One game into the Cowboys’ season and one
thing is abundantly clear: Dez Bryant needs to be mature and Miles Austin needs
to be ready.
As did the New York Giants last weekend, the Kansas City
Chiefs this Sunday and the rest of the NFL the remainder of the season, defenses are going
to focus their attention on Bryant. The Giants always had a safety lurking and a cornerback in front of Bryant, in what amounted to double-coverage. Bryant
held his composure and managed his frustration during a minimally impactful
four-catch night.
“Hey, I got my stats through Witt, through
Miles, through Tony and the rest of the other guys,” Bryant said. “The Giants
respected me. Everybody across this world knows what I can do. And they know,
if the ball is thrown my way, I’m going to get to it. I don’t care if it’s
double-coverage, triple or whatever. But we play smart football here. We want
to win.”
The attention to Bryant and future
Hall-of-Fame tight end Jason Witten spawns an obvious byproduct: Miles is open.
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Allowed single-coverage, Austin caught as
many first downs as Bryant had total catches, and his 10 grabs were third-most
on NFL’s opening weekend behind only Anquan Boldin and Andre Johnson. It was
great to see Austin back. It’s imperative that his hamstrings remain healthy and
his production stays aloft.
And not a better place to continue the trend
that back where it all started.
In 2009 Austin was the Cowboys’ third
receiver until starter Roy Williams was injured entering Week 5 at Kansas City.
So how did Austin respond in his first NFL start on Oct. 11, 2009?
With a franchise record 250 yards on 10
catches and two touchdowns - most of them against now-Cowboys' corner Brandon Carr - including the 60-yarder in overtime that gave Dallas a 26-20
victory.
“People bring it up more than I think about it,” Austin said this week at Valley Ranch. “Don’t get me wrong, it was an amazing feeling. I felt like for me personally it was a great way to be able to start and make a splash for the first time offensively. But at the end of the day you realize that my job’s not to talk about what I’ve been doing but to continue to do my best. You kind of snap back into reality on the plane ride home.”
Austin went on to catch 81 passes for 1,320
yards and 11 scores in making the Pro Bowl. And, it’s been all downhill since.
Since that breakout game/season, he hasn’t approached 70 catches or caught more than seven touchdowns. His stats
and impact yell third receiver, while the six-year, $57 million contract he
received in 2010 screams elite No. 1.
Against the Giants Austin seemed to have his
first-step burst back. We know Bryant and Witten will get their catches. If the
Cowboys are to exceed expectations, Miles Austin has to return to the days when
he got his as well.
Insightful....and you're right, the Cowboys need Austin to be a consistently healthy 1A to make the offense click and be able to make those clutch first down catches and the occasional game breaker when Dez is doubled. Harris, Beasley and eventually Terrance Williams are nice ancillary pieces in the offense, but none are quite ready to successfully fill that role in my opinion.
ReplyDelete-JC
Agreed. Thanks.
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