Why was Dez not productive in Playoffs?

[Nav22]

Fans can be so funny when it comes to stats. There's only 1 ball to go around.

Had Dez blown up for 200+ yds in each game and Witten/Williams/Beasley were quiet, people would complain about THEIR lack of production.

And if everyone had exactly 100 yds and a TD in each game? Then they'd call Dez overrated and cite the equal production from the other guys as proof.

As long as the passing game is productive it doesn't matter who specifically is getting the numbers.

 

[jrumann59]

This is not the same old Romo led offense that lacked balance and that at the end of every game he has to take the team on his shoulders and march down the field for a game winning score or in some cases game costing turnover. 2 years ago he would have forced things to Dez now he is a little more picky about forcing things in to places witht he game ont he line.

 

[iceberg]

Fans can be so funny when it comes to stats. There's only 1 ball to go around.

Had Dez blown up for 200+ yds in each game and Witten/Williams/Beasley were quiet, people would complain about THEIR lack of production.

And if everyone had exactly 100 yds and a TD in each game? Then they'd call Dez overrated and cite the equal production from the other guys as proof.

As long as the passing game is productive it doesn't matter who specifically is getting the numbers.

as my high school government teacher once said...

there are lies.
there are damned lies.
and there are statistics.

numbers are just numbers on their own. they don't get all jacked out of whack until someone tries to make them mean something more than what they are.

 

[gimmesix]

Jason Witten 11 _ 134 _ 12.2 _ 0
Terrance Williams 4_ 130_ 32.5_ 3
Cole Beasley 7_ 101_ 14.4_ 0
Dez Bryant 6_ 86_ 14.3_ 0

He is the # 1 but finished 4th in the playoff games.

Was it him? or the coaches did nothing innovative, or were content to use him
as a decoy?
For what they will have to pay him now, can they afford to just use him as a decoy?

6 catches,86 yards and no td's in 2 playoff games is not good for the
2nd best wr in NFL is it?

If they hadn't ruled his catch against Green Bay a non-catch, it would have been 7-118-1 (or 7-117-0 if you want to say he didn't score). The balance there is really a good thing.

 

[tyke1doe]

Although I believe Dez could physically out hustle 2 defenders for a jump ball like CJ, Romo is not going to take the chance and I don't blame him. We have so much talent at Receiver/TE position that Romo would rather go to another target in single coverage.

This is my point. Romo just isn't going to take the chance. He understand the legacy he's fighting against, i.e., making critical turnovers in big games, particularly the playoffs. He's not going to force a play to Dez and risk a turnover, especially since he has other, safer options.

I'm just glad we have a receiver who demands double and triple coverage.

 

[erod]

Dez isn't great against double coverage, and with this offense, there's no need to chance it. There are options abound, and Romo knows how to exploit it.

Just drawing all that attention makes moving the ball easy for Dallas. Dez' production isn't that critical if that is what teams are determined to do.

It's defensive suicide. Romo just picks teams to death, and the offensive line bowls over 7-man fronts.

 

[zrinkill]

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[xwalker]

Jason Witten 11 _ 134 _ 12.2 _ 0
Terrance Williams 4_ 130_ 32.5_ 3
Cole Beasley 7_ 101_ 14.4_ 0
Dez Bryant 6_ 86_ 14.3_ 0

He is the # 1 but finished 4th in the playoff games.

Was it him? or the coaches did nothing innovative, or were content to use him
as a decoy?
For what they will have to pay him now, can they afford to just use him as a decoy?

6 catches,86 yards and no td's in 2 playoff games is not good for the
2nd best wr in NFL is it?

Maybe that's why the Cowboys are reluctant to pay him.

A WR that wants over 12M per year should be able to catch more than 3 passes per game (in the modern pass happy NFL) with zero touchdowns even if he sees double coverage.

FYI - A LB helping underneath with a Safety over the top is not really triple coverage. On a short throw the Safety is not yet in coverage and on a long throw the LB is no longer in coverage.

The bottom line is that he still needs to improve his route running or he'll never be in the Jerry Rice, Michael Irvin category of elite WRs. Randy Moss probably got by with it because he ran a 4.25 forty while being 6-4. Calvin Johnson is 6-5, 240 with a 4.35 forty which also allowed him to run less than perfect routes at times. Dez ran a 4.52 forty at 6-2. He has to run great routes because Romo does not want to throw the ball into tight coverage and risk INTs anymore.

 

[TrailBlazer]

Romo didn't force it to dez. Dez was double covered so it left holes for Beasley and witten to fill. Still would like to see them throw it up to dez at times even if hes double covered.

 

[ActualCowboysFan]

Another great insight from the mind of the guy who thought Martin was to blame for Murray's fumble, the Dallas OL didn't really open big holes, Dez was at fault for the call in GB and numerous other nonsensical hot takes that make sense only if you're watching the games through a thick fog or in the northeast.

 

[perrykemp]

Maybe that's why the Cowboys are reluctant to pay him.

A WR that wants over 12M per year should be able to catch more than 3 passes per game (in the modern pass happy NFL) with zero touchdowns even if he sees double coverage.

FYI - A LB helping underneath with a Safety over the top is not really triple coverage. On a short throw the Safety is not yet in coverage and on a long throw the LB is no longer in coverage.

The bottom line is that he still needs to improve his route running or he'll never be in the Jerry Rice, Michael Irvin category of elite WRs. Randy Moss probably got by with it because he ran a 4.25 forty while being 6-4. Calvin Johnson is 6-5, 240 with a 4.35 forty which also allowed him to run less than perfect routes at times. Dez ran a 4.52 forty at 6-2. He has to run great routes because Romo does not want to throw the ball into tight coverage and risk INTs anymore.

I agree with your thoughts. Dez is great, however, the primary way to beat double coverage is to run good to great routes.

It's the reason why the likes of Jerry Rice, Michael Irvin, Marvin Harrison, etc where able to put up 100 catch / 1500 yard seasons despite teams constantly double teaming them.

 

[DandyDon52]

Dez was productive in the playoffs. Everytime Murray was able to find room....or Witten was open across the middle...or Cole had space for his option routes....that was Dez being productive.

Sure but they were not productive enough in GB passing.

T. Romo 15/19 .191 .2.0

A. Rodgers 24/35 316 3 0


det game

T. Romo 19/31 293 2 0

M. Stafford 28/42 323 1 1

both games rushing was about even, in yds and carrys, both detroit and GB ran more plays than Dallas

Romo had 102 more yds in the det game than GB.

15/19 .191 isnt all that productive so the dez decoy strategy did not work all that well.
The other guys did get more than dez but nowhere near enough.
GB had 2 guys over 100 yds.

Dallas ran 27 times pass 19 so not balanced, and several sacks and a strip fumble on romo wasted more passing plays.
GB doesnt have a great defense about 15th in defense.
people go on about the 2 plays , the catch and fumble, but there was more to the loss than that.

 

[AsthmaField]

There were portions of the regular season where Dez was more quiet than others, and then he'd blow up for a couple of games. It all depends on how defensive coordinators decide to approach trying to stop Dallas' offense.

Some like to take the most dangerous weapon away and they'll stop Dez at all costs. However, the cost of that is that Beasley, Witten, Williams and the RB will all have more room to operate.

Then, once Dallas has taken a few coordinators lunch money for a game or two like that, defenses will back off on Dez and try to shut down some of the others. At that point, Dez will do like he did in Philly and hang a buck-fifty on you with 3 TD's.

Dez is part of a big catch-22 that defenses are in when they play Dallas... and he is very important to that.

That catch-22 is why the Dallas offense is so difficult for anyone to stop. Coordinators try this-and-that and when something works, everyone will start playing defense that way until Dallas proves they can make them pay. The problem for defenses right now is that no matter which option they choose, Dallas can beat them going the other way.

Want to stop Dez and make sure the run game doesn't go off? Fine. Witten, Beasley, and Williams will beat their guy and Romo will find them.

Want to stop Witten and Dez? Ok but the run game is going to gouge you until you bring those safeties back down into the box. That is the surest way to let Dallas beat you. However, when you bring one safety back into the box and send the other over top of Dez, then that is when Witten, Beasley, and Williams will get theirs.

Dez helps make the entire offense go, no matter what stats he has for the game.

 

[Doc50]

Maybe that's why the Cowboys are reluctant to pay him.

A WR that wants over 12M per year should be able to catch more than 3 passes per game (in the modern pass happy NFL) with zero touchdowns even if he sees double coverage.

FYI - A LB helping underneath with a Safety over the top is not really triple coverage. On a short throw the Safety is not yet in coverage and on a long throw the LB is no longer in coverage.

The bottom line is that he still needs to improve his route running or he'll never be in the Jerry Rice, Michael Irvin category of elite WRs. Randy Moss probably got by with it because he ran a 4.25 forty while being 6-4. Calvin Johnson is 6-5, 240 with a 4.35 forty which also allowed him to run less than perfect routes at times. Dez ran a 4.52 forty at 6-2. He has to run great routes because Romo does not want to throw the ball into tight coverage and risk INTs anymore.

Agreed.

As important and talented as Dez is, he's probably a couple of ticks below Michael Irvin. If you simply had to have a play, the Playmaker would get it done, while Dez has in fact disappeared in games when it seemed everyone was covered. If he had held on to the ball in the great debateable GB non-catch, then there may have been more momentum for that kind of connection and trust between he and Tony, similar to what Irvin and Troy had. It's just one play, but that's what playmakers do.

I'm happy he's a Cowboy, but Dez doesn't have the tools to be CJ, Moss, or Rice. If defenses fear him enough to try to take him away, the clearly open target is a much more reliable option than the jump ball, so he's done his job. JG finally has Tony playing percentages, and that's a good thing.

 

[sbark]

How did jordy nelson or even Megatron do against our pedestrian def....and why

 

[DFWJC]

Well, we know of one 30 yard TD catch that got removed.
Other than that, Dez caught all of his targets.

Dez was doubled for most of the time, and on the rare passing play that he wasn't, Romo looked for him almost exclusively.
Detroit left Beasley open a lot and both teams single covered Witten--which is easy pickings.
TWill had several big plays vs single coverage.

Vs Detroit, Dallas scored 7 more than the Lions gave up on average.
Vs GB, the Cowboys score right at the Packers average, but did have that Dez play removed--which could have been 7 more. Not to mention the Murray fumble.

 

[jrumann59]

What WR is great against double coverage. Megatron is good but he is not beating double coverage, he beating a height difference. Cj is always covered he is just freak at 6'5" he can out jump anyone, just like when Shaq was in his prime he had no moves except bowling ball down the lane.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

Dez caught 6 of the 7 balls thrown his way with half going for first downs.

Of course the one ball he didn't catch he actually caught.

Is Dez supposed to catch the balls Romo doesn't throw his way?

If he starts whining for the ball then we call him a diva. Dez just can't win with you folks.

 

[casmith07]

Jason Witten 11 _ 134 _ 12.2 _ 0
Terrance Williams 4_ 130_ 32.5_ 3
Cole Beasley 7_ 101_ 14.4_ 0
Dez Bryant 6_ 86_ 14.3_ 0

He is the # 1 but finished 4th in the playoff games.

Was it him? or the coaches did nothing innovative, or were content to use him
as a decoy?
For what they will have to pay him now, can they afford to just use him as a decoy?

6 catches,86 yards and no td's in 2 playoff games is not good for the
2nd best wr in NFL is it?

Because the Lions have (had) a really good defense and because it was 22 degrees at Lambeau.

Look at the numbers of the other receivers. Clearly Dez Bryant was doing his job, contributing to one huge win at home and a game well-played and robbed by the NFL on the road.

 

[Crown Royal]

I will also add that Romo and the team's philosophy is to throw based on coverage, not to force it to certain players. If Witten is one on one on a slow LBer and Dez is covered single but the coverage is decent, the throw will go to Witten.