Responsibility for Cowboys' offensive woes starts with Jason Garrett

[Bonecrusher#31]

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[FONT=Verdana,Arial,sans-serif][FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Tony Romo told us what was wrong with the Cowboys' offense after their pathetic preseason performance against Houston.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
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Too many players, seemingly one every play, were making mistakes.
Not much has changed in the three weeks since then.

It's not that the Cowboys didn't move the ball against Washington – they had drives of 10, 11 and 12 plays – it's that they made so many mistakes they could never find a rhythm.

Yes, Alex Barron had an awful game, but he wasn't the only offensive player making errors.

He just made the last one, and the most important one.

Six players committed at least one penalty. The Cowboys had negative plays or penalties on eight of 10 drives.

That's not winning football.

Football is the ultimate team game. All 11 offensive players must be on the same page for an offense to thrive.

It's not all about the play-selection. Indianapolis has the NFL's most simplistic playbook. It's about execution.

Now that doesn't mean Jason Garrett isn't at the epicenter of the issues, because he is. He's the man in charge. When things don't go right, it's his responsibility to get it fixed.

This is his fourth year. Two years ago, he was bad. Last year, he was average.

He needs to be good like he was in 2007 for this team to maximize its potential. The talent is there, but unless Garrett figures out a way to minimize the mistakes and get his unit into the end zone then this team is going to struggle all year.

Injuries are no excuse for this offense unless Romo, Miles Austin or Doug Free is out.

It's time to get it done. It starts with Garrett.

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Jean-Jacques TaylorArchive | Bio | E-mail

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[Cr122]

So basically, the offensive line is at fault.

Alex Barron, mainly. Yeah, we moved the ball, but Tony is always running for his life after the snaps.

And the penalties, that's a sign of a undisciplined team. Wade should at least hold his players accountable for their actions, not too much to ask.

I want to win every week just as much as the next fan, but please can we do something on offense. Jason's hands are tied because of this piss poor line play.

And the more our offense struggles, it will tire out our defense more, because they are on the field constantly.

 

[Cr122]

He needs to be good like he was in 2007 for this team to maximize its potential. The talent is there, but unless Garrett figures out a way to minimize the mistakes and get his unit into the end zone then this team is going to struggle all year.

As soon as we get solid line play, we will maximize our potential, until then we struggle. And I mean throughout the entire game and season.

 

[Plymkr]

There are still two or three Pro Bowlers on the O-line. What I think they need to do is get back to the nasty. Pound the ball with the RB's. Set up the play action. Stop being this finesse passing team. Which, it seems like they are going to. Tire down the D-line. These old hogs are old, but, they aren't horrible. Torrin Tucker, horrible. Petiti, horrible. Barron, horrible. Page. horrible. Shiver. Horrible, taylor, horrible. I could go on and on. It's been said time and time again. This offense has no identity. They don't have enough nasty in their shit either.

And STOP with the consecutive fucking WR screens.

 

[LAZARUS_LOGAN]

There are still two or three Pro Bowlers on the O-line. What I think they need to do is get back to the nasty. Pound the ball with the RB's. Set up the play action. Stop being this finesse passing team. Which, it seems like they are going to. Tire down the D-line. These old hogs are old, but, they aren't horrible. Torrin Tucker, horrible. Petiti, horrible. Barron, horrible. Page. horrible. Shiver. Horrible, taylor, horrible. I could go on and on. It's been said time and time again. This offense has no identity. They don't have enough nasty in their shit either.

And STOP with the consecutive fucking WR screens.

Couldn't said it any better.

 

[Cr122]

There are still two or three Pro Bowlers on the O-line. What I think they need to do is get back to the nasty. Pound the ball with the RB's. Set up the play action. Stop being this finesse passing team. Which, it seems like they are going to. Tire down the D-line. These old hogs are old, but, they aren't horrible. Torrin Tucker, horrible. Petiti, horrible. Barron, horrible. Page. horrible. Shiver. Horrible, taylor, horrible. I could go on and on. It's been said time and time again. This offense has no identity. They don't have enough nasty in their shit either.

And STOP with the consecutive fucking WR screens.

I see it as we can't run effectively, because of the guys we have up front, we are a better pass blocking team. JMO

 

[Cythim]

Which is why we throw the screen to open up rushing lanes.

 

[Plymkr]

Throwing an actual screen, say to Jones in the backfield is one thing. Throwing two screens in a row to your rookie WR is another.

 

[Cr122]

Throwing those quick screens behind the line of scrimmage drive me nuts, sometimes.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I see it as we can't run effectively, because of the guys we have up front, we are a better pass blocking team. JMO

That's the one right there.

This isn't a good run-blocking offensive line.

But it's not a team that does the short-passing game well either. Mistakes will kill a long drive.

This is an offense that lives for the bigger pass play– eating up big chunks of yardage.

 

[LAZARUS_LOGAN]

Throwing those quick screens behind the line of scrimmage drive me nuts, sometimes.

Here's the thing. Those WR screens would work if the DB is 10 yards off the LOS. You audible into those plays. Now I like those bubble screens, buit for some reasons we get called for PI on it, which doesn't make sense because the player that gets the PI is a blocker and the pass was made behind the LOS.

 

[Cr122]

Here's the thing. Those WR screens would work if the DB is 10 yards off the LOS. You audible into those plays. Now I like those bubble screens, buit for some reasons we get called for PI on it, which doesn't make sense because the player that gets the PI is a blocker and the pass was made behind the LOS.

Well, yeah if they are in man to man, then no you wouldn't throw the screen, you're right it wouldn't work.

That would be the first thing I would do as a QB, check the coverage, then if they were playing 10 yards or so off the line of scrimmage like you said, then audible into the screen.

 

[Cr122]

That's the one right there.

This isn't a good run-blocking offensive line.

But it's not a team that does the short-passing game well either. Mistakes will kill a long drive.

This is an offense that lives for the bigger pass play– eating up big chunks of yardage.

Right, and Tony also has to make those guys look good, and run out of the pocket to make plays, that's usually where we get our big gains from part of the time.

 

[LAZARUS_LOGAN]

Well, yeah if they are in man to man, then no you wouldn't throw the screen, you're right it wouldn't work.

That would be the first thing I would do as a QB, check the coverage, then if they were playing 10 yards or so off the line of scrimmage like you said, then audible into the screen.

And that is what the Vikings did all the time with Moss and Carter. They didn't come out the huddle with that play.

 

[sbk92]

Pro Bowl berths don't tell the whole story. A lot of aging vets still get in every year on name recognition alone.

Gurode and Davis has down years last season. And they don't look much better this year.

 

[sbk92]

Well, yeah if they are in man to man, then no you wouldn't throw the screen, you're right it wouldn't work.

That would be the first thing I would do as a QB, check the coverage, then if they were playing 10 yards or so off the line of scrimmage like you said, then audible into the screen.

It's all about blocking. Man or zone, it can work.

We should be a screen heavy team. Because we have guys who are real good after the catch. Felix, Austin, Dez. We saw what Ogletree can do there. Don't get discouraged off of one game.

Another reason is it slows down the pass rush. We need all the help we can get in that regard.

 

[sbk92]

This is an idiotic article, by the way. Responsibility for the offensive woes starts with the line.

No coordinator in the game can scheme around shat up front doing the blocking.

 

[Cr122]

It's all about blocking. Man or zone, it can work.

We should be a screen heavy team. Because we have guys who are real good after the catch. Felix, Austin, Dez. We saw what Ogletree can do there. Don't get discouraged off of one game.

Another reason is it slows down the pass rush. We need all the help we can get in that regard.

Well, right it could work, but I was just saying it wouldn't be wise to throw the screens when they're in man coverage, you can take the risk of the corner intercepting the ball in man, that's how I see it.

I suppose if the blocking was great, which in our case it isn't, then you can be successful with it. Against Washington they were in man when we threw those screens to Dez, weren't they?

 

[sbk92]

Well, right it could work, but I was just saying it wouldn't be wise to throw the screens when they're in man coverage, you can take the risk of the corner intercepting the ball in man, that's how I see it.

I suppose if the blocking was great, which in our case it isn't, then you can be successful with it. Against Washington they were in man when we threw those screens to Dez, weren't they?

It doesn't matter. They can't creep up like that without running the risk of getting beat over the top.

And when you're in zone, everyone's eyes are in the backfield. Making it more likely to diagnose the screen and shut it down.

When you line up Austin and Dez, defenses can't run the risk of selling out on a screen. And both guys should break some of those tackles from the DBs.

It's too small of a sample size to say it isn't working.

 

[Plymkr]

We should be a screen heavy team. Because we have guys who are real good after the catch. Felix, Austin, Dez. We saw what Ogletree can do there. Don't get discouraged off of one game.

Another reason is it slows down the pass rush. We need all the help we can get in that regard.

Hard to be a screen heavy team when the O-line is "old" and is not fast and cannot get out to the flat quick enough to block. This line is still a pounding line, or a pass blocking line. It just isn't clicking. Yes, they are old, but, protections need to be called out better and recognizing blitz and what the defense is doing falls on Gurode and Romo. If it all clicks. All is good.