Our offense needs to have more possessions

[AMERICAS_FAN]

Here's an interesting tidbit from an article on DC.com today.

...the Cowboys have run only 18 drives all season, the lowest mark in the NFL. The average team has run 22 drives though the season's first two weeks, and the Bucs have started 23 drives. Nonetheless, the 'Boys are only 23rd in the league in points-per-drive (1.72).​

Yes the offense killed some of its drives with dropped passes in Seattle, but the real culprit here is special teams turning the ball over and the defense not getting off the field.

Now we're playing the Bucs and they are similar to Seattle in that they very much are a run first team. What I would hate to see happen is for us to go into this game with the same soft zone defense that only helps keep opposing tea s' drives alive.

Discuss!

 

[Yakuza Rich]

We only had 1 special team turnover.

The blocked punt scored a TD, so we got the ball right back.

We had a ton of 3 and outs, in part due to dropped passes.

The defense has to get turnovers, it's something that has plagued this team and you can see it from a statistical standpoint. Had we been able to generate the average amount of NFL turnovers we probably make the playoffs in 2008, face the Vikings in the NFC Championship game in 2009 and make the playoffs in 2011 (yes, we still would have sucked in 2010).

But overall, the poor play by the offense against Seattle is why the team has such a low amount of possessions.






YR

 

[Hoov]

We only had 1 special team turnover.

The blocked punt scored a TD, so we got the ball right back.

We had a ton of 3 and outs, in part due to dropped passes.

The defense has to get turnovers, it's something that has plagued this team and you can see it from a statistical standpoint. Had we been able to generate the average amount of NFL turnovers we probably make the playoffs in 2008, face the Vikings in the NFC Championship game in 2009 and make the playoffs in 2011 (yes, we still would have sucked in 2010).

But overall, the poor play by the offense against Seattle is why the team has such a low amount of possessions.






YR

But whether you run 3 plays and punt or run 20 plays and score a TD isnt it still only 1 possession ?

Im thinking the number of possessions increases in a shootout or a game were each team goes 3 and out because your taking little time off the clock.

And a game with long sustained drives would result in a fewer number of possessions.

 

[Omegasupreme]

Running the ball prevents dropped passes.

 

[Tabascocat]

18 drives because:
1. penalties
2. 3 and outs or 3rd and longs due to reason #1
3. lack of takeaways

 

[TheDude]

Some has to do with running the clock down to 0 all the time. Assume 60 plays @ 6 extra seconds and that is 6 more minutes in a game.

 

[AbeBeta]

Running the ball prevents dropped passes.

It also tends to prevent first downs.

 

[Hoofbite]

Some has to do with running the clock down to 0 all the time. Assume 60 plays @ 6 extra seconds and that is 6 more minutes in a game.

If the clock kept running after every play.

OB
Incompletions
Penalties
Timeouts
Reviews
Quarter Ends
2-Minute Warnings

 

[TheDude]

If the clock kept running after every play.

OB
Incompletions
Penalties
Timeouts
Reviews
Quarter Ends
2-Minute Warnings

Fair, but it probably accounts for 2 minutes a game. I was using fast math, if it was 10 seconds to snap its more time in the game than if snapped at 1 second, even if you assume it the clock is stopped 50% of the time

 

[AMERICAS_FAN]

But whether you run 3 plays and punt or run 20 plays and score a TD isnt it still only 1 possession ?

Im thinking the number of possessions increases in a shootout or a game were each team goes 3 and out because your taking little time off the clock.

And a game with long sustained drives would result in a fewer number of possessions.

That's what I'm thinking. It would be interesting to know the number of posessions and average time of possession by opposing offenses. The more times and longer our defense lets them hold onto the ball the fewer opportunities we get on offense.

 

[Little Jr]

Its not the D. The O #1 purpose is to score pts. They have scored 31 in 2 games. That's not good enough. The D has given up 30. That is just fine. The D did their job in both games and played well enough to be 2-0. Th O did not.

 

[Hoov]

That's what I'm thinking. It would be interesting to know the number of posessions and average time of possession by opposing offenses. The more times and longer our defense lets them hold onto the ball the fewer opportunities we get on offense.

Tampa Bay has the most possessions and they were just in a shootout with the NYG. Seattle was able to kill the clock in the second half so that is why our number are low. I bet seattles numbers are low as well.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

I agree fully. We must be a balanced football team. It's no coincidence that we beat the Giants in Week 1 after having over 100 yards on the ground. Running the ball effectively is key because it tooks pressure off our quarterback Tony Romo and it sets up play action which obviously leads to big plays down the field.

You look at last week we only ran the ball 13 time for a measly 45 yards. That's not good enough. With our lack of a good offensive line we simply can't force Romo to throw so many times. Against the Giants he only threw the ball 29 times. Against Seattle he threw 40 times which is far too many IMO. If the Cowboys wanna be a legit contender this season they must be a balanced football team consistently.

 

[CowboyMike]

One side to look at this is the fact that our offense was really efficient and ate up time of possession in the Giants game. Especially in the second half.

 

[Hoofbite]

I'd prefer they make the most of the possession they get rather than simply get more possessions.

If Dallas gets more possessions, so does the other team.

With the way the offense is basically boom or bust, any team with a minimal amount of consistency will eventually put up points while Dallas keeps searching for the big play that never comes.

Be more consistent with the chances they already have would be my choice.

Reduce 3-4 plays and punt occurrences and win the battle for field position.

 

[bark]

two games is a small sample size

 

[AMERICAS_FAN]

two games is a small sample size

It's more than 2 games; it's based on 2 weeks of league- wide play.

Plus, there is only one NFL and all games over those 2 weeks are represented. So in this case the sample - regardless of its small size - is closely representative of the full population of games played in the first part of the season.

The fact remains that Dallas is ranked last in terms of number of offensive opportunities.

Early in the offseason Garrett preached about the importance of an improved defense not just to stop opponents, but more importantly to give the offense more scoring opportunities.

As early in the season as it is, this does not fare well towards meeting that objective.

 

[bark]

This can be turned around with one good game... Just like the putrid game in Seattle skews the numbers downward.

Mid season if we are still at the bottom......

And for the record, I'm all for more posessions.

 

[TheFinisher]

This is more troublesome IMO.

Nonetheless, the 'Boys are only 23rd in the league in points-per-drive (1.72).​

 

[AdamJT13]

Getting more possessions is a worthless goal. It doesn't matter how many possessions you have, as long as you maximize them and don't give the opponent extra possessions (ie., fumbling a kickoff or punt so your offense loses a possession). If you have more possessions, your opponent almost certainly will have more possessions, too (unless you can get them to fumble on special teams). And the flip side of having only 18 possessions is that our defense has faced only 17.

People need to stop looking at team stats as totals and start looking at them in context of games and how to win them.