NFL 2021 Regular Season!

[SUPERECWFAN1]

The Lions continue the march towards another 0-16 record ! Can they achieve it ? Will they do it for us at home ?

[MRP]

The Lions continue the march towards another 0-16 record ! Can they achieve it ? Will they do it for us at home ?

0-16-1 Get used to the new normal in the NFL with it's 17 game schedule.


-M

[cable guy]

Dallas is simply falling apart this year.

[babyblob]

Dallas is simply falling apart this year.

They were a lot of peoples pick for the Super Bowl and Right now they will be lucky to win the division.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Just got back home after a scaled down family get together for Thanksgiving. Suffice it to say, a tape of that Raiders versus Cowboys game won’t be sent to Canton, because it was a mess with all the penalties. Still, the Cowboys lost, and that’s good enough for me.

[babyblob]

Just got back home after a scaled down family get together for Thanksgiving. Suffice it to say, a tape of that Raiders versus Cowboys game won’t be sent to Canton, because it was a mess with all the penalties. Still, the Cowboys lost, and that’s good enough for me.

How bout that guy running offsides like 50 times in a row? I just couldnt get over that

[Witchfan]

The Eagles are creeping up to the Cowboys!

[worstblogever]

My family and I are watching the Cowboys/Raiders game and they're like, "Maybe they can pull a comeback."

I'm like, "They're down their top two WRs and Mike McCarthy is still calling plays and managing the clock. They're gonna blow this. I think with 2 minutes left, Dallas could have made it a point to try for the end zone. But McCarthy's calls were so conservative, they're gonna play for overtime and lose."

And so it was. Dallas is 0-3 all time on Thanksgiving if the game goes into OT.

[cable guy]

The Eagles are creeping up to the Cowboys!

Eagles are a better team right now.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

How bout that guy running offsides like 50 times in a row? I just couldnt get over that

Yeah. Like I said, it was a flat out mess. I think there were something like 14 flags on both sides. I've seen games where the zebras called a tight game, but last night was ridiculous.

My family and I are watching the Cowboys/Raiders game and they're like, "Maybe they can pull a comeback."

I'm like, "They're down their top two WRs and Mike McCarthy is still calling plays and managing the clock. They're gonna blow this. I think with 2 minutes left, Dallas could have made it a point to try for the end zone. But McCarthy's calls were so conservative, they're gonna play for overtime and lose."

And so it was. Dallas is 0-3 all time on Thanksgiving if the game goes into OT.

One of my Dallas hating relatives said something similar to what I bolded, adding that McCarthy was afraid to take chances and risk getting embarrassed with Jerrah looking down on him from his luxury box.

Eagles are a better team right now.

Indeed they are, but the Birds still have to take care of business against the floundering Giants on Sunday.

[cable guy]

They were a lot of peoples pick for the Super Bowl and Right now they will be lucky to win the division.

Yes, and I admit I was hoping beyond hope for a Super Bowl. Despite their Defense not being top tier. But Dallas' offense looked so good it was crazy. Passing, running and blocking... They could do it all. Now the Oline does not look good at all, nor does the running game.

[cable guy]

Indeed they are, but the Birds still have to take care of business against the floundering Giants on Sunday.

Yeah one game at a time. They really do go into the easy part of their schedule. So it starts with the Giants.

[babyblob]

Yes, and I admit I was hoping beyond hope for a Super Bowl. Despite their Defense not being top tier. But Dallas' offense looked so good it was crazy. Passing, running and blocking... They could do it all. Now the Oline does not look good at all, nor does the running game.

Well the Cowboys are going into a bit of an easy part the rest of the season at least for 3 games. They have Washington 2 games, and The Giants. I can see the Saints giving them trouble. As far As The Cardinals man I dont think the Cowboys take that. And the Eagles in Philly? That right now is a toss up to me that has me leaning towards the Eagles.

[MRP]

The Cowboys are a mess right now. They're in the middle of a stretch of 3 games in 12 days playing without their top 2 pass rushers (Lawrence & Gregory) their top 2 wideouts (Cooper & Lamb) and their top TE (Jarvin). Their O-line continuity is shattered, Tyron Smith continues to have health issues, and Steele, McGovern, Collins and Williams shuffle in and out to try to keep them fresh in this stretch of short rest weeks but it causes a lot of confusion and missed assignments wreaking havoc with both pass protection and run blocking, and not to mention that Tyler Biadasz is a huge step down from Travis Frederick who was the anchor and playcaller of that line when it was at its best.

Quinn has made the best of what's left on defense to keep pressure on the QB, (and Parsons has been a huge factor on that) but it's left them weaker on the back end and susceptible to big plays. It doesn't help that Diggs has bought his own hype and seems to take 2 of every three plays off. Brown had been ok up to this point, but he was completely off his game last night. And neither team was able to adjust to how tight the refs were calling things last night to keep their hands off players (way too many holding and DPI calls). but that was bad prep on both coaching staffs as this team is known to be flag happy and are among the leaders is flags thrown during games this season, so you need to have your players ready for that.

Kellen Moore is very good, however, the next man up mentality is working against him and his playcalls. The offense is designed with defenses having to account for Cooper and Lamb which opens up a lot of possibilities for the many weapons the Cowboys have. Gallup, Brown and Wilson are good complimentary receivers, but without Cooper and Lamb at that top, defenses aren't going to react the same way allowing them to concentrate more on run defense and pressuring the quarterbacks. The types of routes that work with Lamb and Cooper there aren't going to work with next man up receivers in those roles and Moore has not adjusted for those games, and the offense has sputtered and become inconsistent, relying on big plays instead of reliably moving the chains. Dak's stats look alright but only because the team has become one-dimensional and they have been playing from behind. They are passing hoping to open up the run instead of establishing the run first, and their opening drives on both offense and defense have been bad putting them behind the 8 ball to start the game. That's on the coaching staff a bit. It just doesn't seem like they are ready to play coming out and they don't have a strong game plan going in. Instead they are relying on the talent to step up and win games. When everyone is healthy, they can do that at times as they can overwhelm some teams. But when not healthy, or when facing teams who are near to them in talent level, it's not enough, and November has shown that. Teams have adjusted to the talent the Cowboys have, and the coaches haven't found ways to adjust their game to allow that talent to execute to the best of their ability.

Can they right it in December? Getting healthy will help, but its not guaranteed to be enough. Philly looks good right now. Their talent has risen to the occasion. The question is will teams now adjust to that, and can Hey Siri react with his own adjustments to counter that, because December football and playoff football is all about being able to make the needed adjustments to win games, not going out and hoping the talent you have is enough. Sometimes it's the players who make adjustments (the great QBs like Brady, Rogers, Manning, Brees etc. did that), sometimes its the coaches, but its the teams who do it who win in December and make runs in the playoffs. Every year we see teams who start strong, fail to make adjustments and fade, and teams who start poorly, make adjustments and finish strong. The best teams start strong, make the adjustments and stay strong, but there are only a handful of those each season. Which one of these will the Eagles and the Cowboys be? With McCarthy in charge, I don't see the adjustments coming from the coaches. Maybe the players can rise up to do so, but only time will tell. With the Eagles, I have no idea. I don't follow them that closely and rely on the Eagles fans here for their takes on it.

However it goes, December looks like its going to be a roller coaster for the top 2 teams of the NFC East. Hopefully it's at least a fun ride.

-M

[WestPhillyPunisher]

MRP: Regarding the Eagles, the turnaround they’ve made has been nothing short of startling. Before the season, I pegged them for no better than seven wins, and, looking at the schedule back in August, even that many was a stretch, but now? Whoa! Coming into the season, Nick Sirianni was looked upon with suspicion by Eagles fans as a yes man for GM Howie Roseman after things soured with Doug Pedersen, and in the early weeks, he looked positively clueless. However, he got religion when he discovered the joy of running the ball behind a fivesome of road graders on the offensive line, as the running game took off, that took pressure of QB Jalen Hurts who no longer had to do it all himself. Suddenly, a shot at the playoffs is no longer improbable, but, they’ve gotta take advantage of the soft underbelly of their schedule and reel off wins, starting Sunday against the Giants.