The big run by Barkley: Analysis

[Stash]

I'm analyzing 1 play.

Your obsession with the player does not change the facts of the play.

Neither does your trying to excuse his role in it.

It's a good sign that they are mixing things up this year.

Last year the RDE would just stay with outside contain on this type of play.

The Rams knew that he would stay with outside contain and they exploited those types of scheme limitations.

The difficultly is that changing up the DL assignments means the surrounding players (primarily LB and Safeties) must also react differently.

The RDE either squeezes down the inside gap or he maintains outside contain.

Once he commits to closing the inside gap, anything to the right of the RDE is not his assignment.

Barkley ran to the outside of the LT and Crawford.

Crawford not having outside contain was obviously part of the defensive play call because both X.Woods and Brown played outside contain.

There's nothing "obvious" about it. What's obvious is people wanting to absolve Crawford of being a terrible RDE. He was absolute garbage out there all game long, this play along with all the rest. Just like he was against the Rams last year. This farce needs to end.

If that was t"part of the play call", why was the linebacker also playing inside? You want to give Crawford a pass when it's undeserved. There's either a breakdown in communication and responsibility, unsound defensive schemes, or people aren't doing as they're told.

 

[blueblood70]

2ND & 1 AT NYG 18(11:25)
(11:25) S.Barkley up the middle pushed ob at DAL 23 for 59 yards (C.Awuzie).

Breakdown

• Crawford RDE squeezes down to close the inside gap.
• FS Woods was up on this play and played outside contain.
• He initially had inside position on the blocker but moved outside.
• CB Brown was already on the outside.
• Woods should know that Brown has the outside because the outside WR is blocking Woods.
• Brown and Woods both end up covering the outside.
• Crawford had squeezed down the inside gap that Barkley was initially going to run through.
• Vander Esch also covered the same gap that Crawford had closed down.
• That meant no defenders except Heath who was 15 yards back at the point Barkley crosses the line.
• The gap is technically outside of the LT who had moved inside blocking Crawford.
• Giants #88 did block Crawford in the back but that was not the cause of the big gain.
• Vander Esch appears to have been the primary cause.
• X.Woods was likely the next in line for blame.
  • Only 1 of Woods or Brown should have stayed outside.
• There was no chance that Heath could make that tackle.
  • It is possible that Heath was expected to cut off Barkley's outside path.
  • If Heath had cut off the outside then there are defenders to the inside.

Anybody heaping blame on Heath for this play has an agenda.
If Heath could make that open field tackle on Barkley, then Barkley is not very good.

<Much easier a back like SB see big hole buirst through hole, cant be brought down with head of steam by one guy.. just poor defense all night all sides of the ball..

no need to examine one big play, most big plays are breakdowns by the other team.. im sure NY is going through all the tape to figure out all the breakdowns in the passing game ie Jarwins first TD, 5 guys in the area code but somehow hes behind them all, its busted coverage..

 

[Stash]

Didn't he get washed by evan engram whos 240 at most? Oooopppphhhhhh

Yes. The same Evan Engram who himself was benched last year because his blocking was so bad. But worthless Crawford makes him look like a monster blocker.

 

[Hennessy_King]

Yes. The same Evan Engram who himself was benched last year because his blocking was so bad. But worthless Crawford makes him look like a monster blocker.

lol big facts

 

[Stash]

This right here. But it's the same guys over and over. But marinelli "likes" those guys.

Seriously.

It's not like people haven't been complaining about Heath and Crawford and wanting them out of there for years. Why should the latest visual evidence be news?

 

[blueblood70]

Anytime heath is on the field and he isnt the one making the play 15 yards behind the LOS its his fault.

hoe that sarcasm because its not all on heath that the last 2 real games are defense has gave up 400yards rushing and add the colts game in there, Ithis is trend that needs to be fixed and Heath isnt the scape goat IMO..sure hes part of the issue but I saw bad play by the Dline and Lbs yes the precious LB core we all rave about and (JS GOT PAID$$$) in the Rams and Giants games..it forces the safetys into bad situations..The dline gets beat the lbs get ragged doll by 2nd level Olinemn and then safety is trying to come up and help 10yard deep into the play..its been ugly..

 

[xwalker]

I blame LVE but it's not LVE it's that stupid one gap system against a single high RB. And it doesn't matter if it's the "I" formation, the pistol formation, or the single high set. When ever the RB is line up directly behind the QB we need to switch to a two gap system.

How the heck can Crawford maintain his gap when he's being double teamed? He can't. So with Crawford being blocked out of his gap and LVE still playing the one gap style 59 yards is the result.

Offense linemen are going to double team our defensive linemen and push them out of their gaps. So the running back, coming directly from behind the QB, just needs to make a small quick cut to find the open hole. With the linebackers still playing their one gap style they just end up getting washed out of the play. Aka caught up in the pile.

Marinelli's get up the field, attacking style defense leaves us susceptible to draws. And our one gap system leaves us susceptible to small quick cutbacks by the RB. Especially when that RB is coming from directly behind the QB.

If you go back and look at the Colts game from last year you'll see a bunch of draws and a bunch of run in which the RB lined up directly behind the QB. And it's the same thing in the Rams playoff game.

An easy read and audible by our defense can fix the problem but these guys aren't even taught the two gap system. We are a one trick pony on defense and if teams start running the ball on us 30 plus times a game. Like the Colts and the Rams did. It will be hard for us to win ballgames.

Our offense will have to carry the load this year. Cause Marinelli sucks.

More teams now run 1-gap scheme than not.

The Cowboys still 2-gap with the LDE on many plays. The 1-tech also 2-gaps at times.

The Seahawks won a Super Bowl playing a 1-gap scheme.

Even the Rams and Wade Phillips play a 1-gap 3-4 scheme.

The days of the pure 2-gap like Parcells tried to implement when the was here are gone.

Barkley only had 61 yards on all other runs in this game.

The Patriots played primarily 1-gap last year. They changed the defensive alignment for the Super Bowl specifically because of the blocking changes the Rams rolled out against the Cowboys. They moved the OLB to the outside of the RDE and had the RDE play the inside gap instead of having outside contain.

This play by the Cowboys had the RDE close the inside gap instead of playing outside contain like they did against the Rams. It's a good sign that they are mixing things up but they have young players that made mistakes. Vander Esch was not the only one that made a mistake. Either Safety Woods or CB Brown should have moved to the inside instead of both staying outside of the block on Woods. Heath in the clean-up role should have moved to the outside to entice Barkley back to the inside where there were other defenders.

 

[xwalker]

no need to examine one big play, most big plays are breakdowns by the other team..

It's what we do here on a Cowboy message board. Discuss plays and players...

 

[Stash]

Barkley only had 61 yards on all other runs in this game.

Disingenuous at best, deceitful at worst.

"All other runs"? That would be 10. 61 yards on 10 carries. Still 6.1 yards per rush, still terrible by any definition.

 

[xwalker]

Neither does your trying to excuse his role in it.



There's nothing "obvious" about it. What's obvious is people wanting to absolve Crawford of being a terrible RDE. He was absolute garbage out there all game long, this play along with all the rest. Just like he was against the Rams last year. This farce needs to end.

If that was t"part of the play call", why was the linebacker also playing inside? You want to give Crawford a pass when it's undeserved. There's either a breakdown in communication and responsibility, unsound defensive schemes, or people aren't doing as they're told.

I'm not going to go back and forth with you on Crawford. That's pointless.

You are just not an analytical type person. You are an emotional thinker.

That's OK. It's sports.

It's not your job to be analytical with regards to the Cowboys; however, there is NO point for me to attempt an analytical discussion with someone that is not interested in analysis and places near zero value on being analytical.

 

[xwalker]

Disingenuous at best, deceitful at worst.

"All other runs"? That would be 10. 61 yards on 10 carries. Still 6.1 yards per rush, still terrible by any definition.

I'm putting you on ignore now.

I'm tired of the nonsense.

 

[Stash]

I'm not going to go back and forth with you on Crawford. That's pointless.

Please don't. You would be wasting both of our time. The pathetic level of play speaks for itself.

You are just not an analytical type person. You are an emotional thinker.

My eyes work. We can "analyze" his productivity - and specifically the lack thereof - if you want to waste even more time.

That's OK. It's sports.

It's not your job to be analytical with regards to the Cowboys; however, there is NO point for me to attempt an analytical discussion with someone that is not interested in analysis and places near zero value on being analytical.

I very much appreciate and enjoy your analyses. But this one is not an example of your better work. Any analysis that simply wants to disregard the huge role that Crawford played in that run happening is worthless.

 

[charron]

hoe that sarcasm because its not all on heath that the last 2 real games are defense has gave up 400yards rushing and add the colts game in there, Ithis is trend that needs to be fixed and Heath isnt the scape goat IMO..sure hes part of the issue but I saw bad play by the Dline and Lbs yes the precious LB core we all rave about and (JS GOT PAID$$$) in the Rams and Giants games..it forces the safetys into bad situations..The dline gets beat the lbs get ragged doll by 2nd level Olinemn and then safety is trying to come up and help 10yard deep into the play..its been ugly..

Yes it is sarcasm. Barkley untouched through the DL and LB's is 100000% unacceptable. We need to change how we play run defense, stop worrying about up the field and worry about gap integrity on run downs. By contrast look at how often pollard was hit behind our line of scrimmage, that's what our defense needs to do against good run teams.

 

[TWOK11]

There’s not a DB at any level of football in this country who could tackle Barkley in that scenario.

 

[Stash]

I'm putting you on ignore now.

I'm tired of the nonsense.

Fine. That says more about you and your own weaknesses than it does about anything else. You obviously want to simply spread propaganda and then throw a tantrum and hide when someone actually wants to dispute it. The "nonsense" comes from those who want to try to control the narrative and cry when they can't. Go hide behind your wall yet again.

 

[xwalker]

I've seen others insist it was Crawford's fault. Like you, I put it on LVE.

But you let Heath off too easily. I think he should have, as you say, cut off the outside to push Barkley in toward the rest of the team. Letting him have the edge was a big problem.

And Heath did have a chance to make the tackle. Not a good chance, but a chance. He could have charged and tried to take Barkley's legs out. Instead he played passive and played to his worst trait, his lateral agility. When Barkley just ran by him, Heath then discovered that Barkley was faster than him too, so he couldn't cut Barkley off with the sidelines either.

The GOAT made all the wrong decisions. The Wolf Hunter screwed up too. Saquon was a tough draw for the first carry of the season. If you're rusty, you're in trouble. We were. Oh well.

For the rest of the game, Barkley had about a 5 yard average. Nothing to get worked up about. I'll give them a Mulligan on the first carry of the season.

They picked a good game to screw up.

Safeties are coached NOT to run through (take the legs out, etc..) of the ball carrier when they are the last line of defense.

Heath should have moved to the outside to entice Barkley back to the inside; however, Heath had a very minimal chance to tackle Barkley. An elite NFL RB should win against a Safety in the open field every time.

 

[Stash]

Yes it is sarcasm. Barkley untouched through the DL and LB's is 100000% unacceptable. We need to change how we play run defense, stop worrying about up the field and worry about gap integrity on run downs. By contrast look at how often pollard was hit behind our line of scrimmage, that's what our defense needs to do against good run teams.

100% right. Where is all of this "up the field" getting us? None of these bums had a sack all day, despite "selling out" to get after the quarterback. The fact that nobody wants to talk about is that the sack numbers have never come under Marinelli's "Rushmen" style approach. The only thing he's accomplished is to make the run defense unsound.

 

[Stash]

I'm putting you on ignore now.

I'm tired of the nonsense.

I guess you can only "analyze" the numbers you like? How is pointing out the truth "nonsense"?

 

[xwalker]

Great job OP

In no way is this Heath’s fault. And I don’t see where this is LVE’s fault either, although I can see why people would may believe it is. Funny how some are just giving Crawford a pass on this one though.

Crawford should have maintained his gap, period. Exp against a RB as good as Saquon. So let me get this straight...Crawford crashed to the inside and left the outside contain/gap responsibilities to two CBs? Why on earth would this be a good idea against the caliber of RB that Saquon is?

Better idea.. Crawford maintain outside gap and funnel Saquon right to the charging LVE. I believe LVE ended up exactly where he was supposed to be to make a play on Saquon had Crawford did was he should have done. At the very least.. Saquon avoids LVE and has to bounce to the outside where Woods or Brown could have made a play or force out of bounds. Fact: This is a direct cause of Crawford not playing during the preseason.

No, in the Rams game Crawford maintained outside contain to a fault and that is one of the things the Rams knew would happen and they exploited it.

It is actually a good sign that the Cowboys are changing things up this season.

Crawford took the LT with him and a WR that was helping the LT.

X.Woods and Brown only had the 1 WR that was blocking Woods to deal with on the outside. They were not having to take on a block by an OL.

By definition the LBs are required to react to the DLinemen. In the Marinelli style of defense, the LBs are the "Brains" of the defense.

If Crawford had maintained outside contain that would be 3 players with outside contain. No defense is designed to have 3 players with outside contain right at the line on run plays.

Crawford either plays the inside gap or he doesn't. Once he does it's the responsibility of other players to cover anything to Crawford's right side.

I have no reason to defend Crawford. I said a few times this off-season that I thought they might cut him and that it's probably time to have younger players replace him.

 

[Awakened]

X.Woods and Brown shouldn't have both been stuck on outside contain. One of them played it wrong also.

Exactly. Whoever had outside contain (I think it was Brown), the play is primarily the other guy's fault (I think Woods).