Felix Jones — He’s Crafty — Like a Cat
Posted: September 16, 2008 @ 1:20 am
Felix Jones paid an immediate dividend last night, taking a David Akers kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown one play after the Eagles had drawn within 7-6. His returns show that he’s a natural at setting up defenders and already understands how to use his wedge. This suggests he’ll have a long and successful kickoff return career ahead of him.
Two years ago, I watched former special teams coach Bruce DeHaven work with the Cowboys’ returners and watched him teach his guys to use cutbacks. Returners were instructed to initially run directly up the field, even if it was not behind the wedge. The intent is to pull coverage guys towards you and give your wedge blockers an angle. After running a few yards upfield, the game is to then cut behind your blockers.
Jones followed this technique perfectly. Dallas had a center return called. Jones fielded Akers kick on his two, about three yards inside the yard numbers on the far sideline.
The Cowboys wedge formed at the fifteen, just outside the far hash mark. The Cowboys use Tony Curtis, Joe Berger, Pat McQuistan and Deon Anderson as their center four. They join hands and then move forward together under control until they encounter the line of Eagles. The returner who doesn’t field the kick, Isaiah Stanback in this case, runs up and flanks Anderson, adding a fifth blocker to the wedge.
Jones was about five to seven yards wide and to the left of Curtis, the closest wedge member, when he fielded the ball. Instead of angling to his right and running immediately to get behind his five bodyguards, Jones ran straight upfield, to about the ten.
At this point, the wedge met the center of the Eagles line, secondary man J.R. Reid and linebackers Akeem Jordan and Torrance Daniels.
By initially heading upfield, Jones challenged the coverage guys to leave their lanes and attack him. Daniels stayed in his lane and was double teamed by Curtis and Berger. Reid stayed in his lane and was double teamed by Anderson and Stanback on the right side of the wedge.
Jordan, the center defender of the Philly trio, tried cutting outside of McQuistan to the offensive lineman’s left, in an attempt to hem Jones towards the sideline. This was the break Jones was looking for. As McQuistan was shoving Jordan towards the far sideline, Felix cut sharply to his right, into the lane that Jordan had vacated. Jones darted through this alley into the second level of coverage, where only Akers stood between the him and a score.
Felix cut sharply back to the far sideline and easily outraced the pursuit down the sideline, perhaps thinking what Brad Sham said on the radio broadcast, “you’re not catching me, you thirty-something year old white kicker…”
The cutback is a seemingly simple task, but it requires expert coordination with your wedge. The best returners have that timing. Mediocre ones never develop it. Felix already has it. That he made two more big returns last night only confirms this skill. Imagine what he could do with a little more practice?
Full game report later this morning.
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1st? Wow, it’s been awhile…
Wow what a game!
500+ post in both halves, good for you Raf/Raul
I had doubts that they would ever utilize Felix on KO returns and I’m glad they did! The cat has an instinctive aptitude for it, as “250” yards will attest. What a weapon! I hope they don’t shelve it.
Where are all the Reshard Mendenhall supporters? Of all the top running backs selected he is the only one that is not cutting the mustard. Felix is a good back that is only going to get better. Love the change of pace and the way this guy glides down the field.
Tonight brought back flashbacks of the last 10 years playing against a healthy McNabb. I can judge my respect for the player by how often I scream and swear at the BOYs for their play in containing him. His ability to shed defenders like flies and will his team down the field. If we had selected him at the time maybe we would not still be looking for our 1st playoff win in 12 years.
Flex, man does he have another gear. Important contributions by the rookies this will huge by the end of the season.
Did anyone else happen to notice that if Jones had to run 10 more yards that Stanback was closing ground to help block. He just about out ran the pursuit only to slow up at the end when he knew Jones had the TD. Now if we can only learn how to catch consistently we may have something there…
Great win. The kind of unbelievable game that happens on Monday night seemingly more than any other time. I know it’s a little early to look ahead, but I’m a little concerned about an emotional letdown against Green Bay.
They won’t star, you cant keep someone that explosive off the field. IMO.
Post #7, that was one of my favorite parts of the return. Must have watched StTanback close that distance like 5 times on TiVo - I could not get enough! Dude is fast. He raced right by philly’s speedster Demps.
Anyone think all of that running McNabb did last night might have made him tired? He looked shot in the 4th quarter.
How can the refs blow the whistle before you enter the end zone.
The league of officilas need to check that play, the PI and the blatant holds on the Westbrook TD.
The officiating is a joke.
Put my brother and me on the list of people amazed at Stanback’s speed. Great break down Raf.
I’m curious if anyone who saw the ESPN post game with Emmitt etc had the same feeling as I did. He really was harping on “who’s the leader” on the team. I have the same question and think it’s the final piece to the SB puzzle. As talented as the Cowboys are, I don’t see who the guy is (or guys) who would be the Troy, Michael, or Emmitt when times are tough. TO seems gun shy because everytime he says anything he feels persecuted in the media, he said almost exactly that on the post game interview last night.
NY in ATL, yes, I also noticed it was Stanback who chased down Felix and the defender. The dude has major wheels. Can’t wait for him to learn how to play receiver. Its gonna be fun!
StillHate, I also agree with you and Emmitt on the leader part.
Connery, a letdown versus Green Bay sure seems like a not unlikely outcome. THat may not be a bad thing either. The last thing we would need is a 12-0 start to get all the undefeated season pressure going. We have more than enough pressure, thank you.
I’m not a big gambler, but my general understanding is that Vegas gives the home team 3 points.
So at the end of the day, after the infusion of talent from the draft, the infusion of talent from sometime head cases, the redtop playcalling, the o-line dominance, the secondary talent, the wittens and ratliffs and all, we are but one point better than an eagles team that raf showed us yesterday (or the day before) is in steady decline. I find that disappointing.
Steady decline, yes. McNabb looked better than ever until he wore out (just like TO said, those many years ago).
That team has always been built to create matchup problems for Dallas. They may lose to Washington or NYG twice a year, but they yearn to beat Dallas. They point to Dallas so much they might lose the next 3-5 games afterward, whether they beat Dallas or not.
This win would have been even more satisfying if they had played in Philly, but make no mistake that this was a big win, whatever the score or flaws revealed.
Like a lot of you, I was also ready to see the CBs jam and press receivers on the line, but Dallas won without it. Once they show it, the other teams will adjust, so I’m OK with their saving it until needed. Once they fire all of their bullets, they won’t have any left to reload with.
BTW, I couldn’t stop laughing when Felix burst through and scored. It has been a long time since Dallas had a weapon like that.
Did anybody besides me have a Meredith-to-Hayes flashback on Owen’s first TD? Wow. I haven’t seen that in a while, either. Even the Raiders don’t do that very consistently any more.
ElB - I don’t think that’s a fair comparison. We had the ball at midfield - if it was only about point difference we would have been driving for a score….
The thing that bugged me was the penalties and the bonehead plays. Romo is way too Favre-like for my liking. But on the other hand he is amazingly resilient - particularly on Monday Night. He can make a bad play and then come back calm as you like and make plays.
What an unbelievable game, but not good for anyone with a heart condition.
I, too, am wondering about the leadership. It looks like the offense has some good ones with Romo, T.O. Witten, and the Barbarian. But what about the defense??? I think that’s where this team needs leadership the most. Romo showed his leadership, and maturity, in coming back from the first quarter mistakes.
Raf, I’m hoping you can shed some light on the defense. it seems they have a bend-but-don’t-break mentality, and I don’t like that. Don’t get me wrong, they won the game and the defense stepped up when it needed to. However, I just don’t see them in the Super Bowl, let alone winning it, without a dominant defense. Maybe it’s just that I expect more from a defense that has a bunch of first-rounders on it. And maybe they need a little more time to gel.
Romo had something like a 120 QB rating yesterday. I’ll take his game, warts and all.
Did anyone else find it strange that not but a few days after Romo pointed out Cleveland’s flaw of rushing few and dropping many into coverage (QBs can go through all their reads and then some), we come out with a game plan of rushing few and dropping many into coverage. mcnabb on one play had almost 6 seconds (6 seconds!) to throw, and too much time to throw on others as well. what was that about?
I look forward to Raf’s analysis on that point.
i wasnt overwhelmed by Newman’s tackling yesterday. Has he always been a poor tackler? I guess he is coming back from injury. I hope he gets back to 100% soon.
What’s the news on the injury front? Looked like Spencer, Austin and Newman were all back in some shape or other, but now we face the prospect of no thong and no witten? anyone else injured?
liked that they ran a few plays for Bennett - seems like a playmaker in grooming to me, that kid does.
ElBarraco - Newman gets a pass on his tackling in my book. He basically didn’t have a training camp and I doubt he’s done much tackling in practice. Frankly, I didn’t think he did a poor job anyway.
I don’t have a problem with the amount of QB pressure. Hard as it is to say, McXxxxxx (my posts get reviewed if I put in what I want to write there) was on his game last night and just broke free of probably 2-3 more sacks. I think we had 4. There was decent pressure on most throwing downs, there were a couple of exceptions. He did not have anywhere near as much time as Romo on average. Most important, there were a lot of plays where coverage must have been excellent.
Bottom line, of Philthy’s points, Romo personally gift wrapped 14 and they got another 7 on a bogus interference call on Henry. It was hard to watch as it was happening but I think the defense did fine.
Buster,
Your list of offensive leaders is close, Witten, Barber, TO all good. I would not include Romo in that list. I’m sure he’s well liked, but I don’t see him in a leadership role.
To post #18, that’s a fair (and overlooked on my part) point, I suppose (about being on midfield). not sure if you can put being at midfield in the bank, pointswise, but it deserves to be part of the balance weighing.
I consider the PI call payback for the refs not calling the 15-yd face mask when Westbrook was tackled earlier…
StillHateTheGiants:
Trying to keep the language somewhat PG-rated, so the filter catches those…
maybe because i was fresh off the win giddyness late last night, but i wasnt sure whether to be horrified or LOL at Romo’s interview with kolber last night. to her question about the fumble, he basically said ” uh, that sucked” and to her question about rallying the team he said, and i quote, “cool.” beavis (or butthead, you choose) is our QB. well , i did like the show, so there’s that.
The key thing I observed about Felix as a return man is that he didn’t just run full speed into the pile like so many return guys do. He hesitated for a moment reading the coverage and waiting for just the right time to unleash his burst. Timing. Timing. Timing. His is impeccable.
Plus, unlike Austin, he actually knew how to juke the kicker.
Raul,
Not a problem with the filter. Appreciate all the good work you do here.
I noticed Jenkins got a lot of time in the passing down packages last night and no Scandrick. The one pass he broke up over the middle was beautiful. He looked a little over matched on the Westbrook screen pass TD.
That screen pass was a joke, where were the flags for holding? There were two muggings and a hold. The refs were not calling holding all night long except on Dallas one big play.
After Jenkins got smacked he dissappeared the rest of the game.
Great game I still have the perma-grin goin on. So Roy is out at least 4 weeks, does this mean Watkins and Brown get their shots or are we gonna play a lot more nickle and dime? Not to be a dic# but this is kind of a Darwin moment for us Roy you were great when you were great now lets see what these kids that can cover can do. I wouldn’t be shocked to see a retirement , actually I’d be relieved.
That would be the Brian Stewart that held a hot McNabb and the Eagles to 7 points and 123 total yards in the 2nd half, while His Highness Jim Johnson allowed 195 yards (-2 at the end for kneel downs) and 17 points?
Raul,
RE #34 I think that’s officially a flag for piling on.
I think Tex and Skippy Buttplug (Brainless) are one and the same.
It’s funny how group think can take over when analyzing the state of the team. Was listening to the Ticket 1310 post game show and heard a lot of criticism of the defense. The arguement being made that you can’t give up 37 points and win in the playoffs. When in reality the Defense was not to blame for 14 of those points. I for one think it would be hard for the Eagles and McNabb to play any better on the road than they did last night and it still wasn’t enough even with all the bone headed mistakes made by the Cowboys.
Othello, i’d look at all the yards and first downs to judge the defense’s performance. The D is lucky that they held the EAgles’ first two efficient marches down the field to only field goals. I think you’re being a little revisionist or putting lipstick on a hog a little bit.
However, that being said, last year the Cowboys’ D did the exact same thing in the same game vs the Giants, and we know how the season unfolded from there, so, there’s no reason to panic just yet.
123 yards and three more near sacks. Almost seven sacks in one half. McNabb wore down from running from Ratliff.
I often lament the fact that i have no confidence in our D to get off the field when truly necessary. well, last night, the D kicked butt on philly’s last two drives. hardly even made me sweat. and for that, i am grateful, and willing to give them a little slack.
El Berraco,
I’m not calling you out, just pointing out a few things in response to your posts.
1. I think in his post game interview with Kolber, when asked what he thought going back to the bench after his boneheaded fumble in the end zone, Romo answered, “Darn it . . . .I suck”.
In response to her question about what it felt like to rally his team to victory, he responded, “Cool” and after a small pause, gave the generic “coach-speak” answer.
I laughed out loud at both comments. Those questions are so stupid, what do those reporters expect?
I thought Romo’s responses were openly honest, classic, sarcastic, and I much prefer that to the generic blah, blah, blah you usually get.
By the way, did you hear Tony’s post game presser where he said, “yeah, it was an old fashioned Western Shootout. . .good thing we were Clint Eastwood tonight”?
the media and public eat that stuff up and it seems to come naturally to Romo. I think we should embrace it. . .as long as he’s eventually doing it after a Super Bowl win!
2. Raf’s analysis is always insightful, but don’t lose sight that his presentation of the Philly decline vs. the Dallas rise was based largely on stats and facts and that this game is fluid and played by real people who have the ability and desire to change and improve. Philly knows who they are and what they have been and they have made effort to work and change their direction. In the last 2-3 years, they have suffered injuries to McNabb, Westbrook, and their corners. Dawkins and their O-line. This affected their performance and thus their stats. . . just like the loss of Flozell and Ellis did to Dallas 2 yrs ago and T.O. at the end of last year. As well, Philly added Desean Jackson - clearly an obvious and explosive playmaker they have not had at WR in 3 yrs; Asante Samuel, who - despite our amateur analysis, is a pretty good player and gives them a deep defensive backfield AND they finally have a fully healthy and motivated McNabb and Westbrook.
3. Now look at what could have been. Granted, both teams can play this game, but a stupid INT by Romo and a bad pass interference call cost Dallas 4 to 7 points. A botched handoff cost another 7 pts. Dumb penalties gave them at least 3 pts. Essentially, Dallas should have held them to 20-23 points. Give them back the TD we scored when they fumbled in the 4th and the game SHOULD have been 34 - 20.
4. Do you expect perfection and want to blow every team out? Of course I want to win, but perfection would mean you begin to expect the wins and the game will get either boring or frustrating and not enjoyable. I remember in ‘91 and ‘92, watching the Cowboys ascent was so exciting, but by ‘93 and ‘94 I expected perfection and wins, so the games were more about relief than joy. I much prefer a game and a situation like last night, which is what makes this game so much fun to watch.
5. Final thought. Dallas: 10 penalties for 108 yards. 2 turnovers for 14 points. The cowboys need to play smarter and more disciplined. That is their Achilles-heel.
Airforce
Do you have 2 avatars?
GMoney,
Thank you.
El Berraco,
I don’t know what you expect man. You find it dissapointing that a Dallas team that made a slew of mistakes found a way to win?
Look Dallas isn’t going to blow everyone out, and its not like the Eagles don’t have talent. They ARE on the downslope as Dallas is going up. Dallas has a larger window to work with then Philly, I don’t think anyone would argue that.
Dallas isn’t going to get pressure, EVERY time, against a good offense. But McNabb was great at avoiding it more then anything. 4 sacks in a game is pretty good, and if McNabb wasn’t so shifty there could have been about 4 more.
Dallas’s goal the whole time was to make McNabb have to work down the field and not give up the big play, except for the Jackson play they were great. Westbrook creates so many mismatch problems, ESPECIALLY when your playing a QB that can scramble around, that its going to be hard to stop him, no matter how good your defense is.
I’d also point out that Dallas’s D was on the field ALOT during that first half. That couldn’t have helped. If there is one bad thing about scoring so fast its that, you gotta remember Dallas’s D’s only big break in that second half was the small drive before the TO bomb. Then they had to go back on the field for a while, they stopped them. Then they had to go right back out, (Mike Jenkins beautiful play) and then after Romo threw the pick, they had to go right back out again. They had a LOOOOONG first half, but a great second half.
I absolutely agree that watching a young team ascend is infinitely more exciting than rooting for an established team to meet expectations week in and week out. but i dont think this is that team. this team has the weight of expectations on them. it’s what makes the last few years disappointing - we get saddled with expectations without actually reaping the joy of an extended playoff run or two.
and i absolutely have a problem expecting perfection. i am working on it. fortunately, i dont manage people, just myself. i can be hell on me. in fact, i am a little ticked off at myself right now for wasting time at work on this blog.
AFB2, you are right about the d being on the field a lot. and the funny thing to me knowing me was, i could hardly enjoy the felix runback (though i did, man, i did) before i started thinking, you know, the thing about these runbacks is they put your d right back on the field!
StillHate:
re: #35
Piling on? No. Personal Foul? Possibly. Unsportsmanlike Conduct? Maybe. I’d even go with Illegal Participation.
But not Piling On…