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Breaking Down the ‘Boys: Are Cowboys’ play clock issues a problem?
By Jonathan Bales
8:51 am on September 11, 2012
Over the past few seasons, it seems the Cowboys have trouble with the play clock nearly every game. Whether they get penalized for delay of game or they’re forced to quick-snap the ball with just a second remaining on the play clock, it has long been an issue in Dallas.
The primary reason for the lack of timeliness is the Cowboys’ audible system. On many occasions, offensive coordinator Jason Garrett calls two plays for quarterback Tony Romo, who must relay both of those plays to the offense in the huddle. The offense’s intent is to run the first play called unless Romo issues a “Kill” call. If Romo “kills” the initial play, the offense runs the second one that was called.
It’s a useful feature and the ‘Boys thrived on Romo’s checks in their opening win over the New York Giants, as I detailed in my breakdown of Romo’s audibles. Let’s not forget that the Cowboys also got flagged twice for delay of game penalties. Garrett claimed there were issues with the headsets, but the Cowboys’ history with the play clock makes me think there’s something else at play here.
For the past three years, I’ve tracked numerous aspects of every Cowboys play (everything from personnel and formations to whether the defense showed blitz and if Jason Witten went into a route). This year, I decided to record how much time is left on the play clock on each offensive snap.
In the Cowboys’ opener, the offense snapped the ball five times with the play clock showing three seconds or fewer. Adding in the pair of delay of game penalties, the offense was likely at least slightly rushed on 12.7 percent of their plays (I excluded Romo’s three kneel-downs).
The question becomes whether or not the dwindling play clock hurts the ‘Boys more than their audible system helps them. At least on Wednesday night, the audibles more than made up for the delay of game penalties. Romo made three “Kill” calls; they resulted in three passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns.
I’ll continue to monitor the play clock throughout the season. The Cowboys obviously won’t be able to maintain the blistering pace they set on Romo’s Week 1 checks, so we’ll see how the play clock conundrum develops moving forward.
By Jonathan Bales
8:51 am on September 11, 2012
Over the past few seasons, it seems the Cowboys have trouble with the play clock nearly every game. Whether they get penalized for delay of game or they’re forced to quick-snap the ball with just a second remaining on the play clock, it has long been an issue in Dallas.
The primary reason for the lack of timeliness is the Cowboys’ audible system. On many occasions, offensive coordinator Jason Garrett calls two plays for quarterback Tony Romo, who must relay both of those plays to the offense in the huddle. The offense’s intent is to run the first play called unless Romo issues a “Kill” call. If Romo “kills” the initial play, the offense runs the second one that was called.
It’s a useful feature and the ‘Boys thrived on Romo’s checks in their opening win over the New York Giants, as I detailed in my breakdown of Romo’s audibles. Let’s not forget that the Cowboys also got flagged twice for delay of game penalties. Garrett claimed there were issues with the headsets, but the Cowboys’ history with the play clock makes me think there’s something else at play here.
For the past three years, I’ve tracked numerous aspects of every Cowboys play (everything from personnel and formations to whether the defense showed blitz and if Jason Witten went into a route). This year, I decided to record how much time is left on the play clock on each offensive snap.
In the Cowboys’ opener, the offense snapped the ball five times with the play clock showing three seconds or fewer. Adding in the pair of delay of game penalties, the offense was likely at least slightly rushed on 12.7 percent of their plays (I excluded Romo’s three kneel-downs).
The question becomes whether or not the dwindling play clock hurts the ‘Boys more than their audible system helps them. At least on Wednesday night, the audibles more than made up for the delay of game penalties. Romo made three “Kill” calls; they resulted in three passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns.
I’ll continue to monitor the play clock throughout the season. The Cowboys obviously won’t be able to maintain the blistering pace they set on Romo’s Week 1 checks, so we’ll see how the play clock conundrum develops moving forward.
