Tell me why we switched offensive coordinators again?

[OhSnap]

The Cowboys have broken the 400 point barrier 11 times in franchise history resulting in 7 playoff appearances and 3 of the 5 Super Bowl trophies they own.

Last year was the 3rd time since 1995 that the Cowboys scored over 400 points but it became the first time the Cowboys would score 400 points and not make the playoffs.

So why did we switch OC's? We scored a ton of points.

 

[zrinkill]

The Cowboys have broken the 400 point barrier 11 times in franchise history resulting in 7 playoff appearances and 3 of the 5 Super Bowl trophies they own.

Last year was the 3rd time since 1995 that the Cowboys scored over 400 points but it became the first time the Cowboys would score 400 points and not make the playoffs.

So why did we switch OC's? We scored a ton of points.

Because Jerry spends to much time listening to fans.

 

[foofighters]

Because Jerry needs to keep the heat off himself and his red headed stepson...

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

Even with the points we scored, did the OP or anybody else here feel that this offense played well enough and consistent enough to say we really did as well as we should have?

Not me. Too many times Im watching a game and scratching my head wondering what in the world is going on here?

The change happened because it was clearly obvious to anyone paying attention that this offense did not play/produce as well as it could have or should have.

 

[TheEnigma]

The Cowboys offense last year did some things well last year. They were very good in the red zone, had a number of big plays, top 10 in ypc rushing, and top 10 in yards per play.

However they were in the bottom third in 3rd down conversion and time of possession, not very good at sustaining drives, and at times awfully predictable.

We really need to be able to sustain drives and hold on to the ball to help our defense. I for one have felt that any offensive success we have had has been due to our players as opposed to Garrett's play calling. I'm for the change.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

The second half of the Packers and Lion's games and our performance on third downs. We almost went 8 quarters without a third down conversion at one point in the season. For example we were 2-9 on third down against GB and those two were due to penalty. 3-13 against Detroit.

Just stupid things like having guys that are not elusive like Witten running the checkdown. A 5 yard out to Witten is not going to help when you need 9 and Witten is running to the sideline of the route and is not known RAC.

If you are trying to keep your defense off the field you have to convert third down. We were 25th in the league while Detroit last year was 6th.

I would also say that allowing Garrett to be more of a walkaround type plays to his strengths. He is a great motivator as his players give tremendous effort. The offense since he took over has also dramatically reduced the number of mistakes like penalties and the like. I think that for all of his talk about attention to detail, he really is able to get his players to carry that over onto the football field. We had a whole lot of mistakes on defense especially in zone coverages last season. I think Garrett can help.

 

[TheCount]

So why did we switch OC's? We scored a ton of points.

What's missing from this, is context. It's easy to have revisionist history when you look at the total number at the end of the year, but if you actually think about the games, there were a lot of times when the offense was just dead in the water and looked completely inept. There were quite a few times where boneheaded play calls was made in critical moments and overall the offense was reactionary rather than imposing their will on the opposing defense.

 

[CF74]

Because we need a real OC....

 

[daveferr33]

After the Cowboys lost to the Commanders to end the 2012 season, Jerry Jones was beside himself with disappointment and anger. He wanted to make a change. But he didn't want to get rid of Garrett. Because his son had so badly mismanaged the Cap, he also was not going to be able make many roster moves to appease his need for change. So after consulting with Larry Lacewell, he shuffled the deck on his coaching staff--fired Rob Ryan, and stripped Garrett of play-calling duties, and hired Kiffen.

This year, same result. Jerry in an even worse cap situation to the point where he had to let go of Ware and Hatcher. So he decides to further reshuffle the coaching staff, further banish Garrett from the offense, demote Kiffen and elevate RM.

These coaching changes are nothing more than Jerry Jones being restless. His son's mismanagement of the cap has left him impotent to make any real roster upgrades. But he wants to feel like he's doing something.

Hence the change.

 

[jobberone]

The O scored enough points but as stated they failed on 3rd downs too often esp critical ones. However our Sc% and RZ% were up which was a criticism from me the year before. We're getting there; we just need to get a bit better in certain areas.

I'm hoping Linehan will work the RBs more in both the run game and esp the passing game. We need to keep the D off balance more, run the ball as well as the end of the year, increase our Sc% and RZ% a bit more, stay out of third and long more often, and not be so predictable. These facts are the reason we have a new OC since no one has gotten the job done well enough.

Say what you want but Garrett recognizes problems even if a little slowly; but he doesn't waste time on trying to fix them. I wish he would fix them faster esp like during a game. But hopefully Linehan addresses this.

The HUGE problem is the D. Make that at least average, get more 3 and outs, and make some critical stops and turnovers and this is a competing team.

 

[jobberone]

After the Cowboys lost to the Commanders to end the 2012 season, Jerry Jones was beside himself with disappointment and anger. He wanted to make a change. But he didn't want to get rid of Garrett. Because his son had so badly mismanaged the Cap, he also was not going to be able make many roster moves to appease his need for change. So after consulting with Larry Lacewell, he shuffled the deck on his coaching staff--fired Rob Ryan, and stripped Garrett of play-calling duties, and hired Kiffen.

This year, same result. Jerry in an even worse cap situation to the point where he had to let go of Ware and Hatcher. So he decides to further reshuffle the coaching staff, further banish Garrett from the offense, demote Kiffen and elevate RM.

These coaching changes are nothing more than Jerry Jones being restless. His son's mismanagement of the cap has left him impotent to make any real roster upgrades. But he wants to feel like he's doing something.

Hence the change.

Nonsense. While I agree they have been hogtied by poor cap decisions esp with poor acquisition and trades, Jerry doesn't go looking for scapegoats. They are trying to improve things including staying out of cap problems and using the draft to build. It's hard to see it unless you pay attention to that problem but we are getting out of cap hell.

 

[The Natural]

Linehan will get the ball to Dez early and often, something Garrett didn't know how to do

 

[daveferr33]

Nonsense. While I agree they have been hogtied by poor cap decisions esp with poor acquisition and trades, Jerry doesn't go looking for scapegoats. They are trying to improve things including staying out of cap problems and using the draft to build. It's hard to see it unless you pay attention to that problem but we are getting out of cap hell.

I am paying attention. We may disagree on what we're seeing. But mine is as plausible a reading as yours. I can be convinced otherwise.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Maybe...



Maybe not.

 

[jobberone]

I am paying attention. We may disagree on what we're seeing. But mine is as plausible a reading as yours. I can be convinced otherwise.

I'll take the simply answer over the conspiracy theory of this one and take it to the bank.

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

After the Cowboys lost to the Commanders to end the 2012 season, Jerry Jones was beside himself with disappointment and anger. He wanted to make a change. But he didn't want to get rid of Garrett. Because his son had so badly mismanaged the Cap, he also was not going to be able make many roster moves to appease his need for change. So after consulting with Larry Lacewell, he shuffled the deck on his coaching staff--fired Rob Ryan, and stripped Garrett of play-calling duties, and hired Kiffen.

This year, same result. Jerry in an even worse cap situation to the point where he had to let go of Ware and Hatcher. So he decides to further reshuffle the coaching staff, further banish Garrett from the offense, demote Kiffen and elevate RM.

These coaching changes are nothing more than Jerry Jones being restless. His son's mismanagement of the cap has left him impotent to make any real roster upgrades. But he wants to feel like he's doing something.

Hence the change.

Where do you guys come up with this stuff?

 

[Chocolate Lab]

What's missing from this, is context. It's easy to have revisionist history when you look at the total number at the end of the year, but if you actually think about the games, there were a lot of times when the offense was just dead in the water and looked completely inept. There were quite a few times where boneheaded play calls was made in critical moments and overall the offense was reactionary rather than imposing their will on the opposing defense.

All true, plus total points don't mean much when NFL scoring overall has increased due to the league's quantitative easing of offense. You have to look at league rank.

As dave said above, Jerry was furious after the 2012 failure and wanted to make changes, but he couldn't bring himself to fire his longtime project. So he changed OCs. But Garrett couldn't stand it and inserted himself at the end. So Jerry told Garrett to get completely out, but he'd let him hire a friend who ran basically the same system.

Also, it's hilarious to suggest that Garrett is going to improve Marinelli's defense. The man has been coaching 40 years or whatever and he's going to learn anything from this noob who has never coached defense a day in his life?

 

[Hoofbite]

To find someone that Garrett would actually let do their job.

Callahan was trumped by Garrett so they went after someone who's system was Garrett enough to prevent the interference.

They wanted a different play caller but that generally comes with a new system. Linehan has a Garrett-like system to accommodate both the teams wishes for a new play caller and Garrett's wishes to run his system.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

The second half of the Packers and Lion's games and our performance on third downs. We almost went 8 quarters without a third down conversion at one point in the season. For example we were 2-9 on third down against GB and those two were due to penalty. 3-13 against Detroit.

Just stupid things like having guys that are not elusive like Witten running the checkdown. A 5 yard out to Witten is not going to help when you need 9 and Witten is running to the sideline of the route and is not known RAC.

If you are trying to keep your defense off the field you have to convert third down. We were 25th in the league while Detroit last year was 6th.

I would also say that allowing Garrett to be more of a walkaround type plays to his strengths. He is a great motivator as his players give tremendous effort. The offense since he took over has also dramatically reduced the number of mistakes like penalties and the like. I think that for all of his talk about attention to detail, he really is able to get his players to carry that over onto the football field. We had a whole lot of mistakes on defense especially in zone coverages last season. I think Garrett can help.

Great summary view. There were also games where Dallas abandoned the run, even when it was gaining yardage in chunks. Heck, some Packers players were questioning why Dallas stopped running against them when it was obvious that they could not stop it. Dallas gave that game away by going almost exclusively to the pass in the second half.

 

[BigStar]

The Cowboys offense last year did some things well last year. They were very good in the red zone, had a number of big plays, top 10 in ypc rushing, and top 10 in yards per play.

However they were in the bottom third in 3rd down conversion and time of possession, not very good at sustaining drives, and at times awfully predictable.

We really need to be able to sustain drives and hold on to the ball to help our defense. I for one have felt that any offensive success we have had has been due to our players as opposed to Garrett's play calling. I'm for the change.

Perfect description; those results were in spite of Garret, not because of him. Terrible game management, almost no feel for play calling outside of sending in a standard play and letting Romo audible and hot route it into something manageable, etc., not running the ball when it is working and your D is one of the worst in history. The predictable nature of the play calling didn't allow our players to take over games. Many times the offense was left watching on the sideline after a quick 3 and out; allowing opponents to sustain loooong drives against the D, and losing any momentum they might've accumulated throughout the game. Innovation! Witten is our outlet receiver? Motion, pick routes, "open by design" is not a term used for this offense.

This team also doesn't score consistently against teams with a good D. Scoring in bunches (Dez) and backyard football to produce yardage/points. Again, "open by design" would be a nice change up. We did beat PHI early in the season, but the O wasn't the reason (oddly enough; D was on fire, esp Carter).