FanPost

Cowboys Redzone Analysis - Week 1


With all the comment about Redzone woes, both last year and already this year, I'm interested to look at the Cowboys redzone plays to see exactly what is happening. Don't pretend to be an expert here - just my opinion.

Redzone trip 1:

1st & 10 at TB 20

(8:09 - 2nd) (Shotgun) D.Prescott pass short left to E.Elliott to TB 17 for 3 yards (J.Pierre-Paul).

Attempted screen to Zeke. Schultz and Jarwin lined out left as blockers. Schultz does a pretty good job on his guy. Jarwin looked like he was supposed to seal inside but failed badly. Looked like a good play call if blocked effectively. Zeke had space if the TE's had created a channel as intended.

2nd & 7 at TB 17

(7:27 - 2nd) (Shotgun) D.Prescott pass short right to A.Cooper to TB 13 for 4 yards (R.Cockrell).

Difficult to tell, but Dak may have been looking for Jarwin down the seam. Cooper ran a curl route which may have been intended to draw in one of the DBs away from Jarwin. It didn't, but left Coop wide open and was tackled short of the sticks.

3rd & 3 at TB 13

(6:46 - 2nd) (Shotgun) D.Prescott pass incomplete short left to C.Lamb.

Ceedee ran a corner route for the left corner of the endzone. He gained some separation, and a ball on the money to the left corner would have resulted in a TD. Dak threw off his back foot (despite some pressure, he could have stepped into the pocket to drive the throw) and the pass was high and actually to the right of the pursuing CB. Poor throw. Good call by Moore who stacked the left side and isolated the CB.

4th & 3 at TB 13

(6:41 - 2nd) G.Zuerlein 31 yard field goal is No Good, Wide Left, Center-J.McQuaide, Holder-B.Anger.

Redzone trip 2:

1st & 10 at TB 12

(4:59 - 2nd) (Shotgun) D.Prescott scrambles left end ran ob at TB 5 for 7 yards (J.Tryon).

Hard to be sure of the call here. Wilson ran an out to the left sideline. It looked like he expected the ball and Dak certainly faked the throw. Dak then decides to scramble. Wilson does a good job of blocking the CB in front of him. Cooper could have got involved blocking which might of helped. If it 'was' a designed run play, then he definitely should have helped!

2nd & 3 at TB 5

(4:20 - 2nd) Amari Cooper 5 Yd pass from Dak Prescott (Greg Zuerlein PAT failed)

Cooper has CB isolated out left. Playcall is to use Coop's great routerunning to create space. He runs a great comeback route in the endzone and is wide open. Terrible snap by Biadiasz, but Dak collects and still delivers the pass perfectly on time. Great playcall and great play by Dak.

Redzone trip 3:

2nd & 6 at TB 17

(3:30 - 2nd) (Shotgun) D.Prescott pass incomplete deep left to M.Gallup.

This time Gallup lined up left, isolated on the CB. Runs a go route to the back of the endzone. Again, Dak throws off his back foot. The pass gets over the CB but is too far wide and is caught out of bounds. Good play call, but Dak has to give an open Gallup a better chance to catch the ball in bounds.

3rd & 6 at TB 17

(3:26 - 2nd) (Shotgun) D.Prescott pass incomplete short middle to C.Lamb (L.David).

Ceedee ran a seam route from the slot. He probably had just enough separation that if a perfect ball had cleared the two defenders between CeeDee and the endzone would have resulted in a TD. Poor throw was tipped by the 1st defender and would have otherwise been intercepted by the 2nd defender. Poor throw. Play call was fine although did require a perfect throw into a crowded area.

4th & 6 at TB 17

(3:16 - 2nd) Greg Zuerlein 35 Yd Field Goal

Redzone trip 4:

1st & 10 at TB 18

(12:05 - 3rd) (Shotgun) D.Prescott pass short right to T.Pollard to TB 12 for 6 yards (L.David; R.Cockrell).

Simple toss to Pollard flat right. Pollard already on the move so caught the ball with momentum. Decent block by Wilson to get Pollard some space. Coop was doing a good job blocking his man if Pollard had got past David.

2nd & 4 at TB 12

(11:26 - 3rd) (Shotgun) D.Prescott pass short left to A.Cooper to TB 8 for 4 yards (R.Cockrell) [A.Adams].

Cooper ran a comeback route out left. Will timed pass by Dak to get first down.

1st & Goal at TB 8

(11:09 - 3rd) (No Huddle, Shotgun) D.Prescott up the middle to TB 5 for 3 yards (L.David).

Designed QB run up the middle after fake handoff to Zeke. Thought it was a good play call on 1st down. Fooled all of the TB DL, but David didn’t flinch so was there to make the tackle.

2nd & Goal at TB 5

(10:32 - 3rd) D.Prescott pass short right to E.Elliott ran ob at TB 2 for 3 yards [S.Barrett].

Set up as a likely running play, put Schultz went for the right corner of the endzone. Was covered as Dak rolled right, so Dak threw to Zeke on the sideline. If I was being very critical, Dak threw the ball high to Zeke who could only catch and step out of bounds. He did have a couple of steps on the covering LB, so if Dak had given him the chance he could have turned up field with the ball and maybe got into the endzone.

3rd & Goal at TB 2

(10:00 - 3rd) (Shotgun) E.Elliott left end to TB 3 for -1 yards (A.Adams).

Dak tries to pull in the Right DE as he runs left and then flips the ball to Zeke. By the time Zeke has the ball, Jarwin has lost contain on his block. There was no one else there to make the tackle, so if Jarwin secures the block, then Zeke scores.

4th & Goal at TB 3

(9:15 - 3rd) Greg Zuerlein 21 Yd Field Goal

So, overall 1 TD from 4 redzone visits.

I thought Moore’s playcalling was good. In all honesty, he was either trying to get RB’s or Dak with space to run or he was relying on his elite WRs to win one on one matchups, which in most cases they did.

For each redzone visit that didn’t result in a TD, Dak missed some opportunities. This included some bad throws with poor mechanics. One caveat, he did throw a 22yd and a 21yd TD pass, both of which were accurate and on the money.

That’s it for now. If people like this post, I’ll try to keep going throughout the season.

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