another vacation

You know, I check the Dallas blogs, at least the ones of which I am aware, and there's hasn't been a whole lot of scuttlebug lately. In fact, some haven't been updated in weeks.

So, I think it is a good time to head to Pittsburgh and watch the Pirates play the Nationals. So, my two friends and me are hitting the road for the 3.5 hour trek to the Steel City for a game. We don't have tickets so hopefully the scalpers are nice.

Take care and I will be back Sunday night and I shall find something to write about.

A balanced offense wins games; Tank Johnson talks make me sick

It's been said that a balanced offense--running and passing an equal amount during a game--helps win ball games because your offense is less predictable to defenses. There's a reason Detroit can't win games and that's because the offense passed 66 percent of the time. Defenses knew that two out of three plays were going to passes. And because their running offense was horrible, we can figure out why Detroit blew it once again.

But Dallas is different. The offense passed 52 percent of the time and ran 48 percent of the time. Julius Jones and Marion Barber were effective, running for 120 yard total each game and averaged 4 yards per carry. The offense ranked third with 21 rushing touchdowns. Not bad.

A balanced offense doesn't guarantee wins, as Washington proved. But that team was so woeful last year that I am not sure anyone could have helped them win. Just bad chemistry and a horrible owner, one of the worst in the NFL.

I see Dallas' offense improving. Tony Romo will be more settled and I think Julius Jones will have a 1,000-plus yard season.

On a separate note, there is a lot of talk about Tank Johnson becoming a Cowboy. Of course, all of the Cowboy haters are licking their chops about this, making the same old bogus comments about how Dallas chooses talent over character. I don't think character is much of a factor for any team in the NFL until a player goes off the deep end, ala Tank Johnson and PacMan Jones. And the result of these bad character players is they got dropped or suspended. But everyone deserves a second chance.

With that said, I am not sure I want Tank Johnson or his drama. Sure, the guy could come in and immediately help our team and never get in trouble again. But history says something different and I prefer to keep our chemistry intact.

Asante Samuel to Dallas?

Asante Samuel is going to hold out for higher pay in New England. Oh boy...let the trade talks begin. How great would it be to get Samuel to wear a helmet with a star on it? Is Samuel better than Anthony Henry?

Well, before we all start raising our hands for Samuel, let's remember that Anthony Henry also was an interception machine for the Browns. He came to Dallas and sort of underachieved. Would Samuel? Hard to say, impossible to say, really. But he's aggressive. The Patriots didn't really have a terrific secondary either. They ranked 31st in 2005. Belichick said he wanted to focus on the secondary before the 2006 season. By end of season, the pass defense averaged 200 yards against. New England went from 31st to 7th in pass defense and much of that respect can go on Samuel's shoulders.

But he's only had one super year. The most INTs he's had any other year was just three. One key statistic is half of his INTs last year came in the fourth quarter, which is very nice. Eight of them were when the Patriots were ahead. Three of them were against one team: Da Bears.


I certainly grew tired of the deep ball scores and catches against us for the past three years. Even when the receiver appears covered, the ball is still caught.


Am I making a case for Samuel to be a Cowboy?

This guy is dumber than Prisco

OK, this is a funny one. Adam Allen of Fantasy Insider Online has a post here that should make you cringe.

Allow me to dissect a few things, but first, can I just pick on this dolt a little bit? For one, I believe this is a pen name. Adam Allen? He's scared to print his real name. Secondly, what the heck is Fantasy Inside Online? Is this a joke? I only found it because of my automatic Google news e-mails.

Now, his article. He reviews the Dallas Cowboys' off-season and draft. He comments that we need to address our secondary problem. OK, I have to give him credit for that point, because it is true. And Hamlin didn't seem to be the type of guy we needed to fill the secondary hole. But then he says:

Put Romo in the Best Situation to Grow - This can be accomplished in a lot of areas. First, bring in a savvy veteran QB to help mentor him. Next, sure-up that offensive line and maintain continuity in play. Lastly, and obviously, surround the guy with weapons.



Build Depth - While a lot of the starters on this team are set, the squad isn’t all that deep. And with the crop of free agents they lost, it is important to replace their depth.

Dallas picked up the best offensive lineman available, and although Leonard Davis has underachieved, he also plays for the damn Cardinals. We also picked up one of the better back-up QBs left in Brad Johnson. If Romo fails or is hurt, I will feel confident Johnson can win some games.

Depth? The only position we may not have depth for is maybe center and wide receiver. Our draft choices gave us some depth.

But his overview is really what irked me. He gave Dallas a C + and remarks that using our No. 1 pick for essentially a back up defensive player is not a good use of the pick. This guys obviously has no idea what the hell he is talking about and I think we need to tell him.

Have fun, guys.

To hell with Bill Cowher. Let's stop saying his name

I won't come out and say something stupid such as "Bill Cowher is a bad coach," but I wish Cowboys fans would stop bringing his name up in connection with coaching the team.

I would love to have Bill Cowher as a coach. But we hired someone else and the worst thing we could do is start talking about how awesome it would be to have a different coach.

I wasn't happy when Dallas hired Wade Phillips. I just didn't have a whole lot of faith in the guy. But, then again, I didn't look at his record as a head coach before I started pouting. He did well with a Buffalo team that wasn't amazing. In fact, Dallas may be just slightly better than his Buffalo teams, which is good news for us.

What am I trying to say? Let's give Wade a chance. We have a strong team and if we can fill the holes in our pass defense and get more of a pass rush, I strongly believe we have one of the best NFC teams.

But as long as we continue this chatter about Cowher, the deeper we dig the hole that very well could drop us to the bottom.

It's getting closer to the season and now is prime time to throw our support behind our new head coach. Rarely do new head coaches come right in and win, let alone win the Super Bowl. But just as rare is a head coach inheriting a team as good as our Cowboys.

Did this draft pick surprise you?

Am I the only Cowboys fan who was surprised Dallas chose Isaiah Stanback as their third overall pick in the NFL draft? He played QB but rumors are we plan to use him as a receiver.

He is coming off a season-ending foot injury that required surgery. He's about 6 feet 2 inches and 215 pounds. He can run a 4.4.

In 37 games (23 starts) at Washington, Stanback completed 269 of 523 (51.4%) passes for 3,868 yards with 22 TD passes and 12 interceptions, which ranks him 11th all time for Washington. He really only has about two years of experience as a QB and has a very raw arm. His health and durability are concerns and we're asking him to be a receiver or punt returner? I was stumped with this selection. We picked Stanback up in the 4th round, it should be noted. We just missed running back Michael Bush (also coming off injury) from Louisville, not that he was on our radar, but I'd take him over Stanback.

Our receiving corps is aging, but I don't see Stanback as the answer.

During an interview, Stanback was asked if he anticipates being a receiver or kick returner.

He said he believes he will be used as a receiver but he will play whatever they want him to play because he is a team player. He could mix in as a back up quarterback, but that stumps me even more and reminds me of the Quincy Carter fluke.

Nnamdi Asomugha, top 50 player?

2006
Oakland Raiders
15 games
48 tackles
2 assists
1 sack
8 INTs
1 TD
11 pass defenses


Those are Nnamdi Asomugha's stats for last season. He had slightly more tackles and pass defenses the prior year.

Let's see if he is a top 5 corner in the NFL

1. Champ Bailey: Every season except maybe 2001, Bailey performed better that Nnamdi Asomugha. Bailey's stats last season, with 10 INTS and 73 tackles, makes him an elite corner.

2. DeAngelo Hall: Asomugha doesn't beat Hall's stats either. Hall does lose out on INTs but he has the rest. It's close though, but Hall is better.

3. Terrence Newman: Like Hall, Newman has Asomugha beat in all but one category. They tied with pass defenses at 11. But Newman is far ahead with assists and tackles. And Prisco put Asomugha ahead of Newman.

4. Rashean Mathis: I could easily put Mathis #2. He has great stats and 8 INTs last season, which is the only category he doesn't win against Asomugha, other than touchdowns. Again, Asomugha is not better than Mathis.

5. Asante Samuel: This guys is strong and he plays for a great team. He had 14 pass defenses last year and 10 INTs. Along with his career high 64 tackles and Samuel was a Pro Bowler. Right now, he's better than Asomugha.

I haven't even gotten to Nate Clemens, whose numbers are very close to Asomugha's and slightly better. Antoine Winfield is better, and his stats are very close to Asomugha's.

I could argue Carlos Rogers is better.

Peter Prisco, you didn't do YOUR homework.

Is Terence Newman the best Cowboy let alone top in the NFL?

Peter Prisco of CBS believes he is. But Peter Prisco is also a dingleberry. The guy's list is laughable, at best. But, I won't argue that Newman is one of the best cornerbacks in the league.

Prisco's piece does bring up an interesting debate: Is Newman the best Cowboy? I personally think, if one just looks at stats, T.O. may be the best Cowboy, and that's not easy for me to say. But it's true.

Is Newman the second-best Cowboy? Demarcus Ware and Roy Williams may want to chime in here. Julius Jones, too. There's a good debate going on at Cowboys-forum.com, and of course Newman is winning it. But some are shocked that Ware, who is #49, isn't higher and Williams doesn't even make the list. Who does make the list? Well, here are a few questionable, if not downright comedic, choices:

1. #36. Lee Evans, WR, Buffalo Bills: He flashed star potential last season and should be even better in 2007. He's one of the rising players on this list.

Analysis: come on folks. Lee Evans had one decent year in the NFL and even doofy Prisco says he flashed star potential. If you are going to name the top 50 players, though, I want to see top 50 players. Not those who flash potential. Pleassssssssssssssssssse.

2. #37. Nnamdi Asomugha, CB, Oakland Raiders: The Raiders have great history with corners and this is the next star. He showed shutdown ability last season.

Analysis: Prisco gets two in a row here. What the hell is he thinking? This guy is a top 50 player in the NFL? I honestly don't even know who the heck he is. Rightly so, I didn't watch one Raider game on the Ticket last year because it was like watching a Division 2 game, but I would think I'd remember some ESPN highlights of this guy if he is a top 50 player. Prisco, you are a dolt.

3. #43. Ty Warren, DE, New England Patriots: He's the most underrated player in the league. He could be on his way to his first Pro Bowl this season.

Analysis: Maybe Prisco meant the top 50 players in 2011? Who knows. But Ty Warren is not better than Demarcus Ware. That's ridiculous. Ty Warren is not a Pro Bowl defensive end. And Prisco's crystal ball is as fuzzy as a cotton ball.

I won't go any further.

McNabb Can't win Super Bowls. He gets sick.

The press is writing some hilarious stories about Donovan McNabb after Bears defensive lineman Tommie Harris said he'd love to have the quarterback play for the Bears. They'd win the Super Bowl, he quipped.

Now come on, Tommie. You are hanging out with Ricky Williams too much brah. Read it here.

McNabb is a choker. He had his chance to win a Super Bowl with a team as good as he will ever get. And what happened? He got sick in the fourth quarter. They wasted so much darn time as he puked his guts out. It was very poor clock management at the end of the game and Freddie Mitchell must have been truthful when he said McNabb was yacking. And the Patriots walked out with a victory. McNabb three three INTs in that game. Sort of Grossman-like, right?

What has McNabb done since then? He's played a total of 19 games in two years. He's had injury after injury since his puking Super Bowl performance.

And Tommie Harris thinks the Bears can win with this guy?

Poor Rex Grossman. In his first full year with the Bears, he had 23 TDs, 20 INTs and 3,193 yards. What did McNabb do in his first full 16-game year for the Eagles? 21 TDs, 13 INTs for 3,365 yards (2000). Sure McNabb''s numbers are better, but not THAT much better.


The Bears just shoot themselves in the foot, I think. McNabb won't play another full season in the NFL. He will always miss games because he has no endurance. He's now the Chipper Jones of the NFL.

And Rex Grossman may never play another game as Bear.

Len Pasquarelli makes some good Points

ESPN's Len Pasquarelli goes on a rambling diatribe about why he thinks the Cowboys should sign Romo now to an extension. You can read the lengthy post here.

If you can get through it, he makes some solid points on why we should probably just sign Romo. Maybe a 3 year contract?

We really don't have any other choice. I go back and forth on whether Jerry Jones should sign Romo now instead of until the end of the season. I wrote a post not too long ago stating Jones should probably wait. But Lenny may have convinced me.

However, this is what scares many of us.

Len says:

Romo owns just 10 regular-season starts and has launched only 337 pass attempts. Although his record as a starter is an estimable 6-4, Romo's performance in his final five starts wasn't nearly as good as the numbers he amassed in the first five. He was 4-1 in his opening five-week stretch as a starter, completing 71.2 percent of his passes, recording a 115.6 quarterback rating, and throwing 10 touchdown passes as opposed to only two interceptions. But over the second half of his 10-game stretch as a starter, Romo's passer rating plummeted nearly 40 points, to 77.4, for an overall 95.1. He had six touchdown passes and eight interceptions and the Cowboys won just two of those five starts.

This is why we're a little concerned about giving Romo a new handsome contract. I am not saying Drew Bledsoe would have won us those four games or that he wouldn't have taken us to the playoffs. I know he wouldn't have because he just looked horrible on the field. Romo had glimpses of a Superstar. He just couldn't stay consistent.

The signing of Matt Schwab certainly doesn't help. What the heck has this guy done in the NFL?

So, I guess I will continue to be indecisive on the entire Romo contract debacle of 2007. This is why Jerry owns the team, I guess.

This is why I hate Redskins fans

HogHeaven blog had this inane post today about a Saudi and Jerry Jones. Read the ridiculous post here.


Skin Patrol reports:

"Along with allegations of impropriety in his acceptance of over £1 billion ($2
billion) from British defense contractor BAE comes the news that a £75 million
($150 millon) Airbus 340 was given to him for his birthday in 1998--painted blue
and silver, the colors of his favorite American football team, the Dallas
Cowboys. Bandar is said to be a close friend of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.Well
of course the corrupt, autocratic House of Saud would love the Dallas Cowboys. They are, afterall, America's Saudi Arabia's Team!"

If any of you remember, the Saud family and members of Bin Laden's family were escorted out of the country by GW Bush's private jet. Most of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudi.

Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, is a friend of Jerry's. But the guy is also an ambassador.
After hearing about that many of the hijackers were Saudi, Bandar said, "I felt as if the Twin Towers had just fallen on my head."

I don't think we should shy away from telling Skin Patrol how much of an idiot he really is. Who will be the first?

McNabb debacle

First off, Donovan needs to shave. But there sure has been a lot of hoopla over him of late since the Eagles selected a quarterback in the draft. I don't blame them. McNabb chocked in the Super Bowl. And he's been injured all too often. "My knee if fine," he tells the press.

I am on vacation right now in sunny Florida and I wanted to have a prediction post on the NFC east, but I will postpone it.

I will say that the Eagles, if McNabb is healthy, will be a force in the East. The Giants will be completely horrible and the Redskins, well, they're the Redskins.

I will be back Monday, but if I find some downtime, I will have the NFC East predictions soon.

Romo, You Want A Contract, eh?

Tony, you may want a contract. You may think $1.5 million isn't enough for someone of your caliber to play professional football.


You brought the Dallas Cowboys to the playoffs (so did Quincy Carter) and you went to the Pro Bowl (Quincy Carter did not).

But, Tony, we fans remember the fumble. We remember it because the Seattle Seahawks never should have won that game. We dominated them.


Julius Jones had one of his best games of the year. You even threw a touchdown and had a strong passing ratio.

So forgive this Cowboys fan for being a little bit hesitant about giving you a long-term contract without seeing you play an entire season as our Quarterback. You are impressive and fans have a lot of hope that you will do well.


Show us this year how serious you are about taking the Cowboys to an NFL-record sixth Super Bowl victory. I would hope then Mr. Jones opens his checkbook and grabs a pen to sign your contract and pays you a record sum.

Do we pay Romo Now or Later?

Several blogs are reporting Tony Romo wants a contract now. He is currently being paid $1.5 million for one year. I guess it's a steal. I have been a Tony Romo fan for some time now. He played well this past season, miraculously making the Pro Bowl.

But it's so hard to forget this ?

I say wait until the end of the season. Or at least mid season. I don't want to sign this guy for 5 years, 60 million, and have him continue to make rookie errors. That's all I am going to say about this, because I like the guy.

He helped us last year make the playoffs. But I want to see a full year out of Romo before we make him richer. I would think most level-headed fans would agree.

Roy Williams, our hard-hitting safety, tells DallasCowboys.com that he's enjoying the new defensive scheme new head coach Wade Phillips is showing him. It brings Williams closer to the ball. Apparently, this allows Williams to use his instincts more than his foot speed. If he is used as a linebacker in some nickel defenses, so be it.

As my post says below, Dallas has had problems in zone defending the deep pass. Can this simple change in the defense help? Well, our corners, Henry and Newman, have had deep-pass protections problems as well. Does this make the defense rely on them more to be there when the deep ball is thrown? Personally, I think both Henry and Newman haven't performed at their best yet. Newman was a high pick for us and we gave up a lot to get Henry. They've shown a lot of inconsistency.

I'm just tired of seeing us get beat deep. We've had many of heartbreaking losses because of this. Parcells couldn't figure out a defense that could keep us from getting killed deep.

Hopefully, Phillips can do it. It may give us a few more victories this coming year.

I HATE THE redskins

Don't we all? But I really despise this team, more than the Eagles and Giants.

Here's a little personal touch for you all. I live in Virginia, less than 90 minutes away from where the Deadskins play. I am surrounded by Deadskins fans. Their colors are everywhere. Their games are almost always on television here. The news stations always broadcast the Deadskins' victories and losses. The talk shows focus on the Deadskins. I am a journalist for a newspaper that covers the Deadskins.

I can't stand it. I have to be inundated with John Riggins on talk shows and sports shows. John Riggins!!! And I have to deal with people cheering when Dallas loses. Thankfully, we've had the upper hand on the Deadskins over the last 10 years.

Which makes football a lot of fun in this region because I usually get to do my victory dance.
So here comes the 2007-08 Season and Dallas is returning a class of productive players, who quite honestly, could have made it to the Super Bowl instead of the woeful Bears.

I just had to let you all know this, so you can feel my pain during the season and support my blog all year. I will have a lot of criticism for those disgusting Deadskins and their awful owner Daniel Snyder.

Culpepper? No. Please.

Dallas Morning News Blog started it. Let me finish it. He posed the question whether Dallas should pursue Daunte Culpepper when the Dolphins cut him. Let's put this idea to a quick death now. This would be disastrous for the team. We have Brad Johnson, who although old, will serve as a decent back up and probably better than Bledsoe. Culpepper would be a distraction, especially if Romo struggled a few games, which we pray he does not.
And I can just imagine T.O. siding with Culpepper, wanted him to start, and watching the season go down the tubes.
So, let's not even consider this. We have all we need to win it all. Let's make it clear right out of the gates that we're coming after the Chargers and Patriots head on, with full force.

Burned on the deep ball

Dallas fans, we all know how many times the secondary has been burned on the deep ball. Giants and Plaxico. The near come back from the Colts last year. Even when we crushed the woeful Bucs, we got beat on a deep pass.

It was a very obvious weakness and every team sought to penetrate the secondary. It wasn't hard. Granted, we had power hitters back there--Roy Williams and Terrance Newman--but no one was really special at stopping the deep attack.

So, it was with surprise that Dallas went after Ken Hamlin, a former Seahawks safety who also hits hard. Hamlin isn't known for his deep pass protection.

It leaves us to wonder: Will we again have to deal with losing games because our secondary can't stop the deep ball.

It's possible. Comments

Do we need Ellis?

Greg Ellis, our disgruntled linebacker, brought his agent to practice recently and we are told the discussion with team executives was "cordial."

However, the real question I am sure they are investigating is whether we really need Ellis. We have one whiner on the team, in T.O., but does Ellis need to compound the problem? I say no. Let's look at his overall stats. He's never had more than 9 sacks in a season. That's nothing special. He was injured last year after some promising starts, but was he really missed?

We have a plethora of linebackers and defensive ends. And after 10 years in the league, Ellis has been injury prone and inconsistent.

So, why does he think he deserves more money? I think that's exactly what the powers at be are asking, too.

I won't mind Ellis playing for Dallas this year. But I won't cry if he leaves or is traded. I am just not in any mood for hold outs in a year with such promise. Even T.O. is showing up to practice.

Wade Phillips-Can he Do it?

Wade Phillips' coaching career wins isn't that bad. He had a couple of good seasons with Buffalo. He's never won a playoff game. Here is a snapshot:
1985 nor 1 3 0 0 0 1993 den 9 7 0 0 1 1994 den 7 9 0 0 0 1998 buf 10 6 0 0 1 1999 buf 11 5 0 0 1 2000 buf 8 8 0 0 0 2003 atl 2 1 0 0 0

We know he is a defensive-minded coach and our defense is pretty good. We do need some deep passing help, and that's been a Cowboys weakness for years now. It seems we have found our pash rushers. Can we stop the deep ball?

Welcome Cowboys Fans

I am excited to begin this blog about the best football team in the NFL. The Cowboys are tied for the most Super Bowl victories inthe NFL.

I will keep this short today, as an introduction blog. We have to win this year. We will win this year.