Jason Witten Shouldn't Play

[Doomsday101]

This...it's pretty darn simple

Yep. It is a big game vs a divisional opponent and those game count for a lot. If he is cleared to play then we need him out there if he can't go then he can't go.

 

[honyock]

Frankly, I'm going to base it on how many cats I see on my walk to work. If I see a divisible number of cats, he should play. If I see a prime number of cats, he shouldn't play.

And if I see no cats, we should IR Witten and trade all our draft picks for Scott Chandler.

Here's hoping you see four cats on your way to work.

 

[baj1dallas]

No, we should base it on how many wrinkled lines are on your left palm.

Frankly, I'm going to base it on how many cats I see on my walk to work. If I see a divisible number of cats, he should play. If I see a prime number of cats, he shouldn't play.

And if I see no cats, we should IR Witten and trade all our draft picks for Scott Chandler.

I believe Belichick decided to give Tom Brady the ball based on the number of cats he saw on his way into work one morning, so it will probably work for us as well.

 

[Hoofbite]

I disagree in saying this game isn't all that important.

I think this is the type of game the team needs to win in order to build confidence and mature as a group. If they lose, I think they will struggle to find an identity and will be in a dog fight each and every week.

Not only that but I think like 32% of the playoffs teams over the last 10 years have lost on opening weekend and then went on to make the playoffs.

 

[The Emperor]

I believe Belichick decided to give Tom Brady the ball based on the number of cats he saw on his way into work one morning, so it will probably work for us as well.

We cannot, as reasonable men, accept those results as valid, because he also filmed said cats. If he would have only taken a picture of them, like Wade Phillips did when deciding whether to start Doug Flutie or Rob Johnson, then we could accept them as valid.

 

[The Emperor]

I disagree in saying this game isn't all that important.

I think this is the type of game the team needs to win in order to build confidence and mature as a group. If they lose, I think they will struggle to find an identity and will be in a dog fight each and every week.

Not only that but I think like 32% of the playoffs teams over the last 10 years have lost on opening weekend and then went on to make the playoffs.

I get that. RAGE was saying that today, but we'll also have 15 other games to build our identity.

If we lose Wednesday night, it all depends on how we lose. If we battle it out and fight, we'll recover. If we blow it on a stupid play at the end of the game, your "dog fight" scenario is probable.

We need to come out and show we're not the same ol' Cowboys, and you can do that without necessarily winning (even though I so want to go 1-0 by Thursday).

 

[CowboyMcCoy]

I get that. RAGE was saying that today, but we'll also have 15 other games to build our identity.

If we lose Wednesday night, it all depends on how we lose. If we battle it out and fight, we'll recover. If we blow it on a stupid play at the end of the game, your "dog fight" scenario is probable.

We need to come out and show we're not the same ol' Cowboys, and you can do that without necessarily winning (even though I so want to go 1-0 by Thursday).

We need to show we can win without Witten or any other single player for that matter. If Witten doesn't play and the teams steps up, that says more than anything about this team.

 

[skinsscalper]

The media, the fans, and the organizations have built this Week 1 matchup into sort of a playoff game. The fact is it's Week 1 of the regular season. There's no playoff positioning on the line.

I'm typically in step with most of your posts, but this is one philosophy that I refuse to get behind. I'm so sick of this bull**** line of thinking. How much would one more win have been worth last season? I know one thing, the Ginas wouldn't have been in the Super Bowl hunt.

It's a 16 game season. EVERY FREAKING GAME has playoff positioning on the line. Holy **** how many near misses does this team have to have for fans to figure that one simple concept out?

 

[CowboyMcCoy]

That's not "wussy loser." It's tactical and logical compared to the bar-brawling miscreant reaction that either gets one in jail or in bed with a fat girl at closing time.

Witten's services are at a greater value later rather than now. We do have an accord: if he can play, if he's cleared to play by the doctors, then he should play. But if there's any ambivalence, he should sit.

:laugh2:

 

[The Emperor]

I'm typically in step with most of your posts, but this is one philosophy that I refuse to get behind. I'm so sick of this bull**** line of thinking. How much would one more win have been worth last season? I know one thing, the Ginas wouldn't have been in the Super Bowl hunt.

It's a 16 game season. EVERY FREAKING GAME has playoff positioning on the line. Holy **** how many near misses does this team have to have for fans to figure that one simple concept out?

A win over the Giants at any point in December would have been more beneficial than a win over the Jets or Lions.

It's how you finish, not how you start. Yeah, you want to start well, but you want to finish great.

I hope the doctors make the right decision for Witten and our season tomorrow.

 

[skinsscalper]

A win over the Giants at any point in December would have been more beneficial than a win over the Jets or Lions.

It's how you finish, not how you start. Yeah, you want to start well, but you want to finish great.

I hope the doctors make the right decision for Witten and our season tomorrow.

Yet a win over the Jets or Lions would have sealed the deal when it was all said and done.

 

[The Emperor]

Yet a win over the Jets or Lions would have sealed the deal when it was all said and done.

No, it wouldn't have. 9-7 would have had us out of the playoffs because the Giants held the tiebreaker.

All of the wins we needed to make the playoffs last season were there in December for the taking. It's not like 2010 where a string of losses early on cost us.

 

[skinsscalper]

No, it wouldn't have. 9-7 would have had us out of the playoffs because the Giants held the tiebreaker.

All of the wins we needed to make the playoffs last season were there in December for the taking. It's not like 2010 where a string of losses early on cost us.

The point is: ANY LOSS COSTS YOU.

 

[Red Dragon]

The point is: ANY LOSS COSTS YOU.

True, but this is a little bit similar to my complaint about how the term "must-win" is often overused by sports fans. Technically, no game is a "must-win" unless it is a game which, if it were to result in a loss or tie, would eliminate one's team from playoff contention.


(I know you're not claiming that, but just saying.)




But it's certainly true that a divisional loss early on in the season can ultimately sink a team's playoff hopes. The 2005 season, where the Cowboys surrendered two deep Brunell-to-Moss touchdowns and lost to the Commanders 14-13............that season, the reason the Cowboys failed to get a wild card playoff berth was arguably because of one play: The Cowboys failed to prevent a deep touchdown on 4th down in that Commanders game. Sure, the Cowboys also lost to Seattle, Denver, the Giants, etc. But I think that one Commanders loss did far more damage than the other defeats.

 

[Cowboy_Shawn]

Sorry but the NFL regular season is a sprint too..its not 162 like MLB, or the NBA.

Exactly. If he's medically cleared to play he should play.

As we all know, parity reigns supreme in the NFL. Most of the teams in the league will finish with anywhere between 6 to 9 wins.

I'd argue that every game counts. Otherwise you run the risk of missing out on the playoffs due to tie breakers. When it comes to tiebreakers a loss to the Giants has double the impact because it counts as a division loss and a conference loss.

 

[cowboys2233]

if there is any risk at all that he could undue the healing he should not play

All too often players rush back and re injure themselves

If there is any risk at all, the doctors won't clear him to play.

If he is fully healed, the doctors will clear him to play and he should. Why is this even debatable?

 

[bud42]

I concur, it's a long season.

 

[aikemirv]

If he is ok, let him play. If 1.5 weeks of rest makes his spleen stronger than it will be tomorrow night, rest him.

I am not trying to discredit anything Witten does for the offense because it is a lot but I like Phillips for a 1 game fill in and I think Romo has the comfort with him to use him a lot like Witten. It may open up the middle of the field a bit more for Phillips and the RB's for one game and we may not notice a difference.