the cowboys also did a terrible job of getting the ball to owens. yeah it's good to get him touches, but they actually had him motion into the backfield and run the ball out of the I formation one play. they need to be throwing the ball to owens down the field where he does his best work instead of throwing a bunch of short passes and having him run the ball just as gimmick ways of getting him the ball. and there is also no excuse for the cowboys to ever run the ball less than 25 times per game.
I thought the Redskins D did an excellent job of preventing Owens from beating them from over the top. The intermediate crossing routes were there, but their secondary did a good job against the deep ball. That wasn't all it though. Romo threw poorly several times and Owens had his characteristic drops. He figured prominently in the gameplan, but those three factors seemed to be the reason why he only had 7 catches.
i have no problem with owens getting 7 catches a game and i don't think he or anyone else really would either. the problem to me is how the catches came. of course you have to give the redskins d credit, but if dallas isn't trying to get big plays out of owens, they aren't going to get big plays out of owens.
The problem we are now having is that teams are now taking away the deep routes on Owens by placing a safety over the top. IOW, he's facing double coverage every time he goes deep. And you can't make a living off of going deep, trying to beat double coverage. He's drawing away coverage, which is opening things up for the run game, Crayton, Austin, and Witten. Garrett needs to get him motioning pre-snap. And we need to get Owens in the slot more too. That'll open some things up. But like it or not, teams will be more focused on Owens and the vertical passing game this year.
