Twitter: What was Kellen thinking on 3rd & 10?

[droopdog7]

The smart thing there is to have routes that can get you the first down…. And if not you slide and take a sack. It’s quite simple actually. Go for the win…. And if you can’t get it you do the second best thing (make the jags use last timeout)

It’s not that simple actually, but I agree that if you’re going to throw, you better be going for the first down.

Where it gets a little nuanced is simply sliding if nothing is open. Yes, you get them to use the timeout. But losing, say 6-8 yards, means one less completion for the jags to get into fg range.

So you gets nothing for free here. I think going for the first was easily the best choice.

 

[JonesBoys]

So its Moores fault the defense let them drive right down the field for a FG?

Umm it never gets to that point if Moore knew what situational football is and clock management.

 

[Fletch]

What is this??????? We chose THIS over making them use their timeout? This is on Kellen and McCarthy.

What was he thinking on 1st and 2nd? That’s the time to get a quick hitting pass and get 5 to 10 yards, then go with the run. He played this all wrong. He got scared.

 

[mattjames2010]

Uh, Moore? You have McCarthy and Prescott both pretty much saying to go out and sling it.

 

[JonesBoys]

What is this??????? We chose THIS over making them use their timeout? This is on Kellen and McCarthy.

Just a complete dumb play to call there is no way to defend it. Why not call a roll out by Dak and if someone springs open, great throw the ball to them if not than Dak runs and slides. Let's call a low percentage pass play ensuring we probably don't get the first down and we have them save a timeout. A timeout that they ended up needing to get a field goal to tie the game. This coaching staff doesn't give this team an edge. Instead they create more obstacles that they have to overcome.

 

[Verdict]

A lot of analysts have recently observed that the Cowboys route combinations tend to be man-specific. As in designed to beat man coverage. They are not as effective against zone. Probably because of the lack of spacing. How many times have we seen two and sometimes three receivers in the same general area? That's poor play design and route concepts. So either our receivers are all idiots and they keep doing the wrong things or they are doing what they are being coached to do and sometimes what they are told to do stinks.

For the better part of 15 years opposing defenses have recounted how predictable the Cowboys offense is. In certain down and distances you can set your watch by the routes that are coming. That has been an artifact of this offense since Garrett was first made the OC. As I have mentioned many times.. it's because of the formulaic approach to play calling he used and obviously passed on to Moore. The play sheet literally says on 3rd and 5-10 from this part of the field run these routes. Every good DC in the league can watch film and discern these patterns.. and it's what makes our offense easy to defeat IF you have decent talent on the defensive side of the ball and a smart DC. It isn't going to change until we get a new OC with a new philosophy. We just happen to have such a person at head coach right now.. but for whatever reason we won't let him take the reins.

We all know this offense can move the ball and score at will against bad defenses and can even sometimes defeat good defenses. Because it's talented. Dak is a good bordering on great QB.. Zeke and TP are a good bordering on great RB tandem.. CD is a good bordering on great receiver. The tight end group is good bordering on great as a unit. The offensive line is good bordering on great. So sometimes they are just going to defeat the other guy and make the OC look good. In my opinion they make him look better than he is. What's deflating is that they literally have to get boat raced in multiple games before Jerry will even think about replacing him. But they're probably too good for that to happen. It's a classic catch-22. Nod to Emmitt... and Bullet.. my first football hero!

Good post.

 

[mattjames2010]

Just a complete dumb play to call there is no way to defend it. Why not call a roll out by Dak and if someone springs open, great throw the ball to them if not than Dak runs and slides. Let's call a low percentage pass play ensuring we probably don't get the first down and we have them save a timeout. A timeout that they ended up needing to get a field goal to tie the game. This coaching staff doesn't give this team an edge. Instead they create more obstacles that they have to overcome.

This stuff should be filtered through the HC, and it's not like McCarthy doesn't know offenses either. The issue is, Moore has both McCarthy and Dak saying they want to take chances.

They all believe Dak has a golden arm.

 

[Motorola]

CZers: very good job with your thread comments - keeping it for the most part about football:
The offensive series in general; the forethought about what to do to get the win; and the particular play in question.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Sure, but it's difficult to do when we are covering the boundaries etc.

You're right in that we can't know. I'm right in that we SHOULDN'T have handed them a TO. It was moronic.

I expect KM and MM to cost us a couple games a season by making critical mental errors at the worst times. This was one of them.

We get a first down there and the game is over. You would have loved the play had it worked. You would have called it brilliant.

Im just not one of these fans that thinks a play call is bad because it doesnt work.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Umm it never gets to that point if Moore knew what situational football is and clock management.

The ONLY way it doesnt get to that point is if we pass the ball and get first down. Jags were getting the ball back 100% if we run the ball.

 

[CWR]

We get a first down there and the game is over. You would have loved the play had it worked. You would have called it brilliant.

Im just not one of these fans that thinks a play call is bad because it doesnt work.

No it was the wrong call period. The route tree was terrible. He gave Dak nowhere to go. If you want to pick up the first cool, but mix in some shallow slants or a quick out or something, ANYTHING. Either we got someone open deep or Dak checks into an easy completion.

 

[lostar2009]

They also got 4 seconds put back on the clock. They were down to 8 seconds and went to 12.

We call a run play or a reasonable pass on 3rd and we win.

We stop Engram in bounds and we win.

We had all sorts of opportunities

Epic failure by this team. And I'm sorry this kind of play will not take you far in a sb run. SF will take us out quickly.

 

[CowboyRoy]

No it was the wrong call period. The route tree was terrible. He gave Dak nowhere to go. If you want to pick up the first cool, but mix in some shallow slants or a quick out or something, ANYTHING. Either we got someone open deep or Dak checks into an easy completion.

So are your mad that he passed the ball or are you mad at the pass play he picked?

 

[CWR]

So are your mad that he passed the ball or are you mad at the pass play he picked?

Not mad specifically at him passing, but more so it being a low percentage pass. A run would've been safer, but a shallow pass isn't terrible imo.

 

[JonesBoys]

The ONLY way it doesnt get to that point is if we pass the ball and get first down. Jags were getting the ball back 100% if we run the ball.

So the last timeout that they needed to set up their field goal by throwing in the middle of the field wasn't important? By having that timeout it gave them the ability to play the whole field instead of just the sidelines which is a big deal.

 

[BrassCowboy]

It’s not that simple actually, but I agree that if you’re going to throw, you better be going for the first down.

Where it gets a little nuanced is simply sliding if nothing is open. Yes, you get them to use the timeout. But losing, say 6-8 yards, means one less completion for the jags to get into fg range.

So you gets nothing for free here. I think going for the first was easily the best choice.

well i think we should of looked for a short easy catch or you run the ball as a qb.... a few yards isn't going to hurt. If you know this is what you are going to do ahead of time (hello Dak) then you can design a bootleg or a minimal loss to a gain if you dont pass. what they did, cost us the game plain and simple

 

[robertfchew]

What is this??????? We chose THIS over making them use their timeout? This is on Kellen and McCarthy.

He doesn’t think

 

[robertfchew]

Why didn’t this supposedly elite qb audible out of this. Oh yeah cause he isn’t elite. He’s average at best.

 

[CowboyRoy]

So the last timeout that they needed to set up their field goal by throwing in the middle of the field wasn't important? By having that timeout it gave them the ability to play the whole field instead of just the sidelines which is a big deal.

It helped them, but thats all it did. That doesnt mean the defense had to cave. And it doenst mean that making a first down pass wouldnt have ended the game.

 

[Playmaker3128]

It’s not that simple actually, but I agree that if you’re going to throw, you better be going for the first down.

Where it gets a little nuanced is simply sliding if nothing is open. Yes, you get them to use the timeout. But losing, say 6-8 yards, means one less completion for the jags to get into fg range.

So you gets nothing for free here. I think going for the first was easily the best choice.

I was def more referencing a rollout type thing. Where if nothing is open you slide for like no gain. If nothing is wide open on the rollout you slide for at minimum a loss of one. Low risk play either way.