Archer: Cowboys don't have to go (third-and) long to find offensive issues

Cotton

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Cowboys don't have to go (third-and) long to find offensive issues
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer

FRISCO, Texas -- Diagnosing what has gone wrong for the Dallas Cowboys' offense the last two weeks is not difficult. You don't have to be some metric-driven follower of football to understand the Cowboys' issues are from their lack of third-down success.

They have converted just two of their last 24 third-down tries against the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants. That, more than anything, is why they have scored just 24 points in the last two games. This was an offense that put up more than 400 yards in eight straight games during their 11-game winning streak. This was an offense that scored more than 24 points in 10 of the 11 wins.

Why? They converted on 44 of 97 third-down attempts in the span. That 45.3 percent rate would be fourth best in the league over the course of the season.

But in the last two games, the Cowboys went 1-of-9 on third down in the 17-15 win against the Vikings and were 1-of-15 in the 10-7 loss to the Giants. The Cowboys have dropped to 12th in the league in third-down conversion rate on the season.

The conversions the last two games have been on a 14-yard scramble by Dak Prescott on third-and-13 in the second quarter against Minnesota and a 3-yard run by Ezekiel Elliott in the first quarter against New York. The Cowboys scored touchdowns on both of those drives.

The poor showing against Minnesota, according to Garrett, was more about the Cowboys' miscues. They lost a third-down conversion because of a Lucky Whitehead fumble. They lost another on a Jason Witten catch because of a penalty. They fumbled a snap on third and 1 to close the game.

Garrett gave the Giants defense more credit for the Cowboys' woes.

"Some of them were not favorable third-down situations and for us," he said. "Some were a combination of good coverage and not delivering the ball where we needed to, not winning on the route when we needed to, and just playing against a good defense. The conditions weren't ideal for either team, weren't as sharp as we needed to be in that critical down."

Calling plays in third-and-long situations is difficult for any offensive coordinator. The predictability makes it easier for the opposing defense. Against the Giants, the Cowboys went the odd route of calling an Elliott run on third-and-11 in the second half. Garrett put the 6-yard loss on a communication error.

"One of the issues in a game like that is communication and making sure everybody is on the same page. Unfortunately on that play we weren't," Garrett said. "But there are certain things we want to get to versus certain looks that we think give us a chance to make a first down."

In the last two games they have had to convert on third-and-8-10 yards seven times, which is the third highest total in a two-game span this season. They have had to convert on third-and-11 or more yards seven times, including five against the Giants, which is the most in a two-game span since the first two contests of the season.

The Cowboys have not converted a third down chance via a pass since the fourth quarter of their Thanksgiving Day win against the Washington Redskins when Prescott hit Dez Bryant for a 26-yard gain on third-and-9 from the Washington 27.

When the Cowboys have been great on third down, they have been great on first and second down. Against Washington, the Cowboys converted on 4 of 8 third-down opportunities. Perhaps more importantly they had three scoring drives in which they never even got to third down.

On the season the Cowboys have 11 scoring drives in which they never made it to a third-down play.

That is the best way to avoid third-down problems.

"You want to be good on first and second down. You want to make first downs on first and second down," Garrett said. "If you have 15 third downs in a game it's probably going to be a struggle. It's probably going to be a challenge. On the other side if you force them to have 14 third downs in the game it's going to be harder for them too. When we've played our best football we made a lot of first downs on first and second down but we've been in favorable third down situations."
 

Genghis Khan

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When a HC responds to a poor offensive performance against Minnesota by saying it was just a lot of miscues by us, then next week after another poor offensive performance says the other team just made plays, he's not really addressing the problem. And when you don't adequately address a problem it tends to persist.
 

BipolarFuk

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The problem is getting away from the beat them down with the running game strategy and Dak's recession into Retarder 2.0
 

L.T. Fan

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When a HC responds to a poor offensive performance against Minnesota by saying it was just a lot of miscues by us, then next week after another poor offensive performance says the other team just made plays, he's not really addressing the problem. And when you don't adequately address a problem it tends to persist.
That's a fact. That why I said there isn't much else you can look at except the coaches the way this game plan was done. It was real obvious by midway in the second quarter that NY was reading the Cowboys mail when their offense was on the field. This really is disconcerting since the games will only get harder from this point forward. They obviously don't have complete trust in Dak yet or they are not capable of changing on the fly.
 

jsmith6919

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When a HC responds to a poor offensive performance against Minnesota by saying it was just a lot of miscues by us, then next week after another poor offensive performance says the other team just made plays, he's not really addressing the problem. And when you don't adequately address a problem it tends to persist.
Garrett is slipping back into his old ways, instead of realizing maybe the playcalling didn't put the players in the best position to succeed he just blames execution
 

UncleMilti

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Apparently, the word is that Dak was forcing the ball to Dez and had wide open receivers on 4 or 5 3rd down plays.

So is Linehan even fucking turning on the Surface tablets on the sideline?
 

Smitty

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Apparently, the word is that Dak was forcing the ball to Dez and had wide open receivers on 4 or 5 3rd down plays.

So is Linehan even fucking turning on the Surface tablets on the sideline?
playcalling
 

VA Cowboy

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Apparently, the word is that Dak was forcing the ball to Dez and had wide open receivers on 4 or 5 3rd down plays.

So is Linehan even fucking turning on the Surface tablets on the sideline?
We definitely got away from what we were doing. Seems like we always get in trouble when we try to force it to one player rather than taking what is available. To make it worse, Dez wasn't making plays and when he did he fumbled.
 

UncleMilti

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We definitely got away from what we were doing. Seems like we always get in trouble when we try to force it to one player rather than taking what is available. To make it worse, Dez wasn't making plays and when he did he fumbled.
But Dez was covered by teh great Janoris Jenkins and stuff and things and stuff....:dunce:dunce:dunce
 
J

Jim Dandy

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For pete's sake, we are 11-2 guys. The sky is not falling. Giants D played all world. Vikings D solid.
I'm not concerned about Dak, but I'm always concerned about late season let downs under the Garrett era.
Garrett can thank Dak for saving this season (and possibly his job) after Romo went down yet again.
We should keep pounding the running game until opposing teams can prove they can stop it. With our Oline, Zeke and Morris we should be pounding the rock 25 plus times a game.
We get too pass happy at times with the play calling.
 

L.T. Fan

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For pete's sake, we are 11-2 guys. The sky is not falling. Giants D played all world. Vikings D solid.
I'm not concerned about Dak, but I'm always concerned about late season let downs under the Garrett era.
Garrett can thank Dak for saving this season (and possibly his job) after Romo went down yet again.
We should keep pounding the running game until opposing teams can prove they can stop it. With our Oline, Zeke and Morris we should be pounding the rock 25 plus times a game.
We get too pass happy at times with the play calling.
Yes to most of your post but maybe you should consider being apprehensive about Dak since his performance is showing some declination as the pressure and tough part of season approaches. The rookie that he is has given a hint that he may be struggling. We all hope he plays through it but currently it is cause for concern.
 
J

Jim Dandy

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Yes to most of your post but maybe you should consider being apprehensive about Dak since his performance is showing some declination as the pressure and tough part of season approaches. The rookie that he is has given a hint that he may be struggling. We all hope he plays through it but currently it is cause for concern.
Any rookie QB that leads a team to 11-2 in his first season, following what we endured last season, should be celebrated and praised. We lose one game to a Giants team that played outstanding D and he is to blame? Last I looked there were 10 other guys on the offense and 11 on defense, as well as coaches on the sideline. Sorry, Dak is our best option, we are lucky to have him. Romo certainly had his share of games where he showed "declination" (is this really a word? LOL), every QB does.

Go Cowboys!
 
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Cotton

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Any rookie QB that leads a team to 11-2 in his first season, following what we endured last season, should be celebrated and praised. We lose one game to a Giants team that played outstanding D and he is to blame? Last I looked there were 10 other guys on the offense and 11 on defense, as well as coaches on the sideline. Sorry, Dak is our best option, we are lucky to have him. Romo certainly had his share of games where he showed "declination" (is this really a word? LOL), every QB does.

Go Cowboys!
I think I'm gonna like this guy. Oh, new guy, get an avatar. :thumbsup
 

Genghis Khan

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The cowboys were 12-1 in 2007. How did that work out for us?

Of course there's cause for concern.

We have a real shot at the whole thing. I think we can be as good as anyone.

I also think we have a real shot at being one and done in the playoffs.

It would be a shame if we weren't maximizing our chances at a title.
 

L.T. Fan

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Any rookie QB that leads a team to 11-2 in his first season, following what we endured last season, should be celebrated and praised. We lose one game to a Giants team that played outstanding D and he is to blame? Last I looked there were 10 other guys on the offense and 11 on defense, as well as coaches on the sideline. Sorry, Dak is our best option, we are lucky to have him. Romo certainly had his share of games where he showed "declination" (is this really a word? LOL), every QB does.

Go Cowboys!
I wasn't referencing anything about Romo. I am looking at the Cowboys offensive production now that they have begun to play teams with stout defenses and the pressure mounts at this part of the season. The past games lose their perspective when compared to the last couple of games. The question is what may be occurring.

Watching the replays one major occurance is that the performance of the QB has declined. There are other problems as well but the one position of the team that has to be on top of their game during this period is the QB position.

I am looking very closely at how he is performing now and I detect some questionable decisions.i really want to see a better execution of finding receivers quicker and a quicker decision of when to vacate the pocket. Those are the areas that have changed. Part of the reason for the change is the OL isn't handling the tough defenses as well. This requires adjustments by the QB. Tough defenses will be prevalent the rest of the way.

Dak will have to deal with opponent game plans now that a lot of the weaker teams on the past schedule wasn't able to accomplish. The road going forward is narrower and faster so I hope he can make the adjustments required to stay in contention.
 
J

Jim Dandy

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I wasn't referencing anything about Romo. I am looking at the Cowboys offensive production now that they have begun to play teams with stout defenses and the pressure mounts at this part of the season. The past games lose their perspective when compared to the last couple of games. The question is what may be occurring.

Watching the replays one major occurance is that the performance of the QB has declined. There are other problems as well but the one position of the team that has to be on top of their game during this period is the QB position.

I am looking very closely at how he is performing now and I detect some questionable decisions.i really want to see a better execution of finding receivers quicker and a quicker decision of when to vacate the pocket. Those are the areas that have changed. Part of the reason for the change is the OL isn't handling the tough defenses as well. This requires adjustments by the QB. Tough defenses will be prevalent the rest of the way.

Dak will have to deal with opponent game plans now that a lot of the weaker teams on the past schedule wasn't able to accomplish. The road going forward is narrower and faster so I hope he can make the adjustments required to stay in contention.
Dak has handled everything that has been thrown at him thus far. Love his poise. We will be fine at QB position. I'm more concerned about how Garrett coaches for remainder of season and post season. Our track record with him in this area has been underwhelming.
 

townsend

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The cowboys were 12-1 in 2007. How did that work out for us?

Of course there's cause for concern.

We have a real shot at the whole thing. I think we can be as good as anyone.

I also think we have a real shot at being one and done in the playoffs.

It would be a shame if we weren't maximizing our chances at a title.
Who was the QB in 07?
 

Genghis Khan

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A five year veteran. Eli was more of a "Young and inexperienced" player in 07, and he did pretty well.
Are you serious? :lol

Eli going in to that game had played 57 games as a pro.

Romo had 26, less than half.

Romo was a young, inexperienced QB at that time. The point remains.
 
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