A negative trend with the offense

[John813]

Zeke and the Oline have not been in sync this year. Frankly the Oline is just not as good this year and has taken a step back.

With that said...Zeke is currently, and this shocked me, 4th in the league in rushing yards right now.

Interesting to look at the last year to this year numbers...

Last year after 5 games in...546 rushing yards and 5 TDs
This year after 5 games in ...393 rushing yards and 2 TDs.

What's crazy about the 2016 stats was that Zeke had 3 130+ yard games week 3-5. This year he has been solid minus week 2, where he got 8 yards.
385 in 4 games ain't bad.

 

[Verdict]

And he doesn't get enough snaps! Go figure

Just wait to next year:
Butler gone
Dez a year slower
The body catcher
Witten for the 165th year

Even Swaim can actually move better than Witten and he's certainly better in the passing game than Hanna. Rarely sees the field

KC used three different TE last night
3 different runners
A plethora of receivers

Witten is a huge liability in some respects and a progress stopper for the team in other ways. He isn't nearly the player he one was and it's not even close and that is coming from a huge Witten fan.

 

[TwoDeep3]

Lack of overall speed in the receiving corps and missing two starters from last year's OL.

Mic drop.

 

[Verdict]

A couple of observations:

1. The OL is not playing as well as many have have said before. But it also didn't play well against the Giants last year either so it's not totally an anomaly.

2. Forcing the ball to Dez, and going away from Beasley is a huge part of this issue. It is killing drives. The same can be said for Witten. He doesn't get any yards after catch.

Going to Beasley kept things honest for defenses which helped Zeke immensely. I think if we will pass the Beasley on first down it will open things up a lot.

3. Play calling. We have been so predictable on first down running the ball and where we are running it that it's almost absurd. If the defense knows what you are going to do it is a huge liability.

4. We have played some pretty good defenses which are slanting the numbers a little bit.

5. I don't think Zeke was in great shape early due to lack of PT in the preseason. He didn't play much in the preseason last year eaither and it took a couple of games for him to do much. I think he has played enough now to be getting in game shape.

 

[bryan8252]

Has anyone ever heard a legit reason why Rico Gathers was put on IR? All I know about is the concussion. 8 weeks seems dubious to me. The guy is a matchup nightmare yet our staff shelves him for 8 games. Andy Reid (who I don't consider a genius but much better offensive mind that Garrett) or Pete Carroll or Belicheck would be salivating over getting this guy in their offense. Not our staff. Makes me wonder if it was partially done so there wouldn't be a TE controversy in addition the coaching staff being stupid.

I love Witten. First ballot HOFer no doubt. Ring of Honor. Every accolade he gets he deserves, but right now Father Time is delivering body blows to the Senator big time. And unfortunately Father Time is undefeated. Yeah, yesterday's game was a good one stat wise for him, but i believe that is because Green Bay was fine with him catching 15 balls for 5 yards on the only route he can run anymore. Rico can move and has the wingspan of a condor.

This team has a lot more problems than I thought. And although things aren't as bad as they are for the giants, it doesn't look too good for our 'Boys.

 

[Verdict]

For the record, I think the offense is starting to come around. We played a lot better yesterday against the Packers. Getting the ball to Beasley has done wonders for the overall offense.

They also used Dez more across the formation yesterday. That was good. It is good for production but I wonder how long it will be before Dez allows someone to cut in front of him on a crossing route/slant? I think that is why we haven't done much of it historically.

 

[ghst187]

Lack of overall speed in the receiving corps and missing two starters from last year's OL.

Some brought it up here, but we should've gone after DJax instead of resigning TWill.
All of a sudden teams can't stack the box and double Bease

 

[Verdict]

Has anyone ever heard a legit reason why Rico Gathers was put on IR? All I know about is the concussion. 8 weeks seems dubious to me. The guy is a matchup nightmare yet our staff shelves him for 8 games. Andy Reid (who I don't consider a genius but much better offensive mind that Garrett) or Pete Carroll or Belicheck would be salivating over getting this guy in their offense. Not our staff. Makes me wonder if it was partially done so there wouldn't be a TE controversy in addition the coaching staff being stupid.

I love Witten. First ballot HOFer no doubt. Ring of Honor. Every accolade he gets he deserves, but right now Father Time is delivering body blows to the Senator big time. And unfortunately Father Time is undefeated. Yeah, yesterday's game was a good one stat wise for him, but i believe that is because Green Bay was fine with him catching 15 balls for 5 yards on the only route he can run anymore. Rico can move and has the wingspan of a condor.

This team has a lot more problems than I thought. And although things aren't as bad as they are for the giants, it doesn't look too good for our 'Boys.

Witten essentially decides how much he wants to play which is unfortunately almost every down. They really need to apply the hook to him a lot and cut down on his playing time.

 

[Supercowboy1986]

This feels like an inappropriate time to ask this question.

The last three games the Cowboys have scored 28, 30, and 31 if we are taking about trends.

The issue is not scoring, It's holding the lead. You could also throw questionable play calling/strategy there as well.

 

[GORICO]

Cowboys have put up 30+ points the last two games and generally speaking that should make all of us feel optimistic about the offense.

Having said that, there are a couple of metrics that have me worried -- both of them indicating that the offensive isn't nearly as explosive as it was last season. They are:

• Zeke Elliot's ypc have dropped from 5.1 (in 2016) to 3.7. That's a 1.4 yards per carry difference.
• Dak's yards per attempt have dropped from 8.0 (in 2016) to 6.9. Tha't a 1.1 yards per attempt difference.

Both of those metrics feel statistically significant to me.

Questions Am I focusing too much on those metrics? If so, why?

My general theory on the lack of explosiveness in the passing game is that the lack of overall speed at the WR/TE is catching up to them. In particular Witten can't run a lick anymore. There is very little speed at WR1, WR2, and WR3. Butler is the only guy who seems above average to me in that category.

mr Perry-- I think you have reason to feel the way you do and the evidence backs you up...last year it was the running game that covered up our receives being slow...this year no one is afraid of our offense and we are being spanked

 

[bryan8252]

The issue is not scoring, It's holding the lead. You could also throw questionable play calling/strategy there as well.

This.

 

[Idgit]

Cowboys have put up 30+ points the last two games and generally speaking that should make all of us feel optimistic about the offense.

Having said that, there are a couple of metrics that have me worried -- both of them indicating that the offensive isn't nearly as explosive as it was last season. They are:

• Zeke Elliot's ypc have dropped from 5.1 (in 2016) to 3.7. That's a 1.4 yards per carry difference.
• Dak's yards per attempt have dropped from 8.0 (in 2016) to 6.9. Tha't a 1.1 yards per attempt difference.

Both of those metrics feel statistically significant to me.

Questions Am I focusing too much on those metrics? If so, why?

My general theory on the lack of explosiveness in the passing game is that the lack of overall speed at the WR/TE is catching up to them. In particular Witten can't run a lick anymore. There is very little speed at WR1, WR2, and WR3. Butler is the only guy who seems above average to me in that category.

The run blocking isn't what it was, and it might not get there.

Re: Butler, he's a guy you'd think would be getting more snaps. He and Dak are on the same page, and he does add a speed element that not out there when he's on the bench. I don't like him on 3rd downs or when the pressure is really on, but he's a legit weapon.