Do we have the best offense on paper in the NFL?

[TrailBlazer]

Just curious what people think. I think a great offense has a few things:

1) An elite or elite-ish QB
2) A good O-line
3) A good RB or a committee of RBs
4) Elite pass catchers

Going through each one:

1) There are only 5-6 QBs in the league I think are more talented than Romo. I've been (very) critical of Romo in the past because he frustrates me. Someone with so much talent makes some bone-headed decisions. But with a better O-line, there aren't any more excuses for if he does have a few more colossal meltdowns. All in all, take away the mistakes and he's a top 5-6 talent.

2) The O-line has the potential to be top 2-3 in the league and has the brightest future by far of any O-line in the NFL.

3) Murray, when healthy and given a chance, is a top 7-8 RB. And that was behind a porous O-line. Now, with a good O-line and a little offensive balance, he can be much better.

4) None of the elite QBs in the NFL have a talent like Dez Bryant. Also, Witten is getting up there in age but he's still very effective.

So looking at everything, I don't think there is a better offense on paper. Now, I'm not saying that means we'll be the best offense in the NFL. I guess I'm saying there's no excuse not to be. I've gotten on Romo hard in the past and people came to his defense. Well, now all the excuses over the past 5-6 years have been addressed.

There are other great offenses in the NFL, but I feel like they're all lacking something. The Broncos are great but I feel like Peyton makes people look a lot better than they really are. New England has been a one-man show for a while now. Green Bay addressed the running game but still has some serious O-line issues. And some other offenses with great O-lines and running games don't have the best QBs (like Seattle and San Fran).

I think this year we'll really see what we made of. I mentioned in another thread that I'm more confident in the offense personnel than the coaching. Well, we'll see if coaching really is the problem. There's no excuse to not run the ball like we did so many times last year. There's no excuse for Dez not to put up Calvin Johnson-like numbers. There's no excuse if Romo makes some bone-headed mistakes to end the game. The only legitimate excuse this year is that the defense might be so bad that we can't outscore everybody. But, as bad as the defense was last year, the offense wasn't perfect either.

Broncos saints packers have the benefit of a good offensive scheme that makes up for some defeciencies. I'm not so sure tony has that here.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

I hate to give the Eagles credit for anything, but did you not see what Chip Kelly did to the league in his 1st year? We don't have the best offense in our own division. I'd say we could fall anywhere from 5-8 depending on who you are arguing with. Our offensive ranking isn't a worry, we will score more than enough points...its the other side of the ball we should be concerned where they rank.

What do you think Chip Kelly would do with our players? That's what I mean by best on paper. I think Romo is better than Foles, Dez is better than any of their WRs, and our O-line is about as good as theirs. Our RBs don't stack up to theirs though. But from a pure talent perspective, we're right up there with Philly. But Chip Kelly is an offensive genius so he made them look great.

 

[TrailBlazer]

I don't think people know what "on paper" means. Do we not have a top 2-3 O-line? Do we not have a top 7-8 QB? Do we not have a top 3-4 WR? A top 5-6 TE? A top 8-9 RB?

I didn't create this thread to say our offense is great. I was implying that we underachieve and are running out of excuses. But you have to be delusional to not recognize the amount of talent and the overall balance our offense could potentially have. Hence "on paper."

Too many ppl are assuming Martin will come in and dominate and our oline will be amazing. It's not a given.

 

[Frozen700]

All we have is Dez. A banged up QB who we don't know how he will respond when tagged with a good shot, and still has 4th Quarter/late game issues. An Aging TE, who is not very Athletic.

Our Number 2 WR, who is athletic, but loves to catch everything with his body, and has yet to show consistency getting open when Dez is doubled. A pretty Good RB. An O-line with great potential but still unproven.

So no, we are far from it. For now we are middle of the pack until proven other wise. Dez is the only reason we are not a bottom feeding offense on paper and in an actual game.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

All we have is Dez. A banged up QB who we don't know how he will respond when tagged with a good shot, and still has 4th Quarter/late game issues. An Aging TE, who is not very Athletic.

Our Number 2 WR, who is athletic, but loves to catch everything with his body, and has yet to show consistency getting open when Dez is doubled. A pretty Good RB. An O-line with great potential but still unproven.

So no, we are far from it. For now we are middle of the pack until proven other wise. Dez is the only reason we are not a bottom feeding offense on paper and in an actual game.

Naw, we are last in league with the examples you gave. I'm down now.... Wonder how we ended up #5 in scoring last year with so many probs.

 

[big dog cowboy]

So no, we are far from it. For now we are middle of the pack until proven other wise.

We proved we were far from middle of the pack and easily a top 10 unit just last year.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Too many ppl are assuming Martin will come in and dominate and our oline will be amazing. It's not a given.

We finished with a top 5 OL last year, and our two best linemen are a year older, and we replaced our weak link with the top rated guard in the draft. I think there's a very good chance our OL will be top 5 next year.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

We proved we were far from middle of the pack and easily a top 10 unit just last year.

But Jason Witten is unathletic. We are doomed. lol.

 

[Frozen700]

Naw, we are last in league with the examples you gave. I'm down now.... Wonder how we ended up #5 in scoring last year with so many probs.

Dez Bryant is how, and a healthy Romo.

The main problem, that I listed is Romo our QB. He is coming back from back Surgery, the same injury Troy said he had, and ultimately played a factor in him retiring.

We don't know how he will respond to any major contact. We saw how he played with a rib injury. That won't help his 4th quarter issues

 

[Frozen700]

But Jason Witten is unathletic. We are doomed. lol.

Only a fool or homer would call Witten athletic.

He is a good football player. He has never gotten by on athleticism. The fact he is aging makes it worst

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

Dez Bryant is how, and a healthy Romo.

The main problem, that I listed is Romo our QB. He is coming back from back Surgery, the same injury Troy said he had, and ultimately played a factor in him retiring.

We don't know how he will respond to any major contact. We saw how he played with a rib injury. That won't help his 4th quarter issues

Romo was playing with back pain for a part of the season last year.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

Only a fool or homer would call Witten athletic.

He is a good football player. He has never gotten by on athleticism. The fact he is aging makes it worst

And he still produces.

 

[Frozen700]

And he still produces.

He had some pretty rough games last year. That's age starting to show.

 

[Frozen700]

Romo was playing with back pain for a part of the season last year.

It got worst, and he couldn't finish the season.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

It got worst, and he couldn't finish the season.

And he still finished with 3828 yds. My point was he played when it was worse. The surgery will only help.

 

[Hoofbite]

Not on paper and not in reality.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

Not on paper and not in reality.

Who's reality is reality? lol.

 

[jday]

Just curious what people think. I think a great offense has a few things:

1) An elite or elite-ish QB
2) A good O-line
3) A good RB or a committee of RBs
4) Elite pass catchers

Going through each one:

1) There are only 5-6 QBs in the league I think are more talented than Romo. I've been (very) critical of Romo in the past because he frustrates me. Someone with so much talent makes some bone-headed decisions. But with a better O-line, there aren't any more excuses for if he does have a few more colossal meltdowns. All in all, take away the mistakes and he's a top 5-6 talent.

2) The O-line has the potential to be top 2-3 in the league and has the brightest future by far of any O-line in the NFL.

3) Murray, when healthy and given a chance, is a top 7-8 RB. And that was behind a porous O-line. Now, with a good O-line and a little offensive balance, he can be much better.

4) None of the elite QBs in the NFL have a talent like Dez Bryant. Also, Witten is getting up there in age but he's still very effective.

So looking at everything, I don't think there is a better offense on paper. Now, I'm not saying that means we'll be the best offense in the NFL. I guess I'm saying there's no excuse not to be. I've gotten on Romo hard in the past and people came to his defense. Well, now all the excuses over the past 5-6 years have been addressed.

There are other great offenses in the NFL, but I feel like they're all lacking something. The Broncos are great but I feel like Peyton makes people look a lot better than they really are. New England has been a one-man show for a while now. Green Bay addressed the running game but still has some serious O-line issues. And some other offenses with great O-lines and running games don't have the best QBs (like Seattle and San Fran).

I think this year we'll really see what we made of. I mentioned in another thread that I'm more confident in the offense personnel than the coaching. Well, we'll see if coaching really is the problem. There's no excuse to not run the ball like we did so many times last year. There's no excuse for Dez not to put up Calvin Johnson-like numbers. There's no excuse if Romo makes some bone-headed mistakes to end the game. The only legitimate excuse this year is that the defense might be so bad that we can't outscore everybody. But, as bad as the defense was last year, the offense wasn't perfect either.

It took me a long time to understand the difference between talent on paper and talent in reality. First and foremost, you mentioned we have elite pass catchers - I'm assuming you refer to Witten and Dez with that statement, because the drop off in talent behind Dez at the receiver position is pretty significant. Second, Murray is good, but he has had a difficult time staying healthy. Until proven otherwise, the drop off in talent is significant behind him. Third, all that firepower means nothing, unless the coaches are able to take advantage of what we have. From what I've heard, Linehan should improve on what we had last year, which was a disconnect as a result of a coach being asked to call plays from a playbook that was not his own. From what I understand, that will be what we are asking of Linehan...so it could go either way.

I'm in no way related to Debbie Downer or Negative Nancy, but I do believe we should try to keep our expectations realistic.

 

[Blackspider214]

On paper does not mean anything. Let's see what we get on the field.

 

[Idgit]

What's the basis we're using to compare? In terms of points per offensive series again, we were a top 3 offense last season, and on paper are probably slightly better. Not in Denver's league though.

Is there a better basis for comparison we should be using?