Criticism of Jason Garrett

perrykemp

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/Rant_On

I know it's not popular to criticize JG at this point when things are going well, however I have to get this off my chest.

Last year Murray averaged 5.2 ypc. This year Murray is averaging 4.9. On a per rush basis, Murray was running the ball better LAST YEAR!

I feel burned that the coaching staff chose to run sp little last year despite all evidence that Murray was one of the most effective RBs in the league. They decided to go pass happy despite the fact that Romo was having injury problems.

I give credit where credit is due to JG for the Cowboys 2014 performance, however, I still puzzle on how he could have been so inept last year with the running game.

It's pretty clear to me that making the playoffs last year was totally achievable and that the coaching staff was primarily to blame for blowing it.

Sorry -- I know I am whining -- I am just venting. I am so happy about this year but I can't forget how miserable I was last year. I didn't have to be that way!

/Rant_Off
 

Zordon

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Romo deserves some of the blame too with his constant audibling out of run plays. His injury is a blessing in disguise.
 

BAT

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/Rant_On

I know it's not popular to criticize JG at this point when things are going well, however I have to get this off my chest.

Last year Murray averaged 5.2 ypc. This year Murray is averaging 4.9. On a per rush basis, Murray was running the ball better LAST YEAR!

I feel burned that the coaching staff chose to run sp little last year despite all evidence that Murray was one of the most effective RBs in the league. They decided to go pass happy despite the fact that Romo was having injury problems.

I give credit where credit is due to JG for the Cowboys 2014 performance, however, I still puzzle on how he could have been so inept last year with the running game.

It's pretty clear to me that making the playoffs last year was totally achievable and that the coaching staff was primarily to blame for blowing it.

Sorry -- I know I am whining -- I am just venting. I am so happy about this year but I can't forget how miserable I was last year. I didn't have to be that way!

/Rant_Off

That goes to show how important the addition of Linehan (and Marinelli) has been for this team. We would have saved our D a lot of wear and tear if we had maintained TOP and kept them off the field.
 

Yakuza Rich

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I think we started to see a bit of the running come into play last year in the Saints and Bears games. We were clearly going to run the ball in those games from the onset. Unfortunately, the defense was so poor and Romo didn't have the passing game going. And then we went back into throwing mode for whatever reason.

I would love to know the true story behind why we decided to start running the ball. We know that Romo was audibling out of plays, but I also remember hearing about how Garrett liked to start drives off with some passes in order to get Romo in a groove.

The big change I see is that we are unafraid to run the ball against 8 or 9 in the box and against blitzes.

After the Giants game Garrett discussed their willingness to run and talked about how you're going to have to live with some ugly 1 or 2 yard carries against 8 and 9 man fronts, but you can use those ugly carries to open up the passing game later on.

I think the playcalling is different and better with Linehan and not only because they are running the ball more. The run play calls are interesting to watch because we balance out the running game. There's no more heavily favoring running off left tackle or running up the gut. Instead we can run both left or right, off guard or off tackle and up the gut. We'll run a stretch play left, a stretch play right and then fake the stretch run left and go with a counter right. And when teams are cheating on the run, we can throw deep fades, back shoulder fades and slants to Dez and use play action for big yards.

I just don't think we had that type of playcalling with Garrett even if we tried running the ball more.







YR
 

jrumann59

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Personally I would not fall in love with those YPC numbers they will hit the above average mark but will not be unworldly. Some of it was Romo, some of it the OC, some of it, was the other team, some of it was the oline. I do not think the talent on the OL last year was as such that if teams sold out on the run we could have just chipped away with the run. Also I think it was an attitude, it was evident when they thought they were dictating the game by airing it out it they fell walked right into what the other teams wanted them to do, a pass play is one of the riskiest plays in the game with all the things that need to happen for a completed pass to be successful
 

dstovall5

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Romo deserves some of the blame too with his constant audibling out of run plays. His injury is a blessing in disguise.

You say that, yet when Orton our back up QB played in the finale against the Eagles he threw it 50 times, that's why I personally think Garret has been 100% to blame. This year, our play calling as a whole has been a ton better, and Linehan is also keeping a very balanced approached. Of course our O-Line playing better with the addition of Martin has some part in this, but I think the main reason has been because of Linehan.
 

DanteEXT

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Murray has lower percentage of 3 yard or less runs, doubled his 3rd and short average, converted 60.9% of 3rd down rushing attempts compared to 46.2% in 2013. Probably more situational stats that show improvement from last year as well. It's a chicken and the egg argument. Are those situational stats better because they are running more OR are they running more because they are better in those situations?
 

Idgit

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Something to keep in mind, we're averaging 6 more plays/game so far after 7 weeks. And we've gone from 21 rushes avg/game to about 34.

One thing I'd like to see, though, is how many negative rushes we had last year compared to so far this year. It sure seems to me like we're going forward most of the time right now, and that hasn't always been the case in Dallas recently.

Demarco also missed two games last season.

And with our defense, we were throwing it more in the 4th quarter last year than we are now.

Like anything, there are a lot of contributing factors. And I know people don't want to hear it because the running game is so much fun to watch, but we're winning more games this year because we're giving up fewer points on defense to our opponents than we were last season. Like I said in the offseason, when you lose 5 games by a total of 8 points on a team that finishes 8-8, you're actually pretty close to doing something right. This year, we're actually doing it right, and it's paying off. We've already had two three-point wins (Rams and Seattle), neither of which we probably win last year. That's the difference between 6-1 and sitting one game over 500 on an odd numbered week again.
 

khiladi

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http://www.nbcdfw.com/blogs/blue-st...End-Formations-Are-Predictable-207359191.html

This was last year.

The only way to turn the predictability into a positive would be to harness it to secure big plays downfield. If the Cowboys ran the ball almost all of the time from a certain formation but then used it to set up a deep play-action pass, for example, the early sub-optimal play-calling could create a competitive advantage. However, the average length traveled by the Cowboys’ 13 passes from “Double Tight” formations with “22” personnel was 6.85 yards. Defensive coordinators: if the Cowboys line up with “22” personnel and in any formation with both tight ends in-line, they’re not going to throw the ball deep.

Whether 4.9 or 5.2, the point is to keep the defense second-guessing. This year, Dallas is employing play-action effectively, which is resulting in a much better offense. We are simply much better scheme-wise in attacking the defense.
 
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