Tank drives into Dallas

As I head for vacation to San Fran, I am lucky enough to have a pitstop at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, at which I have never been. Should I look for something special here during my 3 hour holdover?

Anyway, while I am waiting for my plane in Richmond, I thought I'd bring up the news that embattled former Bears tackle Tank Johnson says he'll be a Cowboy after his suspension for a weapons-related probation violation ends. He is suspended for the first eight games.

As ESPN says, Johnson has never been a nose tackle, but you can bet your bottom dollar that's why we are eying the defensive player. The season-ending injury of Jason Ferguson was a crushing blow to an already injury-riddled team. Although Jay Ratliff has filled in nicely for the Cowboys, the powers-at-be obviously feel as if they need to shore up another player for that position as a safety net. I'm OK with that, even though I've seen no action to secure another cornerback or even a receiver after Crayton's mangled finger.

Personally, I would think we need a larger force for this run-stopping position. Johnson is about the same size as Ratliff, at 300 pounds. Johnson had 3.5 sacks last year for the Bears and 22 solo tackles. The Bears picked Johnson with their second pick in the 2004 draft. He played at Washington U.

I don't think adding TJ to the team will cause any friction. If he screws up, we dump him. I think the team right now has a solid mindset and plays well together. Even T.O. is behaving and that's a huge signal. I think this team wants to prove something to former Coach Bill Parcells, that his 80s coaching style doesn't work anymore and that if he just changed his mindset a little bit he may have had another ring. I just hope Johnson is working out and in good shape, ready to play for a contender, which is what we are.

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.