Aggressive Offense On Demand?

[CCBoy]

Percy...thanks for a directive add...as always.

It gets to be fun, when the stats reveal that the Cowboys are getting stronger as a team and can actually challenge any team in the NFL. Dallas is learning the art of winning, and through execution. It's not now a matter of Coaches calling bad games/plays. Execute, and the Cowboys will win!

 

[Daktozekecoop]

I think it is by design. Intended to lull the opponent to sleep and of course this plays into Daks strengths as a gamer, a pressure player. He is fearless and stays in the moment. The past is the past with him. I think it is genius to use him this way. Garrett does not get nearly enough credit for knowing his players and their strengths.

 

[Daktozekecoop]

Usually the NFL is a copy cat league. But while everyone is trying to out score everyone else in a faster and flashier and flashier fashion. Dallas has slowed the game down. And now that they are scoring TD's rather than field goals, they have found their balance. I think they will win it all this year, now.

 

[ConstantReboot]

It's hard to say. If it's planned/strategic, it has its merits, but it's a dangerous road.

I'm also more of the opinion that the whole goal of an offense is to attack, and to attack the adjustments that the defense will inevitably make. This is what Belichek has done well for so long, and Brady is basically his co-brain. They've targeted your weaknesses, and anticipate your adjustments to their initial plan. If they see you adjusted to what they rolled out, you're going to see them take shots exactly where the adjustment is weakest. A lot of their big plays are perfect counters to adjustments defensive coordinators made.

Which begs the question, if we get behind early, and have to roll out these attacks that'd normally be in the 4th, are we able to keep attacking weaknesses when they're adjusting to our initial "aggressive" plan?

The Giants and Eagles were fun games, but I don't really know if that was precision in playcalling or just divisional backyard football.

Shrug. We'll inevitably find out against the Rams, Saints, or Eagles if they're playing at a high level and beat NO.

That is exactly what the Patriots do. They keep running the same plays that succeed over and over until the defense adjusts. Then when they do they run the same plays over and over based on the adjustments made.

With Linehan and Garrett, when a play succeeds, they never call it again. Then they go back playing conservative. Thus I have no clue what Linehan and Garrett are doing. They aren't fooling anyone but themselves.

 

[Redball Express]

Banging heads with Zeke (and our line) for 3 quarters would be tiring. Perhaps late in the game they feel like they've taken the edge off the opponent's pass rush.

And in most games that were within 8 points in the 4th, our offense had probably enjoyed at least a decent amount of success moving the football.

Yeah.

Sort of live by the sword..die by the sword mentality here.

We have to stop playing it close and go get leads so the defense can turn the pass rush loose on Goff.

 

[Redball Express]

Prefer they put points as much as possible and earliest as possible. Don't want an Aaron Rodgers situation with comebacks. Dak is not the only one that can clutch. Had Cowboys score a 3 instead of 7, Russell Wilson would have made that clutch td and Cowboys be sent home again.

I agree.

We have had quite a bit of luck to get this far.

IMO.

Having money in the bank in the way of points is critical and much more important than potential rallies and potential points.

I pray Linehan understands that and does not clamp down too much on the offense early.

Or it could be a long day otherwise.

 

[Montanalo]

Right. How much does the style employed in the first three quarters benefit the success of the style employed in the 4th?

First, great analysis @percyhoward - I really enjoy your contributions to this site. As a self-admitted data nerd, I find these type of threads and the follow-on posts one of the most enjoyable to read.

I never considered that the game plan you described might be strategic. I always looked at it as a tactical approach. I am re-thinking that premise

You could easily draw a conclusion that the strategy is to "pound" the opposing team with a run game for the first 3 qtrs, then close them out with a more open offensive attack in the 4th qtr. Seems to work well when the game is close.

Really excited to see how this plays out with the Rams.

 

[Doomsday101]

So basically Dak is elite as hell its just play design holds him back from beasting in the first 3 quarters s

Dak runs the offense which is a balanced attack and that offense put Dallas up a 2 scores lead with 2 min left against a good seahawks team.