You know how in the NBA, if a guy has five fouls and he’s defending a player that has gotten position on him deep in the post, he’ll give sort of a half-hearted swat at the ball, but will otherwise just let his opponent have the dunk so he doesn’t foul out of the game? That’s essentially what Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie did last night as Cowboys WR Miles Austin ran right by him for a game-tying TD earliy in the 4th quarter last night.
From the Eagles’ 28 yard line, the Cowboys ran a 10 yard slant to Austin, which they easily completed against what looked like zone coverage by the Eagles. The player circled in yellow is Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. The blurry guy on the left circled in blue is Nate Allen.
By law, I’m required to show an Eagles safety missing a tackle in every film breakdown, so let’s get that out of the way. There goes Nate, ankle diving, and whiffing on the tackle: