Snotbubbles
Footballguy
I try not to overreact to week 1 (or the 1st month of the season).
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums
Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.
2023 Dallas Cowboys Thread — 2-0 Arizona up next (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Cowboysfan8
- Start date
I try not to overreact to week 1 (or the 1st month of the season).
TVT 0 N S T A
Footballguy
I'm not taking the Eagles lightly - they ran at will on the Vikings and our offense hasn't exactly looked like it is running on all cylinders either.
I take the season week by week. With that being said, I was pretty unimpressed by Jalen Hurts last night. That fumble into the end zone by Jefferson proved costly. The Vikings don't have much of an offensive line and still managed to move the ball on Philly too. I just haven't seen enough out of Dallas' offense this year to say we are much better.
At the beginning of the Giants game, we looked like we were in for a long afternoon of getting force-fed a running game. Luckily for turnovers that was abruptly stopped but if Philly plays a sound turnover free game, they have the O-Line and backfield to give us problems.
I take the season week by week. With that being said, I was pretty unimpressed by Jalen Hurts last night. That fumble into the end zone by Jefferson proved costly. The Vikings don't have much of an offensive line and still managed to move the ball on Philly too. I just haven't seen enough out of Dallas' offense this year to say we are much better.
At the beginning of the Giants game, we looked like we were in for a long afternoon of getting force-fed a running game. Luckily for turnovers that was abruptly stopped but if Philly plays a sound turnover free game, they have the O-Line and backfield to give us problems.
Terpman22
Footballguy
Teams are definitely moving the ball on us for sure. Gotta get that figured out. The injuries to our Safety (along with actually replacing 2 starting Safeties and LBs in the same off season, not ideal) and LB, along w Bradberry missing last game is not helping at all. The pass rush looks there though and this might be a reflection of the fact that running the ball v Philadelphia, at least so far, hasn't been a winning formula
Patriots had 22 rushes for 76 yards - 3.5 YPS
Last night, the Vikings tried but managed just 9 carries for 28 yards, 3.1 per run.
And sure this is also a product of both teams being down to the Birds at least 16 points each at some point, but I can't believe having this sort of defensive line isn't a factor at all into the lack of rushing numbers.
Which leads me to my next point with us averaging 29.5 PPG so far with Jalen Hurts looking "off"
Could definitely be worse than this. Just gotta get the OC to call better plays, hopefully. And then he and Jalen will be on the same page and maybe we can make AJ Brown happy in our wins haha.
Terpman22
Footballguy
I think you guys win in another blow out, without having to put up a ton of offensive stats. Expecting multiple turnovers from Wilson. If the Jets were smart they would go run heavy/conservative ball the rest of the season but I'm not sure they are smart enough.
33-16 Cowboys
styleride85
Footballguy
24-10
TVT 0 N S T A
Footballguy
It'll be interesting... everyone is sleeping on the Jets because of Rodgers injury but they have a good RB and our run defense isn't great. We may have to put our DBs on an island and stack the box... that might work against the Jets but we really need to figure out how to be effective against the run.
styleride85
Footballguy
Vegas says 23.5-15 for Dallas, so that's pretty close.
Pots
Footballguy
30-10 and 70-10 over last two weeks. We look dominant against teams we should look dominant against - but the question is can we win a game where we're being tested? After 8 quarters we've yet to see what this team looks like when they didn't have a firm grasp on the game/lead.
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
The Jets defense is dominant but it doesn’t matter because all Dak has to do is take it easy, get the ball into the hands of the playmakers, don’t turn it over and there’s nothing anybody can do.
fred_1_15301
Footballguy
I know some of you guys think I’m a pseudo Eagles fan (I’m not). I’ll just say that after 2 weeks the Cowboys are the most impressive team in football. You guys have a squad this year.
ProstheticRGK
Footballguy
I’m hoping they’re still finding their feet. Their injury luck from last year hasn’t carried over and the depth at LB, CB and S wasn’t there to begin with.
Add in the 2 new coordinators, and I think they’ll age well thru the season. I still am counting on a playoff berth. Hopefully, they peak in December.
Lotta love for the ‘Boyz, early. And they do look like world beaters. I gotta say the Defense looks scary. Parsons is one of those guys I’d love if he played here, but hate like poison because he wears the star. And Dan Quinn just might be the best DC in football. Micah okaying in his scheme for a few years, and I might have to grudgingly put him in the ‘Lawrence Taylor’ stratosphere.
I just hope you all are peaking early and come back down to earth in October/November.
Deamon
Footballguy
Bankerguy
Footballguy
It’s a concern and not sustainable.
Snotbubbles
Footballguy
It’s a concern and not sustainable.
Yeah and his YPC is 3.6. It's diminishing returns to give him the ball so much. When it's all said and done I still think he'll be around 17 touches a game.
Terpman22
Footballguy
I agree here. Pollard/Swift seem to be in a similar boat (with less injury history/bad taste in your mouth with Pollard than Swift). Sure, both backs are coming off heavy workloads, but I'm of the belief they each will DEFINITELY break down if you keep doing that.
It’s a concern and not sustainable.
TVT 0 N S T A
Footballguy
I don't think Pollard and Swift are in the same category. Swift had his shot in Detroit and he left that organization with rumors of him being "soft". Pollard has never had his shot. I'm not certain what the basis is for saying Tony Pollard can't handle an RB workload, because he has never been given the opportunity? Pollard is the average build of an NFL runningback. Dallas is absolutely going to feed Pollard the ball. When the year is done, they are going to franchise him and draft a RB and do it all over again.
I don't know when it became the norm to give every RB on your roster 8 carries, but, as an RB, how do you find your rhythm? Philly is in a great position to run whoever until they can't anymore and then promote the next man up. Watching that Browns/Steelers game last night and Jerome Ford came in with 6 carries for 4 yards and ended with 16 for 106. The RB position is pretty simple - find the crease, run through the hole, accelerate. If you can't pass protect, that's a different story. If you can't catch the ball, that's a different story. However, if you are a perfectly capable RB and the only knock on you is a guy in a Football Forum is saying you can't carry the entire workload because you aren't 6'0 220lbs - run em.
I have seen nothing from Pollard to indicate he can't carry the ball 250 times this season.
*edited to include* - I would like to see us bring in another RB, but that isn't a knock on Pollard. That is a knock on Rico Dowdle. I don't think he is any good.
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
Pollard averaged 5 yards a carry vs the Giants. They played the Jets’s much tougher defense and were in a position to waste clock most of the night.
The week to week hyperbole/overreaction of a NFL season is exhausting.
The week to week hyperbole/overreaction of a NFL season is exhausting.
Terpman22
Footballguy
I think we are comparing and contrasting 2 different things. "Opportunity to be the guy" vs "Can they handle the workload"
With the first point, I 100% agree with you. Swift had his chance to be the guy and failed and this is Pollard's first chance to be the guy.
As far as the basis for "not being able to handle the workload" its b/c with Pollard, what do we really have as far as evidence to say "He can"? 3 college seasons and his highest carry total for an entire season was 78 attempts for 552 yards. Swift had 2 seasons with more rushing yards than Pollard had for his entire college career. And Swift played at Georgia while Pollard played at Memphis. Pollard's season with the most touches he ever had in his career ended with a broken leg.
Also Pollard is 6'0, 206, while Swift is 3 inches shorter and 10 lbs heavier. To me, Swift has a more ideal running back frame than Pollard IMO. I don't think the average build is a 6'0 206 lb back personally, I think its closer to 5'10/210 or so.
TVT 0 N S T A
Footballguy
I agree with much of what you are saying. Many times, the football community finds itself talking out of both sides of their mouths. Sometimes, too much usage equates to injury. However, too little usage equates to inexperience and trepidation toward the player. I don't really know what 2 inches shorter and 6lbs of size is going to do for you in the grand scheme. I believe any RB can get injured and I am not certain that is specific to a few pounds here and there. If we are asking, would I rather have Adrian Peterson carrying the ball 300 times or Tony Pollard; obviously Adrian Peterson. If guys like Alvin Kamara can handle the ball close to 20-23 times a game, I don't see any reason Pollard or Swift couldn't too.
Deamon
Footballguy
I agree it is an outlier, I highly doubt he's above 30 all season.
It’s a concern and not sustainable.
I still think 20-25 touches is where he'll land though.
If they're gonna let him walk after this year, they might just keep running him into the ground.
Rig24
Footballguy
That would be nice
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
Anybody else impressed with McCarthys takeover of the offense? I am. If I’m going to be critical of him I gotta be fair and give him credit when I see improvement. Schottenheimer has also been a pleasant surprise.
The Dak interception thing is so annoying and overblown. Dude threw a bunch of pics ONE year and by all accounts, opposing teams said they knew everything we were running.
The last guy wanted to prove how smart/good he was, not what was best for winning football.
The Dak interception thing is so annoying and overblown. Dude threw a bunch of pics ONE year and by all accounts, opposing teams said they knew everything we were running.
The last guy wanted to prove how smart/good he was, not what was best for winning football.
Last edited:
Bankerguy
Footballguy
Your last sentence is on the money.
Terpman22
Footballguy
I am impressed. I see what McCarthy meant by "running the ball more" compared to what Kellen Moore does/did. It's working. Defenses need to adjust and really just focus on CeeDee and try to make Dak and the other guys beat them. If they are gonna let him run free from the slot all game, you get what you deserve.
Terpman22
Footballguy
You guys are 7 takeaways and 0 turnovers thru 2 games (I know you know). A great recipe for success.
Terpman22
Footballguy
Is Michael Gallup going to ever be good in fantasy again? If not, will he ever be good as a solid/NFL type WR again? Seems a lot of Cowboys players sign the big contract then kinda disappear into the bushes like Homer Simpson after that one good/contract year. All the Cowboys fans I know IRL convinced me the reason Amari Cooper was traded was b/c "he wasn't earning his salary"
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
Probably not. He doesn’t fit this scheme as well.
He never signed a “big contract”.
He got hurt and hasn’t been the same since.
Amari Cooper was two years ago and has nothing to do with anything. He’s gone for being a soft, whiny complainer.
Terpman22
Footballguy
Well like I said, all the Boys fans I talked to said he was traded "B/c he wasn't earning his big salary"
I haven't seen any official reason for his trade, so I'm just going off of what I heard/what I saw. And if the theme is "we trade guys that don't earn their contracts" then an outside like me looking in would reasonably think "Hey maybe Michael Gallup will get traded"
And if he doesn't have a "big contract" then it would easier to trade him.
Just my thought process.
Coming into the season I read and heard a lot about the new players on offense but so far its been basically CD + Pollard
I believe Gallup/Cooks/Tolbert have combined for less than 100 yards total between the 3 of them in 2 games.
TVT 0 N S T A
Footballguy
I don't know that Gallup was really all that good to begin with... I expected more when he was drafted in 2018. I thought he looked really athletic in college, but hindsight - that 2018 draft was a disaster for Dallas. We pretty much whiffed on most of our picks. The real tough thing is - Dallas could have had Mark Andrews with that Gallup pick. I think he was taken a few picks afterward and I'm pretty sure that was the year we drafted Dalton Schultz.
Dallas went pretty heavy on defense in this year's draft... I am hopeful in 2024 Dallas will address WR/RB via the draft. It does look like McCarthy wants us to be a ball control offense with strong defense. The 2024 WR group looks to be a lot bigger than the 2024 crew.
Terpman22
Footballguy
Gotcha. I mean every team can look at a draft and pick a bad pick and say "But we could have had that guy instead"
Dallas for the most part are pretty good at drafting, especially in the 1st round. LVE was the 1st round pick this year and really looked studly those first couple years.
Picked up Gallup on waivers in a few leagues was kinda believing his hype. Will hold a few more weeks to see how it goes, but yeah considering the RB usage and the way they drafted, I'm with you, it seems ball control is what MM wants. Can't argue with the early results either.
TVT 0 N S T A
Footballguy
I'm not sure what you've been reading or who you have been listening to but I didn't have high expectations for our offense this year. We lost Schultz, Tolbert seemed like a whiff last year and I don't know any Cowboy fan that would have called Gallup - "relevant in fantasy (or our own offense)".
We traded Amari because he was aging and costing a lot. We thought we would be able to elevate Gallup and get younger and CeeDee was already going to be a stud. We were wrong and haven't been able to find another WR.
TVT 0 N S T A
Footballguy
I don't think Gallup is worth a hold unless you are in a very deep league. He's never hauled in more than 66 catches and he is the 3rd receiver sharing duties with Tolbert some...
I'm not knocking our drafting - most of our players are all in-house guys (Micah, our O-Line, Pollard, Lamb, Diggs) - and I never go back and think, we could have drafted X player but it is worth mention that 2018 is probably our poorest draft in the decade (2018 overall wasn't a great class) but it is worth mentioning that we took Dalton Schultz and Mark Andrews was available in the 3rd. Same position as a guy we drafted... was a definite missed opportunity.
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
I agree with everything except the part about the offense. I fully expect them to be significantly better than last year.
+Added Cooks
+Gallop another year away from injury
+Shultz was good at catching the ball but nothing else. Shoomaker will be the next guy by the end of the year. He’s the best blocker and can do what the other guys do collectively
+Defense is going to feed the offense
+Got rid of boy wonder
If we can avoid injuries, we have no weakness.
Cowboysfan8
Footballguy
Micah Parsons awarded Defensive Player of the week. (Third time)
I wonder if @DJackson10 still thinks he’s overrated and disappears on the field often?
I wonder if @DJackson10 still thinks he’s overrated and disappears on the field often?
Terpman22
Footballguy
Like I said, you guys normally have great 1st round picks. I usually hear 2017 is the worst recent one from Cowboys fans (Taco over TJ Watt is basically your version of Reagor over Justin Jefferson).
Dalton Schultz as not a BAD pick but its tough to nail those tight end picks.
Terpman22
Footballguy
I mean I guess its arbitrary what is BIG what is not.
From over the cap he signed a 5 year 57.5M extension.
$19M dead cap hit if he is cut this year.
$12.2M dead cap hit if cut next year.
My point is if its big - he can't be traded, if it's not big as you guys profess, then maybe he will be, considering the history of "not paying a guy that isn't playing up to his contract" a la Amari Cooper.
I would guess that yeah, going back to the well again next draft for more WR's if the Gallup/Cooks/Tolbert trio doesn't work out as expected this year.
TVT 0 N S T A
Footballguy
Trevon Diggs on crutches... glad we have Jourdan Lewis to allow us the flexibility to move Bland outside (if this is long-term).
Terpman22
Footballguy
??? What
Krilons Resa
Footballguy
Diggs feared to have suffered torn ACL, per Peliserro.
Edit: Welp, it's official already. That was fast.
Edit: Welp, it's official already. That was fast.
Well that sucks