Were Receivers open down the field?

[cowboys19]

for those that were at the game? I know Wade, and Witten said they were playing a cover 2, but was just wondering.

 

[Chreph]

I don't think so, the only thing I saw was Jason Witten.

-Tony Romo


lol j/k I was at the game and got a little frustrated by all the check downs to MB3 and Witten - before the hamstring incident. I can remember at least two plays he had TO for a big gain (or TD if he hit him in stride) and could only watch as Romo had his eyes locked on # 82. Don't get me wrong, it's great that they have chemistry and Witten is a weapon that must be utilized, but sometimes the dink and dumps are frustrating when you're not putting points on the board and passing up opportunities for big plays.

OT - for people who regularly go to games, does Newman always work out with the receivers before games? He was running routes with TO, Crayton, Hurd, and Austin catching balls from Tony. I think it'd be a great idea to send him out on offense to run a streak every now and then to confuse the defense and run a draw play for JJ.

 

[landryscorner]

I too noticed, on those 2 specific plays, I tend to watch romo's head a lot before he throws, just to see if hes doing the "intelligent things" a quarterback does. for sure one thing you don't want too do, is give the defense a look that says, "yah I'm throwing to 82" and not anybody else.

I would think our offensive players are good enough to be open on 2 plays in a row and not just Witten, I thought it was bad of Romo to do that, and of Garret, I'm sure Barber or Jones would of gotten atleast 5 yards or more out of that instead of zero, and it goes back to my other post "passing before running" We have gotten away from what made us great, a dominating

Runnign game, and like one other Poster said earlier, when the weather gets rough, its the running game that gets you that "W" we will see how much this passing before running will hurt us, but I think it will, in this league Video of games speaks volumes for teams preparing to face you, I know for certain teams are seeing our playback video and realizing two things 1. we are a pass

firs team, and 2. we are soft on defense in some areas, specifically in the vertical passing game, until we get Henry out there it will be that way

 

[Crown Royal]

I actually just posted a thread about this. Romo's two reads are TO and Witten, but mostly witten. TO was doubled quite a bit, so he just checked down to Witten. If witten was completely covered, he checked to the RB.

Usually To and Witten's routes were on teh same side of the seam, thus he read those two without looking at the other wrs. We ran a lot with Crayton in the slot and Hurd outside on the same side, but Romo ignored those two guys quite often. Cover two or not, with the zone they played, these guys got open.

 

[dallasfaniac]

It doesn't matter if he has receivers open down the field, what matters is if they were open during his read.

If Witten is open down the field when Romo looks at him, should he turn to look at Owens to see if he can get the TD pass or just get the ball to Witten for the sure first down and avoid a possible sack?

Halftime adjustments allow the coach to look at those plays and call ones where Owens is earlier/later in the progression.

You can't always look at an open receiver and assume they are open either. There may be a safety within roaming range, or an offensive linemen in the window that may tip the pass. I could argue that Romo doesn't check down often enough either and prefers to go down the field with it.

 

[Crown Royal]

It doesn't matter if he has receivers open down the field, what matters is if they were open during his read.

If Witten is open down the field when Romo looks at him, should he turn to look at Owens to see if he can get the TD pass or just get the ball to Witten for the sure first down and avoid a possible sack?

Halftime adjustments allow the coach to look at those plays and call ones where Owens is earlier/later in the progression.

You can't always look at an open receiver and assume they are open either. There may be a safety within roaming range, or an offensive linemen in the window that may tip the pass. I could argue that Romo doesn't check down often enough either and prefers to go down the field with it.

On one of the plays Hurd was open, I noticed it only because I felt that he was a good option. They were showing cover 2, and hurd had crayton next to him in the slot. Knowing that, if crayton is running an inside route, he is going to take the short zone with him, leaving Hurd to contend with the safety only. Hurd ran a streak, but was looking for the ball early because it was a short drop. He was open all day, and was an excellent quick read, but Romo never saw it.

 

[Crown Royal]

Also, the problem is that Romo is too comfortable with witten - he stares at him, waits for him to get open, and will wait forever, when he could always check to another receiver who may be one on one with a safety or LB, or in the zone.

Thus far it isn't hurting us, because Witten is playing out of this world, but at some point,I really don't know if Glenn being out affects us, because Romo just doesn't look there.

I don't want Witten to be to Romo as Glenn was to Bledsoe.

 

[dallasfaniac]

On one of the plays Hurd was open, I noticed it only because I felt that he was a good option. They were showing cover 2, and hurd had crayton next to him in the slot. Knowing that, if crayton is running an inside route, he is going to take the short zone with him, leaving Hurd to contend with the safety only. Hurd ran a streak, but was looking for the ball early because it was a short drop. He was open all day, and was an excellent quick read, but Romo never saw it.

Which order in the progression was Hurd?

 

[Chreph]

Yeah, I noticed Sam Hurd and Crayton got ignored too. There was also a play in the first quarter when Romo was scrambling and had TO (might have been Crayton) right in front of him for the first down with no defenders in position to break up the play. Instead he tucked it and only got 4 yards.

On the positive side, I thought Sam Hurd and Crayton looked good catching balls before the game They caught everything in thrown their way.

 

[Crown Royal]

Which order in the progression was Hurd?

Romo never looked at him. He looked at TO, saw that he was covered, then Witten. I think he ended up checking down after witten, but he stared at him for a while.

The problem is I don't know if he just didn't see what i thought was obvious on the presnap read, or if the coaches don't want him to change the progressions, but there was a reason that I was watching Hurd on that play - I thought it was a good formation for the defense that was showing, and when I saw Hurd's route, I was vexed why Romo didn't think to look there.

I never really saw Romo look to the Crayton/Hurd side.

In fact, I never really see Romo go from 1 WR to another WR, it is always the WR on the first read, then a check to the tight end in the middle of the field.

 

[conner01]

it was nice to see he learned the lesson of the bills game. take the underneath guy if the deep guy is covered.
i love to go down field but i would rather see a dump off than a bad play down field. against the bills he tried to force too many down field

 

[Chreph]

If Tony never sees the right side of the field because his 1st two options are on the left of the field, he needs to look off the defenders every now and then. I know he played well and we're just being overly critical, but he's proven to be one of the "best of the rest". I'm looking for what can be done to put him and the team over the top.

 

[dallasfaniac]

My only guess is the offense is designed around their playmakers. If Owens, arguably a top 5 WR in todays game, is doubled, then chances are Witten, also arguably a top 5 TE, is going to be open or in single coverage. If both Owens or Witten are covered, then the Barbarian should have open field. Beyond that, our offensive line wasn't exactly giving Romo all day to make his reads.

I think this is more on Garrett's playcalling and the design of the offense than anything, although Romo probably has long enough leash to read the defense and change up the call. I'd have to rewatch the play in question to see what the defense was showing before making any conclusions though. I just know that sometimes players look much more wide open from outside the sidlines than they do within it and vice versa.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

It doesn't matter if he has receivers open down the field, what matters is if they were open during his read.

If Witten is open down the field when Romo looks at him, should he turn to look at Owens to see if he can get the TD pass or just get the ball to Witten for the sure first down and avoid a possible sack?

Halftime adjustments allow the coach to look at those plays and call ones where Owens is earlier/later in the progression.

You can't always look at an open receiver and assume they are open either. There may be a safety within roaming range, or an offensive linemen in the window that may tip the pass. I could argue that Romo doesn't check down often enough either and prefers to go down the field with it.

I trust that Romo is in a better position than any one of us to determine who is open and who is not

btw, why is all of a sudden Romo's not spreading the ball around like he was earlier? maybe it has to do w/ the fact that not everyone is open

 

[Chreph]

it was nice to see he learned the lesson of the bills game. take the underneath guy if the deep guy is covered.
i love to go down field but i would rather see a dump off than a bad play down field. against the bills he tried to force too many down field

I agree to an extent. I don't want to see throws into double and triple coverage, but I thought we left the "play it conservative" offense behind last year. Yes, we got burned against the bills but you have one of those games every year. It's not the same offense we saw the first four games of the year since then. What happened to the "let players make plays" philosophy?

Also, does anyone recall a play in which TO was not covered? It might have been my angle, but I remember seeing TO lined up with no CB in front of him. MN came with the blitz and either got a sack or incomplete pass (don't remember). That should have been noticed in the pre-snap read and the route adjusted to take advantage. Again, I couldn't believe they would let TO line up by himself and get away with it so I just wanted to see if anyone else noticed that or if I saw something too good to be true.

 

[dallasfaniac]

I agree to an extent. I don't want to see throws into double and triple coverage, but I thought we left the "play it conservative" offense behind last year. Yes, we got burned against the bills but you have one of those games every year. It's not the same offense we saw the first four games of the year since then. What happened to the "let players make plays" philosophy?

Also, does anyone recall a play in which TO was not covered? It might have been my angle, but I remember seeing TO lined up with no CB in front of him. MN came with the blitz and either got a sack or incomplete pass (don't remember). That should have been noticed in the pre-snap read and the route adjusted to take advantage. Again, I couldn't believe they would let TO line up by himself and get away with it so I just wanted to see if anyone else noticed that or if I saw something too good to be true.

I remember a couple plays where we motioned players and the Minni defense didn't have a player initially covering the WR. On one, we ended up just running it up the gut with Barber for like a yard. Had we gone pass, it probably would have netted a bunch of yards, but I don't know if they just had corners back real far from the camera angle.

 

[Crown Royal]

I trust that Romo is in a better position than any one of us to determine who is open and who is not

btw, why is all of a sudden Romo's not spreading the ball around like he was earlier? maybe it has to do w/ the fact that not everyone is open

You're right. Obviously, the league's worst pass defense just learned to play better, and WRs crayton and Hurd have stopped getting open even when TO is doubled. It is ridiculous to think that maybe Romo is a bit too comfortable with witten.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

You're right. Obviously, the league's worst pass defense just learned to play better, and WRs crayton and Hurd have stopped getting open even when TO is doubled. It is ridiculous to think that maybe Romo is a bit too comfortable with witten.

the Vikes play a cover-2, do they not?

it's very easy to think players are open against a cover-2, when in actuality, they're not, again, I think Romo is in a better position to judge who's open and who's not, yes, I concur that Romo is real comfortable w/ Witten, but I don't think he forgot how to spread the football around, I mean, it was only a few weeks ago that he was doing that

 

[BehindEnemyLinez]

It'll be interesting to see how it plays out if/when Terry jumps back into the fray. How long will it take for Romo and Glenn to regain their chemistry? Will Terry feel "underused" if Tony's not looking his way and start pouting like so many other star receivers or will he remain a "team" guy, even though HIS coach (BP) is no longer there? Hopefully we'll find out sooner than later because I think Glenn's abilities will open up the field that much more for Owens, Witten, Crayton, and Julius Barber!

 

[Billy Bullocks]

I don't think so, the only thing I saw was Jason Witten.

-Tony Romo


lol j/k I was at the game and got a little frustrated by all the check downs to MB3 and Witten - before the hamstring incident. I can remember at least two plays he had TO for a big gain (or TD if he hit him in stride) and could only watch as Romo had his eyes locked on # 82. Don't get me wrong, it's great that they have chemistry and Witten is a weapon that must be utilized, but sometimes the dink and dumps are frustrating when you're not putting points on the board and passing up opportunities for big plays.

OT - for people who regularly go to games, does Newman always work out with the receivers before games? He was running routes with TO, Crayton, Hurd, and Austin catching balls from Tony. I think it'd be a great idea to send him out on offense to run a streak every now and then to confuse the defense and run a draw play for JJ.

Sometimes you just don't score 35+ points.