go on defense. Can it be done in a year? I don't know but you'd have to say its a longshot. It's not unprecedented for a franchise to see that while there may be some decent wins, that if you have a guy that cant get over the hump you HAVE to make a change for the long term good. I know it wont happen, but its obvious Garrett is not the guy.
4) Rodgers has to get a lot of credit for some of the elite throws he made, not all the completions were wide open guys and uncontested throws. Many he was on the move and many he fit right in to tight coverage. That said, for the 2nd straight game (I am not counting Philly, because it was treated like a preseason game) the defense yielded three tds on three straight possessions to open a game, and this despite getting a number of starters back. Then after getting back into the game going into halftime, they come out and give up an almost uncontested TD drive o start the 3rd qtr. Finally, with a chance to at least ensure OT at worst, they melted down even after getting to 3rd and 20, blew the game by losing people in coverage downfield. This has been the story of our defense for a LONG time and going back to MANY coordinators (including Zimmer). They don't play clutch defense. No question we have a talent issue on defense right now and they need to upgrade the speed of all three levels, but when it happens all the time over many, many seasons you have to wonder what the cause is. They also gave up a ton of big plays yesterday, which hadn't been a problem for most of the games this year. I lost track of how many 10 and 20+ yard plays they had. 5 different receivers caught at least one pass of 25 yards though, and that's garbage.
5) I know Garrett isn't getting run off, so the best any of us can hope for is the team starts doing on defense what its done on offense. Really capitalize on good drafting to acquire as much talent as possible. I wouldn't resign Carr, Claiborne or Church from the secondary. I wouldn't mind them resigning Wilcox to a cap friendly 2-3 yr del though. He may never develop into a fulltime starter but he has improved this past yr and does have a nice role. We need some playmakers in the secondary who can cover ground and attack the ball, and the guys who are free agents haven't been doing it. I'd also consider releasing Orlando Scandrick due to age and cap implications, as he also isn't a playmaker. The DL needs obvious upgrades and they'll need to make a decision of Terrell McClain, who had a pretty decent year. I think Maliek Collins will be a good player, but the suspension of Gregory and Lawrence's back situation (reportedly will have another back surgery) make it paramount that they go into next year with DE's other than the law firm of Crawford and Crawford. Tapper is interesting but we don't know what he really has, although he does have physical talent most of the other DE's lack. Jaylon Smith (if he ends up healthy) would be a huge addition to the defense and LB corps and he can do a lot of different things, but they should still bring in another LB via the draft IMO that can run and play in space.
6) The Romo watch will definitely be the story of the offseason now. Unlike that idiot Rappacrapreport, I do think they will get quite a bit of interest via trade for him. There are a lot of teams that need significant upgrades at QB, and we already saw firsthand what a team DESPERATE for QB help will do (trade away a 1 and 4 for a middling QB like Bradford). The Jets, Bills, Bears, Niners, Browns and maybe teams like the Texans, Cardinals and Broncos could all be looking for veteran QB help. There will be a market, and I wouldn't accept conditional 2018 picks in return if I were them. I'd insist on a fairly premium pick in 2017 at the least (maybe a 2nd) and then if they want to do a conditional pick for 2018, maybe throw that in. We need all the extra resources we can get, because the defense needs significant upgrading.
7) Defense isn't the only place with some free agents. Williams and Butler are both UFA's, if Williams could be had on a cap friendly deal I might would like to keep him so they don't have to invest an early draft pick in a replacement, but I think now Butler has lost his spot after yesterday. He has obviously size/speed and sometimes makes nice catches, but he is really inconsistent and has had a penchant for dumb penalties. I think Whitehead and Dunbar are gone. I think Escobar is gone (also UFA) and Witten's status is a little up in the air because of his age. Rico Gathers development will be interesting to watch, but investing an early pick in a TE (especially if OJ Howard were available for us) would not be a bad move. I think Doug Free gets released and RT will be a position to watch. Its unfortunate Chaz Green cant stay healthy, because I think he has ability. They'll need to cover themselves in the draft with another T now IMO, maybe even fairly early depending on what kind of value is there. Leary is also a UFA and almost assuredly will leave, so hopefully Lael Collins is ready to take the next step in 2017. I think they've already said signing Martin to a long term deal is going to be a primary initiative this offseason, and I'm all on board with that. Getting that done ensures the core of the OL (T Smith, Fred and Martin) is around long term with Prescott, Elliott, Dez & Beasley and that should keep us as one of the more difficult offenses to stop for years to come. You can plug and play the other WR, maybe a TE and hope Collins pans out at LG, in addition to finding a relatively decent bargain at RT (maybe it ends up Chaz Green, which would be ideal, if not then another draft pick or a middle tier free agent)
8) One of the priorities for offseason evaluation/development has to be on Byron Jones. I think Greg Jackson's addition to the coaching staff resulted in some significant improvement this year from JJ Wilcox and even Church. Yesterday Jeff Heath played the best game of his career. But Jones didn't exactly take the next step I thought he'd make. He's got good size, tremendous athletic ability and arm length, I'd think he should be making more plays that what he did this yr (only 1 pick and I think that was a hail mary, only 1 forced fumble, no sacks and only 2 or 3 TFL's). They might have to make a decision on whether he's ultimately better at FS or maybe needs to go back to CB fulltime. It could be he just doesn't have the instincts for the FS spot, and we need someone to cover ground and make plays there badly. I know it was only his first yr permanently at one position (even in college he moved back and forth between CB and safety, and we moved him everywhere as a rookie) but we need more out of him whether its FS or CB.
9) Credit to their kicker for making those two late FG's, but man both of them were iffy. They also got incredibly lucky on that one handoff that Rodgers appeared to never have, then Cobb struggled to get ahold of. And Rodgers made an incredible play to avoid the fumble on the Heath hit. Heath totally surprised him and really hit him hard, but he still held on. I think the vast majority of the time almost any QB fumbles there.
10) I usually don't agree with much Mike Perrera says, but he has been preaching now for a couple years how bad the decision is for the league to jumble up these ref crews for playoff games. The "all star cast" doesn't perform like it at all. It's also way past time for the league to go fulltime, WELL TRAINED referees. The league makes too much money for the refs to have the negative impact they do on so many NFL games.
It's another disappointing end to a season. None of us expected to be 13-3 and most didn't even expect a playoff berth was a chance after Romo got hurt. Finding Prescott and seeing the rookie class we have develop were major plusses for now and long term, so that's great. But the 22 years with no Championship game appearances and then showing up for the biggest game you've ever played in that new stadium and flail around with bad mental mistakes, missed tackles and blown coverages is just a major downer. Jones wont fire Garrett this yr I know, but if they don't make a legitimate Super Bowl run next yr (at least GET to the conference champ game) then he just has to fucking go.
I said all week I thought it would be a tough game and that of the three teams we could have faced, Green Bay was the least favorable IMO. But I did think that ultimately we'd win the game and that if we didn't, it was likely to be because we turned it over too much because well, frankly rookie QB's don't fare well in the postseason. Instead, we dug a huge hole that had nothing to do with a rookie QB that was created in large part due to mistakes and inept defense (some mistakes inexcusable, like that 12 man on the field on GB's opening drive)
1) So I'll start with what I pretty much have since the first preseason game. While Dak Prescott wasn't perfect yesterday for most of the game he was really good, and he was outstanding after the one bad turnover he did have. I think they showed that he had possibly the best postgame ever for a rookie QB during the game, and this after posting one of the best seasons a rookie QB has ever had (I think #1 all-time in QB rating). I don't ultimately care that he wasn't the "first choice", he wasn't the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th or 7th (maybe even lower) for every team in the league it appears. The only thing that matters is WE DO have him, and the kid appears to be a major winner. All the leadership skill/intangible stuff you could hope for, and despite being a mid rd pick coming from a spread offense, his throwing ability is FAR better than anyone could have hoped for already. It's almost a consensus that a QB improves the most from year one to year two if they work hard, so its scary exciting to think where he can be in another year or two. Unlike Tony Romo (like I mentioned in another thread yesterday) I think Prescott will DRIVE teammates to do all the little things to improve and not settle for losing or mediocrity (ie, like Staubach or Aikman for us previously).
2) Scott Linahan deserves a ton of credit for how good the offense is and for that matter I think we finally now all have to throw some kudos at Wade Wilson too for the work (QB mechanics, footwork etc etc and jumping all in on Prescott early in the draft process). That said, it is inexplicable and mind boggling why they continued to waste offensive plays in key times by having Zeke sit on the sidelines for no talent flub Lance Dunbar. He had plenty of rest (barely half a game vs Detroit, then being off for essentially 3 weeks afterward). He is an outstanding receiver and his other huge attribute is his blitz protection. He shouldn't be off the field save for a few plays here or there when he truly needs a breather (like they'd do with McFadden and Morris) but honestly he probably shouldn't have come off the field hardly any in the biggest game of the year. Next yr I hope the plan is just a first half series or a few plays here and there as a breather. Otherwise YOU ARE DOING THE OTHER TEAM A FAVOR by taking him out. I had three big complaints with the play calling/designs during the game yesterday. One was on the first drive where we had 3rd and 2 at the edge of FG range. I thought Prescott made one of his poorer decisions to try and force it deep to Dez there. Instead, wouldn't it have been smarter to run Elliott again (if not two more times, going for it on 4th if needed) because settling for FG's was going to ultimately lose the game anyway. The other situation was before halftime after Beasley's first down reception. We had about a 1:15 or so left, why take Elliott (and even the threat of Elliott) out there and not at least run the ball once. Why risk giving Rodgers another possession? Instead, Zeke goes out for Dunbar and they throw 3 straight times, settling for another FG. The last complaint wasn't so much a play call, but a play decision. To spike that ball on our final drive was not well thought out at all. Dunbar should not be on this roster next year, period, end of story. And while I think McFadden has been decent enough, I wouldn't re-sign him either unless its a 1yr deal for vet minimum.
3) I'm sure the local media and many fans (and probably Johnny Walker GM himself) will get caught up in "it was an EPC GAME!!!!"...."one for the ages!!!!"...."we just came up a little short but what a way to battle back!!!!! "fight scratch claw!!!!!!!" but the end result is the same result we've had for TWENTY TWO STRAIGHT YEARS. Jason Garrett has now had ten seasons here (3 1/2 as OC, 6 1/2 as HC). Yes, its nice that the team overcomes adversity and hangs in games when maybe past teams/coaches would have folded tent and collapsed. But the question that needs to be asked is WHY does that continue to be the story? WHY do they get into these situations SO OFTEN? In ten yrs, our team has won two playoff games with Garrett involved. TWO. I've used the analogy before and its one that I would think even a drunk fool like Jerry should be able to grasp because of what he made his wealth in. Would you continue to waste resources, time & money into drilling over and over and over again in a well that hasn't sniffed oil in eons, especially if others point out the flaws or facts to show there's nothing there? That's Jason Garrett, there is nothing there. He is not going to get the team over the hump in big games and certainly has proven he cant get them over the hump in the playoffs. I don't care how much you "like" him and while there are some things he should get SOME credit for, the bottom line is winning postseason games. He cant get it done. It's wasted keystrokes I'm sure, but its frustrating to see that the only chance we have to make a serious run is if the team is just so overwhelmingly loaded in talent. They are close on the offensive side to that, but they have a ways to go on defense. Can it be done in a year? I don't know but you'd have to say its a longshot. It's not unprecedented for a franchise to see that while there may be some decent wins, that if you have a guy that cant get over the hump you HAVE to make a change for the long term good. I know it wont happen, but its obvious Garrett is not the guy.
4) Rodgers has to get a lot of credit for some of the elite throws he made, not all the completions were wide open guys and uncontested throws. Many he was on the move and many he fit right in to tight coverage. That said, for the 2nd straight game (I am not counting Philly, because it was treated like a preseason game) the defense yielded three tds on three straight possessions to open a game, and this despite getting a number of starters back. Then after getting back into the game going into halftime, they come out and give up an almost uncontested TD drive o start the 3rd qtr. Finally, with a chance to at least ensure OT at worst, they melted down even after getting to 3rd and 20, blew the game by losing people in coverage downfield. This has been the story of our defense for a LONG time and going back to MANY coordinators (including Zimmer). They don't play clutch defense. No question we have a talent issue on defense right now and they need to upgrade the speed of all three levels, but when it happens all the time over many, many seasons you have to wonder what the cause is. They also gave up a ton of big plays yesterday, which hadn't been a problem for most of the games this year. I lost track of how many 10 and 20+ yard plays they had. 5 different receivers caught at least one pass of 25 yards though, and that's garbage.
5) I know Garrett isn't getting run off, so the best any of us can hope for is the team starts doing on defense what its done on offense. Really capitalize on good drafting to acquire as much talent as possible. I wouldn't resign Carr, Claiborne or Church from the secondary. I wouldn't mind them resigning Wilcox to a cap friendly 2-3 yr del though. He may never develop into a fulltime starter but he has improved this past yr and does have a nice role. We need some playmakers in the secondary who can cover ground and attack the ball, and the guys who are free agents haven't been doing it. I'd also consider releasing Orlando Scandrick due to age and cap implications, as he also isn't a playmaker. The DL needs obvious upgrades and they'll need to make a decision of Terrell McClain, who had a pretty decent year. I think Maliek Collins will be a good player, but the suspension of Gregory and Lawrence's back situation (reportedly will have another back surgery) make it paramount that they go into next year with DE's other than the law firm of Crawford and Crawford. Tapper is interesting but we don't know what he really has, although he does have physical talent most of the other DE's lack. Jaylon Smith (if he ends up healthy) would be a huge addition to the defense and LB corps and he can do a lot of different things, but they should still bring in another LB via the draft IMO that can run and play in space.
6) The Romo watch will definitely be the story of the offseason now. Unlike that idiot Rappacrapreport, I do think they will get quite a bit of interest via trade for him. There are a lot of teams that need significant upgrades at QB, and we already saw firsthand what a team DESPERATE for QB help will do (trade away a 1 and 4 for a middling QB like Bradford). The Jets, Bills, Bears, Niners, Browns and maybe teams like the Texans, Cardinals and Broncos could all be looking for veteran QB help. There will be a market, and I wouldn't accept conditional 2018 picks in return if I were them. I'd insist on a fairly premium pick in 2017 at the least (maybe a 2nd) and then if they want to do a conditional pick for 2018, maybe throw that in. We need all the extra resources we can get, because the defense needs significant upgrading.
7) Defense isn't the only place with some free agents. Williams and Butler are both UFA's, if Williams could be had on a cap friendly deal I might would like to keep him so they don't have to invest an early draft pick in a replacement, but I think now Butler has lost his spot after yesterday. He has obviously size/speed and sometimes makes nice catches, but he is really inconsistent and has had a penchant for dumb penalties. I think Whitehead and Dunbar are gone. I think Escobar is gone (also UFA) and Witten's status is a little up in the air because of his age. Rico Gathers development will be interesting to watch, but investing an early pick in a TE (especially if OJ Howard were available for us) would not be a bad move. I think Doug Free gets released and RT will be a position to watch. Its unfortunate Chaz Green cant stay healthy, because I think he has ability. They'll need to cover themselves in the draft with another T now IMO, maybe even fairly early depending on what kind of value is there. Leary is also a UFA and almost assuredly will leave, so hopefully Lael Collins is ready to take the next step in 2017. I think they've already said signing Martin to a long term deal is going to be a primary initiative this offseason, and I'm all on board with that. Getting that done ensures the core of the OL (T Smith, Fred and Martin) is around long term with Prescott, Elliott, Dez & Beasley and that should keep us as one of the more difficult offenses to stop for years to come. You can plug and play the other WR, maybe a TE and hope Collins pans out at LG, in addition to finding a relatively decent bargain at RT (maybe it ends up Chaz Green, which would be ideal, if not then another draft pick or a middle tier free agent)
8) One of the priorities for offseason evaluation/development has to be on Byron Jones. I think Greg Jackson's addition to the coaching staff resulted in some significant improvement this year from JJ Wilcox and even Church. Yesterday Jeff Heath played the best game of his career. But Jones didn't exactly take the next step I thought he'd make. He's got good size, tremendous athletic ability and arm length, I'd think he should be making more plays that what he did this yr (only 1 pick and I think that was a hail mary, only 1 forced fumble, no sacks and only 2 or 3 TFL's). They might have to make a decision on whether he's ultimately better at FS or maybe needs to go back to CB fulltime. It could be he just doesn't have the instincts for the FS spot, and we need someone to cover ground and make plays there badly. I know it was only his first yr permanently at one position (even in college he moved back and forth between CB and safety, and we moved him everywhere as a rookie) but we need more out of him whether its FS or CB.
9) Credit to their kicker for making those two late FG's, but man both of them were iffy. They also got incredibly lucky on that one handoff that Rodgers appeared to never have, then Cobb struggled to get ahold of. And Rodgers made an incredible play to avoid the fumble on the Heath hit. Heath totally surprised him and really hit him hard, but he still held on. I think the vast majority of the time almost any QB fumbles there.
10) I usually don't agree with much Mike Perrera says, but he has been preaching now for a couple years how bad the decision is for the league to jumble up these ref crews for playoff games. The "all star cast" doesn't perform like it at all. It's also way past time for the league to go fulltime, WELL TRAINED referees. The league makes too much money for the refs to have the negative impact they do on so many NFL games.
It's another disappointing end to a season. None of us expected to be 13-3 and most didn't even expect a playoff berth was a chance after Romo got hurt. Finding Prescott and seeing the rookie class we have develop were major plusses for now and long term, so that's great. But the 22 years with no Championship game appearances and then showing up for the biggest game you've ever played in that new stadium and flail around with bad mental mistakes, missed tackles and blown coverages is just a major downer. Jones wont fire Garrett this yr I know, but if they don't make a legitimate Super Bowl run next yr (at least GET to the conference champ game) then he just has to fucking go.
