ESPND: 5 Wonders: Can defense carry the day?

[WoodysGirl]

Aug 29
10:00
AM CT

By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com

IRVING, Texas – The Cowboys will play their final preseason game tonight vs. Miami and a lot of players are wondering if they have secured a spot on the 53-man roster for the regular season.

I’m just wondering about five things.

Here we go:

** One thing to remember about the final cuts that will be made after the Dolphins game is that nothing will be settled. The Cowboys will actively look at the waiver wire for upgrades to their roster, but there’s no way they can expect immediate help. Remember, their first game is on Wednesday against the Giants. They will get awarded players Saturday, which is a normal “Wednesday” practice, so to ask a player to learn a system, learn a new team and learn the opponent in such a short turnaround is nearly impossible. It’s another unfortunate part of playing the first game of the year because other teams have more time to get a waiver pickup ready. I think the Cowboys will look at offensive linemen, secondary and possibly receiver for help once the final cuts are made.

** The Cowboys will not know if Jason Witten can play against the Giants. They know Miles Austin and Phil Costa will be available, but without any or much work in the preseason games, how ready will they be to play the Giants? They will have two new guards who also missed a lot of practice time. They will have a new fullback. That’s a lot of uncertainty, to a degree, on offense. I wonder if Rob Ryan’s defense will have to carry the day for the offense against the Giants -- and potentially early in the season. And, yes, the defense has some turnover too with Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne and, possibly, no Jay Ratliff. That’s a lot to ask the defense in Week 1 after Eli Manning & Co. ripped them apart in two games last year. Or maybe the Giants are the perfect opponent for Week 1 after what happened last season.

Read the rest: http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowbo...-carry-the-day

[187beatdown]

Nice piece on Hatcher. I'm really excited for him this year, I think this is his breakout year.

[rwalters31]

I posted this a day ago and got no bits. So let's try it again.

Originally Posted by rwalters31

Where to begin? Well let's start with the Defence:
1. If we win this game, it will be because the Defense shows up. The Offense is not ready to play real Football yet (more to come).
2. The Defense has shown some good quickness and ball hawking in the preseason.
3. The pressure on QB's has been good.
4. The backups look ready to play NFL Football

Let's look at the Offense:
1. The Tackles are still not playing well (out of position)
2. The Guards are not playing well
3. The Center is who?
4. The recievers are injuried.
5. The Running Backs will be recievers as the line will not open holes for them to run.
6. Then there is ROMO - You know, ROMO to the left, ROMO to right, ROMO up the center (hope he last untill the third quarter).
7. The back ups are not that good (except maybe Orton).

At less we have Kickers

[View Full Quote]To make a long story short for the Cowboys to win this game it will have to be a low scoring game like 6 to 3. This is having the Defense play as the number one Defense in the Leaque.