DMN Blog: There's reason to be encouraged by Tony Romo's interception

[Alexander]

There's reason to be encouraged by Tony Romo's interception
9:00 AM Mon, Aug 31, 2009 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
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Tony Romo's interception against the 49ers was exactly the kind of play he vowed to try to eliminate.

He made an ill-advised throw under pressure, putting a ball up for grabs downfield, basically gift-wrapping the pick for San Francisco safety Mark Roman. It was a terrible decision that killed a drive on second down in 49ers territory.

The encouraging part of the play was Romo's reaction after the game. No excuses, no oh-well attitude.

"You have to make a better decision under distress at that moment," Romo said. "When something breaks down on a play that's long developed on the field, you have to make sure you minimize the mistake and I enhanced it. So we will look at it and improve upon it. But I'm upset with myself for making that decision."

It was Romo's only turnover of the preseason, assuming he'll watch from the sideline Friday in Minnesota. The serious tone of Romo's self-analysis suggests the pick was a momentary slip-up, not a sign that he'll revert to his risk-taking ways.
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Right now, it only shows he's learned how to say the right things after the fact.

Until the risk-taking changes and the results are tangible, any assumption is just that.

Besides, the interceptions are but part of it. The fumbles just as big of a concern for me last season.

I was more encouraged by the way he handled the ball when rushed (the TD to Witten against Oakland for example) than I am of the way he's learned that being non-apologetic after an interception leaves a bad impression.

 

[theogt]

Now if Wade can make his press conferences more interesting to watch -- make jokes at the press' expense, perhaps.

Then we'll be a good team.

 

[Chief]

I think a lot of us have taken Romo for granted.

He's an outstanding player with a ton of talent. The unbelievable release, the footwork, the accuracy, the lateral mobility, and the intangibles.

My only problem was his carelessness with the ball in the pocket. The fumbles bothered me a lot more than the interceptions.

You can see he protects the ball a lot better this season.

He may not put up the big passing numbers this year, but I think he'll have a great season. He seems more serious, he doesn't have Owens in his ear and he is working hard to correct his very few shortcomings.

We're fortunate to have this guy.

 

[links18]

Romo's problem isn't "risk-taking." It has been recklessness with the ball and then excusing the recklessness with statements like "an interception that far down the field is as good as a punt." He didn't do that here, which is a positive, but risk-taking itself isn't the problem. Risk-taking is what led to the Witten TD against Oakland, a play that otherwise would have been a sack.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Wait a minute, didn't I just read JJT to say it was "awful"???

 

[Ken]

I think a lot of us have taken Romo for granted.

He's an outstanding player with a ton of talent. The unbelievable release, the footwork, the accuracy, the lateral mobility, and the intangibles.

My only problem was his carelessness with the ball in the pocket. The fumbles bothered me a lot more than the interceptions.

You can see he protects the ball a lot better this season.

He may not put up the big passing numbers this year, but I think he'll have a great season. He seems more serious, he doesn't have Owens in his ear and he is working hard to correct his very few shortcomings.

We're fortunate to have this guy.

I agree, a lot of people do take him for granted. I certainly don't...especially after the qb'ing we had for the previous decade before him. He is a godsend.

But I do see him trying, which is all we can ask I suppose. He will always make mistakes but as long as they are not careless, we all should be able to live with them because of all of the joy he brings us otherwise.

I'm thinking he is going to make a Tiki Barber type turnaround with his turnovers...

 

[superpunk]

Wasn't the blitzer coming on a loop, and not straight through the gap? Romo said the right thing, but I don't think he saw the extra blitzer looping around, and thought he'd be able to step into it - if he had, maybe it's a TD?

I thought it was a good decision with where to go with the ball, the blitzer just ruined it.

But Romo's attitude is good at least...for whatever that's worth.

 

[Zaxor]

We're fortunate to have this guy.

You got that right.

 

[adbutcher]

I think a lot of us have taken Romo for granted.

He's an outstanding player with a ton of talent. The unbelievable release, the footwork, the accuracy, the lateral mobility, and the intangibles.

My only problem was his carelessness with the ball in the pocket. The fumbles bothered me a lot more than the interceptions.

You can see he protects the ball a lot better this season.

He may not put up the big passing numbers this year, but I think he'll have a great season. He seems more serious, he doesn't have Owens in his ear and he is working hard to correct his very few shortcomings.

We're fortunate to have this guy.

Amen brother!

 

[casmith07]

Romo's problem isn't "risk-taking." It has been recklessness with the ball and then excusing the recklessness with statements like "an interception that far down the field is as good as a punt." He didn't do that here, which is a positive, but risk-taking itself isn't the problem. Risk-taking is what led to the Witten TD against Oakland, a play that otherwise would have been a sack.

If you go back to the Witten TD against Oakland, it was a GREAT play on Romo's part - he protected the football with two hands, kept his head downfield, slid to his left in the pocket and fired a strike. Worse comes to worst on that play, Witten gets tackled outside of the endzone and the ball goes on the 1.

I think we'll see good numbers from Romo this year - nothing extraordinary like near 5000 yards passing or touchdown numbers in the 30s, but I think what we will see is a very high TD-to-INT ratio, which means our defense is off the field longer and not gassed by season's end.

 

[casmith07]

Wasn't the blitzer coming on a loop, and not straight through the gap? Romo said the right thing, but I don't think he saw the extra blitzer looping around, and thought he'd be able to step into it - if he had, maybe it's a TD?

I thought it was a good decision with where to go with the ball, the blitzer just ruined it.

But Romo's attitude is good at least...for whatever that's worth.

To build on this, yes - it was a perfect blitz by the 49ers. I posted in another thread, but Romo really had two decisions on that play: a) try to pull it back and risk a fumble by only having one hand on the football like we've seen all too often, or b) try to put it all into it and make the throw, and hope it falls incomplete or out of bounds. If Romo is able to step fully into that throw, it's 6 points for Ogletree barring any miracle plays by the CB who was beaten by at least a step.

 

[superpunk]

To build on this, yes - it was a perfect blitz by the 49ers. I posted in another thread, but Romo really had two decisions on that play: a) try to pull it back and risk a fumble by only having one hand on the football like we've seen all too often, or b) try to put it all into it and make the throw, and hope it falls incomplete or out of bounds. If Romo is able to step fully into that throw, it's 6 points for Ogletree barring any miracle plays by the CB who was beaten by at least a step.

Sometimes the other team just wins. There's no deeper meaning, the other team just won the play, because it was a better call, or their payed players performed better. I think that's what this was. the 49ers defense and DC just won that play. Another half second from the offensive line or a slight pickup of that blitzer, or a different playcall against that big blitz, and maybe Dallas got a TD.

 

[dogunwo]

Now if Wade can make his press conferences more interesting to watch -- make jokes at the press' expense, perhaps.

Then we'll be a good team.

I see what you did there.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Right now, it only shows he's learned how to say the right things after the fact.

Until the risk-taking changes and the results are tangible, any assumption is just that.

Besides, the interceptions are but part of it. The fumbles just as big of a concern for me last season.

I was more encouraged by the way he handled the ball when rushed (the TD to Witten against Oakland for example) than I am of the way he's learned that being non-apologetic after an interception leaves a bad impression.

Good points. Although I don't think the pick was nearly as bad as many of his interceptions last year. Had he not been hit, there's a possibility he makes the throw or it goes incomplete. Although I think it's important to not be non-apologetic after a pick. Forget the fans and the media, the team doesn't like it when the QB screws up and won't hold himself accountable and it also sets a bad impression. I think that's a part of it (albeit a small part), he needs to hold himself accountable for bad mistakes in order to stop making bad mistakes.


Well, we will wait and see.





YAKUZA

 

[casmith07]

Sometimes the other team just wins. There's no deeper meaning, the other team just won the play, because it was a better call, or their payed players performed better. I think that's what this was. the 49ers defense and DC just won that play. Another half second from the offensive line or a slight pickup of that blitzer, or a different playcall against that big blitz, and maybe Dallas got a TD.

Yeah, but according to Zoners, NEVER. Any time we lose a game or have a turnover, it's Romo's fault, not because the other team simply played it better.

 

[aikemirv]

I think a lot of us have taken Romo for granted.

He's an outstanding player with a ton of talent. The unbelievable release, the footwork, the accuracy, the lateral mobility, and the intangibles.

My only problem was his carelessness with the ball in the pocket. The fumbles bothered me a lot more than the interceptions.

You can see he protects the ball a lot better this season.

He may not put up the big passing numbers this year, but I think he'll have a great season. He seems more serious, he doesn't have Owens in his ear and he is working hard to correct his very few shortcomings.

We're fortunate to have this guy.

I think this is the key here. This is the main thing that irritates me most from the Romo pessimists. He has been so good that they focus in on the bad plays and make it as if the guy is supposed to somehow be perfect.

Just like the thread that was complaining about his accuracy when his career average is like 64%.

His critics live in bizarro world IMO.

 

[lcharles]

Romo had blitzer in his face. Without that, he has a t.d.

 

[BigDFan5]

Now if Wade can make his press conferences more interesting to watch -- make jokes at the press' expense, perhaps.

Then we'll be a good team.

:laugh2:

 

[TellerMorrow34]

On no Romo wasn't PERFECT in the preseason about not turning the ball over. We're DOOMED! DOOMED I SAY!!!!!

In other news Tom Brady threw a pick in one of his starts. Clearly his knee is still wrecked and the Patriots are going to explode cause he wasn't perfection at QB.

Please. It was a bad pass, and decision, but that happens. To all QBs. Every single one of them.

Romo has shown some encouraging progress at this point cause he hasn't made several throws like that and he has shown that he's taking better care of how he carries the ball when he's moving around. Those are reasons to be encouraged, IMO.

 

[NextGenBoys]

I didnt see the game.

Who was the pass intended for?

If it was to Roy who can "go get it", I'm not sure I'm too unhappy with the decision. It means he's showing confience in Roy to go get it and giving him a chance to make a play.

Now, it was still double coverage, so thats not good, and if it was to anyone but Williams, thats not good.