Evidence of Conservative Play Calling... Breakdown of 2nd & Short Plays

[btcutter]

The statistic on 2nd and 1/2/3 yds and poor running results speak volume to the mediocrity of the OL. A good team and good OL can impose their will on their opponents (see Pitt and Cowboys of the 90's). Our OL couldn't even get a yd on 2 and 1. In fact, we often lose yardage on 2nd and short because we lack power up front. What's worse.....we fail to gain good yds facing 7 man fronts.

That being said. Bill and the staff need to recognize that OL is not a strength so you have to be more creative with your run designs and situational play calling. You MUST keep the D on their heels to give your OL an edge. This team does not have the Giants OL of the 80's that can simply pound the ball.

 

[joseephuss]

The statistic on 2nd and 1/2/3 yds and poor running results speak volume to the mediocrity of the OL. A good team and good OL can impose their will on their opponents (see Pitt and Cowboys of the 90's). Our OL couldn't even get a yd on 2 and 1. In fact, we often lose yardage on 2nd and short because we lack power up front. What's worse.....we fail to gain good yds facing 7 man fronts.

That being said. Bill and the staff need to recognize that OL is not a strength so you have to be more creative with your run designs and situational play calling. You MUST keep the D on their heels to give your OL an edge. This team does not have the Giants OL of the 80's that can simply pound the ball.

Yes. Very well put.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

To those of you who were content with the play calling, please consider that on every second down with less than 8 yards to the first down marker, we ran Julius Jones. Every time. Without exception.

80% of those carries were up the gut.

From the NFL play-by-play breakdown:

2-6-DAL24 (8:07) J.Jones up the middle to DAL 27 for 3 yards (M.Stroud).
2-2-DAL39 (14:23) J.Jones up the middle to DAL 39 for no gain (P.Spicer).
2-2-JAC25 (5:32) J.Jones up the middle to JAX 26 for -1 yards (D.Smith).
2-5-JAC11 (2:37) J.Jones up the middle to JAX 10 for 1 yard (M.Peterson).
2-1-DAL22 (7:23) J.Jones right end to DAL 20 for -2 yards (R.Mathis).

It was a no-brainer for the Jax defense when we were in 2nd & short-medium range. Key on JJ - run.

Now, with all the weapons we have in our arsenal, you don't run at least one play-action pass?

You run the same play 4 times in a row, and shake it up on the 5th attempt by running right instead of middle?

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results.

there was a quote from the ranch that cowboys felt the Jax were weak up the gut on defense and plan was to run up the middle.

I agree that if you feel there is a weakness in the opponent's game you attack it and you don't quit after the first few tries, but if it consistantly fails then you have to adjust. What I had a problem with was our adjustments sucked.

plus, if something works continue to use it until they stop it and then take advantage. the jax weren't stopping our short passing game and were covering deep, so just dink and dunk them until they step up and then go deep. we didn't do that either. we got to cute.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

What makes it worse according to the research you did is that 80% of those plays were up the gut, which is only Jacksonville's strongest point on the entire team.

according to Yakuza Rich, Jax actually was susceptible to runs up the middle last year

 

[Bob Sacamano]

The play calling could have been somewhat better, but the fact is we had several scoring opportunities killed by penalties, bad decisions and bad throws by Bledsoe and overall poor execution.

The play on the field was the biggest factor - we just didn't perform.

exactly, the best gameplan in the world can be offset by your production on the field

btw, I wasn't suprised we played a little conservative yesterday

 

[Stautner]

exactly, the best gameplan in the world can be offset by your production on the field

btw, I wasn't suprised we played a little conservative yesterday

Well, there's no doubt that Parcells is conservative - he goes to lengths to try and make sure we don't end up beating ourselves with mistakes. Obviously we did that anyway, despite the conservative game plan.

FYI though - I read on another thread where Bledsoe apparently said that they had called a few long passes to Glenn but he wasn't open. I can't substantiate that, but it still leads to a good point, which is that plays often don't go to the primary weapon, and as fans we just don't know what plays are called when.

 

[Dale]

The 2nd-and-short playcalling was my only gripe yesterday. By and large, I didn't feel we were conservative at all. We took numerous shots downfield to TO and passed 60 percent of the time as pointed out by Cowlishaw.

What frustrated me about the 2nd-down running wasn't that we ran the ball. It's that it NEVER worked yet we kept trying it. I pointed this out in a thread yesterday. Our 2nd-down running was brutal. Why not try something different?

 

[cowboys19]

I blame the players more than the coaches

JMHO

 

[gbrittain]

I blame the players more than the coaches

JMHO

Honestly, I do too. However, I will not give the coaches a free pass.

 

[Doomsday101]

I blame the players more than the coaches

JMHO

I agree. If the guys went out and executed the game plan were not committing penalties and turn overs and we still lost I would agree that it is on the coaching staff. However when I see big plays brought back because of a flag or turnovers then I have to lay that at the feet of the players. Right now Bledsoe is the goat of this game and with good reason but there were plenty of other mistakes that hurt the team yesterday.

 

[tyke1doe]

I somewhat disagree with the complaints of a "conservative" offense. I think the problem has more to do with the predictibility of the playcalling.

Bingo.

I think it's more a matter of predictible play calling than anything.

I really don't have a problem with the "conservative" game plan, considering who we have at quarterback.

Bill is gambling that if we have a 3rd and less than 4, we have an option of pass or run.

If we're 2nd and 8, it's going to be a jail break to get to Bledsoe. And we know what he does under pressure.

Put a more mobile QB back there and maybe our run predictibility - Julius up the middle - changes.

I really don't think Parcells has confidence in Bledsoe within the red zone and doesn't want to risk a pick. But I do agree we need to vary the running plays on 2nd down, even if it's a pitch out to JJ to the outside.

 

[tyke1doe]

The 2nd-and-short playcalling was my only gripe yesterday. By and large, I didn't feel we were conservative at all. We took numerous shots downfield to TO and passed 60 percent of the time as pointed out by Cowlishaw.

What frustrated me about the 2nd-down running wasn't that we ran the ball. It's that it NEVER worked yet we kept trying it. I pointed this out in a thread yesterday. Our 2nd-down running was brutal. Why not try something different?

My feelings exactly.

Conservative and predictible are too different terms.

 

[gbrittain]

Bingo.

I think it's more a matter of predictible play calling than anything.

I really don't have a problem with the "conservative" game plan, considering who we have at quarterback.

Bill is gambling that if we have a 3rd and less than 4, we have an option of pass or run.

If we're 2nd and 8, it's going to be a jail break to get to Bledsoe. And we know what he does under pressure.

Put a more mobile QB back there and maybe our run predictibility - Julius up the middle - changes.

I really don't think Parcells has confidence in Bledsoe within the red zone and doesn't want to risk a pick. But I do agree we need to vary the running plays on 2nd down, even if it's a pitch out to JJ to the outside.

For what it is worth, in my opinion predicatable is conservative. Semantics, I know.

 

[joseephuss]

The 2nd-and-short playcalling was my only gripe yesterday. By and large, I didn't feel we were conservative at all. We took numerous shots downfield to TO and passed 60 percent of the time as pointed out by Cowlishaw.

What frustrated me about the 2nd-down running wasn't that we ran the ball. It's that it NEVER worked yet we kept trying it. I pointed this out in a thread yesterday. Our 2nd-down running was brutal. Why not try something different?

Something similar to that was Flozell struggling. He looked slow and cumbersome the whole game. Why not try something different? Maybe help him with a tight end or at least have the running back chip his guy. The adjustments were very slow coming yesterday.