What we think about Scott Linehan from chenyan's blog

 after the Cowboys win over the Jaguars For the first five weeks of this season https://www.dallascowboysfanshop.com/Maliek-Collins-Jersey , Scott Linehan was scapegoated by some for the offensive malaise the Dallas Cowboys were suffering. His play-calling was seen as unimaginative by some of the fanbase who claimed he was simply unable to get the team on track. But things looked radically different in the win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Any time an NFL team puts up 40 points on anyone it is significant, and when the defense in question is as highly ranked as the Jaguars were coming into that game, it is even more significant. We now have to see if things continue against Washington.All this year, there has been a serious question of just what the problem was on offense. Actually, it seemed to be a combination of things. Dak Prescott was not throwing the ball well, the receivers weren’t giving him as much help as it seemed they should, and the offensive line was still struggling a bit with trying to meld Connor Williams and Joe Looney into the mix, while Tyron Smith and La’el Collins were having their own struggles at tackle. That in turn made the running game not as effective at times as needed. All that led to the larger question of whether it was Linehan’s game plan and play selection, or the failure to execute by the players. Last Sunday seemed to tilt things toward the latter. So there is certainly an argument to be made for the condemnation of Linehan to have been a bit premature. Even though I kept asking about just where the problem really was, including the Brews and the Boys podcast following the disappointing loss to the Houston Texans, I was also starting to lose faith in Linehan. But now, I am back to believing that he is capable of finding a way to win with Prescott’s strengths and weaknesses, combined with the players around him. He certainly had all the answers the team needed last game. We still need to see that elusive consistency and a lot more competence on the road, but hammering Linehan just ignores the latest evidence we have. But that is my opinion. I threw the question out to my fellow writers here at BTB, and here are the responses I got.DannyPhantom: My opinion hasn’t changed about Linehan. I believed he was a good play caller and I still believe that. I’ve seen too many good things from him to suddenly start thinking the game has passed him up. The Cowboys have three seasons in franchise history with 13 wins and he’s a part of that. And that doesn’t even include his first year as the OC in 2014 where the Cowboys put up the second most points in franchise history (467). When I watch the film closely, I see a lot of clever things going on. There are many times where the defense goes the wrong way and that’s attributed to how Linehan uses the threat of Ezekiel Elliott in his game plan. From motioning to bootlegs, from fake pitches to reverses - he’s got them all turned around. These things have led to very successful plays for the Cowboys offense when the plays are executed correctly. And that’s what it really comes down to - execution . . . not the lack of creativity from Linehan. When it works, people love him, when it doesn’t - people want him fired. That doesn’t seem like a Linehan problem to me. Don’t get me wrong, there are always things that can improve and the coaching staff will be the first to tell you that, but when you see them calm and collective with no panic in their face, don’t interpret that as them being clueless and reluctant to change. Instead, recognize that as a measure of the belief they have in themselves and what this offense can do. The Cowboys always seem to have some position group that requires more time before it gets rolling. Last year, it was their secondary with all the new guys. This season, it’s both the wide receivers and tight ends. There is going to be a learning curve with these new changes and that’s a lot to put on the offense. So while it will be tough at times, it still feels good to see what this group is capable of doing. With Linehan Chris Jones Jersey , it’s there and it’s always been there.Dave Halprin: I’ve been pretty vocal in my beliefs that the Cowboys poor offensive showing has been roughly 75% on the players not executing and 25% on Jason Garrett/Scott Linehan. I would like to see the Cowboys use more rub routes at the point of release, and crossing routes that end up as natural pick plays, but that just doesn’t seem to be in Linehan’s plans. Using Prescott’s legs more would also be a good thing, some more read-options or draws. But as I’ve watched the film week after week, it’s pretty obvious plays are there to be had, the Cowboys players are just failing to execute. The majority of that falls on the shoulders of Dak Prescott. It almost always falls on the QB. He has to be more accurate which means better mechanics which means not being so jumpy and anxious in the pocket. He also needs to get past his tendency to lock on one side of the field, something he was better at in the Jaguars game when he scanned the field much better. The offensive line also needs to tighten up, something they seem to be doing as it looks like they are playing a little better as the season rolls on. Linehan can be better, but he’s certainly not the overriding problem. It’s on the players, and much of that is on Prescott. When he plays better, the offense can flow, and they can put up a 40-burger on a tough defense.One Cool Customer: I think people get caught up in semantics too much, and confuse creativity with effectiveness. As my fellow writers point out, Linehan’s offense was perfectly fine in 2016, and nobody at that time was complaining about a lack of creativity. But now that the offense is struggling to be effective, suddenly the narrative is all about the lack of creativity.Then again, when the offense got going against the Jaguars, it didn’t take long for Tony Romo to marvel at the creativity of Linehan’s offense, when in fact the offense hadn’t changed, it was just working more effectively.The Cowboys’ option offense doesn’t have a lot of complex schemes. But when those schemes are executed properly, the offense can be highly effective. It doesn’t often look like many of the Arena Football-type offenses currently en vogue, but executed properly, this offense can be nearly unstoppable.It’s on Linehan to ensure that his offense works effectively and the players execute properly, so we can’t simply say it’s all on the players, but there’s no reason to doubt that Linehan’s scheme can work. And as far as predictability and lack of creativeness goes, the Cowboys in the 90s were one of the most predictable and least creative offenses. Didn’t stop them from winning.Michael Sisemore: I’m not going to ding Scott Linehan for creativity but the troubling thing about he and Jason Garrett to an extent is the stubbornness. I’m not sure that these guys always have a grasp on their personnel and it’s not all just poor execution from the players themselves. With these receivers especially Terrance Williams Color Rush Jersey , the coaches have often called plays that rely on these receivers to win their matchups and that’s not conducive to the talent on the roster. At best, none of these receivers are more than complementary players. They may have fixed a few things with the Jaguars by using Cole Beasley all over the field but it’s also a product of how preoccupied the Jaguars were with stopping the running game.So there you have our takes. Let us know what you think in the comments - politely, of course.By trading for Amari Cooper, Cowboys give Dak Prescott his chance to succeed The Dallas Cowboys made a big splash on Monday afternoon, trading their 2019 first-round selection for two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Amari Cooper. Cooper, who starred for the Alabama Crimson Tide before being taken with the fourth overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft, was a star for Oakland to begin his professional career before slumping last year and into this season. The Cowboys, though, thought highly enough of his talent to warrant spending a premium pick.The price of a first-round pick is not ideal, and it does show just how desperate the front office was about adding a spark to this team. Dallas is undefeated inside AT&T Stadium this season, but things go sour when the Cowboys hit the road — posting an 0-4 record, while scoring an average of only 13.5 points per contest. Obviously, things needed to change — be it coaching staff or personnel.On what appeared to be a quiet bye week, Dallas made a big move for three reasons: one, they must not feel that the crop of wide receivers in the upcoming class is all that strong. The class features some quality options — such as D.K. Metcalf, A.J. Brown, and N’Keal Harry, but there isn’t a bonafide sure-thing at the receiver position. That only became a bigger issue when Metcalf injured his neck on kickoff coverage in a win over Arkansas, cutting his season short. The Cowboys are clearly hesitant about the strength of this class, especially at the top, hence the move to acquire a potential WR1 through trade rather than waiting and taking their chances with an unknown in the spring.Dane Brugler recently released his updated top-32 for the upcoming draft. Only one receiver made the cut (Brown), and you have to go all the way to number 28 to find him.Bucky Brooks makes a good point about why the Cowboys felt the need to go out and get a receiver now rather than waiting for one in the draft — after all, Cooper has made the Pro Bowl two times in his young career.The draft class likely had a huge say in what went down on Monday, but it likely was not the lone factor. For instance, the Cowboys are aware that the NFC East is still up for grabs: Washington beat the Cowboys this past Sunday, but Dallas was a penalty away from more-than-likely heading to overtime. The Philadelphia Eagles aren’t exactly off to a strong start https://www.dallascowboysfanshop.com/Brett-Maher-Jersey , either — blowing big fourth quarter leads to the Titans and the Panthers while also sitting with a 3-4 record. Oh, and the Giants are ... well, not good. By making a move now, Dallas has the opportunity to make things interesting within the division. This seems like a year where an 8-8 or 9-7 record will clinch the wildcard spot. With questions surrounding Washington and Philly, Dallas will have a chance to be in the thick of things — if they can figure out the offensive side of the ball.We heard the term “Dak-friendly” all offseason long as the Cowboys attempted to revamp the wide receivers room by parting ways with Dez Bryant and bringing in both Allen Hurns and Deonte Thompson in free agency and then Michael Gallup in this past year’s draft; unfortunately, it hasn’t gone as planned, as overhauling the receivers position has not been as smooth as when Dallas revamped the defensive backs. Now, the Cowboys have given Dak Prescott a potential number one, go-to wide receiver that can make life hard for defenses. Cooper isn’t a perfect receiver by any means — he is not a burner and he has had his struggles with drops — but his route-running and ability to get open are very attractive aspects of his game. Sanjay Lal was brought in to improve the route-running on this team, making Cooper an ideal fit. We already know Cole Beasley is as good as any with his routes, and Gallup has showed some promise in that regard as well.The third reason why the Dallas Cowboys made the decision to acquire the two-time Pro Bowl receiver is because of their desire to give their quarterback every possible chance to succeed. Dak Prescott has had his fair share of very high highs and very low lows. Nobody understands him better than those within the organization. Whatever your feelings are on Prescott, he is the unquestioned starting quarterback on this team and is well-respected within his own locker room. While he did have some critical mistakes in the loss to Washington, he was also one of the biggest reasons why Dallas had the opportunity to send the game to overtime in the first place. There is a lot to like with Dak — he is a leader, he has the charisma, he can make plays with his legs, and he seems to play his best in big moments. On the flip side, Prescott has also had his fair share of struggles with accuracy and anticipating plays developing. Some of that is who he is, while some of that can be fixed with more experience and more trust with the players around him. While the quarterback deserves to take a lot of blame when the team loses — especially when the offense struggles — there are other concerns on the offensive side of the ball, such as play-calling, the offensive line without Travis Frederick, and a receivers group that was ranked near the bottom of every list entering the season.Cole Beasley has had some strong moments this season, but it appears as if the others in the room are hot-and-cold: good one week, bad the next. What Cooper brings is a receiving target that has proven himself on the highest level: catching 225 passes for 3,183 yards, and 19 touchdowns in 52 career games while playing in a division that has featured the likes of Aqib Talib, Chris Harris Jeff Heath Jersey , Marcus Peters, Eric Berry, Casey Hayward, and Jason Verrett in the secondary.While Cooper hasn’t been as consistent over the past season-and-half as he was in years one and two, the circumstances surrounding him haven’t exactly been great, either. Derek Carr has not looked the same since suffering some ugly injuries over a 10-month span — such as a broken fibula that ended his season prior to the 2016-17 playoffs, a broken pinky finger on his throwing hand, and three broken bones in his back. Oakland also failed to capitalize on the playoff trip in Carr’s return from injury, posting a mediocre 6-10 record in 2017 before firing Jack Del Rio. Then, Oakland brought in Jon Gruden in hopes of turning things around and bringing excitement back to a passionate fan base. So far, Gruden hasn’t exactly been successful, as the Raiders sit at 1-5 and dead last in the AFC West through six games. Oh, and there was that Khalil Mack situation, too. The Raiders decided to part ways with a special talent in a move that the fan base appeared to be strongly against. Needless to say, there seems to be mess surrounding the Raiders organization right now. Perhaps a change of scenery will be good for Cooper.The Dallas Cowboys want to give Dak resources to succeed. Ezekiel Elliott is in his backfield. The defensive side of the ball has improved dramatically since hiring former Seahawks defensive coordinator Kris Richard. One way or another, the trade for Amari Cooper is going to tell Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones, and Jason Garrett if Dak is the long-term answer behind center. Either the struggles will continue throughout the remainder of the year and into next season, or Prescott will find the confidence that he played with for the first 25 games of his career and get back on track with a new toy to throw the ball to. On one hand, they will discover they were right about Dak; on the other, they will realize they need to go in a different direction — possibly as soon as the what-looks-to-be-loaded 2020 quarterback draft class.Either way, a decision on Prescott will be made.