Running Game

[Redstar2014]

I hope JG does not revert back to old JG as the play calling last Sunday vs DET looked like old JG. 2nd down toss to Witten and 3rd down pass??? Why?? We have best RB and why not let Murray pound it in! As they finally did on 4th down. That series could have cost us the game! They must stick to what have gotten them to 13-4 this year and they will have a very good chance to win not only this week but also SB! Go Cowboys!!


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[Romotodez]

Welcome Red Star


I actually liked the shuttle pass to Wit. It worked earlier in the yr for a TD. I have to correct you on the 3 rd down play because Murray did run it for 0 yards, I believe.

The conditions this game may be for us to run it 35 times.

[Jarntt]

I didn't want to nitpick on that play, but here is what I hated about it (from memory, so don't kill me if I have something wrong). Romo is obviously not a mobile QB. On the snap he starts moving left like he is going to run or something and then shovels it back right to Witten like a misdirection. If RGIII is our QB, maybe that makes sense, but why would we run it like that? That play works for us if the defense is thinking pass only like the first time and the LBs are in coverage and the DL is thinking pass rush. Very poor way to run a play that I thought was actually a smart idea.

[Jarntt]

In general I totally agree we should not abandon the run in the red zone, especially at or near the goal line.

[Redstar2014]

we need to run the ball the next 2 games if we want to move on to SB. If our O line plays well then I like our chances. The 4 losses this year is when the O line got dominated. We should do well against GB and I like our chances this Sunday to advance. Gonna be tough but I like our chances. Go Cowboys!

[PDay8810]

and then another opinion found in ESPN Insider...


"There will be plenty of talk about running back DeMarco Murray before the playoff game between Green Bay and Dallas on Sunday. He certainly seems like the Cowboys' most important weapon after they gave him 392 carries during the regular season, and he seems primed for a big game against a below-average Packers run defense. But it's very unlikely that Murray will win this game for Dallas with a big performance. No matter how many times the Cowboys give Murray the ball, the modern NFL is still a passing league. And that means winning this game will fall squarely on Tony Romo's shoulders.

This year's Cowboys team is a great example of why even when the best running back in the league is on the field, the passing game is always going to be more efficient and a bigger part of any offensive success. As good as Murray was this season, the Cowboys gained more yardage and had more success when they put the ball in Romo's hands.

Romo pass plays, including sacks, gained an average of 7.4 yards. Even if we take out fourth-quarter plays so that we don't penalize Murray for being used to run out the clock, we find that Murray runs gained an average of 4.9 yards. The difference was particularly gigantic on first downs. Romo passes on first downs gained an average of 9.2 yards, and 57 percent of them
gained at least 45 percent of the yards needed for a new set of downs (FBO's definition of a successful play); on Murray runs, even looking at just the first three quarters, those numbers were 5.0 yards and 42 percent.

To be blunt, the quality of the Cowboys' running game made absolutely no difference between their wins and losses this season (when the Dallas running backs combined to gain at least 5.0 yards per carry, the Cowboys went 5-3; when the running backs gained less than 5.0 yards per carry, the Cowboys went 8-1).

Romo, however, makes all the difference for Dallas.

When Romo had a QBR of at least 60, the Cowboys went 12-0. When Romo had a QBR of less than 60, the Cowboys went 1-3, with their only win coming last week against Detroit. (They were 0-1, of course, with Brandon Weeden under center.)

But wait, you might wonder, isn't Murray important against a Packers defense that plays the pass better than the run? Looking at Football Outsiders' DVOA ratings, Green Bay's defense ranked 11th against the pass but 24th against the run.

Play-action will be key against Green Bay.

Well, it turns out that similar teams in the playoffs do just fine. We went back and looked at teams that, like the Packers, ranked in the bottom 10 of Football Outsiders' DVOA ratings for run defense but were above-average in pass defense. There have been 13 of these teams over the last decade, including this year's Bengals and Packers squads. They went a combined 15-9 in the playoffs, including three Super Bowl champions: the 2006 Colts, 2009 Saints and 2012 Ravens. And when these teams lost, they generally lost because their own quarterbacks flopped, not because they were trampled by the opposing running backs. (To give a few examples: the infamous Jake Delhomme five-pick implosion in 2008, a three-pick special from Matt Cassel in 2010 and one of Andy Dalton's legendary national television face-plants in 2012.)

Of course, the Cowboys will still need Murray to set up the play-action game by drawing up the Packers defenders. The issue is that the Cowboys have used play-action less than almost any other team in the NFL for years. This season, they went to a run-heavy offensive scheme and still didn't use play-action to take advantage of opposing defenses stacking up to stop Murray.

For three straight seasons, from 2011 through 2013, the Cowboys ranked 30th or lower in frequency of play-action passes. This year, they moved all the way up ... to 28th, using play-action on 16.5 percent of pass plays according to ESPN Stats & Information. (Green Bay, by comparison, uses play-action on 24 percent of pass plays, which ranks eighth in the NFL.)

Are the Cowboys successful when they use play-action? Of course they are; they have Dez Bryant out there running against a bunch of defenses that are keyed to stop Murray. This season, the Cowboys averaged 9.4 yards per play with a play fake (including sacks and scrambles), which ranked fourth in the NFL. (Again, for comparison purposes, the Packers averaged 8.9 yards per play with a play fake, which ranked sixth. And the Packers' defense allows 7.0 yards per play, slightly better than the NFL average of 7.4.)

The good news for Dallas fans is that the Cowboys might go against their usual strategies and bring on the play fakes Sunday. When the Cowboys and Packers played in Week 15 of 2013 at AT&T Stadium, Romo used play-action more than twice as often as usual. He went 5-of-7 for 93 yards on play-action in the first half. Then the Packers adjusted, and Romo completed just 2-of-6 play-action passes for seven yards in the second half. Green Bay won 37-36.

If the Cowboys can have the kind of success they had with play-action passes in the first half of last year's game, they can go into Lambeau Field and still walk away victorious. The most important handoffs to Murray on Sunday will be the ones that aren't actually real handoffs at all"


I tend to side with the thought you gotta throw the ball around the yard. I think the run game may show itself in the second half and hopefully with a lead

[Redstar2014]

very informative and observant post. Play actions works better with a established run game. I agree it is a passing league and Romo with have to be "special" for us to win this game along with Murray dominating. I just hope they do not abandon the running game and get caught up with GB's passing attack and try to match with Rodgers. Just don't get cute like passing on obvious running plays when we can give the rock to Murray to pound on short yardages. Gonna be a great game and I hope the Boys will #FinishtheFight!!

[PDay8810]

very informative and observant post. Play actions works better with a established run game. I agree it is a passing league and Romo with have to be "special" for us to win this game along with Murray dominating. I just hope they do not abandon the running game and get caught up with GB's passing attack and try to match with Rodgers. Just don't get cute like passing on obvious running plays when we can give the rock to Murray to pound on short yardages. Gonna be a great game and I hope the Boys will #FinishtheFight!!

I read this year GB is averaging 27 point per game in the first half at home....which explains why their 8-0.

[Redstar2014]

The Boys Defense allowed avg of 11 points on the road in the 1st half, thus 8-0 on road! gonna be a very interesting game!

[Romotodez]

Those DVOAs and all that remind me of sabermetrics in baseball. These PFF people and stat gurus can come up with about anything these days. Some of which is telling and other things not so much. They dont know how Tyron Smith is going to match up with Clay Matthews. They dont know when Parnell will forget the snap count. Im not saying its all BS but too many variables go into each and every play play such as weather, down and distance, injuries, number of defenders in the so called box, etc..

[Jarntt]

These "numbers" discussions always seem to be written to prove an argument that the writer already had. Average yards per play will always be higher for passing. His stats above would be like listing our record when Murray runs for 130 yards. I didn't look it up, but I bet it's good. Watching this team I've learned when the other team knows we are going to pass bad things almost always happen. This is the one game I suspect that if we run it well and get off to a good start that Murray could have a big day. We knew Det and if it happens Sea matchups wouldn't allow us to run the ball all day. My guess is the weather this weekend slows things down and hurts our running a little more than we think unless we overpower them at the line. Some of the cut back type runs Murray is so good at because of his vision are going to be a little tougher with the cold. The more we run successfully the better we will do. Last thing I want to do is give more possessions to Rodgers.

I agree that PAP should be there for us if we don't abandon the run. That and screens to Dunbar, Murray and Harris would be on my agenda and all require running first to work best. I was happy to see the screen to Harris after not seeing it for so long. It always seems to work for us. I'd also expect some more clutch catches by Beasley and Witten. If we combine all of this with making sure Dez stays involved I think we all could be happy and the best way to keep Dez involved is to run and run successfully and make the safeties be aware of it. We need those one on one matchups. Simple fact to me is that if we have one of those games when Romo is on and the running game is working, our Offense isn't going to be the problem.

I wonder who feels the cold more today. Romo and his back, Rodgers and his calf, Murray and his hand or just guys that don't like the cold. Hopefully our "Big uglies" are out there with no long sleeves and just do their thing. I know all the GB fans are high on their defense against the run with Matthews in the middle, but I hope they do that. Anything to get him out of prime pass rush position is already good for us. Heck, if he is in the middle it could open up the passing game just the same as a great running game.

[PDay8810]

"That and screens to Dunbar, Murray and Harris would be on my agenda and all require running first to work best"

could not agree more and said so in the other thread. Screens both ways will be huge this week.

"I wonder who feels the cold more today. Romo and his back, Rodgers and his calf, Murray and his hand or just guys that don't like the cold"

this does seem a real good question as it relates to who wins

[Jarntt]

"That and screens to Dunbar, Murray and Harris would be on my agenda and all require running first to work best"

could not agree more and said so in the other thread. Screens both ways will be huge this week.

"I wonder who feels the cold more today. Romo and his back, Rodgers and his calf, Murray and his hand or just guys that don't like the cold"

this does seem a real good question as it relates to who wins

I know you remember because you are a Harris guy, but its like the team forgot how we used to run that screen to him all the time and how it worked out well for us. I get why he is buried a little on the depth chart and have no problem with him being #4, but I think finding one or two times a game where we can get the ball to him on that play can help us. Not that that is all he can do, but It's kind of been his niche' with us and he runs it well.

[Romotodez]

I like the one that Romo throws to Harris where he leads him about a yard and Harris has his momentum going forward. I use to think it was a **** pass but I think its designed that way.

[PDay8810]

Yes Sir....Harris is a gamer. I'd have no problem finding him a larger role in these playoffs

[Redstar2014]

Keep pounding Murray!! We got this!!


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