Mickey on the Ticket with Norm Hitzges
Got this from a sports board...author unknown:
Norm: Let’s talk about a different look to the offense.
Mickey: You mean 2 TE, 2 WR and no FB. People are used to thinking that with two TE’s on the field you play neanderthal football, but that’s not the idea. One of the TE will be used as an H-back that motions all over the field. Sort of what Washington does. It should keep defenses off balance, because teams don’t know if you’re going to run the ball or maybe you can flank one of those guys out like a WR because of the versatility they offer.
Norm: The move guy is going to be Fasano right?
Mickey: Yeah, they want Witten to be the pass receiving guy so he doesn’t have to worry so much about blocking. If you got two versatile guys on the field the LB’s occupied with the TE’s, and then they won’t be able to sit back for the short slants to TO.
Norm: Owens on the left side and Glenn on the right?
Mickey: I think that’s the way they were lining up in the mini camps the majority of time.
Norm: Witten on Glenn’s side?
Mickey: Correct.
Norm: Glenn and Witten on the right. That gives a lot of versatility on that side. They could put Witten up on the offensive line. They could put Witten in the slot. They could even line Witten up wide and let Glenn play the slot.
Mickey: Exactly. They are trying to take away the double teams oun the wide outs.
Norm: So Fasano could line up wide. He could motion to the backfield and block. He could overbalance to Witten’s side. Or he could motion from left to right and rebalance it. Isn’t this asking a lot for a rookie?
Mickey:That’s why its nice to have Hannam there too. If you’re going to run this offense, you better have 3 TE’s who can play at any time. But Fasano appears to be a bright kid, I don’t think he’ll have many problems.
Norm: Hannam was the 3rd string TE in Seattle, but Stevens and Milli were good TE’s. There wasn’t much chance for playing time there. What do the RB’s think about the base offense being a 2 TE set?
Mickey: I don’t think either one of them have enough skins on the wall to tell anyone what they prefer. Everyone looks at the sacks in the passing game, but the reality is they didn’t run the ball either. You can blame it on Julius being out, but they weren’t running the ball very good when Julius was in there. They took too many run for losses last year. Bledsoe may have taken 49 sacks last year, but they won 9 games despite that.
The Cowboys were in the bottom 5 teams in the league in sacks, in sack yardage and ypc in running. It’s a mircale they won 5 games.
People ask if they’re going to be better… with all the problems they had last year they won 9 games and several more lost to missed field goals. Even if they get just a little bit better they should win 1 or 2 more. But they’ve got to run the ball better so Bledsoe can attack. Now, with these 2 TE’s on the field it shoud really keep the defense on their heels because they don’t know if the Cowboys are going to run or throw. Also, this keeps teams from substituting in a specialty defense.
Norm: Also, defenses that focus on strongside/weakside .. there’s no such thing anymore.
Mickey: Right, they can balance them out. And if you have to stay in your base package on 3rd down, do you think one of your LB’s can cover Jason Witten? If you put in your nickel, do you feel good about your nickel back defending the run with Jason Witten blocking him?
That stat I listed earlier about Cowboys finishing last in sacks allowed, sack yardage and yards per carry. You know who else hung out in that top 5 list? Losers. It was the Jets, Lions, 49ers … the only other team that won was Carolina.
Norm: Yeah, and they still won 9 games. So it all goes back to the offensive line. Another discussion for another day.
Norm: Let’s talk about a different look to the offense.
Mickey: You mean 2 TE, 2 WR and no FB. People are used to thinking that with two TE’s on the field you play neanderthal football, but that’s not the idea. One of the TE will be used as an H-back that motions all over the field. Sort of what Washington does. It should keep defenses off balance, because teams don’t know if you’re going to run the ball or maybe you can flank one of those guys out like a WR because of the versatility they offer.
Norm: The move guy is going to be Fasano right?
Mickey: Yeah, they want Witten to be the pass receiving guy so he doesn’t have to worry so much about blocking. If you got two versatile guys on the field the LB’s occupied with the TE’s, and then they won’t be able to sit back for the short slants to TO.
Norm: Owens on the left side and Glenn on the right?
Mickey: I think that’s the way they were lining up in the mini camps the majority of time.
Norm: Witten on Glenn’s side?
Mickey: Correct.
Norm: Glenn and Witten on the right. That gives a lot of versatility on that side. They could put Witten up on the offensive line. They could put Witten in the slot. They could even line Witten up wide and let Glenn play the slot.
Mickey: Exactly. They are trying to take away the double teams oun the wide outs.
Norm: So Fasano could line up wide. He could motion to the backfield and block. He could overbalance to Witten’s side. Or he could motion from left to right and rebalance it. Isn’t this asking a lot for a rookie?
Mickey:That’s why its nice to have Hannam there too. If you’re going to run this offense, you better have 3 TE’s who can play at any time. But Fasano appears to be a bright kid, I don’t think he’ll have many problems.
Norm: Hannam was the 3rd string TE in Seattle, but Stevens and Milli were good TE’s. There wasn’t much chance for playing time there. What do the RB’s think about the base offense being a 2 TE set?
Mickey: I don’t think either one of them have enough skins on the wall to tell anyone what they prefer. Everyone looks at the sacks in the passing game, but the reality is they didn’t run the ball either. You can blame it on Julius being out, but they weren’t running the ball very good when Julius was in there. They took too many run for losses last year. Bledsoe may have taken 49 sacks last year, but they won 9 games despite that.
The Cowboys were in the bottom 5 teams in the league in sacks, in sack yardage and ypc in running. It’s a mircale they won 5 games.
People ask if they’re going to be better… with all the problems they had last year they won 9 games and several more lost to missed field goals. Even if they get just a little bit better they should win 1 or 2 more. But they’ve got to run the ball better so Bledsoe can attack. Now, with these 2 TE’s on the field it shoud really keep the defense on their heels because they don’t know if the Cowboys are going to run or throw. Also, this keeps teams from substituting in a specialty defense.
Norm: Also, defenses that focus on strongside/weakside .. there’s no such thing anymore.
Mickey: Right, they can balance them out. And if you have to stay in your base package on 3rd down, do you think one of your LB’s can cover Jason Witten? If you put in your nickel, do you feel good about your nickel back defending the run with Jason Witten blocking him?
That stat I listed earlier about Cowboys finishing last in sacks allowed, sack yardage and yards per carry. You know who else hung out in that top 5 list? Losers. It was the Jets, Lions, 49ers … the only other team that won was Carolina.
Norm: Yeah, and they still won 9 games. So it all goes back to the offensive line. Another discussion for another day.
posted by The Gryphon at 10:02 PM
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