Jason Witten has had a nice history with the Philadelphia Eagles.
As the Dallas Morning News’s Brandon George noted today, Witten has more catches, touchdown catches and receiving yards against the rival Iggles than any other opponent. That is: 87 catches, 1,026 yards and seven touchdowns, all against those hated Birds.
For years, Witten did his work against a Jim Johnson defense. Then it was Sean McDermott. Now, it’s the kind-of-embattled Juan Castillo who will be charged with the task of slowing down Tony Romo’s favorite target. According to Witten, the personnel change has brought about a shift in the way the team approaches coverage--relying on less blitzes and more on their front four and a better secondary, basically.
"Even when McDermott took over as coordinator, a lot of what they did was off of [Johnson's] style. It's a different style now," Witten said. "These defensive ends are wide. It's similar to what we saw in Detroit, with their strength in their front four, and obviously their corners play really well."
Despite his prodigious career numbers against the Eagles, Witten anticipates a challenge when they meet up in Philadelphia on Sunday night.
"It's a different approach. They created so much pressure in that old system that you had to find those soft holes and just keep drives alive," Witten said. "You don't see them do that as much. They still have those packages, but they're so good on the back end they don't have to create that pressure because they're such good cover guys."
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