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Coach's Halftime Thoughts - Week 8


Dallas94Ware

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As always Ill update post game. 

1. byron jones at Sam two straight plays.l to open on defense. Interesting. Played a shallow backer style zone no less.

2. I liked the zone style on the opening third down after the fumble. The zones were funneled inwards with the safeties on the edges. Three defensive plays, three styles of defensive playcall not usually utilized by Marinelli. I like it.

3. Td run by Zeke was great execution by Tyron and Cooper. They got great push and turned their man out of position. Witten came across the formation and helped push the hole clear on the second level. Marinelli could have run that one in.

4. Why a 3 man rush on third and short? Because those tight ends are murderous in that situation and it was a good attempt to contain them. Still got a hit on Cousins, plus a late clobber and subsequent flag. Unfortunate.

5. La'el Collins is struggling in protection. Not jjst on the sack but all game so far. He has to do a better job getting his hands inside on his man. He needs to show he can re plant his feet after missing initial contact as well, or defenses will continue to line up wide on him and attack around the outside shoulder to keep him on his heels.

6. Fredrick is playing much better on the initial block off the snap than the last few weeks. Hes got his pop back off the setup and is no longer wasting motion following the snap. When he sets up that quickly he is very tough to penetrate against 

7. Dan Bailey, we miss you. Come back soon!

8. Over penetration vs the run is a real issue again by this line. I get the need for pass rush and penetration but you cant treat every snap like a 5 step drop. Wheres the situational awareness and proper read of the formation and the QB? Specifically a problem on the interior. 

9. I like the use of Swaim so far. He is blocking better as an in line run blocker but has also improved as a route runner. When he is on the field he needs to be accounted for now, or he has a chance to burn a defensive unit sleeping on him. He is helping pull coverage while playing a part in the run game. Rotating with Hannah and even running with Hannah and Witten, he is really becoming a contributor.

10. Scandrick has lost two men in his coverages so far. I cant tell if he misread the offense, misinterpreted his assignment or just blew the coverage but this has become a pattern week to week with him. He needs to play with better awareness in his zone.

11. Best Quiet contributor so far: Cooper. Really pushing his man off the ball and holding his assignments. Both Zeke scores were a result of him executing well. 

12. Too conservative on that final drive. Got to try to win, not try not to lose. Oh well.

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We were trying on the last drive. We were backed up though. The first play we got a holding penalty that backed us up even further and the result of the play was a sack. The weather is bad and you have 2nd and forever right in front of your own end zone with less than a minute to go. I'll take that conservative approach as long as we keep going for it on 4th and 1

 

 

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Just now, DaBoys said:

We were trying on the last drive. We were backed up though. The first play we got a holding penalty that backed us up even further and the result of the play was a sack. The weather is bad and you have 2nd and forever right in front of your own end zone with less than a minute to go.

 

 

The opening playcall of the drive was an inside run. I understand the desire for room to drop back, but there were better options there. And then on a 3rd and medium, another inside run - that was surrendering the attempt for a last minute score. 

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3 minutes ago, Dallas94Ware said:

The opening playcall of the drive was an inside run. I understand the desire for room to drop back, but there were better options there. And then on a 3rd and medium, another inside run - that was surrendering the attempt for a last minute score. 

We ran then went no huddle shotgun. We would have probably kept that up if not for the holding penalty/sack on our first hurry up.

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Just now, DaBoys said:

We ran then went no huddle shotgun. We would have probably kept that up if not for the holding penalty/sack on our first hurry up.

The penalty was very costly, agreed. I guess I was just looking for more aggressiveness, specifically a chance for Dez again after that earlier effort went wasted.

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11 minutes ago, Dallas94Ware said:

The penalty was very costly, agreed. I guess I was just looking for more aggressiveness, specifically a chance for Dez again after that earlier effort went wasted.

Well, Dez certainly agrees with you.

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Some post game additions:

I see Elliott being brought down on the first tackle attempt far more often than I am used to seeing. His second effort and hard finishes have come further and further between each other. He is making every use of the improved blocking, but I want to see him finish and slip tacklers again.

Good effort by Taco to stay with the play on his near interception. Usually guys at his position have a hard time staying with the ball when its in the air. Was good to see him making the hard working effort there.

Lawrence and Irving are a ferocious combination. Yes, the Washington line was makeshift, but you cant take away from the work these two guys put in. I particularly was impressed by Irving shooting through the gaps and hitting the inside shoulder of the Guard off the nose, breaking two blocks consistently. 

Beasley looks lost more often than not as of late. He is often overshadowed in the play design by a tough route combination that does not favor him, but instead, draws coverage and enables other targets to find space. Not a terrible thing by any means, but in one play, I saw Beasley run a crossing corner off a double move. You dont see this route often, because it requires crossing into one zone and then breaking out high and to the corner of another zone - typically run by athletic tight ends and not small, shifty little slot receivers. That route is not a favorable design for him. Im questioning the logic there.

Very good game by Dak, though the numbers wont show it. He took good care of the football and made good reads. The ball was out on time and delivered in safe spots. While it wont earn him any MVP consideration, performances like that in bad weather when your D plays fairly well and your ground game is moving the chains is exactly what will win playoff games.

I get the impression Dez has reason to be upset, if he was. He was winning at the line and play designs consistently left him isolated, but as a second option. And this man is the kind of target who can fight for yardage or maul over a deep zone for a big throw and catch up the field - yet we often see this seemingly buried on the playcall chart. I get that it isnt safe play, and goes against what has been working so well, but the man can be a beast and deserves the chance to be this teams big play guy. Otherwise, why did we pay him like he was going to be such?

Woods needs to stop pursuit earlier on his tackle attempts and square up with the ball carrier. He is a hard nosed tackler who lets his feet get him too far off angle. Square up and drive at the ball. 

Marinelli opened the game running some different looks on D - Byron at Sam, Hitchens getting a couple looks at the Will, Crawford got a snap at the nose, etc. Then he fell into the same predictable rhythm that we expect. We are probably the only D in the league who shifts our alignments, positioning and play design that rarely. While it worked today, theres a reason most units in the NFL try to stay unpredictable and why this unit is continually beaten by those studyhard, quick diagnosing signal callers -- predictability kills.

Good win overall though. 

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Some more takeaways here after watching some key plays -

That blocked field goal, yeah, good effort by Tyrone Crawford, but it was not really a result of him so much as it was a result of a really, really bad snap. Crawford did not penetrate any more than usual, and kind of benefitted from a bad trajectory off the foot caused by an adjustment the kicker had to make after a bad snap and tough hold.

I do not believe that I keep reading gameballs for Zeke. Are people basing this off of a stat line? Because stats can lie or misrepresent the whole story. This was no way one of Zekes better games. A 195 pound freaking backup scrub special teams at best quality safety single leg tackles Zeke in open space, and this is a good game for him? Where the hell is that power, speed and elusiveness? How can the blocking be as good as it was yesterday and Zekes longest run be for a measely 14 yards? He needs to take at least 3 of those to the house, or for at least 15 more yards or so at the very very least, based on the blocking. Isolated one on one with a poor safety or a poorly angled linebackef, and he goes DOWN? What the hell man.

Cooper does not push his man as consistently in the run game as Leary did - but Cooper uses his hands and feet far better in protection than Leary ever did. At least, this was the case yesterday.

I get the feeling the team just wanted to try and put the ball in Williams' hands and see if he could do something, after going essentially catchless the last 2 games. Both play designs were basically handoffs in a sense. And in typical Williams fashion, he "caught" the ball with his body and did quite an average job getting an average gain off the play design and blocking. I wonder if his blocking ability, rarely used anyway, is worth keeping the team out of the market for a quality outside receiver opposite Dez. Someone who can make more than 1 play a season.

I kept rewatching the route Switzer ran on his catch. I cannot tell if it was meant to be a z, an in/out option, a double move to the sideline, or what. Sloppy as hell. Cant believe Dak threw it to him. Guess whatever the route was, Switzer got to the spot of the field he was supposed to be at, at the time he was supposed to be there.

How Beasley can go from fixation of the playcalling to an irrelevant cog of the offense is beyond me. Even when the play designs call for him to run routes that clearly do not favor his abilities or size, he finds a way to separate. But often times, even when breaking open, it is tough to find cause to throw that way - really bad matchups for him based on where his routes take him. Has Linehan decided to use him solely as a decoy? Because if so, it isnt working - its not exactly like Dez is on a tear out there with Beas diverting coverages. And neither is Williams or Witten.

 

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I liked the plays we ran to T-Will to keep him involved and the defense honest, but man, that slant he caught over the middle on the Washington side of the field... you cannot tell me that 2013 or 2014 Williams wouldn't have housed that. I think he's clearly regressed, speed-wise at the very least. Maybe he never recovered from that sprained ankle Week 1.

Beasley's lack of utilization has disappointed me to this point, but it might be more of a reflection of his own limitations than the playcalling. 2016 is looking like it might've been a career year for him. At least Switzer will get a chance to be useful on offense if Beas is forced to miss time with a concussion.

Irving is such a freak. 5 sacks, 3 pass break ups, 2 tackles for loss and a forced fumble in 3 games- roughly 4 game or drive changing plays per game since returning, not even counting when he takes out blockers to set up plays for someone else. You don't see many guys who can just one arm dudes to the ground on stunts like he can.

Keep up the good work, D94W.

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54 minutes ago, matt79511 said:

I liked the plays we ran to T-Will to keep him involved and the defense honest, but man, that slant he caught over the middle on the Washington side of the field... you cannot tell me that 2013 or 2014 Williams wouldn't have housed that. I think he's clearly regressed, speed-wise at the very least. Maybe he never recovered from that sprained ankle Week 1.

Beasley's lack of utilization has disappointed me to this point, but it might be more of a reflection of his own limitations than the playcalling. 2016 is looking like it might've been a career year for him. At least Switzer will get a chance to be useful on offense if Beas is forced to miss time with a concussion.

Irving is such a freak. 5 sacks, 3 pass break ups, 2 tackles for loss and a forced fumble in 3 games- roughly 4 game or drive changing plays per game since returning, not even counting when he takes out blockers to set up plays for someone else. You don't see many guys who can just one arm dudes to the ground on stunts like he can.

Keep up the good work, D94W.

Williams was never really a straight line speedster, but more a good physical runner who could use his body to separate. He hasnt done that in recent years, heck, not since his rookie season have I seen him do it consistently. But i would agree he should have taken that slant much further up field. He seemed very low effort and barely tried to dodge or weave at all, and never seemed to hit that last gear either. For a fourth round pick, good find, but still, he needs to break that one or at least try to.

I would love to see Switzer get more action. You dont pick a guy at that spot to return kicks, and if you do, you should be ashamed of yourself. Kid needs to be on the field. And while his route was terrible on that catch, it isnt like our other receivers are on a tear. Plug him in and see what he can do with the ball in his hands.

Glad you enjoy reading

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