The Trouble with Drew

[Portland Fanatic]

we would consider a play like that because payton is a moron. we did it 7 times on 3rd down against washington...

Ouch...did not know that stat. Anymore questions on Payton?????

Payton = High School game planning = STUPID on NFL level

 

[te0002]

While the short - intermediate routes may not be Drew's forte, he is clearly the best QB the Cowboys have had since Aikman.

He, like all QB's, has his flaws, but in spite of them he gives this team more confidence at the position than they have had in quite some time.

 

[Future]

heh, i posted a legit stat before anybody else finally. lol

 

[Maikeru-sama]

It is just pretty amazing that people will find a way to blame Drew Bledsoe for this stuff.

I was one of the biggest Drew Bledsoe haters. I think the guy is playing pretty good, he definately not killing it for us.

I blame the coaching staff for the 2 losses and the 49ers debacle.

- Mike G.

 

[InmanRoshi]

QB Rating usually does not usually reward lower percentage, down the field passing. As it stands, Drew's currently standing with a 96 QB Rating, 2nd best in the NFC. He's completing all kinds of passes. His NFL leading 8.5 ypa is just sick. Not only is he the best QB since Aikman, he's better than Aikman's final 5-6years with the team. Probably the best performance from a QB we've had since 1995.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

It is just pretty amazing that people will find a way to blame Drew Bledsoe for this stuff.

I was one of the biggest Drew Bledsoe haters. I think the guy is playing pretty good, he definately not killing it for us.

I blame the coaching staff for the 2 losses and the 49ers debacle.

- Mike G.

Mike,

I don't disagree that the coaches are culpable but it wasn't Parcells or Zimmer or Jerry Jones that made Ware earn himself three penalties or cause our supposed Pro-Bowl OT to get blown up and shoved into the backfield or our safeties to blow coverage after coverage or to cause one rookie running back to totally screwup his blitz assignment or the the other rookie running back to take the ball and attempt to run outside on a 3-1. That's all basic football 101 and some of our players just haven't been up to the challenge.

 

[Doomsday101]

Mike,

I don't disagree that the coaches are culpable but it wasn't Parcells or Zimmer or Jerry Jones that made Ware earn himself three penalties or cause our supposed Pro-Bowl OT to get blown up and shoved into the backfield or our safeties to blow coverage after coverage or to cause one rookie running back to totally screwup his blitz assignment or the the other rookie running back to take the ball and attempt to run outside on a 3-1. That's all basic football 101 and some of our players just haven't been up to the challenge.

I agree with you. We have had some plays there for the taking and the players did not make the play that is on them not the coaches.

 

[Maikeru-sama]

Mike,

I don't disagree that the coaches are culpable but it wasn't Parcells or Zimmer or Jerry Jones that made Ware earn himself three penalties or cause our supposed Pro-Bowl OT to get blown up and shoved into the backfield or our safeties to blow coverage after coverage or to cause one rookie running back to totally screwup his blitz assignment or the the other rookie running back to take the ball and attempt to run outside on a 3-1. That's all basic football 101 and some of our players just haven't been up to the challenge.

Mike, I know you dont like Drew. Or should I say, you would prefer an alternative, and I am right there with you. I want a young guy too.

But seriously, at the end of the day the Buck has got to stop somewhere right? If guys are constantly getting penalties, lined up in the neutral zone, yada yada yada, at some point you just gotta wonder if it is because a lack of coaching.

But I was not blaming the coaching staff for all those mental mistaks. But I do blame them for, let's see:

1. Weak coverage against the Skins, not ONCE but TWICE that cost us a Division Game.

2. Staying in a basic 3-4 Scheme when other teams go 3-Wide, which Sunday led to a Touchdown as Moss got them to around the 20 or so.

3. Being so conseravative against the one of the worst and most penalized defenses in the league for 2-3 years. Why wouldnt attack their suspect secondary more than they did?

4. I blame them for making Jason Witten a "1st Half Pro Bowler and 2nd Half Dud". They get him involved in the 1st half, but he disappears in the 2nd. Well, yeah, it may be the other team keying on him, but my goodness, this Receiving core goes 4 guys deep?

5. The offense has been so predictable. I mean, the only time we seem to attack the deep middle is on a flea flicker. If not, we always do deep comebacks and outs to the sideline.

6. I really dont want to get on the predictability of the defense. So I will not touch that, or this thread may get taken over by a certain group real fast .

Overall, I really feel we match up well with every team in the League. I dont think that is being a homer, but just look how deep we are at Receiver, Defensive Line, and our Secondary isnt bad either.

For some reason, they are not being aggressive and taking chances like we did in 2003. Parcells knew the talent was so bad, that he had to take risk to win games. I dont see why he couldnt use that philosophy when you have an abundance of talent.

Gawd..I long for the 2003 Days when we would do "JAIL BREAK" blitzes every now and then and teams would FEAR it.

Most people will laugh, but one guy I wish we had, and that was he was a little younger is Ritchie Anderson. Dude would always make a clutch play when we needed it.

Bottom line is Drew Bledsoe is Parcells' Boy, so I dont understand why he wont open up the throttle a little.

Of course we will all be back here complaining that he had Old Man Drew throwing too much if he did that .

- Mike G.

 

[InmanRoshi]

The Cowboys passing offense is leading the entire NFL in YPA by a hefty margin. We're 5th in the NFL in passing yards per game.

Yet, we're not attacking secondaries with the passing game.

Go figure.

:laugh2:

 

[AdamJT13]

Nope. You aren't wrong. And that is one thing that Vinny has all over Drew. The accuracy and touch on short routes.

Bledsoe is completing a higher percentage of short passes than Testaverde did last year. Testaverde just threw short (less than 10 yards downfield) a lot more -- 67 percent of the time, compared to Bledsoe's 50 percent.

 

[Portland Fanatic]

The Cowboys passing offense is leading the entire NFL in YPA by a hefty margin. We're 5th in the NFL in passing yards per game.

Yet, we're not attacking secondaries with the passing game.

Go figure.

:laugh2:

How much of that is 4th qtr stats??? I think that will enlighten the situation a lot.

 

[AdamJT13]

How much of that is 4th qtr stats??? I think that will enlighten the situation a lot.

Not much. Bledsoe averages 8.41 yards per attempt in the first three quarters, so we're attacking downfield before the fourth quarter.

The only other guy higher than 8.0 YPA is Ben Roethlisberger, who has attempted only 60 passes all season (for 11.5 YPA).

 

[InmanRoshi]

How much of that is 4th qtr stats??? I think that will enlighten the situation a lot.

Why would that be relevant? Its not like the Cowboys have been invovled in blowouts, leading to meaningless 4th quarter stats in junk time.

The problem with the team 4 whopping games in (aside from being a young team playing a lot of games on the road) is that Julius, the OL and the running game hasn't been able to shoulder any of the load the offense. Dallas is averaging 3.3 ypc running the ball, that's 25th in the NFL. In passing th eball, they are are 1st in the NFL in yards per attempt by a rather large margin. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what the problem is. Instead of being the meat of the offense, the running attack is now tertiary. And they haven't been facing a lot of 8 man fronts. Not since San Diego. Oakland was bracketing the WR's, which is why Key and Terry had poor days. Dallas couldn't run the ball on Oakland's front 7.

This offense has been anything but conservative. They haven't had the opportunity to be conservative. I pray for the day when they can be conservative.

 

[Portland Fanatic]

Why would that be relevant? Its not like the Cowboys have been invovled in blowouts, leading to meaningless 4th quarter stats in junk time.

The problem with the team 4 whopping games in (aside from being a young team playing a lot of games on the road) is that Julius, the OL and the running game hasn't been able to shoulder any of the load the offense. Dallas is averaging 3.3 ypc running the ball, that's 25th in the NFL. In passing th eball, they are are 1st in the NFL in yards per attempt by a rather large margin. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what the problem is. Instead of being the meat of the offense, the running attack is now tertiary. And they haven't been facing a lot of 8 man fronts. Not since San Diego. Oakland was bracketing the WR's, which is why Key and Terry had poor days. Dallas couldn't run the ball on Oakland's front 7.

This offense has been anything but conservative. They haven't had the opportunity to be conservative. I pray for the day when they can be conservative.

I agree that our run offense is has been bad, but I suugest some of the reason is that we are not opening up the offense early in the game. the reason I stated 4th qtr is because I would guess that the majority of our yards are in the 4th qtr...playing from behind...therefore being forced to throw the ball to catch up.

I would LIKE to see us open this offense up in the first half of the game, rather then have to see our offense put all 75% of our stats up in the 4th qtr because we are playing catch up.

That's why I care...open it up early....that should open up more running lanes later in the game...that's when we need to pound the ball. We are trying to pound that ball early in the game and it's SO predictable.

 

[Portland Fanatic]

Not much. Bledsoe averages 8.41 yards per attempt in the first three quarters, so we're attacking downfield before the fourth quarter.

The only other guy higher than 8.0 YPA is Ben Roethlisberger, who has attempted only 60 passes all season (for 11.5 YPA).

It's not the yards per attempt that matter.....it's how many times we do it. The single fact we are having such success proves that we need to do it MORE.

 

[big_neil]

When you have a guy with a 96 rating this season, #2 in YPA in the NFL, and in the top 5 in TDs, yards and rating, and in the top 10 all-time in completions, attempts, yards and #18 all time in TDs, it's sort of a stretch to sit there and say "his mechanics are just not there". If he did everything you say, he'd pretty much have to be #1 in the NFL in every major category, undefeated, with 1 158.3 rating, and #1 in the all-time lists after only 176 career games (Marino played 240 or so).

He is what he is, he's not the best of alltime, but his numbers are up there, so making wholesale improvements is just not feasible.