Did the route-running and playcalling improve?

[gimmesix]

Tale of 2 halves yesterday day. Had a productive 1st half, hold out cd 2nd half and things changed in a hurry. Especially with not being able to run the ball and keep the clock running. 2 miracle plays on defense bailed them out and multiple 50+ yard fgs by butter.

That is true. But it was still Rush's best passing game, which put us in position to win with those great efforts by the defense and Aubrey.

 

[Whyjerry]

Honest question. Did the receivers start running better routes and creating more separation? Did McCarthy starting calling different plays? 8 different players caught a pass last night and even Fluornoy had a pretty solid game.

I think the OL has played way better. I will also say going to Rico was a big help. Those are the difference in my opinion.

 

[aikemirv]

I think Martin was trying to go when his body just wasn't cooperating anymore. I give him credit for trying to be a warrior, but like with Zeke, the end of the line comes for everyone.

Except Martin knew he was going and hosed the team with a new contract. I don't mind him hosing Jerry but he hosed the team - Poor behavior on his part. He knew he was done and stole from the teams future IMO. Jerry was just stupid enough to not know it!

 

[gimmesix]

Except Martin knew he was going and hosed the team with a new contract. I don't mind him hosing Jerry but he hosed the team - Poor behavior on his part. He knew he was done and stole from the teams future IMO. Jerry was just stupid enough to not know it!

I think that's fan talk. Most players don't think they are going when they are going. They think they are going to return to form and be the player this team needs. We assume too much evil with our players. And disparage our all-time greats.

 

[big dog cowboy]

CD lamb on a crossing rout in the first quarter I’m thinking if only Cooper Rush lead him it would’ve been a touchdown .

Easy TD for Lamb.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Be careful what you wish for.
Rush puts nothing on the ball. The longer his ball is in the air, the more time DBs have to converge on it.

He hit 5 of 7 deep balls last night and there were other plays with WR's running wide open.

 

[ClappingCarrot]

I thought the play calling was better than previous weeks. Nice use of play action, a few shots down the field, etc.

Would have like to have seen more rushing attempts, but the Tampa DL made it very clear early on in the game that if you were gonna beat them, it had to be through the air.

I think the whole route running critique is a desperate attempt by formers players and media to prop up their golden boy, Rayne Dakota. It will always be someone else's fault when things aren't going well.

 

[Creeper]

Let's start by admitting Dak was having a terrible year before he got hurt. I have no idea why, but he was awful. So Rush comes in and we are comparing Rush to the Dak we just saw. Rush would look worse against the 2023 Dak.

However, I think it is obvious Rush is the smarter QB. He knows where to go with the football because he reads defenses better than Dak. Sure, Rush will make the occasional boneheaded throw, as he did last night, but he seems to make better decisions more consistently than Dak.
We still have to be honest, there were a few Rush throws last night that should have been picked off, on could have been a pick 6. It was a dumb throw as he was being chased out of the pocket

 

[MyFairLady]

I think that's fan talk. Most players don't think they are going when they are going. They think they are going to return to form and be the player this team needs. We assume too much evil with our players. And disparage our all-time greats.

Open your eyes he 100% knew what he was doing and we are suffering for it. That extension was completely absurd.

 

[buddahjoe445]

Honestly I dont see a ton different in terms of routes or actual play calls. I think we are seeing some changes in formations being ran, but a lot of the same route concepts. What I think we are seeing is more variety with Rush at QB and better work presnap from your QB. Nothing Rush is doing is all that difficult, hes just really good at playing within the offense and sort of being that OC on the field.....honestly this is a guy that Jerry needs to look at locking up as his next Kellen Moore coaching project once he is done playing.

Some of the bigger throws last night:

• The 29 yarder to Cooks came from 2 TE formation with Rush under center
• 10 yard TD to Tolbert Rush pointed out the coverage pre snap and just threw the ball to the WR on LB matchup.
• 34 yard pass to Lamb was 2TE with play action...Rush simply slid away from his protection to have a clean throwing lane and got the ball out quick for a deep throw
• 14 yard pass to cooks....quick slant that Rush just reads the blitz, make a good presnap read and gets the ball out quick
• Lamb TD - Nothing special, he just got the ball out underneath to his best playmaker
• 21 yard pass to Ferg, Rush just identified the matchup and locked in on his TE for an easy throw
• 26 yard pass to Flournoy....Rush under center w/ tight formation...slips the WR past all the LBs in zone who were late to get to their spots because they were looking for the run reads first

Getting the QB under center has been huge. The Cowboys even last night seemed very split between run and pass, not because they ran the ball all that much, but they played in formations that led the defense to believe they could run. This is Mike McCarthy's style of running the football.

Dak has twice the arm talent Rush could ever dream of, but Rush is so much better in running the offense pre snap. Hes tough for the defense to confuse, he finds the matchup he wants and typically knows where he is going with the football as soon as its snapped. The first few games Rush took over he had a bad habit of not being able to get away from those throws if he read it wrong or the WR just wasnt there and had a few almost INTs, but has been really good recently of being careful with the ball.

first few games for Rush was preseason and training camp for him. every QB needs first team reps and Rush has not gotten that in years.

 

[America's Cowboy]

Let's start by admitting Dak was having a terrible year before he got hurt. I have no idea why, but he was awful. So Rush comes in and we are comparing Rush to the Dak we just saw. Rush would look worse against the 2023 Dak.

However, I think it is obvious Rush is the smarter QB. He knows where to go with the football because he reads defenses better than Dak. Sure, Rush will make the occasional boneheaded throw, as he did last night, but he seems to make better decisions more consistently than Dak.
We still have to be honest, there were a few Rush throws last night that should have been picked off, on could have been a pick 6. It was a dumb throw as he was being chased out of the pocket

LOL

 

[Mark]

Offensive Line changed. Started blocking better thanks to the younger guys being allowed to play over the past month. Have helped create a running game which helps our passing game. Very easy to see.

We were shown no evidence of a running game vs. TB. In fact, it was the second-lowest team rushing output in franchise history in connection with a Cowboys win.

To be fair, the Bucs were stuffing the box...committing to stop the run at all costs, and daring Rush to beat them with his arm. Which he ultimately did, with astounding effort from the defense.

 

[gimmesix]

Open your eyes he 100% knew what he was doing and we are suffering for it. That extension was completely absurd.

We didn't extend him. We revised his contract to add $8.5 million over the final two years. No years were added, Then in March, we restructured his contract to add void years and lower the cap hit.

If you want to believe he hosed the team and purposely held out knowing that he was finished and trying to get more money, I'm not going to try to talk you out of it. I believe he thought he was underpaid for an All-Pro (which he was) and sought to get that rectified. I don't think he had any idea that he wasn't going to stay healthy and return to form. I do think he didn't seek an extension because he thought these might be his last two years. But I think he believed he'd finish them playing at a high level.

 

[America's Cowboy]

We were shown no evidence of a running game vs. TB. In fact, it was the second-lowest team rushing output in franchise history in connection with a Cowboys win.

To be fair, the Bucs were stuffing the box...committing to stop the run at all costs, and daring Rush to beat them with his arm. Which he ultimately did, with astounding effort from the defense.

20 rushing attempts. Plenty of evidence of an attempt to run the football.

 

[BoysForLife]

So what changed?

I saw a lot of open receivers last night

The QB saw them too.

That, in a nutshell, is what has changed.

 

[Brax]

Honest question. Did the receivers start running better routes and creating more separation? Did McCarthy starting calling different plays? 8 different players caught a pass last night and even Fluornoy had a pretty solid game.

I read here the WRs were trash the routes sucked the OL sucked the D was giving up 20 points a game only the QB was elite before he was injured, now with a real JAG QB I really too want to know what changed, it wasn’t the coaching that’s for sure.

 

[Brax]

There was literally 0 run game last night

Doesn’t fit the narrative

 

[doomsday9084]

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2024/passing_advanced.htm

Could and possibly should go in multiple threads.

Cooper Rush gets the ball out the 3rd fastest in the NFL. Dak was 20th.

Dak had the 15th most air yards per attempt. Cooper is at 31st.

Dak holds the ball looking to go downfield. Cooper gets it out quick to the safe route. That's a lot of what we are seeing.

 

[Mark]

20 rushing attempts. Plenty of evidence of an attempt to run the football.

Mark said:
We were shown no evidence of a running game vs. TB. In fact, it was the second-lowest team rushing output in franchise history in connection with a Cowboys win.
To be fair, the Bucs were stuffing the box...committing to stop the run at all costs, and daring Rush to beat them with his arm. Which he ultimately did, with astounding effort from the defense.

_____________________

May we agree that 30 yds. on 20 rushing attempts does not constitute "creating a running game to help the passing game?" Rather, it was stubborn insistence on pursuing a course of action that clearly wasn't working at all. Which is why the Cowboys could only muster three points in the second half, and luckily hung on to the game by the hair on their chinny-chin chins. One which they should've otherwise run away with.

 

[America's Cowboy]

Mark said:
We were shown no evidence of a running game vs. TB. In fact, it was the second-lowest team rushing output in franchise history in connection with a Cowboys win.
To be fair, the Bucs were stuffing the box...committing to stop the run at all costs, and daring Rush to beat them with his arm. Which he ultimately did, with astounding effort from the defense.

_____________________

May we agree that 30 yds. on 20 rushing attempts does not constitute "creating a running game to help the passing game?" Rather, it was stubborn insistence on pursuing a course of action that clearly wasn't working at all. Which is why the Cowboys could only muster three points in the second half, and luckily hung on to the game by the hair on their chinny-chin chins. One which they should've otherwise run away with.

SMH. Y'all still don't get it. Simply running the ball (whether you gain yards or not, plus based on the rushing production of the previous 3 games) actually keeps the opposing defense honest and helps your passing game.