How do you defend Tony Romo?

[Gryphon]

Comments by Dllsduhon from another forum:

The biggest question in the NFL right now. You know that Tom Coughlin is trying to figure it out, and Lovie Smith has to be at least thinking about it, just in case.

Here are three things I've noticed.

1. Get a hand on him. Tony has looked very good under pressure so far, but he has a nasty habit of putting the ball up for grabs when a defender is bringing him down, trying to avoid a sack.

2. Force him to his left. Tony is very good in the pocket, particulary out of the shotgun, and devastating when he rolls out to his right, but like most right handers, looks a little less comfortable going to his left. The interception that was called back on a holding penalty against Indy was on a rollout to his left, and being on that side limits the places he can go with the ball, which is why he doesn't do it as much. If I'm an opposing DC, I want Tony out of the pocket and moving to his weakside, hopefully into the arms of my best pass rusher, the one that normally lines up on that side.

3. Get to him early. This is the big one. If Tony has one weakness, and it might only be one, it's that he's a slow starter. As a starter, he has three turnovers and has been sacked five times. All three of the turnovers (two picks and a fumble) were in the first quarter, as well as three of his sacks. He only has one first quarter touchdown pass in five starts (he has at least three in every other quarter), and his passer rating is a very sub-par 63.9. Compare that to his utterly absurd ratings in the second (128.8), third (128.5), and fourth (109.6) quarters, and it leads you to the conclusion that it takes about seven to ten passes for him to get into a rhythm. A good example was the Tampa game, where he had TO and TG both for sure touchdowns down the right sideline, but threw short and inside both times, rather than putting it in front of them. Later in the game he hit Patrick Crayton and TG in stride on the exact same kind of route.

 

[Gryphon]

AFC Leaders QB Rating, 1st Half
(6.25 Att/Game)

Rank Name Team Games Rating
1 Damon Huard KC 9 113.7
2 Carson Palmer CIN 10 102.7
3 Peyton Manning IND 10 97.1
4 Tom Brady NE 10 92.3
5 David Carr HOU 10 90.4
6 Ben Roethlisberger PIT 9 89.8
7 Philip Rivers SD 10 84.8
8 J.P. Losman BUF 10 84
9 Steve McNair BAL 10 80.6
10 Byron Leftwich JAC 6 80.5
11 Charlie Frye CLE 10 74.8
12 Andrew Walter OAK 10 72.1
13 Chad Pennington NYJ 10 70.5
14 Joey Harrington MIA 7 70
15 Jake Plummer DEN 11 69.9
16 David Garrard JAC 5 66.2
17 Vince Young TEN 9 53.3



NFC Leaders QB Rating, 1st Half
(6.25 Att/Game)

Rank Name Team Games Rating
1 Tony Romo DAL 11 102.7
2 Marc Bulger STL 10 97.6
3 Jake Delhomme CAR 10 92.7
4 Drew Brees NO 10 91.7
5 Rex Grossman CHI 10 91.3
6 Mark Brunell WAS 9 89.9
7 Matt Hasselbeck SEA 6 87.1
8 Brett Favre GB 10 87.1
9 Jon Kitna DET 11 85.3
10 Matt Leinart ARI 7 84
11 Kurt Warner ARI 4 82.4
12 Brad Johnson MIN 10 82.3
13 Donovan McNabb PHI 10 81
14 Michael Vick ATL 10 76.9
15 Alex Smith SF 10 76.2
16 Drew Bledsoe DAL 6 68.7
17 Bruce Gradkowski TB 10 58.6
18 Eli Manning NYG 10 57.3

 

[Gryphon]

AFC Leaders QB Rating, 2nd Half
(6.25 Att/Game)

Rank Name Team Games Rating
1 Philip Rivers SD 10 119.4
2 Peyton Manning IND 10 104
3 Carson Palmer CIN 10 91.7
4 David Carr HOU 10 88.2
5 J.P. Losman BUF 10 86
6 Damon Huard KC 9 85.4
7 Tom Brady NE 10 84.1
8 Chad Pennington NYJ 10 84
9 Byron Leftwich JAC 6 77.8
10 Steve McNair BAL 10 75.6
11 Joey Harrington MIA 7 73.1
12 Charlie Frye CLE 10 73.1
13 Jake Plummer DEN 11 71.2
14 Ben Roethlisberger PIT 9 63.2
15 Vince Young TEN 9 59.2
16 Andrew Walter OAK 10 36.4



NFC Leaders QB Rating, 2nd Half
(6.25 Att/Game)

Rank Name Team Games Rating
1 Donovan McNabb PHI 10 118.4
2 Tony Romo DAL 11 118.3
3 Drew Brees NO 10 98.6
4 Eli Manning NYG 10 94.1
5 Marc Bulger STL 10 90.6
6 Alex Smith SF 10 89.6
7 Mark Brunell WAS 9 83.2
8 Bruce Gradkowski TB 10 82
9 Jon Kitna DET 11 75.7
10 Rex Grossman CHI 10 74
11 Brett Favre GB 10 73.1
12 Michael Vick ATL 10 71.1
13 Jake Delhomme CAR 10 71
14 Brad Johnson MIN 10 65.8
15 Seneca Wallace SEA 6 58.2
16 Matt Leinart ARI 7 55.6

 

[LD Fan]

Comments by Dllsduhon from another forum:

The biggest question in the NFL right now. You know that Tom Coughlin is trying to figure it out, and Lovie Smith has to be at least thinking about it, just in case.

Here are three things I've noticed.

1. Get a hand on him. Tony has looked very good under pressure so far, but he has a nasty habit of putting the ball up for grabs when a defender is bringing him down, trying to avoid a sack.

2. Force him to his left. Tony is very good in the pocket, particulary out of the shotgun, and devastating when he rolls out to his right, but like most right handers, looks a little less comfortable going to his left. The interception that was called back on a holding penalty against Indy was on a rollout to his left, and being on that side limits the places he can go with the ball, which is why he doesn't do it as much. If I'm an opposing DC, I want Tony out of the pocket and moving to his weakside, hopefully into the arms of my best pass rusher, the one that normally lines up on that side.

3. Get to him early. This is the big one. If Tony has one weakness, and it might only be one, it's that he's a slow starter. As a starter, he has three turnovers and has been sacked five times. All three of the turnovers (two picks and a fumble) were in the first quarter, as well as three of his sacks. He only has one first quarter touchdown pass in five starts (he has at least three in every other quarter), and his passer rating is a very sub-par 63.9. Compare that to his utterly absurd ratings in the second (128.8), third (128.5), and fourth (109.6) quarters, and it leads you to the conclusion that it takes about seven to ten passes for him to get into a rhythm. A good example was the Tampa game, where he had TO and TG both for sure touchdowns down the right sideline, but threw short and inside both times, rather than putting it in front of them. Later in the game he hit Patrick Crayton and TG in stride on the exact same kind of route.

Good article. I would try take away the quick slants etc (1 step drops) and intermediate stuff and see if he could make accurate throws down the field. So far he's only been OK down the field, not great.

Indy did a nice job early using a lot of line stunts and disrupting things at the line of scrimmage. This also impacts the running game and often frees up a rusher to pressure Romo.

 

[CATCH17]

So basically you're just screwed then?

 

[LD Fan]

So basically you're just screwed then?

Yep, but at least the game would be close for a qtr.

 

[Gryphon]

Actually Romo has a better QB rating playing with:

1) Two wide-receivers vs three
2) Under the center vs in the shot gun

 

[LD Fan]

Actually Romo has a better QB rating playing with:

1) Two wide-receivers vs three
2) Under the center vs in the shot gun

That doesn't surprise me at all. In the "standard" set, the offense is less predictable.

 

[Gryphon]

AFC Leaders QB Rating, 2 Wide Rec.
(1.5625 Att/Game)

Rank Name Team Games Rating
1 Carson Palmer CIN 10 123.8
2 Tom Brady NE 10 109.2
3 Philip Rivers SD 10 102.3
4 Charlie Batch PIT 3 101
5 Damon Huard KC 9 93.4
6 Ben Roethlisberger PIT 9 90.4
7 Charlie Frye CLE 10 89.6
8 Byron Leftwich JAC 6 88.2
9 David Carr HOU 10 88.2
10 J.P. Losman BUF 10 86.4
11 Peyton Manning IND 10 83.3
12 Steve McNair BAL 10 78
13 Joey Harrington MIA 7 76.3
14 Jake Plummer DEN 11 74.4
15 Trent Green KC 3 66.1
16 Daunte Culpepper MIA 4 64.2
17 Vince Young TEN 9 57.7
18 David Garrard JAC 5 55.2
19 Kerry Collins TEN 4 53.2
20 Chad Pennington NYJ 10 48


NFC Leaders QB Rating, 2 Wide Rec.
(1.5625 Att/Game)

Rank Name Team Games Rating
1 Tony Romo DAL 11 111.3
2 Donovan McNabb PHI 10 103
3 Marc Bulger STL 10 100.3
4 Jon Kitna DET 11 96.2
5 Mark Brunell WAS 9 93
6 Rex Grossman CHI 10 91
7 Jake Delhomme CAR 10 87
8 Kurt Warner ARI 4 81.8
9 Drew Bledsoe DAL 6 80.1
10 Drew Brees NO 10 76.9
11 Alex Smith SF 10 76.8
12 Matt Hasselbeck SEA 6 76.6
13 Brett Favre GB 10 75.5
14 Bruce Gradkowski TB 10 73.7
15 Brad Johnson MIN 10 72
16 Michael Vick ATL 10 70.3
17 Matt Leinart ARI 7 69.9
18 Eli Manning NYG 10 59.2
19 Seneca Wallace SEA 6 55.2
20 Chris Simms TB 3 19.2

==================================
AFC Leaders QB Rating, 3 Wide Rec.
(6.25 Att/Game)

Rank Name Team Games Rating
1 Damon Huard KC 9 109.7
2 Peyton Manning IND 10 103.7
3 Chad Pennington NYJ 10 96.7
4 Carson Palmer CIN 10 91.9
5 Philip Rivers SD 10 80.9
6 David Carr HOU 10 79.9
7 Steve McNair BAL 10 78.5
8 Byron Leftwich JAC 6 74
9 Daunte Culpepper MIA 4 73.9
10 Charlie Frye CLE 10 72.7
11 Ben Roethlisberger PIT 9 70
12 J.P. Losman BUF 10 68.7
13 Jake Plummer DEN 11 65.6
14 David Garrard JAC 5 65.4
15 Andrew Walter OAK 10 64
16 Joey Harrington MIA 7 60.7
17 Tom Brady NE 10 59.1
18 Vince Young TEN 9 53.5


NFC Leaders QB Rating, 3 Wide Rec.
(6.25 Att/Game)

Rank Name Team Games Rating
1 Matt Hasselbeck SEA 6 107.6
2 Drew Brees NO 10 100.4
3 Alex Smith SF 10 95.3
4 Donovan McNabb PHI 10 92.4
5 Seneca Wallace SEA 6 91.9
6 Eli Manning NYG 10 91.4
7 Michael Vick ATL 10 83.1
8 Jake Delhomme CAR 10 81.2
9 Mark Brunell WAS 9 78.4
10 Marc Bulger STL 10 76.4
11 Jon Kitna DET 11 76.3
12 Brett Favre GB 10 76.3
13 Rex Grossman CHI 10 73.3
14 Bruce Gradkowski TB 10 69.8
15 Brad Johnson MIN 10 67.4
16 Drew Bledsoe DAL 6 66.1
17 Matt Leinart ARI 7 65.9

 

[sbark]

They gotta get out a calculator pretty soon and with his completion percentage and yards per catch etc................ risk vrs. reward by additional db's or safeties vrs. LB........Teams just cant survive vrs. that kind of completion rate.



Rather face Romo/TO/Glenn/Witten or with extra Db's.........basically force Romo to hand off to JJ and MBIII in conjunctin with our improving OL ........

and teams will try to run it more and more to keep ball away from Romo and control clock...........saw it w/ Gruden tampa bay

 

[Gryphon]

AFC Leaders QB Rating, Shotgun
(1.5625 Att/Game)

Rank Name Team Games Rating
1 Philip Rivers SD 10 107.3
2 Peyton Manning IND 10 95.5
3 Tom Brady NE 10 91.4
4 Damon Huard KC 9 89.5
5 Chad Pennington NYJ 10 86.7
6 J.P. Losman BUF 10 81.5
7 Daunte Culpepper MIA 4 80.7
8 Steve McNair BAL 10 76.2
9 Joey Harrington MIA 7 75.3
10 David Garrard JAC 5 73.9
11 Ben Roethlisberger PIT 9 73.6
12 Jake Plummer DEN 11 72.4
13 Byron Leftwich JAC 6 70.9
14 Andrew Walter OAK 10 68.8
15 Vince Young TEN 9 67.5
16 Carson Palmer CIN 10 65.6
17 Charlie Frye CLE 10 64.3



NFC Leaders QB Rating, Shotgun
(1.5625 Att/Game)

Rank Name Team Games Rating
1 Drew Brees NO 10 104.3
2 Tony Romo DAL 11 97
3 Marc Bulger STL 10 93.9
4 Mark Brunell WAS 9 92
5 Eli Manning NYG 10 80.7
6 Brett Favre GB 10 80.6
7 Brad Johnson MIN 10 79.5
8 Jeff Garcia PHI 2 78.6
9 Donovan McNabb PHI 10 75.4
10 Jon Kitna DET 11 72.5
11 Alex Smith SF 10 69.8
12 Michael Vick ATL 10 66.6
13 Matt Leinart ARI 7 61.3
14 Jake Delhomme CAR 10 59.4

 

[gollum]

NFC Leaders QB Rating, 3 Wide Rec.
(6.25 Att/Game)

Rank Name Team Games Rating
1 Matt Hasselbeck SEA 6 107.6
2 Drew Brees NO 10 100.4
3 Alex Smith SF 10 95.3
4 Donovan McNabb PHI 10 92.4
5 Seneca Wallace SEA 6 91.9
6 Eli Manning NYG 10 91.4
7 Michael Vick ATL 10 83.1
8 Jake Delhomme CAR 10 81.2
9 Mark Brunell WAS 9 78.4
10 Marc Bulger STL 10 76.4
11 Jon Kitna DET 11 76.3
12 Brett Favre GB 10 76.3
13 Rex Grossman CHI 10 73.3
14 Bruce Gradkowski TB 10 69.8
15 Brad Johnson MIN 10 67.4
16 Drew Bledsoe DAL 6 66.1
17 Matt Leinart ARI 7 65.9

What is Romo's rating with 3 receivers?

 

[Gryphon]

What is Romo's rating with 3 receivers?

It is posted above with the 2 receivers.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Good article. I would try take away the quick slants etc (1 step drops) and intermediate stuff and see if he could make accurate throws down the field. So far he's only been OK down the field, not great.

Problem is that when you try to take away those quick slants, you're really opening things up even more for him on the big play. The Indy game was a perfect example as my friends kept saying "well, Indy will just take away that slant play to Glenn" and I told them to watch because in order to take away that slant play they'll give up the big play on a slant n go route. And sure enough, Glenn got a big reception on the next series.

The only major weaknesses I see are the sometime impulse throws he makes, he sometimes doesn't get enough air under the ball on the deep pass, and while the pump fake is deadly, he sometimes doesn't get the proper weight transfer when he goes to throw it deep and the ball comes out short on those deep passes.

I don't think it's impossible to defend the Cowboys offense, but what the offense is doing good is that it can hurt you in so many ways. Even with the Colts really focusing on the run, Dallas started moving the ball a little bit and by the middle of the third quarter, the presence of Hoyte and the commitment to the run wore down the Indy defense. I think Cover 2 defenses will probably give them the most troubles, but they do have effective counters for it.


YAKUZA

 

[theogt]

Actually Romo has a better QB rating playing with:

1) Two wide-receivers vs three
2) Under the center vs in the shot gun

Yeah, his QB rating with two wide-receivers (111.3) is MUCH BETTER than his QB rating with three receivers (107.6).

 

[vicjagger]

Yeah, his QB rating with two wide-receivers (111.3) is MUCH BETTER than his QB rating with three receivers (107.6).

Better than Matt Hasselbeck?

Does Romo qualify for a 3-wide ranking (6.25 attempts/game), considering the Cowboys run so much 2 TE?

 

[Seven]

Sniper. Perched up in the Lighting mezzanene.(sp?)

 

[theogt]

Better than Matt Hasselbeck?

Does Romo qualify for a 3-wide ranking (6.25 attempts/game), considering the Cowboys run so much 2 TE?

He's at 6.09 attempts per game.

 

[vicjagger]

How do you defend Tony Romo?

I heard it was easy. Teams are just now getting enough film on him....

 

[MONT17]

without D&D you really cant say this is the way u stop him!!! because with BP first u have to stop JuJo and force 3rd and long... and even then that doesnt work!!! the Boys probally convert 3rd and 7+ better than anyone in the NFL the past month!

But if I had Romo and the Boys on 3rd and long I would rush 4 and spy! Romo security blanket is he knows he can run/create... I would take that comfort level away or at least let him know we have a game plan for his "Elways".