Bob's Blog - Live from Lewisville

Game Plan Friday: Washington Redskins

2009-11-20T08:00:00.002-06:00

According to my count, this will be the 97th meeting in what many suggest has been the best rivalry in the NFL over the last 50 years. Personally, I might take issue with that claim - even for a Cowboys rivalry I prefer both the Giants and the Eagles (but I am told that proves I have only been a close observer of Dallas Cowboys football since 1998), but regardless, it is still about as storied as they come.

You don't have to be a great student of the rivalry to know that the beauty of Cowboys-Redskins is that, for once, you can really believe the tired cliche' of "you can throw the records out when these two teams play eachother". You see, it is actually true!

Whether it was 1989 when the Cowboys got their only win at the hands of a good Redskins team, or in 1995 when the Cowboys were swept by the Redskins before they won their 3rd Super Bowl in 4 years. That season, the Redskins played 2 QB's, Heath Shuler and Gus Frerotte, and each of them beat the Cowboys when they got the chance. Crazy. It makes no sense.

Dave Campo could only must 15 wins in 48 games in his 3 years as Cowboys coach, and 5 of them were in 6 games against Washington. The Cowboys, who are 20 games over .500 in this series won 14 of 15 from 1997 to 2004, when the Cowboys were not playing their finest football. Then, when things started to turn towards quality returning to Dallas' organization from 2005-2008, the Cowboys confusingly have now dropped 5 of the last 8 games against those Redskins.

NFL players seldom dig through the historical archives to find these facts. They have their jobs, and I have mine. They merely talk to their buddies around the league to find out which teams are good and which teams are jokes. That is why this stuff never changes. You know that this is a serious rivalry, and I know that this is a serious rivalry where anything can and will happen, but the players never learn this lesson and that is why it can happen again on Sunday.

Truth be told, the Redskins are a mess. Don't let a win on Sunday against Denver fool you, that was with Denver falling prey to a trick Field Goal for a Touchdown and an injured QB who left the game with a half to play. Chris Simms could not save the Broncos, but that is the only win for the Redskins beyond their 2 other home victories against league patsies, St Louis and Tampa Bay.

They have coaching chaos, they have ownership under fire, and they have many, many injuries. Albert Haynesworth has been in a walking boot all week, and Clinton Portis is out.

The Cowboys are in need of 2 wins in 5 days. Over the years, they seem to have a pretty good track record of pulling this off. Win on Sunday at home, wait 4 days for another team to travel on short rest, and win again on Thanksgiving Day. Most years, it seems like a good idea. But, in 2009, it is imperative. This team must get to 8-3, so that it can enter December with a brave face for what lies ahead and their battle with their demons. Think about it, 3-2 would then take you to 11-5 and a likely division title, with 2-3 still at 10-6 and likely a firm hold on a playoff spot.

But it starts on Sunday in a game where the Cowboys are heavily favored. They have a few new starters after they lost a starter on each side of the ball to injury, but that should not keep them from two home games against teams that will be going nowhere in 2009.

ON OFFENSE: If there is one thing we have learned about Jason Garrett over the years, it is that he has good hearing. We see this because of his drastic over-corrections of things that the masses complain about the week before. In 2008, there were 2 such moments, 1 when he had that crazy 11 run, 47 pass performance against Washington. The next week, it was as if he was merely calling plays in a sarcastic "I'll show you" sort of way, as he switched to a 38 run/24 pass split against the Bengals.

Then, after the '08 Deion/Terrell interview where Terrell blamed the world for him not getting the ball enough, after the win in Washington. The next week, against the 49ers, Terrell had far and away his biggest game of the season as Garrett called his number time and time again, throwing 13 balls at him on his way to 7 catches for 213 yards.

So, knowing this pattern, and knowing that the Redskins probably know it, too, expect the Cowboys to force the running game, and the Skins to sit there ready for it. This could result in a painful 1st half of very little action (think 1st half of Carolina game) and plenty of collisions until things sort themselves out.

The Cowboys also should consider that blitzes are going to continue to rise until they prove they can handle it. 9 sacks allowed in the last two weeks is a troubling total, and one that will get the attention of those who game plan against the Cowboys. It is a logic approach to figure out what Dallas does poorly, and then present them with similar challenges to see if they are any better this week.

OFFENSIVE OBJECTIVES:

1) - Pass Protect - For several years, the Redskins have not been able to get to the quarterback with their front 4. Well, those days have changed and they now have a solid pass rush that can get to the Quarterback on a semi-regular basis. Everyone questioned the wisdom behind signing Albert Haynesworth to that fortune, wondering if his motor would run if he was paid. Well, so far, so good. He demands a double team on every down, or he slices through the guard/center splits and ends a run or pass play with ease. His disruption is not often seen in this league, and because he is so special, he instantly makes a player like Andre Carter back into a serious pass rush force. 4 sacks for Carter in 16 games in 2008 has turned into 8 sacks in 9 games in 2009. Double teams inside mean 1-on-1 on the edge. You must give Doug Free support against Brian Orakpo, or he will get bullrushed. This is a great time to find out how stout Free can be on the corner, and I am anxious about the results. When the front 4 can get pressure, then the LB's and DB's job is so much easier.

2) - Power Run Personnel Sets - Because of Haynesworth, many teams try to run to the corners. I would like the Cowboys to stop messing around and put the power running offense back on the field. It has worked all season with the "22" set and the "13" set. This means that you deploy only 1 WR, and declare that you are likely to run the ball with great power. You will face 9 in the box. Here is the total of times in each of the first 9 games where the Cowboys have used these two sets combined: 8, 18, 17, 11, 13, 21, 19, 14, and then just 4 in Green Bay. This is why I screamed all week. Out of the "22" package, the Cowboys run for 6.26 yards per carry this season. For pete's sake, use it every week!

3) - Get Miles Austin Going Again - After taking the NFL by storm in October, Miles has had trouble solving the new coverage schemes that he has to deal with. He has 69 yards in the last 2 games, and has spent much of the game running routes against tight coverage and never really getting a sniff. He still hit a very crucial home run against the Eagles, but he has not been the drive-to-drive threat that he was before the road trip. I need plays going to my best playmaker down the field. This happens off of Play Action, so I would like to call for this when the time is right.

4) - Take Care of the Football - We talked about protecting the football last week, and I wrote last Friday if the Cowboys kept the giveaways to 2 or less, they likely win. Well, they did not, as 3 giveaways only added to the frustration. No takeaways from the defense did not help either, and the Cowboys cannot win when they are -3. Washington is a team that needs significant favors from the turnover game to compete, so once again it falls to Tony Romo to be careful with the ball.

ON DEFENSE:

Hypothetically, this unit should have a far easier goal on Sunday. Stopping a very, very poor offense that has not done much of anything on the road. The Redskins have played 4 road games, and have yet to eclipse 17 points in any of them. They cannot move the football most of the time, and now have subtracted Chris Cooley, Chris Samuels, and Clinton Portis from an already pathetic attack. There is no way to sugar-coat this, and if the Cowboys are sound in their assignments early, they should be able to choke the life out of this fragile offense, and coast to a performance that reminds you of the Seattle game.

The one thing that was accomplished last week was the performance of Ladell Betts. He is a veteran runner who doesn't dance around but heads north in most cases and tries to not ever take a negative play. He likes to pound that ball up in there, and will test the Cowboys run defense. There ability to stop it will set the tone for this thing. I would like to see Keith Brooking return to his very visible status that we saw before the most recent road trip. I don't think he has jumped off the screen nearly as much as he did when they last played in Arlington.

DEFENSIVE OBJECTIVES:

1) - Plug the Run with Betts - At certain times during the season, the Cowboys have looked very stout against the run. Frankly, in all of their home games, it looks like they are very aggressive with their linebackers shooting the gaps at the snap and making things very, very difficult for Run-first offenses. Carolina and New York both wanted to establish a run game in Arlington and had no success. I believe it is vital that the Cowboys come out early and show that patched-together Redskins OL that there will not be similar success to what they found last week against the Broncos.

2) - Crowd the Line of Scrimmage - This, of course, works in conjunction with objective #1. I believe playing Washington calls for a very front-loaded defensive look against the Redskins. You don't want to expose yourself on the flank to where a broken tackle on a WR screen costs you an 80-yard Touchdown, but, you do want to make Jason Campbell hold the ball and throw it down field. He likes many easy, rhythm passes, and if you push up into a press coverage, you certainly ask Alan Ball to be sharp as the Center Field Safety on Sunday, but I think you must. I am not sure the level of Mike Jenkins availability, but if he is there, I need Newman and Jenkins up in the face of the Redskins WR, taking away the bubble screens and short routes that they feed upon.

3) - Show Me that Defensive Back Depth - You will need to demonstrate with Alan Ball, Orlando Scandrick, and maybe even Mike Hamlin that there is quality in the depth of defensive backs that have been assembled. I am not sure what to think of Ball, other than it is clear they want to keep Patrick Watkins off the field at all costs in the base defense. You have to know that Sherman Lewis/Jim Zorn will want to challenge the young, unproven backs.

4) - Don't Let Them Believe - This is key in a rivalry game against a double-digit underdog. Jump them early. Do not give this mentally-fragile offense who doesn't know how to produce more than 17 any hope. I would not ease into this game as a defense. You are at home and you need a win. Jump them from snap 1 with blitzes and aggressive play, knowing that if you get burned you have 55 minutes to get it back. Release the hounds!

SUMMARY:
This game cannot be lost. This team has the perfect remedy for a week of Cowboys-Nation panic, the hapless Redskins rolling in to Cowboys Stadium. I think this Cowboys team has been knocked off its perch, a bit, and should be in a good position to get healthy and to take care of their pre-Thanksgiving business. This calls for a dominating, physical win.

Cowboys 35, Washington 20

Past Issues:

Green Bay Packers Game Plan

Eagles Game Plan

Seattle Seahawks Game Plan

Atlanta Falcons Game Plan

Kansas City Game Plan

Denver Game Plan

Carolina Game Plan

Giants Game Plan

Tampa Bay Game Plan

Analyze the Enemy: Washington Redskins

2009-11-19T09:08:00.000-06:00

In the preseason publications back in August, most people thought the Washington Redskins would likely finish 4th in the always difficult NFC East. But, I am not sure anyone thought that this much chaos would be waiting ahead for them in 2009.

It has been one of those disheartening years that has tested the resolve of even the most hard-core Redskins loyalist.

They sit at 3-6, presently, and are coming off the best win of their season when they beat a Denver team that is in the middle of its own slump by getting plays from unfamiliar names like Hunter Smith and Todd Yoder.

On the road this year, the Redskins are 0-4, with losses against a few good teams like the Giants and Falcons, but also they distinguished themselves as the team that helped break the Detroit Lions 19-game losing streak (the 2nd longest losing streak in the history of the NFL) at Ford Field back in Late September. A loss all the more humiliating because so many people were picking the Lions to win that Friday across the league - which of course means it wasn't that much of an upset.

Much of the blame of this version of the Redskins seems to head directly to its current head coach, Jim Zorn, who was hired amidst confusion, and has appeared to be a "Dead Man Walking" for weeks. The Redskins want him gone, but know that firing him now would be costly and wouldn't solve a thing. So, they humiliated him (Sherman Lewis) and hoped he would resign. He knew that this meant leaving the paychecks behind, so he has refused to do that, but rather hang in there and demand that he gets every cent owed to him.

But, to get a complete appreciation for the mess this franchise has been in the last decade (although it should be noted: Playoff wins in last decade - Redskins 2, Cowboys 0) goes back to May 1999, when Daniel Snyder purchased the Washington Redskins for a record $800 million dollars from the Jack Kent Cooke estate. It was during that wave of owners who were just "regular guys" who wanted to own sports teams (Mark Cuban). Snyder, like many of his colleagues, knows how to make money in ventures, and made the Redskins extremely profitable. But, like many of his colleagues, is learning that success on an athletic field in no way resembles what it takes to find success in a chain of restaurants.

He fired Norv Turner (long overdue), and tried Terry Robiskie to finish out the season, then to Marty Schottenheimer for 1 year, Steve Spurrier for 2, talked Joe Gibbs into another try for 4, and now to Jim Zorn.

At QB during that run, the Redskins have gone with Brad Johnson, Tony Banks, Patrick Ramsey, Mark Brunell, and now the Jason Campbell era continues to plod along.

Snyder may not be universally recognized as the owner who dabbles too much as our own Jerry Jones or Al Davis, but don't tell that to Redskins fans who wonder why J.C.C. couldn't live forever.

The National Football Post Has the following players as "Blue" when season started ...

Washington —

BLUE CHIP: RB, Portis; CB, C. Rogers; DT, Haynesworth; S, Landry.
ALMOST BLUE: TE, Cooley; WR, S. Moss; CB, Horton.

Cooley will not play with a broken ankle. Portis will not play with a concussion. Horton has been placed on Injured Reserve. So, the Redskins don't want to hear about Marc Colombo.

Although it doesn't make for great print, the real issue with the Redskins from my perspective remains an offensive line that doesn't allow the Skins to accomplish just a whole lot. On opening day, from LT to RT, the Redskins starter Chris Samuels, Derrick Dockery, Casey Rabach, Randy Thomas, and Stephon Heyer. A pretty solid group that only felt questionable about RT. Since then, because of various injuries and performance issues, the line has been able to count on Dockery and Rabach, but beyond that, they have changed out every other spot on the line. Pro Football has a breakdown of who has played when if you want to see more, but they have lost Samuels for the year and perhaps his career, and everything started caving in around that.

Beyond the mess in the offensive line, and the hiring of Sherman Lewis to take the play-calling away from Jim Zorn, it is difficult to assess what the Redskins have been doing offensively all season - because it may not matter before the bye week.

In looking at them since the bye week, and realizing that their top 2 go-to guys have been hurt (Portis and Cooley), I will tell you that it is what we have come to expect from the Jason Campbell offense - a series of power runs, WR/TE screens, and quick passes that are high percentage throws barely past the line of scrimmage. They still have a host of WRs who all have varied amounts of ability, but they have never been a team to sit back and let routes develop in the last several years.

This offense is about misdirection, fake-end arounds, and power lead plays. To their credit, as the game wore on against the Broncos, the offensive line, as patched together as it is, was able to tire the Broncos out and end up taking the game (with a little help from Chris Simms).

But overall, this offense has not been able to score. Zorn is under fire, Campbell is not on solid ground, and the 140 points puts them at 15th in the NFC scoring, ahead of only the hapless Rams.

The defense is filled with many talented pieces which at times can be dominating. At other times they all look confused at eachother as Brandon Marshall runs untouched into the endzone. Greg Blache has tried to figure out how to deploy his troops properly, but the influx of talent can not be undersold. Albert Haynesworth is playing exceptional, and this is making Andre Carter look like a man possessed at times, with Brian Orakpo, every bit the player they thought they were getting in the first half of round 1.

I am not crazy about Orakpo being assigned to cover men downfield, but when they basically allow him to put his hand down and get after the QB, he has been relentless in the tape I have seen. I am very pleased with his progress and his 7 sacks have already put him in the mix for Defensive Rookie of the Year Awards. Orakpo on one end, Carter on the other, and Haynesworth in the middle have helped make the Redskins pass rush a factor for the first time in years.

Of the 16 teams in the NFC, only the Cowboys (169) have allowed fewer points than the Redskins (171). They don't give up many points, in fact only 3 teams have broken 20, and the Falcons scoring 31 2 weeks ago is the only truly poor defensive performance.

Additional Reading:

Gosselin on Orakpo :

He made his starting debut in the season opener against the New York Giants but was nearly invisible, with two tackles and no sacks in a 23-17 loss.

But Orakpo was credited with two pressures in his second game against the St. Louis Rams – and has been a force in the pass rush for the Redskins ever since. He picked up his first NFL sack in the third game of the season against Detroit and has collected seven sacks over his last seven games. He also has been credited with 10 pressures.

Only weakside end Andre Carter has more sacks (eight) on the Redskins – and only Carter and Philadelphia's Trent Cole have more sacks than Orakpo in the NFC East. Only Denver's Elvis Dumervil and Pittsburgh Pro Bowler James Harrison have more sacks than Orakpo at linebacker.

Sunday will be one of the rare days in his young career that Orakpo will be more experienced than the player he's facing. With Marc Colombo gone for the season with a broken leg, Doug Free figures to draw his first NFL start at right tackle for the Cowboys.

The pass rush will be the key for the Redskins. The Packers last week and the Broncos in October threw Tony Romo around for five sacks apiece in upsetting the Cowboys. The Redskins drafted Orakpo to throw quarterbacks around. It will be Free's job this weekend to prevent that.

No Portis for this week and maybe no Haynesworth:

Clinton Portis is again “very doubtful” for the Washington Redskins as he continues to recover from a concussion.

Coach Jim Zorn said Wednesday that the running back is still experiencing blurry vision resulting from a helmet-to-helmet hit 10 days earlier at Atlanta. doctor for more tests.

Zorn says Portis needs to be symptom-free for 24 hours, then get medical clearance and go through a practice before playing. That timetable leaves little chance that Portis will play Sunday against Dallas.

Ladell Betts rushed for 114 yards subbing for Portis in a 31-17 win over Denver.

Zorn also said defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth will be a “weekend decision” with a sprained ankle.

Riggins versus the Snyder regime has really rocked the Redskins world this season.

Redskins defensive coordinator Greg Blache broke his self-imposed silence today with a passionate defense of team owner Daniel Snyder.

Hall of Famer John Riggins had excoriated the embattled Snyder on Wednesday, calling him a "bad guy" whose "heart is dark."

Blache, who had ceased his weekly sessions with reporters earlier this season, made unexpected remarks in which he said negative talk of Snyder's character is off-base.

"We've had criticisms from people outside the building saying who Dan Snyder is and who is isn't," Blache said. "They don't know Dan Snyder and that's the problem. Trust me because he and I, we work together. I'm not going to tell you that this is a utopia.

"There are no utopias in football, and there are no utopias in life. At the same time, enough is enough. Every story, there is one person's side, another person's side, and then behind it all there is a third side and it's the truth."

Snyder has been under fire from several NFL analysts for his handling of the 2-5 Redskins. But Riggins, who lost his daily Washington radio job when Snyder bought the station he worked at, crossed from professional criticisms to personal.

Blache said he took exception to such comments from Riggins.

"In the six years, I've never seen John Riggins here," Blache said. "... never seen him in the building. So, to hear such a vicious criticism of somebody I consider not just my employer, but a good friend, bothered me."

You can get lost for hours on Riggins' Youtube Page

Here is one of my favorites from a few weeks back -

One Player's Account of the team :

I talked recently to a veteran NFL player, a man who in double-digit years in the NFL has played for dreadful teams and in the Super Bowl. He's watched the Redskins here and there this season and has a good idea of what's going on day in, day out. He thinks a great many of the players are simply dispirited. He doesn't think that they've quit or dislike their coach or any of the grandiose overstated junk that people outside the locker room might lazily come up with.

He reminded me that playing pro football, win or lose, is a career. And no matter what players tell the media or even themselves, it's difficult to come to any workplace when things are awful. Reputations and the size of paychecks can't change that. You can try as hard as you can, harder than you even thought you could, and lose. Then you feel worse the next day, and the next week and as long as the losing continues until teams don't even resemble what they were when the season started.

Haynesworth vs Gurode 2 :

A topic in Dallas today was center Andre Gurode facing Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth for the first time since Haynesworth stomped on Gurode's face in 2006.

Gurode needed 30 stiches and was bothered by headaches and blurred vision. Haynesworth was suspended five games.

The players spoke about the incident today (quotes from the Associated Press story).

Gurode: "That situation is behind us. It's something that happened years ago. He doesn't focus on it. I don't focus on it. We just moved forward and continue to play football."

Haynesworth, who was the Dallas conference call choice: ""If I could go back in time, I wouldn't do that. Now it was a step in my life, a crossroads. I had to choose what I was going to do. Either go down and let that define me or step up and rewrite history."

Gurode: ""It's good that he moved passed it. I moved passed it. He is a great player."

The two players have talked at the Pro Bowl since the incident. Haynesworth has never shied away from discussing The Stomp, including the day he was introduced by the Redskins.

Wednesday Thoughts on Garrett

2009-11-18T08:05:00.000-06:00

Between all of the blog entries since the Green Bay game, and the debates that followed on the air with Norm, I thought I would share some emails and and offer a few more items of interest before we put it all to bed and prepare for the Redskins game which will be here in no time.

1) I was reading some of the post-game analysis from the Packers' writers and found this which appears to support my thoughts about the blitz and the Packers feelings that defense on Sunday was pretty cut and dried:

Facing a critical juncture in the season, Capers dusted off some blitzes he hadn't used this season and applied consistent pressure on the Cowboys, sending everyone from inside linebackers Nick Barnett and A.J. Hawk to cornerback Charles Woodson to safety Nick Collins. The Packers sacked Romo five times and chipped in three other tackles for loss in holding the Cowboys to a season-low 278 yards.

Now that he's seen what his unit can do when turned loose, is Capers going to keep his foot on the accelerator?

Maybe.

"These guys know we will be as aggressive as we can be and have success," Capers said of his fourth-ranked defense. "I've never been around a player yet that doesn't like to be aggressive. And we certainly like to dictate the tempo of the game and I thought we were able to dictate the tempo of the game yesterday."

But many coordinators have promised to blitz aggressively only to back off because of the risk factor, so what he said Monday won't necessarily hold true next Sunday. Capers said he was able to blitz so much because the Cowboys became predictable, eschewing the run early in favor of a pass-happy attack.

Another reason Capers might dial down his blitz calls is that the next opponent, the San Francisco 49ers, have running back Frank Gore, whose 64- and 80-yard touchdown runs this season can scare the ink off a coordinator's play sheet. The downside of blitzing is that if the offense has the right play called, there can be a huge hole for a running back.

It's one reason Capers refused to blitz Brett Favre in the two Minnesota Vikings games; he feared running back Adrian Peterson would scorch him.

"That's the thing, you have to make sure you're gap sound," Perry said. "When you zone pressure, sometimes guys get out of their gap too quick. If you're slanting the wrong way, you get creased. You have to be conscious of that. That's why if a team is running the ball, you have to be a little more selective than when you pressure and when you don't."

And that is what specifically bothererd me about the game plan on Sunday. What they (Dom Capers and the Safeties coach, Joe Perry) said in that story is football 301 material. There are some significant downsides about blitzing that keep a defense from doing it as much as its fan base wants.

I call this sort of stuff "Madden Influence". Madden, the video game we have all played, made many of us a lot smarter when it comes to football, I believe. There is no doubt that unless you played, you did not know much about "Quarters or Cover 2" until you played Madden.

But, the problem with Madden is that before long, you call Shotgun 4WR on every offensive play and the most aggresive blitz possible on every defensive play. We know there are negatives to that approach, but who cares? It is a video game.

But, in real football, the coaches never throw enough bombs to satisfy the fans, nor does any defenisve coordinator call enough blitzes to make the fans happy. This is why Jason Garrett is so interesting. He almost seems more like the college kid playing Sega than the old conservative coach with the whistle around his neck.

I thought you would enjoy reading a coach discuss why NOT to blitz, and why blitzing made sense against the Cowboys on Sunday. And KNOW that around the league, there is a recipe for playing against Jason Garrett. Everyone with a film projector knows it. And this is why we "self-scout".

2) Did they abandon the run because of the injury to Marc Colombo? I think there is something to this theory, and I believe it is because they fear Doug Free cannot hold his own at the point of attack.

Let's look at the runs with Doug Free at Right Tackle:

Offensive Snap
#9 WC Choice Right, -1
#10 Barber Middle +2
#12 Jones Right +2
#16 Jones Right 0
#17 Choice Middle +3
#22 Barber Right -2
#26 WC Choice Left +11
#31 Jones Right +4

8 plays, 19 yards. Not a huge sample, but it does represent the final 49 minutes of the game. Only 8 runs, and 2 of them from the Wild-Cat. So, 6 traditional runs the rest of the game which yielded 9 yards. It seems possible that these results caused Garrett to fade even further into the pass-happy posture.

And this is why they seem to be considering Leonard Davis at Tackle, and moving Proctor inside. If you have to go the final 7 games without running the ball, expect very bad things. Must. Run. Ball.

3) EMAILS!
-----------------

Bob,

Just read your blog posting "Decoding Garrett" for this last week's game., and also heard you argue with Norm on this same topic. While I agree with your general premise, I don't believe that you fully justified your assertion that Garrett abandoned the under-center formations too early in the game.

We know that, indeed, a large portion of the shotgun plays occurred after the Packers went up 10-0. However, you never actually broke down the percentage of offensive plays in quarters 1-3 that were under-center or shotgun. This is crucial data, since it expresses Garrett's formation preference when the game was essentially tied (You have been asserting that the offense played poorly because Garret abandoned under-center formations prematurely).

If I recall correctly, the offense did not run many plays at all through the first three quarters. The offense went three and out repeatedly. Therefore, your statements that "13 plays from (were run) under center for 51 yards" and that " Marion Barber had 1 carry in the final 3 Quarters" have no basis for comparison. If the number of plays the cowboys ran through the 1st three quarters was, say, 30, and the majority of the under-center plays that they ran throughout the game occured in quarters 1-3, then I would argue that garrett didn't abandon the under-center look prematurely.

In summary, I would like to see the percentage of plays in quarters 1-3 that were shotgun looks (and mind you that we should include plays that were blown dead due to penalties since those were play calls by Garrett.) I have not run the numbers (I'm too busy which is why you're sports sturm), but I have a feeling that the trend you are looking for may not be as pronounced as you believe it is.

Just some constructive criticism! Still a good statistical article that you wrote. Feel free to email me if you disagree with what I've wrote.

- Jeffry

My response:

you suggested I had no basis for comparison, but in reality, given the fact I do an exhaustive breakdown of every game going back through the last 25, I don't see how that could be true.

I have a consistent trend from these types of games (road, hostile) that spans several different examples that is what I use to make my points. Further, I am happy to share my data with you to put you at ease. Yes, Sunday was not as egregious as the final numbers indicate, but I have several specific examples in the game where he was way too aggressive in my opinion that showed he lost faith in the ability to run the ball.

Was it all Doug Free for Marc Colombo? Possibly. But, regardless, they became very, very easy to defend.

And like I said, this is about Denver, Philadelphia '08, Pittsburgh '08, and several other games of similar variety in his tenure.
-------------

Here is one from the great Shawn, who helps compile our statistical database:

Bob,

"Jason Garrett helped lose the game on Sunday by losing the plot of his game plan" Yes, he did, but who's to blame? Garrett? I would suggest to you, it's Jerry Jones. Jerry has built a coaching staff with a OC and DC and no HC.

Coordinators by nature are only concerned about their unit and playing better than the other unit. A mindset of my offense, your defense and vice versa is fine between coordinators, becasue the Head Coach keeps both coordinators in line.

What happens when the Head Coach doesn't have any input in the offense?
64% of the Cowboys snaps were in S11.
74% of the Cowboy snaps were in Shotgun.

The OC went off the Reservation and the Head Coach didn't get him back on track. Could Wade have reeled Garrett back in and told him to stick with the game plan? I don't think so. Jerry took that authority away from his HC.

Garrett pushed the panic button and offensive turnovers got the Cowboys beat. The Packers only had one drive in the game, but Garrett acted as if the Cowboys needed to score 24 points. Two turnovers sunk the Cowboys ship; Romo's fumble and the intercept at the one. A good HC wins that game 14-10.

Take a look at the Bears 49ers game. What OC left the Reservation?

Side Note:
Take a look at the bottom line of the worksheet "Yds/Pass Attempt"
Under 6 yards: 3 loses
Over 6 yards: 6 wins

Shawn

And another of a similar tone:

I love that you flay, lash, flog and scourge RHG when he deserves it, and that you do it logically and without malice. But here's something else for us to consider: he's not the head coach. And because of who the head coach is, RHG is not getting a chance to learn from someone who knows more about the game than he. Phillips should have gone into the offensive meetings last week and said, "Look, Capers and I have similar approaches. If I were playing against you on Sunday, here's how I would try to defend you."

So one could conclude that the combination of Garrett's relative inexperience and the lack of teaching moments from the head coach are a major contributor to his impatience (bordering on panic) when things don't work.

Joe

This is the elephant in the room that has not been mentioned. If you have a coordinator that "loses the plot", that is not uncommon. I wager that it happens every week in the NFL. NFL Coaching staffs are all about checks and balances and a head coach reeling in his coordinators, coordinators scolding their position coaches and so on. Everyone must be on the same page. Everyone must answer to someone.

Does that happen in Dallas? Does Wade ever close his office door and scold Jason Garrett for a game like this? Does he say anything on the sideline when he doesn't like a call like we saw Parcells do time and time again?

Most of us who follow this team are under the distinct impression that Wade never says a word. When he is questioned on the topics of his offense at his press briefings, his answers always suggest that he supports 100% of what his offense decided to do, but that he isn't sure what they did. His Sgt Schultz routine is well-known when it comes to his offense, and this may be part of the problem: In effect, the Cowboys have an OC - Garrett, a DC - Phillips, and either no Head Coach, or a Head Coach in the owner's box.

I wish I was making this up.

TC's Series Of Plays Of The Seven-Day Period

2009-11-18T03:00:00.022-06:00

Before we get into this week, my conscience demands I again make this disclaimer: I don't know that much about this stuff. I did not play football above the 8th-grade level. Everything I know about football comes from watching TV and playing Madden. There are a lot of things going on in these drives that I don't pick up on. Further, I have no doubt that I watch these plays with a certain amount of inescapable bias. I have opinions about teams and players that come from more or less nowhere, and without meaning to, I will see things and try to force them into my current understanding of things rather than change my understanding to fit the new evidence. I try to avoid this pitfall, and I try to see all the nuances of every play, but I want to be upfront about the fact that I know I do not come that close to achieving either goal. That said, there is still value in the words that follow. At least I'm getting some of it, you know?

I think it would be the most fun for everyone to focus on the Patriots and Colts game, specifically the Colts' final two drives.

The Colts open the drive With three wide receivers: Wayne to the far left, Collie in the slot to the left, and Garcon to the right. Dallas Clark is at the tight end spot to the right for a nice, balanced look. Manning is in the shotgun with Addai to his left.

From what I can see on TV, it looks like the Colts run the four verticals play, with four receivers all just running more or less straight down the field. That gets the coverage dropping deep, which opens up room for Addai coming out of the backfield. Specifically, New England is deploying pretty much just one linebacker (Adalius Thomas and Derrick Burgess are on the field, but they're playing defensive end and exclusively rushing the passer. Some of this is strategy, some is thinness along the line because Ty Warren and Jarvis Green were not available due to injury) with the other coverage men all being defensive backs. This is your average dime package. Based both on looking at this play, and the general trend of all the plays that follow, I think Addai is primarily the responsibility of that one linebacker Jerod Mayo. In this case, Mayo follows Clark going deep, and Addai settles down into the wide open middle of the field.

The defense is basically conceding ten yards underneath, and Addai picks them up. This was certainly not the time a receiver would be open because of attention being paid to other receivers, especially Dallas Clark.

The Colts execute their second play from the same three-wide formation. In fact, the first five plays of this seven-play drive are all from that same formation with basically the same personnel in the same positions (the lone exception is when Austin Collie has several plays in his direction in a row and takes a breather).

I think, both from watching this drive and from getting an impression of the Colts reputation, this is an element of their success: they are very simple. They rarely use motion, everyone stays in the same spot on the field, they keep their formations pretty basic. The key is that everyone is comfortable in their roles and gain a high level of expertise in doing their specific functions. This is, in fact, an even larger theme. The Colts have had the same offensive coordinator for Manning's entire career (though it looked dicey in this offseason), and though I don't have the time to make a full study, I would bet they have one of the fewest rates of turnover on the coaching staff in the league. Focusing back in on the drive, think of the advantages this provides: as Manning is calling the plays as everyone is rushing back to the line, you only have to worry about knowing your route (or blocking assignment), so you can line up faster, take less time between plays and still have more time to read the defense pre-snap. And once the play starts, it's easier for Manning to have chemistry with his receivers. A few years ago, Peter King had a thing about how Manning would throw to receivers whom, because of the position of the defenders, Manning could not see, but he would get big completions anyways because they had run the play enough times in practice that he felt confidence he knew where they would be and led them properly. Having never played quarterback professionally myself, I do not know how common this is, but it sounds damn impressive.

From this formation, Dallas Clark runs straight up the field while Austin Collie who runs more or less a drag route. Collie is always heading right, but at first it has more of an upfield tint to it before he makes a cut and really commits to running across the field. The cut is key because as he does it, he jostles the defensive back a little and creates separation. the Patriots are in man coverage with two deep safeties. When Addai stays in to pass block, Mayo follows him by rushing Manning. Clark has taken his man deep and the safeties are so deep as to not be a factor, so Collie is being defended only by his man, who he is now separated from, and has an easy catch over the middle. With the Patriots playing this sort of defense pretty focused, with the safeties as they are, on preventing anything deep and to the sidelines, this sort of pass is pretty available.

On the next play, most of the action happens down the field in the running of the routes, but the camera doesn't capture it at all, and with the hurry-up tempo, there's no time for replays. Luckily, Chris Collinsowrth is doing color, and he explains things pretty well. According to Collinsworth, Collie looks at first like he is running a "middle-read" route. That's where the receiver reads the coverage to decide between a post route and a square-in (or I guess they could add other choices if they want) with the idea being just to find open space to work in. Once he gets everyone going to the middle, he breaks back outside and makes a catch outside the numbers for 17 yards. The ball is actually underthrown kind of badly, but he's fooled everyone enough on the route that he is able to come back to make the catch.

The ball is underthrown because Manning gets hit as he's throwing. It's the most pressure he sees on the drive. Addai is staying in to block, and he looks first to left tackle Charles Johnson blocking Adalius Thomas, sees Johnson seems to be doing okay, then turns his attention to a matchup on the inside where a defensive tackle is getting penetration and goes to help there. Just after he's turned his attention, Thomas beats Johnson and goes by him to hit Manning. There's been a lot of talk on the station this week about pocket presence, especially as it relates to Aaron Rodgers. I would have been interested to see Rodgers run this play and if he would have had the sense of pass rush Manning displayed on this play. I kind of suspect he wouldn't.

On the next play, Dallas Clark and Pierre Garcon run complimentary routes that cross one another. After they cross, Clark turns back to Manning while Garcon keeps going down the field. All the action over there draws the two defenders lined up over them in addition to the middle linebacker Mayo and one of the two safeties on the play, who comes up to defend this area. The other deep safety stays pretty close to Reggie Wayne once it's clear he's going to challenge deep. All that leaves Austin Collie one-on-one. Collie is running deep diagonally down the field towards the opposite sideline. The ball is again a little underthrown and Collie can't necessarily run to get it, he has to slow down, brining him back to the defender. Collinsworth again helps me out here, explaining that Collie made a conscious decision here when he came back to the ball to jump into the defender, which drew a pass interference penalty. It's akin to a basketball player going up with the intention of drawing a foul. If you'll remember, Collinsworth chided Miles Austin last week for not executing this move. Well, Collie executes it perfectly and though it's certainly a little cheap (the defender didn't really do anything wrong on the play. In fact, pretty much the only person making a mistake here is Manning for not leading Collie more), it works and gains 31 yards.

It's on that last play that Collie goes to the sideline to get some Gatorade or something, so Clark goes in the slot with backup tight end Gijon Robinson sliding into Clark's spot. Clark runs diagonally across the play as Collie has been, but once he's in about the middle of the field, he breaks off the route and turns back to Manning. Robinson does roughly the same thing going the other way. Shortly after Robinson crosses Clark, Manning hits Clark with the pass. Normally, this might be kind of dangerous with Robinson's defender there underneath the pass with a possible shot at picking the pass off. In this case, however, the defender on Robinson is very dedicated to jamming him, and his sole focus is still on jostling Robinson. Had he looked up, he may could have been trouble. But Manning sees he's not looking up and completes the pass. Clark is open because he is much bigger than the corner. His route to the inside puts the corner behind him and he just uses his much bigger frame to shield the corner away from the play.

Now only four yards from the end zone, the Colts try a fade pass. It doesn't work, and it's kind of boring, so let's not spend any more time on it.

On both the failed fade and this final play of the drive, the Colts have made slight alterations to their formation: they flip the play, putting the tight end on the left and the slot receiver on the right in addition to putting Manning under center. The Patriots make no alterations to their formation, still playing with their outside linebackers as defensive ends and just one other linebacker to go with six defensive backs. Part of the presence of this personnel can be attributed to the fact the Colts do not huddle after the pass interference call for Collie, giving the Patriots no chance to substitute. To take advantage of this light personnel, the Colts go to a run play to the right. Right tackle Ryan Diem does a superb job blocking Derrick Burgess, handling him by himself and pushing him back to open up a hole. The real key to the play, though, is right guard Kyle DeVan and center Jeff Saturday getting a double-team on Vince Wilfork, standing him up and getting him moving back. All of these efforts create a clean running lane for Addai, and with Wilfork being blocked, Jerod Mayo can't see over him to find Addai. Mayo gets a little lost and by the time he gets a read on Addai, he's running by him and to the end zone.

The second drive again features basically the same formation throughout. There's Wayne on the left and Garcon on the right. Collie is in the slot to the right with Clark at tight end to the left. Manning is in the shotgun for the first play, but is under center for the rest of the drive. On the first play, Reggie Wayne runs a little square-in about 15 yards downfield. Dallas Clark is moving from the right to left and takes any underneath defenders between Manning and Wayne with him. Wayne also runs the route sufficiently in front of the deep safety. At the line, Wayne does a little stutter outside before heading upfield inside of the cornerback. That way, when he breaks inside, he does so without resistance. The cornerback is just trying to catch up.

The route does take a little bit for Wayne to get deep and make his cut, but Manning does a really good job moving in the pocket to keep away from the pressure.

The Patriots have continued to defend the Colts with the same personnel they have all game: lighter, more outside-linebacker-types for defensive ends, one real linebacker, and six defensive backs. The Colts again take advantage of it for one of the few successful running plays of the game (or season). The formula is very similar to their touchdown. Diem again handles Burgess by himself, while Clark takes on Adalius Thomas by himself on the backside of the play. That leaves four offensive linemen to double-team each of the Patriots two legit defensive linemen, Vince Wilfork and Mike Wright (those two tackles average 310 pounds while the ends average 265). The Colts get those two defensive tackles moving backwards with authority, and Addai follows them for 5-6 yards.

The same thing appears to happen again, with the defense unable to see around those defensive tackles. The entire defense is out of place after that, and the only thing that stops it from being a touchdown here is the deep safety being far back enough to read the play and take Addai down after 13 yards.

The Cotls run the ball on the next down, but the execution is not as good, and it gains only one yard. Let's just gloss over it.

The touchdown play is very simple on the Colts' end and very confusing on the Patriots'. The Cotls run your standard slants/flat play. Both outside receivers run a slant. Collie runs to the flat. Wayne again does his stutter to the outside, which could mean a fade, but then runs the slant to the inside. He also uses a nice little push within the allowed limits when making his cut. The point is, he gets inside the corner. The throw is a little high and pretty far in front, and Wayne does a splendid job of bringing the ball in.

The confusing elements of the Patriots' is their defensive alignment. Everyone is crowded right at the line of scrimmage with only one defender out covering the receivers. There is no one any deeper than two yards off the line of scrimmage. The two defenders on the outside, the ones who I would think most likely to get in between Manning and Wayne both devote their efforts to jamming Clark at the line, paying no mind to the pass whizzing by them.

As I think you can see, the focus on Clark opened up a lot of things for other receivers during this game. Clark did finish second the team in catches, but he was fourth in targets. Manning saw the effort New England devoted to jamming and covering Clark and decided to go elsewhere with the ball throughout much of the game. After the first few drives and carrying through until these drives at the end, the Colts used Clark in the slot with Gijon Robinson at tight end. I can see how switching to Collie in the slot and Clark at tight end would allow them to turn things around as they did: Collie is a much better receiving threat than Gijon Robinson, better able to take advantage of the one-on-one coverage created by the focus on Clark. Further, putting Clark on the line gums up the short middle of the field, which, if you have to gum up somewhere, that's probably a fine place when trying to come from behind. Consider also that with Clark covered every down and Wayne covered on some of them, Manning often had to go to Pierre Garcon before Collie entered the mix. Garcon was terrible in this game: of 11 targets, he was only able to make 3 catches. Compare that to Collie who made 6 catches out of his 8 targets. Switching out Collie for Gijon Robinson on the field allowed Manning to move away from Garcon, and that played a big part in turning the momentum. Collie's no star, but he proved able to beat single coverage and make a catch. When you have Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark on the field, Austin Collie is going to see almost exclusively single coverage.

With someone like Peyton Manning, there's a tendency to fall all over one's self complimenting him. It's a safe thing to do. No one will think you're dumb for saying Peyton Manning is good (though they might think you're uncreative). So I might be falling into that trap with this next bit, but I was pretty impressed by how he made the correct read to find the least defended receiver on every play we looked at. I don't know if that's something exceptional or if it's something every quarterback does but I want to call it exceptional because he wears number 18, but we certainly saw last week that Josh Freeman did not find the least covered receiver on every play. In fact, go back and watch the Patriots' already-legendary fourth-down play in this game and watch how open Wes Welker is. It might be an underrated skill, and it's one Manning showed on every play of this drive. Watching him, he makes quarterbacking look so simple. He has had amazing throws in his career, but I don't think we saw too many here (in fact, you've read that many were pretty off-target). What he did here that was even more valuable than showing off his arm is just identifying the receiver most likely to succeed and throwing it in his direction. Just by doing that he was able to win what seems it will end up being the defining game of this regular season.

Running Stat Projects Update

2009-11-18T01:57:00.001-06:00

Turnover Battles for the Week

Winner	+/-	Loser
SF	+4	Chi
GB	+3	Dal
Jac	+2	NYJ
Was	+2	Den
Car	+2	Atl
Arz	+2	Sea
Bal	+2	Cle
Ten	+1	Buf
Cin	+1	Pit
SD	+1	Phi
Mia	E	TB
Ind	E	NE
Min	-1	Det
KC	-1	Oak
NO	-2	STL
Totals for Week	10-3-2
Totals for Season	93-25, 79%

Total	Record	Win %
+6	1-0	100%
+5	2-0	100%
+4	11-0	100%
+3	13-0	100%
+2	27-9	75%
+1	39-16	71%
Totals	93-25	79%

Name	Team	Opp	Yards	W/L
Adrian Peterson	Min	Det	133	W
Chris Johnson	Ten	Buf	132	W
Steven Jackson	STL	NO	131	L
Justin Forsett	Sea	Arz	123	L
Maurice Jones-Drew	Jac	NYJ	123	W
Michael Bush	Oak	KC	119	L
Ladell Betts	Was	Den	114	W
Michael Turner	Atl	Car	111	L
Frank Gore	SF	Chi	104	W
Jamaal Charles	KC	Oak	103	W
Ricky Williams	Mia	TB	102	W
Totals for Week				7-4
Totals for Season				50-21, 70%

Name	Team	Opponent	Yards	W/L
Donovan McNabb	Phi	SD	450	L
Tom Brady	NE	Ind	375	L
Brett Favre	Min	Det	344	W
Kurt Warner	Arz	Sea	340	W
Peyton Manning	Ind	NE	327	W
Matt Hasselbeck	Sea	Arz	315	L
Jay Cutler	Chi	SF	307	L
Totals for Week				3-4
Totals for Season				40-16, 71%

Name	Targets	Catches	Yards	FD/TD/INT
Witten	8	5	47	1/0/1
Williams	7	5	105	4/1/0
Barber	4	3	11	1/0/0
Crayton	6	4	52	2/0/0
Ogletree	1	1	1	0/0/0
Austin	9	4	20	0/0/0
Choice	2	1	9	1/0/0
Bennett	2	1	6	0/0/0
Totals	39	24	251	9/1/1

Week	Opponent	Sack	Blame
Wk 1	Tampa	Barber	Romo awareness
Wk 3	Carolina	Davis	Adams?
Wk 3	Carolina	Beason	Felix/Colombo
Wk 4	Denver	Dumervil	Adams
Wk 4	Denver	Hill	Garrett?
Wk 4	Denver	Williams	Romo
Wk 4	Denver	Dumervil	Anderson
Wk 4	Denver	Holiday	Adams
Wk 5	Kansas City	Gilberry	Davis/Choice
Wk 7	Atlanta	DeCoud	Davis/Choice
Wk 7	Atlanta	Nicholas	Anderson
Wk 8	Seattle	Hawthorne	Colombo
Wk 8	Seattle	Hawthorne	Gurode
Wk 9	Philadelphia	Parker	Witten
Wk 9	Philadelphia	Babin	Kosier
Wk 9	Philadelphia	Jones	???
Wk 9	Philadelphia	Cole	Adams
Wk 10	Green Bay	Collins	Witten
Wk 10	Green Bay	Barnett	Gurode
Wk 10	Green Bay	Matthews	Adams
Wk 10	Green Bay	Barnett	Barber
Wk 10	Green Bay	Woodson	Adams

Package	Plays Run	Yards	Run	Pass
11	1	1	1-1	0-0
12	8	40	3-11	5-29
13	3	12	3-12	0-0
21	0	0	0-0	0-0
22	1	-2	1-(-2)	0-0
WC22	2	10	2-10	0-0
S00	1	0	0-0	1-0
S01	1	0	0-0	1-0
S11	37	166	2-7	35-159
S12	4	39	1-5	3-34
Totals	58	278	14-61	44-217

Every Friday during the 2:00 hour, BaD Radio will make their picks of the week. Whoever gets the fewest correct over the course of the season will wear a nice suit and tie during the entirety of the NFL playoffs. In addition, the loser among Bob, Dan and Donovan will wear the same attire during Super Bowl week in Miami. Picks will be in red.





STANDINGS
Bob	16-11
Dan	12-15
Donovan	12-15
Tom	15-12
Grubes	14-13
Sean	15-12
TCLOTW	5-4

Every Friday during the 2:00 hour, BaD Radio will make their picks of the week. Whoever gets the fewest correct over the course of the season will wear a nice suit and tie during the entirety of the NFL playoffs. In addition, the loser among Bob, Dan and Donovan will wear the same attire during Super Bowl week in Miami. Picks will be in red.





STANDINGS
Bob	16-8
Dan	10-14
Donovan	10-14
Tom	14-10
Grubes	14-10
Sean	14-10
TCLOTW	4-4

Year	#1 Seed	#8 Seed	#9 Seed	100 Pt Teams
95-96	Det 131	Win 78	Ana 78	2
96-97	Col 107	Chi 81	Van 77	2
97-98	Dal 109	SJ 78	Chi 73	2
98-99	Dal 114	Edm 78	Cal 72	1
Averages	115.25	78.75	75.00	1.75

Team	Reg Season	Playoffs (SB Rec)
Eagles	97-53-1	10-7 (0-1)
Giants	85-67	6-5 (1-1)
Cowboys	76-75	0-3
Redskins	68-83	1-2

Name	Targets	Catches	%	Yards	FD/TD/INT
Witten	64	48	75%	438	22/1/3
Austin	55	31	56%	632	15/7/1
Crayton	49	26	53%	417	12/2/1
Williams	52	24	46%	428	15/3/0
Choice	21	15	71%	132	7/0/0
Bennett	21	10	48%	96	5/0/0
Hurd	10	6	60%	125	3/1/1
Barber	15	12	80%	90	3/0/0
Jones	5	4	80%	56	2/0/0
Anderson	3	1	33%	5	0/0/
Ogletree	4	4	100%	58	3/0/0
Phillips	1	1	100%	0	0/0/
Totals	300	183	61%	2466	90/14/6

Name	Targets	Catches	%	Yards	FD/TD/INT
Crayton	15	9	60%	94	7/0/1
Austin	17	9	53%	188	4/2/0
Witten	15	13	87%	125	8/1/0
Williams	15	5	33%	79	5/0/0
Choice	9	7	77%	60	3/0/0
Hurd	5	2	40%	63	2/0/0
Bennett	4	1	25%	15	1/0/0
Ogletree	4	4	100%	58	3/0/0
Barber	1	0	0%	0	0/0/0
Totals	85	50	59%	685	33/3/2

Name	Targets	Catches	%	Yards	FD/TD/INT
Witten	56	43	77%	391	21/1/2
Austin	46	27	59%	612	15/7/1
Crayton	43	22	51%	365	10/2/1
Williams	45	19	42%	323	11/2/0
Choice	19	14	74%	123	6/0/0
Bennett	19	9	47%	90	5/0/0
Hurd	10	6	60%	125	3/1/1
Barber	11	9	81%	77	2/0/0
Jones	5	4	80%	56	2/0/0
Anderson	3	1	33%	5	0/0/
Ogletree	3	3	100%	57	3/0/0
Phillips	1	1	100%	0	0/0/
Totals	261	159	61%	2215	81/13/5

Package	Plays Run	Yards	Run	Pass
12	12	37	4-15	8-22
13	7	33	4-13	3-20
21	5	16	1-6	4-10
22	7	53	6-33	1-20
WC22	3	13	3-13	0-0
S02	1	0	0-0	1-0
S11	16	174	1-10	15-164
S12	7	38	1-(-4)	6-42
Knee	3	-2	3-(-2)	0-0
Totals	61	358	23-76	38-282

Every Friday during the 2:00 hour, BaD Radio will make their picks of the week. Whoever gets the fewest correct over the course of the season will wear a nice suit and tie during the entirety of the NFL playoffs. In addition, the loser among Bob, Dan and Donovan will wear the same attire during Super Bowl week in Miami. Picks will be in red.





STANDINGS
Bob	13-8
Dan	10-11
Donovan	9-12
Tom	13-8
Grubes	13-8
Sean	11-10
TCLOTW	3-4

Bob's Blog - Live from Lewisville

Game Plan Friday: Washington Redskins

Analyze the Enemy: Washington Redskins

Wednesday Thoughts on Garrett

TC's Series Of Plays Of The Seven-Day Period

Running Stat Projects Update

Football 301: Targets and Sacks - Week 10

Football 301: Decoding Garrett - Week 10

The Morning After: Packers 17, Cowboys 7

Week 9 Picks

Game Plan Friday: Green Bay Packers

Analyze the Enemy: Green Bay Packers

TC's Drive Of The Week

Martellus and Me

Some Neat Turnover Updates

Football 301: Targets and Sacks - Week 9

Football 301: Decoding Garrett - Week 9

Week 8 Picks

The Morning After: Cowboys 20, Eagles 16

Game Plan Friday: Philadelphia Eagles

Ask Sports Sturm: Playoff Cutoff in NHL

Analyze The Enemy - Philadelphia Eagles

Week 7 Picks

On this Favre issue...

Football Musings (WITH MINOR UPDATE)

Football 301: Targets and Sacks - Week 8