Facts man, facts.
I think many here forget that Landry was an extremely conservative coach. He was brilliant for his time when it came to tactics and formation, but he was also conservative.
The best indicator of the type of coach Landry was came in the way he managed Staubach in his career. He had a QB that was a natural born leader, driven, no quit and felt he could make every play. Their time together featured a cat and mouse game on how much he throttled Roger.
It was the same thing with Dorsett as a rookie. That is why Newhouse got so many carries and had more than 700 yards of rushing in Tony's rookie year. Tom gave his "reliable" players snaps.
I could only imagine what Tom felt when dive or stretch run plays were called and Tony would get double or triple the designated yards on those plays.
As a rookie he made what a very good Dallas offence electric and almost undefenceable. As I have stated before I would notice when TD was put in the game and wonder, "Is this a house call?"
He created the Deion Sanders' punt return type moments in the back field. You held your breath wondering if something great was going to happen.
Good times.
Tom Landry may have looked the part but he was not a conservative play caller. He invented passing from the shotgun. He invented pre-snap motion. His trick plays ran to perfection in most cases.
How conservative are you when you allow your rookie RB to throw a pass? Dorsett completed it for 34 yards, by the way.
Robert Newhouse was the fullback and some carried the ball just as frequently as the HB. The starter before Dorsett was Preston Pearson.
In a year in which Dorsett was the leading rusher with 1007 yards and Newhouse had another 722 yards, Preston Pearson was two catches shy of being the Cowboys leading receiver. This was a receiving corps with Drew Pearson, Golden Richards, Butch Johnson and rookie Tony Hill.
This was a great team, a Cowboys team that was closer to an undefeated season than any other team in the franchise's history
Dorsett didn't start at the beginning of the season because Landry felt you had to earn it by doing the little things as well as the bigger things. Pearson was an excellent blocker and a true double threat as a receiver and I'm not confusing him with Drew, the "original 88."
Every team ran the ball more than they passed. You have to remember that this was before all the "safety" rules like "in the grasp" and "no contact after five yards" were enacted. This is what opened up offenses to passing more. These rules took effect in 1979, Staubach's last season. It was a season in which Staubach led all QB's in passing efficiency
Staubach was a competitor and there were times it was necessary to "reel" him in a bit. It's interesting to note how many people forget that, after leading the Cowboys to the Super Bowl championship in 1971, Staubach missed the entire 1972 regular season because he separated his shoulder trying to run in a score in a preseason game. Yes, a preseason game.
To this day, I remember what I was doing during the play that injured Staubach, I remember the team they were playing, I remember the name of the linebacker that hit him.
Landry used Tony Dorsett masterfully in the 1977 season. He used him in a way that didn't detract from the other players contributions. He used him in a way that was anything but conservative.
