All 22 vs Cards

[Blake]

Disagree that “****NOT-AN-OFFICIAL-SOURCE***” is a good follow. He was tolerable until he blew up. Now he just likes the sound of his own voice. He also wears the rose tinted glasses.

 

[JohnsKey19]

I swear the most underreported story about this offense this year has been the abysmal blocking from Schultz. How could the coaches allow this crap to persist all season? He is responsible for so many negative plays.

Im not sure i've ever seen a TE cleanly miss so many blocking assignments consistently over an entire season. Losing a rep is one thing. And that can be fine in some cases as at least you hold the guy up for a second. But Schultz often just misses completely or gets beat in under 1/2 second, which allows his guy to basically blow up running plays.

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

I swear the most underreported story about this offense this year has been the abysmal blocking from Schultz. How could the coaches allow this crap to persist all season? He is responsible for so many negative plays.

Remember when Shultz came out, they were saying...he's not much of a pass catcher, he's more of a blocker. They were trying to sell him as a blocking TE.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

Im not sure i've ever seen a TE cleanly miss so many blocking assignments consistently over an entire season. Losing a rep is one thing. And that can be fine in some cases as at least you hold the guy up for a second. But Schultz often just misses completely or gets beat in under 1/2 second, which allows his guy to basically blow up running plays.

I don't know how he faces his teammates in the huddle after some of his whiffs. And how does he show his face in the lockeroom after film session? I mean...he gets treated like a high schooler out there!

 

[CWR]

Remember when Shultz came out, they were saying...he's not much of a pass catcher, he's more of a blocker. They were trying to sell him as a blocking TE.

Yup, the coach at Stanford had said something to the extent of him being the best all around TE he had coached. He was supposed to be a good blocker. As soon as he began catching passes he stopped blocking all together.

 

[JohnsKey19]

Can you link it? Curious what Blake Bell is. I think I might have been the only person on the planet screaming for a blocking TE at the deadline.

What's Sprinkle's grade? He was signed as supposedly Bell's cheaper replacement. You would think a team that values running the ball would actually shore up this component of the roster. We're basically handicapped with these TEs trying to block at the LOS.

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

I looked up his run blocking and he ranks 34th and former Cowboy Geoff Swaim ranks 5th overall.

34th. That's funny because there are only 32 teams. That means he's the worst of all the starters and one backup.

 

[texbumthelife]

I would suggest that this is were stats and analytics can be off.

I know the NFL is becoming more analytics based but I still feel it will turn back at some point. It is not like baseball.. a) there are more variables on a football field, b) some metrics in football are impossible to measure accurately and c) football does NOT produce enough raw data to make some analysis statistically relevant.

So if we look at baseball.. say a batter has 500 at bats for a season.. when we look at his tendencies and data.. there would be more reliability in the analysis. Potentially out of those 500, he faced 1-3 on 120 occasions.. and he hit 20 of those.. and of those 20 there were 5 HR. So from that we can derive a 'clutch' hitting rating, or see what pitches he likes etc etc. Now each of those at bats may be against different pitchers and at different parks.. but they all are played on the same size diamond.. the batter strike zone is the same etc etc.. so there is more consistency.

Now we go to football.. a WR1 will catch an average of 80 balls across a whole season. They will most likely run different routes from most of those catches. They will most likely be on a different defender for every single catch.. then there is wind factors.. there is defence strength, there is pressure on the quarterback, there is down and distance to consider. Needless to say.. you could look at ALL 80 of a WR's catches and each one, for STATISTICAL purposes, would be different.

So football is working hard on finding statistical meaning and analytics.. and they will find some. However I believe there will be a correction. Right now the analytics are saying 'go for it on 4th' but we are seeing more and more 4th downs not being converted. So potentially (and I don't know clearly) the analytics in four years might start suggesting you are better NOT to go for it on 4th and short in those same situations.

So the stats are telling them there is no correlation between run strength and PA? That might be 100% true.. but that might be because of how teams execute the PA, the defence they attempt the PA against.. the strength of the scheme, the strength of the QB, the situation it is used it, the speed at which the DC identifies the PA tendencies, how alert the CBs and LBs are to the PA.

Goff is great with PA because he is FAST to release the ball and ACCURATE. So EVEN IF the defence doesn't 'bite' on the PA.. he can find an open receiver. Browns struggle with PA because their QB play is poor. So even if the defence 'bites' on the PA.. Mayfield misses the pass or the receiver drops the catch.. and then it looks like it was a dud play.

So I know the shiny stats are right now telling you that years of accepted logical about PA are wrong.. I just happen to know how statistics work. Play Action works because it gets the QB in motion (which has been shown to be more effective - roll outs, quick plays, boot legs, PA etc etc), it forces the defence to react and it takes pressure out of your QBs eyes. However for PA to work effectively.. you either need a run threat or a very very good QB.

PA has absolutely nothing to do with getting a QB in motion. They’re mutually exclusive. A roll out may happen on a PA play, but they’re not absolutely synonymous.

It also has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of your QB any more than every other pass play does. Jared Goff is a middle of the road QB (at best) and during his time with the Rams he was one of the best PA QBs in the league.

Play action works, regardless of whether the run game is, because these players have been conditioned to react a certain way to certain movements for decades in some cases. They see the QB put the ball out and react because that’s what they did in pee-wee, pop Warner, middle school, high school, and college.

It’s nearly a lifetime of conditioning that causes the reaction and leads to PA success. You can throw the ball every single play and PA is still going to work. And this is absolutely not anything new. It’s just more obvious now as teams have stopped running as much.

But, by all means, continue to conflate your superior knowledge of how stats work with an absolute misunderstanding of how play action works and why.

 

[G2]

34th. That's funny because there are only 32 teams. That means he's the worst of all the starters and one backup.

There's more than one TE per team, maybe that's it? I mean, he's awful at blocking.

 

[John813]

Yea, Schultz at first had the technique right when he came into the league but was just overmatched. I thought year 2 and 3 he made solid steps towards his blocking. This year, he looks worse than Gesicki and seems like he neither has the power/tech to block someone.

 

[CWR]

Yea, Schultz at first had the technique right when he came into the league but was just overmatched. I thought year 2 and 3 he made solid steps towards his blocking. This year, he looks worse than Gesicki and seems like he neither has the power/tech to block someone.

Or the want to. A lot of blocking is the desire to freaking do so. If you don't take pride in it and continue to push yourself to get better you are falling behind. TEs know it is pass catching that puts them on Sports Center and gets them fat contracts.

It was last year I think, when I saw a highlight of him catching a pass and saying on camera "not bad for a blocking TE."

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Here is a video of every offensive snap from the Cards game.

One thing seems clear, Dak is too cautious when it comes to throws to the outside and I believe it is causing teams to play more aggressively on the inside routes. The Cards played quite a bit of single-high safety and Dallas didn't take advantage of it.

Interested in seeing what others think.

FYI, ****NOT-AN-OFFICIAL-SOURCE*** is a great follow if you aren't doing so already. He always has great content.

after watching this. the OL looks really bad. no wonder the run game wasn't working. they were in the back field at the snap. the pass blocking is spotty. Smith didn't have a great game after his return. he gave up a lot of pressure. Zeke looks slow and he forgot how to catch. as the game went on, Dak became more tentative. the defense got to him.

 

[Creeper]

Seems like Dak has less than 2 seconds to find a receiver and throw before a Cardinals pass rushers was all over him. The Cards came at him from all directions and the OL let a lot of guys get through without much resistance.

The need to run the ball more to stop all the blitzing.

 

[CWR]

Teams just aren't afraid of Dak, and why would they be?

That must be why they are dropping everyone into coverage. When they did blitz they got home ridiculously fast. Try watching the tape, then comment.

 

[CWR]

Seems like Dak has less than 2 seconds to find a receiver and throw before a Cardinals pass rushers was all over him. The Cards came at him from all directions and the OL let a lot of guys get through without much resistance.

The need to run the ball more to stop all the blitzing.

The olines decline this season is like a long version of that Minnesota playoff game when they aged overnight. This line is playing absolutely terrible.

 

[CWR]

after watching this. the OL looks really bad. no wonder the run game wasn't working. they were in the back field at the snap. the pass blocking is spotty. Smith didn't have a great game after his return. he gave up a lot of pressure. Zeke looks slow and he forgot how to catch. as the game went on, Dak became more tentative. the defense got to him.

Watching that tape it is amazing we put any points on the board. Their defense was all over us from go. The line was overmatched vs back up DEs.

Our only chance is 10 play drives, without penalties and drops. It's bad right now. We have to block better.

 

[Sydla]

OL has to be a focus this offseason. I'd consider moving Collins to LG, finding a new OC, Steele to RT.

You have to hope Ball develops into a swing guy or starting guy and Steele goes back to swing OT. They may have to use a high pick on an OT as well.

 

[CWR]

I don’t have time to go back and watch everything on an All 22 but Christ Almighty, you can’t tell me we play that many snaps without one of the freaking wideouts open deep. I’m not saying that Dak has to be a Romo and just start gunslinging it like crazy down there, but what’s the freaking point if your offense is never moving because you’re too afraid to take a chance? And I don’t know what has happened, if it’s Dak’s confidence, if it’s Kellen Moore clamming up, because they were not like this at the beginning of the year. I don’t care how much better the run game was, it still doesn’t cause an offense to completely shut down like that through several quarters. As being pointed out, play action is still effective regardless of your running game. Hell, all you had to do was watch Quincy Carter play under Sean Payton. That man was a playaction machine with Troy Hambrick.

Yeah watch the tape. There were a couple opportunities, but one he took a safe first down pass, the other that really stuck out he was about to get popped. I had to watch it again before I saw the defense bearing down. Dak poorly placed a few balls and some of the batted balls are on him, although I understand trying to sneak it by. Besides that we had drops and good coverage combined with terrible blocking.

 

[Denim Chicken]

That sums Moore up right there.. you have to ESTABLISH the run before PA will work you donkey

That is categorically false.

 

[CWR]

OL has to be a focus this offseason. I'd consider moving Collins to LG, finding a new OC, Steele to RT.

You have to hope Ball develops into a swing guy or starting guy and Steele goes back to swing OT. They may have to use a high pick on an OT as well.

Number 1 priority this off season, and it's not close. We need another oline coach as well. He has enough talent to do better than this dumpster fire.