Red Zone Offense- what's different?

[Richmond Cowboy]

Cowboys RZO

2016 #5
2017 #7
2018 #31

What is different about the offense? True we are missing our all-pro center but Looney has filled in admirably (up until this last game). Did Dez and Witten draw that much attention that it opened up other scoring opportunities in the RZ?

Last season Dez was #10 and Witten #38 in RZ targets. We need somebody to step up in the RZ. Who will it be? The TEs have steadily improved, in fact Jarwin and Schultz were both open on the Olawale drop. Rico? More Dak run options? We can only pound Zeke into 11 man fronts so many times before we need something different...

 

[Parcells4Life]

The RG has been hampered by a bad knee all year and the LG has lacked power for the first 9 games and again vs Indy.

That and dropped TDs have killed this offense

 

[Flamma]

Cowboys RZO

2016 #5
2017 #7
2018 #31

What is different about the offense? True we are missing our all-pro center but Looney has filled in admirably (up until this last game). Did Dez and Witten draw that much attention that it opened up other scoring opportunities in the RZ?

Last season Dez was #10 and Witten #38 in RZ targets. We need somebody to step up in the RZ. Who will it be? The TEs have steadily improved, in fact Jarwin and Schultz were both open on the Olawale drop. Rico? More Dak run options? We can only pound Zeke into 11 man fronts so many times before we need something different...

I'm afraid it's not as simple as missing targets, we're just not running those plays anymore. Remember that seam route Witten used to run from around the 15-20 yard line that Dak hit in the endzone on numerous occasions? Or the fade to Dez or TWill? You can literally throw a fade to anyone, they just don't run those plays. On the winning TD pass to Cooper against the Eagles, Cooper could have just as easily ran a fade, but they made him run a short slant. In hindsight the fade was there.

 

[Sydla]

Some will blame the loss of Witten and Dez but I think there's more to this than that.

I think OL injuries have been a factor. I think the play calling has been suspect at times. I think the QB has made mistakes in the RZ as well.

And then there is just generally bad luck crap like a FB dropping a wide open TD.

 

[conner01]

Some of its oline, some execution, some not having dez as a target and witten who both drew attention and had good redzone skills

 

[texbumthelife]

The main difference is this team is still asking its players to line up and win their one on one matchups. When the fields gets smaller and there is less space, it's harder to just win those matchups straight up. Then, you throw in a patchwork line that's getting dominated inside and that takes away the short yardage run game.

It's the same old thing with this team. The coaches either can't or refuse to adapt to the roster they have. They continue to try and fit square pegs into round holes. They continue to find something that works and then never use it again. Also, elementary things like running to the weak side of a jumbo formation with a struggling offensive line.

The Colts game really should have gotten Linehan fired. I mean, he should have been fired a long time ago, but that's the one that should have broken the bonds this season.

 

[conner01]

Some will blame the loss of Witten and Dez but I think there's more to this than that.

I think OL injuries have been a factor. I think the play calling has been suspect at times. I think the QB has made mistakes in the RZ as well.

And then there is just generally bad luck crap like a FB dropping a wide open TD.

In just the last few games we’ve had Beasley drop a td and the FB
It’s lots of factors from the targets, oline, QB, exacution
But it has to get fixed

 

[visionary]

Cowboys RZO

2016 #5
2017 #7
2018 #31

What is different about the offense? True we are missing our all-pro center but Looney has filled in admirably (up until this last game). Did Dez and Witten draw that much attention that it opened up other scoring opportunities in the RZ?

Last season Dez was #10 and Witten #38 in RZ targets. We need somebody to step up in the RZ. Who will it be? The TEs have steadily improved, in fact Jarwin and Schultz were both open on the Olawale drop. Rico? More Dak run options? We can only pound Zeke into 11 man fronts so many times before we need something different...

1. Bad QB play
2. Bad coaching and play calls
3. Average OL

 

[CF74]

1/3 o-line issues
1/3 coaching
1/3 Dak or receiver issues

Give or take...

 

[NextGenBoys]

We should run the zone read option or PA off of it two or three times every single trip inside the red zone. I think that is clearly the play we have the most success with in the RZ

I don't think we ran it once vs the Colts.

 

[Creeper]

I think its a lot of things but mostly lack of confidence in the offensive line. They used to line up and just hand off to Zeke who would power into the end zone. Zeke never lost yards. But now then they run Zeke, they seem to use plays that take time to develop. The use misdirection and alignments to fool the defense rather than just a quick handoff and dive into the endzone from 1 yard out. Take the play against the Colts where Zeke lost 4 yards. What was that? The line was blocking to the left instead of straight ahead. They were trying some kind of play where the loaded the right side of the line then ran left hoping to fool the Colts. For 1 yard? Just line up block straight ahead and let Zeke power in for the yard.

Obviously Linehan was concerned that Williams and Looney couldn't do that so he went to the trickery. What I don;t get is if you thought you couldn't win a 1 yard battle up the middle then why run there at all? Why not pitch out to Zeke and see if he can get outside? Or run a RPO? or better yet, if you don;t think your OL can win a 1 yard battle at the goal line then kick the FG and get some points on the board. Look at all the Cowboys drives insie teh 10 yard line and you will see they use more trickery than straight power, even with one of the best RBs in the league.

 

[Clove]

When teams decide to take away what we do, our offensive coordinator becomes baffled.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Red Zone Offense- what's different?

Cowboys RZO

2016 #5
2017 #7
2018 #31

Bad coaching, bad play calling, bad play design, average OL.

Simple as that.

 

[khiladi]

Dak is taking a lot of sacks with his horrible pocket presence. Plenty of times he’s back-pedaling when he throws, when there is no need to, causing his passes to be floated and short.

 

[northerncowboynation]

Cowboys RZO

2016 #5
2017 #7
2018 #31

What is different about the offense? True we are missing our all-pro center but Looney has filled in admirably (up until this last game). Did Dez and Witten draw that much attention that it opened up other scoring opportunities in the RZ?

Last season Dez was #10 and Witten #38 in RZ targets. We need somebody to step up in the RZ. Who will it be? The TEs have steadily improved, in fact Jarwin and Schultz were both open on the Olawale drop. Rico? More Dak run options? We can only pound Zeke into 11 man fronts so many times before we need something different...

in a hyphenated word O-line. 3 pro bowlers in 2016 and 2017. Maybe one, dubious at that, in 2018. Just a thought

 

[xwalker]

Cowboys RZO

2016 #5
2017 #7
2018 #31

What is different about the offense? True we are missing our all-pro center but Looney has filled in admirably (up until this last game). Did Dez and Witten draw that much attention that it opened up other scoring opportunities in the RZ?

Last season Dez was #10 and Witten #38 in RZ targets. We need somebody to step up in the RZ. Who will it be? The TEs have steadily improved, in fact Jarwin and Schultz were both open on the Olawale drop. Rico? More Dak run options? We can only pound Zeke into 11 man fronts so many times before we need something different...

OL.

 

[cowboyblue22]

The RG has been hampered by a bad knee all year and the LG has lacked power for the first 9 games and again vs Indy.

That and dropped TDs have killed this offense

bad line play bad qb play dropped passes and bad play calls and penalities

 

[ItzKelz]

OL

 

[LovinItAll]

I'm afraid it's not as simple as missing targets, we're just not running those plays anymore. Remember that seam route Witten used to run from around the 15-20 yard line that Dak hit in the endzone on numerous occasions? Or the fade to Dez or TWill? You can literally throw a fade to anyone, they just don't run those plays. On the winning TD pass to Cooper against the Eagles, Cooper could have just as easily ran a fade, but they made him run a short slant. In hindsight the fade was there.

Sorry, it wasn't. The back was turning to defend the fade as Dak let the ball go.

 

[Roadtrip635]

poor OL play mostly due to injuries, we had 3 backup players on the interior this past game
The loss of both Witten and Hanna has also had an effect on the OL as both were very good blockers

poor TE play the 3 active TEs had a combined 0 catches in a real NFL game before this season

We lost Dez and Witten, that were experienced and big RZ targets.



It doesn't matter who else was open on that pass, Olawale was the primary read and was open, he just dropped it