DTX Cowboys
1 hour before kickoff
We're 1 hour away from kickoff and like normal, I'm lagging behind when it comes to updating all my sites. I reviewed our offense last time around and now for our defense.
I'm not sure what to expect. I didn't expect to draft (2) sought after corners in the draft only to cut them both before the 1st game. mickens landed on the practice squad and one of our several "deangelos" is gone for good now leaving the only "De" player on the team being Demarcus. He will easily be the highlight of our defense this year but what scares me is depth. When our 1st team played this pre-season, you saw problems when we went to depth which could explain why our draft picks were shown the door, holding out hope for that Mickens dude.
Demarcus will get his sacks, after that, do we really have a "Star" on defense? Newman will have his solid year where fans pick on him because that's what fans do. But he'll still be solid. Scandrick is the one I hope will step up along with Sensebaugh in the backfield. Our safety situation still worries me and we seem to be throwing journeymen at it in hopes one will pay off. To be honest, while I'm not big on beating up Wade Phillips (sorry, anything "in vogue" I tend to ignore anyway) I do expect more out of our Defense this year than last.
I was never big on the 3-4 and still think it's a terrible joke Parcells left behind. But we're in it, keep at it and get it right and make it work.
Ok, onto coaching.
I don't think there's much of a question that Wade will not be our head coach next year. The real question is what Garrett shows up this year. The lost one catering to TO or the forceful genius everyone wanted after his 1st year as a OC? I always thought Jason was smart and I'll stand by that answer. TO was an albotross around any mans neck and while a talented player, after awhile the distractions are greater than the additions to the team and you have to cut bait and go.
There are rumors abound about the next Cowboys coach and I hate that when THIS season hasn't even started yet. So I'll keep it brief. Cowher? No. Shannahan? Likely a strong possibility? Garrett? Just as much a question mark as the Cowboys themselves.
Which brings us to 50 minutes before kickoff. What will the 2009 Cowboys bring to the field? Will Romo step up? Will the scoreboard cost someone a game? Will the average fan dive deeper into analysis or just pick on players they don't like and whine a lot? Ok, the last is a given because of how much love and devotion the Cowboys get from their fans. Let's face it, you have to be a fan to play $60 just to PARK at the new JonesLand. It seems that was the cost of a ticket, parking, a few beers and maybe a dog awhile back. The stadium is amazing but my big fear is the game is losing touch with the common man when you have to charge them $30 to stand in the endzone and look around the people in front of them. To actually get a seat, prepare to miss paying for parking.
But what about the team? I think we'll do better than last year. I don't mourn the loss of TO simply because we have a lot of legitimate threats. Between Roy, Patrick, Jason and Bennett (I can't spell Martalius) we've got plenty of players to throw to. We've got a very talented backfield and one of the tops in the league. Tampa however also has a very good backfield. Giants fell a bit this year but looking around the league, we've got a top backfield. Felix Jones is my pick to amaze people this year.
So as a fan I'm looking foward to 2009 as it is more about the team and the new 1.2+ billion dollar home they now play in. It's not about a player anymore and that's the 1st step to becoming a team.
I'm going to sit back, pop a pepsi (if I have one left - otherwise quick grocery store run coming and i'll get a 6 pack of beer!) and just enjoy the team. I'm not going to get emotionally tied to the team if we lose to the point my day or week is ruined.
But when we win - I'm damn sure going to enjoy that.
49 minutes. Yea, beer run time!
iceberg
2009 Cowboys - Offensive Review
Last year it seemed all flash. TO, Pacman, the new stadium on the horizon and of course, HBO gumming up the works. It's funny how Jones is so eager to do Hard Knocks but we never seem to get any value out of it.
Entertaining to the fans? Sure. I suppose in the end it's a more "complete" show but it's a sideshow. I want to see how that work translates onto the field. Instead all we got were snippets of Bennett getting chewed out by the coach and people screaming CUT HIM cause they wanna be the tough fan.
Now Bennett is going to be pushing Witten for top dog soon. I think the cowboys have arguably the best TE combo in the NFL.
With TO gone, many lament the fate of our WR corps. I'm ok. Crayton seems to have zipped up the mouth - a very important factor for me, and catches everything in sight. Austin is our burner and even Hurd is also velcro-handed in camp so far. Those who want a vet are usually also the ones screaming GROW OUR OWN!!!! So we have. Outside of Roy Williams all the WR's are Cowboys FA's and picks. We need to find out what we have and this is as good a year as any.
RB's. Lord all mighty we're stacked at this position. So much so people start screaming TRADE and frankly - it's the "fan" like that which has pushed me out of most "popular" talk forums because i get tire of wading through water-cooler talk of fools who don't know the game.
Wait, back to our RB's. Barber is coming off what many considered an off year. Well, it was. But not for Barber but the Cowboys in general. They never seemed in synch and they never seemed to get emotional really. Couple this with Felix Jones getting hurt after exciting every Cowboys fans around the world with his potential to the rise of Mr "Enough Energy to Power Small Rural towns" Choice, we're coming into a brand new year with 3 healthy backs.
2 Solid TE's.
and a WR corps that while does have questions to answer, they're the kind that must be answered before we can make any real moves so patience will be the battlecry here. But add all this up and I'm just not worried about our offense this year. We're likely to run more but when we need to pass, while TO may be gone, that only means Romo can look in any of 3 directions at position alone and has a depth of talent at each one as well to exploit.
So Romo - yea. He never looked happy last year and just seemed to be going through the motions. Many say "Jessica" and many say "TO" and I say I don't care - but both are gone anyway. So, Romo.
Yea.
This is definately his year to shine and show the NFL he can be "the man" in Dallas. He's on a short string with many Cowboys fans already but that's 13 years of never winning a playoff game in as much as Romo himself. They'll be fine, Romo.
Just win. That seems to fix everything.
Next week - I paruse through our defense, then onto our Coaching situation.
iceberg