Jason Witten is killing the Running Game

[NJCowboy]

I went back to the Detroit and Denver game to see where we are sucking ...and what jumps out right off the bat is Jason Witten missed blocks...and I'm not talking about Sweeps and Veers his way ..I mean backside protection - Simple turnouts or roll blocks....He's not gettng it done.

Someone call Scott Galbraith to show him how to do it.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Vela said the same thing about the Denver game. Our tightends and fullback our killing our running game. Far more so than it seems our favoite whipping boys on the o-line that don't have the last name of "Allen".

 

[Maikeru-sama]

Hey, that's what happens when you only carry one Fullback on the roster and putting in rookie DEs to block on the goalline.

- Mike G.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I've noticed several running plays that were blown up just because Witten couldn't block his man. I really started noticing it in the Raider game. Witten was getting beat repeatedly at the line of scrimmage. IMO, there is no excuse for not being able to block when you are as big as Witten. He needs to work on this aspect of his game and spend time in drills, etc. with Campbell and become a proficient blocker.

 

[NJCowboy]

Moose is no fan of Polite - I can recall a few times against Denver and Detroit where he looked tentative about blowing a defender up.

As the FB he's gotta be a Ramhead..if he's not - he's useless - we may as well go out of the singleback....right?

 

[InDakWeTrust]

Moose is no fan of Polite - I can recall a few times against Denver and Detroit where he looked tentative about blowing a defender up.

As the FB he's gotta be a Ramhead..if he's not - he's useless - we may as well go out of the singleback....right?

FB is the only postion on the roster where you can get away with being 1-dimensional. Jamar Martin was cut because he wasnt a running or receiving threat. BP seems to believe in having a reliable pass catcher moreso than a bulldozer. I would rather have someone like Moose who shouldnt run the ball but rarely and use the FB to throw off the defense. Bring back Jamar. He can work at Wal-Mart when he retires!

 

[parcellsguys]

Witten is not a great blocker and neither is Polite. Witten just isn't powerful enough in his lower body and Polite just straight misses most of the time.

I think the Cowboys should run more plays where they start out with 2 WR's, 1 RB, and 2 TE. Then motion Witten out wide and run the ball from that set so the defenders are spread out at the snap of the ball. Play action should be more effective from this set also because it draws defenders in and allows the receivers to get deep, plus Bledsoe has the rocket arm to complete those passes.

Only if I was on the coaching staff, lol.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Our o-line may be our weakest area this year. Expect that to be upgraded this next offseason. We want to have a overpowering running game and that can't be done with what we currently have.

 

[Zman5]

FB is the only postion on the roster where you can get away with being 1-dimensional. Jamar Martin was cut because he wasnt a running or receiving threat. BP seems to believe in having a reliable pass catcher moreso than a bulldozer. I would rather have someone like Moose who shouldnt run the ball but rarely and use the FB to throw off the defense. Bring back Jamar. He can work at Wal-Mart when he retires!

Moose wasn't one dimentional. Because he was such a dominant blocker, people forget that he was a very good pass receiver and a descent short yardage runner.

 

[Everlastingxxx]

Eat more chicken.

 

[STSINAZ]

I've noticed several running plays that were blown up just because Witten couldn't block his man. I really started noticing it in the Raider game. Witten was getting beat repeatedly at the line of scrimmage. IMO, there is no excuse for not being able to block when you are as big as Witten. He needs to work on this aspect of his game and spend time in drills, etc. with Campbell and become a proficient blocker.

well to me that means he loses some time...if he cant block someone has to light a fire under his butt...it wont be for long...but this will work...

 

[Kevinicus]

They should go more 3-wide and spread the field more to open up lanes. There's no reason to think you have to have lots of TEs or a FB to have a strong running game. Put 3 wide, and not only does it spread the field, but puts in better Players. Crayton or Price is better than Polite. Two TE's are fine with Campbell in there. Just put Witten wide in those situations.

 

[Sasquatch]

Moose wasn't one dimentional. Because he was such a dominant blocker, people forget that he was a very good pass receiver and a descent short yardage runner.

Amen. Moose really spoiled us. He is one of the unsung heros of that era along with Marion, who after all this time we're still struggling to replace.

 

[dbair1967]

wow, now Jason Witten is at fault for the reason why 2,3 even sometimes 4 guys in the opposing teams front 7 are either unblocked or just drive right over our guy who's supposed to be blocking them...

there have been very few plays where Jaosn Witten's guy was responsible for blowing up our running game, however there are ALOT of examples of Tucker, Petitti, Johnson, Gurode or Rivera just getting run over or totally whiffing on their responsibilities

David

 

[burmafrd]

Polite and Witten have their share as well as the line. Vela at the Blog has documented the cases in the last couple of games. Showed 3 separate ones that JJ could have had big yds on but was nailed at the line due to whiffed blocks.
Bottom line is that there is NO RUN BLOCKING worth the name on the Cowboys now.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

wow, now Jason Witten is at fault for the reason why 2,3 even sometimes 4 guys in the opposing teams front 7 are either unblocked or just drive right over our guy who's supposed to be blocking them...

there have been very few plays where Jaosn Witten's guy was responsible for blowing up our running game, however there are ALOT of examples of Tucker, Petitti, Johnson, Gurode or Rivera just getting run over or totally whiffing on their responsibilities

David

David, me thinks you need to read the Vela article on the Denver game.

 

[TruBlueCowboy]

Novacek wasn't god's gift to blocking and no one could stop us from running the ball ten years ago. You make up for the weaknesses with other strengths.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Novacek wasn't god's gift to blocking and no one could stop us from running the ball ten years ago. You make up for the weaknesses with other strengths.

But TBC we had far better blocking FB back then too...

 

[Dallas4ever]

Novacek wasn't god's gift to blocking and no one could stop us from running the ball ten years ago. You make up for the weaknesses with other strengths.

You're right TBC, but we don't have a Moose or an allpro line like we had then. I think we're paying for not getting a true FB in here.

 

[JakeCamp12]

Campbell has missed his share of blocks this year as well. It is not just the plain misses that is killing the running game, it is that we are not holding the blocks for the correct length of time. We have lost alot of yardage this year on backside defensive ends making tackles in the backfield.