cowboyjoe
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JOHN F. RHODES / DMN
T.O. offered a humble assessment of his recent performances.
"I'm just playing out of my mind right now," he said.
What's the old saying? It ain't bragging if it's true. Well, there's no arguing that the Original 81 is indeed playing out of his mind.
He was outstanding against the Vikings. He had his best game in a Cowboys uniform against the Eagles. He proved with a couple big plays that the Giants were NFC East pretenders. He bested his Philly performance in yesterday's win over the Commanders.
T.O.'s eight-catch, 173-yard, four-TD performance is on the short list of the best games by a WR in franchise history. Follow the jump for the weekly T.O. throw-by-throw breakdown:
10-yard gain: Lined up wide left on first-and-10 and ran a curl, catching the ball at the sticks in front of CB Shawn Springs. S Reed Doughty and Springs drove T.O. back several yards, and Springs slammed him to the turf. T.O. pushed Springs after getting up but didn't get flagged. Not sure if it was wise for Washington to give T.O. more reason to be motivated.
Interception: Lined up wide right on first-and-10 and ran deep route. C Andre Gurode's snap sailed over Tony Romo's head, and Romo ended up throwing a jump ball off his back foot. Springs batted the ball up in the air, and LB London Fletcher got the rebound.
2-yard gain: Lined up wide right on second-and-3 and ran smoke route, which is basically standing still and catching a quick pass in what is essentially a running play. Springs made the tackle inches short of the sticks.
5-yard gain: This was schoolyard football after Gurode sent another shotgun snap into the stratosphere. T.O. lined up wide left on third-and-4. He stopped in his tracks after he saw the snap, made eye contact with Romo and took off for the sideline.
23-yard gain: Lined up in left slot on third-and-15 and beat Springs on corner route. Springs had man coverage because Commanders blitzed. Romo had to throw off his back foot while getting hit, but he threw a perfect pass to set up first-and-goal.
4-yard TD: Lined up wide left on second-and-goal and ran a fade-stop. Springs was looking for the lob pass in the corner of the end zone. Romo threw a rope to T.O.'s back shoulder for the touchdown.
Incomplete: Lined up wide right on third-and-3 and ran curl route. Lobbied unsuccessfully for interference call against Springs, who had an arm wrapped around T.O.'s waist before the ball arrived.
31-yard TD: Lined up in left slot on third-and-19 and ran seam route. Got wide open in the middle of Washington's Cover 2 defense. Easy touchdown.
46-yard TD: Motioned to right slot on second-and-13 and ran seam route to get wide open in the middle of the Cover 2 zone again. Made a nice double-move, taking a couple steps to make MLB London Fletcher (responsible for covering the deep middle) think he was running a crossing route. Punctuated the play with a dunk over the crossbar that he expects to get fined for.
52-yard TD: Lined up wide right on second-and-10 and ran streak route up sideline, catching ball in soft spot of zone between Springs and FS Pierson Prioleau. Broke a bad tackle attempt by Prioleau at the 25 and pranced into the end zone.
Incomplete: Lined up wide left on first-and-10 and ran curl route. Low throw by Romo.
T.O. offered a humble assessment of his recent performances.
"I'm just playing out of my mind right now," he said.
What's the old saying? It ain't bragging if it's true. Well, there's no arguing that the Original 81 is indeed playing out of his mind.
He was outstanding against the Vikings. He had his best game in a Cowboys uniform against the Eagles. He proved with a couple big plays that the Giants were NFC East pretenders. He bested his Philly performance in yesterday's win over the Commanders.
T.O.'s eight-catch, 173-yard, four-TD performance is on the short list of the best games by a WR in franchise history. Follow the jump for the weekly T.O. throw-by-throw breakdown:
10-yard gain: Lined up wide left on first-and-10 and ran a curl, catching the ball at the sticks in front of CB Shawn Springs. S Reed Doughty and Springs drove T.O. back several yards, and Springs slammed him to the turf. T.O. pushed Springs after getting up but didn't get flagged. Not sure if it was wise for Washington to give T.O. more reason to be motivated.
Interception: Lined up wide right on first-and-10 and ran deep route. C Andre Gurode's snap sailed over Tony Romo's head, and Romo ended up throwing a jump ball off his back foot. Springs batted the ball up in the air, and LB London Fletcher got the rebound.
2-yard gain: Lined up wide right on second-and-3 and ran smoke route, which is basically standing still and catching a quick pass in what is essentially a running play. Springs made the tackle inches short of the sticks.
5-yard gain: This was schoolyard football after Gurode sent another shotgun snap into the stratosphere. T.O. lined up wide left on third-and-4. He stopped in his tracks after he saw the snap, made eye contact with Romo and took off for the sideline.
23-yard gain: Lined up in left slot on third-and-15 and beat Springs on corner route. Springs had man coverage because Commanders blitzed. Romo had to throw off his back foot while getting hit, but he threw a perfect pass to set up first-and-goal.
4-yard TD: Lined up wide left on second-and-goal and ran a fade-stop. Springs was looking for the lob pass in the corner of the end zone. Romo threw a rope to T.O.'s back shoulder for the touchdown.
Incomplete: Lined up wide right on third-and-3 and ran curl route. Lobbied unsuccessfully for interference call against Springs, who had an arm wrapped around T.O.'s waist before the ball arrived.
31-yard TD: Lined up in left slot on third-and-19 and ran seam route. Got wide open in the middle of Washington's Cover 2 defense. Easy touchdown.
46-yard TD: Motioned to right slot on second-and-13 and ran seam route to get wide open in the middle of the Cover 2 zone again. Made a nice double-move, taking a couple steps to make MLB London Fletcher (responsible for covering the deep middle) think he was running a crossing route. Punctuated the play with a dunk over the crossbar that he expects to get fined for.
52-yard TD: Lined up wide right on second-and-10 and ran streak route up sideline, catching ball in soft spot of zone between Springs and FS Pierson Prioleau. Broke a bad tackle attempt by Prioleau at the 25 and pranced into the end zone.
Incomplete: Lined up wide left on first-and-10 and ran curl route. Low throw by Romo.
