How to Fix the Offense

[jday]

I actually blame play calling more than the offensive line. Jason Garrett is stubbornly sticking to offensive plays that are predicated on having a good offensive line. In my view, the Cowboys need to move to a run 'n' gun / westcoast hybrid. I know many of you out there hate the dink and dunk approach, but the plays have to exercise your players strength, otherwise you get the results that we've seen: embarrassing. Garrett's plays have a tendency to take way to long to develop. And let's face it, Romo just simply does not have that kind of time to wait on routes. He needs to take a 3 step drop and get rid of the football.

The run has failed even more than the pass. Why? Because Garrett does not know how to develop a running game. Running straight forward on the strongside over and over as a general rule is not going to build an effective run game. You have to switch up the types of runs and Garrett very rarely does anything different than having Demarco run into the backs of his C/G/OT two yards behind the line of scrimmage.

[CowboyRoy]

Originally Posted by JonJon

So we all should have figured out by now that the offensive line is the main thing holding the team back. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that anything is going to change with the offensive line anytime soon. The best we can do for the time being is find a way to help the offensive line out so that the offense can once again produce points at a satisfactory rate.

I want to hear from the great minds out there: What are some ways that the Cowboys can help improve the offense?

Here's my idea:

Spread offense. It seems like teams are stacking the line to stop the run and also get to Romo quickly when he drops back to pass. Also, opposing CB's are playing press on our receivers with safety help over top, so unless the receivers can beat the press and get into their route quickly enough, Romo usually doesn't stand a chance unless he performs a Houdini escape act.

[View Full Quote]The spread offense could force teams to take some of their players off the line which could give Romo a little more time to make reads and find open receivers. It might also create some match-up advantages. I would like to see Bryant, Austin, Ogletree, and Harris in the spread more often. Shotgun is another good formation. Maybe the team can even go 5-wide like the Packers and Saints do at times. Just trying to think of ideas... Any others?

Edit: I could also see that benefiting the running game. We have been successful with the draw play in the past but I don't recall seeing it as much this year.

Nope. Help the offense by shrinking up the playbook, hunker down, get conservative. Run the ball, short passing game. Spread it out if you want to, but do so in order to run the ball. Do NOT, absolutely do NOT start winging the ball all over the place in a high flying passing attack.

We have a good defense and the offense should basically, NOT screw up the game and turn the ball over. Win the field position game.

give the ball to Murray even more. Get it to him more out of the backfield passing in the flat, one on one over the middle with a LB on him, ect...ect... WR screens to Dez Bryant. Everthing quick and conservative. If you pass, ball is out in 3 steps.

[Dave_in-NC]

Originally Posted by Hoofbite

Dallas needs to move Tony around and get him outside the pocket. It's amazing how infrequently they roll him out considering what he has done when the play breaks down and he's outside the pocket.

With this line it's automatic.

[BIGDen]

Originally Posted by 187beatdown

I've said to my friends for awhile now that Tony would make a great west coast quarterback and on the whole this offense would flourish under such a system.

I totally agree. I think Romo would be perfect for a WC offense. I think our receivers would do very well with their RAC ability. Murray is a good fit with his receiving skills as well. I feel like Garrett's offense doesn't necessarily play to these players' strengths.

[CowboysFaninDC]

Originally Posted by jday

I actually blame play calling more than the offensive line. Jason Garrett is stubbornly sticking to offensive plays that are predicated on having a good offensive line. In my view, the Cowboys need to move to a run 'n' gun / westcoast hybrid. I know many of you out there hate the dink and dunk approach, but the plays have to exercise your players strength, otherwise you get the results that we've seen: embarrassing. Garrett's plays have a tendency to take way to long to develop. And let's face it, Romo just simply does not have that kind of time to wait on routes. He needs to take a 3 step drop and get rid of the football.

[View Full Quote]The run has failed even more than the pass. Why? Because Garrett does not know how to develop a running game. Running straight forward on the strongside over and over as a general rule is not going to build an effective run game. You have to switch up the types of runs and Garrett very rarely does anything different than having Demarco run into the backs of his C/G/OT two yards behind the line of scrimmage.

I had to laugh after I read the first sentence. is there any offense that's based on a bad OL? seriously!!! that's your line.

and in your expert opinion, we should change offense in the middle of a season to a run & gun.

and when was the last time the run & gun worked in the NFL?

when was the last time an offense worked without a decent OL?

btw, most teams run to the strong side. its called that because most teams run to the side of a TE. because of the strong blocker. that's why most teams put their pass rushing DE on the weak side. etc. etc. but all of that probably just went right over your head.

the running plays work because the linemen block. I don' tcare how you design running plays, if the OL doesn't block, you go nowhere.

unbelievable.

[CopenhagenCowboy]

How to improve OL play?

That's pretty simple.

Start making OL a draft day priority.

Kick out that worthless HC and OC.

And the GM. And the one who "hired" the GM. And the rest of his family.

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

Originally Posted by Gameover

Bench the starting QB!

Yes let's bench a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback for a guy who couldn't beat out Tim freaking Tebow.

Brilliant idea.

[jday]

I had to laugh after I read the first sentence. is there any offense that's based on a bad OL? seriously!!! that's your line.

Actually, what I was saying is I think a hybrid of a west coast and the run n gun may help exercise the strength of our offensive line.

and in your expert opinion, we should change offense in the middle of a season to a run & gun.

I didn't say they should do it in the middle of the season. But it wouldn't hurt for them to scrap what's not working and replace it with plays that our designed to get the ball out quickly.

and when was the last time the run & gun worked in the NFL?

I said a hybrid. But by definition, the run & gun (or run & shoot, as it was originally called) focuses on spreading out the defense, motioning receivers to create mismatches, and a fast tempo. That, mixed in with a West Coast offense, by my estimation, would be a great fit for the type of players we have. But I am no expert, far from it. So I certainly could be wrong. I responded because this forum is for people to offer their opinion and for others to make fun of those who do so to make them feel better about themselves. I hope your response to my opinion worked out for ya...

when was the last time an offense worked without a decent OL?

I think our OL is decent...as I said before, I believe Garrett is not using them correctly.

btw, most teams run to the strong side. its called that because most teams run to the side of a TE. because of the strong blocker. that's why most teams put their pass rushing DE on the weak side. etc. etc. but all of that probably just went right over your head.

I know what the strongside is. But running to the strongside everytime is the equivalent of focusing primarily on the pass. You have to run to both sides to keep the defense honest. The occasional cut back wouldn't hurt either...

the running plays work because the linemen block. I don' tcare how you design running plays, if the OL doesn't block, you go nowhere.

Granted. But there are different blocking schemes for different types of offensive lineman. Simply google blocking schemes, I'm not going to take the time to explain it to you.

unbelievable.

Agreed.

[ConstantReboot]

Originally Posted by Cowboys&LakersFan

Well it would help if we actually had a competent offensive line, but we don't so we're gonna have to be more creative. I would like to see us put a tight end in the pass blocking scheme. I wanna see some quick slants. We did that a lot in the Giants game and they couldn't stop us. Run more screen plays. Get our explosive weapons the ball in space. I'm talking about Dez, Miles, and Murray.

Also for the love of God stop running the ball inside so damn much. That clearly doesn't work. Our bigs aren't getting any push. We need to run inside more. Murray is very quick and deceptive. Give that boy the ball and let him show his speed and elusiveness. I wanna see not only some toss plays, but some stretch plays.

[View Full Quote]We've got to find a way to get the run game going again. We need that to take pressure off Romo because he is having to throw the ball too much. He has no time right now and can't the ball down the field to those explosive weapons like Austin and Bryant. This offensive line isn't very good obviously, but if the play calling can improve and just be more creative we can make up for some of the deficiencies on the offensive line.

Our playcaliing does not match to the skillset of our oline. The plays we've been calling are made for a power running game straight up the middle. As you can tell our oline is easily overpowered. What I think this oline can exceed well is out in space. Pull a guard out on a sweep or draw plays that catch the defense off guard.

Tie this problem with playcalling that is predictable and vanilla and you have an oline that looks weak and lackluster.

Remember, other olines are worst off then ours. Yet those teams find ways to win. Our OC just needs to be a bit more creative. Use quick counts, slants and quick passes, roll out Romo more in play action, and make the playcalling less predictable, like stop running up the gut on 1st down will help cover up some of the issues we have with the oline.

[CyberB0b]

I don't think spread is the answer. You need intelligent receivers to do that. Witten, Austin, and Bryant have both missed hot reads this year. It seems they have a lot of problems separating in short routes, as well. They seemed to do OK against the Giants, but they were really thin at the CB position.

[ConstantReboot]

Originally Posted by CyberB0b

I don't think spread is the answer. You need intelligent receivers to do that. Witten, Austin, and Bryant have both missed hot reads this year. It seems they have a lot of problems separating in short routes, as well. They seemed to do OK against the Giants, but they were really thin at the CB position.

We may never know until its implemented. So far, all I know is what were doing now is not working and that something else must be done to fix the problem. We can just sit idle and blame the Oline - we have to do anything to improve our situation even if it means trying new methods in playcalling or replace a player.

The hot read mistakes can also be attributed to other factors such as timing, crowd noise, boneheaded mistakes, QB and receiver not on the right page, etc. It needs to get fixed.

[CyberB0b]

Originally Posted by ConstantReboot

The hot read mistakes can also be attributed to other factors such as timing, crowd noise, boneheaded mistakes, QB and receiver not on the right page, etc. It needs to get fixed.

All of those things need to be eliminated for any offense to work. If those aren't fixed, the problems are just going to compound.

[CowboysFaninDC]

Originally Posted by jday

Actually, what I was saying is I think a hybrid of a west coast and the run n gun may help exercise the strength of our offensive line.

what is the strength of our OL? that's the big question. we have three big holes in the middle and free has lost any technique he had. I could understand if we had the 90's OL and we were running a west coast offense or zone blocking scheme. that wasn't their strength. but this OL has no strengths and three huge liabilities on the right side.

I didn't say they should do it in the middle of the season. But it wouldn't hurt for them to scrap what's not working and replace it with plays that our designed to get the ball out quickly.

and if you look at a lot of the plays, that's what they are doing with a lot of quick outs to RBs, hitches to TEs. we have not had the opportunity to go deep, because the OL can't hold. we have had to dink and dunk our way down the field and beacause of that we have made mistakes that cost us drives.

the opposing defenses don't respect our deep ball, because they know we can't go deep. so they are flooding the short and middle zones and attacking with 5 and at most 6 players and getting through the OL.

I said a hybrid. But by definition, the run & gun (or run & shoot, as it was originally called) focuses on spreading out the defense, motioning receivers to create mismatches, and a fast tempo. That, mixed in with a West Coast offense, by my estimation, would be a great fit for the type of players we have. But I am no expert, far from it. So I certainly could be wrong. I responded because this forum is for people to offer their opinion and for others to make fun of those who do so to make them feel better about themselves. I hope your response to my opinion worked out for ya...

you can put in a few plays. however, its a completely different offensive philosophy. we can't do run and shoot becausae we are barely 3 deep at WR. we can try west coast but only so many plays. after 4 games you have to go with the staple of plays that you installed in preseason. few new plays might help here and there, but won't get you to the finish line.

I think our OL is decent...as I said before, I believe Garrett is not using them correctly.

I don't think we have a decent OL. we have the 3rd stringer from Miami. Free is awful this year. and bardenau is totally lost and useless. the right side is horrendous. how can you say we have a decent OL.

I know what the strongside is. But running to the strongside everytime is the equivalent of focusing primarily on the pass. You have to run to both sides to keep the defense honest. The occasional cut back wouldn't hurt either...

the fact is we don't run tot he strong side ALL the time. we run the middle and right side majority of hte time. that is true for every NFL team.

problem is that we suck on the right side of the OL.

again, most teams are right handed and run to the right better than the left. we wouldn't be as effective running to the left with murray.

Granted. But there are different blocking schemes for different types of offensive lineman. Simply google blocking schemes, I'm not going to take the time to explain it to you.



Agreed.

I understand the different blocking schemes. this OL doesn't fit the mold of any because most plays they get beat at the snap.

[CowboysFaninDC]

Originally Posted by ConstantReboot

Our playcaliing does not match to the skillset of our oline. The plays we've been calling are made for a power running game straight up the middle. As you can tell our oline is easily overpowered. What I think this oline can exceed well is out in space. Pull a guard out on a sweep or draw plays that catch the defense off guard.

Tie this problem with playcalling that is predictable and vanilla and you have an oline that looks weak and lackluster.

Remember, other olines are worst off then ours. Yet those teams find ways to win. Our OC just needs to be a bit more creative. Use quick counts, slants and quick passes, roll out Romo more in play action, and make the playcalling less predictable, like stop running up the gut on 1st down will help cover up some of the issues we have with the oline.

what skill set on the OL? and what play calling? you probably meant to say play design. the offensive failures are all around. equally distributed.

outside of the sucky OL. jason witten dropped three passes in the seahawks game. crucial drops. Dez had three drops agains the bears to convert 3rd downs. KO had a big opps. and romo has missed WRs on deep throws and on some intermediate throws.

right now, because of hte bad OL, we have to execute near perfect to survive. and we haven't done that. plays have been there, but not executed.

if we had a great OL, then we could over come those mistakes. we don't have a great OL. we can't afford miscues and drops and over throws.

so which OLs are worse than us? bears? AZ. those teams have had their defenses pull them out. bears have top 5 defense. AZ has relied on their defense.

the problem is our defense hasn't been great. we haven't generated consistant pressure. we have no turnovers from our secondary. we give up 3rd down conversions like there is no tomorrow.

and I don't disagree with those plays. but if that's the mainstay of the team. DCs will pick up on that and play tendencies and pretty soon those plays won't be there neither and you will be back here screaming again.

we have to use all 9 zones on offense or at least have a threat to do so. left, right, middle. short, intermediate and deep. our deep balls have been awful. we are less than average in the middle and forced to do a lot of short stuff.

again, not bashing the ideas. but if we come to rely on those too much, soon, they will go away too. sooner or later we have to make some plays down field for these plays to be effective. if we don't none of it matters. and it all comes down to the OL. if they can't hold and give time for down play fields to develop, if romo misses on those times those plays are available, then it won't matter.

[Gaede]

The more we throw it, the worse we play.

Teams are forcing us to start chucking it all over the place-knowing that when we get in throw only mode, they can pressure Romo and someone will make a mistake.

The Cowboys need a running game, somehow, someway, to keep our team from killing itself.