Posted on Fri, Nov. 28, 2008

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Jason Witten helps put Dallas Cowboys in position for decisive December

Previous Columns

Randy Galloway

• Texas and Oklahoma decided who was best on Oct. 11
• 'System’ works for T.O., at least for one game
• At least Terrell Owens can still handle TV coverage
• Clearing up some national misinformation about Mark Cuban
• Pacman Jones isn't worth all this fuss
• The Dallas Cowboys’ train is headed off the track
• Tony Romo returns to — hopefully — rescue the Dallas Cowboys’ season
• Rick Carlisle enjoys a honeymoon period with the Dallas Mavericks
• Rick Carlisle pushes for a sense of urgency from Dallas Mavericks
• Dallas Cowboys failed without Tony Romo, might fail with him
• Dallas Cowboys brace for a Giant mismatch
• Mike Singletary shakes up the sideline with his law and order stance
• Why shouldn’t the Dallas Cowboys start Brooks Bollinger against the New York Giants?
• With season on brink, Dallas Cowboys defense comes through
• Jimmy Johnson weighs in on Dallas Cowboys’ woes
• Lower expectations for Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Stars, Dallas Mavericks and Texas Rangers
• Dallas Cowboys have a dead coach walking, but they're stuck for now
• Gutless players quit on their paycheck, themselves
  What do you think?
• Dallas Cowboys face big-time problems with injuries and execution

» More

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Special to the S-T/Michael Mulvey

Cowboys tight end Jason Witten caught seven passes in the first half for 93 yards and this touchdown against Lofa Tatupu and the Seahawks. Special to the S-T/Michael Mulvey

• Cowboys top Seattle, 34-9, on Thanksgiving

IRVING — Rarely without a smile, except for maybe when the broken rib or the damaged jaw stress his strong pain tolerance, Jason Witten took the postgame bait, but all in good fun.

"I was unleashed," Witten said, grinning.

Then with perfect comedic timing, he quickly added, "Humbly unleashed." (Back to you, Mr. Owens.)

So it went Thursday at Texas Stadium. An upbeat holiday spirit prevailed, the Jonas Brothers sang, nobody whined to Deion about the "system," and the Cowboys’ offense went on a 24-point first-half binge.

A rather dismal Seattle Seahawks outfit (as in 2-10 dismal) couldn’t keep up with Jason Garrett’s speed-dial play calling, and the Cowboys took the turkey in a 34-9 rout.

Next up, a nuclear month of December, a month that will tell us what it all means. But this was the third win in 12 days, at least providing hope that a split of the next four games, and a 10-6 record, will bring a wild-card berth for January.

Everything that previously ailed the Cowboys, and that was everything, was suddenly corrected in a four-day span of kicking around the bottom feeders of the NFC. The Mr. Fix It defense is in such a groove that even Wade Phillips wasn’t scrambling this week, or postgame Thursday, for his usual assortment of alibis. And then there’s the offense.

If the Cowboys have any postseason future, it will be because of what Tony Romo delivers. On Thursday, he worked the street like a U.S. Postal carrier, dropping off mail at every house. Seven receivers had caught passes by the time the Jonas Brothers tuned up for the national halftime show.

None found his way open more than Witten, the league’s ultimate tight end. Or as Romo would term it later, "the absolutely perfect tight end."

Witten was "unleashed" for seven catches for 93 yards and a touchdown by intermission, and ended up with a game-high nine for 115 yards. And this came with the Seattle defense targeting him. Eldorado Owens, for example, was single-covered and jammed all day by cornerback Marcus Trufant.

If anyone should have been doubting Garrett’s "system," Witten is the guy. He’d had four catches in the previous four games.

"You can’t doubt it," said Witten, obviously knowing that someone had. "We’ve all had too much success in this system. You play within it, you stay with it, and as players, if we are doing our job, doing what we’re supposed to do, we will have success with it."

Witten laughed when asked if he had complained lately to the offensive coordinator, or the quarterback, or Deion, about a lack of balls coming his way.

"Very rarely am I going to say anything," he said. "I know [Garrett] is trying to get the ball to me, the same as with everyone else. And Tony does not get enough credit for what he does back there, the way he creates the opportunities even when under pressure."

Romo spent this week apologizing to Witten for a "medicine ball" (you may catch it, but you’re going to have to take the medicine) he sailed in Witten’s direction in the 49ers win. Waiting for Tony’s Frisbee to arrive allowed a cornerback to catch up. He busted Witten in the jaw, breaking up the pass, and briefly sending Jason into never-never land.

Of course, he didn’t miss a series. The same as he hasn’t missed a game while nursing a broken rib. No, the thought never crossed Witten’s mind to take a week off and rest his ailments.

"Not to sound like a cliché tough guy, but you can’t do that," he said. "If you can play, then play. I’m not a 100 percent with the broken rib, but once the game starts, you can’t think about it. If you take a hit on it, yeah, it comes to mind, but taking hits is part of the game."

Garrett, who has come under criticism this season from both legitimate sources and a whiner, is enjoying a revival lately. Again, however, December will tell us more. But it’s not as if Garrett doesn’t know who is getting chances, and not getting them.

"[Witten] hadn’t had many," he said. "We’d been blocking with him more lately. But this was a great game for him."

It started off as a perfect day for the Cowboys’ offensive execution. Three consecutive possessions resulted in touchdown, and the fourth ended with a field goal.

Things slowed a bit in the second half, but Romo put away the game with a third-quarter, 19-yard TD throw to Eldorado Owens. Speaking of the "system" Eldo doesn’t like, it was so good Thursday it got him matched up in the slot with a linebacker on that touchdown play. Yes, a linebacker, who, of course, was easy pickings in single coverage.

Now comes nine days before the Cowboys play again, which is welcome since both Marion Barber and DeMarcus Ware left Thursday’s game with injuries that are, luckily, not expected to linger.

Witten’s rib will also have healing time.

With Troy Polamalu, a rib-buster deluxe, waiting in Pittsburgh (Dec. 7), it starts the real season. The December season.

Randy Galloway can be heard on Galloway & Co. weekdays 3-6 p.m. on ESPN/103.3 FM.