CFZ Cowboys Red Zone and overall offensive improvement

[Praxit]

Well actually Maher missed 4 of 5 XPs in that wild card win at Tampa last year. He was worthless.

..omg! ...that's right, OK it was SF game then. Where first kick was blocked.

 

[Reid1boys]

You know Reid I agree with you that play calling has improved. But…I also think play calling is almost always judged by the success of the play.

And …according to what I’ve read, experienced QBs like Dak audible out of plays at least 25% of the time. We don’t even know how many great plays were “called” by Big Mac or Dak.

I also believe the success or failure of every play is dependent almost completely on how well all 11 players execute the play. When plays don’t work, it’s a “bad call”. When they do, it’s “great playcalling”.

I hear you Reid. The playcalling has improved. But more so, the execution of plays has improved.

Would you agree that some plays are just doomed from the get go? I mean, it appeared to me that Mike was so predictable in the Az game with his run calls that it just made it easy on the defense and no amount of execution by the offensive players could make up for it. My daughter and I went to that Cards game and we left their pretty pissed. I was so frustrated because I just felt like Mike had bought into the narrative that Dak somehow needed to be protected from himself. Now you know I have never been a Dak rah rah guy.... but lets be real, he has always been capable. After Mike opened it up with his calls, Dak and this offense took off and hasnt looked back.

 

[blueblood70]

One of the biggest issues with the Cowboys offense to start the year was its lack of Red Zone efficiency. Man has that changed. In the first 5 games, the Cowboys converted touchdowns on 7 of 19 red zone trips (36.8%). Since then, they have scored touchdowns on 25 of 38 red zone opportunities. (65.7%)

After the loss to San Fran back in October, the Cowboys have been a different team offensively and their red zone efficiency is just one of several impressive improvements. Here are some more big examples:

• Since the SF loss, Dak has thrown 23 TDs and 1 interception. No other QB in the league has been as efficient.
• In the last 3 games, the Cowboys red zone efficiency is 71%.
• In the first 5 games of the year, Dak averaged 212 yds passing per game. In the 8 games since the SF beat down in game 5, Dak is averaging 305 yards passing per game.

One belief I strongly hold regarding all NFL teams is this: Don’t judge a team‘s abilities or inabilities before November. Because what you see in Sept or Oct is not usually what that team will be later. It takes a long time for a team to develop. This year is a perfect example. It’s why it now takes 17 games to decide playoff seeding. Lots of football left of course but this team’s offense has dramatically improved.

All very true the only thing that's still to be determined we have yet to see a team as complete as San Francisco since the loss to San Francisco... Be hard to judge how far we came until we meet a team as complete as them again they are our Achilles heel so the only way to know we've improved is to meet them again... I believe that slow start to the year was just by design I mean Mike McCarthy truly thought we were gonna have a shutdown defense and was playing very conservative he brought this offense along slowly and realized he's gonna need more offense and opened it up all he did was go to a different part of the playbook became more aggressive didn't rely on the defense to do everything as you could see in the Seahawks game they literally had to go blow for blow and was able to do it I think we've always had that since game one but didn't need it in every game and also Mike McCarthy was thinking conservative...

It's nice that we have a coaching staff that knows how to adjust and is willing to adjust not only from game to game but in the game from 1/2 to the other we haven't had that in a very long time...

 

[blueblood70]

Would you agree that some plays are just doomed from the get go? I mean, it appeared to me that Mike was so predictable in the Az game with his run calls that it just made it easy on the defense and no amount of execution by the offensive players could make up for it. My daughter and I went to that Cards game and we left their pretty pissed. I was so frustrated because I just felt like Mike had bought into the narrative that Dak somehow needed to be protected from himself. Now you know I have never been a Dak rah rah guy.... but lets be real, he has always been capable. After Mike opened it up with his calls, Dak and this offense took off and hasnt looked back.

Well stop overlooking the fact that he needed to be protected from his bad offensive line they were getting a lot of penalties we're missing 3 Pro Bowl starters on the line so he was trying to be conservative by design,,, I don't think it had anything to do with Prescott himself has everything to do with the fact that the line just wasn't that good we lost that game because we're missing 4 Pro Bowl players on the road and I think we were playing to try not to lose the game not Prescott to lose the game just overall playing not to lose the game but really you're mad all you bring up is the offense the defense didn't play well at all in fact the defense I'm crediting them with all three losses.... I'm not saying they were responsible for the entire loss but if you look back at the biggest problems we had and the three losses is we weren't stopping anyone and that's when truthfully Mike McCarthy realized he was gonna need to be more aggressive and open up the playbook Prescott has always been capable of running those type of offenses and he just took the reins off but really it had more to do with the defense is inability to shut down offenses without turnovers...

 

[Bobhaze]

Would you agree that some plays are just doomed from the get go? I mean, it appeared to me that Mike was so predictable in the Az game with his run calls that it just made it easy on the defense and no amount of execution by the offensive players could make up for it. My daughter and I went to that Cards game and we left their pretty pissed. I was so frustrated because I just felt like Mike had bought into the narrative that Dak somehow needed to be protected from himself. Now you know I have never been a Dak rah rah guy.... but lets be real, he has always been capable. After Mike opened it up with his calls, Dak and this offense took off and hasnt looked back.

I completely agree that some play calls are doomed before the snap. That’s where having a QB that can recognize coverages, alignments, blitz packages etc is so important. And we forget that some defensive teams will change their call too and back out of blitzes, etc.

A lot of play calling each week is decided during game prep. That giant card Big Mac is holding is a list of plays that film study has shown to work best in certain defensive alignments. For example, the card usually has “short yardage plays” that tend to work best against this opponent. Which is why some fans scream, “Why don’t we run the ____ play that worked so well last week?” Different opponent may mean different ways of attacking their defense.

Bottom line - play calling is complex. I read somewhere that in today’s game, unless you have a rookie QB playing, at least 25-50% plays called are changed at the line of scrimmage. Or are “RPOs” with a run-pass option which is read by the QB.

 

[JoeKing]

Dak has targeted Ferg more than CeeDee in the red zone.

 

[Reid1boys]

I completely agree that some play calls are doomed before the snap. That’s where having a QB that can recognize coverages, alignments, blitz packages etc is so important. And we forget that some defensive teams will change their call too and back out of blitzes, etc.

A lot of play calling each week is decided during game prep. That giant card Big Mac is holding is a list of plays that film study has shown to work best in certain defensive alignments. For example, the card usually has “short yardage plays” that tend to work best against this opponent. Which is why some fans scream, “Why don’t we run the ____ play that worked so well last week?” Different opponent may mean different ways of attacking their defense.

Bottom line - play calling is complex. I read somewhere that in today’s game, unless you have a rookie QB playing, at least 25-50% plays called are changed at the line of scrimmage. Or are “RPOs” with a run-pass option which is read by the QB.

A lot of the QBs dont actually do a RPO... they make up their mind what they are going to do before the ball is snapped. Id actually like to see Dak keep the ball 2-3 times a game on those as it appears to me the defense doesnt even give dak a look.

 

[CCBoy]

I completely agree that some play calls are doomed before the snap. That’s where having a QB that can recognize coverages, alignments, blitz packages etc is so important. And we forget that some defensive teams will change their call too and back out of blitzes, etc.

A lot of play calling each week is decided during game prep. That giant card Big Mac is holding is a list of plays that film study has shown to work best in certain defensive alignments. For example, the card usually has “short yardage plays” that tend to work best against this opponent. Which is why some fans scream, “Why don’t we run the ____ play that worked so well last week?” Different opponent may mean different ways of attacking their defense.

Bottom line - play calling is complex. I read somewhere that in today’s game, unless you have a rookie QB playing, at least 25-50% plays called are changed at the line of scrimmage. Or are “RPOs” with a run-pass option which is read by the QB.

Dak Prescott has been making blitzing teams pay and that is what Buffalo does a lot during most games...and zones.

 

[CCBoy]

The Law Team of Davis and Davis will be suited up for this game.

 

[quickccc]

One of the biggest issues with the Cowboys offense to start the year was its lack of Red Zone efficiency. Man has that changed. In the first 5 games, the Cowboys converted touchdowns on 7 of 19 red zone trips (36.8%). Since then, they have scored touchdowns on 25 of 38 red zone opportunities. (65.7%)

After the loss to San Fran back in October, the Cowboys have been a different team offensively and their red zone efficiency is just one of several impressive improvements. Here are some more big examples:

• Since the SF loss, Dak has thrown 23 TDs and 1 interception. No other QB in the league has been as efficient.
• In the last 3 games, the Cowboys red zone efficiency is 71%.
• In the first 5 games of the year, Dak averaged 212 yds passing per game. In the 8 games since the SF beat down in game 5, Dak is averaging 305 yards passing per game.

One belief I strongly hold regarding all NFL teams is this: Don’t judge a team‘s abilities or inabilities before November. Because what you see in Sept or Oct is not usually what that team will be later. It takes a long time for a team to develop. This year is a perfect example. It’s why it now takes 17 games to decide playoff seeding. Lots of football left of course but this team’s offense has dramatically improved.

vs San Francisco 49ers.. come playoff time ( Nuff said) ....

 

[quickccc]

I'm going to read between the lines for this...I remember hearing MM say the offense was not going to be completely different early in the season or maybe even in TC. So if he was using his own version early on which got us nowhere, what version is he using now...? KM's? he didn't just make up a new system 5 games into the season. I think this is still mostly KM's offense with SOME variations to it.

Just curious, I'd be interesting in why you'd think there's still some KM offense still here ?

I've my own theory, but interested in what others think of this offense.

 

[Doomsday77]

Just curious, I'd be interesting in why you'd think there's still some KM offense still here ?

I've my own theory, but interested in what others think of this offense.

For example- all of a sudden we are throwing and completing longer passes, getting everyone involved, moving the QB around more (this could be a MM thing also). Not every pass is a ‘comeback’ route. IDK but it sure smells like Coach cherry picked some of KM’s best plays.

 

[quickccc]

For example- all of a sudden we are throwing and completing longer passes, getting everyone involved, moving the QB around more (this could be a MM thing also). Not every pass is a ‘comeback’ route. IDK but it sure smells like Coach cherry picked some of KM’s best plays.

I also realized that McCarthy's own OC ( Brian Schottenhemeir) is from the Rhythm Time Based offense that is the Coach tree of Kellen Moore, Linehan, Garrett, etc.
And Mac kept Schott on.

- Instead of totally overhauling & scraping the Rhythm Time based offense, Mac probably kept some concepts
of it that Dak felt comfortable with and not only did want to disrupt that, but maybe thought some of it
would still come in quite handy.

- I can see the points you've brought up, also seems like Dak is throwing more on the move, this is what i best
described as " using his legs " more.

- What was a major issue vs zone shell coverage with Dak in past seasons, I've not yet seen that since Niners game,
BTW, it's the next game vs Niners and that shell coverages that I am very eager to see if Dak can beat and overcome
it.

Niners still remain THE measuring stick, which McCarthy's Tex Coast offense will be judge by.. win or lose.
Same bridge and obstacle that decided Kellen's fate, may very well play face to Big Mac as well.