OK, so I kind of saw this one coming. Granted, my vision for how the game would play out was drastically different than how this one worked, the end result was the same. Before I go into my analysis, I have to say that I did not watch this game as I was at the Orioles-Red Sox game Monday Night. Yet, my allegiance was made known to the baseballers as I was wearing my Redskins jacket and constantly checking ESPN ScoreCenter for updates.
Naturally, since I did not see this game firsthand, I can't really analyze it other than on secondhand accounts. That being said, from what I could gather (and what I saw and heard toward the end of the game), we had SO MANY chances to really stomp the Cowboys out, yet we never took advantage of those opportunities. The first half was just a battle of field goals as neither team could find their offensive rhythm. This was not really surprising since the Cowboys were playing shorthanded with a gimpy Romo and no Miles Austin. The Redskins, well, Bad Rex made his official 2011 debut. He didn't many turnovers (just one 1 pick and a lost fumble), but he could not engineer anything on offense, nothing at all. You just knew that drives that ended in field goals (even though Dallas got 6 of them and that was enough) were not going to do it against a determined Dallas team in their home opener.
When we scored the first touchdown in the 3rd quarter, you had a sense that we were about to take command of this game (and the division). At this point I was in the car and listening to company man Larry Michael and converted cheerleaders Sonny Jurgensen and Sam Huff. The touchdown seemed to deflate the Dallas faithful and the offense finally was able to finish a drive after effectively driving the ball all night only to bog down in Dallas territory. Yet, after that touchdown, Sonny started to say "kill the clock," at which point I responded, NO WAY! It's only a one score game, there is no way we should be in clock-kill mode. We should be full go to score. Yet, it seemed like they were listening to Sonny and not me (as usual). They offense got complacent, getting only 1 first down the rest of the quarter, Grossman nearly throwing several picks. Meanwhile, Dallas kept chipping away with field goal after field goal. In the 4th quarter, the offensive line started to tire and Demarcus Ware started having his way with Trent Williams and Jamaal Brown (in spite of repeated pleas for holding flags). It all came to a head on the Redskins' 2nd to last drive as we finally were able to move across the 50 (thanks to a helmet to helment hit by Andrew Ball on Santana Moss). Then, the line collapsed and allowed Rex to get sacked twice (nearly losing another fumble). Dallas got the ball back, and the D stiffened (with the help of another botched snap by Phil Costa). Then, the unthinkable happened.
The down and distance was 3rd and 21. I had just arrived home in time to turn on the TV and see 7 guys in burgundy shirts crowding the line. I thought to myself, "there's no way they bring the house here...that would just be stupid. They'll back out of it." Sure enough, they all came after Romo who got out of the pocket and bought enough time for Dez Bryant to separate from DeAngelo Hall and get the first down. As soon as they snapped the ball and the blitz came I said, "first down." Sure enough, it happened. Tack on 15 for a facemask by Hall on Bryant, and all of a sudden Dallas was in field goal range for a kicker who had been perfect on the day (and stayed perfect).
Here's why you don't blitz on that play, on that down and distance. A smart, sound offensive strategy has 2 things to counter blitzes (which are becoming ever more prevalent in defensive tactics). One is a smart quarterback who knows exactly where ALL of his receivers will be (along with receivers who get to the spots. The 2nd thing is the so-called "hot route." One receiver who checks his route at the sight of a strong blitz and immediately gets in position to catch a short pass behind the pass rush. The Cowboys had the hot route, but in the mass of humanity crossing the line, Romo didn't see it (which is exactly what the Redskins wanted...penetrate quickly enough to blow the play up before it starts). However, Romo was able to get out of the pocket and buy enough time for Dez to get downfield behind Hall. Dez did exactly what he was supposed to do on a broken play like that: get up the field. DeAngelo Hall is a playmaker, but as a sound cover corner, he can't cover Dez Bryant. That showed on that play. The proper call there would have been to not blitz (or show blitz and back out of it), and play a softer zone to make sure the Cowboys don't get to the sticks. Giving up a 10 yard pass there was OK...it was 3rd and 21!. Dallas was going to use 4 downs there anyway, so I like my chances defending 4th and 10. Sure, 4th and 30 would've been nice, but any time an offense has to play 4th and anything longer than, say, 4, it's really tough to convert. That blitz played right into the hands of Tony Romo, and Jim Haslett has to reconsider his defensive strategy in light of this game.
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