Twitter: Cowboys RBs in the Passing Game Are Almost Useless

[RonnieT24]

Targeting a RB five times in a game on 2 yard routes is losing football...who's designing this stuff, and what veteran QB would follow thru with it?

Well to be fair most of the routes for the RBs are not routes at all. They are dump offs after Dak has gone through his reads and has a DL hanging onto his legs or tugging at his shoulders. But to your last point.. you are 100% correct... at some point Dak is going to have to stop buying into his belief that Kellen Moore is a "genius" and realize that some of these calls are setting him and his teammates up to fail. In particular ANY time he sends in the delay handoff up the middle with one of our tight ends assigned to block the DE and the center is supposed to help Zack Martin while ignoring the middle backer.. he needs to either audible to something else or call timeout and go over and discuss the play call with Moore. It's the next necessary step in his growth that he feels empowered to tell Moore "dude I aint runnin that" when he sends in a stupid play. Romo eventually had to do it to Garrett.. I guarantee you Rodgers did it to McCarthy. And Cowboy fans of a certain age will all remember some of the heated sideline discussions between Roger and Coach Landry.. It's part of the QBs job to disagree with the OC sometimes. I personally don't think Dak does it enough..

yet.

 

[basel90]

Cavanaugh was losing his mind on the air earlier over these stats.

So not only are we running Zeke up the middle into a pile of men every running play, but we are also getting the worst production out of RBs when we throw them the ball as well?

Yikes, Kellen (and Philbin).

check down Dak continued to pass to his bum buddy zeke to abysmal results. This kind of relationship between them has been so hurtful to the team finanically and on the field. Head coach and OL are responsible for that debacle the last 2 years. meaningless check downs , unexplained touches for zeke compared to pollard . all due to politics , jerry and ineptitude.
Not to mention dak lobbied hard for zeke to get paid . We know how that is going.

 

[BermyStar]

I have made that same observation. Too often, I feel that Dak wants to make a bigger play down the field instead of accepting what the defense gives him. I have shouted several times at the television for him to hit Zeke immediately in the flat while he is still in motion.

Exactly!!! We're probably yelling at the same time homie, cause I do the same.

 

[BermyStar]

Well to be fair most of the routes for the RBs are not routes at all. They are dump offs after Dak has gone through his reads and has a DL hanging onto his legs or tugging at his shoulders. But to your last point.. you are 100% correct... at some point Dak is going to have to stop buying into his belief that Kellen Moore is a "genius" and realize that some of these calls are setting him and his teammates up to fail. In particular ANY time he sends in the delay handoff up the middle with one of our tight ends assigned to block the DE and the center is supposed to help Zack Martin while ignoring the middle backer.. he needs to either audible to something else or call timeout and go over and discuss the play call with Moore. It's the next necessary step in his growth that he feels empowered to tell Moore "dude I aint runnin that" when he sends in a stupid play. Romo eventually had to do it to Garrett.. I guarantee you Rodgers did it to McCarthy. And Cowboy fans of a certain age will all remember some of the heated sideline discussions between Roger and Coach Landry.. It's part of the QBs job to disagree with the OC sometimes. I personally don't think Dak does it enough..

yet.

This point deserves its own thread! Well said homie!!!

 

[BermyStar]

And not an accurate pass. Dak has very little touch and it shows the most in his passes to the RB's - If Zeke does not get the pass in stride very little is going to come from it.

Very true brother

 

[BermyStar]

I was going to respond to the OP the same way. Whenever Dak is throwing to Pollard or Zeke in the flat the ball is always somewhere where the back has to twist, turn, stop, bend, leap or otherwise take himself out of position to make a cut and make the fist defender miss. The RBs who are best at this have Qbs that hit them in stride so they can accelerate immediately and make a move to get the tackler out of position. In the off season Dak should throw about 100 of these throws every day until it is automatic for him to hit the RB in stride. But also, Zeke does not seem to be very sure handed either.

I've noticed that too. I'm appalled at the lack of touch and accuracy on those throws to the flats. Its almost as though he's so scared to have it picked off that he throws it were the DBs stand no chance, but it does the HB absolutely no favor.

 

[KJJ]

Pollard should’ve been used more in the passing game he’s explosive in space.

 

[RonnieT24]

This point deserves its own thread! Well said homie!!!

Thanks bro.. I have made threads along these very lines in the past. I don't know if Dak has it in him to do what needs to be done which is why I think Moore just needs to be gone. I think Dak is always going to defer to him as the "genius" and trust him to send in good stuff every time. And because it actually does work 90% of the time there is little impetus for Dak to not trust him. The problem is that when you take a step back from it you see that the 90% of the time it works is either because a guy did something super human like when Zeke made that incredible first down against Minny or the opponent just sucks.. If you don't have physical superiority a player will have to do something god-like to exert superiority.. Rarely do we just catch a team in the wrong defense and have guys butt nekkid wide open or open a gigantic hole for the backs because we schemed it up. Not that it never happens... it just happens far less for us than it should for an offense with this many talented players.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

you do know you have 0 credibility when it comes to zeke. You’d defend him if he banged your significant other

that said Dak is part of the problem as well . Pollard is better at pretty much everything but blocking

Incorrect. I am on record as saying I would have let him sit on the holdout...I think he came back out of shape. And he has recently had a problem breaking tackles.

I am just not rooting for him to fail or enjoying his rut like some people are.

Pollard gets pretty much the same result when we run him up the clogged middle. Tony gets a LOT of plays in space. not only complimenting his skills, but staying away from our stupid o-line run blocking. As "change of pace" he is SUPPOSED to have more wow yards. Our #2's ALWAYS have obscene stats.

Until they assume #1, then they implode or flake out.

I don;t think Tony would do that, but it's also not a sure thing he can take the beating we ask of Zeke. Or that he can protect our prize QB.

I need to see a healthy consistent o-line and an OC committed to the run game before I claim Zeke's demise. Which I surely will do if those two things happen first.

 

[glimmerman]

Agree. Moore using Garrett’s passing trees and passes take forever to develop while defense knows what’s coming and are already there so the receiver is covered. We’d be better off if Dak didn’t waste time looking downfield and immediately checked down to the back in the flat. Pretty pathetic.

Agreed. Let Elliot clear the end of the line and throw the screen right over the line and hit him on the run going up the field. He has done it so many times. Almost like a toss or pitch play..

 

[nalam]

Cavanaugh was losing his mind on the air earlier over these stats.

So not only are we running Zeke up the middle into a pile of men every running play, but we are also getting the worst production out of RBs when we throw them the ball as well?

Yikes, Kellen (and Philbin).

You forgot who is throwing the ball …. dak sucks in throwing in the flat to RBs, didnt help the case Zeke and Pollard kept dropping so many catchable balls .

 

[RonnieT24]

Incorrect. I am on record as saying I would have let him sit on the holdout...I think he came back out of shape. And he has recently had a problem breaking tackles.

I am just not rooting for him to fail or enjoying his rut like some people are.

Pollard gets pretty much the same result when we run him up the clogged middle. Tony gets a LOT of plays in space. not only complimenting his skills, but staying away from our stupid o-line run blocking. As "change of pace" he is SUPPOSED to have more wow yards. Our #2's ALWAYS have obscene stats.

Until they assume #1, then they implode or flake out.

I don;t think Tony would do that, but it's also not a sure thing he can take the beating we ask of Zeke. Or that he can protect our prize QB.

I need to see a healthy consistent o-line and an OC committed to the run game before I claim Zeke's demise. Which I surely will do if those two things happen first.

We've been preaching this for years but nobody wants to listen.. The same people who wanted Hambrick over Emmitt wanted Barber over Julius then wanted Felix over Barber then Murray over Felix then Randle over Murray. The only time the replacement came in and performed better was when Murray took over for Felix. But he was the more complete back anyway. All the other times the #2's flamed out royally when asked to be "the guy!"

 

[BermyStar]

Thanks bro.. I have made threads along these very lines in the past. I don't know if Dak has it in him to do what needs to be done which is why I think Moore just needs to be gone. I think Dak is always going to defer to him as the "genius" and trust him to send in good stuff every time. And because it actually does work 90% of the time there is little impetus for Dak to not trust him. The problem is that when you take a step back from it you see that the 90% of the time it works is either because a guy did something super human like when Zeke made that incredible first down against Minny or the opponent just sucks.. If you don't have physical superiority a player will have to do something god-like to exert superiority.. Rarely do we just catch a team in the wrong defense and have guys butt nekkid wide open or open a gigantic hole for the backs because we schemed it up. Not that it never happens... it just happens far less for us than it should for an offense with this many talented players.

One thing that used to drive me mad about JG was that he never took advantage of the defensive offside penalties that awarded the offense a free play. I'm glad to see Kellen doing it and Dak executing with plenty success. It drives me crazy though that the aggression to get vertical and air it out seems so limited to those "free plays". Yeah, Dak's next step in his progression needs to be one were he realizes what he can bring to the playsheet and in game adjustments.

 

[RonnieT24]

One thing that used to drive me mad about JG was that he never took advantage of the defensive offside penalties that awarded the offense a free play. I'm glad to see Kellen doing it and Dak executing with plenty success. It drives me crazy though that the aggression to get vertical and air it out seems so limited to those "free plays". Yeah, Dak's next step in his progression needs to be one were he realizes what he can bring to the playsheet and in game adjustments.

I'm really concerned that it will never happen as long as he and Moore are joined at the hip. I don't think it's any coincidence that Romo's best season came after Garrett was essentially stripped of play calling duties and the reigns were handed over to Linehan. The fact of the matter is really smart guys with limited talent sometimes have a hard time calling plays for guys who are maybe a little less smart but a lot more talented. I thought Garrett put too much on Romo at times and I feel like Moore puts too much on Dak's plate too. He needs to let him turn around and hand the ball off a LOT more than he does.. We saw what that did for Romo in 2014.. and it continued with Dak in 2016-2018. But when 2019 rolled around and Mr. Yards are Yards took over, we turned back into the 2010-2013 Romo Cowboys.. who would only run the ball if Jerry called them out for not doing it.. otherwise it was 70/30 pass run.. and a lot of underachieving for the talent level. Lord knows I don't want to watch another 3-4 years of this.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Agreed. Let Elliot clear the end of the line and throw the screen right over the line and hit him on the run going up the field. He has done it so many times. Almost like a toss or pitch play..

Deadly.

 

[McKDaddy]

I've noticed that too. I'm appalled at the lack of touch and accuracy on those throws to the flats. Its almost as though he's so scared to have it picked off that he throws it were the DBs stand no chance, but it does the HB absolutely no favor.

but he might get that completion and keep that %

 

[Haimerej]

It is sad because Dak puts it in a place where almost any other RB would be able to get it (see 2nd to last drive vs SF where it was dumped to him but he just couldn't get to it because it would have required him to actually be able to accelerate) but with him it is an adventure.

Lol.

Dak overthrows his target and you say it's the target's fault for being too slow. This reminds me of AC on the old site telling me Dak threw a good ball to Beasley because, even though it was over his outstretched hands, Dez would've been able to catch it.

 

[Ken]

Lol.

Dak overthrows his target and you say it's the target's fault for being too slow. This reminds me of AC on the old site telling me Dak threw a good ball to Beasley because, even though it was over his outstretched hands, Dez would've been able to catch it.

Pollard would have caught it and he should have been in the game.

Do you deny that Zeke has the catch radius of a small child with his inability to accelerate?

 

[RonnieT24]

Pollard would have caught it and he should have been in the game.

Do you deny that Zeke has the catch radius of a small child with his inability to accelerate?

Well according to PFR Zeke had 3 drops on 65 targets in 2021.. Pollard also had 3 drops.. on 46 targets. So Pollard had a much higher drop percentage than Zeke.. 6.5% to 4.6%. I think people are holding last year against Zeke too much.. I think Covid screwed with his hand to eye coordination in 2020..which resulted in a lot of drops that year. 8 drops on 71 targets for a drop percentage of 11.3. In 2019 his drop precentage was 5.6.. In 2018 it was 2.1.. He had 2 drops on 95 targets!!! Yikes.. So I'm fairly confident in calling 2020 a Covid related anomaly and we can go back to considering Zeke a reliable receiver.

 

[Zekeats]

Dak looks down field
Check down to Zeke in the flat
bobble ball, drops
repeat.

Dak looks down field
Check down to Zeke in the flat
ball thrown 3 yards over his head or directly at his feet, incomplete
repeat