Explosives - The Cowboys Achilles Heel

When examining a defense and its ability to win games - rather than lose them, one must always keep track of the NFL statistic known as the "explosive".

The explosive is defined in NFL circles as a play of over 20 yards. Over the years, it can also be listed as "runs over 10 yards and passes over 20 yards", but I believe in recent years it has been adjusted by many free thinkers in the game as simply "any plays over 20 yards". These plays are absolute killers and the Cowboys were victims of explosives over and over in 2010.

As you can expect, the teams that are near the bottom of the league each year in explosives surrendered by their defense generally are watching the playoffs on television. This was mostly true in 2010, however, the anomaly of all anomalies was the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks made the playoffs at 7-9 and even more shockingly won a game. But, I think it is fair to suggest that we should not base too many success formulas on the 2010 Seattle Seahawks. Many years could pass before another 7-9 team makes the playoffs and takes down the defending Super Bowl Champions.

The following chart will show the bottom 5 teams in the league, the Cowboys, the Browns (Rob Ryan's last stop), the NFL Average, and then the #1 team for surrendering the fewest explosive plays in 2010:

Rank	Team	Explosives
32	Denver	84
31	Seattle	76
30	Arizona	74
29	Jacksonville	72
28	Washington	70
27	Dallas	69
20	Cleveland	59
	NFL Average	59
1	Pittsburgh	36

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Those numbers demonstrate the Cowboys achilles heel. Heck, in one game alone, Eli Manning and the Giants carved the Cowboys up for 10 plays of 20 yards or more. 10! And the Steelers conceded just 36 all season long. And before you start telling me the Cowboys need better Cornerbacks (Sign Nmandi, Sign Nmandi!), just note that the Steelers are perhaps the closest thing the NFL has to a dynasty right now as they were a few plays from winning their 3rd Super Bowl in 6 seasons a few months back. And who were their 3 Corners last season? Bryant McFadden, William Gay, and Ike Taylor. You could make the case that corner is the weakest element of that Steelers defense. And yet they allow the fewest explosives and the fewest points time after time.

Let's do the same chart again, but just with pass explosives in 2010:

Rank	Team	Explosives
32	Denver	62
31	Seattle	60
30	Jacksonville	58
29	Dallas	57
28	Washington	57
19	Cleveland	49
	NFL Average	48
1	Pittsburgh	35

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If you are wondering how it broke down under the two coaches, as the Cowboys were considerate enough to divide their season into two equal parts under their two coaches; 8 games under Wade Phillips (37 explosives conceded - that is right, in 8 games, the Cowboys gave up more explosive plays than the Steelers did in 16) and 8 games under Jason Garrett/Paul Pasqualoni (32 explosives conceded).

If you factor in the final 3 games of the Wade Phillips Era - which many believe started when Tony Romo was injured against the Giants and continued until the final gun in Green Bay (and had the Jacksonville game in between) - where the Cowboys conceded 10 explosives against the Giants, 7 more against Jacksonville, and 5 more against Green Bay for a total of 22 explosives conceded in about 10 Quarters of football, then you see why some of us accuse a great deal of the Cowboys roster giving less than a full effort at the very end. Those 3 games constitute easily the worst stretch of defensive football all year long. And it isn't really even close. Were they trying to get their coach fired? Well, let's put it this way - they were certainly not playing to save him.

When you allow 436 points in a season, it should be quite clear what is the major issue here. The previous franchise record for points conceded in a season was 405 (in 2004). The NFL Average for a Playoff team in 2010 was 312 points against. So, somehow, this figure claims the Cowboys were allowing 124 points beyond playoff contention, or nearly 8 points per game.

To slow that down, you must keep explosives down. Way down. And to do that, 7 yard slants cannot turn into 60 yards. A WR screen behind the line of scrimmage cannot go for 32. And of course, DeSean Jackson cannot catch 60 yard passes on the 1st play from scrimmage because you have secondary confusion.

And I suppose all of this reminds me why there are a number of things that need to happen in this offseason; A full chance for Rob Ryan to install and teach his defense, a fair amount of positional competition, and an influx of new talent via free agency and the draft. Since the Cowboys used 3 of their top 4 "premium picks" on offense and the 4th player is on the mend from a knee injury, it looks like the draft is not going to be the answer.

In the days and weeks to come, we shall break down some of the conceded explosives to see where the Cowboys need to improve, although I am pretty sure we already have a pretty good idea of where it needs to begin.

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X's And O's Breakdown - Kitna Bootleg

Here is another from the continuing series of X's and O's breakdowns. During this series, it is my hope to help us all examine key plays from the 2010 season in hopes of us all learning a little more about what works and what doesn't work in the NFL.

Here is today's subject, from a reader who goes by the handle "Quick CC"-

what about the sweet QB bootleg by Jon Kitna vs Detroit Lions on Nov. 21st? I think it was 3rd and one and kitna managed to sucker the entire Lions defense into thinking it was an obvious RB dive but he faked it and then rolled out to a wide open end run to the end zone for a TD. Not bad mobility by a 39 year old father-time QB.

This is awesome play design because sometimes it is not always the play, it is what you have done to set it up and when you spring the trap. You had it right, except that it was 4th and 1. The Cowboys were trying to ice away a game, and as you may recall - they did not really have a kicker they trusted from this distance in 2010. And Field Goals between 40-55 yards was often considered very dicey, and the Cowboys were not interested in giving the Lions the ball near the 40 yard line with over 3 minutes to play.

So, once you decide you are going to go for it, you then have to select a play that you feel gives you a fine chance to move the chains. As you may or may not remember, Ndamukong Suh had been tossing around Leonard Davis a fair amount this afternoon, and the entire Detroit defensive line was not making any running plays easy on this afternoon. But, this would be strength against strength. "22" personnel (2 RB, 2 TE, 1 WR) against the Lions short yardage defense.

You could certainly argue that if the Cowboys thought they could ram it down the throat of the Lions and move the chains, they likely would have. But, I think Jason Garrett knew that on this day - and for most of 2010 - the Cowboys were not ramming the ball down anyone's throat. If the Cowboys had anything up their sleeve, now was the time to roll it out.

This offense is set up with a ton of "G-Power". This means running the ball with a weakside pulling guard and a fullback leading the tailback into the hole. So, if they are running the ball right, the RG and RT block to their left, and the LG - Kyle Kosier pulls right and joins the FB - Chris Gronkowski to the right edge. This is the bread and butter of the offense. Usually, they hand the ball to the tailback and it is just power against power. In 2009, it worked over and over. In 2010, the success dropped dramatically, but, it was still the foundation play of the running game.

But, it is more than about 1 play (or 2 if you count running it the other direction with Leonard Davis pulling left). It is about a number of variations that can be run from the same look. Many play-action passes that start with trying to show defenses that the Cowboys are running G-Power into the hole again.

A moment about how LBs read plays. Most defenses have LBs (the 2 inside LBs in a 3-4, the Will and the Mic LBs in a 4-3) directly over the guards. They read the guards while also looking past them into the backfield to get their "keys" and to diagnose and react what they think they are seeing. So, to scheme a play that will freeze the LBs, it often is a great concept to run the guards in a misdirection path to mislead the LBs away from where the play is actually going.

So, watch Kyle Kosier pull right. Watch the two LBs who are lined up over the guards react and charge to their left. Also, watch the wide DE on the defensive right (93- Kyle Vanden Bosch) absolutely eat the cheese and run himself right out of the play.

This is a concept that we often see in many plays in football. A player that is unblocked purposely because they want him to over-pursue and run himself out of the play. Watch this play many times, and focus once on just watching Vanden Bosch. His job is to keep contain and as good a player as he is, he was never fooled worse than he was on this play. But, who can blame him. Jon Kitna is not a player with any sort of threatening speed and further, the Cowboys never run a bootleg, right?

This is where imagination can make a difference. It was almost as if the Cowboys were waiting for just the right spot to spring this surprise on an opponent.

Look at the video:



Here are what my thoughts were the week the play happened in the Decoding Garrett series:

What Happened: FInally, the dagger. 4th and 1, out of "22" personnel. Nowhere in the Cowboys playbook is there a QB bootleg, or so thinks Lions DE 93-Kyle Vanden Bosch. Just watch him on this play to see a DE eat the cheese like you have never seen. He crashes in on Barber, and once he does, the flank is unprotected for Kitna to get the easy first down. Now, watch Cowboys LT Doug Free show his absurd speed for a tackle as he races Kitna to the end zone and cleans up the only man who had a chance 26-Delmas. This again shows the design of the Cowboys offense is winning their share of scenarios. I really believe if they can improve their personnel deficiencies, they have the brainpower and strategy for a top offense.

Now, look at some stills of the play. Click on each one to see them enlarged.

Shot #1 - PreSnap from Endzone View of Coaching Tape - notice how wide the contain man is outside of Witten on the left. They will not be outflanked unless they are fooled inside with the play fake.



Shot #2 - Photo a split second after the fake to Barber - The Lions are still unaware that Barber doesn't have the ball, and look how the left side has caved in almost to the hash mark. They have no idea. A great fake and a greater concept.



Shot #3 - Photo when it is too late - Look at the Lions all spotting Kitna with the ball. They are all on the hash mark now, and Kitna is outside of them. He can crawl for a 1st Down, and he ends up running all the way to the endzone.



This play showed that sometimes you can figure out a way to deal with a defense that has done a great job (for at least 1 snap). Keep in mind, the Cowboys did not have an explosive offensive day. They were ahead because of turnovers and a special teams TD from Bryan McCann. This was a game that could have been easily lost. And to convert this 4th Down was quite a highlight that surely put a cherry on the ice cream.

Great job to sell the fake and to make a play.

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X's And O's Breakdown - Meachem for 55 yards

Over the last few weeks, it has been suggested to me by many of you that we should break down some different moments from the season. As you may or may not know, I am interested in the lockout from the standpoint of knowing the new rules for free agency or other things that may impact the Cowboys or the NFL, but I am not interested or frankly qualified to write about the negotiations. So, I gladly leave that to the experts and prefer to continue to talk football strategy and tactics in an effort to learn more about this awesome game.

So, yesterday, I asked you - the readers - to tell me what you want broken down. With the use of video and some chalkboard items, as well as my efforts to try to track down expert breakdowns, we should be able to analyze some of the big plays from the season - both good and bad.

Many of you have already responded. I will try to do these as often as I can (a few a week). If you want particular plays broken down, that will be quicker, but some of you have already responded with larger points of discussion and research and those will take a while longer if they are selected for our study. But, please, feel free to participate. Sturm1310@aol.com and www.twitter.com/sportssturm are two great places to find me - as well as the comments below.

OK, here is #1. From Morgan, who wrote the following:

Thanksgiving game against New Orleans:

Meacham beats Newman deep for 55 yards. It appeared the Cowboys were in a Cover 2 Man Under coverage, but for some reason Alan Ball was lined up as the SS, rather than the FS. It looks like Ball bit on the underneath play to the TE in the slot and left Newman alone.

This play bothered me. It seems like Newman should be playing press, but has a 10 yard cushion. In this coverage, isn't the safety required to play deep and not bite on a TE underneath?

This is certainly a play that is fresh in everyone's memory and you can make the case it is one of those 2 or 3 plays that if the Cowboys can do what needs to be done, they actually can still make a playoff run (as goofy as that seemed). The Week 1 game at Washington, Week 2 home to Chicago, Week 5 at Minnesota, Week 16 at Arizona and this game were all contests that easily could have been put in the win column if the Cowboys could have made a simple play here and there. This is the NFL. Every team has games that can turn on one moment.

And for Thanksgiving 2010, this was that moment.

The Cowboys fought their tails off to get back into this game and actually could have sealed things a bit earlier if Roy Williams doesn't fumble after a long run. But, this is the defense's chance to get a stop. Drew Brees must go the entire field in just a few minutes. If the Cowboys get a stop, they win.

3rd and 10. 2:25 to play. Ball at the New Orleans 33. The Saints love "11" personnel (1RB, 1TE, 3WR) and why wouldn't you when you can put Marques Colsten (Scandrick) and Devery Henderson (Jenkins) to one side, David Thomas (Brooking) and Robert Meachem (Newman) to the other, and have Julius Jones in the backfield. This allows plenty of stress on the Cowboys defense from a coverage standpoint.

To counter, the Cowboys have a 4-man pass rush with 7 dropping into coverage in their nickel defense. Morgan is right that the coverage here looks like 2-deep, man-under. The premise here is that everyone plays tight man underneath, and you will have safety help over the top. Simple right?



Ok, here is what I see. To Drew Brees' left, he has Colston and Henderson running two verticals against Scandrick and Jenkins. Sensabaugh is helping Scandrick over the top because Colston is Colston.

But, Brees doesn't even look to that side of the field. Because he likes David Thomas (3 targets, 0 catches on the day) and Robert Meachem (0 targets all day until this play) against Keith Brooking, Alan Ball, and Terence Newman. Those two receivers are also going to be running double verticals right in Balls vision, and the second he steps one direction, Brees is going to the other guy.

Now, we can see why there are three different reasons this play works so easily for the Saints.

1) - The Saints are really, really talented. Sean Payton wasn't born yesterday and when Brees and Payton need a play, they know who and where to attack. Even in 3rd and 10, it appears that the Cowboys are just out-manned. Colston has had 9 passes, Lance Moore 7, and Henderson 5. But, when he needed a play, he threw it to the side of the field that is opposite all of the action.

2) - Alan Ball is in a very bad spot. Any choice he makes is going to be wrong. I know it is fun to blame Alan Ball for everything, and he did have a very poor year. But, on this particular play, he should err on the side of the deepest threat. But, what you see here is 4 vertical routes. And, if you are Alan Ball, you see that on 3rd and 10, you also want to protect the sticks. There is not :30 to play, there is 2:25 to play. A 1st Down is a killer here, so he is realizing that Thomas on Brooking is a bad spot in the middle of the field. Keith Brooking is a willing LB, but in 3rd Down coverage against a receiving TE, you can understand Ball shading that direction once he sees Thomas on a vertical route and trusting Newman on the flanks against a player who has not had a ball thrown at him all day.

3) - Terence Newman played the route very poorly. The question of why he is not in "press coverage" is a fair one, but I think that we have to consider that Newman hurt his ribs back in October against the Giants. He spent much of the back half of 2010 looking old and easy to beat (see DeSean Jackson 2 weeks later). Part is that he is not the cover corner he used to be. Part is that he never knew if he could count on his safety for help (there is no question teams were attacking Alan Ball). And Part might simply be that he was trying to help the team by playing hurt. Honestly, in the NFL against the teams that they were playing (Green Bay, New York, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Indianapolis) you don't need 2 corners. You need 4. And the Cowboys needed Newman to go if he could go.

So, what do we learn here? We learn that perhaps the Bruce Carter selection makes all the sense in the world. If you want to play nickel (5 DBs) instead of dime (6 DBs), then you better have a LB who can run down the seam with David Thomas or JerMichael Finley or Brent Celek or Chris Cooley. Brooking can not do that. We are told Carter can. Of course, we were also told that Jason Williams and Bobby Carpenter, could, too. We shall see.

But, if Carter has Thomas locked down, now Ball (or another safety) is helping over the top with Newman and this pass is not an issue. It is a fascinating play where on tv, Newman gets the blame. And he may deserve part of it. But, Ball needs to be there. And maybe he is if he is not too worried about Brooking.

This leads us back to one of the best things about football. You can see why you need 11 guys doing their jobs and not worrying about others doing theirs. And, you can see (like the Lakers this past week, too), if you don't believe in your mates' ability to do his job, then everything falls apart.

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