Barber: 4 for 77yds; 16 for 23. Yikes

by mlibbey on Oct 20, 2008 1:35 PM CDT Comment 18 comments

Barber is killing the Cowboy's offense. He's becoming a boom bust running back, where he'll run for tons of yards on a few plays, otherwise he'll get stuffed. Against the Rams, his overall stat line looks great -- 20 rushes for 100 yards, but digging in, he had a miserable day. Four of his carries went for 77 yards. The other 16 carries totaled 23. Eleven of those 16 totaled 7 yards.

Against the Cardinals, he was 17-45 (2.6 yd ave). As if that isn't bad enough, the sub-splits are miserable. Thirteen of his runs totaled 16 yards. Against the Bengals, he totaled 23 for 84 yards, but 2 runs got him 32yards. His remaining 21 rushes averaged 2.4 yards. In the infamous 8 rush game v Washington, 7 of his rushes totaled 11 yards. Even against GB, where he had 28 rushes for 142, 9 of his caries yielded 101 yards -- the other 19 averaged 2.1 (though 9 big carries is a great rate).

Those numbers simply can not sustain drives, and forces us to become one-dimensional. The last few year's 'boys had an incredible offense because opponents couldn't focus on anything without getting burned -- there were too many mega weapons. Chosing between doubling up Barber, Witten, or TO was a no-win situation.

The O-line is certainly somewhat to blame. In an ironic twist though, F. Jones seems to find extremely consistent yardage -- just like Barber did last year when J. Jones couldn't. The last 2 weeks, F. Adams seems to have devolved into a journeyman level player. Is he just horrid because he can't rely on Procter doing anything? If so, Kosier just might be the team's MVP.

If the Cowboys are going to get their offense back in line, Barber and the O-line need to consistently get 3-4 yards. We need a lot more 3rd and shorts to be successful.

Another user-created commentary provided by a BTB reader.

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It is completely on the o-line

I’m not seeing Barber missing the cutback lanes or holes like JuJo. Its just the o-line is playing pretty crappy. And Felix hasn’t been playing enough at all for you to draw a comparison. He hasn’t even hit ten carries since he’s been here.

by quincyyyyy on Oct 20, 2008 1:49 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The O-line is completely to blame on offense

not barber.

by Deke on Oct 20, 2008 2:05 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

So, why is F. Jones able to avoid the -2 to 2 yard gains?

by mlibbey on Oct 20, 2008 4:04 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think it is because he is able to turn the corner faster than Marion

Not many of Felix’s runs are called up the middle, where the majority of MB3’s runs get stuffed.

"So you can’t stiff arm at all? What about the throat?"- Marion "Barbarian" Barber

by DC_fan on Oct 20, 2008 4:08 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

But Maybe

The idea of getting the “other guy”, whether it is Choice, Felix or whoever, more carries would make Barber more valuable. The pace of the game is different if Barber starts and has a changeup back relieving him than it is if the speed guy starts and the power guy comes in to relieve. Note: Dallas is 4-4 since Barber became the starting back. I’m not sure Jason Garrett has used the other backs wisely.

"Well, we didn't block real good but we made up for it by not tackling."

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

by 5Blings on Oct 20, 2008 2:12 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I think Garrett

uses MB3 too much. I know he’s a beast, of course, but the other RBs are barely used

by Burt88 on Oct 20, 2008 2:19 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

there is an argument to be made

and I’ve made it before that MB3 is a finisher and thats where he excels. IMO, he’s not an effective 20-25 carry a game back.

I’d start the Cat, give him 10-15 carries per game, and use MB3 throughout the game as well but mostly as a closer.

In other words, our offense should have been the same as last season with the Cat replacing Julius as the starter.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Oct 20, 2008 2:21 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Great posts.

5blings, Burt, and Terry: Garrett needs to understand the “finisher” aspect of Barber. He is not the only RB on the team. How hard would it be to have Choice in every 3rd series yesterday? Is Garrett afraid of hurting MB3’s feelings?

Our OC is showing some real stubborn tendencies.

That #38 sure should wrap up!

by Aaron Novinger on Oct 20, 2008 2:24 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Yesterday

I think I saw Barber get 14 carries in the 1st 20 minutes of the game. Was it just me or did that really happen? I think it did happen. That’s a no-no to do with Barber. I think you remember what happened in last year’s playoff game don’t you? Barber got all tired in the 2nd half. There is no excuse to give Barber 27 carries and only 3 to other RBs. 9:1 come on. It should be more like 2:1 or something like that. I agree that we don’t use Choice to rest Barber at times. Barber is most effective when used mostly in the 2nd half and the games we win or lose show that

by Burt88 on Oct 20, 2008 3:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think this ties in with the other Fanposts on JG's run tendencies

It seems like Barber kills when he runs to the right, but most of his runs the last few games have come through the middle or to the left, where we get the least production. Another sign that Flozell is losing his touch?

"So you can’t stiff arm at all? What about the throat?"- Marion "Barbarian" Barber

by DC_fan on Oct 20, 2008 3:30 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

MB3 is not the reason for the team's struggles

In fact he’s one of the few consistently good players on offense.

You need to read the far superior fanpost Garrett and Run Tendancies that PercyHoward wrote a couple days ago.

T-New, shutting down WR's for Dallas since 2003

by APerfectStar on Oct 20, 2008 3:37 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

unfortunately

he’s gotten some fumble-itis… how many so far this year? how many last year? that has to stop and that’s not on the O-line or anyone else.

by Scoobay on Oct 20, 2008 5:16 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1111

I said that the other day. I think he’s had one each game this year…maybe one or two games w.o…

by AikmanNailedMySis on Oct 21, 2008 7:27 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe the refs keep giving us the "shiny" ball from the SEA playoff game?

by Mandmeisterx on Oct 21, 2008 9:08 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Barbers unbalanced stat lines are common.

Look around the league.

by Carl Shelton (GloryDayz88) on Oct 20, 2008 6:27 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Garrett Hasn't used the other backs wisely?

Garrett hasn’t used the other backs at all the way he should. It is a damned shame that we can’t see how exciting and electrifying Tashard Choice is. I would have thought that Garrett would have used him to the max against the Rams- They wouldn’t have had an answer for him. But of course, my assumption is that Garrett knows what he is doing- and I no longer feel that way about him. he has let us fans down. His inappropriate use of the running game is killing us. Obviously, he hasn’t learned the nuances and true value of the running game to the offense yet.

"Amongst the enemy's Liar, there will always be a DallasPalace!"

by DallasPalace on Oct 20, 2008 8:33 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

+1 Dallas.......

A true diehard Cowboys fan since 1975.

"If you don’t take him off the field as a coach, he will just about die out there," Jerry Jones said. "That impacted my decision. It’s a Michael Irvin-type work ethic. That’s what we are talking about with Felix Jones."
- Owner/G.M of the Dallas Cowboys , Jerry Jones

by BoyzRback on Oct 22, 2008 7:50 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think we are trying to run too much…every game we start with a run…we have become very easy to read….we need to change some things up…we shouldn’t be worried who gets the touches…we should be worried about getting points and that hasn’t been coming very well this year.

by nicholas.rodriguez on Oct 21, 2008 6:47 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs