Tony Romo on 3rd Down

[Brooksey]

We need to get better on third down. The last few weeks have been bad. Earlier in the year we really excelled on third down and now we seemed to have regressed some. I'm a big fan of Tony Romo, he had a bad night, he was out of his routine with his back on a short week, his timing was off and he was mentally off. He felt pressure when there was none, his passes were short and high all night. If it was a baseball game and he was pitching, they would've chased him out of the park by the fourth inning, it was one of those nights. Ronald Leary gave up two sacks and Travis Frederick made a crucial mental mistake snapping the ball on the wrong count, on a key third down play. We need to get this cleaned up if were going to make a run at the playoffs. Here is a look at (5) missed third down opportunities that contributed to the loss. Pretty Sloppy.

On this key third down and three play, Romo holds the ball too long, he misses a wide open
Beasley off the line of scrimmage for a quick first down. Romo waits for Witten to open up but
they are not on the same page, resulting in an incompletion and a punt.

Front angle of the previous play.

On this play we had Dez one on one, I like the play not as much as a slant or comeback but I like
this play to Dez. He was interfered with and there was no flag. Eagles got away with this one.
This resulted in a punt

We can't see what's happening on the back end here, the clip isn't up yet, but none the less Romo
just falls down, he was never even touched, he felt the pressure but just maybe If he cuts it up field
to the left he might get the first down. Big stop by Philly, we settle for a FG.

This is the crucial mistake where Travis Frederick snaps the ball on the wrong count. This really
cost us, the game was close and this was a short third down and three. The result was a punt.

The game was starting to get away here unless we put seven on the board. Eagles bring the blitz
but we pick it up, Romo has time but we can't deliver. Again I don't know what the back end looks
like here, I'm sure it was decent coverage but the throw and /or pattern was poor, resulting in a
turnover on third down and ending the ball game.

 

[Vanilla2]

If the call on Harris was made earlier in the game for unnecessary roughness

The same call needs to be made against 27 for that hit on Williams.

 

[fifaguy]

If the call on Harris was made earlier in the game for unnecessary roughness

The same call needs to be made against 27 for that hit on Williams.

The call against 27 should have been made, period.

 

[DanteEXT]

On this play we had Dez one on one, I like the play not as much as a slant or comeback but I like
this play to Dez. He was interfered with and there was no flag. Eagles got away with this one.
This resulted in a punt

We can't see what's happening on the back end here, the clip isn't up yet, but none the less Romo
just falls down, he was never even touched, he felt the pressure but just maybe If he cuts it up field
to the left he might get the first down. Big stop by Philly, we settle for a FG.

Romo dropped because of the pressure 50 was getting on Smith. If he tried to sneak out to the left 58 is coming from behind and Leary is out in front with 96 & 91. Looks like that pocket fell apart in about 2 seconds by looking the clock.

 

[Brooksey]

If the call on Harris was made earlier in the game for unnecessary roughness

The same call needs to be made against 27 for that hit on Williams.

It was late, that's for sure.

 

[Brooksey]

Romo dropped because of the pressure 50 was getting on Smith. If he tried to sneak out to the left 58 is coming from behind and Leary is out in front with 96 & 91. Looks like that pocket fell apart in about 2 seconds by looking the clock.

There was pressure but the middle of that pocket was pretty clean. If he steps up past 58, I believe its 91 that would have to make the play.

 

[Ultra Warrior]

There was pressure but the middle of that pocket was pretty clean. If he steps up past 58, I believe its 91 that would have to make the play.

So the guy who has been playing injured most of the season, is getting this kind of reaction from THAT play? Sure, Romo should have just steamrolled over dudes, so the next play & rest of the season would be Weeden under center. Great idea. This wasn't one of Tonys better games but come on. Nitpicking over this type of junk is ridiculous.

 

[Kevinicus]

So the guy who has been playing injured most of the season, is getting this kind of reaction from THAT play? Sure, Romo should have just steamrolled over dudes, so the next play & rest of the season would be Weeden under center. Great idea. This wasn't one of Tonys better games but come on. Nitpicking over this type of junk is ridiculous.

Ridiculous thread. Most of the examples don't support the topic, and actually support the opposite. I think Romo was like 3/5 on 3rd down in the first half (60%) and the 2 he didn't get were the PI on Dez and miscommunication with Witten.

 

[xwalker]

We need to get better on third down. The last few weeks have been bad. Earlier in the year we really excelled on third down and now we seemed to have regressed some. I'm a big fan of Tony Romo, he had a bad night, he was out of his routine with his back on a short week, his timing was off and he was mentally off. He felt pressure when there was none, his passes were short and high all night. If it was a baseball game and he was pitching, they would've chased him out of the park by the fourth inning, it was one of those nights. Ronald Leary gave up two sacks and Travis Frederick made a crucial mental mistake snapping the ball on the wrong count, on a key third down play. We need to get this cleaned up if were going to make a run at the playoffs. Here is a look at (5) missed third down opportunities that contributed to the loss. Pretty Sloppy.

On this key third down and three play, Romo holds the ball too long, he misses a wide open
Beasley off the line of scrimmage for a quick first down. Romo waits for Witten to open up but
they are not on the same page, resulting in an incompletion and a punt.

Good job making the Gifs.

The play call should have had Beasley as the primary target, but it didn't.

Notice that the short middle of the field has nobody in it other than Beasley passing through immediately after the snap. I would like to see Beasley stop in the short middle. He would either be open or he would not carry an extra defender near Dez.

Witten is 10 yards past the 1st down marker. Romo drops back 10 yards and Witten's route is 13 yards. That's 23 yards just to complete a 3rd and 3.

In Green Bay's offense, the ball would have been out to Beasley the instant that the shotgun snap hit the QB's hands.

Notice in all of your other Gifs that there is rarely a receiver in the short/intermediate middle of the field.

 

[Brooksey]

Ridiculous thread. Most of the examples don't support the topic, and actually support the opposite. I think Romo was like 3/5 on 3rd down in the first half (60%) and the 2 he didn't get were the PI on Dez and miscommunication with Witten.

I never said it was all Tony Romos fault, should have titled it "3rd down offense". The mistake from frederick and non call on pass interference killed two drives. The miscommunicate with witten was a miss to beasley for an easy first down. We need to do better on 3rd down, problems were across the board.

 

[mahoneybill]

If the call on Harris was made earlier in the game for unnecessary roughness

The same call needs to be made against 27 for that hit on Williams.

Good call. Thats certainly as aggressive...

 

[mahoneybill]

Good job making the Gifs.

The play call should have had Beasley as the primary target, but it didn't.

Notice that the short middle of the field has nobody in it other than Beasley passing through immediately after the snap. I would like to see Beasley stop in the short middle. He would either be open or he would not carry an extra defender near Dez.

Witten is 10 yards past the 1st down marker. Romo drops back 10 yards and Witten's route is 13 yards. That's 23 yards just to complete a 3rd and 3.

In Green Bay's offense, the ball would have been out to Beasley the instant that the shotgun snap hit the QB's hands.

Notice in all of your other Gifs that there is rarely a receiver in the short/intermediate middle of the field.

Our routes take 3 seconds.... Watching other QB's, and using the one thousand one/one thousand two counting system they are getting rid of the ball at " two". Even Sanchez was releasing at 2. We need more quick hitters and less home run shots.

 

[MissouriCowboy]

Dallas seems to never use slants or screens.

 

[xwalker]

Our routes take 3 seconds.... Watching other QB's, and using the one thousand one/one thousand two counting system they are getting rid of the ball at " two". Even Sanchez was releasing at 2. We need more quick hitters and less home run shots.

Yes, I really don't understand the mindset behind not running more quick hitters.

 

[30yrheel]

Yes, I really don't understand the mindset behind not running more quick hitters.

Clueless coaches?

 

[Brooksey]

Yes, I really don't understand the mindset behind not running more quick hitters.

We must have plenty of quick hitting "Move the Chains" short plays that we ran in the past few years. All we did was dink and dunk in 2012 and 2013.

Aikman to Irvin on the slant was unstoppable in the 90's and everyone knew it was coming.

Here's a few more third down examples that put us behind against NY in the first half.

3rd and 4, a dump to Murray gets us a first down or at least fourth and short where we have options.

3rd and 7, One on one to T Williams up top, Witten for a possible first down to sideline and yet we throw it deep into double/triple coverage to Dez.

 

[xwalker]

.....

Murray is the only short option here. That a play design problem, IMO.

I would prefer to see Murray going in the opposite direction from Witten. They wasted the underneath field on the offensive left to spread out the defense. Romo makes a bad decision to throw into triple coverage. T. Williams appears to be open on the other side.

 

[mahoneybill]

Nice summaries of opportunities missed

 

[links18]

Romo doesn't always make great decisions. Plays aren't always designed to make it easier for him to make better decisions.