The Morning After - Bills 16, Cowboys 6 (4-11)

http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2015/12/27/sturms-morning-sifting-rubble-2015

From my annual Christmas headquarters in rural Wisconsin, I wanted to be here and offer some overall views on the 16-6 loss at Buffalo as this season creeps to the finish line.

This game, like the entire season, was a very tough three hours to endure.  The team lacked any sort of structure in assembling a performance that you could really sink your teeth into on either side of the ball. 

On offense, the idea of watching Kellen Moore with a full week of all of the starting QB reps seemed like a worthy reason to spend the afternoon with the team.  I want this young kid to have some success, if only because I admired his work at Boise State.  He is a unique player who seems to possess something worth investing in - if only to allow him the next 9 months to try to remain a part of the Dallas Cowboys in 2016.  That said, his performance of 13-31 for 186 yards and a passer rating of 48 is going to be hard to sell to the public that feel like they have been served a poor meal all season long. 

I saw a player that once again looked calm in the pocket, appeared to know what he was doing - especially on 3rd down, and possessed the football intelligence to be a prospect as a backup QB.  But, the accuracy wasn't there, nor was any sort of cohesive relationship with his receiving corps that allowed them to appear on the same page on any of those plays where they needed some chemistry and idea of what each other would do.  There was one 3rd down, for instance, on what would be the final snap of Moore's day where he tried to give Terrance Williams a chance to make a play down the right sideline on a 3rd and 8.  So, he lofted the ball down the field in a spot where he thought Williams might be.  Unfortunately, Williams cut off his route and stood still while watching the ball sail 20 yards from where he stood.  Clearly, he thought he was supposed to run a stop, while Moore threw the go-route. 

Both players looked defeated and walked off the field as the punt team came on the field with the Cowboys down 9-6.  There was 7 minutes to play.  They would never get another snap.

It has been that type of year and yesterday in rainy Buffalo, it was that type of day. 

There is no doubt that Kellen Moore is not good enough for his accuracy to be off on a given day.  He has a limited number of throws he can make and, at his size and without any discernible running ability, he simply has to be near perfect to excel at the NFL level.  And against the Bills defense, he wasn't quite there. 

Additionally, the offensive penalties were certainly a killer and the receivers were off all day as well.  The offense put up almost no points, despite being at 50% in 3rd Down conversions and once again scored just 6 points.  That means that with one game to go, they have piled up just 252 points in 15 games.  And, that means, they would need 37 points against Washington next week (don't hold your breath) to outscore any Cowboys offensive year since 2002 when Dave Campo and Quincy Carter were running the show here in Dallas.  I think you know what that means.

Meanwhile, the defense was again the type of unit that seems decent in some respects, but reliable in none.  They can't be counted on to get off the field - see the final 7 minutes again - and they can't be counted to get a QB down when they need a sack badly down the stretch. 

On one hand, it seemed the Bills accomplished very little.  However, at the same time, they racked up 408 yards yesterday in a way that resembled Carolina on Thanksgiving a bit.  That means we aren't really sure what their offensive gameplan was other than just wait out Dallas.  There was never urgency or the need for points and needing to take a risk.  In fact, the curiosity of the back shoulder fade interception right before halftime in still a bit befuddling as Tyrod Taylor evidently wanted to make sure all Cowboys' fans knew who Deji Olatoye was.  He, of course, joined Terrance Mitchell as the only two cornerbacks on the Cowboys roster to get an interception this year.  Let that sink in for a moment.  It is true.

The defense promised us a pass rush that could be counted upon, but for yet another game, they seemed terrified of getting beat with a blitz, so they played passively and depended upon their 4-man rush to get home.  Unfortunately, with the exception of Demarcus Lawrence's pre-halftime sack, there was little impressive about the rush and Taylor navigated all around the pressure with ease and precision.

To be honest, the only detail that matters at this point is that the Cowboys are at least not ruining their opportunity for a very advantageous draft position with some cosmetically enhanced days in December with some wins of little value.  They won the game against Washington a few weeks back, but since then, with Green Bay, the Jets, and the Bills were able to flirt with the result long enough to anger the loyalists, but then were put to sleep with little pomp and circumstance on each occasion.  The effort is there, but the quality is not and for that, this does remind us of those lost years in 2000-2002.

Every day in a season like this, readers want explanations and verification on the blame game.  It is an ugly business to look for people to heap our anger upon, but this team has a large backing and nobody should expect them to pay those stadium prices and then accept a disaster of a season with smiles.  It doesn't work that way.  So, let's walk down the list:

Jason Garrett?  Does he deserve a big portion of blame?  Absolutely.  There is no doubt that I have gone back and forth on Garrett's quality level.  I was convinced he had turned a corner last January and had grown into his role with great and impressive strides forward in coaching maturity.  I wonder now if I have been snowed by the good feelings of playoff success.  This year was going to be a huge task - as this franchise never seems to fare well when there are expectations in preseason, and then it was doomed when they lost their QB in fewer than 2 weeks.  But, that is the job.  We don't fold tents and go home when they pay a head coach $6 million a season.  He has to figure some things out.  Maybe not maintain the high bar and go to a Super Bowl, but the bar of doing the most you can with what you have.  Can you take a bad team and get them to achieve so that they can at least win a few games without Tony Romo? 

Evidently, they cannot.  They seemed tone deaf to their circumstances on offense for much of the year with no risk taking at proper times and sitting on tendencies.  Even worse, they seemed to play games as if they were the favorite and if their backup QB could simply take what was given and never risk the ball.  Not only that, they entered the season with a backup QB they didn't like.  Almost all of this has to go on the head coach.  In fact, if he cannot at least have some roster control after all of these years on his backup QB, then they have wasted $30 million on his new contract. 

Then, the coordinators were unable to really get either side to sustain quality in their objectives.  Scott Linehan was asked to accomplish something resembling league-average, at least, but was asked to do so without a quality QB or RB, it seemed.  Not only that, but the quality WR that was given a king's ransom never looked himself. 

Meanwhile, Rod Marinelli put a defense on the field that seemed limited by its inability to turn a game with some level of game-changing quality.  They never did.  They were beaten badly in the 4th Quarters of games and eventually always broke down first.  It was going to ask a lot of a complimentary defense in 2014 to grow into the side of the ball that would carry the mail, but that never came close to happening.

The coaches had rough years.  The best players were not great at all.

Tony Romo had a broken collarbone.  Twice!

Dez Bryant broke his foot in week 1 right after bagging a massive contract.  His entire season was either missing completely or disappointingly below standard.

Greg Hardy brought all sorts of trouble off the field with the reward of great plays on it.  Not enough.  Disappointing results.

Sean Lee was great in spurts.  Maybe the best of the bunch in 2015, to be honest.

Joseph Randle wasted an amazing opportunity.  Maybe the worst of the bunch, to be honest.

Rolando McClain spent too much time suspended and out of shape. 

Terrance Williams never came close to looking the part of a proper fill-in top receiver.  He came in the 3rd round in 2013.  Gavin Escobar in the 2nd?   JJ Wilcox also in the 3rd. 

I suppose that leads us to the front office.  12 months ago we were singing their praises.  But, man, the 2013 draft looks pretty bad.  2012 is down to Tyrone Crawford who never distinguished himself after signing his deal and playing hurt.  2014 appears promising with Zack Martin and Lawrence, but what about Devin Street?

And I am not even bringing up the DeMarco Murray contract saga.

The front office, the players, the coaches, and a season that looked so great on paper arrived in Buffalo Sunday as one of those games in the NFL that occurs late in the year between two teams that are simply playing out the string and the game is being shared with about 2% of the country.  The game happened, but it won't be long remembered.

You want to be disappointed and angry, that is available to you.  On Sunday, trying to find something to sink your teeth into for 2016 was pretty difficult.  Maybe you think Darren McFadden's big day is a sign of great success next year, but I still need a stud from college at RB in the draft.  Same for QB and honestly, if this team wants to go places, they need more explosive players at WR and Safety in the spring, too.

If this column lacks direct focus, please understand it is trying to summarize a season that does, too.  This year has been all over the map and it only seems fitting that so many want to discuss Brandon Weeden as the fire roars on about where this all went wrong.  How can he go to Houston and help win games?

Like so many things, it certainly doesn't make the Cowboys season look better.  There are 7 days to go and then many of you can look ahead to spring training or lock in more on hockey season.

And, you know something?  The Cowboys will be more than happy to have this season go away and look for answers elsewhere.

After the game, Jerry Jones didn't say anything publicly.  I wonder if he is considering looking for answers in a more shocking fashion.  He is likely playing the blame game, too, and odds are he isn't looking in the mirror.

Honestly, this season has been such that nothing should be off limits for considering change.  Romo's collarbone is the main reason for this season's results, but it can no longer be used as the cover-up for everything that has occurred. 

I entered the year wondering if the Cowboys were becoming one of those model franchises that might actually be imitated after 2014. 

Boy, I missed on that one.  They look like they could use some serious alterations in the next month.

Xs and Os - Week 14 - NY Jets

http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2015/12/24/sturms-xs-os-3-critical-plays-jets-loss

Late in the week, we finally get a chance to "look at the tape" as Jason Garrett likes to say and examine some plays that we cannot fully digest on TV. I can't promise that every week we will be able to do this, but honestly, this is my favorite exercise of the week because only here can you fully appreciate how advanced and complex the NFL game can be sometimes. 

Here, we are not looking to call anyone out, and we surely want to leave open the possibility of our eyes deceiving us and more than anything, I want to admit that I don't have the benefit of the coaches telling me what coverage they were in. So, sometimes, this diagnosis will be "pretty sure" rather than "100% sure" even though I am trying to get it right. I will make calls and try to hunt down the right answer, but I will just admit right here that we will try our best to be accurate but invariably, I will see something wrong.

But, let's pick plays that are interesting but not played out by this point of the week and have some fun talking Xs and Os. Feel free to tweet me @SportsSturm when a game shows you a play that you would like broken down and I will attempt to include it in this post. 

=====

This week, I wanted to take a quick look at some big moments - all in the 2nd Half - in the game versus the Jets before we fully put this thing to bed.  

1) - End Zone Interception by Calvin Pryor

First, another week and another end-zone interception.  This one was the only of the 3 interceptions from Kellen Moore that I took seriously as one was the traditional opening drive "freak-out" bad decision and the last was a desperation interception that was actually going to be a disaster if it was caught (because time would have expired).  

So, this is 2nd and goal from the Jets 6 yard line with 5:25 to go in the 3rd Quarter.  

The Cowboys are lined up 3x1 to the right with Beasley on the outside, Escobar in the middle, and Witten to the inside.  Dez is off by himself to the left and is going to run the dig.

Jets in presnap are sugaring a bigger blitz, but end up sending 5 with 6 dropping.  It sure looks like the plan is to go 4 over 3 on the right and bracketing Dez to the left with 24-Revis playing outside leverage and the safety 21-Gilchrist has the inside breaking routes (the slant, especially) and is in position to assist with a fade or a back shoulder throw from Moore if the QB just wants to throw a pass at Dez and hope for the best.

Here is where Moore was fooled.  If you start looking at each route, you will see that Beasley is wide open (again - how many times has Beasley been open in the red zone with the various Cowboys QBs looking everywhere else?), Escobar has the corner open as well, and Witten and Bryant are attracting the most attention but also are covered for the most part.  

This is somewhat reminiscent of last week in Green Bay on the goal-line where the Cowboys remain committed to going to their big weapons, but this is generally turning down better options elsewhere because the opponent is not dumb - they understand you want to go to Dez and Witten constantly, too.  Now, let's go back to the role of 25-Pryor (circled in red above) who is the safety who appears to be attending to the 3 threats over on the right.

Moore is looking at Witten, but I bet he is just waiting for Dez to clear that inside safety to be wide open at the goal-post.  But, the Jets were ready for this.  The opposite safety sees it all and has the DIG covered from the opposite hash.  Pryor looks like he is helping out of Beasley, but then peels off to get Bryant.

Honestly, this is why I wanted Pryor so badly in the 2014 draft.  I would have taken him over Zack Martin because his centerfield instincts always impressed me at Louisville.  I haven't studied him much since he has gone to the Jets and Martin is an all-pro, but this one play shows he is really strong at seeing a play all around him and then jumping a throw.  Brilliant safety play.  

Meanwhile, that moment was pretty frustrating for people from Moore's perspective.  What a rookie QB throw, they said.  But, this demonstrates how good NFL defenses are.  You will never see this sort of safety play and complex coverages at the NCAA level.  It is tough to say Moore didn't see the play.  There were better options elsewhere, but it looked like Dez had a step on his man and the throw was on the money.  But, that backside safety in the NFL was waiting.  This is one argument for always going to the outside where no ambushes are going to be hiding like in th middle of the field.  

2) - Terrance Mitchell gets the ball right back

2 plays later, the Cowboys received their one takeaway of the game.

This looks like Cover 3 with basically a 4-3 zone look behind a 4-man rush.  The safety comes up to get one flat on the defensive right and the slot corner (#21-Mitchell) has the left flat.  Now, one great thing about zone coverages is that the defenders can watch the QB and make plays based on seeing where he is looking.

Watch Mitchell and watch Fitzpatrick.  It is pretty clear that the QB is trying to convince the flat zone man that he wants the flat to the TE.  It is also pretty clear that Mitchell is not buying that fake with the eyes and is sitting on the sit-down by Tompkins behind him.  

It was almost a blind throw if you look from the end zone where it is pretty clear that if Fitzpatrick just throws the ball where he is looking, Mitchell has left that guy, 81-Enunwa wide open to the outside.  I am pretty sure we need to credit Mitchell for a nice ball-hawking play in his debut, but also this is a very odd decision by a QB who makes very good choices almost all the time but will make an untimely poor one periodically without warning.  

3) - Cowboys give up a big play at just the wrong time

1st and 10 at the Jets 31 with 1:01 to play in the game.  The Cowboys must get a stop to win this game.  Instead, they allow a massive gainer.  

Unfortunately, this is one of those learning moments for a rookie CB.  Byron Jones admitted after the game that in the chaos of the moment, he got the wrong coverage when he pressed Thompkins when it was not his assignment.  He should have been playing "off and soft" where nothing gets behind you.  You are fine conceding a short gain in front of you, but nothing behind that is damaging.  Well, he misses his jam, Thompkins gets a step to the outside and now we look at that hole in a Cover-2 that everyone knows about - the sideline spot 15-20 yards down the field beyond the corner but in front of the safety.  You can't give that up!  But, they did at just the wrong moment.

Watching live, it looked like JJ Wilcox was late, but as you can see, he is occupied by a deep seam route himself.  Jones has to deal with this play on his own, and he did very, very poorly.

Now, perhaps for a moment, we should recognize the big-time throw from Fitzpatrick here.  He does not have the cleanest pocket but makes the play nicely.  

Great throw.  Blown coverage.  Ball-game.

So, that is that.  I don't want to break anything else down today, but I do want to ask one question:  What is JJ doing here?

Yikes.

Have a good one, everyone.  

Marinelli Report - Week 14 - NY Jets

http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2015/12/23/sturm-marinelli-report-defense-approaches-time-nfl-low

This week's defensive breakdown is also going to be a bit shorter than usual and kick it positive.  The overall premise here this week is that we have endured plenty of the negative this season and on Christmas week, let's focus on one thing that has us really pleased and satisfied moving forward into 2016.  

Before we do that, of course, we should point out that this defense will have a few things on its epitaph if one is ready to actually hold them accountable and not to blame every single detail on Tony Romo's presence.  

First, is the idea that they may or may get to 10 takeaways this year.  Keep in mind, in the history of the NFL, the modern record for fewest takeaways in a season is 11 by the 2013 Houston Texans.  So, the fact that they are within striking range of the all-time record seems pretty notable and extreme.  

Then, of course, we have another 4th Quarter where the Cowboys give up more points and yards than they do in any other Quarter.  It happened again and the team lost another game they were in a position to win.  It is a matter of opinion as to what causes the 4th Quarter collapses, but when there is a pattern - it is both disconcerting and annoying.

Now, with that acknowledged, let's move on to something positive.  

And that is that 2nd year defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence is playing the best football of his young career.  On this day, he registered 5.5 splash plays - see details below - and was a menace the entire game for the Jets to deal with.  But, this is not about one game.  He has been trending in this direction for 3 months now and leads the team in this category now.  I did not expect that after September.  

Here, he demonstrates unreal quickness to avoid his blocker, then navigate in a blur past the lead blocker and the pulling guard.  Love a guy who can make people miss in close quarters.

2 plays later, on 4th and goal, they decide to run the other way, but try to get 90 on TE reach block.  No chance.  Lawrence shoots the gap in the blink of an eye and blows up another play.  Beautiful.  

Now, we know he is a force in the pass rush with his relentless motor.  If he can blow up run plays, the whole value of his game will make all of the difference in the world, because we know he can do this.  Cleaning up a sack when a QB tries to escape is his specialty. 

One more:

They are focused on making sure he gets cut-blocked here.  Nevertheless, he is playing too well to  let that slow him down and he just jumps it and makes another TFL.  This is most exciting.  They have a lead DL man, it appears, and it isn't Greg Hardy.

WEEKLY DATA - Wk 15 - NY JETS

The numbers show again that the defense had a rather rough day in slowing down the Jets with 372 yards against and 299 in the air to Ryan Fitzpatrick.  Basically, the Jets were guilty of some self-sabotage when it came to ending their drives as they cost themselves plenty of points via penalties and other mistakes.  

Add to that the goal-line stand and the Jets fell way short of a point total that agreed with their overall offensive production and field position.  They had 7 drives in Dallas territory and really didn't produce much at all to show for it.  

RYAN FITZPATRICK THROW CHART

Honestly, I am not sure I have seen anyone since Drew Brees throw the ball all over the yard like Fitzpatrick did on Saturday night.  Look at the blue all over the field and this was not dink and dunk, but rather some throws down each seam and out to the sidelines.  He is really pretty impressive for a guy who has a reputation as a replacement level QB.  The Jets have done very well for themselves this season at the QB spot with a veteran backup.  

WEEK 15 - NY JETS -  SPLASH PLAYS

Overall, there were many fine plays registered by the defense, including a stunning 8 different tackles for loss.  But, in the end, partly because of the insane generosity of the QBs, they lose again.

SPLASH PLAYS - SEASON TOTALS

PASS RUSHERS VS JETS

Pretty interesting that they stopped blitzing again.  Almost no real pressure on the Jets on Saturday night by sending additional rushers.

BLITZ PERCENTAGES BY WEEK

EXPLOSIVE PLAYS ALLOWED

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Basically, we will keep this simple at this point and circle back to where we started.  

https://twitter.com/SportsSturm/status/679694675511382017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

From this perspective, we are talking about the type of historic lows that get coaches fired.  I would never endorse that as I think Rod Marinelli is a fantastic coach, but when you start to discuss the all-time worst in the history of the sport when it comes to taking the ball away, well, let's just say nothing should surprise us.  

This week, they travel to Buffalo.  One characteristic about this defense we like very much is that they always seem 100% sold out in the effort department.  But, this is the type of game where a team that is done would often check out.  I don't think this team would ever do that on defense under Marinelli, as that would reflect very poorly on a group that always battles hard.  

Tomorrow, we will look at the Terrance Mitchell interception as part of the Xs and Os post.  

Decoding Linehan - Week 14 - NY Jets

http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2015/12/22/sturm-decoding-linehan-kellen-moore-debut

Partly because this is Christmas week and partly because this is a 4-10 team, Decoding Linehan and the Marinelli Report may be slightly shorter this week.  Actually, given the periodic complaints about the overall length of a "normal" version, some may actually find this appealing. Either way, here we go.

I thought the highlight of the entire event was the professional debut of the above-pictured Kellen Moore.  Now, he was approximately 5 miles from perfect, for sure.  But, there were some things that greatly appealed to me.  

Let's put it this way.  There is an easy way to discard QB prospects in the NFL.  Usually, you don't see it in the preseason, but when they get in the regular season, those teams that love to blitz can make a real solid QB look pedestrian with just a few well-timed blitzes.  He has never seen anything like it in college (or especially in high school) and it brings him to his knees.  The blitz can make Matt Cassel and Brandon Weeden look awful.  So, imagine what they do to someone even further down the food chain.  

But, Kellen Moore is known for his brain power.  He is a smart QB who does his homework and has been trained as the son of a coach to see the game at a higher level.  It doesn't always transfer from the film room to the field, but with Moore, he seems to see the game at a pretty wise level.  

On Saturday night, Moore made some mistakes.  In fact, on his 2nd throw, a blitz caused him to do something he wishes he didn't.  But, from there on out, the Jets blitzed him relentlessly, and all things considered, I thought he handled it very, very well. 

Fire zone from his left and Moore stands in and waits for Williams to come open across the middle and delivers a toss right in stride and into space.  The key is that this is after his horrible interception on his first drive and still, he keeps his eye level up and stays composed.  He is not spooked or thrown off his task.  This is nice.

7-man blitz!  Wow!  He knows he doesn't have enough protection.  Yet, he knows right where to go and delivers the ball right on time allowing Dez to turn and run it in for a nice Cover 0 burning.  This is very impressive and made to look easy.  Trust me, the guys playing QB all season are not doing this.

This is his mistake.  5-man pressure and he treats it like it is 6 or 7.  The point there is if you have 6 or 7 coming at you, you can know that there is no back-side safety.  He miscounted and lost track of the 11th man.  You expect this of a rookie, but this is the one time he was wrong in his read and thought Dez was open and this was too easy.  Then, he realized he stepped in a trap.  Still, look at his eyes and his feet.  Calm, cool, and sure of himself.  A correctable mistake, but I love the poise.

Here is a throw against a normal rush, but again, I just love how he scans the field and then delivers a perfect throw.  This should have been at least a 3rd down conversion if not a touchdown.  This is strong QB play here. 

One more.  Another 4 man rush, but this is 4th and 2.  Look at his patience and look at the strike he delivers.  He trusts his protection and then puts it right on Beasley to extend the game and get them in field goal range.  This is a beautiful throw.

Again, all of the best throws are to the inside and he made several mistakes, but this is at the very least putting him in a spot where we want to see more against Buffalo.  I was quite pleased with his play on Saturday all things considered.  It is possible that he is not up to par in the NFL and I am just used to seeing substandard QB play this season, but he seems to have certain attributes I am looking for in a QB.

WEEKLY DATA - WK 15 - JETS

As we look at the weekly numbers, we are seeing some of the things that have really haunted this thing down the stretch.  Clearly, for yet another week, they are unable to move the chains with even the slightest bit of acceptable success.  

So, now you see the 3 things that continue to destroy this thing.  No 3rd down efficiency, no red zone efficiency, and 4 Giveaways.

Yet, again, through all of that nonsense, they actually had a real opportunity to win this game.  

Also, note the 5 yards per pass attempt.  We did not separate the Cassel/Moore numbers, but let's just say that the Cassel camp appreciates us not doing that.  

KELLEN MOORE THROW CHART

As you can see here, the debate about Moore and his arm strength and what part of the field he uses can be seen here.  I want to wait a week or two, but this does match the eyeball test.  He is going to be a guy using the underneath stuff primarily.  Now, that is ok if you can throw guys open, anticipate windows, and excel with accuracy.  

He has a chance, but it won't be with a big gun and velocity.  And, sometimes, that can work for a backup QB.  Over 15 yards down field: 0-4 with 2 interceptions.  

PERSONNEL GROUPS - WK 15 - JETS

This will show again that the Cowboys actually did run the ball pretty well when you sprinkle in the 2 different 33 yard runs.  Both of them came off some use of Lucky Whitehead with a successful end around and then a fake end around with a naked pitch to McFadden.

Also, look at how they were in a predictable rut with run/pass as it pertains to under center and shotgun.  They were in shotgun 29 times and ran the ball once - and that was a Moore scramble.  So, 100% of the time they passed.  Then, under center, they snapped 25 plays and ran it 19 of those 25 times (76%).  So, overall, 89% of the time, they ran from under center and passed from shotgun.  The other 6 times were almost all variations of play-action passes.  You could say they are really selling the ambush of play-action, but you could also say they are really easy to defend when they do this.   By the way, almost all of the play-action was with Cassel (5 times).  

JETS PASS RUSHERS

The Jets brought some big blitzes as they like to do and really increased it even more when they saw the new guy.  Their overall blitz percentage wasn't that crazy, but when they go big, they love to go Cover 0 behind it which some teams will never do.   The Jets cranked up the 7 man blitz a few times and that is rare in today's game.

SEASON BLITZ PERCENTAGE

Again, overall, with no Romo, teams have decided to get that blitz number high over 30% on a regular basis.  Of course, the schedule has also lined up teams that really enjoy blitzing over the last several weeks, too.

SEASON RUSHERS BY DOWN

With 4 different QBs, this data is clearly difficult to decode, but just so that you can see the big picture, here is how it looks by down.  If you are a QB, you are not seeing blitzes on 1st down 81% of the time, 76% on 2nd, 65% on 3rd.  That is why we want to stay out of 3rd downs.  

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Honestly, there is very little we can summarize with all of this QB chaos.   Basically, the disaster of 2015 goes something like this:  The Dallas Cowboys hold the incredibly dubious distinction of a really bad football team in this fashion - they lead the NFC in most giveaways (27 times they have given the opposition the football via interception or fumble - although they are tied with Philadelphia and Atlanta).  In fairness to the Eagles, their 27 giveaways have been with a faster tempo.   Sorry, couldn't resist that.  Also, the Cowboys lead the NFC in least takeaways with just 9.

That means simply this, they have a giveaway/takeaway number of "-18" that is 32nd out of 32 teams.  They have been a very poor team fundamentally and they cannot take care of the football, nor can they take the ball back.  This has been an issue throughout and in the interest of fairness (and we cannot count Kellen Moore yet), the QB with the highest interception % is actually Tony Romo.    Even when he was healthy, he was not very good this year.   That is why there are so many people running around with Brandon Weeden foam fingers.  Because, at least he didn't throw interceptions!   Which we all could see when he played, he was committed to 5 yard passes to his running backs which seldom move the chains, but at least he didn't throw any to the other team.

If you ask me, they have had awful QB play from all of them this year, and we are really just debating shades of gray.  Which, some still have the energy to do.   I surrendered to those people (OK State graduates?) yesterday with this tweet:   

https://twitter.com/SportsSturm/status/679020826113413120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Regardless, on Thursday in Xs and Os, I will look at a few running plays, but I have made this issue pretty much all about the short QB from Boise State because A) it is enjoyable to watch him play (admittedly, by default) and B) it avoids us from having to discuss this offense from a broader 2015 perspective.  

This has been a difficult year from every perspective offensively and this is a team that hasn't had a 400-yard offensive day since November 8th,  a 6-yards-per-play day since October 25th, hasn't scored more than 20 points since November 22nd, and hasn't scored over 28 points all year.  

In other words, you have almost made the finish line.  Happy Holidays!