Some notes from the Indianapolis game

[itsaboat]

Romo is on another level right now. He was almost perfect against the Colts. First incomplete pass the OLB sat back, read the quick screen, and batted the pass. The second and final one Beasley was supposed to run a slant but instead goes up the field. Romo threw the pass where Beasley was supposed to be and it was almost picked off. Other than those two passes, it was a great performance. I think Romo's ability to step up into the pocket and run for positive yards was surprising. If he can continue, it adds another wrinkle defenses have to account for.

Bryant is also on fire right now. He's taking advantage of any one-on-one's given to him. He had that nice back shoulder TD called back for the illegal shift along with his 19 yard TD over the same corner. He would have another one if Romo pulled the trigger instead of showing off his renewed ability to run for first downs.

• Bryant runs the post and is wide open with only one defender to beat for a TD
• 

Parnell had a nice performance. He kept his side clean and opened lanes in the running game. He doesn't have the best mobility so he can struggle getting to the second level. I like Free as the starter but Parnell is more than capable.

• Here he shows off his punch by staggering the OLB
• 

• Here he does a nice job turning his defender and opening a lane
  
  
• Parnell misses the LB. If he could have secured the block there was room for a nice gain. You can see he was upset with himself

Martin showed much better mobility than last week. It looks like his ankle is healing nicely.

• Martin last week
• Martin this week

I thought Berny looked good in his limited time. He showed good movement on stretch plays. He made a couple of nice blocks but tripped over a defender while securing the blocks. His play gives me confidence if one of the guards were to go down.

Frederick is strong.

• Here he helps convert a 3rd and short

On the defensive line, Spencer stood out.

• He looks explosive
• 

Lawrence got looks at both defensive end positions. He was able to get into the backfield with his speed and had a few hurries.

• Almost turns the corner

Carr is a good man corner that can struggle when he has to cover the deep 1/3. He plays much better when he can get a jam on a receiver and run with them. It was nice to see him make some plays against Indianapolis.

• He attacks the screen and gets a stop
• Nice coverage on the TE
• 

We shutdown one of the best offenses in the NFL but we also got lucky, yup, that they dropped numerous passes and they didn't have Hilton playing. They had backups on the right side of their offensive line and I believe they also had to replace their center at some point. On defense, they don't have a threat on the edge. Their interior lineman were stout against the run but didn't offer much of a pass rush. It was a great win to clinch the division but I'm taking it with a grain of salt.

Let's see if we can keep the momentum at Washington.

Happy Holidays!

ps. I didn't embed all the gifs to improve loading times

 

[Seven]

I could watch this OL play ball all day.

Its as close to perfect as you're going to get.

Enjoy this, fans.

 

[waving monkey]

thanks its a boat as always

 

[DogFace]

Thanks again boat. Great job.

 

[Bullflop]

Seems like a bevy of players are coming around at just the right time for this team to finally be successful. With the quality of coaching being so greatly improved this year, it's no small wonder that this is the case. Here's hoping we're able to retain that advantage for a good while before too many are headed for other pastures.

 

[VACowboy]

Thanks, boat! More great stuff!

 

[Future]

I don't get why people saying Dez would have scored on that post in the first .gif. The safety was rolling that way and Tony would have had to make a really difficult throw across his body. It could have been a big gain but I think Williams would have been the better option for the TD since the safety left him.

If anything, Dez would have had a huge play on that second .gif, and it looked like it should have been an easy throw unless there was another DB off the screen.

 

[lothos05]

I enjoy your write-ups, itsaboat . . . great job!

In the first gif where Romo runs for the first down, are the Colts caught in the wrong defense or maybe the CB supposed to drop back looking for the crossing route?

This offensive line is something else to watch . . . Frederick just flips that DT on his back! Tyron is pretty quick as well. Is that common for a RT to run down the line and pick up the LB?

 

[gimmesix]

I will say that although the Colts definitely dropped some passes, I thought the announcers were so intent on emphasizing that that they didn't give enough credit to the defense on a couple of those.

I counted three drops where the Colts should have definitely made the catch: the fake punt, one over the middle to Adams and one over the middle to Wayne.

The other two misses on throws to Adams were caused by defensive pressure. Spencer forced an overthrow that Adams barely got one hand on and I believe it was Selive who got in Luck's way on a longer throw down the sideline that caused Adams to have to stop his momentum and reach down to attempt the catch before the ball hit the ground. That one was catchable, but it wasn't an easy catch. At least one of the announcers acknowledged those things.

 

[mahoneybill]

Great summary, selections to highlight players + or -.

Spencer does look quick and hopefully will continue that way.

Also appreciate the look at Lawrence, as he gets more playing time.

Great game to see the DL line getting pressure , and surprisingly Luck being pulled.. Long time since we have seen our D Line cause that type of havoc/game change...

 

[Jenky]

I don't get why people saying Dez would have scored on that post in the first .gif. The safety was rolling that way and Tony would have had to make a really difficult throw across his body. It could have been a big gain but I think Williams would have been the better option for the TD since the safety left him.

If anything, Dez would have had a huge play on that second .gif, and it looked like it should have been an easy throw unless there was another DB off the screen.

Could go either way. Dez making 1 cut back to the middle of the field and he scores. There's no one around that lone defender.

Edit- Williams looks like the better option and he was in Tony's view of site.

 

[percyhoward]

itsaboat, or anybody else with all-22, where were the safeties playing on running downs when Murray was not in the game?

 

[Staubacher]

If itsaboat and floaty had a baby, would it be a buoy?

 

[itsaboat]

I don't get why people saying Dez would have scored on that post in the first .gif. The safety was rolling that way and Tony would have had to make a really difficult throw across his body. It could have been a big gain but I think Williams would have been the better option for the TD since the safety left him.

If anything, Dez would have had a huge play on that second .gif, and it looked like it should have been an easy throw unless there was another DB off the screen.

I think he had either receiver but you have to like Bryant in space

I enjoy your write-ups, itsaboat . . . great job!

In the first gif where Romo runs for the first down, are the Colts caught in the wrong defense or maybe the CB supposed to drop back looking for the crossing route?

This offensive line is something else to watch . . . Frederick just flips that DT on his back! Tyron is pretty quick as well. Is that common for a RT to run down the line and pick up the LB?

Colts brought six on that play so I imagine the zone concept behind the blitz was something like this:

With the CB and OLB watching anything in the flat

One of Smith's greatest assets is his athleticism. Dallas usually pulls him to his left on stretches or screens. I think this might have been the first time I've noticed him going all the way across the formation.

itsaboat, or anybody else with all-22, where were the safeties playing on running downs when Murray was not in the game?

Indy went almost exclusively single high when Dallas was in a running situation whether or not Murray was in the game

 

[CCBoy]

This is a very nice addition to the board...never enough of these. Thanks.

 

[percyhoward]

Indy went almost exclusively single high when Dallas was in a running situation whether or not Murray was in the game.

Thanks for the information.

 

[lothos05]

Colts brought six on that play so I imagine the zone concept behind the blitz was something like this:

With the CB and OLB watching anything in the flat

One of Smith's greatest assets is his athleticism. Dallas usually pulls him to his left on stretches or screens. I think this might have been the first time I've noticed him going all the way across the formation.

Thanks for the explanation on both accounts! Much appreciated.