The real problem with Dallas is Romo

[perrykemp]

Romo is playing well enough to be 6-2 / 7-1 anywhere but the Bizarro world of the Dallas Cowboys. It's not Romo's fault that the pass defense is on pace to give up the most passing yards in the entire history of the NFL.

 

[btcutter]

All I have to say is 10 point lead with about 5 minutes to play and 6 point led with 1:24 sec to play and we lose. Yeah, lets blame Romo.

 

[DFWJC]

I tune out everything out about Romo offensive stats, who likes him, who doesn't. The bottom line is that two things have remained constant thru this disastrous period: Tony Romo & Jerry Jones. Its really not worth getting frustrated over because neither is leaving anytime soon. But one day in our lifetime this team will be refreshing to watch again, things will make sense again and its story will be worth discussing again. That day can't come fast enough for many of us.

You left out Jason Garrett, D Ware, Jason Witten, a usually porous defense, a usually porous line.
if you're going to name constants, at least be honest about it.

 

[Parche]

All I have to say is 10 point lead with about 5 minutes to play and 6 point led with 1:24 sec to play and we lose. Yeah, lets blame Romo.

10 point lead... TWICE.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

I can tell none of you read what I said. It doesn't help when mods change your title.

But yes I agree in the fact that some of the same people are here and we have the same results.

 

[burmafrd]

don't try and waffle. Rather than blame the D for not being able to hold a 10 point lead you blame Romo.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I think we have come to realize what this defense is: gets some turnovers, gives up tons of yards, cant make a critical stop.

Now the offense: Someone has to figure out why they cant have any consistency. We hear about how great the QB is, how super Dez is, how Garrett is a great offensive mind...yet..the offense cannot sustain drives and cannot get that one big first down when necessary. Look at the RB;s in New England. Dont tell me that you need a stud RB to win. There are some deep problems with this team on offense. And Garrett might not be the guy that can right the ship.

Romo doesn't like pressure right up the gut. He never has. Heck, really no QBs do but Romo does not adjust well to that pressure. When he gets it from the outside, he can slide and still make plays but when it comes right up the gut, he really does not deal with that well. That's why Romo was not on, IMO, yesterday. JMO.

 

[Wheeltax]

I wonder what the Cowboys would look like with a Matt Stafford at QB.

 

[ConstantReboot]

Romo doesn't like pressure right up the gut. He never has. Heck, really no QBs do but Romo does not adjust well to that pressure. When he gets it from the outside, he can slide and still make plays but when it comes right up the gut, he really does not deal with that well. That's why Romo was not on, IMO, yesterday. JMO.

Well Romo is a mobile QB. Why isn't there plays to move Romo around and away from the pressure. The reason why the defense rushes Romo up the gut is because they know exactly where he is standing when his passing the ball. Use play action and move the pocket outside and away from the pressure, and you'll see a much more explosive offense.

Unfortunately, play action, delayed draws, moving receivers in motion, bootlegs, etc., are plays that the top passing teams use with success except the Cowboys.

 

[Staubacher]

I wonder what the Cowboys would look like with a Matt Stafford at QB.

Worse unless he brought Megatron with him

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Well Romo is a mobile QB. Why isn't there plays to move Romo around and away from the pressure. The reason why the defense rushes Romo up the gut is because they know exactly where he is standing when his passing the ball. Use play action and move the pocket outside and away from the pressure, and you'll see a much more explosive offense.

Unfortunately, play action, delayed draws, moving receivers in motion, bootlegs, etc., are plays that the top passing teams use with success except the Cowboys.

I don't disagree with that but if you use play action, then you can't really run an empty backfield or work from the spread as much. You have to get under the center and you have to actually run the ball more. Basically, you have to become more balanced and that's not something I've seen this team ever make a commitment to. I agree with you, for the record, but it would take something that, IMO, we are not willing to accept.

 

[crashintonickdm]

i hope he stands at a podium and flat out gives a big middle finger to his haters HERE who support the dallas cowboys but not him.

he is having one of his best years, but some of our fans hate him. unreal IMO.

 

[ConstantReboot]

I don't disagree with that but if you use play action, then you can't really run an empty backfield or work from the spread as much. You have to get under the center and you have to actually run the ball more. Basically, you have to become more balanced and that's not something I've seen this team ever make a commitment to. I agree with you, for the record, but it would take something that, IMO, we are not willing to accept.

Not necessarily though. You can still spread the offense out with a single back like what this offense is designed to do. Instead, you spread out the receivers wide forcing the defense into a nickel package. This forces the hand of the defense to take their passrushers and substitute them for DBs.

I also think its better that Romo is under center rather than the shotgun formation when we pass. The defense has to account for the run play even though we don't run if Romo is under center. When we use play action it freezes the linebackers for a second. That gives our receivers and TEs that extra second in getting open. Watch the old videos of our offense long ago. Play action was used quite a bit in getting Witten open. Now its a missing part of our offense.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Not necessarily though. You can still spread the offense out with a single back like what this offense is designed to do. Instead, you spread out the receivers wide forcing the defense into a nickel package. This forces the hand of the defense to take their passrushers and substitute them for DBs.

I also think its better that Romo is under center rather than the shotgun formation when we pass. The defense has to account for the run play even though we don't run if Romo is under center. When we use play action it freezes the linebackers for a second. That gives our receivers and TEs that extra second in getting open. Watch the old videos of our offense long ago. Play action was used quite a bit in getting Witten open. Now its a missing part of our offense.

No, only if you can give the QB time to get a throw off. If you are facing a DL that is getting penetration before the QB can find a target, then that doesn't work. What you have is what we saw yesterday. IE, guys who are coming free who don't get the ball. This is why pressure up the middle is so effective on Romo. He looks at the pressure instead of sidestepping it like he does with pressure from the edge. I think this is exactly what we saw yesterday. As time goes on and Fredbeard gets better, teams are not going to be able to bull rush him like that. He will get stronger and his technique will get better. Eventually our Guards will also improve and this business will be a thing of the past but not today. Not this season.

 

[ConstantReboot]

No, only if you can give the QB time to get a throw off. If you are facing a DL that is getting penetration before the QB can find a target, then that doesn't work. What you have is what we saw yesterday. IE, guys who are coming free who don't get the ball. This is why pressure up the middle is so effective on Romo. He looks at the pressure instead of sidestepping it like he does with pressure from the edge. I think this is exactly what we saw yesterday. As time goes on and Fredbeard gets better, teams are not going to be able to bull rush him like that. He will get stronger and his technique will get better. Eventually our Guards will also improve and this business will be a thing of the past but not today. Not this season.

Pressure can be controlled though. Its not like Romo isn't a mobile QB. There are ways to move the pocket around and away from the pressure. Like a boot leg or a scrambled play outside the pocket. Romo is one of the deadliest QBs outside of the pocket. Why are there no design plays that utilizes his mobility?

Heck, on 1st downs Detroit was moving their safeties up at the box playing the run leaving Dez 1 on 1. A simple play action and a deep throw to Dez would have changed the way the way they were defending against us. Yet all we did was run the ball with minimal success.

The problem is with the play calling. They are too afraid to throw punches and would rather curl up in a corner hoping for a win.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Pressure can be controlled though. Its not like Romo isn't a mobile QB. There are ways to move the pocket around and away from the pressure. Like a boot leg or a scrambled play outside the pocket. Romo is one of the deadliest QBs outside of the pocket. Why are there no design plays that utilizes his mobility?

Heck, on 1st downs Detroit was moving their safeties up at the box playing the run leaving Dez 1 on 1. A simple play action and a deep throw to Dez would have changed the way the way they were defending against us. Yet all we did was run the ball with minimal success.

The problem is with the play calling. They are too afraid to throw punches and would rather curl up in a corner hoping for a win.

No, only if you are willing to change your offensive. If the Cowboys did this and went to a game where Romo played from under the center, then perhaps. Then we could use more draws, we could go play action etc. We don't do that. When we get pressure like that, we go more towards the edge and increase our speed at which we are heading to the drop off point.

This was never a team we were going to run up the middle on. I mean, you have to run up the middle in order to keep their Dline honest but this team was vulnerable in the flats with the RBs and to the sidelines with the deep sideline ball. I'm a big fan of running the ball and balancing the offense but against this team, they are as tough as they come up the middle but they don't have great OLB play. Take advantage of that but we didn't do that nearly enough or soon enough IMO. I mean, I basically agree with what you are saying but I guess I just have never seen us commit to a change that would allow for what you are describing here. Not under this coaching staff for sure.

 

[ConstantReboot]

No, only if you are willing to change your offensive. If the Cowboys did this and went to a game where Romo played from under the center, then perhaps. Then we could use more draws, we could go play action etc. We don't do that. When we get pressure like that, we go more towards the edge and increase our speed at which we are heading to the drop off point.

This was never a team we were going to run up the middle on. I mean, you have to run up the middle in order to keep their Dline honest but this team was vulnerable in the flats with the RBs and to the sidelines with the deep sideline ball. I'm a big fan of running the ball and balancing the offense but against this team, they are as tough as they come up the middle but they don't have great OLB play. Take advantage of that but we didn't do that nearly enough or soon enough IMO. I mean, I basically agree with what you are saying but I guess I just have never seen us commit to a change that would allow for what you are describing here. Not under this coaching staff for sure.

The problem with our offense is that we are in shotgun way too many times and the other teams know exactly what were doing.

We don't know how to disguise our intentions at all. Watch the old films of our offense. We passed the ball when we showed a running formation - which was when Romo was under center.
And we ran the ball when we showed a passing formation. Which was the shotgun formation and a delayed draw to MBIII.

Difference of our old offense and this offense of ours is predictability. Everyone knows what were going to do when were in shotgun. We pass. We do give the ball of occasionally to a running back but that fools no one. Basically, our formation is selling us out with our intention. Thats where the real problem lies with this offense. Everyone knows what were going to do. But the coaches think were fooling everyone thinking that we don't know. Thus its way too easy to defend against our offense.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

The problem with our offense is that we are in shotgun way too many times and the other teams know exactly what were doing.

We don't know how to disguise our intentions at all. Watch the old films of our offense. We passed the ball when we showed a running formation - which was when Romo was under center.
And we ran the ball when we showed a passing formation. Which was the shotgun formation and a delayed draw to MBIII.

Difference of our old offense and this offense of ours is predictability. Everyone knows what were going to do when were in shotgun. We pass. We do give the ball of occasionally to a running back but that fools no one. Basically, our formation is selling us out with our intention. Thats where the real problem lies with this offense. Everyone knows what were going to do. But the coaches think were fooling everyone thinking that we don't know. Thus its way too easy to defend against our offense.

Well, we agree on this. I believe in balance and I believe you have to use more backs in the offense, passing or running, in order to make opposing defenses actually honor their coverage responsibilities. When you simply forget about the backs, you allow defenses to cheat on their responsibilities and it just makes it all that much easier for them.

It's a simple game that has been played for almost 100 years now. Coaches aren't going to think up new ways of playing the game. Don't over think it, don't think you are smarter then the game. Teach solid principles, teach disciplined, smart football. Make sure your teams are physically and mentally prepared to play and let the players go out and make plays. That's how you win championships. Doesn't seem all that hard but it's amazing how many coaches and teams, at the very highest levels seem to forget these very simple rules.

 

[jobberone]

Well, if Romo, Wilson, Garrett, and Callahan don't figure out the pressure of extra men coming from here and there then we is doomed.

You can fight that with getting the ball out quickly, moving the pocket on occasion, running screens and throwing to a TE or RB underneath in whatever manner sends them where they ain't. Do it enough and they have to back off. Burn them and they will quickly get shy. Otherwise they are going to do it until you combat it effectively. And so is the next team if they have the personnel to do it.

 

[Wood]

Tony's only been here for about half the "disastrous period". Let's not forget the awful years like the Campo/Quincy Carter years.

i blocked those year out