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Inconsistent Cowboys defense looks to keep pace Sunday with Rams
FRISCO — Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff hurried his offense Sunday to the line of scrimmage with about 30 seconds remaining on the play clock. This...
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FRISCO — Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff hurried his offense Sunday to the line of scrimmage with about 30 seconds remaining on the play clock. This permitted him 15 seconds with coach Sean McVay’s voice in his helmet.
Fifteen seconds to see together how the defense was aligned.
Fifteen seconds to determine how to react.
After 12 seconds passed, Goff shouted, “Right-L!” to teammates and continued with the play call’s verbiage. Soon, his in-helmet speaker went silent. The play began, and Goff completed a 15-yard pass. The first-quarter drive culminated with a quick snap that caught the Seattle Seahawks with only 10 defenders on the field on a first-and-goal run.
Touchdown.
This is part of the Cowboys’ challenge Sunday. On offense, the Rams manipulate the play clock, hurrying up and slowing down the game’s pace at their leisure. The element is one piece to a larger task for a Dallas defense that has yet to speak its lofty group expectations into existence.
“The big thing is tempo,” said Kris Richard, the Cowboys’ defensive passing-game coordinator. “That’s where they try to control the game is with tempo. It’s not a huge menu of plays. Just like any team that runs a lot of no-huddle, the menu isn’t very large.
“But what they do, they’re very good at. And obviously, getting to the line of scrimmage, the play caller is basically able to dictate the plays or tell the quarterback where to put the football based upon the look. So there’s a lot of that that also takes place.”
When the Rams hurry up to the line, they aren’t only forcing their opponents to do the same.
It’s more complex than that, Richard said.
As play caller, McVay can communicate with Goff via a one-way speaker in the quarterback’s helmet until 15 seconds remain on a 40-second play clock. During that 25-second period, McVay not only can advise Goff on how to attack the defense based on its alignment, but Rams coaches also are monitoring the communication between their opponent’s coaches and players to determine what the defense is about to run.
“It’s really, if you think about it, that’s what the no-huddle offense is for,” Richard said. “Get up there. ‘Oh, let’s see what it’s going to be. ‘Can we steal hand signals?’ That’s why you do no-huddle. You get no-huddle out there.
“OK, you force them into a no-huddle defense, which in turn, now you’ve got to use all the hand signals, and you’re stealing hand signals or you’re doing whatever you’re doing. And now you’re able to use the play clock. ‘OK, hey, we’re getting this coverage. Oh, I see this hand signal. Oh, I see that. I see this. I see that.’ And that’s how the ballgame is played.”
Quarterback Cooper Rush, befitting his name, is working to simulate Goff and the Rams’ uptempo offense during the practice week.
That means he and the scout team have hurried to the line of scrimmage. Sometimes, the ball is snapped immediately. Other times, Rush will take his time to replicate McVay and Goff’s communication. He varies speeds as the Rams do.
Dallas gained a grasp of the Rams’ system on Jan. 12 during a 30-22 playoff loss in Los Angeles to end last season. Between that experience and the scout team’s work, there shouldn’t be any surprises on what to expect from a pace standpoint or on the fly-sweeps and reverse runs the Rams employ to disrupt a defense’s gap integrity.
What can differentiate this upcoming result from the last meeting is how the defense executes.
Dallas, however, has been inconsistent in that pursuit.
The Cowboys are chasing greatness, but when last seen on the field, they were simply chasing. They missed 19 tackles on Dec. 5 against the Chicago Bears, according to Sportradar. The stat database tracks missed tackles for every NFL team, every week. The Cowboys’ total was the most by any team in any week this season. For the year, the club has missed 104 tackles, third-most behind only the Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions.
Dallas’ defense is not predicated on deception.
What offenses see is largely what they get, and the Rams are sure to be looking.
“They’re going to know what we’re in for the most part,” safety Jeff Heath said. “It’s going to come down to who outplays who.”
