Macarthur said:

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Mazi looked much better.

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I hope so... not as bad as Taco but he needs to improve quickly.

Gotta be humbling for Gallimore... what little I watched of the game, I noticed him playing along side several other long shots. Wonder what happened to his progress. A couple years ago he looked to be on the verge of breaking out.

I think injuries really wrecked his career.

Macarthur said:

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Mazi looked much better.

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Was very noticeable out there.

Edit: meant to give a thumbs up.

I'm sure this is me being drunk on maroon koolaid but I think this cowboys team has a chance to have a special year. I think it's pretty clearly the best roster they've had in a long time. Couple that w a really mediocre NFC….

Macarthur said:

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I'm sure this is me being drunk on maroon koolaid but I think this cowboys team has a chance to have a special year. I think it's pretty clearly the best roster they've had in a long time. Couple that w a really mediocre NFC….

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Like the Eagles and 49ers?

Giants, Vikings and Skins will be better too.

We have little O Line depth and our best RB is returning from Ankle Fracture surgery. Let just worry about winning the division before we buy Super Bowl tickets

Edit: Ankle Fracture

The eagles are certainly the best team but I have a hard time thinking the 49ers can keep having such a high level of success w such low QB talent. I mean that has to catch up to then at some point, right?

Dallas is clearly better than those other teams you listed.

Macarthur said:

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DannyDuberstein said:

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He had an ankle fracture, not an ACL tear. And no one has a deep OL. That's just the way it is in the salary cap era. You have to stay mostly healthy

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For real. Seems like an odd criticism of Dallas. Go check the rest of the league.

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Agreed, but the one criticism I'll give them is they didn't address it in the draft. Ocyrus Torrence was available (2nd round) and we went with a TE.

Now granted, Torrence was just a name and no idea how they graded them, but we all went into the draft thinking O-line was probably our biggest need, and there were guys available with our 1st two picks, but we went another direction.

I'm never against taking OL but tell me which member of the starting OL sits if you take the kid from Florida? Which, BTW, I think I saw Broaddus say he was way down their list. Heavy feet, I think.

jr15aggie said:

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Macarthur said:

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DannyDuberstein said:

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He had an ankle fracture, not an ACL tear. And no one has a deep OL. That's just the way it is in the salary cap era. You have to stay mostly healthy

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For real. Seems like an odd criticism of Dallas. Go check the rest of the league.

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Agreed, but the one criticism I'll give them is they didn't address it in the draft. Ocyrus Torrence was available (2nd round) and we went with a TE.

Now granted, Torrence was just a name and no idea how they graded them, but we all went into the draft thinking O-line was probably our biggest need, and there were guys available with our 1st two picks, but we went another direction.

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I just think they like Farniak, Waletsko and maybe even Ball. They did grab Asim Richards later and he looks pretty talented. I was looking at the Buffalo sight and couldn't find any mention of Torrence making any impression in camp. It's a bad take.

I think the Bass kid from Oregon is going to make the team. He's been a. Nice surprise at G.

Macarthur said:

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I'm sure this is me being drunk on maroon koolaid but I think this cowboys team has a chance to have a special year. I think it's pretty clearly the best roster they've had in a long time. Couple that w a really mediocre NFC….

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Agreed. The roster is improved this season on paper. Gilmore, Cooks and a healthy Gallup is a big improvement at their positions from last season. Last year we also entered the season with Noah Brown as our #2 and needed Tolbert to be our 3. Also entered the season with a rookie starting at LT and McGovern at LG.

The nfc is definitely weak, mainly due to the QBs. You can't deny that Dak is top 3 in the conference, which says a lot and should give us the upper hand in more games than not.

I also think the eagles are likely to take a step back this season. Not saying they wont win the division but they were incredibly fortunate with injuries and their schedule last season. Plus they had some coaching attrition and they lost quite a bit on the defensive side, forcing them to depend on several young players this season,

The eagles schedule last year was ridiculously easy. Toughens up this year with both the Chiefs and Bills on it (Dallas get the Bills too, but not the Chiefs). These teams have been trading division championships for the past decade partly because of how the schedule flips

That's a good point about the eagles staff. Didn't they lose both coordinators?

Maybe after the game to night the Cowboys should let Dak call his own plays.

I like where the Cowboys are relative to the rest of the NFC.

Obviously a lot can happen, but as of Aug. 28th this should be a 12-14 win team. Go into the playoffs healthy and lets see what happens.

Macarthur said:

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DannyDuberstein said:

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He had an ankle fracture, not an ACL tear. And no one has a deep OL. That's just the way it is in the salary cap era. You have to stay mostly healthy

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For real. Seems like an odd criticism of Dallas. Go check the rest of the league.

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Not really looking at the rest of the league. Just Dallas.

I'm also concerned about not having a true backup at center. I'm concerned that Dak lead the league in interceptions last year. I'm concerned because I think Pollard runs too straight up to be an every down back. I'm concerned Goddell is going to suspend Williams.

Every time I start to think Dallas is going somewhere, it turns out the opposite so I stay critical with no expectations and hope I'm wrong.

I get it. My point is only that every single team in the league has the same type of questions.

It has been a long couple of decades. I get where both sides of this are coming from.

2022 Cowboys won 12 games and had 5 games without their starting QB. 2 of the losses were OT losses (1 at Lambeau and the other a tragic collapse against a playoff team). 2022 Dallas was a good team!

The 2023 roster is more than just a little improved. Cooks adds another legitimate WR threat and the 2023 versions of Gallup & Tolbert look to be big upgrades. The 2023 Cowboys will not have a used up Zeke getting 250 touches.

And just for fun, they upgraded the defense too!

Expectations should be as high for any Dallas team in 10+ years.

jr15aggie said:

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2022 Cowboys won 12 games and had 5 games without their starting QB. 2 of the losses were OT losses (1 at Lambeau and the other a tragic collapse against a playoff team). 2022 Dallas was a good team!

The 2023 roster is more than just a little improved. Cooks adds another legitimate WR threat and the 2023 versions of Gallup & Tolbert look to be big upgrades. The 2023 Cowboys will not have a used up Zeke getting 250 touches.

And just for fun, they upgraded the defense too!

Expectations should be as high for any Dallas team in 10+ years.

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I think this is huge. You could see in the playoff game against SF, that once pollard went down, they clamped down on CD and Dallas had zero ability to scare a defense with explosiveness.

Dallas lead the league with 33 takeaways last year. Can't really expect to do that again, so Dak really needs to cut down on his picks.

Yeah, I suspect he will. Last year really was an outlier for his Int%.

I think there were a couple of factors and I think one of the biggest was that his receiving corp was dead last in the league in separation. I think he trying to fit balls into smaller windows and there were a couple that literally bounced off a receivers hands into a defender.

I think Cooks and Gallup being a full year away from the knee will help a lot.

Agristotle said:

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Dallas lead the league with 33 takeaways last year. Can't really expect to do that again, so Dak really needs to cut down on his picks.

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Since DQ was hired Dallas has averaged 1.9 and 1.8 take aways per game. That looks like a trend to me and not an anomaly. What is an anomaly that so many want to hold as gospel, is Dak's interception spike last year.

Keep in mind, his INT% for his career was around 1.7% which is outstanding (Brady is 1.8 for comparison). Last year it jumped to 3.8. I have a hard time believing it will be that high again.

Agristotle said:

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Dallas lead the league with 33 takeaways last year. Can't really expect to do that again, so Dak really needs to cut down on his picks.

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Funny, everybody said the exact same thing after we led the league in take-aways in 2021!

Macarthur said:

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Keep in mind, his INT% for his career was around 1.7% which is outstanding (Brady is 1.8 for comparison). Last year it jumped to 3.8. I have a hard time believing it will be that high again.

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Yep. And let's not forget that Dak had an uncanny number of deflected passes go right to a defender (some were flat out drops by his own guy).

It wasn't a great year for Dak, not trying to sugar coat it, but the reality is around 1/4 or 1/3 of his picks were not because he made a bad throw or bad decision.

Macarthur said:

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Keep in mind, his INT% for his career was around 1.7% which is outstanding (Brady is 1.8 for comparison). Last year it jumped to 3.8. I have a hard time believing it will be that high again.

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True, but there is also hard evidence that when Dak is asked to do to much and throw the ball 35+ times a game, he falls off a cliff statistically and begins to turn the ball over more. The idea of McCarthy and Co. wanting Dak to "do more" or "improvise" has me NERVOUS.

I would like to see those numbers. Not disagreeing w you but would like to see


Yes, I think we all agree that Dak is not Mahomes or Rodgers as far as slinging it around 40+ times a game. Dak is at his best when he's got a good balanced offense. I do think it should be pointed out that Dak has, on more than one occasion, had games that he put the team on his back and balled. So he is capable, you just don't want that scenario every week.

Agristotle said:

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Dallas lead the league with 33 takeaways last year. Can't really expect to do that again, so Dak really needs to cut down on his picks.

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Haven't they led the league two years in a row? Thought I saw that somewhere?

Quote:

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It wasn't a great year for Dak, not trying to sugar coat it, but the reality is around 1/4 or 1/3 of his picks were not because he made a bad throw or bad decision.

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I just watched a video to prove/disprove my own post.... I counted 5 of his 15 picks that were not Daks fault. 4 deflections (2 of which bounced right off his WR to a defender) and on the other his WR fell down (the Gillmore pick).

The breakdown of all 15 picks: 1/3 not his fault... 1/3 typical "it happens" picks... 1/3 (and here is the problem) flat out UGLY picks. Terrible decision, terrible throw, gave the other team points. Bad.

We all remember the ugly ones for good reason, but we also need to remember who Dak was throwing to all year long. Dennis Houston started games for us!!!!

Let's also not forget he's No longer hamstrung by the final holdover from the ginger regime anymore. Dak isn't and will never be a Rodgers, but I expect a bit of a renaissance for him this year without Moore not being able adjust to a deep cover 2.

Houston and Noah Brown was our #2 for several games.