Cowboys Film Study (with screenshots)

So this week I tried to focus on just the closest games for the Cowboys. From what I can see so far, the Saints match up very well.

Defense:
They play a lot of man and do it well. The two corners are very talented and are very good in man coverage. I have to say if Rob Ryan had a healthy defense for most of the year last season they would have been much more effective. In this first image the Cowboys show an 8 man box for Peterson. This is what they like to play on a lot of 1st and 2nd downs as they are in this formation 75% of the time on these downs. They like to stack the box and play the run to force you to throw the ball down field. The only problem with that is they haven’t played a QB of Brees’ caliber yet so this is most likely not going to be effective.



The best way to beat man is to run the ball effectively early, run WR and slot screens on longer distance downs, and when they start to blitz or play zone under to cover the screen, then you stretch the field and throw it to the out routes against the cover one. Having a quick release is very imperative against man coverage especially when they have corners that can play it well. I’m going to say that I expect Jimmy Graham to have a monster game because outside of the two outside corners there is really no one on this team to cover him. The WR the Saints decide to put in the slot (most likely Lance Moore) can also have a big game because the Nickel CB and LB’s are all very average. Here you see Ponder with a quick release to the Slot WR on a bubble screen that gained about 16 yards due to the outside WR stretching the field and lack of speed from the LB’s and SS (blue).


Here on 3rd and 10, the Cowboys show cover 2. The best way to beat cover two is to run the seams and to the corner and play off of what the safety reacts to, or to run button routes under the LB coverage and cross the field with speedy WR’s between the 2nd and 3rd levels of the defense. Using Darren Sproles and Jimmy Graham under the 2nd level will open up things for the WR’s to out run the safeties and CB’s to the corners or over the middle. The most effective WR over the middle in the past has been Colston so maybe he can have a 2013 coming out party this weekend.


Here on 2nd down and 10, the cowboys show blitz. Ponder checked out of a presumed running play and went to something to stretch the field. What he didn’t do was change a route to cross under in case they actually blitzed. Everyone on the play is at least 10-15 yards down field when the blitz forces Ponder from the pocket with nothing to do. Change the slot to come underneath or run an out route. The single LB coverage over the middle would allow a WR to make a big play.


Offense:

This is the Cowboys favorite offensive formation. It stretches the field but at the same time shows the possibility of running the ball. From time to time Romo will check it to an under center run or play action pass, when almost every time he throws to Dez or Witten on out routes and slants. The only time I saw them actually stretch the field and throw down field pass 20 yards, was when they were trailing in the game, or just trying to take a shot and catch the defense flat one or twice a game.


Tony Romo has a very quick release and is more accurate than people give him credit for. He tends to make rookie mistakes at the worst times and its almost always when he flustered. The key to this game is going to be stopping the run and play action pass on early downs with the interior defensive line push, and force Romo to throw from 3rd and long so that his quick release doesn’t matter. Here you can see the interior O-line has a great push and opens a huge hole for Murray. I don’t see them having this much success in the run game against the Saints, especially after giving up so much to Chris Ivory, but if the Saints can force them in to some long distance downs then you can send more people and pressure Romo.