Dallas Cowboys: Week 6 – Five Things

Oct 11, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys head coach

reacts on the sidelines during the second half against the New England Patriots at AT&T Stadium. The Patriots beat the Cowboys 30-6. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

The play calling has to change, become unpredictable, yet play within the system.

Let’s ask a rhetorical question: How often during the last few game have you predicted the play before it happened? First downs seemed to be really easy to guess, but there were times when it seemed everyone in the country knew what was coming next from the Cowboys offense.

Garrett has to find a way to change his patterns. This has been a knock on Garrett for years, the lack of ability to adjust soon enough or change play calling. This is where the brilliance of Romo has been able to mask a lot of issues.

While it isn’t as stark as it seems, the run or dump off on first down, run or short pass on second and then hook-route or wheel-route on third down is getting pretty easy to spot. What gets confusing is Dallas actually ranks toward the bottom of the league, but what’s been happening is that by formation it was getting very predictable. There wasn’t much variation to the play as it lined up.

Understanding that not many audibles or hot routes were called with Weeden under center, hopefully with Cassel playing they can open up the playbook a little more and actually move the ball well.

If a team chooses to run on first down a few times in a row, it might be a great time to set up for a play action pass, or a fade route over the pushed in defense. Some of this means the quarterback has to be able to read the defense pre-snap and I do believe Cassel does that better than Weeden.

Next: Find The One Thing