Marion Barber's Disappearance Act Last Night (1 Viewer)

[hammerd]

Seemed to me that when J Jones pulled off that long TD run early in Sunday night's game, he ending up earning alot more of the Cowboys' snaps than what he had gotten lately. Barber seemed to be an afterthought in the Cowboys' game plan after that long run. Could it be just a case of Parcells going with the hot hand in keeping JJ in for more plays than normal, or maybe saw something in the Saints D that kept him in more?

I realize the Cowboys had to scrap alot of their running game to play catch up with the Saints, who were scoring at will, but it concerns me the way they went away from MB, especially after all the success he has had in the past 5 games or so. One game-anomaly, or is Parcells wavering a bit in his confidence in MB?

 

[Colin Dowling]

Not wavering. As has been the case all season, the guy with the "hot hand" stays in.

 

[ThisGuy]

Jones is the home-run hitter, Barber is the ball control guy. The Cowboys needed a bunch of HR's to get back into the game.

 

[joffer]

same roles as always. Barber was in on every 3rd down i can remember, and in late when they were trying to catch up (throwing). i don't remember any goal line chances. as usual, when the cowboys are moving the ball and scoring, Barber will get his numbers. bigger problem is he's not catching any passes because Romo NEVER checks down to the RBs.

 

[packersfan]

Jones is the home-run hitter, Barber is the ball control guy. The Cowboys needed a bunch of HR's to get back into the game.

Once the Cowboys fell behind by a lot it was Barber who was on the field more since he is their third-down/passing situation RB. But they weren't going to run the ball in those situations and Romo never checks down to his RB so Barber didn't get many touches. It was just one of those games. I don't see the Cowboys getting steamrolled like that too often. The Saints are pretty damn good offensively.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Jones was in when the game was competitive. Barber was in when the game was out of hand and they abandoned the run.

 

[packersfan]

bigger problem is he's not catching any passes because Romo NEVER checks down to the RBs.

I'm surprised this hasn't been discussed more. Aikman mentioned it in a game a couple of weeks ago but nobody else talks much about it. Romo is always looking downfield and it cost him at least once last night. On the INT to Witten in the end zone, Barber was open in the flat but as usual Romo didn't even bother to look there - he was looking downfield the whole time and got picked. That's something he's really going to need to do as he develops.

 

[One]

It's the chance you take every week you start a #2 RB.

 

[shadyridr]

The MB3 owner in my league had him on the bench the last five weeks for the likes of McGahee and ATrain. He finally decided to roll the dice with him this week and benched McGahee

 

[hammerd]

Jones was in when the game was competitive. Barber was in when the game was out of hand and they abandoned the run.

this runs kinda counter to the Cowboys' game plan of late. Normally, Barber's been the guy to lean on when the game's on the line. Not last night, though.

 

[Crazy8s]

same roles as always. Barber was in on every 3rd down i can remember, and in late when they were trying to catch up (throwing). i don't remember any goal line chances. as usual, when the cowboys are moving the ball and scoring, Barber will get his numbers. bigger problem is he's not catching any passes because Romo NEVER checks down to the RBs.

Not so accurate. Cowboys were inside the 10 and Jones was still on the field. Usually they bring in Barber - Not last night. I think they went with the hot hand.

 

[malice]

bigger problem is he's not catching any passes because Romo NEVER checks down to the RBs.

I'm surprised this hasn't been discussed more. Aikman mentioned it in a game a couple of weeks ago but nobody else talks much about it. Romo is always looking downfield and it cost him at least once last night. On the INT to Witten in the end zone, Barber was open in the flat but as usual Romo didn't even bother to look there - he was looking downfield the whole time and got picked. That's something he's really going to need to do as he develops.

He seemed to have no problem checking down to Barber with his two TD receptions on Turkey Day. Wonder why he doesn't anymore.MBIII might have had a good chance at a TD if they hadn't had a false start on 4th and 3 inches...but it looked like they went purely one-dimensional after they were down 2 scores.

 

[joffer]

bigger problem is he's not catching any passes because Romo NEVER checks down to the RBs.

I'm surprised this hasn't been discussed more. Aikman mentioned it in a game a couple of weeks ago but nobody else talks much about it. Romo is always looking downfield and it cost him at least once last night. On the INT to Witten in the end zone, Barber was open in the flat but as usual Romo didn't even bother to look there - he was looking downfield the whole time and got picked. That's something he's really going to need to do as he develops.

He seemed to have no problem checking down to Barber with his two TD receptions on Turkey Day. Wonder why he doesn't anymore.

those weren't checkdowns. they were designed roll-outs with Barber being one of the primary options on the play. by checkdowns i mean what has been happening with Steven Jackson in St. Louis.

 

[Doug B]

bigger problem is he's not catching any passes because Romo NEVER checks down to the RBs.

... On the INT to Witten in the end zone, Barber was open in the flat but as usual Romo didn't even bother to look there - he was looking downfield the whole time and got picked. That's something he's really going to need to do as he develops.

It's easy to forget that Romo's stats could have looked a lot worse. Mike McKenzie dropped an easy pick in the end zone in the first half; and TO's TD was actually an ill-advised, gift-wrapped interception that Fred Thomas couldn't hang on to due to having his thumb in a cast.

 

[Cowboys#1]

if you want to see a qb use his back when hes in trouble watch bulger tonight

he knows his line sucks #### so he counts to 2 and releases to jax.

romo is always looking 10+yards down field.. and i agree after jones busted the long run i had a feeling barber wouldnt be his usual productive self.. jones was even in inside the 10.

 

[packersfan]

same roles as always. Barber was in on every 3rd down i can remember, and in late when they were trying to catch up (throwing). i don't remember any goal line chances. as usual, when the cowboys are moving the ball and scoring, Barber will get his numbers. bigger problem is he's not catching any passes because Romo NEVER checks down to the RBs.

Not so accurate. Cowboys were inside the 10 and Jones was still on the field. Usually they bring in Barber - Not last night. I think they went with the hot hand.

That's not entirely correct. The Cowboys will often keep Jones on the field when they're outside the 5. It's when they get inside the 5 that Barber comes in. Jones has seen a lot of snaps when they are between the 5 and 10.

 

[packersfan]

bigger problem is he's not catching any passes because Romo NEVER checks down to the RBs.

I'm surprised this hasn't been discussed more. Aikman mentioned it in a game a couple of weeks ago but nobody else talks much about it. Romo is always looking downfield and it cost him at least once last night. On the INT to Witten in the end zone, Barber was open in the flat but as usual Romo didn't even bother to look there - he was looking downfield the whole time and got picked. That's something he's really going to need to do as he develops.

He seemed to have no problem checking down to Barber with his two TD receptions on Turkey Day. Wonder why he doesn't anymore.

those weren't checkdowns. they were designed roll-outs with Barber being one of the primary options on the play. by checkdowns i mean what has been happening with Steven Jackson in St. Louis.

Yup. Aikman made the comment that most QBs look short first and then long but Romo looks long first, second and third. He never looks short. As he develops that's something he's going to need to do. You can't keep going for the home run every time. He probably won't change his approach this season but I expect to see the coaches work with him on that for next season.

 

[hammerd]

bigger problem is he's not catching any passes because Romo NEVER checks down to the RBs.

I'm surprised this hasn't been discussed more. Aikman mentioned it in a game a couple of weeks ago but nobody else talks much about it. Romo is always looking downfield and it cost him at least once last night. On the INT to Witten in the end zone, Barber was open in the flat but as usual Romo didn't even bother to look there - he was looking downfield the whole time and got picked. That's something he's really going to need to do as he develops.

He seemed to have no problem checking down to Barber with his two TD receptions on Turkey Day. Wonder why he doesn't anymore.

those weren't checkdowns. they were designed roll-outs with Barber being one of the primary options on the play. by checkdowns i mean what has been happening with Steven Jackson in St. Louis.

Yup. Aikman made the comment that most QBs look short first and then long but Romo looks long first, second and third. He never looks short. As he develops that's something he's going to need to do. You can't keep going for the home run every time. He probably won't change his approach this season but I expect to see the coaches work with him on that for next season.

 

[Nemesis]

I actually remember one play where the Cowboys were on the 5 yd line and saw that M.Barber lined up as the outside WR. Crayton was the inside slot man and did a weak slant and Romo tried to hit him. Saints defender was able to easily step in front of Crayton and knock the ball down. Madden made a comment that if he wants to be an NFL wr he better "go after the ball".

Anyway, I was also a frustrated Barber owner last night as well.

 

[cowboyz]

yeah romo missed some checkdowns, i think part of it was being bottled up in the pocket.

other games he was out in the open and saw barber or jones. so perhaps it's a visibility thing. on the int, he had an open JJ i believe.

i thought they made a mistake by keeping JJ in at the goalline rather than MB3, then JJ basically got tackled by one hand, with a decent size hole that MB3 usually seems to have success at.

it all comes down to red zone offense, cowboys didn't have many chances, so MB3 didn't get his td.

 

[Kai's Hero]

same roles as always. Barber was in on every 3rd down i can remember, and in late when they were trying to catch up (throwing). i don't remember any goal line chances. as usual, when the cowboys are moving the ball and scoring, Barber will get his numbers. bigger problem is he's not catching any passes because Romo NEVER checks down to the RBs.

Not so accurate. Cowboys were inside the 10 and Jones was still on the field. Usually they bring in Barber - Not last night. I think they went with the hot hand.

He's hot because he breaks 1 (one) run?

 

[Bob_Magaw]

he had a couple 10 yard runs, too...

he only had a few chances, & they were forced to abandon run early...

 

[BigJim®]

It's the chance you take every week you start a #2 RB.

Could cost me a game this week but I'm not going to kick myself starting a guy with 13 TDs. He'd been very consistent.