Official Game Thread - Week 12 - Commanders vs. Dallas @NW - GIDDY UP!

[Miles Monroe]

Shame folks don't seem to remember we are a young team, that doesn't have all the pieces yet. Ya, it sucked to watch that today, but the season isn't lost just yet.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

This is one of the worst losses I can remember.

The worst is the season finale of the 2016 season when Jay and Kirk failed to beat a disinterested Giants team to make the playoffs.

This isn’t that bad because it’s week 12. But given the situation, it’s really, really a bad loss.

 

[tshile]

Shame folks don't seem to remember we are a young team, that doesn't have all the pieces yet. Ya, it sucked to watch that today, but the season isn't lost just yet.

I don’t care that we lost outside of losing to a team that is bottom 5.

I care that our QB can’t throw accurately. My assumption is he’s hurt. It’s bad management.

 

[SirClintonPortis]

I don’t care that we lost outside of losing to a team that is bottom 5.

I care that our QB can’t throw accurately. My assumption is he’s hurt. It’s bad management.

They're just generating as much tape as possible without getting him murdered.

Wins and losses are not significant this year. Everything is an evaluation.

 

[CobraCommander]

Wins and losses are not significant? This isn’t JV sports.

 

[Miles Monroe]

I don’t care that we lost outside of losing to a team that is bottom 5.

I care that our QB can’t throw accurately. My assumption is he’s hurt. It’s bad management.

I've seen more dropped passes then inaccurate. We stepped on out dicks too many times today. I lost count of the penalties on us today, and it killed us.

 

[CobraCommander]

I saw both. Dropped passes and innacurate throws. I see completed short passes and a decent deep ball. I’ve also seen intermediate passes sail and get intercepted.

 

[SkinsGuy99]

Very disappointing loss.

Many of the people on this team are new to Washington D.C., so they don't know what a loss to the cowboys means to this area.

They're about to find out. 🤨

Not just a loss to the cowboys, but to a bad, injury riddled cowboys team.

We may have to look at the possibility that this team was playing above their heads earlier this season and are now leveling off to what they really are.... a new team with new coaches and a rookie QB that are going to have new team problems.

More seasoning and another infusion of free agency and another draft talent may be needed before this team can compete seriously.

Still, for now, we are 7-5 and still in playoff contention.

We'll see what happens.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Here’s the thing: when you have a run first offense and plan to throw the ball 20-30 times a game, 2 things are true:

1. The run game MUST work consistently. Otherwise all of your pass attempts are in known passing situations. You have to be able to consistently get 5+ yards per attempt, or else you’re cooked.

2. Every one of the pass attempts is amplified in importance. If you throw more, the odd off-target pass would be less statistically significant.

When our offense was humming, we were running the ball extremely well, and Daniels was completing an insane percentage of throws.

When teams decided they would absolutely shut down the run and force Daniels to beat them with his arm, I’d argue he hasn’t really had the opportunity to do that. We have tried to stick with the same philosophy and we need to adapt. I’m not suggesting we abandon the run, but we have to find the unpredictability and creativity we had early in the year. Because what we’re doing is not working. So you have to change something.

 

[CobraCommander]

Here’s the thing: when you have a run first offense and plan to throw the ball 20-30 times a game, 2 things are true:

1. The run game MUST work consistently. Otherwise all of your pass attempts are in known passing situations. You have to be able to consistently get 5+ yards per attempt, or else you’re cooked.

2. Every one of the pass attempts is amplified in importance. If you throw more, the odd off-target pass would be less statistically significant.

When our offense was humming, we were running the ball extremely well, and Daniels was completing an insane percentage of throws.

When teams decided they would absolutely shut down the run and force Daniels to beat them with his arm, I’d argue he hasn’t really had the opportunity to do that. We have tried to stick with the same philosophy and we need to adapt. I’m not suggesting we abandon the run, but we have to find the unpredictability and creativity we had early in the year. Because what we’re doing is not working. So you have to change something.

Kliff is going to have to change the narrative that his offenses fall apart once opposing teams adapt. The second half collapse is happening.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Kliff is going to have to change the narrative that his offenses fall apart once opposing teams adapt. The second half collapse is happening.

I was giving him a pass until today. But today, he was very slow to adjust to a bad Dallas defense which had committed to stopping the run at all costs. He needed to make them pay for that with SOMETHING and he didn’t until it was way too late.

 

[CobraCommander]

I was giving him a pass until today. But today, he was very slow to adjust to a bad Dallas defense which had committed to stopping the run at all costs. He needed to make them pay for that with SOMETHING and he didn’t until it was way too late.

I kept waiting and waiting for him to figure out how to adjust to Dallas sending 6 every play.

 

[RedWolf]

Tough loss...ready to start talking draft position yet? 🤣

We are not who we thought we were

 

[DieselPwr44]

The reality here is that this team is really a 5-7 squad. They pulled two wins out of their hind end in Cincy and Chicago with two improbable passes. Other than that, they are a sub .500 team. And they will prove that out over the remaining weeks because they are clearly no better than anyone left on their schedule.

There are a lot of questions that remain unanswered for this team.

Can Kliff adjust to what defenses have figured out about his offense?

Can #5 adjust to the same? To me, the jury is still out on #5. Let's see if he's even here in two years first before the franchise label gets thrown around.

Coleman the long term answer at LT or is he a guard like some think he'll eventually be?

Is BRob in the long term vision of this team? As Gregg Williams once said "the greatest attribute a player can have is availability". And so far, BRob hasn't displayed much of that.

Will the defense ever figure out how to stop the run or is that a talent add in Year 2 or 3?

Lattimore, if he plays this season, isn't going to be the instant fix some think he is.

Pass rush. Does Whitt know how to cobble together pressure? Or is that more talent add in Year 2 or 3?

I have been highly skeptical of this team ever since the season started. Have not bought into them or any player currently on the squad.

Hate being right on this one. The past 25 years has been a real female dog.

 

[Hogwallop]

that was a gut punch

 

[Kel Varnsen]

I blame the ownership group for making Griffin the legend. What else would explain almost everything going wrong today? Even when it went right, it went wrong.

 

[Miles Monroe]

I saw both. Dropped passes and innacurate throws. I see completed short passes and a decent deep ball. I’ve also seen intermediate passes sail and get intercepted.

Ya, JD has been a turn over machine since he hit the field for us...

 

[Knightingale]

Well… that was…something.

My thoughts at the end… they had Seibert AND Gonzales active for the game I think. I’m sure that I read somewhere that they’d chosen to release Rodriguez instead of Gonzales so they could get Baptiste back.

So… after Seibert had crapped the bed numerous times already, why didn’t they send Gonzales in for that PAT?

That was the game right there, because the onside kick was a disaster too.

If not going for two to I’ve the game, put in the ‘healthy’ kicker. Because on that evidence I’m wondering if that hip is okay after all.

 

[DieselPwr44]

Mso they don't know what a loss to the cowboys means to this area.

The Rivalry is dead and young players don't care about history anymore. Guys showing up in cowboy hats and attire before a Dallas game? George Allen would have the vets tape them to the goal posts.
But that type of passion is never coming back.

 

[Knightingale]

Ya, JD has been a turn over machine since he hit the field for us...

Yeah, it’s a shame he’ll get a couple of interceptions against him this game. The first one was clearly on target and the receiver (I forget who it was) fumbled the catch straight into the arms of a waiting cowboy.

and that last one was in a Hail Mary which is a 50/50 shot.