Sunday night in Arlington, Texas was supposed to be the grand opening of the greatest NFL stadium, and it was supposed to open with the Cowboys dismantling the New York Giants.

Unfortunately for us the fans and the Cowboys, things did not go as planned! So there must be someone or some people to blame right?

There are plenty of people to blame for this loss, but the finger should be pointed first and foremost at one Tony Romo!

This was by far the worst game I have ever seen him play. From the beginning he looked out of sync, and out of rhythm. Everyone will have an opinion on why, but I do not want to hear it! NO EXCUSES!

The Dallas Cowboys are not a bad football team, but they are not a contending team at this point in the season.

Tony Romo if he was not already has firmly planted his butt onto the “Hot Seat”. There is but only two ways off of that seat.

1. Simply continue to make the same stupid plays that have plagued him his first 3 years in league, and find himself in a different uniform.
2. Step up to the challenge, and accept nothing but perfection from himself, and lead this team.

Tony is a very likable guy, an extraordinary athlete, and the leader of the Dallas Cowboys. It is time for him to act like it!

The second person on the list of many is one that I did not see coming. Orlando Scandrick! I thought last year and heading into this year was the better of the two DB draft picks. Orlando absolutely got his ass handed to him on Sunday night.

The performance he put in on Sunday night was down right pitiful. The best comparison of his performance that I can give is to one of a Matador.

Not only was he not physical with the Giants, he looked lost and scared! We have heard all through Training camp about his “Head Knocking” prowess (just ask Roy Williams) yet when it was his chance to prove his worth in his first start, he looked like the fat kid in fifth grade that everyone picked on.

The Dallas Cowboys better change there outlook at that position and they better change it quick! Mike Jenkins is by far and away the better of the two, not only on draft status, but more importantly by his on field actions.

Through two games Mike Jenkins has heavily outplayed Orlando Scandrick, and after the performance Sunday night his confidence is shaken, and a confidence lacking corner is not what this team needs right now.

The third and final finger that I am going to point is at none other than Terrence Newman. T-New is the mentor to both Jenkins and Scandrick, let’s just hope they do not watch the film on Newman.

T-New looked slow, and on more than one occasion Lost! How you get lost in man coverage I have no idea but he was able to accomplish that feat with very little effort. Is there a Hamstring issue we were not privy to?

I have not seen T-New play that poorly since the Washington game last year when he was playing on a hurt hammy. Hopefully his play Sunday night was just an anomaly.

I am forcing myself to stay away from the edge of the cliff, after all it is only week two, but many things must change and they must change quickly.

This team played very stupid and sloppy and that is not going to get it done. The only difference between the Cowboys play on Sunday and their play at the end of last season is at least now they are not publicly making excuses! Well at least we got that going for us.

Who are you pointing the finger at?

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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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You gotta love Football Season!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Are you ready for some football?

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- First order of business, Michael Vick. Tired of it yet? Here is my deal. The dude did something that was completely disgusting, I agree. However, he did his time. He doesn’t deserve the extra headaches. Give the dude a chance, if he messes up again then let him have it. When did football go from being a game about strong smash mouth football, to a game about public affairs and fan acceptance. Get the hell out of here with that weak crap. Football is Football, that why we love it, you want glamour and fame? Watch basketball.

- According to multiple sources, Owen Daniel is lobbying to be the highest paid tight end in the league. Seriously? You’re not even a top 3 tight end in this league my friend. Why don’t’ you quit your crying, you don’t hear Jason Witten crying about his contract!

- On a more serious note, we all know that the Cowboys/Eagles rivalry has only intensified over the years. However, my most sincere prayers and wishes go with the family of Defensive Coordinator Jimmy Johnson, who has been a defensive mastermind within the NFL with his baffling blitz packages. Best luck to him, his family, his replacement Sean McDermott, and the Eagles organization who has been a class act in supporting Coach Johnson and his family.

- Lastly, I was reading an article on Foxsports.com about training camp battles for Super Bowl contenders and much to my surprise the Cowboys were not listed. It is here I realized a lot of football “experts” have sincere doubts about Dallas. If you’re buying into this crap, stop! The Cowboys are a good team, in a whirlwind of a division. Expect the unexpected this year!

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Got to give props to anyone who attempts a top list for Dallas Cowboys history – I mean whether it’s for the best players, worst players, best plays, or worst plays, you’ve got enough ammo to stretch a top 1,000 on just about any aspect. So here we have the Top Ten Worst Moments in Dallas Cowboys’ History from (Silver and) BlueBlood.

Let’s preface this list with an important qualifying statement: the only moments up for consideration are on-the-field occurrences. In other words, this is a list of the ten most devastating plays in team history. Consequently, we won’t be mentioning moments many may consider catastrophic, like the day Landry was fired or the day Jimmy Johnson walked away or the day Switzer was hired. Nor will we talk about the “white house” or the Michael Irvin trial. We may long debate the impact of such happenings on the team. But that is a different discussion.

In selecting the plays included in this list, several factors were considered:

• Was it a catastrophic moment for the team?
• Do Cowboys fans still remember it?
• Does it still hurt?

You can check out the list and some other good reads from Gene at www.SilverandBlueBlood.com.

Mike Jenkins also has a new blog posted from yesterday. He talks about getting ready for training camp and who he’s working with as he tries to balance his body to start camp next week.

I’m just ready to get into camp. I’m focused and ready to get this season popped off.

I’ve been going out to IMG here in Bradenton every day, working out with guys like Ryan Grant, Fabian Washington, Cliff Avril and a lot of others from Sportstars. But today was my last day as I shut it down and get my body back right, hit the cold tub through the weekend and just focus.

Working out meant speed drills in the morning and power in the afternoon, running hills, pushing sleds, working with medicine balls, just keeping the body moving. You have to have everything equal and balanced out for when you go to camp.

Check out the rest and more insights from the second year cornerback at www.MikeJenkins21.com. Don’t forget, for those of you always on the go, you can check out Mike Jenkins’ Twitter page as well – you can even check out our DCNation Twitter page too while you’re there.

Over at www.DefendingTheStar.net they’ve got a pretty good series going previewing the upcoming training camp.

Defending The Star’s Training Camp Preview Series:

Training Camp Preview – Part 7 – Defensive Line
Training Camp Preview – Part 6 – Special Teams
Training Camp Preview – Part 5 -Offensive Line
Training Camp Preview – Part 4 -Wide Receivers
Training Camp Preview – Part 3 -Tight Ends
Training Camp Preview – Part 2 -Running Backs
Training Camp Preview – Part 1 – Quarterbacks

It’s a pretty extensive list and it’s not even complete yet as they still have the secondary to go. Go check it out.

And while we’re on the subject, Blogging The Boys has also chimed in with an opinion of what’s hot to watch this year in camp with their post – Dallas Cowboys 2009 Training Camp: Five Things To Watch (Part II).

Okay, if you want to be technical about it, I won’t be at Cowboys training camp so I won’t be watching anything. I guess I will be listening for, or reading up on a few different storylines coming out of Cowboys camp. Considering the abundant media coverage these days, coaching staffs are reluctant to reveal much before the regular season kicks off. Still, if we look closely, we can probably gather a few vital tidbits of information about the Cowboys upcoming season. Here are the things that I will be looking for at Cowboys camp.

So plenty of action to check out this impatient late July Friday afternoon. One fan to another – can’t wait for training camp to start so we can get a look at every player and see how they’re each coming along. I’m even quite curious to see how lucky dog Jesse Holley comes along. Maybe Holley will be a Dallas Cowboy after all.

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Jesse Holley is now the latest member of the Dallas Cowboys. Who you say? That’s right Jesse Holley! Thanks to the Michael Irvin show 4^th and Long The Cowboys now have another man on the roster, the question is though will he stick? or is he just the product of another marketing gimmick?

I will tell you straight up that I watched only the first episode of 4^th and Long! Not because it was a bad show (although it was not a show that made me want to put the DVR to use) but more because it was just too damn gimmicky for me.

So who is Jesse Holley? Well I do not know just a ton about him, but what I do know is not all that glamorous.

Jesse was a two sport player at the University of North Carolina from 2003 – 2006, was a member of the 04’-05’ National Championship basketball team. He was a very solid Wide Receiver for the Tar heels, played all fours years that he was there.

In 2007 Holley was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cincinnati Bengals. He was then released by the team at the end of Training camp only to be signed to the practice squad. Jesse lasted one month on the practice squad before being released.

In 2008 Jesse signed on to play for the BC Lions of the CFL. After the teams first Pre Season game (one month later) He was released.

Basically Jesse Holley is the same as a million other solid collegiate athletes with dreams of being a Pro, but now his dream is a reality thanks to Spike T.V.?????

I have a question for all of you that I need help answering. Can anybody tell me who was the last player (that went undrafted, unable to stick on a practice squad, and unable to make it in the CFL) that has been talked about this much?

My partner and I had a… well let’s call it a discussion yesterday about this situation, and well… Let’s just say our thoughts were not anywhere near the same!

Bryson watched the series from beginning to end, and had nothing but good to say about Jesse and his abilities. While I respect his opinion on the matter I strongly disagreed with his synopsis. He told me about how he was a big and physical receiver with good hands and the ability to go up and get a jump ball. He also told me how he thought “he may be a good addition for us” and “he may be able to take Stanback’s spot”.

It was about this time that the “discussion” got a little more heated. Not because I think Stanback is such a great receiver, but because I simply cannot comprehend how a guy who cannot make a CFL roster can come in and be a better player than a guy who has stuck on an NFL roster for 3 years!

The argument will always be “NFL scouts do make mistakes and miss on players, just look at Tom Brady” and while that is accurate to an extent, name me a player who has been a contributing player in the NFL that was unable to stay on a practice squad and unable to make a CFL roster.

Every year NFL teams bring in players this time of year that will never play a down in a regular season game, simply to fill roster spots at training camp.

It takes a very special athlete to be able to make and then stay on a NFL roster, Any NFL roster! If you have ever played a sport then you know that there are two kinds of players. (1) Overly Gifted (2) Under Gifted.

For the overly gifted athlete things come easy to them and they are generally stand out players, the great ones have the same work ethic as the guy who has less talent and has to rely on his determination, and hard work.

The under gifted player while he has talent he MUST work harder than everyone else, and he MUST be involved with his sport of choice on a continuous basis (playing on a year in year out basis) as this player simply would fall way behind his competitors if he took a year off.

Jesse Holley falls into the Under Gifted category, while I am sure he has some very nice talents, the fact remains he has not played in almost 2 years and was not very good then! I would like nothing better than to see this kid come into camp and set the world on fire and prove me wrong!

The problem that I have with this show is simple, a guy has become a member of the Dallas Cowboys and thrust into the spotlight for no other reason than because he was on a T.V. show! And better still because he competed against other players who cannot make an NFL roster and shined against them, this show has given Cowboy fans a severely skewed opinion of their talents.

Without this show no one would care about anyone of these guys! Much less believe any of them could “add” anything to this team! Or believe they could take a job away from a veteran NFL player.

Just to put it in perspective, I played Football and Baseball all my life and was never anymore than an average player. When I got into my twenties I started playing in a local Softball Beer league. I was and am a decent player but by no means a “Pro” but every time I have played against people that were not very good I looked like a “Bad Ass” player. The contestants on this show are no different!

These contestants performed against the likes of Semi-Pro players (your Beer League of the Football world) and cast away Arena League players. Frankly these guys should look like superb football players, but many of them did not! The two that did make it to the finals did look the part, but one of those was only 5’7”! And by all accounts if he had not been a midget(pardon me vertically challenged) he would have won the competition.

In the end, I have done nothing but waste your time and mine writing about a guy that more than likely will end up like all the other late invitees to a NFL camp, released and never heard from again!

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It’s that dreaded time of year where OTA’s have passed and Training Camp is less than two weeks away.   If you are reading this post, it is likely in the aftermath of your daily dose of the Dallas Cowboys online columnist, Dallas Morning News online, The Ft. Worth Star Telegram online, ESPN.com, NFL.com, and all the other syndicated online media outlets and Cowboy’s related blog’s.

You are probably familiar with the cliched Eldorado Owens ala Randy Galloway and his disciples (aka Jennifer Floyd Engel), you are well-acquainted with the orginal apologist Mickey Spagnolia who sit’s on the fence from time to time but never crosses it, you have read the redundant “Coachable” reference to Roy Williams (11) via Tim MacMahon ad nauseum,  are very familiar with the word “gutless” per Jean Jacques Taylor, you have digested the homegrown Matt Moseley’s input, who is known for painstakingly maintaining his non-biased opinion, even if it means showing preference to every team in the NFCE aside from the Cowboy’s, and Clarence Hill who seems to struggle not to adopt the same abject indifference that his colleague’s are plagued with in view of their typical article output in regards to the Cowboy’s (inhale).  The truth is, in your search for something related to the Cowboy’s at this time of year you are only looking for hope….that is, if you are anything like me.  You want someone with even an ounce of credibility and the slightest bit of football understanding to say, “watch out for this 2009 edition of the Cowboy’s, because they are dangerous.”

Well, hopefully, I will do.

The first thing that make’s them dangerous is underestimation.  Normally underestimation in football is ruined by the preseason, when game’s don’t count.  By the time the regular season start’s, most team’s that are dangerous will have been identified.  Unfortunately, for the average fan, it’s not as easy as looking at the final scores and the win/loss ratio at the end of the 4 games to know what teams to look out for.  No, there is quite a bit more to it; especially considering that the object for the Head Coach is to evaluate talent, not win the game.  Every game played by every team will be examined very closely.  They will be looking at the possible match-ups and mis-matches.  They will be looking at the rookies to see what impact they may have.  They will look at the play’s and start putting together a list of the head coaches, or the individual responsible for calling the play’s, tendencies.  They will also break down each player’s tendencies, such as, foot work, hand placement, stance, route running, pre-snap movement’s that may provide insight on what the unit as a whole will be doing, etc.  Each team typically has a group of people assigned to researching opponent’s to the extent of knowing what the opposition likes for breakfast before the game (maybe that’s overstating a bit, but you get the idea).

But in the Cowboy’s case, the circumstances are slightly different.  Usually, a team get’s embarrassed through underestimation as a result of one or several of the opposition’s player’s coming out of no where and playing beyond their normal limitations.  While that may prove to be true with the Cowboy’s having several unproven players such as Miles Austin, Anthony Spencer, and Gerald Sensabaugh to name a few, what make’s the Cowboy’s situation unique is the world know’s that the Cowboy’s are one of the better collective’s of talent in the league, and yet still believe the Cowboy’s are doomed to fail.  Why?  Aside from being the anti-sexy pick, the expert’s predominantly point to the lack of leadership, chemistry, heart, past success, and other intangible’s.

As a fan, I’d rather my team be missing one of the aforementioned invisible monster’s then be convinced that it will take another round of Free Agency and the draft for this team to compete.  If all they are missing is a word and all it’s applicable meaning, they can get that at any time in the season.  They may even start the season with the word firmly in it’s rightful place and shock the world!  As far as leadership is concerned, on all side’s of the ball, those who are expected to be leader’s is much more clear than last year.  On Offense, Witten and Romo are the clear cut leaders.  On defense, Ware, James, Newman and Hamlin will be running the show.  Last year, in my mind, it wasn’t a lack of leader’s that was the problem, but the presence of too many leaders that caused issues.  The idea that the Cowboy’s lacked heart and chemistry is subjective.  The problem with that analysis is winning typically is  a cure-all for those issues and losing is a catalyst for them.

The other side of the Cowboy’s depreciated value is a result of what the Cowboy’s interdivisional foes were able to accomplish in Free Agency and the draft.  The Eagle’s bolstered their offensive line with the acquisition of Jason Peter’s (OT) and Stacy Andrews (G) and improved the overall speed of their secondary with Sean Jones through Free Agency.  The Eagle’s draft focused on providing recently resigned Donovan McNabb with several new weapons such as the highly-touted rookie wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, the bruiser running back LeSean McCoy and what many are describing as a draft steal, Tight End Cornelius Ingrum found in the 5th round.

The Giant’s were able to significantly improve their defensive depth with Free Agent’s Chris Canty, Rocky Bernard, Lee Vickers and Michael Boley.  With the loss of Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer and Derrick Ward to free agency (or legal issues in the case of Plaxico), the Giant’s focused on offense in the draft picking up Hakeem Nicks (WR) in the first round, Ramses Barden (WR) in the third, Travis Beckum (TE) also in the 3RD and Andre Brown (RB) in the 4th.  Not to be overlooked, Clint Sintim was picked up in the 2nd round and will likely play a huge role in their various pass rushing schemes.

While the Redskin’s didn’t make too much noise in Free Agency, quite possibly the most talked about acquisition was Albert Haynesworth (DT), the player who imfamously stomped on Andre Gurode’s head while he was on the ground.  They were also able to extend DeAngelo Hall’s contract, the inconsistent, yet dynamic CB acquired from the Raider’s during last season.  In the draft the Redskins focused on defense, there most significant choice being Brian Orakpo, who will be transitioning to LB for the Redskins.

Meanwhile, the Cowboy’s Free Agency and Draft was fairly quiet.  No big names.  No 1st or 2nd round pick.  At face value, it is easy to see why many believe while the above team’s improved, the Cowboy’s ability to compete slowly deteriorated with the losses of T.O., Chris Canty, Zach Thomas, Roy William’s, Kevin Burnett, Tank Johnson, Anthony Henry, and Pacman Jones.   That’s one major starter on Offense , 3 primary starter’s on defense and 3 situational starters on defense and special teams.  How did the Cowboy’s replace these players?  T.O.’s replacement was acquired in the middle of the 08 season:  Roy Williams.  Chris Canty was replaced by Igor Olshansky.  Zach Thomas was replaced by Keith Brookings.  Roy Williams (SS) was replaced by Gerald Sensabaugh.  Kevin Burnett will be replaced by either Bobbie Carpenter, Brandon William’s or Stephen Hodge.  Anthony Henry and Pacman Jones will be replaced by last year’s rookies Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick.  Tank Johnson will likely be replaced by Junior Siavii.

Chances are, prior to their acquisition, none of these name’s truly stood out at first glance, for the exception of Roy Williams (WR).  Nevertheless, were I to list all the player’s of team’s who have won Super Bowl’s throughout the tenure of the game, chances are you would be familiar with fewer names than those who are considered icon’s to the sport.  Every team in the history of the game has their legends.  But Superbowl’s are not won by the effort’s of individuals.  It takes all 53 player’s a team is afforded in a given season to reach that supreme goal.  Some may never see the playing field, but in one way or another every player contributes to the end result.  My point?  The Cowboy’s may not have replaced big names with big name’s, but if these acquisition’s can at least be solid at their perspective position, there are plenty of names still on this team that can use that firm base to take off like a rocket.

Examples:  If Anthony Spencer can, at least, provide even a moderate threat in the blitzing game, opposing offenses won’t be able to focus all their attention on Demarcus Ware, and without a double-team, Ware will get to the quarterback/ball carrier more often than not.  If Sensabaugh can cover, the Cowboy’s will be able to send more player’s on blitzes and will have more flexibility in their base defense to cover a slot receiver should one be motioned out in a pre-snap adjustment.  If Igor Olshansky can hold at the point of attack, the LB’s will be able to make play’s just as effectively as if it were still Canty there.   If Roy William’s can, at least, make team’s pay for single man coverage, the Cowboy’s should be able run all over team’s with their diversley talented trio of RB’s and the TE’s should see open flat’s and clear intermediate seam’s on a fairly regular basis.  So, again, while the Cowboy’s may not have added weapon’s of the same caliber our interdivisional foes did, the truth is, the Cowboy’s really didn’t need anymore.  The only issue of note is the coveted conundrum of putting together a plan that exercises all the Cowboy’s weapons in an effective and efficient manner.

When the smoke clear’s following Training Camp and Preseason, the Cowboy’s will likely be regarded with caution, but ultimately wishful-thinking of the “they’re bound to implode eventually” variety will prevail among most of those who choose to voice or write their opinion on the Cowboy’s.  What we as fan’s must keep in mind is the vast majority of the media and experts were made to look like idiot’s last year as their preordained Super Bowl winner failed to even make the Play Offs.  As the cliche goes, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.  Therefore, when  in your search for hope all you find is reluctance and criticism of the Cowboy’s upcoming season, what you are seeing is for the most part a reaction to what happened last year.  There is a balance these expert’s and mediots must maintain that heavily involves the credibility of their opinion and, in most cases, they are merely playing the odds and clinging desperately to popular opinion.  But, as we all know, popular opinion does not dictate the outcome.

Make no mistake, these Cowboy’s, barring significant injuries, are extremely dangerous.  Our defense is much faster at each level from the DL to the Secondary than last year’s group.  Our offense is much more balanced and more aware of their strength’s coming in to the season (e.g. the Cowboy’s now know what they have in last year’s rookies, in particular the pleasant suprises Felix, Choice and Martellus Bennett).  Special Teams will undoubtly be much improved with the addition of Special Team’s coach DeCamillis, a revamped youth infused pool of rookies and a handful of players who will have to fight tooth and nail to be a part of the final 53.  The table is set.  The player’s are hungry.  And the feast can’t start soon enough.  Hopefully the buffet will be open until February 2010.

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The Dallas Cowboys 2009 version of training Camp is now only two weeks away, and there is no better time than now to try and get a head start on some of the positional battles that we need to keep an eye on.

It has been awhile since my last post, I have been in a little bit of a slump, so I would like to apologize ahead of time for a poorly done post!

The Cowboys currently have 82 players on the roster, but do not expect it to stay that way long!

The first position I would like to take a look at is the one containing the most applicants. No big surprise it’s the Linebacker position!

Now I can speculate all day long on how many backers the Cowboys will keep and odds are good I still would not get it right, and since I have next to zero insider information, we’ll take it for what its worth!

Here are this years nominees to fill the Linebacker corps:

1. DeMarcus Ware
2. Bradie James
3. Anthony Spencer
4. Keith Brooking
5. Bobby Carpenter
6. Steve Octavien
7. Justin Rogers
8. Matt Stewart
9. Victor Butler
10. Jason Williams
11. Brandon Williams
12. Stephen Hodge

The Top four of this group are essentially locked in as your starters, from here though is where the water gets awfully murky!

Let’s take a look at the guys vying for position at the inside linebacker spots and keep in mind, last year the team kept only four!

Through the OTA’s we must assume (after all the praise handed down) that Stephen Hodge is going to get a serious look at taking over the nickel position vacated by Kevin Burnett.

Bobby (Barbie) Carpenter also gave the coaches something to think about during the work outs. We are all well aware that Barbie practices like a first round pick, but he has yet to play like one.

Jason Williams was the Cowboys first selection in this years draft, and by all accounts is going to need some time to develop, but has some serious athletic ability! And we cannot forget about Victor Butler as he will be in this group of inside guys trying to secure a spot on the roster.

Last but not least Steve Octavien, who spent most of last year bouncing from practice squad to practice squad, does have some ability as a special teams player.

We have five players battling for two spots, who do you think is in? And who is on the outside looking in?

In my opinion Stephen Hodge and Jason Williams are my leading candidates heading into camp, followed closely by Victor Butler and Bobby Carpenter.

The Cowboys do not want to face the fact that the Carpenter selection was one of the worst first round draft selections on record! That is what has kept him on this team, but the coaching staff can no longer afford to carry his dead weight. So he has more to prove than any of the rookies, and I personally do not believe he will hold up to the pressure.

There is one aspect of this that we need to look at. If the Coaching staff decides to cut ties with Carpenter they will be left with only rookies and we know that one of those rookies is a “project” player. So would they at that point decide to carry an extra guy? Quite possible and they may be thinking that way already!

ILB Leading Candidates                                     ILB Outside Looking In

1. Stephen Hodge                                                       1. Victor Butler

2. Jason Williams                                                     2. BobbyCarpenter

3. Steve Octavien

Now let’s take a look at the Outside spots! First let’s meet the contestants!

For those of you who live under rocks the starters are DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer. These are the starters and there is only one player who could possibly change this.

Brandon Williams has been the talk of the town around Valley Ranch, not only among the coaches but his teammates as well. The time is now however for Anthony Spencer and he will get the first crack at being the starter opposite Ware, but he better get a grip on it quick because the longer he lets Williams hang around the more opportunity Williams will have at proving he should be the man!

Matt Stewart and Justin Rogers will be battling each other for one available spot, with Ware and Spencer as the starters and Brandon Williams having a tight grip on the 3^rd spot, it will be down to these two guys to state their claim to the 4^th and final OLB spot.

There is one other very distinct possibility that could occur here! It is very possible that the Cowboys could decide to keep neither Stewart nor Rogers and keep an extra inside guy!

The more I have contemplated the scenarios I would not be one bit surprised to see the Cowboys hold on to Victor Butler and use him as a “swing” player, giving them the ability to keep an extra secondary person.

Victor Butler was an undersized OLB at the University of Oregon State, and while they would rather use him inside in an emergency situation he could fill in outside.

Who knows how this will ultimately work out but I believe the Cowboys will stick with eight!

Here is my final eight leaving camp!

1. DeMarcus Ware

2. Bradie James

3. Keith Brooking

4. Anthony Spencer

5. Brandon Williams

6. Stephen Hodge

7. Jason Williams

8. Victor Butler

Who are the eight that you would want to start the season with?

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Well I’m back from a grueling week of training and just in time to get ready for training camp.  I don’t know if you’ve realized but this may be the most important training camp the Cowboys organization has endured in years.  Why you ask? Well, simply because we are at a turning point for this team,  a surge of young talent and revamped attitude headlines a training camp for a team who seeks to once again return to dominance.  So with that being said I thought that we’d take a look at some of the position battles that we’ve been paying EXTRA attention too.

Wide Receiver:

Since the Draft we’ve been hearing a lot about the Game Breaking ability that Miles Austin has displayed, but have forgotten about the possible emergence of Sam Hurd.  Not to mention the fairly consistent play of Patrick Crayton.  Let me just help you all realize something, Hurd has sure hands.  I was at the Miami game last year, and after being kicked out once for starting a train of Cowboys fans that marched throughout Dolphin stadium chanting, I got back in to witness some of Sam Hurd’s ability.  It was about 3rd and 7, and Romo threw a pass to the sideline too far ahead of Hurd but Hurd outstretched his hands and pulled it in with an impressive effort to then turn up field and gain some yards.

Now, I’m not saying Hurd should start but I am saying don’t forget about him.   The possibility of the Austin-Hurd tandem shows promise to a receiver core that some are pessimistic about.  Lastly, Crayton still has the speed and the hands to provide a good number 2 receiver to the lineup.  This is important for one thing and that is to allow Austin to be lined up on safeties or linebackers in coverage within the slot.

With Roy Williams working hard this offseason and the talent that is emerging, don’t sleep on this Cowboys unit.

Cornerback:

Clearly Newman gets the nod as one of the Elite DB’s in the league.  Most importantly to me is the battle among Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick.  I know that Jenkins has said that it’s his job to loose but is it really?  His play was slow up until mid season, and he still has much to learn.  Though I truly believe he has the talent to start in this league, I’m curious as to if he’s reached his fullest potential.

Against him lies Orlando Scandrick, the underdog to most.  His play however, has been pretty solid.  Coming in on nickel sets, he’s been a tackling machine and has impressed the coaches.  He surely has potential to start in this league, but also has much more to learn.  One thing is for sure, this is a battle only time will tell.

Nevertheless, you have to feel good about all this battling.  It defines the future of the Cowboys.  With so much talent, it can only mean success in the upcoming years.  Stay tuned for updates on these battles and more!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Marion Barber: 15-20 Touches

Felix Jones: 10-15 Touches

Tashard Choice: 5-10 touches

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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As an analogy, you could apply “sifting for gold” to quite a few different aspects of football. Free Agency. The building of the infamous war room draft board. Wittling the training camp roster from 80 to 53. But the one science of football that typically escapes the thoughts of most fans is how teams decide which plays they will keep in their play book and which one’s are dismissed as ineffective and/or are not complementory to the talent available.

That last bit is important to understand because the Cowboy’s playbook from last year and this year should be very different. It’s not so much because of the lack of success experienced with those plays, as it is due to the difference in the talent set and the difference in the coaches comprehension of said talent. Obviously, with T.O. gone, the plays that take a long time to develop very well may be all but extinct. Granted, Austin possesses some ability in stretching the defense, but it’s not likely they will rely on his ability to ultimately win games, as they seemed to do to a fault with T.O..

With the trio of backs and duo of TE’s the Cowboy’s have, a quick strike offense is likely the direction this team is headed in. Furthermore, the Cowboy’s now have a better understanding of what Felix, Choice, and Bennett can offer as weapons. The Cowboy’s will be looking to put together a play book that exercises each of their talents in different ways to keep opposing defenses off balance.

With that, I would like to take a moment to remind those of you who are concerned about every report indicating that Romo and company don’t seem to be insync, to consider that the play’s they are likely running are new to everyone, including the veterans. The idea behind these practices are to familiarize the players with different plays and, more importantly, to slowly acclimate said players conditioning to football ready

Once preseason begins, the process of sifting for gold, so-to-speak, begins, as they determine against viable opposing team defenses what play’s can be effectively ran, which players can execute said plays, and which players don’t fit with the final playbook they are able to construct as a result of the success and failures they experience through trial and error.

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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…

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Summer is in full bloom, and that means we are getting ever so close to the beginning of training camp. It is this time of year that has every football fan tied in knots, and I am no different.

While the Cowboys have yet to don anything but shorts and helmets the style of this team is beginning to take focus.

Every team in the NFL is good enough to win the Super Bowl! Or at least that is what they want us to believe. This years Dallas Cowboys are no different, at this moment many of us have very legitimate concerns about the receiver, quarterback, and O-line positions and basically the overall play of the offense.

Jerry Jones and Wade Phillips can tell us all day long that they have faith in the young receivers and that the offense is working hard and coming together, and blah, blah blah! We all know that the majority of that is just a bunch of crap to make us feel warm and fuzzy about the upcoming year!

Let me be clear about something, the offense in my opinion should be as good as and possibly better than last year’s team. I honestly feel and believe that Romo will be a better QB this year, and that Roy Williams can and will do a more than adequate job as the teams #1 receiver, and with the running game that the Boys have this should be enough to carry that side of the ball.

The offensive unit will always be the most glorified, it has all the stars, and scores all the TD’s, but I am here to tell you that if you are an offensive person, and like to see scores in the 40’s each week you are in for a rude awakening.

This is now a control and time of possession unit, we should no longer see play after play of three receivers all running 40 yard triple move routes (not saying we are not going to see these still, just not as many), instead we will see a lot of two tight end sets, short hooks, out routes, slants, and fades, but primarily large amounts of MBIII, Felix, and T-Choice.

There is something taking place on this team that everyone should start paying attention to, THE DEFENSE!!

Granted there has been very minimal contact so far so we cannot quite see the full picture yet, but all the early reports talk about how attacking, and pressure filled this unit is. Mickey Spagnola at DC.com had a great article up on Tuesday about this very thing. Here is my rookie attempt at designing a graphic that shows the alignment!

In his article he went into pretty in depth detail about how the defense was lined up at one point in the day, and I must tell you this type of scenario is going to cause major headaches for opposing offenses.

Everyday it seems I hear about the competitions taking place on the defensive side of the ball, and each and every one of these guys are pushing each other to be the best. This unit already has there competitive juices boiling over, and its FREAKING JUNE!

This unit is priming itself to have a major impact not only within the team, but they are looking to, in the immortal words of Ebby Calvin ‘Nuke” LaLoosh “Announce their presence with authority!”

We have all heard the old saying “where there is smoke there is usually fire!” all I can say is that the defense of the Dallas Cowboys has had a ton of smoke emitting from its smoke stack!

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Now that I’ve taken more than five minutes to form an opinion of this whole “Dan Reeves won’t join the Cowboys staff” ordeal, I’m going to try to lay this out as best I can.

There are a couple of possibilities, obviously, for what happened or not with this deal, while none of them leave us with the outcome that we mostly wanted, a good outcome is still possible in some cases.

The most shared opinion among fans, myself included, so far is that Jerry Jones wouldn’t give Reeves the kind of authority and control that he either was seeking, or felt he needed to do other parts of the proposed job effectively. Either way boils down to more of the same … and the beat goes on.

Dan Reeves could have merely been a consultant for a brief time while certain things were discussed. He already shared his own opinion of the team with the media, so it makes sense that he would be brought in to consult for a limited time during the regrouping sessions this off-season. Furthermore, it’s possible that the initial report out of San Francisco was either false, mistaken, or the result of the 49ers management turning down a delayed hire for Reeves while he consulted with the Cowboys first. Far fetched, I know.

If this is the case, then the Cowboys, in some way, should have let on to the fact that he wasn’t going to around long, especially after a report to the contrary surfaced in California.

Still another possible reason is that the Cowboys and Dan Reeves didn’t see eye to eye on things. It basically boils back down to Jones not being willing to give in and give Reeves what he thought was necessary. It kind of seems pointless for that to be the case since you bring in a revered former coach to be a consultant so you can change your current direction with his new strategies and ideas. But alas, Jerry will be Jerry.

Regardless of why it didn’t work out with Reeves, though, this team must move on. It’s a free for all to figure out what comes next, but I suspect there are still some major concerns to deal with before free agency and the draft come around.

The Cowboys have yet to name a replacement for Brian Stewart. As I blogged earlier, it’s been reported that Todd Grantham has moved into the defensive coordinators office, and that could have just been done to allow Reeves an office while he was here. What doesn’t make sense with that is going through the trouble to move Grantham to another office when Reeves could have simply taken the open office. It makes more sense that Grantham was moved into that office because they have plans for him to use it long-term.

Terrell Owens may or may not be an issue that the Cowboys are considering possible solutions for, but the media and many fans certainly are. We’re about down to the fundamental responsibility of the team officials to make an announcement on him one way or another for the sake of the millions that pay their salaries. Yeah, I know. But what else can I say about it? Either they are thinking about releasing him, or they’re not. Either way, make a statement to shut everyone up. It’s not like Jerry Jones is apposed to telling us all that someone isn’t leaving while still considering the opposite. See “Brian Stewart Won’t Be Back Next Season” on the True Blue Fan Club blog.

Several free agents have yet to be decided upon with regard to the Cowboys possible efforts to resign them, like Chris Canty, Keith Davis, Kevin Burnett, Zach Thomas, and a couple of others.

A decision still needs to be made on SS Roy Williams this off-season. His performance has been miserable despite missing most of the 2008 season with two breaks in his forearm. The Cowboys actually stand to gain a little over $2 million towards the 2009 cap by cutting him, and could possibly work out even more benefits by trading him to another team soon. It stands to reason that some teams running a 4-3 defense would be happy to have him since he’s never a distraction and has great stats while playing in a 4-3.

If Owens or Williams are released, in one way or another then comes to work of finding a suitable replacement for both, though an argument exists to find certain types of players both positions even if they both stay. The safety position has been weak since Williams’ production dropped off while Parcels was here, and we need a speed receiver to spread the field more than Owens, Roy E. Williams, and Crayton can do. Miles Austin has some great speed and other nice abilities that make him a solid option for that burst of much needed speed, but his inability to stay healthy has hampered his success.

That doesn’t even get into all the smaller things that need to be worked out like how training camp will be handled this year after direct mention of changes from Wade Phillips in his final press conference of the season.

So we’ll stay tuned for that.

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So the story isn’t quite what we would all hope for right now, especially not after how Hard Knocks turned out last year, but the yet-to-be-named reality show that Michael Irvin is doing this spring might actually be a good thing.

I doubt that any real players will come from it because usually the good ones do make it in other, more traditional ways. Then again, I lived next door a lineman on the practice squad for a few years in some ratty apartments in Arlington, and the practice squad players are usually considered worthy prospects.

I do think, however, that this is a step in the right direction for Jerry Jones and his obvious cravings for national media attention. Last year it was Hard Knocks, and we all know how that turned out having the HBO cameras all in training camp. It was a distraction in many ways, some of which only proved true once Martellus Bennett started catching touchdown passes.

This year though, a show that won’t take place at training camp, it won’t be in the players face, and the coaches currently employed won’t be dealing with it. You’ll have former coaches and players participating, but the only current Cowboys member set to be a part of this production is none other than Jerry Jones, who will make appearances as a judge.

Anyone think it’s a bad idea to get Jerry away from the team a little more?
See Tim MacMahon’s article on the DMN Cowboys Blog for the full story.

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