Bob, like you and other readers, I was surprised the stats didn’t back up our anecdotal supposition that Pollard was able to run outside better than inside. I wonder how much of the statistics are averaged down because of run problems early in the year. During this current winning streak, my perception was that those outside runs have been more successful than earlier in the season.
On your premise of QB, coach, or GM, I think we have real world examples that prove it's the hall of fame QB every time. Barry Switzer took over a team with a Hall of Fame QB and lost one NFC championship game and won a super bowl the next year. I think Barry was a great college coach but I don't think most would say a great NFL coach (many similar examples exist), and I've heard many of those Cowboys players say they are certain they would have won 4 in a row with Jimmy. I think the best evidence though would be the more recent Brady and Belicheck history. I think with the run that New England had, everyone agreed that Belicheck was one of if not the best coach ever, and every year they got accolades for maneuvering in the draft picking up tons of picks and then turning those into good players and teams. Since his hall of fame QB left his teams have been mediocre at best and all of the sudden the thought is he forgot how to coach, manipulate the draft, or pick players, while a the same time Brady went to a 7-9 TB team the year before and took them to and won a super bowl. Give me the hall of fame QB any time as it makes it easy for a coach to look smarter and win. I think it's also why a lot of assistant coaches that get hired as head coaches at new teams fail, they are going to bad teams which is why they fired their coach, almost never have a good QB (which is why they were a bad team), and continue to fail because they don't acquire one as there are so few really good QB's (those are usually really good coaches but you can't win without good players with the QB being the most important).
@Bob, it's not nuts at all to take the HC over the QB or GM. I'd say it's a no-brainer.
Player careers - even QB's - are short and can end with one snap.
The GM is important but their work is pretty well done by this time of year. They can't really do much to directly affect playoff success
The HC can shape a team for a couple of decades and is directly responsible for team performance on game day. Shanahan himself has proven that QB isn't nearly as important.
All this content AND getting Christmas decorating and shopping done? Better hope our wives don't hear about you Bob! Very interesting stats re the inside vs outside runs, would have bet it was the opposite. Re the tush push and DL, IMO it seems pretty simple, Kelce and the other interior linemen are cutting (basically diving at the knees of) defensive players on that play, you can see they go right to ground. If the DL don't want their knees blown out, they immediately have to step back. Correct me if I am wrong, but is it still legal to block below the waist? It is mainly for this reason (never mind that players should not be able to push another offensive player forward if the defense is not allowed to, and I despise the Eagles!) that I hope it gets ruled an illegal play in the near future. Pass D has its work cut out for them these next four weeks, (hope to be) excited to see how they respond.
Bob, I've kvetched about this before and I'm not a total spaz but I could not find the mailbag again, could you try to flag this in a more pronounced way during the week, thank you. Anyway, my question was how the Cowboys plan on helping Steele out Sunday night. Thanks again, I love the newsletter.
I started my career in Midland in the mid-80's. Played the Lajitas golf course in 1986. Just for fun, teed one up to see if I could drive it into Mexico. Landed in the water hazard of course.
Bob: Hope your weekend is great & also the Cowboys' weekend. Your comment about defensive tackles & "feet on the ground" balance vs. the "tush push" was a classic example of the good common sense in your writing. Speaking of that, I'd sure like some pieces about your "wandering thoughts" about things Cowboys on Wednesdays/Thursdays as well as the regularly scheduled ones. All your work is the absolute best; so "if a little bit's good, then a lot will be better".
Tevin...Coleman? I think Tevin Campbell is a singer haha. Coleman ran with Atlanta and followed Shanny to SF, I believe. It’s okay, we forgive you!
Haha as the parent of a kid obsessed with i2i from A Goofy Movie, I was like, wait a minute...
The world still goes around and round, amirite?
Bob, like you and other readers, I was surprised the stats didn’t back up our anecdotal supposition that Pollard was able to run outside better than inside. I wonder how much of the statistics are averaged down because of run problems early in the year. During this current winning streak, my perception was that those outside runs have been more successful than earlier in the season.
On your premise of QB, coach, or GM, I think we have real world examples that prove it's the hall of fame QB every time. Barry Switzer took over a team with a Hall of Fame QB and lost one NFC championship game and won a super bowl the next year. I think Barry was a great college coach but I don't think most would say a great NFL coach (many similar examples exist), and I've heard many of those Cowboys players say they are certain they would have won 4 in a row with Jimmy. I think the best evidence though would be the more recent Brady and Belicheck history. I think with the run that New England had, everyone agreed that Belicheck was one of if not the best coach ever, and every year they got accolades for maneuvering in the draft picking up tons of picks and then turning those into good players and teams. Since his hall of fame QB left his teams have been mediocre at best and all of the sudden the thought is he forgot how to coach, manipulate the draft, or pick players, while a the same time Brady went to a 7-9 TB team the year before and took them to and won a super bowl. Give me the hall of fame QB any time as it makes it easy for a coach to look smarter and win. I think it's also why a lot of assistant coaches that get hired as head coaches at new teams fail, they are going to bad teams which is why they fired their coach, almost never have a good QB (which is why they were a bad team), and continue to fail because they don't acquire one as there are so few really good QB's (those are usually really good coaches but you can't win without good players with the QB being the most important).
@Bob, it's not nuts at all to take the HC over the QB or GM. I'd say it's a no-brainer.
Player careers - even QB's - are short and can end with one snap.
The GM is important but their work is pretty well done by this time of year. They can't really do much to directly affect playoff success
The HC can shape a team for a couple of decades and is directly responsible for team performance on game day. Shanahan himself has proven that QB isn't nearly as important.
All this content AND getting Christmas decorating and shopping done? Better hope our wives don't hear about you Bob! Very interesting stats re the inside vs outside runs, would have bet it was the opposite. Re the tush push and DL, IMO it seems pretty simple, Kelce and the other interior linemen are cutting (basically diving at the knees of) defensive players on that play, you can see they go right to ground. If the DL don't want their knees blown out, they immediately have to step back. Correct me if I am wrong, but is it still legal to block below the waist? It is mainly for this reason (never mind that players should not be able to push another offensive player forward if the defense is not allowed to, and I despise the Eagles!) that I hope it gets ruled an illegal play in the near future. Pass D has its work cut out for them these next four weeks, (hope to be) excited to see how they respond.
Bob, I've kvetched about this before and I'm not a total spaz but I could not find the mailbag again, could you try to flag this in a more pronounced way during the week, thank you. Anyway, my question was how the Cowboys plan on helping Steele out Sunday night. Thanks again, I love the newsletter.
Hey Sandy, just a tip: go to the Chat tab in the StrumStack and you’ll see the call for mailbag each week.
Thank you. Not a big Substack person. Will remember for next time. Have a good weekend.
I started my career in Midland in the mid-80's. Played the Lajitas golf course in 1986. Just for fun, teed one up to see if I could drive it into Mexico. Landed in the water hazard of course.
Bob: Hope your weekend is great & also the Cowboys' weekend. Your comment about defensive tackles & "feet on the ground" balance vs. the "tush push" was a classic example of the good common sense in your writing. Speaking of that, I'd sure like some pieces about your "wandering thoughts" about things Cowboys on Wednesdays/Thursdays as well as the regularly scheduled ones. All your work is the absolute best; so "if a little bit's good, then a lot will be better".
I've been to Lajitas. How did you get there? Private plane or drive the 14 hours to get there?
Love it Bob. Btw, any chance we could get a docos update? Would love to hear some recommendations from you
Thank you, Bob!