Image: Sturm: Xs and Os - Greg Hardy's Day

[Sturm1310]

http://www.sportsdaydfw.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2015/11/19/sturms-xs-os-breakdown-greg-hardys-day

Sturm's Xs and Os: Breaking down Greg Hardy's good and bad against the Bucs

Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) and Dallas Cowboys outside linebacker Sean Lee (50) talk on the sidelines during the second half of play at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Sunday, November 15, 2015. Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 10-6. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)

Late in the week, we finally get a chance to "look at the tape" as Jason Garrett likes to say and examine some plays that we cannot fully digest on TV. I can't promise that every week we will be able to do this, but honestly, this is my favorite exercise of the week because only here can you fully appreciate how advanced and complex the NFL game can be sometimes.

Here, we are not looking to call anyone out, and we surely want to leave open the possibility of our eyes deceiving us and more than anything, I want to admit that I don't have the benefit of the coaches telling me what coverage they were in. So, sometimes, this diagnosis will be "pretty sure" rather than "100% sure" even though I am trying to get it right. I will make calls and try to hunt down the right answer, but I will just admit right here that we will try our best to be accurate but invariably, I will see something wrong.

But, let's pick plays that are interesting but not played out by this point of the week and have some fun talking Xs and Os. Feel free to tweet me @SportsSturm when a game shows you a play that you would like broken down and I will attempt to include it in this post.

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http://www.sportsdaydfw.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2015/11/19/sturms-xs-os-breakdown-greg-hardys-day

 

[Yakuza Rich]

It should be noted that Hardy suffered injuries in the Seattle game and I think he hasn't quite been the same since. He's still very productive.

Nice job. Thanks again for the hard work.





YR

 

[jobberone]

Can I have a raise.

 

[DandyDon1722]

Thanks Bob. I really didn't see anything alarming - I think he's picking his spots due to injury, being tired, etc. Not the ideal I know but there' no comparison data on the other lineman, but his impact is clearly evident and that can't be said for everybody.

Demarcus had a pretty good game and seems to be settling in and it's quite obvious that Gregory is still hampered by the dreaded high ankle sprain but if they can get through the next two games with wins (I know) and get to the break - I believe the defensive line could be a monster in December because like last year, the defense will feed off the offense.

 

[Idgit]

He's an impact player that demands attention and still gets pressure. Other players on the DL need to step up around him.

 

[khiladi]

So basically, Hardy is a force and teams are only worrying about him, because the rest of our line is trash.. I wonder how all the cut-ties with Hardy, because he's not worth the trouble are going to spin this...

Not only does this show effort, but it shows elite effort and elite skills. Hardy is so good that when you see this several times a game, you understand why certain teams are willing to put up with his nonsense. This doesn't require a coaching background to see how awesome this is. It seems pretty clear he can beat Jameis Winston in a foot race.

 

[Hawkeye19]

He's an impact player that demands attention and still gets pressure. Other players on the DL need to step up around him.

For real. So frustrating to see Philly run stunts and blitzes and get creative with pressure packages while we sit back and play it conservative. It's clear that aside from Hardy, our "bushmen" are not good enough to beat their man 1 on 1.

Therefore: Mix it up! Blitz LBers and safeties, run stunts and twists-- make the OL have to make mental adjustments on the fly. Find the weakest OL on the unit, and put Hardy over him repeatedly.

At this point-- we need everyone to step up-- including the coaching staff lol

 

[khiladi]

How are they going to spin Hardy got in the face of Demarcus Lawrence? I mean aren't leaders suppose to lead?

It looks to me like the whole defense owes Hardy an apology...

 

[Sydla]

For real. So frustrating to see Philly run stunts and blitzes and get creative with pressure packages while we sit back and play it conservative. It's clear that aside from Hardy, our "bushmen" are not good enough to beat their man 1 on 1.

Therefore: Mix it up! Blitz LBers and safeties, run stunts and twists-- make the OL have to make mental adjustments on the fly. Find the weakest OL on the unit, and put Hardy over him repeatedly.

At this point-- we need everyone to step up-- including the coaching staff lol

Pissed me off. Miami did this to Philly last week and caused real havoc and confusion for the Eagles. Stunts, pressure packages, etc. We basically played straight up and we know how that turned out.

 

[khiladi]

Pissed me off. Miami did this to Philly last week and caused real havoc and confusion for the Eagles. Stunts, pressure packages, etc. We basically played straight up and we know how that turned out.

They fired their HC this year, because of his horrible defense... They basically we're playing a 2 gap and aren't utilizing Suh's disruptive play-making ability, despite paying out that huge contract...

What a difference coaching makes..

 

[Sydla]

They fired their HC this year, because of his horrible defense... They basically we're playing a 2 gap and aren't utilizing Suh's disruptive play-making ability, despite paying out that huge contract...

What a difference coaching makes..

Living up here in Philly, I obviously get a lot of the sports radio chatter. Not sure who the analyst was, but on one of their radio shows, the guy specifically pointed out how much more aggressive Miami was with attacking the Eagles patchwork OL than Dallas was. The question was how did the Eagles have as much success against a Cowboys front that had been playing better than a Miami front who had been really struggling? And the answer was as I said........... Miami decided to really try to confuse the Eagles OL with stunts, different looks, blitz packages, etc. where Dallas largely tried to play the Eagles straight up.

 

[khiladi]

Living up here in Philly, I obviously get a lot of the sports radio chatter. Not sure who the analyst was, but on one of their radio shows, the guy specifically pointed out how much more aggressive Miami was with attacking the Eagles patchwork OL than Dallas was. The question was how did the Eagles have as much success against a Cowboys front that had been playing better than a Miami front who had been really struggling? And the answer was as I said........... Miami decided to really try to confuse the Eagles OL with stunts, different looks, blitz packages, etc. where Dallas largely tried to play the Eagles straight up.

They definitely purged the staff this year and they were reporting that Campbell, as soon as he was hired, fired Coyle and pretty much had too, otherwise he would have lost the team.

http://m.bleacherreport.com/article...dolphins-latest-details-comments-and-reaction

The following was being reported around that time:

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/...ll-debut-simplify-game-plan-six-points-101815

Sources say they also voiced their displeasure with the philosophy of the defensive linemen being asked to tie up defenders so the linebackers could make plays, rather than allowing the impact (and highly paid) players like Wake and Ndamukong Suh to create havoc for opposing defenses.

 

[tyke1doe]

Living up here in Philly, I obviously get a lot of the sports radio chatter. Not sure who the analyst was, but on one of their radio shows, the guy specifically pointed out how much more aggressive Miami was with attacking the Eagles patchwork OL than Dallas was. The question was how did the Eagles have as much success against a Cowboys front that had been playing better than a Miami front who had been really struggling? And the answer was as I said........... Miami decided to really try to confuse the Eagles OL with stunts, different looks, blitz packages, etc. where Dallas largely tried to play the Eagles straight up.

So basically you're saying that our coaches think our defensive players are stupid?

 

[superonyx]

Our defensive philosophy seems to be mostly centered around not giving up the big play. We don't send many blitzes and are not very creative with stunts that could spring people lose. We seem to just let the 4 DL rush while our secondary keeps everything in front of them and our LBers hold their gaps and assignments.

It can be frustrating to watch because just like our offense system it requires players winning their one on one match ups all the time. The Eagles are an example of a team that sends pressure from many angles and see goofballs like Connor Barwin, Kendricks, and Hicks (rookie who broke Romos bone) hitting the QB.

Meanwhile we sit back in coverage and hope for a deflection so Jeff Heath can lead us in interceptions.

 

[Oh_Canada]

Living up here in Philly, I obviously get a lot of the sports radio chatter. Not sure who the analyst was, but on one of their radio shows, the guy specifically pointed out how much more aggressive Miami was with attacking the Eagles patchwork OL than Dallas was. The question was how did the Eagles have as much success against a Cowboys front that had been playing better than a Miami front who had been really struggling? And the answer was as I said........... Miami decided to really try to confuse the Eagles OL with stunts, different looks, blitz packages, etc. where Dallas largely tried to play the Eagles straight up.

Cowboys coaches unimaginative and asking their players to "win battles" instead. That doesn't happen like ever!

Great job as per usual Bob. Hardy is an outstanding player, too bad he can't seem to focus solely on football. I would have liked him to stay, but the pressure might be too great to keep him.

 

[maxdallasfan]

Me gets the feeling that our D is going to top 10 the rest of the year.

Don't ask me why, I just get the feeling.

 

[khiladi]

Our defensive philosophy seems to be mostly centered around not giving up the big play. We don't send many blitzes and are not very creative with stunts that could spring people lose. We seem to just let the 4 DL rush while our secondary keeps everything in front of them and our LBers hold their gaps and assignments.

It can be frustrating to watch because just like our offense system it requires players winning their one on one match ups all the time. The Eagles are an example of a team that sends pressure from many angles and see goofballs like Connor Barwin, Kendricks, and Hicks (rookie who broke Romos bone) hitting the QB.

Meanwhile we sit back in coverage and hope for a deflection so Jeff Heath can lead us in interceptions.

The problem with is our FO keeps talking about TOs. You play bend-don't-break, but expect for TOs to happen in that philosophy.

 

[BigD5]

All in all the defense has played pretty good, minus not gettin any turnovers, during the losing streak. If the offense or specifically our coaches had any imagination we would've won a few games while Romo was out

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

He's an impact player that demands attention and still gets pressure. Other players on the DL need to step up around him.

I want to see them play with a lead but Mincey needs to make a play. At least Hayden bats down balls and is going for the record for most assists by a DT.

 

[ConstantReboot]

Living up here in Philly, I obviously get a lot of the sports radio chatter. Not sure who the analyst was, but on one of their radio shows, the guy specifically pointed out how much more aggressive Miami was with attacking the Eagles patchwork OL than Dallas was. The question was how did the Eagles have as much success against a Cowboys front that had been playing better than a Miami front who had been really struggling? And the answer was as I said........... Miami decided to really try to confuse the Eagles OL with stunts, different looks, blitz packages, etc. where Dallas largely tried to play the Eagles straight up.

Predictability and the unwillingness to CHANGE is what's killing this team. When the coaches are doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is nothing more than INSANITY.