Lowell Cohn: After smart start, 49ers' thinking stalls in loss to Cowboys

SANTA CLARA - Sure, the 49ers lost to the Dallas Cowboys at home 24-17. Sure, the Niners lost to a rookie quarterback, lost to a Cowboys team without two starting offensive linemen and their best wide receiver, Dez Bryant. All that looks bad.

And, sure, late in the fourth quarter with the game on the line and the 49ers driving for the game-tying touchdown - which they didn't get - they had to waste a timeout on fourth down because they couldn't get lined up right.

And, sure, on the fourth down play quarterback Blaine Gabbert completed a pass to Torrey for 3 yards when he needed 6 for the first down. And, sure, that was a classic Checkdown Charlie maneuver by Gabbert, who, by the way, threw for 3 yards in the entire second quarter. And, sure, that checkdown ended the game right there.

But I haven't come to bury the 49ers. I have come to praise them, praise them for the significant progress their new head coach, Chip Kelly, has made in the offensive play-calling department. Sunday, Chip Kelly grew as a play caller. Go get em, Chip.

Chip took a significant step forward in the Cowboys game. He had a good offensive game plan to begin with, as opposed to that monstrosity he showed the world in Seattle when he asked his quarterback to throw short of the first-down markers on third down and asked his downtrodden wide receivers to “knife” through the defense for first downs which almost never came. Some knifing.

But against the Cowboys, there was no throwing short and knifing, at least in the beginning. And this new offense got the 49ers all the way into the beginning of the second quarter up 14-0 before they got crushed. All praise to Chip for growing on the job.

This is where I'm supposed to get specific. How did Chip improve his game plan - at first - from that ugly thing in Seattle? Happy to oblige, and if this is too footbally for you, I promise to move on fast.

In the first quarter and the first minute and five seconds of the second quarter before the Niners offense tanked, Chip ran a few plays with the zone-read where the Niners blocked the defender responsible for the quarterback so Gabbert could gain more yards running.

The Niners ran a quarterback sweep with the running back as the lead blocker.

The 49ers threw more downfield routes, like corner routes against the Cowboys man coverage, not successfully. But the Cowboys had to take note, and this opened up other things for the 49ers offense.

These were new offensive wrinkles, stuff the Cowboys coaches had not seen on film. And to Chip's credit, it took the Cowboys 16 minutes to figure them out. But figure them out the Cowboys did. They have a particularly smart defensive coordinator, Rod Marinelli, and he must have admired Chip for his brain power. Maybe Marinelli even found the Niners new stuff cute.

But Marinelli adjusted to what Chip was doing and the Cowboys defense adjusted, too. And after the Niners led 14-0, Dallas outscored them 24-3, allowing the 49ers one measly field goal to start the third quarter. And that, as they say, was all she wrote.

Before I get into what Chip should have done - in a helpful spirit, I swear - listen to him after the game as he explained why the offense did well and then didn't do so well:

“I thought we did a really good job early on the two opening drives and then just didn't sustain, didn't stay on the field like we wanted to. These are things we've got to clean up to be consistent. I thought, early on, we did a nice job. Then we came out in the first part of the second half and did a nice job. We ended up with a field goal. Against a team like this we've got to do a better job.”

Well, thanks for the explanation, Chip. Thing is we saw the successful first two drives and what happened after. And cleaning things up, and being consistent and doing a better job - whatever any of that means - just won't cut it.

We need to dig deeper. Can you dig deeper?

The key question is this: After Marinelli figured you out and after he adjusted to your offensive game plan, what were you supposed to do?

Not a trick question, that one. Of course, I know it's not fair the Cowboys adjusted to you, but that's what teams do in the NFL. Maybe you didn't know about it. It's certainly not the case in the Pac-12. Who knows what happened to you in Philly? Let's call this a learning experience for you, and learning experiences always are valuable. I'm sure you agree.

When Marinelli adjusted to you, you were supposed to adjust back. Adjust to his adjustments. That's why football at the highest level is like chess, and attracts the smartest coaches. It's make a move. See a counter move. Then counter the counter move. And so on.

I'm saying, Chip, there's more to a game plan than the initial scripted plays. Phone Cowboys coach Jason Garrett who, I'm sure, will be happy to explain this new concept to you.

You did brilliantly with your first moves. Not so much with your counter counter moves, as there were none. Good coaches adjust and keep planning for the entire 60 minutes. It's a good tool for all coaches to use and something you can practice at home.

In your postgame news conference you looked lost and kept saying you need to watch the game tape. You sounded so much like Jim Tomsula, your predecessor. After four games his record was 1-3.

Yours?

For more on the world of sports in general and the Bay Area in particular, go to the Cohn Zohn at cohn.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at lowell.cohn@pressdemocrat.com.