The Cowboys appear to have a plan at backup QB, but it is difficult to fully see

 They often ask you a question that can border on annoying when you buy products online these days. When you buy a product at a certain price point, they always try to interest you in adding on some very nice two-year or four-year product coverage in the event that you accidentally drop your new coffee maker in the ocean. Chances are you will never need protection, but if enough people opt-in for the $19.99 coverage, well, you know how it generally works.

https://theathletic.com/2652418/2021/06/15/the-cowboys-appear-to-have-a-plan-at-backup-qb-but-it-is-difficult-to-fully-see/

The Complex Case Of Jameill Showers

http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2016/08/09/sturm-lengthy-blog-complex-case-ofjameill-showers

I really love training camp. I do. It gets me in the football mood and tells me stories I didn't know. I love to ponder the difficulty of making the NFL. You simply cannot understand the odds against these men playing football for a living. The math doesn't work out. The dreams are many -- the realized dreams are few.

But, that journey is what really gets me. I love to see how many different roads there are to pro football. We are spoiled to have one of the most unlikely stories right in front of our face with Tony Romo, having been pretty much being ignored in college recruiting and then again on draft day, only to start as an NFL quarterback at a high level for a decade. At times, we overlook how insanely improbable that story really is.

For every Romo, there are 1,000 players who would love to be the next. Many of them don't even make it to a training camp, but a chosen few survive and advance long enough to the second week in August. We have one in the 2016 camp who not only appears poised to make the team, but may even play meaningful snaps at quarterback for a team that fancies itself the team to beat in the NFC East. Because as of this moment in time, their backup quarterback appears to be Jameill Showers.

Showers is 24 years old for another month. He turns 25 on Sept. 6 -- five days before the Cowboys open the season against the Giants. He has had a long and winding road from Killeen to Texas A&M to UTEP to covering punts last year for the Cowboys. He is a dual-threat quarterback, but he really doesn't have a resume with success at the college level of doing great things. Rather, he is a quarterback who appears to be capable of two things: flash special traits and seem coachable. Both are vital as he does check many boxes for "today's quarterback." In fact, you can throw a rock and hit someone who has compared his traits on some level to Russell Wilson. This, of course, is a dangerous game because dozens of guys have been compared to Wilson, and yet I am not sure another Wilson has emerged from that pile. But, the search continues.

Regardless, because the Cowboys ignored my wishes in January of "addressing and fixing" the backup quarterback spot, instead deciding that Kellen Moore was their guy at QB2 and because Moore then broke his leg last week, the team must decide quickly whether or not Showers can be that guy. If we are all honest with ourselves, we must analyze this while remembering that just seven days ago, Showers seemed like an extreme long shot to make the team. Rookie Dak Prescott is almost clearly the No. 3 quarterback who will hopefully be "redshirted" this year (practice, develop, but don't play) and that left Moore and Showers to "compete" for the second spot, even though many Cowboys people refer to Moore as "Scott Linehan's son." In other words, it seemed unlikely that Showers was going to have a chance unless something crazy happened. Well, something crazy did happen: Moore broke his leg.

I have been asked to give my opinions of Showers by many readers, so I thought this morning I would try to show you with video what the Cowboys are dealing with here. He is very interesting to watch because his highs are pretty high and his lows are pretty low. In other words, this is a text-book project quarterback. And that means a few things. ... 1) You generally only want one project at a time and if Prescott is your guy, then you are choosing a guy 25 months younger and one with a far more decorated college resume. That isn't to say Prescott is a better quarterback right now, because he isn't. But, it is to say that if you had to choose one to have a chance to be Romo's successor, I assume most NFL minds would bet on Prescott over Showers with the information available. ... 2) Jason Garrett has chosen backup quarterbacks through the years who are safe and robotic in their play -- not improvisational players who may make an impulse decision that could go the other direction for a touchdown.

The other thing I want to point out is that the video I am using is from the 2015 preseason. For whatever reason, Showers only played sparingly. Dustin Vaughan was the guy they wanted to see play 12 months ago and Vaughan played 68 percent of the offensive series. Romo played 12 percent, Brandon Weeden played another eight percent, and that left just six series for Showers. And each of those series were in the fourth quarters when he had hideous pass protection, poor receivers and almost no chance.

So, on Saturday in Los Angeles, Showers may have a chance to play with better players in a more important spot. He also has now been with the Cowboys a full year to learn and absorb. So, we may be looking at a much better player now. But I can only go on what is already on film. These 17 videos are all from his work last preseason.

Let's get started.

This is what you will see all the time with Showers. They love this roll-out stuff with a tight end underneath that puts a linebacker in a bind. If you drop to cover the tight end (Geoff Swaim), Showers keeps it and runs. If you go to Showers, he then pops the ball over the top to the tight end in space. It's "dual-threat 101," and Showers can do this well to his right and sometimes to his left. It is always paired with a zone run to the left to bootleg off of.

This is what makes him so interesting. He is really good when protection breaks down. In fact, he will definitely be one of those quarterbacks who is accused of leaving the pocket too early sometimes. But you see why -- in the open field, he has the chance to be one of the fastest guys on the field in when scramble mode.

Here he zips a slant right on the money. He usually does this. Good ball location on the slant, but, of course, the throw is short and a high-percentage one.

Here is another one. Again, his receivers were not helping him. That is the danger in reading preseason stat lines. So much is dependent on the quality of his help. There is nothing more he can do here.

This is the one worth looking at. He can really make "the NFL throw." The deep out. The Romo 18-yard rope to the sideline. It is the true measure of arm strength. He has a strong arm. But, two things make this the throw one that will get him in trouble. ...  1) The location. You can't miss to the inside. This brings the corner back into the play and he can drive on the ball. ... 2) The timing. Again, in man coverage, corners are jumping this. You will see below that he flirts with disaster on this route quite a bit. He also stares it down.

Let's jump ahead to the Minnesota game. He played so little here and not at all against Houston. I really don't know why they needed 34 series to figure out Dustin Vaughan, but it cost Showers lots and lots of reps. Anyway, above is that roll-out again. You can see that it's the calling card for the play-calling for Showers. Easy completion to start the drive.

And, another look at his escapability. He was dealing with Laurence Gibson, R.J. Dill, and Darion Weems as his tackles for most of the preseason, and none of them could pass protect at all. He was running for his life.

OK, now to the San Francisco game, where you really saw his tools. ...

We certainly want to be careful with this again. Another dangerous throw. See the stare-down, see the inside ball placement, and see the corner being just as close to the throw as the receiver. This league is too good to flirt with those throws unless they are on time.

Above, find the throw that will cause a coaching staff to want to move on to the next guy. The quarterback thinks he has man, but another defender sees the plan and steps right in to give the Cowboys' sideline a heart attack. Danger! Danger!

But, those feet! Blitzer is untouched and look at Showers smoothly make him miss and head down the field. He is the type of talent you will want to spy, because you aren't catching him in the open field.

Fourth-and-15, Showers has to make a perfect throw. He gets man coverage underneath and that leaves him and his man, Swaim, to make some magic. And they did. Many dual-threat quarterbacks excel at man coverage and can really get comfortable. But, this is a big-league throw.

Same play, different angle. You could argue this is the play that his defenders always think about when they wonder if he is the guy. Is this repeatable, or is this you striping that perfect drive down the middle that keeps you coming back to the golf course?

Here he finds Swaim again. Great chemistry there and it shows Swaim can catch the ball in many different ways. Again, no issue at all with the touch on his throw.

I just wanted to show this because it is very "Russell Wilson." We always hear about how hand size can save some fumbles -- look at this blind-side hit, but the ball stays in his hands. Pretty impressive hand strength and size to not lose the ball on that hit that he didn't know was coming. And, man, R.J. Dill can't do much in pass pro.

Here is that dangerous throw again. This time, not much velocity, no real ball placement, and the stare-down cost you an interception.

High-percentage slant inside and he sets and throws with confidence. Easy pitch-and-catch here.

And, finally, the play that makes you want to see more on Saturday -- his Romo impression in the red zone where he waits for the play to open up, rolls out, takes a hit right in the mouth and delivers a throw for a touchdown. This is a play that you love to know your quarterback is capable of. He is great in Phase 2 of each play (the improvisational spots where the play breaks down). The question will be: How good can he be in Phase 1 (the actual design of the play)?

Based on these plays, I like Showers. I want to see more. But, I also see him as a guy who will make a few throws that will drive you crazy, as corners are trying to undercut his throws.

Garrett always has enjoyed "Captain Check-down" as his backup, and Showers doesn't seem to be that guy at all. Instead, he is perhaps guilty of some irrational confidence at times, which I find admirable for a guy trying to make the league, but seems to be counter to the profile around here.

I know in this hot-take world, I am either supposed to declare him a bum or the next Romo, but most of the time, it is very complicated. His play this preseason will determine the path. He has faults, but he also has some very interesting strengths.

But for Showers, the news is good. He has the most priceless commodity in sports in his favor right now -- opportunity. Now, if he takes it well and puts a few solid weeks together, he could be a No. 2 quarterback in a league that completely ignored him. And from there, the path can lead almost anywhere.

I am interested in seeing more.

Kellen Moore Lost For Months On Day 5

http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2016/08/03/sturm-moore-cowboys-forced-address-qb2-promptly


It certainly seems that navigating through the first week of training camp without losing someone important is a very difficult trick for the Cowboys.

In 2013, Tyrone Crawford was knocked out for the year on one of the first days of camp.  It happens and it stinks.  Heck, Sean Lee was out for the year in 2014 before camp even started.  OTA's got him that year.  Orlando Scandrick went in 2015 a little later in camp.  It happens and it stinks.  But, it is also football.

This season, it will be Kellen Moore.  He will be lost "several months" with a broken leg yesterday in a freak moment in camp.  This is an issue, but it is likely best described as an issue that is piled on top of another issue.

Just 48 hours ago, I wrote this about the Cowboys QB2 situation:  Questions abound. And, for some unknown reason, the Cowboys did not flinch and go target a better solution at backup QB for 2016. They may end up being in fine shape for down the road if Dak Prescott can be developed, but if QB1 drops in 2016, they are still seemingly as screwed as could be. I don't think Kellen Moore can win games in the big leagues, and neither does anyone who was locked in last December. Was he better than Matt Cassel or Brandon Weeden? If so, it is too fractional to get excited about. I don't know why they didn't get short-term Romo insurance, but it never came close to happening.

I realize my tune has changed in the last 10 months on Kellen Moore.  At first, I was pretty interested in what the college star could do if he was given a chance.  But, his chance gave me quite a bit of indigestion, to be honest.  And I planned on writing that up this week with videos showing my issues, but that would likely be piling on right now.  Bottom line, I was quite uncomfortable with the Cowboys view of Moore and their spot at backup QB.  They seemed to ignore his very generous turnover issues of his 3 games last December (6 INTs in about 10 Quarters of action projects to a 38 INT season).  Not sure if he couldn't see the safety or if his arm betrayed him, but those 6 INTs in December got me to cool my jets on his prospects in the likely event Tony Romo needed his understudy to run on to the field for 2-6 games this season.

I can't have a backup QB making rookie mistakes, especially if he supposedly knew Scott Linehan's playbook like the back of his hand.

Well, all of that flew right out the window when he was rolled up on in practice yesterday and lost for quite a while.  Obviously, I was anxious to see him play in preseason and put those December concerns behind him, but now those plans have been trashed and now the Cowboys are forced to lock themselves in a room and discuss the next plan.

Let's be clear here - I want Dak Prescott to accomplish great things here.  But, based on his college tape and even a few practices in Oxnard, I think it is safe to say we are talking a few years - not a few weeks - before he is prepared to play meaningful snaps around here.  He has tons of interesting components to his game, but the adjustments to NFL speeds and sizes will be a hurdle for him, and his accuracy will need to be improved.  We knew that.  That is why he lasted so long in the draft.  He was not picked for 2016.

Jameill Showers is the one who may surprise you a bit.  I have been told by a few on the inside of the organization that he may be the 2nd best QB on the team entering camp.  But, he also is considered the distant #4th by the coaching staff because of his pedigree.  Linehan loved Kellen Moore and the personnel people thought Showers was better.  Not suggesting this was the basis for a war at Valley Ranch/Frisco, but that feeling absolutely existed on some level.  So now, is this the lifeline for Showers?  Is this the Quincy getting cut that saved Tony Romo's career?  Way too early to say, but he will get some looks for sure.  5 days ago, Jason Garrett made it sound like Showers was not a priority.  Perhaps, that is still true, but at least he will get his turn to be debated today.

And now, we all arrive back at the most obvious fit all off-season.  Nick Foles is not a world-beater at QB1.  But, it sure seems like he would be the type to be a fine backup who might need to play a bit.  He has 35 professional starts and is 27 years old.  He can run an offense and take care of the football. I would have called for him in March, April, May, June, and July.  Jerry Jones disagreed with me, but now in August with Moore out of the picture, it seems like Foles has leverage when the Cowboys call today.

There are a number of other names out there, but I am pretty sure he has the best chance to really fix something better than it was 48 hours ago.  There is no doubt in my mind that Nick Foles is a superior QB to Kellen Moore, Brandon Weeden, and Matt Cassel.

There is also no doubt that he can now ask for twice as much as he would have before Moore broke his leg.  And the Cowboys can now spend that cap space that they had earmarked for Dwight Freeney.  There lack of interest in him was bizarre, but now the money will be helpful to fix QB2.

This is not a disaster.  This was an issue and this forces the Cowboys to fix it.  Obviously, we wish Moore the best, but I think the Cowboys needed to put more into QB2, and now, hopefully they will.

Let's see what they do.

Decoding Linehan - Week 9 - Arizona

When analyzing the offensive performance of the Cowboys in Week 9 against Arizona, we are struck with how the QB position is still the basis for all offensive success. Regardless of how many offensive linemen are taken in the 1st round of the draft and regardless of the quality of the skill position players, we can look all around the league and see perennial doormats who are attacked relentlessly by every defense on their schedule because they do not have a QB who demands the full fear and respect of the defenses they face.

This is a very real issue faced by teams who do not own a top-level QB year after year. In fact, the Cowboys dealt with this between Troy Aikman and Tony Romo for years. You simply don't know your advantages as an offense until you must work through a few games without having any fear in your opponent's hearts.

It is difficult to operate as an offense to run smoothly and efficiently when the defense sets up in an aggressive posture to "dare" the QB to beat him, and then he demonstrates that he is unable to do so.

These are the realities of starting a backup QB. Today, it is Brandon Weeden, but last year it was Kyle Orton, and before that we have seen Brad Johnson, Jon Kitna, and even Stephen McGee have all taken a turn at the helm. It all comes back to the fact that starting QBs are highly compensated because there is a far smaller supply of competent QBs than there is a demand. And when they get hurt, you will have a significant drop off in performance because your backup is going to make a small fraction of what you pay Romo - and for very good reason.

In a league of 32 teams where each team needs at least 2, you can see that there are at minimum 64 job openings for Quarterbacks in the NFL. Now, name how many that you think there are that would make a top defense like Arizona feel the slightest twinge of fear and respect? 10? 12? Surely, no more than 15. Weeden is not on that list.

Let's demonstrate what we are talking about a bit before we look at the numbers. This might help with the discussion of "why didn't Linehan call better plays?" or "where were the easy underneath routes to free up easy targets?" It seems that most logical ideas were tried by the coaching staff and against that defense on that day, nothing was working.

Since it is Tuesday morning, we are left with merely the TV copy to demonstrate these points, but I think it will work on this occasion (although it would be ideal to have the All-22s).

Here are two consecutive 3rd Down-and-long situations in the 3rd Quarter (there are many to choose from, but these 2 I think are the most clear cases of Weeden predetermining throws). The Cowboys run the exact same play and the Cardinals seem to be in a very similar underneath coverage of man. And, on both occasions, Weeden misses Cole Beasley who is wide open underneath and seemingly able to easily convert these crucial 3rd Downs.

Above, 3rd and 7.  Cowboys have trips to the left, Bryant to the right.  They need to get to the 30 yard line and we asked, "where are the man-beating rub routes underneath?"  Behold, right here on the screen.  Witten is impeding Beasley's man with his out-breaking route.  Beasley is wide open as he crosses at the 27.  I am confident that if you are aware he is there, Dan Bailey could have converted this 3rd Down if forced to play emergency QB.

Instead, Weeden is looking right the entire time.  He is locked on Bryant and the Cardinals have Peterson on him - knowing that if Bryant is going to run his most likely route in this scenario - the deep in - he will have safeties coming down hill to cause issues.  Meanwhile, there is Beasley with his man about 10 yards behind him and wondering why the Cowboys didn't take an easy 3rd Down conversion and instead tried to force the ball to where the window was going to be tight and Bryant was going to feel an impact.

So, I am sure they go to the sideline and look at the pictures and discuss what they had there.  Now, it is 3rd and 9 on the very next drive.  The Cowboys will call the exact same play with the exact same protection and everything.  The Cardinals will try to blitz, so look left this time.

Here we go again, and again Witten does a nice job of getting in the way of Beasley's guy, although clearly that guy is expecting it because he just saw this play. Nevertheless, I think Cole is quite capable of taking a pass at the 14 yard line and getting to the sticks with his wheels. Of course, Weeden doesn't see him again and instead tries to reach Romo on the sideline even though Witten is drawing a corner in man-coverage. You will see below that this is basically Weeden's only significant throw to the left side of the field all day and he misses where you can't miss.

So, in both cases of a crucial 3rd Quarter in a game you were still in, it isn't merely the throws that were off. It is also the ability to see the whole field and make a throw where the percentages are in your favor. The easiest throws for a backup QB have to be the one's right in front of you against man coverage. Those are 7-on-7 throws of the most basic level. But, Weeden didn't see them and Beasley was pretty much open on both occasions.

When you have that level of play from your QB, you quickly deduce 2 things. 1) There is no level of play calling that can compensate for that performance. and 2) it is vital to keep Tony Romo upright at all costs or the season will quickly nosedive.

In case you are a masochist, here is a brief QB game-log for those 15 starts during Romo's career where he has been unable to answer the bell due to fitness. He missed 3 in 2008 with the thumb, 10 in 2010 with the collarbone, last year's finale with the back, and now Sunday. 15 starts and here are the performances:

As you can see, Kitna in 2010 actually settled in and wasn't bad for a few weeks here and there.  Otherwise, it has been pretty rough.  Which, by the way, you would expect and maybe hope for when your starting QB is in.  It hurts to look at it from this perspective, but if you simply apply the "do we miss him when he is gone" test to your QB, then it is easier to know if you are paying the right guy.

So, the average performance from your back-up QB during this stretch is 19 for 31, 218 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT for a rating of 78.7.  An average Tony Romo start during that same stretch is 22 for 34, 270 yards, 2 TDs, 0.9 INTs, and a passer rating of 96.4.

But, what stats have never done for us is show with great accuracy the effects of how one part of the offense feeds another.  For instance, if you have a good QB, how much more unlikely is it that Arizona stacks the box and forces you to stop running?  This is the long-running fight I have with people that don't value running the ball.  Good running makes passing so much easier.  And, good passing  also makes running easier.  It is a symphony of football where you are trying to make the defense unsure of what you are doing and therefore they can not deploy the adequate number of troops to stop everything you want to do.  If they sense you can only do one thing, then that will not function as well - even though it is not the fault of that specific portion of your attack.

That is why, this week, people will complain about the running game and the offensive line and say, what happened to them?  Well, in my opinion (and I will try to show this later in the week), the running game suffered because the passing game was gone.  Arizona deployed troops to gang up on the offensive line and there was no way to chase them off that idea unless your QB could make them pay.  So, complaining about the running game not performing is somewhat misguided because they are running against 8 defenders rather than 6 or 7 as they have when they were impressing you so much earlier in the season.

The Cowboys did find some running room - 21 carries under center yielded 75 yards - but, clearly, when you are at 3.6 a carry, you cannot sustain drives by just running the ball into strong fronts. You have to have some ways to back off the big and physical Cardinals.

So, that led people to wonder about screens and other ways to help along a QB - which they did hit on early in the game for 40 yards - but the Cardinals also know what you want to do to free up space and they are sitting on it. Arizona played a very smart defensive game and if they were going to leave anything exposed, it was going to take some precision deeper throws from Weeden to make them pay. And they won that bet.

Offensive Participation:  A fully healthy offense has started to go the other direction as on this occasion, they were playing without 3 regulars.  Romo is an issue all of its own, but then you add 2 reserves on the offensive line and it starts to become problematic.  Of course, that is the NFL game - being able to deal with attrition - but without Doug Free and Ron Leary does present issues.  I thought Parnell continues to play pretty well, but the drop off to Bernadeau was seen in those inside runs.  It would have been interesting to see how Leary could have handled Calias Campbell and Dan Williams and whether that 4th and 1 in particular is any different.  All snap numbers courtesy of PFF and they include all snaps including plays that were not official because of penalties.

STATS FOR WEEK 9 AGAINST ARIZONA

I think this is where we get a good look at how everything is connected.  1st down failures set up 2nd and real long.  That can easily lead to 3rd and real long.  On Sunday, both happened.  And 3rd and 6 is just not the same as 3rd and 8 on average.  You could feel the noose tightening all day long and they seemed behind the sticks and off schedule all day - largely because the Cardinals decided they were not going to "lose" 1st down to DeMarco Murray.  They would deploy all the troops necessary to make sure that did not happen.

=====

PASSING CHART This season, we're attempting to track both passing and drive progression. John Daigle has designed a fantastic chart.  Each color, for instance, represents the possession number listed in the key. The numbers are separated by the half. If you were to start from the bottom and work your way up, you would be tracking that possession from beginning to end. The dotted-lines are incompletions. Large gaps between throws are mostly YAC or carries.

Week 9 Summary

Wow.  Think the Cowboys were right-handed on Sunday?  Odd choice, given that the left corner is where Patrick Peterson lives.  But, this throw chart tells you that the issues are pretty clear when you have these tools to study.  Forcing the ball to 88 is not the way to win.

DRIVE STARTERS - The 1st play of each drive can often reveal the intent of a coach to establish his game plan. How committed is he to the run or pass when the team comes off the sideline? We track it each week here.

This week, the Cowboys did attempt to foil the Arizona plan on 1st down to pass them out of that, but they did not land too many punches.  50% run to start drives is well below their routine, but they saw what was happening.  They just didn't connect on those passes.

2013 Total: 176 Drives - 84 Run/92 Pass - 47% Run

2012 Total: 173 Drives - 76 Run/97 Pass - 44% Run

2011 Total: 181 Drives - 79 Run/102 Pass - 44% Run

* This statistic doesn't count the 1-play kneel down drives.

SHOTGUN SNAPS

Shotgun snaps are fine on 3rd Down and in the 2 minute drill. But, we track this stat from week to week to make sure the Cowboys aren't getting too lazy in using it. They are not efficient enough to run it as their base, and with a 15%/85% run/pass split across the league, there is no way the defense respects your running game. When shotgun totals are high, the Cowboys are generally behind, scared of their offensive line, or frustrated.

2013 Total: 566/945 - 59.8% Shotgun

2012 Total: 565/1038 - 54% Shotgun

2011 Total: 445/1012 - 43.9% Shotgun

TOTALS BY PERSONNEL GROUPS (Before you study the data below, I would recommend that if the numbers for the groupings are unfamiliar, that you spend some time reading a more expanded definition of the Personnel Groupings here.)

 * - Knee Plays are not counted in play calls.

Look at 12 personnel - both in shotgun and under center.  When the Cowboys went to 2 TEs, it looked like the Cardinals were prepared to deal with it quite well.  13 snaps for a grand total of 20 yards!  That is easily the least productive game I can recall from that grouping.

PLAY-ACTION PERFORMANCE

Wk 1: 1/5, 9 Yds, 3 INT, 1 FD

Wk 2: 4/5, 39 Yds, 1 Sack, 2 FD

Wk 3: 3/3, 88 Yds, 1 TD, 2 FD

Wk 4: 6/8, 76 Yds, 1 TD, 4 FD

Wk 5: 2/4, 38 Yds, 1 Sack, 2 FD

Wk 6: 1/4, 47 Yds, 1 Sack, 1 FD

Wk 7: 3/5, 55 Yds, 1 Sack, 2 TD, 1 FD

Wk 8: 5/6, 92 Yds, 1 TD, 2 FD

Wk 9: 1/1, 1 Yd

2014 Total: 26/41, 62.5 Cmp%, 445 Yds, 5 TD, 3 INT, 15 FD, 4 Sack

Play-action was not much of a factor

BLITZING Romo/Weeden Pass Rushers Against Dallas - 36 Passes vs Arizona

Wk 1: SF Blitzed Dallas 1/40 - Blitzed 2.5%

Wk 2: TEN Blitzed Dallas 12/33 - Blitzed 36%

Wk 3: STL Blitzed Dallas 11/23 - Blitzed 47%

Wk 4: NO Blitzed Dallas 11/32 - Blitzed 34%

Wk 5: HOU Blitzed Dallas 11/42 - Blitzed 26%

Wk 6: SEA Blitzed Dallas 5/33 - Blitzed 15%

Wk 7: NYG Blitzed Dallas 5/25 - Blitzed 20%

Wk 8: WAS Blitzed Dallas 21/40 – Blitzed 52%

Wk 9: AZ Blitzed Dallas 13/36 - Blitzed 36%

2014 Total: Opponents Blitzed Dallas 90/304 - Blitzed 29%

2013 Total: Opponents Blitzed Dallas 210/616 - Blitzed 34%

Thanks to John Daigle for his work on the charts and graphs.

SUMMARY AND LOOK AHEAD:  

I have now spent the better part of two days saying harsh things about the performance of Brandon Weeden. That is a difficult position to take on a guy who is making 600k (or roughly 500k less per year than the Cowboys pay their long snapper, LP Ladouceur).

Weeden can play better and it argues loud and clear that if Tony Romo is lost for the season, this thing is in really bad shape.

But, here are some realities. The running game is really good and have a powerful RB in DeMarco Murray who was battling his tail off on Sunday and actually made some nice runs with very little support on Sunday. They also have invested a lot in their supporting cast. That, coupled with my concern about Romo being fit for the stretch run is why if I was king, I would have left Romo in Dallas to get right for the final 6 in a stretch that begins on Nov 23 at Giants Stadium.

However, I know that is not a popular stance and I know that the Cowboys - Jerry Jones, Jason Garrett, Tony Romo, and the Cowboys medical staff - seem to all feel that he can play against Jacksonville on Sunday in London. Therefore, the onus now goes squarely on the pass protection and the offensive scheme to limit at all costs the number of hits Romo takes in the next few weeks. They must understand that a punt is ok in most situations to preserve their QB1 health. They know what happens if he is missing and therefore, treating a 3rd down in the 2nd Quarter has to be done with caution and common sense rather than asking him to take a big hit. If the game is on the line, you can adjust accordingly, but being reckless with his back is silly if you don't calculate the risk/reward ratios constantly.

Of course, in the NFL, the opponents know this and use it against you. They will challenge with blitzes and sit on his escape throws and ideas. This chess game could lead to a less productive offensive performance, but the numbers are for fantasy players, not the Cowboys. They must play with a very conservative posture early on and not play into the urge to go right back to being Superman.

I anticipate Romo will be playing hurt on Sunday, and I think the Cowboys need to plan on altering their ideas to accommodate him - not risk him again. Because i think you can clearly see above that if you don't have #9, then you don't have a realistic chance to compete.

If we have learned nothing else from that poor Sunday offensive performance, at least the Romo appreciation level received an upgrade.