ESPN MacMahon: Witten shows 'afterburner stuff'

[WoodysGirl]

Dec 28
12:45
PM CT

By Tim MacMahon


IRVING, Texas -- Jason Witten might be the best all-around tight end in football, but the one thing he isn't known for is running after the catch.

Which made his career-long 69-yard reception against the Washington Commanders even more fun to watch.

Witten got wide open on a short route against free safety LaRon Landry, who was in man coverage, and simply took off upfield. Landry never gained ground on the 6-5, 260-pound Witten.

"Hey, I didn’t know you had that kind of speed!" Jerry Jones hollered to Witten in the locker room. "That was afterburner stuff!"

Witten smiled and replied, "Don't count me out."

For the first 10 games of the season, Witten wasn't much of a big-play threat. That's changed as defenses have been forced to scheme to slow down Miles Austin. Witten, who has seen a lot more man coverage lately, has three 100-yard games in the last five weeks.

 

[tomson75]

See sig.

 

[Four]

he did look fast as lightning on that play, I was impressed.

best TE in the game, not even close.

 

[RainMan]

But . . . but . . . I thought Miles didn't dictate coverage the way, ahem, some receivers do?

 

[NextGenBoys]

Dec 28
12:45
PM CT

By Tim MacMahon


IRVING, Texas -- Jason Witten might be the best all-around tight end in football, but the one thing he isn't known for is running after the catch.

Which made his career-long 69-yard reception against the Washington Commanders even more fun to watch.

Witten got wide open on a short route against free safety LaRon Landry, who was in man coverage, and simply took off upfield. Landry never gained ground on the 6-5, 260-pound Witten.

"Hey, I didn’t know you had that kind of speed!" Jerry Jones hollered to Witten in the locker room. "That was afterburner stuff!"

Witten smiled and replied, "Don't count me out."

For the first 10 games of the season, Witten wasn't much of a big-play threat. That's changed as defenses have been forced to scheme to slow down Miles Austin. Witten, who has seen a lot more man coverage lately, has three 100-yard games in the last five weeks.

Oh the evolution of an offense.

That Jason Garrett fellow is pretty crappy.

 

[Idgit]

See sig.

Weird. I'd always liked that sig, but never looked at it closely. I thought it was Romo.

 

[Eskimo]

Oh the evolution of an offense.

That Jason Garrett fellow is pretty crappy.

He still only managed to put up 17 points against a Skins D that the Giants absolutely shredded 6 days earlier. I wasn't too impressed.

The defense was great. Kudos to Wade for pitching a shutout with his guys. We are only dynamic ILB from going to another level, IMO. Someone like Farrior from Pittsburgh would be nice. I'd like a guy who is great in coverage, good run defender and decent blitzer. If such a player is on the board, I'd invest a first rounder there. It is too bad we haven't gotten to see much of JWill this year.

 

[tomson75]

Weird. I'd always liked that sig, but never looked at it closely. I thought it was Romo.

I can see how you could skim over it and think that.

I've been meaning to change the caption...."Ruler" is nice, but "Believe" has a nice ring to it these days.

Us brain dead shills need a badge of honor/shame too...

 

[NextGenBoys]

He still only managed to put up 17 points against a Skins D that the Giants absolutely shredded 6 days earlier. I wasn't too impressed.

The defense was great. Kudos to Wade for pitching a shutout with his guys. We are only dynamic ILB from going to another level, IMO. Someone like Farrior from Pittsburgh would be nice. I'd like a guy who is great in coverage, good run defender and decent blitzer. If such a player is on the board, I'd invest a first rounder there. It is too bad we haven't gotten to see much of JWill this year.

You wont hear me defending the offense for their performance last game. They left too many points on the field, but I cant blame Jason Garrett for dropped passes and not being able to gain a foot on several occasions.

But there's no question the offense needs to play better or we're in trouble against good teams.

 

[Idgit]

I can see how you could skim over it and think that.

I've been meaning to change the caption...."Ruler" is nice, but "Believe" has a nice ring to it these days.

Us brain dead shills need a badge of honor/shame too...

There are a lot more of us shills around all of a sudden. It's really awesome how much better every player on the team has gotten all of a sudden.

'Believe' is a fitting caption for the sig. If we somehow end up with the 2 seed, I'm going to really get freaked out over here.

 

[Idgit]

You wont hear me defending the offense for their performance last game. They left too many points on the field, but I cant blame Jason Garrett for dropped passes and not being able to gain a foot on several occasions.

But there's no question the offense needs to play better or we're in trouble against good teams.

Obviously, we want to improve wherever we can, and we clearly can on offense, but 17 points will beat quite a few good teams in the NFC the way our defense is playing right now. Can you imagine how we'd roll if we could actually score on defense?

 

[marchetta]

After watching the catch and run, I thought I might have to stop calling him Turtle. Then he got caught short of the goalline, so the name sticks!

 

[RainMan]

He still only managed to put up 17 points against a Skins D that the Giants absolutely shredded 6 days earlier. I wasn't too impressed.

The defense was great. Kudos to Wade for pitching a shutout with his guys. We are only dynamic ILB from going to another level, IMO. Someone like Farrior from Pittsburgh would be nice. I'd like a guy who is great in coverage, good run defender and decent blitzer. If such a player is on the board, I'd invest a first rounder there. It is too bad we haven't gotten to see much of JWill this year.

Agreed that the offense must produce more points, but I don't necessarily hang it on Garrett. Yeah, I think there are things here and there he must improve upon -- such as his short-yardage play calling. But I do think that the majority of the time he puts our players in position to make a play -- there were a ton of drops and several bad short-yardage situations that limited us to just 17 points.

By and large, I think Garrett is doing a pretty fine game, especially ever since he's been getting Felix more involved (if only he'd slice Barber's carries in half to get Choice more involved). There haven't been many times where I felt our offense was simply outcoached.

 

[NextGenBoys]

Obviously, we want to improve wherever we can, and we clearly can on offense, but 17 points will beat quite a few good teams in the NFC the way our defense is playing right now. Can you imagine how we'd roll if we could actually score on defense?

I'm not trying to take anything away fromt he defense, because they're playing out of their minds.

That being said, the Commanders have a terrible offense. 17 points wasn't enough to beat San Diego with a similar performance on offense.

It must be fixed immediately.

 

[InmanRoshi]

He still only managed to put up 17 points against a Skins D that the Giants absolutely shredded 6 days earlier. I wasn't too impressed.

The defense was great. Kudos to Wade for pitching a shutout with his guys. We are only dynamic ILB from going to another level, IMO. Someone like Farrior from Pittsburgh would be nice. I'd like a guy who is great in coverage, good run defender and decent blitzer. If such a player is on the board, I'd invest a first rounder there. It is too bad we haven't gotten to see much of JWill this year.

I think the inability to get any resemblence of a pass rush from either Spears or Igor is a much bigger liability than our ILBs. If we had even a 6 sack caliber guy like Aaron Smith or Richard Seymore at one of our DE spots this defense goes from very good to great. We don't have to blitz so much from the ILBs that leaves us susceptible to vacating the middle of the field.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

I don't want to jinx Witten but this is the healthiest he's been in a while. He's a beast.

 

[Zman5]

I think the inability to get any resemblence of a pass rush from either Spears or Igor is a much bigger liability than our ILBs. If we had even a 6 sack caliber guy like Aaron Smith or Richard Seymore at one of our DE spots this defense goes from very good to great. We don't have to blitz so much from the ILBs that leaves us susceptible to vacating the middle of the field.

I think in Wade's scheme the DE's are asked to be more of the space eaters/run stoppers more so then pass rushers and the NT and the LBs are used to rush the passers.

 

[Future]

I think in Wade's scheme the DE's are asked to be more of the space eaters/run stoppers more so then pass rushers and the NT and the LBs are used to rush the passers.

That's true for every 3-4. And the only reason Wade uses an NT as a pass-rusher is that he has one of the best in the game. Otherwise 3-4 pressure is suppsoed to come from the outside unless there is a blitz/stunt.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

That's true for every 3-4. And the only reason Wade uses an NT as a pass-rusher is that he has one of the best in the game. Otherwise 3-4 pressure is suppsoed to come from the outside unless there is a blitz/stunt.

True to a point. Bill Parcells didn't want his defensive lineman to go after the QB, only to hold the point of attack. Wade wants them penetrating and disrupting the backfield if they can get through. It's a fundamental difference in Wade's attacking style one gap 3-4 versus the Parcells 2 gap version.

 

[JBell]

I wish I could find the quote, but I remember Antonio Pierce saying Witten was the toughest guy he's ever had to cover because he's so big and deciptively fast.

Laron Landry is a 4.3 guy and couldn't hawk him.


J-Wit isn't the most agile guy but he has really good straight line speed.