Will defenses stack 9 on the line now?

LocimusPrime

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We exaggerate how often teams stack the box against us. Zeke only rushed against 8 in the box on 35% of his carries. Plenty of RBs faced more stacked boxes last year. Alfred Morris faced a greater % if stacked boxes than Zeke.
Exactly. I also read this. :clap:
 

TwentyOne

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With no threat of a reciever demanding double coverage down field?

They will exactly play the way they did last year.

This is not a question about how many people you put in the box. Even last year they played us with the usual 7 man fronts and we couldnt do anything.

It is about the field/room you have to defend. And teams dont have to defend the long ball down the sideline against us nor the long ball down the middle of the field. We have nobody who can stretch the field and we have no qb right now who can deliver the long ball on a contant basis so defenses view it as a threat.

So the field to defend for the 11 defenders is about the width of the playing field and max 15 yds long. It is hard to run against this and its hard to pass against this because there is not much room and everything has to be more then perfectly executed.

Whats more is our personal was very apreciable in what they could do. Dez for instance was only really good at the dig route. But that made the field even smaller. It pushed everything Inside. Witten can also only sit on the seams inside. The only threat we have to stretch the field hoizontally is beasley. Thats not good enough.

If we have someone who can stretch the field and if dak can be more precise in his passes that will change alot. Then defenses would have to take the whole field into account. And then our running game would click. Now suddenly defenses would have to stack 8 guys in the box and our passing game would click.
 
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LocimusPrime

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No, that's one of the reasons why Zeke isn't facing a lot of "stacked boxes" because we use 3 WR sets which prevents the defenses from stacking the box. It's why I always get a chuckle out of people claiming Zeke runs against all these stacked boxes.
True true
 

CouchCoach

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9 is a sellout and means a team is getting gutted and ground down. That could happen but much more likely to be 8 but the name of the game is put as much on the QB as possible and make him beat them.

Even committing an 8th to the box can create some real problems. Any DC doing that has to have a strong secondary and with a back like Elliott? He breaks though and it's time to line up for the kick off. He's a dangerous back to stack the box against.

I am assuming this is posed because of Dez being gone but did he strike fear into the D's last season and alter the schemes? They seemed to double Beasley more than Dez.

I don't think there's any question that every DC will try and force the game on Dak, especially since they have two full years of film on him. They will not allow the Cowboys to eat clock.

And that last para is not news to anyone, including his coaches and himself. He knows it's coming, time to prove if 2016 was a fluke and he caught them off guard or can he play QB in the NFL well enough to help carry his team?

My question is not as much about what the DC's are going to do as much as what is the DC O coaching staff going to do? Until they erase the memory of that ATL game, that's who they are and Dak better heed the message "if it is to be, it is up to me". Learn from his predecessor.
 

blindzebra

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9 is a sellout and means a team is getting gutted and ground down. That could happen but much more likely to be 8 but the name of the game is put as much on the QB as possible and make him beat them.

Even committing an 8th to the box can create some real problems. Any DC doing that has to have a strong secondary and with a back like Elliott? He breaks though and it's time to line up for the kick off. He's a dangerous back to stack the box against.

I am assuming this is posed because of Dez being gone but did he strike fear into the D's last season and alter the schemes? They seemed to double Beasley more than Dez.

I don't think there's any question that every DC will try and force the game on Dak, especially since they have two full years of film on him. They will not allow the Cowboys to eat clock.

And that last para is not news to anyone, including his coaches and himself. He knows it's coming, time to prove if 2016 was a fluke and he caught them off guard or can he play QB in the NFL well enough to help carry his team?

My question is not as much about what the DC's are going to do as much as what is the DC O coaching staff going to do? Until they erase the memory of that ATL game, that's who they are and Dak better heed the message "if it is to be, it is up to me". Learn from his predecessor.
Teams doubled Beasley more than they did Dez.
 

jrumann59

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The downfield threat will be there in the form of Thompson (& possibly a high draft pick). The route running will also be exceptional in the form of Hurns (wowzers... separation at the line from a wideout! Imagine that!). So they can stack 9 if they want to. Toastmasters City if they do.
Except the personnel packages are what telegraphs the play. So teams see Thompson on the field well he is going deep, Beasley is going to go short along with Witten, get pressure and Dak will throw to Witten, Beasley or Zeke. With Dak you only need to keep outside guys mostly covered he will only thro to them if they are wide open or he gets frustrated and just chucks it up.
 

jrumann59

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Teams doubled Beasley more than they did Dez.
Would not call it a double more like a basketball zone defense in football. They kept a LB underneath to nullify the option route Beasley primarily runs. He has a DB line on his outside and they keep a LBer underneath making the soft spot really small for his in cut. Doing this takes away most of the underneath stuff 5-7 yards from the LOS in the heart of the box of the defense.
 

lukin2006

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I hope they do, lets not forget Zeke is a great receiver...line him up in backfield and he can take a short pass the distance...
 
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