Film Gurus Needed: Analyzing 2nd half success

[Galian Beast]

Can someone breakdown what we're doing so successfully in the 2nd half of games compared to the first half?

We're scoring among the best in the league in the 2nd half.

You might think we're passing the ball more in the 2nd half, but that isn't true. We're also not running the ball more in the 2nd half... Both Romo and Murray's attempts diminish in the second half. Murray's YPC seem much more effective in the first half than the second, but Romo seems to evolve in the 2nd half of games. Less attempts but more yards

Is this Linehan? Is the offense simply finding out where to take its shots in the 2nd half?

Thoughts and analysis welcome.

 

[21Savage]

I watch a lot of film but can't say anything comes to mind other than Linehan's adjustments, better situational football and most importantly turnovers.

All of Murray's five or so fumbles have come in the first quarter. Most in scoring opportunities-likely 7, not 3, as effective as we've been in the red zone. Romo's ints have mostly come in the first half of games and add that to his insane completion percentage in the 2nd halves. The defense has also come up with big turnovers in the 2nd half in addition to 4th down turnovers (situational football?).

 

[starfrombirth]

without benefit of the all 22 what I've noticed is that in the second half teams have been loading up to stop to DeMarco and Romo has been able to hit big gains especially down the middle

 

[AsthmaField]

Without sitting and trying to figure it out:

It looks to me like the Cowboys offense is wearing out the defense by the second half. They aren't stopping Murray as successfully as they did in the first half, so they're having to commit more resources (defenders) to stop the great run game that Dallas has. Not only are they having to use more people to stop the run but they're exhausted and anticipating run at the snap. They are taking the bait on Romo's play action and moving forward at the snap (more than they were in the first half). Basically, they're trying to cheat up to get better against the run.

As they move more guys forward to help and they all are moving forward at the snap, the coverage suffers and Romo, who has always been an accurate QB, is seeing wide open windows in the pass game. Teams will start to panic with Romo and his WR's eating up huge chunks of yardage with each throw and they'll drop the guys back and try to flood the zones in an effort to stop the bleeding.

Then, an already exhausted defense will get hit quickly by that devastating offensive line with one of the NFL's toughest runners coming right behind them... and the defense begins to collapse.

It is an unenviable position to be in. You get physically beaten (I think NY had 6 guys go out on defense), and you can't really make a good decision because no matter what you do, you can't really stop the Dallas offense.

 

[AdamJT13]

Can someone breakdown what we're doing so successfully in the 2nd half of games compared to the first half?

Turnovers. All of Murray's fumbles and five of Romo's seven interceptions have come in the first half. Our offense has turned it over only twice in the second half all season (plus one on special teams). Our offense has the second-highest turnover rate in the first half and the third-lowest in the second half.

 

[Idgit]

Turnovers. All of Murray's fumbles and five of Romo's seven interceptions have come in the first half. Our offense has turned it over only twice in the second half all season (plus one on special teams). Our offense has the second-highest turnover rate in the first half and the third-lowest in the second half.

Yep. This was just what I was going to post. I'd imagine that's mostly Tony's three early play action mistakes in that first half of the first game when he wasn't playing great. The Murray fumbles I'd guess are probably coincidence, except that, once hi puts it on the ground he gets so mad at himself that he does a better job thereafter. I bet it's something we see even out from here on out.

Those early turnovers, though, are one of the first things we can look to clean up as the season goes on if we're going to be playing even better football after Thanksgiving. Hopefully, we do.

 

[xwalker]

Can someone breakdown what we're doing so successfully in the 2nd half of games compared to the first half?

We're scoring among the best in the league in the 2nd half.

You might think we're passing the ball more in the 2nd half, but that isn't true. We're also not running the ball more in the 2nd half... Both Romo and Murray's attempts diminish in the second half. Murray's YPC seem much more effective in the first half than the second, but Romo seems to evolve in the 2nd half of games. Less attempts but more yards

Is this Linehan? Is the offense simply finding out where to take its shots in the 2nd half?

Thoughts and analysis welcome.

Many factors, but IMO, Linehan is great at setting things up such that they can exploit them later.

They show certain looks multiple times and then later do something different from that look.

For instance, in the Giants game they repeatedly ran the Zone Stretch to the left. Late in the game they ran it but Murray cut back right and had room to run. At first glance it would appear that Murray just decided to do it; however, the blocking on the backside (right) was different this time. Parnell was down blocking (driving his man to the left) instead of going for a reach block (trying to keep the defender from going left).

In another game they would run from a formation where T. Williams would go in motion and then stop to block right behind the OT. They eventually used that same formation and motion but sent T. WIlliams out on a route for a big play.

Linehan seems to get a feel for the details of how defenders are going to react on certain formations, routes, etc. early in games and then is able to exploit it later. It's difficult to really describe it properly, but when watching the Cowboys offense you start to get a feel for what the defense is expecting and then boom the offense will change something and make a big play.

A big key to all of it is that they are willing to run plays that have gained little or no yardage in previous attempts. They ran that Zone Stretch Left often in the Giants game and many times they got minimal yardage from it; however, if the defenders jump left trying to defend that play, then they are out of place when the Cowboys run power right which they also ran often.

I feel that I'm only seeing part of the setup that he (Linehan) is doing and that it's probably much more complex that what I see. It really helps to have multiple contributors. The backup WRs, RBs and TEs all get involved. The latest weapon to break out was Escobar.

 

[kramskoi]

Without sitting and trying to figure it out:

It looks to me like the Cowboys offense is wearing out the defense by the second half. They aren't stopping Murray as successfully as they did in the first half, so they're having to commit more resources (defenders) to stop the great run game that Dallas has. Not only are they having to use more people to stop the run but they're exhausted and anticipating run at the snap. They are taking the bait on Romo's play action and moving forward at the snap (more than they were in the first half). Basically, they're trying to cheat up to get better against the run.

As they move more guys forward to help and they all are moving forward at the snap, the coverage suffers and Romo, who has always been an accurate QB, is seeing wide open windows in the pass game. Teams will start to panic with Romo and his WR's eating up huge chunks of yardage with each throw and they'll drop the guys back and try to flood the zones in an effort to stop the bleeding.

Then, an already exhausted defense will get hit quickly by that devastating offensive line with one of the NFL's toughest runners coming right behind them... and the defense begins to collapse.

It is an unenviable position to be in. You get physically beaten (I think NY had 6 guys go out on defense), and you can't really make a good decision because no matter what you do, you can't really stop the Dallas offense.

And that...is what balance does for you. When defenses are reacting, by definition, they are not attacking. This is the same pick-your-poison type of offense the SuperBowl teams had. You might stop one thing for awhile, but eventually you would not be able to stop anything by the fourth quarter. The thing I loved THE most about the 90's Cowboys was their ability to simply make teams quit. You just bash them until they are completely demoralized and dejected, with loss of composure an ancillary benefit when it happens. That nineties team caused Reggie White, a fearsome player, to lose a ton of sleep.

 

[Nova]

The OL wears the defense down. Watch in the first half. Even when we're not successful, the OL is punishing linebackers. Think bobby Waggoner. He was crushed by Martin a few times before leaving the game, but the blocks weren't important to the run game on this particular, minimal gain plays. Waggoner was in and out because of it.

I actually have time to review tomorrow, but the nfl won't let you watch all 22 film while nfl games are going... Which is completely infuriating considering I pay 75 bucks a year for it.

But that's what I've noticed

 

[Nirvana]

Tony Romo has the highest 2nd half QBR of any QB in the league, at 95.2

Peyton Manning is 73.9

 

[21Savage]

The OL wears the defense down. Watch in the first half. Even when we're not successful, the OL is punishing linebackers. Think bobby Waggoner. He was crushed by Martin a few times before leaving the game, but the blocks weren't important to the run game on this particular, minimal gain plays. Waggoner was in and out because of it.

I actually have time to review tomorrow, but the nfl won't let you watch all 22 film while nfl games are going... Which is completely infuriating considering I pay 75 bucks a year for it.

But that's what I've noticed

There's an early game today so it might be too late but next time make sure to load it up before the games start. It'll work for at least one game for me; it won't let you switch to other games once they start.

 

[percyhoward]

Offensive turnovers by quarter
1st: 6
2nd: 4
3rd: 1
4th/OT: 1

Non-turnover drives by quarter
1st: 7.9 plays, 41.6 yards, 4:22
avg start: own 18 yd line
55.7% pass
44.3% rush
2.25 points

2nd: 6.8 plays, 44.7 yards, 2:56
avg start: own 30 yd line
53.8% pass
46.2% rush
4.00 points

3rd: 6.4 plays, 50.9 yards, 3:37
avg start: own 19 yd line
53.7% pass
46.3% rush
3.43 points

4th/OT: 6.5 plays, 32.7 yards, 3:01
avg start: own 29 yd line
43.3% pass
56.7% rush
3.00 points

 

[nalam]

Tony Romo has the highest 2nd half QBR of any QB in the league, at 95.2

Peyton Manning is 73.9

We have to take things in perspective, Boys had to come back and win in a couple of games , and a couple were back n forth, whereas Denver sets up with a comfortable lead in half time and the second half in most games have been keeping possession and taking time out of clock.

 

[slomoxn]

Many factors, but IMO, Linehan is great at setting things up such that they can exploit them later.

They show certain looks multiple times and then later do something different from that look.

For instance, in the Giants game they repeatedly ran the Zone Stretch to the left. Late in the game they ran it but Murray cut back right and had room to run. At first glance it would appear that Murray just decided to do it; however, the blocking on the backside (right) was different this time. Parnell was down blocking (driving his man to the left) instead of going for a reach block (trying to keep the defender from going left).

In another game they would run from a formation where T. Williams would go in motion and then stop to block right behind the OT. They eventually used that same formation and motion but sent T. WIlliams out on a route for a big play.

Linehan seems to get a feel for the details of how defenders are going to react on certain formations, routes, etc. early in games and then is able to exploit it later. It's difficult to really describe it properly, but when watching the Cowboys offense you start to get a feel for what the defense is expecting and then boom the offense will change something and make a big play.

A big key to all of it is that they are willing to run plays that have gained little or no yardage in previous attempts. They ran that Zone Stretch Left often in the Giants game and many times they got minimal yardage from it; however, if the defenders jump left trying to defend that play, then they are out of place when the Cowboys run power right which they also ran often.

I feel that I'm only seeing part of the setup that he (Linehan) is doing and that it's probably much more complex that what I see. It really helps to have multiple contributors. The backup WRs, RBs and TEs all get involved. The latest weapon to break out was Escobar.

I think you are the most accurate without having read all the posts concerning this; it seems Linehan has a good feel for setting up defenses. The best thing I've noticed though is that he also knows how to make second half adjustments and he doesn't panic and allow emotion dictate his play calling. Big difference from years past and I sincerely hope he is training the padewan on OC skills.