My Top 5 Keys to the 2009 Season

[Aven8]

Here our my Top 5 keys to this season

5. Spencer has to play up to his #1 draft status.
If he doesn't, it could get rough. Ellis is finally gone and it's his turn. Will he be ready for the promotion? He better be.

4. Tnew needs to have a All Pro season.
Notice I didn't say "Pro Bowl", but All Pro. With two youngsters manning the other side we need him to pick up the slack. If he doesn't, or is injured a lot...it's going to be a long season. Can he do it? I think so.

3. Gerald and Ken.
No not Barbie and Ken, but Gerald and Ken our safeties. In order to maximize Wade's defense we MUST have great safety play. We've gone through how many safety combos now? I forget...but we need them to reach there "true" potentials. Will they? Time will tell.

2. Tony needs to be Tony.
TO, Jessica, TMZ, fumbles, interceptions, blah, blah, blah. Tony is a great QB. Like he always talks about, "It's the Journey". Well his journey has been short lived so far and it's only the beginning...I have full confidence he will prove all the doubters wrong that he is a "Champion". Will he? I believe in him.

1. Flozell Adams... we need one more Pro Bowl caliber season.
A left tackle is the #1 key to our season? IMO..yes he is. We lose him, or he plays bad, then it will affect each and every person on the offense. Not just Tony, but the WR's, TE's, RB's, OC, and most importantly the line. He is my #1 key...if he plays well the offense is going to have a great year. Does he have one great year left in him? We all should hope and pray.

Those are my Keys. Right or wrong...only time will tell.

What do you think?

 

[BourbonBalz]

1) Stay healthy
2) O line play
3) Fewer turnovers committed and more forced
4) Roy Williams
5) Offensive play-calling (use our 3 RBs and our 2 TEs, meaning more of a running game and short to intermediate passing game)

 

[NextGenBoys]

Here our my Top 5 keys to this season

5. Spencer has to play up to his #1 draft status.
If he doesn't, it could get rough. Ellis is finally gone and it's his turn. Will he be ready for the promotion? He better be.

4. Tnew needs to have a All Pro season.
Notice I didn't say "Pro Bowl", but All Pro. With two youngsters manning the other side we need him to pick up the slack. If he doesn't, or is injured a lot...it's going to be a long season. Can he do it? I think so.

3. Gerald and Ken.
No not Barbie and Ken, but Gerald and Ken our safeties. In order to maximize Wade's defense we MUST have great safety play. We've gone through how many safety combos now? I forget...but we need them to reach there "true" potentials. Will they? Time will tell.

2. Tony needs to be Tony.
TO, Jessica, TMZ, fumbles, interceptions, blah, blah, blah. Tony is a great QB. Like he always talks about, "It's the Journey". Well his journey has been short lived so far and it's only the beginning...I have full confidence he will prove all the doubters wrong that he is a "Champion". Will he? I believe in him.

1. Flozell Adams... we need one more Pro Bowl caliber season.
A left tackle is the #1 key to our season? IMO..yes he is. We lose him, or he plays bad, then it will affect each and every person on the offense. Not just Tony, but the WR's, TE's, RB's, OC, and most importantly the line. He is my #1 key...if he plays well the offense is going to have a great year. Does he have one great year left in him? We all should hope and pray.

Those are my Keys. Right or wrong...only time will tell.

What do you think?

Great post, I think I would agree with everything you have on there, but I might take off Newman having an all pro season. We just need him to be what he's been his years here and that is solid and consistant. Jenkins,Scandrick, and Sense take some pressure off him

I think more importantly than Newman having a big season is Felix having a big season. The guy is a gamebreaker, and if he can blow up like last season for an entire 16 games only with more touches, we're going to be really tough to beat.

 

[RS12]

You forgot about the health of Ratliff. If he goes down it'll be scary.

 

[BourbonBalz]

1) Stay healthy
2) O line play
3) Fewer turnovers committed and more forced
4) Roy Williams
5) Offensive play-calling (use our 3 RBs and our 2 TEs, meaning more of a running game and short to intermediate passing game)

I'm going with a more generalized list of the what I see as important to our season rather than focusing on individual players, with the exception of Roy Williams. I don't think he has to have a Pro Bowl season, but he does have to play well and provide a threat on the outside and deeper over the middle. Out TEs, RBs, and other receivers will provide more than enough offense as long as RW does his part. I left out improved special teams play on my list, but it's also huge considering how pitiful they were last year.

 

[lcharles]

we are doomed. :storm:

 

[BourbonBalz]

we are doomed. :storm:

Just what point might you be trying to make? We're simply talking about what we think are keys to the season. You got a contribution or you just like posting cute little pictures?

 

[NextGenBoys]

Just what point might you be trying to make? We're simply talking about what we think are keys to the season. You got a contribution or you just like posting cute little pictures?

lol lighten up dude, I think he was being sarcastic

 

[LeonDixson]

The # 1 key in my opinion is staying healthy. We were snake bit last year on the o-line , Romo, Witten, DB's. You name it we were injured or hurting there. If we stay relatively healthy this year, we will have success.

 

[zack]

#1. O-line play, can they run block. If not, we are looking at a long season. I am not even listing anything else as I believe this is the key to the season.

 

[dmq]

All of my top 5 are staying healthy. No getting injured at skilled positions or the OL. Why do I feel like that isn't possible. I will never forget that one season under Parcells where we had near no injuries and couldn't win it all anyway. We couldn't or wouldn't even take advantage of other teams injuries. Was that the year we lost to Seattle against a scrub secondary?

 

[big dog cowboy]

Staying healthy, O-line play, and play calling (in any order) are the keys to this season.

 

[DallasDomination]

#1- Stay healthy

#2- Romo has to take command of the team and become the leader He has to be. mature as a football player and step up when it matters most. Protect the ball and make good decisions. And He needs to play as Romo, scramble when he has to...No more Tom Brady copy cat.

#3. Running game. Felix, barber and Choice have to have the type of year We all expect them to. Our running game goes hand in hand with tony. With them goes our season.

#4. Defensive key players. Spencer, Sensa, Igor, Jenkins and Scandrick have to come in and play high quality football. Newman, ware, Bradie, ratliff are the anchor, they just need to hold up their end of the deal.

#5 SPECIAL TEAMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully this was corrected. We have a good FG kicker in folk. We have a bad *** punter in mcbriar and now a kick off specialist.

 

[Gemini Dolly]

1. Injury free ray:
2. O-line must not wear down towards the end of season
3. Romo- cut down on int/fumbles. If he still hasnt learned this, Holy noodles, shoot me.
4. Smash Dash Tash
5. Defense

 

[Sarge]

O-line play, run blocking, O-line play and O-line play.

 

[Nav22]

I'm really surprised nobody has mentioned penalties.

No team had more penalties than we did in 2008. Seriously... we were #1 in penalties.

And only Green Bay had more penalty yardage.

This is where T.O.'s absence does concern me. He was our game-breaker, and we'll REALLY need for the "big play" aspect of our offense to stay intact. We have some terrific players, but I don't know that we have a guy who can catch a 10 yard cross, shed a tackle with ease, and outrace the secondary to the endzone the way T.O. could.

I'm seeing lots of talk about long, methodical drives... and that's great, but we've recently been a team that LOOOOVES to shoot itself in the foot, especially with offensive penalties.

Don't dismiss the importance of the big play. It's much easier to not shoot yourself in the foot on a 3 play, 70 yard TD drive that culminates in a 50 yard TD reception than it is to not shoot yourself in the foot on a long, methodical drive.

I believe we have the personnel to go 12 plays and 80 yards for a score. But will we have the discipline to not commit any drive-killing penalties during these 12 plays?

 

[THEHEREAFTER]

Awesome list of keys to the OP.

I would also add Roy Williams stepping up like a legit #1. When you factor in his height, reach and athletisicm, he should get 5 TD's on fade/lobs alone.

Also Austin and heard must step up and make big strides.

 

[Dodger]

1. As others have mentioned, staying healthy is very important, especially along the offensive line. A couple of writers, Vela, if I remember correctly, was one, have said that the team cannot afford more than one injury on that line. I believe them which is why I feel OL health is perhaps the most important key to the team's success this season.

2. In think the Cowboys have a relatively easier schedule this year, and it is critical that they take advantage of this. They absolutely must win the games that they should win, i.e., losses to the Chiefs and the Raiders, for example, cannot happen, and outside of New Orleans, Green Bay, and San Diego, the strongest competition will be from teams within the division, so it sure wouldn't hurt if the Cowboys approach every divisional opponent with a "we're going to beat the ever-living **** out of you" attitude this year. Some general nastiness and genuine hatred towards NY, Phily, and that crapper of a team in D.C. would be a welcome sight from our players.

3. A couple of players need to be all they can be. I've mentioned them before. They are Miles Austin and Gerald Sensabaugh. I'm not bringing in Felix Jones or even Roy Williams into this because, quite frankly, I'm not that concerned about them. I already think that Jones is going to explode this year, and I honestly feel that Roy just might have the best season of his career in 2009. On defense, I expect the pass rush to continue to be the best in the league whether or not Spencer gets 8-10 sacks or not. Wade Phillips knows how to get results in this area no matter who is playing, so if Spencer can't get it done, there's one rookie behind him who is showing signs that he just might be up to the task. And the corners, if they remain healthy, should be more than adequate. That leaves Austin and Sensabaugh. If both perform beyond our expectations, this team will be tough to beat.

4. As Nav22 mentioned, this team needs to be much more disciplined than it has been in the past. This means less penalties and less giveaways, and yeah, the Cowboys were near or at the top of the league in both categories last year. This has to end now.

5. Lastly, and this goes out to the coaching staff, specifically Garrett, the Cowboys can't afford to be predictable on offense. I think last season Garrett suffered a bit from tunnel vision when it came to how to and who would move the chains, and the team suffered as a consequence. Fortunately, that's going to be much more difficult to do as there is no single player that this team can or will lean on for production. Garrett will be forced to spread the ball around, and that's a good thing. Instead of game planning for one or, perhaps, two guys, the opposition must now account for several simply because they'll have to. To be honest, I think it became pretty easy to defend the Cowboys offense last year because they almost became a one trick pony. But this year? No can do. On every offensive snap the defense will have to consider 3-4 players as serious threats. Who's getting the ball? One of our three talented backs? Witten? Williams? Crayton or, hopefully, Austin? Or, uh-oh...now they'll have to watch Bennett as well. So to you, Garrett, I have to say one thing: make this work.

 

[Everlastingxxx]

1. Progression of Romo. (Just has to keep getting better, hold onto the ball, check downs)

2. Pressure the QB (Bring the heat, sack & create turnovers on defense)

3. Backups have to hold their own. (I find it funny to see some posters saying “stay injury free”...good luck with that. I read somewhere that the Cowboys were middle of the pack last season with injuries. Darn, so much for that excuse. Cowboys will have injuries...they need backups to play and not become a weakness on the team)

4. WRs need to work as a team. (Forget Roy Williams as the #1, he is part of a whole unit. They must gel and work together)

5. Limit Distractions (They are gone, keep them gone)

 

[AbeBeta]

Healthy can't be on your list. That's a real "duh" piece. Every team would say that.

1. Spencer - has to provide some pass rush to go with his solid run D

2. Felix - 150 carries minimum

3. At least 2 rookie defenders have to contribute. I'm guessing Hamlin and Butler at this point.

4. Siavii - has to give us 10 snaps a game of mediocre at worst play

5. Romo -- needs to take the next step and be both a huge stat producer and a team leader