Good article

[jarntt]

My favorite line: "Essentially, the 49ers and Seahawks are the anti-Cowboys"

Gosselin: Cowboys can learn two things from 49ers and Seahawks this weekend | Dallas Morning News

I don't necessarily think we need to run more than we throw because our defense is horrible, but we do need to run more than we did and especially when Murray plays. Agree or not it stresses how Jerry builds a team versus how these two teams are built.

 

[Mrhappi06]

Agreed. Every team that won this weekend ran the ball from 34-46 times. That has to spur some thought in the powers that be.

 

[jarntt]

I am still a believer that there are different ways to build a championship team and that league has changed from how it was in the 70's and that the QB is way more valuable than every other player. So, I'm not looking for us to run the ball all the time...but just run it MORE!!! I'll settle for the league average even though our RB is much better than league average, but abandoning the run in the cases we did was bad enough for people to lose their jobs over IMO. Football 101: the clock is your biggest ally when you have a huge lead...

 

[Mrhappi06]

I know its harder when you are down points, but the NE game really stood out for me. Blount was averaging 2 ypc after the first half. They could have easily gone away from that and let Brady throw all day. But they stayed the course and Blount gashed Indy in the 2nd half.
In our world Murray would have just been shut down with garret saying he wasnt happy with his production or that he ran out of bounds once.

 

[tw1st3d]

I know alot of posters go back to the 90s Cowboys teams ..... So this should ring a bell.

ALOT... and I mean ALOT of games Smith wouldn't average 4 yards a carry in the 1st half.

But sticking with the run wears down the defense. The second half ..... is when he would rack the majority of his numbers.

I don't buy into the passing league shit .... and every team still in the current chase runs the ball and plays defense.
Last year it came down to the 2 teams that lived on running game and defense


And Imma stick with my theory of running game and defense wins you Championships.

That passing shit is for people that bet on fantasy football (and play Madden) IMO

 

[tw1st3d]

actually great thing I see right now

You have 2 future HOF Qbs playing

and you have 2 2nd year Qbs playing on the other side.

Need a Superstar Qb to win it all for you? The NFC wont have a Superstar Qb representing

Gonna be interesting to see how this plays out

Cause either way it ends up you get a Superstar Qb vs defense and running game.

 

[fordman84]

Has anyone (meaning Jerry) addressed the lack of running? One theory I've had for trying to justify the lack of running is that they were trying to get 10 runs per game out of Murray and figured the only way to keep him healthy was to not "push their luck in the second half".


Otherwise, it makes no freakin sense.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

I know alot of posters go back to the 90s Cowboys teams ..... So this should ring a bell.

ALOT... and I mean ALOT of games Smith wouldn't average 4 yards a carry in the 1st half.

But sticking with the run wears down the defense. The second half ..... is when he would rack the majority of his numbers.

I don't buy into the passing league shit .... and every team still in the current chase runs the ball and plays defense.
Last year it came down to the 2 teams that lived on running game and defense


And Imma stick with my theory of running game and defense wins you Championships.

That passing shit is for people that bet on fantasy football (and play Madden) IMO

Running does wear down teams. But do you have the time to do that your defense is setting bad NFL records.

 

[tw1st3d]

Running does wear down teams. But do you have the time to do that your defense is setting bad NFL records.

running the ball and keeping your defense off the field is the best solution to fix a bad defense

 

[jarntt]

I know alot of posters go back to the 90s Cowboys teams ..... So this should ring a bell.

ALOT... and I mean ALOT of games Smith wouldn't average 4 yards a carry in the 1st half.

But sticking with the run wears down the defense. The second half ..... is when he would rack the majority of his numbers.

I don't buy into the passing league shit .... and every team still in the current chase runs the ball and plays defense.
Last year it came down to the 2 teams that lived on running game and defense


And Imma stick with my theory of running game and defense wins you Championships.

That passing shit is for people that bet on fantasy football (and play Madden) IMO

Totally agree with sticking with the run and wearing teams down in general, but this is no doubt a QB league. Last year in the playoffs those two teams got to where they did because of the QBs and the Offense. Flacco had one of the best postseasons ever and Kap was great too. I think he was actually the top rusher for his team in the playoffs too, but I could be wrong.
Average playoff score for Balt last year: 31-22
Average playoff score for SF last year: 35-29

 

[UK Cowboy]

With the NFL's rule changes to promote the passing game, it is actually opening things even more for a big, power running game. Nearly every team looking for faster corners to match up with recievers, and with the defenseless reciever rule, the big, thumping safeties are being traded in for guys whose strong suit is coverage. Lighter and faster pass rushers are popping up. All of this bodes well for a team that would go out and invest in a big OL, a thumping FB, and a power running game. If the Cowboys came out of the draft with an OL and another big back, and upgraded FB in FA(which would be cheap), they would have the personnel to get that done. Of course, someone who would actually call running plays would be needed as well

 

[tw1st3d]

With the NFL's rule changes to promote the passing game, it is actually opening things even more for a big, power running game. Nearly every team looking for faster corners to match up with recievers, and with the defenseless reciever rule, the big, thumping safeties are being traded in for guys whose strong suit is coverage. Lighter and faster pass rushers are popping up. All of this bodes well for a team that would go out and invest in a big OL, a thumping FB, and a power running game. If the Cowboys came out of the draft with an OL and another big back, and upgraded FB in FA(which would be cheap), they would have the personnel to get that done. Of course, someone who would actually call running plays would be needed as well

We think alike on this

 

[tw1st3d]

Totally agree with sticking with the run and wearing teams down in general, but this is no doubt a QB league. Last year in the playoffs those two teams got to where they did because of the QBs and the Offense. Flacco had one of the best postseasons ever and Kap was great too. I think he was actually the top rusher for his team in the playoffs too, but I could be wrong.
Average playoff score for Balt last year: 31-22
Average playoff score for SF last year: 35-29

IMO the reason they had those numbers ... is because they went through the season living on the running game.

Get to the playoffs ... you stop what a team does best.... If that is run it opens up a hella shot for your Qb to prove his worth

Teams set on stopping Smith.... Troy would rip their ass apart

Teams set on stopping Troy .... Smith would rip their ass apart
That is what made that 90s offense so great.

No team in the league right now has that combination

 

[Eiknarflin]

My favorite line: "Essentially, the 49ers and Seahawks are the anti-Cowboys"

Gosselin: Cowboys can learn two things from 49ers and Seahawks this weekend | Dallas Morning News

I don't necessarily think we need to run more than we throw because our defense is horrible, but we do need to run more than we did and especially when Murray plays. Agree or not it stresses how Jerry builds a team versus how these two teams are built.

Great article. Thanks for posting it jarntt.

I agree with twist that the idea that the NFL is now a passing league is BS. Always has been and always will be that power running and solid D wins championships. Some may point to the last decade and say that it hasn't been that way for a while, but the reality is that in the 90's when the Cowboys were stomping everyone, other teams went away from it. They knew they weren't going to out run and out D the Cowboys, so they came up with a different plan. A few are starting to go back to what will always give a team a chance to win championships. Too bad that Dallas isn't one of them.

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

IMO the reason they had those numbers ... is because they went through the season living on the running game.

Get to the playoffs ... you stop what a team does best.... If that is run it opens up a hella shot for your Qb to prove his worth

Teams set on stopping Smith.... Troy would rip their ass apart

Teams set on stopping Troy .... Smith would rip their ass apart
That is what made that 90s offense so great.

No team in the league right now has that combination

I dont think you can have it all these days. With a salary cap , every team has some sort of flaw. SF and Seattle will soon find it out when they have to pay their QBs. The Legion of Boom as they call it in Seattle wont last much longer.