Garrett's Gift: 'New Cowboys' Must Lean On 11-Personnel
FRISCO - I know, I know. Jason Garrett bored you, Jason Garrett "sucked.'' Mike McCarthy is clearly a superior coach. I've heard all of that, and for the sake of the happiness of Dallas Cowboys Nation, I hope that last meme/mantra comes true.
But in fairness to the departed RedBall - who did indeed wear out his welcome, as coaches without Super Bowls tend to do after 10 years (and, as Packers ex McCarthy know, coaches with Super Bowls tend to do as well) - he built some of the aspects of the Cowboys that going forward will help McCarthy win.
Among them, the least-recognized, especially by those of us who criticized Garrett for his slow-paced "Stone Age'' offense: 11-Personnel.
The 2019 Cowboys, shockingly, used 11-Personnel (one running back, one tight end, three receivers) about 64 percent of the time. (In 1,120 snaps, 713 times.) Nothing necessarily wrong there; QB Andy Dalton's Cincinnati offense was No. 1 in the league in this department, with 788 times. (More on this in a moment.)
Moreover, by the numbers, Garrett's Cowboys were brilliant at using it.
ESPN has a (paywall) article that details who's who in this department in 2019. Dallas ...
*Averaged 7.16 yards per play in 11-Personnel.
*Recorded a league-best successful-play rate of 50.4 percent.
*Converted third downs at an NFL-best rate of 48.1 percent.
*Recorded an NFL-best 54 "explosive play'' receptions.
*Averaged 5.44 yards per rushing attempt.
*Saw Dak Prescott average 8.47 yards per attempt.
*Saw Dak total a league-leading 23 touchdown passes.
*Saw running back Ezekiel Elliott lead the NFL in 11-Personnel rushing with 823 yards.
Prescott himself will tell you that some of his 4,900 passing yards total (second in the NFL) were "garbage yards, numbers piled up when Dallas had to throw while well behind in certain games. But these numbers do not lie: The Cowboys had one of the best offenses in football ... and seemingly had the best offense in football when running 11-Personnel.
The addition of rookie receiver CeeDee Lamb (who will supplant the departed Randall Cobb as part of the Amari Cooper/Michael Gallup-led trio) has fueled discussion of statistical improvement in the passing game.
READ MORE: Amari 'Expects' Dallas To Feature Rare Three 1,000-Yard WRs
The overflow of talent have caused some to question whether there will be enough balls to go around. (An inaccurate and "messy'' assumption, says Elliott.)
READ MORE: 'We're All Gonna EAT,' Vows Zeke
But the promise for improvement is there. Now, 11-Personnel isn't the antidote to everything. As noted above, the Bengals led the league in running it - but maybe that's because Dalton (the Bengal-turned-Cowboy) found himself behind in games. And as a result, Cincy wasn't good at it.
McCarthy will add onto what Garrett (and holdover coordinator Kellen Moore) built. He will integrate much of what made his Green Bay offenses so scary. And, given the fact that Dallas was already outstanding in its use of 11-Personnel in 2019, it stands to reason that no matter how much Garrett's Cowboys did indeed use it ...
McCarthy's Cowboys should use it even more.
