Deep Threat WRs and Kellen Moore's Offense

[Number1]

what does Kellen Moore’s offense look like?

kinda like the "the greatest show on turf" with more power running - this IMO is where JG wanted to go along - a "play fast" version of a play action deep timing system

first off, they probably will not look to milk the clock with small lead
the big difference between what they did the first 2 and a 1/2 years of Dak's career is the last half of 2018 was running 70 plays a game rather 60 makes a huge difference all by itself

expect Zeke to be Zeke, and expect Pollard to be used a lot like Marshall Faulk when on the field
IMO, all the things they wanted to with Austin and Dunbar they can do with Pollard
with simple man blocking it won't be hard to get both over 5.0 YPA

expect more common sense passing, running slants and TE dumps are critical in this system,
gets LBs and Ss guessing rather than focusing on Zeke, stops run blitzing
I'd note all of the targets on this team have really good hands
after Dez and Twill ... we all feel that way about it, the FO is weird not stupid

expect Dak on the move, he's decent in the pocket, but can go deep on the move as well as any,
and that may be the most valuable skill in football

one other thing about Dak, he's rather smart
last year we saw a big change "no #1 WR", or rather, no one played X (usually read 1) every down
they started using a more QB directed motion to work match ups and pick your X
notice that depends on really bright QB, it ain't like X = Dez, Y = TWill, Z = Beasley every down
3 or 4 guys will play X every game, Y every game, and Z every game (sometimes even on the same drive)
* aside from a bright QB it take versatile WRs *

one of the key O features of JG has always been double moves deep
Scott asked both Tony and Dak to extend plays from the pocket way too much
it near crippled Tony, and keep in mind Dak took far more hits the last year than Tony ever did

I have no idea if this OL will hold up - is Fred back? do we have a LG? what are the odds we get better RT play?

I'd point out the classic passing solution with a mobile QB and an iffy OL is to shorten the read structure
instead of read 1 - 2 - 3 - dumb / scramble ... go to read 1 - 2 - scramble and look deep
DUH

Scott was a stubborn idiot

back to the diff between 60 plays and 70 - what if 5 of those extra 10 plays are read 1 - 2 - scramble and look deep
and the other 5 are R/P options ... the sky's the limit
that's a real simple path to another 7+ points a game

 

[Kaiser]

kinda like the "the greatest show on turf" with more power running - this IMO is where JG wanted to go along - a "play fast" version of a play action deep timing system

THANK YOU. This is exactly the discussion I was hoping for when I posted the thread.

And I do think the OL will be healthy enough to open everything up again. And if we have a normal amount of injuries we have a 6th Starter in McGovern with very good backups in Looney and Fleming.

 

[ElGatoGrande]

That's correct, he didn't. He's always done this crapp. Romo used to have to bail him out by scrambling until the receivers had run their routes and finally started getting open by freelancing.

lol,,, so that's what Romo was doing pre-snap, telling each receiver which come-back route to run.

 

[ScipioCowboy]

None of those stats say anything about the effectiveness of our deep balls. 20 yards isn't "deep" by my standards, and a 20 yard TD doesn't mean a pass, and it doesn't even mean a pass 20 yards downfield even when it is a pass.

But it’s not stopping the Cowboys from moving the ball.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Omg, really? He threw a beautiful deep ball. Videos eveywhere. He had great touch on deep balls.

Im sure he could throw em. It just wasn't what he did best in my opinion. Had more of a rocket, rope type throw.

 

[Brax]

He said he didn’t need a number one..he didn’t say he can win with nothing but number 3 and 4 receivers.

Dak new the receivers he had when he said it, ​

So your saying what he says shouldn't be taken seriously, and I see you put the standard "its not Dak's fault" excuse.

 

[Brax]

So you don't read any news about the team, don't know what you are talking about and call everyone else a homer.

Got it.

Great reply back, guess your too busy trying to find those 3 million articles that do not exist. Keep making up the fantasy homer posts so we can get another laugh.

 

[Rockport]

Omg, really? He threw a beautiful deep ball. Videos eveywhere. He had great touch on deep balls.

No he didn’t. It was his only weakness. Did you watch him play?

 

[Rockport]

Dak new the receivers he had when he said it, ​

So your saying what he says shouldn't be taken seriously, and I see you put the standard "its not Dak's fault" excuse.

He was just towing the company line as that’s what Stephen was saying.

 

[Rockport]

accuracy it can't be taught,

Dak’s career completion rate is 66.1% so good thing Dak already has accuracy.

 

[Number1]

THANK YOU. This is exactly the discussion I was hoping for when I posted the thread.

And I do think the OL will be healthy enough to open everything up again. And if we have a normal amount of injuries we have a 6th Starter in McGovern with very good backups in Looney and Fleming.

the OL does have more experience depth and McGovern looks the part

if Looney is up so be it, I think a LG will emerge, more concerned about LT

*signing Dak to a 4 or 5 year 9 digit contract and leaving La'el at RT is just as suicidal as ... Tony and Doug Free*

 

[buybuydandavis]

You're missing the forest for the trees. The objective of an offense isn't to complete as many deep passes as possible, it's to move the ball and score points. And that has nothing to do with how many yards we consider to be a "deep" pass. After trading for Cooper, this offense moved the ball but couldn't finish drives.

When you ignore the red zone, and instead call the deep ball the "fundamental problem" with the offense, you're putting more emphasis on something we need to do more often than on the main thing that we don't do well at all. The debate is yards vs. points. What difference does it make if we move up from 7th in yards to 3rd or 4th? Or from 2nd in TD scored from outside the red zone to 1st? Maybe a point per game?

Offenses don't rely on 40+yard TD passes to score points, and no offense makes a living that way. Five teams led the NFL with 7 such plays last year. The Cowboys had 5 such plays, putting them in the top 10. We had 8 TD passes of 30+ yards, which was also top 10. And that's for the whole season, not just since Cooper's arrival.

Top 10 in yards (with Cooper), top 10 in long TD passes. Bottom 5 in the red zone.

We should be *better* than top 10 in yards with Cooper and Zeke. We aren't because we don't hit the deep ball.

No one denies that we're "bad at scoring in the red zone", but that isn't much more informative than "bad at scoring". Bad play calling? Poor execution? Blocking? Running? Passing? Dak? Zeke? TEs? WRs?

There was a stack of articles in the last week about Dak improving on his deep ball in camp, and how this has been a weakness for years.



Read Sanjay again:
"Being able to hit those deep balls in games is going to change everything if we're able to do that."

We haven't been doing it. But *if* we're able to do that, it will change everything.

Believe deep balls are not a problem. Believe Dak is great at deep balls. Believe Gallup is too.

People who write about the Cowboys disagree with you. The WR coach disagrees with you. I disagree with you. And you talk about everything *but* deep ball execution to assert that they aren't a problem.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Dak new the receivers he had when he said it, ​

So your saying what he says shouldn't be taken seriously, and I see you put the standard "its not Dak's fault" excuse.

You think Dak should be able to win with Cole Beasley as his number one receiver?

And yeah what guys say to the media is usually crap. You take what guys say in the media seriously?

 

[buybuydandavis]

But it’s not stopping the Cowboys from moving the ball.

Would they move the ball more, or less, if they hit those deep balls?

 

[buybuydandavis]

I think you are getting caught up in espn highlights. Teams don’t throw deep balls all game. That’s not what this offense is it should be.

Offenses don't throw deep balls all game because defenses scheme to stop them. Defenses haven't schemed to stop our deep balls, because they just aren't the threat they should be.

Give Romo and TO of 2007 the coverages we've been seeing in 2017 and 2018, and they would be throwing deep balls all game. And shattering league scoring records.

Power run game plus play action deep passes is the basis of the Coryell offense. The play action deep passes keep defenses from stacking the box against the power run game. Play action deep balls are the *simplest* complement to a power run game. It takes speed at WR, decent tracking of the ball, and decent hands. The QB doesn't have to make much of a read in terms of coverages. He just needs moderate deep accuracy.

Don't believe me. Believe Sanjay.

WR coach Sanjay Lal: "The whole premise, in my opinion, of this offense is vertical speed. If you can't hit a go-route, the comeback game isn't real, your slant game isn't real ...Being able to hit those deep balls in games is going to change everything if we're able to do that."

If you can't hit deep balls, defenses only have to defend a short field. Make them defend the whole field, and you change everything.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Offenses don't throw deep balls all game because defenses scheme to stop them. Defenses haven't schemed to stop our deep balls, because they just aren't the threat they should be.

Give Romo and TO of 2007 the coverages we've been seeing in 2017 and 2018, and they would be throwing deep balls all game. And shattering league scoring records.

Power run game plus play action deep passes is the basis of the Coryell offense. The play action deep passes keep defenses from stacking the box against the power run game. Play action deep balls are the *simplest* complement to a power run game. It takes speed at WR, decent tracking of the ball, and decent hands. The QB doesn't have to make much of a read in terms of coverages. He just needs moderate deep accuracy.

Don't believe me. Believe Sanjay.

WR coach Sanjay Lal: "The whole premise, in my opinion, of this offense is vertical speed. If you can't hit a go-route, the comeback game isn't real, your slant game isn't real ...Being able to hit those deep balls in games is going to change everything if we're able to do that."

If you can't hit deep balls, defenses only have to defend a short field. Make them defend the whole field, and you change everything.

So if this is correct why don’t the Rams or Giants throw the deep ball all game and break records? You sound delusional.

 

[Flamma]

Im sure he could throw em. It just wasn't what he did best in my opinion. Had more of a rocket, rope type throw.

That's what I remember too. A lot of mid range bullet passes to slants and curls, sometimes outs. He did hit Harper deep on a rare occasion.

 

[buybuydandavis]

The key to a successful go route is decent pass protection and not overthrowing the wide receiver. Linnehan didn't just suddenly become infatuated with come back routes for no reason. Inexplicably eating the football for 10 yard losses didn't help either.

And that's been a fair question. Were Linehan's simplistic and predictable routes in response to a *justified* lack of faith in Dak being able execute anything more complicated?

Dak has his limitations, but I think he could have done more.

And we needed to *know* if he could do more, and let him grow into more if he could. Even if Dak couldn't execute more, Linehan failed the team in not *exposing* such a fundamental limitation in Dak.

And now we're looking to sign Dak long term for massive cap while still unsure that he can really run an NFL level offense properly.

Garrett and management failed in letting Linehan waste a couple of years of development of Dak and thereby an understanding of how good a QB he can really be.

Dak was our presumed franchise QB after 2016, and we're still wondering in 2019 if he can be a top level QB. Fail. Fail. Fail. Not Dak. All the Top Men.

 

[Flamma]

THANK YOU. This is exactly the discussion I was hoping for when I posted the thread.

And I do think the OL will be healthy enough to open everything up again. And if we have a normal amount of injuries we have a 6th Starter in McGovern with very good backups in Looney and Fleming.

I was kind of hoping Dallas would draft D.K. Metcalf when he fell to us. I'm not upset with the Hill pick, I just think Metcalf would have improved the team more now than a DT. Dallas already has some pretty good route runners. This guy could have taken the top off the defense.

 

[buybuydandavis]

So if this is correct why don’t the Rams or Giants throw the deep ball all game and break records?

You see Romo and TO on those teams? You see them getting the same coverages we face?