Fix the defense, tweak the offense and overall ST's

CowboyRoy

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I haven't mentioned Prescott or any player in any of my post. I say offense because at one time or another they all failed in different games. The OL, RBs, WRs, and yes, the QB. This is over the course of the season.

I have seen and gone through each individual game and broke it down in a previous post. The great offense that you tout were actually frauds. The last two games are classic examples of the 2019 Dallas offense.

Week 16 with the season on the line they score no TDs. Week 17 with nothing on the line against an inferior opponent they score the most points of the year. Rah, rah, look at the mighty offense.

You say I'm biased but you should look in the mirror. You are the biggest Prescott supporter on this board. For you to admit about the fault of the offense leading to the failure of the team would mean you would be saying something blasphemous against your God Prescott.

I don't have a dog in the fight and I'm able to call them as they are. The fact is the offense was a bigger contributor to Dallas underachieving this year than the defense. Look at the 8 losses, that's where the evidence is.

I know some of you guys are so filled with hate that all you can do is blame Dak for everything. But the truth is that the offense overall was incredible. Do yourself a favor and read a little. Here is a snippet from an article on just how good the offense was.

All of these are questions that we’ll seemingly never get an answer to, but one thing we do know for sure is that Kellen Moore was brilliant in his first year as an offensive coordinator.

Fans may look at the Cowboys’ 8-8 record and lack of a postseason appearance, as well as weighing their heavy desire to move on from the Garrett era, and think it a good idea to entirely clean house, including Moore. But a closer look reveals that Moore and his offense delivered the goods despite having all the odds stacked against them.

We’ve already heard the stats that make Moore look good: first in total yards, second in passing, fifth in rushing, and sixth in scoring. They also finished tied for second in third-down conversion rates. Their offensive nucleus of Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Amari Cooper, and Michael Gallup all had great statistical years. The offense ranked second in total offensive efficiency, or DVOA, while ranking third in rushing efficiency and fifth in passing efficiency.

Those are all great stats, and in most cases that’d be enough for an offensive coordinator to start getting head coach interviews around the league. But when your team fails to make the playoffs, you start to ask if those are empty numbers and who’s really to blame. Upon further review, Moore is not the one to blame.

And none of this is to say that a few better performances from Dak or the offense couldn't have gave us another win or two. Article goes into detail about exactly what I said. Defense and special teams putting the offense it very difficult situations all year long.

The offense was routinely set up to fail by their defense and special teams, yet they still succeeded

Here’s the part that makes all of this absolutely insane: the Cowboys consistently were given terrible starting field position and still had all the success described above. Starting field position is an underrated but vital part of a team’s success.


For example, the 2018 Bears went 12-4 and had head coach Matt Nagy looking like the next McVay. But in reality, his offense only ranked 20th in offensive DVOA that year and 14th in drive success rate. However, the Bears defense led the league in takeaways and as a result they had the sixth best average starting field position that year. This year, the Bears defense regressed towards the mean and Chicago had the 16th best starting field position, and missed the playoffs as a result.

For Dallas, the story was somewhat similar, though with different causes. Only five teams had less takeaways than the Cowboys, and their special teams unit was dismal: Chris Jones was dead last in the league in yards per punt and they finished 30th in DVOA, enjoying a nice upswing after Kai Forbath’s solid play was added to the team. That’s right, Forbath was so good that he improved their special teams all the way to third worst in the league. When he was signed, they were dead last.

Between this special teams horror show and the lack of defensive takeaways, Dallas had the third worst average starting field position. Their average drive started at the 26-yard line, which is only slightly better than a touchback. This means the Cowboys offense more often than not was asked to drive 70-80 yards each possession in order to score a touchdown. Very few offenses can overcome that.


Yet Moore’s group did. They averaged 39.99 yards per drive, second only to the Ravens, and had the fourth most points per drive. The odds were continually stacked against this unit, often by their own teammates and coaches, and yet they consistently delivered. Seeing this from any offensive coordinator is impressive, but from someone who’s never called plays before? That’s truly incredible.

 

12+88=7

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I know some of you guys are so filled with hate that all you can do is blame Dak for everything. But the truth is that the offense overall was incredible. Do yourself a favor and read a little. Here is a snippet from an article on just how good the offense was.

All of these are questions that we’ll seemingly never get an answer to, but one thing we do know for sure is that Kellen Moore was brilliant in his first year as an offensive coordinator.

Fans may look at the Cowboys’ 8-8 record and lack of a postseason appearance, as well as weighing their heavy desire to move on from the Garrett era, and think it a good idea to entirely clean house, including Moore. But a closer look reveals that Moore and his offense delivered the goods despite having all the odds stacked against them.

We’ve already heard the stats that make Moore look good: first in total yards, second in passing, fifth in rushing, and sixth in scoring. They also finished tied for second in third-down conversion rates. Their offensive nucleus of Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Amari Cooper, and Michael Gallup all had great statistical years. The offense ranked second in total offensive efficiency, or DVOA, while ranking third in rushing efficiency and fifth in passing efficiency.

Those are all great stats, and in most cases that’d be enough for an offensive coordinator to start getting head coach interviews around the league. But when your team fails to make the playoffs, you start to ask if those are empty numbers and who’s really to blame. Upon further review, Moore is not the one to blame.

And none of this is to say that a few better performances from Dak or the offense couldn't have gave us another win or two. Article goes into detail about exactly what I said. Defense and special teams putting the offense it very difficult situations all year long.

The offense was routinely set up to fail by their defense and special teams, yet they still succeeded

Here’s the part that makes all of this absolutely insane: the Cowboys consistently were given terrible starting field position and still had all the success described above. Starting field position is an underrated but vital part of a team’s success.


For example, the 2018 Bears went 12-4 and had head coach Matt Nagy looking like the next McVay. But in reality, his offense only ranked 20th in offensive DVOA that year and 14th in drive success rate. However, the Bears defense led the league in takeaways and as a result they had the sixth best average starting field position that year. This year, the Bears defense regressed towards the mean and Chicago had the 16th best starting field position, and missed the playoffs as a result.

For Dallas, the story was somewhat similar, though with different causes. Only five teams had less takeaways than the Cowboys, and their special teams unit was dismal: Chris Jones was dead last in the league in yards per punt and they finished 30th in DVOA, enjoying a nice upswing after Kai Forbath’s solid play was added to the team. That’s right, Forbath was so good that he improved their special teams all the way to third worst in the league. When he was signed, they were dead last.

Between this special teams horror show and the lack of defensive takeaways, Dallas had the third worst average starting field position. Their average drive started at the 26-yard line, which is only slightly better than a touchback. This means the Cowboys offense more often than not was asked to drive 70-80 yards each possession in order to score a touchdown. Very few offenses can overcome that.


Yet Moore’s group did. They averaged 39.99 yards per drive, second only to the Ravens, and had the fourth most points per drive. The odds were continually stacked against this unit, often by their own teammates and coaches, and yet they consistently delivered. Seeing this from any offensive coordinator is impressive, but from someone who’s never called plays before? That’s truly incredible.

I don't need to read Blogging the Boys to tell me the offense improved. I saw it, they did improve.

My point is when it mattered, they came up small.

Your trying to quantify that the defense and special teams didn't do their job. Over the course of a season in certain situations this would be correct. But there were too many times where the offense disappeared for quarters on end. That's not on the defense or special teams. In a previous post I said how in the Buffalo game they went 51 minutes between scores. It's a 60 minute game.

Look at the losses and you will see that the offense disappeared for large stretches of games. That inconsistency in the games that mattered is what doomed Dallas this year, not the defense. For as great as your saying the offense was, they could not be trusted in the biggest moments of the season.

Here's proof, in the games against top opponents this year, name a moment they came up big. There wasn't any, that's the proof. Imagine going through a whole season and not having one defining moment for the offense.
 

CowboyRoy

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I don't need to read Blogging the Boys to tell me the offense improved. I saw it, they did improve.

My point is when it mattered, they came up small.

Your trying to quantify that the defense and special teams didn't do their job. Over the course of a season in certain situations this would be correct. But there were too many times where the offense disappeared for quarters on end. That's not on the defense or special teams. In a previous post I said how in the Buffalo game they went 51 minutes between scores. It's a 60 minute game.

Look at the losses and you will see that the offense disappeared for large stretches of games. That inconsistency in the games that mattered is what doomed Dallas this year, not the defense. For as great as your saying the offense was, they could not be trusted in the biggest moments of the season.

Here's proof, in the games against top opponents this year, name a moment they came up big. There wasn't any, that's the proof. Imagine going through a whole season and not having one defining moment for the offense.
Educate yourself and actually read the whole article.

If all you came away with was the fact that the offense improved, then you missed the boat.
Talks about how bad the defense and special teams were and what that did to the offense. But you probably don't want to hear that as it flies in the face of your entire theory that the #1 offense in football was the problem. LOL
 

12+88=7

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Educate yourself and actually read the whole article.

If all you came away with was the fact that the offense improved, then you missed the boat.
Talks about how bad the defense and special teams were and what that did to the offense. But you probably don't want to hear that as it flies in the face of your entire theory that the #1 offense in football was the problem. LOL

I asked you to show proof of when the #1 offense had a defining moment in the 8 losses Dallas suffered this year and you reply by pointing to an article on BTB.

I used to enjoy the articles on BTBs, but they have become more fluff pieces that should be on DallasCowboys.com. The writer starts with the premise how great the Dallas offense is and writes an article cherry picking points to prove this.

My question to the writer would be go back to the 8 losses and try writing the same story. He wouldn't be able to write that story in the same way you cannot come up with the defining moment of our #1 offense in the 8 Dallas losses.

Once again when the games mattered the Dallas offense underachieved more than the defense and had a bigger direct correlation to the losses. That is a fact that no article can explain away.
 

CowboyRoy

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I asked you to show proof of when the #1 offense had a defining moment in the 8 losses Dallas suffered this year and you reply by pointing to an article on BTB.

I used to enjoy the articles on BTBs, but they have become more fluff pieces that should be on DallasCowboys.com. The writer starts with the premise how great the Dallas offense is and writes an article cherry picking points to prove this.

My question to the writer would be go back to the 8 losses and try writing the same story. He wouldn't be able to write that story in the same way you cannot come up with the defining moment of our #1 offense in the 8 Dallas losses.

Once again when the games mattered the Dallas offense underachieved more than the defense and had a bigger direct correlation to the losses. That is a fact that no article can explain away.

Defining moment? Lol

what defining moment did the defense have?

in a horror show of a season like this all we are left with are facts. Stats show a much different picture than you paint. I would say that those that are paid to know agree with me. But you can think whatever you want.

feel free to show me an article pointing at the offense as the weaker side of the team.
 

cowboy_ron

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I know some of you guys are so filled with hate that all you can do is blame Dak for everything. But the truth is that the offense overall was incredible. Do yourself a favor and read a little. Here is a snippet from an article on just how good the offense was.

All of these are questions that we’ll seemingly never get an answer to, but one thing we do know for sure is that Kellen Moore was brilliant in his first year as an offensive coordinator.

Fans may look at the Cowboys’ 8-8 record and lack of a postseason appearance, as well as weighing their heavy desire to move on from the Garrett era, and think it a good idea to entirely clean house, including Moore. But a closer look reveals that Moore and his offense delivered the goods despite having all the odds stacked against them.

We’ve already heard the stats that make Moore look good: first in total yards, second in passing, fifth in rushing, and sixth in scoring. They also finished tied for second in third-down conversion rates. Their offensive nucleus of Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Amari Cooper, and Michael Gallup all had great statistical years. The offense ranked second in total offensive efficiency, or DVOA, while ranking third in rushing efficiency and fifth in passing efficiency.

Those are all great stats, and in most cases that’d be enough for an offensive coordinator to start getting head coach interviews around the league. But when your team fails to make the playoffs, you start to ask if those are empty numbers and who’s really to blame. Upon further review, Moore is not the one to blame.

And none of this is to say that a few better performances from Dak or the offense couldn't have gave us another win or two. Article goes into detail about exactly what I said. Defense and special teams putting the offense it very difficult situations all year long.

The offense was routinely set up to fail by their defense and special teams, yet they still succeeded

Here’s the part that makes all of this absolutely insane: the Cowboys consistently were given terrible starting field position and still had all the success described above. Starting field position is an underrated but vital part of a team’s success.


For example, the 2018 Bears went 12-4 and had head coach Matt Nagy looking like the next McVay. But in reality, his offense only ranked 20th in offensive DVOA that year and 14th in drive success rate. However, the Bears defense led the league in takeaways and as a result they had the sixth best average starting field position that year. This year, the Bears defense regressed towards the mean and Chicago had the 16th best starting field position, and missed the playoffs as a result.

For Dallas, the story was somewhat similar, though with different causes. Only five teams had less takeaways than the Cowboys, and their special teams unit was dismal: Chris Jones was dead last in the league in yards per punt and they finished 30th in DVOA, enjoying a nice upswing after Kai Forbath’s solid play was added to the team. That’s right, Forbath was so good that he improved their special teams all the way to third worst in the league. When he was signed, they were dead last.

Between this special teams horror show and the lack of defensive takeaways, Dallas had the third worst average starting field position. Their average drive started at the 26-yard line, which is only slightly better than a touchback. This means the Cowboys offense more often than not was asked to drive 70-80 yards each possession in order to score a touchdown. Very few offenses can overcome that.


Yet Moore’s group did. They averaged 39.99 yards per drive, second only to the Ravens, and had the fourth most points per drive. The odds were continually stacked against this unit, often by their own teammates and coaches, and yet they consistently delivered. Seeing this from any offensive coordinator is impressive, but from someone who’s never called plays before? That’s truly incredible.
If not for the offense we could be looking at the #1 or #2 pick in the draft
 

CowboyRoy

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If not for the offense we could be looking at the #1 or #2 pick in the draft

poor inaccuratee dak. Lol

I guess if he was accurate he could have broke the all time record for passing yards?

our offense racked up the 5th most yards in nfl history. :clap:
 

12+88=7

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Defining moment? Lol

what defining moment did the defense have?

in a horror show of a season like this all we are left with are facts. Stats show a much different picture than you paint. I would say that those that are paid to know agree with me. But you can think whatever you want.

feel free to show me an article pointing at the offense as the weaker side of the team.

In the losses, holding New Orleans on the road to no touchdowns for the first and only time in the Brees/Payton era.

Holding New England to 3 points in a game where the offense and special teams gave up 10 points on turnovers.

In the Philadelphia game holding them to 10 points for most of the game hoping the offense would get it together. Kept Dallas in the game till the end, but as we know the offense didn't come through. The recurring problem of the season.

That is three right there, where is the offense's one? Just one.

You can't because there weren't any. Give me all the stats you want, when a play needed to be made they failed on every instance. Think about that. They failed every time. But who cares when they are the #1 offense. We are so great.

I rather not be #1 in total offense and instead have made a first down against Minnesota when the game was on the line. Not looked inept against New Orleans, New York, New England, Buffalo, and Philadelphia for huge portions of those games. I just pointed out 5 games, or basically 1/3 of the year where the offense SUCKED.. But we have the #1 offense in the NFL, hooray!!!
 

Doomsday

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If not for the offense we could be looking at the #1 or #2 pick in the draft

They were 6th in the NFL in scoring. They needed to be better in the red zone at times but not sure the offense is the biggest issue on this team

On the flip side, special teams were arguably the worst in the NFL and the defense didn't get enough turnovers.
 

john van brocklin

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As we all wait on the decision regrading Garrett, whom I think will ultimately be gone by week's end, how do we fix this so called talented roster:

1) Tweak the offense - play calling still remains an issue, especially with a green OC abandoning the run so often. A Head Coach playing far too conservative. The offense didn't struggle moving the ball, but had it's difficulties finishing drives. They couldn't get out of their way at times, too many mental mistakes. Certainly, doesn't help when their FG kicker destroyed momentum on a weekly basis. We have seen Dak make improvement, but still had his struggles against the better defenses around the league. The arrow is pointing in the right direction, better coaching, more development with our QB, the offense isn't far away.

2) The defense and special teams are the team's biggest weaknesses. Team needs a new punter, hopefully they have found a long-term answer at kicker. The return and cover units are among the league worst. No, we don't want to see another special teams draft, but why not target some veteran fa's to bolster the unit. Tony Pollard was an electric returner in college, we have to find a way to turn him into a weapon/

3) The defense or lack thereof. Team struggles defending the run, has no idea how to deal with a simple screen pass, among the league worst to creating defensive turnovers for over a decade. The defensive gameplan isn't game specific, every team knows what we are doing. The worst QB's around the league have looked elite against us. We all know a complete overhaul for the coaching side is needed, but plain and simple, there aren't enough good player on this side of the football. Is there one starter that you can say is pro bowl level? Perhaps DLaw, maybe Lve, down the line if healthy, that's it. The rest are all overrated. The team has to rebuild the defense period!
We need a lot of help
 

CowboyRoy

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In the losses, holding New Orleans on the road to no touchdowns for the first and only time in the Brees/Payton era.

Holding New England to 3 points in a game where the offense and special teams gave up 10 points on turnovers.

In the Philadelphia game holding them to 10 points for most of the game hoping the offense would get it together. Kept Dallas in the game till the end, but as we know the offense didn't come through. The recurring problem of the season.

That is three right there, where is the offense's one? Just one.

You can't because there weren't any. Give me all the stats you want, when a play needed to be made they failed on every instance. Think about that. They failed every time. But who cares when they are the #1 offense. We are so great.

I rather not be #1 in total offense and instead have made a first down against Minnesota when the game was on the line. Not looked inept against New Orleans, New York, New England, Buffalo, and Philadelphia for huge portions of those games. I just pointed out 5 games, or basically 1/3 of the year where the offense SUCKED.. But we have the #1 offense in the NFL, hooray!!!

LOL...……..so the defense showed up for two games, one against a bad offense in NE.

And the offense led the NFL in offense and was #5 in yards in NFL history?

Barking up the wrong tree buddy.
 

12+88=7

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LOL...……..so the defense showed up for two games, one against a bad offense in NE.

And the offense led the NFL in offense and was #5 in yards in NFL history?

Barking up the wrong tree buddy.

The defense showed up in the games that mattered and the offense didn't. That's the point. That's what made the offense more responsible for the underachieving season.

Once again you continue with your meaningless stats, but the facts are when the games mattered most the offense underperformed or was nonexistent. FACT, FACT, FACT!!!

You say New England has a bad offense, but the Dallas offense was worse that day. Over the course of the season Dallas was better on offense, but not on that day. Once again, that's the point. When it mattered most the Dallas offense was terrible and unreliable.

I'm still waiting for you to tell me when the offense showed up in the 8 losses. I gave you 3 examples of the defense. The offense WAS #1 in the NFL, you can do it.
 

12+88=7

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I'll bail you out since all you could repeat is "#1 offense". I looked statistically at the 8 wins and the 8 losses.

The numbers are close except in one area, the running game.

In the wins the offense averaged 182 yards a game. In the losses 87 yards a game. A huge difference of 95 yards a game. This was the biggest reason for the offense failing.

The second area was turnovers. In wins Dallas turned it over 7 times, in losses 11 times. Eight of the eleven turnovers were by Prescott.

So in the losses Dallas couldn't run the ball and Prescott didn't protect the ball. That's why the #1 offense in the NFL failed.

That's how you respond, with facts, not #1 offense in the NFL.
 

12+88=7

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One last stat as to why the offense was more responsible for the underachieving season.

Points scored in wins 37.1, in losses 17. That is a 20 point difference, 3 touchdown difference.

The defense points allowed in wins 17, in losses 23.1. That is a 6 point difference. A 1 touchdown difference.

Anyone can see that the 20 point dropoff is greater than 6. In losses the #1 offense was bottom of the league bad, FACT!
 
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