Kiffin Report: Halftime Adjustments Burn Cowboys' Blitz
Surely, one of the most bizarre games in the storied histories of both the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers occurred on Sunday - with what could be lasting effects on both sides. One team is rushing to inexplicably work its way back to its division title thanks to that miracle and the foot of Ravens kicker Justin Tucker. The other team now has its back squarely against the wall and observers are sifting through names to see who Vegas might place as the favorite to become its next head coach in the next month.
This is a game, from a Dallas standpoint, that shows us that a coaching staff must all be on the same page and enjoy a global view of the best way to win a game. This is why I think Jason Garrett committed the unpardonable sin by allowing his offense to play recklessly with the clock and expose his defense to 5 drives in the 2nd half - of which Green Bay found 34 points. For the offense to abandon the run - especially leaving it up to the QB to decide - and trot the defense out again after playing as well as they possibly could in the first half just seems to demonstrate that one hand is seldom aware of the other hand. Then, the defense, after doing a nice job for most of the game kept allowing Matt Flynn and Andrew Quarless to put on a 3rd Down clinic against a Cowboys blitz that has not been effective all year.
As we discussed last week, thanks to their owner and general manager diagnosing that he would want to blitz more, the Cowboys blitzed more early on. And although there are a number of other issues to the game, it might be interesting to examine how poorly that went.
First, a reminder of my conclusion from last week:
And when we look at the bad things that happen when the Cowboys do decide to blitz, what are those? Well, it starts with bringing 5 or 6 at the QB, which shows us that there is generally only one possible coverage behind that, which is a 1-deep, man under. And who is playing the man to man underneath? Jeff Heath, Cam Lawrence, and even George Selvie. That is why the Cowboys were pulled down on Sunday repeatedly by a guy named Andrew Quarless, who before Sunday was most famous for breaking Joe Paterno's leg back when he was at Penn State.
Here is the stat from BEFORE Sunday when the Cowboys blitz:
So, on Sunday, the Cowboys tried 10 blitzes. One resulted in a sack by Orlando Scandrick in the 1st drive of the game although another was taken 40 yards by James Jones on a slant. All told, against 10 blitzes, the Packers went 5-8 for 121 yards for a QB Rating of 106.25. In addition, there was 1 sack and another pass interference call on Brandon Carr for 31 yards. And most damaging, when the Cowboys could not get off the field, they assisted the Packers in moving the chains on simple passes from Flynn to Quarless over and over again to beat the blitz.
Let's look at them which all occurred in the 2nd half and could easily be placed under the heading of half-time adjustments to help Flynn put a drive or five together:
Here is 3rd and 8 in the 3rd Quarter and you can see that the Cowboys blitz 5 with the idea that George Selvie should handle Quarless 1on 1. Quarless crosses his face with ease and Flynn has to fit a short but accurate pass on the money because Selvie does a pretty solid job of contesting it. 22 yard gain and 1st down on the skinny slant.
Here is a 3rd and 6 in the 4th Quarter. Cowboys blitz 5 again and Quarless basically runs another slant against Jeff Heath for 14 yards as Flynn - not know for his arm strength is completing most of his damaging passes between the hash marks right in front of him. Quick throws don't allow the blitz time to get home and the pass is again on Quarless in a hurry.
And then this one, which the Cowboys brought 6 and required both RBs to sort the blitz carefully to give Flynn time. This is the 1st play after the Sam Shields interception so it is highly possible the Cowbys are thinking Eddie Lacy run here on 1st and 10, but instead, another 18 yards to Quarless.
6 receptions for Quarless on 6 targets. They did miss on the 2-point conversion to him against Jeff Heath, but otherwise, the TE who is only on the field because Jermichael Finley was injured was able to have quite a day as the solution to the Cowboys blitz.
WEEK 15 Versus Green Bay
First, a reminder of what a splash play is:
SPLASHES VS Green Bay
A very nice day for Sterling Moore. Everytime he gets a chance in the NFL, he makes plays. It really makes me wonder why he gets cut so often. I have always enjoyed his work and he continues to get it done now that the Cowboys have called him back again and he stayed ready. Good for him.
2013 SEASON TOTALS
Here are the final results for 2011 and here are the final results for 2012.
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Pass Rush/Blitzing REPORT
This segment of the defensive study is simply to find out how well the Cowboys are doing at getting pressure on the opposing QB. We have spent a good part of the offseason talking about Monte Kiffin's philosophy that, like so many of the great 4-3 schemes, is based on using blitz as a weapon, not a necessity. If you use the blitz as an ambush weapon that is always threatened but only used at the perfect times, you can often get free runs at the QB. If, on the other hand, you must use the blitz because your normal pressure is not getting it done, then the offense usually is waiting for you and prepared - so even 6 rushers don't accomplish much.
EXPLOSIVE PLAYS ALLOWED
SACKS AND INTERCEPTIONS
PASSING CHART
Red (Incomplete), Black (Interception), Blue (Complete), and Yellow (Touchdown)
This spray chart for Matt Flynn reveals an old QB truth about dealing with 2-Deep and 1-Deep. Versus 2 deep, look for opportunities behind the linebackers and in front of the safeties between the numbers. But, against a single-high safety, the chances are outside the numbers. And the Green Bay throw chart will reveal that the Cowboys played a lot of single high - not that Green Bay connected on many of those throws.
Pass Rushers Against Green Bay Packers - 41 pass rush/blitz situations: