It’s Tony Pollard Time

[quickccc]

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..

A couple of thoughts on these Two thoughts;

- If Pollard is getting stuffed in the run game .. find other ways to get your most explosive big play maker involved.
We should have already been involving Pollard in Both Run and Pass game anyway.

- Also i'm already involving others ala Zeke and Malik in the run game, anyway.. because it's very important not to wear Pollard out on excessive carries.
That's why it's so critical with " Touches" vs Carries.

- i don't agree with silly swing passes/dumpoffs - because it depends upon How these swing passes and quick flair passes are schemed and designed.
I've posted example vids... such as Niners quick RB middle screens where Pollard would be utter deadly with this,
but Kellen seems to despise developing RB screens- especially with OL pulling out in space, so Kellen gets impatient, won't develop it, and resorts to just RB curls.

- Sorry but so long as Kellen calls the complete shots on offense, Pollard will never be the All Purpose explosive game breaker he really can be under Kellen, imo.

 

[CATCH17]

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?

Completely agree but this franchise is pretty dumb and will probably use Zeke more than Pollard.

 

[CATCH17]

A couple of thoughts on these Two thoughts;

- If Pollard is getting stuffed in the run game .. find other ways to get your most explosive big play maker involved.
We should have already been involving Pollard in Both Run and Pass game anyway.

- Also i'm already involving others ala Zeke and Malik in the run game, anyway.. because it's very important not to wear Pollard out on excessive carries.
That's why it's so critical with " Touches" vs Carries.

- i don't agree with silly swing passes/dumpoffs - because it depends upon How these swing passes and quick flair passes are schemed and designed.
I've posted example vids... such as Niners quick RB middle screens where Pollard would be utter deadly with this,
but Kellen seems to despise developing RB screens- especially with OL pulling out in space, so Kellen gets impatient, won't develop it, and resorts to just RB curls.

- Sorry but so long as Kellen calls the complete shots on offense, Pollard will never be the All Purpose explosive game breaker he really can be under Kellen, imo.

Yep.. If we’re facing a lot of man coverage then Pollard should be a monster in the pass game out of the backfield.

 

[quickccc]

Yep.. If we’re facing a lot of man coverage then Pollard should be a monster in the pass game out of the backfield.

- whether man or zone, ..Pollard still should've been a difficult mismatch vs coverage LBs in pass game .
as well as eating alive these space openings in zone coverages.

- If Kellen ever gave a damn for creative RB screen plays, Pollard would have been dangerous on those type of plays as well.

 

[RonnieT24]

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.

One Kupp did not set any records last season.. Maybe for the Rams I don't know.. Two "everyone" didn't know the ball was going to Cooper Kupp. Beckham has 9 catches in the NFC Championship against the 49ers and 6 the week before against Tampa. Yes Kupp was the only option left standing in the Super Bowl once OBJ went down.. but he benefitted greatly from OBJ's presence before that. Not to dismiss what he accomplished.. just dispelling the notion that he was the Long Ranger out there.

 

[RonnieT24]

Yep.. If we’re facing a lot of man coverage then Pollard should be a monster in the pass game out of the backfield.

No team with half a brain is going to play a lot man against Dallas. Our passing tree is tailor made to beat man. What it does not fare well against is a lot of zone. The caveat of course being if they believe they have great corners who can smother our receivers. Teams have shown the ability to double CeeDee and let everybody else beat them if they can. That's why not just trotting him out there to the boundary every time is so important. You have to make it hard for the defense to find him.. and therefore to double him. Using Pollard more in the passing game in this game is a no brainer. Tampa's backers are fast but they're not as fast as Pollard. Moore needs to recognize that and create favorable matchups there.

 

[lukin2006]

Pollard should be the starter…he’s our best weapon on offence…

 

[cnuball21]

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.

Maybe Jax when we rushed for 150+? I’m mostly worried about the run blocking…Daks ++ at avoiding sacks so just need them to be average in pass pro.

If we can win in run blocking and just run enough where we’re effective and not in 3rd and long all game we’ll be fine.

The problems arise when we’re 3rd and long and Dak tries to thread the needle to dudes that can’t separate (not Lamb).

 

[JD_KaPow]

It’s likely Moore will bail on run game for no reason and will then have Dak wearing out his arm throwing to unopened receivers over and over and over.

I think it's way more likely he'll keep calling 1st down runs that go for <2 yards per carry, long after it's become clear it's not working. That's what's happened the last few games.

 

[Zman5]

Multi TEs offese with TP as the feature back has to be used vs TB.

 

[mardwin]

Hopefully, they practiced running back screens. The panthers running game couldn't do much against the Bucs' running defense.

 

[Gaede]

I would start him and play him exclusively, except for goal line. Unfortunately, he's struggled since Steele went out, so I don't expect it'll make much of a difference

 

[shabazz]

It’s a fair statement but we need the guys that have been GETTING PAID all along to raise up. Dak, Zeke, Lawrence, Schultz and a couple others that are seasoned veteran and soaking up the lions share of the salary cap…….I do agree that we need to rely heavily on Pollard because he is the home run hitter here…..maybe he can bail out the other superstars that are gettin paid

 

[RonnieT24]

It’s a fair statement but we need the guys that have been GETTING PAID all along to raise up. Dak, Zeke, Lawrence, Schultz and a couple others that are seasoned veteran and soaking up the lions share of the salary cap…….I do agree that we need to rely heavily on Pollard because he is the home run hitter here…..maybe he can bail out the other superstars that are gettin paid

It's true Pollard is the home run threat but I don't know if that's the weapon to rely on against a stout run defense. I think we need to definitely make it a priority to scheme getting him the ball in space.. but that's not a bread and butter component of the offense. You gotta be able to punch a defense in the mouth too. I still think the best strategy is deploy both guys to keep both guys fresh as well as to keep the defense from being able to relax and adapt to either style of back. At this point I don't think either of them is good enough to absolutely take over a game against a defensive front that is likely going to be winning more than their share of matchups. I'm here to be pleasantly surprised though.

 

[5Stars]

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?

lol...I agree with this. Even if the run game is not working for a few plays they need to keep doing it. But, It won't be Pollard, it won't be Zeke, and it won't be any RB on this team if they want to win the SB. Even if Dak took off for 40 or so in a game. Want to know why I say this? Flip a coin...

Because if the Cowboys defense cannot stop the run, which has been the case...if they don't step their game and start playing like they want it and just let the other team abuse them again like lately...? The best running back in the league would not make a difference, the team would still lose.

 

[Cmac]

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.

.....but Moore removes a RB that gets it going, and then we end up with FGs or Dak passing at the wrong times. I don't have any confidence in KMoore devising a game plan that outsmarts a defense.