Coaching observation

[Rockport]

Quinn did a pretty good job, early on, but as time progressed, it seemed like his defenses were focused on prioritizing sacks over being a sound base defense. How many times did we give up first downs on 3rd and very long on a QB run, or a busted play? Far too often.

I suspect that Zimmer’s defenses will get fewer sacks and fewer turnovers, but play more fundamentally sound defense and be better against the run. We will see if my intuition is correct or not soon enough.

All I know is that I was ready for DQ to find a new job by the end of last year. lol. It’s going to be interesting to see how he uses Parsons and whether or not that Parsons “buys in” to Zimmer’s vision, if that vision does not have Parsons rushing the passer from the end position almost every play.

It’s bizarre that such a well respected DC like DQ would end up with a defense he rolled out last year. From playing a Safety at LB to making Mazi lose weight Just bizarre.

 

[Parcells4Life]

And be without a top franchise QB? How has that worked out in the past? Did you say the same about Romo when he got paid big time twice? I seriously doubt it. You're not fooling anyone.

So what’s the solution? According to you they can’t field a good team around Dak but he can’t win games by himself. So what’s the solution to the problem?

 

[America's Cowboy]

So what’s the solution? According to you they can’t field a good team around Dak but he can’t win games by himself. So what’s the solution to the problem?

Dak and the other star players should take less. Give a discount. But, will they? Would you demand they all give a discount so the team can afford to build a better team?

 

[Brax]

DQ's didn't.

Revisionist history

 

[Brax]

That's not how the play was designed. It's a quick timed throw designed to go to a certain receiver. The failure was in the design of the play. Kurt Warner even explained it. It's the same play the Cowboys have refused to fix which Dak has thrown INTs in the playoffs against the 49ers as well. Clearly, the Packers did their homework and researched previous year's playoff losses to the 49ers and why Dak threw the same INTs on that very same play which the Cowboys coaches have refused to fix (which Kurt Warner repeatedly keeps calling them out on their refusal to "fix the details").

This is what you guys are refusing to understand. Just as stubborn as the coaches. Unbelievable.

So please show us the play design and route options since you seem to be privileged to have the playbook, you seem to be the one having trouble understanding what is being said in your now infamous video

 

[Brax]

I don't understand the concept of a slant? I think you mean Dak doesn't

Once again at 7:10 Kurt Warner said "Im gonna almost treat it like a hot read, that's the soft part of the zone, he's going to hit the inside slant, that's the gimme throw."

You’re wasting your time Dak can do no wrong and understanding what is really being said is problem with him, some hear what they want not what is being said, don’t forget he has the all the route concepts and options that we don’t have privy to.

 

[America's Cowboy]

So please show us the play design and route options since you seem to be privileged to have the playbook, you seem to be the one having trouble understanding what is being said in your now infamous video

Kurt Warner and Cole Beasley already broke them down. Pay attention.

 

[Brax]

Kurt Warner and Cole Beasley already broke them down. Pay attention.

They know nothing of the route design or the options and that breakdown still says bad decisions throwing you need to pay attention and start hearing what is really being said

 

[America's Cowboy]

They know nothing of the route design or the options and that breakdown still says bad decisions throwing you need to pay attention and start hearing what is really being said

They know football. Others don't.

Pay attention.

 

[DallasEast]

Finally clicked on the 'Who's to Blame?' video. It is 15 minutes plus, so that was a non-starter up until now. Luckily, one play in particular was getting beaten over and over again in the thread, with folks providing a timestamp. Thanks to those who did.

I downloaded the video. Will not view or listen to the video creator, so I cropped his commentary completely out.

Kurt Warner analyzed more than one play. I was interested in the single play being discussed here, so I cropped out everything following it. The offense got a good pre-snap look at the defensive formation, so I cropped out his pre-snap analysis. The remaining cropped video is only 4:23 minutes long and is Warner's entire analysis of the one play post-snap.

You are welcome, peoples, lol.



Warner's analysis is sound in my opinion. The central key to Dak Prescott's confusion was CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks running identical slants at the same depth. From this, I have several questions for the coaches and receivers:

1. Were identical slant routes drawn up for this particular play?
2. Should Cooks have run a quick slant instead of taking a few more additional steps?
3. How often was this play ran in practice?

It is definitely a dumb <expletive> play if both receivers are designed to run the same route at the same depth side-by-side since the timing called for the ball to be released quickly. I agree with Warner. The high safety bites hard on Cooks runs the quick slant and follows Cooks. A well-placed pass hits Lamb in stride and the safety cannot recover fast enough to make a play on the ball. I think he might still make the tackle because biting on Cooks route does not create a large enough hole for him not to recover and run down Lamb. However, it could have been a pretty good run after the catch for Lamb or perhaps a touchdown.

The matching slants screwed up the read for Prescott. That said, this play is part of the gameplan. It should have been practiced enough for Lamb, Cooks and Prescott to be on the same page. All three should be reading the same thing that the defense was giving them--just like in practice.

That is why I do not fully agree with Warner about confusion 100% automatically contributing to the errant throw. Yes. The timing was screwed but the quarterback sees something in that split second that was not the same as in practice. (I think) the inside receiver ran the wrong route. If true, the quarterback has not seen the receiver take that many steps during practice.

Is the read on both defenders, covering the both receivers, the quarterback's sole focus? Every quarterback throws interceptions. Every quarterback is not going to throw that particular pass if they aware one of their receivers is running a deeper route than planned. As Warner explained, Cooks *should have* taken his man out of the hole for a quick but easy pass to Lamb of the deeper slant. There must a internal trigger, within that split second, screaming "Hey! Why are you running that deep, Brandin? Crap. I gotta double clutch this throw."

It would be fantastic if Mike McCarthy, Brian Schottenheimer or somebody broke down this specific play like Warner. Was the play executed correctly in their opinion? And if so, why the HELL are both receivers taking that many steps for slant routes and NOT taking their defenders out of the play? Seemingly, every route must be run perfectly in this offense. Otherwise...

 

[Bullflop]

It's been said by the media in the recent past that Dan Quinn was attempting to be a friend with the players, rather than being a coach with discipline. Of course, the fans such as yours truly weren't privy to seeing and hearing, firsthand, exactly why the players weren't disciplined in their play.

Whether Quinn was either guilty of that or simply misunderstood, I couldn't say for sure. I do know that Tom Landry always frowned upon coaches getting too friendly with the players, though. Maybe we'll learn how Zimmer fares with his habit of discipline in the months to come?! We'll see.

 

[PoetTree]

Dak delivered against .500+ record opponents in 2023:

Like this game...



Or this game...



Or this game...



There are more but you get the point. Bro, let's stop the nonsense of saying that Dak fails to deliver against quality opponents.

Dak is 23 - 25 lifetime against teams better than .500.

No, Prescott does not deliver against quality opponents a majority of the time. Even with three consecutive 12-win seasons, he has a losing-record against winning teams. Last year, we only beat two teams with winning records: the imploding Eagles and a 1-point win vs. the Lions that was aided by the refs. That's it. Those are the only .500+ teams we beat in 2023.

Dak beats up on bad teams but I can't fathom why any fan is okay with his results...

 

[Sheepherder]

It’s bizarre that such a well respected DC like DQ would end up with a defense he rolled out last year. From playing a Safety at LB to making Mazi lose weight Just bizarre.

We

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

A good running game would help that psyche as well. Unfortunately we don’t have a good back.

You could have prime eric dickerson but unless we change our blocking and gameplan....same results.

Some people are counting chickens looking at eggs....but we done nothing yet. Show us on the field we can block and make way for rbs.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Bottom line though is that Dak is no Aaron Rodgers. Our D has to be able to make stops when it matters.

Tony romo just said no ****!

 

[America's Cowboy]

Dak is 23 - 25 lifetime against teams better than .500.

No, Prescott does not deliver against quality opponents a majority of the time. Even with three consecutive 12-win seasons, he has a losing-record against winning teams. Last year, we only beat two teams with winning records: the imploding Eagles and a 1-point win vs. the Lions that was aided by the refs. That's it. Those are the only .500+ teams we beat in 2023.

Dak beats up on bad teams but I can't fathom why any fan is okay with his results...

What's the matter? The .500 opponents don't count? They don't have losing records, so what's the problem? Selective picking?

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

MM is a good offensive coach. Last year was his first year installing his new offense. Much like rookies improve in year 2, I could see the offense improve in it's second year.

 

[Typhus]

Just the starting C, RDE, RB, LT, and DT.

Biadasz - you were sold on him getting pushed back on every snap.
Armstong - really
Pollard - heartbroken
Smith - what a true hero, man is Cowboy Legend IMHO.
Hankins - does that loss change anything in your honest opinion?

 

[Brooksey]

Finally clicked on the 'Who's to Blame?' video. It is 15 minutes plus, so that was a non-starter up until now. Luckily, one play in particular was getting beaten over and over again in the thread, with folks providing a timestamp. Thanks to those who did.

I downloaded the video. Will not view or listen to the video creator, so I cropped his commentary completely out.

Kurt Warner analyzed more than one play. I was interested in the single play being discussed here, so I cropped out everything following it. The offense got a good pre-snap look at the defensive formation, so I cropped out his pre-snap analysis. The remaining cropped video is only 4:23 minutes long and is Warner's entire analysis of the one play post-snap.

You are welcome, peoples, lol.



Warner's analysis is sound in my opinion. The central key to Dak Prescott's confusion was CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks running identical slants at the same depth. From this, I have several questions for the coaches and receivers:

1. Were identical slant routes drawn up for this particular play?
2. Should Cooks have run a quick slant instead of taking a few more additional steps?
3. How often was this play ran in practice?

It is definitely a dumb <expletive> play if both receivers are designed to run the same route at the same depth side-by-side since the timing called for the ball to be released quickly. I agree with Warner. The high safety bites hard on Cooks runs the quick slant and follows Cooks. A well-placed pass hits Lamb in stride and the safety cannot recover fast enough to make a play on the ball. I think he might still make the tackle because biting on Cooks route does not create a large enough hole for him not to recover and run down Lamb. However, it could have been a pretty good run after the catch for Lamb or perhaps a touchdown.

The matching slants screwed up the read for Prescott. That said, this play is part of the gameplan. It should have been practiced enough for Lamb, Cooks and Prescott to be on the same page. All three should be reading the same thing that the defense was giving them--just like in practice.

That is why I do not fully agree with Warner about confusion 100% automatically contributing to the errant throw. Yes. The timing was screwed but the quarterback sees something in that split second that was not the same as in practice. (I think) the inside receiver ran the wrong route. If true, the quarterback has not seen the receiver take that many steps during practice.

Is the read on both defenders, covering the both receivers, the quarterback's sole focus? Every quarterback throws interceptions. Every quarterback is not going to throw that particular pass if they aware one of their receivers is running a deeper route than planned. As Warner explained, Cooks *should have* taken his man out of the hole for a quick but easy pass to Lamb of the deeper slant. There must a internal trigger, within that split second, screaming "Hey! Why are you running that deep, Brandin? Crap. I gotta double clutch this throw."

It would be fantastic if Mike McCarthy, Brian Schottenheimer or somebody broke down this specific play like Warner. Was the play executed correctly in their opinion? And if so, why the HELL are both receivers taking that many steps for slant routes and NOT taking their defenders out of the play? Seemingly, every route must be run perfectly in this offense. Otherwise...

Nice writeup but you missed a few key points.

#1 At the 2:20 mark Kurt Warner said "Treat it like a hot and hit the inside WR, the soft part of the zone, the gimme throw". Dak did not do that.
#2 Cooks is not more inside on his slant because he has a corner crossing his face on a blitz, which may have threw off his timing, I don't think the play design is a double slant at the same depth.
#3 Dak holds it too long and the Defender steps inside, baits Dak (they know what he's reading), the defender steps back outside and makes a great play.

 

[Whyjerry]

Biadasz - you were sold on him getting pushed back on every snap.
Armstong - really
Pollard - heartbroken
Smith - what a true hero, man is Cowboy Legend IMHO.
Hankins - does that loss change anything in your honest opinion?

I hear you. Those guys were key contributors whether you agree or not. They were. To suggest 2023 redshirts and rookies are just going to replace them is fine but then where is the depth. UDRFAs? We can rip the guys that left but this roster has wholes created by a tightwad, narcissistic, nepo junior GM.