Bradie James and Shockey's TD

[AdamJT13]

Has anyone explained exactly what Bradie James was doing on Shockey's TD catch? As Shockey ran past him, James jogged over to Tiki Barber, who was half-blocking Scott Fujita, who looked as if he was waiting to cover Barber, just in case Barber went out for a pass. So we ended up with two linebackers covering a guy who wasn't running a pattern, while Shockey ran past both of them for an easy catch under the deep zone.

I know it's been said that the coverage wasn't conveyed correctly to Roy and Aaron Glenn (which was James' responsibility), but what exactly was James doing?

[Rack Bauer]

James was doing what most everyone else does on our defense in the last 4 minutes of the game.... nothing.


I just don't understand how we can be so dominant for about 55 minutes, then looked lost at the end of the game. I think Parcells should call the defensive plays in the last 5 minutes of games. Zimmer does a good job the first 55 minutes, but his defenses fall apart when we need them most.

[JDSmith]

I was wondering that myself. It looked like James made a half hearted attempt to kind of reach out towards Shockey as he ran by and then he seemed to totally ignore him after that. I still don't know who was supposed to be covering Shockey on that play, there was nobody within 15 yards of him.

[dbair1967]

James was doing what most everyone else does on our defense in the last 4 minutes of the game.... nothing.


I just don't understand how we can be so dominant for about 55 minutes, then looked lost at the end of the game. I think Parcells should call the defensive plays in the last 5 minutes of games. Zimmer does a good job the first 55 minutes, but his defenses fall apart when we need them most.

couldnt agree more...its just amazing to see this happen so much over and over and over again...it happens constantly here

I read RW said he missed a coverage call, but geez...how come this happens all the time with games on the line? and they need to scrap the freaking prevent, conservative crap at the ends of these games

David

[Crown Royal]

As suspect as they say Roy is in coverage, I find it hard to believe that Shockey was his assignment. Roy came from faaaaar away to meet him at the 2.

[JDSmith]

As suspect as they say Roy is in coverage, I find it hard to believe that Shockey was his assignment. Roy came from faaaaar away to meet him at the 2.

Well Aikman said something about Roy running deep while Shockey went across the field. I don't know if it was zone coverage or if Roy simply guessed wrong. It was really odd though to see Shockey, of all people, running all by himself across the field. Obviously at least one person blew that assignment.

[morasp]

There was a hold in the secondary that didn't get called that helped shockey get by. Can't remember who it was on or who did it.

[scottsp]

If James' responsibility was Shockey on the play, I would have serious questions as to our coverage assignments. And I doubt that was the case. Bradie very well may have had underneath, but not the tight end on that play.

[TroyEmmittAndMichael]

I don't know what James was doing on that play either. He looked confused. However, just to help clear up the issue of who was supposed to cover Shockey on that play, it was Roy. He said he was to blame because he didn't get the call.

In Parcells press conference after the game, he made fun of that excuse, saying something like he wished he could do that when he coached a bad game...say something like, "I didn't know there was a game today."

Read Roy's mea culpa below:
Cowboys blow lead, win in OT



06:55 AM CDT on Monday, October 17, 2005

By JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News

IRVING – As Jose Cortez's 45-yard field goal fluttered through the goal posts Sunday afternoon, owner Jerry Jones danced a little jig on the sideline. Then he turned and pumped his fist at the raucous crowd of 62,278 as his players stormed the field.

More than half of the season remains, and the Cowboys must still play each of their division rivals on the road, but when coach Bill Parcells and his players look at the NFC East standings this morning, they'll reside in first place.

That was made possible by Cortez's field goal with 11:13 left in overtime – his third of the game – to give the Cowboys a 16-13 victory over the New York Giants.

Cowboys-Giants photos ("]Cowboys/NFL[/url] NFL Week 6

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Cowboys blow lead, win in OT (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/101705dnspocowlede.a670dd7.html)

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"I'm like everybody else. When I look in the morning, I like to see Dallas on top – not on the bottom like last week," Jones said in the middle of the Cowboys locker room.

"It's early. I'm not putting too much stock in it right now."

Neither is Parcells, though Dallas ended Philadelphia's 10-game NFC East winning streak last week with a 23-point victory.

"I consider ourselves pretty fortunate to win this one," Parcells said. "I think it's going to be a competitive division. The sides are even. I don't think last week was a reflection of Philadelphia. The Giants are going to be a good competitive team."

With the win, Dallas (4-2) leads the NFC East by a half-game over New York (3-2), Philadelphia (3-2) and Washington (3-2).

The victory spared Dallas the ignominy of losing a game it dominated against a division rival for the second time this season. The Cowboys committed four turnovers, had a field goal blocked, a punt deflected and scored just one touchdown in four possessions inside the Giants 20.

"I just hate sloppy," Parcells said. "I don't know whether we deserved to win any more than they did."

Dallas won because it limited the Giants' multi-faceted offense to 270 yards – 178 in the fourth quarter – and 1-for-11 on third-down opportunities, while forcing four turnovers. The Giants did not score a touchdown in four possessions inside the Dallas 20.

"That was their best effort of the season as far as I'm concerned," Parcells said of the defense, "because they were under duress the entire game."

Safety Roy Williams appeared to clinch the win in regulation when he forced rookie running back Brandon Jacobs to fumble and recovered the ball at the Dallas 1, but the Giants forced a punt and took over at the New York 48 with 52 seconds left.

New York covered the distance in two plays when tight end Jeremy Shockey beat Williams for a 24-yard touchdown with 19 seconds left in the game.

"I take all the blame for that," Williams said. "I didn't get the call and missed the play."

So the Cowboys found themselves in overtime for the first time since 2003, when they beat the Giants on the road to post the first victory of the Parcells' era.

The extra period ended quickly with an eight-play, 51-yard drive.

Bledsoe completed passes of 10 yards to Patrick Crayton, 13 yards to Terry Glenn and 26 yards to tight end Jason Witten, moving the ball from the Dallas 23 to the Giants' 28. Five plays later, Cortez kicked the game-winner, and Dallas won consecutive games for the first time since it followed a 2004 Thanksgiving Day win over the Bears with a Monday night victory over Seattle.

And they did it without starting running back Julius Jones (left ankle sprain) and middle linebacker Dat Nguyen (pinched nerve).

The Cowboys rushed 38 times for 92 yards, a 2.4 average, but ran it enough to keep the ball for 40:46 and convert nine-of-16 third-down plays. Bledsoe passed for 312 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and Keyshawn Johnson caught eight passes for 120 yards.

"You're entitled to one of these a year, so I'll take it, but I don't want to see it again," Johnson said. "A win like this can give you a certain momentum, but it was a sloppy win and we have to correct our mistakes."

The Cowboys are halfway through a four-game stretch that Parcells deemed one of the most important when it began because the Cowboys could position themselves to make the playoffs.

"Bill can clearly show them some reasons why they shouldn't get full of themselves," Jerry Jones said. "But if you'd have told me we'd have four wins at this point coming out of training camp, I'd have taken it."

The dance proves it.

E-mail jjtaylor@dallasnews.com (jjtaylor@dallasnews.com)

Next: Cowboys (4-2) at Seattle (4-2), 3:05 p.m. Sunday (Ch. 4)

[followthestar]

its what we can expect from time to time with young players without a lot of experience. its going to happen. Pettiti tries sell-it protection vs. Strahan after being told not to, Barber tries to get cute on a critical short yardage run and gets stuffed, AJ gets run over up the middle, and our LBs will not fully understand their responsibilities at times. They learn from these mistakes hopefully, and we become a better team by such small degrees...

[SultanOfSix]

James was doing what most everyone else does on our defense in the last 4 minutes of the game.... nothing.


I just don't understand how we can be so dominant for about 55 minutes, then looked lost at the end of the game. I think Parcells should call the defensive plays in the last 5 minutes of games. Zimmer does a good job the first 55 minutes, but his defenses fall apart when we need them most.

Hahaha. So true.

[JackMagist]

I don't know who was supposed to have the coverage on that play. And I don't think the players to this minute know who was supposed to have that coverage either. But recognition has never been Bradie James strong suite and it is therefore not surprising that he looked lost on yet another play. He is a good player if you keep him within a defined space and responsibility but he has no nose for the ball; he doesn't 'sniff out plays' at all. This is nothing new and it is just something that we will see from time to time as long as Bradie James is playing for us.

[DrunkWithPower]

At the very least Shockey should have been redirected off the line. He ran straight out of the backfield and right across the middle of the field. No way does a safety get assignment for someone in the backfield without a passoff from a linebacker. Oh well....we won....

[DCBoysfan]

There was a hold in the secondary that didn't get called that helped shockey get by. Can't remember who it was on or who did it.

Yea I saw that, they held Anthony Henry which allowed Shockey to run free. But hey 4-2 is 4-2...

[BARRYRAY]

I mean I swear it looked like they were mouthing "who is that masked man"--I mean they throw to Shockey at the end and the defense just waived him thru and told him have a nice day.jeeze...

[Maikeru-sama]

James was doing what most everyone else does on our defense in the last 4 minutes of the game.... nothing.


I just don't understand how we can be so dominant for about 55 minutes, then looked lost at the end of the game. I think Parcells should call the defensive plays in the last 5 minutes of games. Zimmer does a good job the first 55 minutes, but his defenses fall apart when we need them most.

I thought me and CBz and a couple of others was the only that has noticed this.

Our lax play calling in the 4th quarter is going to be the death of us.

We put our foot on the opponents' neck throughout most of the game but take it off, let them stand back up and get passive and go in the defensive.

The play calling late in the game is very conerning to me.

- Mike G.

[Chuck 54]

On TV, Aikman commented that the 4th down play and the TD looked like Roy was covering Shockey man-man, but Roy was lined up 15 yards off the ball due to the yardage needed on both plays. Then Shockey sprinted across the field on a short crossing route which resulted in Roy having to chase him frantically both times. That was Aikman's commentary.

I'm just glad we won the OT toss rather than having to hope the short timeout was enough to correct the problem from the sideline...the G-men really had the momentum at that point.

Bottom line was we took the kickoff and moved promptly down the field for the win, and we deserved it despite the turnovers.

[AdamJT13]

and they need to scrap the freaking prevent, conservative ---- at the ends of these games

It was a conerback blitz. That's not conservative. And if we hadn't blitzed, it almost certainly wouldn't have been a touchdown. Being aggressive there cost us.

[Maikeru-sama]

I only remember them blitzing on the play that Shockey Scored. Besides that, the defense was in the LAX defensive mode. Heck, what other point in the ball game did Eli Manning ever scramble for 10 yards other then in the 4th Quarter?

Zimmer needs to stay aggressive.

- Mike G.

[dbair1967]

It was a conerback blitz. That's not conservative. And if we hadn't blitzed, it almost certainly wouldn't have been a touchdown. Being aggressive there cost us.

like I said in my other thread, it wasnt so much not blitzing, it was the extremely deep drops they took too in coverage...they just play too conservatively with a lead IMO

David

[WilmingtonHeel]

Considering we got beat by the Skins with DEEP passes and have allowed some from other teams this year could you blame them? Everybody was hollering why there not deep enough. We just have to find the right mix.

[MichaelWinicki]

couldnt agree more...its just amazing to see this happen so much over and over and over again...it happens constantly here

I read RW said he missed a coverage call, but geez...how come this happens all the time with games on the line? and they need to scrap the freaking prevent, conservative crap at the ends of these games

David

David, it has nothing to do with a conservative defense. It's getting idiots not to blow their freaking assignments.

[Doomsday101]

David, it has nothing to do with a conservative defense. It's getting idiots not to blow their freaking assignments.

I agree, players make plays and for the most part these guys made lots of them on the defense but we did have a couple of breakdowns but that falls on the player not the coach.

[HDC]

Has anyone explained exactly what Bradie James was doing on Shockey's TD catch? As Shockey ran past him, James jogged over to Tiki Barber, who was half-blocking Scott Fujita, who looked as if he was waiting to cover Barber, just in case Barber went out for a pass. So we ended up with two linebackers covering a guy who wasn't running a pattern, while Shockey ran past both of them for an easy catch under the deep zone.

I know it's been said that the coverage wasn't conveyed correctly to Roy and Aaron Glenn (which was James' responsibility), but what exactly was James doing?

That's my only concern with our LBs so far--poor coverage when their man goes deep. Exposed Roy unfairly.

[Chocolate Lab]

I also don't know what Bradie was doing on the eight or nine yard run by Barber right before Roy caused the Jacobs fumble on the goalline. He was left free to make the play and he completely overran the play and ended up doing nothing. That should be a big LB's dream: You're unblocked, a big hole opens up, and here comes a smallish running back for you to blast. Instead, he ran right by the play.

But you guys are right: This pattern of missing calls in our secondary is disturbing. What can we do to prevent this, other than simplifying everything, which we don't want to do? Maybe get someone else back there who communicates better?

Anyway... Even with these problems, I hate to complain too much about a defense that has shut down two of the best offenses in the league two weeks in a row, especially this week when the offense kept putting them in a hole. I love it. :)

[scottsp]

David, it has nothing to do with a conservative defense. It's getting idiots not to blow their freaking assignments.

Absolutely. It's tough to feel too secure about these sorts of situations when a veteran member of the secondary provides this gem: "I didn't get the call and missed the play."

The defense played an outstanding game. But I don't really need to hear those sorts of things. Not in that situation and not from that guy. I expect more from him. And he is better than that.

[AdamJT13]

Absolutely. It's tough to feel too secure about these sorts of situations when a veteran member of the secondary provides this gem: "I didn't get the call and missed the play."

The defense played an outstanding game. But I don't really need to hear those sorts of things. Not in that situation and not from that guy. I expect more from him. And he is better than that.

You could see the confusion before the ball was snapped, so he's not lying about it. He accepted responsibility.

I just wonder if that would have happened with Dat on the field making the call, instead of James.

[AbeBeta]

[QUOTE=Rack]James was doing what most everyone else does on our defense in the last 4 minutes of the game.... nothing.
[\QUOTE]

Wow -- what a completely unfair assessment - our O doesn't stink it up all day and that TD makes no difference. Our D saved a ton of points and generated some as well. The D was the only reason we had a shot at all yesterday.

Let's see:

Bledsoe int leads to a 3 and out with Glover coming up with a huge sack.

Key fumble at our 32? D holds for a FG with an Ellis sack making it a tough one.

Bledsoe fumbles at our 31? Henry picks Eli off at the 1 and brings it back to near mid field.

Henry causes a fumble that ends up yielding a FG for us.

Giants driving at our 21, Glover makes Eli fumble and Ellis runs very slowly with the ball to the Giants' 33. Setting up another 3.

Williams causes a huge goaline fumble, saving a sure 7.

[scottsp]

You could see the confusion before the ball was snapped, so he's not lying about it. He accepted responsibility.

I just wonder if that would have happened with Dat on the field making the call, instead of James.


Adam, you make a great point, as usual. I love Roy. And I have been critical of him at times, but he played an outstanding game yesterday. I didn't want it to seem as if I was focusing on that one play because for the most part, he has been outstanding.

The point regarding Dat vs. James is one that I would agree with. Maybe I should have thought about that much too.

It seems this defense is starting to find it. We knew there would be some mistakes going on with the transition, not only with the scheme, but the infusion of new personnel, rookies, etc. I just find it unfortunate that this error yesterday occurred when it did simply because it kinda takes away from a wonderful game turned in by our defensive unit.

That said, this unit is improving with every passing week, it seems. We have pretty much stymied some salty offenses. It's very exciting stuff, thinking about the upside of this defense, both short and long term.

[AbeBeta]

If there was confusion, why didn't we call a timeout? You know BP isn't happy about that.

[Chief]

Unlike Keith "Momentum Killer" Davis, Roy isn't going to publicly blame someone else.

[DLK150]

Here's a clip of the play.

http://www.bnbathletics.com/downloads/shockeytd.avi

Maybe it was on Roy at some level, but Shockey shouldn't have gotten free that easily with James standing right there.

[AdamJT13]

We had four defensive backs covering three wide receivers and a tight end. (We had one cornerback, three lineman and Ware rushing the passer, and James and Shanle were watching Tiki Barber block.) All of the defensive backs were playing at least 7 yards off the ball, which means any of Manning's four possible targets would have been open on a short drag route under the coverage.

[Sportsbabe]

In Parcells press conference after the game, he made fun of that excuse, saying something like he wished he could do that when he coached a bad game...say something like, "I didn't know there was a game today."

I was looking for some conversation on this. Roy is Parcell's pet. He let him know that was a poor excuse. I'm not bad mouthing Roy or Bill for that matter. I liked the way BP basically rolled his eyes at that comment. Bill is gonna make Roy a complete player in due time.

Bill also said some funny yet poignant things about the who defensive breakdwon in the PC. He spoke about how the Giants were in the no huddle but that is still no excuse. You are suppose to know where to look and know what to do. It's all about playing under pressure. You know that's true because we always give up the BIG 4th down play. One stop on any of those 3 games (4th down and forever), game over. That's the next step in our defensive maturation.

Bring on the Seahawks.