Dallas/Seahawks - The Mistakes

[TwoDeep3]

I am not a football mind. So this is opinion. But what I do is see similarities in life. Things that are alike. And these aspects have always fascinated me and caused me to ponder their meanings.

Dallas has the ball, in the midst of the answering series where they can take the lead. I call these series the Championship drives in games when a team has to travel to the endzone and score a touchdown to win. May not be in a championship game, but these are the drives that make legends out of quarterbacks, and cement players and coaches as winners.

I harken back to Elway and the drive he fashioned against the Browns, 98 yards, to go to the Super Bowl. For you young guns this is a wiki link which will reveal the legend of Elway and where it started.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Drive

Dallas/Green Bay. Dallas had the ball on Green Bay's 33 yard line. It was fourth and two and the ball was snapped at the 4:42 mark.

We all know what happened next. Dez makes The Catch that was ruled not the catch.

Now fast forward to Seattle and New England. Seattle just made the play of the game by throwing the ball down to around the six yard line. They ran Lynch on the next play and picked up almost four. They were two yards to glory, and called a slant.

My point is this. In both cases the play caller got away from what makes these two teams what they are. Dallas had Murray, who moves the chains. Seattle had Beast who moves the chains. In both cases they elected to throw the ball instead of do what comes natural. Because no one who follows this game as much as the people here at the Zone would ever think Wilson is the guy when all the chips are in the middle of the table over Lynch and his relentless attack..

Now you can not say that about Romo. But the facts are both teams have running games to be envied, they both chose to go away from what made then a force in this league.

Now Dez performed well, and the refs - I have changed my opinion on this play from my first take, which was the call was correct - stole that play.

But in the case of Dallas, there was way too much time left for Green Bay. Get the first at the 31. Then run the ball and eat the clock before scoring to take the lead.

Then you gamble by going for two and forcing GB to win it with a touchdown or tie it with a field goal. But the clock is instrumental and a key factor.

Now this can be seen as second guessing. yet allow me to say I was pretty adamant before the snap of the ball the team needed to run and get the first.

Seattle had the ball with 30 seconds left and a time out. There was no need for that pass. Pete Carroll called the wrong play.

And in both cases, the play calling got cute instead of staying with what the team is based on, which is ground and pound.

Dallas got shown the door for many reasons, and that one play was not the only reason they lost. They left points on the field which would have made that play moot. Seattle can make the same argument, but clearly they had that game and gave it away with a slant from the two with Lynch watching his team lose instead of him doing what he does best.

Just my opinion, but both games could have been far different had the running game been called instead of passing at a critical point.

And in my eyes, the hue and cry about this is a passing game was shown in both cases that the old ways are sometimes still the best ways.

 

[Crown Royal]

I think you are selectively looking at plays. You can't talk about the pass mistakes and ignore the wins (4th and 6 to Witten, 3rd and forever to Williams, some other great TDs).

 

[xwalker]

I am not a football mind. So this is opinion. But what I do is see similarities in life. Things that are alike. And these aspects have always fascinated me and caused me to ponder their meanings.

Dallas has the ball, in the midst of the answering series where they can take the lead. I call these series the Championship drives in games when a team has to travel to the endzone and score a touchdown to win. May not be in a championship game, but these are the drives that make legends out of quarterbacks, and cement players and coaches as winners.

I harken back to Elway and the drive he fashioned against the Browns, 98 yards, to go to the Super Bowl. For you young guns this is a wiki link which will reveal the legend of Elway and where it started.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Drive

Dallas/Green Bay. Dallas had the ball on Green Bay's 33 yard line. It was fourth and two and the ball was snapped at the 4:42 mark.

We all know what happened next. Dez makes The Catch that was ruled not the catch.

Now fast forward to Seattle and New England. Seattle just made the play of the game by throwing the ball down to around the six yard line. They ran Lynch on the next play and picked up almost four. They were two yards to glory, and called a slant.

My point is this. In both cases the play caller got away from what makes these two teams what they are. Dallas had Murray, who moves the chains. Seattle had Beast who moves the chains. In both cases they elected to throw the ball instead of do what comes natural. Because no one who follows this game as much as the people here at the Zone would ever think Wilson is the guy when all the chips are in the middle of the table over Lynch and his relentless attack..

Now you can not say that about Romo. But the facts are both teams have running games to be envied, they both chose to go away from what made then a force in this league.

Now Dez performed well, and the refs - I have changed my opinion on this play from my first take, which was the call was correct - stole that play.

But in the case of Dallas, there was way too much time left for Green Bay. Get the first at the 31. Then run the ball and eat the clock before scoring to take the lead.

Then you gamble by going for two and forcing GB to win it with a touchdown or tie it with a field goal. But the clock is instrumental and a key factor.

Now this can be seen as second guessing. yet allow me to say I was pretty adamant before the snap of the ball the team needed to run and get the first.

Seattle had the ball with 30 seconds left and a time out. There was no need for that pass. Pete Carroll called the wrong play.

And in both cases, the play calling got cute instead of staying with what the team is based on, which is ground and pound.

Dallas got shown the door for many reasons, and that one play was not the only reason they lost. They left points on the field which would have made that play moot. Seattle can make the same argument, but clearly they had that game and gave it away with a slant from the two with Lynch watching his team lose instead of him doing what he does best.

Just my opinion, but both games could have been far different had the running game been called instead of passing at a critical point.

And in my eyes, the hue and cry about this is a passing game was shown in both cases that the old ways are sometimes still the best ways.

It's easy to look at one play and say they should have done such and such, but if they always did what was expected throughout the season, they probably would have had problems at some point.

 

[Idgit]

I think you are selectively looking at plays. You can't talk about the pass mistakes and ignore the wins (4th and 6 to Witten, 3rd and forever to Williams, some other great TDs).

Yep. There's no doubt that interceptions in the red zone will get you beat. It's easy to say that running the ball is the right call once you know the pick was the alternative, but you can just as easily make the case that a different throw would also likely have been successful, and there's no way to disprove it.

At to the 4th and 2 call to Dez, that was a gutsy play and perfect execution by the Cowboys as far as I'm concerned. Not going to second-guess them a bit in that regard. It was a blown review by the officiating staff, plain and simple, and that's something that could happen on a run, too, theoretically, if your review staff is incompetent enough.

 

[tyke1doe]

I can't fault the Cowboys for going for the deep ball on 4th and 2. The coverage dictated the play. The Packers had stacked the line and left Dez one-on-one with Shields. And with Dez's jumping ability, you take that matchup every day.
Meanwhile, 2 yards on 4th down might as well be five. The defense is going to play run, dropping your percentages. It was the right call. Unfortunately, it just didn't work out.
Fans have to understand that the other team makes plays too. Not everything is going to work. And when it doesn't, we're always second-guessing. I say let it go. You torture yourself unnecessarily thinking about "what ifs." The Cowboys went for it and loss. I've already moved on, emotionally, that is.

 

[Hostile]

I am not a football mind. So this is opinion. But what I do is see similarities in life. Things that are alike. And these aspects have always fascinated me and caused me to ponder their meanings.

Dallas has the ball, in the midst of the answering series where they can take the lead. I call these series the Championship drives in games when a team has to travel to the endzone and score a touchdown to win. May not be in a championship game, but these are the drives that make legends out of quarterbacks, and cement players and coaches as winners.

I harken back to Elway and the drive he fashioned against the Browns, 98 yards, to go to the Super Bowl. For you young guns this is a wiki link which will reveal the legend of Elway and where it started.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Drive

Dallas/Green Bay. Dallas had the ball on Green Bay's 33 yard line. It was fourth and two and the ball was snapped at the 4:42 mark.

We all know what happened next. Dez makes The Catch that was ruled not the catch.

Now fast forward to Seattle and New England. Seattle just made the play of the game by throwing the ball down to around the six yard line. They ran Lynch on the next play and picked up almost four. They were two yards to glory, and called a slant.

My point is this. In both cases the play caller got away from what makes these two teams what they are. Dallas had Murray, who moves the chains. Seattle had Beast who moves the chains. In both cases they elected to throw the ball instead of do what comes natural. Because no one who follows this game as much as the people here at the Zone would ever think Wilson is the guy when all the chips are in the middle of the table over Lynch and his relentless attack..

Now you can not say that about Romo. But the facts are both teams have running games to be envied, they both chose to go away from what made then a force in this league.

Now Dez performed well, and the refs - I have changed my opinion on this play from my first take, which was the call was correct - stole that play.

But in the case of Dallas, there was way too much time left for Green Bay. Get the first at the 31. Then run the ball and eat the clock before scoring to take the lead.

Then you gamble by going for two and forcing GB to win it with a touchdown or tie it with a field goal. But the clock is instrumental and a key factor.

Now this can be seen as second guessing. yet allow me to say I was pretty adamant before the snap of the ball the team needed to run and get the first.

Seattle had the ball with 30 seconds left and a time out. There was no need for that pass. Pete Carroll called the wrong play.

And in both cases, the play calling got cute instead of staying with what the team is based on, which is ground and pound.

Dallas got shown the door for many reasons, and that one play was not the only reason they lost. They left points on the field which would have made that play moot. Seattle can make the same argument, but clearly they had that game and gave it away with a slant from the two with Lynch watching his team lose instead of him doing what he does best.

Just my opinion, but both games could have been far different had the running game been called instead of passing at a critical point.

And in my eyes, the hue and cry about this is a passing game was shown in both cases that the old ways are sometimes still the best ways.

I partially agree with you. On the Dez play I wanted us to run. Not going to lie. However, I can see why Tony made that throw. Dez had man coverage against a guy who is 4 inches shorter and no man over the top. I don't feel that was a desperation play so much as it was smart football by Tony to audible out if he did. Great throw, better catch, stupid refs.

The throw to Kearse was ill advised IMO. Not because Butler is the guy covering so much as there was Safety help and it was more of a desperation throw. The fact that he made a miracle catch doesn't change it for me. At that point Seattle had been gifted a Super Bowl trophy and they found a way to lose it while the Patriots didn't appear to be trying to win it yet stumbled out with a win.

Two Super Bowl winning coaches made horrible calls to end that game IMO. Why was Hoodie not using his Timeouts in case Seattle did score? Why was Wilson not throwing it away to give his team two more chances to win it? Why is Wilson not being raked today for throwing that ball? If Romo had thrown that pass the media world would have exploded. That pass and result on 4th down doesn't bother me at all. I tip my hat to the CB on a great effort. On 2nd down, with a timeout and bull RB, that was stupid.

I loved Richard Sherman's facial reaction to that pick. I hope someone makes gifs of it for Internet memes.

 

[ElGatoGrande]

I'm just sick of these play-callers trying to "fool" the defenses by doing the unexpected despite the fact that they don't need to. Going against tendencies is all well and good, but not when you're going away from your high percentage bread and butter plays and the game is on the line.

 

[DFWJC]

Except Dallas needed a TD and had scored no points since the mid-3rd qtr and were on the 40 yard line with 4th and 2 ....so a very real chance they don't score a TD without that big play (but we'll never know).

Seattle needed 1 yard to score (not 41) and had three downs to get it.

I'm not saying I wouldn't have run there (Dallas). GB sure expected it though.

Also, Dallas did everything right and actually made the play when it counted,
Seattle did not.

 

[btcutter]

I for one did not disagree with Seattle choosing to pass on 2nd down instead of run. However, I disagree with running a slant pattern where you are running into traffic and asking QB to throw over DL where there's a chance the ball gets tipped. If you want a passing play then it needed to be toward the sidelines or roll out play where it's either my guy or no one is catching this or throw it out of bounds to stop the clock. This way it's now 3rd down and you still have a time out to run/pass.
Carroll explained that they had favorable match up because Pats were selling out for the run. It's OK to call the pass play but the WRONG pass play was called.

 

[Fletch]

I loved Richard Sherman's facial reaction to that pick. I hope someone makes gifs of it for Internet memes.

Reminds me of Jeremy Shockey's premature celebration. The face and reaction of the usual jovial and carefree genius *cough* that is Pete Carroll was just as priceless. I was laughing at both of them!

 

[jazzcat22]

Sherman's face was priceless....I can see a pic [pick..LOL] coming out on this one...

As for the play calls...running in both situations is what I would vote for....but the season is over, it was over after the refs took it away from us.
Time for me to focus on FA and the Draft...and off season moves...1st up...SIGN DEZ....

 

[Idgit]

Not gonna lie: I'd have made the same face at that same stupid pick. That's his 'I wonder why we just gave away a Superbowl' face.

 

[DenCWBY]

I'm with you 2deep. The 3 words that always come to mind with teams who are "built to run", when they are inside the 5yrd line with 3 or 4 downs left is, RUN THE BALL.
I recall hearing Parcells years back second guessing himself (after a close loss). He advised he strayed from the run in the red zone which was a big flaw. He advised he wrote in large letters on his red zone play chart to "RUN first".
I know passes are required to keep defenses honest however, when you have RB's, like E Smith, J Bettis, E Campbell, who have a nose for the end zone, I think you have a distinct advantage in those situations, while limiting potential errors like turnovers and penalties. I'm not saying it's for every team but when you have a pedigree back or in this case a beast to run the ball and a QB who's also a threat to run, you have to go with what got you there.

 

[jrumann59]

IIRC in the GB put 9 in the box on 4th and two. While in the SB it is the endzone it still was only 2nd down with 30 seconds and 2 time outs. You do not "hail mary" unless its 4th down.

 

[Brooksey]

I partially agree with you. On the Dez play I wanted us to run. Not going to lie. However, I can see why Tony made that throw. Dez had man coverage against a guy who is 4 inches shorter and no man over the top. I don't feel that was a desperation play so much as it was smart football by Tony to audible out if he did. Great throw, better catch, stupid refs.

The throw to Kearse was ill advised IMO. Not because Butler is the guy covering so much as there was Safety help and it was more of a desperation throw. The fact that he made a miracle catch doesn't change it for me. At that point Seattle had been gifted a Super Bowl trophy and they found a way to lose it while the Patriots didn't appear to be trying to win it yet stumbled out with a win.

Two Super Bowl winning coaches made horrible calls to end that game IMO. Why was Hoodie not using his Timeouts in case Seattle did score? Why was Wilson not throwing it away to give his team two more chances to win it? Why is Wilson not being raked today for throwing that ball? If Romo had thrown that pass the media world would have exploded. That pass and result on 4th down doesn't bother me at all. I tip my hat to the CB on a great effort. On 2nd down, with a timeout and bull RB, that was stupid.

I loved Richard Sherman's facial reaction to that pick. I hope someone makes gifs of it for Internet memes.

I was saying the same thing about hoodie not taking a TO with a minute left...the next thing you know there was 29 seconds and Seattle panicked. That answered my question why he didn't take the timeout. He let the clock run out and put a lot of pressure on Caroll and he blew it. Carroll thought he had an advantage against the Pats goal-line defense but Belichick had three corners in, which was actually an advantage to NE.

In the end two great coaches punched it out and Hoodie won that battle.

Oh yeah, Brady had a great drive with two minutes left and the kid made a hell of a play to seal it.

 

[Hostile]

I was saying the same thing about hoodie not taking a TO with a minute left...the next thing you know there was 29 seconds and Seattle panicked. That answered my question why he didn't take the timeout. He let the clock run out and put a lot of pressure on Caroll and he blew it. Carroll thought he had an advantage against the Pats goal-line defense but Belichick had three corners in, which was actually an advantage to NE.

In the end two great coaches punched it out and Hoodie won that battle.

Oh yeah, Brady had a great drive with two minutes left and the kid made a hell of a play to seal it.

You could be right. If Carroll had not blown it he looks stupid for not saving the clock.

 

[Clove]

I loved the play when Romo audibled out of 4th down and went to Williams.
I loved the play when Romo audibled again on 4th dn and threw to Dez.
I loved the play where Wilson, earlier in the game where they were in 3rd and 2, and instead went deep for the deep completion instead of the short 1st down when they were up 10.
I loved the play where instead of pounding it in with Beast mode, they threw a slant that was unfortunately interception, great play by New England.

What I don't LOVE, is when they made those plays. Game 10 with more season left to play, you make those plays. Game 0 when it's make a play or go home, all of those plays were terrible.

If you like to gamble, be smart. But you don't gamble with your season on the line unless you absolutely have to. 20 seconds to go, it's beast mode. It's only 2nd down, don't be greedy. Get out of shotgun, make it 50/50 run pass ratio, they would have sold out for beast mode had they gone under center. If you then playaction boot leg, then no one knows what's coming. I'm starting to hate coaches who use shotgun on the 1, and especially coaches that go empty set on 4th and short.

So to sum it up, those plays were good, but not when the season is on the line.

 

[Clove]

You could be right. If Carroll had not blown it he looks stupid for not saving the clock.

Love the sig, that's my motto.

 

[visionary]

I loved the play when Romo audibled out of 4th down and went to Williams.
I loved the play when Romo audibled again on 4th dn and threw to Dez.
I loved the play where Wilson, earlier in the game where they were in 3rd and 2, and instead went deep for the deep completion instead of the short 1st down when they were up 10.
I loved the play where instead of pounding it in with Beast mode, they threw a slant that was unfortunately interception, great play by New England.

What I don't LOVE, is when they made those plays. Game 10 with more season left to play, you make those plays. Game 0 when it's make a play or go home, all of those plays were terrible.

If you like to gamble, be smart. But you don't gamble with your season on the line unless you absolutely have to. 20 seconds to go, it's beast mode. It's only 2nd down, don't be greedy. Get out of shotgun, make it 50/50 run pass ratio, they would have sold out for beast mode had they gone under center. If you then playaction boot leg, then no one knows what's coming. I'm starting to hate coaches who use shotgun on the 1, and especially coaches that go empty set on 4th and short.

So to sum it up, those plays were good, but not when the season is on the line.

Agreed
Good execution but poor judgement on the 4-2 play
Any objective person can see that
You cannot defend a 30 yard bomb on a 4-2 with the season on the line

 

[Oh_Canada]

Personally I go jumbo and feed the "beast". However, calling a pass play would have been ok if it was combined with Wilson rolling out and throwing a high percentage pass. A slant on the one is a horrible decision. It's beyond stupid.

The Cowboys decision was gutsy, and not nearly as dumb and it was an entirely different scenario. I take Bryant one on one with Shields all day every day.