DMN: Cowlishaw: Cowboys won't be balanced on offense; their weapons are in passing attack

[jobberone]

Cowlishaw: Cowboys won't be balanced on offense; their weapons are in passing attack

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Tim Cowlishaw, sports columnist for SportsDayDFW.com and The Dallas Morning News, author of "Drunk on Sports" and panelist on ESPN's "Around the Horn," hosted a chat Thursday to talk all things sports. Here are some of the highlights:

Question: Has Jason Garrett done or said anything this offseason to indicate more of a balanced offense this season?

Cowlishaw: They make the case that the hiring of Linehan indicates as much. Now people will say he sure wasn't balanced in Detroit where Stafford threw over 600 passes. But if you have Stafford and Megatron and Pettigrew and all those receiving weapons and you did not have a reliable back (even this year with Bush, he's still better catching the ball than running it), you're likely to be imbalanced. I just think they will see if Murray can handle the load he was carrying at the end of the year when he became a more meaningful player. As long as you have Romo, Dez, Witten, Williams, you're not going to be one of the most balanced teams.

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• Can Scott Linehan help the Dallas Cowboys offense evolve?

• Garrett dishes on FA acquisitions, changes on D, new play calling hierarchy

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[Hoofbite]

When you have a QB, a WR and a TE........you don't run the ball.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

And when you have an awful defense you have to. This is why the Cowboys will still be 8-8 if we're lucky.

 

[dstovall5]

As long as we're WINNING, I don't care if we're throwing the ball 50+ times or not. I just don't want to see crap like the GB game last year where we lost, that was pitiful and just showed how inept Garret is as an offensive coordinator.

 

[burmafrd]

with the improvement in the O line we now can run the ball much better then in 2012; so there is no excuse to not do it more.

 

[Cumart21]

The Cowboys aren't built to grind it out. Draft or sign a RB to compliment Murray, and that may change. I'm happy when people say Murray needs the ball more because that means he's not being over worked. The Cowboys don't have another option at RB on the current roster.

 

[rwill784]

The Cowboys aren't built to grind it out. Draft or sign a RB to compliment Murray, and that may change. I'm happy when people say Murray needs the ball more because that means he's not being over worked. The Cowboys don't have another option at RB on the current roster.

Yes they do, Idk how people continue to crap on randle and Dunbar. They weren't given enough touches to just give up on them yet. Randle looked decent in limited time and Dunbar wasn't being used right. It took Garrett til thanksgiving to realize how to use him and Murray on the same drives.

This is why we struggle there's no continuity, they need more opportunities to evaluate them before you waste a pick

 

[OhSnap]

I don't think anyone has ever ran a balanced Air Coryell offense unless they had an Emmitt Smith or their name was Norval Turner which is a pretty rare combination in more ways than one.

 

[Wood]

When you have a QB, a WR and a TE........you don't run the ball.

I am ok with that approach if your QB can handle that type of demand. I just don't know if Dallas is being realistic considering two back surgery and Romo advancing age. If Dallas can get out to early leads by air and then run ball in second half of the games....I am all in. However, I just don't think they have defense to set it up that way. A more likely scenario is Dallas is playing from behind and Romo will be slinging it but defenses will pin their ears back and really start to line him up. I don't see that ending well but we are months away so I will put on my happy face and say lets go for it.

 

[Beast_from_East]

As long as we're WINNING, I don't care if we're throwing the ball 50+ times or not. I just don't want to see crap like the GB game last year where we lost, that was pitiful and just showed how inept Garret is as an offensive coordinator.

That one game probably convinced Jerry that he had to get a real OC to call the plays for this season.

That game will live in infamy in the chronicles of Cowboys history.............I saw that we had a 99.99% chance of winning that game based on statistical analysis by some media outlet. No other team in NFL history had every lost a game in that manner as we lost to Green Bay.

I still cant believe we lost that game. It would be like playing somebody on Madden and you have a 4 TD lead at the 2 min warning and end up losing...........virtually impossible unless you are either trying to lose on purpose or grossly incompetent......................I guess the same could be said of Garrett.

 

[50cent]

That gameplan has worked well for the cowboys lately, why would you change now?! If he doesn't consider Murray a weapon (in run game & pass), something is wrong with his football IQ.

 

[xwalker]

Cowlishaw: Cowboys won't be balanced on offense; their weapons are in passing attack

Tim Cowlishaw, sports columnist for SportsDayDFW.com and The Dallas Morning News, author of "Drunk on Sports" and panelist on ESPN's "Around the Horn," hosted a chat Thursday to talk all things sports. Here are some of the highlights:

Question: Has Jason Garrett done or said anything this offseason to indicate more of a balanced offense this season?

Cowlishaw: They make the case that the hiring of Linehan indicates as much. Now people will say he sure wasn't balanced in Detroit where Stafford threw over 600 passes. But if you have Stafford and Megatron and Pettigrew and all those receiving weapons and you did not have a reliable back (even this year with Bush, he's still better catching the ball than running it), you're likely to be imbalanced. I just think they will see if Murray can handle the load he was carrying at the end of the year when he became a more meaningful player. As long as you have Romo, Dez, Witten, Williams, you're not going to be one of the most balanced teams.

I've never been a fan of Coleslaw's writing, but he occasionally makes sense on his new radio show.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I could care less about balance.

They scored 439 points last year.

Score at least that many again and I'm a happy camper.

 

[daveferr33]

I could care less about balance.

They scored 439 points last year.

Score at least that many again and I'm a happy camper.

Scoring points, even a lot, means very little if the defense cannot stop anyone (See, e.g., Denver Game).

When a defense is struggling, like ours did last year, ball control and time of possession become very important. This, I think, is why a balanced attack, no matter how gaudy the offensive stats, is important.

 

[spook930]

Yeah cuz that's been working for us....

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Scoring points, even a lot, means very little if the defense cannot stop anyone (See, e.g., Denver Game).

When a defense is struggling, like ours did last year, ball control and time of possession become very important. This, I think, is why a balanced attack, no matter how gaudy the offensive stats, is important.

The Cowboys had the ball for 29 minutes per game last year. The leader(s) held it for 32 minutes per game.

Even if the Cowboys managed to hold the ball for a couple more minutes... It's not going to make a lot of difference for a defense that was so horrible.

If you want the defense to get better... get better players.

It's the offenses job to score points... not handicap itself for the sake of the defense.

But all this aside... It's going to stay primarily a passing offense. Just because you hand the ball off to a running back (a lot) doesn't mean good things are going to happen.

 

[BigStar]

Yes they do, Idk how people continue to crap on randle and Dunbar. They weren't given enough touches to just give up on them yet. Randle looked decent in limited time and Dunbar wasn't being used right. It took Garrett til thanksgiving to realize how to use him and Murray on the same drives.

This is why we struggle there's no continuity, they need more opportunities to evaluate them before you waste a pick

Agree with the premise, but Randle showed nothing during is limited time. No vision or second gear. 5th rounder, so no need to cling to that investment.

 

[BigStar]

The Cowboys had the ball for 29 minutes per game last year. The leader(s) held it for 32 minutes per game.

Even if the Cowboys managed to hold the ball for a couple more minutes... It's not going to make a lot of difference for a defense that was so horrible.

If you want the defense to get better... get better players.

It's the offenses job to score points... not handicap itself for the sake of the defense.

But all this aside... It's going to stay primarily a passing offense. Just because you hand the ball off to a running back (a lot) doesn't mean good things are going to happen.

It speaks more to the momentum of games, etc. Not necessarily the actual time conserved by both sides. It would be wise to not go 3 n out after the D gets gashed for a long drive or to pass three times out of the gate when time is needed to allow them breath, etc. KC, DET, GB were the main culprits but it happened all season. We lucked out a lot of wins. I know it is hard to expect a redhead to feel rhythm, but it is an integral part of being a successful HC. If we had Belicheat, we would've made the playoffs the last 3 years. Man can adapt or use the best resources he has to accommodate the given situation The talent is here. BTW JJ didn't plan it,(throwing mud analogy) it just worked out that way. He did his square peg thing and "ironically" it would work with the right coach. Too bad he won't give in to that. Lucking into Romo (no resources used!but he loves the credit) has made JJ look alot more respectable then he ever should be. WO Romo, JJ would've had to hire another real coach. Don't know which side to go with...

 

[theSHOW]

The clock needs to be running on offense so that the defense gets more rest and less vulnerability. Murray needs to get the ball. Dez needs to catch the ball and stay in bounds...let the clock run during QTR 1

 

[DuDa]

I don't think anyone has ever ran a balanced Air Coryell offense unless they had an Emmitt Smith or their name was Norval Turner which is a pretty rare combination in more ways than one.

This offense has evolved into a beast--it is no longer the Air Coryell system anymore. Maybe in terminology of the play calls but thats about it. Sometimes this offense looks like a horrible version of the WCO and sometimes it looks just like a hot mess. The offense lives and dies by the big play and 2 minute offense. This offense does score a lot of points but they do not do it efficiently and leaves the defense hanging a lot. The offense is a problem and running the football successfully and consistently with help this team tremendously.