Dallas Cowboys Discussion

[Witten4HOF]

Originally Posted by D-Unit

Yeah that's what I said too. Austin is our slot WR, but our use of the slot is not like the Welker, Amendola, Bess types. Since slots are used many different ways... You got the quick, shifty, difficult to cover guys...aka the Welkers... you got the physical possession receiver slots, like Colston, Avant, Boldin... you got the deep game receiver slots, like Cruz, Santana Moss, and Austin. ...and that's not even counting TE's who line up in the slot.

Calling a WR a slot used to mean that he's got incapabilities to play X or Z. People often say it's their #3 WR. But teams now often use their best WRs in the slot. The position doesn't have inferiority anymore. That's why I don't pay attention to Bob when he whines about Austin not being our #1 WR. ...as if there is such a label that matters. ...Miles is our best fit for the slot. ...and when you consider that in Coryell's offense that the deep read is the #1 read, then Miles technically CAN be considered our #1 WR.

Maybe the issue is that we should change up the way we use the slot. We should use Miles as a hybrid. Having Miles in the slot is awesome because he literally can do it all. He can cut the rug, he can break tackles, he can go deep, he can be physical... only draw back is his proneness to injury.

Or maybe it's not that. Maybe our use of Miles is perfectly fine... Having him go deep isn't the problem. But maybe we need MULTIPLE guys going deep! The idea needs to be pounded in Garrett's brain that he needs to send Dez deep more... I think that's what we need.... and Romo needs to trust him to go up and beat his man (both him and Miles matter of factly). Send them deep and have Witten and Ogletree work the soft zone underneath. Ogletree deep hasn't worked the way Laurent worked last year, that's for sure. But he has been pretty clutch on short passes. Rework the program Garrett! Try it!

Route combinations are important to free up guys down field and it looks like Garrett hasn't found the right combinations to get favorable matchups. Something I haven't seen a lot of is showing multiple deep looks on the same side of the field to get the safety to commit to helping one coverage. Having someone in the slot or from the TE position run a seam route and pair it with the guy on the outside run a 9 route should result in either player getting single coverage.

To go with that showing that same look from a successful formation but altering the combination keeps the secondary guessing. Taking the inside WR and changing the seam to a deep out or having the outside WR running a deep in off of the the slot's seam can also keep generating one on ones.

[D-Unit]

Originally Posted by texans_4_texas

#1 is a guy who gets the most targets. Where they line up is irrelevant. Good try however.

So how can you say that's any one guy on this team? That differs from game to game.

[Witten4HOF]

Not good news Lee might be out for the year if he needs surgery on his toe.

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story/...ng-toe-surgery

[FreshBoy!]

Sean Lee may be out for the season.

[LonghornsLegend]

Well that was the death blow for the season that I needed to call it a wrap. He's easily our best player on the entire team hands down, and while we have Conner and Carter filling in, which is still better then Bradie and Brooking, we were already a .500 team at best and this all but puts a nail in the coffin. 7 wins this year for us. **** me.

[D-Unit]

Originally Posted by FreshBoy!

Sean Lee may be out for the season.

[LonghornsLegend]

Originally Posted by Macarthur

I haven't done the research on this, but it looks to me like we've changed the way we use Dez & Miles. It seems like Dez is more the possesion type guy and Miles the deep threat. I actually think it should be reversed. Austin is the good route runner and should run the slants, ins and such. Dez should be the guy that uses his speed and athleticism to make plays down field. Just my opinion.

I think we have that right. Remember when Austin was a part time role player at WR? I remember that Green Bay game he blew up which was like week 2, he primarily ran deep routes and excelled at it. He opened up a ton of things for the offense that way. Dez is very similiar to Anquan Boldin IMO. He definately can run the deep routes and still should, but he's a high reception total guy if used correctly.


I think Dez should have numbers like 7/90 and Austin 3/100 type of breakdown give or take. Dez should be getting a lot more quick slants, hitches, screens, very early in the game to move the chains, try and make the defense cheat up. Austin has always been great being the deep threat, I remember when we eased him in the offense in that role as an up and comer and he was great at it, still is IMO.


That said, I think Austin can run the short routes and Dez deep routes, but primarily that is how I would keep it though. Dez is open 90% of the time on those short underneath routes, and he breaks DB's tackles so easy, they really don't want to tackle him.


For the deep routes, since Romo is a precision passer, Austin favors those routes. It's not like Romo just lobs a deep ball up for a jump ball to let the WR win, it's a precision timing route that is in a specific spot, and he expects the WR to be there. Watching Chicago play we wouldnt even use Brandon Marshall right, he gets a ton of deep balls that are jump ball situations to give him a chance to use his athleticism. I'm almost confident we won't see Dez for what he truly could be because of the type of QB Romo is.

[D-Unit]

Originally Posted by LonghornsLegend

Well that was the death blow for the season that I needed to call it a wrap. He's easily our best player on the entire team hands down, and while we have Conner and Carter filling in, which is still better then Bradie and Brooking, we were already a .500 team at best and this all but puts a nail in the coffin. 7 wins this year for us. **** me.

Why couldn't this have happened to Romo instead!

[E-Man]

I can't say **** enough times about Sean Lee. He's done everything right, and he's such a damn good player. Connor did play well against Carolina, but he had some issues before on special teams. At least Bruce Carter has been playing well too. They really got it right with getting both guys, but I hope that there are no long term injury issues with both. We'll see how Connor and Lemon step up. I think Bruce will still shine, but Lee was on his way to a Pro Bowl year. At least the D-line has quietly been exceptional regardless of any injuries they've had. The depth there has been stellar this year, so it should help Connor and Carter out.

[Witten4HOF]

Top 15 pick in the draft ?

[D-Unit]

**** can't Lee play with 4 toes? DAMNIT!

[D-Unit]

Originally Posted by Witten4HOF

Top 15 pick in the draft ?

I think we were already that. Top 10 pick in the draft? LOL. Srsly so sad.

Hopefully Dan Connor does alright. I was glad we signed him in the first place. Hopefully that feeling doesn't change.

[TheFinisher]

This is so disappointing.

sigh....

I just lost a ton of interest in watching the rest of the season. Lee playing his heart out week in and week out was such a refreshing change from what I've grown accustomed to from this current group. Our D was our only hope of making noise this year, and if Lee really is gone for the year that unit is about to fall off a cliff. We just lost our general.

[Witten4HOF]

If there is a possible plus in this situation it might accelerate the progression of Bruce Carter. He has the athleticism to be every bit as good as Lee if his instincts come along.

[D-Unit]

This is like playing Chess without your Queen. If the D can continue to play good, then that would be great.

I get the immediate doom and gloom reaction (it is fun in a painful way! lol), but it's not like we have no reason to FIGHT! I'm sure tomorrow more folks will have their heads on straight again and realize there is still a way to keep this train on track. It's gonna test the fight in our players and the skill of our DC, but we can do this.

[D-Unit]

Originally Posted by Witten4HOF

If there is a possible plus in this situation it might accelerate the progression of Bruce Carter. He has the athleticism to be every bit as good as Lee if his instincts come along.

That would be pretty dang amazing. He's shown good so far, but that's true... if he can take that next step... and take on some of that leadership and gritty play then that would be dreamy.

[MetSox17]

Uggghhhhhhh

[Witten4HOF]

It is official, Lee is done for the year, surgery is set for next tuesday.

[Trogdor]

At least we signed a capable FS so we won't see Frampton aside from special teams...

The Cowboys have been looking for help at the safety position since Barry Church suffered a season-ending torn Achilles injury. Without a safety who can offer the Cowboys some "ballhawking" ability, the front office has changed that with the signing of Charlie Peprah.

Wonder if this is also a signal of intent to use McCray as the "Barry Church" linebacker in the nickel on passing situations. This is a killer blow however Rob may be able to scheme out some of the impact. Connor can play the run and hopefully not get exposed in the passing game. :/

[thule]

Since Romo has come into the league and started he has notoriously been one of the highest ranked QBs in yards per competition. Last year we toned it down because of the weak OL...we saw garrett move to a quick passing offense that tried to get the ball out of Romo's hand. This year we are top 3 in sacks allowed....so I wouldn't doubt that Romo's inability to attack the deep half of the field has something to do with the play calling come in. It's well documented that Romo has freedom at the line to check and make adjustments as he pleases...but it's almost as if not turning the ball over has taken over as the #1 priority this year with a stiff defense to bail it out.

[Macarthur]

Originally Posted by Trogdor

At least we signed a capable FS so we won't see Frampton aside from special teams...




Wonder if this is also a signal of intent to use McCray as the "Barry Church" linebacker in the nickel on passing situations. This is a killer blow however Rob may be able to scheme out some of the impact. Connor can play the run and hopefully not get exposed in the passing game. :/

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe with Lee going down, you will see that safety playing closer to the line in nickle and dime situations.

[E-Man]

So it's official. Lee is out for the season for certain. This hurts my heart.

[Modano]

Originally Posted by D-Unit

Romo was the second-most accurate deep passer in the league last season, according to Pro Football Focus.

Even when Romo had a clean pocket all day against Carolina, he only threw that 1 deep pass.

Something weird is going on. It's not for inability to do so. It's mental. Romo has always had fragile mental issues, but I blame Garrett too. The both of them have to recognize what's going on here. Adjustments have to be made.

A lot of interesting things to read, but not enough time to do so.
So I'll just comment on this. I completely agree with you, D: I don't know why but Romo is not taking chances downfield anymore. I remember from a couple of years ago, Aikman saying that Romo was always looking downfield. Why he's not doing that anymore is beyond my comprehension.
I think that he's at his best when he does that.

[D-Unit]

Originally Posted by Modano

A lot of interesting things to read, but not enough time to do so.
So I'll just comment on this. I completely agree with you, D: I don't know why but Romo is not taking chances downfield anymore. I remember from a couple of years ago, Aikman saying that Romo was always looking downfield. Why he's not doing that anymore is beyond my comprehension.
I think that he's at his best when he does that.

It all boils down to TRUST.

Trust between the HC and his gameplan.
Trust between the HC and his QB.
Trust between the QB and his WRs.
Trust between the QB and himself.

[Trogdor]

Lee to IR.

Signed Ernie Sims to replace him.