from rafael vela's cowboys blog...
http://theboysblog.com/
"11:44, second quarter. Dallas, first-and-ten at its own 20, lines up in a two-TE look — with a twist. Terrell Owens is split wide left. On the right, Terry Glenn is wide and TE Jason Witten is in the slot, about five to seven yards wide of right tackle Marc Colombo. TE Anthony Fasano is lined up in an I with Julius Jones in the backfield.
At the snap, Owens runs a slant. Fasano releases through the line and runs a drag route left, towards Owens. The Giants, borrowing a page from the Eagles’ game plan two weeks ago, rotate their safeties wide to double Owens and Glenn. Witten, in the seam, is released deep by FS Will Demps, who turns outside to help with Glenn. Witten is wide open running up the right hash, with maybe the SS in position to catch him.
On the line, the Giants run a twist with LE Michael Strahan and DT Fred Robbins. Robbins slams into the outside shoulder of LG Marco Rivera and is carried wide by Rivera and Julius Jones, who stays in to block. Strahan is punched by RT Marc Colombo, but the Giant breaks free and loops inside. He eventually gets to Bledsoe and gets a sack, but he takes the long way around.
Fortunately for Strahan, Bledsoe has never looked to his right and spotted Witten. He locked onto Owens at the snap and didn’t scan right until Strahan was right on top of him. The Cowboys had blown a deep flea-flicker on the previous series when Witten had missed a block on a linebacker. Now, his quarterback returns the dubious favor. Two big-play calls are sabotaged by poor execution. The Giants already lead 12-0 and Dallas’ offense is still throwing the stick in all directions, trying to catch a gear, any gear.
1:38, second quarter. The Cowboys have fought their way back into the game. The defense has tightened up deep coverage and applied some pressure to Eli Manning. The offense has finally found a rhythm and marched to a touchdown. On the first play after Dallas’ kickoff Demarcus Ware clubs at the football in Tiki Barber’s right hand and catches the back across the facemask. The blow stuns Barber; he drops the football and falls to the ground like a cut tree. Dallas recovers at the New York fourteen and grinds to a first down.
Now, facing second and goal from the six, Dallas goes back to its two TE set. This time, Witten and Fasano line up side-by-side next to RT Colombo. Glenn and Owens deploy in a slot formation on the left, with Marion Barber alone in the backfield. Before the snap, Owens comes in motion across the Dallas line and stops just outside Fasano. The Giants secondary pays extra -close attention to him; the Cowboys have started moving Owens around behind their line, as the 49ers did with Jerry Rice in the early ’90s. In the Texans game last week, Owens sometimes lined up as a fullback and released into shallow routes matched up against linebackers. His last touchdown of that day came when he dragged underneath the line, as tight ends often do.
On the previous series, Dallas had motioned him underneath the line and put Owens in single coverage with DE Strahan. Strahan is one of the best ends in the game but he has no business trying to cover Pro Bowl-caliber wideouts. Owens burned him for seventeen yards, setting up Dallas’ TD. Now, as he Owens lines up next to Fasano, the corner on that edge drops off Fasano and points at Owens. At the snap, Owens runs an out and pulls two Giants wide with him.
Inside, Witten runs to the goalline and cuts left. He gets immediate attention from the linebacker in the center of New York’s zone. Witten and Owens have split New York’s secondary like the Red Sea. One has drawn coverage left, the other has yoked two defenders right. When Fasano runs straight to the goal line and turns around, he’s wide open. Amazingly, a quick pass to his gut will put Dallas in the lead, after 20 or so minutes of wandering in the football desert.
But Bledsoe again does not even look in Fasano’s direction — the designed area for his throw. He immediately turns left and forces a ball to Terry Glenn, who has run a decoy out pattern. Glenn is well covered, and the ball is picked off by CB Sam Madison. Once again, Bledsoe is not pressured. The Cowboys line has held stoutly. The quarterback seems to feel the rush of ghosts.
The Cowboys sources I speak to like to talk of certainty. Bill Parcells wants to “know what he has” from a player, I am often told. One reason Flozell Adams drives him crazy is that the old veteran can never be predicted. He has good games most of the time but can melt down at any time.
The reason given for Bledsoe’s starts is that Parcells, to this point, knew what he had. Bledsoe is far from perfect, even in the best of circumstances, but the staff was pretty sure he would make the proper reads. So long as he didn’t trust his arm too much and try forcing throws into tight coverage, he was at least dependable. Last week’s game versus Houston was a prime illustration. The Cowboys sputtered in the first half, but Bledsoe’s decision making was sure. He didn’t force a fourth and one pass to Glenn in a similar situation and was content to play the game as it was presented to him.
The two plays described above show a far more serious degree of failure. Bledsoe wasn’t just making bad decisions, he was now failing to even follow the plays as designed. In both cases, he looked away from his primary. I was told he did this at other times in the half. The first sack of the game for instance, where Strahan was left unblocked, was supposed to be a quick throw to Strahan’s side. Bledsoe was supposed to read what the end did and react accordingly. But again, Bledsoe didn’t even look in that direction. Bledsoe had now crossed over into “we don’t know what we have” territory.
Don Meredith’s Cowboys career ended with a similar gaffe. He misread a goal-line throw so badly in a 1968 playoff loss to Cleveland that an assistant described it this way, “how often do you walk to your front door after work, reach into your pocket for your house key and stick it in the mailbox?” Bledsoe was now, repeatedly, trying to open the door by unlocking the box. In this situation, there’s no choice but to switch."
http://theboysblog.com/
"11:44, second quarter. Dallas, first-and-ten at its own 20, lines up in a two-TE look — with a twist. Terrell Owens is split wide left. On the right, Terry Glenn is wide and TE Jason Witten is in the slot, about five to seven yards wide of right tackle Marc Colombo. TE Anthony Fasano is lined up in an I with Julius Jones in the backfield.
At the snap, Owens runs a slant. Fasano releases through the line and runs a drag route left, towards Owens. The Giants, borrowing a page from the Eagles’ game plan two weeks ago, rotate their safeties wide to double Owens and Glenn. Witten, in the seam, is released deep by FS Will Demps, who turns outside to help with Glenn. Witten is wide open running up the right hash, with maybe the SS in position to catch him.
On the line, the Giants run a twist with LE Michael Strahan and DT Fred Robbins. Robbins slams into the outside shoulder of LG Marco Rivera and is carried wide by Rivera and Julius Jones, who stays in to block. Strahan is punched by RT Marc Colombo, but the Giant breaks free and loops inside. He eventually gets to Bledsoe and gets a sack, but he takes the long way around.
Fortunately for Strahan, Bledsoe has never looked to his right and spotted Witten. He locked onto Owens at the snap and didn’t scan right until Strahan was right on top of him. The Cowboys had blown a deep flea-flicker on the previous series when Witten had missed a block on a linebacker. Now, his quarterback returns the dubious favor. Two big-play calls are sabotaged by poor execution. The Giants already lead 12-0 and Dallas’ offense is still throwing the stick in all directions, trying to catch a gear, any gear.
1:38, second quarter. The Cowboys have fought their way back into the game. The defense has tightened up deep coverage and applied some pressure to Eli Manning. The offense has finally found a rhythm and marched to a touchdown. On the first play after Dallas’ kickoff Demarcus Ware clubs at the football in Tiki Barber’s right hand and catches the back across the facemask. The blow stuns Barber; he drops the football and falls to the ground like a cut tree. Dallas recovers at the New York fourteen and grinds to a first down.
Now, facing second and goal from the six, Dallas goes back to its two TE set. This time, Witten and Fasano line up side-by-side next to RT Colombo. Glenn and Owens deploy in a slot formation on the left, with Marion Barber alone in the backfield. Before the snap, Owens comes in motion across the Dallas line and stops just outside Fasano. The Giants secondary pays extra -close attention to him; the Cowboys have started moving Owens around behind their line, as the 49ers did with Jerry Rice in the early ’90s. In the Texans game last week, Owens sometimes lined up as a fullback and released into shallow routes matched up against linebackers. His last touchdown of that day came when he dragged underneath the line, as tight ends often do.
On the previous series, Dallas had motioned him underneath the line and put Owens in single coverage with DE Strahan. Strahan is one of the best ends in the game but he has no business trying to cover Pro Bowl-caliber wideouts. Owens burned him for seventeen yards, setting up Dallas’ TD. Now, as he Owens lines up next to Fasano, the corner on that edge drops off Fasano and points at Owens. At the snap, Owens runs an out and pulls two Giants wide with him.
Inside, Witten runs to the goalline and cuts left. He gets immediate attention from the linebacker in the center of New York’s zone. Witten and Owens have split New York’s secondary like the Red Sea. One has drawn coverage left, the other has yoked two defenders right. When Fasano runs straight to the goal line and turns around, he’s wide open. Amazingly, a quick pass to his gut will put Dallas in the lead, after 20 or so minutes of wandering in the football desert.
But Bledsoe again does not even look in Fasano’s direction — the designed area for his throw. He immediately turns left and forces a ball to Terry Glenn, who has run a decoy out pattern. Glenn is well covered, and the ball is picked off by CB Sam Madison. Once again, Bledsoe is not pressured. The Cowboys line has held stoutly. The quarterback seems to feel the rush of ghosts.
The Cowboys sources I speak to like to talk of certainty. Bill Parcells wants to “know what he has” from a player, I am often told. One reason Flozell Adams drives him crazy is that the old veteran can never be predicted. He has good games most of the time but can melt down at any time.
The reason given for Bledsoe’s starts is that Parcells, to this point, knew what he had. Bledsoe is far from perfect, even in the best of circumstances, but the staff was pretty sure he would make the proper reads. So long as he didn’t trust his arm too much and try forcing throws into tight coverage, he was at least dependable. Last week’s game versus Houston was a prime illustration. The Cowboys sputtered in the first half, but Bledsoe’s decision making was sure. He didn’t force a fourth and one pass to Glenn in a similar situation and was content to play the game as it was presented to him.
The two plays described above show a far more serious degree of failure. Bledsoe wasn’t just making bad decisions, he was now failing to even follow the plays as designed. In both cases, he looked away from his primary. I was told he did this at other times in the half. The first sack of the game for instance, where Strahan was left unblocked, was supposed to be a quick throw to Strahan’s side. Bledsoe was supposed to read what the end did and react accordingly. But again, Bledsoe didn’t even look in that direction. Bledsoe had now crossed over into “we don’t know what we have” territory.
Don Meredith’s Cowboys career ended with a similar gaffe. He misread a goal-line throw so badly in a 1968 playoff loss to Cleveland that an assistant described it this way, “how often do you walk to your front door after work, reach into your pocket for your house key and stick it in the mailbox?” Bledsoe was now, repeatedly, trying to open the door by unlocking the box. In this situation, there’s no choice but to switch."
