Dallas Cowboys Discussion

[M.O.T.H.]

I dont think our offensive woes are over yet, honestly. We were lucky enough to see single coverage yesterday. The real test comes when teams start to roll coverages and start to double up Austin again. Because, the two to three weeks we've seen that, we were horrible.

Prior to the Giants game yesterday, I was actually expecting to lose this game in NY but, I'm a little more optimistic after seeing the Giants play yesterday. But if they decide to stick with the blue print that has shut us down...it could be another rough one. One that resembles some of those December games of the last few years.

[M.O.T.H.]

Just a random thought....Felix is averaging 6.9 yards per carry...8.9 last year. What does he have to do to get more carries? ughhhhhh. He's only seen double digit carries once in his career and that was 10 whole carries.

I honestly wouldnt expect his yards per carry average to drop that much at all with a heftier work load. If he had enough to qualify, I think he'd be right up there around Chris Johnson when it comes to yards per carry. Speculating of course but, Felix is a really special back. I understand he's been injured but, he's healthy now...get him the damn ball.

[Wootylicous]

That TD run from Felix yesterday was beautiful.

[herniateddisc]

Originally Posted by M.O.T.H.

I dont think our offensive woes are over yet, honestly. We were lucky enough to see single coverage yesterday. The real test comes when teams start to roll coverages and start to double up Austin again. Because, the two to three weeks we've seen that, we were horrible.

Prior to the Giants game yesterday, I was actually expecting to lose this game in NY but, I'm a little more optimistic after seeing the Giants play yesterday. But if they decide to stick with the blue print that has shut us down...it could be another rough one. One that resembles some of those December games of the last few years.

You can double Austin all day but if you run short routes for him, it won't matter. He is a RAC machine. Yesterday is the first time JG actually made an effort to get him the ball on simple routes and use his RAC skillz to make plays.

Now if all you do is run him +20 yards one very route then the double wil effect him.

Just send Roy 30 yards downfield every play and let him threaten the Safety help.

[M.O.T.H.]

Originally Posted by herniateddisc

You can double Austin all day but if you run short routes for him, it won't matter. He is a RAC machine. Yesterday is the first time JG actually made an effort to get him the ball on simple routes and use his RAC skillz to make plays.

Now if all you do is run him +20 yards one very route then the double wil effect him.

Just send Roy 30 yards downfield every play and let him threaten the Safety help.

Yesterday was easy...they single covered him all day. And tried a little bump and run. That wasnt going to work. This next week will be a whole other animal. It remains to be seen if Austin can be productive when he sees this much focus. So far, he's struggled with it and it has hurt our offense. This is what happens when you explode onto the seen. Defenses over analyze, expose your weaknesses and attack. Thus leading to some rough games for that player in the process. This week he is bound to see the rolled coverages again...it will be a great test and it may be difficult.

[herniateddisc]

Originally Posted by M.O.T.H.

,,,,,So far, he's struggled with it and it has hurt our offense. .....

This where I disagree.

To me the failure is the OC and their three game obsession with Roy Williams.

He complained and they rerouted the hot reads to Roy and it failed.

Just get Austin the ball early and often and stop dickering with the I throw it to who is "open" nonsense.

Until they start lining up the Safety on top of Austin, I don't want to hear it.

80% of the time open is subjective. Just push it through CREATIVELY.

[herniateddisc]

Props to Jerry

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl...ory?id=4693440

[E-Man]

Originally Posted by M.O.T.H.

Just a random thought....Felix is averaging 6.9 yards per carry...8.9 last year. What does he have to do to get more carries? ughhhhhh. He's only seen double digit carries once in his career and that was 10 whole carries.

I honestly wouldnt expect his yards per carry average to drop that much at all with a heftier work load. If he had enough to qualify, I think he'd be right up there around Chris Johnson when it comes to yards per carry. Speculating of course but, Felix is a really special back. I understand he's been injured but, he's healthy now...get him the damn ball.

Ya know, I think the same thing myself. It's nice that his yards per carry is so high, but really it just shows that he doesn't run that often in addition to being such a huge gainer. The guy needs to get at least 10 carries a game, because he's just too damn good not to. I am a big Chris Johnson fan, and I wonder if their roles would be reversed if he was picked instead of Felix. We'd be bashing Garrett for not running CJ enough, and we'd only catch glimpses of how great he could be like we're seeing with Felix. Damn Garrett. Damn him to hell! *shakes fist*

[herniateddisc]

OK, I think this season ends differently than the last two for TWO reasons ....

1) I truly think Keith Brooking brings something to the D which sadly lacked. Toughness and brains which was lacking all to often in years past. Credit Wade and Jerrah for this. Probably the SINGLE BIGGEST MOVE this season.

2) I think, based on what I saw this past week and the previous, Jason finally got through his head (and Wade) that for this O to go-go they need to get the ball to their play-makers first and foremost. Austin, Witten and Felix. The other guys are simply decoration. I think this SIMPLICITY makes Romo's job easier and he will have less turnovers in spite of the coming weather and self inflicted pressure.

I predict 4-1 barring injuries with a close L game in New Orleans.

[pocketaces]

What do you guys think of our wildcat? I know we had a long run and a td out of the formation but it seems to me that its just a direct snap to the rb. Where is the misdirection? shouldnt Felix be coming in motion and atleast giving the D something to think about? Isnt there a read so Felix should get the ball atleast part of the time? Also shouldnt there be a threat of the pass? Isnt that what makes Miami's version so hard to defend? Just asking but I think Choice is going to start getting shut down pretty soon if we dont add the rest.

[LonghornsLegend]

Originally Posted by M.O.T.H.

Just a random thought....Felix is averaging 6.9 yards per carry...8.9 last year. What does he have to do to get more carries? ughhhhhh. He's only seen double digit carries once in his career and that was 10 whole carries.

I honestly wouldnt expect his yards per carry average to drop that much at all with a heftier work load. If he had enough to qualify, I think he'd be right up there around Chris Johnson when it comes to yards per carry. Speculating of course but, Felix is a really special back. I understand he's been injured but, he's healthy now...get him the damn ball.

Prove that he can stay healthy for one. The one game we were going to give him a very healthy load that he started for us and he got hurt. I don't think he's earned the right to try and give him 18 carries/touches yet, let's gradually increase it, but when we tried to give him a healthy load he couldn't finish the game.


Right now I'm just happy to have him as a weapon when last year at this point we didn't have him, I think he'll start to get the ball more each week if he can stay healthy.

[D-Unit]

Originally Posted by pocketaces

What do you guys think of our wildcat? I know we had a long run and a td out of the formation but it seems to me that its just a direct snap to the rb. Where is the misdirection? shouldnt Felix be coming in motion and atleast giving the D something to think about? Isnt there a read so Felix should get the ball atleast part of the time? Also shouldnt there be a threat of the pass? Isnt that what makes Miami's version so hard to defend? Just asking but I think Choice is going to start getting shut down pretty soon if we dont add the rest.

I think we've resorted to it so much without variance that it's becoming more and more predictable. Soon it will be ineffective.

Did anyone see that wildcat formation that Charlie Weis ran today against Stanford? That was a thing of beauty.

[LonghornsLegend]

Originally Posted by D-Unit

I think we've resorted to it so much without variance that it's becoming more and more predictable. Soon it will be ineffective.

Did anyone see that wildcat formation that Charlie Weis ran today against Stanford? That was a thing of beauty.

I think we have more variations, we just aren't showing all our cards yet. Felix has went into motion on that play a few times, I think we just want to have a few new wrinkles for late in the season. At least that's my hope, but I don't want to put too much faith in Garrett :( Still, it's called the Razorback partly because of Felix, so I find it hard to believe the only play we have is the one where Choice runs the ball right up the middle, no point in putting in a new formation for just one play.


Still though, it's very effective because it lets our O-line do what their the best at, Gurode and Davis just man handle people in front of them when they can just fire off the ball like that. If we save a few of the variations of it for the playoffs it would be pretty sweet, then again I can just see those blowing up in our face if we don't have much practice at it.

[M.O.T.H.]

Originally Posted by LonghornsLegend

Prove that he can stay healthy for one. The one game we were going to give him a very healthy load that he started for us and he got hurt. I don't think he's earned the right to try and give him 18 carries/touches yet, let's gradually increase it, but when we tried to give him a healthy load he couldn't finish the game.


Right now I'm just happy to have him as a weapon when last year at this point we didn't have him, I think he'll start to get the ball more each week if he can stay healthy.

I disagree to a point...because, even when he's been 100% and runs for like 80 or so yards in the first half, he still doesnt get the ball. You have to have confidence in your players. And if Felix is having one of those monster games...like we saw against the Giants earlier in the year, where injuries shouldnt have been on anyone's mind, you have to get him the ball. That game was infuriating...Felix was averaging 14 yards per carry in the 2nd game of the year and Garrett wouldnt give him the ball.

I honestly dont think it would matter. If Felix never got injured, I still see it playing out like this. Same goes if we drafted CJ instead. Garrett just doesn't know how to use them. I remember an interview a while back where he said when Barber is running well, he sometimes forgets about the other backs. Genius. Garrett has shown time and time again, that he isnt the right man for this job.

[Paul]

So close to being a perfect week. Redskins couldn't do us a solid this one time.

[LizardState]

What do you guys think of our wildcat? I know we had a long run and a td out of the formation but it seems to me that its just a direct snap to the rb. Where is the misdirection?

Dallas doesnt do misdirection much, maybe a reverse every 5th game or a dbl-reverse once a yr. Cowboys RBs seem to be pretty good at finding their own cutback lanes though, I think Dallas prefers the quick-hitting plays for best use of their huge & usually dominant o-line. They will screen & draw forever though.

D thinks the wildcat is run too much, but given Dallas' past I'm surprised they went with it at all. Direct snap to the RB gives him the chance to run to the available hole, but that doesn't work as often as it should on paper. Like he said, they're waiting for it, the RB with a direct snap keeps it like 75% of the time in the wildcat & that's its weakness. I've said it before but it's true, wildcat is all fluff & little stuff at the pro level, the LBs are too smart & too good.

[Modano]

Hey guys, I'm going off-topic but I was just sent a google wave invitation. So if you got a wave account PM me! I also have one invitation left so I can give it to one of you.

Back on topic... wow the Redskins just fell short, they could have done us a great favor. Now let's hope we can build some momentum in December with all those difficult matchups we have in front of us...

[Macarthur]

I think all the talk about JG and the offense is misguided.

I have said all along that this team will go only as far as the defense takes it.

Bloggingtheboys.com has a nice article on how Romo has gotten the blame for much of the December fades, but the reality is that while Romo has had a few stinkers, the defensive meltdowns have been a much bigger factor.

The defense this year feels much more sound. They are healthy and really appear to have a swagger.

[leroyisgod]

Originally Posted by herniateddisc

Props to Jerry

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl...ory?id=4693440

Shouldn't this be a speech coming from Wade and not the owner?

[D-Unit]

Originally Posted by leroyisgod

Shouldn't this be a speech coming from Wade and not the owner?

Just because it wasn't publicized doesn't mean he didn't say it or hasn't been saying it. Anything Jerry does gets headlines, so I wouldn't take in anything negative about this.

[leroyisgod]

Originally Posted by D-Unit

Just because it wasn't publicized doesn't mean he didn't say it or hasn't been saying it. Anything Jerry does gets headlines, so I wouldn't take in anything negative about this.

I don't see it as negative. I like the fact that JJ came in and talked to the team like this. I personally feel as if the December lapse last year was a mental issue. And this year with it being over publicized that we collapse in December it will be the main question the team hears all week long. I say you address it once and be done with it.

[Macarthur]

Originally Posted by leroyisgod

I don't see it as negative. I like the fact that JJ came in and talked to the team like this. I personally feel as if the December lapse last year was a mental issue. And this year with it being over publicized that we collapse in December it will be the main question the team hears all week long. I say you address it once and be done with it.

While I don't dismiss that there was a mental aspect, don't forget all the injuries this team had last year.

No Autin or Hurd
No Kosier
Witten broken ribs and bad ankle
No Felix
Barber at about 70% (if that)
Keith Davis started several games at safety
RW plantar faciatis
Flo bad shoulder and badly infected hand
Romo's back was clearly not right

While I know that all teams have injuries and that can't be used as an excuse, I still think the reality was that the team just didn't have enough bullets in the chamber.

[Paul]

Not to mention Romo's pinkie was still bothering him throughout the tail end of last season.

[herniateddisc]

Did I gives props to Jerry Jones for not letting his team make excuses for failure?

And if he is going to be everywhere like he is - - he might as well make the statement he made.

So... I may not like the role he plays but he did right in this instance.

[D-Unit]

Anyone else think that we can beat New Orleans? I sure do. I can't wait for that match up. Honestly, I think we'll have a harder time beating the Giants.