Bobhaze
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After watching the outstanding series “All or Nothing”, I was struck by how much our coaching staff seemed to stick with the same offensive tendencies whether they continued to work or not. Garrett is often seen repeating the mantra “We just need to fight harder” when the team has a bad game. “Fight” is a great slogan, but in the NFL, fighting hard is not enough. You have to sometimes have some new wrinkles.
If fact what this team desperately needs from its coaching staff going into 2018 is creativity, especially on offense. I know it’s popular on these boards for fans to scream, “Just run the ball”, as if all we need to do for 60 straight plays is hand it to Zeke. The NFL is never that simple.
Looking back on the 2017 season, it was a tale of two seasons on offense. In the first 8 games of the season, we went 5-3 (should have been 6-2 or 7-1), averaged 28 points a game, which was 5th in the NFL, averaged 379 yds a game (8th in NFL). In the last 8 games, we averaged 16 points a game (28th in NFL) and 293 yds a game (26th).
First half of the season, we had Zeke and Tyron Smith, the last half we had Zeke for 2 games and Tyron for 3 and a half. Sure that hurt, but is this team going to fold anytime key starters are hurt? Is that just the way it’s going to be? We have to depend on injury good luck to remain a good offense?
Somehow Doug Pederson was able to get the beagles offense continue to hum all the way to a SB without its star QB and it’s starting LT. How? Through creativity and some risk taking in key moments.
When Nick Foles started the playoffs, conventional wisdom was that the beagles were toast and that Pederson would just have a few basic plays for Foles to run as a bus driver. Instead, we saw that offense roll out some unusual plays and creative formations that threw DCs into head scratching fits. All based on finding creative ways to make the offense less predictable and more edgy.
It’s no secret the Cowboys coaching staff likes these formations best:
1. “12 Personnel”- 1 RB, 2 TEs and 2 WRs. They run this formation over 50% of the time, regardless of opponent, regardless of who’s playing for us.
2. “11 Personnel” - 1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WRs- second most common formation, most often used for passing situations. The RB can be used as a slot receiver in an empty set.
3. “22 Personnel”- 2 RBs, 2 TEs, 1 WR- a common formation for short yardage and goal line situations.
These are not the only formations of course, but my point is, the Cowboys are actually pretty predictable on offense. I don’t care how great your OL and skill people are, in 2018 NFL world you cannot just run the same stuff a la the 90s Cowboys. Those days are long gone.
With the addition of Tavon Austin and the new “committee” approach at WR, the Cowboys can be much less predictable by spreading the ball around between more options, and getting more creative with Zeke as well. Just asking your players to “fight harder” isn’t enough.
Thoughts?
If fact what this team desperately needs from its coaching staff going into 2018 is creativity, especially on offense. I know it’s popular on these boards for fans to scream, “Just run the ball”, as if all we need to do for 60 straight plays is hand it to Zeke. The NFL is never that simple.
Looking back on the 2017 season, it was a tale of two seasons on offense. In the first 8 games of the season, we went 5-3 (should have been 6-2 or 7-1), averaged 28 points a game, which was 5th in the NFL, averaged 379 yds a game (8th in NFL). In the last 8 games, we averaged 16 points a game (28th in NFL) and 293 yds a game (26th).
First half of the season, we had Zeke and Tyron Smith, the last half we had Zeke for 2 games and Tyron for 3 and a half. Sure that hurt, but is this team going to fold anytime key starters are hurt? Is that just the way it’s going to be? We have to depend on injury good luck to remain a good offense?
Somehow Doug Pederson was able to get the beagles offense continue to hum all the way to a SB without its star QB and it’s starting LT. How? Through creativity and some risk taking in key moments.
When Nick Foles started the playoffs, conventional wisdom was that the beagles were toast and that Pederson would just have a few basic plays for Foles to run as a bus driver. Instead, we saw that offense roll out some unusual plays and creative formations that threw DCs into head scratching fits. All based on finding creative ways to make the offense less predictable and more edgy.
It’s no secret the Cowboys coaching staff likes these formations best:
1. “12 Personnel”- 1 RB, 2 TEs and 2 WRs. They run this formation over 50% of the time, regardless of opponent, regardless of who’s playing for us.
2. “11 Personnel” - 1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WRs- second most common formation, most often used for passing situations. The RB can be used as a slot receiver in an empty set.
3. “22 Personnel”- 2 RBs, 2 TEs, 1 WR- a common formation for short yardage and goal line situations.
These are not the only formations of course, but my point is, the Cowboys are actually pretty predictable on offense. I don’t care how great your OL and skill people are, in 2018 NFL world you cannot just run the same stuff a la the 90s Cowboys. Those days are long gone.
With the addition of Tavon Austin and the new “committee” approach at WR, the Cowboys can be much less predictable by spreading the ball around between more options, and getting more creative with Zeke as well. Just asking your players to “fight harder” isn’t enough.
Thoughts?
