Did 21 get benched for a drive?

maryquality

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Stupid *** NFL, all I was able to watch was the Kotexans, which I only checked in to make sure they were getting destroyed by lamar! BTW THEY DID! ROFL, and I live in H-town. Dallas game wasn't televised here, go figure. personally, I think it's arrogant and stupid to show only ONE game if the home team is playing, and the real crapper is they weren't @ home?? I don't keep up with the what all's in the NFL as to which games they show vs the reasons why... it's simply dumb IMO
I believe this was a result of the stupid NFL rule that says if a network has the doubleheader (which was CBS), the other networks are not allowed to broadcast another game if the team from the home market (Texans) are playing at the same time..regardless if it's a home or away game. But, I agree with you....these NFL rules are stupid!!
 

AbeBeta

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Benched for what? Not the first game they've given Pollard a full series of downs. I just saw a tweet that we are something like 3 or 4 and 0 when he has 15 or more touches.

Remarkable stats. Particularly since there was only 1 game where he had more than 15 touches.
 

gimmesix

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In 2016 and 17, it was customary for Zeke to take the third drive off. In 2018, we went to the tap-out breather thing.

Looks like Pollard got the de facto 3rd drive to himself (the 1st drive was the one insta-killed by Zeke fumbling on the second play), so this is business as usual for JG.

I think there was a more concerted effort to do that in this game, but more because of reactions to not using Pollard enough. Garrett is generally more reactive than proactive.
 

Hawkeye0202

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I think there was a more concerted effort to do that in this game, but more because of reactions to not using Pollard enough. Garrett is generally more reactive than proactive.

It's odd to see these coaches abandon things that are working. Why can't we make a concerted effort to get this kid 10-15 touches a game. Hell take at least half those from Witten......lol
 

Aviano90

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False - we have sat Zeke for an entire series in many games this season. It's a way to decrease his workload to try and keep him fresh for the latter part of the season.
 

cern

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zeke was not benched. that's an absurd thought.
 

CowboyRoy

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We all watched the same game. 21 was playing like an old white turd in the grass. He suddenly got "benched" and Pollard made the best of an opportunity.

Or, JG wanted to give the NFL's highest paid RB some rest......I'm not buying it.

JG bench Zeke? Not a chance.
 

gimmesix

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It's odd to see these coaches abandon things that are working. Why can't we make a concerted effort to get this kid 10-15 touches a game. Hell take at least half those from Witten......lol

It never ceases to amaze me when we have success with a play and then don't see it again for weeks. I know some of the success of a play could be due to it being a surprise, but that's no excuse not to try to find out if it can be successful again.

The play that keeps coming to mind for me is the pitchout to Elliott where we fake like we are going to hand it off to him going the other way. That play has worked every time we've used it, I believe, but in a game like the one against Minnesota where we can't get the run game going, we just keep pounding Elliott into the pile instead of doing anything to change it up.

We pretty much did the same thing in this game, but changed things up by passing more and flipping the ball to Pollard on a couple of plays. I don't think Zeke is ineffective on those pitches because we ran it at least once successfully this year; it just seems that we fall back into predictable patterns. I won't be surprised if our game plan is totally bland against New England.
 

jrumann59

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A lot of people saying this is common. Wonder why I never noticed before. Maybe the drives don't usually last very long when he out? Maybe I'm just getting forgetful with age? Maybe I just never really cared who was carrying the ball enough to notice?
last few weeks a lot of short drives in the 1st quarter so....
 

Hawkeye0202

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It never ceases to amaze me when we have success with a play and then don't see it again for weeks. I know some of the success of a play could be due to it being a surprise, but that's no excuse not to try to find out if it can be successful again.

The play that keeps coming to mind for me is the pitchout to Elliott where we fake like we are going to hand it off to him going the other way. That play has worked every time we've used it, I believe, but in a game like the one against Minnesota where we can't get the run game going, we just keep pounding Elliott into the pile instead of doing anything to change it up.

We pretty much did the same thing in this game, but changed things up by passing more and flipping the ball to Pollard on a couple of plays. I don't think Zeke is ineffective on those pitches because we ran it at least once successfully this year; it just seems that we fall back into predictable patterns. I won't be surprised if our game plan is totally bland against New England.

Whatever happed to the ole saying......we'll keep running it until they stop it (lol).

Side note: Like Charles Davis said during the telecast, I honestly think we're seeing or about to see a transitional change with this offense/team after the Vikes game. This is now Dak, not Zeke's offense........we'll start using to pass to set up the run.
 

BrAinPaiNt

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Not a benching at all IMO.

They only used him a snap or two in the previous game. People brought that up and asked about it. They made sure to play him more this game.

This is not the first time they have played him for a series. It is also not the first time they failed to do something one game, get questioned, or scolded, about it from press and fans only to make sure and do it more the next game.

There have been times in the past with Romo when they would pretty much abandon the run game and get too pass happy. They would lose a game and the press and fans would rip them about not running the ball enough. The next game they would make sure (in some cases over compensate imo) and run the ball more.

I actually see that starting to happen again now. Dak, and the team/coaches, has become more comfortable in the passing game and are now passing much more than running.
 

gimmesix

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Whatever happed to the ole saying......we'll keep running it until they stop it (lol).

Side note: Like Charles Davis said during the telecast, I honestly think we're seeing or about to see a transitional change with this offense/team after the Vikes game. This is now Dak, not Zeke's offense........we'll start using to pass to set up the run.

And there's nothing wrong with that as long as we don't abandon the run. One of the problems that we had when Romo was here was that we treated the run like an afterthought until 2014. That made the run more effective when we started using it because defenses understood the threat our passing game posed so they couldn't just focus on the run. The mistake we've made since Dak took over as quarterback is we haven't really established that we can beat you with our passing game if you focus on the run ... so teams have kept focusing on the run and we've tried to beat them with it anyway.

I think we need to use the pass to set up the run until teams start taking our passing game as seriously as they do the running game. Stretch teams out and those safeties and linebackers will start bailing or hesitating instead of attacking at the snap.
 

CouchCoach

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Purely speculative because if that was a benching for the fumble, we'll never know. And I do not think Garrett has the authority to do that. And Moore certainly doesn't.
 

Sarge

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Pollard is instant quickness and energy in the backfield. He needs to be on the field more regardless of what you think of 21.
 

CouchCoach

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I believe this was a result of the stupid NFL rule that says if a network has the doubleheader (which was CBS), the other networks are not allowed to broadcast another game if the team from the home market (Texans) are playing at the same time..regardless if it's a home or away game. But, I agree with you....these NFL rules are stupid!!
They're protecting CBS and FOX and alternating "Game of the Week" as well as the Sunday Ticket. You get a game Thursday night, 5 on Sunday and a game on Monday night, how much are you willing to fork over the dough for Sunday Ticket unless you are an out of market fan?

The owners may also change that in this next TV deal in order to get more money to put in the players' share. Both would probably pay more to have two games every Sunday and alter the scheduling, especially in markets designated as home markets. Where I live is a HOU home market and on CBS one game Sunday, I have missed games I would have watched.
 

maryquality

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They're protecting CBS and FOX and alternating "Game of the Week" as well as the Sunday Ticket. You get a game Thursday night, 5 on Sunday and a game on Monday night, how much are you willing to fork over the dough for Sunday Ticket unless you are an out of market fan?

The owners may also change that in this next TV deal in order to get more money to put in the players' share. Both would probably pay more to have two games every Sunday and alter the scheduling, especially in markets designated as home markets. Where I live is a HOU home market and on CBS one game Sunday, I have missed games I would have watched.
My Mom just switched to Direct TV, and as a new subscriber, she was given the Sunday ticket for free. I went to her house to watch the game (I'm also in the Houston market). She didn't even know what the Sunday ticket was! LOL
 
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