There are few areas of the 2009 Dallas Cowboys that can be depicted as being “soft”, but there is one area in particular that is of great concern, moving forward. The offensive line of the Cowboys must be better next year in order for this team to continue to progress.

Last Sunday in Minnesota, Tony Romo spent the majority of the afternoon running for his life, and the rest of the day on his back. To put it mildly the Cowboys offensive line played miserably in every way.

The players would probably say they just had a bad day, and they would be wrong. Marc Colombo, Doug Free, Andre Gurode, Kyle Kosier, and Leonard Davis were outplayed, out worked, and just downright beaten.

I’ve heard fans discussing their displeasure with the play calling of Jason Garrett, and specifically his supposed fascination with the delayed runs. Jason Garrett fell in love with that type of running play for only one reason—it was/is the best way he could think of to disguise the Cowboys’ problems along the line.

For being one of the largest lines in the league this line plays extremely soft and lacks a nasty streak.

Marc Colombo was supposed to be a big lift for this unit, if for no other reason than his nasty streak. Unfortunately, for everyone involved, that did not happen. Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards (a solid DE, but far from being All Pro) repeatedly blew past Colombo like he was a street walker begging for change. And let’s be honest, as well as Doug Free played in his absence, he would have no chance against Jared Allen.

The Cowboys tried to slow the bleeding by keeping extra blockers in—the Vikings just pinned their ears back and attacked the soft interior of the Dallas line.

The Cowboys have some work to do here, and that work is going to start with upgrading the tackle position.

Flozell Adams has been one of the best left tackles in the game for a long time, but his best years are far behind him. The time is now to find his successor.

Marc Colombo has been great for the Cowboys (outside of last week in Minnesota) but his spot will be heavily evaluated by the coaching staff.

Last year Dallas drafted Robert Brewster with the hope that he could come in and eventually take over one of those tackle spots. However, Brewster went down early with an injury and never played a snap in 2009.

The Offensive line will most assuredly be addressed in this year’s draft. But just who are the most viable players?

Let’s take a look…

Russell Okung – Senior Tackle from Oklahoma State 6’5″ 300 lbs.

Graded by many as the best Tackle in this year’s draft, some throughout this year even said that he may have a shot at being the first overall selection. While he was not the starter at the beginning of his freshman season at OSU, by game 6 of that year he was and he never looked back. Okung is an athletic tackle with quick feet. He’s able to handle the edge-speed rushers, yet still strong enough to handle the bull rush. Coming from the pass happy Big 12 afforded him the opportunities to hone his pass protection skills, but don’t think for a second that he’s a one-trick-pony.

He is an excellent run blocking tackle and his agility and quickness allow him to get out in front and open huge holes.

Russell will be long gone by the time the Cowboys make their first selection as it stands now, but if management feels that they need to replace Flo quickly, this would be the guy to move up in the draft for.

Anthony Davis – Junior Tackle from Rutgers 6’6″ 325 lbs.

Anthony Davis is one of the top offensive linemen in the nation, and before that he was one of the top prep offensive linemen in the nation, and odds are very good that he will be a top offensive lineman in the NFL.

Davis has been a man among boys in the Big East conference.

As a sophomore in 2008 he was second team all conference. As a freshman he was a First Team Freshman All America at Rutgers.

Anthony Davis is the Prototypical NFL Left Tackle—he is big, strong, agile, and moves extremely well for a big man. Davis will likely be on the board in the vicinity of where Dallas selects in the first round, and if he is there, Dallas would have a very difficult time letting him get away.

Bryan Bulaga – Junior Tackle from Iowa 6’6″ 312 lbs.

Bryan Bulaga is just another outstanding offensive lineman to come out of Lineman U. (Iowa).  Bryan began his collegiate career as a Guard and he started five games at that spot as a freshman.

The following spring he became the starting left tackle at Iowa, where he has remained the last two years.

Bulaga is big and has exceptionally quick feet for his size. He has very long arms which he uses superbly to run speed-rusher’s right of the play. While he is not as strong as a Joe Thomas or Jake Long, he’s still very young and has the body to accommodate some added bulk. Bulaga is an excellent pass blocker—his main priority will be to focus on his run blocking. As with Anthony Davis, he will be in the Cowboys area code and it’ll be hard to pass him by.

Trent Williams – Senior Tackle from Oklahoma 6’5″ 318 lbs.

Trent Williams is a very large human being. He has all the physical attributes that one would look for in a Left Tackle. Trent started his career at Oklahoma as a right Tackle, and was only just moved to left tackle before the 2009 season. He’s a very solid Tackle but in my opinion he’s an underachiever.

This was the year he was supposed to be a dominant force for Oklahoma, but if any of you watched any Sooner games this year what you saw was an extremely porous line, and it was Trent Williams leading the charge.

Trent Williams will more than likely be drafted among the first four or five linemen taken, and will more than likely never make any kind of contribution. Please Dallas, stay away.

Charles Brown – Senior Tackle from USC 6’5″ 290 lbs.

Charles Brown is yet another athletic lineman to emerge from USC.

While at USC he played as a “light” tackle (light as far as NFL standards go) but he has the frame to accommodate some extra bulk without it affecting his athleticism. He’s very fast and agile coming out of his stance, and has above average mobility, body control, balance, and change of direction skills.

His major flaw, however, is his lack of physicality, power, and mass.

He struggles with holding his ground against the bull rusher. Brown has a ton of upside and could step right in and perform well in pass protection. But it will take time, bulk, and strength to improve his run blocking. He could be a very nice 2nd or 3rd round selection for Dallas.

Bruce Campbell – Senior Tackle from Maryland 6’7″ 310 lbs.

Campbell has all the tools—length, athleticism, size, and good footwork—to be an exceptional tackle in the NFL.

He sets up quickly, is able to correct and recover, gets to the second level, and is exceptional in space.

As a run blocker he seals very well and get this folks, he is the perfect tackle fit for a team that likes to run screens and delayed runs! However, where there is good there is always bad. Campbell is still pretty raw. Yes, he is an elite pass blocker, but his run blocking needs quite a bit of work.

He’s just not aggressive enough in the run game.

He sometimes gets lazy with his technique and has been known to lose the leverage battle. There were a few times at Maryland that he appeared to have a case of the don’t want to’s but that team was awful and he was young. But he’ll have to prove his dedication. This guy is the wild card of the bunch, he could be a top 20 pick or he could fall to the 3rd or 4th round.

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It’s inevitable that when a team loses, whether in game two of the preseason, the regular season, or the post season, people are going to start talking about how the coaches did this wrong or the players didn’t execute—they just weren’t focused.

It’s a bunch of baloney.

But the truth is people have opinions. Everyone watching a football game has got his or her own idea of what’s going on and certainly a perspective as to why something is being done wrong. Say hello armchair quarterback.

Hi.

I watched every Cowboys game this season and I can tell you just as surely as the next guy, they did something wrong.

But at least I’m not afraid to admit it. I’ll go on and on about Dallas did some stupid thing and offer a variety of colorful reasons as to why their heads were too far up their own…

Okay, so I shouldn’t go there now. But the things I’ve been reading about my beloved ‘Boys since that blowout Divisional routing are just irritating. And I’ve had my last nerve poked one too many times by that sharp stick known worldwide as the Dallas media.

Maybe it should make more sense to me since the Dallas media is a worldwide organization—everybody and their momma has a broadcasted or syndicated opinion of the ‘Boys. But wait a minute…the Cowboys aren’t America’s Team anymore, are they? I say once again it’s justified.

So down to the meat of it here, the Vikings tried running up the score.

It’s true and everyone should just deal with it. It doesn’t matter that the Cowboys defense had all but laid down by that point. This wasn’t just another toss downfield for a score. It was fourth down inside the final two minutes of a game with a huge lead within field goal range. Going for it on fourth down in that situation makes it so unbelievably clear that they were running up the score. Get over it.

Maybe Keith Brooking let his emotions get the best of him by yelling at Favre and Children on the sideline, but I certainly can’t blame him for being upset. I just hope this leader turned it toward his half-assing teammates too.

Wade Phillips is back, and he will be here for two more years. Why is everyone so hung up on the notion that it’s a bad thing? Let me make this real simple for everyone out there doubting his effectiveness as a head coach.

But first something to chew on.

Throughout most of aughts the Ravens have been known as a dominant defensive team. But Jim Harbaugh wasn’t there that whole time to spearhead their defensive effort. Instead it was Rex Ryan who coached the Baltimore D for 10 seasons, and made his coach look good while doing it, at least defensively.

Okay, retaining Wade Phillips does not signify the end of the Tradition of Excellence. Yes, he hasn’t gotten us to a Super Bowl and he got us one playoff win in three years, and not much else. Last I checked, though, he isn’t the Dallas Cowboys.

Roy Williams failed miserably at being a professional wide receiver.

Jason Garrett took three games, at least, to make adjustments.

Injuries have been a factor at key positions.

Terrell Owens divided the locker room.

That’s some of the bad that is being handed over to Phillips as if he had some sort of mischievous plan from day one to ruin the Cowboys. People love Felix Jones and Miles Austin and they were both around for at least two of those three years—why not pass the buck on to them as well?

The Cowboys won the NFC East title two out of three years.

Dallas had three consecutive winning seasons.

Two of those seasons had double digits in the win column.

Those are some of the good things that should be going into Phillips’ corner along with the bad. Once more people, as with anything in life, you must take the good with the bad.

So no, bringing back Phillips for two more years is not a bad thing. He got this team playing hard, and playing their best at the right time. Sure it’s only been one season where that was true, but as they it’s a “what can you do for me now” league and so 2009 is what should be given the most weight.

Since we’re on coaches, can we figure out who Jason Garrett is bending over for to keep his job?

Opposing defenses stopped falling for the draw play by mid-season, and yet there I was watching draw after draw after draw after draw late in the season. Hey Jason, you’re supposed to stick with what works, not keep pounding on it until it works.

And what is it with Marion Barber lately? Has he already started to wear down or what? He is a bruiser. It’s what got him a big contract with a good team. But he hasn’t been that bruiser consistently since 2007, and only in glimpses since then, don’t deny it.

Felix Jones stepped up late this year and sort of took over as the feature back in Dallas. I don’t know if such a strong word as featured is right for him yet, but he certainly gave the most production.

Finally, where was Jason Witten this year? I know he led the team in receptions, but he was near the other end in touchdowns. This is something I think is best attributed to Jason Garrett. Witten is considered a future hall of famer because he makes the most of his size and strength on every play.

But let me ask, what good is it to have a player like him if you don’t overuse him? That’s a gift that just keeps on giving, why not take advantage.

Well there you have it. My notes on 2009 and a look at what we have going into 2010. I know I left out a lot. It’s going to be a long and slow ride to training camp though.

Popularity: 2%

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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Once again through the first 2 weeks of December the Dallas Cowboys were being haunted by December’s past. Fans and media alike had one phrase circling through their minds, “Here we go again”. This time however, things would be different.

As soon as the final second ticked off the clock, with the loss at home to the San Diego Chargers Sunday a week ago, Cowboys coaches, players, and front office personnel were enveloped by a storm of fans and media, calling for the dismissal of Wade Phillips, and Jason Garrett. No one and I do mean no one, gave this team a chance to knock off the “unbeatable” Saints.

Quietly however, a transformation had begun to take shape inside the locker room. That transformation was ignited, not by coaches, or by fans, or even by the owner, no this transformation was ignited by the two “Leaders” of this football team, Tony Romo and DeMarcus Ware.

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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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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Alright, 24 hours have elapsed and I can finally start getting over what happened at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium last night. I already know where this is going, the Cowboys lost, the world must deeply overreact, judge Tony Romo, and try and understand why our defense is the worst defense to ever play football. While this is happening the world is also forgetting it’s only week 4 and the Cowboys are 2-2… The last time the Dallas Cowboys went 2-2? 2006, where they made the playoffs .

Now listen to me I’m not saying the Cowboys will definitely make the playoffs, they have to work on a few things:

1) Offensive Line Play- We have one of the largest most talented offensive lines in the league. They need to start playing like it, 5 sacks isn’t acceptable.

2) Gunslinging- Tony Romo will make mistakes! Period. Why not let him do it while being the playmaker he is.

3) Offensive Play Calls- Jason Garrett needs to learn a few things still about when to run and pass, it just seems like his play calls are unmethodical.

4) Defensive Dominance- Our defense has been playing well, but they need more big plays, so many big plays that teams are afraid of them. Only then will we be a feared team in the league.

Now that we’ve established what needs to be solidified. I feel confident that I have a solid feel on how the Cowboys are playing and responding to certain situations. So where will they be come January? Lets take a further look…

Week 5 @ KC- There is no way the Cowboys lose to an unimpressive Chiefs team.

Prediction: DAL 31 KC 10

Week 7- BYE

Week 8 Home against Atlanta- This will be a tough game, but the extra preperation time pays off.

Prediction: Dallas 24 ATL 17

Week 9 @ PHI- This is a tough game, and it looks like the Cowboys are gonna battle the Eagles to the bitter end..

Prediction: DAL 17 PHI 20

WEEK 10 @ GB- This is a potential wildcard grabber. I don’t worry about Green Bay, the Cowboys Run to 6-3.

Prediction: DAL 27 GB 21

Week 11 Home against WAS- A tough one but the Cowboys sweep the Redskins.

Prediction DAL 34 WAS 17

Week 12 Home against OAK- Thanksgiving… Need I say More?

Prediction: DAL 31 Oak 10

Week 13 @ NYG- Sorry Guys but we don’t split with New York, another disappointed loss and we’re 8-4.

Prediction: DAL 24 NYG 27

Week 14 @ SD- This game is a tough one, but by now the Cowboys are rolling and the Wildcard is to close to let go. Give us the Win

Prediction: DAL 24 SD 14

Week 15 @ NO- Drew Brees…

Prediction- DAL 20 New Orleans 31

Week 16 @ WAS- Sweep Complete, and they need it. If the Cowboys don’t clinch this week, it’s up to home against PHI again.

Prediction: DAL 35 WAS 24

Week 17 Home against PHI- Cowboys avenge last season, pushing the heavily favored Eagles to 3rd in the NFC East.

Prediction: DAL 37 PHI 16

Now incase you lost count that gives the Cowboys a realistic 11-5 record. The Early bye week gives the Cowboys a chance to regroup and refocus, which pays dividends in the end.

Final Word-The Blame Game

Again for my weekly destruction of over critical fans. Last weeks loss was not Tony Romo’s… No ands, if’s or buts about it. It was a team loss. Communication, Football Knowledge, and Blown Assignments are the factor of that loss. There are 13 more weeks left, and if you want the Cowboys to do well, you better rally behind them. Many of you will bash my predictions, yet they are all generated the same way experts do. You know why you’ll bash them? Because you don’t believe. So get up, shut up, and Support your team. That means you Derek Eagleton!

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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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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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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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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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In part one of this two-part series, I discussed how the departure of Greg Ellis, Terrell Owens, and Zach Thomas will affect the team going forward.

There are a ton of questions facing the Cowboys, as with any offseason, but this seems to be a make-or-break year for a team that is expected to make a Super Bowl run every season.

Part two of the series discusses how the Cowboys will fare in the “NFC Beast” this season, and addresses those pesky rumors about Garrett and Bum Phillips’ son.

With the departure of Plaxico in New York, the Eagles spurning Dawkins and allowing him to walk to Denver, and an owner in Washington who has no confidence in his quarterback, how will the Cowboys fare in the NFC East?

For the first time in a long time, the Cowboys seem to be one of the most stable teams in NFC East. Terrell is gone and the focus has shifted to Romo, but the circus atmosphere that surrounded the ‘Boys the past few years isn’t as prevalent this season.

The New York Giants running attack will be strong, but not as potent without Derrick Ward. Sack machine Osi Umenyiora will be back from a knee injury, but the offense will be without its lightning rod, Plaxico Burress.

While I believe that the Giants will having a winning record and make a run at the playoffs, I don’t see another improbable Super Bowl run like a couple years ago.

Heading south to D.C., the Redskins have a huge question mark at quarterback. I’m not questioning the skills of former Auburn man Jason Campbell, but his owner seems to have lost all confidence in the kid.

Campbell was left out to dry when the team unsuccessfully tried to trade for quarterback Jay Cutler and then attempted to draft former USC quarterback Mark Sanchez.

The team may not have much faith in Jason, but from all accounts, he still thinks that he can get the job done.

Washington’s only hope at the playoffs this year may be the mental stability of its “star” quarterback. If Campbell can hold steady and Clinton Portis remains healthy, an 8-8 season isn’t that far out of reach.

Over in “Illadelphia,” Donovan McNabb has a new contract, Brian Dawkins is now a Bronco, and blitzing defensive coordinator Jim Johnson is out indefinitely due to a battle with cancer.

As much as I disdain the Eagles, the team seems to be poised for another playoff run as their skill position players are still in place.

The battle for 1-2-3 in the NFC East will be between the Giants, Cowboys, and Eagles. The Cowboys ran away with the division in 2007, and they have the chance to do so again this year.

The ‘Boys have a dastardly tough schedule to end the year with road games against the Giants, Redskins, and Saints. Like last season, the team will face off against the Eagles in the last game of the year, but this time it will be in Texas.

History will be the judge of the future in this case, and I can’t defer from where the ‘Boys have finished the last few years. Their schedule in December is daunting, and the team hasn’t had a winning record during that part of year in over a decade.

Look for the Cowboys to finish second in the NFC East to the Giants or Eagles, but make a serious playoff run in January.

Will this be Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett’s last season in Dallas?

Wade Phillips is entering his third season as head coach in Dallas, and I’m not sure if Jerry will continue to make excuses for Phillips.

As many were calling for Wade’s dismissal after last season’s debacle, Jerry stood by his head coach. Instead of feeding him to the wolves, Jerry decided to give Bum’s son another shot.

If Tony Romo has taken the reigns of the team, the same must be said for Wade Phillips. After last season’s shootout against the Eagles early in the year, which ended with the cowboys winning 41-37, Phillips defended his defense by saying the Eagles were just receiving good breaks and capitalizing off of a few turnovers.

That type of explanation will not fly this season. Wade either has to lead this team deep in the playoffs or to a Super Bowl birth in order to keep his job. His defense has to stand up in the latter months of the season against teams like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

A few years ago, when Jerry brought back former back-up quarterback Jason Garrett to serve as offensive coordinator, it seemed a match made in Heaven as Romo flourished under Garrett’s tutelage.

Last season, though, Romo floundered a little under Garrett’s system and seemed to criticize Jason’s play calling.

Garrett probably has a longer leash than Phillips, simply because he isn’t the head coach.

Heading into training camp, Phillips may have a little sense of urgency because the Cowboys haven’t won a playoff game this decade.

The defense may be a little meaner and the offense a little more disciplined. The turnovers have to stop, and Romo can’t throw his customary one interception a game just to get it out of his system.

If Phillips and Garrett are to remain in Valley Ranch, they both must turn the Cowboys into a more streamlined outfit.

The Dallas Cowboys have one of the most talent-filled rosters in the league. Of course T.O. is gone, and so is Greg Ellis, but the team is still poised to make a serious run at the Super Bowl.

I predicted that the Cowboys will finish second in their division this season, but that could bode well for them. Flying under the radar isn’t something they’re accustomed to doing, and this season just may be the one where they do so.

Overall, I think the team will finish 11-5 with losses against the Giants and Eagles in the division. But, we have to get past training camp to enter into a total season preview.

-JH

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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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What makes a good Offensive line? How do we judge their performance? The questions could go on and on, with many different outlooks. I am sure my assessment is different than yours, but one thing is for sure everyone has doubts about the Dallas Cowboys Line and I am not so sure all the doubts are warranted!

Many of us were spoiled by the O-Line of the 90’s teams, and there are some of us that believe that if you cannot operate the way that line did then you’re not any good! Well this is just not true!

The design of the teams offense can make or break a line, just the same as a line can make or break an offense.

There are many out there who always want to look at sacks allowed as the judgment stat, this is the wrong way to look at things.

In 2006 this O-line paved the way for 1936 yards rushing on 472 attempts for an avg. of 4.1 yards per carry. In that same year Bledsoe and Romo combined for 4067 passing yards on 506 attempts for an avg. of 8.0 yards per attempt. They were also sacked 37 times.

Then in 2007 they rushed for 1746 yards on 419 attempts for an avg. of 4.2 yards per carry. While Romo threw for 4211 yards on 520 attempts for an avg. of 8.1 yards and was sacked 25 times.

Finally last year they rushed for 1723 yards on 401 attempts for an avg. of 4.3 yards per carry. The group of QB’s last year combined for 3789 yards passing on 547 attempts for an avg. of 6.9 yards per play and were sacked 31 times (11 of those over a 3 game span from Bollinger and Johnson).

So are you seeing the trend? What I see is a team game planning away from the run, not because they cannot do it but rather just because they want to.

In three short years this team has gone from a super balanced attack (50% runs vs 50% pass) to a very one sided passing team (last year 42% run vs 58% pass) and in every year since 2006 there number of plays and rushing yards have gone down! There average yards per carry have increased to further prove the point that it is not a line problem but more so a scheme problem.

When you are dealing with a line built at an average 6’5” 327 lbs. you cannot expect them to sustain blocks for very long! Guys that big are built to smash folks in the mouth and blow open a hole and then release.

As far as the sack numbers are concerned this unit averages 1.9 sacks per game over the last three years. Just to put this figure into perspective, the Indianapolis Colts give up the least per game with an average of 1.1 sacks per game (12 less per year than Dallas) but the Cowboys line protects as well and better than most in the rest of the league. The Giants come in at 1.7, Patriots 2.1, Eagles 2.0.

What I am trying to get to is very simple, This Line may not be the best in the league but they are most definitely in the top tier!

For those of you who wish to argue and live in the 90’s please go look at the numbers! From 1992 to 1995 (the hay day) the O-Line of all O-Lines gave up an average of 1.5 sacks per game (a mere 6 less sacks over the course of the year)! Over that same time period the Cowboys offense averaged 30 pass attempts     per game , and 32 rush attempts per game with a average of 4.1 yards per rush attempt.

Now I have never claimed to be the smartest guy on the planet but the only thing I see wrong with this group is the way that they are used!

This team has a wealth of talent on the Offensive line that is not being used properly. I have never been one to play around much with predictions, but I feel compelled in this situation!

So I am hereby making my first prediction of the season (it may be my last too!) If this unit (Jason Garrett) changes there scheme and gets back to being more of a 50 – 50 offense, this offensive line will be regarded as one of, if not THE top lines in the NFL!

I am also going to go on record as saying this team will win the division and end its playoff win less streak!

I realize I have opened myself up to some harsh criticisms, but I am willing to defend my thoughts are you?

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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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When identifying yourself as a Cowboy’s fan for the first time to someone who also is a Cowboy’s fan, the first question that typically come’s up is, “What did you think about them releasing T.O.?”  Beyond being genuinly interested in your perspective, there is an ulterior motive in that question.  The asker want’s to determine what kind of Cowboy’s fan you are.  Are you optimistic, pessimistic, or realistic.

Personally, I try to be realistic about everything in life, but, admittedly, when it comes to my Cowboy’s, the preverbial hope springs eternal.  In all of the forum’s I contribute to, I’m typically regarded as the homer; the guy who always expects the best from this team.  With that in mind, despite the fact that the media and sport’s analyst abroad have already wrote off the 2009 Cowboy season, I will make an attempt to shift the light from the Cowboy’s good side and focus on what could go horribly wrong.

The first thing that comes to mind for me is conditioning.  Considering the barrage of injuries the Cowboy’s weathered last year and the now infamous December swoon the Cowboy’s are known for (14 – 32 since 2000 in December), questioning the Cowboy’s overall conditioning seems like a logical place to begin.  So far, the picture that has been painted by Cowboy’s staffer’s and the kinder mediots, is that quite a few of the Cowboy’s have been working throughout the offseason to make sure they are properly conditioned for the season.  But isn’t that the standard company line every offseason?  The injury list is already stacked, and training camp doesn’t start until the end of July.  How does that happen?  The broken, bruised, and busted I understand; but strains and pulls typically indicates improper hydration and/or stretching.  In my mind, if a player is getting paid millions of dollars to play this game, he should futher understand that preparation for training is just as important as the actual training.

Coaching.  You really have to wonder about the coaching situation.  Making Wade Phillips the Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator is unprecedented in football.  It sends the message that Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett are sharing the role of Head Coach or, the more accurate way of looking at it, Jerry Jones is the Head Coach.  The thought is scary, but to hear him weigh in on strategy before, during and after games, really makes me wonder how much say he has in getting the ball to certain players.  And if he does have a say in this, it’s not hard to figure out what is truly wrong with this team, despite all of their collective talent.

Aside from the questionable dual role, I feel pretty confident in Wade’s ability to make the Cowboy’s defense rank top 10 this year.  However, Jason Garrett’s ability to make a T.O.less offense work is definitely a big question.  Since the beginning of his tenure as OC, the pass first mentality has been evident.  And, to be honest, to a certain extent, that approach based on previous personnel was justifyable.  However, this year, the Cowboy’s offense, despite the very few modifications to the starting line-up on offense, are now built for balance.   Does Jason recognize this need?  Can he effectively call plays designed to spread the ball over that trio of backs, duo of TE’s, and that potentially clutch WR group?

The Offensive Line.  Despite the catalog of failure that was the 2008 season for this group, very little was done to fortify the line.  Enemy #1 amongst Cowboy’s fan’s is likely between Flozell Adams, notorious for False Starts and struggling with speed rushers,  and Cory Proctor who seems to be physically and mentally inferior to the average defensive lineman.   The Cowboy’s added a few rookies, but it will likely be two to three years before any of them see extended playing time, barring another unlucky barrage of injuries.   Therefore, regardless of the dangerous weapons, if Romo doesn’t have adequate time to identify the open receiver and our running back’s don’t have time to accelerate or a hole to accelarate through, this team’s offensive effectiveness will be marginal, at best.  And, obviously, with a steady dose of 3 and out’s you get an exhausted defense in the 2nd half.

Youth served.  Another huge difference in the 2009 Cowboy’s vs. the 2008 Cowboy’s is average age.   The Cowboy’s lost quite a few starting veterans over the offseason, particularly on defense (Anthony Henry, Roy Williams, Keith Davis, Tank Johnson, Zach Thomas, Kevin Burnett, and Chris Canty).  Add to that the fact that the Cowboy’s drafted 12 rookies, and you have a team exceptionally younger than last year.  With youth, typically comes a marked improvement in overall speed.  But, speed minus experience can often lead to going fast in the wrong direction, ultimately, putting said youngster further from where he needs to be in a given play…and no amount of speed can fix that.

Special Teams.  Special Teams has been quite possibly the softest spot on this team for the last few seasons.  In response to that, Wade Phillips went out and got a Special Teams coach that is considered by many to be the best in the business.  But, if you consider that he’s brand new to this team and quite a few of the player’s he will have to work with are also brand new to this team, if not to the league, how much improvement can we really expect?  It’d be one thing if Decamallis was working with the exact same group of player’s as last year, but the truth is,  10 of those 12 rookies are expected to play significant roles on special teams if they want to make the team.  That could be a disaster in the making, regardless of how good the coaching is.

Romo.  It happened with Jeff Garcia.  Then, many speculated, the same happened with Donovan McNabb.  No more T.O., no more impressive numbers.  In two stops previous to Dallas, T.O. left a huge hole in otherwise pedestrian offenses, which led to the cliched theory  that T.O. makes QB’s better than what they really are.  Will this prove to be true of Romo?  Prior to T.O., Romo was an undrafted Free Agent 4th on the depth chart of a bunch of no-bodies and has-beens.  But in 2007, the Romo to T.O. connection rewrote the franchise record book.  In 2008, opposing defenses took T.O. out of the equation and the Cowboy’s go 9 – 7 and miss the Play Off’s.  Coincidence?  I hope so, but it is something to consider before assuming Romo’s name will eventually find it’s place in the Ring of Honor or Hall of Fame.

Obviously, there are question’s about team-wide depth,  overall wide receiver talent, last year’s rookies stepping into starting roles, and the pandoras box of intangible questions about heart, chemistry and leadership.   The truth is, another barrage of injuries could end this season like last year.  If Roy William’s is not, at least, consistent, the ground game will likely suffer significantly.  And if Scandrick or Jenkins don’t, at least, duplicate their last year’s performance the defense will leak like a sieve.   That is football.  All the moving part’s have to be functional, or the machine will not work.  As for the immeasurable contribution of heart, leadership, and chemistry, this will likely be determined by how the team begins the season.

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Despite the suffering I endured, I learned quite a bit about the little things in football. In a season where your expectations are marginal, you tend to not question all the bad things that can happen in a given season because you expected them. In 2007 my expectations were actually pretty low. Sure we were in the Play Offs the year prior, but we were all aware of our limitations at CB and so I felt are defense was going to get torched every week. My expectations came equipped with knowledge that this team was incomplete and could be exploited.

But in 2008, there wasn’t a weakness to be found, for the exception of behind the QB and, hey, it’s Romo, he doesn’t get sacked. He’s elusive. He’s got a feel for the pocket. He knows how to avoid the defensive rush. Blah, blah, blah. CB was more than fortified with a healthy Newman and the additions of Pacman, Jenkins and Scandrick. Safety was manned by 2 Pro Bowlers. The LB’s and DL had a decent rotation. It was going to be the return of the Dooms Day defense coupled with an offense that outscored every team in the league the year prior. My expectations, needless to say, left no room for any excuses for failure, for the exception of injury.

And then injuries happened, but still…I had questions. And a good many of those questions were answered by my incessant need to feed off all things Dallas Cowboy’s football related in any sports site available. And believe me, despite all that I already knew about this game I love, I learned so much more than all my years combined in this season alone because of this failure to my expectations. What did I learn?

You can’t buy a Super Bowl. My boyhood perception of how the Cowboy’s played other teams was somewhat skewed. I felt, they didn’t simply win. They man-handled their opponents. I’m not sure how I missed it, but in hindsight, those games were hard. Every one of them was a mountain for that team to climb. My memories of Emmitt Smith play out like a highlight reel. But not every run Smith made yielded yards. Not every game was won with Emmitt’s feet. Irvin didn’t make the acrobatic catch to win every game. Aikman, in his time, wasn’t considered a great quarterback with the likes of Dan Marino, Joe Montana, John Elway, Jim Kelly, Phil Simms, Randall Cunningham, Warren Moon and Boomer Esiason playing at that time. They were in fact fallible. And character, well, the undesirables were starters on that roster too. . But everyone played and played hard. They worked together. It wasn’t exactly what you would call a great composition of talent, either. There were players playing above their station, as the Super Bowl MVP of 1995 might have indicated.

I learned about the power of belief. Belief is a strong word in the world of football. I watched the interview of Ray Lewis prior to the Baltimore game assured in my own belief that the Cowboy’s would win having the stronger offense in a game that featured two very stout defenses. But after the interview, I had my doubts. Why? You could see that Ray Lewis believed. And since we all know that he is what makes that defense play beyond their individual reputations, I knew that entire defense believed too. And then, when I saw their offense play with that same sense of entitlement to the win in this game, absolute dread seeped in. And harder still about that game is the Cowboys repeatedly gave me hope in that fourth quarter, only to see those hopes crashed on a shore of missed tackles and missed opportunities.

It reminded of something I remember seeing throughout that successful 2007 season. Remember Romo’s smile? Sure I wrote several articles about the power of his smile and how the offense seemingly played better when he wore that on his face. But I never really delved in, I don’t think, into what that smile meant. But I think we all know that ultimately it meant he believed. He believed in the plays being called, the players that surrounded him, and his ability to do whatever he wanted with that ball without contention. A fumble here, an interception there, but the next time we saw him in the huddle, there was that infectious smile again saying something like “Hey, will get them this time.” And typically he was right. He generally always followed up a bone headed mistake with something to make you forget all about it.

Throughout the offseason following the draft and through the preseason I had a sliver of a doubt about rather or not this collective of talent could play as a team. But that doubt was constantly assuaged away with sports analyst abroad stating with utter confidence this Cowboys team was going to be a force to be reckoned with. Like no team I have heard about in the preseason in years prior, this Cowboys team was the talk of the town with their impressive role call at training camp. This highlighted by the Hard Knocks crews turned the Cowboys into the ultimate Hollywood team. And with that, I wondered what type of effect it would have on these Cowboys. But I wanted to believe what they sold us: That’s part of being a member of the Cowboys. You have to get used to that attention because the Cowboys are America’s team. I learned that no football team is bulletproof to distraction; no body is immune to acting different under the encouragement of the stage lights. These guys, million dollar contract or not, are just like any of us.

The Texans in years past with David Carr under center taught us about how important the Offensive Line is, regardless of the other talent present on the field. But once again I made the mistake of believing irresponsible sports analyst who stated that the Cowboys OL are only second to the Browns, in terms of strength. Then, as the season progressed, I learned how he came to that determination; not through observation, but pure stats and a popularity contest known as the Pro Bowl. How effective were the passing and running games in the year prior? How often did the QB get sacked? Of these players, who went to the Pro Bowl? The first two questions could be answered naming one player: Tony Romo. He made both Jason Garrett and the Offensive Line look great in 2007! I was there; I saw it.

The last question answered itself over time. The Pro Bowl, unfortunately, take’s 1/3 of fans votes. And let’s face it, how many fans vote for players outside of their team? A huge bias is in place in the voting, and well, it pretty much has rendered the game to serving as an ability for a ‘popular’ player to petition for more money on his contract. But because some sport’s analyst from a credible source said my OL was great and I wanted to believe it, my questions of this assessment initially didn’t go very far…not until their performance demanded I do so. And to be honest, I was disgusted. Because I watched these players in the offseason and I saw that they thought very highly of themselves for all the recognition getting poured on them when any Cowboy faithful who watched the 2007 season should know these accolades were completely undeserved.

And so it is in the game football. Fans and analyst alike are not impervious to misleading concepts. As a fan I don’t watch every game and can’t expect a sport analyst to watch every game of the previous season for every team he decides to write an opinion on. But the ultimate lesson here, regardless of whose formula it is that measures performance, they are all based on stats which doesn’t always tell the whole story.

This leads me to my next lesson learned. The media is a monster; the worse kind of monster. Remember Aliens with Sigourney Weaver? The media is that kind of monster. You see, their pretty dangerous in their own right, but then their articles act like those spider-looking creatures with tails (or tales if you prefer) that plant little eggs in you which hatch and create more monsters. See the parallel? Then we get all these disciples regurgitating what was said by a previous reporter with an anonymous source and the epidemic spreads.

Which brings me to the last lesson.

In the wanning moments of that dreadful season, everyone had an opinion of who should be fired, who should be released, and who should change as a player or coach. I’ve offered my opinion on these drastic changes a few times myself. Some have even suggested the Cowboys owner Jerry Jones should fire the Cowboys GM Jerry Jones and have started a fund raiser requesting donations of $5 or more to put said request on billboards throughout the city.

Word? You think that might work? Sorry, I sense an epic fail in the making. Maybe if it was just a strange coincidence that both these individuals had the same name, just maybe, that would work. But we are talking about a wealthy man who made his money in oil. I’m sure he saw plenty of billboards suggesting he fire himself to save the environment and we all see how well he took that suggestion. He bought a football team with his earnings. He didn’t spend it repairing the environment or donating it all to some note worthy cause, though I’m sure he’s made a few contributions here and there that is not a drop in the bucket to his accumulative wealth; he purchased a football franchise to live out the ultimate Fantasy Football League and has been doing so now for twenty years.

So, write your letters. Sing your songs. Make your jokes. But know your role. As a fan, you are static. Your opinion does not effect change even if you have a plane with a huge banner circle Jerry Jones mansion. I have said it before: That is the rub of being a fan of anything in general; you share in the success and failures of outcomes you have nothing to do with as a spectator. It is a frustrating existence when your team loses. But the human condition forces us to believe that we can control all things, which is why we argue, debate, fight, and go to war. This concept in life is bigger than just the game of football. It affects everyone and everything around us. And when you broaden your view to see the big picture and all that it encompasses, such as the war, the suffering that surrounds us, the news filled with inhumanity in a world dominated by humans (irony intended), things like a losing season of your favorite football team seems so small. And that is the biggest lesson of them all…

Popularity: unranked

With everything that has been going on the past week, since free agency started, the picture in Dallas not only has changed, but has a whole new color scheme. The releases of Terrell Owens and SS Roy Williams drastically change both the offense and defense, and while one of those positions has been taken care of, for the most part, the safety position still needs help.

Since we last saw Darren Woodson and Roy Williams both back at safety, this team has struggled for consistency at the position, one that requires a fair bit of solid play, great athleticism, and quick thinking.

The release of Owens, merely a year after paying him almost a $13 million signing bonus on a new four year deal, without having seen any solid production from his replacement is a gamble. Albeit one that has been taken already, many fans are concerned about WR Roy Williams and the fact that despite joining the team in week 6 of the 2008 season, he failed to live up to even the number 2 position on the team after Dallas traded multiple picks for him, one of which being a first rounder, and resigned him to a lucrative deal.

But many people seem to forget one thing … you can find transactions in the NFL where a player warrants a first round pick in a trade without deserving a value that high, but it’s hard to say that when a first, third, and seventh round pick were all traded for one guy. Some may point to the near-infamous trade for Joey Galloway a while back, but that situation was different from the one Dallas and Williams are in.

Williams is younger, been stuck on a team that has now posted the worst season record ever, and he still managed to have 1,000+ yard seasons there. To make that deal even sweeter, we now have the quarterback on staff that helped Williams to stand out from the pack a couple of years ago. Sure, Kitna won’t play a down, unless Romo is either injured or plays so badly that he’s benched, but there’s a lot that goes into the relationship on the field for a quarterback and his receiver.

Take it from Kurt Warner who said that he had to re-learn what open meant when he arrived in Arizona and saw Fitzgerald play. Imagine that, a veteran quarterback that led the Greatest Show on Turf to a Super Bowl not so long ago saying that he had to learn what it meant for his number 1 receiver to be open. It comes down to trust, also to experience and to practice, but most of all it means trusting your receiver to take care of business if you get it to him.

Last year, Williams and Romo didn’t get a chance to build that trust. Either Romo was hurt and out or playing with that split on his hand, or Owens was making a stink about getting the ball more and his perceived notion that Romo and Witten were hooking up intentionally whenever possible. Whether that was true or not, the distraction it caused leaked onto the field during games, and it hampered the progress of Williams.

Now you might say that with Owens gone you won’t have those problems anymore and that that should help, but it goes much deeper than that. You lose some major distractions with Owens gone, but you also make Williams the top guy, a guy who ran the 40 in 4.38 seconds at the 2004 combine. A big, physical receiver that knows how to win the jump ball and has always been a smart route runner. Any of this sound familiar?

He had the number 2 spot in Detroit, but not because he wasn’t good enough to be number 1, but because that spot was already filled. He came to Dallas and found the same situation, until now. Now he’s the guy that will be on the field every single offensive down, he’ll get the practice reps, he’ll be the guy Garrett designs the passing game around; he’ll be the guy Romo will throw to aside from Witten, he’s the new deep guy.

He won’t draw double coverage, not at first, but if he can prove that he deserves it just for a couple of games, then he’ll get it and free up everything else like Owens did. Then it’ll be Jason Garrett’s job to make the most of that situation, the defense sacrificing balance to put an extra guy on him. But they’ll be doing that anyway because Witten still deserves the double-cover now. If Felix Jones is on the field, linebackers will be keeping a close eye on him just for being there.

It’s just going to take time for Williams and Romo to get in sync with each other, and time is what we have right now with the off-season conditioning program scheduled to start in about three weeks.

Things have changed in Dallas; Marion Barber giving two interviews in one day should show that much. On paper it may look like we’ve taken away talent, but really we’ve just allowed the talent that’s there to step up. We’ve taken away that constant nagging of the media, the constant speculation that the Dallas locker room is in shambles. That’s a remarkable feat in itself, but we do have the talent, and barring any further injuries we’ve got a roster full of it and with a year of experience for most of these guys.

Things have changed in Dallas, and it’s going to be some time for the direction of that change to be fully realized. It’s a process that I can’t wait to see.

Popularity: unranked

So T.O. is gone, now what?

Jerry Jones has finally stepped up and rid the Dallas Cowboys of their number one troublemaker.

At least, that is what the pundits and critics are saying. For them, the release of Terrell Owens makes the Cowboys a better team – a sort of addition by subtraction.

Overall, the move to release Owens has been met by praise from most members of the media and fans alike.

But, I’m not one who favors the move.

No, Terrell Owens is no saint. Still, he was a very productive member of the Dallas Cowboys. Some point to his numbers and say he is on the decline and no longer an elite receiver. Still, he managed to post yet another 1,000 yard/10 touchdown season, and that was considered a down year. Personally, I believe the lack of creativity in the offense, more specifically, failure on the part of offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett, had more to do with his statistical drop-off than diminishing skills.

Had Owens lost a step? He actually seemed like he was faster this season.

Off the field, Owens has been labeled a distraction or cancer. However, everything seemed to be going okay until the big fiasco involving Owens, Garrett, Romo, and Witten. And, in all honesty, none of us truly know what transpired. The only information leaked to the public came from ESPN’s Ed Werder and his “sources”. The “sources” were never identified. It did seem though that whoever the “sources” were, they definitely had an agenda. Much like the talking heads at ESPN who seemed like they were on a mission to get Owens released from the Cowboys.

I found it particularly funny listening to ESPN analysts Keyshawn Johnson and Chris Carter lambast T.O. at every opportunity for demanding the ball more. These are two individuals who pretty much did the same thing during their careers. Keyshawn even took it one step further and wrote a book. I guess he has forgotten about that.

All we really have to go on is what Owens said publically. Yes, he did criticize Garrett and even Romo. But was he wrong in doing so? I don’t think so. We, as fans, all saw it. And if we’re completely honest, we all thought it too. Owens simply voiced it – and, was vilified by some of the fans and media for doing so.

When the Cowboys were 13-3, and Owens was getting the ball, he was model teammate. Last season, the team went 9-7, and he wasn’t getting the ball, and he was upset. So, he doesn’t like losing. Or, better yet, he like several other superstars, felt like he could help the team win if he had the ball in his hands.

Isn’t that what we want from our top players?

I wonder what the reactions would have been if Jason Witten had made the same statements?

Would he have been vilified? Or, heralded a leader?

I guess we’ll never know.

In listening to Jerry Jones, he insisted that this move had nothing to do with locker room chemistry, but everything to do with change. He also stated that his belief in wide receiver Roy Williams was a major reason for his decision. But, clearly that is not the case. Jerry, uncharacteristically, bowed to the pressure by the media, fans, and some of the people on his staff. Jerry didn’t want to release T.O. You have to believe that after witnessing the success of Arizona and the success of their “81/11 tandem”, Jerry had visions of the Cowboys being able to duplicate or surpass them with their own tandem.

But, Jerry decided to cave in. And he sided with those who wanted T.O. gone. None more so than Jason Garrett, who by all of accounts, told Jones he didn’t feel he and Owens could co-exist.

So now what?

If I’m offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett, I’m feeling the immense pressure.

Even without Owens on the team, the Cowboys have a tremendous amount of talent on offense. They still have the offensive line, Romo, Witten, Bennett, Williams, and their trio of running backs. In my opinion the X-factor is going to be Miles Austin. No disrespect to Patrick Crayton, he proved that he can be a decent 2^nd receiver. But, he is much more effective in the slot but lacks the outside speed the Cowboys need. Austin has the size and speed. He has shown flashes that he is capable of being a 2. He just hasn’t been consistent, mostly due to injury. But, if he is able to step up and be a force, this offense has the ability to be very potent.

That is where Garrett comes in. It will be up him to create mismatches, and free up his playmakers to make plays. He won’t have the luxury of teams doubling Owens on nearly every play, so he is going to have to be creative – something, he definitely wasn’t last season.

Of course, Romo will have to prove that he is the franchise quarterback Jones believes he is as well.

But, that is a topic for another discussion.

As for Garret though, I’m not sure he is up to the tasks, but he had better be. It is not a good sign when opposing defenders comment that your offense is one of the simplest to figure out. And, if the offense is still stagnant much like it was towards the end of last season, he no longer has the Original 81 to point the finger at.

The bright lights will shine squarely on him. And, if he fails, he will no longer be the coach in waiting.

He’ll be amongst the unemployed. Or, at least should be.

The Wizard has spoken.

Popularity: 1%

I’ve got a theory; tell me what you think of it.

Wade Phillips is the head coach, he responsible for overseeing his other coaches and getting everything together for the game plan he develops.

In 2008, the defense sucked until Wade started taking a bigger role on D, even though Stewart still looked like the guy in charge.

Starting with that Tampa game, when Phillips took over the D, the offense started playing worse, at first because Romo was out, but even when he came back, the O wasn’t doing half of what the D was doing.

It seemed for the last half of the season that whenever the D played well, the O played poorly, and when the O played well, the D played poorly. Going up against the best defensive teams in the league, the Cowboys still stayed in the game until the end.

Before the Tampa game, when Romo was playing the offense did great, see week 2 against Philly for an example. You can even look at the Baltimore game for an example. Both teams were pretty even throughout the game, caught in a strong defensive game. But when the Cowboys started driving to score late for the win, the D completely collapsed. Makes you wonder.

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Popularity: 1%

So what does it mean to have a consultant on a team that is otherwise fully staffed? I know we still need a DC, but Reeves would never be a candidate for that spot anyway.

I suppose one possibility is that Reeves will be a general consultant at the top, meaning along side Wade Phillips. I’ve stated my opinion before that if Wade were to be both Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator that he wouldn’t be able to do his job fully on either front. Maybe the organization agrees with that point and will let Phillips run the defense and be HC while Reeves picks up at the HC spot where Wade leaves off.

A consultant can technically have as much or as little responsibility as needed, and as pointed out on DC.com, Reeves interviewed last week for an OC position in San Francisco. It does indicate that after almost 5 years out of the league that he is ready for a hands on job.

He could help Jason Garrett. Garrett is a decent coach, the team was 13-3 last year and you don’t get that kind of record without some notable ability. Even if Parcels did leave enough in place, even if Sparano was a big part of that record, Garrett still has an upside worth waiting for in some cases.

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Popularity: unranked

Saw something interesting this morning. According to the DC.com Writer’s Block Blog, Former head coach Dan Reeves reportedly told the San Francisco 49ers that he will decline a position on the team in favor of joining the Dallas Cowboys.

No official word as of yet on exactly what that means or even if it’s true, Josh Ellis says it is supposed to be some sort of consulting role that is in the works.

Reeves has coached several teams, but the most notable of which was the Atlanta Falcons. Wade Phillips served as his defensive coordinator in Atlanta and when Reeves was fired during the 2003 season, Phillips was his successor.

Atlanta made a Super Bowl appearance in XXXIII under then head coach Dan Reeves, but lost to the Denver Broncos, another team that Reeves has led in his career. It also would team him together with his son-in-law Joe DeCamillis, who the Cowboys recently hired to run their special teams unit.

He’s always been known as a hard ass, a tough coach that demands a lot from his players, and his character could be a great addition to this team after a year plagued by reports of indiscipline in the Cowboys locker room, practices, and games.

What do you think about bringing in Dan Reeves, and what role do you think he would be best for on this team? Remember that he was interviewing for the OC spot in San Fran, and has a strong offensive background in the league.

Does Garrett stand in the way of him being the OC in Dallas? Should he?

Popularity: 1%