Not a popular thread... Witten's performance

[sportsman]

Let me first say I am not saying Witten is washed up. His performance Sunday made me think. Will he know when to leave the game? It would be hard for Jerry to cut him at some point. I don't want him to hang around as a folk hero like Randy White did. Hopefully that want be for several years from now.

 

[Jay]

I've got a feeling with his fighter's mentality, he probably won't know when to hang them up. He's still young though, but also came into the league young.

Let's see how he responds. Knowing Witten, he's more pissed at himself than all of us combined. Watching the tape this week must have killed him inside.

Let's just see how he responds. If he continues dropping passes? Well.. I think it's obvious what should be done.

 

[Mansta54]

Dude just had a bad game, it doesn't happen often. He'll be fine, he's got much game in him. He's the least of our worries.

 

[fifaguy]

Hard to say if he is "in decline" or that early hit or two to that injured area shook him...

But that was a baddddddddd game, especially by his standard. Let's see how he does the rest of the season before we discuss his retirement plan though.

Just curious (for anyone that counted all of them), how many drops did he have in the game? 4?

 

[punchnjudy]

Only thing I'm questioning is whether he should have been playing instead of recovering those first two weeks, but anyhow that's not on him. A warrior like him is always going to go out there if the coaching/medical staff lets him.

 

[Future]

I think it was probably a combination of being tight/nervous and being rusty...the guy hasn't played much football recently.

What's encouraging was that he's still able to move well enough to get open. He should be the least of our concerns right now.

 

[dalexa1824]

Dude just had a bad game, it doesn't happen often. He'll be fine, he's got much game in him. He's the least of our worries.

Witten is injured. Just look at the way he moves. Hopefully this will quit bothering him in another month.He is also being restricted by the flak jacket that he is wearing for protection

 

[Kangaroo]

I think managing his snaps will help him out and make him more effective he is still recovering. Hanna and Philips have played solid and caught several balls so I think they should be ok with him getting some snaps off even in the passing game.

 

[BlueStar3398]

He must be rusty after that spleen injury. He is not back to his normal self yet, in my opinion. He took a hard hit to the back during that game. I wonder if that also contributed to his bad game.

Broaddus did "Upon Further Review" on the Cowboys site and says he ran the wrong route on the INT. And Tim McMahon says Dez was slow on his route on that play.

 

[Gemini Dolly]

I think it was just a bad game. I dont get people who say Romo targets him too much like its a bad thing. Alot of those passes would have been huge gains, Witten just dropped them and I dont expect that to happen again, if ever.

 

[Eskimo]

It was super-obvious last year that his decline was already well underway. I don't know how much of his poor performance thus far has been after-effects of the spleen injury and inability to run hard for awhile. If he's not back next week we can probably just say age has caught up to him and he has fallen off of a cliff.

I had always hoped he would have a more gradual decline than what we've witnessed so far so hopefully his play picks up some soon.

I do hope we get to see Hanna more on the field because of his speed to threaten defenses down the seam.

I don't know if this offense is better without Witten due to Romo getting tunnel vision. This may be the case and he may be clogging up the middle and preventing our WRs from going after this space.

IMO, we need to get Witten running some deeper routes and starting running WRs on some more shallow crossing patterns to try and pick up some first downs as that route is hard to defend. Any one of our WRs would be a threat on this route with their RAC skills. However, I'd prefer Miles here due to his explosive RAC.

 

[DavidAK]

I'll go on record here and I know I'm going to get blasted for saying it.

I respect Witten for everything he's done. He's a true proffesional. But I fear he will over stay his welcome here. He's cleary on the decline, and I just have a gut feeling Jerry will let him hang around because of who he is.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

It was super-obvious last year that his decline was already well underway. I don't know how much of his poor performance thus far has been after-effects of the spleen injury and inability to run hard for awhile. If he's not back next week we can probably just say age has caught up to him and he has fallen off of a cliff.

I had always hoped he would have a more gradual decline than what we've witnessed so far so hopefully his play picks up some soon.

I do hope we get to see Hanna more on the field because of his speed to threaten defenses down the seam.

I don't know if this offense is better without Witten due to Romo getting tunnel vision. This may be the case and he may be clogging up the middle and preventing our WRs from going after this space.

IMO, we need to get Witten running some deeper routes and starting running WRs on some more shallow crossing patterns to try and pick up some first downs as that route is hard to defend. Any one of our WRs would be a threat on this route with their RAC skills. However, I'd prefer Miles here due to his explosive RAC.

His decline started 2 years ago. I don't care what his stats are...but he is not nearly the in line blocker he used to be....and I think he led the team in penalties. This does NOT mean he is finished. This does NOT mean he should not start. This simply means the other kids warrant playing time. You don't wait until he completely falls off the cliff to find out if the other kids can play. You work them in gradually. That is what good organizations do. We don't do that. We ride our "stars". This is why we mail it in when we lose our "stars" Tom Brady goes out week one...no problem...Matt Cassell your up....10-6 season. Tony Romo goes out....big problem...we go 1-7....on the verge of going 1-15 before Jerry fired Wade. That is what Dallas has become. If it does not look like we can win the game....mail it in...if it does not look like we are going to the playoffs....mail it in. It is disgusting. And it's starts at the top. First order of business is to make money...and if we happen to win in the process..good..if not...no big deal...money is being made. That is Jerry's mantra....and the players have adopted it. I mean Jerry made Jason Garrett the HIGHEST paid offensive coordinator in the history of the NFL...so he did not 'lose' him to Baltimore. Do you think Baltimore wishes they had Jason Garrett right now?

 

[SportsGuru80]

We'll definitely know after 5 or 6 games which is the case... I think he still needs to get in game shape.

 

[blackbull]

I think it was just a bad game. I dont get people who say Romo targets him too much like its a bad thing. Alot of those passes would have been huge gains, Witten just dropped them and I dont expect that to happen again, if ever.

Is he the best receiver? Does Matt Ryan force feed gonzo? It's 2012 not 2007. Witten needs to fall back. You all will see.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Wow. Overreaction to say the least lol. Funny how much a week changes thing. He went from being a hero to "not knowing when his time is up and overstaying his welcome...". Yikes. Witten will be fine. He struggled. I'll be more worried if he repeats a performance like that. If guys think he's washed up what do you think about 95% of the rest of the team in that Seahawks game? They played just as bad.

 

[ConstantReboot]

His decline started 2 years ago. I don't care what his stats are...but he is not nearly the in line blocker he used to be....and I think he led the team in penalties. This does NOT mean he is finished. This does NOT mean he should not start. This simply means the other kids warrant playing time. You don't wait until he completely falls off the cliff to find out if the other kids can play. You work them in gradually. That is what good organizations do. We don't do that. We ride our "stars". This is why we mail it in when we lose our "stars" Tom Brady goes out week one...no problem...Matt Cassell your up....10-6 season. Tony Romo goes out....big problem...we go 1-7....on the verge of going 1-15 before Jerry fired Wade. That is what Dallas has become. If it does not look like we can win the game....mail it in...if it does not look like we are going to the playoffs....mail it in. It is disgusting. And it's starts at the top. First order of business is to make money...and if we happen to win in the process..good..if not...no big deal...money is being made. That is Jerry's mantra....and the players have adopted it. I mean Jerry made Jason Garrett the HIGHEST paid offensive coordinator in the history of the NFL...so he did not 'lose' him to Baltimore. Do you think Baltimore wishes they had Jason Garrett right now?

Totally agree with you here. Its said that this organization priority is money first, then winning. The draft, free agency, keeping stars as long as they could on the payroll is superseded by money.

If we had an owner who wants nothing more than to win, then things would be alot different. As of now Cowboys are the most valuable sports franchise and yet they haven't been to the superbowl in over 15 years. Just to show where the priorities lie with the owner of this team.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Is he the best receiver? Does Matt Ryan force feed gonzo? It's 2012 not 2007. Witten needs to fall back. You all will see.

He's been our best "receiver" if you want to be technical about it.

 

[blackbull]

He's been our best "receiver" if you want to be technical about it.

Is he now? That's total bs. An injured witten is better than dez and miles?????????

 

[AbeBeta]

It was super-obvious last year that his decline was already well underway. I don't know how much of his poor performance thus far has been after-effects of the spleen injury and inability to run hard for awhile. If he's not back next week we can probably just say age has caught up to him and he has fallen off of a cliff.

I had always hoped he would have a more gradual decline than what we've witnessed so far so hopefully his play picks up some soon.

I do hope we get to see Hanna more on the field because of his speed to threaten defenses down the seam.

I don't know if this offense is better without Witten due to Romo getting tunnel vision. This may be the case and he may be clogging up the middle and preventing our WRs from going after this space.

IMO, we need to get Witten running some deeper routes and starting running WRs on some more shallow crossing patterns to try and pick up some first downs as that route is hard to defend. Any one of our WRs would be a threat on this route with their RAC skills. However, I'd prefer Miles here due to his explosive RAC.

Whereas I do agree with 'mo about Witten's decline, what I see is similar to what you witness with good RBs -- all of sudden they can't carry the full load.

You can do one of two things. Give them that full load over and over OR limit their role and help them be effective. If you look at 22's career here that is exactly how we put him in a position to continue to be an effective runner. Limit the plays.

I fully believe that if we can give Witten 10-15 plays off a game, we'll be able to find his slow *** again and again for first downs and that he'll grab 70+ balls. Just don't make the dude block all the time