In my opinion, the Cowboys bye week came at the perfect
time of the season. Zeke got the stay for his suspension overturned, and will
begin serving his suspension. Stephen Pea decided he wanted to retired. The
Cowboys had seen enough of Nolan Carroll to release him (to the delight of many
Cowboys fans). Not to mention the terrible start to this season. The Cowboys
needed time to regroup and now they have a week off to do it. What should they
be doing on this break?
Getting back to the basics
The running game is the driving force for this team. It
has been inconsistent for the first five weeks of the season. They have had
solid rushing performances in every game except the Broncos game, but the running
game hasn’t been as effective as it was last season. The Cowboys are seeing
that teams are focusing on stopping the run. It doesn’t help that the Cowboys
wide receivers continue to drop passes, and not separate from defensive backs.
The offensive line has struggled at times. As much as it pains me to say, Zeke
wasn’t the same player he was last year. Maybe serving this suspension might be
the best thing for him, so that he can move on with this situation and focus on
winning football games. All isn’t lost with the running game.
With Zeke out the Cowboys will have to get more creative
with the way they run the ball. Zeke is a special talent and he makes things happen,
when he gets the ball in his hand. He has the power to move the pile in short
yardage situation. The vision and quickness to see holes and hit them. With
Zeke out they will now have to get creative their running plays and even use
Dak more in the run game.
Alfred Morris is a solid running back but he needs space.
Morris isn’t a creator. You won’t see him bouncing plays outside to try and
turn the corner because he doesn’t have that kind of speed. He is a one cut
runner and he needs the hole to be open. Morris had his best seasons when the
Redskins were running the read option with RG3. No, I don’t’ want to see the
Cowboys running the read option all the time, because Dak is too valuable, but
I do want to see them threaten defense with it. Forcing defenses to account for
Dak as a runner will slow down their pursuit to Morris and give him more space
to operate. Also can we scrap the two tight end formations? The Cowboys aren’t
throwing the ball to their second tight, hell they can barely get the ball to
their first tight end. Defenses have figured out that the cowboys will either
run the ball, or bootleg Dak out of that two tight end formation. They are
cutting off the play side of the formation because the Cowboys aren’t throwing
the ball to second tight on the backside. With Morris in let’s use three wide
receiver sets and a fullback more to space the defense.
We will finally see Darren McFadden this season. Not sure
if that is a good or bad thing but they’re going to need McFadden. He will help
them in the passing game more than Morris would. McFadden isn’t a bell cow back
at this point in his career. The coaching staff will need to limit his touches
and put him in positions to be effective. It’s time to scheme the running game
instead of the man on man, mow down defenders, power rushing scheme that they
were using. Zeke is a huge part of the success of a power-rushing scheme. Without
him, creativity is now the key to running the ball.
Make the Change at Safety and Move on with the season
Getting these young secondary players up to speed is
priority #1 for the Dallas Cowboys. Jeff Heath is a liability to this defense
and it’s time to replace him. That doesn’t mean that Woods or Auwzie are that
answers at safety. It just meant that we have all seen enough of Heath and they
can’t be any worst. The bye week is the perfect time to make the change in the
starting lineup, get two weeks to prepare whichever one of them you decide to
start, and fit the scheme for them. Woods is a good tackler and can be an
upgrade in run support. Awuize has shown the ability to stay in position and make
plays in the passing game. I don’t care which one of them they decide to go
with, I just want to see anybody other than Jeff Heat at this point.
Jourdan Lewis has been the Cowboys best cornerback so far
this season. I know he gave up that touchdown at the end of the Packers game,
but he also deflected that same pass one play prior. He is getting it, and he
will only get better as the season progresses. Both Lewis and Brown’s play may
improve with better safety play. Lewis has shown us that he can play in this
league let’s give Awuzie and Woods the same opportunity.
The time is Now for Taco
Taco Charlton was the Cowboy’s 2017 first round pick.
Something about him made them take him over the other available players (TJ
Watt) and its time to figure out what that was. Let’s not kid ourselves, this
Cowboys defense if going to be trash anyways. They won’t be anymore trash with
Charlton in the starting lineup. Irving and Lawrence are the Cowboys best two
defensive linemen. Collins is a force in the middle and is perfect for this defense.
With the Pea’s retirement, either the Cowboys bump Crawford back inside or they
go with Charlton. I say go with Charlton!
From what I’ve seen of Charlton he doesn’t have an arsenal
of pass rush moves. He still thinks he is at Michigan and that he can out
hustle and out power offensive linemen. This is the NFL young man, you are not
going to just push these professional linemen back into the quarterback.
Charlton doesn’t have elite athleticism, but he does have good size. He is 6’6
and 270 lbs. Charlton has the size to play inside at defensive tackle and
outside at defensive end. No, I’m not saying that Charlton is the missing piece
to making this defense better, but he was a first round pick for a reason. If
the defense is going to stink anyways put him on the field and let him figure
things out.
Move David Irving around
This point piggybacks off the “Time is now for Taco”
point. David Irving may be the Cowboys best defensive linemen, mainly because
of his versatility. Irving can play inside and out. Like Charlton, he has the
size at 6’7 and 275 lbs, but unlike Charlton, he has great speed and quickness
for his position. The Cowboys have to use him like the Seahawks use Michel Bennett.
Moving Irving around will create one on one matchups for the other defensive
linemen. Thus making things easier for a guy like Taco Charlton. I told you
this was a piggy backing point!
What I
saw in the Packers game was Irving and Collins causing havoc for the Packers
interior linemen. I think they can make a good interior duo as the season goes
on. Lawrence seems to be able to make things happen on his side of the line, so
I wouldn’t mess with him. Since Irving has the ability to move around, it would
be easier to bring in Charlton and switch those two thoughout the course of the
game. Move Irving inside, out and Charlton outside, in! At the very least, you
force the quarterback to make protection adjustments, and you can show the
offense something different up front. Any success that this defense is going to
have will start up front. Mixing and matching the pieces up front is the only way
to create more pressure on the quarterback. Teams will begin to double team
Lawrence as the season goes on and he will appear less effective. To counter
that, you start to show them different things up front. The Seahawks have been
doing it and it seems to work perfectly for them.
Turn Dak loose
If we’ve learned anything in the first five games, it’s
Dak Prescott will only get better. Prescott wants to be great and his play is
showing that. He has also shown that he will do whatever it takes to win games.
Even if that means summersaulting over a defender for a touchdown. With Zeke
out this offense will rely solely on Dak Prescott. I’m not saying that the run
game will be a nonfactor. Gone are the days where the passing game is a compliment
for the running game. The passing game is going to have to be the focal point
for this offense and using the short passing game to pick up 2-3 yards is just
as effective as running the ball.
Dak makes excellent decision so throwing more won’t
result in more turnovers. The screen game is going to have to come alive. The
Cowboys aren’t winning enough on the outside for them to rely on a vertical attack.
That means that they have to get the ball out the hands of Dak early and what
better way to do that than the screen game. Rub routes are an effective way to
get Beasley and Switzer open on space. Stacking Dez with Witten and Butler will
make it hard for defense to take one of them away.
We saw the Cowboys use the short passing game in Tony
Romo’s last effective season (2014). Romo was getting the ball out quick,
forcing the defense to come up, and then hitting them over the top. Dak can do
that and use his legs to extend plays. It’s time to cut Dak loose and let him
go out and win games for this team. The concept hasn’t change. The Cowboys still
want to control the ball and move the chains. The approach to doing that has.
They won’ t be able to hand Zeke the ball 25 times and wear a defense down.
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