Kavner: Garrett Addresses Run-Pass Check, Red Zone Failure

boozeman

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Garrett Addresses Run-Pass Check, Red Zone Failure

Posted 5 minutes ago



Rowan Kavner

DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer



IRVING, Texas – The red zone issues Sunday left many wondering how often Tony Romo should have the ability to check out of run plays, particularly close to the goal line.

Head coach Jason Garrett said the coaches make evaluations “all the time” regarding how often Romo has the option to check from run to pass and vice versa. But it doesn’t sound like Romo will be limited in that regard going forward, despite the Cowboys’ red zone issues and unwillingness to run in close quarters during Sunday’s game.


“If you look at the body of work and the efficiency that we’ve had and he’s had, it’s been fairly high,” Garrett said. “Sometimes, in certain situations when it doesn’t work out, people will really highlight that type of a thing, but you have to go back and look at the efficiency of him throwing the football and us running the football over time.

“Sometimes, when it doesn’t work out, people overreact to something like that, but you do have to look at the whole body of work. We do that all the time.”

One of the more egregious errors came on the Cowboys’ first red zone drive during the Dallas offense’s second possession of the first quarter. The Cowboys drove down the field and got into a second-and-1 situation at the 49ers’ 2-yard line after a 9-yard gain by Lance Dunbar.

The Cowboys ran a jumbo formation onto the field, but there appeared to be some confusion and they burned a timeout. They thought better of the package, or “rethought the situation,” as Garrett put in, and the receivers came back onto the field. But the next play still appeared to be a run – at least initially.

Romo saw a defensive look he didn’t like and elected to pass, though it didn’t seem the majority of the offensive line got the memo. Romo went down for a sack as Justin Smith breezed by Tyron Smith, who appeared to be run blocking or looking to wall off his defender to push him outside. Multiple linemen were near the goal line looking for linebackers to block.

Garrett said he didn’t want to get into details about the communication issues going on during that play. DeMarco Murray, who averaged 5.4 yards per rush on the day, looked furious as he turned around to see Romo on the ground.

“I don’t want to get into the details of that particular decision, but very easily could’ve run the ball in that situation,” Garrett said. “Hopefully in the future, we’ll handle that situation better.”

An incompletion later, and the Cowboys had to settle for a field goal. Garrett said the Cowboys could’ve taken a more smash-mouth approach, but they didn’t in that situation.

“In some cases, you give him a run/pass option to get into the most favorable play in a certain situation,” Garrett said. “Often times, when you’re down in the tight red zone, teams will play coverage, meaning they’ll have seven or eight guys deep and have three or four defensive linemen or they’ll just blitz you. Sometimes, when you have runs from particular formations or particular personnel groups and they blitz eight guys off the side, the run has absolutely no chance when you’re overmatched by two and three guys.”

Murray finished the game with 22 carries for 118 yards and a touchdown. That touchdown was the only rushing opportunity Murray got on 12 red zone plays from scrimmage.

“We were pretty efficient running the football,” Garrett said. “I thought we did a good job even when we were down in the score as a result of the turnovers being persistent in running the football. DeMarco ran the ball well. It starts up front with that offensive line. They did a nice job.”

As well as Murray ran the ball, he didn’t get many opportunities to finish drives. That was the case on the aforementioned red zone drive that included a sack and a finish Garrett would like to have back.

“If you look at that sequence, two passes to Dunbar got it down close, from about the 20 or so down to the 2-yard line,” he said. “Then, like we talked about, there are different ways to go about that situation. Hopefully in the future, we’ll handle that better.”
 

Smitty

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Yeah, with second and one at the two, at some point you have to just say, "we're running this three times straight and even if we only get one yard, we get three more chances."
 

BipolarFuk

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Is there any doubt that this is one of the most horridly coached teams in NFL history?
 

Plan9Misfit

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Yeah, with second and one at the two, at some point you have to just say, "we're running this three times straight and even if we only get one yard, we get three more chances."
EXACTLY. Why those dipshits chose to pass on those downs when we only needed one fucking yard to get four more shots at the end zone is beyond me.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Yeah, with second and one at the two, at some point you have to just say, "we're running this three times straight and even if we only get one yard, we get three more chances."
We have invested a ton of resources in this O-line. We have a dominant unit. It's beyond me why you wouldn't take advantage of that fact.
 

Plan9Misfit

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We have invested a ton of resources in this O-line. We have a dominant unit. It's beyond me why you wouldn't take advantage of that fact.
They are. They were drafted so they can block Romo better so we can keep passing it in any situation.
 

Cowboysrock55

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They are. They were drafted so they can block Romo better so we can keep passing it in any situation.
Romo can have 10 seconds to throw the ball and he will still somehow feel the pressure. It's like he refuses to throw the ball until he is about to get hit. And half the time takes a sack as a result.
 

Plan9Misfit

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Romo can have 10 seconds to throw the ball and he will still somehow feel the pressure. It's like he refuses to throw the ball until he is about to get hit. And half the time takes a sack as a result.
We could have a line with 5 HOF players on it with all of them being the best in NFL history at their respective position and Garrett & Romo would still find ways to fuck it up.
 

Texas Ace

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“Sometimes, when it doesn’t work out, people overreact to something like that,
What a clueless fool Garrett is.

Overreact? It's not an overreaction when there are countless examples of what happened on Sunday to point to over the 7-plus years that Garrett has influenced this offense.

It's a pattern, a trend, a habit....whatever you want to call it, it is a frustrating and never-ending weakness in the Garrett offense that has always rears its ugly head before too long.

So no, it is not an overreaction. Fans are just tired of it.
 

Plan9Misfit

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What a clueless fool Garrett is.

Overreact? It's not an overreaction when there are countless examples of what happened on Sunday to point to over the 7-plus years that Garrett has influenced this offense.

It's a pattern, a trend, a habit....whatever you want to call it, it is a frustrating and never-ending weakness in the Garrett offense that has always rears its ugly head before too long.

So no, it is not an overreaction. Fans are just tired of it.
I call it a tumor, a cancer, and a plague.
 

Cotton

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We have invested a ton of resources in this O-line. We have a dominant unit. It's beyond me why you wouldn't take advantage of that fact.
Not to mention averaging better than 5 YPC. When you are having that kind of success, you keep at it until they prove they can stop you. Well, a normal coach would, I mean.
 

jsmith6919

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The fact that they don't realize when the defense shows just one extra guy in the box that the run is still the most favorable play shows just how clueless they are. I remember Aikman used to say if it was just one extra he always counted that as Emmitt's guy, now I'm not saying Murray is as good as Emmitt but he is definitely good enough for us to impose our will on people with the oline we have.
 

Texas Ace

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The fact that they don't realize when the defense shows just one extra guy in the box that the run is still the most favorable play shows just how clueless they are. I remember Aikman used to say if it was just one extra he always counted that as Emmitt's guy, now I'm not saying Murray is as good as Emmitt but he is definitely good enough for us to impose our will on people with the oline we have.
Funny, because I'm guessing that idiot Romo doesn't look at any pass defense as being unfavorable.
 

Plan9Misfit

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Funny, because I'm guessing that idiot Romo doesn't look at any pass defense as being unfavorable.
He probably doesn't. We could be lined up in a 4 TE jumbo run package and be facing 11 DBs with no one at the line of scrimmage and Romo would still check into a deep post pass play.
 

jsmith6919

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Serious question, does anyone remember Romo ever checking to a run play? Trying to think of at least one time he did and can't.
 

BipolarFuk

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I'm starting to think Romo is just looking to pad his own stats. He truly is teh Jer's QB. Thinking of himself before winning.

What I'd give for a Russell Wilson type who is just a winner and doesn't give a shit about what kind of stat line he puts up.
 

Plan9Misfit

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I'm starting to think Romo is just looking to pad his own stats. He truly is teh Jer's QB. Thinking of himself before winning.

What I'd give for a Russell Wilson type who is just a winner and doesn't give a shit about what kind of stat line he puts up.
Romo may be the QB equivalent of Jerry; a guy who genuinely believes that he's capable of winning when he really isn't.
 

Stars

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That play was inexcusable. Run the ball up the gut 3 times in a row if you have to and score a touchdown. If you can't score from the 2 yard line with a quick-hitting run and our o-line, well then just go home. There is no excuse for "miscommunication" ...Garrett should tell Romo, "DO NOT AUDIBLE FROM A RUN, JACKASS." ...and then smash them in the face. Goddamn this team pisses me off.
 

Plan9Misfit

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That play was inexcusable. Run the ball up the gut 3 times in a row if you have to and score a touchdown. If you can't score from the 2 yard line with a quick-hitting run and our o-line, well then just go home. There is no excuse for "miscommunication" ...Garrett should tell Romo, "DO NOT AUDIBLE FROM A RUN, JACKASS." ...and then smash them in the face. Goddamn this team pisses me off.
We could've gotten a 1st down at the 1 yard line as well, so, in theory, we had 7 chances to score. Instead, getting cute nearly bit us in the ass.
 
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