Alexander
What's it going to be then, eh?
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Brings up valid points.
http://sportsday.***BANNED-URL***/d...omo-friendly-offense-good-reason-poor-qb-play
DMN: You were a backup in the NFL. So do you think it's acceptable that the Cowboys did so poorly when their offense was being run by Matt Cassel, Brandon Weeden and Kellen Moore?
Tim Hasselbeck: I had this conversation with my brother [Matt Hasselbeck], had this conversation with my brother when he was a starter and I was a backup. I've had different conversations with him since he's not been the starter. So what I would say -- is it acceptable? Here's the way that I think I've always, especially after being an analyst, looked at it: If your backup has to play four games, I think that you hope that he can split them. I think if you were to go around to every situation, especially every situation that has got a Pro Bowler at quarterback -- if [New England's ] Jimmy Garoppolo had to play four games, he should split them. Think back to when [Tom] Brady was going to be suspended, people would have been happy with two out of four and getting Brady back, right? They would have been. So if Russell Wilson gets hurt, can Tarvaris Jackson go 2-2 in four starts? I think that's one of the reasons there was a lot of excitement around what Indy was doing with my brother. It was like, 'Oh my gosh. This guy starts two games, wins two, starts two more, wins those two. Like wait a second, the backup just won four games. That's unheard of.' Is it acceptable for a backup to go 1-7 or 1-8 or whatever the situation is, is it acceptable? No, I don't think it is. I think if you're a backup -- listen, I started what amounts to be five games and I won one. My career didn't last very long because of that. So, I do think the standard is, yeah, you have to play winning football. Otherwise, you shouldn't continue to get jobs as a backup. I guess what I would say, is that is it acceptable? No. I think you need to do that. I think it would be unfair to the personnel department in Dallas to say -- if Aaron Rodgers were to miss half the season, I'm not sure [Green Bay's] record would be much better. We saw Carson Palmer go down [in 2014] and we saw what happened to Arizona. With Carson Palmer, everybody thinks Bruce Arians is the best offensive play-caller on the planet. Is it acceptable? No. Would other teams find themselves in that same exact position? I think they would. I don't know if the [Cowboys] left themselves completely unprotected, I guess is the best way I can say it. In all seriousness, could they have paid my brother $4 million to be their backup? Yeah, they could have. He was due to be a free agent [in 2015] . They could have. But if they would have made that move, people would have thought they were crazy to make that move. So, it's easy for us to sit here now and be like, 'Hey, they should have done that.'
DMN: In 2009 Jerry Jones said he wanted to make the offense "Romo friendly." Do you believe the Cowboys' offense this year was too "Romo friendly," which made it harder for the backups to pick up the system and function within its parameters?
Tim Hasselbeck: I'll give you an example. I think Seattle is doing the right thing with somebody like Tarvaris Jackson as their backup because Tarvaris has started a bunch of games before so they are a team has high aspirations. Say Russell Wilson pulls his hamstring in the NFC Championship Game - do you have a guy who has played enough football that he can hopefully get you a win? Or is his skill-set similar enough that you're just doing the same things, but hopefully you're allowing for Russell's personality as a quarterback to shine through when he's there? Yet you can do the same things if it were Tarvaris Jackson. But take the Titans for example with [Marcus] Mariota as their starter and [Zach] Mettenberger as their backup -- they just aren't a fit. There are things you would prefer to do with Mettenberger that you would have never installed, thinking that Mariota is going to be your starter. I think with what Dallas does offensively -- there are a lot of guys that should be able to play in that system, just with their personality. Look at Andy Reid. Andy Reid has run a version of the West Coast offense for a very long period of time. He's had success with Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb, Koy Detmer, A.J. Feeley, Michael Vick, Alex Smith, Nick Foles, you name it. He's had success with a bunch of different guys in that same exact system. When you look at what Dallas does, it's package-based. It's run games with checks. It's isolation matchups with Dez [Bryant]. It's option routes with Jason Witten. Honestly, Matt Cassel should be equipped for that. [Brandon] Weeden is a first-round draft pick that has been a starter. He should be equipped to do that. I don't know if that is a good reason for poor play at the position.
http://sportsday.***BANNED-URL***/d...omo-friendly-offense-good-reason-poor-qb-play
DMN: You were a backup in the NFL. So do you think it's acceptable that the Cowboys did so poorly when their offense was being run by Matt Cassel, Brandon Weeden and Kellen Moore?
Tim Hasselbeck: I had this conversation with my brother [Matt Hasselbeck], had this conversation with my brother when he was a starter and I was a backup. I've had different conversations with him since he's not been the starter. So what I would say -- is it acceptable? Here's the way that I think I've always, especially after being an analyst, looked at it: If your backup has to play four games, I think that you hope that he can split them. I think if you were to go around to every situation, especially every situation that has got a Pro Bowler at quarterback -- if [New England's ] Jimmy Garoppolo had to play four games, he should split them. Think back to when [Tom] Brady was going to be suspended, people would have been happy with two out of four and getting Brady back, right? They would have been. So if Russell Wilson gets hurt, can Tarvaris Jackson go 2-2 in four starts? I think that's one of the reasons there was a lot of excitement around what Indy was doing with my brother. It was like, 'Oh my gosh. This guy starts two games, wins two, starts two more, wins those two. Like wait a second, the backup just won four games. That's unheard of.' Is it acceptable for a backup to go 1-7 or 1-8 or whatever the situation is, is it acceptable? No, I don't think it is. I think if you're a backup -- listen, I started what amounts to be five games and I won one. My career didn't last very long because of that. So, I do think the standard is, yeah, you have to play winning football. Otherwise, you shouldn't continue to get jobs as a backup. I guess what I would say, is that is it acceptable? No. I think you need to do that. I think it would be unfair to the personnel department in Dallas to say -- if Aaron Rodgers were to miss half the season, I'm not sure [Green Bay's] record would be much better. We saw Carson Palmer go down [in 2014] and we saw what happened to Arizona. With Carson Palmer, everybody thinks Bruce Arians is the best offensive play-caller on the planet. Is it acceptable? No. Would other teams find themselves in that same exact position? I think they would. I don't know if the [Cowboys] left themselves completely unprotected, I guess is the best way I can say it. In all seriousness, could they have paid my brother $4 million to be their backup? Yeah, they could have. He was due to be a free agent [in 2015] . They could have. But if they would have made that move, people would have thought they were crazy to make that move. So, it's easy for us to sit here now and be like, 'Hey, they should have done that.'
DMN: In 2009 Jerry Jones said he wanted to make the offense "Romo friendly." Do you believe the Cowboys' offense this year was too "Romo friendly," which made it harder for the backups to pick up the system and function within its parameters?
Tim Hasselbeck: I'll give you an example. I think Seattle is doing the right thing with somebody like Tarvaris Jackson as their backup because Tarvaris has started a bunch of games before so they are a team has high aspirations. Say Russell Wilson pulls his hamstring in the NFC Championship Game - do you have a guy who has played enough football that he can hopefully get you a win? Or is his skill-set similar enough that you're just doing the same things, but hopefully you're allowing for Russell's personality as a quarterback to shine through when he's there? Yet you can do the same things if it were Tarvaris Jackson. But take the Titans for example with [Marcus] Mariota as their starter and [Zach] Mettenberger as their backup -- they just aren't a fit. There are things you would prefer to do with Mettenberger that you would have never installed, thinking that Mariota is going to be your starter. I think with what Dallas does offensively -- there are a lot of guys that should be able to play in that system, just with their personality. Look at Andy Reid. Andy Reid has run a version of the West Coast offense for a very long period of time. He's had success with Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb, Koy Detmer, A.J. Feeley, Michael Vick, Alex Smith, Nick Foles, you name it. He's had success with a bunch of different guys in that same exact system. When you look at what Dallas does, it's package-based. It's run games with checks. It's isolation matchups with Dez [Bryant]. It's option routes with Jason Witten. Honestly, Matt Cassel should be equipped for that. [Brandon] Weeden is a first-round draft pick that has been a starter. He should be equipped to do that. I don't know if that is a good reason for poor play at the position.
