False Narratives about Cowboys

[BAT]

Maybe Richard was trying to sabotage Garrett like Garrett back stabbed Wade????

I give Richard kudos for one thing, moving Jones to corner.

Jones went from potential 1st round bust safety to all pro corner in a season.

 

[kskboys]

CB is arguably the hardest position to play skill-wise after QB.
Bail coverage is tough and Chido was a college safety who played coming forward not backing up.
What they decide to do with him will be interesting to watch. He is one heck of a natural athlete and came out of college as a big time play-maker.

He did? I believe the knock on him was that he was not a playmaker.

 

[xwalker]

OK, so I took your snark to heart and went and watched a ton of vids on Youtube and they all tell me the same thing (which is what I stated above) that Awuzie is a good cover corner with awful ball skills who rarely, if ever, wins one-on-one with a WR. If you've got the clips to back up your comments, feel free to post.

While it's not the same overall narrative, this guy does a pretty good job of showing exactly what I am saying. Awuzie clips start at 2:53:
Pay particularly close attention around the 8-minute mark. @8:50 he shows embarrassingly bad ball skills. He turns AWAY from the ball when it should have been an easy pick.

Even in his own highlight videos, when he does make a play he's regularly ignorant to where the ball is--though he does make an outstanding play at the 1:35 mark: ]
Pay close attention to the 2:40 mark when he makes no attempt at another easy interception. He's not even looking at the ball, he's looking at Beckham even though he's got great inside coverage.

Awuzie is a good cover corner. He shows good instincts in mirroring receivers routes and diagnosing plays quickly, he just doesn't have any sort of ball skill really.

Obviously this is a small sample, but having watched all the games, most multiple times, I really don't need to see more.

It seems to me that once Awuzie is out of his pedal, or into his bail, he just doesn't turn and locate. After watching a bunch of videos, I might have to agree with the camp that thinks he's a better safety than corner. The difference in his play when he can keep eyes in the backfield and when he's asked to turn and run is night and day. He's a solid corner, but he might be a very good safety.

I posted that at 11:05am. You posted this at 11:54am.

You spent a whopping 51 minutes or less watching youtube clips...

That's absurd if you think that makes you informed on the subject.

Do you really think when I say I study game footage and coaches film that you watching less than 51 minutes of youtube is remotely similar?
- Are you really obvious to all of the details I post here over the years?
- Even if you don't agree with my conclusions, it's comical that you think watching less than 51 minutes of youtube is somehow remotely similar to the commitment I make to studying and continually learning about players/techniques/schemes/coaches/etc..

8:50:
- That's an example of not having help and the scheme/technique.
- Kris Richard coaches to stay on top of the WR which means error on the side of not letting him catch it an run past you.
- If Awuzie turns back inside and if the ball is not under-thrown, then it's a TD is the WR does catch it.

1:35 (other video):
- He defends a pass in the endzone. The pass is past the WR and Awuzie. That's not an INT opportunity.

The ****NOT-AN-OFFICIAL-SOURCE*** guy is clueless.
- He starts out (3:18) talking about how Awuzie plays the WR off the snap. That is the KR Kick-Step Press technique. Awuzie played it exactly as they coach it.
- The ****NOT-AN-OFFICIAL-SOURCE*** guy does not understand it because it's a different technique than most coaches teach.

If you're going to believe youtube scouts then at least listen to the guy that can speak regular English...

 

[xwalker]

Those that hated Garrett and doubted him were right and those that supported Garrett and thought he was a good coach were proven dead wrong.

Nothing much else to talk about.

I didn't say anything about Garrett...

 

[CowboyRoy]

I didn't say anything about Garrett...

You talked about bad coaching. And since Garrett was the leader of them all, he is at the center of it. They were his DC's were they not? He allowed it to happen.

 

[ondaedg]

Good coaches put their players in the best situation to succeed. It is clear that Marinelli is a stubborn coach that refuses to change his approach. He surely bears some blame. However, in my opinion, Garrett is the HC and had the authority and responsibility to check his coaches and make sure they perform their jobs to standard. He failed to act and hold coaches accountable-- so the greatest responsibility for the mess lies with him (and ultimately with JJ and SJ for tolerating Garrett for as long as they did)

Garrett lacks the defensive expertise to step in and guide the defensive coaches.

 

[aria]

9th overall defense for yards allowed seems about right for the “talent” on that defense. I’m not praising Marinelli but for some reason Cowboys fans always point the finger at the coaching before the players. Other than BB, I’m not sure another DC would have done much better with that defensive roster.

 

[fivetwos]

various:

Rod did have a dated DL scheme but he always stopped the run just fine... except when injuries limited his best run stuffers.
KR was fired before he ever met Rod M and his issues were told to us by Seahawks fans.
His defense DID teach CB to use a single technique. We had a highly respected private DB coach tell us this and it had zero to do with Iloka.
He literally said Chido told him he could not switch techniques.

KR is unemployed right now for a reason. His defensive scheme is very limited. Cover 1 only works with an elite Free Safety. And Cover 3 offers great success at times but it makes the edges soft. Corner is bailing out by technique and design. Run and pass can take advantage of the edges. If you can't really run Cover 1 then the scheme becomes too vanilla. Too repetitive.

Ben Bloom wanting to fight KR was a very real thing and it had to do with how poorly Jaylon was being used.
There are tons of examples including the red zone defensive set I often share which is the worst coaching I have seen in the NFL.
It forced Jaylon to have man overage on the slot WR regardless of that WR. It went from WR3 to WR2 to WR1.
That was KR and it was criminally bad.
He made coverage calls for the back 7.

A lot has been made of the Rams playoff loss and this team was gashed. But the week before they had stuffed the run and dominated Seattle.
LAR had figured out the DL calls and knew exactly what DL shift they were getting.
That is why they ran effortlessly.
Having a BYE week to study a team pays off when you have a very sharp head coach.

Dallas plan had been to promote KR and make him DC (after he shined as DB coach) but he failed so badly in the audition year he never got the job.

The biggest takeaways really are year 1 of a scheme can truly shine and you gotta love that as a Cowboys fan this year.
Coming off a year where you had some tough luck and general underachievement you get a new scheme advantage on both sides of the ball.
Should be perfect time to win a lot of games before the leagues figures out what is coming every play.

Nice post. Thanks.

It infuriated me lol, but good stuff on your part.

 

[xwalker]

various:

Rod did have a dated DL scheme but he always stopped the run just fine... except when injuries limited his best run stuffers.
KR was fired before he ever met Rod M and his issues were told to us by Seahawks fans.
His defense DID teach CB to use a single technique. We had a highly respected private DB coach tell us this and it had zero to do with Iloka.
He literally said Chido told him he could not switch techniques.

KR is unemployed right now for a reason. His defensive scheme is very limited. Cover 1 only works with an elite Free Safety. And Cover 3 offers great success at times but it makes the edges soft. Corner is bailing out by technique and design. Run and pass can take advantage of the edges. If you can't really run Cover 1 then the scheme becomes too vanilla. Too repetitive.

Ben Bloom wanting to fight KR was a very real thing and it had to do with how poorly Jaylon was being used.
There are tons of examples including the red zone defensive set I often share which is the worst coaching I have seen in the NFL.
It forced Jaylon to have man overage on the slot WR regardless of that WR. It went from WR3 to WR2 to WR1.
That was KR and it was criminally bad.
He made coverage calls for the back 7.

A lot has been made of the Rams playoff loss and this team was gashed. But the week before they had stuffed the run and dominated Seattle.
LAR had figured out the DL calls and knew exactly what DL shift they were getting.
That is why they ran effortlessly.
Having a BYE week to study a team pays off when you have a very sharp head coach.

Dallas plan had been to promote KR and make him DC (after he shined as DB coach) but he failed so badly in the audition year he never got the job.

The biggest takeaways really are year 1 of a scheme can truly shine and you gotta love that as a Cowboys fan this year.
Coming off a year where you had some tough luck and general underachievement you get a new scheme advantage on both sides of the ball.
Should be perfect time to win a lot of games before the leagues figures out what is coming every play.

I don't really care about Kris Richard. I'm happy that those Garrett/Marinelli/Richard/etc. were replaced.

My issue is that the false narratives that develop are comical.


The Marinelli scheme struggled vs modern zone run blocking schemes.

One reason they held the Pats to 13 points is that the Pats are not one of those heavy zone run teams.

Press-man, Off-man and zone are 3 different techniques. Awuzie played all 3 in 2019. It's on film.

In Seattle, a big part of the scheme was for the Safeties to know what technique the CBs were playing.

That scheme allowed Earl Thomas to get an early read because of how the CBs forced WRs to commit inside or outside off the snap.

On specific defensive calls KR obviously required a specific technique. That in and of itself is not bad.

Again the Coaches were bad in many areas but people are making up narratives that are not what really happened is silly.

Taking a few comments from Iloka and a private coach have been manipulated for a false narrative.

I think KR has a year remaining on his contract which means he is still getting paid. Coaches in that situation sometimes take a year off.

I'm sure McCarthy could have taking an OC job and would not have been out of football for year.

Who cares about Ben Bloom. Richard out-ranked him. Bloom is the one that was sent home for multiple weeks.

 

[CCBoy]

I posted that at 11:05am. You posted this at 11:54am.

You spent a whopping 51 minutes or less watching youtube clips...

That's absurd if you think that makes you informed on the subject.

Do you really think when I say I study game footage and coaches film that you watching less than 51 minutes of youtube is remotely similar?
- Are you really obvious to all of the details I post here over the years?
- Even if you don't agree with my conclusions, it's comical that you think watching less than 51 minutes of youtube is somehow remotely similar to the commitment I make to studying and continually learning about players/techniques/schemes/coaches/etc..

8:50:
- That's an example of not having help and the scheme/technique.
- Kris Richard coaches to stay on top of the WR which means error on the side of not letting him catch it an run past you.
- If Awuzie turns back inside and if the ball is not under-thrown, then it's a TD is the WR does catch it.

1:35 (other video):
- He defends a pass in the endzone. The pass is past the WR and Awuzie. That's not an INT opportunity.

The ****NOT-AN-OFFICIAL-SOURCE*** guy is clueless.
- He starts out (3:18) talking about how Awuzie plays the WR off the snap. That is the KR Kick-Step Press technique. Awuzie played it exactly as they coach it.
- The ****NOT-AN-OFFICIAL-SOURCE*** guy does not understand it because it's a different technique than most coaches teach.

If you're going to believe youtube scouts then at least listen to the guy that can speak regular English...

Just as always, love your reads as well as really appreciate your devotion and unending sacrifice to present the complete truth to be seen. Thanks!

 

[Cowboyny]

I posted that at 11:05am. You posted this at 11:54am.

You spent a whopping 51 minutes or less watching youtube clips...

That's absurd if you think that makes you informed on the subject.

Do you really think when I say I study game footage and coaches film that you watching less than 51 minutes of youtube is remotely similar?
- Are you really obvious to all of the details I post here over the years?
- Even if you don't agree with my conclusions, it's comical that you think watching less than 51 minutes of youtube is somehow remotely similar to the commitment I make to studying and continually learning about players/techniques/schemes/coaches/etc..

8:50:
- That's an example of not having help and the scheme/technique.
- Kris Richard coaches to stay on top of the WR which means error on the side of not letting him catch it an run past you.
- If Awuzie turns back inside and if the ball is not under-thrown, then it's a TD is the WR does catch it.

1:35 (other video):
- He defends a pass in the endzone. The pass is past the WR and Awuzie. That's not an INT opportunity.

The ****NOT-AN-OFFICIAL-SOURCE*** guy is clueless.
- He starts out (3:18) talking about how Awuzie plays the WR off the snap. That is the KR Kick-Step Press technique. Awuzie played it exactly as they coach it.
- The ****NOT-AN-OFFICIAL-SOURCE*** guy does not understand it because it's a different technique than most coaches teach.

If you're going to believe youtube scouts then at least listen to the guy that can speak regular English...

-Based on your film study, how did Richard use Bryon Jones? Was he used in a similar fashion as Awuzie?

 

[Hawkeye19]

Garrett lacks the defensive expertise to step in and guide the defensive coaches.

Garrett lacks expertise. Just leave it at that lol

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

More than Jason Garrett I am glad that Marinelli is gone.

 

[xwalker]

-Based on your film study, how did Richard use Bryon Jones? Was he used in a similar fashion as Awuzie?

Good question.

It's always difficult to know how much is coaching requirements vs player style as well as how offenses challenge different players and different sides of the field.

The main issue was that when offenses challenged on a sideline go route, it was most often when Awuzie was on the side with only 1 WR and the FS was shaded to the opposite side where there were 2 WRs.

I didn't count every snap but it seemed that the slot WR lined up on the side with BJ far more often (when is was an intermediate or long pass).

Offenses liked to challenge BJ on in-breaking routes and challenge Awuzie on sideline routes.

BJ tended to play safe on in-breaking routes staying well behind the WR until the ball was in the air.

One play that I saw often was:
Awuzie on the side with 1 WR.
The RB running a pass route in the flat to that side.
The WR running a sideline route with an intermediate to deep pass.

Another difference is that Awuzie was on the strong side where the DE tends to align tight.
BJ was on the weak side where the RDE aligns wide.
Awuzie was also on the side which is the front side for right handed QBs.
Deep sideline passes are easier on the front side and QBs have better visibility to that side.

Summary:
Awuzie ended up isolated with no help far more often than BJ.

It's difficult to say how much of that was Kris Richard and how much was how offenses played right/left or how offenses played BJ vs how they played Awuzie.

 

[CCBoy]

Good question.

It's always difficult to know how much is coaching requirements vs player style as well as how offenses challenge different players and different sides of the field.

The main issue was that when offenses challenged on a sideline go route, it was most often when Awuzie was on the side with only 1 WR and the FS was shaded to the opposite side where there were 2 WRs.

I didn't count every snap but it seemed that the slot WR lined up on the side with BJ far more often (when is was an intermediate or long pass).

Offenses liked to challenge BJ on in-breaking routes and challenge Awuzie on sideline routes.

BJ tended to play safe on in-breaking routes staying well behind the WR until the ball was in the air.

One play that I saw often was:
Awuzie on the side with 1 WR.
The RB running a pass route in the flat to that side.
The WR running a sideline route with an intermediate to deep pass.

Another difference is that Awuzie was on the strong side where the DE tends to align tight.
BJ was on the weak side where the RDE aligns wide.
Awuzie was also on the side which is the front side for right handed QBs.
Deep sideline passes are easier on the front side and QBs have better visibility to that side.

Summary:
Awuzie ended up isolated with no help far more often than BJ.

It's difficult to say how much of that was Kris Richard and how much was how offenses played right/left or how offenses played BJ vs how they played Awuzie.

Think that Awuzie starts outside?

 

[xwalker]

Think that Awuzie starts outside?

I would say he is most likely one of the outside CBs vs 2 WRs sets and then moves to NCB vs 3 WRs.

 

[Diehardblues]

The coaching was bad enough in 2019. We don't need false narratives to pile on and blame them for things that were not really problems.

The George Iloka comments have caused a comical narrative.

People that are quoting him don't appear to have listened to his entire interview.

Iloka said that Kris Richard told him not to disguise coverage.
- Some pseudo media think that Iloka said KR told him to stay deep regardless.
- Iloka actually ended up saying that KR wanted to show an 8 man box and tempt teams to pass.
- He said that Zimmer/Edwards wanted to show 7 in the box to tempt teams to run.

Iloka also said that Awuzie indicated he always played the same technique.
- The All-22 is available to everyone for a low cost. Awuzie didn't always play the same technique.

Iloka never made the team and was 3rd string in the preseason.
- He is probably not fond of KR regardless of what actually happened.

The coaching was beyond terrible in 2019, but not for the reasons that people are now claiming.

The #1 problem with the defense was that Marinelli refused to change the DL scheme.
- The DL scheme was outdated and exposed by the Rams in the playoff game.
- In 2019 KR was in control of the back 7 and Marinelli still in control of the DL.
- KR tried to adapt the back 7 to stop the bleeding in run defense that was caused by the DL scheme.
- KR's changed ended up making it worse but he was in a no win situation.
- When offenses can run the ball with 3 OL blocking 4 DL and the other 2 OL free to block LBs, it's a fail for defense.

KR took all the help defenders from Awuzie and moved them inside and up to defend the run.
- Offenses would put 1 WR on Awuzies side.
- The Cowboys FS would align towards the side with 2 WRs.
- That meant Awuzie had no deep help on most plays.
- In Seattle with the Legion of Boom scheme, Richard Sherman often had help both inside deep and inside short.
- In 2019 KR had the inside short coverage help (SS and LBs) up near the DL to focus on the run.
- Despite Awuzie having no help deep or short on many plays, they also required him to be strong run defender on outside runs to his side.
- Awuzie was basically playing the Deion coverage style (no help) but even Deion didn't have the same run defense duties as Awuzie.
- It was indeed moronic to put Awuzie into that situation, but the problem was not because of technique or lack of disguising coverage.

In 2018 which was KR's first season with the Cowboys, the improvement in coaching of the secondary was obvious.
- It was obvious in reviewing game footage.
- It was also supported by player comments.
- CB Brown said the previous DB coaches never told him what technique to play and didn't even coach him on the differences in technique vs various situations. He said he learned more in a few months with KR than all years previously.

Who is George Iioka? Is he a national analyst or pundit trolling the Cowboys for clicks? Why would Cowboy fans care? Lol

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Maybe Richard was trying to sabotage Garrett like Garrett back stabbed Wade????

when did garrett back stab wade? wade was an idiot. he shot himself in the foot. multiple times

 

[strongarmqb]

The coaching was bad enough in 2019. We don't need false narratives to pile on and blame them for things that were not really problems.

The George Iloka comments have caused a comical narrative.

People that are quoting him don't appear to have listened to his entire interview.

Iloka said that Kris Richard told him not to disguise coverage.
- Some pseudo media think that Iloka said KR told him to stay deep regardless.
- Iloka actually ended up saying that KR wanted to show an 8 man box and tempt teams to pass.
- He said that Zimmer/Edwards wanted to show 7 in the box to tempt teams to run.

Iloka also said that Awuzie indicated he always played the same technique.
- The All-22 is available to everyone for a low cost. Awuzie didn't always play the same technique.

Iloka never made the team and was 3rd string in the preseason.
- He is probably not fond of KR regardless of what actually happened.

The coaching was beyond terrible in 2019, but not for the reasons that people are now claiming.

The #1 problem with the defense was that Marinelli refused to change the DL scheme.
- The DL scheme was outdated and exposed by the Rams in the playoff game.
- In 2019 KR was in control of the back 7 and Marinelli still in control of the DL.
- KR tried to adapt the back 7 to stop the bleeding in run defense that was caused by the DL scheme.
- KR's changed ended up making it worse but he was in a no win situation.
- When offenses can run the ball with 3 OL blocking 4 DL and the other 2 OL free to block LBs, it's a fail for defense.

KR took all the help defenders from Awuzie and moved them inside and up to defend the run.
- Offenses would put 1 WR on Awuzies side.
- The Cowboys FS would align towards the side with 2 WRs.
- That meant Awuzie had no deep help on most plays.
- In Seattle with the Legion of Boom scheme, Richard Sherman often had help both inside deep and inside short.
- In 2019 KR had the inside short coverage help (SS and LBs) up near the DL to focus on the run.
- Despite Awuzie having no help deep or short on many plays, they also required him to be strong run defender on outside runs to his side.
- Awuzie was basically playing the Deion coverage style (no help) but even Deion didn't have the same run defense duties as Awuzie.
- It was indeed moronic to put Awuzie into that situation, but the problem was not because of technique or lack of disguising coverage.

In 2018 which was KR's first season with the Cowboys, the improvement in coaching of the secondary was obvious.
- It was obvious in reviewing game footage.
- It was also supported by player comments.
- CB Brown said the previous DB coaches never told him what technique to play and didn't even coach him on the differences in technique vs various situations. He said he learned more in a few months with KR than all years previously.

Awesome post! Thank you

 

[kskboys]

when did garrett back stab wade? wade was an idiot. he shot himself in the foot. multiple times

He didn't. That was a really really lame story that got passed around and some were naive enough to believe it.