Red zone problems seem to continue.

Deep_South

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Our red zone is often longer than the red zone other teams face. In the last game, having a sack and a false start increased the length of one red zone from 20 yds to around 30. When you have to gain 30 yds to go 20, it isn't surprising that teams who who don't make mistakes and only have to go 20 yards score TD's more often.
 

TimHortons

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Again the thread was started talking about the first two games. That's the sample size in question. But by all means keep crying about the past everyone else is doing it. Near impossible to discuss anything logically here because the same old whiners with the same old complaints that they force fit into every discussion.

How is it illogical to point out that pretty much the same offense with the same core players continue to have the same problem? if we had overhauled our offense then yes talking about the past would be pointless but the OP was just pointing out thatt this is the exact same problem we've had before and therefore merits a discussion
 

Staubacher

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How is it illogical to point out that pretty much the same offense with the same core players continue to have the same problem? if we had overhauled our offense then yes talking about the past would be pointless but the OP was just pointing out thatt this is the exact same problem we've had before and therefore merits a discussion

Comparing two games to an entire season or even seasons IS illogical. Period. That's why my simple and correct response when the OP asked what can be done was "wait for a bigger sample size".
 

Hoofbite

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How many points are actually lost by being middle of the road in the redzone?

Dallas looks to get 3 redzone attempts per game. In 2012 anyway.

So on average they get a TD on 1.5 of those attempts, FG on the others......assuming no stupid turnovers.

1.5TDs = 10.5 points
1.5FGs = 4.5 points

15 redzone points.

Adjust it to 66% TD success.

2TDs = 14 points
1FG = 3 points

17 points.

Is that right? Little slow today and feel like I'm missing something.
 

percyhoward

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Historically, the more we've run the ball in the red zone, the greater our TD percentage. Out two best seasons in the red zone (2006 and 2008), we ran more than half the time. Our two worst seasons (2011 and 2012) were when we ran the least.

Percentage of red zone plays that were runs
Cowboys' offensive rank in red zone TD%
2006 61.5% (5th)
2007 49.3% (15th)
2008 50.9% (8th)
2009 47.0% (18th)
2010 49.0% (9th)
2011 43.2% (20th)
2012 32.5% (20th)

We've had 16 red zone plays in our first two games this year. 12 passes and 4 runs (and one of the "runs" was a botched snap).

Here is the percentage of plays from inside the 10-yard line that were runs, along with red zone TD rank:
2006 64.1% (5th)
2007 45.9% (15th)
2008 53.5% (8th)
2009 48.8% (18th)
2010 58.9% (9th)
2011 40.7% (20th)
2012 42.9% (20th)

When we've run more than passed inside the 10, our average red zone rank is 7th.

When we've passed more than run, the average rank is 18th.

Plays that resulted in TD or 1st down (from 10-yard line in), 2012:
38.1% of 21 runs
35.7% of 28 passes
 

OhSnap

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How many points are actually lost by being middle of the road in the redzone?

Dallas looks to get 3 redzone attempts per game. In 2012 anyway.

So on average they get a TD on 1.5 of those attempts, FG on the others......assuming no stupid turnovers.

1.5TDs = 10.5 points
1.5FGs = 4.5 points

15 redzone points.

Adjust it to 66% TD success.

2TDs = 14 points
1FG = 3 points

17 points.

Is that right? Little slow today and feel like I'm missing something.

Those 2 points would have been nice to have against KC. It's also gives teams a steady source of confidence to hold Dallas to fg's all the time something that can't be measured in numbers.
 

visionary

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After 2 games the Cowboys have converted only half of their red zone trips into td's. Too early to panic but that's very close to last years total 51% and it doesn't fell like nothing's changed. I'm thinking the passing game inside the RZ has got to get better and become a bigger threat to score. A year or 2 ago I would have said the running game was the answer but I don't know about that anymore.
So what's it gonna take to solve the scoring problem?

Bad OL
Bad running game
 

DallasJ7

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Our consistent ~50% red zone TD rate since 2011 really is unacceptable with a QB the quality of Romo. Through two games it's obviously fair to say that it's too early to glean much from this stat for this specific season, but it's also fair to consider that red zone scoring is a glaring weakness for this offense until proven otherwise.

Practically every team with good QB play was over 54% last year, with the top elite QBs over 60%. Even if we can just be around 55% by the end of the season, I'd consider that a solid improvement in that area.

Amusingly enough, the Patriots and Saints are currently the bottom 2 teams in red zone scoring this year with horrible percentages, but that truly is a matter of small sample size distorting things (as well as Brady having all his receivers injured/in jail).
 

Rockport

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No secret to red zone success. You've got to play smash mouth football and run the ball much better than we do.
 

nalam

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Bad OL
Bad running game

Yes no gimmicks will succeed in RZ. Teams know what is going to happen and unless we can run with some certainty when we need to and in RZ we need to , we can't have higher success.

I'm just hoping B.waters help a bit ...
 

Risen Star

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That's because our running game is a joke. For all the upgrades we supposedly made I haven't seen any improvement yet in our ability to move people up front.

When that changes we'll be a better red zone team.
 

big dog cowboy

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"doesn't feel like nothing's changed" this about sums up the entirety of this season and how its looking like it will shape up and shake out
Let's see 2 games into a new play caller with 3 new OL and a new defense and you are ready to proclaim what we have seen is looking like it will shape up and shake out?
 

CowboyMcCoy

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After 2 games the Cowboys have converted only half of their red zone trips into td's. Too early to panic but that's very close to last years total 51% and it doesn't fell like nothing's changed. I'm thinking the passing game inside the RZ has got to get better and become a bigger threat to score. A year or 2 ago I would have said the running game was the answer but I don't know about that anymore.
So what's it gonna take to solve the scoring problem?

Best avatar ever, by the way.

Callahan really screwed up with that lateral pass to Williams. People say, well, Dez was open. That play was designed to be a quick lateral pass... it didn't pan out. But that's what you get when you don't throw the ball forward.

Terrible call.
 

CowboyMcCoy

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That's because our running game is a joke. For all the upgrades we supposedly made I haven't seen any improvement yet in our ability to move people up front.

When that changes we'll be a better red zone team.

To be fair, there is really no commitment to the run. So no matter about upgrades, we won't be running the ball anyway. It's the Jason Garrett way.
 

percyhoward

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1.5TDs = 10.5 points
1.5FGs = 4.5 points

15 redzone points.

Adjust it to 66% TD success.

2TDs = 14 points
1FG = 3 points

17 points.
I like the logic of this post. 2 points per game is basically a difference of those upper echelon teams getting a TD instead of a FG (4-point boost) in every other game.

The Cowboys have played more close games than any other team over the last two seasons plus, trailing by 4 or less at the end of regulation in 8 of their 17 losses. A TD instead of a FG in every other game changes their record considerably.
 

RS12

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Red zone problems seem to continue.

When opposing D coordinators know you cant run the ball makes their job 50% easier.
 

cowboys1981

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If we're inside the 5 use Hatcher or Costa as a FB. Outside of that in the RZ hit that fade route to Dez
 

jblaze2004

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3 reasons, no run game, offensive penalties and no creativity on offense
 

KJJ

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The Cowboys continue to shoot themselves in the foot with redzone penalties usually a pre snap penalty or a holding call then Romo ends up taking a sack which kills the drive and leads to a FG attempt.
 

jobberone

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Historically, the more we've run the ball in the red zone, the greater our TD percentage. Out two best seasons in the red zone (2006 and 2008), we ran more than half the time. Our two worst seasons (2011 and 2012) were when we ran the least.

Percentage of red zone plays that were runs
Cowboys' offensive rank in red zone TD%
2006 61.5% (5th)
2007 49.3% (15th)
2008 50.9% (8th)
2009 47.0% (18th)
2010 49.0% (9th)
2011 43.2% (20th)
2012 32.5% (20th)

We've had 16 red zone plays in our first two games this year. 12 passes and 4 runs (and one of the "runs" was a botched snap).

Here is the percentage of plays from inside the 10-yard line that were runs, along with red zone TD rank:
2006 64.1% (5th)
2007 45.9% (15th)
2008 53.5% (8th)
2009 48.8% (18th)
2010 58.9% (9th)
2011 40.7% (20th)
2012 42.9% (20th)

When we've run more than passed inside the 10, our average red zone rank is 7th.

When we've passed more than run, the average rank is 18th.

Plays that resulted in TD or 1st down (from 10-yard line in), 2012:
38.1% of 21 runs
35.7% of 28 passes

While I tend to believe these stats are reflective for decreased runs being predictive for decreased RZ sucess you have to consider that not being able to run makes u pass. I've seen them try to run the ball three straight times and fail enough to understand the predicament Garrett is in.

I tend to think we have a high pass rate and low RZ% because we can't run not because we don't run.

Been saying this for years.
 
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