On the 4th down calls

Established1971 · Oct 19, 2021

I feel vindicated by last nights game. There seems to be of late this gung ho supposed "play to win" "no risk it no biscuit" attitude about 4th downs. Bills had the ball on the Titans 5, the 5! with 22 seconds left and 4th and 1, 3 points down. Any sane coach would have taken the field goal to go into overtime.

xwalker · Oct 19, 2021

droopdog7 said:
So there were I think four fourth down calls that could have gone either way, and of course many fans killing McCarthy over the decisions, but wondering how would people have gone under the circumstances.

I would not have gone on the first possession.

I would have gone on fourth and goal

I would not have gone on the missed fg with a few mins left

I would not have gone on the tying fg

Yeah, I know he tends to get killed on these decisions, and yeah, he is absolutely a maverick. But I agree on 3 of 4 of the decisions. What about others?

I'm more concerned about the fact that they couldn't convert on multiple short yardage plays, not just the 4th down plays.

RonnieT24 · Oct 19, 2021

xwalker said:
I'm more concerned about the fact that they couldn't convert on multiple short yardage plays, not just the 4th down plays.

Their dudes in the middle were better than our dudes in the middle. We should have learned after the first 4th down play. The beat up on Williams and Biadasz all game ... Zeke is powerful but he aint movin 2 300 pound men meeting him in the hole.

TheCoolFan · Oct 19, 2021

https://footballscoop.com/news/edjvarsity-best-and-worst-decisions-week-6-2021

In the DAL vs NE game, with 2:47 remaining in the 4th quarter and trailing by 1 point, Coach McCarthy and the Cowboys faced a 4th and 2 from the NE 33-yard line. The decision to attempt a FG cost the Cowboys -13% in (pre-snap) win probability. Whether they make or miss this FG, the decision to attempt one is a big error!

That's why you had to go for it in that situation! Regardless if you make or miss the FG OR fail on the 4th down, you still have to rely on your defense to get a stop...and you had your 3 timeouts and 2 minute warning.

If you go for it and convert, you can potentially run the clock down to under 30 seconds (or all the way down if you keep moving the ball) and then take the GW FG attempt.

TequilaCowboy · Oct 19, 2021

Dallasfann said:
Down 1 with 2:35 left 4th and 1. I'd go for that every day of the week if I had this offense. If we convert it we basically are able to burn down the clock and line up for a much shorter fg. We kicked and missed the rest is history. The 1st one in the 1st quarter was dumb as well.

I think by now we are finding that the OL is good at run blocking when the LOS is not stacked, but when it is 4th and 1. They get manhandled, and by they i mean the C and the G...you know who. Get pushed back and even a QB sneak is not good enough. The Cowboys just need to get more creative on 4th and short and avoiding up the middle kind of calls. You can't just jam it down their throats in those instances, even with Zeke.

Dallasfann · Oct 19, 2021

TequilaCowboy said:
I think by now we are finding that the OL is good at run blocking when the LOS is not stacked, but when it is 4th and 1. They get manhandled, and by they i mean the C and the G...you know who. Get pushed back and even a QB sneak is not good enough. The Cowboys just need to get more creative on 4th and short and avoiding up the middle kind of calls. You can't just jam it down their throats in those instances, even with Zeke.

Yep, if you remember we got every 4th and 1 we went for up the middle when we had Frederick in there.

RonnieT24 · Oct 19, 2021

TequilaCowboy said:
I think by now we are finding that the OL is good at run blocking when the LOS is not stacked, but when it is 4th and 1. They get manhandled, and by they i mean the C and the G...you know who. Get pushed back and even a QB sneak is not good enough. The Cowboys just need to get more creative on 4th and short and avoiding up the middle kind of calls. You can't just jam it down their throats in those instances, even with Zeke.

Yeah we don't have enough power up front to just move people off the ball in short yardage. And none of our tight ends is a good enough blocker for us to get outside consistently. That's why to me our best plays on 4th and short are passes. Roll Dak out, give him the option to run if they don't come out with him.. give him a receiver short, intermediate and long.

TexasBoys2288 · Oct 19, 2021

Established1971 said:
I feel vindicated by last nights game. There seems to be of late this gung ho supposed "play to win" "no risk it no biscuit" attitude about 4th downs. Bills had the ball on the Titans 5, the 5! with 22 seconds left and 4th and 1, 3 points down. Any sane coach would have taken the field goal to go into overtime.

I thought that was the absolute stupidest play call of the week.

Diehardblues · Oct 19, 2021

droopdog7 said:
So there were I think four fourth down calls that could have gone either way, and of course many fans killing McCarthy over the decisions, but wondering how would people have gone under the circumstances.

I would not have gone on the first possession.

I would have gone on fourth and goal

I would not have gone on the missed fg with a few mins left

I would not have gone on the tying fg

Yeah, I know he tends to get killed on these decisions, and yeah, he is absolutely a maverick. But I agree on 3 of 4 of the decisions. What about others?

He deserves to get killed on these decisions . We’ve never seen anything like it in Cowboys history. Not sure in NFL history. It’s well beyond the norm and likely to bite us when it hurts the most.

Without these questionable decisions he’d be revered highly with everyone.

FuzzyLumpkins · Oct 19, 2021

Runwildboys said:
And yet we're 5-1.

The cognitive dissonance has to be crippling.

On the 4th down calls

Established1971

fiveandcounting

xwalker

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RonnieT24

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TheCoolFan

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TequilaCowboy

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Dallasfann

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RonnieT24

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TexasBoys2288

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Diehardblues

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FuzzyLumpkins

The Boognish