4th & 2 - Anything Else Open?

Beasley was the safer play. But it was a more complicated read and would have taken longer for Romo to see where to go. The dropping LB could have either gone to Witten or Beas, so he would have needed to make that read before releasing. Which means he risks the rush getting to him before he can let it go. I will say that it does look like he decided to go to Dez pre-snap.

The other thought is why did they need to have Dez run the 'GO' pattern. That is the point at which the play became higher risk (when the pattern was chosen for the RCVR that was CLEARLY 1:1). Why not have Dez run something over the middle?

I will say I believe that the odds of completing that pass to Dez in that situation are 50% or so, not 10-20%. 1:1 against a small corner....we have had pretty good luck with that play the past 4-6 weeks (GO pattern when Dez is 1:1). But I do prefer a higher percentage route over the middle, but it would have been a riskier in terms of taking longer (hence Romo's words after the game).

I also think Romo's lack of mobility probably influenced his decision. The last couple of weeks he doesn't look quick at all back there in the pocket in terms of avoiding the rush. On all those sacks he is taking, he can't seem to buy much time. I know he has been hampered all season, but he looks slower than ever lately on side-to-side rush avoidance.

It's a split second decision...he decided to go for it pre-snap.
 
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on 4th and 2 going deep is not a great choice. Dunbar and Beasley were the safe plays and I believe that Romo made a mistake by going to Dez.
 
birdwells1 said:
The results don't justify the decision.
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Ahh, but they do. The pass was perfect and the catch was made. It was a good decision. It was a great pass and a great catch. It was a huge play at crunch time of a playoff game. Guys practice year round for moments like that and they both came through and made the big play at the moment we needed it.

All that happened after that was horse-crap, and could have happened on a pass to Witten or a pass to Beasley.
 
On 4th and 2 I would have been looking for a much higher percentage completion than throwing one up and hoping Dez could make a play on the ball. The important thing in that situation being behind with the clock ticking down is trying to keep the drive alive.
 
Doomsday101 said:
He got the one on one he was looking for, he has had that look before and the results have been great. Your right he sees his playmaker out by himself on a one on one you bet he is going to take it. Saying well he could have thrown it elsewhere true yet he did not and we do not know what the results would have been. Sorry he got what he wanted and he took a shot and had it not been for a very questionable ruling Dallas has the ball 1st and goal at the 1
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it Should Have Been, 1st and goal at the one. So , Garretts decision, Romos decision, the -play call were all right!! And maybe the other way wouldve worked too....but this is how it played out and the combination of decisions were right!! It worked out for them ......

But some jack wagon replay official who places himself OVER all other things, including common sense. Saw it otherwise. 99% of the population and i am guessing most other replay officials dont make that call.......none of them could have come up with Irrefutable Evidence and over turned that play..... Maybe that extra little "Steelers Love Cowboys Hate" he has been carrying his whole life, "skewed" his decision....
 
JoeBoBBY said:
it Should Have Been, 1st and goal at the one. So , Garretts decision, Romos decision, the -play call were all right!! And maybe the other way wouldve worked too....but this is how it played out and the combination of decisions were right!! It worked out for them ......

But some jack wagon replay official who places himself OVER all other things, including common sense. Saw it otherwise. 99% of the population and i am guessing most other replay officials dont make that call.......none of them could have come up with Irrefutable Evidence and over turned that play..... Maybe that extra little "Steelers Love Cowboys Hate" he has been carrying his whole life, "skewed" his decision....
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Romo saw the defensive alignment at the get go, he did not have to give a thumbs up to Dez as he did in one of the other games they both were on the same page unfortunately the call went against us.
 
visionary said:
I am talking about percentages and probabilities
If romo makes that attempt to Dez 10 times Dez completes the play no more than 1-2 times IMO
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Dez singled up on a 5-11 CB is not a "1 or 2 times out of 10 play." I get that Beasely is higher %., but its not like Romo throwing this route on a single covered Dez hasn't been a bread and butter play all season too.

I'm sure both Romo and Dez's eyes lit up when they saw Sheilds try to lineup to play 1 on 1 press against them. It was a more gutsy call for sure, but it wasn't just a chuck it up and pray either.
 
WV Cowboy said:
Ahh, but they do. The pass was perfect and the catch was made. It was a good decision. It was a great pass and a great catch. It was a huge play at crunch time of a playoff game. Guys practice year round for moments like that and they both came through and made the big play at the moment we needed it.

All that happened after that was horse-crap, and could have happened on a pass to Witten or a pass to Beasley.
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Gaining 3 yards on a 37 yard pass attempt is the outlier, gaining 3 yards on a 5 yard pass attempt is more the norm. Not saying that it doesn't happen but the odds are stacked against you. Take Romo for instance, he's an undrafted fa who became an elite qb, that says that it can happen but would you want that to be the strategy when it's time to replace him? I try to not base my argument on the exception I base it on the rule.
 
I've seen Brady and P.Manning throw over the top many times on short yardage pass situations. Brees too. We can say all day this discussion is not results based, but if that catch wasn't overturned everyone is praising the decision. Just like the 4th and 6 the week before - if we didn't convert that there would have been an uproar about why didn't we punt. Instead all we hear is gutsy call got to play to win etch etc. It's fan nature so it's expected it's called Monday morning QBing for a reason.

I trust Romo and Dez there and they made a great play. Epic really.
 
birdwells1 said:
Gaining 3 yards on a 37 yard pass attempt is the outlier, gaining 3 yards on a 5 yard pass attempt is more the norm. Not saying that it doesn't happen but the odds are stacked against you. Take Romo for instance, he's an undrafted fa who became an elite qb, that says that it can happen but would you want that to be the strategy when it's time to replace him? I try to not base my argument on the exception I base it on the rule.
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So if Dez had scored on the play, you would still say it was a bad decision .. since the results don't justify the decision??

You would still feel that he should have gone for the shorter pass completion?
 
I also know if pass to Beasley didn't work, for whatever reason, bad throw, catch, batted down, etc, we would have threads on Dez finally had one on one you have to go to your #1 with the game on the line not your #3, Romo played not to lose, choked, etc.

Also even if we made 6 yards for the first we still need a TD and we never know what would happen next. We always assume events on a hypothetical outcome - we would pounded it in and ran out the clock for instance. But somewhere along the way another play would happen that we'd wonder if another result would have been better.

Great play. Two great players. Lousy NFL decision
 
Don't fault Romo on that. The best player on the field finally has a one-on-one matchup. Dez comes down with jump balls 90% of the time and has proven in the past to make clutch grabs. Phenomenal throw. Phenomenal catch.
 
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goshan said:
The other thought is why did they need to have Dez run the 'GO' pattern. That is the point at which the play became higher risk (when the pattern was chosen for the RCVR that was CLEARLY 1:1). Why not have Dez run something over the middle?
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This. I screamed at the TV when Romo let the ball go - why is our best receiver running a fly pattern on 4th & 2?

Hindsight is 20/20, but a quick stop / back shoulder throw to Dez against that CB (who was probably "all in" to cover the fly) seems to me to be the perfect route.

Now, with all that said, if the stupid refs make the call that they make on 90% of these close calls that get reviewed (no conclusive evidence - the ruling on the field stands as called), then we MIGHT be having a COMPLETELY different conversation this morning (Romo is Mr. Clutch, Dez is inhuman, and Garret has balz of steel).

We will never know ...
 
WV Cowboy said:
So if Dez had scored on the play, you would still say it was a bad decision .. since the results don't justify the decision??

You would still feel that he should have gone for the shorter pass completion?
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I would've said "great play" but the decision and the outcome don't have to be judged together. That like a Shaq shooting a 3 pointer, just because he makes it doesn't mean that it was a good decision.
 
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birdwells1 said:
I would've said "great play" but the decision and the outcomes doesn't have to be judged together.
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Just checking, .. when you said, "The results don't justify the decision", .. I'm thinking you don't get to find out the outcome before you decide if it was a good decision or not.

That is Monday morning QB'ing.

I'm good with the decision to go for the throat.
 
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