Romo's Play

[ABQCOWBOY]

Where was the CB/S coming from?

What was Witten Supposed to do? He did not sit down but he rolled to Romo's left towards the S/CB. It looks to me he should have sat down on the route. Did Romo read the coverage right and throw it inside to avoid the hit that Miles took which you also say is Romo's fault. You can't have it both ways ABQ.

It's football and Miles has to take the hit and hold onto the ball. Witten, I don't know but that does not look to me like it is ALL on Romo.

I have no problem with guys getting hit but you can't say that both of these were the fault of the WRs and not the throws.

If you want to say that you can't have it both ways, OK. Let's break it down.

On the Austin throw and INT. Bears are in a Zone. The contention, if I understand it correctly, is that the ball must be high and behind Miles, to clear the underneath coverage and the bracket coverage to either side of Austin. Basically, your saying that he threw into triple coverage or the teeth of the defense. Look just underneath of Austin on that play and you have Witten wide open. Isn't it the responsibility of the QB to find the open man and make the play? It's a better, safer play. It probably gets you the same kind of yardage and it's much lower risk. Why not make that throw?

On the Play to Witten. The timing of the throw, the pattern run and the coverage would not lead me to believe that Witten was supposed to sit down on that play. The play looks like it was designed to run Witten out and Bennett up. If the DB jumps the route Witten is running, which he does, then Bennett should be open over the top, which he is. If the DB takes Bennett, then Witten is wide open underneath, running away from the LB. It actually looks to me as if Romo decided to go to Witten before the play really ever developed. He has Bennett over the top and it's, again, a much easier throw.

A QB is supposed to find the open man and take the high percentage play. If Romo did not do that on either play, then wouldn't you say that this is a case of trying to have it both ways?

 

[theogt]

you can't say that both of these were the fault of the WRs and not the throws.

Romo's job is to throw a catchable pass. The receiver's job is to catch a catchable pass.

One of these two did not do their job.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Using your description of the play. I would say that Romo is getting "happy feet" because he's feeling pressure to get rid of the ball. The question is, is there really pressure coming or is he just manufacturing the pressure in his head? Maybe that is causing his mechanics to suffer as well as causing a timing issue with his receivers. If he felt pressure on the play, why did he go to Witten? Was Witten his first, second or third read? Did he see Bennett? If he did see Bennett, why didn't he take that option? Does he not trust Bennett to make the catch? Or is Romo simply locking onto a target in that situation regardless of the coverage? Just a few thoughts, I know there are others. I don't know what the answer is, but I do know that they need to figure it out ASAP.

Craig

I think the game is moving to fast right now and I think that Zero is correct in his post when he says there are just too many things going on and not enough continuity. Make the game slow down. Use the running game more and let the players come to the game. They will because they are skilled and that will eventually take over.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Because clearly Romo has the time to do a risk/reward analysis complete with graphs and powerpoints to determine whether throwing a ball 6 inches too high to an open Miles Austin who excels at going up and coming down with passes is 1.64% more efficient and 2.12% less risky then turning away from a clearly open WR to find out if your 2nd string TE has managed to get open yet.

Look, 99% of the time Austin comes down with that ball and we aren't having this conversation. If you are going to expect every Romo to put everything within 6 inches of the 'optimal' target for every pass you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

And that goes for just about any QB you are going to watch.

There are certain things you are taught not to do as a QB. One is to throw high over the middle or into the teeth of the defense or into triple coverage. Romo did all of these things on those plays. Keep the ball low as a professional QB. Less chance of an INT. The designs of these plays are such that if certain players react a certain way, it should allow you to find the open man, assuming you have time to throw the football. In each of these plays, Romo does not have pressure and there are open receivers available to him. This is why you go throw progressions. This is why you make pre snap reads. This is what great pro QBs do. Every QB can throw the ball. The great ones can find the open guy.

This is not a bash Tony thing. These are just observation on what I'm seeing with this offense.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Romo's job is to throw a catchable pass. The receiver's job is to catch a catchable pass.

One of these two did not do their job.

Tony's job is to find the high percentage pass, not try and make the possible, harder then it needs to be.

 

[theogt]

Tony's job is to find the high percentage pass, not try and make the possible, harder then it needs to be.

He throws a catchable pass to the two best receivers on the team when they're open.

Game over.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

He throws a catchable pass to the best receivers on the team when they're open.

Game over.

You're mistaken. This was never an argument. The job of a QB is to take care of the ball. Tony didn't do that on either play.

Simple as that. Declare victory somewhere else. Also, get to posting those photos of the hit. You know, the ones you said showed Austin with two feet on the ground?

 

[craig71]

I think the game is moving to fast right now and I think that Zero is correct in his post when he says there are just too many things going on and not enough continuity. Make the game slow down. Use the running game more and let the players come to the game. They will because they are skilled and that will eventually take over.

I don't buy that concept. Now that doesn't mean that it's wrong, it's just that I don't agree with it. Here is the reason why, they have been running the same offense for a number of years now. It's not their first year in the system, if it were I would agree with scaling back the playbook and simplifying things. But the facts say that this offense with these players should be rolling. When you rank in the top 5 in yards gained but near the bottom of the league in scoring something is wrong. I don't think it all boils down to playcalling either and I don't think it is all on the players. I think a team plays how it practices. If they(players and coaches) won't demand perfection in practice, we as fans won't see perfection on gameday. In my opinion, we are seeing an ill-prepared team which is the result of a laid back atmosphere(IMO). The defense is having trouble getting lined up and the special teams haven't looked all that sharp. I guess I'm trying to say that in a round about way that the structure that Wade has in place is not working and needs to be examined. I think Wade tries to let the position coaches correct their players, but I think that Wade should go over the game film with the team as a whole. Let Wade point out the mistakes that were made by both the offensive and defensive players. After team session, then the position coaches can break into there respective groups and go into further detail. As it stands now, the structure in place leads me to believe that the team is made up of differing groups that have individual goals that are determined by their position coach instead of the head coach. Bottom line here is that Wade needs to step up and demand some attention to detail not only from the players, but from his assistants as well. I may be way off, but that's what I'm thinking at the moment.


Craig

 

[theogt]

This was never an argument.

I'm well aware you never had an argument.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I'm well aware you never had an argument.

OK Theo. Pictures?

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I don't buy that concept. Now that doesn't mean that it's wrong, it's just that I don't agree with it. Here is the reason why, they have been running the same offense for a number of years now. It's not their first year in the system, if it were I would agree with scaling back the playbook and simplifying things. But the facts say that this offense with these players should be rolling. When you rank in the top 5 in yards gained but near the bottom of the league in scoring something is wrong. I don't think it all boils down to playcalling either and I don't think it is all on the players. I think a team plays how it practices. If they(players and coaches) won't demand perfection in practice, we as fans won't see perfection on gameday. In my opinion, we are seeing an ill-prepared team which is the result of a laid back atmosphere(IMO). The defense is having trouble getting lined up and the special teams haven't looked all that sharp. I guess I'm trying to say that in a round about way that the structure that Wade has in place is not working and needs to be examined. I think Wade tries to let the position coaches correct their players, but I think that Wade should go over the game film with the team as a whole. Let Wade point out the mistakes that were made by both the offensive and defensive players. After team session, then the position coaches can break into there respective groups and go into further detail. As it stands now, the structure in place leads me to believe that the team is made up of differing groups that have individual goals that are determined by their position coach instead of the head coach. Bottom line here is that Wade needs to step up and demand some attention to detail not only from the players, but from his assistants as well. I may be way off, but that's what I'm thinking at the moment.


Craig

Well, that's a good point. It has merit. However, I don't think this is the same offense. The difference lies in the fact that I don't believe the game is being called the same, at least based on the first two games. Last season, we were pretty evenly split between run and pass, good balance. Also, the OL was not as fragmented. This year, we have had a lot of changes there and I think that it is creating a certain inconsistency within the offense. You may prove to be right. Time will tell.

 

[theogt]

OK Theo. Pictures?

Are you seriously still trying to claim that because he was hit after the catch, it was a bad throw by Romo?

I would have thought that even you would have realized how stupid that sounds by now.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Are you seriously still trying to claim that because he was hit after the catch, it was a bad throw by Romo?

I would have thought that even you would have realized how stupid that sounds by now.

You said you would post the stills. If you don't want to do that, you should not have said you would.

 

[theogt]

You said you would post the stills. If you don't want to do that, you should not have said you would.

This is your white flag.

You've completely abandoned the argument that it was a bad throw.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

This is your white flag.

You've completely abandoned the argument that it was a bad throw.

Your story, you tell it.

 

[TNCowboy]

The throw to Witten was terrible. I don't see how anyone would argue otherwise.

 

[Gemini Dolly]

So we have forced Tony to throw 50+ times in our two losses.

I hope that number drops to 30 or less. Garrett needs to help him out and not rely on his arm so much.

Agreed?

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

So we have forced Tony to throw 50+ times in our two losses.

I hope that number drops to 30 or less. Garrett needs to help him out and not rely on his arm so much.

Agreed?

I do. It's a lot of pressure to put on one guy, even if he is a great player.

 

[30yrheel]

So we have forced Tony to throw 50+ times in our two losses.

I hope that number drops to 30 or less. Garrett needs to help him out and not rely on his arm so much.

Agreed?

agreed. if romo drops back 50+ times a game he's going to have turnovers, he's a high risk/high reward type of qb.
garrett is driving us all crazy.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

So we have forced Tony to throw 50+ times in our two losses.

I hope that number drops to 30 or less. Garrett needs to help him out and not rely on his arm so much.

Agreed?

Over Tony's career, he averages an INT about every 34 passes. If he continues to average 50 throws, his INTs are going to be pretty high, if these numbers hold.