DMN: Gosselin: Cowboys need to play to their strengths — airing out the ball and man coverage

[jobberone]

http://www.***BANNED-URL***/incoming/20131120-cowboys_saints_football_34210495-1-.jpg.ece/BINARY/w620x413/COWBOYS_SAINTS_FOOTBALL_34210495+%281%29.JPG

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, left, talks with wide receiver Dez Bryant before an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Rick Gosselin, columnist for The Dallas Morning News, joined Norm Hitzges on KTCK-AM Tuesday. Here are some highlights.

On the issues with the Cowboys' offense:

“I think the problem we’ve had for over a decade is there’s no identity of this team. They don’t know what they are or what they want to be, and I think the bye came at a good time, because I think they’ve had to reassess everything on offense and defense, and I think you’ll see some changes … I think they’ve spent two weeks figuring out, ‘How can we pass the ball better?’ When they beat the Giants before, it was with Romo, Austin, Witten, and Bryant, and I think that’s what they’re going to go with, try to ride that horse the rest of the way out. I think their running will be an afterthought.”

On excuses for the lack of production:

“The one thing that I’m tired of hearing in this town is how the offensive line stinks. They can’t block for the run, they can’t protect Romo, and everything seems to be done to protect the offensive line. They’re playing with a better front than a lot of teams are. They’ve got two No. 1’s and a resurgent Doug Free lining up. The Giants are missing two starters: Chris Snee and David Baas are gone for the year. It’s not stopping them from running their offense. I think the Cowboys have bought into this theory that they can’t block anyone, so they won’t run the ball, and they’re asking Romo to get rid of the ball quickly, so you’ve got a dink and dunk offense. This offense is at its best when Romo is in the pocket and Bryant and Austin and Williams are stretching the field.”

On the changes coming for the defense:

“They built this team to play a 3-4 of Rob Ryan. They brought in two cover corners. They hire Monte Kiffin. They go to a tap two zone scheme. I think you’re going to see a lot more man coverage … their strength is Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne, and Orlando Scandrick locking down on wide receivers, and I think you’re going to see a lot more man than you did in the first ten weeks.”

http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sports/...-the-ball-and-man-coverage.ece?nclick_check=1

 

[jobberone]

Decent read. I don't know about the press coverage unless they can at least get decent pressure although not a lot different from zone. You have got to have good safety play if you press though.

 

[BAZ]

The Giants are missing two starters: Chris Snee and David Baas are gone for the year. It’s not stopping them from running their offense. I think the Cowboys have bought into this theory that they can’t block anyone, so they won’t run the ball, and they’re asking Romo to get rid of the ball quickly, so you’ve got a dink and dunk offense.

The same Giants that lost six a row? The same Giants that have been playing back up's for the last four games? When Waters was playing the running game was more of a threat, that much was obvious.

One of these days Goose will say something positive about the Cowboys, nobody can be that negative forever. Even Steven A. BullSmith said something positive about Jerry the other day. An airborne swine caused me to topple from my chair.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

been saying air it out...but all the haters prefer dink and dunk because OMG THERE MIGHT BE AN INTERCEPTION!

 

[ChooChoo73]

been saying air it out...but all the haters prefer dink and dunk because OMG THERE MIGHT BE AN INTERCEPTION!

Same for me. The only thing more embarrassing than the needless chatter about balance is the fact that Garrett has listened to it and allowed it to change his coaching behavior. Run for 2.4 yards per carry till the passing game is out of sync. Fall behind by two scores. Try to throw to catch up. Blame Romo for not completing the comeback. Love it.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

been saying the same thing. You gave romo 100m...then instead of trying to get a 1st down against Detroit...you hand the ball off to your 4th string RB who bounces the ball outside and causes a holding penalty. It's too late to NOT trust Romo...he has the money and will be here for a couple of years. Plus guess what else? Romo is pretty good. There will be mistakes. But that is football. Win by giving your BEST players a chance to do what they do best. Win playing to the strength of your personell. The most experienced, the healthies and the most decorated element of this team is the passing game. Win or lose you better ride with what you do best!

 

[jobberone]

Yeah, let that dog hunt.

 

[17yearsandcounting]

Congratulations Goose, you are hired. Report to this afternoon's offensive coaches meeting.

 

[ufcrules1]

been saying air it out...but all the haters prefer dink and dunk because OMG THERE MIGHT BE AN INTERCEPTION!

We have already seen the air it out phase in previous years and it is no better than the dink and dunk. What we need is something in the middle and better play calling.

 

[jobberone]

They do need to open up the offense. Throw it down the field a bit more. Mix up the run-pass play calling.

 

[Direwolf63]

We have already seen the air it out phase in previous years and it is no better than the dink and dunk. What we need is something in the middle and better play calling.

The most successful team Romo QB'd was in 2007. They aired it out a lot more then than they do now. Let's go back to that. You have to considering the defense can't stop anybody.

Your running game essentially consists of RB's catching the ball in the flats, check downs, screens and 5-8 yard, low risk throws to Witten. That is your short yardage/running game. It's better than 2.5 yards per carry from a collection of average RB's. Then air it out after that. When he's healthy, Austin is very good at deep crossing routes. Dez and Williams are both deep threats and Beasley is your Wes Welker type possession receiver.

That's a pretty good group overall. With good depth in Dwayne Harris. And you have a QB who can sling it around and improvise when needed better than most.

Let's use these guys. Go grab the division by being aggessive is what I say.

 

[car351]

The most successful team Romo QB'd was in 2007. They aired it out a lot more then than they do now. Let's go back to that. You have to considering the defense can't stop anybody.

Your running game essentially consists of RB's catching the ball in the flats, check downs, screens and 5-8 yard, low risk throws to Witten. That is your short yardage/running game. It's better than 2.5 yards per carry from a collection of average RB's. Then air it out after that. When he's healthy, Austin is very good at deep crossing routes. Dez and Williams are both deep threats and Beasley is your Wes Welker type possession receiver.

That's a pretty good group overall. With good depth in Dwayne Harris. And you have a QB who can sling it around and improvise when needed better than most.

Let's use these guys. Go grab the division by being aggessive is what I say.

Excellent post/analysis in stating the team should play to its only strength. Well said.

 

[cowboyjoe]

http://stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=1001&c=4891&f=2122113
here is the link to listen full podcast: you don't have to sign up on dallas morning news

 

[ufcrules1]

The most successful team Romo QB'd was in 2007. They aired it out a lot more then than they do now. Let's go back to that.

You can't go back to that. You have a completely different team now and Romo isn't the same QB. He had 1 game this year where he "aired" it out and that was against a depleted 30th ranked passing defense. Missing Bailey, Woodley, Von Miller, and others. If it was a fully healthy Bronco's team that would have never happened. Romo has looked really bad lately and is sadly a shell of his former 2007 self. He hasn't even rushed for over 50 yards in a season since 2009.

Your running game essentially consists of RB's catching the ball in the flats, check downs, screens and 5-8 yard, low risk throws to Witten. That is your short yardage/running game.

That is due to poor/vanilla play calling. Murray is an above average RB.

Austin is very good at deep crossing routes.

No, Austin is flakey and unreliable and was overpaid. One of the players on our team that helps us achieve that .500 every year.

And you have a QB who can sling it around and improvise when needed better than most.

You have a QB who is very inconsistent just like the rest of the team and has looked like crap now for most of the year. This isn't the Tony Romo from 2007.

 

[lostar2009]

Airing the ball out ??? Isn't that what they been doing for the longest ?? Also didn't they run the ball only 5-8 times against the vikings ???
These guys are jokes, until JJ is gone nothing will change.

 

[links18]

They are going to fix something that has dogged this team for a decade over the bye week? Really? How many previous bye weeks have they had to get it fixed? Off seasons? All of a sudden the brain trust is going to realize they lack an offensive identity and come up with something effective in two weeks? OK. Last I heard, Jerry said they just need to get the ball to Lance Dunbar more and they would be fine.

And if we don't have the personnel to run Kiffin's scheme, why was be brought here again?

 

[65fastback2plus2]

We have already seen the air it out phase in previous years and it is no better than the dink and dunk. What we need is something in the middle and better play calling.

I recall airing it out to 13-3 and 11-5....but maybe my memory is defunct

 

[65fastback2plus2]

You can't go back to that. You have a completely different team now and Romo isn't the same QB. He had 1 game this year where he "aired" it out and that was against a depleted 30th ranked passing defense. Missing Bailey, Woodley, Von Miller, and others. If it was a fully healthy Bronco's team that would have never happened. Romo has looked really bad lately and is sadly a shell of his former 2007 self. He hasn't even rushed for over 50 yards in a season since 2009.

bailey is washed up and doesnt count...von miller wasnt gonna make a smidge of a difference. we see what a sorry qb did against them...17 measly points via alex smith.

 

[Direwolf63]

You can't go back to that. You have a completely different team now and Romo isn't the same QB. He had 1 game this year where he "aired" it out and that was against a depleted 30th ranked passing defense. Missing Bailey, Woodley, Von Miller, and others. If it was a fully healthy Bronco's team that would have never happened. Romo has looked really bad lately and is sadly a shell of his former 2007 self. He hasn't even rushed for over 50 yards in a season since 2009.

The Broncos game reminded me very much of that 2207 offense. So it can be done and has been done this year. And the Giants defense is no better than Denvers. Maybe worse. Any success they've had on defense has come against backp QB's.

That is due to poor/vanilla play calling. Murray is an above average RB.

We as fans can only speculate as to why the running game isn't working. Bad playcalling. Bad execution. Bad RB's. Bad o-line. Any or all of these things may be at play. I don't care if Murray is better than Adrian Peterson. The running game is not working, period. Try to run to keep the defense off balance, but clearly what the team does best is throw the ball.

No, Austin is flakey and unreliable and was overpaid. One of the players on our team that helps us achieve that .500 every year.

I don't know about flaky, but he is unreliable. That's why I prefaced his abilities with "when healthy". HIs salary is irrelevant on Sunday. That is an offseason issue. If he's on the field. Use him.

You have a QB who is very inconsistent just like the rest of the team and has looked like crap now for most of the year. This isn't the Tony Romo from 2007.

Maybe so, but certainly the status quo is not working. Most of the talent on this offense is the wideouts. They are the playmakers. Much more so than the RB's. So let them make plays.

Murray getting 25 carries for 65 yards isn't going to win squat, doesn't matter who is to blame. Maybe if he gets 7 or 8 passes in space he can break a tackle or two. I'd much rather try that than what's been going on recently.

Change is needed. If you're not going to open it up, what are you going to do? What realistic changes are needed to improve? And don't say a new offensive coordinator because there won't be a new one by Sunday.

 

[khiladi]

Decent read. I don't know about the press coverage unless they can at least get decent pressure although not a lot different from zone. You have got to have good safety play if you press though.

Sounds like a rip off of some one's post on Cowboyszone...