gimmesix
Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life
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I think there are some misconceptions about the sack Romo took yesterday, based mainly on the announcers talking about Austin being wide-open in the back of the end zone and replays showing Bryant coming open.
Quarterbacks are taught that they need to try to get the ball out of their hands in 3 seconds. That means they have to progress through their reads and made a decision where to go with the ball. before those 3 seconds are up.
Those decisions generally start with a preread of the defense as to whom the quarterback is going to look to first when he goes through his progressions. Using Bryant as an example since they showed his route on replay, you can see that he initially was covered for about 2 seconds then came open over the top. It's likely that Romo had moved to his next read by then, and then to his next read and to his next read. I assume none of the other options were open at the time Romo checked.
That meant Romo needed to check down to the outlet receiver, which was Murray, who had ran a wheel route to the left and was initially wide open. However, after getting wide open, Murray just stopped his route, which allowed a linebacker to notice him and head his way about the time Romo needed to check down. It appeared on the sideline after the play that Romo was telling Murray he needed to continue his route either upfield or back over the middle in front of the quarterback.
Since Murray didn't continue his route and the coverage was coming, Romo started moving upfield. He might have been preparing for a throw to either Bryant or Austin at that point, but a lineman had finally broken free and Romo chose to take the sack rather than risk the possibility of having his arm hit while attempting to throw. That was the right play by Romo.
If people want to harp on a certain player being open, then what you are asking the quarterback to do is to not go through his reads to find an open man, but just continue to follow that one player until he gets open, which is a good way to get into lots of trouble.
Quarterbacks are taught that they need to try to get the ball out of their hands in 3 seconds. That means they have to progress through their reads and made a decision where to go with the ball. before those 3 seconds are up.
Those decisions generally start with a preread of the defense as to whom the quarterback is going to look to first when he goes through his progressions. Using Bryant as an example since they showed his route on replay, you can see that he initially was covered for about 2 seconds then came open over the top. It's likely that Romo had moved to his next read by then, and then to his next read and to his next read. I assume none of the other options were open at the time Romo checked.
That meant Romo needed to check down to the outlet receiver, which was Murray, who had ran a wheel route to the left and was initially wide open. However, after getting wide open, Murray just stopped his route, which allowed a linebacker to notice him and head his way about the time Romo needed to check down. It appeared on the sideline after the play that Romo was telling Murray he needed to continue his route either upfield or back over the middle in front of the quarterback.
Since Murray didn't continue his route and the coverage was coming, Romo started moving upfield. He might have been preparing for a throw to either Bryant or Austin at that point, but a lineman had finally broken free and Romo chose to take the sack rather than risk the possibility of having his arm hit while attempting to throw. That was the right play by Romo.
If people want to harp on a certain player being open, then what you are asking the quarterback to do is to not go through his reads to find an open man, but just continue to follow that one player until he gets open, which is a good way to get into lots of trouble.
