What will it take to come out hot on first series of downs?

[jazzcat22]

Only way your hero scores is if he is gifted a 1 yard plunge. He got one in Tampa and got completely stuffed. As usual, Dak had to run it in for us.

24 / 7

 

[Doomsday101]

Really not concerned with opening drives and how quick they come out I do care about how they play 4 qrts of football.

 

[kskboys]

Cowboys always seem to come out flat or at least we do so too often. Do we need to have some live full speed scrimmage before kickoff? Takes awhile to get Dak to chill out among others with same issue?

Throw to Schultz.

Schultz is one of the primary catalysts for this O. When we don't use him, the O isn't anywhere near as effective. Make the SF D pay attention to him, it'll open up everything else.

Also get the ball in space to Pollard and, yes, to Zeke. Make the D come up and cover.

 

[kskboys]

Run Dak up the middle as a fullback the first two downs. I'm only half-joking.

He's just too amped up at the beginning of games and seems to settle down after some exertion and contact. Don't ask him to finesse throws until you make him go try to run over a linebacker. Smash mouth always seems to settle him down and improve his focus.

I think there is something to this. Dak appears to be overly excited for the first series or two.

 

[Praxit]

..I think KM, gets the blueprint they were using by the 2nd qtr Vs Tampa. Good mix of plays, with balance attack of run n pass.

IMO, Dallas already played the so called best defense. When they played Philly.

 

[Praxit]

I think there is something to this. Dak appears to be overly excited for the first series or two.

..lol... yep. In fact, the whole offense seems to be on over-drive.

 

[Redline360]

Would love to see them take a shot deep the first play of the game for once instead of the usual zeke up the gut or short passes that don't do anything.

 

[KJJ]

I can promise you if the Cowboys come out flat in this game it won’t even be close. The only real chance I see the Cowboys winning this game is if they jump on San Francisco early and force them to play from behind. We’re going to have to take Purdy out of his comfort zone and make him have to beat us. If we can’t stop their running game with McCafferty and Deebo it’s going to be a long day. They’re not going to allow the Cowboys to run the ball. They want to put the game on Dak so they can pin their ears back with Nick Bosa and company. When you’re playing on the road in a playoff game you want to take the crowd out of it and do that you have to jump out in front. The 49ers are going to get physical with us because they know that’s the Cowboys kryptonite. If the Cowboys lose the battle in the trenches like they did last year in the playoffs to San Francisco this game could get out of hand pretty quick.

 

[Momanpr100]

It's not how you start, it's how you finish

 

[RonnieT24]

I can promise you if the Cowboys come out flat in this game it won’t even be close. The only real chance I see the Cowboys winning this game is if they jump on San Francisco early and force them to play from behind. We’re going to have to take Purdy out of his comfort zone and make him have to beat us. If we can’t stop their running game with McCafferty and Deebo it’s going to be a long day. They’re not going to allow the Cowboys to run the ball. They want to put the game on Dak so they can pin their ears back with Nick Bosa and company. When you’re playing on the road in a playoff game you want to take the crowd out of it and do that you have to jump out in front. The 49ers are going to get physical with us because they know that’s the Cowboys kryptonite. If the Cowboys lose the battle in the trenches like they did last year in the playoffs to San Francisco this game could get out of hand pretty quick.

I don't think there is much danger of this team coming out flat this week. Of course there is always that chance but I firmly believe that last year's debacle will serve as jet fuel for them. I am not going to sit here and act like the Cowboys are going to boat race the 49ers.. The Niners are a good team.. but I think in many ways they've benefitted from a ridiculously soft schedule and their record is a little misleading. The Cowboys have faced (and beaten) more upper echelon teams by a good margin. Though the Niners are good against the run the Raiders did hang 135 on them. And if Jarrett Stidham can put up 365 yards and 3 TDs I feel good about what Dak can do to them. They had no answer for Adams and Waller.. and while I don't think Lamb and Schultz are quite on that level I do think as a group our guys as a level up from what the Raiders roll out there.

 

[Aven8]

Don’t give it to Zeke up the gut or try an embarrassing screen pass

I actually watched highlights of SF/Raiders game and Raiders were killing them on screens.

 

[Doomsday77]

What will it take? How about someone who can catch the ball!

 

[KJJ]

I don't think there is much danger of this team coming out flat this week. Of course there is always that chance but I firmly believe that last year's debacle will serve as jet fuel for them. I am not going to sit here and act like the Cowboys are going to boat race the 49ers.. The Niners are a good team.. but I think in many ways they've benefitted from a ridiculously soft schedule and their record is a little misleading. The Cowboys have faced (and beaten) more upper echelon teams by a good margin. Though the Niners are good against the run the Raiders did hang 135 on them. And if Jarrett Stidham can put up 365 yards and 3 TDs I feel good about what Dak can do to them. They had no answer for Adams and Waller.. and while I don't think Lamb and Schultz are quite on that level I do think as a group our guys as a level up from what the Raiders roll out there.

They certainly came out flat against the 49ers last year in the playoffs. McCarthy chalked it up to nerves. If they were nervous for that game at home, I can only imagine how they’re going to feel heading to San Francisco against this 49ers team. From what I’ve witnessed from the Cowboys this season you can’t put anything past them. Even against Tampa they came out sluggish on offense the first two series. Our defense looked good early, but our all offense took a while to get on track. We can’t afford to get off to a slow start in this one.

 

[DanTanna]

Like clock work:

1st down - WR screen pass for 2 yards
2nd down - Zeke breaks one up the middle for 3 yards
3rd down - 5 yard curl route, no yak, punt

 

[RonnieT24]

They certainly came out flat against the 49ers last year in the playoffs. McCarthy chalked it up to nerves. If they were nervous for that game at home, I can only imagine how they’re going to feel heading to San Francisco against this 49ers team. From what I’ve witnessed from the Cowboys this season you can’t put anything past them. Even against Tampa they came out sluggish on offense the first two series. Our defense looked good early, but our all offense took a while to get on track. We can’t afford to get off to a slow start in this one.

Sometimes you gotta give a nod to the other team. The Bucs came out loaded for bear on defense just like we did. Still if we catch either of those first three passes we probably get a couple of first downs and there is no sluggish start. But that wasn't so much "sluggish" but over-amped in my view. Guys trying to do too much instead of just doing their job. Hopefully getting that first playoff game under their belt takes care of that.

 

[DFWJC]

I think Lamb is going to be a big mismatch if they don't provide extra help.

Not sure if that's right away, but I see him going off unless Bosa is in the backfield all day.

 

[KJJ]

Sometimes you gotta give a nod to the other team. The Bucs came out loaded for bear on defense just like we did. Still if we catch either of those first three passes we probably get a couple of first downs and there is no sluggish start. But that wasn't so much "sluggish" but over-amped in my view. Guys trying to do too much instead of just doing their job. Hopefully getting that first playoff game under their belt takes care of that.

Drops have been a problem with our receivers. You can’t use “if’s” as an excuse in these games. The Cowboys could have at least a couple of more Super Bowl wins if it weren’t for some “if’s.” You simply can’t make mistakes in playoff games or it’s going to cost you against a great team. I’m not trying to take anything away from the Cowboys win against Tampa, but they were an 8-9 team.

 

[JD_KaPow]

Dak looked nervous last weekend…then boom.

This is true, but all three of the passes on the first drive were catchable. The second was the worst, the third-down to Hilton was a very good pass, Hilton just didn't get it.

But we have failed to score on our opening drive in the last 5 games and 7 of the last 8. Hopefully they can break that streak this week.

 

[75boyz]

Run Dak up the middle as a fullback the first two downs. I'm only half-joking.

He's just too amped up at the beginning of games and seems to settle down after some exertion and contact. Don't ask him to finesse throws until you make him go try to run over a linebacker. Smash mouth always seems to settle him down and improve his focus.

Jim Kelly of the Bills used to say he was kinda like this description you give here.

 

[Toro9]

Pollard, Schultz, Lamb. Rinse and repeat