Cowboys familiar spread offense is scoring solution

The Dallas Cowboys defense will receive a huge boost this week from physical, star players Rolando McClain and Greg Hardy joining the front seven.

Fans will finally get a preview of the physically dominant linebacker trio of Sean Lee, McClain, and Anthony Hitchens.

More from The Landry Hat

Even with size, talent, and physicality upgrades, slowing the Patriot’s top scoring offense (39.7 ppg) is a tall task.

The Dallas offense will need to score a healthy amount of points to prevail.

Since Brandon Weeden relieved Romo, the offense has posted 28 and 20 points.

An average of 24 points won’t get it done against Tom Brady‘s scoring machine.

Dallas’ upgraded defense should limit them near 30 points. Weeden will then need to orchestrate over 30 points of his own.

To reach this high points total, the Cowboys must turn to a familiar jolt of creativity in their offensive scheme.

MASTERS OF THE SPREAD

With the leading receivers of 2014 (Dez Bryant) and 2015 (Lance Dunbar) both missing, Dallas must resort to scheme designs to gain an advantage.

During the second half against the Saints, they briefly altered their offensive set with Weeden taking snaps from shotgun.

One running back was flanked to his side, while two receivers were spread out to each side of the field.

It’s no coincidence Weeden had immediate success rifling completions. The spread offense was Oklahoma State’s scheme he mastered to become a first round pick.

Weeden is at his very best in shotgun, where he can survey the field and avoid time and distractions of dropping back.

With better vision and a large selection of receivers, he often makes wise selections with high accuracy.

At Oklahoma State he completed 69.5% of his 1,103 attempts, with the vast majority from a shotgun position.

But the spread familiarity doesn’t stop with Weeden. Jospeh Randle ran the ball primarily from the one-back spread offense.

Randle piled up most of his 3,085 rushing yards from the same Oklahoma State spread offense that Weeden excelled in.

Take a guess what offensive system the SMU Mustangs ran when Cole Beasley snagged consecutive 1,000 yard receiving seasons? The famous June Jones spread.

How about Terrance Williams at Baylor? He led all of college football in receiving (1,832 yards) from Art Briles’ spread offense.

Even the shifty, speed game of rookie receiver Lucky Whitehead is a natural spread fit.

MISMATCHES FOR THE BIG BOYS

Dallas likely has the most versatile tight end group in football with Jason Witten, Gavin Escobar, and James Hanna.

All three have strong receiving skills when spread off the line. The size/speed mismatches in coverage create a big advantage.

As for offensive line, the spread creates more even defensive fronts and solo blocks.

Six defenders will typically stay back to match with a four wide, one back spread. This alignment leaves five blockers tasked to handle five defenders.

When matched up evenly, the Dallas offensive line can defeat any front in football.

Pay attention Scott Linehan, your current offensive weapons are highly experienced and successful masters of the spread offense.

The quarterback, running back, and two best wide receivers abused college defenses from this offense.

All three tight ends are able to line up off the line and create coverage mismatches.

The offensive line can defeat any even front an opponent could offer up.

It’s time for Dallas to play to their current offensive strengths and create points by design. The same spread design that made these skills players stars in college.

Next: Three things the Cowboys offense must do to beat New England

Home/Cowboys News