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2008-2009 Offseason: Arizona Beats Carolina In
Semi-Final, While The Cowboys Ponder Woulda', Coulda', Shoulda'
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- January 10,
2009 At
11:30 PM EST
- By
Eric M. Scharf
Arizona’s playoff win, after such an underwhelming regular season
record, was a shock for most but not all. While most of the news
outlets and prognosticators will be talking about how well the
Cardinals’ defense played (intercepting Jake Delhomme 5 times,
completely shutting out Steve Smith and the Panthers’ vaunted
running attack) . . . I will remain exclusively focused on the Cardinals’
offense, until it proves to be the weak link or they make a
miraculous push all the way towards a Super Bowl win in Tampa.
It took a broken pinky, a blocked punt, and a recovery in the end
zone for a touchdown in overtime for these Arizona Cardinals to beat
the Dallas Cowboys early in the regular season. Arizona’s offensive
personnel group is very similar to that of the Cowboys.
The Cardinals have a “pretty good” QB in Kurt Warner. They also have
two star wide receivers in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, with
a serviceable third receiver in Steve Breaston.
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- They have no tight
end “presence,” no matter which way you look at it. The Cardinals
have a 3-headed attack at running back with, in order of usage, Tim
Hightower, Edgerrin James, and J.J. Arrington. When this trio is
healthy, they are not bad, and when they are all committed to their
coach’s game plan, they are even better.
Surrounding this group of warm climate wonders is an offensive line
that has managed to get it together just in the nick of playoff
time. They are not great at anything in particular, but they are
good enough, lately, to give their QB the few seconds he needs to
pick apart a defense, as well as just enough daylight for their
backs to get some of that crunch time yardage.
Coaching this offensive rock is none other than former Cowboys’ Wide
Receivers Coach / Passing Game Coordinator, and current Offensive
Coordinator and Bill Parcells disciple, Todd Haley. His style
involves a full-and-detailed game plan, with up-close-and-personal
follow-ups to make certain the players, for which he is responsible,
understand where they are succeeding and where they are failing. It
is worth noting that Haley did not begin calling the plays until
later in the regular season.
The Cowboys have a pretty good QB, too, in Tony Romo. Time will tell
if the talented Romo has already hit the ceiling of Texas Stadium,
or if he still has room to grow into the QB all Dallas fans want to
see; one who firmly understands the difference between “being able
to make the play” and “knowing when to make the play.”
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- The Cowboys
also have two star wide receivers in Terrell Owens and Roy Williams,
with a serviceable third receiver in Patrick Crayton (even with his
few incredibly untimely blown catches). Jason Witten, the Cowboys
All-Star tight end certainly is a core, if not the core, part of the
Cowboys’ offense. They also have a 3-headed running attack of their
own with starter Marion “The Barbarian” Barber, change-of-pace
speedster, Felix “The Cat” Jones, and the well-rounded surprise of
2008, Tashard Choice.
Surrounding this group of walking wounded warriors is an offensive
line that can perform when it decides it wants to perform. Romo will
always make an o-line look more solid than is true, and Barber
generally requires narrower running lanes than your standard running
back.
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- What is true about the o-line, in general, is that a complete
lack of reliable depth allows it to collapse on Romo like a house of
cards made from some seriously heavy stone. Kyle Kosier has had to endure replacement
attempts by the Cowboys ever since his arrival at Valley Ranch, and,
yet, as soon as he goes down with a second foot injury, the o-line
goes into a tailspin.
Coaching this sloppy offensive circus is former Cowboys’ back-up QB
and current Offensive Coordinator, Jason Garrett, who is widely
regarded in NFL circles as one of the brightest young football minds
in coaching today. Garrett’s style involves a full-and-detailed game
plan with the expectation that players study his playbook, listen to
his sage advice, and display a willingness to transform that
practice field education into game day success.
When (1) healthy, (2) dedicated to the playbook, and (3) willing to
listen to sound coaching, the Cowboys’ offense should logically
present a nice variety of dream scenarios for any offensive
coordinator with such weapons available to him. To be clear, any
offense that, with divine intervention, can adhere to those basic
steps should be able to achieve success, but any offense with
weapons like the Cowboys’ possess is expected to achieve better
success than most.
None-the-less, the Cardinals, this evening, played without Boldin,
without a legitimate tight end, and with a disgruntled, aging, and
slowing Edgerrin James. Even though the Panthers’ offensive problems
created a short field for some of the Cardinals’ scoring drives,
they are no slouches on Carolina’s defense, and the Panthers simply
could not stop an offensive unit minus one of its biggest
playmakers.
The Cowboys, apparently, could not seem to accomplish a similar task
for most of the season, even with Roy “The Decoy” Williams running
GO-routes to stretch opposing defenses. So, the Cardinals can have a
successful passing game, minus one of the star playmakers, and minus
a fabulous tight end (like the Cowboys have in Witten)?
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- And, the
Cowboys, for at least the first 4-5 games of the season could not
deliver that kind of dominance with T.O., Witten, Crayton, and
super-fast-with-soft-hands Felix Jones (the underrated rookie
running back from the Arkansas Razorbacks who reminds of Herschel in
the slot)?
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- And, then, when Roy Williams arrives (albeit with limited
playbook study but, still, with the ability to diminish the
double-and-triple coverage on T.O.), Felix gets injured, and, yet,
the Cowboys still cannot get anything going? For clarity, Felix was
being used sparingly in the games he played this season.
Anyone will tell you that proper resource management is the
foundation upon which consistency and, then, success is built. If
your resource management decisions have been adversely affected by
injuries, then, your job, as a coach, will be harder but not
impossible.
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- You adjust the playbook, for simpler-but-still-potent
formations and routes, in order to best utilize the resources still
available. Your Field General, the QB, is in a similar situation,
having to adjust his timing on his read progressions, his passes,
and his target areas (if he is dealing with a rhythm passing
attack). He may also break down a play into simpler language in the
huddle for back-ups who have suddenly been called to duty.
Back-up players rarely are as prepared to fill in as the injured /
poorly performing starters they are asked to replace. There is only
so much practice time for everyone, and the back-ups need to be
vigilant with the playbook and ever-watchful of the starters from
the sidelines, picking up important visual queues (such as stance,
blocking technique, keeping your shoulders square against defenders,
knowing when to chip-and-release out into the flat, and breaking off
your route to help your QB after his o-line pocket collapses).
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- Both
Coach and QB want complete comfort for their 2nd and 3rd stringers
so that they can simply focus on fulfilling their assignments and
nothing more.
There are an equal number of moving parts for both the Offensive
Coordinator and the QB, with or without injuries. You also cannot
forget that the Center is responsible for specific o-line
assignments as well. One bad assignment or missed blitz pick-up, and
the opposing defense could make your QB could be as flat as one of
the pancakes for which your o-line is supposed to be known. Thus, it
should come as no surprise that Peyton Manning and Jeff Saturday, QB
and Center of the Colts, are such chums.
So, like everyone else with a “vested interest” in America’s Team, I
have established that the Cowboys’ offense cannot function
consistently and successfully without proper resource management and
instruction by Jason Garrett. Tony Romo, the receivers, and the
running backs cannot be at their best without Andre Gurode, the
Center, nor Kyle Kosier, who, evidently, shared the task of handing
out the correct assignments to their o-line mates.
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- This assumes that
all of the other players understand their assignments and know
exactly what to do. This further speculates that neither of the
other units, defense and special teams, will hang the offense out to
dry through poor performances.
Such perfection does not quite exist on a regular basis, especially
in the NFL (just ask the Patriots), but the burning questions I keep
asking should not be so impossibly vexing: Who is responsible for
the poor performance of the Cowboys’ offense? Who is not providing
proper instruction? Who is not listening to the instruction being
provided? Who is not commanding respect from a position of
authority, both on and off the field? Who is not earning their hefty
paycheck?
No matter what walk of life, no matter what business or industry,
the hardest thing to get collaborators to do is to acknowledge there
is a problem or acknowledge they need help, even privately. The
incredible tooth-pulling process that consumes story-crazy media
members, perplexed football fans (including those who cannot stand
the Cowboys), and even some gag-ordered players, towards pinpointing
the source of the problem, makes the eventual solution seem like a
piece of cake in comparison.
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- I am looking forward to hearing from
Jerry on when the Cowboys will stop pondering woulda’, coulda’,
shoulda’, and start serving that cake.
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