DMN: Three things suggest Cowboys will run more, but pardon DeMarco Murray's skepticism

[JsnSA]

I have this feeling that Romo was probably a huge reason we don't run as much as we should and the coaching staff sort of covered for that.

Garrett's offensive style already tends to run less running plays than normal but then you have Romo audibling out of the run to take advantage of match ups or lineups he sees.

The article sort of addressed that briefly by saying that a commitment to the run means not allowing Romo to audible from a run play into a pass play. Instead, he should audible into another run play if the defense does things like stacking up one side.

 

[CyberB0b]

Where are you seeing that stat? How about 3rd and inches or 3rd and 1 or 3 or 4?

Cowboys Break.

 

[percyhoward]

I was going to post this in the other thread (Sturm article), but here's the problem in a nutshell: People aren't looking deep enough.

All Plays
yards per rush 4.5 (8th)
1st Down % 26.6 (4th)

3rd/4th down, 1-3 yards to go
Yards per rush 1.6 (32nd)
1st Down % 62.5 (22nd)

3rd/4th down in Red Zone
Yards per rush 3.33 (25th)
1st Down % 48.1 (21st)

 

[jobberone]

you run the ball more; you eat the clock more; the D is on the field less-and so is the opposing O. Amazing how many cannot get those SIMPLE FACTS.

If you play ball control offense then you aren't going to score 27+ ppg often enough. If your defense gives up 28+ ppg then you are going to lose most games you are in unless you limit their offensive possessions. You cannot count of winning the TO battle. If you have a decent defense then you can play ball control. Otherwise it is now suicide to do so. You have to pick your moments which is what run effectively means.

You think it's a simple problem of playing keep away. That works if you limit their offensive possessions enough. We don't limit anyone; at least the last two years. Not enough to win consistently. There have been times when they should have rolled the dice and tried to run.

 

[jobberone]

I was going to post this in the other thread (Sturm article), but here's the problem in a nutshell: People aren't looking deep enough.

All Plays
yards per rush 4.5 (8th)
1st Down % 26.6 (4th)

3rd/4th down, 1-3 yards to go
Yards per rush 1.6 (32nd)
1st Down % 62.5 (22nd)
3rd/4th down in Red Zone
Yards per rush 3.33 (25th)
1st Down % 48.1 (21st)

Nice post.

Yeah, we need to convert on third downs and around the GL. How we managed to win 8 games is a testimony to Romo and our first and second down play. Our RZ% even went up as did our Sc%. If we can run the ball effectively then we can make some noise.

 

[reddyuta]

Dunbar is really critical for this offense imo but the sad part is i have no faith in him staying healthy at all.

 

[jobberone]

Yeah, the first play was a run up the gut that turned into a touchdown but outside of that the oline couldn't generate push, create lane, and allowed alot of penetration by the dline. Take it for what it's worth but with the number 1 priority being able to run in short yardage situations, it wasn't a real good showing. What I'm hoping is that the offense wanted to try some other things and didn't concentrate, necessarily, on short yardage. :fingers crossed:

Still haven't seen it. I think they have worked on their tandem blocking but I doubt they'd use that a lot on the GL. It's early but I'd rather have good news.

 

[burmafrd]

If you play ball control offense then you aren't going to score 27+ ppg often enough. If your defense gives up 28+ ppg then you are going to lose most games you are in unless you limit their offensive possessions. You cannot count of winning the TO battle. If you have a decent defense then you can play ball control. Otherwise it is now suicide to do so. You have to pick your moments which is what run effectively means.

You think it's a simple problem of playing keep away. That works if you limit their offensive possessions enough. We don't limit anyone; at least the last two years. Not enough to win consistently. There have been times when they should have rolled the dice and tried to run.

gee, then all those championships teams have won doing it that way mean nothing to you? Hilarious, but pathetic.

when your D is weak you keep it on the bench. Somehow you cannot grasp that.

 

[jobberone]

gee, then all those championships teams have won doing it that way mean nothing to you? Hilarious, but pathetic.

when your D is weak you keep it on the bench. Somehow you cannot grasp that.

Pathetic huh. Ok. We'll just leave it there.

 

[Wolfpack]

They ran the ball 0/8 times on 3rd and 2 last year.

Thats a horrid stat that shows you a lot about the play calling. I'd like to see the formation spread, I bet its 75% shotgun 3WR.

 

[Wolfpack]

I was going to post this in the other thread (Sturm article), but here's the problem in a nutshell: People aren't looking deep enough.

All Plays
yards per rush 4.5 (8th)
1st Down % 26.6 (4th)

3rd/4th down, 1-3 yards to go
Yards per rush 1.6 (32nd)
1st Down % 62.5 (22nd)
3rd/4th down in Red Zone
Yards per rush 3.33 (25th)
1st Down % 48.1 (21st)

Great stats. The team has a hard time with the short yardage play calling that dates back years. Jason has typically called lots of slow developing traps, power pulls and pitch outs in short yardage. Those are not the best calls with a stacked set of gaps. I don't know why they cant run a simple ISO, dive or off tackle even. He really has a poor feel for the run game in general. Its a very finess type game when you need simple power.

I hope to see some changes.

 

[BoysFan4ever]

Yes but it's not called much if at all. You cannot lead with purpose with the crown of the helmet.

I cannot remember seeing a game with that penalty called but I thought they had recently put that in the rules. I'm not quite sure what to make of that.

Thx.

 

[Galian Beast]

I might be overly optimistic, but I believe the offensive line will set a new tone for this offense. One that will in return fuel the rise of our running back talent and our wide receiver/tight end talent.

 

[Galian Beast]

I was going to post this in the other thread (Sturm article), but here's the problem in a nutshell: People aren't looking deep enough.

All Plays
yards per rush 4.5 (8th)
1st Down % 26.6 (4th)

3rd/4th down, 1-3 yards to go
Yards per rush 1.6 (32nd)
1st Down % 62.5 (22nd)
3rd/4th down in Red Zone
Yards per rush 3.33 (25th)
1st Down % 48.1 (21st)

The other thing that strikes out to me is that we were 18th in the NFL on rushing yards on first and 10. Hopefully we can run the ball more on first down from now on. As it was we were already 10th in the league in first down rushing average. We were actually 15th in passing average on first downs.

Overall we had 325 first downs, the Broncos had 425 first downs... We had the least amount of plays on offense.

 

[percyhoward]

The other thing that strikes out to me is that we were 18th in the NFL on rushing yards on first and 10. Hopefully we can run the ball more on first down from now on. As it was we were already 10th in the league in first down rushing average. We were actually 15th in passing average on first downs.

Overall we had 325 first downs, the Broncos had 425 first downs... We had the least amount of plays on offense.

That's why I'm looking at first down percentage instead of total first downs. But you're right, we absolutely need to run more on 1st and 2nd.

We led the league on 1st and 2nd down, converting 24.7% of those runs into first downs (we also ranked 4th in conversion % by the pass, and 2nd only to Denver in conversion % on all 1st- and 2nd-down plays). In "we need to run more and run better," those downs represent the "more" and 3rd/4th account for the "better." Of course, that conversion percentage will come down as we run more, but what the ranking is telling us is that we need to run more on those downs.

Besides failures on 3rd/4th down, another reason we didn't run more last year is that we ranked 32nd in the percentage of runs that were up the middle. Better play from the interior OL can give us more balance in the direction of our runs, and then we won't have to be so selective about when to run, but where.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

It's just baffling to me why Garrett doesn't respect the run since he was here when Emmitt was and saw for himself what a good running game will do. I'm like Murray though, I'll believe it when I see it. I hope they finally got the message though. This team needs a balanced attack and with this OL there is no reason not to have one.

Think about it...if you played with Emmitt, the GOAT....every other RB is inferior.

Hard to get behind someone inferior if you think about it.

"Ok, here is where we would run with emmitt....but we only have demarco, so pass"

 

[CCBoy]

Percy, what part of the effectiveness in running on first and second rounds, is due to teams predicting that the Cowboys will be passing the ball?

 

[percyhoward]

Percy, what part of the effectiveness in running on first and second rounds, is due to teams predicting that the Cowboys will be passing the ball?

That's why I say the conversion percentage will come down as we run more. We were 30th in rush attempts on those downs, and 6th in pass attempts.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

David Moore was saying the other day on radio that one day he talked to Garrett about not running more. And he said Garrett went through the situations like this, "If you only get a yard or two on first down, then you're looking at 2nd and long" or "If you have second and eight and you get stuffed you're looking at 3rd and long" etc. He said for every hypothetical situation Garrett mentioned, he only talked about the possible negative outcome. For some reason he never assumed that running plays could actually go well.

That mentality right there probably says as much as anything about why we don't run it more.

 

[odog422]

David Moore was saying the other day on radio that one day he talked to Garrett about not running more. And he said Garrett went through the situations like this, "If you only get a yard or two on first down, then you're looking at 2nd and long" or "If you have second and eight and you get stuffed you're looking at 3rd and long" etc. He said for every hypothetical situation Garrett mentioned, he only talked about the possible negative outcome. For some reason he never assumed that running plays could actually go well.

That mentality right there probably says as much as anything about why we don't run it more.

Compound that with all the times we run for big chunks going right down the field and then all of sudden - they're not stopping us - let's pass. Then it's three and out due to long yardage situations as a result of unsuccessful pass plays. Such is play calling under Garrett. Next is defense on field, opposition scores, panic ensues, start next possession in three wides shotgun. Time after time.