Comments on: Football 301: Decoding Garrett – Week 2

By: Football 301: Decoding Garrett – Week 5

Football 301: Decoding Garrett – Week 5 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:39:03 +0000

[...] the domination on the ground with the “22″ package. This is exactly what the Cowboys did during Week 2 against the New York Giants when they ran 10 running plays for 121 yards. This week, they gashed the Kansas City Chiefs on 7 [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 04:43:56 +0000

The thing that concerns me about Romo is that he is in 3rd full season as a starter, but he is 29 yrs old. He seems to be making the same mistakes that a 24-25 yr old QB would be making. My worry is that by the time he fully matures as a decision maker, he’ll be into his 30s and some of the physical skills will start to leave him. It is those skills that make him who he is as a player. I think there is a window on the time that he can be great, and while I think it is still open, it is not as great a time period as a Matt Ryan or Flacco.

By: Chupacabra

Chupacabra — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:00:40 +0000

Chris and Selke, I understand both points. I understand why Garrett called that play, IF Romo had not made any prior mistakes in the game. You are at midfield, and have been pounding them with the run – seemingly a good time for play-action home run.

BUT, given that Romo had already thrown two INTs in the game, 1 bad decision and 1 terrible pass (off Witten’s hand/foot) – Garrett should have played it safe and managed the game.

1 troubling trend on both INTs. Both times the Giants only rushed 4, and dropped 7 in coverage. Both times, Romo doesn’t check down and come off his primary receiver. Especially with the last INT – look at the time he has to step up in the pocket. He has to be smarter and more patient.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:27:59 +0000

Selke, I agree with what you are saying. It just frustrates me that Garrett has forgotten the lessons he learned as a part of the 90s Cowboys. At that spot in the game, he should have tried to control the ball, the clock, and gotten his points. A bomb over the top gets you points if it hits, but at the same time, you don’t run any more clock, you put your defense back on the field right away, and you don’t wear down the Giants defense any more.

But we could go round and round on this debate forever. I agree with your 2 points about passes to Felix and getting Romo on the move. While you can’t argue that Garrett’s offense puts up points, I think one can be critical of how he calls a game, and how Romo executes it. I’ve always been a huge supporter of both, but doubts are starting to creep in.

By: selke99

selke99 — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:06:44 +0000

Chris, I agree that they should have kept running the ball overall. But you mention a bomb could leave to a bad throw, WR trip, etc…Those things could happen on any throw, short, medium, or long. They had run the ball to get close to midfield before the INT. My point was that it’s good to take 2-3 shots downfield (especially when defense is expecting run), but it’s a QB’s job to not throw into double coverage! Plus, if Romo had seen Phillips waaaaay back at safety, maybe he should have audibled out of that playcall or looked for a closer target. The middle of the field should have been wide open.

How come we are not seeing:

1. Screen/swing passes to Felix. In this year’s offense, this play should be near the top of the list.

2. Romo rolling out. He was so successful in this. I wonder what the heck Garrett is thinking when he looks at film of what works.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:18:51 +0000

I’m not saying don’t call pass plays the rest of the game. But what I am saying is that they had a chance to take control of the game. When you have a chance to do that against a quality opponent, in your home opener with all the hoopla and whatnot, you have to make sure you get the job done. Those types of opportunities in situations like where the game was at that point don’t present themself often, and the Cowboys didn’t get the job done.

Sure, a bomb over the top, if successful, is a great looking play and makes the crowd go crazy and extends the lead, but there is the chance you get a bad throw, or your receiver trips, or the DB makes a play, etc. Keep running the ball, and if you want to throw, keep it safe, over the middle, run the clock. Heck, run a screen pass or two. Get your running backs in space. Play ball control and get your points. The Giants defense is on its heels. The 90′s teams, that Garrett was on, would have pounded the Giants into submission at that point.

I see what you are saying about second guessing after the fact. My point is that it is time for this team to move from second guess moments to playing consistent, winning football.

By: selke99

selke99 — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:47:24 +0000

Chris, I understand the run is working, but you can’t expect the offense to not call any passes all game or take any deep shots to keep the defense honest. Again, it’s on first down, so you can still run on second. If the OC is afraid that his QB is going to throw into double coverage and not call those plays, you don’t have a good QB. Romo was supposed to work on that all offseason. It’s easy to second guess now and say run on that play. But there’s nothing wrong with taking shots once in a while.

By: just me

just me — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:27:28 +0000

Decode Wade next week. Defense sucks.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:54:34 +0000

Selke, I disagree with you on the call to Hurd. I think if you are a coach/playcaller, you’ve got to know your players and put them in a position to succeed (or not fail). Garrett has to know that Romo might try to force the pass because of his nature. Therefore, take it out of his hands if the ground game is working. Besides, keeping it on the ground takes the game into the 4th quarter. In theory, they could possibly go up 2 scores and take the clock down to the 10-12 minute range.

By: selke99

selke99 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:00:20 +0000

Bob, I think Coughlin in his post game comments alluded to them playing the pass and not letting Romo and the big play beat them, like they did against TB the week before. That might have been why the running game worked so well and Romo wasn’t really rushed all night. We’ll see if Carolina stacks the line to play the run and test Romo.

Chris, nothing is wrong with calling that deep ball to Hurd. It’s on 1st down, if it’s not there, throw it away and run on 2nd down. What happened to the checkdowns to the RBs Romo/Garrett used to have 2 years ago that worked so well? This would have worked great if Gmen are covering everyone downfield. Romo takes so much time (like Peyton) calling audibles/fake audibles that there is no excuse for not seeing that safety.