Not a popular thread... Witten's performance

[TheMarathonContinues]

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

Well i'm not speaking on this year. I'm speaking as a WHOLE. And if i'm judging the big picture? Witten has been more reliable then ANYONE on this team. I'm pissed off at him like the next guy and yea i'd like more targets to Miles and Dez too but let's no go crazy.

 

[Idgit]

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.

I don't think there's any correlation between his play last year and his bad game(s) this season. What we're seeing right now are mental errors (routes) and a lack of concentration catching the ball--not things normally related to a player's age, but instead a function of missing a lot of recent practice time. Or else perhaps he's hearing footsteps because of the spleen injury. Either way, his play is sub-par, and I'd actually like to see him pulled for a series when he logs consecutive drops due to a lack of concentration. It's not acceptable from anyone, much less from a player of Witten's caliber.

I'm already on record saying I didn't see the drop-off everyone's looking at last season, or the oft-cited decline in his blocking. This week, though, he laid an egg, and if sitting him for a down or a series is going to get him to concentrate, then I'm happy to see it happen. I'm not sure either of our backups drop those drive-stalling passes that hit him on the hands.

 

[4lifecowboy]

Talk about an over reaction, dude had is spleen lacerated a few weeks back. If you guys think he is 100% right now, you're obviously not watching the game. He should have sat the last two weeks and fully healed before coming back.

 

[T-RO]

I'm not prepared to pass judgment in lieu of the spleen and the related lack of conditioning and practice.

But I can't help but suspect this player is in decline. I'm particularly concerned about concussion events...those reported and more so, those unreported.

I love Jason, but there is a lot more tread on his tires...than years on his odometer.

 

[blackbull]

Not making the most of dez and miles while they are young is a damn travesty. Some of you act like Witten fans more than cowboy fans. Sickening. Week 1 was so beautiful. Then week two its back to ten target Jason.

 

[Prossman]

Im willing to give Whitten the benifit of the doubt before judging him. I dont think he is done yet. It is only game two.

 

[Tabascocat]

Im willing to give Whitten the benifit of the doubt before judging him. I dont think he is done yet. It is only game two.

Don't think anyone is saying he is done, just want to see his touches scaled back some in hopes of opening up the offense a bit more. His body has taken a beating thru the years, it will do him good as well as the other receivers IMO.

 

[Prossman]

Whitten is Romos security blanket and i dont see that changing anytime soon. Whittens touches are as much romos reads as sceme. This may sound strange but our offensive line has to gel and do a better job of controlling the line of scrimmage so that our offense can relax/ calm down a bit. Our offense has so much chaos going on all the time it forces everyone to push harder to compensate for it . As our oline goes so does the cowboys offense. Allot of the drops came from players trying to make plays and it didnt click sunday.

 

[DavidAK]

Not making the most of dez and miles while they are young is a damn travesty. Some of you act like Witten fans more than cowboy fans. Sickening. Week 1 was so beautiful. Then week two its back to ten target Jason.

I agree with you.

I get why Witten gets so many targets. He's the security blanket, he's a solid route runner, has chemistry with Romo and so on. But maybe it's time to tell your buddy- "sorry man your injured and on the decline, and I have Dez and Miles on the other side". Hell start using Murray in the passing game, He was good at it in college.

 

[Idgit]

I agree with you.

I get why Witten gets so many targets. He's the security blanket, he's a solid route runner, has chemistry with Romo and so on. But maybe it's time to tell your buddy- "sorry man your injured and on the decline, and I have Dez and Miles on the other side". Hell start using Murray in the passing game, He was good at it in college.

Witten was targeted this week because of the coverage SEA is able to maintain downfield on our big WRs. We had to make them pay with the intermediate passing game, wear them down with the run, and then take our shots downfield to the WRs if we thought we could get them on double moves or blown coverages or when our WRs were able to win on the routes.

Because our TE dropped too many passes, and because we were in a hole early, we weren't able to execute the plan. It had nothing to do with Witten and Romo being bff's.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

Yeah, Witten had some drops and played poorly. The worst play by Witten on Sunday was when Romo threw a deep ball to him after scrambling. Witten wasn't in a position to make the catch but was in great position to get pass interference. The DB was trailing and had no idea where the ball was. All Witten had to do was jump slightly toward the defender and it would have been automatic passs interference.

Witten just doesn't seem to be all there mentally this year. Seems like something is bothering him and he isn't concentrating. And it looks like he lost some weight.

 

[TwoDeep3]

Witten has performed so many times that he gets a pass with me. If this was his worst game of his career, it happens to all of them.

We'll see.

But of all things to jump on, Witten would be the very last guy I would single out. When we say a team quit on Phillips, Witten was still playing hard.

 

[Dodger]

On the decline. Lmao. People said the same thing last year, and what did Witten do? Nothing but have the same year he always has. People said the same thing in 2010, and what did he do? Just prove everyone wrong like he always does. When he fully recovers from his spleen injury, he'll do the same thing this year...prove all the doubters wrong.

 

[Doomsday101]

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.

Way I see it Witten had a bad game something he normally does not do. Thing is I know as upset as I was at his game, Witten was 10 times more upset about his game. I fully expect Witten to get back out there and be the dependable player he has always been. He had a bad day at the office and I don't think it is any more than that.

 

[Garland powerplay]

Seattle was the more aggressive physical team on Sunday. hopefully this changes @ home and is a wakeup call.:starspin

 

[StarBoyz83]

Doesnt look good this year yet but no way hes done. I was thinking before this season he'll play until hes like 38.

 

[blackbull]

You guys still don't get it. As long as Jason is the most targeted wideout were going nowhere. It's pretty simple.

 

[blackbull]

The deepest ball of the day went to a slow, unathletic tight end. Yet everyone is happy about this same ol same ol. I thought week one was a sign of things to come.

 

[craig71]

I don't think Witten is done, but I do believe that he is and has been on the decline for a few years now. The good news is that even though Witten is starting to fade physically he still has a superior understanding of the game that should allow him to play for some time yet. I think what Garrett/Romo need to understand is that you can't run your offense through Witten. Witten is a move the chains type of guy and not a game changer. The ball needs to be dumped off to Murray before checking to Witten IMO. Murray is a threat to take it to the house while Witten isn't much of a YAC threat. Even Hanna needs some reps, try to work him in the seam creating a mismatch. I think at the end of the day you just have to limit the snaps that Witten receives to prolong his usefulness to the team. Something else I want to mention, false starts. How many fasle starts has Witten had in the past few years? Alot of times the reason that a player starts getting flagged for a false start is because he's cheating to cover for a shortcoming. Simply put, that initial burst just isn't there and a player starts to compensate by jumping the gun by a split second to avoid getting beat.


Craig

 

[Gaede]

I'm not prepared to pass judgment in lieu of the spleen and the related lack of conditioning and practice.

But I can't help but suspect this player is in decline. I'm particularly concerned about concussion events...those reported and more so, those unreported.

I love Jason, but there is a lot more tread on his tires...than years on his odometer.

Agreed. It's not an easy topic to discuss, but Witten has slowed down a bit in recent years and injuries, penalties are beginning to pile up, I fear.

That's not based on the Seattle game, but the past two seasons. No reason for folks to get up in arms. A player's physical decline is something that should be discussed. Regardless of how great the player has been in the past.

Romo's reliance on Witten is a problem as well. As mentioned above, he's a move the chains guy, but not a bigtime playmaker. Guys who are playmakers aren't getting the balls though because Witten is.