MM admits they didn't commit to the run

[SteveTheCowboy]

Saints game in Garrett's final season...

The won the first 3 games with Kellen Moore's style offense.

Then in game 4 vs the Saints, they 'stick to the run' which was obviously forced by Garrett and confirmed later by the Mickey and the dc.com people.
Result = Loss

Obviously there have been games when they needed more rushing attempts, but they can't just blindly 'commit' to run the ball.
- The opponent and the situation matter.

Again...that isn't what "commit" means.

For example...LAST year's Boys n Bucs game...Brady was driving for a winning score with clock running out. He still ran the ball a couple times.

I think a different example..that MM might be talking about...is THIS years Boys n Bucs game. We were running the ball well and just sort of went away...with trickery and passing.

It doesn't mean being single minded and stubborn. But...if you have 25 yards rushing in the first qtr....it doesn't mean you pass the rest of the game either.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

If only it was this simple.

Good lord you people...sheesh. No one said it was "just that simple".

So you are saying a run game is useless, I guess? Things haven't changed THAT much since 2016. Some of us a little older...but we still put some youngsters on the offense that can keep fireworks going while we grind them into the dirt.

 

[75boyz]

Mike McCarthy has only been top 10 in rushing attempts once and it was 2000 his first year as an offensive coordinator. Kellen Moore also did it once in 2019 his first year as an offensive coordinator. It's surprising to me how that team didn't finish better than 8-8. They started 3-0, had a top 10 offense and defense, but lost a lot of close games that probably came down to coaching and defenses inability to make plays at critical moments.

Bottom line neither head coach or offensive coordinator have ever been run heavy guys, so as much as they talk about it I don't know if it's something they can actually commit to regularly.

Really good post. This demonstrates patterns of behavior that are very hard to break no matter if you are talking about football or any other life behavior.

Not impossible to break but extremely rare.

Let's truly hope for an outlier this year with these coaches and the soon to be returning QB.

Stay committed to the run please.

As with the Dak This can be so simple post:
Dear offensive coaches/Dak,
You have the defense and special teams to support you this year. Stay committed to the run regardless of outcome.

Proper offensive balance is the recipe for postseason success.

 

[erod]

Good lord you people...sheesh. No one said it was "just that simple".

So you are saying a run game is useless, I guess? Things haven't changed THAT much since 2016. Some of us a little older...but we still put some youngsters on the offense that can keep fireworks going while we grind them into the dirt.

You set up the run with the pass. You set up the pass with the run.

If you can't run, you have to pass. If you can't pass, you're screwed.

The early 90s Cowboys passed early, and ran late. That's how truly good teams do it.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

It's not that simple, just committing to it doesn't work, we tried that, running Zeke into a wall last season.
Teams were taking away the middle, clogging the run and short passing game at the same time.

Rush is pulling the trigger and backing off the safeties and look at that, the running game opens up..
So have a passing threat, or nothing works.

Yep....the "run game" consisted of running zeke into the wall. That's the level of commitment? That's why we said it doesn't work?

That one play....delayed hand off up the middle, with the center getting knocked back even before the handoff.... was proof we shouldn't "commit" to the run?

Hmmm...seems we COULD try a little more flexibility and variety there...before we decommit.

 

[jazzcat22]

I think it's notable that Zeke is now treating Pollard as an equal. He hasn't done that until this season. He always wanted to get his 20 carries and be the feature back, which likely affected the chemistry on the offense. This is good news for the offense.

What does this say about where Zeke now sees his career and his future with the Cowboys? My guess, and totally a guess, is that Zeke will be willing to restructure after this season for less money. At this point, he knows he won't get a new contract from another team for big money.

Not true, Zeke was saying this last year as well.

 

[Mr_437]

McCarthy mentioned wearing down Pollard. Why are they so concerned about Pollard's workload when he's never been given a proper amount of touches consistently? Also get just get TP 10 to 15 touches a game and that's enough.

My suggestion to the concern of overworking TP is to use Rico Dowdle more. Yes, get this man around 5 touches a game to keep him engaged, prepared to play if an injury occurs, and to get another fresh RB to attack the defense.

 

[75boyz]

You set up the run with the pass. You set up the pass with the run.

If you can't run, you have to pass. If you can't pass, you're screwed.

The early 90s Cowboys passed early, and ran late. That's how truly good teams do it.

Deacon Moss posted it earlier that Dak needed to prove he is capable of beating the 8 in the box defense when they're all cheating up to the LOS.
Conversely, IF he is able to do this either Zeke, Pollard or both need to prove they can beat the light boxes.

Balance is the objective like you mention the 90s team here had.

However balance can be achieved is the solution.

 

[Mr_437]

Deacon Moss posted it earlier that Dak needed to prove he is capable of beating the 8 in the box defense when they're all cheating up to the LOS.
Conversely, IF he is able to do this either Zeke, Pollard or both need to prove they can beat the light boxes.

Balance is the objective like you mention the 90s team here had.

However balance can be achieved is the solution.

Do you think Rush is doing this?

 

[Whiskey Cowboy]

Not sure why they always keep saying, and even fans here on the forum, that it is so simple.... just run the dammmm ball. Well you can't just run the ball if the defense decides to put 8 men in the box and stuff your run. You have to be able to throw intermediate routes consistently and deep routes as well. Get the DBs back more than 10 to 15 yards off the LOS. Then your OL and TE can deal with the front 6 or 7. Rush has done that well. Setting up a decent run game. Dak needs to do the same, and not go to his check downs and short passes almost like handoffs. He has the whole defense playing him within 10 yards of the LOS. Of course you can't run like that. Committing to the run would be dumb.

The issue is the running game is forgotten, even when it's effective. We'll march down the field to the opponents 40 and get pass happy, stalling out drives. It isn't a matter of running into 8-man boxes, but rather passing into 7 and 8-man coverages when you don't have to.

Teams started dropping everyone into coverage last year because they didn't worry about or respect the run. Not because it wasn't effective, but because they knew when the offense would become pass happy, and they didn't fear getting gashed. That's when QB1 started having problems. It's becoming a trend across the league, leading to fewer passing yards and lower scores. The solution? Commit to running the damn ball.

 

[Ken]

So many bad takes in this thread...i can't even keep track of them all.

We haven't seen consistent loaded boxes, i say loaded bc 8 only happens when we have 7 blockers, in years. I am not sure what the posters are seeing but it isn't loaded boxes.

If you have evidence to the contrary, please present it.

 

[75boyz]

Do you think Rush is doing this?

I think he doesnt audible out of the run calls as has been reported that Dak does.. I also think he is more decisive with his defensive reads, trusts his WR route and gets the ball out much quicker.

Personally, I think Dak does just the opposite by audibling out of runs too much and holding on to the ball too long because he doesn't have the confidence to make the timing based throw or lacks the accuracy. Or both.

So to answer your question in the 2 games so far...
Yes, Rush is sticking with the more conservative gameplan that should be this team's blueprint to success regardless of who is at QB.

 

[noshame]

Yep....the "run game" consisted of running zeke into the wall. That's the level of commitment? That's why we said it doesn't work?

That one play....delayed hand off up the middle, with the center getting knocked back even before the handoff.... was proof we shouldn't "commit" to the run?

Hmmm...seems we COULD try a little more flexibility and variety there...before we decommit.

It's still not that simple it disrupts everything within 10 yds of the LOS. If you do not force defenses to cover the whole field you're screwed.
Thats why when Dak was moving around in 2016 everything worked,
Dak in the pocket is no good. Period.
You do not need to decommit to the run, just throw behind the defense ONCE IN A WHILE and you'll have a running game.

 

[Ken]

The issue is the running game is forgotten, even when it's effective. We'll march down the field to the opponents 40 and get pass happy, stalling out drives. It isn't a matter of running into 8-man boxes, but rather passing into 7 and 8-man coverages when you don't have to.

Teams started dropping everyone into coverage last year because they didn't worry about or respect the run. Not because it wasn't effective, but because they knew when the offense would become pass happy, and they didn't fear getting gashed. That's when QB1 started having problems. It's becoming a trend across the league, leading to fewer passing yards and lower scores. The solution? Commit to running the damn ball.

This guy gets it.

 

[Ken]

I think he doesnt audible out of the run calls as has been reported that Dak does.. I also think he is more decisive with his defensive reads, trusts his WR route and gets the ball out much quicker.

Personally, I think Dak does just the opposite by audibling out of runs too much and holding on to the ball too long because he doesn't have the confidence to make the timing based throw or lacks the accuracy. Or both.

So to answer your question in the 2 games so far...
Yes, Rush is sticking with the more conservative gameplan that should be this team's blueprint to success regardless of who is at QB.

Personally, I think you are making sweeping generalizations about Dak based on trying to run with a broken line and a broken RB, penalties and a horrible scheme.

This year the RBs are healthy and the line is MUCH improved in run blocking.

I know this may be shocking to a lot of you but they upgraded their OL with Steel and anyone at LG. I will also say that in the run game, Tyler has been exponentially better than Tyron maybe ever was.

Other than that, this mythical "Dak checks out of runs too much" theory is bogus with 0 evidence.

 

[cowboyec]

coach mccarthy is right.

 

[darealvelle]

West coast Cowboy told Mike to run the damn ball to his face and Mike heard it.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CuSUAIlgqY0

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AXBrHhfkU70

 

[guag]

You set up the run with the pass. You set up the pass with the run.

If you can't run, you have to pass. If you can't pass, you're screwed.

The early 90s Cowboys passed early, and ran late. That's how truly good teams do it.

Basically, pass to take the lead, run to keep the lead.

 

[Cowboyny]

I was screaming since last yr ended, the #1 offseason priority was to fix the run game. Teams were daring the Cowboys last yr to beat them on the ground with light boxes, they just couldn't do it. Zeke and Pollard had injuries, OL struggled badly without Tyron and they led the league in penalties. We always hear how important continuity is with the OL, we are starting to see, you don't need all stars across the board, as long as they are playing together.

 

[Loso86]

Not sure if this has been posted. I haven't seen it. Confirms what many have known/suspected.

"“We talked about this in training camp,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “We needed to run the ball better. More importantly, we needed to get more attempts at the plate. We needed to stay committed to it. I think we’ve definitely done that the last two weeks.”

The thing I'd like to know is why were they not committed? Some say Jerry wants Dak featured because of...well...40 million reasons. But Zeke is his boy too.

"McCarthy said being balanced has been the team’s winning formula as the run game has allowed Rush to operate with clean pockets in the passing game while also chewing up the clock to keep their defense off the field and rested.

“It starts with running the football,” McCarthy said."

Duh.

"But the Cowboys like the current distribution and remain cautious about wearing Pollard down, considering he has never carried a full load at running back going back to high school."

Yep.

"The best part about it as the Elliott and Pollard each other’s biggest fans, allowing the Cowboys to use them in tandem and interchangeably at a moments noticed:

This is something I have been saying. Pollard had been coming in a predictable times. Zeke raises his hand. Or 3rd series. Even if the same defense is out there...they know pretty much where to try to defend each RB. Now...not so much.

"Elliott is good with it because believes it’s the best way for the Cowboys to win.
And that’s all he cares about.
“All I’m worried about is winning football games and going to chase that ring,” Elliott said. “Do what we’ve got to do. We stay committed to the run and we keep getting those attempts, I think we’ll be successful.”

Good team mates!

Full article: https://www.yahoo.com/news/dallas-cowboys-stick-cooper-rush-095500046.html

Blame JJ all you want, I'm putting the blame on the boy wonder KM. Dude loves to pass