Bob: Loved your comment about "films/weekend" & "doing what we want". Hopefully I'll never again have to look all over & feel terribly bereft while trying to find you among the many lesser lights on media sites! Now we can always know where to find you! Go Sturmstack!!! Woohoo!
Loved the DiMaggio reference most. If/when the NFL goes to 18 games I highly suspect that enterprising coaches will also resort to some form of load management (perhaps in-game ‘pitch counts’ for certain players).
Because we only glorify all that happens in the post season and road wins are possible, it’s ever so likely with an increasing number of regular season games.
Bob, how disappointing was it that your team, the Packers, were unable to start a mini -dynasty after (im)patiently waiting their turn and taking their playoff licks as first San Francisco, then Dallas completed their runs of dominance.
Green Bay appeared set to be the next NFC super team after two decades of NFC dominance that also saw championships from Chicago, Washington, and New York. Sadly for you and Packer Nation, Denver finally put enough pieces around an aging Elway to end the AFC’s run of being first loser I know it must have been heartbreaking.
Then came the Patriot Dynasty with the perfect confluence of quarterback and coach--nine championship game appearances and six wins over an 18-year run. Most people seem to believe this era of dominance can never be repeated, but reasoning says that if it can be done once, the formula is repeatable.
My thought is that, due to the salary cap and the unlikely chance of remaining injury free at key positions, even winning back-to-back Super Bowls has become even more difficult. A team can go all in to win single year, but the salary cap ramifications will force teams to shed veteran salaries in subsequent seasons. If a team can acquire personnel at reasonable rates to replace the lost free agents and aged-out veterans, then three title game appearances in a decade seem doable. Unless a team has an exceptional QB still on his rookie contract though, consecutive year titles have become and will be less likely. No team has gone back to back since New England in 2005, nearly two decades ago. Your thoughts Bob, on the possibility of teams repeating? This may be a good question for next Friday’s Mailbag.
If the Cowboys could manage to win it all this year, the looming new contracts for Dak, Lamb and Parsons will probably mean that some veterans at positions of depth, like safety, cornerback and maybe even wide receiver and O-line will have to be allowed to walk. )Is this why they didn’t extend Kearse’s contact, only shored up his guarantees?) The hope would be that these young players develop to the level of their predecessors in a year or two, making another championship run possible.
Sep 22, 2023·edited Sep 22, 2023Liked by Bob Sturm
Hi Bob, I live in Australia and there are few people that follow the Cowboys like I do, so don't understand my pain at seeing us witness a potentially all time great D spoiled by losing Diggs so early.
As I was drifting off to sleep, I wondered who would be available on the trade block that we could bolster our CB ranks with and came up with Marcus Peters. The Raiders are definitely not competing for a championship any time soon and his aggressive ways could certainly replace (or go close) Diggs' ball skills. He'd probably be available for a mid round pick, too. Thoughts?
I actually don't hate this idea at all, but I haven't watched him play in Las Vegas this year and he has had some major injury concerns in Baltimore. Interesting name. But, i think we should see how the defense looks first. I think they might be ok internally.
I certainly hope they are, and I think the S depth and sub packages involving all 3 will probably get a boost.
But I just don't hold much faith beyond these current top 3 CB's- Scott looks a bit green still, Wright puts too many bad reps on tape to go with his league average ones and Igbonoghene was available for a reason.
Fortunately the pass rush is what makes this D truly elite, but I think even ringing around to other FO's around the league to see who is available would be prudent.
Joey Porter Jr instead of Mazi would've been fantastic depth!
Bob, I agree with you that the way load management is happening is ridiculous but I think it's more of a symptom than a disease. There are just too many NBA games for the way the modern game is played. Without a reduction in games, this will keep happening because the incentives are too great. Punishment and reward will only go so far if at the end of the day these people who depend on their bodies think that they can save their bodies by playing fewer games. Owners won't want to agree to this because it means less ticket revenue so it's a moot point but I think it is the only way
Bob - re you r comments on Diggs, I agree that unlike past years where a loss of someone of his caliber would have spelled disaster for the defense, they have very good depth this year. I would also perhaps add Israel Murukamu into the mix as a hybrid safety/corner. DQ seemed to use him on a few plays last year in this capacity and seems to trust him. your thoughts?
Couldn’t agree more. Diggs is a great player at a position that, while important, doesn’t rise to the level of “season killer.” There’s only one position in football at that level.
In the end, he and others at these multi-positions are, in gambling parlance, half point players. The game by game line will not move much with his loss.
In terms of seasonal value, their Super Bowl odds won’t take much of a hit, if at all, either with his loss.
This all points to the fact that games will be won or lost due to more variables than his absence or presence, starting with QB play and the opponent and front of them.
On Diggs, Im going to take the eternal optimist view. I love the guy and it's a huge loss for sure, but I do expect our permiter run defense to improve. So, if we lost 20 points on our pass defense and we gain 10 on our run defense, we net at a loss of 10. That loss could be mitigated even more if the run defense causes teams to throw more and lets our pass rushers get after it. Im hopeful. LFG!
Got it. Russell Wilson is greater than Dan Marino. See my point? There is nuance to it. It's not comfortable, but I can't just dismiss a guy out of hand because his teams weren't good enough to win a Super Bowl.
I hope you know that I understand the concept of nuance. I have studied Cowboys QBs for three decades and I don't think this conversation is even particularly close. Roger and Troy are on different levels from Tony and Dak. Dak still has time to change that, but Romo lost most every big game he was ever in and quite often had a lot to do with why they lost. And I say this as someone who absolutely loved Tony Romo. Also, Romo had several teams that were good enough to win Super Bowls. 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2014 were all in that group.
Troy and Roger are very close. I hesitate to rate one above the other because I saw Troy live and only saw Roger on tape. Tony 3rd for now and Dak 4th.
You've twisted my arm. I'll go with Troy. But statistically Tony was elite and deserves to have his face on Mt Cowboys-more. Just as Martin is allowed in the room with Allen.
I agree with Bob on this one. I was a fan of Romo, and used to feel like I was defending Romo from all the Romo haters. Now, I'm a fan of Dak and feel like I'm defending Dak from all the Dak haters. From Bob's writings I feel the same way. I feel like he has often been defending Dak the last few years, and Romo before that. But I can't just go by stats. It is a different era. Aikman was one of the best and most accurate QB's in the league during those Super Bowl runs. He often did not put up gawdy stats because he did not need to. They had a great run game and defense, but always seemed to rise to the occasion when he needed to. As big of fan as I was of Romo, a key mistake seemed to go against him in big games. The interception in the pass attempt to Witten when they were the #1 seed. The wildcard Giants went on to the Super Bowl. The botched snap when he was the holder on the FG (normally the QB would not be holding). Don't get me wrong, I was a fan of his and did not blame him for everything. I thought Dak played great against Tampa. It was not all on Dak, but I was disappointed with his performance against San Francisco last year. If you told me how well the defense would keep Tampa under 20 and dominate the first three quarters against an explosive SF offense, I would have bet we would have won that game. Now, Tony went down and lots of other things, but Dak did not have his best game.
I said basically the same thing in the mailbag thread that basically Troy and Roger are in a class of their own. I have to admit it feels good knowing you said the same thing mostly. I admit, I’m gloating. LOL
I guess a huge positive for Bass is that watching the game live I had no idea he played that many snaps. They put so little focus on the OLine in the national broadcasts that I only realized he was in the game when he switched to RG. So he did ok I guess.
Bob: Loved your comment about "films/weekend" & "doing what we want". Hopefully I'll never again have to look all over & feel terribly bereft while trying to find you among the many lesser lights on media sites! Now we can always know where to find you! Go Sturmstack!!! Woohoo!
Loved the DiMaggio reference most. If/when the NFL goes to 18 games I highly suspect that enterprising coaches will also resort to some form of load management (perhaps in-game ‘pitch counts’ for certain players).
Because we only glorify all that happens in the post season and road wins are possible, it’s ever so likely with an increasing number of regular season games.
Bob, how disappointing was it that your team, the Packers, were unable to start a mini -dynasty after (im)patiently waiting their turn and taking their playoff licks as first San Francisco, then Dallas completed their runs of dominance.
Green Bay appeared set to be the next NFC super team after two decades of NFC dominance that also saw championships from Chicago, Washington, and New York. Sadly for you and Packer Nation, Denver finally put enough pieces around an aging Elway to end the AFC’s run of being first loser I know it must have been heartbreaking.
Then came the Patriot Dynasty with the perfect confluence of quarterback and coach--nine championship game appearances and six wins over an 18-year run. Most people seem to believe this era of dominance can never be repeated, but reasoning says that if it can be done once, the formula is repeatable.
My thought is that, due to the salary cap and the unlikely chance of remaining injury free at key positions, even winning back-to-back Super Bowls has become even more difficult. A team can go all in to win single year, but the salary cap ramifications will force teams to shed veteran salaries in subsequent seasons. If a team can acquire personnel at reasonable rates to replace the lost free agents and aged-out veterans, then three title game appearances in a decade seem doable. Unless a team has an exceptional QB still on his rookie contract though, consecutive year titles have become and will be less likely. No team has gone back to back since New England in 2005, nearly two decades ago. Your thoughts Bob, on the possibility of teams repeating? This may be a good question for next Friday’s Mailbag.
If the Cowboys could manage to win it all this year, the looming new contracts for Dak, Lamb and Parsons will probably mean that some veterans at positions of depth, like safety, cornerback and maybe even wide receiver and O-line will have to be allowed to walk. )Is this why they didn’t extend Kearse’s contact, only shored up his guarantees?) The hope would be that these young players develop to the level of their predecessors in a year or two, making another championship run possible.
Hi Bob, I live in Australia and there are few people that follow the Cowboys like I do, so don't understand my pain at seeing us witness a potentially all time great D spoiled by losing Diggs so early.
As I was drifting off to sleep, I wondered who would be available on the trade block that we could bolster our CB ranks with and came up with Marcus Peters. The Raiders are definitely not competing for a championship any time soon and his aggressive ways could certainly replace (or go close) Diggs' ball skills. He'd probably be available for a mid round pick, too. Thoughts?
I actually don't hate this idea at all, but I haven't watched him play in Las Vegas this year and he has had some major injury concerns in Baltimore. Interesting name. But, i think we should see how the defense looks first. I think they might be ok internally.
I certainly hope they are, and I think the S depth and sub packages involving all 3 will probably get a boost.
But I just don't hold much faith beyond these current top 3 CB's- Scott looks a bit green still, Wright puts too many bad reps on tape to go with his league average ones and Igbonoghene was available for a reason.
Fortunately the pass rush is what makes this D truly elite, but I think even ringing around to other FO's around the league to see who is available would be prudent.
Joey Porter Jr instead of Mazi would've been fantastic depth!
Bob, I agree with you that the way load management is happening is ridiculous but I think it's more of a symptom than a disease. There are just too many NBA games for the way the modern game is played. Without a reduction in games, this will keep happening because the incentives are too great. Punishment and reward will only go so far if at the end of the day these people who depend on their bodies think that they can save their bodies by playing fewer games. Owners won't want to agree to this because it means less ticket revenue so it's a moot point but I think it is the only way
Bob - re you r comments on Diggs, I agree that unlike past years where a loss of someone of his caliber would have spelled disaster for the defense, they have very good depth this year. I would also perhaps add Israel Murukamu into the mix as a hybrid safety/corner. DQ seemed to use him on a few plays last year in this capacity and seems to trust him. your thoughts?
Couldn’t agree more. Diggs is a great player at a position that, while important, doesn’t rise to the level of “season killer.” There’s only one position in football at that level.
In the end, he and others at these multi-positions are, in gambling parlance, half point players. The game by game line will not move much with his loss.
In terms of seasonal value, their Super Bowl odds won’t take much of a hit, if at all, either with his loss.
This all points to the fact that games will be won or lost due to more variables than his absence or presence, starting with QB play and the opponent and front of them.
On Diggs, Im going to take the eternal optimist view. I love the guy and it's a huge loss for sure, but I do expect our permiter run defense to improve. So, if we lost 20 points on our pass defense and we gain 10 on our run defense, we net at a loss of 10. That loss could be mitigated even more if the run defense causes teams to throw more and lets our pass rushers get after it. Im hopeful. LFG!
While it's a huge loss, I'm excited to see us get freaky with the 5 safeties we want to play.
Got it. Russell Wilson is greater than Dan Marino. See my point? There is nuance to it. It's not comfortable, but I can't just dismiss a guy out of hand because his teams weren't good enough to win a Super Bowl.
I hope you know that I understand the concept of nuance. I have studied Cowboys QBs for three decades and I don't think this conversation is even particularly close. Roger and Troy are on different levels from Tony and Dak. Dak still has time to change that, but Romo lost most every big game he was ever in and quite often had a lot to do with why they lost. And I say this as someone who absolutely loved Tony Romo. Also, Romo had several teams that were good enough to win Super Bowls. 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2014 were all in that group.
Who is your choice?
Troy and Roger are very close. I hesitate to rate one above the other because I saw Troy live and only saw Roger on tape. Tony 3rd for now and Dak 4th.
You've twisted my arm. I'll go with Troy. But statistically Tony was elite and deserves to have his face on Mt Cowboys-more. Just as Martin is allowed in the room with Allen.
I agree with Bob on this one. I was a fan of Romo, and used to feel like I was defending Romo from all the Romo haters. Now, I'm a fan of Dak and feel like I'm defending Dak from all the Dak haters. From Bob's writings I feel the same way. I feel like he has often been defending Dak the last few years, and Romo before that. But I can't just go by stats. It is a different era. Aikman was one of the best and most accurate QB's in the league during those Super Bowl runs. He often did not put up gawdy stats because he did not need to. They had a great run game and defense, but always seemed to rise to the occasion when he needed to. As big of fan as I was of Romo, a key mistake seemed to go against him in big games. The interception in the pass attempt to Witten when they were the #1 seed. The wildcard Giants went on to the Super Bowl. The botched snap when he was the holder on the FG (normally the QB would not be holding). Don't get me wrong, I was a fan of his and did not blame him for everything. I thought Dak played great against Tampa. It was not all on Dak, but I was disappointed with his performance against San Francisco last year. If you told me how well the defense would keep Tampa under 20 and dominate the first three quarters against an explosive SF offense, I would have bet we would have won that game. Now, Tony went down and lots of other things, but Dak did not have his best game.
I said basically the same thing in the mailbag thread that basically Troy and Roger are in a class of their own. I have to admit it feels good knowing you said the same thing mostly. I admit, I’m gloating. LOL
Not saying, “I told ya so” but, well, I kinda did. 🤪
What did I miss here?
I guess a huge positive for Bass is that watching the game live I had no idea he played that many snaps. They put so little focus on the OLine in the national broadcasts that I only realized he was in the game when he switched to RG. So he did ok I guess.