I really feel that the Cowboys bye week came at the perfect time in the season. For one reason Sean Lee got hurt in the game against the Saints and may be shelved for the next 3-4 weeks. The bye week bought him and extra week. Another reason is that this team was playing some bad football and needed a week to get back to the basics. That game against the Lions was pitiful. The defense couldn’t stop Calvin Johnson, Kiffin didn’t make any adjustments in that game, and it was just a badly played game by the Cowboys. The game against the Vikings wasn’t any better. They managed to win that game but needed a last minute drive to pull that one off. I also think the bye came at the perfect time for the fans. True fans have an emotional investment into the team they root for. When their team loses they can feel the hurt, and when their team wins they can feel the joy. As a fan I don’t have a problem with my team losing, I just hate to see a piss poor effort and a bad brand of football being played.
The game against the Saints was a piss poor performance by the Dallas Cowboys. I don’t really want to rehash what happened two Sunday’s ago, but that was a horrible game played but the Cowboys. My purpose for this blog is to bring an element of reality to the Cowboys fans. I think as fans we get caught up with our expectations for our team and we don’t see our team through objective eyes.
The 2013 Dallas Cowboys are no different for the mediocre Cowboys of the past 3 season. Through 10 games they sit at 5-5, the defense is ranked dead last in the league allowing over 400 yards per game. The defense is also giving up over 25 points per game. This is unacceptable if a team plans on making a playoff push. The defense has to play better and I think that starts with the coordinator making some changes to his scheme.
The offense has been inconsistent for most of the year. Romo has played at a pro bowl level but he isn’t making the same plays that he has made in the past. He is protecting the ball and not making bad interceptions but the offense is suffering from his cautions play. The offense is supposed to be the strongest part of this team and up till this point it has been mediocre like the rest of the team.
Now that we have addressed that this team is mediocre at best how can they right the ship and make a playoff run? For starters, this team has to get more aggressive and creative with the play calling. The season is on the line! I want to see some urgency in the plays that are being called. No more jumbo single back runs that aren’t gaining any yards. Mix up the run play calling. Try running out the shotgun or the pistol. Teams know when this team is going to run and they stack the box to stop the run plays being called. This team also needs to take more shots down the field and mix in the screen game. The screen game will allow the playmakers to get the ball in space and make plays. I was watching the Broncos and Chiefs game and one of the Broncos staple plays is the bubble screen to Demaryius Thomas. Thomas is an elite playmaker much like Dez, the Cowboys need to find ways to get Dez Bryant the ball and I think the screen game would work for him. I also think that Murray could benefit from the screen game. Murray and Dez are hard to bring down in the open field. If you put some blockers in front of them and get them into space I think the Cowboys will see some really good results.
Taking shots down the field is key to the success of this offense. Romo is the type of quarterback the feeds off the big play. When he can make a play 20+ yards down the field he gets dialed in. That is the Romo we need to see for the rest of the year. The Cowboys need to find ways to make the big play happen. This team has too many weapons on it for the offense to sputter as much as it does. James Hanna ran a 4.5 second 40 yard dash at the combine, get him matched up with some linebackers and safeties. We all know what kind of playmaker Dez is, put him in the slot more and see if you can get him matched up with a linebacker or a slot corner. Terrace Williams has shown that he is good at getting down the field. The players are there, the plays just have to get there. The offense needs to start getting vertical. I would also like to see more of Cole Beasley. He is a matchup nightmare for a defense when he is used properly.
The running game needs some creativity. In the Saints game the run game was very effective in the beginning. The Cowboys just got down too many points to continue using it. I would really like to see a lot of that same running creativity for the remainder of the season. To win games in November and December you have to be able to run the ball.
The defense is a lost cause. I’m not going to spend much time talking about it because it sucks. This defense is terrible and for most of the year I thought it was the system. It’s not the system; it’s the coordinator running the system. The 4-3 scheme works for other teams in the league. It can work for the Cowboys to, but they have to get rid of that Tampa 2 portion of it. The safeties on this team aren’t good enough to cover the middle of the field and play the sidelines. This defense as a whole isn’t good enough to give up the middle of the field. The scheme needs to adjust to more a bend but don’t break style where you give up the underneath stuff and hope to make a tackle on the ball carrier. The big plays are killing this team and that really needs to change if they hope to make any kind of run into the playoffs.
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