What defines a successful season?

Texas_OutLaw7 · Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:33 pm Post subject: What defines a successful season?

I think the question is pretty self-explanatory. I think we can all agree that their is talent on the roster, and that leads to expectations.

We are entering the third year of Redballs reign (second full year, well sorta given the lockout) and during this time we have seen a steady shift in a change in philosophy. This has excited several of us, while more still remain cautiously optimistic (or reserved).

My question is really twofold: [1] What are your expectations & [2] What would be a realistically successful season?

Miss the Playoffs
All I really care about is getting our record to be slightly better. Keep showing improvement. So a 9-7 record seems to be a solid expectation and a nice trend. Look to the future for sustainable success.

10-6 Wildcard Team
Hey! We made the playoff's. 10-6 we showed that we have made enough of a stride to get us into the post-season. We don't get a play-off win yet, but we improved substantially. Our first win comes next year.

12-4 NFC East Champs
It all starts with winning our division. We may not show any W's in the post-season, but at least we show that we can win. Our first win comes next year.

1st/2nd Seed
A successful season would be us not having to play in the first round of the playoffs. It's okay if we don't win in the playoffs yet, we are dominating our competition in the regular season. And we can build from that.

Seed doesn't matter, just make it to the playoffs.
We barely missed it last year. Success is defined by improving. Just make the playoffs.

Just win 1 playoff game
Be it wildcard or division champion, I will only qualify this season as successful if we win 1 playoff game. That's the success we need to move forward. To get the monkey off our back.

NFC Championship Appearance
Win two or three games and get is in a prime position. Show the rest of the league we are legitimate contends. Watch out next year folks!

Superbowl Appearance
The only thing that would qualify as a successful season is that we come out as the NFC Champs. We have the talent. We need to produce.

#6 Victory!
Why we are here. Why we are fans. Anything short of utter victory would be a failure. I am incredibly unrealistic.

Jerry Hate
Bah, humbug! I don't know why I am a Cowboys fan.
_________________

In Redball I Trust!
The price of progress is trusting the process.
Heart. Leadership. Passion. Will.

Desperado82 · Joined: 20 Feb 2010 Posts: 18330 Location: Maryland

My expectations for this season are simple. I expect to see improvement from last season to this year with Garrett entering his second full season as a head coach and Rob Ryan having a full off-season to implement his system and get guys familiar with it.

When I look at last year, Garrett started to put his imprint on the team and shed a lot of dead weight. We had an entirely new offensive line which did not have the benefit of an off-season to gel together. We had a defense which was learning a new system (also, without a full off-season to learn) and had to deal with injuries to key positions throughout the year. Yet the Cowboys were still one game shy of making the playoffs.

This year, the team addressed one of its major needs (CB) by signing Brandon Carr and drafting Morris Claiborne. Now, a position which once sorely lacked depth is stacked. We have veterans who are starting to enter the prime of their careers in Jason Witten, DeMarcus Ware and Tony Romo is coming off of the best season of his career. We have young players in DeMarco Murray, Dez Bryant and Tyron Smith who are looking to establish themselves as tops at their position, and a player on defense who is looking to step into the limelight as both a leader and All-Pro player in Sean Lee.

We also have other guys who are looking to step into starting roles (i.e. Lissemore and Carter) and make their impact on the league, and lest we not forget the other rookies aside from Claiborne whom scouts are also high on. It would not surprise me in the least to see Matt Johnson as a starter later in the year and players like Crawford, Wilber and Coale also make their presence felt this season.

That said, to me a successful season would be one in which we make the playoffs and at the very least advance past to the divisional round. I believe we have the ability to make the NFC Championship game this year. Do I think we have a shot at a Super Bowl appearance and/or victory? Yes. As we've seen before, all it takes is getting hot at the right moment to accomplish that feat.
_________________

^^^mack.

R.I.P. B2TB & SA

Tha King · Joined: 23 Feb 2011 Posts: 3110 Location: Over there

The only type of season I would view as a truly successful one would have us winning the Super Bowl,nothing less.

With that said;

1.) My expectations of this season are rather high,I see marked improvements in the secondary,line-backing corp,and possibly the defensive line(If Hatcher,Crawford,and Lissemore step-up). As of right now,solely based on the potential of said defense,I view this team as a team capable of making a deep playoff run barring major injuries.

2.) As stated above,we have the talent,some new coaches,and a full off-season to work with,call me optimistic but I believe we have a real shot of bringing home #6.(..... barring injuries/Phil Costa not sucking)
_________________

"Hope is what makes us strong. It is why we are here. It is what we fight with when all else is lost."

plan9misfit · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 10:12 am Post subject:

You know that I look at all variables before trying to determine what a "successful season" is because it depends on where a team was over the last few years and where it is now. For example, a successful season for a team like Cleveland would be an 8-8 record, where a successful season for New England is nothing other than a Super Bowl championship. In our case, given the options you made available, you already know what my answer is.
_________________

Co-Founder: DCRA - No McQuistan, No Super Bowl

The_Slamman wrote:

It's like we are in a win now mentality with lose now personnel.

pierrepet · Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 5792

Success for me means making it to the NFL Championship. This teams needs to show they have what it takes to win in the post season and making it to the NFC Championship would mean they won at least 2 playoff games.

I could care less about winning the NFC East or being a #1 or #2 seed.

Northland · Joined: 10 Jan 2006 Posts: 3122 Location: Ajax, Ontario

Stay healthy. Learn to close out games which means developing a killer instinct. Close out the season strong. Get into the playoffs on a high because as we have seen twice in five years that worked for the Giants.
_________________
Northland

textaz03 · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 11:42 am Post subject:

Simple, nothing short of a Super Bowl victory!

However, I am a realist too. To be successful, we have to get over the hump that has plagued this team for far too long. And that is multiple playoff victories in a single season. 1 and done or winning 1 playoff game since 1996 is no longer tolerated IMO! We need to get over this hump, for us to be a winning team!
_________________

"Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyways" - John Wayne

The_Slamman · Joined: 07 Feb 2005 Posts: 11669 Location: Las Vegas, NV

To be a "successful" season, the cowboys at least have to make it to the NFC Championship game. As we have discussed in the past, this team has a 2-3 year window of opportunity. With the Cowboys being projected to being $20M over the 2014 salary cap (and still needing to re-sign Romo in 2014), there may only be a 2 year opportunity in reality. Therefore, a deep playoff run is in order this year.
_________________
Quote from May 7, 2013...

Texas_OutLaw7 · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:38 pm Post subject:

Texas_OutLaw7 · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:39 pm Post subject:

Texas_OutLaw7 · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:40 pm Post subject:

I am shocked so many of you have such lofty expectations. For all the hate-speech that is preached around these parts I was starting to question whether many of you knew the definition of successful or not. Laughing

_________________

In Redball I Trust!
The price of progress is trusting the process.
Heart. Leadership. Passion. Will.

htfryar · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 2:36 pm Post subject:

I voted "Record doesn't matter just need to win 1 playoff game". This is Jason Garrett's 2nd full year as Head Coach. Getting to the playoffs would be nice, but winning at least 1 game would be better. Anything beyond that is a bonus.
_________________

The_Slamman · Joined: 07 Feb 2005 Posts: 11669 Location: Las Vegas, NV

dahobofest · Joined: 20 Jun 2012 Posts: 839

For me, it's a winning record and a bunch of "feel-good" games similar to the 49er game from last year. Too many disappointing games last year.

Texas_OutLaw7 · Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 12:05 pm Post subject: