Any mention yet of why Zeke didn't start?

[RonnieT24]

He missed the first series completely and was not bright in until 3-4 plays into the second. Was he being punished for some indiscretion? Hurt? Bad week of practice? Ate too much at the team brunch?

The Cowboys marched to the NO 12 yard line on his first drive in the game.. Then took him out for Deuce.. and went backwards from there. At that point the score was 14-3. If the Cowboys punch it in it's 14-10 and (maybe) we have a competitive ballgame. Going backwards in the red zone and settling for another FG was very deflating for me as a fan. It had to have had an effect on the players as well.

Look we all know I love Zeke.. but more important than any fan his teammates love him.. If they felt like the coaching staff was screwing him over that's going to creep into their minds. I'm not saying they were.. just wondering aloud what was up with the personnel deployment there. If the defense was going to give up 40 then no running back was going to get a lot of carries. That's just reality so I wasn't look for big numbers.. but I was more than a little annoyed that we didn't use him in the red zone.. which was the primary reason we brought him back. Especially when there was still a glimmer of hope that we could get back in the game.

I'm sure the usual suspects will come at me with "Zeke homer" and other nonsense.. The same usual suspects should also know by now that I don't care.

 

[Reality]

I think the more likely reason is that McCarthy expected the saints were preparing for Elliott so he started Dowdle to set the tone for the season's opponents that the personnel on the opening drive may change from week to week beyond injuries.

I am not saying it was smart or even a good move, but simply sharing my thoughts on why I think it happened.

 

[blueblood70]

Welcome to Mike McCarthy not having a clue on how to do the rotations with running backs by committee I think this is a bad idea for him other teams know how to put which running backs in for which situational football and some don't and Mike McCarthy just last year did the same thing....

This is so annoying, and I didn't care that zeke didn't start or how many carrys he gets, but there were so many parts of that game what is the damn delusion that Vaughn should be running up the middle literally there should be some better design plays and packages for each played. It never made sense how they forced Tony into bad situations and used Rico like Tony..ughh..im over the MM OC experiment. Might be time for jerry to ask MM to give up the play calling!!! or at least put him on notice. his jobs on the line and this is the best he can do??!! I mean he's also not doing anything to save his job I'll go back to the win last week why were all the throws in the third quarter the Browns adjusted they played tighter coverage they were daring you to run they didn't want you to run up the score anymore and what do you do you throw a bunch of times I mean I lost count and I'm scratching my head you should be running the clock out and go ahead and run the football a lot more work on the run game it's a perfect time and he just throws them all over the place his play calling is more annoying than Kellen Moore I'm going to say it....

By the way this is not just about the run game either this is about the play calling I mean look at the way all game how many times did he throw that ball behind the line of scrimmage outside to the sidelines over and over and over like he was gonna beat the Saints who were playing up who is a press team this is a wrong play calls for a press team and when it's not working three times and you do it three more times?

And then they seem to wanna play up and play the run and also take away a lot of the middle plays and you never try to stretch the field I mean your team's getting further and further behind and you just keep running a three yard run and then throw them all the outside and then it's incomplete somewhere in the middle where all the defense seems to be located it literally is like he didn't know how to change the game plan once the team got behind he just like kept calling the same place it seemed like there were only 10 plays he used all game and he kept he just kept calling him...

 

[tyke1doe]

Ate too much at the team brunch?

 

[diamonddelts]

He missed the first series completely and was not bright in until 3-4 plays into the second. Was he being punished for some indiscretion? Hurt? Bad week of practice? Ate too much at the team brunch?

The Cowboys marched to the NO 12 yard line on his first drive in the game.. Then took him out for Deuce.. and went backwards from there. At that point the score was 14-3. If the Cowboys punch it in it's 14-10 and (maybe) we have a competitive ballgame. Going backwards in the red zone and settling for another FG was very deflating for me as a fan. It had to have had an effect on the players as well.

Look we all know I love Zeke.. but more important than any fan his teammates love him.. If they felt like the coaching staff was screwing him over that's going to creep into their minds. I'm not saying they were.. just wondering aloud what was up with the personnel deployment there. If the defense was going to give up 40 then no running back was going to get a lot of carries. That's just reality so I wasn't look for big numbers.. but I was more than a little annoyed that we didn't use him in the red zone.. which was the primary reason we brought him back. Especially when there was still a glimmer of hope that we could get back in the game.

I'm sure the usual suspects will come at me with "Zeke homer" and other nonsense.. The same usual suspects should also know by now that I don't care.

 

[Diehardblues]

We really don’t have a starting RB. I’d assume we are going to see if anyone can assert themselves .

So far our longest run from scrimmage is by Lamb.

 

[MysteryIceGuro]

The answer is because McCarthy has no idea what he’s doing, especially with this RB group. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t. Any RB he chooses is going to get a 3 yard rush at most. Start Elliott, start Dowdle, start Deuce, start Cook. It doesn’t matter. This RB group is probably bottom 3 in the NFL, if not very last.

 

[MountaineerCowboy]

Who cares? He sucks.

 

[BoysForLife]

Just guessing, but Probably because he's washed and out of shape?

 

[jazzcat22]

They decided to force feed Deuce. It failed. Miserably.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

They decided to force feed Deuce. It failed. Miserably.

To be honest, I have had enough of him.

 

[nate dizzle]

It's a RB by committee. Meaning there really isn't a "starter."

Oh, and the committee all suck.

 

[RonnieT24]

I think the more likely reason is that McCarthy expected the saints were preparing for Elliott so he started Dowdle to set the tone for the season's opponents that the personnel on the opening drive may change from week to week beyond injuries.

I am not saying it was smart or even a good move, but simply sharing my thoughts on why I think it happened.

I am also mostly of the belief that a lot of what we saw was about tendency busting. Which I am fine with.. but not in the red zone. I don't care if we show a tendency to run Zeke in the red zone.. His last two seasons in Dallas he was was either the best or second best back in the league at it and that was playing 3/4 of the games on one leg. Sometimes the reason a thing is obvious is because it's absolutely what you should be doing.

 

[jwitten82]

Who cares? He sucks.

Lol this guy swears Zeke wouldve made a difference. Zeke is done

 

[RonnieT24]

Lol this guy swears Zeke wouldve made a difference. Zeke is done

I don't swear to anything.. but I do firmly believe that he would have helped those two drives that got inside the 15 yard line end in TDs instead of FGs. Punch those two opportunities in and we have a different ballgame. Maybe we still lose but maybe, just maybe we wake up and start competing.. so yeah.. I think he could've made a difference.. Not necessarily in the outcome but certain in the optics and how we feel about the team and more importantly how they feel about themselves. Losing 41-34 or 44-38 is vastly different than 44-19 and never really looking like you belonged on the same field with the other guys. People who played the game understand that.. As for the rest? Not my problem.

 

[Loso86]

He missed the first series completely and was not bright in until 3-4 plays into the second. Was he being punished for some indiscretion? Hurt? Bad week of practice? Ate too much at the team brunch?

The Cowboys marched to the NO 12 yard line on his first drive in the game.. Then took him out for Deuce.. and went backwards from there. At that point the score was 14-3. If the Cowboys punch it in it's 14-10 and (maybe) we have a competitive ballgame. Going backwards in the red zone and settling for another FG was very deflating for me as a fan. It had to have had an effect on the players as well.

Look we all know I love Zeke.. but more important than any fan his teammates love him.. If they felt like the coaching staff was screwing him over that's going to creep into their minds. I'm not saying they were.. just wondering aloud what was up with the personnel deployment there. If the defense was going to give up 40 then no running back was going to get a lot of carries. That's just reality so I wasn't look for big numbers.. but I was more than a little annoyed that we didn't use him in the red zone.. which was the primary reason we brought him back. Especially when there was still a glimmer of hope that we could get back in the game.

I'm sure the usual suspects will come at me with "Zeke homer" and other nonsense.. The same usual suspects should also know by now that I don't care.

It's what the media and fans wanted

 

[Coogiguy03]

Welcome to Mike McCarthy not having a clue on how to do the rotations with running backs by committee I think this is a bad idea for him other teams know how to put which running backs in for which situational football and some don't and Mike McCarthy just last year did the same thing....

This is so annoying, and I didn't care that zeke didn't start or how many carrys he gets, but there were so many parts of that game what is the damn delusion that Vaughn should be running up the middle literally there should be some better design plays and packages for each played. It never made sense how they forced Tony into bad situations and used Rico like Tony..ughh..im over the MM OC experiment. Might be time for jerry to ask MM to give up the play calling!!! or at least put him on notice. his jobs on the line and this is the best he can do??!! I mean he's also not doing anything to save his job I'll go back to the win last week why were all the throws in the third quarter the Browns adjusted they played tighter coverage they were daring you to run they didn't want you to run up the score anymore and what do you do you throw a bunch of times I mean I lost count and I'm scratching my head you should be running the clock out and go ahead and run the football a lot more work on the run game it's a perfect time and he just throws them all over the place his play calling is more annoying than Kellen Moore I'm going to say it....

By the way this is not just about the run game either this is about the play calling I mean look at the way all game how many times did he throw that ball behind the line of scrimmage outside to the sidelines over and over and over like he was gonna beat the Saints who were playing up who is a press team this is a wrong play calls for a press team and when it's not working three times and you do it three more times?

And then they seem to wanna play up and play the run and also take away a lot of the middle plays and you never try to stretch the field I mean your team's getting further and further behind and you just keep running a three yard run and then throw them all the outside and then it's incomplete somewhere in the middle where all the defense seems to be located it literally is like he didn't know how to change the game plan once the team got behind he just like kept calling the same place it seemed like there were only 10 plays he used all game and he kept he just kept calling him...

like the Zeke toss play to get the first down and run Deuce and Rico up the middle to death

 

[Coogiguy03]

Ate too much at the team brunch?

loooooooooooooooooool

 

[RonnieT24]

It's what the media and fans wanted

I suppose.. it was just another disappointing development in a day that was full of them. The job of the coaching staff is to get the most out of the players ability and to take advantage of the things they do well. Zeke is still a monster in short yardage and red zone. I don't care if he gets another carry all season in other situations but this team absolutely is doing itself a disservice if they don't use him in those. Even when the play has gotten blown up like that toss on 3rd and short where the defense read it and all flowed to Zeke the instant he got the ball he managed to get the first down anyway.. That's what I'm talking about.. You can't teach determination and football IQ. Zeke has both He's no longer a great back.. So what? All we have been hearing for the last 5 years is that the Cowboys don't need a great back.. Like you said.. the fans and media got what they wanted. And they still mad.

 

[RonnieT24]

like the Zeke toss play to get the first down and run Deuce and Rico up the middle to death

Yeah another tendency buster play to be sure and the defense was all over it.. Thankfully Zeke got the first down anyway but he had to do way more work to get there than he should have. Just hand it to him straight ahead/off tackle and let him punish the defense.