jps_tex
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So, it's pretty slow now. April 29th seems years and years away, so I have decided, like many others, to give my state of the Cowboys.
I'll try not to ramble on too much, but I am very optimistic about Cowboys' 2006-2007 season. Yes, I added on 2007 because I believe that we do have the capabilities to get back into the post-season, and that's not with an expansion to a 14 team playoff.
One thing I aim not to do is to brake down my analysis by position. I hate when people do this because no position stands by itself on an NFL team. Each position inter-twines with another, or multiple positions. So let's start on the offensive side of the ball:
I'll start at the meat of the offense; "can we protect Bledsoe and open up room for Jones/Barber to run?" I, for one, am really looking forward to the makeup of our O-line and what it might be able to accomplish this year. In essence, we are getting 3 new players on the O-line for this year, Fabini, Kosier, and Flozell Adams. Yes we loose Larry Allen, but, as much as I've loved the guy in the past, he is definitely on the backside of a marvelous, Hall-of-Fame career. Let's not forget that Petitti, along with Johnson and Gurode, all 3 of whom saw significant playing time last year, will have another year's of experience under their belt. Torrin Tucker can now go to being the 2nd backup at the Tackle position instead of the primary backup, and with his experience over the last few years he might be very serviceable in a short term situation if needed. I'm a little wary of the Guards right now, but if Coach Sparano can do to the O-line what he did to the TE corps, I think they'll be OK. 3 other VERY important factors will go a long way in determining how our O-line holds up this year:
1. Terrell Owens, Terry Glenn, Patrick Crayton, and Jason Witten - with this firepower, I do not believe people have the option of moving 8 men in the box to stop the run, or blitz. This would help the run game with Jones and Barber and therefore take a lot pressure off the guys up front. If opposing teams decide to stack the box, or blitz, that would leave T.O., T.G, and J.W. in 1-on-1 coverage, and I think we all will like those odds on game day.
2. Our young Defensive linemen and their progress - How was it that the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line could pick up almost any blitz thrown at them during their Superbowl run? It's very easy....their offensive linemen faced that blitzing defense every day in practice. Joey Porter, Troy Palamalu, James Farrior and the rest of that defense made their counterparts good, if not great. Well we have that opportunity here with Ware, Spears, Ellis and Canty. This is the 2nd year of running the 3-4, and with this extra year of experience our D-line should be able to help our O-line improve dramatically. I have always heard that the 3-4 takes approximately 2 years to learn, so just 1 year under the belts our young defensive team will go a long way.
3. Julius Jones and Marion Barber III - I touched on it a little already, but they shouldn't be seeing to many 8 man fronts. This should net extra yards in the run game, and take a great deal of pressure off of Bledsoe and the O-line. Also look for them to be viable receiving threats out of the backfield because of the attention given to T.O., T.G. and J.W. Let's not forget that these 2 also have another year of experience learning how to pick up blitzes and block for Drew Bledsoe.
I'm not going to go into how Drew Bledsoe will do, and what he can accomplish because I think we all got a glimpse of it last year when he was not lying on his back, or rushing to get the ball out of his hands. He should be just fine, and his year will depend on everybody else. Will the O-line block? Can the running game move the ball? Will the WR's get open? etc.
Overall, I think our offense will provide a lot of mismatches to opposing defenses, and I think that they can control what they want to accomplish instead of having it dictated to them from opposing defenses.
Next, the defensive side of the ball:
This is the Cowboys 2nd year in the 3-4, and that alone makes me smile. At times last year we were a tremendous defensive unit, and that was while, not only the players, but the Defensive Coordinator was learning the scheme that they were playing. To me, that's just amazing, and a good sign of things to come. It's been discussed over and over this off-season and it appears that the only weaknesses we might have on the defensive side of the ball is Free Safety, and maybe another Linebacker. I think that linebacker position will be addressed further in the draft, so I won't get much into that, but I will try to address the FS position. You should be catching my drift here by now, but Keith Davis will have another year's of experience under his belt and that should help, even if he is the backup. I also think that our safety position will be helped in the same way as I stated earlier about our offensive line. If our young guns can get to the QB, which I think is a very good possibilty/probablity, then that will make it easier for any defensive back, not just the safety position to maintain their coverage.
Overall, with it's makeup at this date, I think the Cowboys can be a top 10 defense in the 2006-2007 season. Just think what we could be if we get the right people in the draft, or we find a little better Free Safety?
On to Special Teams:
I only really need to say 2 words.............MIKE VANDERJAGT. The most accurate kicker in the history of the NFL. He alone would have won us 2-3 more games last year, so I don't care if we have to spend more money on a kickoff specialist or not. We finally have a kicker that can help us win some close ball games.
As far as the rest of Special Teams is concerned, they'll be OK. We have quite a few of what are referred to a special team catalysts on the Cowboys (Willie Pile, Rocky Boiman, Scot Shanle, and lets not forget Keith Davis) Coach Parcells puts a lot of emphasis on, as well as his own time coaching Special Teams, so I trust that we should have a solid unit out their on Sundays... or Mondays... or Fridays... or Saturdays... or Thursdays
Overall, I really looking forward to the start of the NFL season, and barring any unforeseen (knock on wood) injuries or circumstances, I do believe that this Dallas Cowboy team has the makeup to not only make the post-season, but be a major player in the NFC championship run.
Thanks for taking time to my read post, and if you have any questions or comments please feel free to reply or send me a private message.
:starspin :starspin :starspin :starspin :starspin :starspin :starspin :starspin
I'll try not to ramble on too much, but I am very optimistic about Cowboys' 2006-2007 season. Yes, I added on 2007 because I believe that we do have the capabilities to get back into the post-season, and that's not with an expansion to a 14 team playoff.
One thing I aim not to do is to brake down my analysis by position. I hate when people do this because no position stands by itself on an NFL team. Each position inter-twines with another, or multiple positions. So let's start on the offensive side of the ball:
I'll start at the meat of the offense; "can we protect Bledsoe and open up room for Jones/Barber to run?" I, for one, am really looking forward to the makeup of our O-line and what it might be able to accomplish this year. In essence, we are getting 3 new players on the O-line for this year, Fabini, Kosier, and Flozell Adams. Yes we loose Larry Allen, but, as much as I've loved the guy in the past, he is definitely on the backside of a marvelous, Hall-of-Fame career. Let's not forget that Petitti, along with Johnson and Gurode, all 3 of whom saw significant playing time last year, will have another year's of experience under their belt. Torrin Tucker can now go to being the 2nd backup at the Tackle position instead of the primary backup, and with his experience over the last few years he might be very serviceable in a short term situation if needed. I'm a little wary of the Guards right now, but if Coach Sparano can do to the O-line what he did to the TE corps, I think they'll be OK. 3 other VERY important factors will go a long way in determining how our O-line holds up this year:
1. Terrell Owens, Terry Glenn, Patrick Crayton, and Jason Witten - with this firepower, I do not believe people have the option of moving 8 men in the box to stop the run, or blitz. This would help the run game with Jones and Barber and therefore take a lot pressure off the guys up front. If opposing teams decide to stack the box, or blitz, that would leave T.O., T.G, and J.W. in 1-on-1 coverage, and I think we all will like those odds on game day.
2. Our young Defensive linemen and their progress - How was it that the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line could pick up almost any blitz thrown at them during their Superbowl run? It's very easy....their offensive linemen faced that blitzing defense every day in practice. Joey Porter, Troy Palamalu, James Farrior and the rest of that defense made their counterparts good, if not great. Well we have that opportunity here with Ware, Spears, Ellis and Canty. This is the 2nd year of running the 3-4, and with this extra year of experience our D-line should be able to help our O-line improve dramatically. I have always heard that the 3-4 takes approximately 2 years to learn, so just 1 year under the belts our young defensive team will go a long way.
3. Julius Jones and Marion Barber III - I touched on it a little already, but they shouldn't be seeing to many 8 man fronts. This should net extra yards in the run game, and take a great deal of pressure off of Bledsoe and the O-line. Also look for them to be viable receiving threats out of the backfield because of the attention given to T.O., T.G. and J.W. Let's not forget that these 2 also have another year of experience learning how to pick up blitzes and block for Drew Bledsoe.
I'm not going to go into how Drew Bledsoe will do, and what he can accomplish because I think we all got a glimpse of it last year when he was not lying on his back, or rushing to get the ball out of his hands. He should be just fine, and his year will depend on everybody else. Will the O-line block? Can the running game move the ball? Will the WR's get open? etc.
Overall, I think our offense will provide a lot of mismatches to opposing defenses, and I think that they can control what they want to accomplish instead of having it dictated to them from opposing defenses.
Next, the defensive side of the ball:
This is the Cowboys 2nd year in the 3-4, and that alone makes me smile. At times last year we were a tremendous defensive unit, and that was while, not only the players, but the Defensive Coordinator was learning the scheme that they were playing. To me, that's just amazing, and a good sign of things to come. It's been discussed over and over this off-season and it appears that the only weaknesses we might have on the defensive side of the ball is Free Safety, and maybe another Linebacker. I think that linebacker position will be addressed further in the draft, so I won't get much into that, but I will try to address the FS position. You should be catching my drift here by now, but Keith Davis will have another year's of experience under his belt and that should help, even if he is the backup. I also think that our safety position will be helped in the same way as I stated earlier about our offensive line. If our young guns can get to the QB, which I think is a very good possibilty/probablity, then that will make it easier for any defensive back, not just the safety position to maintain their coverage.
Overall, with it's makeup at this date, I think the Cowboys can be a top 10 defense in the 2006-2007 season. Just think what we could be if we get the right people in the draft, or we find a little better Free Safety?
On to Special Teams:
I only really need to say 2 words.............MIKE VANDERJAGT. The most accurate kicker in the history of the NFL. He alone would have won us 2-3 more games last year, so I don't care if we have to spend more money on a kickoff specialist or not. We finally have a kicker that can help us win some close ball games.
As far as the rest of Special Teams is concerned, they'll be OK. We have quite a few of what are referred to a special team catalysts on the Cowboys (Willie Pile, Rocky Boiman, Scot Shanle, and lets not forget Keith Davis) Coach Parcells puts a lot of emphasis on, as well as his own time coaching Special Teams, so I trust that we should have a solid unit out their on Sundays... or Mondays... or Fridays... or Saturdays... or Thursdays
Overall, I really looking forward to the start of the NFL season, and barring any unforeseen (knock on wood) injuries or circumstances, I do believe that this Dallas Cowboy team has the makeup to not only make the post-season, but be a major player in the NFC championship run.
Thanks for taking time to my read post, and if you have any questions or comments please feel free to reply or send me a private message.
:starspin :starspin :starspin :starspin :starspin :starspin :starspin :starspin
