Decoding Garrett '11

I am not blogging too much yet as I try to get my 2011 plans in order. But I will put some things up that are review to some of you, and brand new to the majority of you.

Here is one of those items that has been updated for your perusal:

Robert42078: Bob, do me a favor either on air or in this forum. Can you go over the personel packages and their corresponding names.

Absolutely, Robert. And I very much believe that this is something that is essential to understand a game plan in the NFL (or any level of football). After every play, an offensive coordinator looks at his play sheet and decides what he wants to do on the next snap. He must consider down-and-distance and pick something that makes sense. Once he decides, he sends out the proper personnel package to execute the play. Meanwhile, across the field, the defensive coaches for the opponent observe what Garrett is sending out there and then he matches up with a proper personnel change of his own (Nickel, Dime, Base, etc).

By simply watching a game on television, you can easily identify the personnel that an offense is sending out there. And once you know that, you are prepared to keep a tally on a notebook to see for yourself what the Offensive Coordinator is attempting to do.

Remember, there are 2 important things that a defensive player is attempting to do pre-snap. 1) He is looking at personnel and making sure from their film study and their defensive game plan what his responsibility will be. He usually has time to absorb this piece of information during the huddle and get a proper play call from his own sideline. Then 2) He is looking at formation. This deploying of the 11 offensive players are a subset of the personnel. You can have "12" personnel on the field and it can mean many different things. If you are a middle linebacker and both tight ends are lined up off right tackle, you must make sure you identify enough of your mates to neutralize the "strong side" run formation on that side. If, instead, Witten is flexed out in the slot, then you are thinking pass, and that Bennett is serving to pass protect while we better get some help on Witten before he runs the verticals that he is so likely to run with effectiveness. The worst part about formation is that it can happen at the last possible second before the snap with pre-snap motion and adjustments part of every NFL offense.

With that in mind, we must go back to personnel groups. If we are going to attempt to process some of this information, we must first all agree on terminology.

Below, please find the Cowboys offense broken down by personnel groups.

For any of this to make sense, you have to know what all of the different packages mean. Basically, it is very simple. Every Offense in the world has 1 QB and 5 Offensive Linemen. Therefore, if 11 players are on the field, then that leaves 5 players who can join the QB in skill positions and the Offensive Coordinator has to choose how to deploy those 5. So, the groups are simple. "11" means 1 RB and 1 TE, so you add those 2 numbers together (1+1 = 2) and subtract that number from 5 to get how many WRs are on the field at the time. (11 will mean 3 WRs, of course).

Personnel Package	Description
11	1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR
12	1 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR
13	1 RB, 3 TE, 1 WR
21	2 RB, 1 TE, 2 WR
22	2 RB, 2 TE, 1 WR
23	2 RB, 3 TE
S01	Shotgun, 0 RB, 1 TE, 4WR
S02	Shotgun, 0 RB, 2 TE, 3WR
S11	Shotgun, 1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR
S12	Shotgun, 1 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR

Table Tutorial

Do you get it? In all of the packages, the first number is the number of RBs, the second number is the total number of TEs. And "S" means Shotgun. So, when you watch the game on tv, you can easily identify the package before the snap to see what Garrett is doing.

And when you do all of this, you will quickly see patterns. But, the first thing we should do is see where they were dedicating the majority of their snaps. Here is the full breakdown of the 9 different packages that they ran at least 16 times in 2010. If they don't run it at least once a game on average, we are not going to complicate things any further for you.

Here are the results from 2010 - The shocking summary is that ALL 5 of the Cowboys favorite personnel packages saw a drop off in production from 2009. ALL 5!!!

2010 Final Numbers

Package	Plays Run	Yards	Percentage of Snaps
11	25	77	2%
12	153	771	15%
13	19	159	2%
21	174	971	17%
22	175	756	17%
23	14	3	1%
S01	18	136	2%
S02	21	171	2%
S11	369	2521	36%
S12	48	195	5%

Table Tutorial

The reason we have to keep track of this is simple to me. It tell us quite a bit about what they are trying to accomplish and how they like to use certain players in certain spots. The more you know, the more you will understand about a player's role on a team rather than just looking at the final boxscore or your fantasy score. That tells you very little.

Anyway, Here are the 5 most-run Personnel Groups that Jason Garrett called in 2010. I have included a picture with each of them, so you know what you are looking for:

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S11 Personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR - In Shotgun) - The MOST Run Package in 2010

This is the default package for any 3rd Down that is not 3rd and short. This is also the default 2-min drill offense. This is the bread and butter of the offense for the entire Jason Garrett era.

2010-S11 Results

Run/Pass	Yards	Avg Per Play	% of Snaps
369 Total Snaps	2521	6.83	-
66 Runs	348	5.27	18%
303 Passes	2173	7.17	82%

HTML Tables

2009-S11 Results

Run/Pass	Yards	Avg Per Play	% of Snaps
293 Total Snaps	2038	6.96	-
44 Runs	285	6.48	15%
249 Passes	1753	7.04	85%

HTML Tables

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22 Personnel (2 RB, 2 TE, 1 WR) - The 2nd Most Run Package in 2010

In 2009, this is what the Cowboys loved to do on 1st and 2nd Down as they were attempting to demonstrate their physical running style. However, in 2010, the ability to power run dropped dramatically. This is a key moving forward to re-establish what the Cowboys do well. Balanced offense is the key to get the passing attack to maximize its effectiveness. Take special note of the running out of "22" in 2010 (3.94 a carry) versus 2009 (5.80 a carry). Shocking drop-off here.

2010 - "22"

Run/Pass	Yards	Avg Per Play	% of Snaps
175 Total Snaps	756	4.32	-
136 Runs	536	3.94	77%
39 Passes	220	5.64	23%

HTML Tables

2009 - "22"

Run/Pass	Yards	Avg Per Play	% of Snaps
181 Total Snaps	1001	5.53	-
140 Runs	812	5.80	77%
41 Passes	189	4.61	23%

HTML Tables

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21 Personnel (2 RB, 1 TE, 2 WR) - The 3rd Most Run Package in 2010

Since the beginning of time, this is how football looked. This is called "regular" personnel on most coaching staffs, but of course, with the FB disappearing, that is a rather antiquated term. Again, under-center sets all fell in 2010, which tells you about the OL and QB positions.

Run/Pass	Yards	Avg Per Play	% of Snaps
174 Total Snaps	971	5.58	-
93 Runs	460	4.95	53%
81 Passes	511	6.31	47%

HTML Tables

Run/Pass	Yards	Avg Per Play	% of Snaps
104 Total Snaps	633	6.09	-
70 Runs	301	4.30	67%
34 Passes	332	9.76	33%

HTML Tables

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12 Personnel (1 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR) - The 4th Most Run Package in 2010

The most versatile look available. If the defense tries to stack against the run, the Cowboys can audible into a pass with 4 weapons on the field (Austin, Dez, Bennett, and Witten). And, if they sit back in a pass posture, the Cowboys pound the rock with 7 Offensive Linemen. It is a very popular base look around the league, instead of the traditional "21" look. This dropped horribly in 2010, too. The pass threat out of this look fell from 9.28 yards per throw to 6.09! That tells us that teams were sitting on pass because the run was not a threat anymore. Once you don't fear the run, now you drop coverage on the two TEs and suddenly, nobody is open.

2010 - "12" results

Run/Pass	Yards	Avg Per Play	% of Snaps
153 Total Snaps	771	5.03	-
77 Runs	308	4.00	50%
76 Passes	463	6.09	50%

HTML Tables

2009 - "12" results

Run/Pass	Yards	Avg Per Play	% of Snaps
167 Total Snaps	1175	7.04	-
75 Runs	321	4.28	45%
92 Passes	854	9.28	55%

HTML Tables

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S12 Personnel (1 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR - In Shotgun) - The 5th Most Run Package in 2010

A variation of S11, where Martellus comes on for a 3rd WR. Slightly difficult match-up for the secondary, but it also allows TE pass protection help without Witten having to do it. But, wow, the production of this package also fell through the floor. Very bad results from year to year with this package, telling you troubling things as the Cowboys depth at WR is nowhere near what it was.

2010 - "S12" results

Run/Pass	Yards	Avg Per Play	% of Snaps
48 Total Snaps	195	4.06	-
5 Runs	24	4.80	10%
43 Passes	171	3.98	90%

HTML Tables

2009 - "S12" results

Run/Pass	Yards	Avg Per Play	% of Snaps
118 Total Snaps	933	7.91	-
9 Runs	34	3.78	8%
109 Passes	897	8.23	92%

HTML Tables

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Here you can look at the last 3 years and see what the team did well in 2009 that disappeared in 2010. Let's just say the offense is hoping that getting their QB back and their OL overhauled can change quite a bit.

2010 Final Numbers