I know Wade has been coaching for four decades but what in the world are we doing giving up such soft cushions to the receivers? I went back and watched the long pass to Gallup again - the one that took the ball down to the one yard line. It was first and twenty and, at the snap, we are giving the outside receivers a ten yard cushion. Johnson, playing safety in the deep, middle third is at the sticks, 20 yards deep. Gallup, on the top of the screen, runs a 12 yard out route (he's covered, not very good though, by Joyner). Peters, who is playing Cover 3 and has the deep third at the top of the screen, leaves his zone to cover Cooper who is wide open in the middle for a 12 yard completion. Johnson, who has the deep, middle third, has already backpedalled to the 17 yard line, 15 yards from Cooper and covering absolutely nobody. As Aikman pointed out on the replay, Peters should have stayed in his deep zone but watching it over, I understand what he saw. He thought Gallup was hooking up in the flats and was covered by Joyner so he left his zone to cover the wide-open Cooper (who I'm guessing was perceived to be the bigger threat). What Johnson is doing so far back is what has me puzzled. I understand not wanting to give up the big play over the top but that was ridiculous.
I'm glad that we figured out a way to finally stuff the run. I honestly think this was part of our problem: Donald was so intent on getting the sack record throughout the season that he was in pass-rush mode more often than he should have been. That opened up gaps to run through. Now that the regular season is over and the record is a thing of the past, he can focus on just doing his job which includes stopping the run and pass. I might be crazy thinking this, but it has crossed my mind.
As for our next opponent, I'd much rather play Philly as I think the Saints offense presents more of a challenge. I still don't trust our secondary. It seems like we can't go a game without a huge blown coverage or two and that could end up costing us the game. Still, I'm glad we are in position to have that to worry about;-)
