FEATURED Some thoughts on the game

[jobberone]

Good post, I agree with almost everything except for dink and dunk stuff, most of their throws seem very basic, a lot of slants and drags and check downs. Both games. They threw the ball down the field to Dez and Twill 1 time. They have to let Miles run some seems,double moves, 10-20 yard digs stuff like that because all Miles catches this year have been slants between 7-11 yards they have to get him more involved with more complex routes. Witten too, he's running a hook or a short out route and its becoming fairly easy to defend. Even on Witten 2 TDs he had defenders draped all over him and had to make good catches to make the play. I'm not saying they have to throw the ball 40+ yards down the field more than once or twice a game but it seems like its either a fade to Dez or a slant/drag for 5-10 yards for someone else. I'd like to see some more pass throw in the 15-20 yard range a lot more. It seems like we are getting predictable again with this very simplified offense. Hopefully I'm wrong but that just what I see after 2 games

Dallas Cowboys-Passing

Deep Left (2/2, 58 yards)
TargetsCatchesYdsTD
Dez Bryant 1_1_38_0
Terrance Williams 1_1_20_0

Deep Middle (0/0, 0 yards)

Deep Right (1/2, 53 yards)
TargetsCatchesYdsTD
Dez Bryant 2_1_53_0

Short Left (12/20, 87 yards)
TargetsCatchesYdsTD
Miles Austin 3_2_22_0
Dez Bryant 4_2_18_0
Lance Dunbar 1_1_4_0
Gavin Escobar 1_1_9_0
James Hanna 2_2_14_0
DeMarco Murray 3_3_22_0
Jason Witten 6_1_2_0

Short Middle (2/4, 12 yards, 1 TD)
TargetsCatchesYdsTD
Dez Bryant 2_1_2_1
DeMarco Murray 1_0_0_0
Jason Witten 1_1_10_0

Short Right (13/14, 88 yards)
TargetsCatchesYdsTD
Miles Austin 1_1_9_0
Dez Bryant 4_4_30_0
James Hanna 3_2_6_0
Dwayne Harris 1_1_4_0
DeMarco Murray 2_2_27_0
Terrance Williams 2_2_8_0
Jason Witten 1_1_4_0

There were 4 deep passes one called back for PI with one dropped to be correct. But I agree we didn't go deep enough. Perhaps Romo couldn't throw the ball deep later in the game. He had no problems early on. Again it was clear he was intimidated by the blitz even the appearance of it. Not a great game by Romo although not nearly as bad as some claim. Someone even said Romo threw back to back INTs which is not true.

Perhaps the offense will be more aggressive next week if Romo can throw the ball. If not then they are being illogical to not put Orton in if so.

 

[iceman117]

Dallas Cowboys-Passing

Deep Left (2/2, 58 yards)
TargetsCatchesYdsTD
Dez Bryant 1_1_38_0
Terrance Williams 1_1_20_0
Deep Middle (0/0, 0 yards)

Deep Right (1/2, 53 yards)
TargetsCatchesYdsTD
Dez Bryant 2_1_53_0

Short Left (12/20, 87 yards)
TargetsCatchesYdsTD
Miles Austin 3_2_22_0
Dez Bryant 4_2_18_0
Lance Dunbar 1_1_4_0
Gavin Escobar 1_1_9_0
James Hanna 2_2_14_0
DeMarco Murray 3_3_22_0
Jason Witten 6_1_2_0
Short Middle (2/4, 12 yards, 1 TD)
TargetsCatchesYdsTD
Dez Bryant 2_1_2_1
DeMarco Murray 1_0_0_0
Jason Witten 1_1_10_0
Short Right (13/14, 88 yards)
TargetsCatchesYdsTD
Miles Austin 1_1_9_0
Dez Bryant 4_4_30_0
James Hanna 3_2_6_0
Dwayne Harris 1_1_4_0
DeMarco Murray 2_2_27_0
Terrance Williams 2_2_8_0
Jason Witten 1_1_4_0

There were 4 deep passes one called back for PI with one dropped to be correct. But I agree we didn't go deep enough. Perhaps Romo couldn't throw the ball deep later in the game. He had no problems early on. Again it was clear he was intimidated by the blitz even the appearance of it. Not a great game by Romo although not nearly as bad as some claim. Someone even said Romo threw back to back INTs which is not true.

Perhaps the offense will be more aggressive next week if Romo can throw the ball. If not then they are being illogical to not put Orton in if so.

That was my point, 4 deep passes is a decent number but everyone of them can't be to Dez. I was just saying I'd like to see Miles utilized a little better with some double moves, or seems from the slot, maybe even a 17-25 yard skinmy post... Everything to him can't be a short slant. After looking at your break down too I see I'd like to attack the middle of the field more. Put some pressure on opposing teams LBs and Safeties and that will probably help the running attack as well. I'd also like to see Witten do something more than run a 8 yard hitch or a 4 yard out. But you could be right, Romo may have aggravated his ribs at some point in the second half hampering his down the field passing. It all seems so basic right now like really simple routes. Hopefully they open it up

 

[Rockport]

i dont think this team is naturally a good running team. so if you just run the ball more, you're not going to like the results. we need to pass to setup the run. that means throw the ball downfield, in the middle of the field more. these linebackers are too comfortable playing us right now.

Even if you are only gaining 2-3 ypc, you still must run the ball. If you don't, you'll see defenses do what KC did to us. They realized we weren't committed to the run so in the 2nd half they rushed 5 or more on every down and dropped 6 in coverage unless it was an all out blitz. You have to stay committed to the run regardless of how effective it is. If you do, you impose a physical presence on the defense and will eventually wear them down. The defense must respect the run when you stay committed.

 

[jobberone]

That was my point, 4 deep passes is a decent number but everyone of them can't be to Dez. I was just saying I'd like to see Miles utilized a little better with some double moves, or seems from the slot, maybe even a 17-25 yard skinmy post... Everything to him can't be a short slant. After looking at your break down too I see I'd like to attack the middle of the field more. Put some pressure on opposing teams LBs and Safeties and that will probably help the running attack as well. I'd also like to see Witten do something more than run a 8 yard hitch or a 4 yard out. But you could be right, Romo may have aggravated his ribs at some point in the second half hampering his down the field passing. It all seems so basic right now like really simple routes. Hopefully they open it up

I agree. They need to get everyone involved. Part of that problem is Hanna, Escobar and Williams are new to this.

 

[texbumthelife]

Someone even said Romo threw back to back INTs which is not true.

I am certainly not blaming this loss on Romo solely, but he did throw two balls right to KC defenders. One went to Eric Berry, which was called back for a very suspicious pass interference penalty. The other was to whomever was defending Witten later in that drive, he simply dropped it.

So, while they won't be booked as interceptions, he threw two balls directly to KC defenders. We just got a couple breaks.

 

[jobberone]

Even if you are only gaining 2-3 ypc, you still must run the ball. If you don't, you'll see defenses do what KC did to us. They realized we weren't committed to the run so in the 2nd half they rushed 5 or more on every down and dropped 6 in coverage unless it was an all out blitz. You have to stay committed to the run regardless of how effective it is. If you do, you impose a physical presence on the defense and will eventually wear them down. The defense must respect the run when you stay committed.

If you can't run the ball for whatever reason then you must pass. Teams might come out to stop the run using 8 and 9 man fronts including run blitzes. If so then you pass the ball although you still need to run occasionally to keep them honest. If they play small packages dropping people into coverage then you run the ball. If you find a hole in their game you exploit it. KC ran over our DE on the last drive particularly.

You must run the ball effectively.

 

[jobberone]

I am certainly not blaming this loss on Romo solely, but he did throw two balls right to KC defenders. One went to Eric Berry, which was called back for a very suspicious pass interference penalty. The other was to whomever was defending Witten later in that drive, he simply dropped it.

So, while they won't be booked as interceptions, he threw two balls directly to KC defenders. We just got a couple breaks.

Thanks. I didn't remember the dropped pass just the PI.

 

[Rockport]

If you can't run the ball for whatever reason then you must pass. Teams might come out to stop the run using 8 and 9 man fronts including run blitzes. If so then you pass the ball although you still need to run occasionally to keep them honest. If they play small packages dropping people into coverage then you run the ball. If you find a hole in their game you exploit it. KC ran over our DE on the last drive particularly.

You must run the ball effectively.

Yes, that's where the balance part comes into play. Keeping the defense honest. We don't keep the defenses honest.

 

[texbumthelife]

If you can't run the ball for whatever reason then you must pass. Teams might come out to stop the run using 8 and 9 man fronts including run blitzes. If so then you pass the ball although you still need to run occasionally to keep them honest. If they play small packages dropping people into coverage then you run the ball. If you find a hole in their game you exploit it. KC ran over our DE on the last drive particularly.

You must run the ball effectively.

We have to run the ball while keeping the defense guessing. More variety in our rushing attack would go a long way. It seems like all we have is one dive play, one stretch play, and one horribly ineffective sweep play. The running game needs far more variety as to how the offensive line blocks, as well as what parts of the field we run to. I don't want to hear anything about the lines inability to block either. Until this team shows it's willing to commit, its impossible to evaluate the big uglies.

I have thought for years, and still do, that our rushing attack is very predictable, largely based on how we use motion. I have already seen the same running play where Hannah comes in motion to the weak side 10+ times. I know exactly what is coming when we run it, and apparently so do the defenders.

I will never forget the Ravens coming out and saying how predictable our offense was a couple seasons ago. Nothing has changed.

 

[Doomsday]

In a close game, we only ran the ball 3 times the entire second half of the game and ZERO times in the 4th quarter. How is that even possible?

Given the amount of time we spend in shotgun, they have to run a few more draws a game. KC saw we gave up on the run and began to T off on Romo. His protection was much better in the first half when we had better balance.