I got to attend his coaching seminar at USC this year and McVay is very open about running the same few plays out of different looks. He showed Robert Woods and Gerald Everett running the exact same route combo's on 5 plays from 5 different formations. Their intent is to get the defense to (incorrectly) react to the shift and motions, allowing them to exploit a mismatch. When Jerry talked about Moore's promotion he suggested that's the direction the Cowboys are headed in. The issue is the route combinations still have to work, the "creativity" part. You need to install mesh concepts and make sure the QB and WR's are reading the coverages the same so they are on the same page.
I never suggested unleash the full playbook or even a bulk of it, but training camp and the preseason is an installation of your offense (and defense). It's building blocks. I didn't see a single thing different with play calling or play designs tonight. Again, "vanilla" is understandable and the expectation. A completely different flavor is not. The Ravens aren't running spread, they are installing a run-heavy attack with some elements of triple with it. The Rams aren't going to show you anything special next week, but at the same time, they aren't going to run straight I formation next week. They will run elements of their offense.
For you two who keep harping "show nothing at all"..at what point do the Cowboys install the offense that they plan on running for 16 games?
well my take on vanilla in ps is this, if you dont use your season offense in PS then you dont get any good practice at running it.
As for film on it or other teams seeing it, they are all going to see it in the first game of the season are they not?? lol so it is only the giants
they will surprise with it, and since they have no practice at it with another team, they are not going to be good at it.
And another thing is like you say if you run different things out of the same formation, even if you show it in PS the defense still wont know which one
your going to actually do, and you could always change this or that , and show 1 thing in ps and then want them to expect that in reg season,
but then you do something else.
So bottom line, to me going vanilla in PS is just plain stupid and pointless. and that doesnt include some top secret gimmick plays like where foles
caught a td pass in SB, that is the kind of stuff you save for the right time.