The 2009-2010 season is behind us now.  That being said we have a lot to reflect on.  Wins and losses have welcomed us with open arms and now we are already in gear to prepare for our next season.  (Let it be known Dallas Cowboys Nation will not take a break on any day out of this offseason)

So as we continue to reflect we question why we aren’t playing anymore.  We blame and point fingers but gosh, there were a lot of positives this year.  So I thought I’d slip an anti depressant into your day to help you from jabbing a pencil through your eye at work tomorrow.

Here are the things to look forward to in 2010:

Eagles Vs Cowboys: Has this rivalry emerged as the Cowboys most intense and hated or what?  Not to mention what DeSean Jackson and the Playoffs have done to it.  This is going to be flat out exciting next year as these two powerhouses collide twice next year again.

Tony Romo and Miles Austin: Talk about the emergence of two undrafted stars.  Given that Romo is in his 7^th season it’s really his fourth as a starter.  These two have really developed chemistry this year and they are going to continue to be explosive.  Tony Romo had his best season to date and Miles Austin is only going to help that get better.

Felix Jones: I firmly believe that Felix is the number one running back on this team.  Every time he touches the ball I feel like he’s going to either get a first down or a touchdown.  He is a flat out game changer and I’m excited to witness his impact next year.

Doomsday Defense: This season has been a coming out party for some of our defenders.  DeMarcus Ware and Jay Ratliff proved that they belong with the elite.  Igor Olshansky, Mike Jenkins, and Anthony Spencer proved that they are going to be among the elite.  The balance of speed and toughness in this defense is perfect and it’s a recipe for disaster.

As you can see there is a lot to look forward too in this Dallas Cowboys team and it should be exciting to watch it unfold!

Stay tuned for our off-season coverage and analysis of league news.

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After pitching a shutout at FedEx Field on Sunday night, what could we really have to complain about? These Cowboys secured a playoff spot, even if only a wildcard, they continued to play with some dominance in December, and they have a shot at winning the division next week in Arlington against Philly, if not a first round bye depending on how the Vikings and Cardinals play next week.

It’s a wonderful life, right?

Never mind Roy Williams dropping another pass. Or that spectacular drop sending the ball flying into the hands of a defender for the pick. He did catch a touchdown pass, so he’s vindicated, right? Right?

How about the repeated attempts to gain a single yard with Barber on the ground, we can just ignore that since the team won and got in the postseason, right?

See this is the problem with winning a game, even if certain major flaws were highlighted during this game, and they were, because they got the W nobody will say anything about it, and likely won’t do anything about it.

I get into this argument often with a fellow Cowboys fan – is Marion Barber worth what we put up for him? I think Barber is a great running back and all, but if we (ahem … Jason Garrett) continue to use him wrong, we’ll suffer as a team in the long run. That score very easily should have been 28-0 if not for the two stalls thanks to Barber running right into a wall that he, nor anyone else, could penetrate.

But hey, at least this way we got some confidence in Shaun Suisham. He wouldn’t have attempted a single field goal if not for one of those Barber stalls.

I mean I was sitting there watching them come to the line repeating quickly out loud “don’t run Barber.” And low and behold, it didn’t work. They ran Barber and failed to get the yards needed. That’s a problem.

Jason Garrett has been doing this since he got here though. First he was so stuck on Terrell Owens and getting him the ball, and now he’s stuck on making Barber into something that’s he’s not – a feature back. Read the rest of this entry »

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Here we are one game into the December schedule and already we’re one loss into our usual December performance. It’s not that losing is always a bad thing, I mean some games are just inevitably lost, but this game was a truly saddening one to lose.

Tony Romo was already under fire for his play in recent Decembers while the rest of the team seemed to be getting a reprieve from Cowboys fans – for some unknown reason. But now it’s just gone too damn far, and yes I said damn … damnit.

Tony Romo may not always say the right things, such as his answer to a question about how he’d get his team to the Super Bowl this year – “I don’t know, I’ve never been there.” Can we say Dufus!?!

And we all probably get tired of the same old line … “We just have to keep getting better and working hard …” blah, blah, blah. Everyone keeps pointing out he is good as far as stats go, but sucks in games – um, did I miss something? How can that be? Football is essentially just stats, I mean it’s not heart that wins football games, it’s points.

So yeah we headed into Giants Stadium with a black cloud hanging over us, so what? The Cowboys go out and shut down them Gnats in their house for the first quarter of play. Good job! The only problem was that they got just as many points – 0.

But throughout the game there were several points of interest that are worth noting here. I didn’t see nearly as many penalties for us during the game and that’s always a good thing to see a reduction in that stat. Of course there was that stupid, stupid penalty by Dum-Dum Adams against a very defenseless Justin Tuck to end the half. Real high class move there Adams.

Second, Romo seemed to be spreading the ball around pretty well, not perfectly but better than usual. I mean Williams, Crayton, Austin, Jones, Barber, Witten, and Bennett all caught at least a pass or two. That’s a big deal for this team, this year.

Of course Martellus Bennett was just as unspectacular as he has been all year. I guess he was too busy trying to remember all the people following him on Twitter to really make anything happen besides the catch itself, and he even missed that too.

Witten – he set a career high for yardage right? 156 yards for him on like 15 catches, just one short of his career high. Can’t be upset about that. Roy Williams not only caught a pass, but he caught two in the endzone, and believe me, that is a shocker. But he played better; I just wish he’d stop with the damn Longhorn pride when he scores a COWBOYS touchdown. Seems a bit of a traitor when he does that, doesn’t he?

The defense seemed to be chasing their tails all day though. I mean assume that’s why they let Brandon Jacobs go 70 something yards on a dump pass for a score. Either that or they wanted to see if he could run that far – who knows. What I do know is that absolutely horrible play caused by bad decisions on the field cost us a tie game.

And the same can be said for the punt return, and we’ve all heard by now just how rare it is for a team to return a punt against us for six, even when our special teams sucked so bad last year we still didn’t give that kind of crap away.

That play cost us the game. But Tony Romo played great.

Yeah, yeah, get it out of your system already. The Cowboys lost a game in December and Tony Romo wasn’t at all the reason. I can feel your stares …

The guy played good football. He had 3 touchdowns, didn’t throw any picks, didn’t fumble it, was only sacked twice, and had career high yards. You can’t expect your quarterback to help the defense and special teams do their jobs.

Though it is somewhat to very alarming that we can never get firing on all cylinders. Either the defense plays great and the offense sputters, or the offense blows the roof off and our defense sucks it back down. Maybe this is the December when we figure out how to all play well at the same time. Maybe.

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Hello Dallas Cowboys Nation. It’s been some time since we’ve all been so proud and full of celebratory bliss but the time now is nice. The Cowboys knocked the Eagles off the top of the NFC East to claim sole possession of it themselves, and did so not by simply being the team to make the fewest mistakes on the field, but the team that dominated the game just enough to prevail the victors.

105.3 FM “The Fan” aired the word “substance” often Monday morning. They weren’t talking about drugs or media coverage though, well they did but we’ll get to that later. They remarked that the Cowboys won that game with substance, meaning they had a plan and executed it. They saw the obstacles and overcame them. They played good and sound football to win the game.

Sure, the running game was a little weak until the fourth quarter, and you wouldn’t really expect that from the triple threat combo of Marion Barber, Tashard Choice, and Felix Jones, but it happened. In the fourth quarter though, Barber came out and did exactly what he is best at doing – dominating and punishing a worn out defense in the final 15 minutes to control the clock. That’s the role he is most suited for, the closer, and the coaches should be more mindful of that the next time he takes a first quarter handoff and runs into the dozen players waiting for him up the middle. Getting knocked on his butt isn’t really the ideal way to win games.

Miles Austin was rather absent for much of the game as well. He was thrown to maybe 4 times and had but one catch, albeit for a touchdown over 30 yards. And keep in mind that his touchdown was the game winner … again.

But perhaps the biggest story of the game as far as the players go comes down to Tony Romo and Roy Williams finally showing some signs of meshing, of finding that elusive same page, and making something happen with it.

Just as Wade Phillips said, and others … It did appear that many of the passes to Williams before Sunday were either too high, thrown behind, or simply not where he was. Most of us would likely agree, regardless of any personal feelings against Romo, that an experienced quarterback is going to know pretty well where the route goes, so does that mean that Williams has been to blame? Maybe.

Williams caught something like 5 of 7 balls for 75 yards Sunday night in Philly and while it wasn’t a spectacular performance by any means, unless you’re the Browns, it was solid and that is what we’ve needed more of from our number 1 receiver – solid play.

If he plays solid and runs good routes and even catches half of the passes directed toward him, he’ll likely continue to see enough double coverage’s to help Witten, Bennett, Crayton, Austin, Hurd, and even Ogletree. Not to mention the benefits for the running game. So while it again was nothing worthy of praise, it was a long overdue spark to the chemistry that he and Romo must develop for this team to achieve anything beyond a divisional title this year.

And let’s face it, the Cowboys only winning the NFC East this year will be considered a bust for the season, and rightly so. We’ve won the division a few times since 1996 – the last time we won a playoff game. So doing so this year wouldn’t amount to anything more than the same and maintaining status quo this year will be the only sure fire way to lose Wade Phillips his title of Head Coach.

Which brings me to a brief mention of The Fan’s topic on firing Wade. The local press around here has been calling for Wade’s dismissal as recently as the week following the Kansas City game. Granted, that game should have been a blow out, an easy win for us, even if the team was supposed to view it as anything but that – easy.

We struggled in all aspects of that game including making the fourth quarter stop to put the game away, sending it into overtime. But the one great thing that came out of that game was that in our times of trouble, Miles Austin was given a real shot to make a play, and did he ever accomplish that.

He played so good in that game, setting a franchise record or two in the process, that he booted Crayton as the #2 guy immediately. Funny thing about that though, this team has been lacking so much of what makes a team a team. But as soon as Crayton is relegated to the third spot, he didn’t just sulk and make snide comments to the media like he and others have done before when unhappy. No, he went out instead and made the most of his remaining duties.

Two weeks in a row, Mr. Consistent who usually averages only 10 yards on punt returns goes and breaks one for six. Who would have ever saw that coming? That’s a teammate right there. Basically in the dog house and he just works harder and ends up making two huge plays in an area of the game that has been seriously raunchy up until this year – special teams.

So I’m pretty happy about this team right now. So much so that I’ve had to watch myself so that I don’t get too excited. I really think we’re playing like a Team that’s ready to compete for the Lombardi Trophy. And a game into November I don’t expect anything to change right away, not until after the Thanksgiving game against Oakland – not until we hit December.

It’s time to see if this team finding some of its identity and unity is enough to not only win games, but win in December and beyond. Let us hope.

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The Dallas Cowboys have really come off to a slow start this year. If you could cut out some of their mistakes, they would be 5-0 instead of 3-2.

However, we cannot change the past, but we can learn from it.

What did Dallas learn from its past?

First off, they signed Allen Rossum, the 49ers punt and kick returner, to help improve plays on special teams. With Patrick Crayton muffing punts, and Terence Newman being injury-prone, the Cowboys needed a genuine return man to help in that third part of the game.

Helpful additions are only part of the equation. Dallas needs to be able to correct the flaws it makes with self-discipline.

I believe this team has really been the cause of their own failures. They are too talented to be beaten out of playoffs. These guys give games away, and it really is disgusting to watch.

This is one game they cannot give away, especially since their record is 3-2. They need to bump it up to 4-2 against a playoff team like the Atlanta Falcons to make the statement that they aren’t overrated, but actually a good team.

What are the keys needed to beat the Atlanta Falcons in Dallas this Sunday?

First off, this team has to  score touchdowns. Too many drives have happened where Dallas settled for a field goal instead of getting a touchdown. These results are due partly to a failed 3rd-down conversion here and there, but what is really muffling the Cowboys’ drives is penalties.

Penalties are like hiccups. They are annoying, unwanted, and mess up the flow of whatever one is doing. The flow in this case being momentum, which I’ve learned is almost half the game.

Dallas has to keep momentum going on every drive without revolvers going off around their feet.

The biggest thing for Dallas is that the run game has to happen this week. Last week, it took over a half to really get the run game going to where it kept a lot of pressure off Tony Romo and confused the defense.

It is much easier to throw passes when the defense doesn’t know if it is going to be a handoff or a pass. Atlanta is ranked 17th against the run, so the Cowboys are certainly capable of running the ball against this team.

For the run game to work, the line has to keep doing what it has been doing. Left guard, Kyle Kosier, who missed the majority of last season, has really helped the line assert its dominance on the line of scrimmage.

However, expect Dallas to feature all three running backs this Sunday, providing Felix Jones does play.

Marion Barber, who was nursing a quad injury in the game against Kansas City, was very sluggish, and when Tashard Choice took over, Dallas got the the help it needed to win the game in overtime.

Felix Jones has been out the past two games due to a knee strain, so the loss of him was equivalent to the Lakers without Kobe Bryant. I’ve spent hours yelling at Lady Luck about how she needs to keep him healthy.

He is the X-factor in the game. He brings that third dimension of offense to this team. He has speed unlike any other running back I’ve seen in the NFL, he has the explosiveness of a gunshot, and he has an eye for the hole that just stuns you.

His first NFL carry was for an 11 yard touchdown run against the Browns. We are talking about someone very special.

If those three running back can execute this Sunday, then I don’t see how Dallas can be beaten. They are, arguably, the best group in the NFL.

Once the running game is established, Dallas should be able to score via air travel.

Want to view the rest? Please go here: http://www.nfltouchdown.com/keys-to-victory-in-a-must-win-for-dallas-against-atlanta/

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Where do we go from here? As much as I want to sit here and say “people do not go into hysterics, this team will be there in the end” I simply cannot!

This team is in trouble! The type of trouble no one wants to be in, the type of trouble that could send this team spiraling out of control, like a speeding car on an icy road.

Our quarterback is trying to play in a way that is uncomfortable and unknown to him. Our coaching staff is so enamored with creating exotic plays that they think can cause other teams to play a style that they are uncomfortable with, that they have stopped trying to do the small things. The things that win championships!

The 2009 Dallas Cowboys are now officially in desperation mode, and it’s only the second week in October!

My associates here with this blog are doing there very best to try to keep everyone’s spirits up, and I am very appreciative of that!

The problem with trying to keep everyone from freaking out is that when we preach allegiance and “staying true to your fandom” we tend to block out what the truth is!

I do and always will Love the Dallas Cowboys, but I cannot sit quietly and not call this team out for failing to do the most elementary of football things. My disgust has nothing to do with winning and losing, but all to do with people simply not putting forth enough effort.

Effort is what will win and lose you football games! This effort thing that I am speaking of is something that this team is missing. To hell with T.O.! To hell with how many times Romo plays golf! To hell with “Roy Williams is not a #1”, To hell with Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett! To hell with “we just gotta keep working and getting better”!

None of those things mean anything! This team has gone thru hundreds “meetings” and “practices” with only a handful of players that actually “get it”! They are soft mentally and physically, and to be honest with you judging by the way they have played so far, I don’t think that bothers them!

Keep in mind now I am not calling one individual out, and I am not just referencing the players. I am talking about the entire staff! The saddest thing about all of this is that I really do like the people on this team.

The coaching staff here is a very intelligent staff, and very good people. The players on this team are some of the most gifted in the league. They simply have no guts!

I have tried my best to keep up with the “rah, rah, go team” stuff, but enough is enough! It is time to call it like I see it!

Jason Garrett continues to refuse to work the middle of the field while having not one, but two very big, athletic tight ends (oh by the way one of them is the best this team has ever had), no instead he decides to use one of them as nothing more than a decoy! He has as sure handed a receiver as you can find in the NFL in Roy Williams, yet cannot seem to understand the concept of the slant route (come on Jason how many times did you sit on the sidelines and watch Troy and Mike hook up on this route?). Hey Jason here is a novel idea, how about you get some receivers in motion to maybe help them create some space? How about you try and help Romo a little bit and play to his strength’s? You know maybe an occasional roll out! No your too f*@# hard headed to do that!

Wade Phillips while I commend you for trying to become what this football team needs in its leader, you just simply cannot do it! Maybe it’s time to meet with Jerry and make it known that you would be willing to step down and become solely the Def. Coordinator?

Notice to all players if your name does not appear on the list I am about to give, then I am talking to you!

Demarcus Ware, Jay Ratliff, Keith Brooking, Marion Barber, Tashard Choice, Jason Witten, Felix Jones. Tony Romo you will have your own section!

Are you guys tired of hearing the media and fans rip you guys to shreds every week? I am sure you are! Well I have a sure fire way for you to rid yourselves of all of that negative press, if you are interested in hearing it.

This is a very simple and elementary idea. Play the game like it is your last! For many of you this game of football is all you know, and you are smart enough to know that you cannot play forever. So why not go out there each and everyday and play the game like you will never get to suit up again?

The fault does not lay with your ability, it really doesn’t! The problem is with your will! You guys have lost that thing that got you to the “league”. All of you guys in college had a desire to become a professional, and now that you are one you have stopped playing with that killer instinct that got you there! Why? Is it the money? Have you all made so much money now that you are content to just ride it out? Or have you just lost the “want to”?

I and many of your fans have become so accustomed to you playing half heartedly that you no longer have to make excuses for your poor play, we make them for you! I am sick of it! YOU and only YOU are responsible for the effort that you put forth each Sunday, and the one you have been giving SUX!

Tony, Tony, Tony, I can understand the predicament you are in, I really can. We the fans have beat you over the head with wanting you to be more like Troy, that now you do not even know how to be you. Tie that in with Jason Garrett calling the plays and you are in a losing situation.

However you are in control of your destiny, not the coaches and certainly not the fans! My father told me many, many years ago, “Son be yourself and to hell with anyone who does not like who you are”! That stands true with the way you play football too. You were a very confident football player, so confident in your ability that you were willing to take a chance! Now you do not have enough confidence in yourself to find your way to the lunch room? It is gut check time Tony, time for you to step and take control of the situation or fall back to obscurity, the decision is yours.

My allegiance to this team has not wavered, but my patience is wearing thin with the group that is here.

While I still have high hopes for this team, those hopes and dreams are becoming cloudier by the second. Now if only someone would hear me and start the recovery process!

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The Dallas Cowboys last week apparently took the advice that was given by former head man Jimmy Johnson, “KISS Keep It Simple Stupid” and unfortunately some of us do not like this plan!

After going back and watching the Monday night game against the Panthers for the second time, it became crystal clear to me what was happening.

People will call it a lack of confidence in Tony Romo or that Jason Garrett is an egomaniac out to prove how innovative he can be, but what I saw was a completely different picture all together.

The game plan of that game on the offensive side of the ball was one of the most vanilla I have ever seen this team take. It appeared to me that Garrett did an outstanding job of simplifying things and letting the players concentrate on just doing there jobs.

The Cowboys have relied so dearly on the play of Tony Romo and on his decision making that they simply put too much pressure onto his shoulders. Jimmy Johnson stated last week that the true way to build a players confidence (Tony Romo) was in big games to simplify things and let him focus on the nuts and bolts of things instead of trying to create things that simply are not there.

While Romo’s stat line was as average as average gets it’s what does not show up on the stat line that was so great. He was composed. He had a purpose. He did not get too high or too low. Tony Romo simply played within the confines of the plan.

People! This is a gigantic move in the right direction for this team and Tony Romo do not ruin it by failing to see what happened.

I am by no means trying to tell you that everyone did everything perfect on Monday night. I am trying to tell you that this performance was more about building confidence, a confidence that can carry this unit to all the places we aspire for them to go.

Do you all remember the 90’s? and how everyone in the stadium would know what play was about to be run, but it did not matter because the Cowboys could execute that play better than anyone could defend it.

The Cowboys made there first step towards trying to become that executing machine that they once were. The Cowboys running game is extremely good right now and that is due simply because of execution! They ran the same delayed draw at least 15 times the other night, with two different backs and each time was as successful as the time before.

Now I have read in several different places Cowboy fans highly upset with the play calls by Garrett in that one sequence down at the goal line, where the Boys through two fades in succession.

At first I like you could not understand the play call, but after listening to Romo after the game and then watching the film again I understood the calls.

Garrett saw that the Panthers had there “Big” unit in the game (the Panthers were committed to stop the run) it was at that point that Garrett and the gang decided to attack the point of least resistance. More importantly on the first fade to Roy Williams he had the preferred match up, he also got a perfectly thrown ball by Romo, but Roy could not hold on to it.

The second play designed for Marty B was an even greater mismatch but Romo simply over threw him. I will take those match ups every time! They tried to punch the thing in on first down and could not get enough push against an overloaded line.

I would love for this team to be able to just over power folks, but we are just not that team. So why beat a dead horse? TAKE WHAT THE DEFENSE GIVES YOU! That is our motto, and that is what will win games for this team!

It is time to put our egos away, we cannot continue to just cuss this team every moment of everyday. It is not there responsibility to inform us of how they plan to attack teams, but rather ours to become smarter fans of the game and recognize what is taking place.

I challenge all of you to question not only the team but yourself as well. For the most part we have some of the smartest fans in the league, it is time to put that smarts to use.

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According to Orlando Scandrick, Mike Jenkins will get the nod at starting right cornerback once again this week against Denver.  Jenkins has been solid so far in two starts, notching what should have been 2 interceptions.  Jenkins has 9 tackles and 3 passes defended so far in a season where he is beating out Scandrick before our eyes.

At the beginning of the season I called for this to be Scandrick’s job but with a tough assignment last week he wasn’t able to produce the plays he needed to when it counted.  Scandrick has however, played very well in the slot again.  He has 11 tackles and 2 passes defended.

Marion Suits Up

Marion Barber is suited for practice today, but the extent of his participation is yet to be seen.  We hope that Marion is good to go Sunday in Denver to give Choice some air.  I see Choice starting regardless and Marion coming in on third down, short yardage, and closing situations.

Next?

The Dallas Cowboys march into Mile High Stadium to face a 3-0 team that has similar strengths.  The Bronco’s are 4^th in the league in rushing, led by Buckhalter and Moreno.  The key will be forcing turnovers in this game, but it wont be an easy task seeing that the Broncos have yet to throw an interception all year, even with Kyle Orton as their QB.

Brian Dawkins adds a new look to the Bronco’s D, and he’s had significant success against Tony and the ‘Boys in the last 3 years.  Tony is 2-3 against a Brian Dawkins led defense and averages 235 yards a game against him.  Dawkins however has picked Romo off twice in 5 meetings and has caused 3 fumbles.  Between Him and Champ Bailey he must at least be cautious. Read the rest of this entry »

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Carolina came into Big D with a challenge. Trying to prove that they aren’t the team that the media has painted them to be. Unfortunately for them, Dallas was on that same mission. After a slow paced first half, Dallas came up fired up, and honestly looked like the team we expect them to look like.

The Cowboys stuck to their gameplan, running the ball for over 200 yards for the first time since 1979. Felix Jones had 8 carries for 98 yards before leaving in the third with a left knee strain (severity unknown) and Tashard Choice filled in nicely with 18 rushes for 82 yards.

Tony Romo fired back after a week full of media warfare completing 22 of 33 passes for 255 yards. Though he didn’t have a touchdown, you can thank Romo for this victory. It was his ability to read the field, escape the blitzes, and make great throws to his receivers that got the victory. Witten had 77 yards off of 9 targets, Roy 4 catches for 75, Crayton battled for his 44 yards, and the backs totaled for 56 yards receiving.

The real story tonight though was the defense who until tonight had 0 sacks and 0 turnovers. That changed tonight. The rushing defense was strong allowing only 73 yards. The secondary allowed 220 yards, which is a great improvement. The real big deal is the two interceptions, mostly the one for a touchdown by Newman. The Cowboys were able to amass 3 sacks and 2 forced fumbles in a good victory to keep pace with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Victor-y

Victor Butler got his share of snaps tonight and he made the most of it. He fought to rack up 2 sacks and 1 forced fumble to seal the game. Victor Butler, a 4th round pick, was drafted because of his pass rush abilities. He will be a project for Wade Phillips but honestly, his development along with that of Jenkins, Scandrick, Jason Williams and even Ware will mean everything to the future of this organization. Victor should see more snaps after tonight’s performance.

Draw the Line

Once again Ware was held to 0 sacks. Cause for concern? I don’t really think so. He is game-planned for week in and week out. He still gets there often and still pressures often. Ware will have trouble duplicating 20 sacks ever again, but expect a 10 sack season. Wares impact on this defense wont be statistic as much as it will be seen on the field.

The problem does however arise when talking about Bobby Carpenter. Carpenter has looked lazy and continued to do that tonight. I expect some changes to be made especially when Jason Williams returns.

Game Ball

Every game I’m going to try and hand out 3 game balls. Tonight they go to the following:

1. Terrence Newman- Newman held Steve Smith to 4 catches for 38 yards. Not an easy task. He also had a pick six to put the Cowboys up 2 scores.

2. Felix Choice??- I’m cheating here, but our running backs played well totaling 176 yards and a TD. (Patrick Crayton and Romo also accounted for 36 yards)

3. Tony Romo- Based on a hard week, he rebounded nicely, carefully orchestrating these drives perfectly.  No Interceptions… Enough Said.

Final Word

Tashard Choice said that you can thank Witten and Romo for kick starting the offense during halftime……. Keith Brooking had a wonderful game, and looks to be a great pickup……. and just like the skins, Jason Witten could be seen praying with the Panthers players at the end of the game.  Some class to end the game.

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Earlier this week we were asked to participate in a podcast segment on Cat Crave Radio. John White at Cat Crave Radio was kind enough to invite me to give the Cowboys perspective on their weekly segment entitled “The Enemy.” This was our first such venture, and hopefully not the last.

You can hear the full program on Cat Crave Radio, or you can listen below. Afterward, be sure to let me know what you think!

Thanks again to John and the folks at Cat Crave Radio I had a great time and look forward to doing this sort of thing again.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Back by popular demand (popular demand being defined as, at least, one person asking me to do this), I will now attempt to predict how the Cowboy’s can stop the otherwise vaunted run attack of the Giants and their potentially dangerous aerial game.

But the first thing we have to do as a collective fan base, is brain dump everything we thought we learned from this unit against Tampa Bay, for three reasons:  1.  It was the first game.  The players adrenaline is higher than normal, the pressure to prove ones value is higher, it’s the first game the starters play a full 4 quarters, and the coaches have very little film to game plan against the opposing team (I’m sure there are the factors, but those are the major ones).  2.  I honestly believe the Bucs are better than what they are getting credit for.  Admittedly, they could use a different QB.  But Antonio Bryant, Michael Clayton, Kellen Winslow, Jerramy Stevens, Cadillac Williams and Derek Ward are not pedestrian weapons; they have all been considered dominant players at their perspective positions at some point in their careers, if not as early as last year (Bryant, Ward, Stevens).   Furthermore, that OL played an outstanding game, in my opinion.  3.  For the first time in a long time, despite the win, the defensive players are not satified with their performance and are committed to correcting what many have agreed are correctable issues.

Feel better?  Okay, let’s move on.

First, our starters:

Defensive Line:

Jay Ratliff (6′4″ 303):  This analysis is going to be long; we all know who Ratliff is.  Next.

Marcus Spears (6′4″ 309):  Like many players returning from last year’s squad, he committed to improving his game over the offseason.  Be that due to personal pride or the fact that he is entering a contract year, I think we can expect him to be solid throughout the year; against the Giant’s, though, we will need more.

Igor Olshansky (6′6″ 315):  For the time being, I have to give Igor an incomplete on his grade.  The trouble is, in the 3-4, defensive lineman effectiveness is very hard to evaluate because their job vastly differ’s from a 4-3 lineman.  But, if Demarcus isn’t getting his sacks, that’s should be a good indication that Igor is not doing his primary job:  keep Ware in one on one blocking situations.

Jason Hatcher (6′6″ 305):  Of all the back ups, Jason seem’s to have the most potential to eventualyl unseat a current incumbent.  He get’s good penetration, and can push the pocket on even starting quality offensive lineman.

Junior Siavii (6′5″ 318):  Thus far, he has been invisible.  On the defensive line, that’s probably the most significant criticism you can offer.

Stephen Bowen (6′5″ 306):  He comes in at a close second, behind Jason Hatcher as a back up.  He has good size and a decent motor.

Linebackers:

Demarcus Ware (6′4″ 262):  Listening to an interview following the Bucs game, he admitted he was never quite right after that first hit that sidelined him while they assessed the severity of what was later revealed to be a concussion.  My understanding of league rules is that he should not have played from the point forward, but there is little trainers can do when a player like Ware makes his mind up that he is going to pass every test they throw at him to determine rather or not he is good to go.  Beyond ability, let this serve as a reminder to his committment to this team and his awareness of how important it is he is standing on the field as a factor in the game or not.

Keith Brooking (6′2″ 241):  This quote says everything:  ”We’ve got to go in with a mentality that we’re not going to allow them to run the ball on us, period.  No matter what happens, no matter what we call, no matter what they run, it’s on us to be where we’re suppose to be.  And when we get there, get there with bad intentions!”  To that, all I can say in reference to his position is, ‘Zach who?’.  For those of you who contend that talk is cheap, he has the career stat sheet to back his talk up!

Bradie James (6′2″ 247):  Following the ugly Bengals game last year, players seemed content to squeak out a win against a lesser opponent.  Flash forward to this week and from the vast majority of the defense from the Head Coach down the mantra is the same, “We have to play better,” Bradie James admitted.  ”We know that.”  Nuff said.

Anthony Spencer (6′3″ 255):  Throughout his career, thus far, he’s been inconsistent.  He has all the physical tools and speed, but he tends to revert to his college day MO of trying to outrun the tackle/TE by going around the block to get to the QB/ball carrier.  In the NFL, in the 3-4, it is imperative, regardless if it involves being taken out of the play by a blocker, that he own his gaps of responsibility.  The 3-4 can be a very effective defense (as the Steelers and Baltimore’s chart topping defenses should suggest), but it requires unselfish players at every level, who obey their assignments.  If he doesn’t take the blocker in his gap, the blocker will have the opportunity to pick up someone in the secondary and that typically mean’s a long run, if not TD, by the ball carrier.  For an example of what to do, take a look at what Demarcus Ware has become excellent at.  He takes on the block and while using one arm to disengage the blocker, he uses his other arm to bring down the carrier or corral him towards other manned gaps.  It requires Demarcus trusting that his teammates will be where they are supposed to be, but again, that is absolutely crucial for the 3-4 to be effective.

Bobbie Carpenter (6′2″ 249):  Bust.  We’ve establish this much.  But I do believe he is, at least, a servicable replacement for Kevin Burnett.  And if you think about it, had we drafted Bobbie in the 3rd round, like Burnett, instead of the 1st, the criticism of Bobbie wouldn’t be nearly as bad; and that was Parcells fault.  At any rate, the one thing the Cowboy’s are doing with Bobbie that I ardently oppose is him being a member of the goalline defense.  His instincts, size, and frame do not matchup well to most NFL team’s goalline offense.  And I really just cannot envision him getting in the air meeting a RB trying to dive over the pile.

Corners:

Terence Newman (5′11″ 195):  When healthy, he’s clutch.  If health had not been an issue in 2007 and 2008, I might even say he’s pretty close to being a shut down corner.

Orlando Scandrick (5′10″ 192):  Thus far, I’d say he has proven he should be the 2nd starting corner over Mike Jenkins.  A true student of the game, we can expect him to be well prepared for the Giants.

Mike Jenkins (5′10″ 198):  He has the tools and the frame defenses like for their corner.  It’s the mental side of his game that typically get’s in the way.  Rather it is over-thinking or a lack of thinking, the jury is still out.  But, I will say, I like him starting over Anthony Henry, Pacman Jones, and Alan Ball.  And if I’m not mistaken, the guys at football outsiders actually think pretty highly of him, as well.

Alan Ball (6′1″ 188):  He proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was the best corner behind the above 3 in training camp and in preseason.  But with his only competition being the likes of Courtney Brown, Mike Mickens, DeAngelo Smith and Julian Hawkins, that really isn’t saying much.

Safeties:

Gerald Sensabaugh (6′0″ 210):  We’ve seen good and we’ve seen bad.  He’s certainly a better coverage guy than Roy Williams, Keith Davis and Patrick Watkins, but he has not been as good as advertised against the run.  Thus far, preseason included, team’s have not had opportunities deep, but he sure has been called for quite a few penalities; most notably the defensive holding call that nullified a Mike Jenkins interception against the Bucs this past Sunday.  I have a theory:  As much as Wade Phillips gushed about what Sensabaugh, in particular, add’s to his defensive scheme’s, I can’t help but wonder if he is over-thinking and committing these stupid penalties to live up to the hype.   Honestly, I think that little bit of phsychology may have also been an issue for quite a few of the Cowboy’s players in 2008.   Regardless of his excuse for mental error’s, it’s unacceptable and against the Giant’s the Cowboys will need every part of his focus.

Ken Hamlin (6′2″ 209):  Much has been made about those two infamous missed tackles at the end of the game against Baltimore, closing the door forever on Texas Stadium.  But for the most part, considering the injuries that created a turnstile at various positions in the Secondary, I honestly believe Ken Hamlin did the best he could with what he had.  As the Quarterback of the defense, it is his job to ensure that all of those rookies and bottom of the roster feeders forced to play due to the suspension or injuries, are lined up correctly.  Ultimately, it comes down to his ability to trust the other guys lining up back in the secondary, to do their job.  He could not do that last year.  In his trying to compensate for poor play by those other positions, his position suffered.  But that’s just my opinion.  Either way, Hamlin has been known to throw everything he has into hit’s and he will be primed to hurt people when the Giants are in town.

Special Teams:

Matt McBriar (6′1″ 220):  Prior to his injury early last year, he was on pace to be a Pro Bowl selection.  He has a boot that can put the ball 60 yards from scrimmage, but from what I understand, DeCammalis has wisely requested he adjust his kicks to not out-punt the coverage.  Thus far, this adjustment has paid off.

Nick Folk (6′1″ 222):  The dynamic of a defense changes when backed against it’s own endzone.  The Cowboy’s may rely on Nick quite a bit to ensure we don’t leave points on the field.

David Buehler (6′2″ 228):  He will likely end the season as the Touchback king of the league, which is huge, but that’s not the only place he will contribute.  He also helps on punt coverage and for a guy who beat out all of the highly touted linebackers drafted from USC this year in the combine at the 40 and on the bench, he is not to be taken lightly as an open field tackler.

Of all the defensive player’s above, Special Teams will likely be where the Cowboy’s win this game.  The Giants, barring turnovers, should have a long field to traverse each time they start a drive.  This will be huge in the wanning moments of the game, particularly considering that of all the attributes their receivers can offer, burning our defense for a quick score likely won’t be one of them.

Now here’s the motley crew the Giant’s will be throwing at the Cowboys:

Offensive Line:

For any NFL team, anything done offensively begins in the trenches.  Partly because I’m lazy, but mostly because it’s unnecessary, I’m going to skip the individual breakdown of the Offense Line.  When you think of the Giant’s OL, most Cowboy fans can’t name one player from the offensive side of the ball with a hand on the ground, anyway.  And for the Giant’s, that’s a good thing.  Why you ask?  Because that mean’s they are a cohesive unit that get’s recognized for their cumulative efforts and not just that one dominant presence; example:  Joe Thomas of the Browns.    But, if you consider the 5 sacks the Cowboy’s were able to compile the last time these two team’s met, you know they are not without their flaws.  Granted, the Giant’s didn’t have Brandon Jacobs in that game, so that should change Wade’s approach a bit.  But keep in mind, despite his TE like frame, Jacobs is actually notoriously horrible at pass blocking, which is why we won’t see him catching to many balls Sunday night (unless it’s on the chin, figuratively speaking; I’m sorry, I had to).  In for sure passing situations, we will likely see Ahmad Bradshaw manning the RB position.

Running Backs:

Brandon Jacobs (6′4″ 264):  To be honest, he doesn’t scare me.  Personally, I believe if you took away his stellar offensive line and committee of RB’s around him, he would be considered an average RB, at best.  With a full head of steam, he is extremely difficult to bring down.   But if the Cowboys can slow his initial acceleration, by simply hitting him (notice I didn’t say they have to tackle him at this point) before or shortly after he crosses the line of scrimmage, his overall production will be marginal.  I will admit, however, if the Giant’s are within 3 yard’s of the Goalline, because of his presence, and, of course, that offensive line, it’s an automatic 6 in my opinion.  By the way, if you didn’t quite get the clowning I was delivering at BJ’s expense in paranthesis at the end of my assessment of the Offensive Line, in other word’s, I’m predicting he’s going to suck against the Cowboys.

Ahmad Bradshaw (5′9″ 198):  I wouldn’t say he scare’s me, but he does draw more concern from me than BJ.  First, he is the RB they will rely on the most in pass protecting, now that Derrick Ward is gone, meaning that he is the guy most likely to catch are defense with their pant’s down expecting the pass.  Furthermore, he is in the mold of those RB’s from last Sunday the Cowboys played against, though I’ve forgotten their names adhering to my own advise.  Last year, Ahmad only compiled 60 yard’s, but with those 12 attempt’s, he averaged 5 yards per carry.  In 2008, he had 355 yard’s on 67 attempt’s for an average of 5.3 yard’s.  And in 2007, he averaged 8.3 yards per carry, with 190 yards on 23 attempts.  If anything, you can say he consistently put’s the Giants in 3rd and relatively short.

Danny Ware (6′0″ 234):  Statistically speaking, we don’t know much.  In 2008 he had 2 carries for 15 yard’s, averaging 7.5 per carry, but that could hardly be considered a trend.  Judging from what I’ve read, he likely could be described as a cross between BJ and Bradshaw, not only in size, but in style, as well.  Last year, he was the preseason team MVP amassing 180 yard’s on opposing team leftovers and bubble-riders.  What that says about him and how he will fare against the Cowboys, if he even see’s the field, is beyond me.

Wide Receivers:

Steve Smith (5′11″ 195):  With 6 passes for 80 yards against the Redskins, Smith was Eli’s favorite target.  His longest reception of the day was 26 yard’s, so if the Giants do try to test our Safeties, it will likely be with him.

Domenik Dixon (6′2″ 182):  Last year, he owned the slot, amassing 596 yards on 43 receptions.  He is also dangerous after the catch.  Scandrick will have his hand’s full, but with our selection of cover Safeties, Scandrick shouldnt’ have to many problems keeping Dixon in check.

Sinorice Moss (5′8″ 185):  The younger brother of self-proclaimed Cowboy-killer Santana Moss, he never has lived up to the Giants expectations.  He has shown flashes, but thus far has failed to be consistent, particularly at catching the ball.

Mario Manningham (5′11″ 183):  He scored a 6 on the Wunderlich and was considered as too slow to play receiver in the NFL.  Most team’s had scratched him off of their draft boards.  But the Giant’s saw something in him and if the Washington game is any kind of indication, with one year under his belt, they are beginning to reap the rewards.

Ramses Barden (6′6″ 227):  Though he likely will never be Plaxico Burress, his size affords him the ability to be that type of weapon in the readzone.  His performance for a 3rd round pick was impressive in preseason, but he has yet to catch a ball in the regular season.  If the Giants are within 10 yards of scoring, I would not be suprised if the Giant’s don’t, at least, put him on the field to give the defense something more to think about.

Hakeem Nicks (6′0″ 215):  The Giant’s 1st round pick was touted as being the most NFL ready receiver available; Jeremy Maclin perhaps being the lone exception.  Early in training camp and preseason, though, Ramses Barden was earning the vast majority of the buzz.  The light’s seemed to come on late, but again, it was preseason.  Against the Redskins, he collected two passes for 18 yards, 11 yards being his long.  If anything, you can say he catches what is thrown at him; Darrius Heyward-Bey, the top receiver drafted, unfortunately, cannot make that claim.

Tight Ends:

Kevin Boss (6′6″ 253):  Jeremy Shockey was the Giant’s T.O..  And Kevin Boss is the Giant’s Roy Williams.  Kevin may not have the amount of talent Shockey possesses, but the Giants, with the baggage Shockey added brought to the team, are better off with out him.  Parallel aside, Boss would still be the 3rd TE on the Cowboy’s depth chart.

Travis Beckum (6′3″ 239):  Drafted in the 3rd round, behind Ramses, Travis topped quite a few list for TE’s available this year, making him a steal in the 3rd.  However, he has not been targeted in the regular season, and only caught two passes for 37 yards throughout preseason.  It may take a year or two to see him reach is potential.

Darcy Johnson (6′5″ 252):  If he does see time, he is mostly considered a blocking tight end.  In 3 years with the Giant’s he has only caught 4 passes for 46 yards.

Analysis:

Like the Cowboys, having jettisoned Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer in the offseason, the Giants have an offense that flourishes by spreading the ball around and keeping opposing defenses off balance by pounding the run, using a few different types of ball carriers.  The Cowboys defense likely won’t dominate the Giants.  That may be asking a little much.  What I am counting on is that the Cowboys will win the field position battle through special Special Teams and the Cowboys offense will ultimately outscore the opposition.   The key for the Cowboy’s defense is to keep the pressure on Eli, even if it doesn’t result in Sacks, and ensure that their running game cannot be relied on to extend drives and dominate the time of possession ratio throughout the game.

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“Whoever gets the mismatch gets the ball with us,” Bennett said. “I think it’s a great tool and a great weapon we showed.”  Martellus Bennett dead panned.

Personally, I think this may have been the definition of tipping your hand, but then again, I think most defenses in this league expect the mismatches to get picked on.  And then, to take that a step further, how will defenses applying that information use it against us?  Honestly?

Here’s what opposing defenses, provided our weapons can stay healthy, are up against.

Wide Receivers

Roy Williams (6′3″ 215):  I think we can, at least, all agree he is a clutch possession receiver.  Though, I have to say, that Touchdown early in the second half looked alot like the Touchdown Larry Fitzgerald scored late in the Super Bowl last season.  Romo throws a beautiful rope hitting Roy in stride, effortlessly pulling in a ball that would break my hands off.

Patrick Crayton (6′0″ 204):  He has often been regarded as having the best hand’s on the team.  But after that 80 + yard touchdown against the Bucs, I’d say his offseason work added quite a bit to his explosion and overall speed.

Miles Austin (6′3″ 214):  Speed has never been a concern.  It’s what earned him a look from the Cowboys in the first place.  But last year, when he turned up field rather than keeping his orginal direction allowing the defense to thrwart his otherwise touchdown against Green Bay, we all saw why he was still a work in progress.  But against the Bucs, he showed the speed and the moves to complement him, as he took a 40+ catch in for a Touchdown, making two players miss one shortly after the first, to take the lead shortly before the end of the 1st half.

Sam Hurd and Kevin Ogletree (6′2″ 208 & 6′0: 192):  Unless one of the above see injury, it’s unlikely we see much of either this year.  But as a quick reminder, Hurd was the receiver who arguably had the best training camp of all the receivers making acrobatic catch, one after another and Kevin Ogletree played the best in preseason, unseating a fairly rooted 3rd year receiver Isaiah Stanback who was much better in Special Teams than Kevin; that mean’s the coaches must have thought alot of Kevin to drop Isaiah, considering the 5th receiver spot typically goes to the Special Teams standout.

Tight Ends

Jason Witten (6′5″ 263):  He won’t wow you with speed or explosion, but he find’s the soft spots in coverage and does not drop balls, as a general rule.  He is also a fairly dominant lead blocker out of the backfield and from the standard TE lineup.  Furthermore, he is Romo’s favorite target.  That speaks volumes to Witten’s reliability.

Martellus Bennett (6′6″ 265):  Big mouth.  Big personality.  But he is all business on the field.  He, too, has displayed the ability to make some clutch catches, even when contested by a would-be defender.  This teamed with his wide receiver like speed, makes him extremely dangerous after the catch.

John Phillips (6′5″ 255):  Think Jason Witten in the early years.  Of course, rather or not he can maintain intensity through severe adversity, such as a deabilitatant injury, remains to be seen, but in terms of his hands and his ability to block, he certainly seems to have the tools to be described as Witten-esqe.

Running Backs

Marion Barber (6, 0″ 222):  Has proven on a fairly consistent basis that he is a reliable target out of the backfield.  If we are being honest, we haven’t really seen the Barbarian like play, a moniker earned in the 2007 season, but he is still solid and can typically pick up 3 to 4 yard’s after the 1st contact with the opposition.

Felix Jones (6′0″ 218):  The first thing you notice is his explosion.  In space, he can turn a check down from Cowboy’s 5 yard line to a touchdown 95 yards down the field in about 10 seconds.  After his initial explosion, you might notice that second gear he hit’s when turning the corner.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about look for Romo on a pitch to Jones on 4th and 3 against the Bengals on youtube or google it.  If you can, watch it in slow motion; when he turn’s the corner watch as it seem’s as though for a brief moment he is running in real time while everyone around him is still moving slow.  Lastly, there is his vision.  The ability to set up the next defender while making the 1st defender miss.  It’s a rare ability that among Cowboy great’s, only Emmitt Smith had and, though I’m not sure on this, perhaps Tony Dorsett.  But outside of those two, I don’t think any RB’s had vision that rivals that of Felix.

Tashard Choice (5′10″ 212):  A combination of Felix and Marion, is the best way to describe him.  And, yes, he too can be threat out of the back field in screen and check down situations.

Deon Anderson (5′10″ 245):  His colleague’s describe him as a devastating lead blocker.  Considering his compact size and, yet, considerable weight, I don’t doubt it.  But I’ve also seen him be pretty reliable in catching situations, as well.  So, he is something else an opposing defense has to think about.

Now, let’s think of the above as a big odd number that a team has to find a common denominator to divide the Cowboy’s by utilizing the combination of size and weight  and the respective talents of their own defensive players.  Quick note:  some players, regardless of size, play big, so you can’t always just compare size and say it’s a mismatch.  How do they match up to the various looks the Cowboys can create utilizing the above weapons?  I feel a series coming on.

Let’s take a look at our next week opponents the Giants starting unit in the secondary.

Corners

Cory Webster (6′0″ 202):  Clutch, but by no means what you would consider a lockdown corner.  So Roy Williams and company, with precise route running, will have opportunities.

Terrell Thomas (6′0″ 199):  A second round pick by the Giants from 2008, you could say he’s on Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick’s level, which means, once again, Roy Williams and company will have opportunities.

Aaron Ross (6′0″ 197):  According to the injury report, Aaron has a hamstring injury and is definitively out for next week’s game.  Though, it would not be the first time Coughlin had a player miracously recover from an injury to play afterall.

Bruce Johnson (5′11″ 182):  Who?  Oh, that undrafted rookie free agent.  Not much can be said, other than he beat out the rookies DeAndre Wright and Stoney Woodson drafted in the 6th and 7th rounds respectively to make the 53 man roster.

Linebackers

Danny Clark (6′2″ 245):  A 10 year veteran, he is solid, particularly against the run, but I can’t see him running with any of our TE’s down the seam.

Antonio Pierce (6′1″ 238):  A 9 year veteran, same issue as Danny Clark.

Bryan Kehl (6′2″ 237):  Logged the least amount of tackles in his first year with the Giants last year, despite starting all 16 games.  If a Safety doesn’t move up to cover our TE’s, he will likely be the unlucky soul charged with the responsbility.

Safeties

Kenny Phillips (6′2″ 210):  He’s my favorite Giant, in a weird “I still hate you because of the team you represent” kind of way.  Not only is he good in coverage, but he can still lay the wood like the orginal prototypical SS.  Think 1st and 2nd year Roy Williams, with the coverage ability of  Gerald Sensabaugh.

Michael Johnson (6′2″ 207):  I don’t know much about him, but looking at his stat’s, I’ll say he is, at least, solid.  I would expect nothing less from a Coughlin staffed defense.

Four corners, with one definitely out for the game and the other an undrafted rookie, 3 safeties, and 4 linebackers.  That is the price the Giants paid to win battles at the line of scrimmage.  But for that ideaology to be effective, they have to win every battle at the line and, honestly, I don’t think they can do that against the Cowboys, particular when the Cowboys show the 12 formation (i.e. two receivers, two TE’s and one RB).  Considering the aforementioned, we will likely see a much more effective version of the Bucs defensive gameplan.  The Giants are going to force us to beat them deep, which also means the Cowboys offensive line is going to have to give Romo time; and that, admittedly, considering the talent and depth on the Giants defensive line, is going to be a tall order.  I said it of the Bucs game, and I’m sticking to this philosophical belief, the Cowboys will also need to employ some screens to back off that blitz, but I would not be suprised if Jason Garrett didn’t come out of the gate wanting Romo to sling it deep to test that very thin secondary.

Now for the fun part.  Consider the above described 12 formation.   Webster and Thomas will likely pick up RW and Crayton.  Brian Kehl will likely pick up either Bennett or Witten, dependent on their alignment.  Who pick’s up the other TE, particularly if they get motioned out wide?  The Safety.  What does that leave?  Either Crayton or William’s in a one on one situation.  Are we getting the picture?  All of our receivers last Sunday displayed the ability to beat single-coverage.  It come’s down to protecting Romo long enough to take advantage of the obvious mismatches:  The receiver in single coverage and/or the TE matched up with Kehl.  Pretty simple, actually.  I could do this all day, but I hope most of my reader’s can read the above and imagine the amount of different alignment’s the Cowboy’s can do that will create several different undesirable situations for the Giant’s defense.

The other side of the ball is a different question entirely.  Given the Cowboy’s performance last week and considering the above, one could surmise that Sunday could turn into a shoot out.  I seriously doubt it, though.  It will be a close game, that will likely be decided by Special Teams and the turnover ratio.

Prediction:  Cowboys 24 Giants 20

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First, my final 53 based off of my observations thus far.

OFFENSE

QB – Tony Romo, Jon Kitna, Stephen McGee (though, it would be nice if we could tuck McGee away on the practice squad, to save room for additional personnel on defense)

HB – Marion Barber, Felix Jones, Tashard Choice

WR – Roy Williams, Patrick Crayton, Miles Austin, Sam Hurd, Kevin Ogletree (I’d prefer Ogletree or Austin handle Kick Returns over Felix Jones)

TE – Jason Witten, Martellus Bennett, John Phillips

FB – Deon Anderson

LT – Flozell Adams, Doug Free

LG – Kyle Kosier, Montrae Holland

C – Andre Gurode, Duke Preston (finally someone who can replace Proctor’s ability to be interchangeable at guard and center; Duke Preston was a starter at both position’s for Buffalo last season, and actually did very well, despite their pedestrian finish)

RG – Leonard Davis, Duke Preston

RT – Marc Columbo, Pat McQuistan

I feel pretty comfortable with the above offense.  I’d say the offensive line could afford injuries at the center and guard position, but we our an injured OT away from our offensive line being a turnstile.  Outside of that, we have decent depth.  Considering that since Stephen McGee’s debut against the Raiders, we haven’t seen much of him, I would not be suprised if the Cowboy’s organization isn’t trying to make the league forget about him, so they can sneak him past waivers, but we will know more if that’s their strategy this coming Friday night against the Vikings.  If we see more of Jon Kitna and Rudy Carpenter, that’s exactly what the Cowboy’s are trying to do.

DEFENSE

RE – Igor Olshansky, Stephen Bowen (if we could get McGee to accept a practice squad spot, I might consider keeping Marcus Dixon here)

DT – Jay Ratliff, Junior Siavii

LE – Marcus Spears, Jason Hatcher

ROLB – Demarcus Ware, Steve Octavien, Victor Butler

MLB – Bradie James, Keith Brooking, Bobby Carpenter, Stephen Hodge

LOLB – Anthony Spencer, Jason Williams (I actually had hoped Jason William’s would be converted to this position from the beginning; with the season-ending injury to Brandon William’s, he may be the most ideal replacement)

CB – Terence Newman, Orlando Scandrick, Mike Jenkins, Alan Ball, Mike Mickens (we will be watching the waiver wire very closely for this position; Mike Mickens is another who could use some time on the practice squad)

FS  - Ken Hamlin, DeAngelo Smith (again, we will be watching the waiver wire for both Safety positions, as DeAngelo Smith and Michael Hamlin are not ready for pro football and could use some time on the practice squad)

SS – Gerald Sensabaugh, Pat Wakins, Michael Hamlin

I am more concerned about our defense, than our offense, particularly in the Seconary.  First and foremost, corner is my most significant concern.  Terence Newman has been an injury waiting to happen the last few seasons, and behind Scandrick and Jenkins, the options are dismal.  Next on my list of concerns is Safety.  Ken Hamlin has been solid, but behind him is a whole lot of inexperience.  Sensabaugh, has been solid in coverage, but not as good as advertised against the run, taking poor angles and not wrapping up on potential tackles (not to mention the two major penalties levied against him in the last two games).  Behind him, once again, the options are pretty weak.  Linebacker is actually the least of my concerns.  Bobbie Carpenter has done quite a bit to regain some of my confidence thus far.  Granted, when he is headlining the second and third string defense his production is pretty weak, but I think if he is surrounded by good players, he in turn will play well, as would be the case should an injury demand he step up.

SPECIAL TEAMS

K – Nick Folk, David Buehler

P – Matt McBriar

LS – L.P. Ladouceur

I would have liked to have seen Buehler have more opportunities to kick field goals.  I love the clutch performances Nick Folk has given us, but if David can be solid in this area, it would be nice to have an extra position to offer a corner, safety, linebacker, or even receiver if we would like to see a little more of Isaiah Stanback.  The same goes for L.P. Ladouceur:  Once again, he has been solid, but if Matt Stewart can perform the position, the additional linebacker/special teams contributor would be nice.  On the other hand, unless the coaching staff is absolutely certain in regards to Buehler and Stewart taking over for Folk and Ladouceur, it certainly is not worth a gamble.

IR

Robert Brewster – Torn pectorial muscle

Brandon Williams – Torn ACL

LEFTOVERS

Matt Stewart, Marcus Dixon, Jonas Seawright, Derreck Robinson, Keon Lattimore, Julius Crosslin, Asaph Schwapp, Rudy Carpenter, Manuel Johnson, Isaiah Stanback, Jesse Holley, Travis Bright, Ryan Gibbons, Cory Proctor, Greg Isdaner, Andre Douglas, Mike Jefferson, and Julian Hawkins.

The bolded players represent guys I would like to see make the practice squad.  I would have bolded Stanback, but I don’t think he is eligible.

CONCERNS

For all the emphasis placed on playing perfect, you would think we would see improvement in the penalty area.  3 preseason games down and the Cowboys are the most penalized team in the NFL. But it’s not just the penalties that are bothering me, as much as, when they are happening.  On the offense, their favorite time to a draw a penalty is to negate a 1st down or a score.  The defense loves to commit penalties when the opposing offenses will have to punt or go for it on fourth down without the penalty that otherwise offers them a 1st down on a silver platter.   The Cowboy’s organization has also been telling us that they have focused on creating more turnover’s via the secondary and thus far the Cowboy’s only have 1.  In defense of the defense, the Titan’s and 49ers utilize ball control offenses, running the ball, working the flats and zone is predominantly how they move the ball limiting the number of opportunities to create turnovers via interception.

Positions of interest on the waiver wire in order of need.

Corner – Newman has been an injury waiting to happen the last two seasons.  Behind Scandrick and Jenkins (and Jenkins is still not what I consider solid) the pickings are slim.  Alan Ball, Courtney Brown and Mike Mickens are on the bubble, and were not for the lack of option’s, Ball would likely be the only one considered worthy of a roster spot.

Safety – I know many think linebacker should be 1st and foremost if not, at least, second.  But as I said above, I am much more comfortable with our second stringers at linebacker than I am at Safety.

Offensive Tackle – The position of this concern is debatable.  OT could even be considered a chief concern.  But for all the penalties and mistakes, the QB’s have actually had a pretty clean pocket throughout the first 3 games; though, they haven’t exactly played defensive powerhouses either.  We will know more about this offensive line once the regular season begins, playing our first two games against the Bucs and the Giants.

Linebacker – This probably wouldn’t make my list, though, I know Wade will be keeping his eye’s pealed for linebackers, because they are so crucial to the success of a 3-4.  But ultimately, I’ve been moderately happy with the play from our 1st stringers down to our rookies.

ANALYSIS

Being the preseason, it’s difficult to really gauge how much my confidence has changed prior to the season beginning.  I knew the offense would be a match-up nightmare and could be much more balanced than they have been since Jason Garrett took over.  I even said this team was built to dink and dunk; but I would have liked to see Romo take some more chances down field (minus that duck he threw intended forOgletree), to open the intermediate game up more, as the 49ers did have a tendency to sit on routes expecting the short game.  I don’t think using the go route to back a defense up, show’s too much of your offenses hand.

On defense, the Cowboy’s can be dominating.  But I’ve noticed, the face of their intensity changes once a defender commits a series continuing penalty.  It is as if they really want these younger players to feel the sting of their mistakes, by pretty much allowing the opposing offense to do what ever it want’s from that point forward.  I really don’t believe that’s the strategy; I’m just saying, that is what it seems like.

All in all, I feel pretty confident this team is capable of having a 10 and 6 win/loss ratio by season end.  But the bigger question is if that’s going to be enough in a very tough NFCE.

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In the first two games of the pre season the Dallas Cowboys offense has encountered what I believe will be the standard defense for teams to run until the Boys prove they can consistently beat it.

The Oakland Raiders and the Tennessee Titans stayed true to the “Cover Two” strategy through the entirety of both games. Obviously the Raiders had more success with it than the Titans.

The general premise of the “Cover Two” is to simply force the offense to settle for short passing gains, thus putting an enormous amount of pressure on so teams running attack. If the offensive team is unable to rush the ball effectively, the defense has control of the game, simply because they can force the offense to have to try to connect on longer pass plays, and the numbers are way more in favor of this defense when that happens.

While yes it is “just pre season” Jason Garrett and the Cowboys offense should be a little concerned with what they have seen from the running game thus far.

Through the first two pre season games the Cowboys offensive starters are averaging 3.3 yards per carry. This will not get it done against the “Cover Two” in the regular season!

The Cowboys offensive line and running backs have got to step up the pace come game one in Tampa Bay.

Jason Garrett probably has a number in mind that he needs this offense to be at as far as YPC is concerned for this offense to work, and I will promise you that number is not 3.3! I would guess that the number in question is probably in the 4 to 4.5 YPC range.

While I will agree that the starters have played less than three quarters of football so far this pre season that is no excuse for disregarding the necessity of needing this group to step up.

I have heard a lot of the Cowboy fandom saying things like “we cannot get the ball down field” and “why are we not taking shots deep” there is a very basic answer to these questions, they are taking what the defense is giving them. Tony Romo should be applauded for the things we are seeing from him so far.

I can only remember one time so far that Romo has tried to do more than he should and it was almost intercepted! The rest of the time he has been extremely diligent in just sticking to the plan and taking what is there.

This offense will only be able to take shots down field if the running game can produce enough to force the defense to change its strategy, which would force them to no longer drop their Linebackers into zone coverage, but rather keep them near the line to help out with run defense.

The Cowboy offense has not accomplished this feat yet, notice I said yet! This team is a work in process, and so far each week they have grown stronger.

The success of this offense now rest in the hands of six people. Andre Gerard, Kyle Kosier, Leonard Davis, Marion Barber, Felix Jones, and Tashard Choice. The damage they do in between the tackles could vault this team to greatness or send it spiraling out of control.

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DVR saved my butt this week since I had to work and missed the live game, but checking it out last night was certainly worth staying up late.

The first team offense looked good. I was surprised at how good they looked actually, but before I get into that, I just have one thing to say – “False start, everyone but the center.” That was freaking hilarious!

Speaking of false starts and penalties in general, in the first half the Special Teams unit took the cake. First of all, wiping out that 78 yard kickoff return from Austin because of a penalty was just retarded; it’s the kind of mistakes we have got to cut down on. We finished the game with 11 penalties for 107 yards, but the first half, when the starters were playing, special teams had three for 35 yards, the defense had two for 20 yards, and the offense had two for 15 yards.

But it was nice to see our starters come out on offense and literally dominate the Titans defense, that is of course after they got the three and out over with to start the game.

They came back and orchestrated a 16 play drive that spanned 90 yards and netted the first touchdown of the game. The whole time I’m watching I’m thinking about what has changed since last year. It’s not just about the players either; even Jason Garrett was on my mind as I followed each snap.

Last year we all saw that Garrett had issues mixing up the run and pass, sometimes he didn’t do one enough and others he did one too much. That first drive started on the ground with Marion Barber pounding it out, and it was good too because he was gaining solid yards on each run. But once Tony Romo was cut loose the team started moving downfield.

It wasn’t a quick progression though; we didn’t just lob a deep pass into the endzone. Instead they took their time and consumed nearly 10 minutes off the clock. From then on my worries about how the starting offense and defense would do kind of faded away as I waited to see who’d kick the video board first.

By my count, the Cowboys were a little pass heavy the first half. They ran 13 times and threw the ball 19 times. But it was a good mix that kept the Titans defense working. Only on two plays did I see Romo under pressure early, and one of those times he threw the ball away, another time he completed a pass. He still had his dancing feet but the line gave him enough time to set up in the pocket, look over his receivers and pick the open guy.

What’s probably most impressive about that is Romo actually used the pocket when it held up for him. He didn’t at any point just start running around trying to make the play, he waited and let the plays develop, and then shot the ball out like a cannon. We all know he’s got a quick release, but it’s been a while since we’ve seen it that quick.

Another thing we saw that we haven’t seen from Dallas in a couple of years was an even coverage across the field on ball distribution. They didn’t just look left each play. They ran up the middle, to both sides, and threw the same way – there really was no predictability that the Titans could capitalize on.

I did see a couple of things that bothered me in the game, like the special teams either missing tackles, unnecessary penalties like Sensabaugh shoving the guy further out of bounds, or simply dumb choices by returners. Look at Kevin Ogletree’s first return, he was full steam ahead when he ran into the back of his own blocker, the first guy he reached on the field.

And what about Patrick Crayton dropping the punt … good thing he got back on it fast. But in general, the special teams unit allowed a little too much on just about every return by the Titans.

Just two more things for me, first is that Felix Jones is damn fast. You don’t even see him coming. Very elusive and hard to catch from any angle – he will certainly be trouble for any defense we face this year.

And last is Kevin Ogletree, he may have chosen a bad lane on that one return, but he got involved in the passing game late. He was the biggest factor on a late drive and displayed some good hands for his touchdown pass. You might already know that I’m not a big supporter of Isaiah Stanback with his injuries and un-astounding play even when healthy, but now I really think it’s time for him to go.

Our receiving corps should line up like so:

• Roy Williams
• Patrick Crayton
• Sam Hurd
• Miles Austin
• Kevin Ogletree

Too bad I’m not a coach or that’d be a done deal.

And a special mention to Mr. Fourth and Long – I suppose if you’re going to screw up and let a ball bounce off your facemask, it’s best if you at least end up with the ball. Maybe we could avoid letting a defender catch it, even if only for a moment, before actually securing it though. Just a thought.

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The 2009 NFL season is just around the corner now. We’re four games away from the first regular season game – but that doesn’t mean we don’t still have some football to look at this month. The Titans and Bill got the preseason started and in a pleasing way I might add, but the Dallas Cowboys start this Thursday night against Oakland, in Oakland.

Millions are watching to see what the Cowboys are going to do this season. Not only because Terrell Owens was cut, not only because of how badly they lost to the Eagles in the 2008 regular season finale, and not only because our injury prone team is seeming just that, injury prone – and it’s still before their first preseason game.

Training camp injuries for us are like pads and helmets – don’t step on the field without ‘em. That’s how it’s been going since Felix Jones first went down last year, and he wasn’t even the first injury of the year. Terence Newman was the first last year, and he was either first or a damn close second this year too, with Mike Jenkins possibly edging him out on that one. Their injuries aren’t supposed to be serious, but our DB core will be missing both of its starting corners for this weeks game and why shouldn’t they sit out? After last year, I don’t think there is a man in this organization that doesn’t think long and hard about playing a hurt guy.

But there’s still so much more to it – the first preseason game – so I’ve got my fellow fans here to help me break it all down for you, one unit at a time. First up?

Read the rest of this entry »

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As a Dallas Cowboys fan I am excited to know that it’s only two days until the first game of the season, albeit only a preseason game I’m still looking forward to seeing my ‘Boys in blue kicking some tail on the turf once again.

Needless to say, I, and many of you too, was left with a bitter taste in my mouth after the crushing defeat at the hands of the Eagles last season. It was the icing on a crap cake after all the injuries and drama fueled on by the mediots in need of a story. So some of it turned out to be true, or more true than the Cowboys organization wanted us to believe at the time, it merely turned a sad and frustrating situation into a disappointing end of an era and end of a season that started so full of promise.

But as a blogger I’ve been feeling somewhat without during this training camp.

Maybe it’s because my fandom has found itself in the backseat for the last month as life presented me with much more pressing issues to contend with than finding a way to watch the games at work and the best places for complete camp coverage.

From the numerous and annoying references to “Coachable” Roy Williams on the DMN – you know what I’m talking about – to the news of players being held of practices and those slated to miss the preseason opener in California this Thursday evening. It’s been enough to read, but nothing to get excited about.

The only real bright spot coming out of camp, considering that we don’t get the full scoop on everything being done as far as plays and schemes go is the increased communication between Williams and Tony Romo. You know, the kind of communication that makes Cowboys fans cheer until their throats are sore and opposing fans boo their own teams’ secondary. Pass and catch.

So now we have Terence Newman and mike Jenkins both out and while the word is that neither injury is serious, it causes me great concern. Didn’t we hear the same thing last year when Newman got hurt in camp? Didn’t he end up missing like six games in total because of that “not too serious” injury?

What about the injuries that aren’t too serious, after last season how can any of us really believe that the severity of the injury at first means anything? I mean we pretty much knew what was up with Felix Jones last year, and it was a totally different and non-football related injury that landed him on injured reserve for more than half of the season.

It makes it harder to be a fan when you see things like I am seeing them now, undoubtedly, but it’s the eternal optimist in me that still peaks it’s head to let know these Cowboys could do it this year.

We’ve got all but one of the weapons that we had in 2007 when we outscored all but one team in the league and lead the NFC. The one weapon we’re missing is missing because he began to backfire on us every other game by doing interviews with the likes of Deion Sanders and steadily causing the ball to be forced his way far too often, and I might add into the hands of a quick defender far too often as well.

Our defense is missing some of the bigger and long standing forces of the past in guys like Greg Ellis and Anthony Henry. But we’ve finally broken free of the liability known very simply as Mr. Horse Collar a.k.a. SS Roy Williams. Not only that, but we also replaced him with a guy that can do what safety in a 3-4 defense should do best – cover – and he does it better than a lot of other guys around the league at his position. Now maybe that’s an overstatement since we haven’t seen him in a game yet and especially since the first preseason game will be a very short one for him. Gerald Sensabaugh is likely the biggest upgrade we’ve made on defense in several years, aside from the miracle of drafting DeMarcus Ware.

We even get the sheer joy of having one the leagues all-time defensive minds not only leading our defense, but taking direct and hands on control of it as the new defensive coordinator by title and duty.

Even the special teams unit has gotten a huge face lift with a new coach known for running a tight and very effective unit in Joe DeCamillis. Add to it the return of a healthy core of kick and punt returners and the addition of some muscle and athleticism from the new linebackers drafted this year, and you’ve got a special teams unit that should be vastly better than the one we booed so often in 2008.

So yeah, maybe the steady and somewhat unremarkable progress during camp has made things boring for a blogger like me, but for a fan, things are definitely looking up.

Are you ready for some football?

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First, my apologies for the lack of contribution as of late.  My workload has recently been increased exponentially and, as a result, I barely have enough time to keep up with training camp.  Now that I’m all caught up:

Is anyone else catching the hype bug?  After the infamous 44-6 drubbing at the hand’s of our hated inter divisional foe, the Eagles, while I refused to renounce my fanship, I swore I would never allow myself to buy into the hype again.  But one week out from the first preseason game, and once again, I’m a 5 year old fighting to go to sleep so Christmas morning will come faster.  I can’t help it.  The big question is will we Cowboy’s fan’s at least get a gift wrapped playoff win or will it be another year with coal in our proverbial stocking?

I feel pretty confident, but I think I’ll feel a lot better with positive results two games into the preseason. I’m not so much looking for a win as I am looking for certain units to perform well against units that will, at least, present issues on one side of the ball or the other.  First the Raiders.  This game should present our offense an opportunity to gain some confidence in themselves, as the Raider’s defense shouldn’t present too many issues against our bevy of weapon’s.  On the other side of the ball, however, the Raiders offense do present some obvious challenges for our defense; namely Darren McFadden.  I won’t put him on Adrian Peterson’s level quite yet, but I will say for him being the one player standing in the way of Felix being the highly touted RB coming out of Arkansas in 2008, our defense should have their hands full.  Then there are the speedster’s Darrius Heyward-Bey and Louis Murphy, the Raiders were able to pick in the 1st and 4th round respectively in this years draft.  I don’t expect them to be world-beaters at this point in their career’s, but I don’t think they should be ignored either.  Speed is speed, and if all they have to do after beating a guy is catch the ball, I’m pretty confident they can be devastating if allowed to be.  And speed is the primary point of emphasis Al Davis has a tendency to draft for, so every player within the offensive ranks are likely the fastest available when the Raider’s where on the clock on that given draft day.  Did the Cowboy’s get faster on defense?  We will know for sure late August 9th.

The second game into the preseason the Cowboy’s face the Titan’s.  While there offense is dangerous with Chris Johnson’s 4.2 speed (fastest rb from 2008’s draft; yes, even faster than Felix), the Titan defense is where this team’s identity is born.  This is where the Cowboy’s offense will truly be tested.   When measuring a defense, personally, I don’t look at yard’s allowed, sack’s, interceptions  or any other stat that is otherwise meaningless until I look at the amount of points a team allows.  In 2008, the Titans ranked 2nd only to the Steeler’s with 234.  For a little perspective, the Cowboy’s ranked 20th, allowing 365.  But the Titan’s also excelled in the other area’s of defense, placing 6th in interceptions with 20, 5th in sacks with 44, 2nd in forced fumbles with 23, and 3rd in defensive touchdown’s with 3.  In other words, the Titan’s are a team that place alot of emphasis on doing everything perfect and it shows.  Can the Cowboy’s offense move the ball, despite the release of T.O.?  We will know for sure late August 21st.

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It seems these days everyone has been screaming for the Cowboys to change there style of offense. Whether you want to call it “Romo Friendly” or whether you just want them to utilize the “three headed monster” more effectively.

Jason Garrett and the Dallas Cowboys are listening to your cries! Through the first week of camp the Cowboys have installed and are growing more and more fond of what they like to call the “12 Personnel”.

The “12 Personnel” is not a very elaborate scheme (we all know how J.G. loves the complex schemes) it is so simple in fact that even I can understand it!

The “12” simply means: 1 Running Back and the 2 stands for the number of Tight Ends.

Now do not get caught up in who the back is in this equation because it really makes no difference! The thing that makes this scheme work is the Tight Ends.

The game of Football is a game of adjustments, and matchups. No matter how good a defensive unit is if the offensive team can repeatedly create mismatches, they will fall victim to the offense!

The 12 Personnel makes every player in it better. How? Well that is simple, let me explain.

The offense comes to the line with Roy Williams and Miles Austin out wide. Jason Witten and Marty B on either side of the line, and Felix Jones is the lone back. The defense now has to make a decision; do they try to cover Witten and Marty B with Linebackers? Or do they bring a Safety up to cover one of them?

Well if you designate linebackers to cover those guys the offense simply attacks those backers by forcing them to try to cover someone that they simply cannot stay with. If they bring a Safety up, now they are in real trouble! The offense can now attack in a multitude of ways. Keep the Witt, and Marty B in to block (do you know of a safety in the league that can handle a block from either of these guys?) for a sweep to Felix, or Now we got single coverage on the outside with no safety help! Or even a simple pass to the flat for either TE or Felix.

This scheme is so simple but yet so difficult to account for. The mantra of this scheme is simply “take what they give you” and no matter what they give you, you have options.

When they prepare for you to run, then you pass. When they suspect pass, you run!

There has been talk around San Antonio that this may even become the Cowboys base offense.

Many of us spent all of last year screaming at our television sets for this team to stop being so predictable. If the move is made for this to be the base package, there should be no need to scream about being predictable.

There however is one small problem with this. Can the fans of the Dallas Cowboys be okay with a simple ball control style offense?

This system is not going to put points on the board in the fashion that we saw in 07’. No, no this is a system of grinding games out, slow moving chains!

This is exactly what we have all been screaming for but can we handle it?

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This marks the beginning of a highly controversial and highly opinionated series. We have deeply analyzed the 2009 Dallas Cowboys Schedule and will target those teams that have the potential of giving us problems. Today we start with those crazy New York Football Giants.

The Giants will immediately come to town in Week 2, as the Cowboys open the new stadium. Here is the outlook:

Key Offseason Additions:

DE Chris Canty from Dallas.

OLB Michael Boley from Atlanta.

DT Rock Bernard from Seattle.

DB C.C. Brown from Houston.

Key Offseason Subtractions:

RB Derrick Ward

WR Plaxico Burress

CB R.W. McQuarters

CB Sam Madison

S Sammy Knight

Key Draft Picks:

WR Hakeem Nicks, North Carolina- Nicks is a potential game-breaker, whose known for making spectacular catches

OLB Clint Sintim- A great linebacker with good size, should start opposite Boley. Read the rest of this entry »

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Wel, well, well – seems we’ve had a bit of controversy in the last week what with Tony Romo being called out yet again for his leadership abilities. I still say until someone can show me the blueprint to being a leader, the catchall if you will, then it’s a non-issue so long as he performs, and performs well.

I also would like to take a moment to extend our condolences over the death of Steve McNair. He was a talented quarterback that lived by the strict standards of the NFL during his career, he will be missed.

Now for some of the latest around the Cowboys blogosphere. First up is a fellow fan blogging on his own at DefendingTheStar.net. He’s got a new post up titled “10 Things I Hope to See at Training Camp” and he covers some good issues that we’re all keeping an eye on as the month of July draws to an end.

The training camp schedule came out today and got me excited for the start of the season. Unfortunately I will only be able to make it to training camp in San Antonio for one day this year, but I am hoping to come away from my time there with a positive outlook on the season. I am already optimistic that this season will end in at least one playoff victory, but training camp will be very telling in terms of the new players and new team attitude. Here are some of the things that I hope to see:

Next up we have our friend over at (Silver and) BlueBlood.com sharing his ensights with us after watching an obviously flawed top 10 greatest Cowboys list on NFL Network. You can’t argue with his logic, Tom Landry can’t very well top the list without Jimmy Johnson being on it, and you can’t put a coach on a player list. His choices are debatable, as is any top 10 list since we all have our own favorites, but his picks are all deserving of mention, to say the least.

The NFL Network recently offered an episode in its Top 10 series in which they named their top ten Dallas Cowboys of all time. While the names on their list are all undeniably great, they used flawed logic in their selections. I intend to set the record straight by giving you the real top ten Cowboys of all time.

And as a quick mention, the folks at TheLandryHat.com have a new interview with Cowboys cornerback Mike Jenkins. You can also go check out Mike’s new blog here – he updates it often and so far has been quite entertaining with his self-proclamation of being the starter this year.

And finally, LoneStarStruck.com tells us why they think Felix Jones is Primed for an Explosive Season.

The Cowboys have made it no secret that they plan on opening up more opportunities for their young and versatile running back. Only a few weeks ago they even surprised beat writers and fans alike when they ran some plays using the Razorback formation. Felix Jones can be an explosive weapon, especially when he let loose in an open field where his speed makes him both dangerous and elusive. Wade Phillips and company are trying to figure out how to exploit that explosiveness, and just the mere thought of it makes my mouth water.

When Jones was first drafted, the plan was to get him in as many formations as possible with Marion Barber, however that never really happened and rarely were both backs on the field at the same time. Don’t count on that happening again this season.

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The question on everyone’s mind these days is and will continue to be, how and better still can Jason Garrett use the wealth of running backs he has at his disposal?

With the start of training camp rapidly approaching one would think that Jason Garrett is hard at work devising a plan to optimize the abundance of talent he has at the running back position??????

The Cowboys invested #1 money on Marion Barber to be the #1 guy, but we are all aware of the fact that Marion is better suited to be fresh in the fourth quarter!

The Cowboys also used a first round selection last year on Felix Jones, so there is an extremely high need to get him touches as well.

Then let’s not forget about the 2008 unsung hero from Georgia Tech, Tashard Choice! When the Cowboys were decimated by injuries Choice stepped in and performed at an extremely high level.

These are three very different running backs which will allow Jason Garrett a ton of flexibility.

Marion Barber: Marion is the head knocker of the group, while he is not a burner so the big plays you get from him are more of the “just ran over three people on his way to a 20 yard touchdown” variety. However with his hard nosed running style his body wears down much quicker than the elusive style back.

Felix Jones: Felix is the epitome of a “Home run hitter” there is not one spot on the field where he cannot score from. Possessing speed, agility, vision, and great hands. Felix Jones is in the mold of a Reggie Bush type. For all the good qualities he possesses the one concern with him is his ability to stay off the injured list.

Tashard Choice: Tashard is very much so one of the most vocal leaders on this team. He is the most complete back of the group, while he is not the fastest or strongest he can do a lot of good in many areas. He has the ability to give opposing defenses many different looks. The only question with Tashard is, was last year legit or did he catch some teams off guard and worn down?

What is considered by many (including myself) to be the biggest strength of this years team, could possibly be a nightmare for Jason Garrett? If Garrett fails to adequately use this group, the wheels of this season could come flying off!

There has been many people try this off season to predict how many touches each man should receive on a per game basis. While there is no one good way or rule to go by, many claim a sequence such as this:

Marion Barber: 15-20 Touches

Felix Jones: 10-15 Touches

Tashard Choice: 5-10 touches

This appears to be a solid marker to follow, but I am not a big fan of this way of thinking. I just feel that if you set yourself boundaries, you ultimately are setting yourself up for failure.

The amount of touches this unit gets (designed running plays) should be and I believe will be handled on a game by game, scenario by scenario basis.

Jason Garrett needs to know what he has, and to put the player and the team in good situations. Part of knowing what he has is going to be the recognition of what situations the player performs at his peak.

Many people including myself marvel at the closing ability of Marion Barber, while this is a very true statement there is something that must be taken into account. The only time his closing ability will come into affect is if this team is ahead in the fourth quarter and that they can continue to pick up first downs.

Jason Garrett cannot become predictable with his formations or his sub packages, the defenses cannot be given the luxury of simply looking in the backfield to see who is there and know what the play is.

The Cowboys should be able to line up two if not all three on the field in certain situations.

If I was a betting man I would have to say that Felix Jones will spend a lot of time this year lined up out wide and in the slot. Allowing Garrett to give teams a full dose of Marion and Tashard early and often!

The first half of games this year will be crucial to the success of the team. They need to be able to establish the ground game early on. The score at the end of the first half is not the most important thing.

The rest of the league knows what the Cowboys have at the running back position; So Garrett will be forced to make some crucial decisions very early on in games.

Teams will simply overload the line of scrimmage and try to force Garrett to give up on the run. He must be strong willed enough to fight off the urge to open up the air attack! We all saw what happened when this team became so one dimensional last year.

Those 90’s Cowboys teams were the best at simply beating a team into submission by the 3^rd quarter.  This team has something that those teams did not, depth! There is no need for 35 carries a game to one man, this team can run a different guy through the holes in the line like fans through the turnstiles!

If this team and Jason Garrett use what is available to them correctly, there will be nothing that anyone can do about it! That is one big IF though.

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We’re back again, to the nagging nightmare-like predictions of a failing offense. It’s like we’ve been taken back to 2004, you would think Chad Hutchinson is our Quarterback. Before I continue let it be known that Tony Romo is a good quarterback, and our receivers…well they’ll walk the walk. Many “experts” (if that’s what you want to call them) say our season hinges on the production of our running game, thought I don’t find that the case necessarily, I do believe that wont be a problem.

It doesn’t seem like long ago we were plagued with Troy Hambrick in the backfield, his potential seeming limitless but his production barely broke mediocrity. For the first time since the late nineties, early 2000’s, I’d say we have a running back core that has the potential to dominate.

A running game is, in my opinion, successful because of 3 particular attributes. You need to have a: “Bruiser” which is the type of back who can break tackles and wear down defenses, A “Homerun Back” who can deliver game changing runs consistently, and a “Relief Back” who can catch the ball well and still break tackles-this back is a mix of the two. It is possible to be successful with 2 of these backs but these 3 attributes should be what coaches look for.

In the NFC East these backs are everywhere, except they aren’t on the same team, thank God. Brandon Jacobs Bruises, Westbrook homerun’s, and Portis is a great all around back. However, here in Dallas we got all 3:

Marion “The Barbarian” Barber- Barber has truly earned his title, also being labeled as the closer, he has single handedly won games for this team. In his career with Dallas he’s totaled 715 carries for 3052 yards, compiling a 4.3 yd avg, and running for 36 touchdowns. Some predict that Marion will slow down given his bruising style, but I expect that Barber will eclipse the 1000 yard mark for the first time in his career this year on 200 carries.

Felix Jones- Felix had an unfortunate rookie season, but I expect that makes him hungrier. Felix’s first career rush was an 11 yard score. In 6 games, Jones had an impressive 30 rushes for 266 yards, that’s an impressive avg of 8.9 yards and 3 touchdowns. Not only that some of the teams we faced in his impressive games, weren’t easy defenses. Green Bay, Philadelphia, and New York headline a 6 team group that Felix dismantled. Expect Felix to get 10-15 touches a game, and lead the team in runs of 20+ yards.

Tashard Choice- Choice fell on our laps as a diamond in the rough. Many people were confused with the selection of Choice (I admit to being one of them) but when he was the last option boy did he deliver. Choice is a combination back mixing speed and power to surprise opposing defenses allowing him to be a asset to any running game. Though Choice won’t be the premier back for this offense, the Cowboys acknowledge that he could be anywhere else and don’t want to see him slip away. He’ll get a chance to prove himself and become a player for this seemingly future oriented Cowboys Team. Expect Choice to be a spell back who will produce equal to a mediocre starter, maybe comparable to a Julius Jones or a Lendale White. He’ll add convincingly to his 92 carries for 472 yards, 2 TD’s, and his 5.1 yd avg. Not to mention his 21 Receptions for 185 yards. He is not someone you want to see disappear from this team!

Whether or not this season hinges on the running game, the receiving core, or the coaching, expect this 3 headed beast to be ready to deliver in league leading fashion!

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28 FELIX JONES, RB
DALLAS COWBOYS
6’0” 212LBS

Jones, the No. 22 overall pick in the draft, provided a big-play complement to Marion Barber and showed flashes of brilliance in his six games. He had 266 yards on 30 carries (8.9 yards per carry) and scored four touchdowns, including a kickoff return.

That is all we have to go on as a professional, as a college player there is a little more. However people keep talking about Jones as a savior or something.

2007 his last year in college;
He finished with 123 carries for 1,117 yards and 11 TDs, while averaging a whopping 9.1 yards per carry, leading the nation.

[ Mickey Spagnola wrote while making excuses as to why Dallas went 9-7 last year;
Felix Jones was 86-ed in the sixth game had he not gotten hurt things could have been a lot different.]

Here is my question to you;

Why do I hear on the radio, and on ESPN and read online about what a Hero Jones is and all we have to go on is a really good 5 and ¼ games?

I like Jones don’t get me wrong I almost bought his jersey but I went with Ware instead.

So tell me what you think……..

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