Fun With SF ‘08 Part V: More Aikman and Less Farve This Year, Mr. Romo. Please!

September 2, 2008

When we last saw the Dallas offensive regulars, they were pushing to the edge of dominance against a young and rising Texans defense. The Cowboys first offensive series scored a touchdown. The second just missed a TD when a Tony Romo pass flew a foot or so beyond a wide open Terrell Owens.

The third drive slashed to Houston’s two. There, six feet from an early knockout, Romo offered a jarring caveat to all the Cowboys fans dreaming of a Super Bowl run. He forced a first down pass to a well covered Tony Curtis and was picked off. Instead of trotting to the sidelines with a 17-3 lead, he watched a deflated defense surrender a long, game-tying drive.

This was the bad Tony returned, the gunslinger whose wild ways kept Bill Parcells from handing Romo the offense reins earlier in his career. It was a reminder that for all his accuracy and magic, there’s still a young Brett Favre inside of Romo just waiting for the worst moment at which to appear.

Let’s compare his ten-start ‘06 to his full-season ‘07:

Tony Romo YPA Rank Near Int. Bad Dec. B.D. % Rank
2006
8.4 1st 11 7 1.9 T-12th
2007
8.2 T-1st 28 22 4.0 39th

Romo’s YPAs show that he’s been one of the most effective passers in the game during his short career, mixing high accuracy with an aggressive, down-the-field style that produces big yards per attempt. He had the top spot alone in ‘06 and shared it with Tom Brady last year.

The downside to that aggressiveness is bouts of recklessness. Think Buffalo and the six interceptions, almost all of which occurred because Romo lacked the patience — at least for 52 minutes — to take what the Bills cover-two scheme conceded.

Look at Romo’s bad-decisions totals and his ranks. In his rookie season he tied for 12th in that category with Peyton Manning. That’s a great line. QBs like Manning sometimes have bad-decision averages in the top third or near mid-pack. It’s a by-product of attacking and not playing Brad Johnson-ball.

Look next at the ‘07 totals, where his percentage of bad decisions, passes where he forced passes into coverage and risked a pick, more than doubled. He ranked second-from-the-last in that category among starters, with only Derek Anderson and Jay Cutler faring worse.

His 28 near interceptions ranked next-to-last. Only his boyhood idol Brett Favre had more. To frame these stat lines another way, consider that in ‘06 Drew Bledsoe ranked second-to-last in bad decision percentage. Dallas found a rude amalgam in Romo 2.0 — the swagger and daring of Roger Staubach mixed with the consistent brain freezes of Drew Bledsoe.

That’s not to say Romo became or is in danger of becoming Drew Bledsoe. He’s better, even with the miscues. But one reason why Tom Brady has played in four Super Bowls this decade is that despite his high YPAs, he consistently makes the fewest bad decisions.

Romo talked this summer about improving his pocket presence and trying to be more patient with his reads. If he can return his stat line to the ‘06 standard and is Troy Aikman-like with his passes, Dallas truly is a Super Bowl contender. If we get more of the ‘07 edition, the bad Brett Favre replica, the one who threw that pick two weeks ago against the Texans, the more likely forecast is a Pro Bowl berth, a playoff berth and another painful playoff defeat.

Trickeration Tuesday: Cowboys Camp Report, August 5th

August 5, 2008

…otherwise known as the Felix Jones Show.

The Cowboys showed some of their more creative plays today, all designed to get Felix Jones and Marion Barber the ball in space.  The team tried them in their initial sessions, where the plays are shown to the team on note cards and run against nobody.

They were later implemented in the 11-on-11 drills to end the session, and worked effectively.  Mostly, they showcased the elusiveness, speed and receiving skills of the rookie running back from Arkansas.

Three plays were out of the ordinary in the initial drills.  On the first, Dallas went four wides, with Isaiah Stanback as the split end and Patrick Crayton, Sam Hurd and Miles Austin on the opposite side.  On the snap, Stanback ran a slant towards the center of the field.  Tony Romo took a semi-roll right towards the trio of receivers, stopped and threw left, where Felix Jones had three linemen leading him in a screen down field.

On the next play, Dallas put Terrell Owens as the split end, with Jason Witten, Hurd and Crayton on the opposite side.  Before the snap, Owens came in motion right.  He continued into the backfield, as if to take a reverse right.  Romo faked to T.O. pivoted left and threw a throwback screen, this time to Marion Barber, who followed his escourt to an imaginary touchdown.

On the last play, Dallas had Stanback and Owens left, with T.O. in the slot.  Jason Witten was flexed off the left tackle, giving Dallas three receiving options upfield.  Felix Jones was alone in the backfield with Crayton on the right.

Owens again motioned towards the backfield and this time lined up as the tailback behind Jones.  At the snap, T.O. flared to the right, and Romo feignted a throw in his direction.

On the left side, Witten and Stanback both angled towards the post, clearing out the left side.  After Romo completed his fake right to T.O., he again turned left and threw back to Jones.

The offense tried these plays in their final drill, with the throwback to Barber off the T.O. I-formation look working for an effective gain on Romo’s next-to-last series.

On the final series of the day, Brad Johnson and Jason Garrett called three consecutive plays for Jones, and they hinted at the explosiveness the rookie can add.  On the first series play, Jones caught a throwback screen after the fake reverse to Owens and took the ball far upfield.

On the next play, he ran a draw left and slithered back towards the right for a healthy gain.

On Felix’ final play he again lined up as the lone back and ran a wheel route up the left sideline.  Felix got far behind his linebacker and caught what would have been a touchdown in a real game.

We likely won’t see these plays until the regular season, but we can see Jones’ raw skills on display Saturday against the Chargers.

Get your popcorn ready…

Understudy Sunday: Cowboys Camp Report, August 3rd

August 3, 2008

The team rested veterans Zach Thomas, Terrell Owens and Jason Witten for today’s practice, giving youngsters Kevin Burnett, Sam Hurd and Martellus Bennett an opportunity to make plays into the 11-on-11 drills. They all responded, with Burnett showing saavy at his inside linebacker spot. Hurd and Bennett got open in the full scrimmages and caught every pass thrown their way save one.

For Hurd, it was a strong bounce back from Friday’s one-on-ones, where he had trouble beating hard press coverage.

Bennett showed that he could fulfill John Garrett’s claim that he would be ready for the regular season. He got open short and deep, getting great separation and displaying great acceleration upfield when the secures the ball. It seems he can be as good as he wants to be. Barring injury, the question is the length of his learning curve.

Pre-scrimmage

– Anything to get better: Bobby Carpenter spent time with the backup wide receivers catching passes from the ball machine.

– In the positional drills, Jay Ratliff was back with the nose tackles and Marcus Spears was working again with the defensive ends.

Early Scrimmage Notes:

Tony Romo was red hot when he worked the first team offense, going six-for-six in his initial sequence despite some heavy pressure on some plays. Don’t take this as a new development. Romo has made quick decisions all throughout camp and seems to be getting faster in his decision making. The defense can pressure him, but cannot get sacks.

The best play of the series came when Romo threw a stop fade up the left sideline to Sam Hurd, who shoved both heels just in bounds and made a slow-motion fall while snatching Romo’s pass. Adam Jones was helpless to stop it.

Brad Johnson took over and had a mixed set of plays. He faced more pressure, as his protection was not as solid as Romo’s, and he had a slant dropped by Miles Austin.

Tashard Choice stood out on one play where he stepped up to blunt a Justin Rogers’ blitz, giving Johnson time to get his pass away.

Romo returned and made the type of throw you expect from a multi-year vet. Romo floated left in the pocket, away from right –side pressure and spotted Miles Austin running a go route against Evan Oglesby up the left side. Romo threw the ball wide and short; Austin spotted the ball and stepped into the shallow corner of the end zone to make the touchdown catch. Austin and Romo showed great intuition on the improvised throw.

The team then broke for a kickoff coverage drill, with emphasis on the breaking up the wedge and herding the returner into a center-of-the-field scrum.

The team returned to 11-on-11s, practicing red zone plays. The offense started with the ball at the nine and moved the ball regularly, as Romo remained hot. He completed three of four in the drill, including one to Bennett that would have gone for a score were the action live.

Johnson worked with the second unit and was also successful, running a TD draw to Tashard Choice, finding Bennett on a short route towards the left sideline. On the next play, Johnson looked off the safeties and hit Patrick Crayton beneath the post for a score.

After another special-teams drill , the WRs, RBs, TEs and QBs went 7-on-7 against the linebackers and D-backs while the offensive and defensive lines went 1-on-1 in a pass rushing drill. Some motifs from that drill:

– Erik Walden keeps getting inside pressure by starting upfield and then exploding inside. He got Doug Free this time.

Flozell Adams remains the rock, stopping Demarcus Ware the three times they faced off.

Andre Gurode blunted very inside rusher he faced. He’s also ready to go.

Leonard Davis is solid in his pass protecting, though he again was bent backwards by a stiff two-handed Jay Ratliff punchout.

Marc Colombo grabbed a jersey on one play but also looked steady on his edge.

The team ended the day with an 11-on-11 drill that worked on plays in the mid-field area. Dallas ran several packages that lined up Martellus Bennett wide, though the ball usually went elsewhere. Bennett attracted a linebacker in coverage each time. He’s got the speed to beat linebackers.

Hurd again caught a couple of passes, both against Oglesby, who had a bad day at the office after several consecutive good ones.

The “oooooooh” play came when Dallas ran a flea-flicker, with Marion Barber taking a handoff and tossing back to Romo. Adam Jones bit on the fake and Patrick Crayton ran a deep out behind him for a huge gain.

Notes:

Your throat-tightening moment of the day came in the final drill when Gurode and Jay Ratliff got tangled up on a pass play. Both lay face down on the ground for a while, neither moving. Then, Ratliff got up and Gurode slowly got up. Ratliff walked without distress to the defensive group on the far sideline. Gurode flexed his knee a few times and then went on with the drill. He didn’t miss a single play.

Cool, but Hot — Cowboys Camp Report, July 28th

July 28, 2008

The famed Oxnard weather finally appeared Monday morning with overcast skies, cool ocean breezes and temperatures in the 70s. The atmosphere was perfect for practicing football and the Cowboys took advantage, drilling fundamentals, special teams and working a lot more 9-on-9 running drills and 11-on-11 open drills.

Fundamentals are a constant at every Wade Phillips practice. Today, for instance, the quarterbacks, tight ends, fullbacks and running backs spent a lot of time working on proper spacing on running plays. The staff rolled out long blue and yellow strips, marking off the camps on the line of scrimmage and the backfield units worked on running their plays through their designed gaps.

Across field, Hudson Houck worked his guys on running the same running plays against different defensive fronts, so his blockers knew precisely who they should block, regardless of the scheme they face.

In individual drills the tackles continued to practice beating spin moves. Erik Williams showed his group how to slide laterally and not lunge, which would give his opposing lineman a free shot into the backfield.

The teams then worked up to a 9-on-9 running drills. There were good plays by both offense and defense but the offense got the better of most plays. Their run blocking looks better than this point last year.

The team then alternated kickoff coverage and return drills between two 11-on-11 anything goes sessons. Observations from those sessions are below.

Notes:

Terence Newman missed the practice with a leg injury. Dave Campo told me after practice that he’s not sure whether Newman injured an ankle or a groin. Nor was he sure of the severity, leaving all questions for the training staff. I’m sure we’ll all learn more at Wade Phillips’ afternoon presser.

Mike Jenkins got the majority of the reps with the first team and Campo said his play made a quantum leap from yesterday’s session, which was Jenkins’ first. When asked why Adam Jones didn’t get the reps, Campo said simply that Jones has yet to be re-instated and he does not want to give him first team play until he’s sure the former Pacman can play.

Erik Walden is running with the second unit at weakside outside linebacker, behind Demarcus Ware. He showed a burst in yesterday’s session but was stonewalled by Flozell Adams and Doug Free in the 11-on-11s today. That’s typical. New players will have a good practice and follow it up with a so-so performance.

Jenkins’s time with the first unit gave Alan Ball a lot of reps at corner on the second unit, opposite Adam Jones.

Brad Johnson continues to look for Mike Jefferson.

Johnson also threw a lot of deep balls in the 11-on-11s. Don’t get carried away thinking he’s found the fountain of youth. One was broken up and another was picked.

Zack Knows – The defense faced a shotgun formation while in its base. Zach Thomas yelled “watch for the draw” and then stepped up to stop Marion Barber when the offense in fact ran the draw. It’s hard to fool the old vet.

The defense sees Terrell Owens everywhere. On one play Owens and Sam Hurd lined up in a slot formation, with T.O. inside. When he released upfield both corners on that side hesitated, wondering whether he should take the receiver. A safety rotated over the top. While all three DBs were tracking Owens, Felix Jones ran untouched around end to their side of the field. Owens laughed at the trio when he loped back to the huddle.

Tank Johnson continues to show an inside burst. We know Jay Ratliff can be what Bradie James terms a “hybrid” nose tackle, in that he can rush as well as stopping the run. If Johnson can make a contribution, and it appears he can, the Cowboys rush gets that much stronger.

Dallas continues to sprinkle zone blitzes into liberal doses of man-to-man coverage.

The defense blitzed their Mike inside backers a lot today and Bradie James and Bobby Carpenter broke through cleanly numerous times. The result was several Tony Romo incompletions.

T.O. has been Mr. Sizzle for the passing game thus far. Jason Witten is Mr. Reliable. Romo could hit him on deep ins and outs whenever he needed a play. He’s another veteran who could start the season this Sunday.

Bobby Carpenter got a lot of love from his position coaches today. He had his assignments down and was cursing when he mistimed a leap and therefore missed a sure interception.

Dallas practiced a play where the tight end , linemen and fullback all block to the strong side while the tailback takes a pitchout naked around the weakside end. The play broke for a huge gain when it was run in the 11-on-11s.

The Cowboys are not scaling back their running play list. They have more traps and toss plays than ever.

Evan Oglesby had two breakups at right corner.

It’s Alumni Week. First, Dave Campo and Hudson Houck return. Then, Duane Thomas and Calvin Hill stop by. Erik Williams pops in on a coaching fellowship and today Michael Irvin and Nate Newton are about, Irvin hosting for ESPN Radio in Dallas.

Note: I will not be covering this afternoon’s session, which will focus on special teams. The next report will come mid-day tomorrow.

T.O. Beats Everybody: Dallas Cowboys Camp Report: July 27th

July 27, 2008

Your line for the day: T.O. beats everybody.

Repeat after me: Terrell Owens beats everybody.

Owens put on a scintillating show for HBO and the crowd, schooling every defensive back who tried to cover him. Adam Jones was on the down end of the day’s signature play; in a one-on-one drill, Owens rotated into a matchup with Jones. Richard Bartel was under center but with the desired matchup up for the first time today, Tony Romo was waved into the spot. Jones locked on to Owens for five yards but T.O. exploded away when he added the second half to the out-an-up. He was five yards in the clear when he gathered in Romo’s deep pass.

It’s always a question when a receiver is running free whether the receiver is really that good or the secondary is suspect. I remember watching Terry Glenn do the same thing to Terence Newman and Anthony Henry back in ’05 and it was the set up to a big season.

The corners are good. They knock down bad passes and they take some good ones away too. Owens is simply playing at a different level at the moment.

Say it with me…

The day began with the setup for kickoff return and coverage units. On the far field Bruce Read set up his first and second units, which lined up as follows:

First unit:

  • First line: Pat Watkins, Bobby Carpenter, Justin Rogers, Martellus Bennett, Kevin Burnett
  • Wedge: Tony Curtis, Cory Proctor, Pat McQuistan, Anthony Spencer
  • Returners: Miles Austin, Sam Hurd

Second Unit:

  • First line: Tashard Choice, Darrell Robertson, Mark Bradford, Erik Walden, Dowayne Davis
  • Wedge: Julius Crosslin, Stephen Bowen, Jason Hatcher, Ronnie Cruz
  • Returners: Orlando Scandrick, Mike Jenkins

You probably wondering where Adam Jones, Felix Jones and Isaiah Stanback were?

Adam was on the short field, where a large group of returners was taking turns fielding punts, including Patrick Crayton, Terence Newman, Anthony Henry, Danny Amendola and Quincy Butler.

When the team broke into units the receivers worked on catching passes at their highest point on fade routes and making one-handed catches.

The quarterbacks and running backs started with the most basic of skills, perfecting the spacing on a handoff. Across the short field, Hudson Houck and his guys worked on combination blocking in the middle and on the edge of the line. Houck worked with the interior linemen and had coaching fellow Erik Williams working with the offensive tackles.

On the back field, Todd Grantham and his guys worked on proper footwork on stunts and on proper hand usage on rushes.

Across the defensive field Dave Campo ran the secondary through defending stack or “bunch” formations, stressing communication, switching and proper spacing when receivers criss-crossed.

The offense and defense then worked together, with the receivers going one-on-one against the corners and the offense going 9-on-9 against the defense. Following both produced a mild headache but here’s what I gleaned:

Adam Jones can blanket receivers. He nevertheless had a frustrating session as Sam Hurd, Patrick Crayton and T.O. caught passes in front of and behind him.

That’s because Crayton and Hurd are running very precise routes. Hurd has been very impressive the last couple of days at getting separation. He told me yesterday he’s gunning for a starting spot and he’ll definitely get more playing time if he keeps playing this way.

Same as it ever was with Anthony Henry. Guys seem ready to blow past him and eat up his cushion with ease, but he stays with his man up the field and makes up ground when the ball is in the air. He recovered and stole the ball from Hurd on a deep route early in the drill. Guys can get away from him on deep ins, but receivers have always been able to do this.

Isaiah Stanback can beat jams and get up the field but the two deep throws I saw in his direction were thrown out of bounds. Give him an incomplete for the day.

Meanwhile, the offensive line got the better of the defense on most of the running plays. Felix Jones and Tashard Choice made impressive gains in the session going inside and outside. Marc Colombo has showed some good drive on plays to the right, while the interior trio of Kosier, Gurode and Davis created lots of lanes for the backs.

Jones’ speed is as good as advertised, but I think the fans will be pleasantly surprised by Choice’s explosiveness. He’s decisive and is quick through the hole.

On the defensive side, Anthony Spencer stopped everything to his side. He started to get reps more late in the season for his run stopping ability and he looks like he’s still improving.

In the next session the team went back to kickoff returns, with John Garrett and Bruce Read splitting the duties. Garrett worked with the up men, drilling them on getting the proper drops back towards the wedge and then turning, finding their targets, engaging and maintaining blocks to the whistle.

Read meanwhile worked with the wedge players. After a few minutes both halves of the unit worked together. Here, Stanback and both Jones took turns as returners: one return pair consisted of Miles Austin and Felix Jones and a second had Adam Jones and Sam Hurd. It appears that Read may have an abundance of return men this year. Austin was effective last year after replacing Tyson Thompson and Dallas now has three other returners who may be as good or better.

The team again split up with the tight ends and receivers going 7-on-7 on one half of the field while the offensive and defensive linemen staged their 1-on-1 on the other half.

I spent most of my time watching the linemen but caught these tasty crumbs:

First, Dallas unveiled its two tailback set, with Felix Jones and Marion Barber lining up in the backfield together. Felix motioned into the flanker spot and ran a go route. He got wide open and Tony Romo found him.

Next, Martellus Bennett drew his first cheers of the camp, catching a deep seam route.

The lineman drill showed the relative skills of veterans and the rookies, as the kids could beat other kids but had a lot more trouble dealing with the vets.

Rookie Erik Walden showed an impressive burst on an inside counter move that left Doug Free grasping for air. He found no such room on his next rotation when he went after Flozell Adams, who was his steady self, keeping everybody, including Demarcus Ware, away from his quarterback.

Jay Ratliff is getting a lot of reps at both end and nose tackle. He zipped past Leonard Davis on one play but had trouble with Colombo when he tried going wide. Colombo handled all comers his way.

Tank Johnson shows some explosiveness, in the drills and in the 1-on-1s. He got the better of Andre Gurode on one play but was stacked up by Kyle Kosier on another. Kosier was another mister steady.

It’s one step back and one step up for James Marten, who is trying to make it as a guard. He was pushed deep into the pocket on one rotation but fought back on his next chances.

The practice ended with a full 11-on-11 drill, that I’ll term a stalemate. The offense made some plays while the defense stopped others. Newman blanketed Crayton out of the slot and picked off a pass. Felix Jones took a stretch play for a long gain up the left side, showing impressive speed around the corner.

A likely immaterial drill note:

Backup QB Brad Johnson is doing his best to give UFA Mike Jefferson a chance to make the squad. Johnson threw almost all of his downfield passes Jefferson’s way. The rookie make a couple of sliding catches but also dropped a few. He’s still a long shot from where I’m sitting.

Source: The Questions Are On Offense

July 2, 2008

I talked to a source who broke down the issues facing the team less than a month before training camp. Although the offense ranked 2nd overall in points, averaging just more than four touchdowns per game, I was told the organization sees its biggest questions on the offensive side of the ball. Some key points:

BSR: What are the biggest concerns on each side of the ball?

– The defense looks solid. I think the secondary looks strong, the linebackers look strong and the line looks solid. In the secondary, Terence Newman is solid, Adam Jones is solid. I think Anthony Henry didn’t look like he was 100% in the mini-camps, but he should be fine.

I think one of the rookie corners will be in the mix, though I’m not sure if it will be the one [Mike Jenkins] or the five [Orlando Scandrick]. One will be in the lineup this year and the other will be inactive. We won’t really know until they put on the pads at Oxnard.

I’ll add that I think the secondary will be improved with Dave Campo running that unit. They appeared to be better fundamentally. Nothing against the last coach [Todd Bowles] but I think Campo is an exceptional teacher and the guys know he’s got their backs.

BSR: So you don’t see an overhaul positon wise? I’m of the belief that they’ll stick with Ken Hamlin at the free and limit Roy Williams’ reps, getting him off the field when they’re in nickel and dime sets.

– Absolutely. Teams find guys like that. I also think the team is playing Hamlin right. Make him do it more than one year. If he plays well again, then you think about something long term.

BSR: What about the offensive side of the ball? Where are the weak links there?

– There are a few questions there. I think the team wants to get a better sense of its offensive line depth. They have Pat McQuistan going into his third year and Doug Free entering his second year and they moved James Marten to guard. They’ll give their starters some time but you may see the young guys going two and three quarters in some games so the team can get a really good look at them against top competition.

I also have some questions about backup quarterback. Brad Johnson is a smart guy but when he’s in there the ball goes sideways a lot. I think he’s here for 2008 but I’m sure the team has an eye out for another prospect beyond this year. 95% of the teams in this league are cooked if they lose their starting QB but if Tony Romo missed any significant time I think the Cowboys are an 8-8 team without him.

Without question, the biggest issue is at wide receiver. The team isn’t panicking yet, but I do think they have some worries about the #2 position. The offense stopped scoring touchdowns when Terrell Owens got hurt last year. Patrick Crayton is okay but he’s more of a #3 than a #2.

The team was looking for a young receiver before who could become a number one and could not find a fit.

I think they might need a little luck to fill that this year. It gets harder to fill holes once camp begins.

BSR: I know the Tom Landry Cowboys often filled holes with trades for veteran receivers. Lance Alworth, Billy Parks, guys like that. Might Dallas look at a veteran who’s dependable, in the way Keenan McCardell was for the Chargers a few years ago? And does this explain the Joe Horn rumors?

– My understanding is that Horn’s agent was given permission to shop him. The Cowboys have not called Atlanta.

BSR: So this is likely his agent trying to drum up interest?

– Yes, but if you asked me would I take Terry Glenn with nicks or Joe Horn, I’d take Glenn.

BSR: If the team can’t fill this need via trade, does this mean they’ll turn more to a guy like Felix Jones as a receiver?

– I think Jason Garrett is a guy who wants to open things up and get the ball down the field. I think one of the bigger questions is: how fast can Felix Jones learn what’s going on? He has to be a blocker, a catcher and a runner.

He’s got the potential to be a matchup problem, because he’s an explosive player, and because Dallas has T.O. and Jason Witten and Marion Barber, who can play every down, and they’re legitimate weapons, so defense can’t just lock in on him. But they will if he’s not clear on his responsibilities. It’s going to be interesting to track him in the one-on-one drills in camp, to see how he does against linebackers. Will they rag doll him, or will be be able to stay square and hold his ground?

If he doesn’t picks things up fast enough he’s Reggie Bush, a guy you draw up special plays for. And he has to be better than that. If all he can do is run special plays just for him, defenses will clue in very quickly that he’s in the game to get the ball.

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