Urinal Mint
Footballguy
After watching the Dallas/Indianapolis game last night I came away noticing a few things on the offensive side of the ball for Dallas. Now, a large disclaimer here... I am not familiar with Wade Phillips's preseaon philosophies, so I'm not sure how much of his "hand" he showed us last night. I'm basing this on limited observation after an excrutiatingly long day at a water park with screaming kids. Now, that aside, here is what I did see:
- The deep out Norv Turner & Ernie Zampese brought to Dallas in the early 90s that Aikman and Irvin used to systematically destroy opposing secondaries. 12-15 yard deep out cuts for tight ends and wide receivers where the ball is thrown before the WR even makes his cut. Aikman was a surgeon to the sidelines and the routes kept the receivers on their feet and away from safeties flying at their heads. That means something. From what I saw last night in the first two (ridiculously long and grinding) drives that Romo QB'd, at least 4 of these timing plays were ran to the sidelines. Fasano and Witten were the early beneficiaries. It was late so I didn't really pay attention to the other guys on the receiving end. However, I think you can prepare for more elements of that successful timing-based offense to be slipstreamed into the playbook from the Parcells era, with a gradual transition occurring.
- Skinny post and Skinny out routes for the tight end. Witten ran one of these (skinny out) paired with Owens from the slot to give the FS a decision of which one he would cover. Unfortunately Romo forced a ball to Owens when I felt Witten was more open, but what I like seeing here is sending your two best receiving threats down the field. It definitely reminds of the vertical offense Turner installed in Dallas in the 90s. Look for more of these routes during the preseason, and for Romo to tune his decision-making skills in those situations.
- Offset I running formations. Typically the fullback (a very important cog in the Turner I-form based offense) would line up weakside for these plays, and Jones would have one cut and go. I think it will be a more successful setup for Jones (not necessarily Barber) since it will allow him some creativity not seen with Parcells lording over him. I felt Jones gained acceptable yardages last night and that he will benefit greatly from this strategy if the fullback (Hoyte) can be even half the lead blocker that Darryl Johnston was. I didn't notice hesitation in Jones choosing a gap and hitting it, and the images of him running face-first into a lineman's butt because he was told to are seemingly gone.
OK, so that's what I saw last night. Like I said, it was late, so I'm sure I missed a few nuances here and there. However, I will say that I like what I see so far from the new timing-based offense in Dallas.
- The deep out Norv Turner & Ernie Zampese brought to Dallas in the early 90s that Aikman and Irvin used to systematically destroy opposing secondaries. 12-15 yard deep out cuts for tight ends and wide receivers where the ball is thrown before the WR even makes his cut. Aikman was a surgeon to the sidelines and the routes kept the receivers on their feet and away from safeties flying at their heads. That means something. From what I saw last night in the first two (ridiculously long and grinding) drives that Romo QB'd, at least 4 of these timing plays were ran to the sidelines. Fasano and Witten were the early beneficiaries. It was late so I didn't really pay attention to the other guys on the receiving end. However, I think you can prepare for more elements of that successful timing-based offense to be slipstreamed into the playbook from the Parcells era, with a gradual transition occurring.
- Skinny post and Skinny out routes for the tight end. Witten ran one of these (skinny out) paired with Owens from the slot to give the FS a decision of which one he would cover. Unfortunately Romo forced a ball to Owens when I felt Witten was more open, but what I like seeing here is sending your two best receiving threats down the field. It definitely reminds of the vertical offense Turner installed in Dallas in the 90s. Look for more of these routes during the preseason, and for Romo to tune his decision-making skills in those situations.
- Offset I running formations. Typically the fullback (a very important cog in the Turner I-form based offense) would line up weakside for these plays, and Jones would have one cut and go. I think it will be a more successful setup for Jones (not necessarily Barber) since it will allow him some creativity not seen with Parcells lording over him. I felt Jones gained acceptable yardages last night and that he will benefit greatly from this strategy if the fullback (Hoyte) can be even half the lead blocker that Darryl Johnston was. I didn't notice hesitation in Jones choosing a gap and hitting it, and the images of him running face-first into a lineman's butt because he was told to are seemingly gone.
OK, so that's what I saw last night. Like I said, it was late, so I'm sure I missed a few nuances here and there. However, I will say that I like what I see so far from the new timing-based offense in Dallas.
I really liked what I saw from Davis. He moved really well getting out on the LB'ers. Funny from what was said earlier on this board you would have thought Davis really sucked and was one of the worst players in the league.
I really liked what I saw from Davis. He moved really well getting out on the LB'ers. Funny from what was said earlier on this board you would have thought Davis really sucked and was one of the worst players in the league.
