Kellen Moore has a blind spot. running the ball

[Kingofholland]

Maybe you didn't read my post.. We had at least 4 times when we gained at LEAST 4 yards on a first down run.. and did not run on 2nd down either time.. Not once.. We never TRIED to establish the run.. We did not make the effort.. Period.. I am not going to sit here and declare we would have won if only we'd run it 30 times.. But I do know that NO defensive line wants to face 30 running plays.. NO defensive line wants to face one of those drives where you run at them 5,6, 7 times in a row.. And against us.. they never have to.. No matter how much we gain on first down.. the next play is GOING to be a pass. And I don't think we can win consistently that way.. Our line does not pass block well enough to drop back 50 times a game..

And you are correct that the type of running plays we run lacks any variation. We only run wide on the jet sweeps and gadget plays no matter which back is in and we almost never run off tackle. Now some of that may be because our tight ends stink at blocking.. Schultz almost got the receivers killed with his whiffs on the WR screen several times yesterday. I think we should go ahead and concede that none of our tight ends can block in space.. and quit calling plays that ask them to.

Moore is definitely quick to abandoned the running game and rarely do we see back to back runs unless the prior run yielded a good chunk of yards. I do think the offensive line has some interior run blocking challenges and maybe that plays into some of the decisions. However, if we just mix different kinds of run plays in, add a little motion on the occasional run play we may hold opposing defenses just long enough to 2nd guess the direction.

Opposing teams have figured out if you're physical with receivers, stack the box in the middle, and blitz the Cowboys will abandoned the run and be forced to keep more guys in to aid with pass blocking.

 

[RonnieT24]

That is pretty good reporting Ronnie. I hope someone lets Moore know if he doesn't already know his tendency in this game was not to trust his running game before being pass heavy. He's still young and still learning as we speak. I for one thought this was gonna be a run heavy game.

It's clear to me that Moore does NOT want to win running the ball. This offense looked unstoppable for three weeks when it was balanced. Then we steal a win on the road at New England without really running it and Moore takes that as a sign that that is how we should play from here on out. We have been pass heavy ever since and are 2-2 in those games..

 

[BAT]

KM got outcoached by Spagnuolo.

But Dak and WRs execution was also crap.

But the OL was pure garbage.

This is on MM, he should have learned his lesson after Denver and made sure that the assistants responsible for the OL shenanigans were held accountable or corrected.

Steele at LT is a disaster. We saw that vs Denver and continued to see it vs KC.

And Steele performed better at RT than Lael.

McGovern at LG was a failed experiment, CW performed better.

And moving McGovern to LG also limited Jumbo package, only saw it used once all game.

Zero adjustments to OL were made at halftime. AGAIN.

Not even going to discuss the head scratching usage or non usage of timeouts at the end of each half or decision to punt at end of 4th quarter trailing by 2 scores.

 

[Trendnet]

I have been screaming this since he took over. He simply has no feel for how to use the running game to settle things down when the wheels are coming off. He does not understand that 2nd and 6 is better than 2nd and 10 or 2nd and 13 when your line is not pass blocking worth a damn. He fails to acknowledge when they are overmatched and adjust accordingly. The absolute BEST way to slow down a pass rush is to let the offensive line fire out into the d-line and take some of the starch out of it. Not keep dropping back and saying "Hail Mary don't let Dak get killed." Yesterday's game never got to more than two scores difference and the running game was averaging at least 4 yards a pop.. Yet we went 50 pass 16 run.. Friggin three to one ratio!!! Moore seems to have forgotten that when this offense was rolling it was closer to 50/50. I am discouraged by this because I honestly thought that the three game stretch when we killed people by being balanced he had figured it out. But these last 4 games show me he hasn't.. and if he hasn't by now.. he probably never will. Somebody needs to hire him as head coach somewhere.. Soon.

The 40 million QB doesn't have the ability to check into a run?

Why did the Cowboys pay a QB that much if he can't audible?

 

[MountaineerCowboy]

Our run plays aren't creative. It's a hand off to Zeke for no gain up the middle over and over.

Then pass, pass, punt after that.

When the rare time we do get creative, like the Pollard run, we can get big plays, but those are few and far between.

 

[BHendri5]

I have said this in the past he is a mini mi Scott Linehan . That’s exactly what Linehan did when he was OC.

 

[Blast From The Past]

It's clear to me that Moore does NOT want to win running the ball. This offense looked unstoppable for three weeks when it was balanced. Then we steal a win on the road at New England without really running it and Moore takes that as a sign that that is how we should play from here on out. We have been pass heavy ever since and are 2-2 in those games..

Getting back to balance would be ideal. One works off of the other. like push and pull. If he would give the balanced attack he employed earlier another try he might be surprised.

 

[RonnieT24]

Our run plays aren't creative. It's a hand off to Zeke for no gain up the middle over and over.

Then pass, pass, punt after that.

When the rare time we do get creative, like the Pollard run, we can get big plays, but those are few and far between.

Obviously you can't build your offense on trick plays.. You've got to be able to execute in the running game and you've got to be willing to try more than 7-8 times a half. If that's all you're going to run I can guarantee you it's never going to work. By the way.. do you know how many runs of 0 yards Zeke had yesterday? Zero.. not a single one.. He got tackled for a loss on his first carry of the day and gained positive yards on every one after that. But let's not let the facts get in the way of a good narrative.. Let's carry on with the "Zeke stuffed for no gain" story.. cause that's fits the message we want to get out better.

 

[MountaineerCowboy]

Obviously you can't build your offense on trick plays.. You've got to be able to execute in the running game and you've got to be willing to try more than 7-8 times a half. If that's all you're going to run I can guarantee you it's never going to work. By the way.. do you know how many runs of 0 yards Zeke had yesterday? Zero.. not a single one.. He got tackled for a loss on his first carry of the day and gained positive yards on every one after that. But let's not let the facts get in the way of a good narrative.. Let's carry on with the "Zeke stuffed for no gain" story.. cause that's fits the message we want to get out better.

I wasn't just referring to the game yesterday. I was referring to just the way Moore seems to run things. He's not creative with the run game, and by creative I didn't mean "trick plays". I meant things other than running up the gut 90% of the time.

 

[quickccc]

I have been screaming this since he took over. He simply has no feel for how to use the running game to settle things down when the wheels are coming off. He does not understand that 2nd and 6 is better than 2nd and 10 or 2nd and 13 when your line is not pass blocking worth a damn. He fails to acknowledge when they are overmatched and adjust accordingly.

The absolute BEST way to slow down a pass rush is to let the offensive line fire out into the d-line and take some of the starch out of it. Not keep dropping back and saying "Hail Mary don't let Dak get killed." Yesterday's game never got to more than two scores difference and the running game was averaging at least 4 yards a pop..

Yet we went 50 pass 16 run.. Friggin three to one ratio!!! Moore seems to have forgotten that when this offense was rolling it was closer to 50/50. I am discouraged by this because I honestly thought that the three game stretch when we killed people by being balanced he had figured it out. But these last 4 games show me he hasn't.. and if he hasn't by now.. he probably never will. Somebody needs to hire him as head coach somewhere.. Soon.

It's clear to me that Moore does NOT want to win running the ball. This offense looked unstoppable for three weeks when it was balanced. Then we steal a win on the road at New England without really running it and Moore takes that as a sign that that is how we should play from here on out. We have been pass heavy ever since and are 2-2 in those games..

Equally wise before I lowered the blame to Kellen, I have been asking what could exactly be the issues with non-productive run game ?

1) how much is it the OL ?
2) how much is it poorly coaching scheme ?
3) How much is it the RBs ?

- Probably studying the All- 22 would tell us whether player or scheme is failing us.
- But only just getting 3 and 2 yards here ..and no gain or tackle for loss there, ..and (yet again) how many 20+ splash plays are we getting from run game – and RBs ?
,… and what and which RB is getting us those splash plays ?

Even if our run game is blown up,.. there are still ways to keep RBS involve, ala get them in the pass game .. per quick screens, quick swings flairs, although one problem is
we are still not a good RB isolation coverage scheme. And We haven’t developed our RBs in pass game for that, imo.

 

[RonnieT24]

Equally wise before I lowered the blame to Kellen, I have been asking what could exactly be the issues with non-productive run game ?

1) how much is it the OL ?
2) how much is it poorly coaching scheme ?
3) How much is it the RBs ?

- Probably studying the All- 22 would tell us whether player or scheme is failing us.
- But only just getting 3 and 2 yards here ..and no gain or tackle for loss there, ..and (yet again) how many 20+ splash plays are we getting from run game – and RBs ?
,… and what and which RB is getting us those splash plays ?

Even if our run game is blown up,.. there are still ways to keep RBS involve, ala get them in the pass game .. per quick screens, quick swings flairs, although one problem is
we are still not a good RB isolation coverage scheme. And We haven’t developed our RBs in pass game for that, imo.

The thing that has me so deflated about it is how little we even TRY to establish any sort of ground attack. Moore is still mired in his "yards are yards" mantra.. refusing the acknowledge the value of allowing the offensive line to fire out into the d-line rather than taking it on the chin play after play. A 5 yard run exacts a far greater toll on the defense than does a 5 yard pass. All yards are simply not created equal. Thing about the quick screens and flairs was that once Lamb went out there was no one to threaten the defense so the DBs were playing very close to the line of scrimmage. So every time we threw those screens it was up to our tight ends or other receivers to block and too many times they failed. This is simply not a good blocking group of receivers and tight ends.. which is why we have very few long runs.. Even on the 31 yarder Pollard had on the trick play if Gallup stays with his man through the whistle that's probably a touchdown. As it was Gallup lets him go and he makes the tackle. It's absolutely maddening!!!

 

[Floatyworm]

Kellen Moore is smarter than all of you...instead of running smack into a wall over and over...into 8 man fronts...why not go over the top of it. It's not rocket science.

 

[RonnieT24]

Kellen Moore is smarter than all of you...instead of running smack into a wall over and over...into 8 man fronts...why not go over the top of it. It's not rocket science.

Newsflash homes.. You're not going to be able win consistently in the NFL doing the same thing over and over every week. Hell you can't even win doing it every drive within a single game. Balance is absolutely imperative if you want to scale the mountain.. Not that you need to be 50/50 but 75/25 aint gonna cut it. At least not against good teams. Yeah you can wax chumps that way.. but if you want to be able to go up to Lambeau in January and win, you need to be able to run the ball. The old saying is true.. defense and the run game travels. High flying pass offense can be grounded by weather and sometimes just by crowd noise. Or one d-lineman you can't block.

 

[Daillest88]

I have been screaming this since he took over. He simply has no feel for how to use the running game to settle things down when the wheels are coming off. He does not understand that 2nd and 6 is better than 2nd and 10 or 2nd and 13 when your line is not pass blocking worth a damn. He fails to acknowledge when they are overmatched and adjust accordingly. The absolute BEST way to slow down a pass rush is to let the offensive line fire out into the d-line and take some of the starch out of it. Not keep dropping back and saying "Hail Mary don't let Dak get killed." Yesterday's game never got to more than two scores difference and the running game was averaging at least 4 yards a pop.. Yet we went 50 pass 16 run.. Friggin three to one ratio!!! Moore seems to have forgotten that when this offense was rolling it was closer to 50/50. I am discouraged by this because I honestly thought that the three game stretch when we killed people by being balanced he had figured it out. But these last 4 games show me he hasn't.. and if he hasn't by now.. he probably never will. Somebody needs to hire him as head coach somewhere.. Soon.

yup, best way to have teams stop blitzing is to run the ball

 

[RonnieT24]

yup, best way to have teams stop blitzing is to run the ball

I don't even think they blitzed all that much because once we showed we had no interest in running the ball they were able to come after Dak with no regard for the run.

 

[Daillest88]

I don't even think they blitzed all that much because once we showed we had no interest in running the ball they were able to come after Dak with no regard for the run.

I gotta look again. I really don’t like Steele at LT, mcgovern next to Tyron smith should make a difference

 

[jnday]

I have been screaming this since he took over. He simply has no feel for how to use the running game to settle things down when the wheels are coming off. He does not understand that 2nd and 6 is better than 2nd and 10 or 2nd and 13 when your line is not pass blocking worth a damn. He fails to acknowledge when they are overmatched and adjust accordingly. The absolute BEST way to slow down a pass rush is to let the offensive line fire out into the d-line and take some of the starch out of it. Not keep dropping back and saying "Hail Mary don't let Dak get killed." Yesterday's game never got to more than two scores difference and the running game was averaging at least 4 yards a pop.. Yet we went 50 pass 16 run.. Friggin three to one ratio!!! Moore seems to have forgotten that when this offense was rolling it was closer to 50/50. I am discouraged by this because I honestly thought that the three game stretch when we killed people by being balanced he had figured it out. But these last 4 games show me he hasn't.. and if he hasn't by now.. he probably never will. Somebody needs to hire him as head coach somewhere.. Soon.

Moore was an offensive genius a month ago and now you doubt his abilities? That is about right.

 

[RonnieT24]

Moore was an offensive genius a month ago and now you doubt his abilities? That is about right.

I have always doubted his understanding of the running game. He gave us a 4 week "mirage" after Jerry called him out about not running the ball at Tampa. I think Moore is amazing in the passing plays he draws up.. but his plays in the running game is no more creative than the average high school in Texas. But even worse than the frightening simplicity is the refusal to actually commit to it to any degree. If you don't run, you can't run. It's not that complicated.

 

[Cmac]

WOULD YOU WANT TO RUN THE BALL WITH A PERSON that's not getting you any yards #21

......or with an OL that is yelling "look out" after the first movement of footwork?

 

[Dre11]

I am not absolving Dak or the receivers for their part of what we saw.. but how many times did we run for 4-5 yards on first down then come to the line in empty backfield on 2nd down? WHY? Why not continue to press the issue and hammer the defense some. There's a reason football is often compared to war... Because you have a group of large and aggressive men beating the hell out of one another. The winner is the one who delivers the most beating not the one who absorbs it. When all you do is pass you basically make your offensive linemen accept all the blows and deliver none. Imagine a boxing match where one fighter is ordered to just stand there and take punches.. How long would he last?

You do know Dak is making a lot of these calls at the LOS.