Saw the Cowboys/Packers Dez non catch game on NFL network

[buybuydandavis]

Yeah I don't give him too much of a hard time for the pass....I just don't like that was the first option even if it was Dez. Run some clock and go underneath. Call a play underneath anyway. Dez single covered got the greenlight i get it.

I really wanted them to run off clock. Once the pass was thrown I thought we were hosed, completion or not.
I had zero expectation of the defense holding Rodgers if all he needed was a FG. The offense needed to win that game with scoring and keeping the ball away from the Packers. Pretty much what they had to do all season.
I think seeing Dez singled, Tony decided at the snap. It was the right presnap call. But when the blitz came, there was a better option.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Presnap read dependent upon the defense. Linehan said the play was initially to go to either Witten or Beasley. Once Tony read the blitzer on the right side and one-on-one coverage with Dez the latter became the option.

Nice defensive call.

Dez was great that year, but he's still not your first or second option if you need 2 yards in open field. Singling him was the right defensive call for the situation. Hat tip.

On the flip side, it was bad play design on our part. We should not have bunched our top 2 options. Made it easy to put a 3rd to appear to cover both, and then give them the option to blitz one.

Coaching matters.

 

[buybuydandavis]

I really wanted them to run off clock. Once the pass was thrown I thought we were hosed, completion or not.
I had zero expectation of the defense holding Rodgers if all he needed was a FG. The offense needed to win that game with scoring and keeping the ball away from the Packers. Pretty much what they had to do all season.
I think seeing Dez singled, Tony decided at the snap. It was the right presnap call. But when the blitz came, there was a better option.

Also an easy 1st down on the left to whoever the RB was. Defender stumbled on the break of the out. Simple pitch and catch for a 1st down. Highest percentage play on the field.

That is the thing about Tony. I'm a big fan, but some of the big failures were just him making a mistake. He decided to throw deep when we would have been better served by a 1st down that let us grind down more clock. He had a great game, but made a mistake there.

Similar to the loss against Manning at Denver. RB wide open but instead Romo tried to force it into triple coverage to Escobar. Almost Antonio was on the verge of beating Norm Van Brocklin's single game yardage record *and* defeating Manning in the greatest QB duel ever. But he made a mistake, so not.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I really wanted them to run off clock. Once the pass was thrown I thought we were hosed, completion or not.
I had zero expectation of the defense holding Rodgers if all he needed was a FG. The offense needed to win that game with scoring and keeping the ball away from the Packers. Pretty much what they had to do all season.
I think seeing Dez singled, Tony decided at the snap. It was the right presnap call. But when the blitz came, there was a better option.

Yeah, that's an underrated part of that throw. I remember thinking YES! but we left too much time on the clock. I just don't like that throw on 4th down too much risk, but at that time, Dez was unstoppable, so I get it. I don't knock the decision...maybe it's hindsight thinking, just wish we could get a do-over.