ESPND: Bill Callahan: Cowboys should simplify things for Tony Romo

[WoodysGirl]

Oct 11
3:15
PM CT
By Tim MacMahon (http://search.espn.go.com/macmahon_tim/) | ESPNDallas.com

Callahan said the coaching staff also wants to simplify things before the snap for Romo, who has committed 10 turnovers during the Cowboys’ 2-2 start.

“We talked about just lightening his load and trying to do things that are simple and giving him more peace of mind that he can just come up and call a play and run it,” Callahan said. “That simplification will help all of us.”

“When you get on the road and you play in these types of environments, you’ve really got to be sharp,” Callahan said. “You’ve got to be in tune, and obviously if you have less and you can function a little bit faster, it certainly helps you.”

Callahan is referring to the amount of checks that Romo is required to make at the line of scrimmage. The Cowboys, like a lot of NFL teams, often essentially have two or three plays called and rely on Romo to pick the best one based on pre-snap reads.

Callahan’s belief is that cutting back on those checks “allows the quarterback to function a little bit freer.”

Read the rest: http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowboys/post/_/id/4699165/bill-callahan-cowboys-should-simplify-things-for-tony-romo

[Prossman]

He has been our starter for 6 years, and now its time to simplify things? Not good.

[ravidubey]

He has been our starter for 6 years, and now its time to simplify things? Not good.

It's more than this, IMO. Callahan wants the offensive coaches to gain more control over the game. They know when they want to run and when they want to pass based on a lot of factors, but Romo currently can change the plays at will.

That essentially takes the offensive coaches out of the game a bit, and they need to be more involved. I also think they want Romo to change the play less often so he can focus on executing what they are calling. I like that (though his helmet receiver will make that harder on the road).

With this offensive line, the team has to be more conservative and must call more running plays (especially those draw plays they ran all the time in 2009). Because of the lack of talent up front, the offensive coaches have to micro-manage the play-calling to make sure it happens.

[jblaze2004]

It's more than this, IMO. Callahan wants the offensive coaches to gain more control over the game. They know when they want to run and when they want to pass based on a lot of factors, but Romo currently can change the plays at will.

That essentially takes the offensive coaches out of the game a bit, and they need to be more involved. I also think they want Romo to change the play less often so he can focus on executing what they are calling. I like that (though his helmet receiver will make that harder on the road).

With this offensive line, the team has to be more conservative and must call more running plays (especially those draw plays they ran all the time in 2009). Because of the lack of talent up front, the offensive coaches have to micro-manage the play-calling to make sure it happens.

this...this is why I never really can fault garrett for the plays when romo changes the play alot of the time/picks the play.

But I do wish our plays had better designs and we ran more formations.

Look at rg3 with the skins. They run basic plays with simple reads. They have one of the top scoring offenses. They have alot of plays that can come off the same looks but be a run or pass.

[rickjameschinaclub]

this...this is why I never really can fault garrett for the plays when romo changes the play alot of the time/picks the play.


You mean you can't blame Garrett for not adjusting the offense for Romo to suit his skills, whatever that may be?

[ConstantReboot]

this...this is why I never really can fault garrett for the plays when romo changes the play alot of the time/picks the play.

But I do wish our plays had better designs and we ran more formations.

Look at rg3 with the skins. They run basic plays with simple reads. They have one of the top scoring offenses. They have alot of plays that can come off the same looks but be a run or pass.

Well maybe its because Garrett calls the wrong plays for the certain situations that would be counterproductive. I can see why Romo would want to change the plays. Why run it up the middle on every first down? The lack of creativity and the predictability of our offense makes Romo change it up.

Besides, this is Garrett's offense remember. Thus I think most of the blame should go to him.

[Sarge]

The offense is in such rough shape - it is borderline in disarray. It's very disheartening. I know.......broken record.....................

[Hoov]

Is it too much for Romo to make the pre snap adjustments or is it too much for him to get the rest of the offense to run the right play when he is making the adjustments.

[DCBoysfan]

The offense is in such rough shape - it is borderline in disarray. It's very disheartening. I know.......broken record.....................

I have never been a fan of the head coach calling his own plays on offense or defense I would like to see Callahan make the calls.

[Future]

I agree that it needs to be simplified...but I think it needs to be done so for the OLine and WRs. Tony seems to have great command of the offense for the most part.

[RoyTheHammer]

Is it too much for Romo to make the pre snap adjustments or is it too much for him to get the rest of the offense to run the right play when he is making the adjustments.

According to Bill and Jason, it may be too much for him and he's trying to do too much.

[Hoov]

According to Bill and Jason, it may be too much for him and he's trying to do too much.Bill said they diagnosed and corrected the problem with the OLine commiting all the false start penalties. The next game it proved to be true. I have to give respect to that.

Now Bill is saying that simplifying the presnap reads should help improve the offense, I'll have to give him the benefit of doubt and see how it goes this weekend.

[blackbull]

Best news I heard all week. Only thing that should be changed at the Los is whether it's a pass or a run. No switching pass to a pass. I love it.

[blackbull]

Adjust to your personnel baby. Be the coach we all want you to be Jason. We aren't Peyton's Colts do stop with the trying to outsmart teams. Stop it please

[Bluestang]

Simplifying the playcalls is the easiest solution for an offense that is struggling:

1. It helps the players understand their exact assignments without having to think about the other assignments if the playcall is switched at LOS.
2. Sometimes the "check w/ me" calls to the pass catchers can entail various options and when the QB and pass catcher are not on the same page it can be disastrous.
3. The second part of that is that the QB can get the play off on time rather than having to direct the whole offense on a "check w/ me" call.



I don't think this change is really for Romo, but I think it directed more for the other 10 guys on the offense.

[CyberB0b]

I have never been a fan of the head coach calling his own plays on offense or defense I would like to see Callahan make the calls.

Seems to work fairly well for NO and GB.

[WoodysGirl]

Is it too much for Romo to make the pre snap adjustments or is it too much for him to get the rest of the offense to run the right play when he is making the adjustments.
I think it's more the latter than the former.

[Doomsday]

I agree with Callahan, keep it is simple!

[jnday]

I have thought for a while that the confusion that goes on in the seconds before the snap was hurting the offense. Romo has to line up the entire offense before a play can be run. I think much of the miscommunication between Romo and the WRs comes from things being too complicated.

[RoyTheHammer]

I have thought for a while that the confusion that goes on in the seconds before the snap was hurting the offense. Romo has to line up the entire offense before a play can be run. I think much of the miscommunication between Romo and the WRs comes from things being too complicated.

:rolleyes:

[28 Joker]

The total mess that is the Dallas Cowboys offense is squarely on Jason Garrett's shoulders, imo. How many years has Jason Garrett been in charge of the Dallas offense? This is year six, and Tony Romo is still throwing interceptions all over the place and turning the football over during segments of a season. Garrett and Romo are tied at the hip, imo. How many years have they been together now?

Tony Romo should be held accountable for his play and his share of mistakes. Ultimately, the football is in his hands. However, who is holding Jason Garrett accountable for his coaching or mistakes or his mismanagement of games? Do the Cowboys have a legit, trained, qualified NFL general manager who can objectively evaluate Jason Garrett and hold him accountable for his performance?

The Cowboys are just set up for failure, and Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones are the puppet masters.

Bill Parcells left the Cowboys a solid foundation to build upon. Moreover, Parcells has stated more than one time that the Cowboys should be able to win with Tony Romo. When Parcells makes that statement, he is taking a veiled, justified shot at Jason Garrett and Jerry Jones, imo. Jason Garrett and Jerry Jones are tied at the hip, too.

[big dog cowboy]

I don't think this change is really for Romo, but I think it directed more for the other 10 guys on the offense.
winner winner chicken dinner

[djmajestik]

Is it too much for Romo to make the pre snap adjustments or is it too much for him to get the rest of the offense to run the right play when he is making the adjustments.

I think this is a product of how dumb our players are. Half the time they don't know which route to run, where to lineup, how to read a defense effectively.

So what I took from it is he is simplifying the offense so that Tony can call a play, and the players can just focus on running it.

[burmafrd]

much more likely this is a veiled shot at the rest of the O for not being able to figure things out.

We do not have a really complicated offense. So sadly I must go more towards the idea that our players are just not that smart.

[Joe Rod]

Didn't they do this last year as well?

[Rack Bauer]

Romo doesn't need things simplified. The offensive line does.

[Gaede]

Red flag that we need to 'simplify' things. When coaches start saying that, there's a ton of things going wrong that we don't even know about. It's like a 'players only meeting'. But then again, anyone who has actually watched the games already knew our offense was dysfunctional

On the plus side, I think this article shows the benefit of having an OC like Callahan. An experienced football guy who can come up with ways to run the offense better. He fixed the presnap penalties the game before, and I think they're right about simplifying things for the offense. It's a great thing that we have someone to counter Garrett's inexperience and unwillingness to do anything different.

[Seven]

There's three teams WORSE at running the ball than us? That's got to be brutal to watch.

[tyke1doe]

Romo doesn't need things simplified. The offensive line does.

Yeah, I don't think this is on Romo as much as it is on the rest of the offense. Anyone who has watched the Cowboys can see that Romo is trying to get guys in place before the ball is snapped. You really can't do that unless you know the offense. I just don't think the players know, and because Romo is the play caller and does know (and because any turnover is going to point back to him), Callahan is basically taking the burden off Romo's shoulders in having to make complicated calls and make sure the offense knows what it's supposed to be doing when those calls are made.

[JonJon]

Romo doesn't need things simplified. The offensive line does.

I think this applies for Dez Bryant as well. I think all the pre-snap audibles combined with him having to make pre-route and hot read adjustments for each audible made is too much for him and others. Simplify it and suddenly everyone is on the same page with less confusion. Then all it comes down to is execution. I think this will help the offense tremendously.

[visionary]

might not be the best idea to simplify things when going up against a defense that has had our number and was saying after the last game that they knew what we were going to run

[Hoov]

I think this is a product of how dumb our players are. Half the time they don't know which route to run, where to lineup, how to read a defense effectively.

So what I took from it is he is simplifying the offense so that Tony can call a play, and the players can just focus on running it.
It's been reported that Romo is very good at presnap reads - not sure that I can determine that myself from viewing on TV - but it does look as though he is decisive with making the calls and pointing things out pre snap. The part that actually looks hectic is all the different signals and the manner in which he is trying to communicate what he is seeing to the rest of the offense.

However, can we really beleive that most of our players are that dumb and cant adjust to the calls. If it was one player that kept making mistakes that would be one thing (and it has been pointed out that Dez has run the wrong route more than once)- But in the past this was said of other wr's and at times Witten has run something different from what Romo was expecting and i dont think he is a dumb player. And all the OLinemen cant be too dumb to understand the playbook and adjustments unless garret is trying to run an unusual and extremely complicated offense.

So, just trying to figure out exactly where and why the breakdown is occurring.

[Gemini Dolly]

K.I.S.S.




Keep it simple, stupid.

[MoClaiborne24]

And all the OLinemen cant be too dumb to understand the playbook and adjustments unless garret is trying to run an unusual and extremely complicated offense.

So, just trying to figure out exactly where and why the breakdown is occurring.

This is what I always lean toward, but who knows...

It's baffling.

[Zman5]

K.I.S.S.




Keep it simple, stupid.

Because we have so many stupid players on offense.

[Risen Star]

The offense is in such rough shape - it is borderline in disarray. It's very disheartening. I know.......broken record.....................

But it has nothing to do with giving the QB too much responsibility. It has everything to do with a severe lack of talent along the offensive line.

[Rack Bauer]

I still don't get how callahan would word it like that... "Keep it simple for Romo". Romo isn't the one that needs it kept simple, it's the other 10 morons out there with him. If they'd play at his level it wouldn't be an issue.

[jobberone]

When the offense is out of sync it is not a bad idea to make things a little more simple. I have the feeling that Garrett can put a complicated product out there.

[RoyTheHammer]

I enjoy how this thread turned quickly into a "defend Romo" thread after hearing Callahan's comments.

:laugh2:

[Biggems]

when u have an OL that does not block well and commits a lot of boneheaded penalties, WRs who dont run the proper routes, and a QB who has to force the issue to compensate for the shortcomings of his teammates..........simplifying the offense makes a lot of sense. hopefully it works

[sbark]

I agree that it needs to be simplified...but I think it needs to be done so for the OLine and WRs. Tony seems to have great command of the offense for the most part.

I agree, this is Callahan dropping it on Romo, but its really just cause' he can take the heat vrs the OLine and receivers.

But also, this is on the Ivy league'r running the show....can he "adapt" by game 10?---but that would be admitting his made from scratch system doesnt work.

[JakeCamp12]

I agree that it needs to be simplified...but I think it needs to be done so for the OLine and WRs. Tony seems to have great command of the offense for the most part.

^
This!