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By RAINER SABIN / The Dallas Morning News
rsabin@dallasnews.com
IRVING – For much of the night, Jon Kitna swiveled like a gun turret in the pocket, delivering passes from one sideline to the other. He threw left, right and over the middle against Philadelphia last Sunday.
Thirty-five times in the Cowboys' 30-27 loss, he cocked his arm and fired the ball. But only once did he throw a pass that traveled farther than 20 yards through the air. And it fell incomplete.
That one futile attempt provided the latest evidence that the Cowboys' offense has recoiled in recent weeks. In the last four games, Kitna has rarely thrown deep, choosing instead to connect with receivers running shallow and intermediate routes.
"It's hard to get the ball downfield," Kitna said.
It's been so difficult, in fact, that he hasn't really tried. Since the Cowboys defeated the Giants, 33-20, on Nov. 14, Kitna has played four games. He has attempted seven passes that were thrown a distance greater than 19 yards, according to Pro Football Focus. He hasn't completed any of them.
When alerted earlier this week that the Cowboys' vertical passing game has vanished, Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall seemed surprised and eager to see it for himself.
"Obviously when you have a team that's not going to go deep, not going to challenge you," Hall said, "it gives you a chance to sit on some things and take some chances."
That's because, Hall implied, the element of surprise has been removed. In the last four weeks, 69 percent of Kitna's 127 passes haven't traveled farther than 9 yards as tight end Jason Witten has been targeted more than anyone on the team. The reason he has become a more prominent option in the offense, he explained, is because the defenses have pressured Kitna to make a decision before he has been able to cycle through his progressions.
"The ball had to come out," Witten said. "It's just the way the games have been."
Yet, as anecdotal evidence and hard data suggest that the offense has withdrawn, Cowboys interim coach Jason Garrett insisted that the change has not been intended and asserted that his team has remained aggressive in its approach.
"You certainly want to take shots," he said. "We have always tried to attack the defense in different ways. That's running it and passing it and really throwing it at all different levels."
In Garrett's first game as coach, the Cowboys seemed to carry out that strategy. Time and again during the Cowboys' victory over the Giants last month, Kitna attacked the defense downfield. He launched a high-arching pass to Dez Bryant, who ran underneath it for a 45-yard reception. Later, Kitna connected with Miles Austin on a deep-post route for a 44-yard gain.
In total, Kitna threw five passes that through the air covered 20 or more yards. He completed four of them for 140 yards and a touchdown.
But since then, the dimensions of the Cowboys' offense have been reduced. The fractured right fibula that ended Bryant's season Dec. 5 has impaired the passing game. And Kitna has watched defenses adjust their strategy to minimize the possibility of a big play.
"The thing that I have seen is a lot of two-deep safeties back there," he said. "And when they're there, they're not playing man-to-man. They're playing Cover-3 zone, so the deep-third areas are covered."
Aware of the potential pitfalls created by the enhanced coverage, Kitna has done his best to avoid trouble. That's fine, Garrett said.
"But you need to keep calling the shots and giving yourself a chance to make some plays downfield," Garrett added.
In the last four games, the Cowboys haven't, and consequently the predictability of their offense has increased while its flair has been subtracted.
Long ball
The results from passes thrown 20 yards or more in the air by Cowboys quarterbacks this season:
Player.............Starts..........Comp-Att........Yds.......TD-Int
Jon Kitna............7..................7-22..........243.........1-2
Tony Romo.........6..................9-24..........285.........2-1
Shrinking numbers
The results from Jon Kitna's passes that were thrown 20 yards or more in the air:
Date.................Opp. ...................Comp-Att........Yds
Oct. 25.........NY Giants**....................0-1............0
Oct. 31........Jacksonville*....................2-5...........62
Nov. 7...........Green Bay*....................1-4............41
Nov. 14..........NY Giants......................4-5..........140
Nov. 21............Detroit........................0-2............0
Nov. 25........New Orleans.....................0-0............0
Dec. 5...........Indianapolis....................0-4............0
Dec. 12..........Philadelphia....................0-1............0
*Wade Phillips was the head coach; **Kitna entered the game after Tony Romo was injured.
rsabin@dallasnews.com
IRVING – For much of the night, Jon Kitna swiveled like a gun turret in the pocket, delivering passes from one sideline to the other. He threw left, right and over the middle against Philadelphia last Sunday.
Thirty-five times in the Cowboys' 30-27 loss, he cocked his arm and fired the ball. But only once did he throw a pass that traveled farther than 20 yards through the air. And it fell incomplete.
That one futile attempt provided the latest evidence that the Cowboys' offense has recoiled in recent weeks. In the last four games, Kitna has rarely thrown deep, choosing instead to connect with receivers running shallow and intermediate routes.
"It's hard to get the ball downfield," Kitna said.
It's been so difficult, in fact, that he hasn't really tried. Since the Cowboys defeated the Giants, 33-20, on Nov. 14, Kitna has played four games. He has attempted seven passes that were thrown a distance greater than 19 yards, according to Pro Football Focus. He hasn't completed any of them.
When alerted earlier this week that the Cowboys' vertical passing game has vanished, Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall seemed surprised and eager to see it for himself.
"Obviously when you have a team that's not going to go deep, not going to challenge you," Hall said, "it gives you a chance to sit on some things and take some chances."
That's because, Hall implied, the element of surprise has been removed. In the last four weeks, 69 percent of Kitna's 127 passes haven't traveled farther than 9 yards as tight end Jason Witten has been targeted more than anyone on the team. The reason he has become a more prominent option in the offense, he explained, is because the defenses have pressured Kitna to make a decision before he has been able to cycle through his progressions.
"The ball had to come out," Witten said. "It's just the way the games have been."
Yet, as anecdotal evidence and hard data suggest that the offense has withdrawn, Cowboys interim coach Jason Garrett insisted that the change has not been intended and asserted that his team has remained aggressive in its approach.
"You certainly want to take shots," he said. "We have always tried to attack the defense in different ways. That's running it and passing it and really throwing it at all different levels."
In Garrett's first game as coach, the Cowboys seemed to carry out that strategy. Time and again during the Cowboys' victory over the Giants last month, Kitna attacked the defense downfield. He launched a high-arching pass to Dez Bryant, who ran underneath it for a 45-yard reception. Later, Kitna connected with Miles Austin on a deep-post route for a 44-yard gain.
In total, Kitna threw five passes that through the air covered 20 or more yards. He completed four of them for 140 yards and a touchdown.
But since then, the dimensions of the Cowboys' offense have been reduced. The fractured right fibula that ended Bryant's season Dec. 5 has impaired the passing game. And Kitna has watched defenses adjust their strategy to minimize the possibility of a big play.
"The thing that I have seen is a lot of two-deep safeties back there," he said. "And when they're there, they're not playing man-to-man. They're playing Cover-3 zone, so the deep-third areas are covered."
Aware of the potential pitfalls created by the enhanced coverage, Kitna has done his best to avoid trouble. That's fine, Garrett said.
"But you need to keep calling the shots and giving yourself a chance to make some plays downfield," Garrett added.
In the last four games, the Cowboys haven't, and consequently the predictability of their offense has increased while its flair has been subtracted.
Long ball
The results from passes thrown 20 yards or more in the air by Cowboys quarterbacks this season:
Player.............Starts..........Comp-Att........Yds.......TD-Int
Jon Kitna............7..................7-22..........243.........1-2
Tony Romo.........6..................9-24..........285.........2-1
Shrinking numbers
The results from Jon Kitna's passes that were thrown 20 yards or more in the air:
Date.................Opp. ...................Comp-Att........Yds
Oct. 25.........NY Giants**....................0-1............0
Oct. 31........Jacksonville*....................2-5...........62
Nov. 7...........Green Bay*....................1-4............41
Nov. 14..........NY Giants......................4-5..........140
Nov. 21............Detroit........................0-2............0
Nov. 25........New Orleans.....................0-0............0
Dec. 5...........Indianapolis....................0-4............0
Dec. 12..........Philadelphia....................0-1............0
*Wade Phillips was the head coach; **Kitna entered the game after Tony Romo was injured.