Just let this sink in

Yakuza Rich

Yakuza Rich

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Venger said:
Moreso you draft an offensive line so your top-tier franchise QB isn't constantly getting trucked...
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The O-Line's pass protection was great last year. But, he wasn't nearly as effective.

We threw the ball much more often and teams started playing for the pass and it takes away his ability to make the big pass play when you have 8 or 9 in the box.

We were also getting way too much into shotgun plays and I really think that hurt his footwork over time. His footwork in the pocket is the best I've seen him do it since 2007. Last year he was lethargic in the pocket and wasn't very accurate and struggled to see Dez getting open downfield.

And now with Frederick, we have a center that makes the line calls. Far less audibling and everything on offense is running smoother than last year.

I think Martin is great, but there was no real reason why we couldn't have done more of this last season, but we didn't because we had become a soft, dink and dunk heavy pass from the shotgun team. That hurt this offense and Romo in more ways than one.





YR
 
Venger

Venger

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Yakuza Rich said:
The O-Line's pass protection was great last year. But, he wasn't nearly as effective.

We threw the ball much more often and teams started playing for the pass and it takes away his ability to make the big pass play when you have 8 or 9 in the box.
Click to expand...

To quote Sturm, just now...

"But, during that time, often right under our noses, they were assembling big men who could win street fights against the bullies of this league. They stopped investing in 200-pounders, and started buying in bulk the 300-pound variety. The front office started to realize that if you go cheap in the trenches, it will end up with Tony Romo on his back and a running game that doesn’t want to bother to run anymore. People sometimes confuse this issue by saying the coaching staff finally committed to the run and ask “why didn’t they do that more in 2011 or 2012?” They didn’t because they knew they were taking a knife to a gun-fight."

I think this is correct. We didn't run, because we couldn't run. Even in short yardage, in fact especially in short yardage. It isn't the shotgun (which we still run way too much for my taste but how can you argue with Tony's results this season?) or committing to the run, it's the line play which protects Romo in a pocket of solitude and creates running lanes for a good but hardly once in his generation back. Sure, the running game helps the passing game, and vice versa. But I will not be convinced that the line upgrade is the reason Romo is able to produce the season he has so far, both directly through pass protection, and indirectly through a more balanced attack defenses but account for.
 
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