We're Baaaaaaaaack!!!

[lspain1]

Excellent Post. Some things need to happen right for your predictions to come true...but I'll have some of that Kool Aid!

Congratulations Hos. :worthy2:

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Excellent Post. Some things need to happen right for your predictions to come true...but I'll have some of that Kool Aid!

Congratulations Hos. :worthy2:

ask me, apparently I'm making it

 

[ravidubey]

Love the Kool Aid, but I'll have to just sip for now.

I can't help but fear Vanderjagt's, TO's, Bledsoe's, Fabini's, Rivera's, Terry Glenn's, and Ferguson's bodies all wearing down at once. It's also disappointing to hear Adams and Ware coming in overweight.

Who am I kidding??? Go Cowboys!!

 

[Jarv]

Some people like riding in the passenger seat. I prefer driving.

Damn Hos, I'll congradulate you on your 25K post with my 3K post...lol


Great job.

Even though I'm 22K behind you, I don't ride *****...lol


:starspin

 

[Hostile]

Damn Hos, I'll congradulate you on your 25K post with my 3K post...lol


Great job.

Even though I'm 22K behind you, I don't ride *****...lol


:starspin

From one v-twin jockey to another. Congrats on 3k.

 

[lane]

great post hos..

we are back in the saddle..

lane.

 

[gbrittain]

can't wait to see an uber-positive post from Eddie when he reaches 25K

...

Now that was funny!

 

[jimmy4713]

Nice post. Want to point out that #81 is not a "hands" guy. He is usually good for some drops through a year.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Good job Hos and congrats on the 25K.

 

[Screw The Hall]

By the way I got my copy of Lindy's today which I get every year. They had Philly winning the division with the Giants also making the playoffs. They had us finishing 3rd in the division with Washington pulling up the rear. No big deal doesn't mean a whole lot, but since you spoke about what the football magazines may or may not say in your post I thought it would be worth mentioning.

 

[wileedog]

Offensive line, middle of the D-line and Free Safety.

These are the only 3 bona fide question marks on this team. Well ok, backup QB, but almost everyone has that problem.

Good Gawd, when is the last time the list was so short?

Granted O-line is a biggie. From Flo's knee to who-the-heck-is-Kozier to Al Johnsons weight to Rivera's back to Pettiti/Fabini/CanIBuyAVoweli there are a lot of questions here.

But if the answers are positive, wow. Not going to go down the prediction road, just saying its been a long, long, LONG road to get back even to where we are.

Can't wait to see where this particular road leads. I can see where people are still critical of some of the things we have done, but I can't see how anyone is not excited for the upcoming season.

And gratz on 25K Hos.

 

[Silverstar]

The Boys Are Back!!!

 

[Everlastingxxx]

Congrats on the 2 million posts. The only thing i got let to say is "How bout them Cowboys!"

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Congrats...even though I am apathetic of people with large post counts.

I guess that is why I am so grim looking in my avatar :laugh1: :

 

[TheSkaven]

This really does have the makings of a special season. That could mean that we are all terribly disappointed at the end, but I am not afraid to wear my emotions on my sleeve this year. As you enumerated so well, the pieces have really come together this off-season with TO as the potential catalyst to put this team over the top.

Football season can't come soon enough. Great post.

 

[SkinsandTerps]

This really does have the makings of a special season. That could mean that we are all terribly disappointed at the end, but I am not afraid to wear my emotions on my sleeve this year. As you enumerated so well, the pieces have really come together this off-season with TO as the potential catalyst to put this team over the top.

Football season can't come soon enough. Great post.

Being someone who lives in PA. Its interesting that you see TO as that potential catalyst. Eagles fans felt the same way. Yet they won the NFCCG without TO.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

On the interior I am going to miss Glover, but if Ferguson is healthy he's solid. I gotta admit I became an instant Montavious Stanley fan from his phone call to Norm. My favorite line was when Norm asked him about playing NT. "Shortest distance to the QB baby! Ha ha!" I was sold on him right there.

Epic!

 

[kartr]

Tried to think of something for post 25k and one thing kept standing out to me. I have a tendency to wax philosophical and posts get long at these times. So my apologies to your eyes, but the soapbox is mine and it's comfortable.

Brothers and sisters, the Cowboys are back in the saddle and the limelight. Mark my words when the football magazines and fantasy magazines start hitting the shelves you're going to see a Cowboys bent in them.

I opened Foxsports.com's football page earlier today and 3 articles about the Cowboys were front and center. Okay, so 2 of them were about TO, and the other was about Ellis whining for "committment," but the point is, we're news again.

From where I sit that is a very good feeling. For the first time in a while I've got some good feelings about an upcoming season. A lot of things are contributing to that.

I've been down on our QB situation ever since Troy retired. Though I'm not a fan of retreads at QB because I'm spoiled by the history surrounding Don, Roger, Danny and Troy, I'm forced to admit that Bledsoe is a comfort for now. He's not mobile and he gets sacked and I'm one of the first to stand up to the overwhelming syrup support some give him, but one fact remains, he can throw the football, and it looks like we are going to open up the offense.

The worst part about 2005 for me was the absence of Jason Witten in the passing game as a target. I felt he had an overall better year than 2004, but his stats didn't say so. He improved as a blocker though and matured as a receiver. With an improved line and the addition of Fasano I look for him to have a Pro Bowl caliber year. Especially with the upgrades at WR meaning he'll face some mismatches.

Speaking of the OL, my goodness will it be nice to have the Hotel back. I'll miss LA a lot, but seeing an anchor on the QBs blindside will ease that angst a lot. I like the reports that Al Johnson has beefed up to 307 and is stronger. With Rivera back healthy and a healthy Petitti. I don't think we'll be near as soft up the middle. I thought the interior of the OL was worse than the ends last year though the ends took a beating. If Al Johnson avoids bringing back the fist pump snap tipoff it could be a much better year. Fabini adds depth and it sounds like Columbo is showing promise. Here's hoping. It's not the OL of the early 90's by any wild stretch, but it has a chance to be solid and right now that's what we need.

If you're going to open up a passing game it pays to have some weapons. Welcome to the cameras being on our WRs because a camera magnet came to town. I've always admired TO's talent. I've never cared for his attitude. I can't deny a level of excitement that he can be a catalyst here. I also can't deny a fear that there's more than one thing he can be a catalyst for. I like the reports that he is happy. I really like the fact he's doing football camps for youth for the first time in his career. He said he was going to embrace the star. I think that is a great way to start. I was thrilled to get to be involved in the registration and donation process to send 3 youth from this forum to his camps. Tanin, Eric, and Andre, I hope you enjoy it very much and learn a lot. I always loved summer football camps. Mine always had coaches, never a star of this magnitude.

The guy who I think benefits the most from TO coming is Terry Glenn. If they focus on TO too much, Glenn will kill them deep, and trust me they are going to focus a lot on TO. There are dangerous WRs all over the NFL. In my mind the most dangerous ones are the ones who have great hands. Both our starters have great hands, and they also run precise routes. Please let me be reading things right and we're going to have a wide open offense.

The key on offense is going to be Julius Jones. He'll be running out of a 1 back set with an H-back lead blocker more than the I or the split backfield. For a quick RB with shifty moves, this can signal a big year. He needs one. He needs it for himself, and we need it from him. Parchy's report that he was catching more passes than the other backs had me smiling from ear to ear. He's about to get his chance to shine a bit because defenses won't be able to key on him as much if the line gives Bledsoe time and opens him some lanes.

I'm more excited about the defense than the offense. Spears is healthy and bigger. Canty is healthy and stronger. I need to see pics of Ware that the media is telling us because this kid was already my favorite player to read about and imagine as a difference maker. Throw in Hatcher and the praise he's getting and I like our pass rush. I wish Ellis were on board, and maybe he is. We all know the media can overblow things, but I'm disappointed in him. Right now he appears to be the weak link of this team because he's whining so much.

On the interior I am going to miss Glover, but if Ferguson is healthy he's solid. I gotta admit I became an instant Montavious Stanley fan from his phone call to Norm. My favorite line was when Norm asked him about playing NT. "Shortest distance to the QB baby! Ha ha!" I was sold on him right there.

I like our LB corps so much better than last year. I was so happy when we took Bobby Carpenter. I think he fills the SOLB needs perfectly. If Burnett comes back healthy and James builds on last year it's going to be a fun year. I like everything I read about Ayodele so far. No doubt the depth is so much better than last year when we paid Michael Barrow for 1 play before he went back into retirment.

Our secondary will be dangerous if someone steps up to be the Free Safety. Paging Mr. Watkins, Mr. Pat Watkins, please report to center field and show your skills. I'm excited about a full year from Anthony Henry. He tried to come back too soon. The kid was physical and he made plays. Newman shut down the other side. If Watkins (or anyone else can man the middle) Roy is going to be dangerous.

Make no mistakes about it, this D is going to hit people 3 ways, hard, fast, and continuously. When the D is on the field I won't be sitting down much. This is our meal ticket.

I hate kickers, but I'm finally not afraid to see one of them on the field for a FG try. We also added some Special teams performers in Coleman, Watkins, Boiman, and Beriault coming back. There will be hitting here too, but more important, I think we'll win the field position battles.

Bring on training camp because we're back. You can say I'm drinking the koolaid if you want. I haven't had real good feelings about a season in a long time. This year I'm feeling like something fun is going to happen. It will start with the magazines hitting the stands this weekend. When the media and Vegas pay this much attention to a team, drink the koolaid.

I think you're getting carried away. Our defense was decent last year, not great. Our pass rush still netted only 37 sacks which is mediocre. And on offense, the OL,RB,QB and WR are big question marks. TO didn't get Niners to the playoffs every year and the Eagles didn't need TO to get to the playoffs and Bledsoe has had a good supporting cast before, yet struggled to get his team to the playoffs. Most writers still do not believe in Bledsoe, only the naive 'pocket purists' really believe that he can do what he hasn't been able to do in years.

 

[wileedog]

I think you're getting carried away. Our defense was decent last year, not great. Our pass rush still netted only 37 sacks which is mediocre. And on offense, the OL,RB,QB and WR are big question marks. TO didn't get Niners to the playoffs every year and the Eagles didn't need TO to get to the playoffs and Bledsoe has had a good supporting cast before, yet struggled to get his team to the playoffs. Most writers still do not believe in Bledsoe, only the naive 'pocket purists' really believe that he can do what he hasn't been able to do in years.

With a halfway decent kicker Bledsoe would have done it last year.

 

[Hostile]

I think you're getting carried away.

Says the man who's the epitome of carried away. hell, you're still giddy about a flop.

Our defense was decent last year, not great.

It was the first year in a new system. What did you expect?

Our defense allowed only 19.3 points per game which was good enough for 12th in the NFL.

Our pass rush still netted only 37 sacks which is mediocre.

It was also an improvement over 2004 and this despite a lot of injuries. Especially to the LB corps which if you know anything about a 3-4 scheme is the driving porce of the scheme.

And on offense, the OL,RB,QB and WR are big question marks.

WR is a question mark? I disagree.

We added OL and are getting guys back healthy. If you don't think that's improvement then by all means continue being wrong.

I'd say backup QB is a question mark, but the starter isn't.

I don't see RB as a question mark either beyond health. If you mean health then I agree. I also addressed that in my post if you bothered to read.

TO didn't get Niners to the playoffs every year and the Eagles didn't need TO to get to the playoffs and Bledsoe has had a good supporting cast before, yet struggled to get his team to the playoffs.

I didn't put the playoffs on the shoulders of Bledsoe and TO. Go back and look. I put it on the defense and the Special teams.

Most writers still do not believe in Bledsoe, only the naive 'pocket purists' really believe that he can do what he hasn't been able to do in years.

No writers believe in Quincy Crankcase, only a couple of dim blubs really believe that he can do what he was never able to do in his entire career.