These new Boys have swagger!

[jterrell]

I have been a fan of the Boys for quite a long time and recall fondly the Jimmy era, not so fondly the last days of the Landry era and of course everything since.

What strikes me the past season plus is just how aggressive the Boys are being in the front office. This same front office has been loathe to cut bait with proven veterans before last off-season. Now they do so quickly, quietly and respectfully but quite happily.

This is definitely a front office basking in the glow of the T.O. dumping. We tossed aside Greg Ellis and T.O. only to come up Aces. Hard to imagine any team in the NFL finding two better players last year than Spencer and Austin sitting on their bench from the previous year.

I always felt Flo was insanely under-rated here. I'd say almost every OL is under-rated so that's hardly a shock but Flo was a whipping boy for his off-sides penalties. Penalties that had a lot to do with physical impairment. But Dallas just cut their LT of the past decade plus and didn't blink. They feel Doug Free is like holding a solid pair in the blind. They are confident not leery. That's what happens when scouts are right more often than not, coaches develop talent and knuckleheads get shown the door.

Now all that's left to be seen is if anyone remembers Ken Hamlin even played here in 9 months... doubtful imho; or if Flo is missed... likely, imho, but who I am to bet against this front office? I am hardly on their level as a gambler. Another off-season like last and Dallas will take that front office swagger to the field in Cowboys Stadium and try to ride it to a home field Super Bowl. I don't think it's going to far out ona limb to suggest if they get Pro Bowl level play at FS and LT as they did last year at LDE and WR1 they will be right there in that mix.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I always felt Flo was insanely under-rated here. I'd say almost every OL is under-rated so that's hardly a shock but Flo was a whipping boy for his off-sides penalties. Penalties that had a lot to do with physical impairment. But Dallas just cut their LT of the past decade plus and didn't blink. They feel Doug Free is like holding a solid pair in the blind. They are confident not leery. That's what happens when scouts are right more often than not, coaches develop talent and knuckleheads get shown the door.

Now all that's left to be seen is if anyone remembers Ken Hamlin even played here in 9 months... doubtful imho; or if Flo is missed... likely, imho, but who I am to bet against this front office?

That's exactly how I feel about the Flo move. I totally agree that Flo got way too much grief from fans, due primarily to the false starts. But he was still a really, really good player for us for a long time.

I worry a little about not having him, but then I worried Jenkins wouldn't be ready, too. Guess what? The coaches and front office got it right. Like you say, they have earned the benefit of the doubt based on similar recent moves working out.

 

[diehard2294]

I believe Stephen Jones has a greater influence on his dad these days, which is a good sign of things to come

 

[7footer]

Excellent post jterrell!

Nice summation of past, present, and possible future events. Very well written, and a pleasure to read.

 

[AsthmaField]

I believe Stephen Jones has a greater influence on his dad these days, which is a good sign of things to come

I think so too... and it is a VERY good sign.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

Very good post.

But Flo was overrated. And his penalties got very old.
And that is why he was cut.

 

[sureletsrace]

I'll say it again. Very nice post. Enjoyed reading it. I agree that I think Stephen Jones is slowly getting more and more say in how this organization is run.

The future looks good. We are beginning to build our team like a winning franchise. We are so loaded with talent, but now they are all young and have excellent chemistry.

I will, however, hate to see Brooking go. I hope he sticks around the Cowboys facility as an assistant or something.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Good post.

I was hoping 2009 would be successful to a degree before the season started for reasons that weren't so obvious.

Jerry always goes to what has been successful for him. He may change some of his ways or beliefs in regards to football and try them out, but if they don't meet his expectations he usually goes right back to what did work for him in the past. I think the O-Line is a good example. He had great success with behometh O-Lines. Then Parcells came along and wanted a smaller more mobile O-Lineman and the success was so-so. Once Parcells left, we went right back to the behometh O-Linemen.

He does that quite a bit.

Anyway, 2009 was about as low-key of a season as I can ever remember from a Jerry Jones Cowboys team. The media HATED it and tried their best to create controversy and chaos. And it didn't work.

I think in the past, Jerry felt that there was no reason that a team couldn't be the center of attention for non-football issues and still be a success. The dynasty teams just affirmed Jones' beliefs.

I think Stephen convinced him to keep the team low-key in 2009 and it was important that the team went 11-5 and won a playoff game. Had they not done that, I think we would see Jerry doing those things and making comments to put the team in the spotlight of controversy.

But since we had what I term success in 2009, I think Jerry is going to keep the team low-key (by Cowboys standards) for at least the next five years.







YAKUZA

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

I think Dallas is being ran more and more by Stephen's influence, which is probably a good thing!

 

[big dog cowboy]

What strikes me the past season plus is just how aggressive the Boys are being in the front office. This same front office has been loathe to cut bait with proven veterans before last off-season. Now they do so quickly, quietly and respectfully but quite happily.

It's clear that they have changed their approach after learning from the past. We are seeing fewer mistakes than a decade ago. This bodes well for out team going forward. Confidence and swagger from the front office will spill onto the field. JMO but the the needle is going straight up for the Cowboys.

 

[CoCo]

I have been a fan of the Boys for quite a long time and recall fondly the Jimmy era, not so fondly the last days of the Landry era and of course everything since.

What strikes me the past season plus is just how aggressive the Boys are being in the front office. This same front office has been loathe to cut bait with proven veterans before last off-season. Now they do so quickly, quietly and respectfully but quite happily.

This is definitely a front office basking in the glow of the T.O. dumping. We tossed aside Greg Ellis and T.O. only to come up Aces. Hard to imagine any team in the NFL finding two better players last year than Spencer and Austin sitting on their bench from the previous year.

I always felt Flo was insanely under-rated here. I'd say almost every OL is under-rated so that's hardly a shock but Flo was a whipping boy for his off-sides penalties. Penalties that had a lot to do with physical impairment. But Dallas just cut their LT of the past decade plus and didn't blink. They feel Doug Free is like holding a solid pair in the blind. They are confident not leery. That's what happens when scouts are right more often than not, coaches develop talent and knuckleheads get shown the door.

Now all that's left to be seen is if anyone remembers Ken Hamlin even played here in 9 months... doubtful imho; or if Flo is missed... likely, imho, but who I am to bet against this front office? I am hardly on their level as a gambler. Another off-season like last and Dallas will take that front office swagger to the field in Cowboys Stadium and try to ride it to a home field Super Bowl. I don't think it's going to far out ona limb to suggest if they get Pro Bowl level play at FS and LT as they did last year at LDE and WR1 they will be right there in that mix.

Posts like these are what keeps the folks who want for more than just emotional venting coming back to this site. Unfortunately, they are too few.

Thanks for the quality offering JT.

 

[adbutcher]

I believe Stephen Jones has a greater influence on his dad these days, which is a good sign of things to come

Of course, there ain't no way that Jerry could make any smart decisions. Jerry's role is to make all of the dumb decisions and divide the credit with any smart decisions. Got it.

 

[diehard2294]

Of course, there ain't no way that Jerry could make any smart decisions. Jerry's role is to make all of the dumb decisions and divide the credit with any smart decisions. Got it.

bad day today? never said Jerry cant make smart decisions, I have the utmost respect for him as an owner, the facts are he likes to take risks at times and this is where I believe stephen has taken the role of keeping things grounded.

 

[CoCo]

bad day today? never said Jerry cant make smart decisions, I have the utmost respect for him as an owner, the facts are he likes to take risks at times and this is where I believe stephen has taken the role of keeping things grounded.

I think the point is that none of us can clearly see what decisions are made by who. It's speculative. But when a whipping boy is needed in the front office its always assumed to be Jerry.

Why does Stephen Jones only get credit, but never any blame? Because he's the backup.

 

[diehard2294]

I think the point is that none of us can clearly see what decisions are made by who. It's speculative. But when a whipping boy is needed in the front office its always assumed to be Jerry.

Why does Stephen Jones only get credit, but never any blame? Because he's the backup.

valid point, the reason being Jerry has the last say. If one is learning from the other I am all for it because they have made some tough decisions and in the long run it should make the franchise stronger

 

[baj1dallas]

good insights jt. I agree they seem to be pretty confident in their scouting and player development, hopefully that confidence is well placed. It's certainly possible to have success with this model as New England and Philadelphia have proven.

 

[Aikbach]

They had everything but a kicker and a really flat game in the playoffs.

They'll be fine, they're good enough to win it all in2010, they simply have to execute.

i foresee another 11-5 to 12-4 campaign.