Boys/Skins Recap MNF 10/27

Welp, you could practically see the stars aligning for this one: a primetime game in Jerrah World against a team Dallas should dominate. And, as the case seems to have been since Romo came in as the starter, that was as sure a sign of a loss as anything.

The Redskins came into AT&T Stadium at the bottom of the NFC East, apparently with a game plan that would work. Three things have been said about Dallas since Week 3:

1. They could have the best OL in the league.
2. A huge reason they have been so successful was because they used Murray to take the pressure off Romo's shoulders.
3. Dallas's D has been able to play better than they were predicted to because Rod Marinelli has simplified the defense to a level that allows them to play fast.

Here's what we saw last night:

1. The Redskins figured out that 5 OL cannot cover 8 defensive players. By loading the box or bluffing to load the box, they forced Romo to keep Murray and Witten in to protect. Murray and Witten are two big checkdown routes for Romo when he feels pressure.
2. With no checkdowns, they just played Man Coverage and dared Romo to try and navigate his way through the blitzing backs. This, obviously, was not done, and quite the opposite. Romo got whacked, and went to the the locker room to get his back checked out. He came back later in the 4th to try and save the day, although Brandon Weeden was 100% on scoring drives.
3. Dallas's D couldn't stop big passes to save their life, although they weren't particularly bad against the run.

Here's what could have been done for the Cowboys to pull off the win:

1. Instead of keeping both Witten AND Murray in, only keep one. Have the other run directly around or through the direction of the blitz and have him settle right in the area the blitz came from. That didn't happen once.
2. Stop playing a Zone defense, because obviously theirs had plenty of holes to be found. Match up man to man with 2 safeties playing free over the top.
3. Murray rushed for the fewest attempts in the past 4 games. That matters. He was under utilized, and honestly, if I saw a blitz coming off the edges like they showed and I didn't want to keep Murray in to block, I would check to a dive to Murray. If anybody didn't see, the middle of the field was wide open. All we'd need is for Murray, Leary, Frederick, and Martin to beat the 3 guys in the middle to bust it. This, too, did not happen. 
4. I don't know if this would have changed anything, but I DO know that putting a QB back in that's guaranteed another 5 years of paychecks after aggravating a back injury is not a smart move. I'm looking at you, Jerry, and it's only a matter of time until news surfaces that you had the final call in putting Romo back in after every medical professional on the sideline told him not to go back in.