Sometimes when I run BtB or any SBN site for that matter it crashes my browser. I run the latest version of Chrome in OSX. Does anyone else have this problem? Who would be the person to help me here? OCC? Dave? KD? Someone from SBN?

If Ham wants to fanshot me on this one, that's cool...I usually don't have problems with the site and I don't know where to post problems with this.

Frequently we've been hearing "THEY HAD 17 YEARS" from a large number of people who are, rightfully, frustrated with the Cowboys play lately. Recently in a thread, an old one at that, I posted this...it got a good response there so I figured I'd post it here for a bigger discussion:

Can we just retire the “17 YEARS!!!!!” line of garbage? It’s so stupid, oversimplified, and misleading you’d think you’d heard it on ESPN How is this remotely the same team, the same organization even, that won the Super Bowl in 1996 or went 5-11 three years in a row? I mean I’m a Yankee fan also, and a lot of the homers there like to say “THIS IS THE ORGANIZATION THAT WON 27 ROCKS!!!!” True, but I fail to see what that has to do with having a shaky pitching staff, a bullpen that was decimated by injuries, and a line up with highly paid declining veterans. Much like the success of the DiMaggio, Ruth, Gehrig, and Mantle days have very little to do with the Yankees today, the failures of the Campo and Quincy days have very little to do with the Cowboys today.

From 1988 to 2002 how many good drafts did the Cowboys have? They just had three good ones in a row now. No David LaFluers or Sherman Williamses here. Instead they correctly identified their weaknesses, and more importantly correctly identified the elite players in the draft and selected the right guys. No not every pick is going to be a success, but most of the picks they made were either good picks, upside picks, or picks at a position of need. This team correctly understands their flaws.

Do you really think they’ll be starting Quincy Carter or Chad Hutchinson at QB anytime soon? Please, they have two back ups that are better quarterbacks than both of those guys. That alone, is enough to justify a renewed sense of optimism. I mentioned the three 5-11 seasons in a row, do you think we’ll see that again anytime soon? When Parcells was canned there were a lot of worries, and lets see how these things turned out:

Jerry will never give another head coach power, and just wants a puppet…false.
The Cowboys won’t have an elite QB…emphatically false.
Jerry will never draft a WR in the first round…Dez Bryant says hi!
Jerry won’t draft an OLman in the first round…Tyron Smith is going to pancake you.
Jerry keeps around all these troublemakers…why do you think TO is currently playing football in Canada?

There’s a lot of complaints about JJ that were around in the bad old days, that really aren’t true anymore. Now is everything perfect? Absolutely not. You mentioned Roy Williams and they’re still suffering the repercussions of that trade. JJ’s justification at the time was that he wasn’t in love with the first round talent in that year’s class so he was comfortable surrendering a first, okay stupid in hindsight and justifiable at the time. I think think they learned their lesson on that one. They’re only trading good picks now to get good players. Also, really what separates good teams from bad ones are really three things:

Good scouting: BirdDog, who is a pro scout, has worlds of respect for Tom Ciskowski. He’s had three pretty good drafts in the past, and we’re not sure how much say he’s had in the war room in the past, but the Cowboys’ problems have basically been two bad drafts in 2006 (which was just bad drafting straight up) and the RW trade, which was bad GMing. I’d like to know who was responsible for Bobby Carpenter more than anything here. However, those in the business like Ciskowski, he was even strongly considered for the Colts position. The organization that was about to begin the Andrew Luck era, considered Ciskowski to be the man to lead them to the promised land yet again. That's high praise and I'm glad that he's here.

Good coaching: You touched on this, and I think the critiques of Garrett are at least half way fair. He’s been the OC for a while, and he hasn’t opened up the playbook the way elite OC’s need to yet as head coach. While he did have some great offenses in the past, there were still somethings missing. I wasn’t in love with his playcalling last year either. I will say this though, his playcalling as OC and his playcalling as OC and Head Coach might not be the same thing, his playcalling was dealing with a weak power run game and other weaknesses in the offensive line, and his playcalling abilities and his abilities as Head Coach are two different skill sets, i.e. just because his playcalling isn’t top notch doesn’t mean that he can’t be an elite Head Coach. A head coach’s job is more about getting the team prepared on Sundays and assigning the right people for the right jobs. You can hire good coordinators to scheme and call the right plays. I wanted Todd Haley as the OC, FWIW.

Identifying your own weaknesses: Really, what’s the quickest way to improve your team? Take your five worst players from last year and replace them with good players. If you do that every year, you’ll be in pretty good shape. They did identify their weaknesses in a brilliant manner. Last year with the OL, this year with the secondary, and even picking up guys like Murray at positions where we didn’t think that they needed a whole lot of help, but it turns out that they did need help at that position. Now, yes they still didn’t address Center, and they are showing a lot of faith in Doug Free that may not be deserved…but they’re not sticking with Quincy Carter at QB. They’re not farting with a walkman on anymore, they recognize their weaknesses and they're at least addressing them.

The team’s changed quite a bit. There were the golden years which lasted until about 1998 when Aikman started to go downhill, and then there was the Campo/Quincy era which lasted until 2003, then it was Parcells, and now it’s the Romo years….the team’s gone through a lot of changes. Is it enough? Well...no, not just this by itself, but they're on the right track. Rome wasn't built in a day, and most of these teams that Cowboys fans wish that they were more like have been in place for quite some time. The Steelers have had three coaches since 1969, Coughlin and Eli have been together since 2004, Brees and Payton have been together since 2006, and how long were Dungy and Manning together before they first won it? Brady and Belichick were the only ones that won right away, okay, Brady's a top five QB of all time and Belichick is a top five coach of all time and easily the best in the league right now. I agree, the team needs to get better in plenty of areas, however, I feel it's only fair to judge them by their most recent moves.

Think about this: The Baltimore Ravens are trying to win with an elite defense, and an offense built around a competent QB and a strong running game….that style of play hasn’t won a Super Bowl since 2002, and the Ravens have gone 12 years without a rock. They’re always close to winning it all, but the real problem isn’t the problems that the Ravens are addressing…the real problem is that Flacco, and his predecessors, might not be good enough to win a Super Bowl, an issue the Ravens haven’t addressed in a while. Which is the better organization? The one that’s oh so close but at the same time so far away, the organization that’s not taking that next step to compete in today’s NFL? Or the organization that has work to do, but is at least starting with a team built in the mold of the teams that have won Super Bowls in the past? The Cowboys are at least trying to fix the right problems, and they're building a team in the mold of the teams that have had success in the past decade and the Cowboys teams that experienced success.

I think it goes without saying that teams should try to address their biggest needs first, and while there are some exceptions that I readily admit, in general you should try to fix the biggest problems. Looking at last season I think it's easy to see the biggest problems, here's who they were by PFF's ratings

Brooking/Bradie -12.0 (Bradie -4.1 Brooking - 7.9)

Terence Newman -9.1 (after a solid start, no less)

Phil Costa -9.7

Doug Free -11.9

Abe Elam -5.3

Given that Free was the single worst player on the team by this metric last season, I have some reservations about moving him to RT and thinking that will solve the problem. He'll still get his doors blown off by JPP, Cole, Babin, Orapko, and the like. Perhaps the strong side will over him some extra help, but keeping a TE to block also comes with its own set of problems. It looks like three of these players have been effectively replaced

Dan Connor had a +4.9 rating and assuming Carter is average (which I think is safe) that's about a 17 point swing at ILB alone. Pool's about average and there's another five points. Carr rated as as +2.7 and there's another net gain of 12 points. So total they've added about +34 in PFF ratings just on the defense. That's a huge improvement, I think Carr can represent a bigger improvement given his other advanced stats: 9th in passer rating allowed, 31st in targets (despite playing opposite an elite corner in Flowers), 22nd in yards allowed, only three TDs allowed, and 18th in yards per cover snap, and oh yeah he's still improving. Over all I'd say the defense has gotten the makeover that a lot of people here think that it needs. The OL is still a work in progress, a lot will depend on Free's performance at RT, what they do in the draft, how the kids and the new FA signings perform, and what they do at center. Overall if it's the defense you're worried about, I'd say your worries should be quashed, however if it's the offense that you're concerned about? Well lets just say there's some nice first round linemen projected to be there around 14.

A lot's been made about mock drafts, big boards etc. So I've decided to throw my hat into the ring. I'll add a few obvious caveats:

• The first six picks are pretty concrete across the board, I'm pretty sure Luck, Griffin, Kalil, Richardson, Blackmon, and Claiborne will all be gone by the time the Jags pick. After that a lot's up in the air. After pick 16 or so, everything is up in the air.
• I have some "other picks" for every team after six, because of the previous point. Some of these "other picks" have gone earlier, but the "other picks" are guys that I think have a decent chance of being available at the spot where they're listed.
• At least one team WILL do something unpredicted. I'm not sure who it will be, but every year there's the guy that gets picked out of no where. James Carpenter, Tyson Alualu, Chris Ponder, it happens all the time. So EVERYONE will get some of them wrong
• There's a few bold picks, but I think that these are largely reasonable and justified selections.

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Noted small school fan Lissyyyyy recently had a fan post that got quite a few responses suggesting that the team lose to the Giants and forego a playoff spot just so that they can get a better draft pick. He suggests that this team isn't good enough to win the Super Bowl, and because of which they should tank get the better draft pick so they will be in a better position next year. Well a lot of people tore him up, but he's missing several things here. My response is too big for a comment reply, and frankly warrants its own post. Apologies for the arrogance.

One, you don't lose to the dirty stinking Giants. Ever. Under any circumstances whatsoever at all. You don't surrender the division championship to a rival at their house just to get a better draft pick. I hate the Giants more than I hate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Around these parts it's almost like you guys are Giants fans, and you guys would rather whine about a couple of teams that missed the playoffs. Some of you even rooted for the Giants last weekend in order to eliminate the Eagles and forego a shot at the division title.

Second, YOU DON'T GIVE UP A PLAYOFF SHOT!!!!!! When you finished in last place in the division last season, winning the division the next year is a very very good season. Winning the division would be a huge boost for Jason Garrett in his first year as head coach, especially since he was given a lot more control over personel than any Jerry coach not named Bill or Jimmy ever got. Also, a very maligned QB whose season ended in injury last year also has a lot to prove.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/7398194/new-york-giants-vs-dallas-cowboys-eli-manning-edge-tony-romo

Read this collection of mindless drivel and stupid opinions. If you still want the Giants to win, you may as well go root for the Eagles because it means that you like having every talking head in the country saying that your team's nothing but trash, and if you're an Eagles fan you get a lot of that. Here's the door:

http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/

Over the past couple of years the Cowboys took a new direction, and making the playoffs after one of the most disappointing seasons in recent memory isn't enough to get you guys excited then I don't know what is. Winning the division instantly gives us bragging rights for the offseason, and instills confidence in the team and in management. It gives Rob a reason to stay because the ship's headed in the right direction, and it provides the team as an attractive free agent destination to players that are wanting to play for a contender. All the good teams in the NFL have players that they brought in as free agents that help them, so if you want a Super Bowl, the team's going to need to bring in some free agents that can contribute. Besides, how many teams win the Super Bowl after missing the playoffs the year before? Usually the first step to winning a Super Bowl is fielding a playoff caliber team. If the team wants to win the Super Bowl first they have to prove that they can make the playoffs.

Third, I don't buy that this team has no shot to win the Super Bowl. You think Dallas' defense is bad? Look at the defenses in New Orleans, Green Bay, and New England. Speaking of New England, this team almost beat the Patriots. In Foxborough. They're basically a few plays from having thirteen wins instead of eight. Am I saying that they're a 13 win team? Absolutely not, but they had late leads in five of their losses and you can point to individual plays where if they went the other way the Cowboys win. If the Cowboys score at the 4 yard line against the Jets they win. If Garrett plays conservatively in the second half against Detroit, they win. If they get a first down late in the game against the Pats instead of having to punt, they win. If Garrett doesn't ice his kicker they win. If Bailey makes the field goal it goes into OT against the Giants. They're no where near as terrible as Mensa (he's gotta be playing a trick on us) as Lissyyyyy make them seem. Are they better than the Saints or the Packers? Ehhh...probably not. Were the 2007 Giants better than the 2007 Packers, Cowboys, and Patriots? Also, probably not. Did it matter? Absolutely not. It's the NFL every team has a fatal flaw anyways and not team is truly elite. They all have problems that can be exploited. The Saints lost to the Rams and the Packers lost to the Chiefs. Every team that wins the Super Bowl needs a little bit of luck anyways, and in a sample size of four games a lot of flukey things can happen. Who knows, Demarcus Ware might finally draw a hold and the secondary might get away with messing up a few receivers. This offense is more than good enough to leave cleat marks all over the any D in the NFC except for San Francisco's, but the defense is more than good enough to hold down an offense whose goal is to kick a field goal.

Fourth, this year's draft board is VERY VERY VERY fluid. There's little elite talent but lots of players that would have mid to late first grades in normal drafts. The difference between 15ish and the low 20s isn't that big. I've already outlined eight players that the Cowboys can pick, and several of which are likely to be around wherever the Cowboys pick. Add Coples and Brown from UNC that's ten, Nick Perry from USC that's eleven. There's other players that are worthy of a look from the Cowboys like Jerel Worthy, Janoris Jenkins (yes, I know), Brandon Thompson, and Alameda Ta'amu that the Cowboys will be interested in. Combine that with players like Andrew Luck, RG3, Landry Jones, Matt Kalil, Riley Reiff, Jonathan Martin, Moris Claiborne, Trent Richardson, Luke Kuechly, Vontaze Burflict, Justin Blackmon, and Alshon Jeffery that will more than likely be taken before the Cowboys pick (if they make the playoffs) so that's twelve players that the Cowboys either wouldn't get anyways or aren't targeting that will be gone by the time they pick and fifteen players or so even if they pick around 25-28, I can assure you that they'll walk away sitting pretty well in the draft. I know, you're going to say that the most important thing is getting your guy. Well Jerry's shown the willingness to trade up to get his guy in the draft. If there is a player that they like that's within reach if they don't make the playoffs I'm sure Jerry will find a way to get him if they do make the playoffs.

To Lissyyyyy's credit, there are some situations where "tanking" is okay and draft position is more important than a win. Being 1-15 instead of 3-13 is probably worth it if it means getting Andrew Luck or an elite prospect like that. If you're an average team that already missed the playoffs, and you need a few players to make the next step anyways (like the Bears or the Eagles) then yeah, play the young guys. See what you have, find out which guys have a future on the team. The game has the preseason luxury of not mattering with the regular season benefit of facing a team that's actually playing at a regular season speed. If you lose, that's okay because you get a better draft pick, but if you win that's okay to because it means that you've likely found a player that's worth keeping or making a bigger part of the team next season. On Outside the Lines they were discussing tanking, they had several people in the industry Andrew Brandt, Kordell Stewart, a writer, and Laron McClain, and D'Marco Farr on there. The former players, and the writer suggested that tanking alienates the fanbase and the players. Which in general I agree with, being terrible is a lot worse than being just bad for players, but there are situations that I outlined above that warrant seeing what you have. However, the Cowboys are not facing that situation. Yes, can justify to some extent losing meaningless games in the interest of seeing what you have in your back ups and younger players or letting your young players develop or getting a better draft pick. But the Cowboys won't be facing a meaningless game on Sunday. Winning the division, in some respects, is redemption for the come from ahead losses that they had this year. Jerry's decision to fire a coach midseason for the first time ever, and hire Jason Garrett. It's redemption for Tony Romo and all the harsh criticism he faced. Most importantly, it's redemption for us fans for thinking that there's a reason to be interested in this year's squad.

Go Cowboys.

Well the regular season's about over, so we all know what this team's strengths and weaknesses are. Some of the losses they had were a result of bad play calling, bad coaching, and boneheaded mistakes. I really think that will improve one way or another in the offseason, either Jerry will hire a new OC or Garrett will learn from the mistakes he made in his first full season as HC. They're already doing fewer stupid things and playing much better than they were under Wade.

However, some of the losses were because of true weaknesses on the team. The way I see it the Cowboys have two places that they'll look for their first round pick. Interior line and pass defense. The later is probably the direction that they'll go since they can either draft a DLman, a cornerback, or an OLB to replace Spencer and there seems to be more good choices worthy in that group, that being said there's a few players that might be worthy of a first on the interior line. The Cowboys might pick anywhere between 15th or so to 32nd. The order of these prospects hasn't shaken out quite yet, and a lot can change. That being said, if the Cowboys were to draft any of these players I'm sure we'll be quite happy. Candidates after the jump.

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Chia wrote up a piece about his mock draft, and while I agree with most of his analysis, I have a slightly different take.  The defense has been much improved over last seasons despite not making any huge additions.  Yet, it still needs some extra work.  The pass rush has been lacking at times, sometimes it's because Rob only rushes three and sometimes it's because the players they have just aren't good enough to do the job.    This team is obviously far from perfect, the NFL is that way by design.  DL/OLB is probably the primary we'll address that first after the jump but there's plenty of other needs and things that I'd like to call secondary needs.

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http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story/_/id/6943862/hurt-dallas-cowboys-tyron-smith-practice-mike-jenkins-returns

Basically Smith is still sitting in a knee brace, still no word on his status whether he looks better or not.  Maybe they're just being careful with him so he an play on Sunday, who knows.

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After a few days to digest this year's class and find out more and more about each player that the Cowboys took I find myself having a different take on this year's draft class than most.  I actually think there's a lot there to like.  Most draft pundits have been giving the Cowboys a grade around the B- range for the draft.  I strongly disagree.  This was a very good draft class and I like all the picks.  The draft signifies a positive change of direction for the team, and lots of change will be coming next year.  I'll start pick by pick.

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I remember when they picked in the late 20s last year there were a variety of picks that I would have liked, Iupati, Odrick, and one of the tackles if they fell were the players that I was wanting to fall...needless to say I was pleased with Dez Bryant.  However, this year's draft I am positive that I will be pleased with Dallas' pick.  However, there's different levels of happiness that I would have.  So I guess I'll rank them in "tiers."  

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The title does a pretty good job of explaining what this is.  There's a lot of picks that the CW and draftniks like to point out that I disagree with.  Teams operate differently than the way a lot of outsiders think that they should.  Perhaps the outsiders are right, but nevertheless it's the GM that makes the final calls.  Anyways, on to the 32,463th Mock you've seen!

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There a few different takes, since first rounds rarely work out the way most draftniks think they will.  This could be for a number of reasons, however, that being said on to the mock!

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While I'm sure Jerry won't fire Wade in season, though he really should to send a message to the players and future coaching candidates that he's willing to change...it's pretty much fait accompli that Wade's going to be gone in the offseason. I got a question answered by Mort today in his chat

Omar (Baltimore)

Since the Cowboys are seemingly dead in the water, what do you see them doing in the offseason? Who are the coaching candidates likely to replace Wade Phillips, will Jason Garrett stay, and which players will likely be traded or cut?

All guesswork on this - Bill Cowher, Jon Gruden and maybe an interesting longshot with Jeff Fisher of the Titans. I'm sure Sean Payton's name will get in the mix but he and Fisher are under contract. Everybody asks whether they would work for Jerry Jones and I say yes.

Cower's the obvious name, he's sitting on ass getting bugged by Shannon Sharpe, Dan Marino, and Boomer.  He has experience with a 34 defense, a mobile QB that sometimes gets a bit wild, he's put together good teams in the past, and he has that hard nosed attitude that many feel that this team needs.  I think he'd be a good choice.  Under Cower I don't think that there'd be many 100 yard penalty games.

Gruden is another obvious name, he's sitting on ass getting bugged by the ESPN staff.  Has that ring that we all want to get and the reputation of a hard nosed head coach.  That being said, I don't think he's a good fit.  He comes from the Tampa 2 school, Tampa feel apart after the Dungy guys left, and he really didn't draft all that well (though In Dallas Jerry and Stephen would have much more to do with this than Gruden would), I'd rather have him than Wade or Garrett, but that's about it.

Jeff Fisher, yes, a thousand times yes.  Not as firey Gruden or Cower, but just as tough, and just as good of a coach.  Great eye for talent, great at having his team prepared, and he gets the most out of his players.  I don't think he'll leave Tennessee since they have good things going there, but I'd gladly welcome him.  I think everyone here would love Sean Payton, I wanted him to get the job and have Parcells switch roles...but it wasn't meant to be.  

I really don't want Garrett, everyone talks about what a mastermind he is...I disagree.  He has an extremely skilled roster on offense, and always manages to rack up the yards but not get in the endzone.  I don't even want him back as the OC.

I wish Mort answered my question as to which players would be gone next season, so I'll have to take a stab at this myself: Brooking, MBIII, Alan Ball, Montre Holland, Alex Barron, and maybe Kyle Kosier and  Andre Gurode will be gone too. 

Your thoughts?

So I just drafted last night, late I know, and I had to draft two teams since I only had nine teams filled in a ten team league and just planned on giving the other team to whoever would have taken it.  Anyways, here's the teams I drafted.

My team:

QB: Drew Brees

RB: LaShawn McCoy

RB: Felix Jones

RB/WR: Reggie Bush

WR: Reggie Wayne

WR: Marquees Colston

TE: Jason Witten

D/ST: Dallas D/ST

K: Mason Crosby

BE: Dez Bryant

BE: Santana Moss

BE: Terrell Owens

BE: Ben Roethlisberger

BE: Mario Manningham

BE: Devery Henderson

BE: Laurence Maroney

The other team I drafted, now keep in mind I had every intention of giving this team to a friend (which I found a friend and fellow Cowboys fan to give this team too) so I didn't want to bone the guy I gave this too...so here it is:

QB: Tony Romo

RB: Maurice Jones Drew

RB: Beanie Wells

RB/WR: Hakeem Nicks

WR: Randy Moss

WR: Michael Crabtree

TE: Tony Gonzalez

D/ST: Texans

K: David Akers

(not in the order picked)

BE: Chad Henne

BE: Marion Barber

BE: Mike Wallace

BE: Lee Evans

BE: Darren Sproles

BE: Jeremy Shockey

BE: Dexter McCluster

A bit about my league, passing TDs are worth just as much as any other TD (six points) INTs are worth -3 though, and sacks are worth -1 point.  A catch is worth two points but a target is worth -1, so in essence a catch is worth, but to even it out a drop, missed target, etc. is worth -1 point.  

Anyways I think I did a better job drafting the other team than I did my job...overall how do you think I did?

Is it time that C-money finally gets off his ass and acquires a real centerfielder?  I mean it seems like the easiest way to upgrade the team.  Acquiring another third basemen may prove tricky because the nature of Alex's injury is kind of unknown as is his return time table.   I know they don't want to raise payroll, but the idea of Rodriguez being out long term is a very real thing right now.  It's foolish to spend as much money they have on a team that misses the playoffs, especially in the first year of The New Stadium.  So lets look at some possibilities:

(note, I'm going over these in order of likelihood)

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