Trick Plays

Bobhaze

Bobhaze

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Will we have trick plays? Of course. Wil they be effective? Who knows? Trick plays work best when the defense has focused on certain keys and tendencies the offense has shown consistently. They require very careful and exacting execution.

IMO, the Cowboys haven’t been that great at trick plays since the Landry era. We didn’t use them much in the Jimmy era because that offense could just line up and dominate people physically. Tom Landry was an absolute genius at developing gadget plays and when to use them. It takes an excellent offensive mind to orchestrate and execute them.
 
Risen Star

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Anytime you have Tony Pollard on the field and he doesn't touch the football it qualifies as a trick play.
 
Reverend Conehead

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Bobhaze said:
Will we have trick plays? Of course. Wil they be effective? Who knows? Trick plays work best when the defense has focused on certain keys and tendencies the offense has shown consistently. They require very careful and exacting execution.

IMO, the Cowboys haven’t been that great at trick plays since the Landry era. We didn’t use them much in the Jimmy era because that offense could just line up and dominate people physically. Tom Landry was an absolute genius at developing gadget plays and when to use them. It takes an excellent offensive mind to orchestrate and execute them.
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Johnson used trick plays a lot less than Landry did, but he did occasionally use them. I remember one game against the Eagles (I think) in which Johnson sent all the big play guys, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Alvin Harper, to the left of the endzone while lowly scrub Derek Tennell ran a route to the right of the endzone, and then they through it to Tennell who made an easy TD all alone. It was smart misdirection that worked because no one was worried about Tennell.

Johnson also beat the 1991 Washington team, who were the superior team and ended up the Super Bowl champions. Johnson gambled a lot in that game because he knew he had to. Toward the end of the half, we had the ball and could have gotten into field goal range with a medium pass, but Johnson went for a Hail Mary to the endzone, and it worked. He also called a successful onside kick in that game. It worked because Johnson so rarely did trickery, and that day he gambled and won.
 
Vtwin

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I'd call a HB option or a flea flicker or some other trick play at some point in almost every game just to give the defenses we'll be facing down the road something to think about. In favorable and non-desperate situations.

I wouldn't try and use trick plays to pull my arse out of the fire on third and long type situations. At least until critical late season or PO games, after I had established a season's worth of tendencies to try and exploit a defense with.
 

McKDaddy

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Reverend Conehead said:
A trick play has to come at a very unexpected time. It should be an occasional thing, and it will not take the place of having a good system in place.
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True but having a little something unexpected to throw at teams in just the right moment can truly take your team to the next level.

Even those great 90's teams used the unexpected to shift the balance of games when they hadn't played their best.

Plus, having the threat in the back of the other teams mind is an advantage.
 
Streifenkarl

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At the end of the season I remember they tried a couple of trick plays, all of which died a horrible death, even with yards lost. They were painflully slow and just badly executed. So no, I don't need more trick plays from these Cowboys.

In general I love to watch them of course. But they will always be the exception, fix the run game, fix the o line and tell Dak to release faster, and it's on.
 
Typhus

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Hardline said:
And a thing of Falcon stupidity.
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That was a moment of "perfect timing", that I have mentioned earlier, and how important it is to catch opposition off guard.
Jimmy had good timing for trick plays, and would love to hear from some of the stat pros on this forum for info relating to JJs success rate when executing those plays.
I honestly do not know if stats are or were kept for such plays.
 

Hardline

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Typhus said:
That was a moment of "perfect timing", that I have mentioned earlier, and how important it is to catch opposition off guard.
Jimmy had good timing for trick plays, and would love to hear from some of the stat pros on this forum for info relating to JJs success rate when executing those plays.
I honestly do not know if stats are or were kept for such plays.
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The Falcons just stood there and watched that ball lazily roll 10 yards knowing they could fall on it at any time.
 
jazzcat22

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With Kellen Moore, we are one ones getting tricked on our own trick plays. :muttley:
 
links18

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Double pass behind the line scrimmage: Prescott to Tolbert, Tolbert to Pollard; then Pollard deep to Gallup. That will teach the opposing defenses.
 
Coogiguy03

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America's Cowboy said:
Should Mike McCarthy, Kellen Moore and Bones Fassel run any trick plays in 2022?

What say you?

If so, which trick plays would you like to see?
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HOW ABOUT A TRICK PLAY WHERE WE KNOW THE TIME IN THE GAME AND ARE AWARE OF ALL THE RULES! TRICK PLAYS TO STOP ALL THESE DAMN PENALTIES
 
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