Night of the Living Dread: The Cowboys Zombies Wore Jerseys, Not a Headset
by Rafael Vela on Nov 17, 2009 12:58 PM CST
160 comments
I see some pitchforks have flown out of some sheds after Dallas' 17-7 loss to Green Bay, and the holders want Jason Garrett's head. One game removed from a four game win streak where the offense averaged 30 points per contest, Garrett has apparently experienced Rapid Onset Coordinator Dementia (CORD).
"He's predictable!" "He never runs the ball!" "He calls passes on every play!"
Set the torches down for a second. Garrett's game plan didn't deviate any from his others this year. What went missing Sunday afternoon was the usual precision we've come to associate with those plans. You saw zombies at Lambeau Field Sunday, but they were wearing white jerseys, not roaming the sideline with a play sheet.
The Cowboys went to the locker room at the half trailing 3-0. After Felix Jones' phantom fumble, they fell behind 17-0 with 10:44 to go and didn't run again. I'm going to break down the Cowboys play calls for those three quarters, when the game was in contest.
Exhibit I
First down play calls, quarters 1-3:
- Runs -- 6
- Passes -- 6
Perfectly balanced. What you expect from a team that has been potent on offense. Let's add that 4th quarter drive that ended with the Romo fumble and Felix' phantom recovery. The ratio got to 7:8 run to pass. Nothing extreme there.
2nd down calls moved slightly more to the pass, at 4:7 run to pass. On the whole, Garrett is calling a 11:15 run to pass attack on 1st and 2nd down. I don't see anything out of character from his game calls during the four game winning streak. That's been Jason Garrett's general ratio all year.
Exhibit II
Yards per call
- 1st down passes: 8 att. 70 yards; 2 sacks 8.8 YPA
- 1st down runs: 7 att., 22 yards. 3.1 YPA
- 2nd down passes: 6 att., 2 sacks, 1 drop, 35 yards, 5.9 YPA
- 2nd down runs: 4 att., 20 yards, 5.0 YPA
Garrett had big pass play calls sprinkled through his 1st and 2nd down calls. Here's the sequence on each:
1st down passes: 3 yds., INC, 6 yds., 41 yds., Sack, Inc., 20, Sack
2nd down passes: 19 yds., 13 yds., Sack, 3 yds., Sack, Drop.
I want to look more at two points on this list. Note that on fourteen early-down pass attempts, where you have play action to hold rushes, the Cowboys line gave up four sacks. That's one sack every 3.5 attempts. That's expansion team performance. To quote Tom Coughlin, "that's not the football we teach around here." I'm sure Hudson Houck, Garrett and the other offensive assistants feel the same way about their group. I doubt the Cowboys coaches factor in sacks on a third of their pass plays when they devise game plans.
In other words, I don't blame the play caller for that number of sacks.
Now, some attention to the three plays in bold. The incompletion came on Dallas' first drive, on a 1st and 10 at the Green Bay 26. Garrett called a long-developing, deep crossing route for Miles Austin, and Austin broke free just inside the Packers ten. Tony Romo's pass was high, however, and Austin could not claim it. Two plays later, Nick Folk missed a 38 yard field goal.
The 41 yard play was a first-down play action that beat a Packers blitz. Roy Williams was going to put Dallas in field goal range in one play, with seven an option, but Roy forgot to hold on to the ball after the grab.
The bolded drop is the second big pass to Williams where he was open inside the Packers 30. Here, he dropped a perfectly thrown Romo ball.
So, what exactly is wrong with any of these calls? The first would have produced a touchdown, had Romo made a better throw. The other two would have put Dallas at first and ten in field goal range. And let's not let Nick Folk off the hook. Garrett's calls put Dallas in range or a reasonable 38 yard attempt.
Garrett can't make the passes, the catches or the kicks. He got his people in place to make the plays. It's not his fault that nearly every one of his offensive players bungled at least one big play in that game.
Exhibit III
Average plays per game - 60
- 1st half plays, Sunday - 21
- 3rd quarter plays - 8
Dallas had three first half first downs Sunday. One play drives will do that to you. Walking away from a well-called six-play drive without a touchdown or field goal will leave you grasping.
Dallas had only eight snaps in the 3rd, and the OC is the last guy I would blame. He made the call to get Roy Willie wide open. He can't catch the ball. He got Tashard Choice open on the next play for another big gain. He can't run Jason Witten's route for him. The Senator is a multi-year vet. He knows how to run a crossing combination without committing an illegal pick. But Witten didn't.
Dallas was destroyed on time of possession in the middle of the game. That was due to poor execution. The linemen and backs couldn't pass block. They didn't blow the Packers of the ball on run downs either. The first three runs produced 25 yards, but the next seven runs moved the ball six yards. There was no evidence in the 2nd and early 3rd quarters that Dallas should hammer the ball on several consecutive downs. The yards were coming through the air, when they came at all.
The receivers, or in this case one receiver, couldn't catch the football. The quarterback couldn't connect with his biggest target. (And since we're here, can we shift the debate to why Romo suddenly is in sync with Roy Williams and out of sync with Miles Austin, two weeks after the opposite was true? All of Romo's passes to Williams the last two games were between the numbers or on the face. Almost all his passes to Austin in Green Bay and Philly were high.)
The offense simply didn't execute. You could have exhumed Bill Walsh and Tom Landry and let them alternate calling plays for this bunch and Dallas still would have stared at a big, fat zero after three quarters.
Zombieland is just a movie, folks. Bringing back the legendary play-calling dead would not have mattered. Jason Garrett didn't suddenly get stupid after a month of excellence. Nobody ate his brains Sunday. His players? Some of them looked awfully pale, I have to say. If you must take your torches and your pitchforks to the streets, look for the undead wearing the jerseys.
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The big question is.
Does Romo get a haircut this week?
How bout dem Frogs!!!!
Yeah, he should
Based on his claim he was waiting for a loss.
Larry Allen benched 700 pounds. That is Leonard Davis times two.
I hear you. Personally I'm done with my
“Game Day Mug”. It has failed me for the last time.
FREE THE OGLETREE!!!
Sorry guys, this one's on me
I didn’t wear my lucky black boxers. I was in a hurry for work and put on GREEN undies. Don’t lose faith in your mug, dunk…
Epic Fail since 1985
by the red scare on Nov 17, 2009 4:32 PM CST up reply actions
I'll take some too..
I forgot to put my Dog’s jersey on because he was scratching all day…I knew it would come back to haunt me.
Guess we ALL
should have had our game faces on. This is sad. If Aaron showed better leadership, this stuff would never have happened…
FREE THE OGLETREE!!!
I'm glad I'm not the only one with stupid rituals.
Sometimes I switch jersey’s midgame when I"m home if I don’t like how one player is doing or if I think someone else needs my help haha
I kid you not.
I had forgotten to wear my lucky Wal-Mart Cowboys hat and didn’t remember to put in on until late in the 4th. Then, they scored.
As Gilly says, “Shorry”.
I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles...
by Aaron Novinger on Nov 17, 2009 9:37 PM CST up reply actions
Great post Raf
the media was wayyy to quick to jump on Garrett for this. They look at stats, see our minimal number of rushes and blame him, but its so much more complicated than that.
Imo the Boys were just flat.
Coming off the big win in Philly and on the road for two in a row. I said before the Philly game I’d love to win them both, but would take a split. I’m glad if we had to lose one of them it was GB and not Philly.
How bout dem Frogs!!!!
We got the Split we needed.
And if we win the next 2 games we are fine. Its all about December this year anyway. KneeJerk Panic is way too early (wait 3 weeks and re-evaluate). Cowboys just dont have the mental makeup to “want it” week in week out, like say the Colts. We have to put up with the small improvements they have shown and hope they continue in the future.
I don't know that they "don't have the mental makeup"
Maybe they are still learning it. I totally agree that it was alright to split the PHI and GB games, and much better that we beat PHI. Was anyone else worried before this game about us peaking too early again and getting fat heads only to be exposed in Dec./Jan.? I think this loss will be good for the team in the long run (of course not counting the injuries).
I worry about every game with this team.
How bout dem Frogs!!!!
We all do until
they have a longer stretch of success. But that’s fine. If they don’t have it, they’ll put themselves out of their misery and if they do, they’ll come back swinging.
FREE THE OGLETREE!!!
I'm absolutely upset that we lost
but I was actually worried that we might score to easily on these guys and run away with this game. I thought that would end up being pretty bad for the Cowboys because of how they tend to “eat the cheese”. Hopefully, this refocuses them.
You can do a lot of things in life. You can't stab a teammate with a pair of scissors. - Kevin Smith
Let's stop this whole "mental makeup" talk...
Even the Colts have down games. They almost lost to the 49ers and then came back and almost lost to the Texans with both games at home. Did they end up winning those games? Yes they did, but to say they play a consistent level of football (the supposed opposite to the Cowboys) is absolutely over-stated. I appreciate the fact that they are undefeated, but that is probably reflective of the fact that they are currently a better football team than Dallas, not a much more focused one. The reality is that all teams have their ups and downs within a season (even if it isn’t reflected in the W-L record) and no team plays the same week in and week out. Some teams are surely more consistent than others, but this whole idea that there are teams free from deviations in play due to a superior “mental makeup” is BS.
If I had a nickel for every Super Bowl the Eagles have won, I would have zero nickels.
by Cowboyfan729 on Nov 17, 2009 4:04 PM CST up reply actions
yeah, I can only imagine what fans would be saying
if we only beat the Rams by a few points like the undefeated Saints did on Sunday.
In Romo we Trust
So you don't subscribe to the distractions theory either?
If you don’t think that focus and mental makeup are a factor, does that mean that you don’t buy that players like TO, Pacman, etc. affect the team?
by Baked Potato Soup on Nov 17, 2009 5:25 PM CST up reply actions
The entire time they were here I said as much. I thought it was BS to pull the TO card after games like Pittsburgh, but ignore the fact that we could win against NYG the next week despite the media attention. It seemed like a bad excuse and didn’t make much sense.
Now, I will openly admit that it seems I may have been slightly wrong if you read between the lines of some of the offseason comments and the moves made by the Cowboys. Ultimately though, I still believe that the reason we unraveled last year had very little to do with us having a selfish WR and two convicts on our defense. It instead had much more to do with us having an O-line that wore down and a defense that couldn’t make any plays. I would also add that while I was initially worried about T.O. leaving, after examining the stats and actually seeing the minimal impact T.O. had minus the 49ers game I was actually in support of the move. I also thought Pac and Tank were more than expendable.
I suppose to best answer your question I would concede that certain extreme situations can perhaps exacerbate deviations in play, but I stand by the premise that there aren’t teams out there that are undeniably better at “wanting it” week in and week out. Even teams like the Colts and the Saints have down weeks.
If I had a nickel for every Super Bowl the Eagles have won, I would have zero nickels.
by Cowboyfan729 on Nov 18, 2009 4:43 PM CST up reply actions
+1
The Colts prove this every year with the one and done Playoff appearances, (excluding 2006 of course).
The 2009 Dallas Cowboys: Talk to me in December.
The NFC East has won 11 Super Bowls; oddly none of those have come courtesy of the Eagles.
great stuff
wish some of the knee-jerkers in the media who get paid to analyze this stuff would figure some of this out, or even bother to read here and learn…
I don't like losing but....
i don’t have too much problem wtih losing this game…
the Pack D was is pretty good and came to play… their O would have not done much without the turnovers…
our D played well…
the Pack were desperate with their backs against the wall…. and they handed us one…
hopefully we learn, we take the next two VERY winnable games at home and continue improving on our season…
now, the injuries…. they BLOW!
You are so "spot on"
that I’m just sitting here nodding my head in total agreement
Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character. - John Wooden
(Head nodding violently) This was what I was talking about during the game
The yards were coming through the air, when they came at all.
I actually got upset when for two series they tried to run. As much as Romo was being hammered, their chance of getting some yardage passing was at least a number greater than zero…
I’ll say it again… the line was terrible and when you even think about how to put together a football team, this game shows why you build from the inside out. They need to think about how to fend off these all-out blltizes because the template is now out there…
FREE THE OGLETREE!!!
bad day..
Even when they ran a play for the tree he slips and gains nothing..
"No matter where you go, you are what you are playa"-Jay Z
Twitter Account
If we don't make them pay
Romo won’t last very long this year. As raf said in another post, the washington game wil be interesting cause they don’t blitz much and have done well against our O without blitzing. I think Oakland will bring heavy pressure after they see this weakness.
We absolutely must convert on these long plays, or else the Eagles and Packers may’ve just “exposed” us. As much as i hate to use that word.
The answer in my opinion will always be finding quick passes to hit.
It was the slant in the early 1990’s for the Cowboys (the Colts currently like it as well) and for teams like the Eagles and Patriots the screen pass has done quite well as of recently.
Unfortunately, every time we passed against GB it looked like Romo was reading the play deep to short (as I am sure the play is written up) and just didn’t have the time to always hit the first open guy he saw. This has been a problem in the past in my opinion and has lead to us seeing our passing game more or less stall out against better teams who are able to play good deep coverage. In the future, I hate to say it but I think it would be useful to add in some west-coast flavor to our offense against these teams who are blitzing us. Specifically I would love to see us throw more slants since we have two receivers in Austin and Roy who arguably have the slant route as their best routes. The other thing I would appreciate is moving Romo a little more (I really loved the moving shotgun call in the redzone even though it didn’t work). I know we have a big offensive line, but as Raf has said they actually play better under calls suited more for small, more mobile lineman. I think by moving Romo you can give him a better chance to make plays and make the defense work harder to blitz us effectively.
If I had a nickel for every Super Bowl the Eagles have won, I would have zero nickels.
by Cowboyfan729 on Nov 17, 2009 4:16 PM CST up reply actions
Agreed...
I wasn’t thrilled about Jason Witten not running a route against Denver in the redzone, but at the end of the day you must do what you have to do to keep the QB up even if it means running a play with only three options.
If I had a nickel for every Super Bowl the Eagles have won, I would have zero nickels.
by Cowboyfan729 on Nov 17, 2009 4:24 PM CST up reply actions
We lost because of poor execution, a horrendous fumble call and penalties. Garret had nothing to do with it. RW
drops two, Romo misses a wide open Marty B. for a sure TD, and we had the ball, but they gave it to them. So what, sh&t happens. Now for the Skins. They’re playing better it seems so we better watch out. No TV here for that one. After the Packer games, I think I can use a Sunday in my garden. See you and the Raiders on Thanksgiving. GO COWBOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Family, Friends, Cowboys, Beer & BBQ. Life is good!
That Marty B one hurt.
That would have been HUGE!
by Mandmeisterx on Nov 17, 2009 2:16 PM CST up reply actions
Not really
Dallas was down three scores and had 6 minutes left. The Austin miss one was the one that hurt.
FREE THE OGLETREE!!!
They were down 10
and that was the possession Romo threw the pick. That was with 8 minutes left too!
by Mandmeisterx on Nov 18, 2009 8:18 AM CST up reply actions
Ummm... No
It was 17-0 when the deep miss to Bennett happened. Go here for the play-by-play.
FREE THE OGLETREE!!!
I was just sure it was late
because it didn’t even upset me at the time – figuring it was too late to matter anyhow…
FREE THE OGLETREE!!!
Now that I've thought about it,
I remember thinking it would have put us within 10 with about 8 minutes left, and that’s why I was upset. I think 10 points in 8 minutes in not an insurmountable lead. That is why I was so bummed about it.
by Mandmeisterx on Nov 18, 2009 6:52 PM CST up reply actions
$250,000 bucks for flipping the bird. Rappers should be thankful Goodel isn't running their busines.
Family, Friends, Cowboys, Beer & BBQ. Life is good!
Bud will probably never pay more than 10K
A 2005 wall street journal article today talked about how professional sports rarely disclose how much of the money they collect from fines. That is why they probably donate the money to charities, it does not get disclosed; it is just a dog and pony show.
Ignore the Mainstream Media, EMBRACE THE HATE!!!!
Owners are held to a different standard.
He almost had to go that high when he disallowed Rush Limbaugh from minority ownership in a team.
by Baked Potato Soup on Nov 17, 2009 5:28 PM CST up reply actions
Romo will bounce back. A bump in the road is there to be hit. We hit it.
Family, Friends, Cowboys, Beer & BBQ. Life is good!
However...
4 of those 6 1st down runs you’re referring to, from qtrs 1-3, came in the 1st qtr. That’s two full qtrs, with the game still in reach, in which they ran the ball only twice on 1st down.
There is no question that much of this loss is on the players, (especially the offensive line) but I still believe the coaches have to take their share of the blame as well. What I didn’t like about the early down pass attempts were the sacks and hurries that came out of it. A lot of 2nd and 10 or longer as a result.
No one is perfect, and I think Garrett simply had an off day (and unfortunately limited opportunities) to get this Packer defense off balance and guessing.
Personally, and I don’t think I’m alone here, I wish Choice would get more carries especially since neither Felix nor Barber appear 100%. Every time he touches the ball something positive seems to happen, even it’s a simple two yard gain on what should be a busted play. I’ll take 2nd 8 any day over 2nd 15 because of a 1st down sack.
Obviously the if that handful of plays you have sited had been successful this game could have gone a completely different way; and that’s 100% on the players. But who knows, perhaps just two or three more called runs would have created just two or three more 3&5’s or better and they could have gotten something going that way.
As I look ahead I’m going to hope that the Doug Free is everything most of us hope that he is.
The 2009 Dallas Cowboys: Talk to me in December.
The NFC East has won 11 Super Bowls; oddly none of those have come courtesy of the Eagles.
keep in mind
We hardly touched the ball in the third quarter.
I agree with you on choice. Hes looked far and away our best running back this year due to injuries. I think we have to use him more.
Where I fault the coaching
is being prepared to answer the GB scheme. That won’t overcome execution that bad, but it might help take some pressure off the guys who were by and large executing – Romo and Barber.
FREE THE OGLETREE!!!
Here's what Ware said about Free
courtesy of the DMN site:
“Doug’s been going against me every day in practice,” Ware said. “He stops me a lot. He’s practiced against Greg [Ellis] when he was here. [Anthony] Spencer, a lot of good pass rushers. To be honest, Doug is really good. I think it’s about him getting his confidence and even in practice I told him instead of going against the second-team guy I want to practice against you because you’re going to have to go against a good pass rusher. I’m going to help to make sure he’s ready so it’s not going to be anything he hasn’t seen. He’s going to see the real thing in practice. I’ll go over there.”
FREE THE OGLETREE!!!
the kid will have to step up no doubt
I think it’s good he’ll be playing RT as opposed to LT to allow him to make the transition into playing against the big boys a little easier.
In Romo we Trust
I agree.
I also noticed Leonard Davis holding his own at LT. As soon as Flo came back in he let his guy blow right by him.
Not saying I want Leonard at LT, but Flo is playing really bad.
"No matter where you go, you are what you are playa"-Jay Z
Twitter Account
I'd rather have Flo tripping DL's than giving up sacks, Romo
was sacked 5 times. we were all licking our chops before the game of how many sacks DWare and Spencer will get in the game and the Pack just simply outplayed us.
this team really has a good vibe to it
And Ware is the man
"Where's Woody? - We need another Darren Woodson
by BoyfromOz on Nov 17, 2009 4:16 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Second on that
Good for Ware. He knows he can help us get better by schooling Free.
Apparently, Dom Capers thought Garrett abandoned the run
Dom Capers "``The game became one-dimensional,‘’ Capers told reporters. ``You can just go out and blitz, but if people are going to run the ball for big yardage on you, you’re foolish.’’
We sucked on Sunday...
Is our O-line really good when healthy or does Romo and Barber make them look good?
I see Romo running for his life too much, is that the case with Brady and Manning or those guys get rid of the ball sooner? I think this team still doesnt know how to handle blitzes.
its both, but more ol
Also, the way you beat constant pressure is getting the ball downfield. When you go 0/3 on those shots, and we also missed one to bennet later in the game…its hard to win
Well that's one way to beat the blitz
but I still think quick, short passes can stop a blitz pretty well too. They are generally higher percentage plays and can really discourage a defense who can’t get to a QB despite dialing up a great blitz package. GB did this really well against us by getting Rodgers to unload the ball even if it was only for five yards. This was important because it made their third downs more manageable and helped them just grind our defense down.
If I had a nickel for every Super Bowl the Eagles have won, I would have zero nickels.
by Cowboyfan729 on Nov 17, 2009 4:20 PM CST up reply actions
Not sure Romo had that much time
GB started shaky but as the Dallas D wore itself down, they had more success.
FREE THE OGLETREE!!!
What's Interesting to Me
Is that Green Bay supposedly had a terrible line, with all sorts of makeshift parts in place especially at the tackles. And in reality, Rogers did not have much time to set and throw, but he was able to move the ball because they ran a quick drop and quick release passing game.
This approach seems to be beyond us. We stay in the shotgun, run deep routes, and when Romo is pressured or sacked, complain about how bad the line is. I would love to see a comparison of how quickly Rogers got rid of the ball Sunday, versus Romo. I would venture than on average Romo had more time.
GB
Didn’t turn the ball over or drop easy completions either.
Oh, I don’t think Romo had more time. Romo stayed under heavy pressure.
Like Raf said we take care of the football we win, we didn’t, and we lost.
"No matter where you go, you are what you are playa"-Jay Z
Twitter Account
I don't have any stats on time
but my impression was that neither had much time in the first half, but Rodgers had much more time after that where Romo’s time did not improve.
FREE THE OGLETREE!!!
My Impression
Is different (obviously). It would be nice to see the objective data. There is a rush among some to blame the blocking and end the discussion there. I’m not so confident it is that clear cut.
I still find it ironic the Packers were able to move the ball with a line devastated with injuries by using the short passing game. Why they were able to succeed, with a worse line? (excepting Roy Williams drops, of course).
I get what you're saying
I don’t know if you’re right or not but it is really unusual that we lose one guy to an injury and our entire line looks like crap and our QB gets pummeled and can’t get the ball to the WR’s, and yet the other team putting in hoboes off the street on their line and they still manage to move the ball.
You can do a lot of things in life. You can't stab a teammate with a pair of scissors. - Kevin Smith
when you go 3 and out gazillion of times you get a loopsided time of possesion
I might be wrong, but at the end of third with the game still 3-0 the Pack had the ball for 30 min. even best defenses get gassed being that much on the field. I actually worry if playing so much will have any lingering effect on our D against the Skins
But GB's CB's are really good at press coverage
Wouldn’t Woodson and Harris jamming receivers throw off any sort of timing needed for those quick throws?
Romo took a beating Sunday.
The O line is going have to do a lot better job of protecting him or he won’t last. The run should help slow down the rush. That’s reason enough not to abandon it. GB was bringing it almost every snap the second half.
How bout dem Frogs!!!!
Folk isn't money. He once was, but he ain't no more. I thought we were set for the
next ten or so years with a FG kicker. What ever is bothering him, I hope it clears up soon.
Family, Friends, Cowboys, Beer & BBQ. Life is good!
I actually think it's McBriar's holds
one of his missed McB had the laces facing the wrong way, and he also took the blame for this last one.
http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/11/mat-mcbriar-takes-blame-for-missed-field.html
that’s the one thing that changed from last year. Brad may not have been much of a QB, but he was a damn good holder! maybe we need to bring him back and have one more one-trick specialist on the roster lol
I agree about execution, but it's not just Cowboys fans or media calling
him out. The Packers’ DC did, too. What did he see?
BTW, I also agree that the O line was awful, and if I recall correctly, they weren't
looking all that great even before Colombo went down.
I have no idea why he called us out.
There really was no reason for it. I think he was surprised that after dominating them in 08 by running the ball, we culdn’t do squat this game.
Bills fire Jauron
Well you can’t fire the players so fire the HC. That is so stupid to fire the HC in mid season. Maybe TO didn’t like him?
How bout dem Frogs!!!!
It's not a pitchfork or a torch, Raf...
It’s an opinion. And it’s not as unfounded as you are easily trying to dismiss it as.
The Cowboys running game was effective and it was abandoned before there was even a score on the board from either team. Barber’s first two runs on the first drive were for 13 yards and 7 yards. He got the ball three more times the rest of the game? Seriously?
Go look at the play-by-;play
where was it abandoned?
When Garrett calls runs on 2nd and 3rd and 4 and comes up one yard short?
When Williams fumbles on the 1st play of a drive?
The Cowboys didn’t run many PLAYS period in the first half, never mind runs.
by Rafael Vela on Nov 17, 2009 11:25 PM CST up reply actions
It was abandoned
When we decided to only line up in our base offense for 13 snaps the entire game. When we keep lining up in the shotgun, it makes it really easy for the defense to just bring the blitz. So out of ~60 plays, we line up behind center 13 times. That’s crazy. That’s giving up on the run and showing the defense that we won’t even try to run a play action.
"So you can’t stiff arm at all? What about the throat?"- Marion "Barbarian" Barber
The shotgun formation doesn't automatically mean it's a pass.
Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character. - John Wooden
Especially with this team
they run a lot of delays and draws out of the shotgun.
FREE THE OGLETREE!!!
I guess Romo can wear his hat backwards again.
I thought it was ridiculous he got so much criticism for wearing his hat backwards anyway, Big Ben wears his hat backwards.
Its hard to run the ball when you hardly ever have it whcih was the case Sunday. I just hope Miles can start making big plays again.
Or that Roy can hang onto the ones he makes...
The 2009 Dallas Cowboys: Talk to me in December.
The NFC East has won 11 Super Bowls; oddly none of those have come courtesy of the Eagles.
Big Ben looks like a doofus when he does it, too.
Until he holds up his rings.
by Baked Potato Soup on Nov 17, 2009 5:31 PM CST up reply actions
the only people I personally know
that have a problem with wearing a cap backwards are senior citizens, that should tell you something.
In Romo we Trust
I'm still on the Jason Garrett bandwagon
He’s been pretty impressive thus far. This is one game. EVERYTHING went wrong for us. You can’t just blame Garrett/Wade/whoever. We had bad calls, injuries, and poor execution. That’s hard stuff to overcome.
I think they’ll get it all corrected, though. I don’t expect this loss to linger. I still have faith.
Good post, Raf.
Epic Fail since 1985
How can I agree with both of these viewpoints? Good post Raf, but...
Great great commentary via that link
Thank you for that ScarletO.
I believe our true feelings should lie somewhere in between Raf’s (and Tex’s) undulating love for Garrett and the dissatisfaction felt by the pitchfork-holders (pitchforkees??).
Carrot’s had some spectacular gameplans and some that leave you scratching your head (despite the failure to execute).
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by accidental innuendo on Nov 17, 2009 4:12 PM CST up reply actions
undulating
I don’t think that word means what you think it means.
And some of you have to read more of Raf’s articles before you post things that are uninformed
You're right
I didn’t use it correctly.
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by accidental innuendo on Nov 17, 2009 6:14 PM CST up reply actions
not too many passes, but maybe too many out of the 11 personnel shotgun
seems like that’s what Sturm is saying… not that he passes to much but that by lining up in the 3WR shotgun every time you are telegraphing that you are going to pass and inviting the blitz. So their analyses are actually not contradictory.
As usual Raf, you're right on the money
The Cowboys lost for no other reason than lack of execution and turning the ball over, simple as that.
Had nothing to do with lack of leadership, poor coaching or play calling, overconfidence or anything else a lot of fans like to blame losses on.
Great analysis, very well done.
In Romo we Trust
OL play
One question I do have about Garrett’s play-calling was whether or not he provided enough help to the OL. When Free replaced Columbo, I noticed that he didn’t get any help (not to mention his bad technique of not keeping his center of gravity low).
I just wonder why he didn’t keep Witten in to help Free.
What surprised me about Sunday's game...
…was the revelation from Aikman that Ware and Spencer are tied for the team lead in QB pressures.
I consider pressures the real measure of a pass rusher’s value, not sacks, so to me that backed up what many on these boards have said— Spencer is making an impact as a pass rusher. However, that’s EXTREMELY bad luck to have that many pressures and no sacks!
I tend to think that it’s bad luck and the sacks will come eventually, but I wonder if there is something in his finishing technique or hand strength that Spence could work on.
Larry Allen benched 700 pounds. That is Leonard Davis times two.
no, the qb just seems to be getting the ball out at the last second
Like you said, pressure is the key and therefore the sacks will evetually come.
In Romo we Trust
WareWolf got his hair cut and I
drank from a coffee mug who’s game-changing powers have clearly expired. I am laying it on those factors…
FREE THE OGLETREE!!!
This week I need to come up with an antijinx...
Maybe I’ll eat a pulled pork sandwich for lunch every day til Sunday
Analysis is only half the story
The analysis zeroes in on mostly run vs. pass, but that is just one facet.
At half time, Garrett had to know the Cowboys were getting blitzed the same way / as often as Philidelphia did. The passing plays were game planned for long routes instead of shorter routes. Why did’nt, at halftime, Dallas switch to bubble screens, swing passes and slants as they did in the Phil. game plan? Romo completed a lot more passes at Philly with this philosophy and had a lot less sacks. Green Bay was doubling Whitten with a line backer and SS and shadowing Austin with the FS. That left Roy one on one, but that only worked so far (as we are painfully aware of). The complement to that would have been to have wide receiver bubble screens and RB screens / swing passes / wheel routes and maybe revereses, but none were called.
I think Romo needs to be put on Adderol.....
The guy must have ADD or something…. He totally lost his focus in this game… He wasn’t sharp… Seemed like there were receivers open, but he was too slow to make decisions and get the ball to them…. Some blame should be put on JG though… The guy runs one of the most basic and predictable offenses in the NFL… He needs to mix things up a bit!
well..
When you are running for your life, trying not to get stripped from behind, getting crushed on every third pass play and dealing with drops from your guys it is pretty difficult to be sharp.
His O-Line was a sieve all day and his other skill players were not doing a lot to help him or his confidence.
Blaming Romo is always easy because he’s the QB. But, if you watched that game with an ounce of understanding of offensive football you’d realize it’s hard to blame him for not being sharp on a day when he was getting absolutely manhandled.
Quick Passes
As was stated before…
I was much more concerned that there weren’t more quick 3step drops and slants then I was about a lack of a running game. The run was absolutely crushed after the first few attempts so I can’t blame JG for getting away from it..
but I would have liked to have seen a lot more screens and short routes. This is becoming the blueprint to stifle this offense. Lots and lots and lots or rushers. Until the offense starts to really gouge people on some slants/screens/quick outs then both phases of the game will struggle. I’d like to see JG fix that because currently there is a book out on how to flummox the boys and its up the guys to make defenses scared to blitz
Aikman also had...
..one of the best offensive lines this game has ever seen protecting him; if only Romo could say the same.
The 2009 Dallas Cowboys: Talk to me in December.
The NFC East has won 11 Super Bowls; oddly none of those have come courtesy of the Eagles.
This O-Line
Should be able to protect Romo for 3 steps. Yes, play-action and 5, 7 steps seem to be tough at the moment…but that’s because we have not consistently been able to beat the blitz with short routes.
Also..Short routes would mean Witten, Marty B and the backs could get more involved in the passing game because the short drop would negate the need for max protect and keeping tight ends in to block.
This line has been pretty decent all year, they have had bad games for sure but some good completions on short routes would help to slow the pass rush enough to open up the game a bit.
But, then again… the receivers do have to catch the ball to make this whole game plan work ..
Lots to work on this week..but the team hit a buzz-saw in GB. Can’t fix all the things that have gone wrong. But there is a trend developing of teams selling out with blitzes and that is a counter-able defensive strategy.
Not to mention, how can a play-action play work as designed if the run game is not successful?
I know we can get the pass out sometimes anyway for a big gain, like Roy’s fumbled 41-yarder, but we still have to have the threat of a run to make the PA pass freeze the secondary and linebackers as designed.
Wade Must Go
Tex still wants to know how this could happen? How in the world could the Dallas Cowboys come out flat? One stinkin’ win against a Green Bay team, who lost to winless Tampa Bay the week before, and the Cowboys don’t have to worry about December.
They’d be two games up in the division, they’d have tie breakers against three of their Wild Card competitors – Packers, Falcons, and Panthers. They’d have to beat the Redskins and Raiders to make the playoffs. This should have been billed as the most important game of the year.
Now, instead of beating a mediocre team, the Cowboys are going to have to beat the Giants, Chargers, and/or Saints in December… a nearly impossible task. Damn you Wade. He pre-game motivational speech must have been a doozy. Phillips should have had the foot on the throttle all week, but he coasted and clearly didn’t have this team ready to play. These stinkers show up all to frequently under the beleaguered Wade Phillips, and it is no wonder he’s never won a playoff game as a head coach.
There is no fire. There is no accountability. There are no John Roper type cuts to get control of his team. There are no gadget plays on special teams or offense to light a spark when this team comes out slow. Wade is not a leader of men and he will be fired after another late-season collapse. And, looking back, it will be this Green Bay game that costs him his job.
(sigh)
can’t really disagree with Tex there…
on some level he is right, you have no way of predicting how the Philly game will end up, but
if you take care of your games we would have been 2 games up in the div (we probably would have stunk the Skins game, because everybody’s head would have been huge). Nevertheless, this team is still work in progress mentally and the players are what they are, but the coaches are responsible to make them play inspiring football and execute.
wrong as usual Tex
The Cowboys just need to beat their divisional opponents and pathetic Oakland and they win the East.
They don’t have to beat the Chargers or Saints.
Try getting a clue sometime.
In Romo we Trust
He said the Giants, Chargers, and/or Saints. The Giants are in our division.
by Baked Potato Soup on Nov 17, 2009 11:08 PM CST up reply actions
You need to reread his post.
He doesn’t say that they have to beat all 3 teams, he says they have to beat at least one of those 3 teams.
by Baked Potato Soup on Nov 19, 2009 8:12 PM CST up reply actions
Terry..?
You do realize that the division is won by the team with the best overall record not the team with best divisional record?
The divisional record only comes into play for tie-breakers. If the Cowboys were to win only their remaining divisional games and nothing else they would finish 10-6. What if the Giants only remaining loss was to the Dallas and they won everything else for example? They would finfish 11-5 in that scenario and win the division despite Dallas having a better divisional record.
So actually it’s not true that the Cowboys simply need to win the divisional games, they will most likely need to win at least one of the remaining games outside of the division.
The 2009 Dallas Cowboys: Talk to me in December.
The NFC East has won 11 Super Bowls; oddly none of those have come courtesy of the Eagles.
Oops… I missed what you said about Oakland.
Not sure how. :-/
Just the same, I still think they’ll have to beat either the Chargers or Saints to win this division this year. I just have a feeling that the race will be close enough that one of those non-divisional games will be the difference.
The 2009 Dallas Cowboys: Talk to me in December.
The NFC East has won 11 Super Bowls; oddly none of those have come courtesy of the Eagles.
I think a safer guarantee is 12 wins.......
you are assuming that the Giants/Philly each drop one more game. They probably will, but I wouldn’t guarantee it yet. Who knows, they might catch a hot streak and go undefeated. I think, to be on the safe side, we can only afford to drop one more game at this point.
I would be SHOCKED
if those two teams didn’t drop another game. The Eagles are wayyy too inconsistent offensively and the Giants have a lot to prove. Not to say they can’t make the playoffs, but it would be a miraculous turnaround if one of those two won out.
almost impossible IMO
I think our odds of winning out are much greater and I know that won’t happen either.
In Romo we Trust
Thank you, Raf
OCs don’t call interceptions, fumbles, dropped passes or missed blocks.
Keep doing what you been doing, keep getting what you been getting.
I still want Red to be the next Head Coach
I like our offense and don’t want to bring in a new system—especially some uncowboy-like West Coast abomination. I like running plays from the Shotgun. We invented it. I love our running game, but even compared to the 90s, you have to be able to pass b/c there are a lot of good teams that can put up points (incidentally they aen’t afraid to run the shotgun). The good news is we are versatile. I don’t care what our run/pass ratio is in any game, I just want us to be able to run or pass when either works. Against he Packers neither did. It happens. 13-3 isn’t so bad. Come on 13-3 (but I’lll take 12-4).
especially some uncowboy-like West Coast abomination
The west coast offense works well against the blitz. Garrett either has to find some solution to the blitz happy schemes people are using against us or he has convert to the quick slants of a west coast offense.
I’d say most of us don’t care about scheme or being cowboy-like as long as we are winning games. Unfortunately at the moment people are teeing off on Romo and neutralizing one of our biggest weapons.
If Garrett can show his ability to use schemes to make up for his players’ deficiencies in the pass protection department then he’ll get the nod. But currently he hasn’t shown yet the ability to cover up a weakness on the line.
Witten on the pick block penalty
If you watch closely, the Packer is pushing him the entire time for about 7 yards right into the other Packer defender. So yes it was a pick but the defender was interfering with his route.
I think I started this whole debate this morning.
Too bad I have to work all day so I couldn’t have stayed in it. Anyway, I made the comment that Garrett got outcoached, and it seemd to start an avalanche of debate. Although the debate took on the life of run vs. pass, that’s not really what was bothering me so much. Sure it would have been nice to see us try a run in the 4th quarter when we had a 1st and goal at the 1 yard line, but we passed and it was intercepted. Maybe it just seemed like we abandoned the run. With no more plays than we ran you could say we didn’t throw much either.
Anyway, in my case I was actually referring to the very frustrating pass rush Green Bay hung on us. It would have been nice to see us counter the blitzes with something. We tried to run the hurry up for a series, but it kept getting interrupted. We tried max protect on a few plays, but blitzers just kept flying up through the middle of the line. We never tried to stop it but stuffing it down their throats, that’s for sure. We never seemed to get it stopped. This was one of those games where Romo never had time to throw the ball. I think we all know this is pretty much everyone’s game plan to beat us. Blitz us into oblivion. Why not? It works better than trying to outscore us.
Pitchforks? Calling for someone’s head? Nah. I preceded my statement with complimenting the brilliance of this coaching staff over the last month. I specifically mentioned this team not being properly prepared for this game. Maybe the coaches did their part, and the players were flat because that’s just what they do sometimes. Nobody really knows for sure.
I can tell you this much with great certainty. We’ve seen this before. Tom Landry didn’t believe in firing players up. He believed in meticulous preparation, conditioning, and talent. It worked for nearly 3 decades. We have the talent and conditioning. Maybe this will never go away as long as we have this coaching staff. Maybe it will never go away as long as we have certain players on the o-line. Maybe we haven’t solved anything at WR. Maybe this team will continue to learn and evolve. Only time will tell.
Last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself, "where the heck is the ceiling?"
There are two schools of thought by analysts
Rafael, Norm Hitzges are of the opinion that the offense did not execute with the opportunities they had to put points on the board.
Bob Sturm and DCfanatic are of the opinion that the ball was not run enough, more to the point Bob states that the use of the shotgun was a clear signal to the defense to blitz.
It is very interesting debate, I can see the merit of both sides.
Here is norm and bob:
http://www.theticket.com/Portals/2/UserFiles/User70160/KTCK_111709_1-Norm-Bob.mp3
Ignore the Mainstream Media, EMBRACE THE HATE!!!!
4th and 1
What irritated me about the GB game was the lack of momentum – by either team really – in the first half – which made the game extremely boring to watch IMO. There was a drive in the 2nd quarter where we got the ball with 9:50 left on the clock – We had a 3 and out, with 4th and 1 at the DAL 34. Up to that point we were averaging 3.8 yards/carry, and we have MB3 for christ’s sake – he didn’t get the nickname “Barbarian” for no reason! Can we really not show a little sack and pick up 1 yard to keep the drive alive and take away some of the home field advantage??
Forget about winning and losing; forget about pride and pain. Let your opponent graze your skin and you smash into his flesh; let him smash into your flesh and you fracture his bones; let him fracture your bones and you take his life. Do not be concerned with escaping safely - lay your life before him. - Bruce Lee
after arguing on another post about how good beliciks decision was
THAT would be crazy. Early in a game, in a defensive battle, when your oline is getting owned, you do not go for it.
I dunno
Neither offense had taken the bull by the horns, it was just a feeling I got – our defense was playing good, and to think that we couldn’t get 1 yard at that point seemed unlikely to me – i think MB3 could of had it pretty easily and we could have kept the drive alive
Forget about winning and losing; forget about pride and pain. Let your opponent graze your skin and you smash into his flesh; let him smash into your flesh and you fracture his bones; let him fracture your bones and you take his life. Do not be concerned with escaping safely - lay your life before him. - Bruce Lee
re: Belichek's decision
I would have gone for it too in his case, he has tom brady – we have MB3
Forget about winning and losing; forget about pride and pain. Let your opponent graze your skin and you smash into his flesh; let him smash into your flesh and you fracture his bones; let him fracture your bones and you take his life. Do not be concerned with escaping safely - lay your life before him. - Bruce Lee
we would have passed as well, don't kid yourself.
difference is Witten would have gotten the first down. ;)
In Romo we Trust
Thanks for being a voice of reason, Raf.
"Everybody wants something but nobody wants to pay the price" - Michael Irvin
Very Interesting...
So Jason Garrett has a Left Tackle that get’s sloppy in pass blocking at times, a set of WR’s where no one is the clear cut ‘go to guy’ going up against a team with two solid press man CB’s, a road game in Green Bay, three viable RB’s who are all averaging a least 4.6 YPC and a defense who is right now playing their best ball since maybe the end of last season.
And you state he’s just going with his usual 11:15 run pass ratio on 1st and 2nd downs and act like it’s not a problem.
Is it just me or does that seem bass akwards?
What’s harder to do?
Line up in a two/three TE set and hand it off to one of those three viable RB’s OR come out in a three wide set and then hope the blocking assignments are called and executed properly against a blizt happy 34 defense in a road game?
Jason Garrett may have been following his ‘usual’ pattern when this game began.
But each game is it’s own animal. He has to evolve into a Off Cor who can go old school if that’s the animal playing out on that Sunday.
Ask youself this question.
Do you think we can ever expect Jason Garrett to come up with a 65:35 run to pass ratio game (competive games, not blowouts) ?
We have surely seem him come up with just the opposite already in his stint here in Dallas. There has never been a game when he has been accused of becoming disenchanted with the passing game after having minimal success in the first half.
But again the opposite pops up once or twice a season.
One more thing.
After Tashard Choice came up about a half yard short on that 3rd down with about 8 minutes left in the second quarter the Cowboys never again ran the ball on consecutive plays.
And people will say that we were in a 2nd and 11 or a 2nd and 13 so running the ball was out of the equation. Why? We have all seen three RB’s pop off with a 8,9,10 yard run which get us into a managable 3rd down at times.
Garrett surely didn’t lose the game. There were plays to be made.
But just as he gets credit when due he should just as easily get some criticism when due.
Go Cowboys!
If it works, then why not?
I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles...
by Aaron Novinger on Nov 19, 2009 2:57 PM CST up reply actions
Yep...
This whole ratio discussion is stupid. The fact of the matter is that teams should do what works and as it applies to the GB game Garrett should have run the ball more or at least changed up the formations considering the beating Romo was taking.
If I had a nickel for every Super Bowl the Eagles have won, I would have zero nickels.
by Cowboyfan729 on Nov 20, 2009 8:25 AM CST up reply actions
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