Oh, to be Rob Ryan today. He knows he’s all hat and no cattle.

After last night’s game I was utterly convinced that Rob Ryan had to go. His so called “defense”, in my mind, was the prime contributor to the loss against the Giants. I was like every other Cowboy fan in the Universe; upset, frustrated, disappointed, heck, even downright PO’d. I was not overly glad when he was hired, suspecting that this was NOT going to be a match made in heaven. This game was just further proof that I was right, right?

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I know this is putting the cart before the horse, but, if the Cowboys DO sign Asomugha at CB why not try Newman at FS?  He's not a killer at tackling, but he's not too bad either, at least in the open field.  Playing S and CB are 2 entirely different things I know, but he's smart enough and savvy enough to make the jump. 

You keep his experience on the team, he can slide to the slot if needed (he did that last year) and provide some backup at CB in an emergency.  I don't know if he'd like it or not, but it would be better than being released.  That would leave Jenkins, Asomugha, Ball and someone else at CB.  Of course if Asomugha signs somewhere else it's a moot point.

I know we are all aware of the weaknesses needing to be addressed; OL, DE, the whole defensive backfield just to name the most glaring.  A position that is NOT on the top of the list is WR, and for seemingly good reasons.  We have Miles Austin, coming off his 2nd Pro Bowl (yeah, I know, he was an injury replacement, but still) and a young stud in the making in one Dez Bryant. 

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With the hiring of the RHG as HC and the power he has apparently been given it appears that Cowboy fans are in a state of utter bliss.  Maybe even delireum.  I've been reviewing the comments on several posts and I can't remember the last time things seemed this good.  Not for a head coach hiring.  Wade? Campo? Switzer or Gailey?  BP maybe?.  Not even a player has been this universally approved of.  T.O.?  Nah.  Roy Williams?  Nope.  Dez Bryant, well, maybe, but this has a different, more permanent, long lasting feel to it.  At least to me.  This feels like a more "systemic" change, rather than just adding/subtracting from something that is inherently flawed.

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Given the defensive struggles experienced almost the whole year I have recently been giving some thought to what can be done to mitigate some of the issues.  The issues are well known by even cursory Cowboys fans; the inability to get consistent pressure on the QB, get a stop in crunch time, and generally poor tackling are well documented.  Even stopping the run, while less of an issue than the others, has been problematic from time to time.

For a defense to go from near the top of the league to near the bottom in one year, with only one player change, is puzzling to say the least.  Now granted, the player change in question is a key in the defensive scheme of things given that he calls the coverage and is “supposed” to get people in the right place, but still, if the player change were causing problems with either of those tasks you would THINK that they could get someone else to do them.  If there were/are issues with that player missing INDIVIDUAL assignments, as I suspect he was, then that is another story.

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As pleased as I was that the Cowboys won the game yesterday I will admit to some rather confusing thoughts and mixed emotions about the D as I lay my head on my pillow last night.  I was very pleased with 4 forced turnovers, 2 returned for TD's, but disappointed by over 300 yard of passing offfense by the Colts, despite having Dallas Clark, Joseph Addai, etc missing.  I loved the way they made to Colts one dimensional by slamming the door on the running game, yet they gave up 2 TD runs in short yardage.

More after the jump

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If you haven't had time to catch it here is a really interesting post by Bob Sturm at the DMN talking about the differences between Romo and Kitna in passing efficiency to the top 4 receiving threats.  Pretty interesting reversal of fortunes.

http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/11/bob-sturms-offensive-game-plan-3.html

I really wonder if there is more to this than meets the eye.  Would the number have been the same without the QB change, given the natural progression of Bryant and the likelihood that Williams would "settle down" and vice versa?

As I noted in a previous post, I looked at the OL numbers and came up with the possibility of keeping 5 OT’s on the 53 man roster.  One possibility that I don’t think I heard mentioned is the possibility of releasing Marc Colombo.  He’s getting up there in years, and though he’s not tremendously old he has been struggling recently with injuries sapping his remaining skills.  If the team is serious about getting younger along the OL, and if they really like the potential of guys like Young, Tepper, Bright and Costa, then a release of Colombo might be a way to accommodate them all.  Doing so would force Barron into the starter at RT, make Brewster the swing T (this could be the reason we saw him play both sides against the Chargers) and allow another interior guy to be on the game day roster. 

All of that sounds reasonable, the question is, is younger better?  The answer of course is, not always.  But given that a lot of the players in question are either rookies or young 2nd year guys I don’t think we can answer that one.  Will the powers that be have the cajones to release a proven vet to go with unproven guys with potential?  We’ll know shortly. 

Years ago I was in a position where I learned a very valuable lesson regarding cause and effect.  Not to go into the whole story but essentially it boiled down to if something is supposed to happen, and it doesn't, then what caused it?  What I finally boiled it down to was what I call "Can't; or won't?"  If someone is supposed to do something, and they don't do it, is it can't or won't.  If it's CAN''T then it's either a training issue or an ability issue.  If it's WON'T, then that a discipline issue. 

So here we are, after 4 mostly miserable games, wondering if this team simply CAN'T get it done, or if they even more simply WON'T get it done.  Given this teams personnel and past record I am confident that they CAN get it done.  They have multiple Pro Bowl players on both sides of the ball and the majority of the players have been to multiple playoff games, and even won one.  So clearly they CAN do it, or at least they USED to be able to do it.

That leaves us with WON'T.  Won't is a generally a discipline issue.  Do they simply not care enough?  Do they think they can get by on talent alone?  That's the question.  Is it something else, or a combination of them all?  We went through this in '09, after the terrific '08 season they came back with what seemed like a sense of entitlement and ended up not even making the playoffs.  All off season we've heard that they were humiliated in Minnesota and would come back even more determined.  They've been saying the right things, but saying and doing are 2 different things. 

A lot of this comes from Wade Phillips, the king of "saying the right thing".  Mr. "A playoff bye is like a win", or "I accept the blame for what happened", etc etc. The players all claim to love playing for him, and I have no doubt that that's true. he let's them be what they want to be.  I am a fan of Phillips, and this not meant to be a bashing of the coach, HOWEVER, letting a player be what he wants to be does no good if deep down inside they really want to take the easiest way out.  There have been few indications that this team has a bunch of guys who don't want to work; for the most part they all seem like hard workers so I don't believe that to be true. 

That leaves us with, what?  Personally, I think what we're seeing is a combination of a very disjointed training  camp (thank you again, Jerry Jones) and a little bit of human nature.  Bouncing all over the country, not being able to focus like you need to for extended periods of time is not condusive to team building.  And listening to talk of how this team is one of the favorites to play in the Super Bow, at HOME no less, is bound to have some effect on a player, no matter how much they try and block it out.  And that is especially true on the younger players.  The younger you are, the more tempting the cheese! 

Someone, ANYONE, needs to take this week and lay the hammer down, even if it means the players won't like it.  Hell, ESPECIALLY if the players don't like it.   

     I was fiddling around with different scenarios for the 53 man roster, taking into acccount who has been getting good reviews at camp, who's looked good in the games and what the "insiders" are reporting, etc etc. 

     As I was looking over the OL names, penciling in the starters, primary backups, etc I suddenly found myself with 5 OT's.  Free at LT, Kosier at LG, Guroder at C, Davis at RG and Colombo at RT. Throw in Barron as the swing tackle.  Even though Brewster is supposedly a better fit as a G, he's played almost exclusivly as a tackle, and Sam Young is only a tackle.  If the reports that the coaches like Young a lot and don't want to lose him are right then he makes the team as well.  They'll never keep more than 10 OL, to have 3 of your backups as OT's is a little deep to me.  Yeah, Brewster can move inside, but he hasn't been doing it so far, so make of it what you will.  Assuming Costa is the backup C and Holland is the backup true G, that's 10.  No more room for any more OL.  No Tepper, no Bright, no anyone else. 

     Even if they do something unexpected, like releasing McGee and rolling with 2 QB's, that's a pretty steep investment in the OL.  And if they do something even MORE unexpected, like releasing Cricket and keeping Miller then it throws it even more up in the air.

     So, here's what I think we'll see:

QB: Romo and Kitna

RB: Jones, Barber, Choice and Miller

TE: Witten and Bennett

FB/H-back: Gronkowski

WR: Austin, Williams, Crayton, Bryant, Ogletree and Hurd

OL: Free, Kosier, Gurode, Davis, Colombo, Barron, Brewster, Holland, Costa and Young

DL: Spears, Ratliff, Olshansky, Hatcher, Bowen and Brent

OLB: Ware, Spencer, B. Williams and Butler

ILB: James, Brookings, Lee and J. Williams

CB: Newman, Jenkins, Scandrick and Gordon, McCann

S: Ball, Hamlin, Sensabaugh, Church, McCray, Owusu-Ansah

ST: Buehler, McBriar and Ladeceur (sp)

The 53rd spot came down to either McCann or Siavii, I went with McCann because of the premium on young quality CB's, and the fact that one of the DE's can slide inside if needed.  I kept Brent over Siavii because of his upside.  I kept Miller because I like him and I'm not real hip to Barber's long term future.  The reality is that they will probably never keep Miller, or at least 4 RB;s in any event, but he's just shown me so much I had to keep him.  He's young, strong, can catch and he'll open up some trade possibilities (Choice?)if they so desire. If it were me, I'd keep Miller and shop Choice.

With the injuries to Kosier, Columbo and Barron, as well as the age of almost everyone else, I think it's now time for Jerruh to get on the bat phone and see what he can get to add some YOUNG depth to an increasingly fragile OL.  This season is way too promising and the rest of the team WAY too loaded to let it all fall by the wayside because of OL issues.  And it certainly WILL coming crashing down if some steps are not taken to provide some protection.  There IS no more room for another injury, what little depth there may or may not have been is now officially GONE.  When the biggest "question mark" along the OL going into camp is now arguably the bright spot you know you have an issue.  Columbo is supposed to be back for the opener, but a 31 year old RT with a bad wheel, who had issues late last year after coming off another injury, and who hasn't exactly lit it up in the pre-season, does NOT inspire much confidence even if he does make it back.  When injuries start to happen late in a career rarely is it an isolated event, they tend to come in spurts.

So, fire up the phones Jerruh.  We apparently have a surplus of LB's capable of contributing, someone with some OL depth is bound to need that and be willing to deal.  There may even be a market for some of the young DB's.  If not, then you have to start spending picks.  Depending on who it was for I would not be opposed to sending a mid-round pick for a young guy who can be a solid backup.  The OL is too important to the fortunes of this team to try and just get by and hope there are no more problems. 

They may try and wait till after the waivers start to see if they can snag someone then, but if the opportunity presented itself to get someone before that I'd jump on it.  Now, do you go after an interior guy or an OT?  You can make a case for either one.

Heading into the downtime prior to camp here is what I'm thinking is going to happen.

** David Buehler is going to step up and restore some consistency to the FG unit.

** The combination of Williams and Lee is going to make it hard for James/Brooking to get on the field in Nickle/Dime situations.

** Dez Bryant is going to push RW for playing time prior to week 3.

** Martellus Bennett is going to grow up and treat this football thing like a job.

** Sean Lissemore is going to make Junior Siavi a memory on the roster this year, and one of the DE's next year.

** Doug Free is going to be this years Miles Austin, a guy who is given his shot and takes it by the horns.

More after the jump!

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Last year, when Tony Romo went down with an injury, we all suffered through the agony of watching Brad Johnson trying to throw an NFL caliber pass.  His career was clearly done, and had been for a couple of years; Jerry Jones just didn’t realize it.  Other than serving as a quality holder on place kicks, he offered very little value.  Going into this season I think that most of us would have placed Jon KItna clearly in the UPGRADE category over Johnson as a backup, if for no other reason than arm strength.  Fortunately, Tony was able to take every snap at QB for the team this year, so we never had to/got to find out how the offense would function with him at QB.  So, what value does he add to the team?  Peace of mind? Maybe, but we won’t know till he actually plays.  To me his real value has gone virtually unmentioned by ANYONE.  When he came here there were reports that he was actually a very good TEAM guy, Carson Palmer I believe even gives him a ton of credit for his development.  I’m wondering if it’s more than a coincidence that Tony’s sudden maturity just HAPPENED to coincide with Kitna’s arrival.  Not being an insider I have no real proof, but it sure seems like having a veteran QB he can confide in, someone who can whisper in his ear from time to time, has made a world of difference in Tony’s play.

Hopefully Tony will take every snap, right on through the Super Bowl, but if for some reason he can’t, I think that Kitna will turn out to be OK, maybe even better than OK, and demonstrate some OTHER value to the team. 

I've recently tossed around in my head the possibility of trading barber in the off-season.  We clearly have 3 very good RB's, and just as clearly there are struggles getting them all in defined roles and getting them enough playing time to make them effective.  I keep going back to the old expression, "if you have 2 QB's then you really don't have ONE".  In this case, if they have 3 RB's vying for playing time do they really have ONE?  One meaning THE GUY, the MAN who you go to in crunch time, hell or high water?  Marion is still young enough and healty enough, with enough left in his tank, to have some value to another team so it might make some sense to try and get something for him now, while they still can.  There are some issues with that of course, Felix hasn't shown the abiltity to stay healty for an extended period of time OR demonstrated the ability to be an every down back.  Choice could probably do it, so a decision of starting Choice and bringing Felix in as a reliever might work out rather well.  We'd still need a good 3rd RB, but recent history has demonstrated that good, solid RB's can be found in the later rounds, it happens almost every year, which of course is why we have Tashard Choice in the first place. 

Now, what could we expect to get for him, and would it be enough?  As much as we'd like it he isn't geoing to get a 1st rounder in return, unless he's part of a package.  A 2nd rounder might be more realistic, especially if you get talking with the right team, someone who wants him as their "closer".  I'm not sure of his contract/cap numbers either, so a trade might be inordinately expensive for us, so it might be a moot point. 

All things considered, if we could get a 2nd round pick for him, and if it didn't kill us on the cap (and it's an uncapped year anyhow) then I'd be real tempted to do it and make some room for a Tashard and Felix tandem.  My thinking is that it isn't working consistantly enough the way it is now, so why not take a chance and shake things up a bit.

This is a tough one, I hate both equally.  Given the fact that The Boys are tied with Philly you'd naturally want to root for the Giants, but the Giants have the tie breaker advantage over Dallas so you'd want them to lose as well.  If the Eagles win that goes a long way towards eliminating the Giants, and their tie breaker over Dallas, and Dallas still get's a game  with Philly left on the schedule.  A Philly win means Dallas HAS TO win today, whereas a NY win means Dallas can afford a loss, except that there would then be a 3 way tie for the division, and as mentioned NY has the tie breaker.   So, all things considered, GO IGGLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jerry has taken a lot of abuse over the years for some him moves as GM; bad drafts, questionable hires, shaky trades, etc..  But he has also made some really good moves.  One of the best moves in the last 10 years, IMO, was the hiring of Joe Decamillas as Special Teams coordinator.  He has take what everyone viewed as a VERY weak spot on the team and turned it into a definate strength.  If it weren't for the hammy injury Rossum suffered on the opening KO against Atlanta we would be praising Jerry even more.  Stop and think, Rossum would have been the one returning the punts Crayton took back for TD's and I have a hard time believing that if Crayton (the human fair catch machine) can take them back then I KNOW Rossum could have as well.  I attribute that to a combination of better coaching and a renewed emphasis on ST, as witnessed by the drafting of Buehler, who leads the lague in touch backs.  Both the KO and punt coverage teams are performing at levels we haven't seen in Dallas since the early 90's, and isn't it great?  Now, if we can get Nick (Folkin' A) Folk back on track, stopping missing easy FG's it would be that much better.

For all the Wade haters out there, and I'm NOT saying I'm not one myself, here's another name to throw into the ring, along with Holmgren, Shanahan and "Chucky".  The Titans, as of this post, are down 52-0 and showing very little life.  I'm not saying he's going to get fired, or even that he SHOULD get fired, but in this day and age you JUST NEVER KNOW!  If he became available after the season would you rather have him over someone like Shanahan?  He's more of a tough, defense minded type that Shanahan or Holmgren which might be what this team needs.  But then again, Parcells was the same thing and look where that got us.

Remember 2 years ago?  The Offense was explosive, big plays down the field, Romo running around making plays with his feet and mobility, making throws on the run for big gains?  Yeah, me too.  All you ever heard the opposing D's say was "we need to keep Romo in the pocket where he can't hurt us as badly" etc. etc..  And what did we hear during the folowing off-season?  The coaches were going to work more with Tony on staying in the pocket, remaining calm, following the progressions and hitting the open guy, all in an effort to reduce some of the turnovers that came with the other way of playing.  Well, since when do you intentionally try and force a player to be what he isn't, and at the same time intentionally helping out the opposition by teaching him to do exactly what they were trying to get him to do?  Turn him into a pocket passer.  What was the best play Romo made yesterday?  The big pass to Hurd on the last drive!  Romo scrambled around and found the open guy for a huge gain.  What happened when they got in the Red Zone?  2 slant passes right at the D's top cover guy.  I kept waiting for Romo to try some sort of sprint out to put pressure on the defenders on one side of the field, a run pass option, something, ANYTHING to let Romo be Romo.  I think it's time to just let Romo be Romo, stop trying to turn him into what he isn't.  Others have said the same sort of thing, you're going to have some turnovers, etc. but hell, you have that NOW, the difference is we are LOSING.  At least let him do his thing and if they still lose then so be it. 

........and camp hasn't even started yet.  MIckey Spags is reporting over on DC.com that Robert Brewster has a torn pectoral and might be gone for the year.  He're a snippet:

Third-round draft choice Robert Brewster has suffered a torn pectoral muscle while lifting weights in the post-minicamp training program, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones confirmed, and the subsequent surgery to repair the injury leaves him unavailable for the start of training camp. The Cowboys are unsure if the offensive lineman from Ball State can return in time to become active for the 2009 season.

What a bummer, we just can't seem to get any breaks with rookies on the OL. It seems like they either get hurt or just plain suck, more of the latter than the former, unfortunately.

DMN is reporting that both DeAngelo Smith and Victor Butler hav signed 4 year deals.  No mention of signing bonuses.  With no 1st rounder it should be pretty simple to get them al in camp on time.  Hopefully once they get all the picks signed they can wrap up the DWare signing.  I know every year they wait till the last minute to sign their picks, and I guess from a business point of view it doesn't make a lot of sense to do it an earlier than you have to, but still......  I wonder what Holley got?  A pat on the rump and a "good Luck" I suspect.

With the lack of anything newsworthy realated to The Cowboys I got to thinking about the teams history.  My train of thought led me eventually to ask the question, "If you put together a team comprising one player, and one player only, at each uniform number, who would you end up with?" 

Some numbers were plainly a cake walk, #8, Troy of course.  #12, Roger, #74, Lilly.  But what about #22?  Emmitt or Bullet Bob?  #79, Big E Williams or Harvey Martin.  #54, Chuck Howley or The Manster?  I think the hardest might be #88, Drew or Michael.  Or maybe Antonio Bryant :-) ?  Or how about #21?  Prime Time or Doug Dennison :-)?  Ron Springs or Mel Renfro for #20?

Does tenure on the team have any part of the decision?  #26 was Herb Adderly and Kevin Smith, but Adderly wasn't around that many years.  On the other hand, they won their 1st SB with him.  Tough decisions!

If Mike Mayock is right and this draft is one of the worst in recent years, and if Jerruh is right and they could line up and play right now, and if they really ony have a couple of spots open for competition, then WHY IN THE HECK do we trade DOWN for more picks to use on players who probably wont make the team?  Let me see, if the draft is weak we trade down to get more of the players at the BOTTOM of a WEAK draft?  I understand the concept of slotting players, and I understand players having a grade for a certain round, and I cedrtainly understand not wanting to pay a player more than he should get based on his grades, but this makes little or no sense based on the talent already on the roster.  I'm sure they will use some of the ELEVEN picks they have on day 2 to move around, etc, but they could have used some of those picks to go up and get a player how may have a chance at at least PLAYING.  Eveyone has said that this draft is neither DEEP or TALENTED, let's get MORE of those types in camp!  What a freakin' joke.

I'm just frustrated that they sat on their arse's  and essentially PUNTED!!!

I think the team should consider Mike Goodson from Texas A&M as a late round pick or priority FA.  He's never going to be an every down back, but he's explosive, quick, has great hands and though he was never a return guy in college the potential is there to become a good one in the pro's.  So why isn't he rated higher?  The old bugaboo of "Character" issues.  He's supposedly very self-centered and not a good team guy. plus he's pretty slight and there are durability issues, hence the likelyhood that he'll be available late. 

All of the off-season talk has been about NT, ILB, S and OL as positions of need in the upcoming draft.  But with the trade of Henry, and with the additions of the recent FA's that have been signed I'm starting to think that maybe CB might become a higher priority by the time the draft rolls around.  Henry had lost a step and was no longer the ball hawk he was in his younger days, but he was still a decent starter, allowing younger guys to fill other rolls.  But if our assumptions are correct that Newman and Jenkins will be the starters we are one injury away (TNew's groin again?) from having Alan Ball or worse manning the slot with Scandrick manning the other starters spot.  That scares me!  ANd Newman is already over 30.  We went through many years dealing with that sort of thing, and it was no fun.  The problem is that this is a week draft for CB's, any one capable of coming and and contributing even a little will be long gone by the 51st pick rolls around.

If we can pick up a cheap, serviceable veteran FA that could fill in if disaster strikes that would ease the pain of an unexpected injury.

I consider myself to be a pretty positive individual, especially when it comes to the Cowboys, so in that light I'm positive that I have no idea what to think.  To quote Vince Lombardi in that famous sideline shot we see all the time, "What the hell's going on out here!!"  Each off season I can usually find something to get me excited about the coming season, a new player added, a coach added, psoitive strides made the previous season, etc etc.  So far, the only thing that even came close to getting me a LITTLE excited was Dan Reeves coming on board, and then THAT fell through with a resounding CLUNK!!!!  We have TE's doing profane rap "songs" on You Tube wearing their helmets, the QB is supposedly cheating on the girl who got him in trouble in the first place (if anyone believes a rag like STAR, which I don't).   Our star RB is leaving everyone to wonder if his late season swoon is due to his heavy workload as a starter, and is it a sign of things to come?  Apparently we have a rat in the locker room (maybe the star TE), ar at least most of the team things there is which is the same thing, perception being reality in their eyes.  I keep grasping at straws, looking for something to hold on to.  We have a terrific pass rusher, but he's due a huge pay increase.  We have a very good/great WR, but he's getting long in the tooth.  The TE is terrific also, but as noted he may be a rat and have lost the rerspect of his teammates.  The HC is a really nicve guy and the players love him, but he's either too soft or too laid back and holds no authority, depending on who you listen to.  So, where is the Silver lining?  Heck if I know.  Any ideas?

I was wondering what the rules are about filling out a roster.  The "maximum" limit is 53, is there a minimum limit?  My thinking is that if a team is close to the limit on their cap, can they choose to go with a smaller roster, say 50, and use the money they would have spent on the other 3 and use it on one of the 50?  If you have a roster of 50 active, and then your regular practice squead, that's gotta cost less than a full roster of 53, right?  I know there are limits on how much of the salary cap they HAVE to pay, a certain percentage of their revenues have to go to player salary and bonuses, but can that be used on a lesser number of players.  I suspect that there is a minimum roster size, just can't find it anywhere.  I know that the smaller roster would have an impact on things like Special Teams, etc, and that would have to be taken into account, but If there is no minimum roster size then that might be a way to release someone, take the hit this year  and still be a player in the FA market, and then make it back up next year.

ESPN is reporting that he has declined to interview for the Lions HC job.  Good decision I think, with Denver reportedly interested.  He'd be better off staying put that going to the Lions.  On the other hand, HC jobs only come up every so often, it may not be too wise to pass up interview chances.  If nothing else, it helps to have been through it as many times as possible.  The next thing he knows he might be not getting ANY offers to interview.  It's happened before, Ron Rivera most recently.  He got several interviews and now he isn't getting ANY!