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DeAngelo Hall Is A Ballhawk
This wasn’t Wade Phillips’ or Jason Garrett’s fault. Tony Romo is at least as much to blame for the outcome of the play as Tashard Choice. There is nothing wrong with trying to take a shot down field as time is expiring in a half. It should be done more often. If there is nothing there though, throw it away or take a knee then. No harm done.But with three seconds left in the first half against Washington, when Tony Romo dropped back, presumably to take a shot at a big play, none of those things happened. He started to scramble and got so scared about taking a hit that he flipped the ball to Tashard Choice as if he was running the option. “Go down!” Choice panicked. Touchdown DeAngelo Hall. Redskins go on to defeat the favored Cowboys.
The play call was fine if the goal was to go deep. The execution was atrocious. Hail Mary’s are the way to go. Screens, shovel passes (see Texas in BCS National Championship), draws and whatever Romo tried to pull off are where that goes wrong because the plays are not designed to pick up many yards and happen so close to the line of scrimmage that defensive players don’t have to beat anyone to the endzone if they turn the ball over.Washington Redskins defensive back DeAngelo Hall joined Michael Irvin on WQAM in Miami to discuss his touchdown in the last seconds of the first half against Dallas, the defense that was called on that play, the leadership of Donovan McNabb, not noticing that Albert Haynesworth was separating himself from the defense during team meetings on the sidelines and winning his first division game since joining the team.
On scoring the touchdown against Dallas:
“I’m a ballhawk, Mike. I always have been. I had a similar play when I was at Virginia Tech against Miami. Roscoe Parrish was running the sweep. I was able to track him down, had him corralled and was able to strip the ball. The same situation with Tashard Choice. I saw a bunch of guys coming towards him to rat pack him. I made the first contact and immediately I felt my hands on the ball. From that point on, I wasn’t worried about the tackle. I was just trying to get the ball out. I didn’t even really notice what amount of time was on the clock. Those guys were driving the whole game. I never really even acknowledged the clock throughout the whole game. I was able to get my hands on the ball and make a big play.”
On how they were planning on defending play with three seconds left in the half:
“We were in a deep zone coverage. I was able to get a read on Tony (Romo) the whole course of the play. I had my guy pretty much covered. I saw him coming out of the pocket. As soon as he started to flip, I started coming down hill.”
On what Donovan McNabb means to the team:
“He’s a proven leader. He’s a guy who just goes out there and works and works. Us winning that game is a testament to him. He came in here with the attitude and the mindset that we’re not going to be the same old Redskins.”
On Albert Haynesworth not participating in on-field defensive meetings:
“I didn’t notice. I’m worried about trying to make adjustments on the sideline, trying to figure out what the Cowboys are trying to do us and trying to make those corrections. I didn’t really notice him not being around. I haven’t watched the TV copy or anything. I haven’t had the chance to see it. If it’s a problem, let’s just leave it to this team. Will just nip it in the bud.”
On how big of a win that was with the new-look Redskins:
“It was huge. It was huge Mike. I’ve been a Redskin. I grew up a Redskins fan. But I’ve been a Redskin now for about a year and a half. I hadn’t beaten the Cowboys. I hadn’t won a division game. For me this is huge. For the organization, it’s huge for us to take down one of the top dogs in the division for the last several years… This gives us the confidence to go out there and beat anybody. The Cowboys were picked by a lot of people to go out and make the Super Bowl. We were picked to be the bottom of the barrel team. For us to come out against a team like that, as ugly as it was, to get the win, that’s all that matters. It just shows everybody that no matter what you do, don’t count us out. We’re going to play Mike Shanahan football for four quarters.”
And on if the Redskins thought that Romo threw short passes because had no confidence in his offensive line:
“We did. We did. But at the same time, we know how elusive Tony is. You might send four guys and he can still prolong play as he did on that last play when we got that holding call. Regardless, if we think they are going for the short quick plays, that could easily turn into a scramble drill where he goes behind us.”
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