The Anatomy of a Blowout

it was the Wild Card round of the playoffs Green Bay at Dallas a classic matchup that we've all grown to love or in some cases Hate by the end of the first quarter it was only a 7 nothing ball game nothing too dire at least Jordan love made some nice throws on the opening drive yes Aaron Jones was running all over the Cowboys front 7 again but the game wasn't entirely out of control yet Dak got to the line it was third and five in his own territory after a semi-rough first quarter and he needed to answer the bell at this point he needed to answer Jordan love more specifically but then Prescott Fires for cooks and it's intercepted Jer Alexander he's got it up on his feet racing to the end zone and he's in and then even worse Aaron Jones scored again in in trouble rolling pping taken down for the sack by K Nixon and then Dak pressured once more to answer that Bell did the unth picked off and no one in front of him here's love pressure back foot throw Endzone it is caught for the touchdown dant Tavi and Wicks oh a little miscommunication there but love still stands in he's got a man wide open it stops comes back to get it Jones again running left running up the middle and running in for a touchdown this Dallas crowd is in [Music] shock [Applause] you know on second thought that might have been a little bit too dramatic of an opening but you get the picture today's episode is about playoff blowouts like the one we saw here in Dallas and how they actually happen and I don't just mean the events of the game or the highlights or even the low lights I mean the real story of the play calls that worked the philosophies that didn't and the actual reasons behind why we got the result that we did so if you're a Cowboys fan and you're watching this video you've been warned but for everybody else who either has no rting interest or is just fascinated by slow motion car wrecks buckle up this one's for you our Story begins at that fateful interception in the first quarter the inciting action so to speak when the Cowboys lined up in this Trip's look with the tight end isolated to the boundary side everything about the Packers defense screamed man coverage you have a safety Darnell Savage lined up head up and a press look on a tight end you have two DBS that look like they're playing a lock and level technique on this inside stack with Jer Alexander in a man coverage posture outside as well and both the linebacker and Boundary side edge looking like they're about to execute a change call or appeal alert if the running back releases fast to the flat really the only question here is if this is going to be man coverage with two safeties deep or with one safety deep in the post and another coming down to rob the middle of the field you know that coverage at as cover one cross if you followed this channel in the past now on the Dallas side their fields side route combination is what's called a return smash combination or a rain smash combination with Michael Gallop also running the shallow route off the motion at the snap now a return smash combo is exactly what it sounds like it's generally the same route distribution as a traditional smash concept but the underneath route is a return in route instead of a hitch this concept is typically run to beat Cover two too but it absolutely can beat man coverage as well if the quarterback and the receiver that he's throwing to are good enough here's the problem though or rather the two problems problem number one is that Dak is completely ignoring CD lamb here and he's refusing to throw the ball with his leverage to hit him outside at the boundary for what should be an easy first down and a nice gain to boot and I don't really have an answer as to why he ignored him considering his eyes should be going to him first because he's got a one-on one but he did and problem number two is that instead of trusting CD to beat man coverage with a free release and get to his spot on time Dak wanted to throw the return route to Brandon Cooks against Jer Alexander you know the same Jer Alexander that's an allpro corner and watches a lot of tape and can see this return route coming from a mile away the Cowboys have a tendency when they're lined up on the hash like a lot of other offenses around the league that they like to run return routes to the field side so so that they can shorten that throw They Don't Really attack the field side flat or try to throw any short outbreaking routes all the way from the far hash because that's inherently a very dangerous throw to make just as Cowboys corner donon Bland because he eats those types of throws for breakfast so to protect themselves from throwing picks to the field side flat you see these return in routes or rain routes show up a lot on tape because the Leverage is better and the throw is a lot safer or at least it's a lot safer until throw it right at Jer Alexander who's basically sitting on the route the entire time because he has functioning eyes and he's watched Dallas do this the entire season is this the worst pick in the world no not really I mean I chalk it up to more of a great defensive play than anything else but what was crucial about this pick is that it set up yet another easy Aaron Jones touchdown and it put even more pressure on Dak to dig himself out of this hole I also want to take a moment to address the irony by the way that I'm recording this video literally from the Cowboys practice facility at the star in Frisco Texas I didn't mean for it to seem malicious it just kind of lined up that way the shrine bow is being held here this week that's one of the Premier pre-draft events and I'm out here covering that at the star uh also side note if you're really into the draft we're going to have a bunch of prospect interviews dropping over on the podcast channel the boot Lake football podcast uh we're also going to be doing a very long perhaps overly detailed Super Bowl preview now that it's official uh the chief and the 49ers have made it our Championship preview episode was almost 2 hours long and I expect our Super Bowl preview is going to be about that long as well so if you like listening to me drone on and on about coverage Tendencies and Blitz Tendencies that's the show for you but anyway I just want to take a moment to apologize to uh the Cowboys who have been wonderful gracious Host this week this is a top-notch facility and uh as my all of Branch to you I would like to warn you all to click off this video now because if you're a Cowboys fan or a Cowboys employee it's about to get a whole lot worse all right fast forward to the next Dallas possession where they get all the way to the Green Bay 36 yd line in nine plays it's 14 nothing at this point and it's third and five yet again and the only thing that Dak Prescott absolutely cannot do besides throw another pick is take a sack they're in field goal range and they desperately need some kind of points here in the second quarter so they cannot go backwards but of course what happens is Dak hesitates to pull the trigger on a corner route to Ferguson yet again as he gets collision by the linebacker which kind of muddies the read a little bit and that in itself is an okay decision I mean he didn't want to risk throwing a pick if he didn't feel 100% great about that throw so on some level I understand it but what I don't understand is why when Dak broke the pocket he didn't just throw the ball away there's literally nothing there there is nothing that he can do except throw it away but instead he takes a sack out to the 43 yd line and what should have been a field goal opportunity now became yet another Punt and it's still 14 nothing at this point Dak went from sweating a little bit to sweating a lot and Jordan love hadn't even turned up the heat yet that is until now on the ensuing Packers Drive love marched right down the field in nine plays himself setting himself up for the 10th play of The Possession at the Cowboys 20yd line line just inside the red zone now you might not have been aware of this next stat but Jordan love certainly was the Cowboys call the ninth most cover zero on third down in the Red Zone among all NFL teams at about 20% I know that's a highly specific situational call but trust me it matters and if you think calling zero on 20% of those High levered situation calls is a lot well you're correct it is a lot that's damn near Brian Flores territory of aggression in key spots but the cowboys live by the sword and they were certainly prepared to Die By The Sword too Jordan love did his best Aaron rogers's impersonation here and gave the Cowboys a wicked hard count just to confirm that they were indeed in a zero look which of course they were and upon seeing that he immediately brought Luke Musgrave in to add on to the protection so they would have seven immediately at the snap to handle whatever Dallas was bringing and at the same time he also signaled to his two receivers outside to run double posts off a switch release with motion at the snap now what this switch release does is it uses the leverage of these two defensive backs against them to give Jordan love an easier opportunity to hit this post for a touchdown both DBS are bumping over to match these releases inside and out so the inside guy takes whichever receiver releases inside and the outside Defender takes whichever receiver releases furthest to the outside but because that switch takes place at the snap now the outside Defender is kind of caught lagging and he has a significant outside leverage on Davian Wix who's running an inside breaking route so he's way out leveraged here on this route and Jordan love is counting on that the protection holds up for the most part and there's no help in the middle of the field so at this point all love has to do is just make an accurate throw and Lead his receiver inside to throw him open and that's exactly what he does this was a gorgeous beautiful I mean downright perfect throw by love they kind of flick of the wrist that Packers fans are probably used to seeing at this point over the last three decades and I'll be honest this is the throw that as a Bears fan made me audibly say oh not just because it's pinpoint accurate but because of how easy it looked how love got them into this play after giving a hard count and reading the defense and setting the protection I mean this was it this was what Packers fans have been waiting to see not just the talent in the potential in the flashes but the execution in a big game on third down in the Red Zone when he absolutely had to have it that was it and that one throw stood in stark contrast to what Dak Prescott was about to do when he walked back on that field 2 minutes to go in the second half down 20 to nothing the Cowboys had an opportunity to still somehow claw their way back into this game but it required scoring right now on this position session and then scoring again when they received the kickoff after halftime to do that though they just needed completions they had to string together gain after gain after gain and just get into some sort of Rhythm for the first time all day which to some degree they did I mean Dak completed five straight passes and Dallas was finally getting something going or at least they were until this play from the Packers 40 yd line right after the 2-minute warning it's second and two and the Packers are calling a 33 fire Zone here against a Four Strong look from Dallas that they motioned into and like I said the Packers DBS knew that Prescott was just trying to get easy completions for this entire Drive Dallas didn't care if they got it done five yards at a time they were going to just March down the field as efficiently as possible and try to protect the ball with throws that were as safe as possible which ironically is what led to this crucial pick six throughout the whole season when CD lamb was in the slot in either a 3x1 look or a Four Strong look meaning four receiving threats to one side the Cowboys ran him on Slants a lot just to give him and Dak as many reliable completions as they could in fact lamb caught more Slants this season than literally any other receiver with 26 total catches on just that route alone and the Packers DBS were very very aware of that tendency so when lamb motioned into the slot here on second down in a situation where Dallas was going to prioritize easy yards over everything else Darnell Savage knew what was coming Slants you can see him literally watching dak's eyes the entire time here knowing that Prescott never throws the inside slant and instead tends to favor throwing the trailing slant to CD as he should and so as soon as Dax hands separated to start his throwing motion Savage just floated off of his inside receiver and instead undercut lamb to get quite possibly the most backbreaking turnover in modern cowboys history at this point there was almost no coming back I mean yes I do acknowledge that they doubled up on either side of halftime and they made it 27 to1 and then eventually 3416 so they only had an 18-point deficit with one quarter still to go and a similar comeback just happened last weekend where the ners came back from 17 down so it's not impossible on paper but realistically speaking the Cowboys were only one hammer swing away from finally having that coffin nailed shut and when Aaron Jones plays down down here in Texas he does make for one hell of a hammer just over 2 minutes left to go in the third quarter on First and 10 with a three possession lead everyone in the building knew that the Packers were going to run the ball I mean that's football 101 right when you're up late you run it it's obvious to everybody or at least to everybody except apparently the Cowboys because weeks after this game I still have no idea why they lined up this way against 12 Personnel while down by three scores I mean they're a nickel and to make matters one of the linebackers they have on the field Mars Bell is listed at 205 lb he's basically a safety I mean I get it Leon vanderesh is hurt and they're short on linebackers that's totally reasonable but what's the excuse for not at least playing a 5-2 and having an extra defensive tackle on the field to help cover up for these guys there's eight gaps from this formation and only a fourman service for the defense on the line of scrimmage where's the bare front where's anything with five big bodies on the line of scrimmage to help clog things up and help the second level flow freely to the ball what do we we do when trying to get a light Personnel package to come from depth when you're already outnumbered on the line of scrimmage and try to play the run in a run first situation why are we trying to make Stefan Gilmore at 33 years of age with a bad shoulder tackle Aaron Jones of all people in space how did they think this was going to go and just in case you're wondering it didn't go great Jones got 27 yards basically for free because Dallas decided to play a pass defense structure while already down by 18 points with one quarter to go actually check that I they were down by 25 points with one quarter to go because on the very next play Matt laflor finally put the Cowboys out of their Misery by calling quite possibly the most disrespectful pass Concept in the entire West Coast ecosystem why leak lefl just wanted this thing over and so finally mercifully at a score of 41-6 it was over and I know the Cowboys put up 32 points by the end of this game by the way but I don't really care because by the time it got to 41 to 16 nothing else mattered after that and by the way speaking of not mattering I'm sure a lot of you are wondering why I'm even making a video about this game right now 3 weeks after it happened I mean the Super Bowl is in two weeks for God's sake why am I talking about this game still this specific playoff loss and to me it's because that was not a normal playoff loss that was a landmark event okay that was a core memory formed for two different fan bases for very different reasons but most of all I think it serves as a reminder as we go into our Super Bowl coverage again Super Bowl preview episode coming over on the podcast Channel boot Lake football podcast Shameless plug but I think this game serves as a reminder that especially in the playoffs situations can go from shaky to downright desperate very quickly once that calendar flips to January you just don't know what's going to happen anybody can win and anybody can lose and the difference in most of these games is like four plays and you just have no idea who's going to make those four plays unless you're talking about the Cowboys then you kind of have an idea was that too mean of a way to end this episode nah it's probably fine nobody hates the Cowboys like Cowboys fans after all but uh I will get out of here before Jerry finds me and uh Jerry if you ever happen to see this thanks for the hospitality I'll see you later

Channel: Brett Kollmann

Views: 390,343

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Id: ZN_hPJxI_s8

Length: 17min 26sec (1046 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 31 2024