Well, we pretty much all know that this season is over. That really sucks. But there's a silver lining, actually several. Let's discuss, shall we?

1. High Draft Picks - everyone on this site has been clamoring for a high draft pick offensive linemen since the offseason. The problem is, if we are consistently at the bottom of the draft order, we don't really have quality picks available. For example, this year the Green Bay Packers took the last real "first round quality" OL before we got to pick. He has been in and out of the starting lineup and first broke through as a guard. Only because of injuries has he moved to tackle, and he has been shaky. That's the kind of quality you get at the bottom of the first round.

But look at what Washington got. When choosing at the top of the first round you have access to a treasure trove of linemen that can fit differing styles of offense. We have a good young tackle in Free, but we need another.Plus, the top of the second round is where the best centers and guards are often found. So if the Cowboys decide this is the year to invest picks in the o-line, we will come up with better players than we would have otherwise.

2. New Coaching Staff - the other thing people have been screaming about since the pre-season has been coaching. The complaints rage from Wade's overly passive style to JG's Jeckyll and Hyde play calling. Jerry Jones hired Garrett as the OC before hiring the head coach. I'm sure that limited his options, and he probably won't make the same mistake again. He was right that he had a dynamite offensive genius on his staff, unfortunately that genius left to go to New Orleans.

A fresh start means a new look on offense and defense. While some of the staff may be retained, several new faces will be brought in. This is likely a good thing as it will introduce new wrinkles with which our opponents must deal. Also it brings...

3. Fresh Player Evaluation - new coaches will not be beholden to mistakes already made. If some of our recent draft picks are busts (gasp!), then a new coaching staff is more likely to either light a fire under them or let them go. Instead of clinging to hope that mistakes were not made, the staff will have the freedom to move on and make new, better mistakes.

So it's not all doom and gloom. Sure things suck now, but next summer will bring hope of a new season, with fresh faces, and shiny new gameplans. See, it's not so bad after all.

Texans starting LT Duane Brown is out for the next few weeks for violating the league's PED policy.

This is the first piece of really good news for the Cowboys this week. Obviously, the team needs to not only get its game together on offense, but it also needs to contend with the Texans' offense. In week 1, the Texans led the league in rushing. In week 2, they led in passing. Obviously this is a complete team. Now, with their LT out, it opens the door for a more aggressive Dallas attack.

We know from the Bears game that the loss of a LT is not the death knell for a team. But we can gameplan around it. Likely, the Texans will need to give help to the LT in the form of TE or RB chips on Ware and Spencer. With Owen Daniels injured and on a limited snap count, they probably won't waste him on these plays. This means that the Cowboys will be better able to read passing packages and to take a weapon away from the passing attack.

As for the Texans running game, against the Colts Foster did a LOT of damage running the stretch play left. In fact, according to Football Outsiders, the Texans average 7.64 yards off left end and 6.03 yards off left tackle, but only 4.82 of right tackle and 4.50 off right end.  I don't know how good of a run blocker Brown's replacement is, but he's the backup for a reason. This probably forces the Texans to be slightly more one-sided in their running, which again, helps the Dallas D focus in on stopping the zone play.

Also, we should be slightly better against the zone run since we saw the exact play two weeks ago against Washington. We held Washington's RBs to few yards until late in the game. Even then, we were able to contain them for no long gains. Foster is a much better back than Portis or Larry Johnson at this stage of their careers, but the practice will help.

So, we have a big of good news. To quote Herm Edwards: "We can build on this."

As we all know, Kevin Kolb of the Eagles suffered a pretty severe concussion in last week's game. In fact, he failed his first post-concussion test on Tuesday which is not a good sign. So almost certainly Michael Vick will be starting this week. The biggest question, of course, is whether Kolb will be active for the game, or if they hold him out entirely. If he is held out...

Kafka ALERT!!!!  Michael Vick, a running qb, is just one bad hit away from handing the reins over to the one, the only, Mike Kafka.

Also, the Eagles are playing the Lions without their starting QB. So this could also be a blowout that leads to: KAFKA MOP-UP DUTY!!!!

I think the sight of an NU QB playing in the NFL would be pretty shocking to everyone. And a welcome change.

So keep your eyes on the Eagles-Lions game, because you never know if a real Wildcat will show up.

new rumors are swirling about offers being fielded for barber and/or choice. although a trade of barber is unlikely, it would continue the youth movement by allowing felix to be the unfettered #1 back in dallas. choice would then remain as the #2 and one of the developmental back (donaldson?) would stay on as a backup.

on the other hand, the team could trade choice and get some value then allow a young back to stay on the team. that is dangerous considering the health of the barber and felix over the long-term.

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/news/story?id=5530171