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Tuesday, May 27, 1997

QB Coach and Offensive Needs

By Gary Morris

Q.B. COACH

Now that the Cowboys have a Q.B. coach once again, lets hope that he sees the same flaw in Troys' game that many others can plainly see...Troy has no touch on long passes.

Troy is the most accurate passer in the short to medium game that I, (and many others including some coaches in the NFL), have ever seen. But on deep passes, he needs to be shown how to "get more AIR" under his passes. And more importantly, not just "SHOWN", but given time to practice throwing them!

I can think of at least 6 touchdown passes that Troy missed last year because he did not just put a lot of arc on his pass. Instead he "rifled" the ball and it went about 5 yards beyond the reach of receivers that were wide open with a clear path to the end zone.

SCREENS AND DRAWS

When the Cowboys were the number one offensive team in the NFL, they were the best team in the NFL at running screens and draws. Now that Ernie has installed the Screen pass back into the play book, let's hope that the offense spends enough time in training camp to get it down. One reason it was not in the play book was because it is VERY hard to execute. BUT, with enough practice, this new weapon alone can make the difference from being in the top 10 and being number 1.

TWO TIGHTEND OFFENSE?

When thinking about how to improve the offense or the defense, one of the things for the Coaches to consider is....What formation or play gives them the most worries? Whatever that is, then maybe we should adapt it to our team. Does the two tightend offense of Green Bay fall into this category?

We could have more plays in the play book with both Bjornsen and LaFleur and with Watkins and LaFleur.

RED ZONE IMAGINATION

Also, the coaches need to be more imaginative in the Red Zone. Q.B. draws, the tightend blocks down and then goes with the Q.B. on a sprint out and other such "surprise" plays are needed. Every team in the NFL has easily adapted their defense to stop the run. They all knew that once close to the goal line, it was "give the ball to Emmitt" time and way too often it was three runs and a field goal!

Lastly, the offense needs to adapt one of the traits of the "Landry" offenses of the past. Landry ALWAYS had at least one "trick" play ready for EVERY game. Often this play alone can be a back breaker and a momentum changer.

COMMENTS

garywm@jps.net