A question has been bugging me since Sunday night’s game. How did the Tampa Bay Buccaneers do so much better on offense than the Dallas Cowboys did? A lot of time people can just chalk this question up to “Tom Brady being Tom Brady” but I want to dive deeper.
One difference I noticed between both offenses was that Tampa was making quick passes. This made Brady only need about 1-2 seconds to throw a bullet at one of his receivers. The Buccaneers’ offense was very fast-paced this game with very simple plays that resulted in large drives and scores.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys tried to play tricky and long. Barely any quick passes or plays the whole game. Quarterback Dak Prescott took about four seconds each down to look for a receiver, unlike Brady’s time to throw.
This was critical and it is one of the reasons Dak Prescott suffered an injury near the end of the game. Dallas needs to stop making their QBs scramble every down and start designing plays that allow them to sit in the pocket while throwing it away quickly.
Speaking of the pocket, that’s one thing Dallas didn’t have. Every single down a red shirt was running throw the line trying to sack Dak. This caused much scrambling on offense for Dallas while Tampa didn’t have this issue.
Yes, Micah Parsons did have two huge sacks in the game yet that’s it. They barely had Tom Brady scrambling in this game. Like in my previous paragraph, he threw it away so quickly that when the team got to him, the ball was already gone.
Now our running backs were a different story. Ezekiel Elliott played great, and so did Leonard Fournette. The run game was Magnificat for both teams. Only comparison with these two, both had large stats and impressive runs.
Overall, I think our main issue is the play calling. Poor management from the coaching side resulted in 3 points for the whole game. I would like to see more runs and quicker passing plays. Success is repetition, and that’s something the Cowboys need to work on before the next game.
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If Elliot was averaging over 5 yards per carry, why in the world did they keep trying to throw the ball? This mentality has cost them several games. If the ground game is successful, stay with it until they stop it
I know, they should have just kept doing what was working, which is running.
Dallas didn’t play “long”. They didn’t stretch the field. Now there are tons of reasons why in this game but Moore’s history and Dak’s is they rarely stretch the field. And Dak does not progress through many reads like Brady.
Think about a 45-year-old vs a 29-year-old physically? The 29 YO should have a major advantage there. So where does the difference or “contrast” really stand out. IMO, it’s the mental part of the game where Brady has a major advantage over DP. Brady apparently reads defenses better, better at changing plays based on where defense has lined up, quicker release, quicker at going through progressions, etc. Plus, the clutch gene, Brady has it, DP just doesn’t.
Bring up the coaching all you want, but these things are the biggest “contrast” between these two QBs, IMO. The players on the field and their ability to execute is the bottom-line. DP was, AGAIN, throwing behind players, overthrowing players, 48% accuracy, QBR 15.3.
Yup. Dak has always been slow on his reads and processing. You’d think it’d improve over time as the “game slows down” with experience. It has improved slightly, but he’s still a tick slow. At this point, I have to wonder if his ability to read and pull the trigger will ever reach a truly “elite” level.
And then there’s the scatter gun accuracy, which makes me wonder if that’s the root of the problem. He knows he’s not that accurate at certain types of throws, which makes him hesitant to throw, which looks like slow processing speed.
Either way, it’s what keeps him from being the “Top QB” he’s being paid like. And, it’s a big part of what is holding this team back. It’s time to face it. Dak is a critically flawed QB that lucked onto a team with a top OL and running game, which helped hide his flaws…until they fell apart.
Some good points…slow developing plays were part of the problem. Others:
Tampa’s defense played well—they get some credit;
The O-line is unstable right now;
Can the present stable of receivers run the quick slants needed for the 1/2 second release time for the QB?
Tony Pollard runs better than Zeke, but Zeke blocks better—but if you use Zeke principally as a pass blocker and use Pollard exclusively run the ball, how long will it take defenses to adjust?
Tony, if your analogy is true and correct, doesn’t it simply come down to DUMB ASS Kellen Moore? This dude is overrated and in over his head as far as the NFL is concerned. Head Coaching vacancies were available last off season. Nobody hired Kellen Moore! Why is that? All I’ve heard is how smart he is. Jason Garrett was supposed to be smart too! Ivy League education and all that! He seemed totally confused about running an NFL Football team as Head Coach. Kellen Moore is Jason Garrett to a tee! Garrett wasn’t a head coach and Moore isn’t head coach material either. McCarthy should take over the play calling himself since he’s going to be fired sooner rather than later. At least he could say he made some decisions himself, instead of Moore.