The bullish case for Scott Linehan

[CF74]

I think the guy is a terrible offensive coordinator. 2 out of the last 3 years have been complete failures. His offense has no tempo, no aggression, no imagination, no flexibility. How he survived 2015 where he showed zero ability to adjust is amazing.

Can someone please explain to me what Jerry sees in him? Thanks.

The shower bar is lower these days for the old wildcatter...

 

[wssaustin]

If we can settle with being "not bad", Garrett is your guy. His team got the stats, including a 9-7 season.

This is exactly the mentality causing 2 play off wins in the past 2 decades, because this team cannot compete at the next level. I call that's a failure.

 

[Captain-Crash]

we're just happy to have a winning record.

 

[GenoT]

This forum has become a swirling pool of silliness and this thread yet another baseless rant.

2014, 7th in yards, 5th in points
2016, 5th in yards, 5th in points
2017, 14th in yards, 14th in points

2015 got torpedoed w/Romo's back injury. Summary? 3 years of above average performance and two seasons in the top five of scoring. Doesn't sound remotely like a failed tenure to me.

Fans keep ranting and repeating the same stuff. Doesn't make it true.

Could we add a few wrinkles to the offense? Sure. The biggest improvement will come not through scheme but from more speedy playmakers.

And what has any of the above stats gotten us?

Having literally grown up with the Cowboys (since 1960), I can easily remember when the bar for this team was deep playoff runs and contending for championships. Now it’s apparently about where we rank statistically in regular season offense and/or defense, as playoff success has become a thing of the past.

There’s only three stats that matter in pro sports: the final score, Ws and Ls and the standings.

 

[Prime21]

Can't criticize the offense for not having tempo when we need to be slow, methodical, and time consuming to protect a poor defense.

The defense did improve as the season went on and should not need protected as much. It will be interesting to see how an improved defense affects the approach on offense.

I think a more open and fast paced offense fits Dak.

 

[G2]

I'm not excepting a "every other season" OC. Linehan and his offensive "scheme" is not consistent and sure as hell ain't in the postseason. I can't get his goal line play calling out of my head. You have a young QB who is struggling along with the WRs and O line, so lets pass the ball on 1st and goal inside the 5 and NOT RUN THE BALL WITH ELLIOTT!!!!!!!!!
How the hell does that make any sense?

 

[Sydla]

This forum has become a swirling pool of silliness and this thread yet another baseless rant.

2014, 7th in yards, 5th in points
2016, 5th in yards, 5th in points
2017, 14th in yards, 14th in points

2015 got torpedoed w/Romo's back injury. Summary? 3 years of above average performance and two seasons in the top five of scoring. Doesn't sound remotely like a failed tenure to me.

Fans keep ranting and repeating the same stuff. Doesn't make it true.

Could we add a few wrinkles to the offense? Sure. The biggest improvement will come not through scheme but from more speedy playmakers.

2017 wasn't above average. It was decidedly average. Anyone watching that last game where we had our starters playing against Philly's backups and could only manage 6 points should not be calling that offense above average.

Linehan and Garrett need completely healthy seasons and well above average QB play to make this offense work. There is no chance that they can scheme and work around injuries or issues facing the offense. If there isn't ideal circumstances, the offense sputters because it lacks creativity and the ability to make big adjustments.

So sure, when your OL is perfectly healthy and your QB is perfectly healthy and your TB is perfectly healthy and your WRs are perfectly healthy, a 2014 season happens or a 2016 season happens (yes, I get Romo was hurt but Prescott had a herculean season in 2016). When the factors are not ideal or perfect, you get the 2015 and 2017 seasons.

Frankly, we should expect our offensive coaches to be able to overcome deficiencies and not only be able to perform under ideal conditions.

 

[brickman]

The Atlanta game is a microcosm of Linehan’s biggest flaw.
The man has zero ability to make in-game adjustments.
Every fan of the Cowboys that has ever played high school football; coached pee-wee football; hell, just watched a few football games in their life were screaming at their TV screens to give Green some help with a TE to stop the madness. But what does this clown do?He just kept leaving Green out there on an island to get beat while Dak was getting pummeled.
Seriously, what kind of clueless moron does that???
And forget about half-time adjustments. Did anyone.....ANYONE see any adjustments based on the opposing team’s defense all year long?
It absolutely boggles my mind, for all of JJ’s genius at making insane amounts of money, how many tens of millions he has flushed down the toilet on incompetent moronic coaches over the last 22 years.

The entire staff has zero ability to make in-game adjustments. That is what good coaches are paid to do. It seperates the big boys from the wanna be’s. Nothing is ever gonna go as scripted.

 

[Stash]

Seriously?

It's hilarious that some fans will come in here and chastise people for not being happy.

Yeah, it's not going from 13-3 to 9-7, it's those gosh-darn fans just being miserable!

I guess finishing 14th with all of the money and resources invested into this offense is now "OK" for some people. It's amazing what you'll tell yourselves.

I guess setting franchise records for offensive futility is just "bad luck" too. I mean if everything's not going perfectly, how can they be expected to look competent? It's not like other teams can do that, right?

Don't get caught up in your fandom that you shut your brain off and accept anything they give you. It's not an obligation.

 

[Parcells4Life]

I don’t think Dak got markedly worse in 2017 than he was his rookie year. I think Linehan was able to mask his flaws in 2016 and with an offseason to prepare, defenses figured it out last season.

Playcalling is important (such as running it inside the 5!!) but execution is even more which people tend to forget.

The All-22 has shown many receivers running wide open at times and either Dak doesn’t see them, makes a bad throw or it gets dropped.

NFL coaches are not rocket scientists outside New England. Players are the ones who have to execute. This year our QB and WRs didn’t.

 

[Sydla]

I don’t think Dak got markedly worse in 2017 than he was his rookie year. I think Linehan was able to mask his flaws in 2016 and with an offseason to prepare, defenses figured it out last season.

Playcalling is important (such as running it inside the 5!!) but execution is even more which people tend to forget.

The All-22 has shown many receivers running wide open at times and either Dak doesn’t see them, makes a bad throw or it gets dropped.

NFL coaches are not rocket scientists outside New England. Players are the ones who have to execute. This year our QB and WRs didn’t.

Players have to execute.

The age old defense of Garrett. The players always fail him!

 

[Parcells4Life]

Players have to execute.

The age old defense of Garrett. The players always fail him!

Have you watched any tape this year?

The opposite of players need to execute crowd is the crowd that seems to believe coaches should be able to take any QB and turn them into Kurt Warner’s greatest show on turf. Even if balls are routinely 2-3 yards off point and have no zip on them

 

[GenoT]

2017 wasn't above average. It was decidedly average. Anyone watching that last game where we had our starters playing against Philly's backups and could only manage 6 points should not be calling that offense above average.

Linehan and Garrett need completely healthy seasons and well above average QB play to make this offense work. There is no chance that they can scheme and work around injuries or issues facing the offense. If there isn't ideal circumstances, the offense sputters because it lacks creativity and the ability to make big adjustments.

So sure, when your OL is perfectly healthy and your QB is perfectly healthy and your TB is perfectly healthy and your WRs are perfectly healthy, a 2014 season happens or a 2016 season happens (yes, I get Romo was hurt but Prescott had a herculean season in 2016). When the factors are not ideal or perfect, you get the 2015 and 2017 seasons.

Frankly, we should expect our offensive coaches to be able to overcome deficiencies and not only be able to perform under ideal conditions.

Agree.

Too much depends on everything being near-perfect for this football team to have even above-average success.

Other teams go through as much or more roster turmoil as do the Cowboys and still manage to COMPETE FOR CHAMPIONSHIPS. Both this season’s NFC Champ contenders are playing with backup QBs. We saw in 2015 what happens when a Garrett/Linehan team has to do the same.

Until otherwise demonstrated (MINIMUM: getting to the NFC Champ game), this team & coaching staff is more hat than cattle.

 

[noshame]

Linehan tweaked his base offense to fit a recovering Romo in 2014, reverted to his base offense in 2015, changed his base to fit Dak in 2016, and instead of expanding it to further fit Dak's skillset, he reverted back to his base 2015 offense.

What will we get next year.

 

[Sydla]

Have you watched any tape this year?

The opposite of players need to execute crowd is the crowd that seems to believe coaches should be able to take any QB and turn them into Kurt Warner’s greatest show on turf. Even if balls are routinely 2-3 yards off point and have no zip on them

Yep. And while Dak has missed some WRs, the failings of this offense go beyond him and the "players not executing". Whose fault was it that Dak got destroyed against Atlanta? That was a clear coaching gaffe.

I've also read reports from people in the media who have watched the games, seen the All-22 and said the same things............ Dak had his issues but the offense is stale, predictable at times, not very creative, etc. I've now seen a couple of players say the same things - offense is not complicated, etc.

But yeah, keep telling yourself that it's simply a player execution problem.

 

[InDakWeTrust]

To put things in my perspective, I remember the Chiefs game where it seemed all facets were clicked against one of the hottest teams at that point in the season. We dismantled them and beat them up physically.
But then the suspension happened, Atlanta happened and those both deflated us faster than a Patriots game ball. It was painfully obvious Zeke was our offense, and without him we couldn't out-talent anyone who graduated above Tecmo Bowl schemes.

That is what take a bite out of my arse when talking about this season. We had a chance with the Rodgers injury to grab the division but couldn't.

 

[MileyDancer]

I would like to know why we stopped running when we're successful especially in the red zone. And I'd like to know why we scrapped the no-huddle after having some Success With It. I doubt that I would be satisfied with the answer but I would still like to know

This is a staple under Garrett; stop doing what works best. He is so football-stupid, it's insane. The 2013 loss to the Matt Flynn-led Packers is the prime example. I think Murray had almost 100 yards by halftime. So what do we do? We completely quit running the ball the 2nd half, and let the packers come back and win from a 23 point deficit. This goes back to when he was OC as well.

 

[Zimmy Lives]

I agree somewhat. He’s not as bad as some think but he also doesn’t adjust well at all. Green was getting killed in Atlanta and he never gave him any help. We don’t get the best out of our receivers. We abandon the run in ways that amaze me. 1st and goal, I get trying to fool the defense with a pass, and the play call work because Beasley was wide open, but to pass three times is hard to defend.
We need to be more creative with our receivers to get them open. Beasley for the most part runs one route the majority of the time. I doesn’t take a genius to realize teams figured that out. Why not send him inside and up. That would put a LB on him going up the field
I know some hate everyone on the staff, and our offense has been productive but it sure looks like teams have caught up to it
We need a bit more creativity in the passing game no matter who the play caller is. We have to use our run game when we get in the red zone. We have to help a player who is over matched
I’m not a linehan hater but I don’t think he served the team well last year. The question now will he do a little self evaluation and see that the problems we had,no totally but some were on him
He’s not going anywhere next year so hopefully he can having an honest evaluation of himself and see the oline needs to play better, the receivers need to play better, the QB needs to play better and he needs to do his job better

This.

It's really simple for Linehan if he wishes to keep his job after the 2018 season. He needs to add wrinkles to his offense that will place less emphasis on Zeke, maximize his QB's strengths, and allow the receivers to get open. He does all this and his offense will return to former productivity. Do it not, he and Garrett will be looking for new jobs.

 

[khiladi]

I think the guy is a terrible offensive coordinator. 2 out of the last 3 years have been complete failures. His offense has no tempo, no aggression, no imagination, no flexibility. How he survived 2015 where he showed zero ability to adjust is amazing.

Can someone please explain to me what Jerry sees in him? Thanks.

Can somebody explain what he saw in Garrett for 7 plus years as the play caller?

I would love to see Garrett call plays on his own for this offense and Dak.. that would give me plenty of laughs for years..

 

[JustChip]

If we can settle with being "not bad", Garrett is your guy. His team got the stats, including a 9-7 season.

This is exactly the mentality causing 2 play off wins in the past 2 decades, because this team cannot compete at the next level. I call that's a failure.

I, for one, am not satisfied with being "not bad". However, I'm intelligent and rationale enough to look at where we are now see that the team is in much better condition that it has been for most of those 2 decades you refer to. Are Garrett, Linehan and Marinelli the best coaches there are? No. But what gets portrayed here by far too many is they are all the spawn of Satan.

Yep. And while Dak has missed some WRs, the failings of this offense go beyond him and the "players not executing". Whose fault was it that Dak got destroyed against Atlanta? That was a clear coaching gaffe.

I've also read reports from people in the media who have watched the games, seen the All-22 and said the same things............ Dak had his issues but the offense is stale, predictable at times, not very creative, etc. I've now seen a couple of players say the same things - offense is not complicated, etc.

But yeah, keep telling yourself that it's simply a player execution problem.

The reality, whether anyone choses to admit it, is that it is not one or the other. It's

Yep. And while Dak has missed some WRs, the failings of this offense go beyond him and the "players not executing". Whose fault was it that Dak got destroyed against Atlanta? That was a clear coaching gaffe.

I've also read reports from people in the media who have watched the games, seen the All-22 and said the same things............ Dak had his issues but the offense is stale, predictable at times, not very creative, etc. I've now seen a couple of players say the same things - offense is not complicated, etc.

But yeah, keep telling yourself that it's simply a player execution problem.

The reality is that it is neither and both. It's a team game - the successes and failures have to be owned by all. Has play-calling been at times bad? Absolutely! Has execution been bad? Absolutely! Will changing the play-calling eliminate missed executions? Absolutely not! Will eliminating missed executions eliminate poor play calling? Probably not. Waaaaaaaaaaay to many people on here make this a "tastes great, less filling" debate.

Last year (2016) in NY, the call was a sweep with Elliott that lost 5 yards. The protection scheme was changed at the line pre-snap, but Leary didn't hear it so the DT on the sweep side shot the gap untouched. That was an execution problem, not a play calling problem.

In the Packers playoff game last year, was Dak scoring with so much time left on the clock a mistake in play calling? Should they have run a different play to take more time off the clock? And before that, was the incomplete pass play a mistake? The perspective on play-calling is almost always based on whether it was successful or not. The call of the pass was bad because it wasn't successful, but had it been completed it would've been good because the objective there was to score, not run the clock all the way down. Even if the pass would've been completed and they scored, but it would've changed to bad because of what happened after that, the same as Dak scoring.

The objective in that last series was to score, not run out the clock. And the score had to be a TD. But overwhelming perception is that it was bad play calling because of what happened in the end. Had we not scored, but run the clock down to zero, you wouldn't find anybody celebrating saying "yeah, but we didn't leave any time on the clock for Aaron Rodgers."

Everyone needs to have an open mind and look at things for how they are, not for how they fit into your preconceived beliefs.