I used to get frustrated with Boomer Esiason when he was on Monday Night football for always talking about this. There are countless times during a game when the WR catches the ball short of the first down and then picks up a few RAC yds to get the first that go unnoticed. My opinion is that the offensive coordinator needs to call a play that gives the QB a couple of choices (depending on how the D reacts) to make a play for the first. Usually, if the QB gets the ball to the WR quick enough, the WR can get a few extra yds for the first. If the QB holds the ball too long sometimes waiting for the (possibly) secondary WR to get past the first down line, bad things tend to happen. For instance, if Jimbo calls a pass play on 3rd & 10 that has Clayton as the primary WR, running a quick slant and Devery as the secondary WR running a 10-yd out (or a deep post), I have no problem with Mauck hitting Clayton in stride for about 7-8 yds and hoping Clayton can do the rest (if he's open) rather than waiting to see if Devery gets open and then having to throw the ball away if he's not. I'd like to hear both sides of the argument if anyone has an opinion on this.
