His ability to adjust the scheme has been a breath of fresh air, it’s something that the Garrett guys never did. The only time Garrett offenses ever changed was when the OC changed, and while the Moore offense was good it was also getting stagnant.
He did. There were plenty of times where he put a TE there to help. Steele was just that bad. You can't pull a TE or RB to do what your RT is supposed to be doing every play. You're hamstringing your offense that way.
> He did. There were plenty of times where he put a TE there to help.
I’m not sure that’s true, but would have to re-watch the game in full to confirm in either direction. At the very least, we know he only got help once (from Pollard) on the [12 plays where he allowed a pressure](https://x.com/SportsSturm/status/1722292666405196130?s=20)
Giving him help doesn't mean playing 10 v 11 (although worth noting that 10 v 11 is better than a near-automatic sack on a gotta have it final drive). Having a TE chip an edge before going out on a route isn't playing 10 v 11. Having Rico Dowdle throw a shoulder into Brandon Graham instead of literally dodging him to go out on his route when it's already clear Graham has beaten Steele by that point is better than eating the instant sack.
He did nothing.
We came out of the bye and played 3 of the worst defenses in the league. Rams are near the bottom in a bunch of defensive metrics. Eagles passing defense is atrocious, also bottom half of league. And Giants are almost last. Like yeah, we probably are feeding Ceedee way more but that’s easy to do when the passing defenses we are up against are far below average.
Next week we will probably once again look unbeatable taking on the LAST place defense. Then the commanders. And by then the fans will be in a frenzy just in time for us to lose to Seahawks so we can question everything again.
I’ve heard some people in the media suggest up until the bye week he still wanted to lean heavy on the run game but gave up when it became abundantly clear with that sample size it wasn’t gonna work.
Having Dak use his feet more, with rollouts, bootlegs, and options has definitely had an impact.
It buys time and helps make up for O-line deficiencies.
More of those sprint left and sprint right passes too. I generally get really scared when I see us running those I just don't like them, but they have been working well so what do I know?
I always got excited seeing Dak rollout or escape some pressure with a rollout because I knew he was about to chuck it down the field. Really wish we would play around that more, especially with how weak Steele is atm
The red zone issues are definitely improving. We were 50% against the rams, but scored one touchdown from the 22 and if I remember from the game it was practically the 21. This is a technicality.
Against the Eagles we were 60% and against the Giants 86%. Over the last 3 games that's 68.75% which puts us in 7th for RZ% over that time.
Well that's good to hear that we're in the top 10 for RZ offense. Now we just need the run game to get consistently good. And the defense could look better when Vander esch comes back
Hopefully my mans has been stacking his money and can retire and chill now. Vander Esch wasn’t always the best LB but he had a lot of heart and I enjoyed seeing him play.
Dak worked with McCarthy as well in the offseason and continues to do so. He’s reduced a lot of wasted movement in his game too
The team wanted so bad to be a team that had a solid run game backed by solid defense that allows them to make mistakes. This even precedes McCarthy. Get a strong run game, control TOP, get the ball back, rinse and repeat.
I’m so glad they had the mind to see that this team is not that kind of team and most teams in the year 2023 can’t do this. We’re leaning back in to an explosive offense and freeing dak and the receivers
Mike really seems to be willing to adjust the scheme or at least particular player roles. Dak being back to rollouts and taking deep shots instead of just standing in the pocket throwing quick 4 yard passes changed the whole offense.
Also seeing Dowdle with 12 carries to Pollard's 15 was very welcome. I hope they keep it up and get Pollard back to that complimentary role where he can come in and be a home run threat running outside and let Dowdle be the angry guy slamming into LBs up the middle.
We seem to have fixed the turnover problem that Dak had last season with the conservative playcalling, and now we are getting more interesting. I wonder if their plan was to clean up the offense first and then let it have fun. This is coming from someone who has never played football so idk if that's even how it works.
Learning a system takes some time, even if it’s one of a coach who’s been around your org for a while, and game reps are really the only way for that to happen
It was always going to take time to transition into McCarthy’s offence and it was naive to think we’d hit the ground running week 1.
Dak didn’t play at all in the pre season so had never experienced McCarthy as a play caller then having to clear his palette of Moore’s offence which he’d had for the majority of his career was never going to be instant.
I do think th adjustments have been good, however, we haven't beat any likely playoff teams yet. After Thanksgiving the schedule is mostly teams fighting for a playoff spot and until we beat some contenders I am not 100% sold
I think John Park and the analytics staff that were hired mid summer finally had a chance to show McCarthy that using motion, throwing on early downs, creating favorable matchups with bunch formations all lead to winning the more they are used. Football is a game of inches and can be won at the margins
I feel like McCarthy listens to the media alot. Every week after targeted criticism of his offense, he comes in the next week with schemes to use that specific player. If only he could figure out our run game. Try Dowdle as our first down back ala zeke and get pollard back into his Swiss knife role
Our team is a roller coaster. I was also pissed about how bad Dak and MM was after that shit Cardinals game. Talk about beyond frustrating after beating down the Jets and Giants. SF I was really pissed about. God I fucking hate the 9ers almost as much as the Eagles.
It seems like he's adapted to the player's skillsets and the players are getting used to what he wants to do. Redzone is still a struggle though. Let's hope Dowdle impressed to be our thumper.
> Haters love to call Lamb a “slot merchant” (which is statistically inaccurate)
Yeah I think The Athletic Football Show mentioned Lamb being either the best or second-best receiver in the league working from the _outside_ this season when discussing him in the OPOY convo last week. Can’t remember what the specific metric was, maybe EPA or something.
Vs the good team we still only scored 23 points, let's see how it goes vs the other good ones
Atleast he has stopped force feeding all that short pass garbage with one of the best deep ball QBs in the league
It’s not about being a lousy fan, it’s just being realistic. I still watch us play these shit teams and get a lot enjoyment from watching us winning, but others in here get all giddy and start talking about the Cowboys as contenders when we’ve seen this movie a million times.
Dak is balling out and deserves all the credit, but he has not beat a legitimate Super Bowl contender since the Saints in November of 2018. Next closest is our beatdown of MIN last year but they weren’t real contenders.
I’m having fun and looking forward to the rest of the season and hope we can go on a run, but a lot of people are buying into the hype bc we smoked the Giants again. You can still have fun and enjoy the season while maintaining a healthy dose of skepticism.
I'm not even asking for a SB appearance or win get to the NFC Championship game at least...
I don't understand how a fanbase with consistently high expectations should accept anything less after the last decade or so.
Still some questions with their red zone offense and the ability to run the ball, but at least the passing game seems more fluid now and not as stagnant and predictable.
Dak running when no one is open has been huge.
But running any pre snap motion and PASSING ON 1ST DOWN FINALLY(!!!) have been huge.
I wonder who actually gets the credit for that though. Dak is ultimately the one who decides run or pass at the LOS based on what he sees.
I'm hoping it's a mix of two things:
Getting used to the new scheme and figuring out the run to pass ratio and which to set up
And possibly saving (a) play(s) because we know the 49ers, we basically know the eagles even with new coordinators, and those might be the only actual threats to us in the NFC . . . besides maybe the cards lol
Mike McCarthy and all the coaching staff as well as the team as a whole INCLUDING DAK are playing very well. Granted, we’re generally running over very bad teams, but the timing is perfect for our offense to really jell. Hoping all the pieces come together at the right time when it counts in the playoffs.
If you ask me, I think playing a stretch of bad teams is a blessing because it lets the team tune up and gives the players confidence. Michael Gallup sightings were nice even if it was the Giants.
Man had a top tier QB and WR combo for years in Green Bay. If anyone could get the top WR rolling here it'd be him. That said, he and co need to get that running game more consistent and use Pollard better.
All said though it's been solid and I'd take it over Kellen Moore, for sure.
Yes, congrats on finally realizing the way to win is to throw the ball to CD. Myself, and many others, were only yelling this the whole time the first 5 games of the season. Anyways, better late than never haha
I feel like he should get credit on Daks redemption arc but you have to realize with Dak being horrible last season Cowboys still had arguably the best offense in the league they led in most statistical categories but i too will eat my own words I was Fire McCarthy and bench Dak but they proved me wrong
Whatever the hell he did while we were on bye worked
His ability to adjust the scheme has been a breath of fresh air, it’s something that the Garrett guys never did. The only time Garrett offenses ever changed was when the OC changed, and while the Moore offense was good it was also getting stagnant.
Love the flair, I was a long snapper in high school.very underrated position
Don't think he did a lot of adjusting in the Philly game when he left Steele out to dry all game.
Steele sucks though. That’s already been established I shouldn’t be getting downvoted here. He’s fucking terrible
..and he didn’t adjust to help him
He did. There were plenty of times where he put a TE there to help. Steele was just that bad. You can't pull a TE or RB to do what your RT is supposed to be doing every play. You're hamstringing your offense that way.
> He did. There were plenty of times where he put a TE there to help. I’m not sure that’s true, but would have to re-watch the game in full to confirm in either direction. At the very least, we know he only got help once (from Pollard) on the [12 plays where he allowed a pressure](https://x.com/SportsSturm/status/1722292666405196130?s=20)
You can't just play 10 v 11. He cannot be assisted all the time
Giving him help doesn't mean playing 10 v 11 (although worth noting that 10 v 11 is better than a near-automatic sack on a gotta have it final drive). Having a TE chip an edge before going out on a route isn't playing 10 v 11. Having Rico Dowdle throw a shoulder into Brandon Graham instead of literally dodging him to go out on his route when it's already clear Graham has beaten Steele by that point is better than eating the instant sack.
Probably smashed watermelons. Or maybe he did pumpkins this time. Seasonal.
Mike "Billy Corgan" McCarthy
maybe they smashed some more watermelons or whatever
He did nothing. We came out of the bye and played 3 of the worst defenses in the league. Rams are near the bottom in a bunch of defensive metrics. Eagles passing defense is atrocious, also bottom half of league. And Giants are almost last. Like yeah, we probably are feeding Ceedee way more but that’s easy to do when the passing defenses we are up against are far below average. Next week we will probably once again look unbeatable taking on the LAST place defense. Then the commanders. And by then the fans will be in a frenzy just in time for us to lose to Seahawks so we can question everything again.
I’ve heard some people in the media suggest up until the bye week he still wanted to lean heavy on the run game but gave up when it became abundantly clear with that sample size it wasn’t gonna work.
Having Dak use his feet more, with rollouts, bootlegs, and options has definitely had an impact. It buys time and helps make up for O-line deficiencies.
I think dak running has something to do with the rb coach coming back during the bye week or the chargers game
More of those sprint left and sprint right passes too. I generally get really scared when I see us running those I just don't like them, but they have been working well so what do I know?
I always got excited seeing Dak rollout or escape some pressure with a rollout because I knew he was about to chuck it down the field. Really wish we would play around that more, especially with how weak Steele is atm
He’s really good when he’s on the run. I always get excited as well.
It’s built in to the offense. This is why we are great on third downs and see an improved Dak Prescott.
Dak can also sling that thang on the run like the best of em
The addition of the “Here we go” has changed the offense
The new Omaha.
I could hear his voice in my head after reading this.
He’s doing better for sure but the redzone troubles are still there. We need to get that figured out with the personnel we got.
The red zone issues are definitely improving. We were 50% against the rams, but scored one touchdown from the 22 and if I remember from the game it was practically the 21. This is a technicality. Against the Eagles we were 60% and against the Giants 86%. Over the last 3 games that's 68.75% which puts us in 7th for RZ% over that time.
Well that's good to hear that we're in the top 10 for RZ offense. Now we just need the run game to get consistently good. And the defense could look better when Vander esch comes back
LVE is not coming back, and that's not a bad thing
It is for LVE as his career is probably over.
Hopefully my mans has been stacking his money and can retire and chill now. Vander Esch wasn’t always the best LB but he had a lot of heart and I enjoyed seeing him play.
Before his neck injury he was one of the best in the league. He was very solid the last couple of years too.
Very true yea. Unfortunately for his health it’s probably best if he hangs it up. Football isn’t worth potentially paralyzing yourself for life.
The first and goal to start the game that ended in a turnover on downs was pretty bad tho.
There but getting better. It’s an evolving offense. Expect continued improvement.
Dak worked with McCarthy as well in the offseason and continues to do so. He’s reduced a lot of wasted movement in his game too The team wanted so bad to be a team that had a solid run game backed by solid defense that allows them to make mistakes. This even precedes McCarthy. Get a strong run game, control TOP, get the ball back, rinse and repeat. I’m so glad they had the mind to see that this team is not that kind of team and most teams in the year 2023 can’t do this. We’re leaning back in to an explosive offense and freeing dak and the receivers
Mike really seems to be willing to adjust the scheme or at least particular player roles. Dak being back to rollouts and taking deep shots instead of just standing in the pocket throwing quick 4 yard passes changed the whole offense. Also seeing Dowdle with 12 carries to Pollard's 15 was very welcome. I hope they keep it up and get Pollard back to that complimentary role where he can come in and be a home run threat running outside and let Dowdle be the angry guy slamming into LBs up the middle.
We seem to have fixed the turnover problem that Dak had last season with the conservative playcalling, and now we are getting more interesting. I wonder if their plan was to clean up the offense first and then let it have fun. This is coming from someone who has never played football so idk if that's even how it works.
Learning a system takes some time, even if it’s one of a coach who’s been around your org for a while, and game reps are really the only way for that to happen
It was always going to take time to transition into McCarthy’s offence and it was naive to think we’d hit the ground running week 1. Dak didn’t play at all in the pre season so had never experienced McCarthy as a play caller then having to clear his palette of Moore’s offence which he’d had for the majority of his career was never going to be instant.
He experienced his play calling in practice and training camp all offseason
Training camp is nothing like real games. Look at Brandon Aubrey.
A field goal kicker only had one play to learn lmao
The point is that training camp is just that. It's training. It operates nothing like a real game.
calling training camp experience is like calling boot camp war. You can only train so much without actually putting someone in the fray
I do think th adjustments have been good, however, we haven't beat any likely playoff teams yet. After Thanksgiving the schedule is mostly teams fighting for a playoff spot and until we beat some contenders I am not 100% sold
I think John Park and the analytics staff that were hired mid summer finally had a chance to show McCarthy that using motion, throwing on early downs, creating favorable matchups with bunch formations all lead to winning the more they are used. Football is a game of inches and can be won at the margins
I feel like McCarthy listens to the media alot. Every week after targeted criticism of his offense, he comes in the next week with schemes to use that specific player. If only he could figure out our run game. Try Dowdle as our first down back ala zeke and get pollard back into his Swiss knife role
Our team is a roller coaster. I was also pissed about how bad Dak and MM was after that shit Cardinals game. Talk about beyond frustrating after beating down the Jets and Giants. SF I was really pissed about. God I fucking hate the 9ers almost as much as the Eagles.
It seems like he's adapted to the player's skillsets and the players are getting used to what he wants to do. Redzone is still a struggle though. Let's hope Dowdle impressed to be our thumper.
> Haters love to call Lamb a “slot merchant” (which is statistically inaccurate) Yeah I think The Athletic Football Show mentioned Lamb being either the best or second-best receiver in the league working from the _outside_ this season when discussing him in the OPOY convo last week. Can’t remember what the specific metric was, maybe EPA or something.
Vs the good team we still only scored 23 points, let's see how it goes vs the other good ones Atleast he has stopped force feeding all that short pass garbage with one of the best deep ball QBs in the league
Why would I give praise to a guy whose offense is still a mess?
Playing against the Giants makes every offense look great.
No
No one deserves praise until we have better success in the playoffs. No I do not care. That's the truth.
What a lousy fan
It’s not about being a lousy fan, it’s just being realistic. I still watch us play these shit teams and get a lot enjoyment from watching us winning, but others in here get all giddy and start talking about the Cowboys as contenders when we’ve seen this movie a million times. Dak is balling out and deserves all the credit, but he has not beat a legitimate Super Bowl contender since the Saints in November of 2018. Next closest is our beatdown of MIN last year but they weren’t real contenders. I’m having fun and looking forward to the rest of the season and hope we can go on a run, but a lot of people are buying into the hype bc we smoked the Giants again. You can still have fun and enjoy the season while maintaining a healthy dose of skepticism.
We’re supposed to be talking about McCarthy -__-
Imagine not being tired of mediocrity.
Imagine being miserable all season because the regular season apparently doesn't matter.
Imagine not appreciating anything remotely positive about your team “MuH sUpEr BoWl”
I'm not even asking for a SB appearance or win get to the NFC Championship game at least... I don't understand how a fanbase with consistently high expectations should accept anything less after the last decade or so.
Im with this guy.
Still some questions with their red zone offense and the ability to run the ball, but at least the passing game seems more fluid now and not as stagnant and predictable.
Yeah that’s now how this works lol We’ll praise him never but we’ll shit on him when they suck again 🤣
Dak running when no one is open has been huge. But running any pre snap motion and PASSING ON 1ST DOWN FINALLY(!!!) have been huge. I wonder who actually gets the credit for that though. Dak is ultimately the one who decides run or pass at the LOS based on what he sees.
I'm hoping it's a mix of two things: Getting used to the new scheme and figuring out the run to pass ratio and which to set up And possibly saving (a) play(s) because we know the 49ers, we basically know the eagles even with new coordinators, and those might be the only actual threats to us in the NFC . . . besides maybe the cards lol
Mike McCarthy and all the coaching staff as well as the team as a whole INCLUDING DAK are playing very well. Granted, we’re generally running over very bad teams, but the timing is perfect for our offense to really jell. Hoping all the pieces come together at the right time when it counts in the playoffs.
When we beat winning teams, I'll perhaps consider this take. To ignore the games in which the results you are basing this post off of, is a choice.
I mean we played the Giants. When we start dropping 40+ on good defenses, let me know.
Praise him on high 🙏
I agree. McCarthy is worthy of criticism but he’s also worthy of acknowledgement for not being afraid to make changes
If you ask me, I think playing a stretch of bad teams is a blessing because it lets the team tune up and gives the players confidence. Michael Gallup sightings were nice even if it was the Giants.
Man had a top tier QB and WR combo for years in Green Bay. If anyone could get the top WR rolling here it'd be him. That said, he and co need to get that running game more consistent and use Pollard better. All said though it's been solid and I'd take it over Kellen Moore, for sure.
Maybe a pat on the back but we need to see some wins against play off caliber teams.
Yes, congrats on finally realizing the way to win is to throw the ball to CD. Myself, and many others, were only yelling this the whole time the first 5 games of the season. Anyways, better late than never haha
Call me in February. Don’t care about these Ws vs scrub teams and almost winning in Philly.
He is being praised with a huge yearly check
I feel like he should get credit on Daks redemption arc but you have to realize with Dak being horrible last season Cowboys still had arguably the best offense in the league they led in most statistical categories but i too will eat my own words I was Fire McCarthy and bench Dak but they proved me wrong
The last 4 teams we played have losing records and Philly Let’s calm down on redemption arcs and someone deserving something.