Too much passing? not enough running?

[CowboysFaninHouston]

During the second half of Green Bay's loss to the Colts, the Packers ran 25 pass plays against only six runs, something the offensive line would like to see evened out a bit. Both guards, T.J. Lang and Josh Sitton, made sharp comments after the game questioning the scarcity of run plays called in a game the Packers led, 21-3, at halftime. They felt Colts pass rushers were able to keep their engines revved the entire second half, knowing there wouldn't be any reason to throttle down for a run play. ... [Said Jeff Saturday:] "It puts a ton of pressure on you up front when everybody in the building knows: This is what you got."


hmmm, its not just garrett.... and this coach has a superbowl ring.

 

[Muhast]

During the second half of Green Bay's loss to the Colts, the Packers ran 25 pass plays against only six runs, something the offensive line would like to see evened out a bit. Both guards, T.J. Lang and Josh Sitton, made sharp comments after the game questioning the scarcity of run plays called in a game the Packers led, 21-3, at halftime. They felt Colts pass rushers were able to keep their engines revved the entire second half, knowing there wouldn't be any reason to throttle down for a run play. ... [Said Jeff Saturday:] "It puts a ton of pressure on you up front when everybody in the building knows: This is what you got."


hmmm, its not just garrett.... and this coach has a superbowl ring.

Does that remind anybody of the Detroit disaster last year? Garrett couldn't help Romo out of his slump by just running the football. Instead he fed into the turnovers but continuing to pass.

 

[pugilist]

in their case, yes it seems a little idiotic to not rely on your running game when you're up 18 points

but in Garrett's defense, when you're constantly down 10+ points late in games, you really need to start moving the ball down the field via passing

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

You win via the pass in the NFL.

 

[KJJ]

The Cowboys have been playing from behind in some games and Murray has 17 runs for losses it's resulted in a lot of long down situations. You have to run some to keep defenses honest but the only way for the Cowboys to win games is by passing the ball. Murray is going to have to run straight ahead getting what he can and stop trying to cut and circle back it's resulting in a lot of negative runs.

 

[jnday]

The Cowboys have been playing from behind in some games and Murray has 17 runs for losses it's resulted in a lot of long down situations. You have to run some to keep defenses honest but the only way for the Cowboys to win games is by passing the ball. Murray is going to have to run straight ahead getting what he can and stop trying to cut and circle back it's resulting in a lot of negative runs.

He has to cut and circle back. There are defensive players in his face when he gets the handoff. I was one of the biggest critics of this line before the season and I am tired of talking about. The fact remains that the line is the problem with this team. Running or passing behind this mess of a line is a hard thing to do. It is not an excuse, it is the reason for this downward spiral of an offense.

 

[Future]

You win via the pass in the NFL.

Nahhh

 

[KJJ]

He has to cut and circle back. There are defensive players in his face when he gets the handoff. I was one of the biggest critics of this line before the season and I am tired of talking about. The fact remains that the line is the problem with this team. Running or passing behind this mess of a line is a hard thing to do. It is not an excuse, it is the reason for this downward spiral of an offense.

I'm aware he has to cut and circle back but on 1st down he has to make positive yardage and the best way is to not try and make something out of nothing. On 1st down he needs to make positive gains even if it's a yard or two to avoid these long down situations. He's running into a wall of defenders and cutting and circling back is leading to a lot of negative plays.

As bad as the OL is he needs to take what's there even if it's a no gain rather than cutting back and taking a 2-3 yard loss. I don't want to see Romo in these long down situations on Sunday where he's forcing throws down the field with Ed Reed licking his chops.

 

[Bluestang]

He has to cut and circle back. There are defensive players in his face when he gets the handoff. I was one of the biggest critics of this line before the season and I am tired of talking about. The fact remains that the line is the problem with this team. Running or passing behind this mess of a line is a hard thing to do. It is not an excuse, it is the reason for this downward spiral of an offense.

Even when the blocking has been good Murray has lost confidence in the guys upfront.

There have been plays in each game where he's missed a hole or got too impatient and forced the ball into defenders.

 

[Muhast]

We need to start using some shotgun draws with Murray instead of only running the. Out of single back two tight end looks and iform. Would a little diversity kill us? I feel like the large majority of fans know when we will run and when we pass BC we do it out of completely different formations most of the time. We run about 1 Draw out of shotgun a game.

 

[Hostile]

I absolutely love the OP. No, it isn't just the Cowboys, or Garrett, or our players. All teams do make these same types of mistakes and calls.

 

[AdamJT13]

You win via the pass in the NFL.

You win by passing more effectively than your opponent. You don't (necessarily) win by passing more often than your opponent.

 

[Beast_from_East]

You win by passing more effectively than your opponent. You don't (necessarily) win by passing more often than your opponent.

And when you cant run because you oline sucks so bad, it makes it even harder to pass because the defense can just pin their ears back.

 

[AdamJT13]

And when you cant run because you oline ***s so bad, it makes it even harder to pass because the defense can just pin their ears back.

Contrary to popular belief, the success or failure of the running game has minimal effect on the passing game.

 

[Bluestang]

Contrary to popular belief, the success or failure of the running game has minimal effect on the passing game.

Not only is this true but we've been pretty succesful with PA fakes when we've tried them.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Contrary to popular belief, the success or failure of the running game has minimal effect on the passing game.

actually you are wrong. its directly correlated. if you can't run. and you are in 2nd and long situations most often. chances are you will need to pass 9 out of 10 times. defenses will then play the pass, drop players into coverage as well as blitz. that then limits how much success you will have in the passing game. if you can run the ball, the defenses then have to play you honest, which makes it more difficult on them to defend you.

 

[Sampson]

if you can run the ball, the defenses then have to play you honest, which makes it more difficult on them to defend you.

This is a coaching philosophy not a fact. While its true in many cases it is also not true many times.

Atlanta, Denver, Pittsburgh and Houston are all in the bottom 14 for rushing yards per attempt this year yet they are top 10 in team passer rating.

Atlanta, Denver, and Pittsburgh rushing less than 40% of their plays.

But Adam also said "minimal effect" not no effect.

 

[burmafrd]

you cannot just look at stats- that is why so many miss the obvious

It is a mindset - on DC's and OC's

You have to figure in the mental and morale effects of not having a running game that can help out. On your team and the opposing team.

There is nothing more demoralizing to one team and beneficial to another team then watching an offense grind it out down the field and Own the Opposing D by running the ball down their throat.

And of course the passing fanatics miss the LITTLE point that a running game eats the clock and gives your D a chance to rest.

 

[Rack]

Not enough run blocking.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

This is a coaching philosophy not a fact. While its true in many cases it is also not true many times.

Atlanta, Denver, Pittsburgh and Houston are all in the bottom 14 for rushing yards per attempt this year yet they are top 10 in team passer rating.

Atlanta, Denver, and Pittsburgh rushing less than 40% of their plays.

But Adam also said "minimal effect" not no effect.

no, it is a fact. if you run the ball effectively, lets say you average 4 yards a run on first down (not that it would happen on every 1st down), then being in 2nd and 6, you can run it or you can pass it. the defense has to respect the run. that's when play action works best, freezes the LBs and safties and allows your passing lanes to open.

one thing those teams do is run the ball and continue to run the ball. and bottom 14 means, lower half. not bottom feeding like us being 30+ in attempts, average, total rushing yards

. houston is top 5 for rushing attempts. so the threat is always there. they are also top 10 in total rushing yards.

denver averages over a 100 rushing yards per game. they are also 13th in rushing attempts per game. steelers average 25 rushing attempts per game and btw, they are 2-3.

atlanta is the anomoly. but when you look at their schedule. they still average 25 rushes per game. which is respectable. they also played some of the worse passiing defenses in the league like carolina, SD and washington who are all 20 or worse.