Originally Posted by
psuasskicker
I'm hearing a lot how it was Reed's fault how open Smith was on that final play, and I'm frankly not buying it.
Reed bit on the underneath route cause it made more sense for Delhomme to be throwing that. Move the chains, don't take the high risk play. He bit wrong, that happens sometimes.
But as a corner, you can't just let your guy get so wide open that you're eating his dust all the way to the end zone. Rolle got burned about as badly as you'll ever see a CB get burned. He may think there's going to be safety help over the top, but he's GOT to keep with his man to at least be able to tackle him if the pass gets completed.
The argument that it's Reed's fault basically implies that Rolle had shut down the other side if Smith cuts up or to the left, and Reed biting up front allowed Smith to go across the middle and that's the only reason he was open. That's BS. Delhomme could have thrown it anywhere on the field and Smith would have been open. Rolle got toasted. Reed biting was a problem, but Rolle's gotta stay at least in the vicinity of his man.
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