After seeing his team's secondary get torn to shreds by Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones on Sunday, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has done some thinking.
"I think our early defensive success gave us a certain confidence in what we were doing, and the when we relied on that later ... I think that betrayed us," Jerry Jones said on CBS station 105.3 The Fan's Shan and RJ show, per the Dallas Morning News. "I'm not criticizing here at all. I'm just saying that it's pretty obvious to me that every down is almost a new day with a Julio Jones. He was no surprise. His first two games have been almost lay-downs to what he did against us."
Jones had 12 catches for 144 yards and two scores against the Cowboys, catching passes all over the field. He beat four different defenders -- Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne, Tyler Patmon and even linebacker Kyle Wilber. He worked the edges on both sides and even ran 10 of his 37 pass routes out of the slot. That versatility prompted Jones to opine that the Cowboys should use their star wideout in a similar fashion.
"My observation, though, my coaching observation -- and I'm holding two fingers up on each side -- I want to see the way they do Julio, and does anybody want to see us do Dez [Bryant] that way? Is that too elementary?"
For what it's worth, here's a comparison between how the Cowboys used Dez Bryant in 2014 (when he led the NFL in touchdowns catches) and how the Falcons have used Jones so far in 2015.
| Dez Bryant vs. Julio Jones | ||||||||
| Player | Target % | Slot % | % Left | % Middle | % Right | % Short | % Medium | % Deep |
| 2014 Dez Bryant | 27.3 | 15.8 | 34.5 | 40.1 | 25.4 | 45.8 | 33.8 | 20.4 |
| 2015 Julio Jones | 38.4 | 22.3 | 27.9 | 58.1 | 14.0 | 67.4 | 20.9 | 11.6 |
The main differences here in terms of how the two players are used are that 2015 Julio does more of his damage in the middle of the field and on short passes, like the screens and quick slants that ate up the Eagles in Week 1 and Cowboys on Sunday, and that he has been moved around into the slot more often. The major difference, though, is that Julio is being targeted about 11 percent more often than Dez was last season.
The Falcons don't have a tight end as good as Jason Witten, a slot guy as good as Cole Beasley or a pass-catching running back as good as Lance Dunbar, but still ... none of those guys is nearly as dangerous as Bryant anyway. Tony Romo typically isn't one to force the ball to a particular receiver if he's not open, but designing plays where Dez is actually the only option -- like the quick screens Atlanta peppers Julio with and that the Steelers use to get Antonio Brown the ball in space, or packaged plays that are designed runs but also provide Romo the option to pull it away and flip it to Dez if he comes open -- could get him more involved without making Romo force plays that aren't there. The guy is the best playmaker on the team, it couldn't hurt to make him as involved as humanly possible.
