Terrell Owens is one of those rare athletes that plays faster than he actually is. Call it "a second gear," call it "game speed," call it "ludicrous speed." Whatever you call it, T.O.'s got it and he used it last Sunday.
Anatomy of a Play
Anatomy of a Play extras:
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**Witten helps spring big play**
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**Added protection for Romo**
It was second-and-8 at Dallas' 43 yard line, early in the fourth quarter. Owens was called on to run an intermediate in-breaking route. The key to running the route against a Cover 3 defense, with a single deep safety, is to round off the break and run what is called a "speed cut," attempting to maintain as much speed as possible through the turn -- like a stock car making a left.
The quarterback should throw the ball as the receiver makes his cut, leading him into the middle of the field where there is the biggest void in the coverage. The speed of the route and the timing of the throw are critical in order to beat the deep safety, who is in a position to make a hit on the receiver if the route is slow or the timing is off.
Tony Romo threw the ball with precise timing and accuracy, hitting Owens in stride and letting him take care of the rest. The route and throw were excellent and T.O.'s speed was impressive.
After exploding off the ball at full speed to threaten the corner deep, Owens rounded his in-cut at 70 percent, caught the ball at 90 percent and burst back to 100 percent between two defenders, galloping to a 57-yard touchdown. It was quite simply a jaw-dropping display of athleticism, showcasing the skill set of one of the greatest receivers in the NFL.
But there's more to appreciate on this play.
Romo learned his lesson the week before when in the loss to Washington he threw a costly third-quarter interception against a disguised coverage. On that play, Romo faked a handoff, and turned his back to the defense. When he came off the fake he was a bit too careless in not reconfirming the coverage he'd seen before the fake, which the Redskins had changed. The result was an interception.
Against Cincinnati, Romo and the Cowboys were in another close game and it was another critical situation. The call was again play action, with Romo turning his back to the defense. Again, the defense changed during the play fake. The Bengals brought a zone blitz, dropping a defensive end into an underneath zone and rotating to Cover 3.
This time Romo made sure to be more careful. After the fake to Marion Barber he got his head around quicker and recognized the change in the defense. He read the single high coverage and saw the void in the middle for Owens.
The speed with which Romo processes information gets faster and faster with every game he plays; in just 31 career starts he has become one of the fastest readers of coverage in the NFL. When you team that with one of the fastest receivers in the game, the result is what you saw last Sunday.
