The bullish case for Scott Linehan

[Bullflop]

It takes superior talent to obtain superior results. We have a way to go yet to fit into that category relative to the elite teams. This team has many needs, starting with the FO down through the staff and the players as well. We seem to maintain a slightly above mediocrity level most years but sink to mediocrity the rest. There is room for improvement throughout, from top to bottom. I maintain a non-demanding level of expectations nowadays, not by choice so much as by an inability to change things. I'd dearly love to see our situation improve. I'm betting you would too. Management needs to wake up to what's happening around them. Here's hoping for that miracle to materialize. Current changes seem to be in their infancy. More will be required. Hang in there, folks.

 

[Idgit]

Despite all the back and forth about the predictability of the scheme, the inability of our offensive coaches to use players properly, the use of challenges and clock management, etc, here's how we stack up relative to the rest of the league in terms of points per offensive possession under Linehan. (League rank) in parentheses.

2014: 2.62 (2)
2015: 1.56 (27)
2016: 2.54 (4)
2017: 2.08 (9)

So, two top five finishes, three top ten finishes, and a stinker of a season when we didn't have a QB.

The problem is not with the offensive staff or the offensive production. I can pull the same stats for the defense if anybody's still curious where the actual problem has been in Dallas the last four seasons.

 

[Aviano90]

Despite all the back and forth about the predictability of the scheme, the inability of our offensive coaches to use players properly, the use of challenges and clock management, etc, here's how we stack up relative to the rest of the league in terms of points per offensive possession under Linehan. (League rank) in parentheses.

2014: 2.62 (2)
2015: 1.56 (27)
2016: 2.54 (4)
2017: 2.08 (9)

So, two top five finishes, three top ten finishes, and a stinker of a season when we didn't have a QB.

The problem is not with the offensive staff or the offensive production. I can pull the same stats for the defense if anybody's still curious where the actual problem has been in Dallas the last four seasons.

And this year we were ranked #1 in the league before Zeke and Tyron went out.

 

[northerncowboynation]

It doesn't matter what JJ see's, we're stuck with Scotty for one more year. Linehan is #1 on my list for removal after 2018 if this offense doesn't become more creative and he keeps calling pass plays 3 consecutive times on first and 2-3 from the 2-3 yard line. How many times do we have to watch that. Those calls in the Oakland game were as bad as the ones inside the 5 yard line just before half time in the Packers play off game and the worst is, he had 15 games to learn between the brain farts.. You have a horse RB and a fine O-line Scotty boy, ride them!! Gidde up!!

 

[CowboyGil]

I too have issues with Linehan, but to blame him for not making magic with Weeden and Cassel in 2015 is a stretch. Those guys are bums - good luck.

My concern is the regression in 2017 after what we saw with Dak in 2016.

I think what we saw in 2016 was the exception. in 2017 he went through the growing pains we expected in 2016. He'll be fine.

 

[northerncowboynation]

Despite all the back and forth about the predictability of the scheme, the inability of our offensive coaches to use players properly, the use of challenges and clock management, etc, here's how we stack up relative to the rest of the league in terms of points per offensive possession under Linehan. (League rank) in parentheses.

2014: 2.62 (2)
2015: 1.56 (27)
2016: 2.54 (4)
2017: 2.08 (9)

So, two top five finishes, three top ten finishes, and a stinker of a season when we didn't have a QB.

The problem is not with the offensive staff or the offensive production. I can pull the same stats for the defense if anybody's still curious where the actual problem has been in Dallas the last four seasons.

Please please please explain to me first and goal at the two yard line and 3 consecutive passes in the Oakland game. Then rewind to first and goal, somewhere inside the 10 yard line (maybe even the 5 yard line, my memory is fuzzy on that and I try to forget that game) in the Packers playoff game just before half and 3 consecutive passes. I suppose it could be memory lapse

 

[Master22]

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.

I think a major concern has always been the situational play calling.

 

[northerncowboynation]

I realize that losing a pro-bowl LT hurt the offense. Not having Zeke for 6 games as well. The play-action pass wasn't nearly as effective without EE but and there is a BUT, there is no excuse for 3 consecutive passes on first and goal from the 2-3 yard line with Zeke in the game. Linehan is a bland play caller. I suppose running the ball there would have been a bland call, maybe he just likes to put his prints on the game. If that's the case, STOP IT Scott

 

[gimmesix]

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.

His first year here, the offense carried us to a 12-4 record. His second year here we lost our starting QB and were awful without him. His third year here the offense with a rookie quarterback carried us to a 13-3 record. There are things I certainly don't like about Linehan and Garrett as offensive coaches, but it's actually pretty easy to make a case for what Jerry sees in him.

 

[dfense]

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.

Well, I guess he could coach pretty good until....

https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/201...e-nfls-most-lethal-offenses-in-dallas-cowboys

 

[Stash]

I realize that losing a pro-bowl LT hurt the offense. Not having Zeke for 6 games as well. The play-action pass wasn't nearly as effective without EE but and there is a BUT, there is no excuse for 3 consecutive passes on first and goal from the 2-3 yard line with Zeke in the game. Linehan is a bland play caller. I suppose running the ball there would have been a bland call, maybe he just likes to put his prints on the game. If that's the case, STOP IT Scott

Like the guy he works for, he is, was, and always will be pass happy. Neither Garrett nor Linehan likes the run game. It's too boring for them and they don't get to show how smart they think they are just running the football.

Look no further than the repeated "helpers" brought to this organization in the past in order to get it in order. Tony Sparano, Dan Reeves' short stint, and Bill Callahan.

 

[Captain43Crash]

It takes superior talent to obtain superior results. We have a way to go yet to fit into that category relative to the elite teams. This team has many needs, starting with the FO down through the staff and the players as well. We seem to maintain a slightly above mediocrity level most years but sink to mediocrity the rest. There is room for improvement throughout, from top to bottom. I maintain a non-demanding level of expectations nowadays, not by choice so much as by an inability to change things. I'd dearly love to see our situation improve. I'm betting you would too. Management needs to wake up to what's happening around them. Here's hoping for that miracle to materialize. Current changes seem to be in their infancy. More will be required. Hang in there, folks.

Talent is not THE issue with this team. Jason Garrett is and Jerry Jones is, because he will not fire Garrett. New England does not have superior talent to other teams. They have superior coaching to other teams. Can you name 1 player on NE’s defensive line, or front 7 for that matter, now that Hightower is out for the season. NE’s defense was terrible at the start of this season, but guess what, their coaches have made smart adjustments throughout the season to put their players in better position to make plays. Smart adjustments, something Garrett knows nothing about. After watching the playoffs so far how can some fans not realize how inferior Garrett is compared to the better coaches!! Garrett is the main problem, not the players.

 

[Idgit]

Please please please explain to me first and goal at the two yard line and 3 consecutive passes in the Oakland game. Then rewind to first and goal, somewhere inside the 10 yard line (maybe even the 5 yard line, my memory is fuzzy on that and I try to forget that game) in the Packers playoff game just before half and 3 consecutive passes. I suppose it could be memory lapse

That's the point of trying to look at productivity in context. All that stuff where we might criticize an individual play call gets washed out when you look at the data relative to the rest of the league. Each of those other 31 teams has fans with legitimate gripes about the play calls on specific series, too.

As for the plays themselves, my memory isn't good enough, I'm afraid. Were all of the calls bad calls? Or did poor execution have anything to do with it? I seem to remember Linehan saying after the regular season GB game this year that he ought to have taken the pass option off of the goal line play call where Dak hiked the ball with 14 seconds still on the play clock and then threw an incompletion, so I'm not suggesting by any means that Linehan doesn't blow it now and again.

But I also know from experience, that at lot of times fans complain about a play call on an unsuccessful series after the fact, when there were open WRs in the end zone where the QB just missed, or the WR dropped it, or the protection didn't hold up. Those same sorts of execution errors bite you in the running game and don't get the same level of criticism for whatever reason. I'm not sure why that is.

 

[Fletch]

This post will end this thread!




It will be different next season.

 

[JustChip]

That's the point of trying to look at productivity in context. All that stuff where we might criticize an individual play call gets washed out when you look at the data relative to the rest of the league. Each of those other 31 teams has fans with legitimate gripes about the play calls on specific series, too.

As for the plays themselves, my memory isn't good enough, I'm afraid. Were all of the calls bad calls? Or did poor execution have anything to do with it? I seem to remember Linehan saying after the regular season GB game this year that he ought to have taken the pass option off of the goal line play call where Dak hiked the ball with 14 seconds still on the play clock and then threw an incompletion, so I'm not suggesting by any means that Linehan doesn't blow it now and again.

But I also know from experience, that at lot of times fans complain about a play call on an unsuccessful series after the fact, when there were open WRs in the end zone where the QB just missed, or the WR dropped it, or the protection didn't hold up. Those same sorts of execution errors bite you in the running game and don't get the same level of criticism for whatever reason. I'm not sure why that is.

Well said. Essentially, the default answer is that anytime a play doesn't work for whatever reason, it's a bad play call.

 

[JustChip]

Despite all the back and forth about the predictability of the scheme, the inability of our offensive coaches to use players properly, the use of challenges and clock management, etc, here's how we stack up relative to the rest of the league in terms of points per offensive possession under Linehan. (League rank) in parentheses.

2014: 2.62 (2)
2015: 1.56 (27)
2016: 2.54 (4)
2017: 2.08 (9)

So, two top five finishes, three top ten finishes, and a stinker of a season when we didn't have a QB.

The problem is not with the offensive staff or the offensive production. I can pull the same stats for the defense if anybody's still curious where the actual problem has been in Dallas the last four seasons.

For me, the answer is easy. For the vast majority of the last 4 years, if the game down to either the offense having to sustain a drive and score to win, or the defense make a stop to preserve a win, I've had far more confidence in the former. That tells me where the problem is.

 

[Sydla]

Well said. Essentially, the default answer is that anytime a play doesn't work for whatever reason, it's a bad play call.

Maybe. But then again there are some very clear coaching gaffes in a game. The most obvious offensive blunder were the various play calls in Atlanta where they didn't help their flailing LT. More subtle mistakes were say, the GB Packers playoff game where the Cowboys had momentum and then Micah Hyde picked off the screen pass in the 3rd Quarter.

After the game, Hyde and some others said they knew the play was coming (and it was clear Hyde knew it because you could see him moving over before the snap and then sprinting to the exact spot) because the Cowboys ran the exact same play, with the same formation, in similar situation weeks before in the regular season game. And let's note, that is not the first time we've heard defenders knowing the plays we were running.

I think as someone said it best above, a big issue with this team is situational play calling. They tend to get too conservative at times when things don't go their way and then often times, out think themselves thinking they are one step ahead of the other team.

 

[Idgit]

Well said. Essentially, the default answer is that anytime a play doesn't work for whatever reason, it's a bad play call.

Yes. It's difficult to separate the bad play calls from the plays that don't work. And then, it stands to reason that there are going to be times when a good defensive coordinator is going to have a good defense called and, hence, the OC will have a bad play call. That's part of the game. But when you look at production overall, it ought to give you a sense of how effective the offense has been in general. And if play calling isn't part of that, then it can't be all that important in the first place.

 

[JustChip]

Maybe. But then again there are some very clear coaching gaffes in a game. The most obvious offensive blunder were the various play calls in Atlanta where they didn't help their flailing LT. More subtle mistakes were say, the GB Packers playoff game where the Cowboys had momentum and then Micah Hyde picked off the screen pass in the 3rd Quarter.

After the game, Hyde and some others said they knew the play was coming (and it was clear Hyde knew it because you could see him moving over before the snap and then sprinting to the exact spot) because the Cowboys ran the exact same play, with the same formation, in similar situation weeks before in the regular season game.

I think as someone said it best above, a big issue with this team is situational play calling. They tend to get too conservative at times when things don't go their way and then often times, out think themselves thinking they are one step ahead of the other team.

No doubt on Atlanta. Maybe it's semantics, but it wasn't a failure of play-calling, but a failure to adjust the protection scheme.

And the Hyde plan isn't as much a bad play call as GB and Hyde doing what they're supposed to do and study film. Every play the Cowboys run, they've run before.

And regards the situational play calling, again, the perception is based on whether it's successful or not. Had NE not intercepted the slant to the end-zone in the SB, but instead it was completed for a TD, very few would be screaming about the play call. So what if Seattle had run Lynch and he lost 2 yards because NE excelled (as Butler did on the pass), then they had a false start and now it's 2nd and goal at the 8. Then, they pass on 2nd and goal at the 8, but either it's incomplete or a sack. Or they run on 2nd and 8 and pick up 1 yard. Eventually, they fail to score and NE wins.

My point is that the perception of play calling is based totally on the results which are not assured at all prior to the play. Had the SB pass been completed, there would've been people hailing it a good call because it caught NE off guard and "going against the grain."

 

[JustChip]

Yes. It's difficult to separate the bad play calls from the plays that don't work. And then, it stands to reason that there are going to be times when a good defensive coordinator is going to have a good defense called and, hence, the OC will have a bad play call. That's part of the game. But when you look at production overall, it ought to give you a sense of how effective the offense has been in general. And if play calling isn't part of that, then it can't be all that important in the first place.

Point taken.