Take What You're Given

All 0-5 football teams, regardless of level, Pop Warner to the NFL, play from their heels. Add the element of being coached by a defensive-minded head man, and the lean to the back of the foot increases dramatically. They don't play to win; they play not to lose. There is a huge difference, and the Cowboys' Sunday opponent is in retreat mode. The last thing Dallas can afford is to give the Rams any confidence. The style of play must be established from the opening kick and Cowboys-mandated. Set the tone, make the Rams conform, and don't let up for one single second. This is a "get right" game, and the home team must set the tempo and control temperament for the ENTIRE 60 minutes. No lags or let-ups. None. Especially with the division-revived Philadelphia Eagles on deck. This being said, make no mistake about the opponent. They are a wounded, rabid football team, and with one leg stuck in the trap, they're not going down without a fight. Dallas Cowboys, take care of your business. Put the Rams out of their misery.

There's an old football adage which is constantly preached, but rarely practiced, and its disappearance is a complete mystery. There used to be a time in Cowboys' history when the offense would simply line up and the proclamation was made, "Here we come, try and stop us." Everybody and their Mother knew what was coming next, yet due to flawless execution, it couldn't be stopped. No amount of film study or field practice was going to prevent the Cowboys from having their way with a defensive opponent. While times have certainly changed and the 'horses' aren't in place to carry forward the same mantra, there is a try and stop us derivative available for Cowboys' usage. However, they must have the sheer kahonies to implement it and bigger brass ones to stay the course. The simple offensive strategy?

Find the Achilles Heel, exploit it, and stay with it, over and over and over again until the opponent dies or stops it.

It sounds elementary, but rarely does any team use it. Most would consider it insane to line up and run the same exact play 8 times in a row. Why? If it works, stick with it. One of two things are going to happen. It either continues to work and prove effective, or the opponent wises up and puts an end to it. So, why not do the former until the latter actually happens? Coaches tend to run from predictability and odds, and it makes absolutely no sense.

The intent here is not to insult reader intelligence, but sometimes fundamentals are a must. This, ladies and gentlemen, in its most archaic of terms, is a pass route tree. It's provided for reference purposes only, but if education also comes into play, so be it. The Cowboys have a play, actually several of them, in their playbooks which should be located, ripped out and never, ever seen again. The pass play scheme is called the "quick out" or in fancier terms, the "bubble screen." Quite simply, with today's NFL size and speed, it doesn't work! Period.

First and foremost, the Cowboys don't have prototypical bubble screen receivers, so why even use it? There are two patterns that play to the strength of the Cowboys and the Cowboys' receivers. They are the 'slant' and the 'post,' or a variation of the post called the "skinny post." These are short to intermediate routes which promote and create run after the catch opportunities. Miles Austin and Dez Bryant were Godly-designed to hone their crafts on these 2 to 3 routes. To do otherwise is simply maddening and utterly foolish. This should speak to both bread and butter. With the Rams already back-tracking on their 5" pumps, simply run it, ad nauseum, until stopped. If and when it is, there's a most gorgeous way to draw flags and/or score at will. It's called the "double move,' but that's a story/route for another day.........