DMN JJT Blog: Romo is throwing the ball more to Miles Austin than he did T.O.

[Doomsday101]

At this point in both players careers he is just better than TO.

He is also better in a timing based Offense too. Its probably because its the only offense he has ever known as a Pro.

Austin is one of the more unique players in the league. Hes not your everyday Pro Bowl receiver. He is a dynamic player.

Given the fact Austin has only started 7 games he is on the verge of having a better season than any season TO put up in Dallas. With a lot less mouth and distraction

 

[Maikeru-sama]

Yep.

Miles Austin possibly turned our season around with his performance in Kansas City.

Terrell Owens is washed up.

At this point, Terrell Owens could definitely contribute to any team but the time has finally arrived where the baggage far outweighs what he brings to the table on the field.

However, if Austin has anywhere near the career Terrell Owens had, he will be in the Ring of Honor and the Hall of Fame.

 

[Doomsday101]

Yep.

Miles Austin possibly turned our season around with his performance in Kansas City.

Terrell Owens is washed up.

At this point, Terrell Owens could definitely contribute to any team but the time has finally arrived where the baggage far outweighs what he brings to the table on the field.

However, if Austin has anywhere near the career Terrell Owens had, he will be in the Ring of Honor and the Hall of Fame.

I agree. Good thing about Austin is he is also a hard worker as TO is, Austin just does not seek the constant attention that TO seems to need.

 

[Maikeru-sama]

I agree. Good thing about Austin is he is also a hard worker as TO is, Austin just does not seek the constant attention that TO seems to need.

True.

But to play Devil's Advocate for a moment, Terrell Owens was an extremely humble and even quiet guy in San Francisco until he finally started to blow up and the alter ego T.O. took over.

Many believe that he evolved into T.O. because he saw Jerry Rice doing some of the same things on the side line.

Not saying Miles Austin may change as he continues to have success but right now, it is all new to him and he is just taking it all in. As he continues to put up numbers, he will want more money and "could" exhibit behavior that is very common to Wide Receivers.

But then again, he may continue to remain humble, hungry and maintain a strong work ethic.

He definitely has guys in the locker room like Demarcus Ware and Jason Witten to look up too.

 

[Ken]

Given the fact Austin has only started 7 games he is on the verge of having a better season than any season TO put up in Dallas. With a lot less mouth and distraction

He really has started 10 games...NFL.com doesn't credit him for 3 games he started because I guess we started in a double te formation.

He clearly 'started' those games though...

 

[Doomsday101]

True.

But to play Devil's Advocate for a moment, Terrell Owens was an extremely humble and even quiet guy in San Francisco until he finally started to blow up and the alter ego T.O. took over.

Many believe that he evolved into T.O. because he saw Jerry Rice doing some of the same things on the side line.

Not saying Miles Austin may change as he continues to have success but right now, it is all new to him and he is just taking it all in. As he continues to put up numbers, he will want more money and "could" exhibit behavior that is very common to Wide Receivers.

But then again, he may continue to remain humble, hungry and maintain a strong work ethic.

He definitely has guys in the locker room like Demarcus Ware and Jason Witten to look up too.

I think TO issues growing up helped develop him into the person he is. I think Austin coming from a more stable back ground is why he is the way he is. I really do not see Miles changing that much in terms of becoming a headcase.

 

[Doomsday101]

He really has started 10 games...NFL.com doesn't credit him for 3 games he started because I guess we started in a double te formation.

He clearly 'started' those games though...

That is true even though he may not have started 3 of the game he saw ample playing time as much as he would had he officially started. Still given the limited time he saw at the start of the season to produce the numbers he has and continues to do is amazing

 

[Danny White]

You can tell that Tony really trusts Austin to catch the ball.

I was rewatching the Saints game last night, and there was a key play in the first drive to open the second half. It was 3rd and 5 and Tony has to scramble around a bit to avoid the rush.

He looks downfield and there are two receivers open, one is Austin who's about 5 yards past the first down line and the other is Kevin Ogletree who's about 10 yards past the first down marker.

The throw to Ogletree seems like a much easier throw from how Tony is set up, he's also wide open and it really looks like O-Tree might have an opportunity to score or get about 20-30 YAC. But Romo looks him off and instead makes a much more difficult, across the body throw to Austin, who get the first but it tackled pretty quickly.

Anyway, not really criticizing Romo here, it was just an interesting example of how much more he must trust Austin to actually make the catch.

 

[Reality]

Articles like this are pointless because it doesn't take into consideration several other factors.

For example, how many times is Romo throwing the ball in games with Austin starting this year compared to the T.O. years? Are the Cowboys having to throw more because they started slow in many games and had to play catch up?

A more accurate comparison would be the percentage of his passes thrown to T.O. versus a percentage of his passes thrown to Austin.

It is quite possible that his claim would still be backed up, but it would come across a lot more factual and realistic if he used a more scalable comparison.

-Reality

 

[FLcowboy]

He also throws to Austin more because teams aren't gearing their game plans toward stopping Austin.

The idea is that you throw to the open receiver. Last year, Owens wasn't able to get open consistently because of the way teams were doubling him. Yet, he still demanded that Dallas get him the ball. That was the problem.

There have been times that Austin has been doubled and Romo hasn't been able to get him the ball. The difference is that Austin doesn't complain about it.

Per PFF, Austin has a catch percentage of 63.7 %
T.O 's percentage is 51 and change. Last year, T.O. was under 50%

 

[khiladi]

Articles like this are stupid. When teams started doubling Miles Austin, the offense was essentially going nowhere as well. The Cowboys had success this year because Garrett adjusted in the game against the Saints. Garrett was a totally clueless last year and he was this year as well, until last game where he actually called the majority of snaps not in shot-gun and started to run the ball, opening things up. Plays where Romo forced it to TO were out of the shot-gun formation as well. Garrett was the main culprit behind the offensive stagnation and not TO, and everybody's numbers were dropping last year. The only thing TO could be called out for was his mouth.

 

[zrinkill]

Articles like this are stupid and so are comparisons. When teams started doubling Miles Austin, the offense was essentially going nowhere as well. Garrett was a totally clueless last year and he was this year as well, until last game where he actually called the majority of snaps not in shot-gun and started to run the ball, opening things up.Garrett was the main culprit behind the offensive stagnation and not TO, and everybody's numbers were dropping last year, not just TOs.

I do not agree

 

[zeroburrito]

Yep.

Miles Austin possibly turned our season around with his performance in Kansas City.

Terrell Owens is washed up.

At this point, Terrell Owens could definitely contribute to any team but the time has finally arrived where the baggage far outweighs what he brings to the table on the field.

However, if Austin has anywhere near the career Terrell Owens had, he will be in the Ring of Honor and the Hall of Fame.

if i had anywhere near the career owens had i would also be in the hall of fame.

 

[BourbonBalz]

Jean Jacques forgets that Romo throws to Austin because he catches the ball

And I'll bet Austin isn't bugging the **** out of Romo to get him the ball. Austin just catches what's thrown his way without campaigning for the ball all the time.

 

[Doomsday101]

if i had anywhere near the career owens had i would also be in the hall of fame.

But would you be on your 4th NFL team? :laugh2:

 

[wileedog]

And Austin is usually open.

This is the point. Romo may be targeting Austin more than TO, but I have yet to see Romo really force one to him that wasn't open. Something he had to do routinely with TO, especially early in games.

And it shows in Romo's INT count this year too.

 

[RS12]

Maybe that because Miles pretty much catches whatever comes his way. Besides eroding skills TOs hands were suspect plenty of the time.

 

[CowboyMort]

In fairness, JJT did say that Miles is producing more than TO did last year... not sure how y'all missed that.

JJT is pointing out the obvious. Stats show that Austin is out producing TO. The point of the article is that Austin is targeted more than TO. I think that some of that has to do with the fact that at least a little bit of the QB's thinking has to be that is this guy going to drop the ball when I throw it to him? If the answer is yes then if there is another guy open as well, he may go to him instead.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

Has anyone else noticed Austin's excellent route running? Coach Sherman has done a great job with him. For a big WR (6'3, 220) he's quick and precise on his routes, great to see. I think Olgetree is following down the same path.

I'm starting to think Hurd is a JAG, but he's a good special teams contributor.

 

[Angus]

Is this really the best JJT can come up with at this point in the season?

Well, he's just doing his job: trying to stir up dissension.