Sacks for Tennessee

Hopefully, most weeks there won't be so many sacks sacrificed by the offense that it will need its own post, but Sunday was truly remarkable in a bad way. Tony Romo was sacked a record 6 times and we must take a look at each sack to see what happened and how this team could face 3 solid pass rush teams in 3 weeks and only be beaten once, but then the entire floor can drop out of protection in the 4th week.

Keep in mind, without Hudson Houck or Jason Garrett sitting us down and pinning blame, we are left to speculation and best guests, and that is what I am doing. I get some of these wrong from time to time, but here is what I saw:

SACKS

Play # 7 - S11 - 3/10/O40 - SACK for Jones



What Happened: Let's start at the start, and we should have known it was going to be a rough day for the front when we saw this play. S11 is the personnel package, and the Titans are dropping 7 into coverage and only rushing 4. This should give Romo a chance to set his feet and survey the field, but Jason Jones - certainly a capable interior rusher - gets around Leonard Davis with embarrassing ease. Leonard is looking for help to the inside and Gurode is late there, too. Colombo is also not exactly dominating his battle with Hayes, but he is forcing him behind Romo with a simple step into the pocket. But, regardless of what anyone else does, if Leonard is going to get beat THAT badly, THAT quickly, nothing else matters.

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Play #14 - S11 3/8/O28 -6 SACK for Hope



What Happened: This one is a bit more complicated to figure out. Cowboys in 3rd and long again and that is a recipe for pinning the ears back to begin with. Also, the Titans roll with a Fire Zone blitz where they bring a safety from Romo's left, and drop the DE over Colombo into coverage on Romo's right. Then, they stunt the DE over Free to the opposite A gap (between Gurode and Davis). Hope is held off for a moment by Barber, but Romo rolls right into him when his primary target is covered. Sometimes, there isn't a clear bust on the play, just an overwhelming rush and nobody is open. Those times, a coach will say our QB has to get rid of it or eat it. Coverage Sack in my opinion.



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Play #15 - 21 1/10/D29 -5 SACK Sack for Babin



What Happened: This one is very straight forward and disappointing to those of us who think Marc Colombo is fully healthy and ready for Ray Edwards again. This is just the quickness of Jason Babin beating him on a very poor down. On 1st and 10 and in "21" personnel, the DE has no read on run/pass. This advantage should make Colombo's job much easier, but he is taking an angle that does not suggest he thinks Romo is in a 7 step drop or he just can't move with Babin. Seldom does he get beat like this, but he obviously lost this battle in a quick and decisive fashion.

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Play #21 - S12 1/10/O34 -9 SACK for Jones



What Happened: And here is the play that got Leonard Davis benched for all to see. The Titans are planning a delayed blitz from the LBs, but they never even have a chance to get started because Davis is schooled so quickly by Jason Jones again that the play was doomed from the snap. Anytime your lineman is completely turned and facing the QB chasing the guy he is supposed to be blocking, it is not hard to figure out who had the bust. This just continued an amazingly brutal day from the Right Side of the offensive line.

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Play #23 - S11 2/32/D44 -2 SACK for Babin



What Happened: OK. Pretty straight forward again. If you are defensive end and you have been beating a tackle to the edge with routine, what is the obvious 2nd move? Right. A spin back to the inside because you know Colombo is now cheating too far outside. Jason Babin is certainly enjoying his day, and you wonder if Colombo might have been yanked had it not been for no appropriate tackles on the bench to replace him with. Perhaps, Leonard Davis is getting too much blame for Sunday because the guy right next to him was pretty bad, too.



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Play #40 - S11 3/3/O18 -8 SACK for Brown



What Happened: This one will also make the coaches nuts because they kept 7 in and rolled Romo out . S11 again (see a trend here? The Cowboys are not a good shotgun team!) Max Protection as you have 7 to block. Romo likely has to take a little blame here, because at the NFL level, defenders are too fast and powerful to spend much time deciding where you want to go with the ball on a rollout. You have to make this happen quickly and in fairness to him, there is nowhere to go. But, it is difficult to blame the line here for much because you cannot hold off 6 rushers for very long on a rollout. The ball has to get out quickly, especially on 3rd and 3.

Season To Date Sacks
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The Rankings for the season in Sacks Allowed among the OL: Colombo 2, Davis 2, Coverage 2, Gurode 1

Sack #	Down/Dist	Personnel	Sacker	Blame
1/1	2/10/D45	12	McIntosh	Gurode
4/1	3/10/D40	S11	Jones	Davis
4/2	3/8/O28	S11	Hope	Coverage
4/3	1/10/D29	21	Babin	Colombo
4/4	1/10/O34	S12	Jones	Davis
4/5	2/32/D44	S11	Babin	Colombo
4/6	3/3/O18	S11	Brown	Coverage/Witten

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