Garrett's Offensive Simplicity...

[Royal Laegotti]

This man speaketh the truth.

I just wish that Parcells had been able to find a fairly young serviceable QB like Pennington when he was here. That was his biggest problem here.

But I know at first he was saddled with Jerry's projects in QC and Hutchinson. Then once QC drugged himself out of the league we were left with Vinny as the starter in year 2, when he was only brought here to be a backup. By year three and then four we had Bledsoe, but he was too old and washed up. And the 3rd and 4th year of Parcells tenure was too late to have a stopgap vet like Bledsoe. Someone like that should've been there in year one.

BP did have the most control of any HC we've had since Jimmy, but he still didn't have full control. Not only was he initially hamstrung with QC, but also had to take on Zimmer and his defense that first year. I'm not big on the 3-4, but since that was what he wanted to run we would've been better off implementing that from the day he arrived. Unfortuantely I don't think he was given that option that first year.

Yep, folks like to complain about Parcells job he did here and I admit I do to sometimes. But in reality Big Bill was never given a real shot by Jerry at truly changing the culture of this organization. He was forced to play either Q or Hutch and later having to deal with trying to bring up a lost cause in Henson and also being forced to keep Zim as DC and for some reason he chose to or was secretly forced to resign Flo, who was the WORST tackle in football at that time. Although Bill did get some good play out of Flo, he's still always been a penalty machine. Not saying Bill was perfect at drafting or FA signings but who knows how much Jerry was handicapping him.

 

[ZeroClub]

Dilfer was talking about that this morning, too. Said in player-speak where you can't just come out and say, "We got outcoached", what Romo said was basically that "We got outcoached".

First, how can the scheme of an Ivy League graduate not be sophisticated enough to cope with modern blitz schemes?

And second, once you realize you can't pick them up, why don't you simplify things and try to run the ball and play action off that? Especially when you have a pretty good running game?

I'm still dumbfounded by RJ's last two games, in particular.

I wonder if RJ is applying chaos theory to football by randomly selecting plays for his team to run (e.g., first and goal, why not line up in the shot gun?)

Theoretically, it should keep defenses off balance.

Of course it also keeps your offense off balance too, but that's beside the point.

 

[thekavorka]

There are times to be simple and times to be complex.

I got so frustrated yesterday when we had a 3rd and 1 at the Eagles 25 or so in the first half. We were running the ball well up to that point.

So what do we do? We go shotgun and lose a couple of yards from the pass. Did Garrett get horrors of 3rd and 1 from 1995? I don't know. But just run it!

 

[1970Fan]

Just watch the Saints one time and you'll see it. Yes, Drew Brees is amazing, much better than Romo has played the last month. But he has receivers WIDE open through play design.

This is it.......BAM.

This is not Garrett's offense.........IT'S PAYTON'S. JG tried to tweak it and tried to make it his own, and has failed. Romo is used to the WRs being wide open, and won't throw unless they are.

There are 3 things that are wrong with the Cowboys:
1. Jerry making bad decisions. Too many to list.
2. Garrett's poor offensive play calling. Cut his salery...hell....fire him, but bring in who?? Brian Billick??? Would put Wade on notice to have a former head coach on staff, and capable of stepping in the HC job. Plus...Brian would not put up w/ T.O.'s crap!
3. Def secondary-adding Pac-man made it worse. Front 7 does their job, and the secondary screws it up. BTW- those long runs are on the safety playing to aggressive!

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I wonder if RJ is applying chaos theory to football by randomly selecting plays for his team to run (e.g., first and goal, why not line up in the shot gun?)

Theoretically, it should keep defenses off balance.

Of course it also keeps your offense off balance too, but that's beside the point.

LOL. :

There are times to be simple and times to be complex.

I got so frustrated yesterday when we had a 3rd and 1 at the Eagles 25 or so in the first half. We were running the ball well up to that point.

So what do we do? We go shotgun and lose a couple of yards from the pass. Did Garrett get horrors of 3rd and 1 from 1995? I don't know. But just run it!

I kept joking with a buddy of mine before every 3rd and 1 that watch us go shotgun and throw it for an incompletion, then have to punt.

Turns out it wasn't a joke.

 

[CoCo]

Dilfer was talking about that this morning, too. Said in player-speak where you can't just come out and say, "We got outcoached", what Romo said was basically that "We got outcoached".

First, how can the scheme of an Ivy League graduate not be sophisticated enough to cope with modern blitz schemes?

And second, once you realize you can't pick them up, why don't you simplify things and try to run the ball and play action off that? Especially when you have a pretty good running game?

I'm still dumbfounded by RJ's last two games, in particular.

I'll admit I didn't watch the O-line close enough to answer this question so I'll ask you. Was it scheme yesterday that allowed pressure or lack of execution?

Without re-watching I'm gonna guess that at least some was poor execution on our part, unless Proctor was just a convenient scapegoat at halftime.

Let me be careful again to say that I'm not absolving Garrett, be it scheme or execution, but the meltdown I watched yesterday CLEARLY had more problems than scheme.

So I'm happy to let Tony have his say about scheme, but then I also expect him to take full responsibility for all of his turnovers too. His decision-making has far more to do with that than scheme.

At the end of the day, my opinion is that yesterday's meltdown had far more to do with poor execution than anything else. That indicts both players and coaches, but I'm simply not buying that its all solved with a different scheme.

 

[CoCo]

There are times to be simple and times to be complex.

I got so frustrated yesterday when we had a 3rd and 1 at the Eagles 25 or so in the first half. We were running the ball well up to that point.

So what do we do? We go shotgun and lose a couple of yards from the pass. Did Garrett get horrors of 3rd and 1 from 1995? I don't know. But just run it!

Let me say first that I hate that lateral throw to our WR's because we don't execute it well at all plus when we run it its very high risk.

But secondly, with Barber hurt we are not a good short yardage team. Especially when we were clearly playing on our heels. Choice may be a decent back, I think he is. But we're pretty ill-equipped in short-yardage without a healthy Barber. And our O-line for all their size does not consistently get great push.

 

[superpunk]

This is it.......BAM.

This is not Garrett's offense.........IT'S PAYTON'S. JG tried to tweak it and tried to make it his own, and has failed. Romo is used to the WRs being wide open, and won't throw unless they are.

We're many years removed from Payton.

And if you watch the two offenses, they look nothing alike. I don't think that's it. I wish we were running Payton's offense, or even Sparano's. Instead we run curl routes that are so obvious that the DBs sit on it every time. And even with that sitting we can't exploit it deep.

 

[ScipioCowboy]

Wasn't this same accusation of oversimplicity brought against Bill Parcells' defense?

 

[theogt]

Wasn't this same accusation of oversimplicity brought against Bill Parcells' defense?

Yes, and we got better when we dumped it.

 

[ScipioCowboy]

Yes, and we got better when we dumped it.

I feel like I've read this book before. We complain about an aspect of this team, it changes, but the team is still mired in mediocrity.:

 

[theogt]

I feel like I've read this book before. We complain about an aspect of this team, it changes, but the team is still mired in mediocrity.:

Because we "fixed" what wasn't broken when we dumped Sparano for Garrett, because he's some kind of genius .... or something. I ranted and ranted about Sparano getting screwed when it happened. I just didn't expect Garrett to be this inept.

 

[isawoj]

For an example of how a seasoned offensive coordinator schemes and gameplans and makes changes DURING THE SEASON for the better, look no further than everyone's favorite punching bag, Chan Gailey.

This year, Chan was the OC for the Chiefs and started the season trying to be a power running team based on the makeup of the roster but injuries to the O-line, poor play and off-field issues with Larry Johnson, losing their starting QB and the fact that their D left them in a hole early in games made that gameplan unusable.

With a patchwork OL and a Spread offense third string rookie QB in Thigpen, Gailey overhauled the entire offense midseason and the team averaged the most offensive points in the league over the last 9 games.

Sure, the Chiefs were horrible this season, but mostly because the defense was so poor and their rookie QB who was 3rd on the depth chart made some dumb plays throughout the season.

The point is, Garrett has had what, 1 or 2 seasons as a QB coach and 2 seasons as an OC? The guy is green. Right now, the young kid OC for the Patriots has more experience and I would swap them head up without a second thought.

If the team has a win now group in place, this may not be the time to let a guy with very little experience learn on the job.

 

[thekavorka]

Let me say first that I hate that lateral throw to our WR's because we don't execute it well at all plus when we run it its very high risk.

But secondly, with Barber hurt we are not a good short yardage team. Especially when we were clearly playing on our heels. Choice may be a decent back, I think he is. But we're pretty ill-equipped in short-yardage without a healthy Barber. And our O-line for all their size does not consistently get great push.

yeah, we definitely struggled in short yardage the last couple of weeks. but on that particular drive, we were moving the ball really well. we had already converted two 3rd and 1s by running the ball.

i know garrett didn't want to seem too predictable, but that play call? ugh. i'd take my chances and just try to smash the ball up the middle like what was working so well on that drive.

 

[BourbonBalz]

Exactly. Defenses have gotten so good, and so great at being able to figure things out and adapt to you that you've got to constantly be adapting and changing what you do to win.



This also makes a huge difference. That O-Line they had, especially, would kick the living piss out of our current one. Troy never seemed to be harassed the way that Tony is now days. Romo always seems to be running for his life back there instead of being able to read the actual play.

Plus one of their bread and butter plays was the quick slant that you simply couldn't stop Michael Irvin on and right now it doesn't seem like any of our recievers, other than Austin, can actually consistently catch the ball on that route.




These are two of the most telling things about Garrett and what he lacks. #1 the only real difference between this years offense, and last years, was that last year he had Tony Sparano around helping him out and this offense soared. Now Tony is gone and Jason is too darn simple and easily figured out.

The other thing is that when other teams players start telling the media how easy the Dallas scheme is to figure out then you've got major issues. A defensive player should never be able to say that, ever.

Do you think anyone says "Wow that Colts offense is so simple to figure out." No, they don't because it's not.

We need better offensive direction from the coaching staff if we're ever going to improve and get anywhere and I'm not sure I believe that this is going to happen this offseason, or any offseason anytime soon.

The part in bold is total BS. No one can tell me the defensive coaches today are any better than those in the 60's, 70's,80's, or 90's. No defensive mind alive today is any better than Tom Landry. I'm a firm believer in putting together talented, tough-minded, players with a lot of heart and pride and executing to perfection. That's exactly how the Packers, Steelers, and Cowboys won in past decades and no one can tell me it still can't be done. We basically had about 3 running plays when we won our three titles in the 90's. Why? Because we had talented players that put winning first and executed extremely well. We just don't have that right now. The Giants aren't anywhere near spectacular on offense, but they execute well and don't make mistakes. Same can be said for the Patriots over the past 6 to 7 years. Same with the Colts and the Tennessee Titans of this year. It can be done.