Speed matters when having a top WR core. We see it in the top WR cores today, whether it be from the #1, #2, or #3 guy. Miami has the fastest WR core in history, Cincinnati has Chase running sub 4.4 with a 6’4” Tee Higgins opposite of him, and Seattle has Metcalf and Lockett. Philly has Quez Watkins as their #3 guy operating as the Alert man on clearouts while Brown and Smith kill everywhere else on the field, and the list goes on.
Both the Cowboys and Chargers have at least one great WR, but neither team has a guy who demands help simply because he can outrun you. That guy is needed to maximize your top WR’s in the intermediate area for consistent chunks, which is how you stay efficient in the pass game. The 2023 free agent WR class is very limited as a whole, but I would be looking for these teams to add a Josh Downs or Zay Flowers type in the draft if they would invest properly in their incredibly good QB’s.
Injuries Everywhere:
The franchise QB’s play hurt and still somehow win, the franchise LT’s miss significant time, the rest of the OL are banged up throughout the season, and the WR’s seem to never be fully healthy. It’s odd how much Prescott and Herbert relate to doing so much with so little in relation to the rest of the league’s top QB’s, but if you understand and appreciate the minutia of the QB position, you can see it. The on-paper situations don’t do justice for the reality of their situations and surroundings.
Offensive Coordinators:
Oh, the playcallers, the easiest people to blame when the end result isn’t good. Some of it is warranted, but the majority is not in most cases. The need to know the context of a situation remains paramount to accurately criticize. When it comes to Kellen Moore and Joe Lombardi, both are highly criticized, but only one is warranted.
Moore continues to operate a top 5 NFL offense any time that Dak Prescott is healthy, regardless of circumstances with the rest of the team, and this goes back to Moore’s first year as an OC in 2019. That is 4 seasons running of constant production with him and his QB as the only constants of the equation. The top 5 number is backed by data but also by film, and I would argue both Moore and Prescott are having their best seasons, leading the NFL in PPG since Prescott’s return in Week 7. If we remove some of the worst turnover luck we’ve ever seen, with only 4 of Prescott’s 14 interceptions being because of his own decision making and accuracy, then Prescott would be 1st in EPA/play and CPOE as well. Fundamental errors like drops are not on Moore either, as position coaches and personal work ethic as a player exist for a reason. My point is that both guys have to be good at their jobs for that level of success to happen for that long.
On the flip side, Joe Lombardi has a QB with a right arm jam-packed of Compound V and decides to run an offense designed for a 40-year-old Drew Brees. For that, he may never see the pearly gates. Although I’m joking, partially, Joe Lombardi runs what I now call a 7-yard offense. If you need 12 yards, he’ll get you 7. If you need 2, he’ll get you 7. The reoccurring theme is a lack of structural explosiveness. Some of that lack is because of the previously mentioned need for speed, but Lombardi rarely even tries to be explosive. Explosiveness in the LAC offense typically requires Herbert to actually go off-schedule or for Mike Williams to make a patented contested catch to get big plays. That lack combined with some penalties, drops, bad turnover luck, lack of a run game, and incompletions makes for a fireable offense.
Both OC’s have one real similarity though: a love for the Stick concept. Moore uses it with a Spacing concept attached to it as a quick game only concept. They might run it twice in a game. With Lombardi, it almost feels like the core piece of the offense. I’ll show some clips of Dallas running it below since we should have all seen enough of LAC running it by now.