Why was Dez not productive in Playoffs?

[DTown214]

I was there at the Detroit game, rocking my Dez jersey... and before almost every play we ran on offense I would look and see what kind of coverage they were playing on Dez.... almost every time there was a safety over the top to help double team him. That's what happens when you're such a big threat. Without the attention paid to Dez, T-Will doesn't get that 50 yard bomb at the end of the first half, or the game-winning TD.

 

[BigStar]

The offense was mediocre during the 2 playoff games. Squeeked by DET and played a conservative gameplan going into GB with a hobbled Rodgers. The team tried to rely on the regular season method of forcing Murray on the opponents. The problem is, this gameplan let GB linger around and left us playing catch up against DET. There should have been more aggression displayed by the playoff offense (game plan aimed at involving Dez early).

 

[DandyDon52]

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.

good post, Dez does 2 things good, jumping up to grab balls thrown high, and the fade in end zone. The rest is average.
That said They should throw more passes to him like the one in GB that was overturned, he would get most of them, and just more thrown so it is a leaping contest.
Then there is the way they use him, and like was said only 7 targets in 2 playoff games is not enough.
I think just going to him when he clearly has only single coverage is not a good plan. They are letting the other team dictate how often you will throw to him.

To answer another post, philly had really bad corners and secondary last year, that is why dez did so well in that 2nd game.
he also did well in the jags game lol.

 

[DFWJC]

The offense was mediocre during the 2 playoff games. Squeeked by DET and played a conservative gameplan going into GB with a hobbled Rodgers. The team tried to rely on the regular season method of forcing Murray on the opponents. The problem is, this gameplan let GB linger around and left us playing catch up against DET. There should have been more aggression displayed by the playoff offense (game plan aimed at involving Dez early).

Still...
Detroit was 3rd in the NFL is points allowed, yet the offense scored 7 more than they were giving up each week.
Green Bay gave up 21 ppg and that's what Dallas scored. But Dallas also lost out on the Dez possible score and also blew it with the Murray fumble. So the 21 could easily have been 28 or even 35 wit the same game plan.

I guess they could have been more aggressive though. It may have led to turnovers too, however.

 

[DandyDon52]

The offense was mediocre during the 2 playoff games. Squeeked by DET and played a conservative gameplan going into GB with a hobbled Rodgers. The team tried to rely on the regular season method of forcing Murray on the opponents. The problem is, this gameplan let GB linger around and left us playing catch up against DET. There should have been more aggression displayed by the playoff offense (game plan aimed at involving Dez early).

great post! this is what I was implying.
This is on JG , he likes doing the same thing, and thinks it is just a matter of execution, which is partly true, but They ran the ball a bit too much in GB.
The other thing was on the plays romo was sacked or pressured, That shows a flaw in the way they block, not just linemen , but that happens way too much.

 

[BigStar]

Still...
Detroit was 3rd in the NFL is points allowed, yet the offense scored 7 more than they were giving up each week.
Green Bay gave up 21 ppg and that's what Dallas scored. But Dallas also lost out on the Dez possible score and also blew it with the Murray fumble. So the 21 could easily have been 28 or even 35 wit the same game plan.

I guess they could have been more aggressive though. It may have led to turnovers too, however.

I'll give ya DET has a great D and am more speaking of the GB game regarding offensive aggression mainly due to a hobbled Rodgers. Or seeing how Rodgers was somewhat ineffective, go aggressive in the first half (in general, doesn't mean force to Dez, etc.) instead of establishing the ground game. I know the ground game got the team to the position in the first place, but would have liked to see the team turn it up a notch with all the variables in place.

 

[dallasdave]

Yeah, did we mention the refs suck !!!

 

[T-RO]

I was there at the Detroit game, rocking my Dez jersey... and before almost every play we ran on offense I would look and see what kind of coverage they were playing on Dez.... almost every time there was a safety over the top to help double team him. That's what happens when you're such a big threat. Without the attention paid to Dez, T-Will doesn't get that 50 yard bomb at the end of the first half, or the game-winning TD.

This does a good job in conveying different ways that star players are productive. The original poster missed the mark.

 

[Red Dragon]

And he should be able to get open or catch balls if dbl cov.

Easy for you to say.

 

[Blackspider214]

You can't just look at the raw numbers and judge that way. Granted, in that Lions game, there were times I was wondering when he was going to show up. But for the most part, he did his job. How many times was the middle of the field open because defenses were keying on him on the outside?

I do wish we would be more creative with him. Seems he's always in the same exact position. I'd like to see him line up all over the field. Keep the defenses guessing. If you just keep sticking him in the same spot, it's easier for them to gameplan and if they have to make no adjustments, even easier.

 

[jrumann59]

The offense was mediocre during the 2 playoff games. Squeeked by DET and played a conservative gameplan going into GB with a hobbled Rodgers. The team tried to rely on the regular season method of forcing Murray on the opponents. The problem is, this gameplan let GB linger around and left us playing catch up against DET. There should have been more aggression displayed by the playoff offense (game plan aimed at involving Dez early).

Wait a minute there, so when the team wins does something "innovative" Linehan is God, but when the team struggles its JG's fault. Cool Agenda Bro.

 

[BigStar]

Wait a minute there, so when the team wins does something "innovative" Linehan is God, but when the team struggles its JG's fault. Cool Agenda Bro.

Since when is running the ball "innovative" to anyone outside of JG? I give Linehan credit for getting out of the teams way and catering the gameplan to the talent of the team leading to 12 wins and clinching the East with the simple addition of a first round guard. I wish he was more aggressive in GB bc the situation and circumstances called for a more aggressive gameplan due to a hobbled Rodgers and lack of pass rush. Linney didn't adjust the gameplan in the first half when the opportunity was there. Garrett himself admitted he's not heavily involved with the X's and O's but more centered on "motivation tactics" so this would be more related to Linnehan's responsibilities as the new head of the offense, etc.

 

[DandyDon52]

You can't just look at the raw numbers and judge that way. Granted, in that Lions game, there were times I was wondering when he was going to show up. But for the most part, he did his job. How many times was the middle of the field open because defenses were keying on him on the outside?

I do wish we would be more creative with him. Seems he's always in the same exact position. I'd like to see him line up all over the field. Keep the defenses guessing. If you just keep sticking him in the same spot, it's easier for them to gameplan and if they have to make no adjustments, even easier.

dallas tends to not use the middle of the field much.
I think they think, the sideline area is much safer to throw to.
When they do throw in the middle they have had some big plays, but they dont use the middle much.

Dez runs a lot of simple go routes, and not any complex or varied routes which is predictable makes it easier to cover him.
He is good at going up to get a pass , so they should do that more often, even if dbl cov, he can out jump 2 as easily as one ?

 

[DandyDon52]

Easy for you to say.

it was very easy to say !
A good WR should be able to handle dbl cov and get open at least occasionally.
Dez struggles so they changed to only throwing to him if single cov.

 

[mattjames2010]

He's a "top 3" WR in this league. The double coverage stuff doesn't work. Now, he has only played in a couple playoff games so the sample size is small, but if we're going to make excuses; the double coverage one is not good.