A Goat Today That Nobody's Mentioning

[Nav22]

Felix Jones.

I've read many posters complain about Romo throwing short to Felix repeatedly, but isn't that something we've all WANTED to do on offense? Get Felix in the open field? If I was told pre-game that Felix would catch 10 passes in the open field, I'd have said, "Love the playcalling, getting the ball in one of our biggest playmaker's hands."

It's his ability in the open field that could've slowed down the pass rush dramatically. That's why Romo was throwing those.

Instead, Felix did next to nothing with the opportunities he got in the open field. You can either blame him for this or laud the Vikings defenders' tackling ability (as Aikman did), but either way, he lost his individual match-ups. His job is to make the first defender miss and make things happen... he did very little of that. 10 catches for 61 yards might sound good, but 6.1 yards/catch and a long gain of 14 isn't nearly enough "big play ability" that he's supposed to provide. Way too many of those 10 catches went for 4 yards or less.

He wasn't our biggest problem today, but he had a bad game. What sucks is that if he was effective in the open field, as we all would have expected him to be in this expanded role, we would have won this game. No doubt about that in my mind.

 

[SDCowboy]

Felix needs to learn to actually run when Romo throws to him. Not just dance around for 20 minutes.

 

[Switz]

Felix needs to learn to actually run when Romo throws to him. Not just dance around for 20 minutes.

maybe but when you call the same play 10 timers in one game its not going to work.. this isnt Madden 11

 

[Baileyneverfailey]

You are correct about this. I have wanted Felix to get the ball in his hands. Go look at what LeSean McCoy does for Philly when they throw him screens. It's just like another Westbrook, and I thought Felix could be that for us. However, when we actually do it like today, he didn't manage to make a single guy miss.

Part of it was the terrible O Line we put out there too, but he certainly didn't make the most of the opportunities he had today.

 

[R0M0C0P]

The only reason Felix was getting the ball that much was because the line wasn't giving Romo enough time to look down field so he had to check it down to Felix. Do you not think this was the Vikings plan?

 

[DOUBLE WING]

It's easier said than done. Feilx got good gains his first couple of times, but we just went to the well way too many times. The Vikings were sniffing out that screen every time in the second half and we refused to stop calling it. Throwing the ball to Felix and then asking him to figure out a way to get past those three guys in front of him isn't really fair.

 

[Dallas]

I know one thing.


Barber is DONE. The guy's feet are his own worst enemy.


ZERO balance, but he can get you 1-2 yards and fall down.


What happened to him?

 

[TNCowboy]

Fail of a thread.

I don't recall seeing him in the open field with an opportunity to do much.

The puzzling thing about all of our backs all season long is how they continually lose their footing. Major shoe changes needed, on top of everything else.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Romo sucks on swing passes. That's pretty much it.

 

[SDCowboy]

maybe but when you call the same play 10 timers in one game its not going to work.. this isnt Madden 11

Very true but there were several where if felix had just not forgotten he wasn't on Dancing with the Stars and just went, it would have been nice gains.

 

[bbgun]

They couldn't run today, so Garrett fell in love with the screen plays and circle routes, which were snuffed out once too often.

 

[firehawk350]

Felix Jones.

I've read many posters complain about Romo throwing short to Felix repeatedly, but isn't that something we've all WANTED to do on offense? Get Felix in the open field? If I was told pre-game that Felix would catch 10 passes in the open field, I'd have said, "Love the playcalling, getting the ball in one of our biggest playmaker's hands."

It's his ability in the open field that could've slowed down the pass rush dramatically. That's why Romo was throwing those.

Instead, Felix did next to nothing with the opportunities he got in the open field. You can either blame him for this or laud the Vikings defenders' tackling ability (as Aikman did), but either way, he lost his individual match-ups. His job is to make the first defender miss and make things happen... he did very little of that. 10 catches for 61 yards might sound good, but 6.1 yards/catch and a long gain of 14 isn't nearly enough "big play ability" that he's supposed to provide. Way too many of those 10 catches went for 4 yards or less.

He wasn't our biggest problem today, but he had a bad game. What sucks is that if he was effective in the open field, as we all would have expected him to be in this expanded role, we would have won this game. No doubt about that in my mind.

I need to rewatch it, but I saw that typically, you had two guys in the 5-10 yard range outside the hashmarks in the Vikings zone coverage. So a swing pass to Felix meant he had to make two guys miss or break it hard inside, which is right back into the thick of it. Felix can't be expected to get more than 5-8 yards given that coverage. That's what a dump off is though, you can't expect a huge play off of it.

 

[SDCowboy]

Romo sucks on swing passes. That's pretty much it.

How is it Romo's fault that the swing doesn't work? Felix caught every pass.

 

[hornitosmonster]

The only reason Felix was getting the ball that much was because the line wasn't giving Romo enough time to look down field so he had to check it down to Felix. Do you not think this was the Vikings plan?

Yes, but I'm sure they planned on it being Barber. It still worked...

 

[Kangaroo]

You are correct about this. I have wanted Felix to get the ball in his hands. Go look at what LeSean McCoy does for Philly when they throw him screens. It's just like another Westbrook, and I thought Felix could be that for us. However, when we actually do it like today, he didn't manage to make a single guy miss.

Part of it was the terrible O Line we put out there too, but he certainly didn't make the most of the opportunities he had today.

He made guys miss in the backfield alot due to much penetration and their LB's played great technique and gang tackled everyone

 

[Sarge]

You also have to give the Vikings D some credit here - they are outstanding tacklers. Never miss.

 

[alohawg]

Wow, you should have watched the game if you think Felix was the problem.

 

[AdamJT13]

Most of his catches weren't screens, they were dumpoff passes.

And Felix is WAY, WAY down the list of goats today.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

The only reason Felix was getting the ball that much was because the line wasn't giving Romo enough time to look down field so he had to check it down to Felix. Do you not think this was the Vikings plan?

Well they're plan worked to perfection then. What happened to the ankle breaking Felix Jones? I don't blame him for the loss, but we could've used more out of him. Of course, a block or two would help a brother out.

 

[crazytown41]

who's bright idea was it let him gain 15 pounds?