Cowboys dump a part of their offense
By Grizz
Posted on Sat Nov 25, 2006 at 12:56:52 AM EST
Lost in all the Tony Romo hoopla and the Cowboys recent win streak is the demise of the 2-TE set in Big D. The Cowboys still run the 2-TE set occasionally, but they have reverted back to a traditional lineup for the majority of the snaps. In the first half of the Bucs game, they rarely used it and when they did, sometimes it was Jason Fabini lining up as a TE and not Anthony Fasano with Jason Witten. Fasano's role as the H-back or pseudo-FB has been dramatically reduced from the early part of the season with the emergence of Oliver Hoyte at FB. He has caught a few more passes recently, but that's mainly from Romo's "spread the wealth" pass distribution philosophy. It's unlikely that the Cowboys will go back to what they had planned to run at the beginning of the year.
Hoyte has proven to be a very good blocker leading the running game from the FB position, and the Cowboys have Lousaka Polite on the roster as a reserve FB and a 3rd TB. The real clincher that the Cowboys have all but abandoned what was supposed to be their base set is the fact that they just cut Tony Curtis. That left Witten and Fasano as the only two true TE's on the roster. They have Andy Thorn on the practice squad but it's unlikely that he will ever see the field this year.
Either Fasano has not done enough to be considered a full-time starter in his first year or the coaches had a change of heart about the strategy. It may be that the former caused the latter and the 2-TE set is now just another wrinkle in the offense and no longer the base formation. Oliver Hoyte's excellent play over the last few weeks at FB also could have played a role in the change.
Whatever the case, the new offense with Tony Romo at the helm shows no signs of slowing down, so Jason Witten will likely continue to get the majority of the snaps, with Anthony Fasano giving him a rest on occasion, and Jason Fabini get a few snaps a game at the position.
I did do a film review for the game and hope to have it up sometime on Saturday.
Entry Link :: 6 Comments
Posted on Sat Nov 25, 2006 at 12:56:52 AM EST
Lost in all the Tony Romo hoopla and the Cowboys recent win streak is the demise of the 2-TE set in Big D. The Cowboys still run the 2-TE set occasionally, but they have reverted back to a traditional lineup for the majority of the snaps. In the first half of the Bucs game, they rarely used it and when they did, sometimes it was Jason Fabini lining up as a TE and not Anthony Fasano with Jason Witten. Fasano's role as the H-back or pseudo-FB has been dramatically reduced from the early part of the season with the emergence of Oliver Hoyte at FB. He has caught a few more passes recently, but that's mainly from Romo's "spread the wealth" pass distribution philosophy. It's unlikely that the Cowboys will go back to what they had planned to run at the beginning of the year.
Hoyte has proven to be a very good blocker leading the running game from the FB position, and the Cowboys have Lousaka Polite on the roster as a reserve FB and a 3rd TB. The real clincher that the Cowboys have all but abandoned what was supposed to be their base set is the fact that they just cut Tony Curtis. That left Witten and Fasano as the only two true TE's on the roster. They have Andy Thorn on the practice squad but it's unlikely that he will ever see the field this year.
Either Fasano has not done enough to be considered a full-time starter in his first year or the coaches had a change of heart about the strategy. It may be that the former caused the latter and the 2-TE set is now just another wrinkle in the offense and no longer the base formation. Oliver Hoyte's excellent play over the last few weeks at FB also could have played a role in the change.
Whatever the case, the new offense with Tony Romo at the helm shows no signs of slowing down, so Jason Witten will likely continue to get the majority of the snaps, with Anthony Fasano giving him a rest on occasion, and Jason Fabini get a few snaps a game at the position.
I did do a film review for the game and hope to have it up sometime on Saturday.
Entry Link :: 6 Comments
posted by The Gryphon at 5:40 PM
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