Targets - Week 11 - New Orleans

The Saints game from an aerial perspective was pretty good. QB ratings weigh substantial value to TD's (of which the Cowboys had 0 through the air) and INT's (of which the Cowboys threw one). So, an otherwise solid night does not quite look as good from a QB Rating perspective with 0 TDs and 1 INT. However, Kitna, once again, was quite effective and the receivers and tight ends were very strong.

Except for Dez Bryant. For the 2nd consecutive week, Dez had very low numbers. In fact, the Detroit and New Orleans games represent the two lowest outputs for Dez all season long. Bryant has been a monster and it is clear that he is getting different coverage looks, so I would not call this a large concern. But, the opponents are not just going to sit around and wait for Bryant to kill them.

Otherwise, Jason Witten continues to rally from a slow start and the offense in general did a lot of nice things:

Here are the numbers for Game 11:

Target Distribution: - Game 11 vs New Orleans

Name	Targets	Catches	Yards	FD/TD/INT	QB Rating
Austin	5	3	25	1/0/0	72.9
Bryant	6	0	0	0/0/1	0
Witten	10	10	99	7/0/0	107.9
Williams	8	5	83	4/0/0	97.4
Jones	7	7	69	2/0/0	107.7
Barber	2	2	8	0/0/0	83.3
Choice	0	0	0	0/0/0	0
Bennett	3	2	17	0/0/0	81.2
Hurd	1	1	12	1/0/0	116.6
Totals	42	30	313	15/0/1	82.7

Table Tutorial

On 3rd and 4th Down, the Cowboys did pretty well. Of course, the 3rd Downs at the end did betray the Cowboys. A long reception to Roy Williams looked like the dagger but then became a fumble. And the final 3rd Down was a poor attempt to get Dez Bryant the ball. But, aside from Dez, Kitna was 9 for 9 and they are really getting nice production from a backup QB.

3RD/4TH Down Targets - Week 11 vs New Orleans

Name	Targets	Catches	Yards	FD/TD/INT	QB Rating
Austin	1	1	7	1/0/0	95.8
Bryant	3	0	0	0/0/0	39.5
Bennett	1	1	9	0/0/0	104.1
Williams	2	2	49	1/0/0	118.7
Witten	4	4	36	3/0/0	104.2
Hurd	1	1	12	1/0/0	116.6
Totals	12	9	113	6/0/0	103.8

Table Tutorial

Here is a moderately interesting trend. Under Wade Phillips, Felix Jones had 157 yards receiving in 8 games for a total of 19 yards per game. Since Jason Garrett has taken over, Felix has 189 yards receiving in 3 games for 63 yards per game. Also, a total of 335 yards of Rushing + Receiving in 3 games for 111.6 total yards from scrimmage in the last 3 games. Not Earl Campbell, but if you can get 100+ yards from Felix Jones, you have to feel much better than earlier in the season when he had many games of less than 50 yards total.

Target Distribution - Season To Date

Name	Targets	Catches	Yards	FD/TD/INT	QB Rating
Austin	83	52	757	31/5/4	92.3
Witten	84	60	660	28/3/3	91.4
Bryant	69	44	547	20/6/2	105.1
Williams	53	32	477	17/5/3	97.7
Jones	40	37	346	10/1/1	100.6
Barber	13	11	49	1/0/0	82.3
Choice	11	9	45	2/0/0	84.1
Bennett	30	20	171	7/0/2	53.6
Ogletree	1	0	0	0/0/0	39.5
Hurd	10	7	63	4/0/0	86.6
Gronkowski	9	6	23	0/0/0	79.1
Totals	413	278	3130	122/21/15	91.6

Table Tutorial

3RD/4TH Down Targets - Season To Date

Name	Targets	Catches	Yards	FD/TD/INT	QB Rating
Austin	23	19	288	12/2/0	147.7
Bryant	25	16	198	8/4/1	111.3
Williams	12	8	159	6/1/0	137.5
Witten	26	15	170	8/0/3	37.8
Bennett	3	3	16	0/0/0	88.8
Choice	4	3	19	1/0/0	84.4
Jones	5	5	82	0/1/0	158.3
Barber	4	4	37	1/0/0	105.2
Hurd	4	3	31	2/0/0	96.9
Totals	104	73	955	38/8/4	108.5

Table Tutorial

It is still very interesting to see the difference between Jason Witten's overall numbers and his numbers on 3rd and 4th Down. He had a slow start and rallied very nicely overall, but still, the Cowboys' opponents refuse to let ol 82 beat them on a money down if they can help it.

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Bob Sturm is host of BaD Radio on The Ticket 1310 AM Mondays through Fridays at 12-3 p.m. He also hosts The Ticket's Cowboys pregame show. Follow Bob on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bobanddan Bob offers his exclusive analysis after games on SportsDayDFW.com

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