I would like to chime in on Philo's throws as well. On his only pick in the north ez, he did have some zip on the ball, but if he had floated it, well, it may have been picked too, but probably by a different guy. It was a pretty tight window closing fast. Having watched it about 6 times on replay, IMHO the biggest reason for the drop was Singleton had his eyes on the defenders trying to adjust where he was going to squat for the throw. He just got them around a hair too late to pick up the ball in time. Had he put his eyes in the right place he probably snatches the ball out of the air no problem. It was second and 7 from the +9. Perhaps the biggest lesson is really about decision making and not so much about the amount of zip. An early throw to the flat to Stockton was a very safe option (and as high a chance of completion as you can get) which probably would have gotten us to the yard to gain and a fresh set of downs from the 2. I doubt it would have scored, but who knows? It also could have ended up 3rd and 1. Often, young talented QBs think they can can make every play. He nearly made this one. The cost of not making it was catastrophic. The entire outcome of the game was strongly influenced by that single decision. He will learn and grow.
Were the deep balls under-thrown? Yes, but not grossly so. I will reserve judgement about those throws given the conditions he was playing in. Deep shots with air under them in swirling gusty wind conditions are about as unpredictable as they can get. Don't read too much into it. It's tough on receivers too, trying to make adjustments on a ball whose trajectory isn't steady. With that said, there were nearly a handful of contested deep shots where our guys had the clear advantage on the defender. We need to come down with a higher percentage of those. We need to high point the football and use our hands and bodies better than we are. In the end though, it's better to give receivers a chance, than have have the ball landing on turf 3 yards ahead of the target.
The outcome of this game could have been much more to our satisfaction had these plays been made.
