A simple fix for this O

[Captain-Crash]

yeah we need a high school scheme for Dak. He's a slow reader, no pocket awareness, and a bad thrower. Line him up and run the option on ever play. "he's tough". crap we could have got Tebow if we have to run this crap. And he's "a great guy", not just a good guy.

 

[KMY_Amber]

yeah we need a high school scheme for Dak. He's a slow reader, no pocket awareness, and a bad thrower. Line him up and run the option on ever play. "he's tough". crap we could have got Tebow if we have to run this crap. And he's "a great guy", not just a good guy.

Crash, you act as if Dak is having some awful season and has had very little success this season.

He's about to win his 2nd NFC East title in his 3-year NFL career. So, all things considered, he's doing OK as a starting QB for the Cowboys.

Dak needs to get better for this team to get over the hump, but not just him. All the players better look at themselves in the mirror...every facet of the team needs to improve, because no area of this team is consistently good from week to week.

Nevertheless, this team is on the right track, they just need a few more pieces, and a new coaching staff to bring out the best of both sides of the ball.

Yes, the jury is out on Dak, but the jury was out on Aikman and Romo after 3 seasons as well. Hec, the jury was out on Romo until the last game he played for the Cowboys, in his 10th season. So no one should be surprised that we don't know what Dak can become yet only 3 seasons in....but you are what you're record is - and if he has 2 NFCE championships in 3 seasons on his resume, most fans will gladly take that from their young, starting QB. For most fans, that means things are looking up.

Next up, let's see if he can secure the division title, and then win a playoff game, even though the offensive game plan is sure to be predictably vanilla....and not because Dak can't run other plays, but rather because Garrett/Linehan don't have any other plays. Hec, they ran a similar putrid offense with Romo - predictable first down runs, and then straight to Shotgun on 2nd down. Not much has changed in the game plans. They do run a little more now, thank goodness.

 

[Captain-Crash]

Crash, you act as if Dak is having some awful season and has had very little success this season.

He's about to win his 2nd NFC East title in his 3-year NFL career. So, all things considered, he's doing OK as a starting QB for the Cowboys.

Dak needs to get better for this team to get over the hump, but not just him. All the players better look at themselves in the mirror...every facet of the team needs to improve, because no area of this team is consistently good from week to week.

Nevertheless, this team is on the right track, they just need a few more pieces, and a new coaching staff to bring out the best of both sides of the ball.

Yes, the jury is out on Dak, but the jury was out on Aikman and Romo after 3 seasons as well. Hec, the jury was out on Romo until the last game he played for the Cowboys, in his 10th season. So no one should be surprised that we don't know what Dak can become yet only 3 seasons in....but you are what you're record is - and if he has 2 NFCE championships in 3 seasons on his resume, most fans will gladly take that from their young, starting QB. For most fans, that means things are looking up.

Next up, let's see if he can secure the division title, and then win a playoff game, even though the offensive game plan is sure to be predictably vanilla....and not because Dak can't run other plays, but rather because Garrett/Linehan don't have any other plays. Hec, they ran a similar putrid offense with Romo - predictable first down runs, and then straight to Shotgun on 2nd down. Not much has changed in the game plans. They do run a little more now, thank goodness.

thanks for the post. Very agreeable, you're post don't claim he's the best ever, like some of the dakbots.

 

[reddyuta]

I still dont get why Dak runs in some games and completely abandons it even though he has tons of room to keep the chains moving.

 

[DIAF]

I still dont get why Dak runs in some games and completely abandons it even though he has tons of room to keep the chains moving.

It's the same problem as he has with this throwing - indecisiveness. Slow reads/progressions means he's slow to recognize when its time to run, too.

If anything the offense needs to be cut down (ugh) for Dak like it was in his rookie year when he had the most success. You don't want to say that about your QB in year 3, but here we are.

If you want to maximize what Dak has and can do, you cut down the number of options and tell him to run if 1 and 2 or 1 isn't there. Plain and simple.

 

[buybuydandavis]

I was wondering if the Cowboys should have experimented with a different OL alignment. Since you have so many backups in, why not move Collins inside and Flemming to RT rather than bring in Redmond? The Colts exploited the Redmond, Looney, Williams combo in a big way.

Or Fleming could have played G. He's a veteran with experience across the oline. Redmond didn't look like he has the power to compete at the NFL level yet. I bet Fleming would have been better.

 

[Captain43Crash]

Short of firing Linehan/Moore (a clear choice in offseason), there is a fix for this offense. For some reason, we run very little playaction passes with Dak under center. Rather, Dak almost always throws from shotgun, with only playaction fake being a horizontal “read option” action to Zeke. This has two negatives. First, Dak’s footwork is very sloppy when he’s in shotgun. He shuffles and often throws off his back foot or across his body. Second, LBs are not forced to step up to fill (rather, at most they step horizontal with fake to Zeke). Thus, there is less of a hole behind them to throw deep crosses or posts. Which we all see from Dak’s green dot passing chart that he rarely throws and completes (he almost always throws outside the numbers or short middle). The fix? Put Dak under center and get back to running outside zone and FB lead runs, and playaction passes with the same action. It will stress the LB and create natural passing lanes behind them. More importantly, it will force Dak to take a 5- or 7- step drop, plant his back foot, and throw on time and with anticipation. And on zone run action, it has the added benefit of having him dropping back outside the pocket. With Zeke, we ought to have the best playaction passing game in the league. But we rarely use it. Cmon Linehan. Not that difficult.

Been saying the same thing all year. We should also go up tempo or no huddle early in games with Dak. Dak is good at it and it puts pressure on the D.

 

[Captain43Crash]

For a team with talent..

we are the worst at making any changes during games.

We have to fail first then change it after the following week.

Never seen a good Cowboy team not be able to analyze in game and attack in another direction.

This team has been like this throughout the Garrett era.

Just one of many reasons he needs to be fired!

 

[DandyDon52]

TD scored from outside the red zone
(since the Cooper trade)
1st Cowboys 7
1st Dolphins 7
1st Saints 7
4th Chiefs 6
4th Falcons 6
4th Patriots 6
7th Browns 5
7th Chargers 5
7th Packers 5
7th Steelers 5
7th Titans 5

TD scored from inside the red zone
(since the Cooper trade)
27th Raiders 9
27th Jets 9
29th Cowboys 8
29th Jags 8
31st 49ers 7
31st Dolphins 7

I knew they were bad in RZ, but not that bad !

 

[DandyDon52]

Been saying the same thing all year. We should also go up tempo or no huddle early in games with Dak. Dak is good at it and it puts pressure on the D.

JG doesnt like it so dont expect to see it.

 

[Captain43Crash]

JG doesnt like it so dont expect to see it.

That’s a major problem with this Offense. Garrett and Linehan are not coaching to Dak’s strengths: I’ve said it over and over, more RPO’s, more read options, more designed runs by Dak, more play action, especially on 1st down, go no huddle early in games.

This O would be so much more effective if they coached to Dak’s strengths!!!!!!!!

 

[LovinItAll]

Under center v. Shotgun

42% under center
58% Shotgun

22 teams take the same or fewer snaps from under center. We run PA 22% of the time, about average in the league. Our differential is 1.7, also about the middle of the pack.

In other words, PA isn't more or less effective than our other schemes when considered in context.

 

[JustChip]

I love armchair coaches.

I'm sure this O has a "simple Maddenesque" fix.

I've been extremely vocal and critical of all the coach GMs and HCs that have gotten their "training" courtesy of Madden. However, the OP's base premise is that this team doesn't run much base play-action. Play-action is a tremendous weapon with a run-dominant offensive scheme (that's productive and the Cowboys are certainly dominant in that regard) and we don't seem to use it to our advantage.

But I agree your point, too. No matter what one thinks of JG and/or SL, they are intelligent and know football. If they're not doing it, I don't believe it's because they are too stupid to think of it. I suspect it's because they are tailoring what they do to the skills at this point in time of their QB and what they see in practice. It's similar, I suspect, to that future HoFer Rico Gathers - they're not using him more because of what they see between Sundays and on film the times they have used him on Sunday.

 

[Gaede]

My problem with some of the responses in this thread is that they assume there is some problem with Dak's intellect. In fact, it's a common theme among his more irrational critics.

Dak's problem isn't intelligence. Its indecisiveness. When Dak is at his worst, he is not decisive. Some might say that's a consequence of not reading the defense well, but it's a fault that can exist all on it's own, apart from intelligence.

I suspect he's scared to let loose because he doesn't want to turn the ball over, and as such, doesn't trust what his eyes are telling him.

A good coaching staff would help him get over this mentality, because its detrimental to his growth. But I suspect this coaching prefers the mentality of playing not to lose

 

[fansince68]

Short of firing Linehan/Moore (a clear choice in offseason), there is a fix for this offense. For some reason, we run very little playaction passes with Dak under center. Rather, Dak almost always throws from shotgun, with only playaction fake being a horizontal “read option” action to Zeke. This has two negatives. First, Dak’s footwork is very sloppy when he’s in shotgun. He shuffles and often throws off his back foot or across his body. Second, LBs are not forced to step up to fill (rather, at most they step horizontal with fake to Zeke). Thus, there is less of a hole behind them to throw deep crosses or posts. Which we all see from Dak’s green dot passing chart that he rarely throws and completes (he almost always throws outside the numbers or short middle). The fix? Put Dak under center and get back to running outside zone and FB lead runs, and playaction passes with the same action. It will stress the LB and create natural passing lanes behind them. More importantly, it will force Dak to take a 5- or 7- step drop, plant his back foot, and throw on time and with anticipation. And on zone run action, it has the added benefit of having him dropping back outside the pocket. With Zeke, we ought to have the best playaction passing game in the league. But we rarely use it. Cmon Linehan. Not that difficult.

I like your thought process however, puttiing Dak under center has not worked because of his inability to quickly ready defenses and react. It might work on hot routes and such. Im hopeful that Dak will diligently work on his mechanics and timing to be able to get under center to mix things up.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Crash, you act as if Dak is having some awful season and has had very little success this season.

He's about to win his 2nd NFC East title in his 3-year NFL career. So, all things considered, he's doing OK as a starting QB for the Cowboys.

Dak needs to get better for this team to get over the hump, but not just him. All the players better look at themselves in the mirror...every facet of the team needs to improve, because no area of this team is consistently good from week to week.

Nevertheless, this team is on the right track, they just need a few more pieces, and a new coaching staff to bring out the best of both sides of the ball.

Yes, the jury is out on Dak, but the jury was out on Aikman and Romo after 3 seasons as well. Hec, the jury was out on Romo until the last game he played for the Cowboys, in his 10th season. So no one should be surprised that we don't know what Dak can become yet only 3 seasons in....but you are what you're record is - and if he has 2 NFCE championships in 3 seasons on his resume, most fans will gladly take that from their young, starting QB. For most fans, that means things are looking up.

Next up, let's see if he can secure the division title, and then win a playoff game, even though the offensive game plan is sure to be predictably vanilla....and not because Dak can't run other plays, but rather because Garrett/Linehan don't have any other plays. Hec, they ran a similar putrid offense with Romo - predictable first down runs, and then straight to Shotgun on 2nd down. Not much has changed in the game plans. They do run a little more now, thank goodness.

So what is the simple fix, you didn't mention it.

 

[CowboyRoy]

My problem with some of the responses in this thread is that they assume there is some problem with Dak's intellect. In fact, it's a common theme among his more irrational critics.

Dak's problem isn't intelligence. Its indecisiveness. When Dak is at his worst, he is not decisive. Some might say that's a consequence of not reading the defense well, but it's a fault that can exist all on it's own, apart from intelligence.

I suspect he's scared to let loose because he doesn't want to turn the ball over, and as such, doesn't trust what his eyes are telling him.

A good coaching staff would help him get over this mentality, because its detrimental to his growth. But I suspect this coaching prefers the mentality of playing not to lose

The problem is the Oline and confidence in receivers and scheme that don't get open on a consistent basis. He has no problem throwing to Cooper. He had no problems throwing in 2016 when the line blocked and we have At least Witten.

 

[Seven]

Dak needs a footwork passing guru and a change of scheme...

yes.......yes.

 

[TwentyOne]

Spend more draft picks.

On a franchise caliber QB.

 

[TwentyOne]

Dak needs a footwork passing guru and a change of scheme...

He needs more talent.

The NFL wont change its game approach so one guy will be successfull.

This aint college. But we have a college QB.