Cowboys abandon "Air Coryell", officially WCO?

[Future]

Its not all-22, so take it with a grain of salt. Camera angles prevent me from knowing exactly what is ran.. unless it was the numerous quick plays (Screens, quick slants, etc).

As for your second point - I am not sure what you are saying. Short/Quick passes is exactly what the WCO offense is. Through two games, the primary routes and play designs have all been WCO style.... And Bill Calahan is a WCO offensive coordinator...

The keey components of a WCO:

Spread the defense horizontally
Quick passes to control the tempo
Short passes with a focus on accuracy
Spread ball between multiple people
Lack of traditional 5/7 step drops


Any of this seem familiar?

I'm confused...Dallas doesn't do any of that.

Every quick release/short pass is dictated by the defense getting pressure.

Looking at yesterday, Romo completed 13 passes to backs and TEs (Dunbar, Witten, Hanna, DeMarco). Of those, Id bet at least 10 were check downs or hot reads because of the blitzes. Thats a quarter of your offensive passing plays.

 

[Hoov]

Its not all-22, so take it with a grain of salt. Camera angles prevent me from knowing exactly what is ran.. unless it was the numerous quick plays (Screens, quick slants, etc).

As for your second point - I am not sure what you are saying. Short/Quick passes is exactly what the WCO offense is. Through two games, the primary routes and play designs have all been WCO style.... And Bill Calahan is a WCO offensive coordinator...

The keey components of a WCO:

Spread the defense horizontally
Quick passes to control the tempo
Short passes with a focus on accuracy
Spread ball between multiple people
Lack of traditional 5/7 step drops


Any of this seem familiar?

It seems like this offense looks more like the Pats short passing game than the passing games of other teams.

Do you consider the Pats a WCO ? Perhaps a variation or modification of it ?

 

[Hoov]

Yes, Callahan is a WCO Coordinator, but the playbook he is using is Garrett's. He has not changed the playbook. The Coryell playbook also has short routes. The West Coast also does not necessarily mean shorter passes, it means shorter passes to open up the field. We hardly exploit the LB matchups which is key to any decent WCO that spreads the ball a lot. Additinally, as Hoov pointed out, YAC is a huge feature of the WCO. We hardly attack offenses with out WRs with the intent on having them run YAC. It's almost exclusively possession type of plays.

Additionally, the concept of 'balance' in the running game is non-existent in a WCO. Your back is also used as a primary weapon in passing, not simply a check-down.

I agree, we are throwing more short, which could be for many reasons, including the rib.

Yes. the RB's have Big roles in the pasisng game. Remember McNabb would have Big passing days as far as yardage due to westbrook turing a 3 yard pass into a 73 yard TD.

 

[Matts4313]

Yes, Callahan is a WCO Coordinator, but the playbook he is using is Garrett's. He has not changed the playbook. The Coryell playbook also has short routes. The West Coast also does not necessarily mean shorter passes, it means shorter passes to open up the field. We hardly exploit the LB matchups which is key to any decent WCO that spreads the ball a lot. Additinally, as Hoov pointed out, YAC is a huge feature of the WCO. We hardly attack offenses with out WRs with the intent on having them run YAC. It's almost exclusively possession type of plays.

Additionally, the concept of 'balance' in the running game is non-existent in a WCO. Your back is also used as a primary weapon in passing, not simply a check-down.

I agree, we are throwing more short, which could be for many reasons, including the rib.

How do you know he is using Garretts playbook?

I dont doubt some things filtered through. But the name of every play, how we call them, and their design has changed. I dont see Garretts identity in this offense at all.

The lack of YAC is because Romo was not putting the ball where it needed to go. Too many throws put the WR at a disadvantage to create more yards. The design was there for YAC.. the execution wasnt.

 

[Matts4313]

It seems like this offense looks more like the Pats short passing game than the passing games of other teams.

Do you consider the Pats a WCO ? Perhaps a variation or modification of it ?

Good comparison. I think the Pats employe the ideals of a WCO passing game (spread the team horizontally) but they run too much to be a traditional WCO. I guess you could call it a modified WCO.

 

[Matts4313]

I'm confused...Dallas doesn't do any of that.

Every quick release/short pass is dictated by the defense getting pressure.

Looking at yesterday, Romo completed 13 passes to backs and TEs (Dunbar, Witten, Hanna, DeMarco). Of those, Id bet at least 10 were check downs or hot reads because of the blitzes. Thats a quarter of your offensive passing plays.

Not true at all. Go back and watch the first half - the videos are posted in the news section. Romo was pressured 2 times in the first half. A lot of the passing plays though were designed to be thrown short. He made the read pre-snap (IE - guy is playing off coverage, I am throwing the quick slant). He literally did not take one 5 or 7 step drop the entire first half.

Secondly, Romo threw 21 times at TEs or RBs. **21 times!!**

 

[khiladi]

It's essentially been admitted by the Cowboys organization, i.e. they are just freeing up JG to focus on head coaching duties. But there are plenty of articles, such as the following:

http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sports/...t-look-much-different-from-jason-garretts.ece

I have said that for five months. Callahan isn't coming here to introduce a new playbook. He's a coach who was already here who was involved in the offense last year and now he's going to call the plays with input from Garrett. That's the extent of the change.

 

[Future]

Not true at all. Go back and watch the first half - the videos are posted in the news section. Romo was pressured 2 times in the first half. A lot of the passing plays though were designed to be thrown short. He made the read pre-snap (IE - guy is playing off coverage, I am throwing the quick slant). He literally did not take one 5 or 7 step drop the entire first half.

Secondly, Romo threw 21 times at TEs or RBs. **21 times!!**

Ok, so then it was dictated by the coverage, not the pressure. Doesn't change the fact that they running a WCO by design. And the whole 5-7 drop thing is mitigated by shotgun, you essentially start where your third foot would be without it, so even a 2 step drop turns into the distance of a 5-7 drop, even if it doesnt take quite as long.

And I know he threw at them more, I'm talking about completions. Its not like he threw 21 passes downfield to them. The completions were almost exclusively checkdowns.

 

[khiladi]

It seems like this offense looks more like the Pats short passing game than the passing games of other teams.

Do you consider the Pats a WCO ? Perhaps a variation or modification of it ?

Except our version is horrendous, considering we hardly use the slot receiver and try to exploit mis-matches with LBs trying to cover them.

 

[khiladi]

Not true at all. Go back and watch the first half - the videos are posted in the news section. Romo was pressured 2 times in the first half. A lot of the passing plays though were designed to be thrown short. He made the read pre-snap (IE - guy is playing off coverage, I am throwing the quick slant). He literally did not take one 5 or 7 step drop the entire first half.

Secondly, Romo threw 21 times at TEs or RBs. **21 times!!**

Witten is multiple times, the highest recipient of targets by Romo...

 

[Matts4313]

Ok, so then it was dictated by the coverage, not the pressure.

So was it pressure or coverage? You just completely flip-flopped.

Please tell me what coverage would force 5 eligible WR targets to all run less than 15 yards with no pressure.

 

[Matts4313]

It's essentially been admitted by the Cowboys organization, i.e. they are just freeing up JG to focus on head coaching duties. But there are plenty of articles, such as the following:

http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sports/...t-look-much-different-from-jason-garretts.ece

Yet interestingly enough... There is a multi paged thead on here talking about how the Cowboys look like the 2000 Raiders....

Also; you are acting like the Cowboys dont often say one thing and do something completely else.... Heck, a few months before that article Garrett was still officially calling plays...

 

[Yakuza Rich]

More like the Ivory Coast Offense.






YR

 

[BAT]

Garrett did not run a true Air Coryell type offense anyway. At least not the version he was first introduced to and which has been the most successful, Norv Turner's version. Turner is a huge advocate of the running game, Garrett is not.

Garrett has created his own hybrid from all the offenses he played/learned as player in NFL. NYG did not play Air Coryell offense, neither did TB or the Dolphins. And Callahan is simply calling plays that he is most familiar with and most comfortable with. Is it any wonder that his play calling is making it seem like the dink and dunk WCO?

 

[khiladi]

Yet interestingly enough... There is a multi paged thead on here talking about how the Cowboys look like the 2000 Raiders....

Also; you are acting like the Cowboys dont often say one thing and do something completely else.... Heck, a few months before that article Garrett was still officially calling plays...

The 'official' line was that Garret needed more time to focus on a head coach, not because he sucked at calling plays. That is why they spun it that way. Additionally, just google the 2000 and 2001 Raiders. When BC was 2001 OC for them, 4th in the league in scoring. And he was 3rd as OC in 2000.

 

[Future]

So was it pressure or coverage? You just completely flip-flopped.

Please tell me what coverage would force 5 eligible WR targets to all run less than 15 yards with no pressure.

Its not flip flopping, the point is that the short routes are dictated by the defense.

Any shell defense would do it, cover 3 is designed to pretty much take the deep ball away completely. Man coverage with 2 safeties over top would do it as well. If it were me, though, I'd still have someone running a 9 on every single play...but thats irrelevant.

And just because routes are short, doesn't mean the offense is running a WCO. Someone mentioned it earlier, but the WCO uses lots of drags, crosses, and slants, which we barely tried at all. We run more comebacks than anything, which almost completely eliminates YAC...another WCO fixture.

 

[khiladi]

BTW, how does this offense control tempo, when Romo snaps it with one second left on the clock after making sure the offense is set and the play delivered? Last year, they use to rush just to get the ball off. This yeard, they set themselves quickly, but take their time to snap the ball.

 

[JohnsKey19]

Dez should've been targeted 20 times yesterday. Sure he made a critical miscue with the drop, but I will take my chances with Dez vs. a shrimp CB any day. Especially when the other options are 2-3 yd outs to RBs and TEs. This staff continues to outsmart themselves into mediocrity.

 

[khiladi]

Its not flip flopping, the point is that the short routes are dictated by the defense.

Any shell defense would do it, cover 3 is designed to pretty much take the deep ball away completely. Man coverage with 2 safeties over top would do it as well. If it were me, though, I'd still have someone running a 9 on every single play...but thats irrelevant.

And just because routes are short, doesn't mean the offense is running a WCO. Someone mentioned it earlier, but the WCO uses lots of drags, crosses, and slants, which we barely tried at all. We run more comebacks than anything, which almost completely eliminates YAC...another WCO fixture.

Additnally, teams give us the heady dose of man coverage with 2 safeties over top.

 

[NeonNinja]

Call it whatever you like but it doesn't change the fact that its boring, lacking creativity, and the play design is just awful. This system struggles to get touchdowns and attack.