Will Tony Romo even be active Sunday?

ravidubey said:

Odell Beckham Jr: 10.56 targets per game
Dez Bryant: 7.38 targets per game, down from from 8.625 in 2014
Cole Beasley: 6.1 targets per game-- exactly double from 2014

Too much dinking around.

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I think this is the biggest difference in Dak & Romo's game. What Dez lost in 2014, went to Beasley in 2016. Romo & Dak's total yards/game and completions/game are very similar. With Witten's 2014 & 2016 stats nearly identical and Terrance Williams are close, this leaves Beasley and Dez as switching stats.

Dez averaged 20.7 yards/game less from 2014 to 2016, while Beasley increased 24.8 yards, almost a perfect match. Romo had 76.6% completion to Beasley, identical as Dak-to-Beasley, but Dak targeted Beasley twice as much. Romo-to-Dez 68% completion but Dak-to-Dez 52%.

Texas Ace said:

Yea, but regardless of who is the better talent, Murray has a phenomenal year and was just as effective, and maybe even moreso, in 2014 than Zeke was this year.

I believe he equaled and even surpassed the record for consecutive games with 100 yards rushing.

You cannot discount how important that was to the offense and to the team as a whole that year.

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I like Zeke more then Murray (Partially because he is younger and just has more room to grow). But to say his season was infinitely better would be silly. Murray had the single best season of any Cowboys RB in history.

Cowboysrock55 said:

Not sure on that stat. Murray's were up there but formations tend to dictate that a lot as well. I mean if you go to a formation with a OG playing TE and only one WR the defense is going to bring an extra man in the box. Makes no sense not to.

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You guys are comparing Murray's and Zeke's yards gained to determine who had a bigger influence. How else to quantify how much defenses geared up to stop the run?

As for OG lined up as TE, did we we run that significantly enough to skew stats? With Swaim's injury, we ran this Jumbo Joe Looney formation more often, but probably direct correlation for how fewer we ran two-TE run formations. Two-TE run formations would similarly bring in 8+ box. I don't think we ran Jumbo Joe formation in lieu of running out of shotgun spread formation.

Cowboysrock55 said:

Not to knock Zeke who has been amazing. But Murray had more rushing and receiving yards. So yeah, it's crystal clear.

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Zeke had more TDs. Rested during week 16. It's pretty clear he was a better playmaker, literally by leaps and bounds. Of course unlike 2014, Dak had to deal with the workhorse getting rested more frequently. We were happy to run the wheels off Murray. If we had taken that mentality Zeke would definitely had the rookie/franchise rushing record.

As much as Randle was a shit starter, he was definitely more of a threat in relief than Morris. In 2016 you knew that we were probably struggle when Morris went into the lineup, since he could only do one thing.

But winning so many games without Dez has to set Dak apart. When Romo had to play without him in 2015, the offense was impotent.

pdom said:

You guys are comparing Murray's and Zeke's yards gained to determine who had a bigger influence. How else to quantify how much defenses geared up to stop the run?

As for OG lined up as TE, did we we run that significantly enough to skew stats? With Swaim's injury, we ran this Jumbo Joe Looney formation more often, but probably direct correlation for how fewer we ran two-TE run formations. Two-TE run formations would similarly bring in 8+ box. I don't think we ran Jumbo Joe formation in lieu of running out of shotgun spread formation.

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We've ran the Joe Looney formation far more then I care to. But the 1 WR formations aren't new to this offense. We ran them back in 2014 as well. But two deep safeties could be just as much an indication of Dez Bryant then anything as well. Teams don't fear Dez the way they did back in 2014.

L.T. Fan said:

You just keep proving my point. He is back to "full health" now but continues this practice because he believes it pays off. Where in all of this does it mention he is still complaining or rehabbing because of back problems. It doesn't. It is a practice he has opted to continue to do because he thinks it helps him. But he is back to full health.

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If he was back to full health he would not need a day off to perform at his full abilities.

And if he had full health he would not be doing the exact same rehab exercises to be able to play at peak levels.

But anyway I am done, I am not going there with you.

Genghis Khan said:

Why is that, I wonder?

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pdom said:

I think this is the biggest difference in Dak & Romo's game. What Dez lost in 2014, went to Beasley in 2016. Romo & Dak's total yards/game and completions/game are very similar. With Witten's 2014 & 2016 stats nearly identical and Terrance Williams are close, this leaves Beasley and Dez as switching stats.

Dez averaged 20.7 yards/game less from 2014 to 2016, while Beasley increased 24.8 yards, almost a perfect match. Romo had 76.6% completion to Beasley, identical as Dak-to-Beasley, but Dak targeted Beasley twice as much. Romo-to-Dez 68% completion but Dak-to-Dez 52%.

Year	Player	Targets/Game	Rec/Game	Yards/Game
2014	Beasley	3.1	2.4	27.3
2014	Bryant	8.4	5.7	87.0
2014 TOTALS		11.5	8.1	114.3
2016	Beasley	6.1	4.7	52.1
2016	Bryant	8.0	4.2	66.3
2016 TOTALS		14.1	8.9	118.4

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Nice breakdown.

Cowboysrock55 said:

Not to knock Zeke who has been amazing. But Murray had more rushing and receiving yards. So yeah, it's crystal clear.

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You're talking about rushing and receiving totals like they are the end all, be all.

Murray had 70 more carries at 392 attempts for 4.7 yards a carry. He had 57 receptions at a 7.3 yard avg. 13 total TDs.

Zeke had 322 carries for 5.1 a carry. He had 32 receptions at a 11.3 yard avg. 16 total TDs. And I'd give Elliott the nod as the better blocker, too. The guy seems to take joy in it.

I think Schmitty has a legitimate argument as to which RB is/was better.

Texas Ace said:

Yea, but regardless of who is the better talent, Murray has a phenomenal year and was just as effective, and maybe even moreso, in 2014 than Zeke was this year.

I believe he equaled and even surpassed the record for consecutive games with 100 yards rushing.

You cannot discount how important that was to the offense and to the team as a whole that year.

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I think Zeke was overall more effective. Murray had a couple games where he looked like he was going to break records. Elliott was way more consistent. He was still dominating teams at the end of the season. Murray, not so much.

Texas Ace said:

Yea, but regardless of who is the better talent, Murray has a phenomenal year and was just as effective, and maybe even moreso, in 2014 than Zeke was this year.

I believe he equaled and even surpassed the record for consecutive games with 100 yards rushing.

You cannot discount how important that was to the offense and to the team as a whole that year.

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Who is discounting it?

I just saying Zeke is definitely better than Murray. Would anyone trade Zeke for Murray? I didn't think so.

It's debateable which supporting cast was better. This isn't the Eagles WRs we have now compared to 2014 or anything.

Jiggyfly said:

If he was back to full health he would not need a day off to perform at his full abilities.

And if he had full health he would not be doing the exact same rehab exercises to be able to play at peak levels.

But anyway I am done, I am not going there with you.

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All I can say is the article states he is at full health and Romo made the choice to continue the off day practice because it made him feel fresher. If you choose to ignore that and draw your own conclusion then there is nothing else I can say to you. You initially asked where did I get the information? Well from the things you yourself confirmed in the news and media. The difference is I accept it and you don't. What else is there to say.

townsend said:

Zeke had more TDs. Rested during week 16. It's pretty clear he was a better playmaker, literally by leaps and bounds. Of course unlike 2014, Dak had to deal with the workhorse getting rested more frequently. We were happy to run the wheels off Murray. If we had taken that mentality Zeke would definitely had the rookie/franchise rushing record.

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"It's not even a debate."

NoDak said:

You're talking about rushing and receiving totals like they are the end all, be all.

Murray had 70 more carries at 392 attempts for 4.7 yards a carry. He had 57 receptions at a 7.3 yard avg. 13 total TDs.

Zeke had 322 carries for 5.1 a carry. He had 32 receptions at a 11.3 yard avg. 16 total TDs. And I'd give Elliott the nod as the better blocker, too. The guy seems to take joy in it.

I think Schmitty has a legitimate argument as to which RB is/was better.

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Nope, not debateable. Sorry.

Cowboysrock has decreed there is no debate on this subject. Dissenters are to be mocked and exiled.

mschmidt64 said:

Nope, not debateable. Sorry.

Cowboysrock has decreed there is no debate on this subject. Dissenters are to be mocked and exiled.

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Actually that's not at all what I said. Not on the issue of Murray or Zeke. There is room to debate either one is better then the other. But you wanted to take it to an outlandish level which I laugh at. As though 2014 Murray isn't in the same stratosphere. Which is a joke.

mschmidt64 said:

I just saying Zeke is definitely better than Murray. Would anyone trade Zeke for Murray? I didn't think so.

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It's not who the better player is. It's who was better in 2014 or 2016. Murray's 2014 season was the best in Cowboys history. But yeah, he isn't anywhere close to the season Zeke had according to you.

2014 Cowboys 2016 Cowboys

O-line >
WRs >
TE >
RB =

Offensive coordinator =

That's the way I see it. And even if you want to say Zeke was a better RB in 2016 then Murray in 2014 it's still pretty clear because the difference wasn't massive.

The good news is all of this will come to some sort of fruition in maybe as soon as 2 weeks. In the meantime reload and get back to the firing line.

Ask why we are targeting Beasley twice as much and Dez less often.

Why are Williams TDs cut in half and YPC down by three?

LT broke it down right.

Detroit game aside, we are dinking around too much.

Target Dez more, Beasley less, and run Williams deeper.

Romo's middle pass vs Philly where he looked off the safety and snapped a dart to Williams bunched in with a deep shot and a check down was a great example of attacking the whole field-- including the deep middle.

Attack more like that.

Dak can do it, you just have trust that he can.

NoDak said:

You're talking about rushing and receiving totals like they are the end all, be all.

Murray had 70 more carries at 392 attempts for 4.7 yards a carry. He had 57 receptions at a 7.3 yard avg. 13 total TDs.

Zeke had 322 carries for 5.1 a carry. He had 32 receptions at a 11.3 yard avg. 16 total TDs. And I'd give Elliott the nod as the better blocker, too. The guy seems to take joy in it.

I think Schmitty has a legitimate argument as to which RB is/was better.

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Also, nobody has taken into account Murray's fumbling problems. He seemed to fumble at the worst possible time- if there's ever a such thing as a good time to fumble. But you know what I mean.