I actually remember commenting to my wife that Heimerdinger didn't call very much play action. Whatever his otehr deficeincies Hackett had, he certainly took advantage of Pennington's play-action ability far better than Heimerdinger did. If Chad comes back, I expect to see lots of play action once again. I don't know if they'll restore that sell-out fake, but it was a damn cool play.
What, the 2004 O-line was better than the 2002 one, so protection wasn't the reason. He only played what, 3 games in 2005? You can't blame the line. What was the point of it anyway? Playfake to....dump off pass? You can make the dump off without the playfake. Playfakes rarely work against elite defenses, and elite defenses are the ones that stop the run and recover on whatever mistakes they do make. At some point, you're going to have to power in passes in really tight coverage. You can't rely on the defenses blowing coverages or making big mistakes. The best QBs are those that have the intelligence to see opportunities, and the ability to execute when you have to make a great play. I question Chad's execution abilities.