CFZ Dallas OL vs. Broncos DL (drive analysis)

[gimmesix]

First drive

1st-and-10 Dallas 20 -- Rico Dowdle up the middle for no gain (Broncos had five players on the line; we were blocking down to the right with two tight ends on the left and one on the right: Ball and Ferguson (mostly Ball) double-team a 3-4 DE, shoved him down the line and back a couple of yards and put him on the ground; Smith goes immediately to the second level and pushes a linebacker further right, but the play was made in the backfield, so the linebacker didn't seem to be trying that hard; Biadasz and the NT stalemate in the middle, with Biadasz getting about a yard of push; McGovern and Steele initially double the other DE and move him out of the way to the right, but McGovern peels too late to pick up a linebacker attacking the gap, who gets in on the play to stuff Dowdle; Dowdle might have had the opportunity to cut outside of McGovern's block if Sprinkle had not been completely defeated by the OLB, who came down the line to make the play; McKeon, lined up on the right, walled off the other OLB.)

2nd-and-10 Dallas 20 -- Dowdle 3 yards up the middle, looked like it was a run left, though (Broncos four-man line; offensive line blocking down to left: Ball pinned the OLB to the outside, but he got enough initial push and maintained enough of the edge to force Dowdle to stay inside; Smith and Baidasz pushed the DT five yards up the field, but Biadasz didn't peel fast enough to pick up the LB who got in on the play; McGovern and Steele doubled the other DT and pushed him 4 yards upfield, but McGovern couldn't get off the block to get a LB on the second level who was one of three defenders to converge on Dowdle (essentially, the DT "held" McGovern to keep him from making the block; McKeon completely whiffed on blocking the DE, who went around him and made the tackle from the backside)

3rd-and-7 Dallas 23 -- Rush incomplete to Tolbert; pass interference flag picked up (plenty of time for Rush against a five-man rush: Ball and Smith sealed off the left side as both defenders tried to go around them to the left; Biadasz's man barely got a push; McGovern kept his man sealed off to the right; Steele's man got the most penetration, but Steele took him deep around Rush, who threw too wide of Tolbert in tight coverage)

Unfortunately, that's all I have time for at the moment. I'll add to this thread when I have time to examine more drives.

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

When tightends attack they often whiff. It's not like the DE or LB is just going to stand there and let themselves get blocked. A good coach would teach them to take a step back before attacking. Then bury your helmet in the guy, during initial contact, so you don't extend your arms too far.



This team could really use someone like me to teach the coaches how to teach.

 

[john van brocklin]

First drive

1st-and-10 Dallas 20 -- Rico Dowdle up the middle for no gain (Broncos had five players on the line; we were blocking down to the right with two tight ends on the left and one on the right: Ball and Ferguson (mostly Ball) double-team a 3-4 DE, shoved him down the line and back a couple of yards and put him on the ground; Smith goes immediately to the second level and pushes a linebacker further right, but the play was made in the backfield, so the linebacker didn't seem to be trying that hard; Biadasz and the NT stalemate in the middle, with Biadasz getting about a yard of push; McGovern and Steele initially double the other DE and move him out of the way to the right, but McGovern peels too late to pick up a linebacker attacking the gap, who gets in on the play to stuff Dowdle; Dowdle might have had the opportunity to cut outside of McGovern's block if Sprinkle had not been completely defeated by the OLB, who came down the line to make the play; McKeon, lined up on the right, walled off the other OLB.)

2nd-and-10 Dallas 20 -- Dowdle 3 yards up the middle, looked like it was a run left, though (Broncos four-man line; offensive line blocking down to left: Ball pinned the OLB to the outside, but he got enough initial push and maintained enough of the edge to force Dowdle to stay inside; Smith and Baidasz pushed the DT five yards up the field, but Biadasz didn't peel fast enough to pick up the LB who got in on the play; McGovern and Steele doubled the other DT and pushed him 4 yards upfield, but McGovern couldn't get off the block to get a LB on the second level who was one of three defenders to converge on Dowdle (essentially, the DT "held" McGovern to keep him from making the block; McKeon completely whiffed on blocking the DE, who went around him and made the tackle from the backside)

3rd-and-7 Dallas 23 -- Rush incomplete to Tolbert; pass interference flag picked up (plenty of time for Rush against a five-man rush: Ball and Smith sealed off the left side as both defenders tried to go around them to the left; Biadasz's man barely got a push; McGovern kept his man sealed off to the right; Steele's man got the most penetration, but Steele took him deep around Rush, who threw too wide of Tolbert in tight coverage)

Unfortunately, that's all I have time for at the moment. I'll add to this thread when I have time to examine more drives.

All our drives ended because of penalties, right?

 

[nathanlt]

First drive

1st-and-10 Dallas 20 -- Rico Dowdle up the middle for no gain (Broncos had five players on the line; we were blocking down to the right with two tight ends on the left and one on the right: Ball and Ferguson (mostly Ball) double-team a 3-4 DE, shoved him down the line and back a couple of yards and put him on the ground; Smith goes immediately to the second level and pushes a linebacker further right, but the play was made in the backfield, so the linebacker didn't seem to be trying that hard; Biadasz and the NT stalemate in the middle, with Biadasz getting about a yard of push; McGovern and Steele initially double the other DE and move him out of the way to the right, but McGovern peels too late to pick up a linebacker attacking the gap, who gets in on the play to stuff Dowdle; Dowdle might have had the opportunity to cut outside of McGovern's block if Sprinkle had not been completely defeated by the OLB, who came down the line to make the play; McKeon, lined up on the right, walled off the other OLB.)

2nd-and-10 Dallas 20 -- Dowdle 3 yards up the middle, looked like it was a run left, though (Broncos four-man line; offensive line blocking down to left: Ball pinned the OLB to the outside, but he got enough initial push and maintained enough of the edge to force Dowdle to stay inside; Smith and Baidasz pushed the DT five yards up the field, but Biadasz didn't peel fast enough to pick up the LB who got in on the play; McGovern and Steele doubled the other DT and pushed him 4 yards upfield, but McGovern couldn't get off the block to get a LB on the second level who was one of three defenders to converge on Dowdle (essentially, the DT "held" McGovern to keep him from making the block; McKeon completely whiffed on blocking the DE, who went around him and made the tackle from the backside)

3rd-and-7 Dallas 23 -- Rush incomplete to Tolbert; pass interference flag picked up (plenty of time for Rush against a five-man rush: Ball and Smith sealed off the left side as both defenders tried to go around them to the left; Biadasz's man barely got a push; McGovern kept his man sealed off to the right; Steele's man got the most penetration, but Steele took him deep around Rush, who threw too wide of Tolbert in tight coverage)

Unfortunately, that's all I have time for at the moment. I'll add to this thread when I have time to examine more drives.

I applaud your patience to undertake the drive analysis of a preseason game.... I couldn't stomach it. I'm excited to see the Cowboys play, but then when they get down to the roster churning players... it's difficult to watch. I need to watch Tyler Smith and Sam Williams, to help make it through the 4th quarter.

 

[gimmesix]

Second drive

1st-and-10 Dallas 19 -- Rush in shotgun, passes into flat to Tolbert, almost intercepted (Broncos in four-man front, bring five: Ball catches the DE and stops him cold; the DT in front of Smith tries to loop through the middle, but runs into McGovern, who is helping Biadasz stop the DT, who tries to spin away, but is also stopped by Smith; Steele's DE tries to go around him, but ends up getting nowhere; some pressure from the blitzing LB, who is picked up by Dowdle before he can get to Rush; it may have been McGovern's job to pick up the blitzer, but that's why Denver stunted into his hole so if he picked up the blitzer, the back would have had to pick up the stunter)

2nd-and-10 Dallas 19 -- Handoff to Dowdle up the middle, runs over an unblocked S who stops him for a 3-yard gain (Offensive line slanting right, with tight ends on both sides: Ferguson on the left side, keeps the DE pinned to the outside; Ball and Smith drive the DT out of the hole and Smith knocks an ILB trying to get by him to the ground; Biadasz and McGovern double the other DT and also drive him to the right; Steele gets out to the second level and has an OLB held off to that side as well; McKeon and the other DE stalemate; seems like this was a bad read by Dowdle as he essentially ran toward the only unblocked player in the middle or he just had to beat that one-on-one and he didn't; can't fault the blocking on this one)

3rd-and-7 Dallas 22 -- Rush in shotgun, plenty of time, throws wide of Dennis Houston on an out route where Houston was open (Denver shows five, rushes four: Ball pushed back by DE bull rush, but holds his ground long enough to give Rush room to throw to that side; Smith and Biadasz end up doubling at DT trying to work across while the other DT loops and don't give up ground; McGovern gets the looper/stunter who initially shoves Smith to try to create room for the other DT and doesn't give up much ground; Steele keeps his DE wide)

The interior line worked well as a unit as the Broncos twice called stunts and had nowhere to go with them. The failure of this drive was primarily on Rush, who had enough time on his throws but threw poorly.

 

[gimmesix]

I applaud your patience to undertake the drive analysis of a preseason game.... I couldn't stomach it. I'm excited to see the Cowboys play, but then when they get down to the roster churning players... it's difficult to watch. I need to watch Tyler Smith and Sam Williams, to help make it through the 4th quarter.

I wanted to go back and watch a few players, so I figured while I was there, I might as well tell what I saw. Sometimes my initial impression proves to not be as accurate as what I thought.

 

[gimmesix]

All our drives ended because of penalties, right?

That can be the perception. It's kind of funny because if you just watched these first two drives, you'd say that Ball had a good game. Rush was the one who killed us on them. The run blocking could have been better, by the tight ends in particular, but the line wasn't the reason those two drives failed.

 

[john van brocklin]

That can be the perception. It's kind of funny because if you just watched these first two drives, you'd say that Ball had a good game. Rush was the one who killed us on them. The run blocking could have been better, by the tight ends in particular, but the line wasn't the reason those two drives failed.

Thanks, I was being just a tad sarcastic.

 

[gimmesix]

Third drive

1st-and-10 Dallas 21 -- Rush five-step drop, throws over the middle for Tolbert, incomplete in tight coverage but pass interference (Broncos five-man front/rush: Ball absorbs the OLB, who then tries to pull away to the inside and spin back out to the outside to no avail; Smith stops the DE in place; McGovern keeps the NT from gaining much traction; Biadasz is left with no one to block; Steele cuts off the other DE from going inside, so he tries to loop outside but it's too late; both Ferguson and McKeon stayed in to block the other OLB, who eventually worked between them, but also was too late)

1st-and-10 Dallas 38 -- Dowdle behind left guard for 3 yards (Broncos four-man front: Ball stands the DE up and keeps him outside; Smith and Biadash push the DT to that side and pin him out of the play; McGovern whiffs on his block as the DT jumps around him to the outside, which forces Dowdle to have to make a move to freeze him before getting to full steam; Steele initially stands up the DE then tries to peel off and get a LB, but he's too late as the LB makes the play)

2nd-and-7 Dallas 41 -- Dowdle up the middle for 5 yards (Broncos four-man front: Ferguson pins the DE to the outside, which leaves Ball looking for someone to block since they were apparently going to double the end before Ball moves to the second level and keeps a CB pinned outside; Smith pulls and stalemates the other DE; Biadasz pushed a DT back a couple of yards and keeps him engaged as Dowdle initially gets past him; McGovern and Steele initially double the other DT to hold him in place before Steele goes to the second level to keep a LB out of the play; this came down to Dowdle vs. an unblocked S although Biadasz's man did work free of him to assist)

3rd-and-2 Dallas 46 -- Dowdle or Malik Davis 4 yards around the right side, but holding on Sprinkle (Dallas overloaded on right side vs. five-man front: Ball stops the OLB's initial charge, which is enough to keep him out of the play; Smith stands the DE up; Biadasz releases to the second level to pick up a linebacker, who works right to get in on the tackle; McGovern stands up the NT in the middle; Steele and Ferguson double the other DE before Steele peels off to pin a LB inside; Ferguson maintains his block to keep the DE out of the play; Sprinkle gets knocked back by the OLB, which forces Dowdle to have to go around him, slowing down the play and causing Sprinkle to grab jersey as the LB tries to get away from him; McKeon comes out and picks up a safety who eventually gets in on the tackle, which is made by an unblocked corner with the late assists)

3rd-and-12 Dallas 36 -- Rush 18 yards over the middle to Houston (Broncos rush four, fake fifth: Ball barely pushes the DE wide before he pushes Ball back into Rush; Smith's rusher fakes and drops into the flat, so Smith gives the DT being handled by Biadasz a chuck, knocking him back; the Broncos stunt the other DE, which allows him to gain some ground, but McGovern picks him up and stops him from getting close to Rush; the DT pushes into Steele off the stunt and then makes an insides move getting some late pressure on Rush, but the ball is out before he arrives)

1st-and-10 Denver 46 -- Rush 1-yard throw to Malik Davis after run fake (Broncos rush four while we have two tight ends on the left and one on the right: the OLB bails, leaving Ferguson and Sprinkle with no one to block; Ball and Smith double the DE and he goes nowhere: Biadasz allows very little penetration by the NT; McGovern keeps the other DT pinned to the outside; Steele's OLB gets around him wide, causing Rush to step up in the pocket and dump the ball off even though Steele recovered to push the OLB on past; looks like the initial throw on the play-fake wasn't there so Rush took the checkdown when he saw some pressure coming)

2nd-and-9 Denver 45 -- Dowdle 4 yards up middle (Broncos four-man front: Ball pins the DE to the outside; Biadasz and Smith destroy the DT; McGovern also initially drives the other DT to the left and upfield with a little help from Steele, but when Steele peels off to stuff a linebacker, the DT shakes free of McGovern and makes the play with the help of an unblocked LB)

3rd-and-5 Denver 41 -- Dowdle 3 yards behind left guard (Broncos four-man front, but a fifth comes up to attack line: Ball again pins the DE to the outside; the late rusher gets inside of Smith, but Smith takes him to the ground even though it did cause Dowdle to stutter-step; McGovern and Biadasz double a DT, but Biadasz and McGovern trip each other when Biadasz tries to get off the block and get to the second level, which allows a S to come up and make the tackle along with the DT who pushes McGovern down; Houston also missed the block on the S; Steele pins the other DT to the outside and also gets in the way of the other DE, forcing him to have to try to work back to the play)

4th-and-2 Denver 38 -- Rush's quick out intercepted (Denver five-man rush: DT comes through unblocked for quick pressure as either Biadasz or Smith chose wrong; it seems like it was Biadasz because Ball blocked two players and Smith was looking to help him; Ball initially jolted the DE, then cut off the OLB; Smith had turned to the inside by that point, too late to pick up the DT, which might indicate that it was his man; Biadasz and McGovern double the other DE and push him into the block by Steele on the OLB, so they are all held in place; on the replay, it looks like it was on Smith based on block reactions, but he was eyeing those two players lined up against Ball)

Ball deserves some credit for how he played on these first three drives. He was certainly not the problem at that point. In fact, I'd say that he was playing the best of the OL up to now. Sprinkle hurt two of our first three drives by not getting his blocks, which is not what you expect from a blocking TE.

 

[Ranched]

WOW! Did you ever think about being an NFL analyst?! Had to give you likes for a well published book on Dallas's 2022 first pre-season game even though it was too much to read personally. Paragraph is the limit at this end.

 

[gimmesix]

WOW! Did you ever think about being an NFL analyst?! Had to give you likes for a well published book on Dallas's 2022 first pre-season game even though it was too much to read personally. Paragraph is the limit at this end.

Thanks. It's a bit labor-intensive, and my wife thinks I'm crazy for doing it. I just think we get these ideas in our heads about how a player performed when sometimes the evidence doesn't really fit. I mean, during the game, there's a lot to take in on each play and most of us are paying the most attention to the result of the play. I know I don't have the mental capacity to catch everything the first time around.

I wanted to go back and watch for myself. I admit this is a lot more work as I have to watch the play over and over again to break down how each lineman does, which is why it is taking me so much time.

 

[Pass2Run]

WOW! Did you ever think about being an NFL analyst?! Had to give you likes for a well published book on Dallas's 2022 first pre-season game even though it was too much to read personally. Paragraph is the limit at this end.

You could always learn how to read.

Novel idea, I know...

 

[gimmesix]

Fourth drive

1st-and-10 Dallas 28 -- Dowdle start left, cuts up middle for 12 yards (Broncos four-man front, Dallas two tight ends on right: Ball and Smith double the DE to push him back several yards; Ball peels to get a LB, but doesn't really block him as the LB shoots past him, which is why Dowdle cut the run back inside, allowing Ball to get enough of the LB to keep him out of the play; Smith lost control of the DE, who worked back to the right and tripped up Dowdle upfield, although it looked like Smith was trying to keep the DE to the right for an outside run; Farniok and McGovern pushed a DT to the left and then got him on the ground, creating the inside hole for Dowdle with Collins driving the other DT to the left pileup; Ferguson did a good job getting upfield and blocking a ILB to the left sides; McKeon didn't get in front of the DE to cut him off, so it looks like he held him to keep him out of the play, although it was not called)

1st-and-10 Dallas 40 -- Dowdle runs around right end for 5 yards (Broncos four-man front, Dallas three-TE set with two on right, line slanting right: Ferguson on left cuts of the end and drives him upfield out of the play; Ball and Smith initially double the DT before Smith goes to the second level to bump a LB back; Farniok holds up the other DT; McGovern doesn't get any push against the other DE, who helps make the tackle; Collins gives a quick double to McGovern's man to hold him up for a second before pushing an OLB initially wide of the play before he gets in on the tackle; Fehoko failed to hold his block downfield to allow the third tackler to get in on the stop)

2nd-and-5 Dallas 45 -- Turpin jet sweep to left for 3 yards, but holding called on Smith (Broncos four-man rush, with LB attacking line at snap: Ferguson on left fails to get control of the end and either drive him back or pin him inside, which keeps Turpin from getting the corner; Ball starts to pull, but holds up because he sees the LB blitzing into the gap he's vacating; Smith takes that LB to the ground, drawing the holding call; Farniok doesn't make a block on the line so he can get out in front of the play, where he eventually gets in the way of a CB; McGovern also lets the DT go so he can get out in front of the play, but essentially doesn't block anyone until he tries to push Turpin and his tacklers forward; Collins misses his initial jab on the other DT, who steps around him to the right, but is out of the play)

2nd-and-16 Dallas 34 -- Rush quick pass to Tolbert for 5 yards (Broncos four-man front vs. five-man line: DE pushes Ball back then takes inside track to get near Rush, although Ball shoved him back upfield slightly; Smith barely gives any ground to DT; Farniok picks up the DE trying to loop inside and stops him in his tracks; McGovern doesn't really block anyone with the other DT going around right tackle and pushing Collins back to also get in the pocket)

3rd-and-11 Dallas 39 -- Rush keeps right for 7 yards (Broncos rush five, blitzing a LB: McKeon chucks the DE before heading out into the flat, but that actually helps knock him to the inside where he goes past Ball to get the pressure that "forces" Rush to run; Smith knocks the DT to his left to keep him out of the play; Farniok gets pushed back some by the other DT before a chuck by McGovern puts the DT on the ground; Collins easily stops the other DE's rush; Rush panicked because Ball's DE tripped over Farniok and there was no pressure after Rush rolled right; Rush needed to set his feet and throw instead of try to pick up 11 yards running; Ball did a good job of getting out in front of him and making a block downfield and McGovern and Collins also got out in front of him and made a play)

The holding call on Smith was likely because he took the LB to the ground. There's no indication that he grabbed the jersey or hooked him as his left hand was on the LB's shoulder and his right hand was on his side. I don't see it as a hold.

This was the first bad possession for Ball. But we were still moving the ball decently before the questionable holding penalty.

 

[gimmesix]

Sorry, we went for it on fourth down, and the third down play was an 8-yard gain.

4th-and-3 Dallas 47 -- Rush quick pass over middle, but Tolbert drops first-down catch (Broncos four-man rush, but DE drops into coverage: Ball picks up the DT trying to go around him to left and stops him easily; Smith left with no one to block as Farniok and McGovern wall off the other DT trying to go to the right to open a lane for the blitzing LB, who is picked up by Dowdle; the other DE tries to go wide around Collins but can't)

 

[dogberry]

Collins hasn’t been on my apparently defective radar.

 

[shabazz]

Thanks. It's a bit labor-intensive, and my wife thinks I'm crazy for doing it. I just think we get these ideas in our heads about how a player performed when sometimes the evidence doesn't really fit. I mean, during the game, there's a lot to take in on each play and most of us are paying the most attention to the result of the play. I know I don't have the mental capacity to catch everything the first time around.

I wanted to go back and watch for myself. I admit this is a lot more work as I have to watch the play over and over again to break down how each lineman does, which is why it is taking me so much time.

Based on current knowledge, I would wager that less than half the players are as interested in analyzing their own play. The evidence is having to include language in their contracts that require they study game film.

If you have the time there’s nothing crazy about taking that much time to break down game film……everybody has different hobbies. Just make sure you still take care of business with the wife first. Lol

 

[_sturt_]

First drive

1st-and-10 Dallas 20 -- Rico Dowdle up the middle for..................

This all seems deserving of more than a "like." A lot of good work here in this thread.

 

[gimmesix]

Based on current knowledge, I would wager that less than half the players are as interested in analyzing their own play. The evidence is having to include language in their contracts that require they study game film.

If you have the time there’s nothing crazy about taking that much time to break down game film……everybody has different hobbies. Just make sure you still take care of business with the wife first. Lol

I'm not sure my wife's definition of crazy is the same as ours. I am a newspaper editor for a living, though, so she already knows I'm crazy.

 

[gimmesix]

This all seems deserving of more than a "like." A lot of good work here in this thread.

Thanks. Hope to do a little more tonight and tomorrow night. Don't think I'm going to make it all the way through before Saturday. I'd love to spend more time on it and get it done, but work/life gets in the way.

 

[gimmesix]

WOW! Did you ever think about being an NFL analyst?! Had to give you likes for a well published book on Dallas's 2022 first pre-season game even though it was too much to read personally. Paragraph is the limit at this end.

Imagine if I had put all the drives in one post like I originally intended.