BTB: Dallas Cowboys Passing Game: The First Ten Weeks

[Nirvana]

Joey Ickes did a GREAT job on this article. Upshot is that he feels the playcalling is not the problem, the execution of the plays is. And there are points that can be cleaned up relatively easily. Approve.

A marathon film session to watch every pass the Cowboys have thrown in 2013? Yes, that happened, and the results are below detailing the Cowboys ups and downs on offense.

http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2013...st-ten-weeks-romo-callahan-garrett-dez-witten

 

[Ren]

Some people have been saying this for weeks, specially the Romo hasn't looked good part but there will always be a ton of guys here who will just quote stats and blame Garrett

 

[noshame]

I'd like to say I'm shocked but....

 

[17yearsandcounting]

I thought BTB were just massive Garrett apologists....

 

[BotchedLobotomy]

Here come the Romo apologists mantra "well what do you expect, when he's had to deal with a bad OL his whole career" BS

Romo has gotten lazy with his mechanics and he either refuses to fix it, or the coaching staff do es not see it.

 

[perrykemp]

I thought this passage of the article was illuminating:

"This play illustrates Romo's tendency to get lazy feet in his drops at times. It gets especially bad when he is in the shotgun for multiple snaps in a row. A lot of times it looks like he almost expects the play to break down, so he doesn't worry about keeping his feet and his eyes synced up the way QB's are taught. He can get away with this occasionally, specifically if the play does indeed break down and he's able to reset his footwork after escaping the pressure. However, when that doesn't happen, the results suffer."​

 

[Alexander]

I thought this passage of the article was illuminating:

"This play illustrates Romo's tendency to get lazy feet in his drops at times. It gets especially bad when he is in the shotgun for multiple snaps in a row. A lot of times it looks like he almost expects the play to break down, so he doesn't worry about keeping his feet and his eyes synced up the way QB's are taught. He can get away with this occasionally, specifically if the play does indeed break down and he's able to reset his footwork after escaping the pressure. However, when that doesn't happen, the results suffer."​

I cannot say I blame him. He has not had a sound QB coach since David Lee and the GM himself states his greatest skill is improvisation. He could be even better than he is if he really had someone legitimate to keep hammering him on fundamentals like he got earlier in his career. Wade Wilson has done him no favors and it appears neither has Garrett. He has not grown that much as a QB since Garrett arrived.

 

[Zordon]

open your eyes and watch without bias and you will see a quarterback who is not playing up to standards this year. his footwork, pocket presence, accuracy, and downfield vision has all been abysmal for a big part of this season.

 

[Alexander]

open your eyes anappeara without bias and you will see a quarterback who is not playing up to standards this year. his footwork, pocket presence, accuracy, and downfield vision has all been abysmal for a big part of this season.

A big part of that is the dip in Witten's production. It also appears that the scheme has changed slightly.

 

[Dhragon]

Romo has definitely been a part of the problem. He has not been very accurate for a number of games in a row now. Sure hope it is just a slump he can break out of.

 

[SWG9]

open your eyes and watch without bias and you will see a quarterback who is not playing up to standards this year. his footwork, pocket presence, accuracy, and downfield vision has all been abysmal for a big part of this season.

The dirty little secret is that his footwork and pocket presence weren't that great for large stretches last year either, it's just that people ignored it and scapegoated the line for everything.

7.2 YPA is also on pace to be a career low. Good thing the Cowboys played it smart and used their leverage by not giving Romo a huge extension when they didn't have to...

 

[slomoxn]

I cannot say I blame him. He has not had a sound QB coach since David Lee and the GM himself states his greatest skill is improvisation. He could be even better than he is if he really had someone legitimate to keep hammering him on fundamentals like he got earlier in his career. Wade Wilson has done him no favors and it appears neither has Garrett. He has not grown that much as a QB since Garrett arrived.

Parcell said you have to stay on him...

 

[khiladi]

This is a play that when you see the Cowboys run it, you really feel like they can get this anytime they want it. When they fake the run and run a dig behind it on the front side, it seems like it's open every time. Of course Dez Bryant is the most dangerous target on this play, as the dig is probably his best route, however, Terrance Williams has been open for chunks on this play multiple times this year as well.

The weakness in this article is quite simply it doesn't tell us how many times Dallas uses plays that are effective. For example, we can continuously harp on the fact that Dallas very rarely employs play-action, the implication being, we already know that play-action for this offense is effective. It's the issue of usage that creates a problem. Percy Howard for example has drawn attention to this issue. Hoofbite also points this out on predictability. The number is like 80% when Dallas is showing pass, they pass. Defenses simply only have to play the percentages. Of course a play-action here and there is going to be successful, considering they srae going against the grain.

Additionally, the other plays this guy is referring to are not run a lot, such as the double screen option for Romo. How often do you see that?

 

[khiladi]

Joey Ickes did a GREAT job on this article. Upshot is that he feels the playcalling is not the problem, the execution of the plays is. And there are points that can be cleaned up relatively easily. Approve.

Actually, that's not what he said. What he stated was that Dallas did have plays that were effective. But h aso says:

From a formation perspective, the Cowboys started off the year in the first game with the Giants running a very multiple formation offense, they were in the pistol, the shotgun, under center, and many times had 2 and 3 tight ends on the field lining up in multiple positions. However, as the season has worn on, the formations have become more and more simplified.

The first play call he points to is,

Pulling the LBs out of the play gives the slot player leverage on the nickel corner and gives a very solid window. The Cowboys have used this play to get open looks for guys like Jason Witten, Cole Beasley, and Miles Austin through the course of the season, and it has been a productive play for them in varying down and distance and field position situations.

An effective play equals throwing from the SLOT on a quick route. Check one for what the critics of the scheming were saying. The fact that Beasley has bee successful in it and Miles Austin having to be used more in the slot has been constantly stated.

The WR and RB screen was used in the Commanders game and one can't probably find it often since then.

The author additionally says the following:

We all knew that those guys got lots of attention from defenses, it has been the topic of conversation for weeks. But what do the Cowboys do to get these guys some freedom from these situations, this is an area that I definitely think can and should be improved upon, however, things like the stack set shown in the first example from the Saints game above, as well as putting Dez in the slot, or in the middle of a trips group have been used. Before we look at another way Callahan has schemed Bryant a mismatch, let's look at a quick shot from the Eagles game, on Dez running one of the crossers on the mesh play, and see why that play can be effective.

The issue is not that we've done it before. the issue is we don't do it often.

 

[Matts4313]

wow.. Look at all those short crossing routes the fans on here say we dont run. Btb needs to quit doctoring those photos. Cause clearly we dont run those plays.

 

[percyhoward]

Joey Ickes did a GREAT job on this article. Upshot is that he feels the playcalling is not the problem, the execution of the plays is. And there are points that can be cleaned up relatively easily. Approve.

These pass ratings are for 1st & 2nd down over the last five games:
(among top 10 passers with minimum 100 attempts)
Manning 106.9
Brees 104.6
Rivers 103.4
Romo 98.2
Stafford 93.1
Roethlisberger 89.7
Newton 84.2

These pass ratings are for the second half over the last five games:
(among top 10 passers with minimum 70 attempts)
Romo 97.4
Rivers 97.1
Manning 95.1
Stafford 92.7
Brees 91.1
Roethlisberger 85.8

I appreciate the work that he put into the article, but if execution is the only issue, then we should probably figure out why the execution is so much better on 1st and 2nd down, and why it's so much better in the second half.

 

[Nirvana]

These pass ratings are for 1st & 2nd down over the last five games:
(among top 10 passers with minimum 100 attempts)
Manning 106.9
Brees 104.6
Rivers 103.4
Romo 98.2
Stafford 93.1
Roethlisberger 89.7
Newton 84.2

These pass ratings are for the second half over the last five games:
(among top 10 passers with minimum 70 attempts)
Romo 97.4
Rivers 97.1
Manning 95.1
Stafford 92.7
Brees 91.1
Roethlisberger 85.8

I appreciate the work that he put into the article, but if execution is the only issue, then we should probably figure out why the execution is so much better on 1st and 2nd down, and why it's so much better in the second half.

I heard Garrett has more plays being taken into the gameplan this week, in addition to the change in how the plays are relayed to Romo. I wonder if 3rd down had some predictable formations and calls to it, as Romo has had trouble on 3rd downs as you noted.

 

[percyhoward]

I heard Garrett has more plays being taken into the gameplan this week, in addition to the change in how the plays are relayed to Romo. I wonder if 3rd down had some predictable formations and calls to it, as Romo has had trouble on 3rd downs as you noted.

Whatever we do has to get Bryant and Witten more involved on 3rd down.

In games 1-5, 80% of Romo's 3rd down passes went to either Witten or Bryant.

In games 6-10, it goes down to 34.3%.

 

[perrykemp]

Whatever we do has to get Bryant and Witten more involved on 3rd down.

In games 1-5, 80% of Romo's 3rd down passes went to either Witten or Bryant.

In games 6-10, it goes down to 34.3%.

Agreed to get those numbers up, however, it's very probably the league eventually figured out the ball, 80% of the time, was going to Dez and Witten on 3rd down and started to double them both.

The number absolutely has to be higher.

 

[Nirvana]

Whatever we do has to get Bryant and Witten more involved on 3rd down.

In games 1-5, 80% of Romo's 3rd down passes went to either Witten or Bryant.

In games 6-10, it goes down to 34.3%.

That's interesting as Miles Austin was gone in games 6-10 as well I believe. Let's hope that he can be a difference today as well, even if it is just to get Witten and Dez open.