Twitter: Cowboys RBs in the Passing Game Are Almost Useless

The last time I remember feeling like we were seriously interested in purposefully passing to a RB was that very brief minute in time (I think it was a single month in 2015) when we had Lance Dunbar who we were suddenly weirdly interested in passing the ball to. The team went on a tear where they threw to him like crazy. He was on pace for 80 catches and 800 yards before he got hurt. It was WR-level production from a very narrowly part-time backup RB.

Then, when Dunbar got hurt, it's like the team said: "Oh. But now we lost the receiving specialist. It was fun scheming ways to play with a toy like Dunbar. Our our RBs don't feel like toys. They are generic. Standard. Boring. What are we supposed to do with these boring guys? Scheming for regular RBs sounds harder and less fun. No thanks. From now on, all passes to the RBs will just be last-resort dump-offs. Maybe if we're feeling saucy, we'll throw a screen pass or two every month."

And we have been wildly uninterested in purposefully passing to our RBs since then, it feels like.

 

Pretty good summary. Don't forget the one where Zeke has to run back towards the QB to get the errant pass and then somehow try and turn back up field.. as he is met by the 3 defenders that saw the play coming from the snap. SO fun.

Or the one Zeke (or Pollard or whomever is out there) has to bend down to scoop it off the turf down around their knees.. and they manage to do it (hello mr completion Dak) but then has no time to run before they are crunched (hard) by the defence.

 

Could be that.. but I think the greater truth is that Zeke is so powerful in the pass blocking role.. that they prefer to have him in their trying to keep Dak upright rather than swinging out as a legitimate target.

Zekes blocking is too good for the coaches to ignore is my sense of things.

But agree with you.. we haven't schemed our RB in the pass game for a long long time.

 

Sounds about right..

 

What is the obsession with hooks?

 

Need 2 RB sets..

 

The niner game that year as well. It almost seemed like everytime we threw a screen it went for big yardage back then.

 

Yep..

 

Are they allergic to a split back type set where there's a sweep with Zeke as lead blocker for Pollard?

Not saying run it 20 times a game, but where exactly is something like that?

I have a tough time hearing the word "genius" about Moore when these small wrinkles can't find their way into an offense.

He really is Linehan with more trick plays.

 

I agree that 2 Back sets or split backs would be ideal.. and we did run that a little bit in the first five weeks.. you know when we were on fire?! For some reason.. we dropped it and went back to Dak.

I know some will argue the toss.. but our successful patch was built around a dominate run game and then it stopped.. and we became really Dak focussed.. right about the time of the injury which was also right about the time that Rush beat the Vikings.. you know.. right around the time when everyone realised you could have *literally anyone* at QB and still be a shot of winning. After that.. we didn't see a SINGLE 2 back play.

So tin foil hat.. because Dak is an amazing leader yada yada.. but it seems whenever his job is threatened.. he audibles out of a heck of a lot of plays into passes. Suddenly it all became about him. Might be just a coincidence but I personally don't think so.

I think Dak got scared the world saw him as the poser he was and tried to "do too much (his words)" and that is why we didn't see it again.

 

We also quit using the 12 personnel after Jarwin was injured in the vikings game from what I heard. I think we ran well out of that..

 

It's worth mentioning that at least one of Tony Romo's bad season-ending injuries happened on a play where some nobody fullback who didn't belong on the field blew a protection and got him killed by a blitzing linebacker. I think that was one of his broken clavicles.

So I get why our team's ears probably perked up in 2016 when Ohio State people told us how he's actually great away from the football, unlike most RBs.

 

I've noticed that too. Seemed we ran more plays with the RB's as targets earlier in the year and had some success, but as the year went on more of them seemed to be what you are descibing

 

Really a shame because Pollard made a living catching balls at Memphis during his college days ...

 

You mean that stupid double Dak reverse throw a screen pass to slow arse Zeke isn't creative enough?

 

That was not some nobody fullback.. that was Chris Gronkowski.. One of Gronk's older brothers. But yeah that whiff resulted in Romo's first broken collarbone.

 

Zeke not what he was in 2016 but Moore really doesn’t know how to scheme the RBs in his offense

 

What Really? YOU? No way.

 

Part of the problem is our qb the part is they use the wrong rb for it zekes is so over rated outside of blocking

kellen has blame as well

 

The old "hey look who else sucks" routine.


Set that bar nice and low!