Garrett: Dez Bryant needs to get used to double teams, 'the world he's going to live in..."

[Ender]

Rewatched the game last night and there were many times Dez was actually triple teamed, with a LB sort of spying on him. I remember the Lions doing this to T.O. in 2007 and it almost worked were it not for Romo's come back drive and pass to Witten. But they limited T.O. to 3 rec 27 yards.

Yea, the definitely tripled teamed him at times. Romo needs to continue to make them pay by going to Miles, i liked that he did that. With improved o-line play im hoping we have this year, Romo should have enough time make teams pay by doubling or tripling Dez. Terence Williams has the play better if hes going to be out there though.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

Rewatched the game last night and there were many times Dez was actually triple teamed, with a LB sort of spying on him. I remember the Lions doing this to T.O. in 2007 and it almost worked were it not for Romo's come back drive and pass to Witten. But they limited T.O. to 3 rec 27 yards.

Didn't Witten have like 15 catches in that game? That's the beauty of having many weapons. You want to devote three of your players to one of our guys? Good luck with that.

 

[BigStar]

Garret is aware of motion, bunch formation, etc. correct? Almost putting it on Dez cause he tells him to run an out from his standard position with triple coverage (BEAT IT DEZ).

 

[Kevinicus]

While Dez need to beat the double teams at times, the OC needs to design plays to get him open. Teams have figured out this stale offense since we broke out in 2007. There is no imagination. No exploiting the other team's weaknesses for the most part. Hardly any motion at all to confuse them. And we allow them to get set and make all the adjustments they need.

Good offensive coordinators find ways to get their star players the ball. Double teams are nothing new.

Yeah we have a new coordinator but this is still the same playbook. It's like firing the chef but keeping the same exact recipes and cookbook. You aren't going to get much different results.

In 2007, the Cowboys put TO in motion a lot to free him up, and it worked great. In 2008 they did it a lot less, and since then it's been pretty non-existent in the offense. Clearly a Garrett issue.

 

[Nova]

Well... you can't send Dez on a slant into a triangle of defenders. But at some point Dez has to be able to beat double and triple coverage.

It's honestly been my biggest worry when it comes to him, because he's never been a guy to get a ton of separation-- meaning he doesn't have natural blistering speed to get away from DBs, so his route running is going to have to continually improve.

I think he can handle it, but it's still a concern.

But honestly, I don't think he's been shut down as much as Romo has been unwilling to force something into the teeth of a double and triple teams.

 

[dmq]

Garrett still has that, this is what we are going to do now try to stop us mentality from the early 90's. Problem is, that team was just physically dominant in a way that teams just can't be anymore because of free agency.

 

[Mr Cowboy]

JG has had 3 years with Bryant, this is not new
We saw the same thing with TO

how often do we see bunch formations or motion with Dez?

hardly ever

JG is not an innovative offensive mind and does not know how to create mismatches to put his players in good situations

hopefully Callahan will have the freedom to do this

I've been saying this since last year. It's easy for teams to take Dez out, because they know that 90 percent of the time he will run from the same spot, and only run routes outside the numbers. They can take the OLB to take away the slants that Dez runs, since its the only route he runs inside the numbers. Very rarely will you see Dez run a drag route across the middle, (it has happened), or Dez running a seam route from the slot. As a matter of fact, under this version of Garrett's offense, the Cowboys run very few routes in the middle of the field. If you don't believe me go to the charts that Sturm has been putting out the past couple of years. This past game they ran 4-5 routes in the middle, 2 were touchdowns by Witten. Teams know this and tend to cheat away from the middle.

 

[Blackspider214]

In 2007, the Cowboys put TO in motion a lot to free him up, and it worked great. In 2008 they did it a lot less, and since then it's been pretty non-existent in the offense. Clearly a Garrett issue.

Exactly. Dez is a matchup nightmare for most of these CBs. Especially if you move him around, force them to react on the fly and bring him at you in all different ways. But even the worst defenses can react and figure you out if all you do is run stale plays after stale plays that they know are coming. Giants basically ran the same coverage all night on Dez, which was to bracket him, and we did nothing to counter.

Like many have said, our offense never seems to get the ball in our WRs hands where they have room to run after the catch. It's always about 3 guys around them waiting to be tackled. Is it an OL issue that causes us not to be able to call plays that require longer protection? Maybe. But I'm suspecting it's also a problem with the playbook created and the guy who created it. Garrett.

Seems like Garrett is putting the blame on Dez for not getting open. When in reality, it also has to do with the plays being ran don't allow him to get free.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

Dez did his job last game I thought, he opened it up so the rest of our guys could do some damage - and they did. When Dez is triple/double teamed you don't force him the ball, we're not the Detroit Lions. We actually have a HoF TE and one of the best number 2 WR in the NFL to throw to. It'd be different if Dez was our only threat.

Hopefully we can run certain plays specifically trying to get him the ball though, it's always a good thing when your best WR has the ball in his hands.

I LIKED your post. I think I hit the UNLIKE button by mistake.
Sorry, bro. Trying to get used to the new Forum buttons.

 

[dstovall5]

I LIKED your post. I think I hit the UNLIKE button by mistake.
Sorry, bro. Trying to get used to the new Forum buttons.

Lol, all good. The new forum buttons are a little different though haha.

 

[khiladi]

I've been saying this since last year. It's easy for teams to take Dez out, because they know that 90 percent of the time he will run from the same spot, and only run routes outside the numbers. They can take the OLB to take away the slants that Dez runs, since its the only route he runs inside the numbers. Very rarely will you see Dez run a drag route across the middle, (it has happened), or Dez running a seam route from the slot. As a matter of fact, under this version of Garrett's offense, the Cowboys run very few routes in the middle of the field. If you don't believe me go to the charts that Sturm has been putting out the past couple of years. This past game they ran 4-5 routes in the middle, 2 were touchdowns by Witten. Teams know this and tend to cheat away from the middle.

Yep, this team likes to attack the sidelines, as opposed to the middle. When you have talent on offense like this team, there is no way one shouldn't exploit the middle,especally if you've gone and drafted guys like Escobar and Hanna. Witten is really good at being shifty, which is why he is so effective as a out for Romo. But this team leaves the seams untouched many times. You can't say, "well, we are going to mimic the Patriots" and then avoid attacking the middle. That's like an oxymoron.

 

[Denim Chicken]

If it is so easy for teams to double Dez and take him out, then how did he have such good numbers the second half of last year?

 

[punchnjudy]

When healthy, Miles is good after the catch. Hit him in stride moving forward enough times and you can reduce the frequency with which Dez has a crowd following him.

 

[17yearsandcounting]

This is just a side effect of Jason's reactive and passive 'take what the defense gives you' mentality. Been like this for years.

 

[CT Dal Fan]

Dez is going to be fine. Last year he had two worse games (3-17 at Seattle and 2-14 at Carolina). I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him catch seven balls Sunday for 140 yards and two touchdowns.

 

[Rockport]

A good running game would sure help. Teams would have to play 8 in the box freeing up the passing game more.

 

[Mr Cowboy]

Elli's passing chart (above); compared to Romo's passing charts below.

Cowboy's second half

Cowboy's first half

 

[cowboys1981]

When we get into the red zone lets try and throw the ball at its highest point vs the back shoulder pass that teams will eventually catch on to. I don't know of any DB that can get up higher than Dez.

 

[kevm3]

That and we need an OC that knows how to put their players in advantageous situations.

 

[iceman117]

they did the right thing, if they continue to show they can move the ball with Dez getting a lot of balls thrown his way teams won't be able to do that to him. Plus Dez is such a great athlete even in double coverage I would like to see them take 1 or 2 shots a game where Dez just gets in a jump ball situation down the field. Plus when he is getting all that attention it should be easier to run the ball so I don't think he will be seeing too many more triple teams, double teams and bracket coverage his way though like Garret said probably for the next 5 or 6 years