Let's Stop Peeking at Peaks

by Teacher on Nov 7, 2009 10:57 PM CST Comment 6 comments

This whole PEAK thing is highly overrated

by Cowboys fans sensitive to playing poorly late in the season. But for a slippery, fumbled football, we probably beat Seattle with a field goal late in the 4th quarter. Did we peak too soon and that's why Romo dropped the ball? Really? The most recent seasons are often used as examples of a team “peaking” too soon and I keep seeing fanposts expressing concern that this season will be a repeat of the last two because we might peak too soon.

Can’t a team reach a level of excellence (or just good all-around football) and MAINTAIN it through the rest of a season? When I think on the Cowboys of the 90’s, there was never a worry that they would play too well too soon, and I just think the idea is nonsense. It’s like we are hoping the Boys don’t play too well yet so they will play well later. Does it work like that?

Yes teams get hot, on a roll, whatever you want to call it, and it’s nice when that happens late in the season, (ideally you'd like to play your best football when it counts the most) but to suggest that playing well early or midway through a season is something to fear just makes me laugh. I'm not convinced playing well early in a season means a team therefore won't play well late in the season, as if its "best" play is behind it now.

IMO, a team doesn’t even have to necessaryily “peak” — they can simply play consistently well all season long and into the playoffs, and crown it all with a Superbowl victory. The Rams and Lions have been consistently bad (did they peak in the pre-season?); likewise, other teams can be consistently good (without this so-called peaking). I’ve seen that happen 3 times in Dallas in the last decade, with 3 shiny Lombardis to show for it. I say we have nothing to fear in seeing the Boys play great football at this point in the season.

Another user-created commentary provided by a BTB reader.

0 recs | Comment 6 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

It's the elephant in the room..

Or maybe we’ve see this team perform well early in the season and fading when it matters most. Do you see them playing well enough now to be satisfied with their level of play through the rest of the season? I prefer to wish them to improve steadily, keep getting better at whatever style will define them. In other words, I’m NOT satisfied with their level of excellence, and they’ve proven they can’t maintain it. I’m greedy, I want better than that.

by Benthere on Nov 7, 2009 11:33 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

It's the stigma...

In the NFL..once someone “has a team figured out” as many claim they have done with the late-season Cowboys…it is on that teams’ shoulders to go disprove it.

Do I have full faith it will happen…yes..eventually.. but Romo is not playing his best ball yet…he will continue to get better and better.. Ware, Felix, Choice, Jenkins, Buehler, Austin, Ogletree, Marty B… all of these guys will continue to improve the next couple years.. as long as the line doesn’t get obliterated by age and injury this team will get better.

Even if it doesn’t happen this year .. it will happen

Wade Phillips has never won a playoff game as a head coach..he has lost 4 home playoff games.
His longest tenure as head coach was 3 years.
Only once did his record as a HC improve from one year to the next (by 1 game)

Wade Phillips for DC

by SDTrueblue on Nov 8, 2009 1:36 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I believe in peaks and vallys and believe the good coaches

know how to play shadetree psycologist to refocus their teams. When to push harder and when to back off. When to stroke an ego and when to light into someones ass. Cutting Curvin Richards before the playoffs was a move to refocus the team. It pissed off the entire team and they resented Jimmy for doing it but a talented, focused, and pissed off team isnt a bad way to enter the playoffs.
To win a SB you dont have to be the best team you just have to be playing the best. Look no further than the Giants playing the best football and beating us and the Patriots.
Its a moot point for fans because we arent in the locker room. We dont know the vibe or mood of the team. We just know when they play like shit and play lifeless. We also know when they play sharp and fast.

I dont have a problem playing great now means we wont later. My fear is the maturity of the players and the coaches pushing the buttons late in the season and keeping them playing at a peak level. Pushing hard when needed and backing off to keep from burning out. You cant keep the pedalmashed every minute of every day.

KICK ASS every day!!!

by squidlo97 on Nov 8, 2009 10:52 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

No...sorry, but no

The NFL is a dynamic, ever-evolving league.

In this phase of it’s evolution on a never ending continuum, there is absolutely substantiated, empirical proof that peaking at the right time is what you need to hoist a Lombardi and get a bling.

The example of the Seattle game is a good one (for my point, not yours) because Dallas was not playing well going into that game, faced a horribly depleted Seattle secondary and let themselves play down to the level of competition of a team they should have beaten soundly.

The Steelers road victories against top seeds, San Diego’s and Arizona’s late season surges last year carrying them to deep playoff runs…

THIS is the new NFL. Teams that want to win in the postseason have to be playing at optimal levels (and don’t underestimate the players’ health as a consideration in whether or not teams can peak) in all phases of the game in December.

"Emotion is highly overrated in football. My wife Corky is emotional as hell but can't play football worth a damn."

- John McKay, the first coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

by 5Blings on Nov 8, 2009 11:34 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

you can't compare the league today with the past

Hot teams win SBs now, not teams that have played the best throughout the entire regular season.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Nov 8, 2009 11:42 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I don't care how hot you are at the end of the season...

if you haven’t won in the early part of the season. Winning in December is nice, but if you haven’t won in September, October and November, you are still going to watch the playoffs.

That being said, peaking at the end of the season/playoffs is very important and the best coaches are better than the worst coaches at this aspect. Jimmah could do this better than any coach we’ve had since.

You can’t compare the 90’s SB runs to this team. The NFL is different, whether it be in defensive schemes, offensive schemes or whatever. The two biggest styles that ruled football back in the day were the West Coast offense (nobody runs it the way it was run back then) and the NFC-East style ram it down your throat football. For the most part, one of those two offenses won the SB for several years. Then came the Greatest Show on Turf. After that, you have the New England brand of “Whatever, Just Get it Done” football.

The current Cowboys are showing they have some backbone and can get the job done when needed so far. They needed to come out of their bye and get some quality wins. That’s been done now. Next up is a lost Green Bay team (that could get found any day now) and two games that should allow us to rest up some before we go through a brutal 3 game stretch (@ NYGiants, host San Diego, @ NO).

That 3 game stretch is going to define this team more than the previous 3 games. Those 3 games, however, would be moot had we not won the previous 3 games.

Wade still has to show he can get the guys up at the end of the season.

by Northern Cowboy on Nov 9, 2009 7:11 AM CST reply actions 0 recs