Dallas Cowboys 2019 Season Thread -- Aaaah Zeke Out?

[C-Man 27,779]

6 hours ago, Landomatic said:

Every great team, hell just about every championship team, at any level, has 2 common components...great head coach and great quarterback.  With very few exceptions.  There’s a reason everyone calls for those two replacements when things suck.  It’s because they are the most critical to success.  Literally every other position, coaching or player, can be pretty plug and play at least to a certain extent.  But you have to have a head coach and a quarterback or you aren’t winning shit.

And it’s like the cowboys have it backward.

More often than not, that's the case. Usually you'd better have at least one or the other -- if not both at the same time. Gary Kubiak and 63-year-old, broken-down Peyton Manning would like to have a word with you. So would Joe Flacco, Nick Foles and Eli Manning this decade. 

[Vic Mackey 47,952]

4 minutes ago, GTX Horn said:

Embarrass themselves?

Touche. They do that very well week after week.

[ApocalypseTexas 314]

2 hours ago, Vic Mackey said:

This sounds exactly what was being said about Jeff Fisher.  LOL

 

[Vic Mackey 47,952]

1 minute ago, C-Man said:

More often than not, that's the case. Usually you'd better have at least one or the other -- if not both at the same time. Gary Kubiak and 63-year-old, broken-down Peyton Manning would like to have a word with you. So would Joe Flacco, Nick Foles and Eli Manning this decade. 

You can have success in this league without some top notch QB.  Flacco, Kaepernick, Cam Newton. Matt Ryan, Wentz/Foles have all made Super Bowls this decade. Eli Manning made it twice. In the AFC you had Brady/Manning/Ben R rule that league. In the NFC, it rotates constantly. The NFC has not had that big time QB that is consistent and dominating. None of those QBs are that great. But the thing about them all, their coaches created schemes catered to them personally. We are running the same exact scheme Garrett created in 2007, which is almost a decade before Dak even entered the league. He' running Romo's scheme. The same as every backup who ever took snaps here. Which was all of 2015. And the other various games Romo missed. We never have gameplans catered to those guys. They are expected to run Romo's scheme. It's ridiculous. Pederson for the Eagles took Foles aside and they implemented the same exact gameplan that was used in 2013 when he set the league on fire with Chip Kelly. He didn't have him run Wentz's scheme. All QBs can't do the same things equally. But don't tell our staff that.We have a one size fits all scheme.

The same staff that told us Tavon Austin was going to be a big part of this offense. He wasn't. And people thought Pollaed would be used as a nice toy. Not even close. No creativity whatsoever from this team on either side of the ball. When is the last time we surprised anyone with a blitz? Like the Jets did on that 4th down conversion. I remember in 2015 we actually blitzed a ton in that game and it worked. And what did we do? Never again. Or we will do that with players. Like using Jarwin or Swaim (can't recall) as a huge target down field against the Giants last year. Never again. Same as when Escobar had a huge game against the Giants. We never again tried to utilize him in that manner.

[GTX Horn 1,725]

You can have success in this league without some top notch QB.  Flacco, Kaepernick, Cam Newton. Matt Ryan, Wentz/Foles have all made Super Bowls this decade. Eli Manning made it twice. In the AFC you had Brady/Manning/Ben R rule that league. In the NFC, it rotates constantly. The NFC has not had that big time QB that is consistent and dominating. None of those QBs are that great. But the thing about them all, their coaches created schemes catered to them personally. We are running the same exact scheme Garrett created in 2007, which is almost a decade before Dak even entered the league. He' running Romo's scheme. The same as every backup who ever took snaps here. Which was all of 2015. And the other various games Romo missed. We never have gameplans catered to those guys. They are expected to run Romo's scheme. It's ridiculous. Pederson for the Eagles took Foles aside and they implemented the same exact gameplan that was used in 2013 when he set the league on fire with Chip Kelly. He didn't have him run Wentz's scheme. All QBs can't do the same things equally. But don't tell our staff that.We have a one size fits all scheme.
The same staff that told us Tavon Austin was going to be a big part of this offense. He wasn't. And people thought Pollaed would be used as a nice toy. Not even close. No creativity whatsoever from this team on either side of the ball. When is the last time we surprised anyone with a blitz? Like the Jets did on that 4th down conversion. I remember in 2015 we actually blitzed a ton in that game and it worked. And what did we do? Never again. Or we will do that with players. Like using Jarwin or Swaim (can't recall) as a huge target down field against the Giants last year. Never again. Same as when Escobar had a huge game against the Giants. We never again tried to utilize him in that manner.

Exactly. Dak isn’t a generational QB like Brady or Manning, but he’s got the tools to lead an effective offense. It’s not like we’re trotting Luke Falk out there. If he was in a different system that actually utilized his strengths or was at all creative it’d be a different ballgame. Romo carried this offense so much that Garrett is actually convinced the scheme isn’t the problem but the truth is Romo was able to make the scheme “work” more or less, not vice-versa. Maybe I’m a bad fan but I’m resigned to the fact that we will never accomplish anything meaningful with Garrett as Head Coach.

[C-Man 27,779]

33 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

You can have success in this league without some top notch QB.  Flacco, Kaepernick, Cam Newton. Matt Ryan, Wentz/Foles have all made Super Bowls this decade. Eli Manning made it twice. In the AFC you had Brady/Manning/Ben R rule that league. In the NFC, it rotates constantly. The NFC has not had that big time QB that is consistent and dominating. None of those QBs are that great. But the thing about them all, their coaches created schemes catered to them personally. We are running the same exact scheme Garrett created in 2007, which is almost a decade before Dak even entered the league. He' running Romo's scheme. The same as every backup who ever took snaps here. Which was all of 2015. And the other various games Romo missed. We never have gameplans catered to those guys. They are expected to run Romo's scheme. It's ridiculous. Pederson for the Eagles took Foles aside and they implemented the same exact gameplan that was used in 2013 when he set the league on fire with Chip Kelly. He didn't have him run Wentz's scheme. All QBs can't do the same things equally. But don't tell our staff that.We have a one size fits all scheme.

The same staff that told us Tavon Austin was going to be a big part of this offense. He wasn't. And people thought Pollaed would be used as a nice toy. Not even close. No creativity whatsoever from this team on either side of the ball. When is the last time we surprised anyone with a blitz? Like the Jets did on that 4th down conversion. I remember in 2015 we actually blitzed a ton in that game and it worked. And what did we do? Never again. Or we will do that with players. Like using Jarwin or Swaim (can't recall) as a huge target down field against the Giants last year. Never again. Same as when Escobar had a huge game against the Giants. We never again tried to utilize him in that manner.

 

13 minutes ago, GTX Horn said:

Exactly. Dak isn’t a generational QB like Brady or Manning, but he’s got the tools to lead an effective offense. It’s not like we’re trotting Luke Falk out there. If he was in a different system that actually utilized his strengths or was at all creative it’d be a different ballgame. Romo carried this offense so much that Garrett is actually convinced the scheme isn’t the problem but the truth is Romo was able to make the scheme “work” more or less, not vice-versa. Maybe I’m a bad fan but I’m resigned to the fact that we will never accomplish anything meaningful with Garrett as Head Coach.

Exactly. Dak is every bit the QB that Foles, Kaepernick and late-stage Peyton Manning were at a minimum. He's good enough to get this team to the SB if not win it but he needs help, just like every QB not named Brady, (younger) Peyton, Brees, Big Ben or Russell Wilson. Those dudes are all sure-fire HOF'ers. But if Garrett can't/won't adjust it ain't happening. (I still do NOT want to be on the hook for $35M/year for Dak -- particularly not if Garrett is his HC.)

[Pam Cummings 9,868]

Just heard a stat on the radio. Cowboys had 27 first downs on Sunday. They ran it on 17 of those for 2.2 ypc. They threw on the rest for 6 ypa. 

 

Definitely gonna need to reconsider what we're doing there. Did we stop letting Kellen call plays? Because that shit has Ginger written all over it.

[Loch Ness Monster 3,533]

Not paying Zeke would have been a good start into moving into the year 2019. Mean hes good for his position but the position has been severely devalued due to rule changes. Can get a suitable replacement in the 3rd or 4th round each year for 1/25th the price.

[Drew 2,922]

33 minutes ago, Pam Cummings said:

Just heard a stat on the radio. Cowboys had 27 first downs on Sunday. They ran it on 17 of those for 2.2 ypc. They threw on the rest for 6 ypa. 

 

Definitely gonna need to reconsider what we're doing there. Did we stop letting Kellen call plays? Because that shit has Ginger written all over it.

I remember getting killed by Beau about that.  Do NOT run on first down except in extremely fortuitious situations.  Deep in the Red Zone.  When you're killing the clock. When they're begging you to.

[GTX Horn 1,725]

Just heard a stat on the radio. Cowboys had 27 first downs on Sunday. They ran it on 17 of those for 2.2 ypc. They threw on the rest for 6 ypa. 
 
Definitely gonna need to reconsider what we're doing there. Did we stop letting Kellen call plays? Because that shit has Ginger written all over it.

Kellen still had the playsheets and was constantly talking into the headset on offense while Garrett was standing there arms crossed but then Romo was saying the offense resembled the 2007-09 offense, so I don’t know if Garrett is limiting what plays Kellen can call or what. There has been some speculation that Garrett intervened and tried to simplify the offense before the New Orleans game since that was Moore’s first game calling plays in such an intense environment. It would make sense since the offense hasn’t looked the same since that game.

[Vic Mackey 47,952]

Clap clap clap clap

 

[DougO 5,264]

Bottom line is that the Cowboys brain-trust is always behind the curve, despite the talent available on the team. They don't innovate, can't adapt, can''t scheme to the best of the tools they have.

And it's not just on Garrett. The Cowboys tried to build up these assistants as some kind of genius level bullshit, without ever having proved anything. You never know who is going to be a great coordinator until they actually do it. None of these guys had, especially Moore, which was a fucking joke to promote him that far up. So now they don't just have a meh head coach that is in way over his head, they have over-hyped assistants that were a Jerry pipe dream, and they just haven't shown the capacity to create something on their end that can make a major difference.

Edited October 15, 2019 by DougO

[Rholl 220]

12 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

Clap clap clap clap

 

Im curious as to who is getting fired in this scenario..... play call comes in then defense walks 8 men into the box and outside recvr has 8 yrd cushion but the play isnt changed at the line to take advantage of defense alignment......who takes the blame here????

[Loch Ness Monster 3,533]

It's rather disheartening to hear Jerry's comments about Garrett today. I want to hear its unacceptable to lose to the freaking Jets.

[futureman 22,696]

3 hours ago, Vic Mackey said:

You can have success in this league without some top notch QB.  Flacco

with all due respect, flacco’s playoff run when he won the super bowl was one of the best playoff runs in the history of the game. 

he’s not a top notch qb but he played like a hall of famer for 4 weeks.

Edited October 15, 2019 by futureman

[Irish Wrist Watch 1,501]

37 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

Clap clap clap clap

 

You look at something like that and think - how bout a pump fake. The cornerbacks and safety commit, and one of the receivers gets a ten yard lead on his defender - or it's defensive holding. When was the last time we even saw a pump fake? Or a fullback? A fake screen one side, only to go to the other? We ran one legit screen that gained about 8 yds as I recall, and that was it. Hell, with Zeke running it, you're one broken tackle from taking it all the way.

I've seen teams run three screens in a single drive - if that's what it take to stop the fucking blitzing, then do it.

[Surly Bevo 25,732]

Jerry doesn't want to fire Jason with every fiber of his being because any coaching search is going to involve a lot of guys passing and talking about they don't want it because of what  a trash squad the GM has assembled and that they know they would have no say in making it better.

[futureman 22,696]

2 hours ago, Vic Mackey said:

Clap clap clap clap

 

that’s 100% on dak for not checking out of it.  there is literally no other way to look at it if you understand even a little bit about the game of football. 

[DougO 5,264]

Hell, they got two yards. That was one of their best plays of the day.

[DougO 5,264]

It's not too late to trade for Nick Foles. The Jags seem OK with Uncle Rico Jr.

[gsoda3 3,362]

Decoding Kellen Moore: Old habits re-emerge as Cowboys offense plays too safe for too long (again)

 

 

Kellen Moore’s honeymoon appears to be over.

We have hit the meat of the season and the week-to-week frustration has set in. There is nothing easy about coordinating an NFL offense, but the task is even more difficult when the offense in question has not quite played to its paper in recent years, and you were the one tasked with its improvement.

Then, mimicking a mistake my older sister made many years ago, Kellen Moore brought home straight A’s on his early report cards, showing the public how easy it was to fix this thing after all. The problem was that it is never easy. This is the NFL. If you are good at something, just wait. The opposition will bring you to your knees in no time whatsoever.

So, after the Cowboys lost another game that felt like they certainly should have been able to win, we see where things went wrong.

I would start with the fact that this offense was playing hamstrung on Sunday. Nobody wants to hear about injuries or excuses in his league, but for the record, we must assume that having a top left tackle, wide receiver and slot receiver plus a decent right tackle matters. Otherwise, the Cowboys would certainly not pay Tyron Smith, Amari Cooper, Randall Cobb and La’el Collins as handsomely as they do.

When Smith, Collins and Cobb are inactive, and Cooper is injured on the very first drive, that almost certainly alters the team’s plan significantly. The ideas from training camp or even last week seem to be a much lower priority if you are going on the road and know you will not have most of your weapons.

From there, you know you are playing Gregg Williams and the Jets. What does that mean, specifically? Well, it means you will feel plenty of pressure. Williams is famous for bringing blitzes, hitting your QB repeatedly and physically intimidating an opponent.

Let’s see if that happened. Here is the week-by-week list of the Cowboys’ games and how many times they faced a blitz:

Opponent	Week	Off Plays	Pass Cmp	Pass Att	Pass Yds	Pass TD	Sacked	Rate	1st Makes	Def Int
New York Giants	1	12	9	12	149	0	0	116.3	6	0
Washington Redskins	2	5	4	5	41	1	0	140.4	3	0
Miami Dolphins	3	6	5	6	64	1	0	150.7	4	0
New Orleans Saints	4	5	3	5	16	0	0	65.4	1	0
Green Bay Packers	5	3	2	3	13	0	0	75.7	0	0
New York Jets	6	17	11	17	138	0	0	89.8	9	0

As you can see, the Cowboys have not really faced much pressure this season after Week 1. In fact, from Weeks 2-5, they saw 19 blitzes in a month. On Sunday, the Jets ran 17 blitzes in one day. New York wanted to get in Dak’s face and make him ineffective. Add that to the absences of Amari Cooper, Randall Cobb and the two tackles. The Jets’ plan was to make the Cowboys offense uncomfortable.

Let’s flip it around. We all could pretty easily predict what the Jets were thinking, so from the standpoint of Kellen Moore — and probably Jason Garrett, who is certainly known for risk aversion in situations like this — they would weigh what they had to work with and come to what conclusions?

They would need to play a clean game with no turnovers – especially after Green Bay, you knew they would want to get back to making sure they didn’t beat themselves– and also keep their quarterback from getting beat up. They would want to take the crowd out of the proceedings, and they would certainly want to be physical. They would probably want to rely more on the players that are remaining rather than their less-dependable understudies. Exit Cooper and Cobb; enter Tavon Austin and Cedrick Wilson. Could they run their normal offense? Or would we see a modified version for much of the day?

In other words, this game screamed that Dallas would attempt to ground and pound on the Jets. We would love to be wrong and see Kellen Moore show nothing but disrespect for the Jets and open up his whole playbook, but we knew better.

They would repeatedly run on first down. They would run into loaded boxes. They would certainly not be moved.

Before Sunday’s game, the Cowboys ranked 12th in the NFL in run percentage on first-down calls before the fourth quarter, with a 53.4 percent frequency. (The Chiefs are 32nd with 29.8 percent!) Well, on Sunday, Kellen Moore called 20 first-down plays before the fourth quarter. A stunning 70 percent were runs.

Was this because they are injured or because they were on the road? Yes.

The Cowboys are nearly 50/50 at home on first down so far in 2019, using play-action plenty but absolutely right at the perfect split. On the road? They are among the top run-on-first down teams in the NFL at 62%. So Sunday’s 70 percent rate is not that different than the game at New Orleans.

In other words, they are following their script of playing carefully on the road to avoid risks. We don’t want to face blitzes; we don’t want our quarterback hit; we don’t want someone missing a play call because of the noise, or whatever.

They are playing differently away from home, and it is falling back into the traps of Jason Garrett’s conservatism.

To further demonstrate this point, I want to show you the play sheet from the 15 red-zone plays the Cowboys called on Sunday. We have talked about Kellen Moore’s mandate of fixing this offense and how scoring red-zone touchdowns is among the biggest keys.

In 2018, they ranked 29th in the NFL in red-zone touchdown percentage at just 48 percent, in a league that averages about 60 percent. Trust me, that 12 percent matters plenty.

The Cowboys are improved because in Weeks 1-3 they were dominant at 82 percent, scoring seven just about every time they got in the red zone. Weeks 4-6, though, featured two road games and a stressful home matchup against Green Bay. The results there? They fell down to 44 percent, and it definitely cost them games.

Here are the 15 plays. You will notice an awful lot of “Feed Zeke”:

15 snaps and 12 run plays?  They ran the ball 80 percent of the time in the red zone against defenses with loaded boxes, just waiting for Zeke. Talk about ramming your head into a brick wall; the Cowboys did just that.

I realize there were many absences in this game, and I also concede that Elliott does need the ball, but give him a chance to be successful by not declaring your plan to the opposition or failing entirely to deviate when it fails. This was a stubborn job by Moore/Garrett, and it definitely feels like the Cowboys are happy to fall into their bad habits on the road again.

The above shows a very complicated game. They actually were not that bad through the air and were quite good on third downs. They just didn’t make the most of their drives, which can be traced back to the failed fourth down, the missed field goal and a number of drops. I think you would probably have to be pretty satisfied with the passing game, given the weapons. The big issue for the passing game was simply that there were no real big plays to swing the game.

DAK PRESCOTT THROW CHART

You could argue that while this wasn’t Dak Prescott’s best game, it might have been his most courageous. That is very difficult to quantify, of course, but the toughness he exhibited as he kept getting crushed and getting back up was most admirable. He is a very tough young man and definitely looks like the type of guy you want standing in there against a blitz on third down.

PERSONNEL GROUPINGS

As you can see, the calling card of 11 personnel had its worst week, mostly because the Cowboys didn’t have their weapons. Their productivity went down, they ran 12 personnel on with Blake Jarwin getting way more work and tried to find opportunities in the passing game. It never really emerged, but a couple of deep chances just missed Jarwin and Jason Witten. Either of them might have swung the game.

SUCCESS RATES BY DOWN

Here is a reminder of what we are looking for on success rates: “A play is successful when it gains at least 40% of yards-to-go on first down, 60 percent of yards-to-go on second down and 100% of yards-to-go on third or fourth down.”

I show you this chart simply to suggest that seldom will you see a team do so poorly on first down and so well on third down when circumstances are far more difficult. This is why you can leave this game feeling pretty good about Prescott. Dak and Zeke both showed up quite well in this game when you look through the rubble. You might just ask if either were deployed intelligently or properly.

PLAY-ACTION LOG

It is possible I missed a few play-action chances, but this is all I saw all day long. I have been asked if the Cowboys have dropped all of the play-action and motion from the early weeks. I would say that there is roughly the same amount of motion throughout, but the play-action rate has definitely dropped by 50 percent. Some reasons are game conditions, others are the way they are being defended and still more is that they simply have gotten away from it.

There is plenty they could be doing better.

FILM STUDY

Today in our film study, I thought we would just look at the Cowboys’ odd decision to go with 80 percent runs in the red zone to see what they were thinking. They were doing so well in that part of the field, mixing it up early in the year. And now they are running into loaded boxes. Given they lost by two points, it seems like one more touchdown might have made quite a difference.

2Q – 4:29 – 3rd-and-1

Running in the box is often a math game. Yes, you would like to “make a man miss,” but this isn’t the open field and there isn’t much room for dancing. So this is where we talk about putting a hat on a hat. Imagine being Zeke here and seeing what he sees. Look for a crease. Look for a friendly jersey. This is what trying to get a hard yard in 22 personnel on 3rd-and-1 looks like. It is the hardest way to make an easy living.

2Q – 3:51 – 4th-and-2

This might be the play of the game. My issue here is that I believe Dak has to count the numbers before the snap, perhaps call a timeout here and come up with a better plan. You are outnumbered here to the left unless Zeke gets 33-Adams — which looks impossible — and if you can’t get the edge, this play is dead. Of course, the Jets know that and turn it back inside. Once 69-Knight cannot get his reach block, the whole thing collapses. Also, we are running this to the sideline, so you have even less room to operate. If you can’t tell, I see a half-dozen problems with this play call. If this is Kellen Moore’s idea, then I would like to think Dak has the authority to get out of it when the defensive counter looks this dire.

3Q – 9:12 – 1st-and-Goal

The Cowboys try a weakside run, which is fine if it happens quickly and if you have numbers. I don’t think this can be a very successful run because 48, 34 and 47 are all there for each gap. At best, this will get you a few, tough yards. See, this is my problem. They are calling plays designed to gain three yards on 1st-and-goal. This is a fantastic play-action opportunity, but they just play it safe and Feed Zeke.

3Q – 8:37 – 2nd-and-Goal

Next play: Because that one worked so well, let’s do it again. 11 personnel, and this time Zeke can see there is nothing on the front side, so he begins searching for a backside cutback. Look at 70-Martin get put on his back here. Wow. You won’t see that happen very often. The Cowboys could not win the edge at all on Sunday – we should assume that when you have backup tackles on both sides – yet that didn’t stop them from pounding the rock again and again down here. It’s very frustrating that they insist on resisting a single pass concept until third down (inviting the blitzes again).

3Q – 8:02 – 3rd-and-Goal

I loved this play. Kellen Moore called it into the perfect coverage, and everything went right until those pesky officials decided Wilson had not been in this league long enough to earn the benefit of the doubt, I guess. Adams sold it with the flailing arms, but there is no way this was illegal. The refs threw a ridiculous flag and a huge one at that. It was probably worth a challenge, although the higher authorities were never going to overturn that because the players did touch. But if I am coaching Wilson, I am not sure I could ask him to do anything differently.

4Q – 7:43 – 1st-and-10

Next time down there, here we go again. I wasn’t kidding. They ran on 80 percent of red-zone snaps on this day, and here, despite being down two touchdowns with 7:43 to play, they just keep pounding the rock and not even in an up-tempo offense. Zeke is able to find five yards outside Fleming, who gets his man turned. Elliott gets low to start to punish. On this drive, you can tell the Jets are starting to get a bit winded.

4Q – 7:09 – 2nd-and-5

That sets up the next run, and just look at the gang tackle here. The Cowboys gain three yards, but there is just no mystery as to the intent of this play. I would sure love to see what could happen if the Cowboys run a trick play — you know, like a play-action pass or something crazy. I also don’t quite understand not at least getting the zone-read keeper going a bit more, too. This is making Zeke’s life pretty difficult, but luckily, he just keeps battling.

4Q – 6:36 – 3rd-and-2

Here is that touchdown run. Martin gets going in space with Knight, and they are able to help Zeke do the same. He does the rest, lowering that hammer right on top of his foes in space. I can’t think of a tougher runner to try to tackle repeatedly in a game like this. Heck of a touchdown run.

4Q – 0:54 – 3rd-and-2

Behold! A pass! Not the easiest yardage ever, but the Cowboys move the chains here and set up 1st-and-goal in the game’s final minute. The only issue is they burned a timeout, one they really needed to hold onto.

4Q – 0:47 – 1st-and-Goal

Here is the quarterback draw on the touchdown run where Zeke leads the way. The difference between this and the fourth-down play is that they sell the pass for just a moment and draw the pass rush upfield. Then, they create a lane to escape and give Zeke a chance to find a block — as Dak just runs off his rear end and into the end zone. This is nearly unstoppable with a QB who doesn’t mind finding some tough yardage and taking a bruise for the cause.

4Q – 0:47 – 2pt Conversion

I really don’t like the empty formation here because if you didn’t expect a Cover 0 blitz from Gregg Williams, you weren’t paying attention. He is taking his all-world safety and charging the A-Gap. If you have no help, you have no chance to do anything but get it out as soon as you can. In fact, if you are going to burn a timeout, here is where you do it. Instead, it is the old, ‘Get to the goal line and turn around’ play, and Witten is probably your best chance. But the blitzer makes the ball location difficult, and the game ends here. There are several ideas I like more in this scenario, but I am sure they had their reasons. One reason might be that they just scored on their best two-point play.

I am sure Dak is beating himself up for not throwing that pass to Witten’s right, but he is taking a freight train in the ribs at that precise moment, which certainly affected the throw.

Game over.

---

Overall, I was disappointed the Cowboys slipped back into their own history books in this one, regressing to the conservative approach that seemed to play right to the Jets’ strengths. Running on 70 percent of first downs and 80 percent of red-zone snaps is not a winning formula. I realize they don’t have their best weapons, but there are better answers to these questions.

The Cowboys were more worried about playing it safe, and that approach bit them. There will be many more road battles ahead, and it is important that they do not drop into a risk-averse, conservative shell at the first sign of adversity.

Yet, under Jason Garrett’s leadership, they always do.

 

[gsoda3 3,362]

above post is Bob Sturm's article from The Athletic breaking down our offensive playcalling on Sunday.  GREAT read and touches on what's been discussed by a bunch of people here.

[Napoleon 8,830]

9 hours ago, futureman said:

with all due respect, flacco’s playoff run when he won the super bowl was one of the best playoff runs in the history of the game. 

he’s not a top notch qb but he played like a hall of famer for 4 weeks.

Eli is like "Shiiiiiiiitttt! I did that TWICE!"

[C-Man 27,779]

Cowherd says Riley to the Cowboys at some point. Where do I co-sign?

https://247sports.com/college/texas/Article/Dallas-Cowboys-football-Lincoln-Riley-coach-Colin-Cowherd-Jason-Garrett-137051685/

Quote

It's only a matter of time before offensive guru Lincoln Riley departs from the University of Oklahoma and enters the NFL, according to Fox Sports analyst Colin Cowherd.

Echoing similar sentiments from ESPN's Paul Finebaum and NFL insider Albert Breer, Cowherd believes Jerry Jones has already placed his bullseye on one of college football's hottest coaches as the Dallas Cowboys decide they're finished with Jason Garrett.

Garrett, who has lost three straight this season after a 3-0 start, is in the final year of his contract and doesn't appear to be the long-term option for the reigning NFC East champions.

“I know who Jerry’s next coach is when he decides to hire him, maybe this year or maybe two years down the road and it’s Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma,” Cowherd said on Wednesday. “There’s two reasons why I think Riley will accept it hen Jerry offers. There’s two things happening to think about — No. 1, he made Baker Mayfield into a star. Jalen Hurts was benched at Alabama, he’s a star. Kyler Murray was a baseball guy over a football guy and made him into a star. Dak Prescott, that’d be a pretty good fit now wouldn’t it? Quarterback who needs another level.

“Secondly, there’s a major burnout factor happening in college football for coaches. It used to be there was a national letter of intent day on Feb. 5. Now, there’s two signing dates meaning college football recruiting is a non-stop job. It used to be you had time off. There were times you didn’t recruit and there were big gaps in it. And the feeling was college football life as a coach was better than an NFL life.”

Herd w/Colin Cowherd

 

✔@TheHerd

 

 

If the Cowboys move on from Jason Garrett, @ColinCowherd believes Lincoln Riley is next in line:

"The Cowboys need a coach who can get more out of Dak... I think it's going to happen. I don't know when it's going to happen, but I think Jerry Jones has his guy."

 

 

337

11:35 AM - Oct 16, 2019

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Cowherd said a move to the NFL would be less headache for Riley, who has to reconfigure his Air Raid offense annually with a new quarterback.

"The third factor is Lincoln Riley has had four quarterbacks by next year in four years," Cowherd said. "This wacky transfer portal thing empowers the kid. I get it, I'm for it, but it has made the quarterback position ... if daddy's not happy and you're not starting, kids are you're out. It's a non-stop, psycho therapy sessions for these college coaches."

Jones has already set precedent for hiring high-profile college coaches and has found success doing so, Cowherd says.

"He hired Jimmy Johnson, no NFL experience, won two Super Bowls," Cowherd said. "He went and (got) Barry Switzer. Won a Super Bowl."

Riley has been asked at length over the past year about his potential jump to the NFL and it's always the same answer — no thanks. In fact, Riley said he wouldn't be surprised if he was "a college lifer" in February.

1COMMENTS

“I certainly wasn’t tempted (to leave for the NFL) at all this year," Riley told Pro Football Talk's Peter King. "I would say right now it wouldn’t surprise me at all if I am a college lifer. I think it’ll be interesting how a lot of things go on from here … if there’s a lot of changes in both games. Football is evolving; there’s a lot of changes obviously at the NFL level right now. There’s a lot of changes with all the transfers and recruiting and all the different things going on at the college level. You never know how those games are going to evolve.

"I might’ve been tempted honestly had I not been at a place like Oklahoma. But this is one of the best jobs there is in football. Like I’ve said before, I’ll never say never. I never want to promise things that I can’t 1,000 percent guarantee. It’s not something that really tempts me at all right now.”

 

[Gene Parmesan 4,064]

Cowherd doesn't have a single clue, but I'd be all for it.  Just getting him out of the big12 would make it worthwhile for me.  Don't even care if he sucks shit through a straw in Dallas. 

[C-Man 27,779]

3 minutes ago, Gene Parmesan said:

Cowherd doesn't have a single clue, but I'd be all for it.  Just getting him out of the big12 would make it worthwhile for me.  Don't even care if he sucks shit through a straw in Dallas. 

[Ricky Butler 2,809]

11 minutes ago, Gene Parmesan said:

Cowherd doesn't have a single clue, but I'd be all for it.  Just getting him out of the big12 would make it worthwhile for me.  Don't even care if he sucks shit through a straw in Dallas. 

If Riley wants to coach in the NFL, I don't see him passing on the Cowboys. It's the biggest stage in football. That being said, I assume Cowherd has no idea what Riley wants to do in his career.

[dcar00 14,950]

20 hours ago, Rholl said:

Im curious as to who is getting fired in this scenario..... play call comes in then defense walks 8 men into the box and outside recvr has 8 yrd cushion but the play isnt changed at the line to take advantage of defense alignment......who takes the blame here????

Garrett needs to be fired but that play is actually there.  martin is pulling and if zeke is patient, everyone is blocked and martin will keep going towards the corner ans zeke should ride his butt and get outside up the sideline.  instead zeke gets impatient and cuts it back into the pursuit.

the look depended on the number of defenders play side from the Mike because we are pulling and have an unbalanced line.

Zeke has lost a step and he knows it.  he would have busted that thing outside for a 10 yard gain in the past.

['stache 22,131]

Just checking in to say Fuck Jason Garrett. I hope he gets bed bugs in his dickhole.

[Gene Parmesan 4,064]

3 minutes ago, Ricky Butler said:

If Riley wants to coach in the NFL, I don't see him passing on the Cowboys. It's the biggest stage in football. That being said, I assume Cowherd has no idea what Riley wants to do in his career.

That's pretty much what it comes down to because OU will pay him anything Jerry will pay him.

[Ricky Butler 2,809]

3 minutes ago, Gene Parmesan said:

That's pretty much what it comes down to because OU will pay him anything Jerry will pay him.

Yeah, I don't think it's about money. That being said, he'll make more with the Cowboys when you factor in endorsements, etc. And if he wins...

[C-Man 27,779]

Didn't Jane Slater get fed some shitty information back during training camp, probably with regard to the Zeke holdout situation?

https://www.totalprosports.com/2019/10/15/new-report-seems-to-suggest-jason-garrett-could-be-fired-during-bye-week/?fbclid=IwAR0jQ_QtazZxN0xn1vL47BwUmUHSBg6VfcyXlg591UjF3mz5g_JOHpswS9c

[DougO 5,264]

If you look around the entire league it pretty much supports the case that expectations are for suckers, except  when it comes to the Patriots.

Edited October 17, 2019 by DougO

[Vic Mackey 47,952]

I don't even know how good Lincoln Riley would do here in Dallas or the NFL in general but I have been in the "anyone, absolutely anyone (besides Rod Marinelli) in place of Garrett" camp. Garrett has been toxic for this franchise for a long time now. But he doesn't rock the boat, tows the company line, gets out of the way of Jerry and was here when we had our dynasty. So Jerry loves his red headed stepson.

Fuck Garrett. 

[Vic Mackey 47,952]

Marion Barber arrested and booked in Denton jail today. Stems from a 2018 case.

 

 

[futureman 22,696]

2 hours ago, Vic Mackey said:

I don't even know how good Lincoln Riley would do here in Dallas or the NFL in general but I have been in the "anyone, absolutely anyone (besides Rod Marinelli) in place of Garrett" camp. Garrett has been toxic for this franchise for a long time now. But he doesn't rock the boat, tows the company line, gets out of the way of Jerry and was here when we had our dynasty. So Jerry loves his red headed stepson.

Fuck Garrett. 

toe the line, you moron. 

[kevwun 16,437]

I don't really care what Lincoln Riley does in Dallas, I really only want him away from OU.  We're just running out the clock on Jerry's life anyway, so it might as well benefit UT.

Edited October 17, 2019 by kevwun

[TornACL 7,792]

The paradox is that a good coach would never come here because a good coach wouldn't tolerate this fucking clown show. 

 

['stache 22,131]

8 minutes ago, TornACL said:

The paradox is that a good coach would never come here because a good coach wouldn't tolerate this fucking clown show. 

 

A good coach could fix this clown show. The talent is there, and Jerruh isn’t exactly the reason this team is tanking. A good coach could also let Jerruh feel big and powerful but be confident enough to know that every observer knows it’s the coach, not the owner, who got shit working. I don’t know if that’s Reilly or not. Literally anyone who can get respect from the players would be better than the gum chewing clap happy jellyfish currently in charge on the field.

Edited October 17, 2019 by 'stache

[youdunnf'dup 2,147]

12 minutes ago, TornACL said:

The paradox is that a good coach would never come here because a good coach wouldn't tolerate this fucking clown show. 

 

Especially Lincoln Riley. Why the hell would he come here. If he goes to any nfl team, it’ll be because he told that team “I need you to get the fuck out of the way, and let me do my thing. Draft the guys I want to draft (including a qb maybe), run the team the way I want to run it, etc.”

no fucking chance that happens in Dallas. If anything he’ll go to the browns so he can reunite with baker, but why would he leave OU? He’s clearly a better coach than Tom Herman, and he knows if his guys actually get up for that game, he’s going to out-coach Herman 100 times out of 100. He knows he can coach at OU for another 20 years and no coach in the big 12 is going to figure him out on a consistent basis. It’s just a fucking pipe dream. Almost no point in talking about it, really.

Edited October 17, 2019 by youdunnf'dup

[Gene Parmesan 4,064]

5 minutes ago, TornACL said:

The paradox is that a good coach would never come here because a good coach wouldn't tolerate this fucking clown show. 

 

Yeah it's a little conflicting to convince yourself that the Cowboys have their pick of the litter with hires like Campo, Gailey, Phillips, and Garrett. 

 

[Post Oak 20,560]

There is no reason to fire him now.  Just wait and fire him after the season.  

 

['stache 22,131]

6 minutes ago, youdunnf'dup said:

Especially Lincoln Riley. Why the hell would he come here. If he goes to any nfl team, it’ll be because he told that team “I need you to get the fuck out of the way, and let me do my thing. Draft the guys I want to draft (including a qb maybe), run the team the way I want to run it, etc.”

no fucking chance that happens in Dallas. If anything he’ll go to the browns so he can reunite with baker, but why would he leave OU? He’s clearly a better coach than Tom Herman, and he knows if his guys actually get up for that game, he’s going to out-coach Herman 100 times out of 100. He knows he can coach at OU for another 20 years and no coach in the big 12 is going to figure him out on a consistent basis. It’s just a fucking pipe dream. Almost no point in talking about it, really.

Reilly can get a ton more out of Dak than Garrett. Look what he did for guys like Baker, Murray, and now Hurts. All three were beat out at other schools, then came and won heismans (Hurts most likely) with absurd numbers under Reilly. Dak is better than Baker, he just is. The question would be if his offense can work or be tailored for the NFL where the defenders are much deeper, faster, and more talented than in college (and the Big 12 in particular).

[Gene Parmesan 4,064]

9 minutes ago, 'stache said:

A good coach could fix this clown show. The talent is there, and Jerruh isn’t exactly the reason this team is tanking. A good coach could also let Jerruh feel big and powerful but be confident enough to know that every observer knows it’s the coach, not the owner, who got shit working. I don’t know if that’s Reilly or not. Literally anyone who can get respect from the players would be better than the gum chewing clap happy jellyfish currently in charge on the field.

Jerry is the sole reason Garrett has been the HC of this team for damn near a decade.  So yes he is a big part of the reason this team is tanking.  He doesn't want a coach that steals any credit from him.

[Gene Parmesan 4,064]

2 minutes ago, Post Oak said:

There is no reason to fire him now.  Just wait and fire him after the season.  

 

I do agree with this.  Other than offering up some blood to the fans a midseason firing does no good. 

['stache 22,131]

Just now, Gene Parmesan said:

Jerry is the sole reason Garrett has been the HC of this team for damn near a decade.  So yes he is a big part of the reason this team is tanking.  He doesn't want a coach that steals any credit from him.

Well yeah, I don't disagree that Jerry's at fault for keeping Garrett around, but we actually have good players on the field and that is partly to Jerry's credit. My point is that a good smart coach could take the job and "share"credit with Jerry, knowing full well that everyone on the outside knows its him and not Jerry that got shit working. 

[youdunnf'dup 2,147]

1 minute ago, 'stache said:

Reilly can get a ton more out of Dak than Garrett. Look what he did for guys like Baker, Murray, and now Hurts. All three were beat out at other schools, then came and won heismans (Hurts most likely) with absurd numbers under Reilly. Dak is better than Baker, he just is. The question would be if his offense can work or be tailored for the NFL where the defenders are much deeper, faster, and more talented than in college (and the Big 12 in particular).

I agree, but that doesn’t change my opinion. Why the fuck would he leave the perfect situation at OU where nobody in his conference can challenge him on a regular basis? It would be one thing if he’d won multiple championships and it was time for a new challenge, but he hasn’t. He isn’t leaving OU is my main point, but if he does, he’s going to do it for a qb like baker. One that he already has a strong relationship with. 

['stache 22,131]

1 minute ago, Gene Parmesan said:

I do agree with this.  Other than offering up some blood to the fans a midseason firing does no good. 

Unless you know that a big time guy like Reilly would take the job after the season, I'd fire Garrett now and give Kris Richard a shot at HC. He's going to get a shot soon enough, might as well give it a shot now that the players have clearly given up on Garrett.

['stache 22,131]

Just now, youdunnf'dup said:

I agree, but that doesn’t change my opinion. Why the fuck would he leave the perfect situation at OU where nobody in his conference can challenge him on a regular basis? It would be one thing if he’d won multiple championships and it was time for a new challenge, but he hasn’t. He isn’t leaving OU is my main point, but if he does, he’s going to do it for a qb like baker. One that he already has a strong relationship with. 

We're speaking in the hypothetical. I agree Reilly is a god at OU and I don't see why he would leave. The only reason I can think of him leaving OU is if he comes to a realization that he can never get the defensive talent to compete in the playoff outside the Big 12. It's a long shot, we know that.

[youdunnf'dup 2,147]

6 minutes ago, Post Oak said:

There is no reason to fire him now.  Just wait and fire him after the season.  

 

I think if you fire him and make Richard the intern HC, it could create a sense of urgency for this team. Like, there are consequences for your actions. You liked Garrett so much that you stopped playing hard for him, huh. Well he’s gone. I think a move like that would be a Hail Mary to save the season, but keeping Garrett might as well be accepting your fate. I understand both sides, really