Zeke, OL, and Moore Philosophy

[RonnieT24]

I'd love to see KM set Zeke free on Sunday and see a 150 yard rushing day. I know it wouldn't shut you haters up but it should.

It would be fun to see for this old RB but I don't expect to ever see Zeke cut loose for a game like that as long as Moore is calling the plays. That's just not what he wants to do.

 

[75boyz]

Here are Zeke's runs from the game last weekL

First drive .. 4, 2, 4.. Two solid runs with a wonderful effort to convert on 3rd and 1 when the blocking was pretty bad.
Second drive .. no runs.
Third drive Pollard in he gets 1 run for 0 yards
Fourth Drive after the fumble forced by Lawrence .. Elliott back in one run for 2 yards.
Fifth drive after INT .. no runs
Sixth drive hurry up.. no runs.

So Zeke got one carry after the opening drive where he had 10 yards on 3 carries. Not lighting it up but enough to keep the defense honest. We didn't give up on the run because it was going backwards.. We gave up on the run because we predetermined before the game that we couldn't.

Second half.

First drive .. one carry for 0 yards, then the infamous option pitch for -1.
Second drive 13, 0 , 4. .. three carries 17 yards.. again.. production
Third drive 0 runs
Fourth drive 1, 4
Fifth drive .. end of game.

So Zeke had 4 carries for 12 yards in the first half then 7 carries for 21 in the second .. He really never had any opportunity to establish any sort of rhythm running the ball.. or catching it or that matter. We know against a stout defense sometimes the dam doesn't break until you've pounded them for 60 minutes. We never allowed ourselves a chance for that to happen. Late in the game when the Bucs defenders were sucking wind, cramping and going in and out of the game we did not take advantage of it by pounding the rock like we should have. Especially on our last drive instead of throwing it after the 2 minute warning it was the PERFECT time to pound the rock. It also probably would have avoided the stupid holding penalty AND eaten up more time and/or TB's timeouts. Remember the penalty where they had to take a timeout to avoid the 10 second runoff? A couple of nice runs at the 1:51 mark instead of the incomplete pass stopping the clock. Zeke gets 4 on the next run.. had we done that on first down we'd have eaten up either another 40 seconds or Tampa's last time out. Run it again on second down and you're under a minute for the third down play.. Run it again.. then kick the FG with maybe 30 seconds left on the flock and Tampa with no timeouts. That last drive was poorly managed... by Dak, by Moore and ultimately by McCarthy. That can't happen again..

Nice post.

 

[Doomsday101]

To borrow a phrase from the man who signs his checks, Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is not interested in circumcising any mosquitoes.

Relative to his pass-happy approach in Dallas’ Week 1 loss to Tampa Bay, Moore explained that “yards are yards” whether they come by air or by ground — and “I really don’t care” so long as the game plan suits the opponent.

“We threw ball that traveled a foot to [running back] Tony [Pollard] that went for eight yards, but it was a pass,” Moore said Monday, per David Helman of the official team website. “Yards are yards, whether they’re run or pass. I think we get a little bit hung up on the categories that they go into. We want to attack people in a balanced way. Now, that may be utilizing all our different personnel we’ve talked about, making sure all those guys get touches and spread defenses horizontally so we can attack them. We want to have diversity in our approach. But if it’s a lot of runs, a lot of passes, I don’t really care.”

Cowboys OC Moore on Pass-Heavy Game Plan: ‘Yards are Yards’ | Heavy.com

 

[conner01]

Too much is being put into the lack of runs called against a team with a great run defense and suspect pass defense
We will never be 50/50 and we shouldn’t be in today’s nfl
But we will be much more balanced in most games
Moore’s system is not pass only
He wants to run when the matchup is right
But running into a great run defense is not the best option
When we play teams with less of a run defense you will see more runs
I suspect that starts with chargers
Not going to 50/50 but much more runs will be called this week and if we run effectively it will keep happening

 

[Doomsday101]

Too much is being put into the lack of runs called against a team with a great run defense and suspect pass defense
We will never be 50/50 and we shouldn’t be in today’s nfl
But we will be much more balanced in most games
Moore’s system is not pass only
He wants to run when the matchup is right
But running into a great run defense is not the best option
When we play teams with less of a run defense you will see more runs
I suspect that starts with chargers
Not going to 50/50 but much more runs will be called this week and if we run effectively it will keep happening

True, Moore talked about not wanting to bang our heads against a wall if the run is not there. Personally I really do not care how many runs vs passes we have in any particular game I'm only interested in this offense moving the ball and putting up the points. I think Cowboys have the diversity to be able to attack by different means.

 

[RonnieT24]

Too much is being put into the lack of runs called against a team with a great run defense and suspect pass defense
We will never be 50/50 and we shouldn’t be in today’s nfl
But we will be much more balanced in most games
Moore’s system is not pass only
He wants to run when the matchup is right
But running into a great run defense is not the best option
When we play teams with less of a run defense you will see more runs
I suspect that starts with chargers
Not going to 50/50 but much more runs will be called this week and if we run effectively it will keep happening

NOBODY is asking for 50/50. That goes against what the modern NFL wants .. Everybody gets that.. However the inability to run when you NEED to is an issue. Realistically if the Cowboys run the ball TWO MORE TIMES.. after the long completion to Lamb and after the 2 minute warning they most likely would have won this game. They had first and 10 at the Tampa 34 with 1:51 left on the clock.. They threw incomplete on 1st down and used 6 seconds AND saved Tampa's time out. They had blown one on the challenge and thus only had two left. Run the ball there, eat up 8 seconds AND their second timeout and it's 2nd and let's say 8 with 1:44 left. Run it again, eat up another 8 seconds AND their last timeout and it's 3rd down with 1:36 left. Now run it yet again and eat up another 40 seconds and kick the FG with 50 ish seconds left. Then kick it through the end zone .. Tampa get the ball and completes one to Bernard for 8 and out of bounds . .. That took 6 seconds.. :44 left (home cooking clock operator) .. They throw incomplete to Evant taking another 5 seconds :37 left.. Then another completion to Bernard for 4 using 18 seconds.. :19 left They scramble to the line trying to save their timeout which in my scenario they would not have had anyway.. They get the false start which would have meant the 10 second runoff since they should have had no timeouts left and now it's :09 left in the game. They have no timeouts.. and are 40 yards away from FG range. Brady throws short to Gronk for 6 .. .. then intermediate to Gronk for 20. If he needed 40 yards and had no timeouts he probably doesn't ake either of those throws but goes deep... but even if he completes the "pushoff" pass to Godwin they have no timeouts and when Godwin is tackled the game is over.. All we had to do was manage the clock and that game's a win in spite of our Kicking woes and only rushing for 70? yards.. TWO more runs.. That's all it took. And we passed on it.. pun intended.

 

[Doomsday101]

NOBODY is asking for 50/50. That goes against what the modern NFL wants .. Everybody gets that.. However the inability to run when you NEED to is an issue. Realistically if the Cowboys run the ball TWO MORE TIMES.. after the long completion to Lamb and after the 2 minute warning they most likely would have won this game. They had first and 10 at the Tampa 34 with 1:51 left on the clock.. They threw incomplete on 1st down and used 6 seconds AND saved Tampa's time out. They had blown one on the challenge and thus only had two left. Run the ball there, eat up 8 seconds AND their second timeout and it's 2nd and let's say 8 with 1:44 left. Run it again, eat up another 8 seconds AND their last timeout and it's 3rd down with 1:36 left. Now run it yet again and eat up another 40 seconds and kick the FG with 50 ish seconds left. Then kick it through the end zone .. Tampa get the ball and completes one to Bernard for 8 and out of bounds . .. That took 6 seconds.. :44 left (home cooking clock operator) .. They throw incomplete to Evant taking another 5 seconds :37 left.. Then another completion to Bernard for 4 using 18 seconds.. :19 left They scramble to the line trying to save their timeout which in my scenario they would not have had anyway.. They get the false start which would have meant the 10 second runoff since they should have had no timeouts left and now it's :09 left in the game. They have no timeouts.. and are 40 yards away from FG range. Brady throws short to Gronk for 6 .. .. then intermediate to Gronk for 20. If he needed 40 yards and had no timeouts he probably doesn't ake either of those throws but goes deep... but even if he completes the "pushoff" pass to Godwin they have no timeouts and when Godwin is tackled the game is over.. All we had to do was manage the clock and that game's a win in spite of our Kicking woes and only rushing for 70? yards.. TWO more runs.. That's all it took. And we passed on it.. pun intended.

True but we also had on 3rd and 6 from the TB 30 a holding call that put Dallas back to the 40 leaving us with 3rd and 16 and Dallas did throw picking up 10 yards putting us back into FG range

 

[RonnieT24]

True but we also had on 3rd and 6 from the TB 30 a holding call that put Dallas back to the 40 leaving us with 3rd and 16 and Dallas did throw picking up 10 yards putting us back into FG range

The reason we had the holding call and were passing on 3rd and 6 was because we passed on first down coming out of the two minute warning .. If we get that 4 yard run from Zeke on first down instead of 2nd then not only do we eat up more clock and one of their timeouts we now have the options to hit them again with the run no 2nd and 6 and eat up still more clock and their last timeout. Now we have a running clock on 3rd and let's say Zeke only gets 2 on the 2nd down run.. 3rd and 4.. run it again.. they have no more timeouts.. use all 40 seconds at your disposal before taking a TO and kicking the FG. Then kick the ball to the Bucs with 40? seconds left and no timeouts left? The kickoff uses over 5 seconds.. Brady now had 35 seconds to go 40 yards into FG range. Oh and they get the 10 second runoff penalty .. so really it's 25 seconds.. Nothing is guaranteed but you have a much better chance of stopping the GOAT with 25 seconds vs a minute and 25 seconds.

 

[Doomsday101]

The reason we had the holding call and were passing on 3rd and 6 was because we passed on first down coming out of the two minute warning .. If we get that 4 yard run from Zeke on first down instead of 2nd then not only do we eat up more clock and one of their timeouts we now have the options to hit them again with the run no 2nd and 6 and eat up still more clock and their last timeout. Now we have a running clock on 3rd and let's say Zeke only gets 2 on the 2nd down run.. 3rd and 4.. run it again.. they have no more timeouts.. use all 40 seconds at your disposal before taking a TO and kicking the FG. Then kick the ball to the Bucs with 40? seconds left and no timeouts left? The kickoff uses over 5 seconds.. Brady now had 35 seconds to go 40 yards into FG range. Oh and they get the 10 second runoff penalty .. so really it's 25 seconds.. Nothing is guaranteed but you have a much better chance of stopping the GOAT with 25 seconds vs a minute and 25 seconds.

and getting a kicker who has missed kicks they were trying to get in as close as possible.

 

[JoeKing]

It would be fun to see for this old RB but I don't expect to ever see Zeke cut loose for a game like that as long as Moore is calling the plays. That's just not what he wants to do.

Kellan is calling running plays to Zeke but Dak is changing the plays.

 

[RonnieT24]

Kellan is calling running plays to Zeke but Dak is changing the plays.

Even if we accept that Dak audibled out of 12 run plays we're still talking about 47 called passes and 26 runs.. not counting the times Dak scrambled. That's still horribly outta whack. But again.. I don't need it to be 50/50.. I just need them to be able to run the ball when we really need to run the ball. And some of that means getting your running back into a rhythm. Not turning him into a 6th offensive lineman for 2-3 series in a row.

 

[JoeKing]

Even if we accept that Dak audibled out of 12 run plays we're still talking about 47 called passes and 26 runs.. not counting the times Dak scrambled. That's still horribly outta whack. But again.. I don't need it to be 50/50.. I just need them to be able to run the ball when we really need to run the ball. And some of that means getting your running back into a rhythm. Not turning him into a 6th offensive lineman for 2-3 series in a row.

You're not going to get a balanced attack going against every defense. You have to admit TB is just one of those teams where running the ball is just not something you're going to be able to do with great success. Not in week 1. Maybe we can when we(as Dak said) "See ya'll again".

 

[RonnieT24]

You're not going to get a balanced attack going against every defense. You have to admit TB is just one of those teams where running the ball is just not something you're going to be able to do with great success. Not in week 1. Maybe we can when we(as Dak said) "See ya'll again".

Yes Tampa is stout up front.. but as I said, Zeke got positive yards on most of his carries.. Moore is going to get his chance to show he CAN exploit a lesser run defense against the Chargers.. The WFTs hit them for 126 yards and 4.7 yards a pop. Even compromised our line is at least as good as theirs and Zeke is a better back than Gibson and obviously our passing game is far superior to theirs. We know we can move the ball but we need to cash in when we get into the red zone. I think Zeke needs to be a big part of that.

 

[conner01]

True, Moore talked about not wanting to bang our heads against a wall if the run is not there. Personally I really do not care how many runs vs passes we have in any particular game I'm only interested in this offense moving the ball and putting up the points. I think Cowboys have the diversity to be able to attack by different means.

Yep
It’s all about moving the chains
But we do need to improve in the red zone
We are very good outside the red zone but that is one aspect we have to get better at

 

[Doomsday101]

Yep
It’s all about moving the chains
But we do need to improve in the red zone
We are very good outside the red zone but that is one aspect we have to get better at

No doubt about it.

 

[RonnieT24]

My main issue with Moore isn't even how little he does run.. though that's far from ideal. It's that he simply has zero feel for the running game. He doesn't know when it's working and he's not apt to stay with it even if it is. He clearly does not understand that sometime it takes time to find the weak spot in the running game just as it does in the passing game. I will say it till I'm blue in the face, if this is the offense we're going to run we need to trade Zeke and start Pollard.. We have use for a workhorse running back if we're not going to work him.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

My main issue with Moore isn't even how little he does run.. though that's far from ideal. It's that he simply has zero feel for the running game. He doesn't know when it's working and he's not apt to stay with it even if it is. He clearly does not understand that sometime it takes time to find the weak spot in the running game just as it does in the passing game. I will say it till I'm blue in the face, if this is the offense we're going to run we need to trade Zeke and start Pollard.. We have use for a workhorse running back if we're not going to work him.

I can;t have enough likes for this.

It's liek we put ZERO effort into the personnel, practice, the game plan, or the commitment to the run it takes to win consistently in the nfl.

People who blame zeke..compare him to 2016, refuse to compare the WHOLE TEAM. How convenient! We are not the same team. Not even close.

We need some of the same things that team had....a running game is critical. Not just to blast people, but to strike at the right moments. And we do need to blast them with it at the goal line. They can;t always be a corner fade right.

And the run "game plan" (for the sake of discussion I willc all it that), can;t be to sub for zeke when he gets tired. We could try to keep them off guard with cleverness and surprise.

If we are indeed phasing out the power run game....let zeke go somewhere else then. Let Tony take on the crushing blocks the o-line and dak need.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Yep
It’s all about moving the chains
But we do need to improve in the red zone
We are very good outside the red zone but that is one aspect we have to get better at

And that is where we need a running game. A few good blocks would be nice.

 

[blueblood70]

Also keep this in mind. This team has not fielded a game in the past 23 with all 3 of their top OL.
Now without Collins for 5 games, that will extend to 28 games.

theres a lot of big names from week one under 4ypc some like say Henry 3.4 zeke 3.3 hmmmmmmm that should shut some up..it wont LOL

 

[blueblood70]

theres a lot of big names from week one under 4ypc some like say Henry 3.4 zeke 3.3 hmmmmmmm that should shut some up..it wont LOL