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As with any game, I always go in hoping we'll win (the lone exception was the season finale in 1988, when I wanted us to lose so we'd at least have a chance for the #1 pick and get Aikman) but ultimately, a loss last night could be better for us in the long run. With this defense and OL, its unlikely we'd have made any serious run and would have probably just been embarrassed had we beaten Atlanta and had to go to Green Bay.
As Parcells said alot, you are what your record says you are. We're 8-8. We have some obvious holes that need to be filled, and the roster makeover that started last fall needs to continue this offseason. Last year we had to look for bargain basement junk due to our cap issues, that wont be the case this offseason. We arnt that far off though.
1) I was as disappointed as anyone in the first half. Everything was just terrible. The defense had yet another game where a team racked up nearly 300 yards in a half, and gave up 3 tds. The OL couldnt even get in the Giants DL way, let alone actually block them. But they made some good adjustments at half time on both sides of the ball and hung in, making it a game in the 2nd half. I was expecting us to be blown out like the 2008 Philly game, but to the teams credit they made it a game.
2) Romo pretty much did all he could. Nobody can ever say the guy lacks toughness anymore after this season. Other than a few plays he had an awesome game last night.
3) I think alot of guys played their last game here last night. Offensively I suspect we'll have 2, maybe 3 new starters on the OL. Free will go to RT and Smith will go to LT. Defensively I think Newman, Elam, Brooking, James, Coleman and Spencer will all be replaced. Hopefully at least a couple or three of those replacements can come from within, but there will be some major retooling this offseason and unlike last year, we wont be sitting out free agency this year. In regards to Newman, what a disappointing end to his career here. He was terrible most of the 2nd half of this season. Ryan mentioned a few weeks ago he might have been playing hurt, although I wonder if that was just an excuse for him. He looks like he has lost alot of speed.
4) As I mentioned in another thread I would think that after two straight unacceptable defensive seasons, they'll spend the vast majority of their available cap room fixing that side of the ball. I think they'll get new starters to replace Newman and Elam (from the outside, as I dont see Scandrick as anything more than a quality nickel CB as he is right now and Elam is the worst safety we've ever had), they desperately need a legit pass rush threat opp Ware and they need at least one new starting DL. Maybe they sign a proven, big physical NT and finally move Ratliff to DE. Bruce Carter will replace Brooking & James and I have no doubt he is going to be a significant upgrade. He'll be 100% healthy and will benefit (as many guys will) from a real offseason this year to get stronger and learn more of the system.
5) If they are successful doing #4, I think the draft sets up pretty nice for us to really upgrade the interior OL. By losing, we improved our draft spot by alot. We'd have at best had the 22nd spot (assuming we lost our first game) with a win, now we are at 14. Obviously we dont know who exactly ends up in the draft yet, but by many accounts this could be a really strong year for interior OL. Normally I am not a fan of using premium picks on interior OL's, but you could potentially find 1, maybe even 2 plug and play guys from day one. Combined with Smith, Free and perhaps one of our own guys already here, our OL could be set for a decade. With where we are, its possible they could end up with a Decastro & Konz draft with our first two picks. Even with just 1 of those 2, perhaps they sign a veteran to fill the other gap and the OL looks vastly better in 2012.
6) I think one of the real interesting things will be to see how the staff shakes out for next year, and thats something that will happen pretty quick. I doubt they fire Ryan after 1yr but they need to get rid of Campo, Maxie and maybe even that new DL coach. Eberflus is obviously staying, and while I didnt see any improvement in Spencer he should get some credit for the development of Lee, who had a tremendous season despite playing half of it with basically just 1 arm. On the offensive side, its time for them to move on from Houck, I hope he retires. It'd be great if we could get Norv Turner or Tony Sparano back here. Unlike a few here in DCU, I still dont see a playcalling "issue" as much as I see an OL deficiency. Still, Turner is one of the elite play callers in the NFL and would be a really quality add. Though he'll have many options once he is fired. Sparano might be the more likely add, as he could possibly assume Houck's OL coaching position and have a hand in helping Garrett with the game planning.
7) With where we finished, its possible our staff might get to coach the Senior Bowl this year. Unless its changed, they normally pick two staffs from teams that just missed the playoffs. While some organizations havent always taken advantage of it, I've always felt its a big advantage for those two staffs when it comes to April to spend the entire week coaching the best Seniors.
8) The schedule for 2012 is now set, in addition to home/away vs the NFC East we have home games vs the Steelers, Browns, Bucs, Saints and Bears and away games vs the Bengals, Ravens, Panthers, Falcons and Seahawks. Since we played Miami this Thanksgiving, next yrs Turkey Day game will be an NFC opponent. Educated guess says it'll probably be a NFC East opponent. Havent had one here in awhile for Turkey Day (I think 2002 is the last time) but they have had recent Thanksgiving games against the Bucs, Bears and Saints.
9) They have 20 or so free agents on our roster. The only 1 I think I'd make any serious effort to resign is Laurent Robinson, who I do think they'll keep. Spencer I'd let test the market and if he ends up with no interest, maybe you bring him back under a bargain basement type deal for another year or two. Even if he is back, they still need a legit pass rusher to play opp Ware on nickel/dime downs. I think they'll let McBriar go as Chris Jones did a very respectable job in his place and will be much less expensive. McBriar's career might possibly be over anyway with the foot condition he has. There's no way I'd keep Abram Elam, who just had one of the worst years I've ever seen from a safety. Absolutely useless in coverage. Martellus Bennett will be gone as well, so getting another 2nd TE either via the draft or free agency will be neccessary. I dont think John Phillips is it, although he is a quality 3rd TE and plays that role well. If Tony Fiametta doesnt get overwhelming offers elsewhere, he may be the other guy they keep. Although with a full offseason and a yr with Woicik, Shaun Chapas might be more ready in 2012 and would be less expensive than Fiametta.
Disappointing to end up outside the playoffs after getting to 7-4 and having so many winnable games go wrong. But we did have alot of bad luck this year with injuries and bounces of the ball that hopefully wont go against us next year. If they make the right moves in free agency and have another good draft, we could easily improve by 2-3-4 wins nbext year and be ready for a real run in the postseason.
As Parcells said alot, you are what your record says you are. We're 8-8. We have some obvious holes that need to be filled, and the roster makeover that started last fall needs to continue this offseason. Last year we had to look for bargain basement junk due to our cap issues, that wont be the case this offseason. We arnt that far off though.
1) I was as disappointed as anyone in the first half. Everything was just terrible. The defense had yet another game where a team racked up nearly 300 yards in a half, and gave up 3 tds. The OL couldnt even get in the Giants DL way, let alone actually block them. But they made some good adjustments at half time on both sides of the ball and hung in, making it a game in the 2nd half. I was expecting us to be blown out like the 2008 Philly game, but to the teams credit they made it a game.
2) Romo pretty much did all he could. Nobody can ever say the guy lacks toughness anymore after this season. Other than a few plays he had an awesome game last night.
3) I think alot of guys played their last game here last night. Offensively I suspect we'll have 2, maybe 3 new starters on the OL. Free will go to RT and Smith will go to LT. Defensively I think Newman, Elam, Brooking, James, Coleman and Spencer will all be replaced. Hopefully at least a couple or three of those replacements can come from within, but there will be some major retooling this offseason and unlike last year, we wont be sitting out free agency this year. In regards to Newman, what a disappointing end to his career here. He was terrible most of the 2nd half of this season. Ryan mentioned a few weeks ago he might have been playing hurt, although I wonder if that was just an excuse for him. He looks like he has lost alot of speed.
4) As I mentioned in another thread I would think that after two straight unacceptable defensive seasons, they'll spend the vast majority of their available cap room fixing that side of the ball. I think they'll get new starters to replace Newman and Elam (from the outside, as I dont see Scandrick as anything more than a quality nickel CB as he is right now and Elam is the worst safety we've ever had), they desperately need a legit pass rush threat opp Ware and they need at least one new starting DL. Maybe they sign a proven, big physical NT and finally move Ratliff to DE. Bruce Carter will replace Brooking & James and I have no doubt he is going to be a significant upgrade. He'll be 100% healthy and will benefit (as many guys will) from a real offseason this year to get stronger and learn more of the system.
5) If they are successful doing #4, I think the draft sets up pretty nice for us to really upgrade the interior OL. By losing, we improved our draft spot by alot. We'd have at best had the 22nd spot (assuming we lost our first game) with a win, now we are at 14. Obviously we dont know who exactly ends up in the draft yet, but by many accounts this could be a really strong year for interior OL. Normally I am not a fan of using premium picks on interior OL's, but you could potentially find 1, maybe even 2 plug and play guys from day one. Combined with Smith, Free and perhaps one of our own guys already here, our OL could be set for a decade. With where we are, its possible they could end up with a Decastro & Konz draft with our first two picks. Even with just 1 of those 2, perhaps they sign a veteran to fill the other gap and the OL looks vastly better in 2012.
6) I think one of the real interesting things will be to see how the staff shakes out for next year, and thats something that will happen pretty quick. I doubt they fire Ryan after 1yr but they need to get rid of Campo, Maxie and maybe even that new DL coach. Eberflus is obviously staying, and while I didnt see any improvement in Spencer he should get some credit for the development of Lee, who had a tremendous season despite playing half of it with basically just 1 arm. On the offensive side, its time for them to move on from Houck, I hope he retires. It'd be great if we could get Norv Turner or Tony Sparano back here. Unlike a few here in DCU, I still dont see a playcalling "issue" as much as I see an OL deficiency. Still, Turner is one of the elite play callers in the NFL and would be a really quality add. Though he'll have many options once he is fired. Sparano might be the more likely add, as he could possibly assume Houck's OL coaching position and have a hand in helping Garrett with the game planning.
7) With where we finished, its possible our staff might get to coach the Senior Bowl this year. Unless its changed, they normally pick two staffs from teams that just missed the playoffs. While some organizations havent always taken advantage of it, I've always felt its a big advantage for those two staffs when it comes to April to spend the entire week coaching the best Seniors.
8) The schedule for 2012 is now set, in addition to home/away vs the NFC East we have home games vs the Steelers, Browns, Bucs, Saints and Bears and away games vs the Bengals, Ravens, Panthers, Falcons and Seahawks. Since we played Miami this Thanksgiving, next yrs Turkey Day game will be an NFC opponent. Educated guess says it'll probably be a NFC East opponent. Havent had one here in awhile for Turkey Day (I think 2002 is the last time) but they have had recent Thanksgiving games against the Bucs, Bears and Saints.
9) They have 20 or so free agents on our roster. The only 1 I think I'd make any serious effort to resign is Laurent Robinson, who I do think they'll keep. Spencer I'd let test the market and if he ends up with no interest, maybe you bring him back under a bargain basement type deal for another year or two. Even if he is back, they still need a legit pass rusher to play opp Ware on nickel/dime downs. I think they'll let McBriar go as Chris Jones did a very respectable job in his place and will be much less expensive. McBriar's career might possibly be over anyway with the foot condition he has. There's no way I'd keep Abram Elam, who just had one of the worst years I've ever seen from a safety. Absolutely useless in coverage. Martellus Bennett will be gone as well, so getting another 2nd TE either via the draft or free agency will be neccessary. I dont think John Phillips is it, although he is a quality 3rd TE and plays that role well. If Tony Fiametta doesnt get overwhelming offers elsewhere, he may be the other guy they keep. Although with a full offseason and a yr with Woicik, Shaun Chapas might be more ready in 2012 and would be less expensive than Fiametta.
Disappointing to end up outside the playoffs after getting to 7-4 and having so many winnable games go wrong. But we did have alot of bad luck this year with injuries and bounces of the ball that hopefully wont go against us next year. If they make the right moves in free agency and have another good draft, we could easily improve by 2-3-4 wins nbext year and be ready for a real run in the postseason.
