DMN Blog: Here's Troy Aikman on the ill-fated Romo to Hurd incompletion

[WoodysGirl]

10:39 AM Wed, Oct 07, 2009 | Permalink
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I talked to Troy Aikman this morning about a myriad of topics that will help me fill this blog for the rest of the week as well as my Hot Air column for Saturday.

In the course of the conversation, we talked about the infamous unsuccessful pass to Hurd, defended by Champ Bailey, that ended the Cowboys hopes of winning in Denver

I can't quote Aikman directly here because he used all kinds of football jargon I pretended to understand. I jotted everything down but now I can't decipher most of the "code" words.

Anyway, Aikman said when the Cowboys got to the line of scrimmage, he did what he always does. Aikman looked at the defense and thought about the play he would call against it.

Guess what? Aikman liked the call.

He said he saw the CB (Champ Bailey) playing off the ball and thought the perfect call would be a slant to the wide receiver on the "short side" of the field. Yes, Miles Austin was on other side of the field (the long side) but that is the more difficult pass.

"I said to myself if they call a slant they have a walk-in touchdown," Aikman said. He didn't elaborate but I'm hypothesizing that would make the execution and not Bailey the reason the play was less than perfect.


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[ddh33]

Does this mean that Romo doesn't suck for trying to make that throw since it's the one Aikman would have made too?

 

[Doomsday101]

I said the same there was nothing wrong with the call. You have 1 on 1 on a quick slant. Because it failed to work never made it a bad call.

 

[Doomsday101]

Does this mean that Romo doesn't suck for trying to make that throw since it's the one Aikman would have made too?

No it just means Troy saw the same thing Tony did and would have made the same choice. So Troy sucks.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

just because a WR looks open doesn't mean he is

Champ Bailey has an unbelievable ability to break on the ball

and esp. trying it on him once before, so he was definitely looking for it again, it came, and he defended it

 

[dbair1967]

I said the same there was nothing wrong with the call. You have 1 on 1 on a quick slant. Because it failed to work never made it a bad call.

You must have missed these 100's of CZ experts who say otherwise.

 

[Chuck 54]

1. WR drive hard inside right away....with CB off, there's no reason to run to him and then make the cut...that just closed most of the initial gap without the CB having to do anything...clearly protecting against the fade.

2. QB delivers the ball sooner...right away...however, when the WR drives right at the CB who's standing back in the end zone, the QB has to hold the ball until the WR makes his move, which also allowed the CB to see the QB's posture, eyes, everything poised for that particular pass.

Summary...I don't blame Hurd, who is a backup, but if Hurd takes one step forward (he's already in the endzone now) and then drives hard inside, the ball is thrown right away and the CB has no chance to recover.

My guess is Bailey was playing a matchup zone more than man to man and was soft, probably actually expecting Hurd to be a decoy inside with Witten coming over underneath. The execution helped the CB out...probably why Hurd is being so hard on himself...he got fancier on the route than he needed.

 

[skinsscalper]

No it just means Troy saw the same thing Tony did and would have made the same choice. So Troy sucks.

And anyone who saw the 98 yard interception that Troy threw against the Eagles from the 2 yard line knows that Troy is infallible down in the red zone.



See how that works?

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Does this mean that Romo doesn't suck for trying to make that throw since it's the one Aikman would have made too?

I don't think so. You don't hear anything else on the subject. There could have been, and probably was, more to it. I can see you trying it once but not twice. If your conception is that Hurd has Bailey man up and Bailey is playing an outside technique so that slant is there, then OK. You run it, you make the throw and Champ demonstrates that it doesn't matter because he has the ability to make up the ground and break up the throw. You don't do it twice because the premise you based the decision on in the first place is faulty. You thought you could get the throw by him and you couldn't. He was clearly covered and honestly, even if that is your first read, you should be able to see that the play is covered so you look him off and go to your second read, which is probably Austin. You certainly don't make that same mistake twice because Champ has already demonstrated that your initial view was wrong. JMO

 

[Doomsday101]

1. WR drive hard inside right away....with CB off, there's no reason to run to him and then make the cut...that just closed most of the initial gap without the CB having to do anything...clearly protecting against the fade.

2. QB delivers the ball sooner...right away...however, when the WR drives right at the CB who's standing back in the end zone, the QB has to hold the ball until the WR makes his move, which also allowed the CB to see the QB's posture, eyes, everything poised for that particular pass.

Summary...I don't blame Hurd, who is a backup, but if Hurd takes one step forward (he's already in the endzone now) and then drives hard inside, the ball is thrown right away and the CB has no chance to recover.

My guess is Bailey was playing a matchup zone more than man to man and was soft, probably actually expecting Hurd to be a decoy inside with Witten coming over underneath. The execution helped the CB out...probably why Hurd is being so hard on himself...he got fancier on the route than he needed.

Summary...I don't blame Hurd, who is a backup, but if Hurd takes one step forward (he's already in the endzone now) and then drives hard inside, the ball is thrown right away and the CB has no chance to recover.

I agree. What I saw at least from the sideline view was Hurd looked as if he was fading away from the ball coming across instead of blocking out the CB by coming directly straight across or forward towards the ball. He left slight opening and Bailey made a darn good play.

 

[BehindEnemyLinez]

The only issue I had with that series of plays was Witten being kept in to block. They should've brought in Tellus or Phillips for "max protection" and put 82 out there w/ the WRs & give him a chance to make a play...

 

[Doomsday101]

And anyone who saw the 98 yard interception that Troy threw against the Eagles from the 2 yard line knows that Troy is infallible down in the red zone.



See how that works?

I know how it works. The play fails so all of a sudden the peanut gallery hollers it was bad play calling I have been hearing this routine for over 40 years. Romo made the right read the play failed that does not make it a bad play call or a bad read on the part of Romo.

 

[alancdc]

1. WR drive hard inside right away....with CB off, there's no reason to run to him and then make the cut...that just closed most of the initial gap without the CB having to do anything...clearly protecting against the fade.

2. QB delivers the ball sooner...right away...however, when the WR drives right at the CB who's standing back in the end zone, the QB has to hold the ball until the WR makes his move, which also allowed the CB to see the QB's posture, eyes, everything poised for that particular pass.

Summary...I don't blame Hurd, who is a backup, but if Hurd takes one step forward (he's already in the endzone now) and then drives hard inside, the ball is thrown right away and the CB has no chance to recover.

My guess is Bailey was playing a matchup zone more than man to man and was soft, probably actually expecting Hurd to be a decoy inside with Witten coming over underneath. The execution helped the CB out...probably why Hurd is being so hard on himself...he got fancier on the route than he needed.

This is exactly what I was thinking reading the thread. This was not a QUICK slant. Great point.

 

[THUMPER]

The only issue I had with that series of plays was Witten being kept in to block. They should've brought in Tellus or Phillips for "max protection" and put 82 out there w/ the WRs & give him a chance to make a play...

I agree. You have to utilize your best receiver on those kind of crucial plays, or at least have him as an option so the defense doubles him. Keeping him in allowed the defense to ignore him and play the others who are less adept at getting open and catching the ball.

 

[bbgun]

I know how it works. The play fails so all of a sudden the peanut gallery hollers it was bad play calling I have been hearing this routine for over 40 years. Romo made the right read the play failed that does not make it a bad play call or a bad read on the part of Romo.

Who cares if the last two plays "made sense" or were "technically sound" if they were preceded by 59 minutes of screwups and ineptitude? Time to look at the big picture.

 

[wileedog]

1. WR drive hard inside right away....with CB off, there's no reason to run to him and then make the cut...that just closed most of the initial gap without the CB having to do anything...clearly protecting against the fade.

2. QB delivers the ball sooner...right away...however, when the WR drives right at the CB who's standing back in the end zone, the QB has to hold the ball until the WR makes his move, which also allowed the CB to see the QB's posture, eyes, everything poised for that particular pass.

Summary...I don't blame Hurd, who is a backup, but if Hurd takes one step forward (he's already in the endzone now) and then drives hard inside, the ball is thrown right away and the CB has no chance to recover.

My guess is Bailey was playing a matchup zone more than man to man and was soft, probably actually expecting Hurd to be a decoy inside with Witten coming over underneath. The execution helped the CB out...probably why Hurd is being so hard on himself...he got fancier on the route than he needed.

I think that's my problem with the play call.

You are depending on your 4th string WR who has done not much of anything in this league to execute perfectly, because that is the only way he's going to beat a future HOF CB.

Meanwhile the most talented guy you have left standing on offense is in the backfield blocking.

I don't have a problem with Tony throwing the ball there, because that is the matchup the play was designed to create.

I do have a problem though thinking creating a matchup of one of our worst players with their best player with the game on the line is a good idea.

 

[craig71]

I don't think so. You don't hear anything else on the subject. There could have been, and probably was, more to it. I can see you trying it once but not twice. If your conception is that Hurd has Bailey man up and Bailey is playing an outside technique so that slant is there, then OK. You run it, you make the throw and Champ demonstrates that it doesn't matter because he has the ability to make up the ground and break up the throw. You don't do it twice because the premise you based the decision on in the first place is faulty. You thought you could get the throw by him and you couldn't. He was clearly covered and honestly, even if that is your first read, you should be able to see that the play is covered so you look him off and go to your second read, which is probably Austin. You certainly don't make that same mistake twice because Champ has already demonstrated that your initial view was wrong. JMO

I wonder if the reasoning for running basically the same play back to back had to do with Austin being open on the far side.It would seem that they had to see him open over there on the previous play.

Craig

 

[Doomsday101]

Who cares if the last two plays "made sense" or were "technically sound" if they were preceded by 59 minutes of screwups and ineptitude? Time to look at the big picture.

I don't disagree with that only commenting on this particular thread which involved this play. People right after the game wanted to slam on Romo and Garrett for this play and now a HOF QB says based on what he was seeing it was the right call and now the peanut gallery can't handle it? Come on

 

[bbgun]

I don't disagree with that only commenting on this particular thread which involved this play. People right after the game wanted to slam on Romo and Garrett for this play and now a HOF QB says based on what he was seeing it was the right call and now the peanut gallery can't handle it? Come on

Um, Troy is not infallible. I'm sure you could rustle up another HOF QB who'd come to the exact opposite conclusion on those plays. Fans love to rag on Troy when he's down on the Boys during a telecast, then shower him with love when he reflects their biases a few days later. Time to make up your minds.

 

[gmoney112]

Summary...I don't blame Hurd, who is a backup, but if Hurd takes one step forward (he's already in the endzone now) and then drives hard inside, the ball is thrown right away and the CB has no chance to recover.

I agree. What I saw at least from the sideline view was Hurd looked as if he was fading away from the ball coming across instead of blocking out the CB by coming directly straight across or forward towards the ball. He left slight opening and Bailey made a darn good play.

Agreed. Only thing I disagreed with is running it twice, and I think Crayton would have been better suited for that route.