Well, we have 10 games to go but after last nights debacle, its probably safe to say we can start planning for the offseason and the draft. I've never been SOOOOO out and out wrong about a Cowboys team in all my years of watching. I genuinely thought this was a championship calibar team. I was wrong. There's some championship calibar talent, but they are lacking in so many key areas that talent cant make up for it.
I guess I can start with the positives (what few there were)
1) Dez Bryant is going to be an extremely special player, and could end up being one of the best draft decisions Jerry has ever made. And to think, he still isnt anywhere near 100%. Not only was the talent obvious, but I love this kids effort and fight. I love his confidence. He's the closest thing to an Irvin type player that I've seen since Irvin was in his prime. He will be scary good.
2) Kitna wasnt great, but considering the sieve of an OL he was playing behind and the fact that he hadnt played in a meaningful game in well over a year or so, he did ok. He definitely is far better than Brad Johnson. I said last night that if we had just a DECENT run game and the defense would play the way it should be, that we could win games with this guy. Especially for a short period.
3) The special teams had their best game of the year by far IMO, and not just because of Bryant's spectacular return. The coverage units were solid, Buehler's kickoffs were back to being good and he hit both his FG's.
4) There's only two defensive players that after 6 games, I can honestly say are playing up to expectations. Ware and Newman. Ratliff is not. Spencer is not. Brooking and James are not. None of the DE's have. Jenkins hasnt been as bad as people want to make him out to be, but he hasnt been as good as he was last yr either. Maybe some of it is effort, but I believe lousy coaching, preparation and just awful fundamentals are more to blame. The schemes are too vanilla at this point, and its easy pickins.
5) Really dumb rookie mistake by Gronkowski last night, but it happens. Rookies make mistakes. I'm not going to crucify him for it, and while he did get Romo jacked up, its more bad luck than anything that Romo got injured. QB's take those kinds of hits alot, most of the time they get up and are fine. Unfortunately that wasnt the case on this one.
6) Leonard Davis and Marc Colombo, its been nice. You played well for a few seasons, but its over. You guys cant block anything. Most of the time you cant even get in the way, let alone actually block them. No question they have to be replaced. I'd seriously consider bringing up Travis Bright and start getting him some time at one of the guard spots. Need to see what we have in him. Most wont agree, but I'd bench Colombo for Barron right now. At least he can move his feet some.
7) Similar to above. Wade, your a super good guy. You've had some success here, but you're done. You've definitely earned the right to be fired. You were brought here to make the defense excel, and into your 4th season, the defense has turned into a problem again. I think the game has passed him by. Then there's the other stuff, he just isnt a good HC. He doesnt seem to understand basic game management, he doesnt light a fire under anyone's rear, there's the constant "beaten" expression he has on the sideline, which certainly doesnt help instill confidence in anyone on the team. This wont be poular, but I'd still say Wade is the 3rd best HC we've had here. Yes, even ahead of HC Parcells. (Notice I didnt say Parcells the front office man). He had more success than Parcells did. He's won more games, he won two division titles and got us to HFA in one of those seasons, tying a franchise record for wins.
8) Who'd have thunk it. We get 5 turnovers (and should have had 6, if not for Ratliff deciding to try and dribble the ball), we cut down on penalties (5), the special teams plays well, and we still get beat. And for most of the game, beaten badly.
9) As many have pointed out, the safety positions have to be completely rebuilt. The two guys we have starting are just awful. Might be the worst pair of tackling safeties in modern league history. Other positions of dire need are RT, RG, LG, at least 1 ILB spot and probably one of the DL positions.
10) In terms of next years HC, I really have no preference right now. Other than that I really dont want a retread. I do think Jerry will lean towards a high profile guy, because he will have to do something to re-energize the fan base. A no name or another Wade Phillips type retread isnt going to do that. And the rest of this year may get really ugly. Cowher worries me but I could see why Jerry would want him. Gruden is interesting, but who he'd surround himself with on the staff would be key. I like what I've seen from Jim Harbaugh at Stanford, but he's a pretty huge risk. Del Rio and Fox will probably both be canned, but I really dont want either of them. Fox maybe, but like Gruden it would be key to see who he installs as OC and DC. I'd really love to see us nail the next Jimmy Johnson type coach though. Might not be one out there, but that would be ideal.
11) Just going off how we are playing, its hard to see us winning more than 5 or 6 games total, especially if Romo is done for the year. (And I think barring a miracle run here by the team, they'll shut him down rather than put him back out there in December in some meaningless games behind a poorous OL). Being 5-11 or 6-10 would probably net us a pick somewhere around 6, 7 or 8. Whomever the new HC will be, we'll have a chance to have a significant turnaround pretty quick with the talent already in place here, as well as what we can add next yr in free agency and the draft. We could be set up to get a couple of really significant additions via the draft.
12) Will be interesting to see if things do hit rock bottom (ie, get worse) if they give McGee some time at QB, and perhaps even start him some down the stretch. I would tend to think Kitna wont be back here as a backup but am not 100% sure of his contract status. They would get a really good indicator over a 3-4-5 game span of whether McGee might be ready to assume that role as Romo's backup, and who knows. Might really open some eyes.
