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Dallas Cowboys: Success Rest on Jones Not Romo
By Ryan Hogan
What do the Dallas Cowboys and public schools have in common? Neither one does very much in December.
Wednesday, America’s Team concluded its 2009 training camp. As the team breaks camp and approaches the regular season all the pressure seems squarely on the shoulders of one player, quarterback Tony Romo.
However, the Cowboy’s fate this season may not rest in Romo’s arm but in Jerry Jones’ roster.
That’s not to say Romo won’t be under an intense and agonizing burden to amass victories. When Jones allowed Terrell Owens to seek refuge in Buffalo he categorically made the Cowboys Romo’s team. That means the swashbuckling quarterback must find ways to win in December so the team can play in January and February.
However, the Cowboys are exiting camp with a glaring vulnerability—a rather painful lack of depth. And that is Jones’ fault not Romo’s.
At offensive line, defensive line, secondary and linebacker, the Cowboys are suffering a great disparity in talent between their starters and their backups. This is quite a disastrous predicament for a team known for late-season wilting.
Pat McQuistan and Doug Free have yet to establish themselves as legitimate NFL tackles.
Their front seven is backed up by a horde of unproven players like ends Marcus Dixon and Brandon Williams and linebackers Jason Williams and Steve Octavien. This group also contains rather pedestrian vets like nose tackle Junior Siavii, end Jason Hatcher and linebacker Bobby Carpenter.
The Cowboys feel comfortable with cornerbacks Terence Newman, Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick. Yet they can’t say the same about rookie cornerback Mike Mickens and free safety Courtney Brown. To make matters worse, Newman and Jenkins had to skip the first preseason game with injuries.
The Cowboys fourth corner is safety Alan Ball.
The team, which acknowledges the problem, is quick to note they like their secondary “when healthy.” Of course how many teams would be Super Bowl contenders “when healthy?” Injuries in the NFL are a question of “when” not “if.”
Hopefully you have Dallas Cowboys tickets for September, October and early November when they play bottom feeders like Denver and Kansas City, and host a team in transition like Seattle.
The Cowboys’ final quintet of games is mind-numbingly difficult: at the New York Giants, San Diego, at New Orleans, at Washington and then hosting Philadelphia for the season finale (surely moved to Sunday night).
While it appears 2009 may witness another Dallas swoon, Jones is not ready to panic.
“There’s no particular situation that we’re in the hunt for Red October,” Jones said when asked if his team was going to utilize the waiver wire to acquire additional supporting cast members.
Head coach Wade Philips expressed a greater enthusiasm to bring in fresh reserves.
“We have a list of players that if they are potentially let go we’d be interested in, those kinds of things. We’re always on top of that,” Philips said. “We have a list of every player on every team, every roster right now, and really what we think of them. And then we also have our scouts right now analyzing the other teams during preseason. So that’s an ongoing process.”
The due diligence is commendable but the season begins in less than a month and the franchise is scrambling to shore up its roster? Not exactly what you expect from a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
This season, the annual Dallas collapse may not be the fault of the team’s new leader, Tony Romo, but ironically the owner who facilitated his ascension.
http://bombasticsports.com/?p=2429
By Ryan Hogan
What do the Dallas Cowboys and public schools have in common? Neither one does very much in December.
Wednesday, America’s Team concluded its 2009 training camp. As the team breaks camp and approaches the regular season all the pressure seems squarely on the shoulders of one player, quarterback Tony Romo.
However, the Cowboy’s fate this season may not rest in Romo’s arm but in Jerry Jones’ roster.
That’s not to say Romo won’t be under an intense and agonizing burden to amass victories. When Jones allowed Terrell Owens to seek refuge in Buffalo he categorically made the Cowboys Romo’s team. That means the swashbuckling quarterback must find ways to win in December so the team can play in January and February.
However, the Cowboys are exiting camp with a glaring vulnerability—a rather painful lack of depth. And that is Jones’ fault not Romo’s.
At offensive line, defensive line, secondary and linebacker, the Cowboys are suffering a great disparity in talent between their starters and their backups. This is quite a disastrous predicament for a team known for late-season wilting.
Pat McQuistan and Doug Free have yet to establish themselves as legitimate NFL tackles.
Their front seven is backed up by a horde of unproven players like ends Marcus Dixon and Brandon Williams and linebackers Jason Williams and Steve Octavien. This group also contains rather pedestrian vets like nose tackle Junior Siavii, end Jason Hatcher and linebacker Bobby Carpenter.
The Cowboys feel comfortable with cornerbacks Terence Newman, Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick. Yet they can’t say the same about rookie cornerback Mike Mickens and free safety Courtney Brown. To make matters worse, Newman and Jenkins had to skip the first preseason game with injuries.
The Cowboys fourth corner is safety Alan Ball.
The team, which acknowledges the problem, is quick to note they like their secondary “when healthy.” Of course how many teams would be Super Bowl contenders “when healthy?” Injuries in the NFL are a question of “when” not “if.”
Hopefully you have Dallas Cowboys tickets for September, October and early November when they play bottom feeders like Denver and Kansas City, and host a team in transition like Seattle.
The Cowboys’ final quintet of games is mind-numbingly difficult: at the New York Giants, San Diego, at New Orleans, at Washington and then hosting Philadelphia for the season finale (surely moved to Sunday night).
While it appears 2009 may witness another Dallas swoon, Jones is not ready to panic.
“There’s no particular situation that we’re in the hunt for Red October,” Jones said when asked if his team was going to utilize the waiver wire to acquire additional supporting cast members.
Head coach Wade Philips expressed a greater enthusiasm to bring in fresh reserves.
“We have a list of players that if they are potentially let go we’d be interested in, those kinds of things. We’re always on top of that,” Philips said. “We have a list of every player on every team, every roster right now, and really what we think of them. And then we also have our scouts right now analyzing the other teams during preseason. So that’s an ongoing process.”
The due diligence is commendable but the season begins in less than a month and the franchise is scrambling to shore up its roster? Not exactly what you expect from a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
This season, the annual Dallas collapse may not be the fault of the team’s new leader, Tony Romo, but ironically the owner who facilitated his ascension.
http://bombasticsports.com/?p=2429
