Week 3 Game Day Chatter | Cowboys at Seahawks | 9-23-2018

[p1_]

Agreed, he had a poor game. And yet...

 

[GShock]

That drop was the least of his poor plays.

He directly, and through the fault of nobody else, cost us at least 7 and perhaps 10 points.

4 when he stupidly went out of bounds by half a foot on the TD reception and at least 3, if not 7 on the fumble at Seattle's 15.

He did run the ball well, and was arguably our best offensive player, but he also directly cost us a significant number of points.

Blew a blitz pick-up as well.

This offense has no margin. Our three-headed moron TEs cannot bat the ball in the air to be intercepted and have to at least get in the way when called on to block. Our rookie WR simply has to make catches if its anywhere close. Looney and a declining Smith have to do their jobs and help Williams. Martin has to play to his contract and not get shoved back into his QBs lap. Shrimp has to win on his third down routes, and cannot drop anything, period. And our running back cannot drop third down passes when he is matched up on a LB, step out of bounds when his QB is trying to make an off-schedule throw, and cannot, cannot fumble the ball. With this QB and this coaching staff, there is just no margin for error.

 

[Simpleton]

Blew a blitz pick-up as well.

This offense has no margin. Our three-headed moron TEs cannot bat the ball in the air to be intercepted and have to at least get in the way when called on to block. Our rookie WR simply has to make catches if its anywhere close. Looney and a declining Smith have to do their jobs and help Williams. Martin has to play to his contract and not get shoved back into his QBs lap. Shrimp has to win on his third down routes, and cannot drop anything, period. And our running back cannot drop third down passes when he is matched up on a LB, step out of bounds when his QB is trying to make an off-schedule throw, and cannot, cannot fumble the ball. With this QB and this coaching staff, there is just no margin for error.

Definitely, although that is quite the laundry list of errors.

Even aside from the coaches/scheme/Dak, I'll be god damned if the rest of these guys haven't looked like warmed over shit for the most part.

Elliott was sluggish over the first 2, as per usual, and when he finally snaps out of it and starts running well, he makes several mind-numbing, drive-ending, points-off-the-board mistakes. Then you have the OL who has given up 11 sacks in the two losses, which would be 88 over a 16 game season, and of course the general ineptness of the WR's/TE's.

Everything is just bad all over.

 

[p1_]

Garrett has zero control of the inmates.

 

[1bigfan13]

I stated something similar during the game and was told to not get carried away.

Sometimes the truth hurts.

 

[Rev]

Is there video out there of any other angle of Elliot foot when he went out of bounds. They usually have and show different angles but it was only that one.

I'm not saying this is the case. Just wanted to make this clear. On that kind of play the angle could play tricks on the mind. What if his heel didnt touch but hovered out of bounds as he pivoted his toes which were in bounds? I guess its pretty slim simce I dont recall Elliot fighting the call at all.

 

[1bigfan13]

When we were having the Zeke vs Saquon discussion not tool long ago, Bipo and I pointed out that Barkley is a better receiver.

Zeke's just not much of a natural receiver.

 

[1bigfan13]

 

[boozeman]

This is the maddening thing about it.

It is not just Prescott acting like a scared dork seeing ghosts. It is insane play design like this.

Then you have the idiotic coaches who obviously installed this offense.

It is so god awful, I can't even begin to try to understand it.

Frankly, the blame is everywhere and the means there is no solution.

 

[boozeman]

When we were having the Zeke vs Saquon discussion not tool long ago, Bipo and I pointed out that Barkley is a better receiver.

Zeke's just not much of a natural receiver.

Yeah, I have to agree. I saw a stat today about how unproductive he is with his pass receptions.

This seems like ages ago.

 

[GShock]

Yeah, I have to agree. I saw a stat today about how unproductive he is with his pass receptions.

This seems like ages ago.

I grant you that his drop Sunday was bad, and he’s probably not the receiver that Barkley is, but I think scheme plays a role here, too. So often on pass plays, he appears to have a block/outlet-flat assignment. So if he’s not needed to block, he sort of drifts into the flat where he waits. By the time Dak’s progression takes him to Zeke, he’s been picked up by whatever zone/spy defender is assigned to him. By the time the ball is actually delivered, the defender has him dead to rights.

I feel like if there was just a *little* creativity in route design, or if he was moved up through play design to, say the 3rd read instead of the fifth, there would be more opportunities. As it is, he’s deployed as “I guess this is better than a sack” and produces accordingly.

 

[boozeman]

I grant you that his drop Sunday was bad, and he’s probably not the receiver that Barkley is, but I think scheme plays a role here, too. So often on pass plays, he appears to have a block/outlet-flat assignment. So if he’s not needed to block, he sort of drifts into the flat where he waits. By the time Dak’s progression takes him to Zeke, he’s been picked up by whatever zone/spy defender is assigned to him. By the time the ball is actually delivered, the defender has him dead to rights.

I feel like if there was just a *little* creativity in route design, or if he was moved up through play design to, say the 3rd read instead of the fifth, there would be more opportunities. As it is, he’s deployed as “I guess this is better than a sack” and produces accordingly.

Perhaps, but let's not pretend he is a guy that works when he runs routes. He really wasn't that exposed to it at Ohio State either.

 

[boozeman]

 

[Genghis Khan]

"There's not an ounce of design to this."

That's pretty damning.

 

[NoDak]

I grant you that his drop Sunday was bad, and he’s probably not the receiver that Barkley is, but I think scheme plays a role here, too. So often on pass plays, he appears to have a block/outlet-flat assignment. So if he’s not needed to block, he sort of drifts into the flat where he waits. By the time Dak’s progression takes him to Zeke, he’s been picked up by whatever zone/spy defender is assigned to him. By the time the ball is actually delivered, the defender has him dead to rights.

I feel like if there was just a *little* creativity in route design, or if he was moved up through play design to, say the 3rd read instead of the fifth, there would be more opportunities. As it is, he’s deployed as “I guess this is better than a sack” and produces accordingly.

Agreed. If Zeke has been sent out on more than 10 actual, well designed pass routes since he's been here, I'd be shocked.

 

[jsmith6919]

 

[P_T]

Agreed. If Zeke has been sent out on more than 10 actual, well designed pass routes since he's been here, I'd be shocked.

Because they don't want to "overuse" him, just like they don't want to "expose" Dak too much.

 

[jsmith6919]

 

[ravidubey]

It’s always checkdown city targeting backs in Dallas. I’ve been complaining about that forever and for well over a decade on this site.

Backs should get the ball ball multiple times a game by design. It keeps a defense guessing, and it doesn’t have to be screen passes.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

It’s always checkdown city targeting backs in Dallas. I’ve been complaining about that forever and for well over a decade on this site.

Backs should get the ball ball multiple times a game by design. It keeps a defense guessing, and it doesn’t have to be screen passes.

Yep and any time you can get a back on a LBer it should be an opportunity to throw the ball deep. Very few LBers in the NFL can run stride for stride with a guy like Zeke. But instead we run almost none of that. You want to create advantageous match ups on offense. But I really don't see any of those concepts in Dallas.