Dak Prescott in the postseason:

280 yards/ game
14 TDs
7 Ints

This is all with having a non existent rushing attack (minus 1 game in 2016) and a defense giving up nearly 28 points a game. Could Dak play better in the playoffs? Sure, but let's not act like he's been terrible.

The answer is because at least you will have a good season. Most likely get in the tournament and maybe it's a day the offense AND defense have a good day.

Unless you have one of the top two or three guys in the league, that's all you can hope for.

The alternative is bad QB play, rinse and repeat.

A couple of takeaways from the game:

• Trey Lance is definitely behind Cooper Rush as of today, but keep in mind that yesterday was his first time taking real snaps in 2+ years and he's going to get the lion's share of preseason reps. He's also still a BACKUP and will hopefully ride pine all year. Lastly, if Lance is pushing Rush by the end of preseason I will consider that positive.
• I was pretty impressed with the LBers and secondary, and I think we are somewhat deep there as well.
• Mazi shows flashes of real improvement, but I also think you can see that he's still out of shape with weight that they've wanted him to add. Mostly caused by spending the offseason rehabbing from shoulder season.
• I really liked what I saw from some O-lineman and really hated what I saw from others. Guyton, Beebe and Edoga looked really good in stretches, while Ball and Waletzko were awful and I think will be cut pretty quickly. (some think that Beebe looks better at guard right now than at center)
• We are PAPER THIN on the D-line and WR. There was almost no production from those groups when you got past the guys who started.

Tyler Guyton - 10/10

(I know it wasn't vs Myles Garrett, but dude didn't take a bad snap all night).

— Bob Sturm (@SportsSturm) August 12, 2024

All good thoughts. One thing you didn't say was Zimmer only blitzed one time and it led to a sack by Johnson. I believe that with our very speedy linebackers and secondary that this defense will be very good even with a thin d-line.

Jerry and Stephen need to get Ceedee and Dak's deals done yesterday. If there's is no deal done with Dak before the start of the season then he's as good as gone next year.

Really good point here. Because we are seemingly thin on the D-line, I could see Zimmer getting creative with blitzing LBers off the edge occasionally to not only give a different look, but to take advantage of the athleticism that they possess. From what I remember, Zimmer isn't on the higher end of blitzing.

I don't worry too much about the pass D. The secondary and rush is good. I just worry about our ability to stop the run.

I think we'll be better against the run simply because the defensive scheme is less "pin your ears back" and more "keep things in front and confuse", but yes from a personnel perspective I do wonder how much better we will be against the rush, if that makes sense?

I don't think Dak is gone unless Jerry wants him gone. even if no deal done by start of the season, Jerry will still pay what it takes to keep him.

for me, the decision on Dak isn't about whether he is good enough. I think he clearly is. the decision is about whether the team as constructed is headed to a super bowl or if its time to blow it up and start over. thats a much more difficult analysis.

If Jerry intends to sign Dak then he needs to do it asap. If he lets Dak hit free agency then his price tag gets exponentially higher.

I'm not ready to go back to the QB wasteland myself which is why I wondered about his cap hit and what they could build around him. I'd really look at trading Parsons and seeing what you could get for him draft wise, then get some young playmakers on offense. I don't see anyway they keep Dak, Lamb, and Parsons; tying up 30-40% of your payroll on 3 guys is suicide too.

98Ag99Grad said:

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I'm not ready to go back to the QB wasteland myself which is why I wondered about his cap hit and what they could build around him. I'd really look at trading Parsons and seeing what you could get for him draft wise, then get some young playmakers on offense. I don't see anyway they keep Dak, Lamb, and Parsons; tying up 30-40% of your payroll on 3 guys is suicide too.

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Agreed, flip Parsons for several 1st rounders. Or trade Lamb for a 1st. WRs seem to be growing on trees these days. He caught 135 passes and put up 1700 yards. Eye popping for sure but a dozen other guys could do that too.

you can always manage the cap to make it work.

take newest "highest paid QB" Jordan Love. his cap hits the next three years are 20, 29 and 36 million. part of that has to do with 2024 being his fifth year, but the point remains.

his last year, its a 74mm cap it. 15mm if hes cut. so they either redo the deal or drop him by then.

Managing the cap and Dallas Cowboys don't usually go together

98Ag99Grad said:

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Managing the cap and Dallas Cowboys don't usually go together

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You mean the cap expert Stephen doesnt know what he is doing? Shocked.

98Ag99Grad said:

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Managing the cap and Dallas Cowboys don't usually go together

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Such a lazy bit

The Cowboys are one of the league's best at both drafting and cap management and have been for a decade now. Dallas' lack of spending in FA is because of choice, not a lack of cap room.

VP at Pierce and Pierce said:

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98Ag99Grad said:

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Managing the cap and Dallas Cowboys don't usually go together

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You mean the cap expert Stephen doesnt know what he is doing? Shocked.

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Dallas is #1 in the league in terms of least money spent per win in the league since 2014. The only other teams that are even close are NE (from the years when Brady willingly took a massive discount because his wife was one of the richest women on earth) and KC (who racked up a ton of wins on Mahomes rookie deal).

They are #6 in terms of average cap space at the start of FA in that same time.

They are one of only 5 teams in the least decade that didn't have to cut a player prior to the cap deadline specifically to get under the number.

Infection_Ag11 said:

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VP at Pierce and Pierce said:

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98Ag99Grad said:

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Managing the cap and Dallas Cowboys don't usually go together

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You mean the cap expert Stephen doesnt know what he is doing? Shocked.

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Dallas is #1 in the league in terms of least money spent per win in the league since 2014. The only other teams that are even close are NE (from the years when Brady willingly took a massive discount because his wife was one of the richest women on earth) and KC (who racked up a ton of wins on Mahomes rookie deal).

They are #6 in terms of average cap space at the start of FA in that same time.

They are one of only 5 teams in the least decade that didn't have to cut a player prior to the cap deadline specifically to get under the number.

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So Stephen does know what he is doing with the cap, cool. Where has this gotten them? 5 playoff appearances in 10 years if memory serves. Massive deals to players who aren't even on the roster or were washed. Romo, Zeke, Jaylon Smith (lolz), Gallup. They have 3 healthy DEs on the roster that have NFL experience. Trading Cooper for a bag of chips. They have done a really good job at 80% of their job but the 20% they miss it is really really bad.

VP at Pierce and Pierce said:

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Infection_Ag11 said:

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VP at Pierce and Pierce said:

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98Ag99Grad said:

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Managing the cap and Dallas Cowboys don't usually go together

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You mean the cap expert Stephen doesnt know what he is doing? Shocked.

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Dallas is #1 in the league in terms of least money spent per win in the league since 2014. The only other teams that are even close are NE (from the years when Brady willingly took a massive discount because his wife was one of the richest women on earth) and KC (who racked up a ton of wins on Mahomes rookie deal).

They are #6 in terms of average cap space at the start of FA in that same time.

They are one of only 5 teams in the least decade that didn't have to cut a player prior to the cap deadline specifically to get under the number.

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So Stephen does know what he is doing with the cap, cool. Where has this gotten them? 5 playoff appearances in 10 years if memory serves. Massive deals to players who aren't even on the roster or were washed. Romo, Zeke, Jaylon Smith (lolz), Gallup. They have 3 healthy DEs on the roster that have NFL experience. Trading Cooper for a bag of chips. They have done a really good job at 80% of their job but the 20% they miss it is really really bad.

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6 playoff appearances and 5 division titles in 10 years is exceptional in the salary cap era.

The cooper trade was bad, but that had nothing to do with the cap. That was Jerry and Stephen letting their personal dislike of Cooper's practice habits override their better judgement. Not good, but not evidence of poor cap management.

Zeke and Romo were top 3 and top 5 players at their positions at the time they signed those deals.

Gallup tore his ACL after the deal and never recovered

Jaylon Smith literally made the pro bowl and second team all pro before signing his deal

Infection_Ag11 said:

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VP at Pierce and Pierce said:

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Infection_Ag11 said:

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VP at Pierce and Pierce said:

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98Ag99Grad said:

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Managing the cap and Dallas Cowboys don't usually go together

---

You mean the cap expert Stephen doesnt know what he is doing? Shocked.

---

Dallas is #1 in the league in terms of least money spent per win in the league since 2014. The only other teams that are even close are NE (from the years when Brady willingly took a massive discount because his wife was one of the richest women on earth) and KC (who racked up a ton of wins on Mahomes rookie deal).

They are #6 in terms of average cap space at the start of FA in that same time.

They are one of only 5 teams in the least decade that didn't have to cut a player prior to the cap deadline specifically to get under the number.

---

So Stephen does know what he is doing with the cap, cool. Where has this gotten them? 5 playoff appearances in 10 years if memory serves. Massive deals to players who aren't even on the roster or were washed. Romo, Zeke, Jaylon Smith (lolz), Gallup. They have 3 healthy DEs on the roster that have NFL experience. Trading Cooper for a bag of chips. They have done a really good job at 80% of their job but the 20% they miss it is really really bad.

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6 playoff appearances and 5 division titles in 10 years is exceptional in the salary cap era.

The cooper trade was bad, but that had nothing to do with the cap. That was Jerry and Stephen letting their personal dislike of Cooper's practice habits override their better judgement. Not good, but not evidence of poor cap management.

Zeke and Romo were top 3 and top 5 players at their positions at the time they signed those deals.

Gallup tore his ACL after the deal and never recovered

Jaylon Smith literally made the pro bowl and second team all pro before signing his deal

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Thank you for responding. 6 in 10 years does look good, you are correct but then the choke job. I do disagree on Zeke, he was known to be a massive partier that was not taking care of himself and played a position where that lifestyle doesn't work. And I always thought the Jaylon Smith deal was a bad one. I understand why they did it but I never liked it, he seemed like a ticking time bomb.

Macarthur said:

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My biggest issue w Jerry and Stephen is how they try to get cute sometimes w the bigger deals.

Their stall on Dak cost them on the first deal and this delay continues to run the total up, by the day.

CD deal prob should have been done last year, and they prob will do a deal late w Parsons because they are dragging their feet on Dak and CD.

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They do seem to drag their feet and it costs them real money.

I thought 58-Mazi Smith did some very nice work.
Not perfect, but strong progress! pic.twitter.com/Gvi2o6lc8b

— Bob Sturm (@SportsSturm) August 12, 2024

Slight correction, they gave Gallup a new deal after the ACL tear. Not before.

I think the Cowboys have been a good team and franchise, more or less, for going on 15+ years, but we are also a flawed franchise in one way or another. For the life of me I cannot understand why we have not addressed being so damn bad against the run for 5+ years, we don't seem to win big games in big spots, and we fail to take risks to try to get to the next level.

DannyDuberstein said:

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Propped up by NYG and Wash basically being in the wilderness that 10 years. 4 winning records between them in that combined 20 seasons, only one of which was a double-digit win season.

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Ridiculous for Washington to let Cousins walk. Haven't had a winning season since.

Tksymm7 said:

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I think the Cowboys have been a good team and franchise, more or less, for going on 15+ years, but we are also a flawed franchise in one way or another. For the life of me I cannot understand why we have not addressed being so damn bad against the run for 5+ years, we don't seem to win big games in big spots, and we fail to take risks to try to get to the next level.

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They have tired to address the run through the draft or free agency but it hasn't led to a massive improvement. Then DQ came in and went light everywhere. It is a good example of what bothers me most (on the field) about the Cowboys, they have no identity and it shows especially on defense. Offensively they have gone between airing it out and pounding the rock while maintaining the personnel and it has largely been consistent over the years. But on defense they have switched schemes too often and it has hurt them.

BassCowboy33 said:

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DannyDuberstein said:

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Propped up by NYG and Wash basically being in the wilderness that 10 years. 4 winning records between them in that combined 20 seasons, only one of which was a double-digit win season.

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Ridiculous for Washington to let Cousins walk. Haven't had a winning season since.

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And yet some fans want Dak to walk….