DMN: Gosselin: Cowboys need to run the ball, but will Scott Linehan actually do it?

[jobberone]

Gosselin: Cowboys need to run the ball, but will Scott Linehan actually do it?
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/incoming/20140623-ns_02cowboysota12_37957505.jpg.ece/BINARY/w620x413/NS_02COWBOYSOTA12_37957505.JPG
Rangers beat writer Gerry Fraley and columnist Rick Gosselin joined Fox Sports Southwest's Dana Larson on Monday for SportsDay OnAir. Here are some highlights.

On what to take away from OTAs:

Gosselin: "They only lost one player in Sean Lee. Nobody else got hurt in these non-padded practices. I think they got time to figure out what Scott Linehan is incorporating in the offense. That always helps to get a running start in training camp. Let's hope there is a few more hand-offs in that offense. There are a lot of new pieces to incorporate. The defensive front seven is going into a new scheme. I think a lot of the basic, early teaching is in place for the offense and defense, so they can just go to camp ready."

On Scott Linehan:

Fraley: "I saw Scott in St. Louis when he got fired midway through the season. He had Stephen Jackson who is one of the most gifted running backs in football and a cut ahead of Murray right now. He had no idea what to do with Stephen Jackson in that Rams offense. I still think Linehan is a puzzling hire to me. I understand he is tight with Jason Garrett. He is even more pass happy than Jason Garrett. When you have a line with three first rounders and a quality back in Murray, why do you want a guy who wants to throw the ball even more? I don't get it. Unless he has undergone a real conversion in his thought process, Ill be stunned if they run the ball more. They may run it less."

Gosselin: "They didn't run the ball in Detroit last year. That's one of the few teams who ran it less than the Cowboys. In this building, the owner, the GM, the head coach, the coordinator and the quarterback all want to pass. The only one guy who doesn't want to pass is Demarco Murray and he gets out voted every time."

http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sports/...all-but-will-scott-linehan-actually-do-it.ece

Gosselin: Cowboys' offensive line is strength of team, should bring swagger

• Gosselin: Why Cowboys' current defensive staff should stick around even if Garrett doesn't

• Gosselin: I'm concerned about Cowboys D-line, not confident Lawrence, Melton can 'break even'

 

[jobberone]

This should be lively. I started to do a poll then decided it wasn't necessary.

 

[Risen Star]

I agree with Fraley. The Linehan hire doesn't make any sense other than it's another cosmetic change to distract from the real issues.

I don't see any issues on offense to begin with, but if you want to think they don't run the ball enough because of the guy calling the plays then you would want a play caller who actually has a history of running the ball more than what we do now. Linehan doesn't fit that bill.

All I'm saying is the guy's no offensive version of Rod Marinelli. The magical elixir.

 

[Risen Star]

This should be lively. I started to do a poll then decided it wasn't necessary.

We should have a poll on whether it's necessary.

 

[jobberone]

To be fair, we don't know what Linehan is going to do except what he has hinted at. I don't believe in just running the ball even if you can do so at will. That doesn't necessarily win games. I believe you should run the ball effectively and do so when its running is helpful. Obviously you need to run the ball effectively enough to insure the defense defends it.

But I'll be disappointed if we don't run the ball as above.

 

[Idgit]

I don't give much of a hoot for how many running plays we run, one way or another. As long as we stay effective on a points/offensive series basis and can throw the ball effectively, I'm happy with the offense.

The Linehan hire makes perfect sense to me, though. Jason didn't like Callahan calling his offense and wanted someone he had familiarity with doing the job. What's confusing about that?

The only real question, and it's been said a thousand times, is 'can we even be competitive on defense?' I'm not sure we can be, but that's where all the improvement needs to come from this season.

Also, I still think Gosselin's mostly a football idiot.

 

[jday]

Gosselin: Cowboys need to run the ball, but will Scott Linehan actually do it?
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/incoming/20140623-ns_02cowboysota12_37957505.jpg.ece/BINARY/w620x413/NS_02COWBOYSOTA12_37957505.JPG
Rangers beat writer Gerry Fraley and columnist Rick Gosselin joined Fox Sports Southwest's Dana Larson on Monday for SportsDay OnAir. Here are some highlights.

On what to take away from OTAs:

Gosselin: "They only lost one player in Sean Lee. Nobody else got hurt in these non-padded practices. I think they got time to figure out what Scott Linehan is incorporating in the offense. That always helps to get a running start in training camp. Let's hope there is a few more hand-offs in that offense. There are a lot of new pieces to incorporate. The defensive front seven is going into a new scheme. I think a lot of the basic, early teaching is in place for the offense and defense, so they can just go to camp ready."

On Scott Linehan:

Fraley: "I saw Scott in St. Louis when he got fired midway through the season. He had Stephen Jackson who is one of the most gifted running backs in football and a cut ahead of Murray right now. He had no idea what to do with Stephen Jackson in that Rams offense. I still think Linehan is a puzzling hire to me. I understand he is tight with Jason Garrett. He is even more pass happy than Jason Garrett. When you have a line with three first rounders and a quality back in Murray, why do you want a guy who wants to throw the ball even more? I don't get it. Unless he has undergone a real conversion in his thought process, Ill be stunned if they run the ball more. They may run it less."

Gosselin: "They didn't run the ball in Detroit last year. That's one of the few teams who ran it less than the Cowboys. In this building, the owner, the GM, the head coach, the coordinator and the quarterback all want to pass. The only one guy who doesn't want to pass is Demarco Murray and he gets out voted every time."

http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sports/...all-but-will-scott-linehan-actually-do-it.ece

Gosselin: Cowboys' offensive line is strength of team, should bring swagger

• Gosselin: Why Cowboys' current defensive staff should stick around even if Garrett doesn't

• Gosselin: I'm concerned about Cowboys D-line, not confident Lawrence, Melton can 'break even'

I'm divided on this debate. On one hand, I agree the Cowboys should run the ball more, provided it is actually working. Granted, I understand that not every run is going to yield positive yards; sometimes you have to run to keep the opposing defense honest and set up play action. On the other hand, I honestly believe the Cowboys should also incorporate more screens and short dump off play's that actually can be as effective if not more than the run. Therein is the issue - you only have so many plays you can run on offense in a given game. The latter attack is what I think Linehan does bring to this team. From what I understand, more often than not, his most effective tool with the Lions was getting his running back's the ball in space and letting them create. And the beauty of it for the Cowboys is that this is something I believe Murray, Dunbar, and Beasley could benefit from and do very well.

But at the end of the day, I honestly don't care, so long as they keep the opposing defense guessing and put points on the board. If they are not doing that, it's time to change it up and try something different.

 

[Wolfpack]

I'll be surprised if they run the ball any more than last year. Oppie doesn't get the value of the running game in the least. The third OC in three years actually has a history of running the ball less than the other two previous OCs

 

[Hostile]

He's going to run it. We'll still have a lively passing game, with Romo putting up huge numbers, but he's going to run the ball like we haven't seen since Emmitt was in town.

 

[Hoofbite]

I don't give much of a hoot for how many running plays we run, one way or another. As long as we stay effective on a points/offensive series basis and can throw the ball effectively, I'm happy with the offense.

The Linehan hire makes perfect sense to me, though. Jason didn't like Callahan calling his offense and wanted someone he had familiarity with doing the job. What's confusing about that?

The only real question, and it's been said a thousand times, is 'can we even be competitive on defense?' I'm not sure we can be, but that's where all the improvement needs to come from this season.

Also, I still think Gosselin's mostly a football idiot.

The confusing part is where Jason thought it was a good idea just the year before.

Was good for the job last offseason, not so much now?

 

[Idgit]

The confusing part is where Jason thought it was a good idea just the year before.

Was good for the job last offseason, not so much now?

Is that confusing? I think Jerry wanted him to offload the responsibility, and they thought Callahan was a decent option for that. Then Jason wasn't satisfied with the result and took the playcalling back at the end of the season. Pretty simple explanation.

Of course, that might not be how it went down. There are a half-dozen variations that would explain the juggling going on. We just don't have enough data to know for sure and can only guess re: what we think is most likely.

 

[Bluestang]

Has anyone actually looked at how many attempts we have rushed year by year? Garrett has averaged over 400 attempts rushing the ball except last season and the season before that.

What's really odd is that in 2010, after Phillips got canned we never averaged rushing below a 100 yds in those last 8 games...things that make you go hmmm...

Anyways, this Linehan guy definitely likes to pass a lot as well, however, he did have 445 rushing attempts last season with the RBs he had at his disposal. As side note JG has never had that many attempts his entire time here in Dallas.

 

[yentl911]

If our offensive line is as good as it should be, and our D as bad as it might be, we would be downright stupid not to run the ball more. I think Murray has a huge year.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

He's going to run it. We'll still have a lively passing game, with Romo putting up huge numbers, but he's going to run the ball like we haven't seen since Emmitt was in town.

I'm curious but...based on what?

I haven't ever known a team that he's been the play caller to be a running type of offense anything close to what the offense was like when Emmitt was here.

I'm a little skeptical of the hiring myself because he called the plays for one of the few teams that ran the ball less than we did. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried we've just got another play caller whose going to become obsessed with the passing game.

 

[Doomsday101]

Det ran it less? someone inform NFL network website they show Det ran the ball 445 times vs Dallas 336 time. Det avg almost 28 attempts per game vs Dallas 21 attempts per game

You would think these idiot would at least look at the stats instead of making up BS based on their opinion. Fact Det ran the ball more than Dallas hell they ran it more than KC a team known for their running game. This is nothing but a hatchet job by goose and farley

 

[xwalker]

Gosselin: Cowboys need to run the ball, but will Scott Linehan actually do it?
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/incoming/20140623-ns_02cowboysota12_37957505.jpg.ece/BINARY/w620x413/NS_02COWBOYSOTA12_37957505.JPG
Rangers beat writer Gerry Fraley and columnist Rick Gosselin joined Fox Sports Southwest's Dana Larson on Monday for SportsDay OnAir. Here are some highlights.

On what to take away from OTAs:

Gosselin: "They only lost one player in Sean Lee. Nobody else got hurt in these non-padded practices. I think they got time to figure out what Scott Linehan is incorporating in the offense. That always helps to get a running start in training camp. Let's hope there is a few more hand-offs in that offense. There are a lot of new pieces to incorporate. The defensive front seven is going into a new scheme. I think a lot of the basic, early teaching is in place for the offense and defense, so they can just go to camp ready."

On Scott Linehan:

Fraley: "I saw Scott in St. Louis when he got fired midway through the season. He had Stephen Jackson who is one of the most gifted running backs in football and a cut ahead of Murray right now. He had no idea what to do with Stephen Jackson in that Rams offense. I still think Linehan is a puzzling hire to me. I understand he is tight with Jason Garrett. He is even more pass happy than Jason Garrett. When you have a line with three first rounders and a quality back in Murray, why do you want a guy who wants to throw the ball even more? I don't get it. Unless he has undergone a real conversion in his thought process, Ill be stunned if they run the ball more. They may run it less."

Gosselin: "They didn't run the ball in Detroit last year. That's one of the few teams who ran it less than the Cowboys. In this building, the owner, the GM, the head coach, the coordinator and the quarterback all want to pass. The only one guy who doesn't want to pass is Demarco Murray and he gets out voted every time."

http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sports/...all-but-will-scott-linehan-actually-do-it.ece

Gosselin: Cowboys' offensive line is strength of team, should bring swagger

• Gosselin: Why Cowboys' current defensive staff should stick around even if Garrett doesn't

• Gosselin: I'm concerned about Cowboys D-line, not confident Lawrence, Melton can 'break even'

Gosselin and Fraley discussing football is like Beavis and Butthead discussing brain surgery.

 

[Doomsday101]

Gosselin and Fraley discussing football is like Beavis and Butthead discussing brain surgery.

They really do, come on goose make the statement that Det ran it less than Dallas? That is either a flat out lie or he did not bother to even check it, he is so interested in his own opinion he will not check facts. No doubt Linehan passed a lot in Det he had Megatron you better believe he used the best WR in the NFL but Det managed to run the ball quite a bit in the process

 

[daveferr33]

The Linehan hire makes perfect sense.

These writers just can't see what's being built here.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

Det ran it less? someone inform NFL network website they show Det ran the ball 445 times vs Dallas 336 time. Det avg almost 28 attempts per game vs Dallas 21 attempts per game

You would think these idiot would at least look at the stats instead of making up BS based on their opinion. Fact Det ran the ball more than Dallas hell they ran it more than KC a team known for their running game. This is nothing but a hatchet job by goose and farley

Yep. My bad for listening to them. I was mistaken completely.

But once you factor out the runs by Qbs (as I'm pretty sure neither Romo, Orton, or Stafford had to many designed running plays) for both teams it's 408 to 315. Which, obviously, Detroit still ran the ball more. So hopefully Scott will run it more in Dallas.

 

[xwalker]

Has anyone actually looked at how many attempts we have rushed year by year? Garrett has averaged over 400 attempts rushing the ball except last season and the season before that.

What's really odd is that in 2010, after Phillips got canned we never averaged rushing below a 100 yds in those last 8 games...things that make you go hmmm...

Anyways, this Linehan guy definitely likes to pass a lot as well, however, he did have 445 rushing attempts last season with the RBs he had at his disposal. As side note JG has never had that many attempts his entire time here in Dallas.

IMO, in this type of debate, I would look at the total touches by RBs vs other all other passes. I think Linehan will get the ball into the RBs hands through passes to the RBs as well as rushing. Many people consider passes to RBs as just long hand-offs. The threat of a pass to a RB has a similar effect on a defense to a rushing attempt. It often keeps the defense from going with an all-out pass rush. For example, going back to the Rob Ryan defense, Spencer would not rush if he thought that the RB was going out for a pass on his side of the field. This often delayed Spencer's rush when the RB did stay in. If Spencer played it incorrectly and rushed when the RB was going out for a pass, it often resulted in the RB having significant room to run.