Cowboys are Reactive instead of Proactive

by RealAlbertEinstein on Oct 10, 2009 1:21 PM CDT Comment 6 comments

How many times has Wade mentioned that the defense had to adjust to what the offense was running? If that is the case, why would the Cowboys on the last 2 plays against the Broncos react to their 8 man line?

They should have spead the Broncos out with 4 Wrs / TE especially with Witten and say rush 8 if you like. Besides, you could have rolled Tony to one side or the other to make it more difficult. Instead of forcing other teams to change, teams are doing that to the Cowboys.

There are two strategies that give Tony problems. They are to rush 6 or 7 or create confusion by not lining up right away in their final position. Just use some quick counts and catch them out of position and increase the odds of a RB breaking a big play. The short pass across the line of scrimmage to a RB chipping to block will slow the all out blitz, because all 3 RBs can turn it into a big play. Once they bust one or two, the opposing D will back off.

If I were the Cowboys, I would try to run the ball, use the screen pass and especially pass to the RB's coming out of the backfield. How many times, have I seen a RB or Te on the opposing team to stay in to block and then release and have plenty of room to run.

The Cowboys strength is RB & TE and they don't take advantage of this enough. It will slow the blitzers down especially with a missed tackle or two, you have a big play that is safe to throw. This would also loosen the defense, so Tony could take some 1 on 1 shots down the field. Besides, in Dec. using your RBs and TE's to the fullest can result in a winning record. The Cowboys have depended too much on the big pass and that can be taken away especially by good teams in cold or windy weather.

I just like to see the Cowboys impose their will on a team for a change. I believe by doing so, they would not fold late in the season and could be a tough team to beat.

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You're right, and a par tof this is Romo trying to be PManning at the line of scrimmage

changing everything while time ticks off. Some eams can do that-ours can’t.
A few times a game when he sees something big, sure-but he’s doing it all the time! And this team’s O is just not a fine-tuned machine that can handle. Thus, the misread/misrun routes and general confusion-let’s not even talk about blitz pickup.
Call the play-adjust every now and then, but mostly execute what’s there!

Oh, and also, teams know Romo’s no Manning-so they fake him into changing things! Smart players are showing this or that, knowing Romo will check into something else-which they can then predict!

by Realist Larry on Oct 10, 2009 1:47 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

RB & TE

Concerning this statement…

The Cowboys strength is RB & TE and they don’t take advantage of this enough.

….I feel that in the first 3 games (TB, NYG, CAR) that DAL leaned more heavily on the RBs and TEs (which was good) but not in the DEN game (which was bad)

For example, in the first 3 games:
RBs and TEs were targeted 73% of the plays from scrimmage.

But in the DEN game:
RBs and TEs were only targeted 59% of the plays (that’s a huge drop of 14%)

Don’t let one game (the Denver game) fool you or distort your expectations. I believe that the RBs and TEs in most games will represent near 75% of the plays called from scrimmage.

by BishopWest on Oct 10, 2009 11:37 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I definitely agree

but I think a lot of that had to do with denver taking that away because they had a secondary that could take on our receivers 1 on 1. From everything i’ve read, it sounds like Denver focused on taking away witten.

Bennet has been a disappointment so far.

by foyesboys on Oct 10, 2009 11:49 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why does it have to be that hard?

Roll out the 2 TE set (or even 3).
Call 2 plays
If the D bring out too many coverage guys. line up tight and blow them off the line.
If they bring out goalline type defenders then split Witten and Bennett wide and run a pass play. They will outsize most DB’s and outrun most LB’s

Why does it have to be any more complicated than that?

"Where's Woody? - We need another Darren Woodson

by BoyfromOz on Oct 11, 2009 7:53 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs