2020 Cowboys: Dak Out for Season

TFisNEXT

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do the Cowboys have cap space for an expensive backup QB? I guess they do?
The Cowboys are in good shape. They had like 11 million in cap space but will get another 7 million once Travis Frederick’s retirement is official.
 

Bosoxen

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So, with the season allegedly a month away, it might be time for this zombie to rise up. I'll start:

I like the Everson Griffen signing. It's doubtful he'll replicate what Quinn was able to do last year but for 1-year and $3 million (plus another $3 million in incentives), I'd say it's a worthwhile deal. That defensive line starts to look a little bit better with that rotation on the ends - especially if Gregory is reinstated.

They're still likely to suffer from the issues that have plagued them for 25 years (lack of depth) but I like what I see so far from the McCarthy staff. It's nice to see them building the defense from the inside out.
 

johnmd20

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It's thrilling how quickly the rich and powerful move towards doing things that will increase their riches and power. Yeah, it won't help the state of Texas and it certainly won't help the fans. But, fuck it, Jerry has spoken and he's bringing the fans in. If they die, oh well, you should have not shown up to the stadium.
 

Marciano490

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Remember when this dude did his draft on a super yacht when tens of millions of people were losing their jobs or quarantined in their apartments? Pepperidge Farms remembers.

Bet he still outlives us all, though.
 

InstaFace

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It's thrilling how quickly the rich and powerful move towards doing things that will increase their riches and power. Yeah, it won't help the state of Texas and it certainly won't help the fans. But, fuck it, Jerry has spoken and he's bringing the fans in. If they die, oh well, you should have not shown up to the stadium.
Given the demographics of the fanbase and assuming a sellout, what would be the average number of expected deaths directly attributable to each home game?

Stadium capacity, A
% of population of DFW Region currently infected, B
Infection rate for stadium events (I guess take the soccer match in Bergamo from February), C
Age-group distribution of in-person fanbase D
(bonus points for comorbidity data)
Weighted-average death rate for each age group E
=> Expected deaths F

I'm sure Jerry Jones is great with data when it comes to looking at his financial statements, but suddenly when presented with medical data, it's so easy to shrug it off and say "ehhh, who knows, can't trust these guys, these numbers are probably junk, I'm sure it'll all be fine".
 

johnmd20

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Given the demographics of the fanbase and assuming a sellout, what would be the average number of expected deaths directly attributable to each home game?

Stadium capacity, A
% of population of DFW Region currently infected, B
Infection rate for stadium events (I guess take the soccer match in Bergamo from February), C
Age-group distribution of in-person fanbase D
(bonus points for comorbidity data)
Weighted-average death rate for each age group E
=> Expected deaths F

I'm sure Jerry Jones is great with data when it comes to looking at his financial statements, but suddenly when presented with medical data, it's so easy to shrug it off and say "ehhh, who knows, can't trust these guys, these numbers are probably junk, I'm sure it'll all be fine".
It is utter insanity that the rich and powerful seemingly are only interested in increasing their riches. At some point, when it enough enough?
 

Marciano490

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It is utter insanity that the rich and powerful seemingly are only interested in increasing their riches. At some point, when it enough enough?
You’re the financial pro, but if the guy lives another few hundred years or so in the manner he’s accustomed to, he might need a slightly smaller boat.
 

edoug

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Remember when this dude did his draft on a super yacht when tens of millions of people were losing their jobs or quarantined in their apartments? Pepperidge Farms remembers.

Bet he still outlives us all, though.
Good, let him and Trump spend eternity talking about their great accomplishments like a perverted version of My Dinner With Andre.
 

mwonow

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Good, let him and Trump spend eternity talking about their great accomplishments like a perverted version of My Dinner With Andre.
If they invite Putin too, they'll have a SB ring to admire!
 

Bosoxen

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If this were anything other than a soft tissue injury, there might be plausible deniability that the lack of offseason workouts played a part in it. But blowing out a leg muscle on the first day leads to the inevitable conclusion that it did and it will happen again.
 

TFisNEXT

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Meet the new Cowboys......same as the old Cowboys:

Almost 400 yards of offense
24 first downs
17 points to show for it

Losing Jarwin and LVE are big blows too. Only saving grace for this team is that the division looks pretty horrible again, so it's possible they win it by default.
 

Bosoxen

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Seems not kicking the FG early in the 4th qtr to tie the game was a bad idea, although I suspect statistics may have indicated it was right call.
That does appear to be the case. Most of the punditry I've seen revolves around questioning the play selection, not the decision itself. Personally, I wasn't in love with the decision but it at least made some sense and they were moving the ball pretty well at that point. I just hate hate hate running a short crossing route that inevitably gets run too shallow and fails to meet the line to gain. Can't fucking stand when teams do that.

I have a feeling not having a tight end they could trust factored into that play call, so hopefully they address that position. And soon.
 

Bosoxen

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It's either that or pull off some sort of trade. I've seen speculation that they could trade for OJ Howard - who appears to be disgruntled and wants out of Tampa - but that would be very costly and they just gave Jarwin a sizable contract.

Walker makes a ton of sense but he's well on the wrong side of 30 and has recent injury concerns, so they might also need to find a younger caddie for him since Schultz clearly isn't the answer.
 

Bosoxen

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Sean Lee out for at least half of the season (I know, shocking). They kind of have to go out and bring in some reinforcements at linebacker now, don't they? They have enough questions in the secondary to weather missing 2/3 of their LB corps for half of the season.
 

BigSoxFan

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Sean Lee out for at least half of the season (I know, shocking). They kind of have to go out and bring in some reinforcements at linebacker now, don't they? They have enough questions in the secondary to weather missing 2/3 of their LB corps for half of the season.
Not a LB but I was like 99% sure Earl Thomas was heading to Dallas. Any movement on this? Is he toast?
 

TFisNEXT

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Not a LB but I was like 99% sure Earl Thomas was heading to Dallas. Any movement on this? Is he toast?
Not sure they really want anything to do with him given the terms he left Baltimore on, but desperate teams do desperate things. He can almost certainly play some sort of LB support or even play LB itself at times given his physique. I remember back in the day when they frequently would move Darren Woodson down to linebacker in a lot of different defensive sets. Though Woodson was bigger than Thomas.

It seems they are going to try Brandon Carr at safety for extra depth there so not sure they would bother with Thomas unless there was another injury.
 

Bosoxen

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Not sure they really want anything to do with him given the terms he left Baltimore on, but desperate teams do desperate things. He can almost certainly play some sort of LB support or even play LB itself at times given his physique. I remember back in the day when they frequently would move Darren Woodson down to linebacker in a lot of different defensive sets. Though Woodson was bigger than Thomas.
Didn't hurt that Woodson was a linebacker in college, so those sets kind of made sense. I'm not sure that would make much sense with Thomas, given his recent injury history and the fact that he's on the wrong side of 30.

Signing Thomas made a bunch of sense until the Brandon Carr news. Now all signs point to the team collecting their pennies to save up for Prescott - for better or worse.
 

TFisNEXT

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Meet the new Cowboys, same as the old Cowboys ....errr nevermind, I already used that line earlier in this thread.

Another shit show by the defense and enough fuck ups on offense to not win the shootout this time.

If LVE and Sean Lee are back, maybe they could be more respectable by mid-season. Awuzie and Brown should be back too for the secondary. O-line is starting to miss Tyron Smith and La’el Collins too. Some pathetic protection on a 3 man pass rush that final drive today and they haven’t been opening as many running lanes this season.
 

Bosoxen

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And, yet, they legitimately could have won that game were it not for piss poor execution on special teams all throughout the first half. They directly resulted in a 4-point swing (which would have meant they only would have needed a FG at the end*) and indirectly resulted in another 4 points lost due to chasing the points from the missed point after attempts. Were it not for the heads-up play by Diggs, we could have given them a share of the blame for a Metcalf touchdown.

I know Zuerlein ended up redeeming himself but with two long FGs but, Pollard, WHAT THE FUCK? If we hadn't seen the Falcons act like they didn't know the rules of football seven days before, we could have comfortably said that would wind up being the worst special teams play of the 2020 season.

*Yes, I know the course of the game would have been altered so we don't know for sure how the end game would have played out.
 

BigSoxFan

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It’s always the little things with the Cowboys. It’s only been 3 games and the schedule isn’t that bad so they’ll win the division but hard pressed to see this team take the next step with McCarthy at coach. I just don’t think he’s the right guy for the job. The offense continues to be incredibly fun to watch though.
 

TFisNEXT

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It’s always the little things with the Cowboys. It’s only been 3 games and the schedule isn’t that bad so they’ll win the division but hard pressed to see this team take the next step with McCarthy at coach. I just don’t think he’s the right guy for the job. The offense continues to be incredibly fun to watch though.
Yep. I don't think anyone who follows this team closely and followed Mike McCarthy throughout his career had the expectation that this team was going to start excelling at the little things. I'll try to be fair to McCarthy given there was no preseason and see if this team changes its bad habits throughout the season, but expectations remain low.

Agreed on watching the offense, though even they make some maddening mistakes at times. I'm really watching this year to see if Dak can take another step into the "I'm carrying this team and all its flaws on my back" category. It's a high bar obviously, but I think he's capable. It's probably the only way this team can go anywhere this year.
 

BigSoxFan

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Yep. I don't think anyone who follows this team closely and followed Mike McCarthy throughout his career had the expectation that this team was going to start excelling at the little things. I'll try to be fair to McCarthy given there was no preseason and see if this team changes its bad habits throughout the season, but expectations remain low.

Agreed on watching the offense, though even they make some maddening mistakes at times. I'm really watching this year to see if Dak can take another step into the "I'm carrying this team and all its flaws on my back" category. It's a high bar obviously, but I think he's capable. It's probably the only way this team can go anywhere this year.
Agreed. Dak has to put this team on his shoulders. But those WRs, man, they're awesome. And then you have Zeke, a good OL, and a serviceable TE. I really thought Thomas would be coming. He really must be toxic to not have signed anywhere. Or maybe he's physically toast as well so the risk/reward just doesn't balance out. But I thought of him after the Seahawks took the top off the Cowboys' D when the game was on the line.
 

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Agreed. Dak has to put this team on his shoulders. But those WRs, man, they're awesome. And then you have Zeke, a good OL, and a serviceable TE. I really thought Thomas would be coming. He really must be toxic to not have signed anywhere. Or maybe he's physically toast as well so the risk/reward just doesn't balance out. But I thought of him after the Seahawks took the top off the Cowboys' D when the game was on the line.
Is the O-line good? Like, objectively? I think they're coasting on reputation and have taken several steps back this year. Obviously injuries and Frederick's retirement have played a big role in that but it's not like Tyron Smith's injury history is a recent phenomenon. We've even been saying here for what feels like 2 years that they needed to start phasing in Smith's replacement. At least they drafted what they hope to be Frederick's replacement but seeing Zack Martin swing out to right tackle and Connor Williams continue to get physically dominated by interior linemen doesn't really inspire much confidence.

I absolutely agree with you on the defensive issues. Cutting Clinton-Dix and not immediately signing Thomas was an oddity a few weeks ago. It seems downright foolish now with them giving up huge plays all day yesterday. Even worse, the supposed reinforcement - Brandon Carr - was invisible outside of a soft pass interference penalty in the end zone. I think it's fair to say that the experiment of papering over the secondary issues with an overwhelming pass rush has been a complete dud. I know they've only played offenses that can put up videogame numbers but it's not like you're going to be facing mediocre offenses in the playoffs.
 

TFisNEXT

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Is the O-line good? Like, objectively? I think they're coasting on reputation and have taken several steps back this year. Obviously injuries and Frederick's retirement have played a big role in that but it's not like Tyron Smith's injury history is a recent phenomenon. We've even been saying here for what feels like 2 years that they needed to start phasing in Smith's replacement. At least they drafted what they hope to be Frederick's replacement but seeing Zack Martin swing out to right tackle and Connor Williams continue to get physically dominated by interior linemen doesn't really inspire much confidence.

I absolutely agree with you on the defensive issues. Cutting Clinton-Dix and not immediately signing Thomas was an oddity a few weeks ago. It seems downright foolish now with them giving up huge plays all day yesterday. Even worse, the supposed reinforcement - Brandon Carr - was invisible outside of a soft pass interference penalty in the end zone. I think it's fair to say that the experiment of papering over the secondary issues with an overwhelming pass rush has been a complete dud. I know they've only played offenses that can put up videogame numbers but it's not like you're going to be facing mediocre offenses in the playoffs.
I think the O-line will be above average once Collins comes back. Agreed on not counting on Tyron Smith to be healthy. It will be nice if he is, but that seems more like gravy and not a staple of the plan. Though it was just reported today that the team is expecting Smith to be back this week. We'll see how long that lasts.

The secondary is just going to be a net drain until Awuzie and Anthony Brown are healthy, and even no guarantee it's above average when they return. I never thought I'd long for the days of Barry Church at safety, but here we are.

But that's why the only hope for this team is for the offense to go from pseudo-video game mode to "we're literally going to carry the team" mode, ala Patriots 2011 or present day Chiefs. Not holding my breath given the coaching, but the talent is there on offense.
 

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That's not what he said. He said something more along the lines of putting Prescott in the category of Mahomes and Romo (not excluding him), in that they're among the handful of players who could keep that play alive the way he did.

Clarence should know better than to pull that Skip Bayless shit.
 

TFisNEXT

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That's not what he said. He said something more along the lines of putting Prescott in the category of Mahomes and Romo (not excluding him), in that they're among the handful of players who could keep that play alive the way he did.

Clarence should know better than to pull that Skip Bayless shit.
Yeah and that was actually a pretty amazing display of balance and agility by Dak to stay on his feet. It's too bad he couldn't find someone near the sideline for 15 yards instead of a desperation heave into the end zone, but can't nitpick too much when there was like 10 sec left when he threw it.
 

TFisNEXT

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Another shit show from the defense today and the token 2-3 turnovers by the offense which otherwise seems to move the ball at will.

They are lucky the NFC East is a total dumpster fire but I’m starting to doubt if they can win even that division.
 

johnmd20

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Another shit show from the defense today and the token 2-3 turnovers by the offense which otherwise seems to move the ball at will.

They are lucky the NFC East is a total dumpster fire but I’m starting to doubt if they can win even that division.
The division is 2-11-1. And one of those wins was a literal miracle.
 

E5 Yaz

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Another shit show from the defense today and the token 2-3 turnovers by the offense which otherwise seems to move the ball at will.

They are lucky the NFC East is a total dumpster fire but I’m starting to doubt if they can win even that division.
As someone pointed out in the game thread ... an onside kick recovery from 0-4. Somebody better something sometime soon
 

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Nolan was bad/puzzling McCarthy buddy hire at DC and boy has that chicken come home to roost. This bunch makes some of those Rob Ryan units look like Doomsday.

I won't deny there are injury issues on that side of the ball but the guys who are out there don't seem to have any idea what they're supposed to be doing.
 

TFisNEXT

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luckiestman

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I thought Dungy was pretty good calling the ND/FSU game and now I’m back to not liking him.