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By Gary Horton
Scouts Inc.
(Archive)
Updated: October 12, 2007, 4:45 PM ET
After spending the week in the Film Room, here are just a few of the things we saw heading into Week 6.
Reading is fundamental
We know that Tony Romo has excellent physical skills and that he can make every throw necessary to be successful, but some of his reads and decision making on "Monday Night Football" were baffling. In three of his five interceptions, there was a common theme -- he misread the coverage.
On one interception, the Bills showed a presnap Cover 2 look, but on the snap they brought one safety on a blitz and dropped the other into the deep middle in a Cover 3 look. Romo read Cover 2, thought he had a window open in the deep middle of the field and threw it right in to the safety's hands for a big interception.
On another interception, Romo again read a Cover 2 defense and thought he had a window on the left intermediate perimeter over the corner and under the safety. But at the snap of the ball, the corner drifted back into the window and Romo threw the ball right to him. This is the same technique that Ty Law used to play against Peyton Manning and it gave the Manning and the Colts fits.
On a third INT, Romo sees a basic Cover 2 look with the Buffalo safeties in the deep half and thinks he has a good window over the deep middle. What he doesn't see is that the middle linebacker gets great depth down the middle, as he's supposed to do, and is sitting right in the hole for the interception.
These are fairly easy reads and it just looks like Romo wasn't prepared. Facing Bill Belichick this week, he would be wise to watch a lot of film and be very smart versus a complex defense. Even with all his natural skills he cannot survive these kinds of mistakes versus the Pats.
Spreading it out
New England loves to open the game with a wide-open offense. The Patriots will use either four wide and one back or even five wide and an empty backfield and will flex nickelback Kevin Faulk and tight end Ben Watson. That usually gives QB Tom Brady zone schemes to exploit or man-to-man schemes that force defenses to go deeper at the defensive back position than their depth comfortably allows. Teams seem afraid to attack Brady with the blitz because of all of his single coverage matchups, but if the Cowboys sit back and cover, Brady will pick them apart. And give the New England offensive line credit in pass protection because those five get very little help.
So why don't teams gamble and bring six rushers with only five blocking? Although San Diego lost to New England in Week 2, the Chargers used a philosophy of coming with a blitz (sometimes an overload blitz) and gambled with tight man-to-man schemes behind the blitz. It forced Brady to hold on to the ball and take a coverage sack because the receivers could not get separation before the pressure got to Brady. That may be the best way to attack Brady and this offense.
The battle of No. 81s
After looking at both Randy Moss and Terrell Owens in four key areas, it looks like Moss has the edge in this matchup.
1. Routes: Both are better than you think at running routes even though they are big guys. They can plant and set up a DB with double moves. Also, because DBs still respect their deep speed, especially Moss, they see a lot of off coverages. They are much better in and out of their cuts than expected and both are taking pride in this area the game, something that has not always been the case.
Advantage: Even
2. Concentration: Given their history, you would expect this to be a weakness, but through five games, this has been an area of strength for both Moss and Owens. Although T.O. drops a lot more balls than Moss, he can dazzle with spectacular catches when he really locks onto the ball. Strangely enough, his drops usually come on easy passes. Moss has been flawless this season and when the ball comes his way, he is making every catch, many being acrobatic catches.
Advantage: Moss
3. Deep Speed: Both guys can still get deep, but Moss' speed is still real while T.O needs to manufacture his deep speed at times. He'll use some stop-and-go routes where he lures the DB to sleep, then takes off using a burst of speed. Moss simply runs by defenders and is so big and smooth that he doesn't look that fast until he gets on the defender. Then he simply pulls away. For years, defenders have said that you don't realize how fast Moss is until you play him -- and then it's too late. He made a huge touchdown reception versus the Jets in which he ran by four defenders and not one had a chance to recover and catch him.
Advantage: Moss
4. Red Zone: Both Owens and Moss and big and can be very effective on the jump ball, but Moss is off the charts in this area. He gets rare elevation and is excellent on the high ball. He can snatch the ball away from his body, his body control is outstanding and he doesn't drop the ball. T.O. can also elevate, although not quite as high. Owens is stronger than Moss, though, and can use his body to shield off the defender. The one difference is that T.O. will drop a ball now and then and a good defensive back has a chance to strip the ball.
Advantage: Moss
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
The Pats use more pre-snap movement than any other defense in the NFL. They will line up with as many as nine defenders in the box and the offense has no idea who's coming and who's dropping back. They may attack with seven guys or they may rush only three. They may have all of their defenders in the box standing up before the snap. They can do all of this out of a 34 or a 43 front seven. They can also move all of their players around. Adalius Thomas can play OLB, ILB or put his hand down at a DE position and drop off in coverage. All of their LBs have that type of versatility as well. They will bring corners off the edge with the blitz and their safeties can roll to the perimeter and play corner zone or man schemes. All of this makes it impossible for offenses to clarify their blocking assignments and no QB in the NFL has the ability to read the defense early and audiblize out of a bad play. Plus, all of this movement and changing assignments keeps a group of veteran players interested in the weekly game plan and it forces them to concentrate every day. That's why the Patriots rarely have a game where they look like they are not prepared.
Gary Horton, a pro scout for Scouts Inc., has been a football talent evaluator for more than 30 years. He spent 10 years in the NFL and 10 years at the college level before launching a private scouting firm called The War Room.
Scouts Inc.
(Archive)
Updated: October 12, 2007, 4:45 PM ET
After spending the week in the Film Room, here are just a few of the things we saw heading into Week 6.
Reading is fundamental
We know that Tony Romo has excellent physical skills and that he can make every throw necessary to be successful, but some of his reads and decision making on "Monday Night Football" were baffling. In three of his five interceptions, there was a common theme -- he misread the coverage.
On one interception, the Bills showed a presnap Cover 2 look, but on the snap they brought one safety on a blitz and dropped the other into the deep middle in a Cover 3 look. Romo read Cover 2, thought he had a window open in the deep middle of the field and threw it right in to the safety's hands for a big interception.
On another interception, Romo again read a Cover 2 defense and thought he had a window on the left intermediate perimeter over the corner and under the safety. But at the snap of the ball, the corner drifted back into the window and Romo threw the ball right to him. This is the same technique that Ty Law used to play against Peyton Manning and it gave the Manning and the Colts fits.
On a third INT, Romo sees a basic Cover 2 look with the Buffalo safeties in the deep half and thinks he has a good window over the deep middle. What he doesn't see is that the middle linebacker gets great depth down the middle, as he's supposed to do, and is sitting right in the hole for the interception.
These are fairly easy reads and it just looks like Romo wasn't prepared. Facing Bill Belichick this week, he would be wise to watch a lot of film and be very smart versus a complex defense. Even with all his natural skills he cannot survive these kinds of mistakes versus the Pats.
Spreading it out
New England loves to open the game with a wide-open offense. The Patriots will use either four wide and one back or even five wide and an empty backfield and will flex nickelback Kevin Faulk and tight end Ben Watson. That usually gives QB Tom Brady zone schemes to exploit or man-to-man schemes that force defenses to go deeper at the defensive back position than their depth comfortably allows. Teams seem afraid to attack Brady with the blitz because of all of his single coverage matchups, but if the Cowboys sit back and cover, Brady will pick them apart. And give the New England offensive line credit in pass protection because those five get very little help.
So why don't teams gamble and bring six rushers with only five blocking? Although San Diego lost to New England in Week 2, the Chargers used a philosophy of coming with a blitz (sometimes an overload blitz) and gambled with tight man-to-man schemes behind the blitz. It forced Brady to hold on to the ball and take a coverage sack because the receivers could not get separation before the pressure got to Brady. That may be the best way to attack Brady and this offense.
The battle of No. 81s
After looking at both Randy Moss and Terrell Owens in four key areas, it looks like Moss has the edge in this matchup.
1. Routes: Both are better than you think at running routes even though they are big guys. They can plant and set up a DB with double moves. Also, because DBs still respect their deep speed, especially Moss, they see a lot of off coverages. They are much better in and out of their cuts than expected and both are taking pride in this area the game, something that has not always been the case.
Advantage: Even
2. Concentration: Given their history, you would expect this to be a weakness, but through five games, this has been an area of strength for both Moss and Owens. Although T.O. drops a lot more balls than Moss, he can dazzle with spectacular catches when he really locks onto the ball. Strangely enough, his drops usually come on easy passes. Moss has been flawless this season and when the ball comes his way, he is making every catch, many being acrobatic catches.
Advantage: Moss
3. Deep Speed: Both guys can still get deep, but Moss' speed is still real while T.O needs to manufacture his deep speed at times. He'll use some stop-and-go routes where he lures the DB to sleep, then takes off using a burst of speed. Moss simply runs by defenders and is so big and smooth that he doesn't look that fast until he gets on the defender. Then he simply pulls away. For years, defenders have said that you don't realize how fast Moss is until you play him -- and then it's too late. He made a huge touchdown reception versus the Jets in which he ran by four defenders and not one had a chance to recover and catch him.
Advantage: Moss
4. Red Zone: Both Owens and Moss and big and can be very effective on the jump ball, but Moss is off the charts in this area. He gets rare elevation and is excellent on the high ball. He can snatch the ball away from his body, his body control is outstanding and he doesn't drop the ball. T.O. can also elevate, although not quite as high. Owens is stronger than Moss, though, and can use his body to shield off the defender. The one difference is that T.O. will drop a ball now and then and a good defensive back has a chance to strip the ball.
Advantage: Moss
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
The Pats use more pre-snap movement than any other defense in the NFL. They will line up with as many as nine defenders in the box and the offense has no idea who's coming and who's dropping back. They may attack with seven guys or they may rush only three. They may have all of their defenders in the box standing up before the snap. They can do all of this out of a 34 or a 43 front seven. They can also move all of their players around. Adalius Thomas can play OLB, ILB or put his hand down at a DE position and drop off in coverage. All of their LBs have that type of versatility as well. They will bring corners off the edge with the blitz and their safeties can roll to the perimeter and play corner zone or man schemes. All of this makes it impossible for offenses to clarify their blocking assignments and no QB in the NFL has the ability to read the defense early and audiblize out of a bad play. Plus, all of this movement and changing assignments keeps a group of veteran players interested in the weekly game plan and it forces them to concentrate every day. That's why the Patriots rarely have a game where they look like they are not prepared.
Gary Horton, a pro scout for Scouts Inc., has been a football talent evaluator for more than 30 years. He spent 10 years in the NFL and 10 years at the college level before launching a private scouting firm called The War Room.
