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IRVING, Texas —As if allowing Kevin Ogletree to go off on opening night wasn’t embarrassing enough for the Giants, his disappearing act since then only makes it look worse.
The Queens native had a dream night for the Cowboys against his hometown team on Sept. 5, with Ogletree hauling in eight catches for 114 yards and two touchdowns — all career highs — in front of friends, family and a national prime-time audience to power a 24-17 Dallas win over the Giants at MetLife Stadium.
But any thoughts that it could be a breakout game for the fourth-year slot receiver have been forgotten the past six weeks, right along with Ogletree’s presence in the Cowboys’ offense as they prepare for Sunday’s NFC East rematch.
In the five games since he repeatedly torched the Giants’ injury-ravaged secondary (mostly on what seemed to be the exact same slant route), Ogletree has just 13 catches for 134 yards combined and has yet to reach the end zone again.
Even worse, Ogletree couldn’t muster a single catch two weeks ago in a 31-29 loss at Baltimore in which the Cowboys piled up nearly 500 yards and 30 first downs against the Ravens’ battered defense.
No wonder the soft-spoken Ogletree practically has been a ghost in the locker room this week during the daily media period, leaving teammates and coaches to try to explain why his big night against the Giants is looking more like a massive fluke every day.
“A lot of it’s been dictated by the coverage and by what teams are doing [defensively against the Cowboys],” Tony Romo said yesterday. “Kevin’s playing well. He just needs to go get the ball every once in a blue moon. He’s worked on that very hard this year.”
To be fair, Ogletree also has been overshadowed since the opener by Miles Austin, a healthier Jason Witten and the (long overdue) emergence of former No. 1 pick Dez Bryant into something resembling the consistent playmaker the Cowboys have been anticipating.
But Romo’s comment about Ogletree needing to fight for catches pinpointed what seems to be the former Holy Cross product’s biggest drawback — passivity.
Unlike many of his peers at the sport’s most me-first position, Ogletree appears too willing to fade into the scenery. It’s an unusual trait for someone who had to fight his way into the league as an undrafted free agent, but Ogeltree looks like a receiver who only steps up when the action comes to him.
That was certainly the storyline in the opener, as cornerback injuries all but caused the Giants to run out of people to use in coverage. Combined with Romo’s obvious desire to avoid Big Blue’s fearsome pass rush by way of quick throws, Ogletree wasn’t going to lack for opportunities that night.
Unfortunately for Ogletree, other teams watch film. That meant he wasn’t going to sneak up on anyone after that, and nor could the Cowboys count on facing more teams as short on cornerbacks as the Giants were last month.
Tom Coughlin’s team certainly won’t be caught off-guard by Ogletree this time around, and the Giants also have to confident of preventing a repeat because their corner situation has stabilized in the meantime.
It’s up to Ogletree to counter that if he wants the spotlight again, Romo said.
“Each week, a team has a different philosophy defensively,” Romo said. “It seems kind of silly if you think you’re going to throw the same routes, week-in and week-out, and that they’re just going to work. That’s what teams do.”