Defenses tend to take the sticks away on 3rd and long. I shake my head on gamedays when the armchair coaches on this board and in the stands are screaming about throwing underneath in that situation.The completion percentage and low interceptions are helped tremendously by the 1 and 2 yard passes on third and long. Ramsey really likes to make the safe, easy, and conservative pass. The kind that stall drives and lead to a change of possession.
I don't know if it's by design as part of the offense or if it's just Ramsey being Ramsey, but it's definitely a thing.
I don't need to be a coach on the sidelines or a fan in the stands to notice that.
For anyone who ever coached football, the concept is the same on every third down - take the best play available. Running to the sticks often means running right into tight coverage. That leaves two options - throw over the top (which requires time to throw and receivers getting some separation), or throwing short and giving the underneath receiver an opportunity to make the first down after the catch. If you are forced to check into that play, it helps to have a dynamic slot receiver or a back or a tight end who can make that play. We have done that some (and more often when we had a really good receiving tight end like Bolser, and more recently when Philyor was healthy) but not often enough. That's where we really miss a guy like Rondale Moore who can single-handedly get that play for you or draw extra coverage and get you another option. It is why I also very much prefer a QB who can really run like ARE or Kellen Lewis.
My bigger concern is that we get in that situation (3rd and 6+) far too often. I have thought for the last two years that our 2nd down play-calling has been a big problem. Good football teams have a lot of 3rd and short which makes a world of difference in terms of being able to stress a defense as opposed to being much more predictable. I especially hate our tendency to run wide or throw that wide-receiver bubble on 2nd down. If we had wideouts who were better blockers (a huge problem in my book ) it might be a better play.
I'm not saying Ramsey doesn't fail to see open receivers down the field on occasion, he certainly does. So do all quarterbacks. I think the bigger problem is that he is forced into that checkdown by circumstances more than he should be.