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LeSean McCoy decided to celebrate him punching the ball past the first down-marker and clinching the Philadelphia Eagles’ victory over the Washington Redskins by punching his coach in the stomach. McCoy killed any hope of the Redskins pull…
With the ongoing crisis of the NFL lockout, it’s starting to look possible that the situation might not conclude this year. In all likelihood, the upcoming season will abide by the same conditions and rules which the league and players adhered to in th…
I’ve already posted initial postgame notes and 19 things we learned about the Cowboys after their first preseason game. Below is a collection of post-film study thoughts. Check back later for final player grades.
- The playcalling was obviously very bland on Sunday night. The Cowboys used only four different personnel packages. They lined up with base personnel (TE, two WR, FB, RB) on 31 plays. In comparison, they lined up with base personnel just 74 times all of last season (4.6 times per game).
- Like I stated in my article on what we learned about the Cowboys, the offense lined up in the infamous “Double Tight Strong” formation just three times, but ran a strong side dive all three plays.
- Dallas lined up in “I-Formation” (or a very close variation of it, such as “Strong” or “Weak”) on 30 plays against the Bengals. In comparison, they did that just 116 times all of last season (7.3 times per game).
- The Cowboys motioned on 24 of 69 (34.8 percent) meaningful plays against Cincinnati (there were two kneels). Here are last season’s motion statistics.
- Tony Romo has obviously been working on his back shoulder throws. He attempted a few in his limited action Sunday night, including two that were actually designed run plays.
- There have been rumblings that Romo will have more freedom at the line of scrimmage this season. That appears to be the case, as he checked out of two of a possible 13 plays (15.4 percent). In my study on the effectiveness of Romo’s audibles, I noted that he checked out of plays just 8.0 percent of the time last year.
- Roy Williams looked really good. He was quick out of his breaks and made a nice catch in traffic. He also ran a superb slant on 2nd-and-goal but Romo overthrew him.
- After watching the game film a few more times, it is clear the backup linemen struggled. Alex Barron, Robert Brewster, Pat McQuistan, Travis Bright, and Mike Tepper all looked overmatched. McQuistan was absolutely abused by Bengals rookie DT Geno Atkins, who I listed rather high on my 2009 Big Board.
- I credited Alex Barron, Tashard Choice, Mike Tepper, and Pat McQuistan with yielding a sack. I believe the official stats only have the Cowboys giving up three sacks, but quarterback Stephen McGee actually lost a yard on a play on which they gave him credit for reaching the line of scrimmage.
- Robert Brewster was very close to lining up off of the line of scrimmage on multiple plays. I haven’t heard anyone talk about it, but let’s see if the coaches notice it and move Brewster up a bit this week.
- Tashard Choice is one of my favorite players, but he actually struggled pretty heavily in pass protection this week. It is, of course, very difficult to decipher a team’s blocking assignments, but he appeared to miss one on Sunday night that resulted in a sack of quarterback Stephen McGee. He also whiffed on two other blocks. Choice was very good in pass protection last year, so I’d expect him to rebound nicely.
- I just looked back at our 2009 film study database, and the Cowboys ran just 13 designed rollouts all season. Sunday night, they ran three (nearly four times the rate of 2009). Moving Romo out of the pocket from time to time is probably a smart idea, so let’s see if the trend continues or if we were just the victim of a small sample size.
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Ok, “What If” the Bucs and Rams swap the number 1 and 3 picks in the upcoming draft straight up?
My good friend Tom Edrington of Bleacher report, bought up the possibility in his featured story “NFL Draft 2010: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Moving Up To Grab Ndamukong Suh?”
There have been rumblings coming out of Detroit that the Lions may select “SUH-perman” with the number 2 pick. There have also been some rumbling coming out of Tampa that the Buccaneers are not completely sold on Gerald Mc Coy.
Let’s take a look at some of the possible options the Buccaneers have to move up or down in the upcoming draft.
Name this team: They have regularly been in contention throughout their history, but just can’t get over the hump and win a world championship. They have a strong core of loyal fans dating back generations. They play in a stadium that is decades old and does not meet the team’s current needs.
They have an owner who has submitted proposals for stadiums to stay in their current market. These proposals have run into political roadblocks, and there have been rumblings that the team may move to Los Angeles, a huge market pining for an established team. So who is this team?
Trick question; the answer is two teams: The 2010 Minnesota Vikings and the 1954 Brooklyn Dodgers.
The Dodgers won the NL pennant 10 times as of 1954. Despite their success, they had not won a World Series in franchise history.
The Vikings have made eight conference championship games and advanced to the Super Bowl four times. They technically won the 1969 NFL Championship, but lost in the pre-merger Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs, leaving them without a world championship in their history.
The Dodgers’ franchise was formed in 1883 in Brooklyn, although they played under many different nicknames before settling on the Dodgers in the 1930s. Ebbets Field opened in 1913 as one of the premier ballparks of its time.
The Vikings were founded in Minnesota in 1961. After playing in Metropolitan Stadium from their founding, they moved into the Metrodome in 1982. Multipurpose stadiums were considered the clear choice at the time, and also allowed Minneapolis to host major events, such as the Super Bowl and the Final Four.
After World War II, many of the Dodgers’ diehard fans moved out of the borough and into the neighboring suburbs on Long Island. During most of their history, their fans walked to the park or took the trolley. It was now necessary for them to drive, but the park only had 700 parking spots.
With no room to expand, it was time to explore other options. Owner Walter O’Malley planned on opening the first-ever domed stadium in Brooklyn. When he presented his idea to city planners and the most powerful man in New York Robert Moses, the plan was shot down. Moses wanted the Dodgers to move to nearby Queens and open a park at the former World’s Fair site. O’Malley balked, and the two men found themselves at a standstill.
The Vikings have decided the Metrodome no longer earns enough money or can compete with the stadiums of their competitors. The Metrodome’s other tenants, the Twins and Gophers, decided the same and after much effort, were able to get beautiful new stadiums built. After multiple proposals, the Vikings have not yet been able to get a stadium deal approved.
In 1955, the Bums from Brooklyn finally broke through, beating those Yankees in seven games in the World Series. The euphoria in Brooklyn would be short-lived. O’Malley, refusing to move his club to Queens and failing to get his dome built in Brooklyn, accepted an offer from Los Angeles and moved the team out west.
The New York Giants joined the Big Apple exodus, leaving for San Francisco the same year. Moses eventually got his way, when the New York Mets were formed in 1962. After two years of playing at the Polo Grounds, they moved to brand-new Shea Stadium in Queens on the World’s Fair site.
Comparing the Dodgers and Vikings isn’t perfect, but the Vikings, their fans, and state government would be served well to take heed of the Dodgers’ past.
This by no means suggests bankrupting the state to give the Vikings a new stadium in a tough economy. However, the Vikings have been part of the fabric of the state for half a century. The new stadium would bring in new temporary jobs and more long-term revenue. Also, the state has absolutely zero chance of luring in another Super Bowl or Final Four without replacing the Metrodome with a modern, all-weather facility.
The club’s owners, the Wilf family, have pledged to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to get a deal done. Both sides need to come together to find a reasonable plan that benefits the state and the team and keeps the Vikings where they belong.
It would be a shame for history to repeat itself.
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