Cowboys Blog Official

Parcells Guys Editorial

Ten Things I Know I Thought Last Night

1st. I hate to begin with a negative, but we don’t have a viable backup quarterback on this roster. In two preseason games against 2nd and 3rd string defenses these are the stats for Henson and Romo: 20 of 39, 221 yards, 0 Td’s, 1 Int’s. This was against players who might not even be on the Cardinals/Seahawks rosters by opening day. The one thing I saw, or maybe it’s didn’t see, is that neither of these guys can find a way to get 6 points on the board. Now if I have to choose one or the other I have to pick Romo, but if I am Coach Parcells and I have to choose I am going to have to pick...Testaverde? I know that was out of left field, but I think it’s going to happen by the end of the preseason.

2nd. Julius Jones has moves that no other running back in the NFL can duplicate. He seems to slow down time sometimes and shoot through the smallest crease between defenders. He’s one of those guys who is learning to move forward all the time and gain yardage even if it's only a few yards here and there. Then he will bust a 20-30 yarder once the defense starts to settle down. He’s just electric.

3rd. The defense was having trouble stopping the Seahawks quick passing plays, but they adjusted after that one TD drive and made enough plays to stop the leak. They are not the ‘85 Bears by any stretch of the imagination, but they should grow into this 3-4 / 4-3 hybrid defense and in time their athletic ability will win out. If you had three of four straight scoring drives up and down the field in these first two games I would be worried. This was far from the case and we also have to remember they were using some “vanilla” defense as we play both the Cards and Seahawks in the regular season in 2005. This defense will be good enough to win 10 games this season.

4th. Demarcus Ware is the new LT. He will have 10-14 sacks this season and that’s the fact jack! He reminded me of Simeon Rice on that sack and fumble recovery. He reminded me of Derek Brooks on that interception. Imagine this kid combines both of their abilities. Nice.

5th. Keith Davis gets one more game to show he can be the Free Safety. He didn’t screw up that bad tonight although he looked to be a little late on some coverages. He will not be Darren Woodson at any point in 2005 so don’t even think to look for that type of comparison. Try to think of Davis as a George Teague/Bill Bates/Michael Downs type of player who will make a play every once in a while, but won’t ever win the game for the Cowboys. His special teams play on the other hand could win a game at some point so he’s a big part of the team for Coach Parcells.

6th. Drew Bledsoe is not Troy Aikman. Drew Bledsoe is not Quincy Carter. Drew Bledsoe is not going to be the reason we win or lose games in 2005. He is going to be one of the 11 teammates on an offensive unit who will try to drive the football down the field and get a touchdown. One thing you will see from him is his heart on his sleeve and a fire in his eye from the first play until the last play of every single game he plays in as a Dallas Cowboy. That’s all we can ask from the guy.

7th. Petitti in, Rogers out. Cortez in, Cundiff out. Crayton in, Morgan out. Polite in, Barnes out. Gurode in, Johnson in...both of these guys will play Center at different times this season. Not a big deal, both have ability.

8th. This year’s draft class will be known one day as the draft that turned it all around. Coach Parcells has picked up some gems here. Canty, Barber, Spears, Berry-O and Burnett may never be household names, but they will be in my house. I just got done telling my brother that Berry-O reminds me of Bill Bates and then Al Michaels uses my line and tells millions what I am thinking. Canty and Spears will go down in history one day as Parcells’ Guys and be in a select group with names such as Banks, Carson and Burt. Barber is going to have to work for his because he’s a running back. Coach Parcells is the hardest on this position because no one will ever be as good as his all time favorite player, Curtis Martin.

9th. Jerry Jones was having tea in his luxury box during the game and he looked like he was right at home doing so. That tells me he’s more relaxed these days with Bill around to run the show. He always seemed ready to get right in the mix when Gailey and Campo were on the job. Nowadays he seems to be acting more like an NFL team owner. Always a thriving business man to the end is who Jerry Jones is and will always be, so Jones will always be in the spotlight, but maybe he finally realizes it’s best to let “football guys” do the “football stuff”. The best thing about him is that he does things to make sure you know that no matter what happens he loves the Dallas Cowboys and everyone involved with the team. He was right there at the hospital with Coach Lynn after hearing the assistant coach was hit by a drunken driver. Can any of us fans even say we know if our job would be safe if we had to have emergency surgery putting us down for some time? Probably not.

10th. The Cowboys have as good of a chance as the other 31 teams to make the trip to Detroit in February. In this day and age the NFL is built around the fact that each year a few teams will get some breaks while playing solid football and wind up in the tournament. Not one person in the entire world can tell me right now they know the Cowboys won’t win it all. I love this game and I ain’t talking about the NBA. I think the Cowboys will win every game this season. If they don’t, they don’t. If they do, you heard it here first. Go Cowboys!

Bring on the Texans!