Archer: Cowboys will look to stretch field

Cowboys will look to stretch field

July, 23, 2014



By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com



OXNARD, Calif. -- Numbers can be twisted and turned to say what you want -- which is what people who mock the fact that quarterback Tony Romo has the highest fourth-quarter passer rating in NFL history tell you -- but there is a number that the Dallas Cowboys and Romo need to improve upon in 2014.

It's yards per attempt.

"I think it's meaningful," passing game coordinator Scott Linehan said of the yards-per-attempt stat. "That's a number that's shown up for teams that are explosive on offense. To get that up, you've got to have a fair number of big, explosive plays in the passing game. If you throw the ball 100 times but your yards per attempt is somewhat low you're probably having to spend a lot of time on the field to score."

From 2006-2009, Romo had the highest yards per attempt in the league at 8.1 He had 129 passes of at least 25 yards during that span, which was second in the league. He and Terrell Owens were an explosive duo. From 2011-2013, Romo had a 7.57 yard-per-attempt average, which is 11th best in the league. He had just 28 passes of 25 yards or more in 15 games last season, one more than he had in 10 starts in 2006.

Even with the low yards per attempt (by his standards) Romo completed just 63.9 percent of his passes last season, his lowest since 2009 when he completed 63.1 percent.

"Tony's a great quarterback and I think he's a great fit," Linehan said. "If you play in the NFL you want to be able to attack all parts of the field. He's one of the guys in this league I think of that understands that throughout his career. It's easy to say, but you've got to have the mindset for it and the guys to do it and I believe we have both."

Linehan comes to the Cowboys with a reputation of taking shots, but Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford averaged 7 yards per attempt in his career and 7.3 yards last season.

"It's not 'careless aggression,' but you've got to have the idea that when people are lined up in, I guess, a mode where they're kind of squeezing the field on you and adding people in the run game, I think you've got to be able to have that threat," Linehan said. "It's not always the case, but I think it's 'the threat of that being something they will do,' is what we have to in our offense."
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Feh.

Not exactly what I want to hear.

Hey, let's incorporate more high percentage passes into the gameplans and give us more of an excuse to abandon the run.

I would have said the number that needs to improve is the run/pass ratio or the seconds left on the clock while Tony just waits for an excuse to check out of the run but whatever

jsmith6919 said:

I would have said the number that needs to improve is the run/pass ratio or the seconds left on the clock while Tony just waits for an excuse to check out of the run but whatever

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If Linehan's system means less KILL KILL KILL and more "run the effing play" I am all for it.

I don't think Romo is a smart enough QB to give that kind of control to. Not a slam. There are about two or three guys in the league who know their own offenses well enough to be allowed to have that kind of autonomy.

boozeman said:

If Linehan's system means less KILL KILL KILL and more "run the effing play" I am all for it.

I don't think Romo is a smart enough QB to give that kind of control to. Not a slam. There are about two or three guys in the league who know their own offenses well enough to be allowed to have that kind of autonomy.

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If the fact that we haven't ran as much is because of Romo checking out, it won't matter what Linehan calls. It will come down to whether Garrett can rein in Tony.

Iamtdg said:

If the fact that we haven't ran as much is because of Romo checking out, it won't matter what Linehan calls. It will come down to whether Garrett can rein in Tony.

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As much as Garrett sucks up to Romo, good luck with that. There is no coach/player line IMO. Kind of gets blurred when they do everything but go to the Grammys together like Michael Jackson and Emmanuel Lewis.

boozeman said:

If Linehan's system means less KILL KILL KILL and more "run the effing play" I am all for it.

I don't think Romo is a smart enough QB to give that kind of control to. Not a slam. There are about two or three guys in the league who know their own offenses well enough to be allowed to have that kind of autonomy.

Click to expand...

One thing I always think of is what qbs do I see audible TO the run and can recall the top4 all doing it quite a bit, Romo not so much

I hear they have some pretty good deals on field stretchers at Home Depot.

Iamtdg said:

If the fact that we haven't ran as much is because of Romo checking out, it won't matter what Linehan calls. It will come down to whether Garrett can rein in Tony.

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I suspect Romo will be more amiable to the run this season as a back saving precaution. I think he had rather hand it off than scramble but we will see.

They absolutely need to stretch the field more and raise yards per attempt. YPA is a crucial stat.

I am sure Romo's checks are more sophisticated than it appears, but as Clay wrote:

1: Load 8 in the box so we predictably check out of any running plays.

2: Blitz Romo.

3: Profit.

Depending on the game situation, you need to run into the teeth of a 9-man front, or at least, what they are showing to be the 9-man front. Or whatever audible or check with me privileges exist, there are certain game situations where they need to be revoked. Because with our defense, grinding clock can be more valuable than scoring.