To is our best weapon and we need to get him the ball. Romo just needs to make better decisions. With RW in the offense that should be easier

Romo is in charge of who Romo throws the ball to, not T.O.

Funny I didn’t see much of that happening until a bunch of players started flapping their gums and Romo and the O.C. obligated plays to appease the loud mouths.

It looked more like a misunderstanding than a route hae gave up on

…..Amongst those quote en quote playmakers whose numbers weren’t as good as Owens; well, duh. Witten even during a great season simply isn’t going to generate as many yards total as Owens during an average season or any other top 25 receiver for that matter. Most good wide outs are going to gain more yards than even elite tight ends and also have gaudier receiving averages. Football 101. Witten still finished 3rd in receptions and 2nd in yards amongst tight ends. He’s still a top two player at his position.

Also any assertion that Witten never approached the kind of success he has had with Owens in the lineup is flat-out false as well. In his 2nd season (’04) playing with that prehistoric relic Testebird throwing to him, Witten had a great season; 87 catches for 980 yards; 2nd in both categories for tight ends. He also made some huge catches in the Cowboys wins the following season with Bledsoe at the helm.

If Witten’s numbers were to shrink this upcoming year without T.O. in the lineup, that would be just as much of an indictment of how lackluster the Cowboys starting receivers were as it would them missing T.O. Like I said, Witten had a monster season in ‘04 with Keyshawn and Glenn out wide and Old Mother Testebird throwing him the ball. I’m going to go out on a limb and say as long as Witten is flanked by legit starting receivers, he’ll be fine.

As for the Pittsburgh game; Witten slipped. That’s somewhat different than running a shoddy route. That being said there is one aspect I will agree with you on about that particular play. Even if it seemed that Romo’s pass was going to be high regardless or Witten’s slip I still don’t think Witten got nearly enough blame for his failing on that particular pass. So I do agree with you in that regard that Witten got a major pass in the blame game for his role in the game-sealing pick six against Pittsburgh. But that probably had as much to do with Romo being such an easy whipping boy as the downright dumb decision making QB than anything. If it was a guy like Brady or Peyton who are far less wreckless with the ball throwing that pass; the tight end that slipped would’ve gotten the majority of the blame. If it smells like a bad decision and looks like a bad decision (or just plain awful pass) Romo isn’t going to get the benefit of the doubt and quite frankly he doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt at this point. Now, by that same token, I don’t think T.O. got vilified nearly enough for losing that long pass in the lights against the Ravens. He drops all these passes and now suddenly he’s not going to be able to track them in the air when he’s wide open deep. Uh oh. That one was almost as bad as his drop against the Redskins in ‘06 that essentially lost that game.

Just to be clear, as far as T.O. goes, I’m one of the few who chooses to see both sides of the coin. Point blank: if T.O. is not here next season, I have a hard time seeing how you replace his production regardless of what drama; perceived or real, he might bring to the locker room. On the other hand, I could do without all the Sherlock Holmes detective work trying to figure out who is the mole and who’s in whose corner and all that tripe. By the way, there couldn’t be a worse guy in T.O.’s corner in all of this than Crayt Diddy. My thoughts on the whole deal are: let’s just say Witten was the mole. Then guess what? You’ve got a whole roster of self-serving crybaby cretins and head cases. The only guys who should be propped up as doing their job like consummate pros on and off the field are Warewolf, Choice, and Ratliff. I would add Barber but even he averaged a fumble every other game.

Back to T.O., the proof is in the pudding. If T.O. is released it’s because enough people in the organization* convinced Jerry he was enough of a royal pain in the arse and bad influence on the roster as a whole that his junkie-like need for self-aggrandizement cancelled out his contributions on the field.
( *However self-serving his detractors’ intentions may have been in getting him booted off the roster. )

Minus T.O., the questions I have about the offense heading into next season are:

1. Can Williams/Austin provide a reasonable facsimile of Meshawn/Glenn? Hear me out before immediately dismissing this comparison. The passing game was fine enough with those two just playing their roles as solid starters; even with Bledsoe at the helm (3,600 yards, 23 TD.) You had your possession guy in Meshawn who even if he wasn’t going to ever create separation could still go up and get jump balls down the field (the force-out catch in the MNF Seahawks game.) Then you obviously had Glenn who was your big play guy. Obviously, at the very least when Jerry traded for Roy he was expecting a big possession type guy who could make the difficult jump ball catches and attack the ball like a Meshawn. Of course, Roy has much more big play capability than Meshawn ever had.

The bigger question (should be) Austin. How will he fare against more difficult match-ups than he’s accustomed to against teams’ elite corners?

2. Being injury prone is as big flaw as any in one’s game. The football gods don’t grant you any leniency or exemptions in the win/loss column because your receivers are brittle pollyannas. (Of course this goes team-wide but relates specifically to my 1st point about Williams/Austin.) In Detroit, Williams only once played a full season so while playing with a bad wheel does help explain why he was so non-existent last year injuries themselves may be the biggest flaw in Williams’ game. If he can’t be counted upon to be in tip top shape for the majority of the season, what does it matter how great he can be when in tip top shape?

Same goes for Austin who’s had injury problems throughout his short career. If these two can’t stay on the field; ready for a hilariously bad passing game consisting of Crayt Diddy, Hurd, Stanback, and whatever bottom-of-the-barrel bargain basement vet that might be on the roster.

3. Can Romo develop the kind of trust with Williams that Aikman had with Irvin? Man, I hate to say it but I kind of doubt it. But that will be the hugest factor in the passing game succeeding if T.O. goes bye bye. Williams must prove he’ll consistently go up and attack the ball and Romo must trust Roy/himself enough to make those passes part of his repertoire. The only guy I’ve seen Romo consistently connect with even when he was tightly covered is Witten. Can a guy who missed far too many wide open targets this past season show the kind of intuition to put jump balls in the right place for a big receiver (he’s just now learning to play with) to go up and get? We shall see.

As a practical matter, if Williams/Austin can replicate the effectiveness of the Meshawn/Glenn tandem and with a three-headed monster running the ball more often, the passing game should still be good for 3,400-3,500 yards and 25 TD’s. Of course, that all assumes too much isn’t taken away from the running game by defenses no longer having to account for T.O. and being able to walk up safeties to the line of scrimmage.

I was hoping and expecting T.O. would at least be on the roster in ’09 to give this core group one last shot before it got blown up. If that’s undoable, it’s foolish to think anybody other than T.O. should be the one to go. Not because he’s a worse teammate or bigger distraction than Witten or Romo but because he’s 36 and I wouldn’t place him higher than a top 10-12 player at his position any longer. If it’s time to move on then get on with it. Because a scenario where T.O. stays and Romo and Witten get traded for Kyle Orton and Greg Olsen ain’t happening.