NFL Outsider: Andy's take on the Dallas Cowboys

[tyke1doe]

No, Meryl Steep is still great. The Cowboys are more like Liz Taylor.

There you go. Thanks. I was trying to find the right old actress. I initially thought Katherine Hepburn, but she's dead.

Liz Taylor is a better analogy than Meryl Streep. Thanks.

 

[arglebargle]

The Cowboys would have a lot more Super Bowl trophies if they were like Katherine Hepburn.....

 

[Boyzmamacita]

Uhhhmmmmmmm.....

I'm pretty sure he has written the same "2009 preview" article on many more teams then just the Cowboys.

Relax, it will be ok.

I'm quite relaxed thank you and I doubut very seriously that he took these kind of shots at other teams. What does the Cowboys fame have to do with on field performance anyway? Absolutely nothing. If they were famous just because they're famous, the ratings wouldn't be so high. Love em or hate em, the viewing public gives a damn what happens to the Cowboys and its been that way for three decades and running. That's why their famous. He has a problem with the fact the Dallas Cowboys are the most popular team in the country in any sport. He needs to keep it to himself and to stick to football talk instead taking shots.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I would like to argue his points but one must face facts and nothing he said is untrue.

I don't think I would say that.

This offseason has been a different way of thinking for Jerry so far. The draft consisted of a focus on special teams that I've never seen a Cowboys team ever embark upon (or any other team for that matter). We've basically gotten rid of anybody considered controversial (Owens, Tank, Pacman, Ellis). So I don't think the same thinking 'that got us here' is going on right now at this moment. Of course, the card is subject to change.

Plus, we're 46-34 the past five seasons. The majority of NFL team haven't done that well the past five years.

I do hate to agree with the 'famous for being famous' comment and the 'they have no heart' comment. It just seems like this team over the past 12 years seems to get a real big head very easily and when they are stuck in that tough situation in a tough game they tend to look hapless, disorganized and pointing fingers at each other. Why that continually happens, I'm not sure.

But this is a team that has a very good makeup. I don't see the offense scoring as much as the '07 offense, but they have the ability to put up quite a bit of points and chew up the clock a lot better and protect the ball better. That forces opposing offenses to be more pass happy to stay in the game. That plays into a defense that led the league in sacks last season and I believe has still yet to reach their potential, especially from a sacking the QB standpoint. Plus, we should be much better if not great on special teams and winning field position. So the talent is there, and in some sense the chemistry is there, we just need to protect the ball better and get mentally tougher and more disciplined.



YAKUZA

 

[chinch]

all sad but true.

Jerry is always reaching for something in his guessing game for striking oil.

this year it's the hope the coaches grow brains & romo can control the football like an actual, legitimate starting QB.

By Andy Benoit, www.NFLTouchdown.com
http://mvn.com/outsider/2009/07/nfl-outsider-andys-take-on-the-dallas-cowboys.html

Albert Einstein said, "Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them." Someone needs to tell Jerry Jones.

For a team with legitimate Super Bowl talent and unmatched buying power, the Dallas Cowboys sure have a lot of unsolved problems. An extreme but legitimate snapshot of this organization is found in last season's Week 17 disaster at Philadelphia. In a de facto playoff situation, the "win and you're in" Cowboys put on a performance that even the Washington Generals would have found pathetic. Five turnovers led to a 44-6 drubbing in which the star quarterback (Tony Romo) looked timorous, the head coach (Wade Phillips) clueless, the hotshot coordinator (Jason Garrett) brainless, the brash defense porous and the club, as a whole, heartless.

The only thing sadder than the fact that Dallas's airball surprised absolutely no one is the fact that the last criticism--the one about being heartless--is justified. The Cowboys, America's Team, have no heart. They're a franchise still coasting on popularity that stems from the dynasty that Jimmy Johnson built two decades ago.

The last time the Cowboys won a playoff game was 1996. Since then, they have cycled through myriad head coaches and quarterbacks, brought in bundles of talented draft classes and signed scores of top-dollar free agents. They annually appear on national television the maximum six times (including Thanksgiving) and their blue star is found not just everywhere in Texas, but everywhere in the United States. But really, the Cowboys are just football's version of Paris Hilton: famous for being famous.

The one constant during this dreadful bout of mediocrity has been Jerry Jones. Arguably the shrewdest businessman in pro football, Jones has kept his club in the NFL's brightest spotlight. Indeed, the infatuation with the Cowboys will only escalate in 2009, as they open Cowboys Stadium, the NFL's first $1 billion arena. Building a modern day Coliseum might be the only way Jones can regain relevance during Super Bowl week (Dallas will host the big game in 2011). His aptitude in the boardroom is matched only by his ineptitude in the locker room.

The story with Jones's team this year is whether Tony Romo can become a leader. The 29-year-old has come to embody the Cowboys. He has movie star good looks, scintillating talent and a penchant for melting down late. Romo's career record in September, October and November is 22-4. In December, it's 5-8.

The weight of the world is on Romo's shoulders this season. Just as he did in hiring Bill Parcells a few years ago, Jerry Jones flashed rare humility by acquiescing to the in-house suggestion box that was overflowing with index cards saying "Dump Terrell Owens!" But releasing T.O. is not the solution to Dallas's problems--their problems are much deeper than that. After all, this team suffered from poor chemistry and late-season collapses long before "The Player" arrived. But maybe, just maybe, the release of Owens is a sign that those deeper problems are finally being fixed.

But probably not. Head coach Wade Phillips is still here and, in the final year of his contract, somehow an even lamer duck than last season. Had wunderkind offensive coordinator Jason Garrett done a better job in '08, he'd likely have Phillips's job now. But shoddy game-planning and questionable play-calling dimmed Garrett's star (after declining the Ravens and Falcons head coaching jobs last year, Garrett wasn't even offered the Rams head coaching job this past offseason). Now, Jones is likely eyeing a star-studded 2010 head coaching market that should include Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden, Mike Holmgren, Brian Billick and Bill Cowher. These men have combined for six Super Bowl rings during Dallas's playoff drought.

Of course, should the Cowboys go out and, you know, actually live up to their potential in 2009, Jones may have no choice but to retain Phillips. In hopes of that, Phillips has taken over full command of the defense (his area of expertise) and has vowed to pull an anti-Coughlin by changing his style to something tougher. For example, Phillips will now fine players the NFL maximum $453 for every pound exceeding their weight target in training camp. Of course, those same players are still cashing millions of dollars worth of checks from Phillips's boss.