Decoding Schotty Wk 14 - Complete Inefficiency
The offense put up some gaudy numbers that signified nothing in mistake-prone effort in Detroit.
Tuesdays (or Monday this week!) – since about 2008 – have been my day to evaluate the offense in this space. We have called it “Decoding” over those years and then the name behind the decoding is the man with the play-sheet calling the plays and hopefully putting them in an order to attack that week’s opponent. This is where we try to figure out the tactical and strategic plot-lines of the game and get a feel for how well it worked out for that side of the ball. For those of you new here, two things: 1) ask questions of anything you don’t quite understand and 2) be aware that we do defense on Wednesdays (Tuesday this week).
Here we go. Our objectives for today:
Overall Offensive Evaluation
When stats can be deceiving for the offense.
They could not run the ball again.
Five sacks is never going to work.
George Pickens was not nearly good enough.
Look at plenty of All-22 film and see what we can see.
OVERALL OFFENSIVE EVALUATION
When we evaluate an offense that is as talented as Dallas, we often allow things to get muddy when we go purely on volume statistics. This is why some of us sound “snobby” when we talk about “real football” compared to “fantasy football” and this Detroit game is a great example of that.
Fantasy football is a fun way to engage in following the NFL, especially if your favorite team does not always behave. If you are suffering through another season going nowhere, I definitely can see how fantasy can help you enjoy the season and find meaning in games that would otherwise not affect you. It is how most people follow the NFL these days and even though I don’t play, I see the appeal.
But, fantasy is completely based on volume. The more stats, the more points! Dak passed for 376? Points everywhere. Dallas had 417 yards! Of course, fantasy rewards for touchdowns, but it doesn’t measure when those touchdowns are scored or if they are meaningful to the task at hand because it has nothing to do with winning the game. Fantasy football just wants pure volume.
And that is why real football is harsher. Dallas had an incredibly inefficient day where they failed to get those vital yards at vital times and it ruined their night. They were awful in the red zone (33%) and not nearly good enough on third downs (6 of 15, 40%).
So, what you have on Thursday was a lot of production without the proceeds. In other words, we need the efficiency that fantasy football does not measure. This shouldn’t be simply “most yards wins,” but rather, when did you get what you needed and how easily did you do it?
Detroit made it look easy as they barely had a third down all night (3 of 8, 38%) and then in the red zone, they cashed in for touchdowns on 4 of 5 (80%). Dallas actually outgained the Lions, but who would even care? They were beaten fairly handily.
