Mike wanted to run the football. What really happened?

[CowboyStar88]

OL sucked. Pollard wasn't all that. we failed.

Reminds me of the Underwear thief season. We all knew it was going to be a train wreck. But our brilliant GM thought he’d outsmarted everyone. Looking back on all his mistakes he really believes he outsmarts everyone in the room. No wonder this franchise is a failure.

 

[CowboyStar88]

I don’t believe he wanted to run the football any more than they did. They found a way to scapegoat the end of season failure, by pointing at Moore. They needed a narrative since the offense was already lighting it up, so they said the run game. Dumbest message from this organization I’ve heard, and fans (mostly who wanted the blame on Dak deflected), bought it hook line and sinker.

The proof is in the results. It was either a lie, or just a big coaching failure, or both. In either of the cases, Mac should be fired.

So what’s moores excuse for last year? It could be that Moore is also just a problem who struggles with when to run the ball.

 

[Coogiguy03]

All last offseason anytime a mike was put in his face he talked about running the football and eliminating the TO’s.

Fast forward to the first month of the season and the dink and dunk offense was born. It actually moved the ball ok, but we couldn’t score in the redzone for what seemed like a month.

After the SF game, things changed and he opened it up passing wise but the running game never did anything. From the SF game on Lamb was the most productive WR in football.

So what happened? We all saw the Oline was terrible at run blocking as backs would get hit in backfield repeatedly. They had this propensity to keep running off Center and off Guard all throughout the year.

How is it fixed? Get better Guards? We have two of the best in football. Get a new Oline coach? Change the run scheme? I was under the impression that was Schotty’s baby, and if it was he failed.

My point is we can’t expect to just bring in a new RB and do the same thing.

How can it be fixed?

if anyone believed this, they're as dumb as a dumber!! lol

 

[Coogiguy03]

I think he wanted to run the football. He had a plan. Then he had to abort plan when he saw the run blocking and the running backs. I commend him for it. Could've easily stuck with what wasn't working.

That being said....a few things I think need to happen.

Get a young RB in here. Draft a guy in the 3rd or 4th round. I think Rico is an asset.

Sign a vet for a cheap deal. RB market seems to be dry for RB's.....Barkley, Henry, Jacobs are out there. Jacobs probably offers the most with play and durability and age. But Barkley I'd really look into getting.

I assume Tyler is gone. Upgrade his position through the draft or get a solid vet in.

Steele needs to get back to form or move on. Because you can get that type of play from anyone off the street last season.

I think we don't understand that to have a good running scheme, we have to have good runners or someone that's decent enough to carry the load, while also having holes to run through

 

[Coogiguy03]

Firstly, we don't have a starting quality RB on the roster. OL is getting old and the C is undersized.

GETTING old yes!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tyler/Steele ok, Bidadz he's probably gone ok cool, we need some younger guys in there for sure, I want to see those young guys get out there on plays and do some trap blocking/pulling etc

 

[blueblood70]

Reminds me of the Underwear thief season. We all knew it was going to be a train wreck. But our brilliant GM thought he’d outsmarted everyone. Looking back on all his mistakes he really believes he outsmarts everyone in the room. No wonder this franchise is a failure.

Franchises farthest from a failure that you can ever find a gap between teams that are still having great win percentage both in the playoffs and in the regular season and call us a failure because we can't make the NFC championship game even though we've won two division titles and three straight playoff games three straight 12 win seasons in a row just in recent history since we're the farthest thing from a failure you're a failure as a fan if you don't find any middle ground when you're using words!!

Anybody who says what we've done lately is a failure it's ridiculous you're out of touch with reality those types of championship games for most teams don't come very often and neither do Super Bowls it's why the Cowboys are still third all time in Super Bowl wins even with this drought these droughts happen to all teams all the time stuff comes in cycles when you call this team a failure especially as a franchise you lose all validity your argument becomes completely moot because that's not where we are we are so far above average finishing top six almost every year that you can't call us a failure we just have had bad luck and not having success in the playoffs but we're making the playoffs makes us not a failure so far from the word failure again try another word like say, it huge disappointment? Yes we've come up short in the playoffs the fact is we're relative we're playing big primetime games and big primetime slots getting full stadiums big time ratings in those games to the point where the league still sees that the Cowboys are very relative and that is both on and off the field you keep calling it a failure again try another word..... Yes it's been a you disappointment and yes they come up short and we've had some failures in the playoffs but the franchise is not a failure all this time has passed with us not getting to an NFC championship game we still are in the top five in playoff wins top three all time in Super Bowl wins I mean all this time how is it that teams haven't just run us over and caught us up to us they just haven't because it doesn't happen that often....

It comes in cycles if you can't see that teams like the chiefs took 51 years to get back to a Super Bowl there are teams that have never won a Super Bowl or they're trying to get to their second one and it's been even 1994 system mighty 49ers have actually won a Super Bowl I mean the bills haven't won a single one yet they get topped up like there's something and they haven't done much more than us neither has Lamar Jackson and the Ravens lately you could say they're very good but they're falling short as well.. I mean look at the Eagles just because lately they've had a little bit more success they still have one Super Bowl in 60 years it looked like all of a sudden Joe Burrows and the Cincinnati Bengals were about to take off and what they were able to get to a Super Bowl but they still have 0 Super Bowl wins.... Those droughts those gaps are much bigger than the Cowboys at least we're waiting on number six so this franchise is fine show me all the teams that have won more than three Super Bowls in 33 years I mean that is what Jerry didn't even know he did them all at the beginning of his tenure the fact is that there aren't many teams that have actually caught that number in the same amount of time... There's only one that I know of and I'd be the Patriots and maybe the Kansas City Chiefs on the verge.​

​

So yes I get it there's been a lot of disappointments and a lot of failed playoff runs but we are not a failure you might wanna go follow around The Jets and the Browns and probably about 17 to 20 other teams that you could call a failure before the Cowboys names come up.... Fact is this fan base can't appreciate the fact that we're winning games and making the playoffs on a regular basis to call us a failure is so ridiculous it's just insane and by the way if you're talking about Randall whatever his name was at running back are you kidding me teams pick players like him all the time you know like Ray Lewis had a murder charge on him nobody said anything because he turned out to be good that was just dumb luck that just happens but there are so many guys in the NFL where records that had problems in college I mean didn't Big Ben have rape charges filed on him? moss had incidents etc etc i can go all day because this is pretty regular thing in the NFL not a jerry thing..its sports imitate life because that where our player pool is taken from..

 

[CowboyStar88]

Franchises farthest from a failure that you can ever find a gap between teams that are still having great win percentage both in the playoffs and in the regular season and call us a failure because we can't make the NFC championship game even though we've won two division titles and three straight playoff games three straight 12 win seasons in a row just in recent history since we're the farthest thing from a failure you're a failure as a fan if you don't find any middle ground when you're using words!!

Anybody who says what we've done lately is a failure it's ridiculous you're out of touch with reality those types of championship games for most teams don't come very often and neither do Super Bowls it's why the Cowboys are still third all time in Super Bowl wins even with this drought these droughts happen to all teams all the time stuff comes in cycles when you call this team a failure especially as a franchise you lose all validity your argument becomes completely moot because that's not where we are we are so far above average finishing top six almost every year that you can't call us a failure we just have had bad luck and not having success in the playoffs but we're making the playoffs makes us not a failure so far from the word failure again try another word like say, it huge disappointment? Yes we've come up short in the playoffs the fact is we're relative we're playing big primetime games and big primetime slots getting full stadiums big time ratings in those games to the point where the league still sees that the Cowboys are very relative and that is both on and off the field you keep calling it a failure again try another word..... Yes it's been a you disappointment and yes they come up short and we've had some failures in the playoffs but the franchise is not a failure all this time has passed with us not getting to an NFC championship game we still are in the top five in playoff wins top three all time in Super Bowl wins I mean all this time how is it that teams haven't just run us over and caught us up to us they just haven't because it doesn't happen that often....

It comes in cycles if you can't see that teams like the chiefs took 51 years to get back to a Super Bowl there are teams that have never won a Super Bowl or they're trying to get to their second one and it's been even 1994 system mighty 49ers have actually won a Super Bowl I mean the bills haven't won a single one yet they get topped up like there's something and they haven't done much more than us neither has Lamar Jackson and the Ravens lately you could say they're very good but they're falling short as well.. I mean look at the Eagles just because lately they've had a little bit more success they still have one Super Bowl in 60 years it looked like all of a sudden Joe Burrows and the Cincinnati Bengals were about to take off and what they were able to get to a Super Bowl but they still have 0 Super Bowl wins.... Those droughts those gaps are much bigger than the Cowboys at least we're waiting on number six so this franchise is fine show me all the teams that have won more than three Super Bowls in 33 years I mean that is what Jerry didn't even know he did them all at the beginning of his tenure the fact is that there aren't many teams that have actually caught that number in the same amount of time... There's only one that I know of and I'd be the Patriots and maybe the Kansas City Chiefs on the verge.​

​

So yes I get it there's been a lot of disappointments and a lot of failed playoff runs but we are not a failure you might wanna go follow around The Jets and the Browns and probably about 17 to 20 other teams that you could call a failure before the Cowboys names come up.... Fact is this fan base can't appreciate the fact that we're winning games and making the playoffs on a regular basis to call us a failure is so ridiculous it's just insane and by the way if you're talking about Randall whatever his name was at running back are you kidding me teams pick players like him all the time you know like Ray Lewis had a murder charge on him nobody said anything because he turned out to be good that was just dumb luck that just happens but there are so many guys in the NFL where records that had problems in college I mean didn't Big Ben have rape charges filed on him? moss had incidents etc etc i can go all day because this is pretty regular thing in the NFL not a jerry thing..its sports imitate life because that where our player pool is taken from..

Stopped reading there. I ain’t reading that novel. You could’ve saved yourself the trouble if you weren’t so quick to get your thong twisted. You obviously don’t understand what hyperbole is.

 

[blueblood70]

Stopped reading there. I ain’t reading that novel. You could’ve saved yourself the trouble if you weren’t so quick to get your thong twisted. You obviously don’t understand what hyperbole is.

IDC where you stopped reading or if you read it at all , and didnt have to point it out you could have just went away quietly...rent free... hyperbole?? you mean drama queen?? ranting on like a like a spoiled toddler...that not hyperbole. that was straight overactive drama... i heard many teams looking for bandwagoners..many that deserve the title failures

 

[atlantacowboy]

All last offseason anytime a mike was put in his face he talked about running the football and eliminating the TO’s.

Fast forward to the first month of the season and the dink and dunk offense was born. It actually moved the ball ok, but we couldn’t score in the redzone for what seemed like a month.

After the SF game, things changed and he opened it up passing wise but the running game never did anything. From the SF game on Lamb was the most productive WR in football.

So what happened? We all saw the Oline was terrible at run blocking as backs would get hit in backfield repeatedly. They had this propensity to keep running off Center and off Guard all throughout the year.

How is it fixed? Get better Guards? We have two of the best in football. Get a new Oline coach? Change the run scheme? I was under the impression that was Schotty’s baby, and if it was he failed.

My point is we can’t expect to just bring in a new RB and do the same thing.

How can it be fixed?

The only thing that changed after the SF game was the schedule got easier and the offense found itself playing a lot of patsy defenses.

 

[Jfconrow]

They'll have to draft more OL, but without a high pick it'll take a few years to develop them. This might be the year they spend big money on a FA OT. I hope Tyler Smith's foot is okay, that might be a big problem. Then you have the 33 year old Tyron so Dallas is back to possibly needing a LT and LG. They need another RB too, I don't think they can go 1st round for that this year with the needs on DL and OL but a 3rd round RB would be good for a few years.

It seemed throughout the year they would run the ball into a pile frequently, just a wasted play. I don't know if that's play calling or what. I don't remember many big screen plays or passes to the RBs. It seemed like they didn't use the TEs very much either. Also other then Lamb, none of the other WRs showed up. It doesn't feel like its going to be an exciting offseason.

 

[kskboys]

They don’t but at least once in a season and I haven’t seen it at all.

Just googled it.

B Hall: 83
D Achane: 76
D Montgomery: 75
J Warren: 74
C McCaffrey: 72

Might be why you haven't seen it, only one big name.

 

[jterrell]

A lot of things conspired here IMO.

If you read Sturm's breakdowns I think he has this stuff covered well but MM has a dated WCO concept.
Run blitzers seemed to know what was coming and thus the RB and OL weren't dinged by any score or grade on the play yet it was blown up.
And the short WCO passing game is about bigger, more physical WR options. Guys like TO or Dez that can quick slant you to death. See Mike Evans in FA.
...
so they went to the AR game plan and Dak almost made MVP. See the soft match up pre-snap and punish him.
Yet it fizzled when teams could really cover guys longer while getting pressure with 4.

We never had a screen or short yardage package that really worked.
We never ran it well so play action was just for timing.
We didn't fool anyone, we just beat the bad coverages.

TP is not a bum but he is also not a franchise guy. I don't see him coming back as guys generally prefer to move along if they must take a step down in role or salary.
Tough call for Dallas though as they have so many holes to fill, can you really use say R2 on a RB?
Can you get as good as TP in free agency for 5M a year? Questionable at best there.
Can you get to Saquon Barkley money? Maybe, but man would it hurt in a couple seasons.

This off-season is going to require a lot of guys best work.
The last 2 rookie classes all need to take major steps forward.
We need to draft as well as possible with the limited picks.
We need superb cap mgmt.
We need coaches to innovate while leveraging the players skills they have.

It is a lot.

 

[MikeT22]

What happened? Did you witness the run game? It's obvious why they got away from the run game.

A big reason is they relied on a complimentary back who isn’t a premier back. Not to mention he was coming off an injury.

But continuing to think RBs are archaic and you can find one on day three of the draft, along with a QB, we should expect this.

 

[kskboys]

So what’s moores excuse for last year? It could be that Moore is also just a problem who struggles with when to run the ball.

and how.

 

[Chuck 54]

We can get better at RB, especially for the power game, but the problem wasn't the RBs.

• Scheme? I think that's some of it.....we don't do as much pulling as other teams, and our C is weak.
• Blocking? I think that's part of it.....C isn't powerful and he can't pull. TE blocking was pretty bad.
• Play-calling / timing? I don't know

Take your pick.

 

[kskboys]

We can get better at RB, especially for the power game, but the problem wasn't the RBs.

• Scheme? I think that's some of it.....we don't do as much pulling as other teams, and our C is weak.
• Blocking? I think that's part of it.....C isn't powerful and he can't pull. TE blocking was pretty bad.
• Play-calling / timing? I don't know

Take your pick.

The Rbs were a big part of the problem.

 

[Mr_437]

The season started.
Go get a run game coordinator because if the crew they had couldn't come up with better plays bring somebody else in to do it.

 

[Dorsett33]

A big reason is they relied on a complimentary back who isn’t a premier back. Not to mention he was coming off an injury.

But continuing to think RBs are archaic and you can find one on day three of the draft, along with a QB, we should expect this.

Yep! Same thing for LB. Having Safties play LB and wondering why you're getting bullied in the run game, is not rocket science to figure out.

 

[Typhus]

I don't see that as being hindsight.

If Jerry would only use or polls here for next draft picks.

 

[khiladi]

He

Early in the season I spent a lot of time watching Cowboys games focusing on the OL and running game. First, I did not see the Cowboys getting a lot of movement on defensive lines. DTs constantly held their ground and were not moved off their spots.

I saw guys pulling to the opposite side and missing their blocks. TEs and WR were not holding their blocks. This is critical is you want to run outside. receivers have to take a guy and get in his way or push him out of the way. You can't ask guys like Cooks to do that. Noah Brown used to do it when he was here but no one taking his place could do it as well. Tolbert is an awful blocker. CeeDee is adequate but it cannot be one guy.

Terence Steel is clearly not the run blocker he was in 2022 before his injury. He pulls to the left and hits the hole but his blocks were soft. A guy his size has to hit the hole with force and bounce is guy out of there. I have to say Zack Martin, after his calf injury, wasn't much better. Tyron was better than I have seen him in years, but he isn't a great run blockers either. He is a wall in pass protection though. Biadasz is not strong enough to take on the big DTs and NTs he faces.

The do okay when they double team block, but if the C and G take out a tackle with a double team, the tackle has to take out the DE on his side. That did not happen often enough.

One thing I thought about a lot during the season was the new OL coach. Other teams with no name OLs run the ball well, the Cowboys with two all pros can't.

Mike Solari has been coaching OL for decades, going back to the late 80s.