If you watched as much as you imply you do then you would know that on 3rd and long Witten usually stay in and helps block because defense usually send more on those downs. Often there is no back so there is 4 receivers out and Witten stays in and blocks.and sometimes if the QB, whether Romo or Prescott has to start to move around Witten will then move out because by that time the receivers have run out the defenders. Also for someone you claim never has picked up a 1st down on 10, 15, 20 yard 3rd downs, he picked up a 3rd and 12 and on another play when it was 2nd and 15 he got 13 and Elliott on the next play got the 1st just last night. You're just sour grapes because the Cowboys don't to the 3 and 4 receivers throwing every down. If it bothers you so much find another team to root for.
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Like I said this is an everydown te scheme and our tes are losers on paper every year and our coach is an idiot for leaving them out there on passing snaps to WEAKEN OUR PASSING OFFENSE. Witten is gonna retire with that 1 rinky dink playoff td for a whole career and ITS NOT BECAUSE HE HAD A BAD TEAM OR IS A BAD PLAYER. ITS BECAUSE HE SIMPLY CANT BEAT THE TOP DEFENDERS.
ITS BECAUSE HE HAS NO SPEED AND NO GO UP AND GET A BALL SKILLS. NO DEEP BALL SKILLSETS. NO RACS. HE HASNT DRAWN A DOUBLE TEAM OR TOP DEFENDER IN 7+ YEARS. HE SNEAKS OPEN FOR A FEW INSIGNIFICANT PLAYS EVERY GAME AND ON OCCASION HE'LL EVEN SCORE A 5 YARD TD IF ITS A SCRUB TEAM FROM OUR DIVISION AND THE DEFENDER FALLS DOWN AND BLOWS THE COVERAGE.
YES HE'LL CATCH ALMOST EVERY SINGLE NON PLAYOFF PASS THAT DOESNT WIN A GAME AS LONG AS HIS FEET DOESNT HAVE TO LEAVE THE GROUND. BUT HE IS BATTING ZERO FOR 16 YEARS AT THE PLAYOFF LEVEL AND AT THE END OF GAME LEVEL.
WHY IS HE BEING UTILIZED ON 3RD AND 20? IN THE RED ZONE? WHY IS HE BEING UTILIZED ON EVERY PASSING SNAP? WHY IS HE BEING USED IN THE 2 MINUTE DRILL? ITS UP TO COACH CLAP TO DICTATE SNAPCOUNTS AND #82 DESERVES TO PLAY. BUT AS CLUTCH AS #82 IS AT BLOCKING AND CATCHING THE BALL AS YOU SUGGEST....HE STILL ONLY HAS 1 PLAYOFF TD ON HIS RESUME IN 16 YEARS PLAYING EVERY PASSING SNAP AND HAS NEVER BEEN CLUTCH AT SCORING OR GETTING OPEN WHEN THE GAME IS ON THE LINE.
I SAW ALL OF THE 3 YARD PASSES TO WITTEN ON 3RD AND 10 FROM ROMO AND ALL OF THE SEASON ENDING DO OR DIE PLAYS THAT ENDED OUR SEASON UNDER GARRETT USING WITTEN, HANNA, ESCOBAR, SWAIM, JARWIN, SCHULTZ, ETC AND IVE SEEN ALL OF THESE TES RUNNING ROUTES AND THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN THE PLAYCALL AND THE DEFENDER WHO COVERED THEM AND SHUT THEM DOWN COMPLETLY. NONE OF OUR TES GOT OPEN OR COULD CONVERT ON ANY OF THOSE SEASON ENDING PLAYS AND WE ALL CURSED CARROT TOP AND ROMO FOR THROWING THE BALL TO 82 SHORT OF THE STICKS ON ALL THE GAME AND SEASON ENDING PLAYS. ARE YOU SURE YOU WATCHED ALL OF THE ELIMATION GAMES AND THE PLAYS THAT ENDED EVERY SEASON?
WHY DO MOST TEAMS USE DUAL SLOT WRS AND DUAL RBS AT TIMES AND THE COWBOYS NEVER HAVE USED THOSE FORMATIONS UNDER GARRETTS REIGN OF PUPPETSHIP?
WOUlD You RATHER HAVE A GASSED #82 OUT THERE PLAYING EVERY Passing SNAP or faster fresher players like Austin or Pollard who may not have perfect technique but have MORE SKILLSETS AT MAKING BIG PLAYS AND SCORING MORE CONSISTENTLY ON FAR LESS OPORTUNITIES.
#82 is great at catching the ball and he is a great hof possession receiving te but Ive watched all of the season ending drives under Garrett and the team went home with a LOSS and its not because #82 wasnt targeted or because he didnt have an opportunity to run routes and was only blocking as you say. Its not because he was drawing the best defenders or double or triple teams like Gronk. Its not because the qb couldnt make the throw or he was wide open and the qb miss read the coverage.
Its simply because he couldnt get open and make the game winning plays because he has limited speed and skillsets as a receiver and is not a dominant receiver for every down and distance. #82 runs a good seam route and uses technique to find holes in the zone but hes just a one trick pony as a receiver. Its easy to predict and defense what #82 is gonna do because he has limited skillsets as a receiver.
#82 doesnt have the speed or power to play outside or out of the backfield and he has no 50/50 go up and get a ball skills or speed to be a dominant red zone stud or deep ball threat. #82 very seldom ever has caught any balls without having both feet on the ground and its hard to be a dominant stud receiving te or wr with no go up and get a ball skills like a Gronk. Technique is only gonna get you so far when youre up against a defender that is way faster, way stronger, can outjump you and get to the ball faster. Having Great Technique to get separation and get open is awesome and #82s catch rate is great but it takes him too many snapcounts and targets and games to score. Especially against the best teams.
#82 has had a great career and deserves hof status and accolades for his accomplishments. But its not because hes an unstoppable receiving threat who could outrun, out jump, or outscore the top tes or dominate the best defenders in the League with that same limited checkdown or seam route for 15 yrs. Youre just being silly if you think witten is a dominant receiving threat and scoring threat or is a big factor to our winning success only getting 25 yards a game as a receiver. Not playing all the passing snaps hes playing. His 25 yards per game is not detrimental to our wins and losses if it takes playing every passing snap to accomplish that especially if you cant score against good teams.