It’s Tony Pollard Time

[Coogiguy03]

It doesn’t matter. You have to keep running the ball because any minute he can break one.

If it's not 20 by the second run, it's time to abandon!!!! Lol

 

[Aven8]

Pollard and Davis with Zeke near the goal line

Remember when we heard rumors last year that Moore was holding back all this stuff late when the O was stumbling? Yeah good times……

 

[Coogiguy03]

We will not see one carry from Malik Davis on Monday. Moore doesn’t do that.

We need to the runs Zeke gets 2 on, Davis gets 5-6

 

[slick325]

TP is a playmaker. Featured or not, all playmakers need to show up in the playoffs. Take advantage of every opportunity presented. The playoffs is where a player's legend can grow.

He has to make big plays. So do CeeDee, Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs and Dak Prescott. It's put up or shut up time. Dallas generally folds in these moments over the past 27 to 28 years.

We shall see come Monday.

 

[cnuball21]

The whole point is the commitment. If we’re running it like last week I get it. Sometimes you even have to throw to set it up. My point is Pollard and Lamb are our two best offensive weapons. Use them or we lose!

Yea, so what do you think the Bucs are going to do to try and beat us?

If they’re smart, they’re going to stack the box and double Lamb. If we go out there and run it on 1st and 2nd down every drive we’re going to be losing at halftime.

Last week was a limited gamescript but we need to throw on 1st down, use heavy PA, and get dudes in motion pre snap. Of course pound the rock if it works but I have a strong feeling we’re going to have keep them guessing a little more than it being that simple.

 

[blueblood70]

Lol….do you know our OC?

IM praying hes been enlightened. we will see new playoff identity BUT like i said hows KM going to call plays and have a functional offense if they commit 11 penalties, cant open holes, and get shut down ..?? you realize that like i said this has nothing to do with skill positions, we have planet of talent. It the trenches. We will struggle and the coaches will appear bad if the Lines cant get push.

you do realize this year the split time with Pollard and zeke nearly down the middle was new, the fact they both got close to 1k , thats also new for KM.. its not unheard of for him to run the ball more now but tif the OL cant open holes what's he supposed to do?

Our offense looks bad when we cant run and then the Pass protection is subpar ..

 

[Doomsday101]

IM praying hes been enlightened. we will see new playoff identity BUT like i said hows KM going to call plays and have a functional offense if they commit 11 penalties, cant open holes, and get shut down ..?? you realize that like i said this has ntohgi to do with skill psoitons, we have planet of talent..it the trenches..we will struggle and the coahes will appear bad if the Lines cant get push.

you do reralize this year the split time with Polalrd and zeke nearly down the middel was new, thre fact they both got close to 1k , thta also new for KM.. its not unheard of for him to run the ball more now but tif the OL cant open holes whats he suppoed to do?

Our offense looks bad when we cant run and then the Pass protection is subpar ..

Problem is when you can't run you get faced with a lot of 3rd and long situations and that is never good for any team. Cowboys can't just run on 1st down they will have to mix up with run and pass keep the defense guessing

 

[RonnieT24]

In my opinion he needs to be the focal point going forward for this playoff run. I realize these defenses we will face from here on out will be stout, but if we’re going to win, it will be through him. When he was the featured back when Zeke was ailing he proved he can do it. Use this kid as this might be his last hoorah as a Cowboy.

Will they do it is the question?

I agree they need to use him to the edges because I don't think the Cowboys are going to be able to block Vea and that bunch inside. Thing is, Tampa's linebackers are really smart and really fast so if our perimeter blockers, the tight ends and receivers, don't block those guys will simply dash into the backfield and get TFLs. One thing I would look at if I was the OC is I would use a lot more 2-back sets and have Zeke lead block to the edges .. That way at least one of the really fast linebackers will get blocked. I simply don't trust any of our TEs or receivers to do it. I might even line Zeke up at receiver and have him go seal the backers from the outside in. I do have a feeling Zeke is going to lose the knee brace this game and get some of his burst back. He was really the only guy on the offense that did anything in the season opener against Tampa. Over 5 ypc against that defense, when it was healthy, is nothing to sneeze at. If he gets going like that again Moore needs to be smart enough to ride him.

 

[The Natural]

If the OL doesn't do a better job creating holes it won't matter.

 

[RonnieT24]

Not if it isn’t there. Run game has struggled last few weeks due to poor OL play.

In order for us to be most efficient the OL to play well so we can effectively run the bal instead of just run it to run it.

Hopefully getting Biadasz back gives us a boost.. if for no other reason than it gets McGovern and Tyler back where they were playing the best. McGovern has been a disaster at center and Tyler has shown why he could not beat out McGovern at guard.

 

[blueblood70]

Problem is when you can't run you get faced with a lot of 3rd and long situations and that is never good for any team. Cowboys can't just run on 1st down they will have to mix up with run and pass keep the defense guessing

correct hat why these threads calling for more skilled positions are not seeing that since steele went down, followed by Biadsz , our OL shuffling is the reason the run game disappeared and our O started struggling. we literally lost the 9er game because of our OL..75% of that game's issues were up front. we are about top face many great DL s and that when our OL and those think its Moore, well kind of hard to call plays like that.

 

[blueblood70]

Hopefully getting Biadasz back gives us a boost.. if for no other reason than it gets McGovern and Tyler back where they were playing the best. McGovern has been a disaster at center and Tyler has shown why he could not beat out McGovern at guard.

right as usual all about the trenches, we have tons of talent at the skilled positions..cant utilize them if the trenches fail. thats football 101.

 

[RonnieT24]

Problem is when you can't run you get faced with a lot of 3rd and long situations and that is never good for any team. Cowboys can't just run on 1st down they will have to mix up with run and pass keep the defense guessing

Maybe the single most alarming thing about how our running game has struggled of late is how much of the failure has come against straight 7 man fronts. We are not blocking the front 4 worth a damn leaving the linebackers all manner of space to shoot through and blow up our plays. I am still crossing my fingers that some of those slow developing, telegraphed runs are the basis for some really creative mis-direction which will create massive holes for our guys ...

 

[baltcowboy]

Kellen has to get Pollard 20+ touches and CeeDee needs 12+ touches. Come on Paper Boy this is for all the marbles.

 

[RonnieT24]

Kellen has to get Pollard 20+ touches and CeeDee needs 12+ touches. Come on Paper Boy this is for all the marbles.

I'm never a fan of this sort of thinking. Do what it takes to win the damn game.. If Pollard is ballin.. give him the ball.. If he's getting stuffed... give somebody else the ball. The Bucs are going to double Lamb getting off the bus.. They're going to have to keep him in constant motion and keep moving him from side to side to as to make it more difficult for the defense to set up their coverage on him. All the attention he gets is bound to create some deep opportunities for Hilton. He and Dak need to link up on 2-3 of those. I think it's also past time that we bring back the deep wheel route with Pollard. To hell with the silly swing passes and dumpoffs.. Make a linebacker cover him 30 yards down field.. That will be fun..

 

[cnuball21]

Hopefully getting Biadasz back gives us a boost.. if for no other reason than it gets McGovern and Tyler back where they were playing the best. McGovern has been a disaster at center and Tyler has shown why he could not beat out McGovern at guard.

Agree, he was a bigger loss than I expected. We need the run game to go. Win the trenches and we win.

 

[quickccc]

In my opinion he needs to be the focal point going forward for this playoff run. I realize these defenses we will face from here on out will be stout, but if we’re going to win, it will be through him. When he was the featured back when Zeke was ailing he proved he can do it. Use this kid as this might be his last hoorah as a Cowboy.

Will they do it is the question?

- Despite the departure of Suh and Pierre, the Bucs still have a top run defense - what if we cannot run the ball ?
What if we cannot get movement vs Bucs interior ?

- Pollard needs at least 15-20 " Touches" ... in this game. He is our most explosive big play maker.

- Touches means both carries .and pass catching out of the backfield.
And a ton depends upon how Kellen schemes and designs Pollard into the game plan.

- And it cannot be just one single successful play,..Kellen has to keep it frequently successful.
He'll occasionally have/find one good play for Pollard ..and then just stop !

- Pollard needs to be an All Purpose back with us - He can be a very dangerous and outstanding one under the right coaches.
Kellen does not know how to scheme/design him for this, Imo.

 

[baltcowboy]

I'm never a fan of this sort of thinking. Do what it takes to win the damn game.. If Pollard is ballin.. give him the ball.. If he's getting stuffed... give somebody else the ball. The Bucs are going to double Lamb getting off the bus.. They're going to have to keep him in constant motion and keep moving him from side to side to as to make it more difficult for the defense to set up their coverage on him. All the attention he gets is bound to create some deep opportunities for Hilton. He and Dak need to link up on 2-3 of those. I think it's also past time that we bring back the deep wheel route with Pollard. To hell with the silly swing passes and dumpoffs.. Make a linebacker cover him 30 yards down field.. That will be fun..

Last season everyone knew Cooper Kupp was going to get the ball in the playoffs. He set records for receiving. You can scheme your best weapons open. For some reason we keep scheming the ball to Brown who seems to have three guys around him at all times. We gonna go as far CeeDee and Pollard offensively and that is not all on Dak.

 

[Aven8]

- Despite the departure of Suh and Pierre, the Bucs still have a top run defense - what if we cannot run the ball ?
What if we cannot get movement vs Bucs interior ?

- Pollard needs at least 15-20 " Touches" ... in this game. He is our most explosive big play maker.

- Touches means both carries .and pass catching out of the backfield.
And a ton depends upon how Kellen schemes and designs Pollard into the game plan.

- And it cannot be just one single successful play,..Kellen has to keep it frequently successful.
He'll occasionally have/find one good play for Pollard ..and then just stop !

- Pollard needs to be an All Purpose back with us - He can be a very dangerous and outstanding one under the right coaches.
Kellen does not know how to scheme/design him for this, Imo.

Tampa’s D is just as good as Wash and Tenny as they have better LB’s. I agree that Moore will most likely do the same things he’s done all year. Zeke and than Tony. My point of this thread was that Tony should be featured. But deep down we know that’s not going to happen.

 

[RonnieT24]

Agree, he was a bigger loss than I expected. We need the run game to go. Win the trenches and we win.

Here's the encouraging thing about how poorly our line has played.. I mean if you think about it when was the last game we came away feeling like the offensive line won the line of scrimmage? The Giants game on Thanksgiving maybe? Maybe the Colts but a lot of the damage in that one was in that historic 4th quarter. Point being.. the line has not played all that well over the last 7 games.. yet they went 5-2 and scored at least 27 points in all but the one they really didn't care about. That kinda tells you that Dak, Zeke, TP, CD, Schultz et al are really good players. In reality this line has not been all that dominant all season.. yet they're 12-5. These guys are good.. They can win even if the line is playing just okay if they are themselves on their A game. Obviously you would like to think the line can play a lot better than it has been.. But even if they don't, if Dak and the crew are on their game, they can overcome so-so line play. That's what gives me hope. I know the Tampa d-line is good.. but it's not as good as Washington.. or probably even Philly. So give me a C level game from the o-line and a B or above from the skill guys with maybe one of them getting A level.. (Dak?) and I think the Cowboys win this thing going away.