Finally, the question answered on Playcalling

[CATCH17]

I think last season pretty much told us the answer to this. It was not like no swapping of calls took place. The nuances Romo provided with further adjustments were just missing.

Said it when it was clear Prescott was taking over. How well this offensive staff prepares for him and designs plays for him to succeed will be the key factor in the W/L column for a while.

Unless Zeke is just a total superstar and can carry the offense without much of a QB.

Nobody is factoring that in.

I think a special talent in the backfield changes things and we should start expecting big plays from that position.

I'm expecting big things from Zeke and he will hit more home runs than a guy like Murray with no vision did.

 

[Alexander]

Unless Zeke is just a total superstar and can carry the offense without much of a QB.

Nobody is factoring that in.

I think a special talent in the backfield changes things and we should start expecting big plays from that position.

I'm expecting big things from Zeke and he will hit more home runs than a guy like Murray with no vision did.

I like Elliott a lot, but I question our abilities to adjust when, not a matter of if, they crowd the box. Teams are going to be gunning for him. What he saw in Seattle was just the beginning.

 

[Alexander]

Flea Flicker!

Too creative. But I bet they run the jet reverse to Whitehead into the ground.

 

[CATCH17]

I like Elliott a lot, but I question our abilities to adjust when, not a matter of if, they crowd the box. Teams are going to be gunning for him. What he saw in Seattle was just the beginning.

The preseason play calling was pretty good..

I really hope we don't become super predictable on 1st down and just run it everytime. This year I hope we break away from our tendencies and we see more Play Action on first down because teams are 100% going to try and load the box.

 

[Idgit]

My question isn't so much about audibles - I actually think Dak will be given to option to switch run plays to pass plays (or the opposite) because that's pretty basic QB stuff.

My question is whether Romo is designing entirely new plays at the line by adjusting routes, blocks, etc. - stuff that goes beyond just switching the play to another play. If he's doing that, then Dak is probably in trouble.

I'm sure it varies widely from game to game and season to season, but the last time I'd heard it discussed Romo had two pass options and a run option at the LoS. The receivers also obviously have sight adjustments for pressure situations. Plus Romo is capable of buying a lot of time to let things happen ad-libbing after the play has developed. My guess is that these things combine to give Romo whatever creativity he needs from down to down.

For Dak, they probably cut down the options early. Maybe it's just run-pass or pass-pass and they live with the consequences. The route adjustments under pressure are what I'm curious about. That's the kind of thing you can see a rookie taking some time to come up to speed on, so what do they do? Limit the types of routes they adjust to, probably, and put the onus on the receivers to make the changes Dak can anticipate. Then, as he gets more comfortable, they gradually add the contingencies back in as DCs gradually start to figure out what adjustments we like to make for the rookie QB. If Dak's able to scale, we're eventually playing with the full complement of options and route adjustments again. If not, he's effectively 'figured out' and his productivity will drop.

 

[Idgit]

The preseason play calling was pretty good..

I really hope we don't become super predictable on 1st down and just run it everytime. This year I hope we break away from our tendencies and we see more Play Action on first down because teams are 100% going to try and load the box.

We'll be predictable on first downs again, but when we do change it up, we'll see them take big shots. We'll also see them fold in the run-pass options and play action options on early downs as long as they're high percentage plays for us. And they should be with Dak in there.

I'd also keep running that jet sweep with Lucky until somebody learns how to stop it. It's a shame he's not a better route runner, because he could add yet another dimension to this offense if you could use him on anything other than sweeps and screens.

 

[CouchCoach]

Very good post but I have to disagree. I think the success in 2014 was due to Linehan. Before Linehan was here Romo would almost always audible to a pass under Garrett and Callahan. I believe that Scott is the one that either got through to Romo or limited him to his audibles in 2014. He also stuck with the run which neither Garrett or Callahan did. Now I may get a bunch of backlash about this but most likely it's the truth. As much as I love Romo I do believe he needs to be handcuffed at times, especially in short yardage situations and that is what Linehan has done.

Very good disagreement but I must disagree based on one fact. Linehan led the league in pass calls for all 5 of his previous seasons and even when they had a healthy Kevin Smith, he used him more in the pass game. And there are similarities with Meatface and Romo, both are unorthodox gunslingers.

That said, in Linehan's career, he's never had the run combo of OL and RBs he has now and I am certain he wants to run the ball now more than ever and keep his young QB out of down and distance working against him. The other advantage he has is a QB that's young enough not to think this is his team and that is no way a slam against Romo. Manning did the same thing in DEN last season. Kubiak tried to establish it was his offense only to acquiesce to Manning. These QBs get established as this is their team and they'e dug in. Remember Booger stating that Romo would have input on Tuesday's for the game plan with his new contract?

 

[rynochop]

I like Elliott a lot, but I question our abilities to adjust when, not a matter of if, they crowd the box. Teams are going to be gunning for him. What he saw in Seattle was just the beginning.

Then they need to go play action to Witten over the middle for ten yards, which is darn near a run play cause he can still get open at will,almost

 

[CouchCoach]

I'm sure it varies widely from game to game and season to season, but the last time I'd heard it discussed Romo had two pass options and a run option at the LoS. The receivers also obviously have sight adjustments for pressure situations. Plus Romo is capable of buying a lot of time to let things happen ad-libbing after the play has developed. My guess is that these things combine to give Romo whatever creativity he needs from down to down.

For Dak, they probably cut down the options early. Maybe it's just run-pass or pass-pass and they live with the consequences. The route adjustments under pressure are what I'm curious about. That's the kind of thing you can see a rookie taking some time to come up to speed on, so what do they do? Limit the types of routes they adjust to, probably, and put the onus on the receivers to make the changes Dak can anticipate. Then, as he gets more comfortable, they gradually add the contingencies back in as DCs gradually start to figure out what adjustments we like to make for the rookie QB. If Dak's able to scale, we're eventually playing with the full complement of options and route adjustments again. If not, he's effectively 'figured out' and his productivity will drop.

His ability to pull it down and take off is the best advantage he has to "getting figured out". He's got to protect himself but if they give him a lane, the kid can flat move for a QB. The DC's have got to keep interior integrity with their DTs and MLB because those DE's come around the outside, he could take off for a nice gain.

Which brings up the question if you are the OC. Got a rookie QB and at this point, nothing behind him. Do you put some runs in the game with him just to keep the defense on guard and try and slow down the pass rush? He's the best runner of all the QBs drafted and maybe the only better QB1's are Newton and Wilson, does Linehan use that or play it as safe as he can?

When Dak was in college and he'd break off one of those runs, you could see the D's react on the subsequent plays and we're talking Bama and LSU, good stout D's.

If I am the OC, I'd be really tempted to give them something to think about and show the DC he's not afraid to run his only QB. And I'd do that early on to put them on notice. But then, my butt isn't on the line having already been called out by the owner and his son. Easy to be a Thursday morning OC.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

Flea Flicker!

You might be joking, but I like.

 

[Idgit]

His ability to pull it down and take off is the best advantage he has to "getting figured out". He's got to protect himself but if they give him a lane, the kid can flat move for a QB. The DC's have got to keep interior integrity with their DTs and MLB because those DE's come around the outside, he could take off for a nice gain.

Which brings up the question if you are the OC. Got a rookie QB and at this point, nothing behind him. Do you put some runs in the game with him just to keep the defense on guard and try and slow down the pass rush? He's the best runner of all the QBs drafted and maybe the only better QB1's are Newton and Wilson, does Linehan use that or play it as safe as he can?

When Dak was in college and he'd break off one of those runs, you could see the D's react on the subsequent plays and we're talking Bama and LSU, good stout D's.

If I am the OC, I'd be really tempted to give them something to think about and show the DC he's not afraid to run his only QB. And I'd do that early on to put them on notice. But then, my butt isn't on the line having already been called out by the owner and his son. Easy to be a Thursday morning OC.

In the long run, you probably expose him to less pressure if you prove early you're willing to let him run when the situation presents itself. I'd have him test NY deep early and I'd give him options to run the ball himself fairly early on if it were me. Maybe they do try to bring a guy down and stop the run. If they do, we've got the players to make them pay for taking the risk in coverage. Let's see what happens.

 

[phildadon86]

According to Greg Cosell, Romo was second only to Peyton Manning in his pre-snap reads and creating favorable matchups.

That can only help Dak learn what to read. I would expect he's paying a lot to attention to Tony these days.

According to dak. Romo has been in the film room with him going over giants game tape.

 

[CATCH17]

I wonder if we'll introduce pick plays to our offense... That would be nice.

You'd think we'd use them after watching so many other teams destroy us with it.

 

[CapnB]

See a lot of Okie Dokes being ran

 

[Donhyphen]

Hell get hurt if they crush his knees in the pocket. Hell be fine running where he can guard against injury imo. Hell be fine.

 

[Donhyphen]

Why is he different from Elliot? Because he's a QB? Don't be scared to let him play his game JMHO.

 

[Falco78]

According to Greg Cosell, Romo was second only to Peyton Manning in his pre-snap reads and creating favorable matchups.

That can only help Dak learn what to read. I would expect he's paying a lot to attention to Tony these days.

I want to see Romo in his ear after every series for just this reason

 

[Donhyphen]

He needs to listen to Lineman and Garrakeet only.

 

[Tommy]

Linehan knows what he is doing and he is far from conservative. It was quite clear when Romo went in tank last year that the conservative and paranoid Garrett was telling Linhehan and the QB's to check down. People will argue there is no direct evidence, but its obvious to me.

This year we will see if Garrett has learned his lesson and will open things up for the young QB that obviously has more poise and talent then any of the dregs we had last year.

Cool story!
So you believe every time you didn't like the play call it was Garrett interfering and making Linehan change the play?

 

[percyhoward]

According to Greg Cosell, Romo was second only to Peyton Manning in his pre-snap reads and creating favorable matchups.

That can only help Dak learn what to read. I would expect he's paying a lot to attention to Tony these days.

Romo on Dak: "I'll be in his back pocket to help him."

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...alled-cowboys-wouldnt-deal-prescott-for-lynch