Goose: Despite SB swagger, Cowboys remain a flawed football team

[Midswat]

Let me start by saying I admire Tony Romo’s spunk.

At 35 years of age, and with the clock running out on his career, I also admire his swagger.

So when he recently predicted very boldly and very publicly at the Dream Ball Gala, “We’re going to win a Super Bowl next year,” I accepted it more as a statement of hope than a statement of conviction.

Tony Romo wasn’t here when the Cowboys were winning Super Bowls. The dust on those Lombardi Trophies is older than some of his current teammates. Romo has never been to a Super Bowl himself. He’s never even been to an NFC title game.

But Romo does know what a Super Bowl championship team looks like.

His Cowboys lost to champions in 2012 (Baltimore), 2011 (Giants) and 2010 (Green Bay). That’s why he encouraged Jerry Jones to go all in on the 2015 season. Neither man is getting any younger and, coming off an NFC East title, Romo thinks his team has a chance.

So Romo urged ownership (unsuccessfully) to re-sign DeMarco Murray. He welcomed the chance to have his contract restructured, yet again, to create salary-cap space to buy more players, better players. Pro Bowl pass rusher Greg Hardy was supposed to be the crown jewel of those additions.

The Cowboys remain a flawed football team. But in a salary-cap world, all teams are flawed. The Patriots won it all last season with an average defense and a sub-par running game. Imperfection opens the door for a team like the Cowboys, Lions and Cardinals in 2015.

Right now, I’d put the Patriots, Packers, Seahawks and Ravens ahead of the Cowboys in the pecking order of Super Bowl favorites. All four have been to the Super Bowl in the last five years and all have won it. When those franchises talk of winning Super Bowls, they can back their words with experience.

But it was a bit refreshing to hear someone on the Cowboys other than Jerry Jones talking Super Bowl. And the root of all success is belief.

This fall Romo is going to have to put that belief and that talk into action.

Listen to Rick Gosselin at 10:50 a.m. Tuesdays on Sportsradio 1310 AM/96.7 FM The Ticket with Norm Hitzges.

 

[UVAwahoos]

Too many concerns on defense still. I think the offense is definitely elite though.

 

[Rynie]

How are the Ravens ahead of us? And we can beat the Packers. I really wish everyone would stop gurgling their balls.

 

[Omegasupreme]

How are the Ravens ahead of us? And we can beat the Packers. I really wish everyone would stop gurgling their balls.

Except that Dom Capers owns Jason Garrett. Dom could successfully be the Dallas Cowboy offensive coordinator as he is an expert in the conditions that trigger the Jason Garrett pass plays. As Dom said following the beating that got Wade fired "they just kept running the same plays over and over so we just kept using what was working".

 

[Midswat]

When was the last time we beat GB?

2007?

 

[dbair1967]

We beat them at home in 2007 and then beat them in GB in 2008

 

[boozeman]

How are the Ravens ahead of us? And we can beat the Packers. I really wish everyone would stop gurgling their balls.

If we play an Aaron Rodgers with two functional legs, we are not even in the ball game.

Last year was magic. Good luck trying to replicate it. We would be stupid to try.

 

[Doomsday]

Last year was magic.

Was mostly dumb luck, with most everything going our way particularly on the injury front. At its core this is still your favorite 8-8 type mediocre team.

 

[dbair1967]

Your gonna look pretty damn stupid when this team wins 11 or 12 games again.

Wont be the first time though.

 

[Doomsday]

Your gonna look pretty damn stupid when this team wins 11 or 12 games again.

Wont be the first time though.

Won't be the first time it's gone 13-3 then shit the bed at what, 9-7 the next season? Like in 2007 for example? I bet you had visions of Lombardis dancing in your head until reality set in the following season.

People who believe this team is among the elite in the league are just fooling themselves. Thinking last year's 12-4 means anything other than that lucky year's win-loss record is delusional.

It's not



A very



Good



Team.

 

[dbair1967]

Your an idiot dude

 

[Doomsday]

Your an idiot dude

What you say or think, every time you get pwned.

You believe in "what's being built" but can't see Dallas isn't any better or any worse than 20 or so other mediocre teams in this league, any one of which can go 12-4 and any one of which can actually win it all, one year. With a ton of dumb luck that only happens once a decade.

I'm not a believer and one fluke 12-4 season doesn't make me one.

 

[dbair1967]

Dooms, the next time you "own" anyone in a football discussion will be the first.

 

[Doomsday]

Dooms, the next time you "own" anyone in a football discussion will be the first.

What you continue to do instead of debate the points or answer the charges. Just simply not have any football discussion.

You believe last year's 12-4 means something. Other than the fluke of luck that it mostly was. You're a buy-in to Jerruh, Garrett and "what's being built." You have visions of Lombardis dancing in your head. One 12-4 season, does that for you.

Now see, I don't have any problem with that. The problem is, you have a issue with myself and others like me, having critical thoughts and not buying in. Calling them dumb and stupid, with nothing at all to show for why you believe they are wrong. And, of course you won't admit to any of this.

Even when it would be much easier for you and alot less back and forth, if you just say what you believe, express your blind faith, proselytize and try to get more converts. Evangelize, tell us all about how Dallas will win the Super Bowl next year, like Tony has done. Tell me what you see that I don't, could actually be interesting discussion instead of dismissal and name calling.

There are a good many of us sinners out here who simply don't believe. Sinners who intellectually understand this league is infected by parity, that most teams are mediocre at best, that 20 or so of them are in that boat including Dallas, 5 or 6 of them are truly dismal, and 5 or 6 of them are stellar, truly quality teams year in and year out.

Any of the 20 or so mediocre ones can have a season like Dallas just had. That doesn't make them elite, doesn't make them any less mediocre. And doesn't make them poised to win it all the following season.

With the same amount of fluke dumb luck or maybe even just a touch more of it, sure Dallas could go all the way. Just like 20 or so other mediocre teams when the season starts.

What pray tell, has Dallas shown you in the last ten years or even 20, that makes them in your mind anything other than typical NFL parity mediocre?

 

[Everlastingxxx]

I think the Cowboys are being built the right way. Any team with an elite O-line is going to win the NFL. If the Cowboys can do to the D-line what they did to the O-line, this team will eventually win a Championship.

 

[Doomsday]

Any team with an elite O-line is going to win the NFL.

Barring any injury bad luck. And that's my point. You typically have to have a whole bunch of things go your way to win it all. Or to even get past 8-8.

Elite offensive line though, still not the greatest we've seen as far as pass protection goes.

 

[dbair1967]

Elite OL, great QB play, franchise calibar WR, excellent WR corp in general, great TE play, great kicker and for the most part solid special teams play...a defense last yr that was average despite an overall lack of talent and its best player missing the entire yr

Can things happen if a rash of ionjuries to key guys happen? Sure it could. But based on the roster we have right now, assuming those guys are out there this is a pretty good team. if they get a good RB (likely), they have a potentially overpowering offense

 

[Doomsday]

Elite OL, great QB play, franchise calibar WR, excellent WR corp in general, great TE play, great kicker and for the most part solid special teams play...a defense last yr that was average despite an overall lack of talent and its best player missing the entire yr

Can things happen if a rash of ionjuries to key guys happen? Sure it could. But based on the roster we have right now, assuming those guys are out there this is a pretty good team. if they get a good RB (likely), they have a potentially overpowering offense

That's more like it. Thank you.

But...

What's your actual belief, what this team does going forward? Good RB doesn't mean they actually use him for example, and as history shows Murray's season in 2014 was a fluke both for him and for Dallas, nobody's seen 400 carries since Emmitt up until last year, pretty sure.

What makes us think the balance will be there next year? I believe they revert totally to 500 pass attempts and maybe 300 running attempts. It's a Air Coryell team not a bruiser running team.

Will we get lucky with the schedule like last year, for example facing a Seattle team in disarray, a Nawlins team that was merely a shell of its former self and in steep decline, and a Giants team that for the most part was a sleeping giant? That's four of our 12 wins that could easily have been losses right there.

Yes there are good things to point to with this Dallas team. But I am not sold, mainly because of the idiot owner and the idiot coaching. I simply have zero faith in them to do the right things, and I think what we saw last year was a one year wonder, a fluke. That doesn't make me stupid or a idiot, it makes me a healthy skeptic, given the history.

I remain a skeptic until I see them consistently overcome the bad luck all the SB winning teams have too, like injuries, bad breaks, really tough schedule, and so on. The good teams, the elite ones, are somehow in the mix year after year no matter what happens. The mediocre ones, not.

 

[Everlastingxxx]

I am a negative person by nature but i feel good about this team. I dont think last year was a fluke. I saw a very resilient team. Can they duplicate that success? I dont know but i wouldnt be surprised if they did. If you want to take a more conservative approach, go ahead but when you say last years team was based on luck or a fluke it just shows you lack football knowledge. Love ya, but damn.

 

[ZeroClub]

Elite OL, great QB play, franchise calibar WR, excellent WR corp in general, great TE play, great kicker and for the most part solid special teams play...a defense last yr that was average despite an overall lack of talent and its best player missing the entire yr

Can things happen if a rash of ionjuries to key guys happen? Sure it could. But based on the roster we have right now, assuming those guys are out there this is a pretty good team. if they get a good RB (likely), they have a potentially overpowering offense

Yeah, that's pretty close to how I see it.

I am worried about the RB position, though. It is a lot to ask a rookie to come in, hit the ground running, and contribute at a high level. He won't have to replicate Murray's numbers, of course, but that rookie will need to make a significant contribution.

If the rookie doesn't hit the ground running, Romo will be asked to do too much again... And that's not something that has worked well in the past.

The Cowboys must get that RB pick right. The cost of picking the wrong RB would be very high.