This offense is awful

[ConstantReboot]

If the calls they make put the players in position to win, you can't blame the calls. At some point, the players have to execute. It's not the coaches who are dropping the third down passes or holding players at the goal line.

What if the calls DON'T put our players in the a position to win? If its just a matter of execution why aren't we winning? And if its the players NOT EXECUTING why are they still playing?

In the Washington game Gruden kept pointing out that Dallas has the lowest percentage in the league when it comes to 3rd in short. Last year we had one of the highest conversions when it came to 3rd down. Why did that change?

When your coach tells you to run up the middle in 3rd in short when everyone knows whats coming, and the defense stops it...then we end up with a field goal. Do you still blame the players?

The players can only do so much. Its either the coach has to bring accountability by making them accountable. Secondly, the coach needs to stop being predictable. He needs to change things up and make it hard for the defense to defend. The coach does none of that.

 

[ConstantReboot]

False start 82 offense.

I blame Garrett.

Nope thats Witten's fault. But Garrett needs to rip him a new one and let him know that won't be tolerated on this team. But does he?

ACCOUNTABILITY is the responsibility of the coach. If its not addressed by the coach and left to go on and on without repercussion, then it becomes a coaching problem. Thats what were seeing now.

 

[ConstantReboot]

The offense is predictable. That statement shouldn't be controversial as opponents have been pointing it out since 2008. Michael Irvin mentioned it last year. Predictability does not doom an offense to failure. In fact, it is the main reason the offense travels as well as it does. However, a predictable offense must have almost perfect health to function well because it relies entirely on players winning individual match ups. Any adversity will throw it off kilter.

The main reason why this offense has been successful was because of Romo and his ability to make proper changes at the LOS. Predictability gives the defense the advantage. When they know what plays are going to occur and where the ball is thrown they can make the jump for an INT. That was why we lost to Carolina. They knew how to bait Romo and figured out who he was going to throw to.

Predictability is running the same plays over and over again expecting different results. Well we've been doing the same plays over and over and yet were losing. Its time we try something different. This predictability is killing us.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

So what your saying is that Garrett should be blameless?

Its sad that even good ole' Jerry is coming to realization that Garrett isn't really the genius that he thought him to be. Its not a prophetic sign of truth and wisdom. Its the sign of reality hitting the fan.

I never said anything one way or another regarding blame.

Are you familiar with the term scapegoat and the role it plays in dumbing down a discussion? I don't know how many times I have to say that his failure in developing/evaluating quarterbacks is a problem particularly with a beat up old man at QB.

I want us to draft a QB but then I remember Garrett is still coach.

Jason Garrett reminds me of Marty Shottenheimer. He is a very good disciplinarian and motivator. People bag on him for his X's and O's but I think he knows the concepts in football by rote. He played football full time from the age of 12 until he went the pros where he became a coach on the sideline to hear Aikman tell it. I don't think that he is particularly innovative or intuitive but I think he's rock solid on the fundamentals. He is mechanical and conservative to a fault nonetheless. Shottenheimer made the AFC championship a time or two with Kosar but also had several poor seasons too to end up with a mediocre record.

I would like a replacement and there is an excellent one come Payton but he is not available. Other guru types who are talented but neophyte have to deal with the Joneses. Garrett at least has some success drafting and developing players. You do not want Jerry unmetered in the war room, owner's meeting, or elsewhere. Firing Garrett is not a plan. It's a reaction.

But if you want to know why I think our offense is so bad it's primarily because the offensive skill positions have been really bad. The receivers are improving with Dez healthy but TWill wilted for the first half of the year. Street fumbles and is marginally athletic. At QB we've had Weeden and Cassel who can be fairly described as awful. Cassel can barely throw the NFL ball in every sense of the phrase. Randle melted down. DMC has nice traits but his detractions make him a severely dampened player. Remember Glassbar?

Ultimately though, the reason I take umbrage with GROG is because the sentiment is mindlessly political. I'm not saying this is a political discussion but rather how we deal with political issues.

 

[noshame]

I'm guessing the plays at a 80%clip pre-snap, I sure defensive coaches are training players to read our keys, which are plentiful.

Then I'm watching old NorvaL (and the vikings) the other night and I (along with Sims) was clueless as to what was coming, sure he runs a lot, BUT HE ALSO PASSES AND RUNS PLAY ACTION OUT OF THE SAME FORMATIONS!!!! Mind you he does this with a horrible QB and a suspect OL. If anybody goes this off season, it needs to be the OC and the ST coaches.

 

[SultanOfSix]

Hey guys, the Cowboys are the team of "almost" there. Last year, they almost made the NFC championship. They were in every game this season and almost one won one of them in seven tries. This is probably because Garrett is almost a real HC. Perhaps the team will almost score two TDs in Sunday and almost win the game. Perhaps they may even almost make the playoffs. And if not this year, perhaps almost next year.

 

[Bullflop]

Our QB, RB and the overall speed issues of our offense must be addressed before this offense is likely to legitimately become efficient and explosive again. It will be no small task to resolve those issues in 2016 but should rightly be one of the prime objectives of this team in the offseason.

 

[Galian Beast]

A wide receiver can't carry an offense by themselves. Not even with a good offensive line and an complete lack of skill players at key positions and a complete lack of speed will also expose an offensive line no matter how good they are.

 

[percyhoward]

Why is it that we are last in the league in 3rd and short even with this massive oline?

That story was pure click bait. ESPN (and later Sturm) were only counting 3rd and 1, which ignored half of our short-yardage plays.

We rank 19th (run 10th, pass 25th) in short yardage, which is 3rd or 4th down and 1 or 2 yards to go. Somehow we've managed to stay in the top 10 in short-yardage runs despite the fact that 76% of our short-yardage plays without Romo have been runs. The league avg is 54%, and no team is over 70%. So you're right about our being predictable, but at least with regard to short-yardage running, that predictability isn't killing us. IOW, we are way too run-heavy, but we've been successful at it anyway, although I"m sure the coaches don't expect that to hold up.

 

[Beast_from_East]

It should not have been a surprise to anybody that an offense needs a capable QB to be successful. I know it's popular to bandy about the idea that a good QB 'covers up' for a bad coach, but the reality is, you can't win many games without a good QB, and, if you do, it's because you've got a defense that makes the other guys' QBs look worse than your own.

The team doesn't lack scheme or discipline. That's just something fans say when they don't want to hold players they like responsible for holding onto footballs or catching critical 3rd downs. This team has been in position to win all but two games this season with the scheme and the discipline it's got on hand. It's lost those games because our players didn't make the plays that were right there to be made. End of story.

The two games we lost where we didn't really have a chance were both to better teams than we've got right now.

I guess the point the guy was trying to make was if the players we have are not good enough to make enough plays to win every week, isn't the head coach in his 6th year somewhat responsible for that?

If one of the biggest assets of Garrett is his roster building ability, then why does losing just one player turn us into Campo 2.0?

You keep saying that fans should not bash Garrett and make reasonable criticism of him instead of rants, well cant this be considered a legitimate criticism? If the Pats can lose Brady and win 11 games with Cassel because of their supporting cast, then why was Dallas not in a position to just win one or two games without Romo?

Cant a logical and rational argument be made that Garrett is responsible for this?

 

[ghst187]

our #2 WR stinks, we don't have a workhorse RB and the OL hasn't played all that well. Additionally, we don't have but one true playmaker, Dez, that really scares anyone. Sure Witten can get open all the time but he isn't taking anything to the house or beating people deep. Hence my playmaker draft below:

 

[Blackspider214]

When losing one single player causes your entire team to go in the tank, that is a serious indictment on just how talented is this team and even more so the coaching. Starting with Garrett. A new OC won't matter at all. It's still Garrett's terrible offense. I've seen better offensive schemes watching high school. No telling how many terrible calls Romo has audibled out of. And the sad thing is, our offense is at its best when the play breaks down, Romo has to scramble and the WRs ad libs to get open.

 

[Idgit]

I guess the point the guy was trying to make was if the players we have are not good enough to make enough plays to win every week, isn't the head coach in his 6th year somewhat responsible for that?

If one of the biggest assets of Garrett is his roster building ability, then why does losing just one player turn us into Campo 2.0?

You keep saying that fans should not bash Garrett and make reasonable criticism of him instead of rants, well cant this be considered a legitimate criticism? If the Pats can lose Brady and win 11 games with Cassel because of their supporting cast, then why was Dallas not in a position to just win one or two games without Romo?

Cant a logical and rational argument be made that Garrett is responsible for this?

No. I don't think it follows that if the players don't make plays then it's on the coaches. I expect the coaches to put the players In a position to be successful, and, from where I'm sitting, they have this season. For the most part.

I agree it's valid to question the player selection at this point. I look at the personn and think, we've generally got the right guys on the field. But I'd understand people disagreeing with that. If we've got the wrong guys or just can't develop them, then I'd say that's definitely something that's on Garrett.

 

[rick2248]

can't be, Garrett is an offensive genius. I mean look on how much production his magic got out of Romo, Dez and DeMarco last season. /sarcasm

Its not sarcasm those 3 together were the reason the Cowboys won 12 games and a playoff win then Jerry blew it up he said any1 can run behind that OL even himself and now we are coming .Where is Jimmy Johnson p on 20 years without a Super Bowl . Where is Jimmy Johnson when you need him !

 

[rick2248]

No. I don't think it follows that if the players don't make plays then it's on the coaches. I expect the coaches to put the players In a position to be successful, and, from where I'm sitting, they have this season. For the most part.

I agree it's valid to question the player selection at this point. I look at the personn and think, we've generally got the right guys on the field. But I'd understand people disagreeing with that. If we've got the wrong guys or just can't develop them, then I'd say that's definitely something that's on Garrett.

Let me see its been 20 years since our last SB and Jimmy Johnson was running his own show back then so is the problem Garrett or our GM Jerry Jones I will let you figure that out should not be too hard for you !

 

[Thatkidbob]

When losing one single franchise quarterback causes your entire team to go in the tank, that is a serious indictment on just how talented is this team and even more so the coaching.

FIFY.

Listen... I don't even want to be a Garrett defender, but arguments like these make me take that position. You've never seen a team lose its franchise QB and implode? Do you remember that 2011 Colts team?

 

[Jerryrage]

I knew it was bad but didn't realize it was this bad. This has become Campo's Cowboys.

Romo has 35 drives on the season and scored only 5 TD's.

Cassel has 55 drives and has only scored 7 TD's.

We have clipped off a full touchdown and extra point off of our scoring offense from last year as well.

Our leading reciever is Witten at 60 catches.

McFadden is averaging a mere 3.8 yards per carry.

We will not have a 3,000 yard passer, 1,000 yard rusher, or 1,000 reciever this year in 16 games.


Awful!

Yeah, that will happen when you allow the leading rusher in the NFL to leave your team. You become less dynamic.

 

[willia451]

Its the success of the early 90s that is killing us. Those people that lived through that are still here.

Many times teams would tell the powers that be in the Cowboys organization in the early 90s that they knew exactly what the Cowboys were going to do on offense. They just couldn't stop it.

And we've been trying to re-create that ever since. Its not like that in the NFL anymore. And we haven't changed to live and succeed in that brave new world. Its all about stocking up on draft picks to hedge your bets. And being able to adjust on the fly during a game that matters. And the Cowboys have not been doing very much of any of that.

I've always said the new X factor in the NFL is coaching. The difference between the best teams and the worst teams in the NFL in terms of the players you are putting out there on the field and the talent they possess is simply not that great. Parity is a mother.

We need a cultural shift. But I fear that is a long, long ways off. Given the people that are in charge atm.

 

[ConstantReboot]

I never said anything one way or another regarding blame.

Are you familiar with the term scapegoat and the role it plays in dumbing down a discussion? I don't know how many times I have to say that his failure in developing/evaluating quarterbacks is a problem particularly with a beat up old man at QB.

I want us to draft a QB but then I remember Garrett is still coach.

Jason Garrett reminds me of Marty Shottenheimer. He is a very good disciplinarian and motivator. People bag on him for his X's and O's but I think he knows the concepts in football by rote. He played football full time from the age of 12 until he went the pros where he became a coach on the sideline to hear Aikman tell it. I don't think that he is particularly innovative or intuitive but I think he's rock solid on the fundamentals. He is mechanical and conservative to a fault nonetheless. Shottenheimer made the AFC championship a time or two with Kosar but also had several poor seasons too to end up with a mediocre record.

I would like a replacement and there is an excellent one come Payton but he is not available. Other guru types who are talented but neophyte have to deal with the Joneses. Garrett at least has some success drafting and developing players. You do not want Jerry unmetered in the war room, owner's meeting, or elsewhere. Firing Garrett is not a plan. It's a reaction.

But if you want to know why I think our offense is so bad it's primarily because the offensive skill positions have been really bad. The receivers are improving with Dez healthy but TWill wilted for the first half of the year. Street fumbles and is marginally athletic. At QB we've had Weeden and Cassel who can be fairly described as awful. Cassel can barely throw the NFL ball in every sense of the phrase. Randle melted down. DMC has nice traits but his detractions make him a severely dampened player. Remember Glassbar?

Ultimately though, the reason I take umbrage with GROG is because the sentiment is mindlessly political. I'm not saying this is a political discussion but rather how we deal with political issues.

I respect your point of view and understand where your coming from. However, I'm not one who wants Garrett fired and I don't think for once I was calling for his head - if it looks like I did so be it.

But I want him to change. I want him to be on par with what the NFL is doing and adapt to the modern day league. Stop being a robot on the sidelines and learn how to coach thru different situations. Many younger coaches do it all the time. Why can't Garrett?

You say you think he's and X and O type of guy. But X and O types draw up plans on the sidelines and coach their QBs through plays that work. They don't follow a one size fits all type of scheme. X and O types will also know how to use their players and give them plays specifically for certain situations. Some high school coaches do it all the time. But why can't Garrett? Why is it that his system is so predictable? You can always tell what were going to do about 90% of the time. If thats the case so can the defense. Its why defenses are able to create turnovers and INTs over this team. They have this offense figured out and it allows them to be a position for an INT.

Firing Garrett may not good for the team. However, keeping him might not be good for the team also. If he can't keep up with what the rest of the league is doing on offense than maybe its time for him to go. All I'm asking is that he change his playbook. Scrap it and burn it and do something. Stop doing the same thing over and over. We aren't winning because of it.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I respect your point of view and understand where your coming from. However, I'm not one who wants Garrett fired and I don't think for once I was calling for his head - if it looks like I did so be it.

But I want him to change. I want him to be on par with what the NFL is doing and adapt to the modern day league. Stop being a robot on the sidelines and learn how to coach thru different situations. Many younger coaches do it all the time. Why can't Garrett?

You say you think he's and X and O type of guy. But X and O types draw up plans on the sidelines and coach their QBs through plays that work. They don't follow a one size fits all type of scheme. X and O types will also know how to use their players and give them plays specifically for certain situations. Some high school coaches do it all the time. But why can't Garrett? Why is it that his system is so predictable? You can always tell what were going to do about 90% of the time. If thats the case so can the defense. Its why defenses are able to create turnovers and INTs over this team. They have this offense figured out and it allows them to be a position for an INT.

Firing Garrett may not good for the team. However, keeping him might not be good for the team also. If he can't keep up with what the rest of the league is doing on offense than maybe its time for him to go. All I'm asking is that he change his playbook. Scrap it and burn it and do something. Stop doing the same thing over and over. We aren't winning because of it.

Quite frankly when it comes down to adjustments and the dynamic that you're saying here, we don't know enough to make fair judgments on what is or is not done. I know for a fact that Linehan makes line and route adjustments on offense and Marinelli is always mixing up his calls. They do that constantly trying to match personnel or beat it.

I look at it this way. How much of the playbook do you think Cassel knows? He has probably been able to memorize the calls but he wasn't there when these plays were installed and there is only so much you can do in the middle of the season. They are also likely having to adjust all of their practice around their QB not knowing the offense. It has a trickle down effect. When it comes to line calls and adjustments. It looks like he only has a tenuous grasp to me. He has no rapport with his receivers. Being inaccurate is one thing but he's throwing when they're not expecting it. Tony would make the call and tell his receivers through signals that they were the hot read. I see no such mechanic in play with Cassel.

It's the same idea when you have bad quarterback play in practice you cannot tell much of anything about the players it's much the same here. Sure a better coach might have gone 2-5 and with Cassel but I don't even think Payton could overcome the albatross that is our QB play.

As for Garrett, I just think in some ways he is entirely too conservative and enslaved by his categorization. He never seems to go for it on their side of the field for example. Thinking of parables. It's like knowing a lot of riffs and not being able to write a song. It's like having a perfect memory and not being able to tell a story. It's like being able to see something and not know it's shape. It's like being able to coach every position but not win a game. He'll insist on putting certain personnel groupings like those heavy sets and it ends with inferior players on the field far too much for example. He insists on the FB another. Marinelli has cooked up some interesting fronts but outside of that Garrett's teams don't innovate.

He also apparently has blind spots. The Matt Cassel debacle reminds me quite a lot of the Brad Johnson debacle of several years ago.

I will say that the Loney guy they brought in to replace Callahan in the run game coordinator role needs to be replaced. We've gone back to Garrett's leads and draws. It's had a modicum of success but the run style of last year where we're running a steady stream of stretches and those counter pulls with Martin clearing out is gone now. I think more than a little of that might be DMC and his limitations too.