Fourth quarter recap. Or "How not to play in crunch time"

Juke99

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So I took a deep breath, cranked up my recording of the game and went directly to the fourth quarter.

Here's the recap of what I saw:

Dallas 17 Sea 13- 11:13- Third down and one foot. Two TE set. Total collapse by the O line.

Rivera is blown up on the play. Kozier doubles the DT with Gurode, only to realize too late that the LB has shot the gap he vacated. Columbo misses badly and allows the DE to collapse that side of the line as he slants. Adams literally blocks no one. He slaps at the DE with his left hand and then goes out to block the safety, who he misses by a mile.

As an aside. We had FOUR offensive linemen on ONE DT with a TON of room for Romo to sneak. Why on earth he didn't do it is beyond me. Why not call two plays in the huddle. If the defense has the sneak defended, then run the other play. THIS would have been an easy first down if we ran the sneak.

We kick a FG when a TD would have put us up by 24-13. No guarantee we would have scored a td but this play was AWFUL.

Dallas 20 Sea 13- 9:39 Second and eight from their own 28. Seattle's Engram beats Glen for an 11 yard gain. We blitz. Five man rush. No pressure.

8:52 Next play. 1st and 10 from their own 39. No pass rush with a four man rush. Engram beats Newman for 35 yard gain.

8:18 Next play. 1st and 10 from the Dallas 30. PI on Newman. And kids, no matter what anyone says this was a PI. In fact, if I can, I'll get the freeze frame of Newman with his hand actually INSIDE of the right arm of the WR pulling on it. This after he put his hand on the WR twice before on the same play.

8:08 Next play. 1st and Goal. TREMENDOUS play by Ware as he tackles Alexander for a 7 yard loss.

7:40 2nd and goal. We leave the WR, split far left, uncovered. No one, as in NO ONE is covering him. Henry is waving for someone to get over there. (Ya think someone would have had the awareness to call a timeout??) He points several times before the WR is picked up before the snap. If Hassleback would have seen this, it was an EASY TD. So, we tried to give them this play. They just didn't take it.

Then Holmgren decided to return the favor by going for it on fourth down from the 2 yard line.

Dallas 20 Sea 13- From our own 2 yard line. THE SAFETY. I could make an argument that Glenn never controlled this ball and it was, in fact, an incompletion.

If this was a change of the play call by Romo, he did it without telling anyone because he snaps the ball before calling an audible. It almost looks like Barber was expecting the hand off.

Dallas 20 Sea 15- 6:17- First and 10, 50 yard line. FB drifts out of backfield. We got decent pressure. FB catches the ball in front of Ayodele and James for 12 yard gain.

5:12, same drive, 3rd and one from the Dallas 41. Roy comes screaming into the backfield and misses Alexander for what would have been a 3 yard loss resulting in a 4th and 4 play. First down for Seattle

4:30. Very next play. James is beat by 4 yards and is doing a sprint to catch up to the TE. Roy is way late and beat also. Seattle TD. ZERO pass rush from our THREE man rush. 8 in coverage and the TE was still WIDE OPEN.

Seattle 21 Dallas 20- Romo botches the snap.

Seattle gets the ball back on their one yard line. Dallas has eight in the box to stop the run. Ferguson penetrates right past the play. James is blocked into a different zip code. Roy overruns the play, dramatically.

Game over.

Winning teams step up at this time. This collapse at the end of the game, ironically, mirrors our collapse in December.
 

DipChit

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Yup.. still bummin on that 3rd and a foot. Gotta like the sneak in general but especially when it's there for the taking.

Get a TD perhaps out of that drive and it's huge. Thought it then, think it now. Gives the D room for error.. which we know they need.

But I'm offensive minded in general. On offense I expect execution cause we know what we're trying to accomplish. On defense sometimes stuff just happens, no matter how stout (or not) you might be.

Whatever.
 

Juke99

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DipChit;1298615 said:
Yup.. still bummin on that 3rd and a foot. Gotta like the sneak in general but especially when it's there for the taking.

Get a TD perhaps out of that drive and it's huge. Thought it then, think it now. Gives the D room for error.. which we know they need.

But I'm offensive minded in general. On offense I expect execution cause we know what we're trying to accomplish. On defense sometimes stuff just happens, no matter how stout (or not) you might be.

Whatever.

I couldn't believe what I saw on that play. It was WIDE open for the sneak.

I just had to go back and take a look at what happened in that fourth quarter because I know I was disgusted long before Romo dropped the snap.

The wheels came off.

It would be one thing if Seattle TOOK the game from us. They made some good plays.

But ya know, when it's crunch time and a WR is left uncovered, that about says it all.

Awful.
 

TEK2000

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We have yet to run a playaction bootleg with Romo in short yardage. Bledsoe scored a couple of TD's diving for the endzone early in the season like that.... yet we continually run Marion Barber in EVERY SITUATION like that and never use Romo's mobility in that situation.

Then again, if the OLine simply does their job and doesn't get pushed back.. we would have got it.
 

cowboys19

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TEK2000;1298626 said:
We have yet to run a playaction bootleg with Romo in short yardage. Bledsoe scored a couple of TD's diving for the endzone early in the season like that.... yet we continually run Marion Barber in EVERY SITUATION like that and never use Romo's mobility in that situation.

Then again, if the OLine simply does their job and doesn't get pushed back.. we would have got it.

i thought we did that a few times vs. Tampa Bay?
 

TEK2000

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cowboys19;1298629 said:
i thought we did that a few times vs. Tampa Bay?

I apparently forgot that. I just felt like that would have been the perfect situation for that call.
 

Zman5

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TEK2000;1298633 said:
I apparently forgot that. I just felt like that would have been the perfect situation for that call.

I was calling for that play all night.
 

kingwhicker

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Juke99;1298601 said:
So I took a deep breath, cranked up my recording of the game and went directly to the fourth quarter.

Is that a VCR, a tivo, or a churn that you watch those moving pictures on? :D
 

Juke99

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kingwhicker;1298710 said:
Is that a VCR, a tivo, or a churn that you watch those moving pictures on? :D

:p:

Cbz loaned me his gravity powered Flintstone Reel Viewer.
 

Kevinicus

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8:18 Next play. 1st and 10 from the Dallas 30. PI on Newman. And kids, no matter what anyone says this was a PI. In fact, if I can, I'll get the freeze frame of Newman with his hand actually INSIDE of the right arm of the WR pulling on it. This after he put his hand on the WR twice before on the same play.

Cbs can make contact with the WR that's not illegal. Newman's contact in no way prevented the WR from making that catch, none at all. That's not PI.
 

Juke99

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ChldsPlay;1298924 said:
Cbs can make contact with the WR that's not illegal. Newman's contact in no way prevented the WR from making that catch, none at all. That's not PI.



What rule says that a DB can hook a WR's arm while the ball is in the air?

Contact is ok within 5 yards or if the DB is going for the ball.

Go look at the play. Like I said, if I can get the frames off from the DVD, I'll post them. Newman has his hand and gripping the inside of the wr's arm WHILE the ball is in the air.

It was PI.
 

jordan20

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Juke99;1298931 said:
What rule says that a DB can hook a WR's arm while the ball is in the air?

Contact is ok within 5 yards or if the DB is going for the ball.

Go look at the play. Like I said, if I can get the frames off from the DVD, I'll post them. Newman has his hand and gripping the inside of the wr's arm WHILE the ball is in the air.

It was PI.

I went back and looked several times. Newman did hit his arm but I felt they both were fighting thru the route. I don't feel it was only Newman, it should have been a no call.
 

Chocolate Lab

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Anytime we have 3rd and a yard or less, it drives me absolutely berzerk when we don't run a QB sneak. That is almost impossible to stop for just a couple of feet when the center knows the snap count and the D-linemen don't. And Gurode is a big, strong center to boot.

Like I say, it drives me nuts when we run a slow-developing handoff in those situations.... :(
 

Juke99

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jordan20;1298952 said:
I went back and looked several times. Newman did hit his arm but I felt they both were fighting thru the route. I don't feel it was only Newman, it should have been a no call.

I froze the frame. He actually grabbed the inside of his arm by the elbow. Yes, there was a bit of contact by both guys earlier, and I would have found that to be a bad call if PI was called. BUT after that, he actually grabbed the inside of the guy's arm.

Also, he got beat on the play. PI or not.

My point is, the defense simply came up small...again...in a big spot.
 

Juke99

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Chocolate Lab;1298965 said:
Anytime we have 3rd and a yard or less, it drives me absolutely berzerk when we don't run a QB sneak. That is almost impossible to stop for just a couple of feet when the center knows the snap count and the D-linemen don't. And Gurode is a big, strong center to boot.

Like I say, it drives me nuts when we run a slow-developing handoff in those situations.... :(

Well at least go to the line with the sneak as an option. If it's there, go for it. If not, run the play.

This time, IT WAS THERE.
 

SultanOfSix

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Thanks for stating the obvious Juke. ;)

When has fourth quarter collapses by a Zimmer led defense been anything but NOT ordinary?

And I totally agree with the QB sneak that should have been called. At minimum, I was screaming for a quick handoff to Hoyte just to catch the defense off guard. That would have worked as well. The further you get away from the line, the more probability you have of losing yards, especially without our offensive line and when the defense is keyed on the run.
 

Kevinicus

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Newman grabbed his wrist for one instant. It did not impede the WR from making a move on the ball, or from getting to the ball, hence NO PI. Again, contact is legal, even beyond 5 yards. You just can't impede the WR, or prevent them from making a play on the ball. Newman didn't impede him, or prevent him from catching the ball. The WR wasn't slowed, his hands were free when the ball got there, and the ball was well out of reach. There was no PI.
 
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