Quick Hits: The Latest News On The Dallas Cowboys

When baseball hitters take pitches, they are supposed to be taking them because they are looking for the pitch in their zone that they can hit for a base hit or more. It sometimes seems to me that Romo never operates with the football version of this hitting principle. Take the flare out to Choice during the second O series of the second half. Before he threw it, I checked the coverage and could clearly see the play would be stopped for a loss. Yet, Romo still threw it, instead of just throwing the ball away. He’s done this far too many times on this exact same route. On two previous occasions, the RB’s have fumbled because the D was already pressing the player even before the ball got there.

This is the offense I thought we were getting this season…it’s worth mentioning that Romo is 3-7 over his last 10 starts. Check the first 8 game/last 8 game breakdown at the end of the article.

Head Coach Garrett through the 2011 season looks just like 2010 Head Coach Phillips. We can thank Rob Ryan for not being 0-4.

By Rainer Sabin / Reporter
8:00 AM on Thu., Dec. 9, 2010

http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/12/how-much-has-cowboys-offensive.html

It was methodical, deliberate and impressive. From the way it was engineered to the end result that was produced, the Cowboys’ 81-yard drive in the fourth quarter of their 38-35 victory Sunday over Indianapolis was a defining sequence for this team.

This march was indeed something to behold. As it moved downfield on way to scoring a touchdown, Dallas ran 18 plays and absorbed 10 minutes, 18 seconds off the clock.

Not once during that period were the Cowboys not in control. They dictated the tempo and hammered the Colts like a battering ram, pushing them closer and closer to their own goal line.

“You’re sitting there holding the ball, you’re eating up clock and you want to come away with a score,” center Andre Gurode said. “And we did.”

In many ways, the Cowboys willed their way to the end zone, making choices during that possession that clearly indicated their offensive philosophy has changed dramatically since Jason Garrett was elevated to head coach in early November. That became increasingly evident after each of the seven first-down plays they executed during the drive. All were runs.

That was quite revealing, considering that a team’s modus operandi in first-down situations usually offers clues about the overall tendencies of the offense. This season, Indianapolis and New Orleans have attempted more passes on first down than any other NFL club.

That should come as no surprise, because with a fresh set of downs, an offense is no longer a victim of circumstance and can accentuate what it values. In turn, it does not need to adjust its strategy based on the outcome of the previous play. Only when it is pinned in the shadow of its own end zone or has been penalized are a team’s options limited on first down. In most cases, the offense dictates the terms.

That’s why it’s so remarkable how substantially the Cowboys’ choices in these situations have changed during the course of the season.

In the last eight games of Wade Phillips’ tenure, Dallas attempted 81 rushes on first down- the fewest number in the NFL during that span. In that same period, and in similar circumstances, they threw 144 times – more than any other team in the league.

But since Garrett has been the head coach, the Cowboys are not nearly as trigger-happy once they have been presented with a new set of downs. In the last four games, the Cowboys have run the ball 63 times on first down – the seventh-highest total in the NFL during that period. On the other hand, they have attempted only 47 passes on first down in that same stretch.

This wouldn’t be surprising if the results on the ground have improved noticeably. But they haven’t. In the first eight games, just like the last four, the Cowboys have gained 3.8 yards per rush attempt on first down.

So, what gives?

“I couldn’t tell you the reason,” said running back Tashard Choice.

There are extenuating factors that may have influenced the shift in strategy. The loss of quarterback Tony Romo, and the resultant promotion of Jon Kitna, could have forced Garrett to be less aggressive. The fact that the Cowboys have had more leads to protect recently could have also affected Garrett’s playcalling on first down.

But because of how marked the transformation has been, all signs seem to indicate this was a premeditated course correction. Never was that more apparent than on that drive against Indianapolis, when the Cowboys ran the ball over and over again, showing a commitment to a philosophy they seemed reluctant to embrace only months before.

First Eight Games
Rush attempts on first down; NFL Ranking: 81; 32
Pass Attempts on first down; NFL Ranking: 144; 1
Rush yards on first down: 307
Avg. rush yards per attempt on first down: 3.8
Net Pass yards on first down: 913
Avg. pass yards per attempt on first down: 6.49

Last Four Games
Rush attempts on first down; NFL Ranking: 63; 7
Pass attempts on first down; NFL Ranking: 47; 22
Rush yards on first down: 238
Avg. rush yards per attempt on first down: 3.8
Net pass yards on first down: 366
Avg. pass yards per attempt on first down: 8.15

He has been killing teams in the Slot

I don’t care how long a kick return is nearly as much as I care about starting field position.

Say Buehler is getting 25 yards per return on his kicks but on average they’re returned out 7 yards deep from the endzone, while Bailey’s getting 22 yards per kick return but they’re returned from the 3. In that case, opponent starting field position for Buehler’s kicks is on the 18, while Bailey’s kicks are on the 25. If that’s the case I’d much rather have Buehler over Bailey despite the longer returns.

Is that the case? I don’t know, but presenting the facts above are meaningless without proper context. Show me what really matters. After that, we’ll consider if Buehler faced better kick returners than Bailey and we’ll really be onto something… with a horribly small sample size.

with Garrett about running the ball late in the game on Sunday. Wonder what he said. “Great play calling.” or “Should have thrown it more”. BTW/ Jimmy (Super Bowl) Johnson was on Dan Patrick this morning and said the Boys should have been running and punting once they were up by 24. Also, Jimmy said that the Cowboys do NOT have much of a running game but even so that’s what they should have done.

Sensi set the record at combine with a 46 inch vertical, now ,would he have been in position to utilize that special power….that’s the question

I know he won’t be amazing from the get go, but once he gets used to playing again and gets a good handle on it our D will be goooood.

Also, I’m getting tired of all the former Cowboys bashing Romo. We get that he made mistakes, but having people from his own organization publicly crucify him can’t possibly make anything better. And then when the ONE GUY that sticks up for him says something, Pearson crucifies HIM for it. Geez, get over yourself.

so why not go low and turn him on his head or drive him out?

I’m not sure you can cover him unless the throw is errant. Where can you find a CB or safety who’s 6-3 or 6-4 or 6-5 who has 4-3 or 4-4 speed and can cover in this universe. I’d like to see how Revis does against him. I doubt he’d be able to cover him without help. I really don’t even feel that bad about his TD with 3 Cowboys covering him either. We still should have won that game.

go into Dallas and win, but the problem is… in both Minni and Dallas they got destroyed in the 1st half. When you can’t get the ball outside your own 20, you’re not going to win a lot of ballgames.

The Cowboys on the other hand, destroyed both the Jets and the Lions in the 1st half. People are shaking their heads, they still want to pick Dallas to lose but its getting difficult, injuries and Romo are all they have left to talk about. What happened to our soft secondary? Our aging ILB’s? Is Sean Lee so good that now no one can get 50 yards on us?

The last time I checked we were giving up 61 yards per game on the ground and there are 10 teams who give up more than 2x that. The Rams are coming to big D next and average 179 yards per game. 4th overall D and 3rd in sacks.

Offense – 6th overall and our starting QB has been injured for 3 games – we won 2 out of 3.

Special Teams – top 15 in everything and #1 in Field Goals made.

Compare that to last year…

Considering our #2 pick hasn’t gotten off the IR yet, our defense has only played 4 games in a new system and after NE our schedule doesn’t look all that tough.

Let’s remember that this QB put a pretty good string of wins together in 2006-08. I think we’re off to a pretty good start actually…

Enough of the Romo-Garrett bashing.