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The Dallas Cowboys offense faced coverages by the Giants that made it difficult to get Dez Bryant open in the season opener. But that is an absurd excuse for allowing an opponent to take away one’s greatest offensive weapon. Calvin Johnson has been double and triple-covered for years now and continues to be the league’s most dominant receiver.
No amount of spin about “taking what the defense gives us” excuses this failure of creative problem solving. Dominant receivers continue to dominate because their teams insist upon finding ways to get them open.
After finishing the final seven games of the 2012 season as the league’ s most productive wide receiver, Dez Bryant was aware he would receive more double-teams this year. So were the Cowboys.
Yet, Dallas allowed New York to come in and execute their coverage’s exactly as they had planned. The Giants wanted to take Bryant out of the game and the Cowboys let them. Without a historic meltdown by the Giants offense, Dallas would have lost the game.
So what were the alternatives? What could have been done? Quite a bit, actually. But it requires creativity and a willingness to alter one’s offense. Here are some things that countless other teams have done to get their star wide receiver open against teams determined to take them away.
1) Crossing routes: this staple of the west coast scheme was used to get Jerry Rice the ball on thousands of occasions throughout his Hall of Fame career. Teams went to great lengths try to defend Rice, but his offensive coordinators managed to keep him involved.
2) Slant routes: Dallas does a nice job with these, actually. New York frequently buzzed a linebacker into areas where Bryant would ordinarily catch these. So you counter with a fake slant route, a pump fake and you hit Bryant after he leaves the cornerback and linebacker in his dust. Yes, there is still a safety over the top, but there is a window to hit Bryant before the safety arrives.
3) H-back attack: line up Bryant as the H-back on occasion and then send him into a route. No, it won’t get him miraculously wide open, because of all the attention being paid to him, but it could cause some confusion for a split second, which is all the offense needs to get him the ball. At least make it a challenge for the secondary. Don’t just give them the same looks to defend all the time.
4) Screens: You may have seen some screens with Bryant that you hate. I know I have. The ones that don’t work get him tackled hard after a two-yard gain. But there are a nearly infinite variety of screens that can be drawn up with wide receivers, tight ends and running backs.
5) Bunch formations: Again, you design confusion in the secondary and you get your players open. This isn’t new. We see bunch formations every Sunday, because they work. It would be better to risk being called for a pick play now and then (see the San Francisco 49ers) than be stuck trying to spin to the media why you couldn’t get the ball to your best weapon.
The Dallas Cowboys franchise used to be synonymous with offensive genius during the Tom Landry era. He invented so many game-changers that you could fill a book about them. Where is creativity now?
Why is it that Dallas is so slow to innovate while the Belichick’s, Harbaugh’s, Shanahan’s and Carroll’s of the league continue to find ways to win through creativity?
Cowboys fans deserve more from a team this loaded with offensive talent.
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
Continue reading...
No amount of spin about “taking what the defense gives us” excuses this failure of creative problem solving. Dominant receivers continue to dominate because their teams insist upon finding ways to get them open.
After finishing the final seven games of the 2012 season as the league’ s most productive wide receiver, Dez Bryant was aware he would receive more double-teams this year. So were the Cowboys.
Yet, Dallas allowed New York to come in and execute their coverage’s exactly as they had planned. The Giants wanted to take Bryant out of the game and the Cowboys let them. Without a historic meltdown by the Giants offense, Dallas would have lost the game.
So what were the alternatives? What could have been done? Quite a bit, actually. But it requires creativity and a willingness to alter one’s offense. Here are some things that countless other teams have done to get their star wide receiver open against teams determined to take them away.
1) Crossing routes: this staple of the west coast scheme was used to get Jerry Rice the ball on thousands of occasions throughout his Hall of Fame career. Teams went to great lengths try to defend Rice, but his offensive coordinators managed to keep him involved.
2) Slant routes: Dallas does a nice job with these, actually. New York frequently buzzed a linebacker into areas where Bryant would ordinarily catch these. So you counter with a fake slant route, a pump fake and you hit Bryant after he leaves the cornerback and linebacker in his dust. Yes, there is still a safety over the top, but there is a window to hit Bryant before the safety arrives.
3) H-back attack: line up Bryant as the H-back on occasion and then send him into a route. No, it won’t get him miraculously wide open, because of all the attention being paid to him, but it could cause some confusion for a split second, which is all the offense needs to get him the ball. At least make it a challenge for the secondary. Don’t just give them the same looks to defend all the time.
4) Screens: You may have seen some screens with Bryant that you hate. I know I have. The ones that don’t work get him tackled hard after a two-yard gain. But there are a nearly infinite variety of screens that can be drawn up with wide receivers, tight ends and running backs.
5) Bunch formations: Again, you design confusion in the secondary and you get your players open. This isn’t new. We see bunch formations every Sunday, because they work. It would be better to risk being called for a pick play now and then (see the San Francisco 49ers) than be stuck trying to spin to the media why you couldn’t get the ball to your best weapon.
The Dallas Cowboys franchise used to be synonymous with offensive genius during the Tom Landry era. He invented so many game-changers that you could fill a book about them. Where is creativity now?
Why is it that Dallas is so slow to innovate while the Belichick’s, Harbaugh’s, Shanahan’s and Carroll’s of the league continue to find ways to win through creativity?
Cowboys fans deserve more from a team this loaded with offensive talent.
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
Continue reading...