Parcells, Please Keep Them Benched

Deep in our hearts we knew the Cowboys were probably going to lose against the Ravens on the road. Surprisingly enough though, the Cowboys played very well on defense and had the lead 3-0 at the half. Unfortunately the season's dreaded play would rear its ugly head again, the main culprit - Vinny Testaverde. Testaverde single handedly brought the Cowboys back down with his two INTS for TDs, can you play anyworse, this is just icy on the cake. Vinny has thrown a whole lot of COSTLY INTS over the last 3 games.

Bringing in Henson may have been too little too late, but you know what? Henson looked pretty good considering the circumstances - hostile environment, down 30-3, highly rated defense. Not only did Henson replace Vinny, but he was 6 for 6 with deadon accuracy, he ran for a key first down, and he threw for a TD. Its just common sense to bench your struggling QB, and added to that, Henson will earn some valuable playing time - very key for his development.

We knew the results, we knew what was going to happen, so why did Die Hard fans alike watch the game? Simple, we're all Die Hard to the bone, and we want to win, but morever, we wanted to "see" what Julius Jones would do since his injury in week 2. Julius Jones looked pretty good against the highly rated Ravens defense. In addition, we got a bonus when Drew entered the game.

Perhaps, its too early to praise these two rookies, but its better than what we've been playing with for about 9 weeks....Backups in the starting rotation. Its hard to win with backups in the starting lineup in very key positions like QB & RB.

That being said....Coach Parcells, please keep the backups Vinny and George on the bench.

Another Meltdown, Surprised?

The Cowboys struggles continue, and one staple of this struggling play is that of QB Vinny Testaverde. In the last (2) Games Vinny has thrown 6 INTS! His throws have been inconsistent, and thrown without any whip on them. I watched in agony as he threw more INTS in a game we desperately needed to win.

Fans alike have hoped that Vinny would lead the team on offense, but this simply has not manifested through the 1st half of the season. Now comes the decision that Parcells will need to make very-very soon....Is it time to work in Henson? With another convincing loss, the Cowboys drop to (3-5) on the year. With (3) games in the next 11 days, this team will face a huge challenge. If the Cowboys can sweep those game, we're sill in the hunt, if we lose all three, its over - you can turn out the lights. What's the outlook? Looking at how we have performed at home and on the road, the latter seems more realistic, unfortunately. Can we beat the Eagles, Ravens and Bears in that 11 day stretch?

Die Hards will no doubtally conitinue to support our Cowboys, we still bleed blue, but right now fans everywhere are crying blue...

Can't Win at Home? Now what?

Yet another very disappointing lose at HOME, two straight home loses. What is going on you say? Well, were could you begin? Is it the defense, the offense, special teams, coaches? I think so, this is a complete breakdown. The Cowboys cannot get on track, and the scary thing is that we cannot win at home! This begs the question, if we can't win at home, how can we win in hostile away games?

We play the Packers next, and guess what its not looking so good. Its not one person, its not "someone has to step up" ITS the WHOLE team has to step it up and they better pick it up right now.

Sure the season is early, but how many loses can we take before players moral heads south and the 5-11 mindset rears its ugly head.

Buckle your seatbelt this could be a bumpy ride. God I hope not, but we have not done much to suggest otherwise.

Cowboys Lose to Vikings Again...

The Vikings have had the Cowboys number over the last couple of years. Moss is virtually unstoppable. He did not get many yards but the TDs are the ones that count and Moss made TD catches that hurt us. More offensive penalties killed several key drives. We lost 35-17, it could have been closer, but the Vikings were just the better team on Sunday.

Postives:
ReShard Lee is a playmaker type running back - he looked great.
Antonio Bryant made several catches in traffic and looked pretty good

Negatives:
Tony Dixon cannot tackle
Hunter continues to struggle
Overall defense looked horrible
No pass rush from the front four
Secondary coverage was suspect - blown coverages
Offensive line penalties
Muffed field goal
We can keep going....

Next:
Cleveland @ Dallas
3:15 CST

Cowboys @ Vikings Prediction

The Vikings have dominated the Cowboys in recent years, but that was before the Bill Parcells came aboard. The big talk has been centered around the Vikings Moss...can we stop him, how do we stop him, can we win at Minnesota? Many questions, with many possibilities.

The media has overshadowed our potential to light it up on offense as well. With an accurate QB in Vinny and a pretty good core of receivers we could very well go toe-to-toe against the Vikes offensively. Remember at the beginning of the year, the Cowboys were actually ranked #1 in total offense for the first couple of weeks - not the Rams, not the Vikes, it was the Cowboys. All of this without Vinny, George, or Keyshawn.

The Vikings defense is mediocre and is very capable of giving up a lot of points.

I predict that we will see a pretty good showing by our offense. The Vikings cannot shutdown our various array of weapons. Can they cover Glenn, and can they stop Keyshawn, what about AB? Can they stop Witten from making key 3rd down conversions? How about slowing down our DEEP backfield. You think the Vikings have a deep RB core, maybe, but I like our depth better.

We'll shove Richie Anderson down their throat, along with George, we'll use Julius to make people miss, and Lee will hit the line and leave their D looking back at a dust cloud - that's how good our depth is at RB. Ball control and time control is Parcells type football, and we definitely have the personnel to run on them all day long.

Don't count our receivers out either, we are capable of making plays through the air with playmakers like Keyshawn and Jason Witten with the clutch city catches.

On defense, we will retain the #1 Defense in the league again this year. Expect to see a lot of different looks from our defense. stunts, blitzes, zone blitzes, safety blitz, nickel and dime packages, we'll see a 3-4 set to throw them off, we could see Bradie James and Kalen Thornton making plays in a 3-4 lineup. Trust me, the Vikings will have their hands full on the line of scrimmage with Glover, Ellis, Wiley and Eaton. You want speed and muscle on defense, well, we have it.

Moss will make some catches, but its going to take more than Moss to beat us this time around. We are a team to be reckoned with.

Cowboys 27 Vikings 24

Football is here!!!

Hunting For A Cornerback!

When there's a weakness in our starting lineup it sticks out like a sore thumb. For example, last year it was Quarterback and Running Back. It would appear that those to holes have been filled with some real talent, only time will tell. Defensive End was addressed as well when the Cowboys signed Marcellus Wiley. Cornerback and Defensive Tackle are two other spots that needed help. We've added some depth at DT with the emergence of Leo Carson and the addition of Chad Eaton.

Only thing left on defense is the RCB spot. Pete Hunter is the favorite to win out the spot, but his play in the preseason has been very suspect and of concern. The other two players have less experience than Hunter ; like, Powell and Thornton. Powell has been severely burnt more than once, and Thornton has not played as much.

The concerns are mounting, Parcells has stated, "someone has to step up" Parcells has even commented that if needed he could "pinch" someone and get a guy. Who? I'm not sure, could be Ty Law, McKenzie or someone else.

One thing is for sure, we're still in the hunt for decent CB, if anything Hunter and Co. will be the stop gappers for this year and you can bet that we'll be in great position for next years draft. There will be a couple of pretty good CBs coming out next year. Eventually someone will step up or someone will showup via the draft.

From Conditioning to Clinching

The media has pegged the Eagles to win out in the NFC East...again, and that is not a far fetched prediction, will it happen? That's another question. The East could be one of the most competitive divisions in the league and the East promises to be an all out rumble this year and players better be well coached and conditioned if they want to make that run to the playoffs.

What's it going to take to clinch the NFC East this year? Without a doubt the Eagles have dominated the East for several years, but the Cowboys are gaining ground and will be right on their tails if not better in 2004, not to mention, its only a matter of time before Gibbs whips the Skins back into shape. The Eagles know this, and are running out of time - the window is closing on them. So, what do the Eagles do this offseason? They sign Terrell Owens and injury prone DE Jevon Kearse. Signing these two marquee names does not guarantee anything, lets not forget that the Eagles lost some core leaders like CBs Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor, RB Duce Staley also jumped ship.

One key to victory this year will be conditioning, and the Cowboys have one of the best, if not THE best conditioning coach in Joe Jurasek. Under Jurasek the Cowboys have had less injuries than the rest of the East. With a better head coach and retooling of the starting lineups the Cowboys will rely on Jurasek's conditioning program to enable our guys to outlast the rest of the division.

Its early in the preseason, and teams like the Redskins and Eagles have already incurred major injuries to key players that will have them out for the year.

In Washington, they lost OT Jansen to a season ending injury, this will only hurt the Skins already weak offensive line, do not expect newly acquired RB Clinton Portis to have the same level of success in Washington as he did in Denver. Talent at RB does make a difference and there's no doubt that Portis will be dangerous, but he will only be as good as his line is this year.

The Eagles have already lost key players like ND Kalu, Grasmanis, Buckhalter, Ike Reese, and Trotter to name a few.

The Cowboys have a lot of positives that could help them make a serious run at clinching the East and another trip into the playoffs, the key could come down to conditioning.

Cowboys/Texans Postgame Views

Well, I was way off on my prediction, lol. I know it was a preseason game, but the Cowboys stunk it up bigtime. I saw the game, and the whole time I was hoping to catch a camera shot of Parcells, I'm sure he was fuming and angered by the poor-poor performance. Redzone penalties, holding, offsides, dropped balls, overthrows, and INTS stopped the Cowboys from doing anything postive as a unit.

Now, what do we know from last nights game?

Let's look at the good and bad news here:
1) Pete Hunter did not do good at all - the Texans threw at him all day, the spot opposite Newman is still open.
2) Eddie George looked slow
3) Dixon played sufficiently
4) ReShard Lee WILL make this team, he ran very well, good speed and fluid, hit the line like a bullet.
5) Henson looks very good, quick release, high velocity and moved the offense pretty accurate except for the endzone INT
6) Julius Jones is the real deal, forget about George taking the bulk of the carries, Julius runs like a veteran Cowboy of yesteryear. Bounce outs, quick cuts and jukes all made pretty good chunks of yards.
7) Patrick Crayton looks good and I expect him to make the team, Zuriel will be out.
8) The Oline held up most of the game, very good protection for our QBs, sure there was some pressure, but much improved from last year. For the rookies - Peterman played well but did get beat a few times and pushed around, he held his own and will improve. Jacob Rogers is a huge OT, and he did a good job last night. The battle for RT will come down to the end as Tucker played pretty good as well.
9)Plays of the game was a semi-deep pass from Henson to Randal Williams and a sideline pass from Henson to Crayton.
10) I liked the play of backups Bradie James and rookie Ryan Fowler, they played well - both were all over the field making tackles.

I have to give the Texans sooome credit though, they played very well, and their two first rounder rookies Dunta Robinson and Jason Babin made some plays - they are going to be immediate impact players for that team.

I'm Parcells and Co. will be chewing some ass this week. We need more work.

Cowboys vs. Texans Prediction

First preseason game at Reliant Stadium for the Governors Cup. I predict a victory. Cowboys 27 Texans 24

Parcells Making His Team

The Cowboys kick off the preseason today at Houston, and man has this team been overhauled or upgraded in comparisons to this time last year. Parcells is clearly making HIS team his way. We started out slow in free agency, but historically Parcells has done the same with his previous teams, so we can expect the same thing for 2005 and beyond.

Moreover, Parcells has removed "weaklinks" from this team since his arrival. Notable starters that have been cut from last years team are RB Troy Hambrick and QB Quincy Carter, both were given the opportunity to shine, but both ended up being failing and ultimately shown the door. What we didn't know is that QC had a substance abuse issue, so all the planning and manuvering by the Cowboys this offseason were planned from the get-go. As soon as we lost our Wild Card game to the Panthers, we knew there was going to be change. Deep in your heart you know QC was not going to get it done - sure he seemed like a nice guy, but that will not get it done in the NFL. So, who could we get to replace QC? The Cowboys scout team knew the good QBs from this years class would be long gone by our #22 pick and this was true - some fan favorites Philip Rivers, and Ben Rothlisberger were long gone. Knowing that these guys would probably be gone, the Cowboys made a move before the draft and traded for former blue chipper QB Drew Henson whom the Texans drafted in hopes that he would return to football. The wheels were in motion, so Parcells knew he would need a viable mentor and someone who can add depth at QB. Vinny Testaverde's name was being rumored from the end of the regular season, so as soon as he was released from the Jets, he was in Dallas. This would be the final piece in getting rid of Quincy Carter a second round bust....

Now looking ahead, we know Vinny will start this year, BUT will our Oline hold up for the classic drop back quarterback, if not Vinny (40) could take some hits and could very well get injured. An injury to Vinny would most likely throw Henson into the Lions den sooner that expected. Whether its the 2004 or 2005 season, Henson is the heir apparent to Aikman, and he better be ready.

Early reports have Henson doing very well in camp, showing laser sharp accuracy, high velocity, and NFL arm. The plan from the get go was to get these two guys aboard and phase out QC - another relic from a dismal offensive era.

The new era is here, and Parcells continues to mold his team.

Training Camp is Here!

Well Cowboys Training Camp is in full swing, and the big names have already made some impressions. Eddie George has the focus of a wide-eyed rookie showing durability, strength and experience. George has been making people miss, breaking tackles, and finding the holes in the Oline.

Antonio Bryant is being watched closely by everyone, and AB early on has been making big time catches downfield.

Larry Allen is well conditioned, well alot better than previous seasons. LA is exhibiting a much improved work ethic and looks good so far.

Parcells has stated that Julius will be tested in training camp and will get many carries and opportunities to show what he can bring to the team.

Early on, the only disappointing play is coming from WR Randal Williams. Williams is liked by many fans and many have hoped he would have the breakout year, usually Randal has had great camps and pretty good preseasons, is he unmotivated? We hope he can be an asset in the offensive scheme, but he will need to be consistent in camp and beyond.

In other news, Woodson is recovering from his disc surgery, and the team is reporting that he will miss the team opener and should be ready between weeks 2-3 depending on how his rehab comes along.

All drafted rookies have indeed been signed - now they will need to earn that Star.

Pre-Training Camp Positional Grades

With training camp looming less than 4 weeks away, I'll take a look at our pre-training camp positional grades, once camp has completed, we'll revisit and see if we have improved by position.

Quarterbacks
Let's be honest here, We have some "potential", but potential does not win games. Quincy Carter has been under Parcells system for a year now, so he should have a better season, the key will be his ball throwing decisions - will he get flushed out of the pocket and throw a senseless INT? or will he clutch it out? Then we have Veteran QB Vinny Testaverde...Testaverde was brought into Dallas to Mentor the heir apparent Drew Henson, BUT should QC fail to be productive early, we could see Vinny in the game. Vinny will mentor all our young QBs, along with Sean Payton the QB corps should be better improved. Vinny has been productive everywhere he has played, so his presence will be valuable this season. Drew Henson is the next guy on the depth chart. He hasn't played football in years, but that didn't stop several NFL clubs from taking a look at Henson at the Texans private workouts. He has the prototype NFL build, and NFL arm. For now, Henson is a season project - we all know this. Romo is a fans favorite, and although he has not played in any regular season games, he has a strong arm, and his style of play is reminiscint of Brett Farve, Romo qualifies to be on the practice squad this year, after that he will probably make the move into our lineup after Vinny Retires in 2005. Hutch will be gone.
Overall Pre-Training Camp Grade: C+

Running Backs
Are running back are young a raw. Rookie RB Julius Jones will be penciled in as the starter, but we can expect the rookie to share the load for now with Veteran RB Richie Anderson. Parcells has moved Richie to the running spot, so the 1 - 2 punch could be lethal this year. Julius is shifty, well balanced and elusive. I expect to see some Emmitt-like runs from Julius this year. RaShard Lee is another young back to look out for this season. Lee will probably battle it out with Cason for the backup spot, more now since Bickerstaff is out for the year. Expect to see multiple backfield formations, with Julius as the featured back, and Richie coming in on third down plays.
Overall Pre-Training Camp Grade: B+

Fullbacks
Fullbacks is an interesting position this year, since Parcells is moving Richie from FB to RB. Training camp will be very pivotal for the FBs that we have. Jamar Martin is reportedly in Parcells doghouse for showing up out of shape and overweight. Parcells is looking for "his guy" at FB. Parcells brought rookie Lousaka Polite who has good ball catching skills along with blocking skills - his scouting report sounds similar to Richie. Parcells likes FB to catch from the backfield and Polite will make a serious run. We also acquired Barnes from Tampa Bay, who is mainly a Special Teams specialist, but he will be in the hunt as well. Overall the FB spot is totally open, and really is a question mark for us. Inexperience and youth make the FB spot weak right now. Again, there is potential, but we'll have to see if that will manifest into solid quality play this year.
Overall Pre-Training Camp Grade: C-

Tight Ends
It's been a very long time since Cowboys fans have been excited and confident in the TEs position. Well this year we have some great expectations, and we have some great guys in the TE corps. Jason Witten...one word "Tough" this was one of the bright spots in last years stagnant offense. Witten exhibited he could follow his routes through, catch the ball, block, and take big hits... all of this while playing with wires in his jaw. Witten has had a solid offseason workout and has been hard at work. Fans are awaiting his dominating year this year. In addition, Campbell will be back, and he is another solid TE with good catching hands and great blocking. We also have Robinson, who's only job is to snap, and he's been rock solid thus far. Cowboys drafted a true monster type TE in Sean Ryan from Boston College, expect Ryan to be involved in SPecial Teams play and in the offensive blocking schemes, this guy is huge. We also have James Whalen who has been plagued with nagging injuries, but when he is healthy he is a star on Special Teams, Whalen could be on the bubble this time around though.
Overall Pre-Training Camp Grade: A

Wide Receivers
Early last season there was talk that we had one of the best Trios in the league with Galloway, Glenn, and Bryant...Well, that talk quickly faded after we got out to a fast start, but quickly faded. Galloway is gone, in his place with have "The Key" - Keyshawn Johnson. Keyshawn will be an immediate boost to player moral/motivation and leadership, especially playing for Parcells again. We have Terry Glenn who was very-very streaky, you just never knew which Glenn was going to show up. Glenn had some great games, but then he had some lameduck games. Then we have the volatile Antonio Bryant who had one good game in NY, but quickly faded into the distance. Dropped balls plagued AB the entire season, and fans question his play - was the dropped balls caused by off-the-field issues; drugs, women, partying or was it a depth perception issues - a visual impairment? Well, this offseason we came to learn that AB infact DID HAVE and visual problem, he had blurred vision. AB had lasik surgery, so this should be a nonissue this year. This is make or break for AB, he needs to shutup and be the playmaker he thinks he is. Another notable WR in our depth chart is another fan favored hopefull in Randall Williams. Williams reportedly runs a 4.3-4.2/40, that is just blazing speed. Williams has always shined in the preseason, but has never been given the real opportunity to shine in the starting three. Williams is a big receiver, with a solid build. Williams will probably have a bigger role this season. Two other rookie WRs to watch this camp will be James Newson and Brandon Middleton. Newson has good size, the only knock on Newson is his speed - kinda slow/average. Middleton the other interesting WR to watch, coming out of college Middleton was ranked in the top 15 for WRs in the NCAA, makes plays after the catch and has stated his style of play is similar to Carolina's Steve Smith, both similar builds in size.We have some options this year at WR, but Keyshawn and Glenn are not getting any younger.
Overall Pre-Training Camp Grade: B

Offensive Line
The big story this offseason was centered around Pro-Bowl Guard Larry Allen. Parcells, Jones, and LA have seemingly diffused the impasse for now. LA has been hard at work at the Cowboys facility working out with teammates. We know Allen and Flozell will have the leftside anchored down. Center should be very competitive this camp. Al Johnson will probably end up taking over at Center after being out last year from injury, but Matt Lehr will challenge and will make Johnson earn his spot. RT is up in the air right now as well with Torrin Tucker and Rogers in the thick of it, but second rounder Jacob Rogers is expected to make his way into the staring rotation as well. RG will be battled out between Andre Gurode and rookie third rounder Stephen Peterman. Its forseeable that we could have the right side played by two rookies, training camp will be interesting to see this year. We do have depth on the Oline as well.
Overall Pre-Training Camp Grade: B

Secondary
Little by little our secondary is shaping up to be one of the most dominating in the league. Here we go - the bright spots at our secondary are: LCB Terence Newman, SS Darren Woodson, and FS Roy Williams...RCB is the only missing link right now. Who will play opposite TNew? Right now, we're hearing Pete Hunter is the favored CB, Hunter has great height, and very speedy for his size. Alot of fans remember the bad play of Hunter last year, but he was playing out of position caused by Mitchells injury for that nickel slot. Hunter was inconsistent and burnt several times, but in 2004 Hunter returns to his natural spot at RCB. Hunter will be closely looked at by EVERYONE, and if there is any hesitation or inconsistent play, look for rookie CB Bruce Thorton to take his place. Thorton played very well for the Bulldogs and was their team captain for the #8 defense in NCAA. Thorton has great leadership and cover skills. Thorton made some noise during minicamps while he brokeup several passes, we'll see how he does against the veterans in camp with pads. Either way, Thorton will add solid depth at RCB,maybe in the nickel slot later. Parcells also added some depth in drafting Nate Jones and Jacquees Reeves.
Overall Pre-Training Camp Grade: B+

Linebackers
Our linebacker corps have always been solid for years, and this year is no exception. We will continue to see probowl play from MLB Dat Nguyen, Strongside LB will be played by AL Singleton, and perhaps one of this years most competitive spots at Weakside LB will be between Dexter Coakley and 2nd year player Bradie James. During minicamp, we got a preview of the LB lineup when James started over Coakley, which lit a LB contraversy by the media. Fans alike had James pegged to replace Singelton who is older and slower. We'll all watch how this plays out. Either way, LB will be solid once again. Hopefully Dat will his his deserved Pro-Bowl Nod this year!
Overall Pre-Training Camp Grade: A

Defensive Line
Another area of excited anticipation from fans comes because of the arrival of LE Marcellus Wiley. The past few years LE has been played by Greg Ellis who was playing out of position. With the arrival of Wiley, we'll see Ellis playing at his natural RE spot. Wiley could be what Haley was for us in the 90s. Wiley plays hard on every play, and has bigtime playing capabilities. Parcells has praised Wiley's offseason workouts and dedication to the team. Wiley will help add pressure, and allow someone two make plays in the backfield and visa/versa. With the addition of Wiley, we will see more sacks from Glover, and Ellis, in turn these sames players will help Wiley regain his confidence now that he's around quality defensive players. The only question mark in the Dlineup is the DT spot next to Glover, will it be Blade or Stewart, and will that person stay consistent the whole year. The only knock I had on Blade last year, was that he played fiercely early on, but he quickly faded and we saw more and more rotation in his spot. We'll see who comes to play this year.
Overall Pre-Training Camp Grade: A-

The 2004 Offseason has been very exciting and interesting thus far, and I'm sure we'll have some more surprises during camp and the preseason.

Our outlook for this season should be positive, We'll be under Parcells 2nd year rebuilding plan, so realistically we should make the playoffs again, BUT year 3+ is where the domination will be in full gear. The master of the draft made some noise by skipping out on Jackson, but what the mainstream media does not understand is that Parcells does his homework, and is very calculating in his decision making.