Decoding Garrett - Week 13 vs Eagles - Videos

http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/12/bob-sturms-decoding-jason-garr-10.html

Video Breakdowns:

I am going to exercise some editorial control here and show you some "good things" that were accomplished on Sunday rather than continuing to beat you down by showing you bad blocks and poor running plays. It has been a long year, and at 4-9, I want you to enjoy this post a bit since it is the Holiday season. So, let's look on the bright side and see what they did pretty well for the most part on Sunday.

Thanks, Brian at DC Fanatic.com for his help in getting the videos posted.

-----------------------------------------------------
The Play:Play #5 - 1/10/40 - Reverse to Austin +26



What Happened:This is one thing I do like about Jason Garrett's running plays. He loves to pull guards as the foundation of his running game. But, then he likes to use pulling guards to mislead the defense - knowing that many LBs in the NFL watch the guards more than they watch the handoff to spy out where a play is headed. You see here on this end around to Miles that much of the Philadelphia defense is watching Kyle Kosier pull thinking that the play is obviously another power run to the left. So, take that aggressiveness and use it against them in this manner. I also wanted to point out that Leonard Davis, for all that he can't do any longer, is still a beauty to behold when he gets moving in the open field. They have to figure out ways to get Miles Austin the ball, and this demonstrates just how dangerous he is when he gets moving in space. If we have seen the Cowboys do anything well this year, it is the ability through screens and reverses and other plays to use the flanks to their advantage. They have many impressive speed guys, and the best way to use them is outside the numbers on the field. It is just getting them the ball that has been tough at times.

------------------------------------------------------------
The Play:Play #32 - 2/15/50 - Pass to Ogletree +17



What Happened: Who knew that Kevin Ogletree, a guy with 0 catches heading into the game, would actually prove to be rather useful on Sunday with a few nice moments. This time, they have him lined as the lone wolf on the right, with Williams, Austin, and Witten on the left in a 3x1 formation. There is nothing big here, just a simple dig route to the middle of the field, but the reason this is included is to show Kitna with a pass that was more than 5 yards downfield. There just weren't many of these. In fact, I hope you enjoyed this one. This is pretty much it. Kitna has played a great month of football, but it is largely reliant on his 3rd Down throws and his ability to figure it out enough to make a play and move the chains. The Eagles, with the exception of this throw and catch, were able to pretty much choke that out, as the Cowboys went 3-11 in these situations. Ogletree finished the day with as many targets as anyone but Jason Witten.

------------------------------------------
The Play:Play #38 - 3Q - "22" - 2/8/28 - Pass to Bennett +9



What Happened: This is awesome play design - although something you see everywhere. It is the counter on "22" personnel to the Power run to the right. When Jason Witten goes in motion to join Martellus on the right side and with a guard offset to the right, all the alarms are going off amongst all Eagles LBs and Safeties that they need to mobilize immediately to that side so that the Cowboys don't burst a big one here. So, you take that aggressiveness and use it against them again (just like the reverse play) by having Martellus do the old "fall-down-and-then-recover" route which will almost always leave him uncovered. This is a favorite in the red zone, but the Cowboys do it here to get an easy 1st Down. This play works even better if your power runs to the right with an overload are actually effective. The better your run, the more likely you are to catch them with their pants down on the counter pass.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Play:Play #42 - 3Q - 1/10/37 - Screen Pass to Jones +35



What Happened: Now, a weekly staple of this feature, we look at the Felix Jones screen pass project. It seems that twice a half, the Cowboys are attempting to run this play where Felix gets in space. Obviously, a change-up works best when you are locating your fastball, right? Well, screens work best when your running game is keeping everyone honest. Otherwise, they sit on the screen pass over and over and make this play difficult to pull off. But, after trying it 3 other times, they spring this one nicely as Kosier gets his man, and then Felix is off to the races. He is very good at this, but the defenses are starting to see that this is his best play in the entire offense, so they are spending all week to figure out how to keep the Felix screen from happening. Great job by everyone getting in the lanes here, but I do think it is a fascinating cat-and-mouse game between the two coaches to get this just right. For Felix to be a complete player, he needs a fastball, so that his changeup becomes more effective.

------------------------------------------
The Play:Play #59 & Play #60 - 1/10/39 S11 pass to Choice 17 yards and 1/10/22 S11 TD to Witten 22 yards



What Happened: One thing I learned from Pat Kirwan's Book that I didn't know was when he discussed a team installing its 2-minute offense and the fact that there is usually just one personnel group (S11) and about 6 different plays. But, here is a video where we see that the Cowboys clearly run the exact same play here twice in a row. The first time, Kitna sees Choice underneath for 17, and on the replay of that play, you see Witten was an option above him. So, on the next snap, he tries to draw the LB down to Choice again and then throws it over his head to Witten for a Touchdown. All 5 players are running the same route and the same play and they just execute it very well. Game plans and offenses are very complex with playbooks the size of the yellow pages for every scenario. But, the 2 minute offense is something we could all learn in 1 afternoon. It is about running it well and a QB who can make the proper reads and throws. Kind of cool to see both plays back to back like this. Full credit to my main man, Dan McDowell for noticing this on Sunday and pointing it out to me.

==============

Tomorrow: Targets and Sacks for Week 12

Bob Sturm is host of BaD Radio on The Ticket 1310 AM Mondays through Fridays at 12-3 p.m. He also hosts The Ticket's Cowboys pregame show. Follow Bob on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/bobanddan Bob offers his exclusive analysis after games on SportsDayDFW.com

Read all of Bob's posts at this link
http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/bob-sturm