Offensive funk or Fatigue?

[nalam]

or loss of focus with 3 games in 12 days against good opponents?

Now that there is a blueprint has been developed though difficult to execute , attack the right side (Free) also run blitz with safeties to limit our offense and throw short all day , have a half-decent run game to keep our D on field ,do we need to worry?

I thought Linehan would adjust but didnt see that in the Vikings game , he didnt put a game plan to get rid of the ball quicker , with hot routes etc , when run game was not going good , Dak took too many lickings to my liking and held the ball too long.

We have lost TOP in 2 consecutive games as well. Luckily we won both , with the skins game atleast we scored in most possessions that too TDs , but Vikings game wasnt too good. except for that Kyle Wibur recovery we could have lost. A team with decent offense and strong defense can play us using the blueprint .

Any ideas , how to counter the copycat league ?

Lets discuss!

My suggestion is to have mis direction run plays in the staple of plays handy , from a Pass set look - bunch receivers right, but run left with allowing penetration on right , give the ball to Zeke , with some room in front and let him beat the high safety.

 

[Beats_By_Zeke]

Put Romo in and run the wildcat?

 

[Wood]

Few things I would try:

1. Get Twill more involved. Alot of teams are able to roll out really good CB who are going straight up with Dez. Xavier played very strong game and allowed Minny to walk those safeties up. Offenses have to make them pay by hitting 2nd WR. There will be games were LBs are athletic enough to take Witten & Beasley out. Twill has to play important part going forward. Note: I just read that NYG will let Janoris Jenkins travel with Antonio Brown the whole Pitts game. Expect the same with Dez next week.

2. Speed up Dak release. One thing I have noticed is Dak has gotten bit too comfortable playing behind elite pass blocking OL most of season but is leaking some oil at RT. He will have to read/release sooner as he is holding ball too long. No reason he can't hit Dez on quick slants all night.

3. Consider alternating Free/Green thru game. I have read that Chaz Green should be go for NYG game. Let these two alternate during game. This will give Chaz chance to audition for next year while giving aging Free a breather.

 

[Cowboys22]

3rd game in 12 days against the #1 defense in the league with 60% of your big plays being called back on penalties. Without the penalties they would have won by two scores. Give Minnesota credit. They played well and had a great defensive game plan. They were on an emotional high due to having their head coach out with a serious eye injury. The crowd was loud and rocking like a playoff atmosphere. After all of that, they still won. There is nothing to worry about at all. Go look at any good team's schedule for any year and you will see tough games with very close scores. Denver barely beat the Browns last year and went on to win the super bowl. Teams have bad games from time to time. Dallas is not all of a sudden a mediocre team because of one tough week against the best defense in the NFL.

 

[JohnsKey19]

The Skins game was fine. I believe we scored on 5 of our 8 possesions, including 4-5 TDs when in the red zone.

The Minnesota game was all about their defense. They are #1 or #2 and it showed. They simply won the battle. The only NFC team that can come close to duplicating what Minny did defensively is Seattle. I will worry about that when/if we make it to the NFC title game.

 

[Hawkeye19]

I think the performance dip in Minny was due to 3 factors:

1. The Vikings have a great D and they played well against us overall
2. That is a tough stadium to play in and the Vikings were the more desperate team
3. We were tired and playing our 3rd game in 11 days

I don't see a defense on our remaining schedule that is close to Minnesota's or Baltimore's. NY is decent, but I think we play a much better game than we did in week one-- and after 10 days to rest and study our film-- I think we win by 10+ and wrap up the division.

 

[KJJ]

What we saw the other night was mostly a result of playing the #1 defense and some stupid penalties that put us behind the chains and cost us some nice plays. We were in 3rd in long much of the night mostly due to our own mistakes. Their defense was affecting us causing some of those penalties but we have to clean the mental mistakes up or they will cost us a game.

 

[ChronicCowboy]

Offense is slowing down. Dak needs to get his touch back. He has been running well but his passing has dipped a bit in terms of consistency. They will stack with 8 until Dak hits guys downfield.

 

[robbieruff]

I think the performance dip in Minny was due to 3 factors:

1. The Vikings have a great D and they played well against us overall
2. That is a tough stadium to play in and the Vikings were the more desperate team
3. We were tired and playing our 3rd game in 11 days

I don't see a defense on our remaining schedule that is close to Minnesota's or Baltimore's. NY is decent, but I think we play a much better game than we did in week one-- and after 10 days to rest and study our film-- I think we win by 10+ and wrap up the division.

I would also add to your great list that we also just played a hotly contested and emotional national game with our chief division rival which almost always leads to an emotional and mental letdown. Add that to point #3 particularly and it's a minor miracle we got out of there with a win. Previous seasons would've for sure seen us with one in the L column after that game. This team has a different kind of fight in them.

 

[Hawkeye19]

I would also add to your great list that we also just played a hotly contested and emotional national game with our chief division rival which almost always leads to an emotional and mental letdown. Add that to point #3 particularly and it's a minor miracle we got out of there with a win. Previous seasons would've for sure seen us with one in the L column after that one. This team has a different kind of fight in them.

Yah-- Thanksgiving was definitely a game where we left it all out on the field. Proud of the way this team fights and handles adversity.

 

[KJJ]

Offense is slowing down. Dak needs to get his touch back. He has been running well but his passing has dipped a bit in terms of consistency. They will stack with 8 until Dak hits guys downfield.

He completed 66.7% of his passes on Thursday night which is the lowest percentage he's had in the past 5 games. Minn has the #1 defense and they put some heat on him. Some here seem to expect him and our offense to be perfect every week. Dak's touch was fine he only missed on 6 passes and that's the only game we've been slowed down in other than the opener but some of it was our own doing with costly penalties that negated some nice plays including a 40+ yard run by Zeke. We couldn't get into a rhythm because we kept shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties that were putting us behind the chains. We were our own worst enemy.

 

[THEHEREAFTER]

11-1

 

[T-RO]

or loss of focus with 3 games in 12 days against good opponents?

Now that there is a blueprint has been developed though difficult to execute , attack the right side (Free) also run blitz with safeties to limit our offense and throw short all day , have a half-decent run game to keep our D on field ,do we need to worry?.

I don't understand this alleged blueprint? I don't see teams doing anything different. And how are the results different? We had close games early in the year and have had close games now.

The Vikings threw the ball 71% of plays. Skins 74%. Is that what you are thinking teams will do?

The Vikings and Ravens have superior talent on defense. That's not blueprint that other teams can follow....just great defense.

I guess I don't understand your post.

 

[Proximo]

He completed 66.7% of his passes on Thursday night which is the lowest percentage he's had in the past 5 games. Minn has the #1 defense and they put some heat on him. Some here seem to expect him and our offense to be perfect every week. Dak's touch was fine he only missed on 6 passes and that's the only game we've been slowed down in other than the opener but some of it was our own doing with costly penalties that negated some nice plays including a 40+ yard run by Zeke. We couldn't get into a rhythm because we kept shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties.

I think some folks underestimate the affect of those penalties (whether they were good calls or bad calls). Those flags really took the wind out of our sails. It's near impossible to get our offense rolling the way we like when we're consistently facing long down and distance, and multiple big, game changing plays are called back. Plus we were facing one of the best defenses in the league, which happened to be our 3rd game in 12 days, and followed a huge divisional win.

If the stage was ever set for Min to beat us, Thursday night was it. And we still won. And it was a couple of plays from not even being that close.

 

[reddyuta]

Dak got to know by now that Free is not Tyron, I was screaming at him to get the ball out, he better watch out for JPP.

 

[T-RO]

Offense is slowing down. Dak needs to get his touch back. He has been running well but his passing has dipped a bit in terms of consistency. They will stack with 8 until Dak hits guys downfield.

Huh?

Dak had 6 incomplete passes and 7 against the Skins. We had to punt only twice against Washington.

Against the Vikings we were stopped by turnovers, penalties and good Viking defense.

How has Dak lost his touch?

What games are you watching?

 

[SDCowboy]

There isn't much to discuss. We played an amazing defense, for whatever reason the playcalling was never adjusted, and the team had a sloppy game. We aren't going to completely manhandle every single opponent.

 

[SDCowboy]

Offense is slowing down. Dak needs to get his touch back. He has been running well but his passing has dipped a bit in terms of consistency. They will stack with 8 until Dak hits guys downfield.

lolwut?

 

[BrassCowboy]

like a few others have said, one thing we have seen consistent is quality of defense. Vikings were playing like hungry underdogs with a really really good defense to do it. We won, close or not, it was a win.

 

[gmoney112]

It was one game, their 3rd in 12 days, against the best defense in the NFL.

Can't tell if srs