By Jim Keller
Can the Cowboys put together a second consecutive all-around effort? Can they contain Chris Johnson? What will the run-pass ratio be? And how will they welcome home old friend Vince Young.
Fans will be honing in on these aspects as the Cowboys return from the bye week on Sunday and host the 2-2 Tennessee Titans.
The Cowboys (1-2) avoided a dubious 0-3 start by manhandling the Houston Texans 27-13 two weeks ago at Reliant Field. QB Tony Romo played a flawless game, WR Roy Williams came out of the witness protection program and the Dallas defense recorded 4 sacks, forced three turnovers and held two 1st-and-goal situations to six points.
On offense, Dallas did run the ball 27 times and passed it 30 times, but make no mistake about it, Romo threw 21 times out of 27 plays over a four-drive stretch in which the offense scored 17 points and put away the game.
Romo had just one off-target pass all day against Houston, wasn’t sacked or picked and completed 7-of-9 passes in which he threw more than 10 yards downfield for 167 yards.
It was nice to see Romo spread the ball more evenly. He targeted Miles Austin 26 times in the first two games but just three times last week. Williams got seven targets in his second 100-yard receiving game with the “Boys. Austin will be going against Titans CB Cortland Finegan this week in an interesting matchup.
Don’t be surprised to see Romo & Co. go to the pass game more exclusively Sunday. Tennessee limited Denver to 19 yards rushing in 20 carries in last week’s 26-20 loss in which Kyle Orton threw 50 times for 341 yards. Sound familiar?
With the Dallas starting offensive line intact for a third straight week (LG Kyle Koiser expected to play), Romo will hopefully continue to stretch the defense. In Week 1’s loss to Washington, he had nine completions for two yards or less. In the first quarter of that game he threw 10 passes a total of 25 yards downfield as Dallas changed the game plan to protect Romo, who was without Kosier and right tackle Marc Colombo. Still, despite all the quick throws and short drops, the line was whistled for six holding calls.
Protecting Romo will be paramount this week against Tennessee, which is tied for the NFL lead with 16 sacks, with unheralded DEs Dave Babin and Dave Ball combining for 7.5 sacks.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Cowboys will stack the box against 2009 rushing champion Chris Johnson, who hasn’t been able to shake loose so far this season, man-up on their outside receivers and make former Univ. Texas QB Vince Young beat them.
Johnson was held to 53 yards on 19 carries against Denver, ran for just one first down, had a long run of eight yards and fumbled inside the Broncos 30-yard line. He’s managed just 354 yards on 94 carries this season but has found the end zone four times.
How will Dallas attack favorite son Young. Dallas seems to have backed off the various blitz packages since Jay Cutler picked it apart in Week 2’s 27-20 loss to the Chicago Bears.
The ‘Boys blitzed a second linebacker just seven times last week, but still managed to double its sack total from their first two games, pick off two passes and force a fumble. CBs Mike Jenkins and Terence Newman kept the wide receivers in front of them all night. The Texans steered away from Jenkins, who had three balls thrown against him all day.
Tennessee ranks 30th in the NFL in passing offense at 152 yards per game, but
Young hasn’t thrown a pick in the last two games. However, he’s the type of QB teams would want to pressure and force him into a few bad decisions and throws.
That said, the Cowboys will probably start by laying back in coverage, but since Newman and Jenkins are much better than their receiver counterparts, head coach Wade Wilson won’t hesitate to bring the pressure if needed.
Notes: Romo has completed 65 percent of his passes with 8 TDs and 0 INTs in his last four games against the AFC. …WR Dez Bryant has 50+ yards receiving in each game and ranks third in the NFL with a 17.8 yard average on punt returns. … Ware has 60.5 sacks since 2006 – most in the NFL. He tied his career high with 3 against Houston. … Tennessee has won 10 straight against the NFC and Young is 11-2 against the NFC. … Johnson has run for 100 yards in six consecutive road games.
Cowboys Recap 2010
The Cowboys set their sights on becoming the first team to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium, so their 6-10 finish was not what they had in mind. At one point it was worse. This team was 1-7 before they fired Wade Phillips and missing quarterback Tony Romo for likely the rest of the season with injury. Interim coach Jason Garrett brought this team some much needed discipline, doing things such as making players bring notebooks to film study (what a novel concept), and led them to a 5-3 record even with backup quarterback Jon Kitna.
With Jason Garrett getting the interim tag removed and simply becoming their Head Coach for the 2011 season, and with Tony Romo coming back, they do have a lot of promise for 2011. Garrett’s offensive genius turned Jon Kitna into a 66% passer with a 7.4 YPA in the 2nd half of the season so it’ll be interesting to see if he can take Romo to the next level. If he can, look out. Romo’s got the weapons (Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, Roy Williams, Jason Witten, Tashard Choice, Felix Jones) to make this one of the top offenses in the league.
Unfortunately, offense is only half the battle. Dallas’ pass defense fell from 13th in 2009 to 29th in 2010. Their run defense fell from 9th to 18th. their total yards allowed fell from 9th to 23th. Their points per game allowed rose a whopping 11.7 points per game. Most importantly, none of those things got all that much better under Jason Garrett.
I don’t know what happened to this defense, but they are no longer an elite unit. In fact, they’re far from it, even with DeMarcus Ware leading the league in sacks with 15.5. the Cowboys will almost certainly use their 9th overall pick on some sort of defensive player. They should have high hopes going into 2011, but I think they need to rediscover their talent on defense to be considered a true Super Bowl contender.
Cowboys Preview 2011
The Cowboys bottomed out last season. Once a popular pick to become the first team to play in a Super Bowl the same season that they hosted the Super Bowl, the Cowboys started the season 1-7 and finished 6-10. However, it wasn’t all bad. Wade Phillips is finally gone. The Cowboys were never going to win a Super Bowl with him as a head coach so last season was really taking one step back to take two steps forward.
In for Wade Phillips is former offensive coordinator and former coach in waiting Jason Garrett. Garrett led this team to a 5-3 record down the stretch with Jon Kitna as his starting quarterback. Kitna somehow put up amazing offensive numbers with Garrett’s help. Imagine what Garrett can do now that Tony Romo is back.
He also has a full season of Dez Bryant in the starting lineup. Roy Williams is gone so Bryant will replace him full time in the starting lineup. Bryant is also in his 2nd year and should be better than he was as a rookie. They still have Miles Austin. They still have Jason Witten. This has a chance to be a very explosive offense should Romo stay healthy.
As for Romo staying healthy, I don’t worry too much about that. Romo had only missed 3 games in 4 years before suffering a freak broken collarbone injury last season. He’s not an injury prone quarterback or anything. Besides, they’ve fixed up his protection. Marc Colombo allowed 7 sacks and 40 quarterback pressures last season at right tackle and Alex Barron was even worse in limited action committing 3 penalties on 80 snaps and costing the Cowboys a week 1 win when he unnecessarily committed a holding penalty, nullifying the game winning score.
Colombo and Barron are both game and Tyron Smith is in. Smith is extremely talented and was the 9th overall pick in April’s draft. He is a rookie so he will be hurt by the lockout, but he’ll be a noticeable upgrade on the right side. On the left side, the Cowboys did a great job of resigning Doug Free long term. He is one of the better left tackles in the league.
On the interior of their line, they started Kyle Kosier, Andre Gurode, and Leonard Davis last season, 3 older players. Davis was cut. Kosier was resigned, but he’s still 33 in November and injury prone. He’ll start at left guard. Meanwhile, center Andre Gurode is 32 and coming off of knee surgery. He should be ready for the start of the season. If not, the inexperienced Phil Costa would start, which I think would be a bad thing.
At right guard, Leonard Davis’ old spot, veteran journeyman backup Montrae Holland is expected to start. It’s to be expected that rookie 4th rounder David Arkin could see a lot of time at both guard positions and even center this season. However, overall I like their offensive line a lot more than I did last season, especially with Tyron Smith starting on the right side.
They could struggle to run the ball this year. That’s a worry, but it’s not like you necessarily need a good running game to do well in this league. Felix Jones will be given the first shot at the lead back job. He’s never been a lead back without getting hurt. He wasn’t even a lead back in college, where he backed up Darren McFadden. Meanwhile, 3rd round rookie DeMarco Murray and career backup Tashard Choice should also see carries. More importantly, Marion Barber is gone, which means no more of Marion Barber averaging 3.3 yards per carry on 113 carries.
Offensively, they should once again be an explosive offense. They will struggle a bit to run the ball, but Tony Romo is back and Head Coach Jason Garrett is an offensive genius who turned Jon Kitna into a legitimate signal caller down the stretch. However, defense is a different story. They surrendered the 2nd most points last season and their defense actually got worse after Wade Phillips was fired.
They didn’t focus on defense in the draft and they didn’t have the cap space to add to their defense in any meaningful way in free agency, but they did bring in Rex Ryan’s brother Rob from Cleveland to be their defensive coordinator. He’ll have his work cut out for him, however, turning this bunch into a legitimate defense.
Their problems start in the secondary. Mike Jenkins had the worst quarterback rating against of any cornerback in the league last season, allowing 67.4% of targets to go for completions and 6 touchdowns to 1 interception. He also had 8 penalties and allowed 16.6 yards per completion, 2nd highest in the league. Terrence Newman wasn’t much better. He allowed 65.3% of targets to get completed and 5 touchdowns, though he did pick off 5 passes.
Jenkins could bounce back. He’s a 26 year old former 1st round pick and a Pro Bowler in 2009. Newman, on the other hand, is 33 in September and should continue declining. Nickel cornerback Orlando Scandrick also has issues in coverage allowing 7 touchdowns to 1 interception and a 68.8% completion percentage. Why the Cowboys didn’t address this position in the draft until the 5th round, I don’t know.
At free safety, Abram Elam is an upgrade over last year’s starter Alan Ball, but only by default. Ball allowed 63.0% completions and 7 touchdowns to 2 interceptions, all while struggling mightily against the run. He might have been the worst starting safety in the league last year. Elam, meanwhile, is a mediocre talent, but he’s an upgrade over Ball and familiar with Rob Ryan’s system coming over from Cleveland. At the other safety slot, Gerald Sensabaugh is their best defensive back. He’s a solid starting safety in this league.
Fortunately, this secondary does have some pass rush to help them out. They had 35 sacks last year, pretty middle of the road, thanks, in large part, to DeMarcus Ware’s 15.5 sacks. However, they really need to find a #2 pass rusher after him. 2nd on the team was former first round pick Anthony Spencer with 5. He’s in the final year of his rookie deal and needs to break out this year at rush linebacker opposite Ware if he doesn’t want to be seen as nothing more than a reclamation project heading into free agency.
At nose tackle, Jay Ratliff had 13.5 sacks in 2008 and 2009 combined, but only 3.5 in 2010. They’ll need him to step up the pass rushing unless they want to be middle of the pack once again. Ratliff is a solid pass rusher, but struggles against the run, which makes sense since he’s an undersized nose tackle. The other two starters on the defensive line are Marcus Spears and Igor Olshansky.
Olshansky is decent against the run, but offers no pass rush, while Spears is a former first round pick who never lived up to his billing. Why the Cowboys gave him a 5 year deal in the offseason, I don’t know. The Cowboys will really miss Stephen Bowen on the defensive line. He wasn’t a great pass rusher, but he was a stud against the run. The Cowboys are hoping Jason Hatcher can step up in a similar fashion this season, but I have my doubts.
At middle linebacker, the Cowboys have 3 players for 2 spots and plan to use all 3 evenly. Keith Brooking is the veteran of the group at age 36 in October. He’s a declining player, but can still contribute and he provides great defensive leadership in the middle. Bradie James is a solid player coming off a strong season. He had the best season of the three in 2010.
Sean Lee, meanwhile, was their 2nd round pick in 2010. He is reportedly playing very well in camp. 2011 2nd round pick Bruce Carter could see some action after he returns midseason from an ACL tear, but it seems like the plan is for Carter to be purely a special teamer as a rookie and then start next to Lee in the middle in 2012 with Brooking and James being in the final years of their contracts.
Defense is still an issue for this team and while I still think they’ll be a little better on that side of the ball this season, their defense should still keep them from being legitimate Super Bowl contenders. However, I love this team’s offense. I love their leadership under new coach Jason Garrett. I love how they ended last season. I think this team has a very good chance to find themselves back in the playoffs this year, especially playing a last place schedule and, who knows, maybe with Wade Phillips gone they’ll even win a game or two.
Quarterback: A-
Running backs: C+
Receiving corps: A-
Offensive line: C+
Run defense: C+
Pass rush: B-
Pass coverage: C-
Coaching: B
Projection: 10-6 2nd in NFC East
Cowboys Preview
By Jim Keller
Both the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings will be desperate clubs when they meet Sunday at the Metrodome.
The Cowboys (1-3) are coming off a 34-27 loss to the Tennessee Titans when Week 1 & 2 problems resurfaced against the Titans: 12 penalties, poor pass protection, 3 turnovers and none forced.
The Vikings (1-4) are coming off a 29-20 loss to the New York Jets in the new Meadowlands. Brett Favre rallied them from a steep first-half hole to poised to win the contest until he threw a patented “pick six” in the final minutes to seal the defeat.
For Dallas to come in here and pull off a victory, they will have to watch tape of the embarrassing 34-3 divisional playoff loss last January, a game where Dallas LB Keith Brooking accused Vikings of running up the score.
The first thing that stands out on the tape is three touchdown passes from Favre to Sidney Rice of 16,45 and 47 yards because the Cowboys blitz-happy defense couldn’t get to Favre. Fortunately, Rice is out for the season and Favre is playing with what looks to be a very painful elbow injury which has affected his passing. He has practiced sparingly this week and is he and his consecutive game streak of 289 is questionable for Sunday. Tarvaris Jackson is his backup.
Whether injuries, age or lack of Rice, the 41-year-old Favre hasn’t been the same quarterback as last season. He’s thrown seven interceptions, fumbled four times and has been sacked 10 times as the offense has only been able to put up just under 16 points per game – 29th in the NFL and ranks 31st in turnover margin (-6). Favre threw just seven picks all of last season and fumbled just twice.
Minnesota just traded for Randy Moss, who caught a deep TD pass last week and has a history of big games against Dallas. In six games, Moss has 30 catches for 607 yards and 10 TDs.
Dallas has two good corners in Mike Jenkins and Terence Newman, although Jenkins is coming off a terrible outing against Tennessee. Dallas will provide help over the top for the corners, which will limit the times they can stack the box against Pro Bowl runner Adrian Peterson.
Dallas held Peterson in check in the playoff loss – 26 carries for 63 yards – but the ‘Boys have allowed back-to-back 100-yard rushers (Arian Foster, Chris Johnson) for the first time since 2005 when they allowed three straight. Dallas didn’t allow one last season.
Like Johnson and Foster, Peterson is going to break a few big runs, but the Cowboys will have to limit his yards after contact to have a chance to win. They must decide whether to pressure Favre, thus becoming vulnerable to the big pass play, or drop back and cover and see how accurate the gunslinger is with the elbow tendinitis.
If they do go after Favre, OLBs DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer will have to provide the heat from the edge – a strategy from last season that didn’t really work.
The second thing that stands out from the film is the lack of pass protection for Romo. The Vikes’ defensive line just overwhelmed the Cowboys registering six sacks. The biggest problem wasn’t DRE Jared Allen, who had one sack, but DLE Ray Edwards who beat an injured RT Marc Colombo repeatedly.
Romo was 22-of-35 for 198 yards, was intercepted once and fumbled three times as he pretty much ran for his life all afternoon.
Colombo was brutal last week against Tennessee, getting beat on four of the six sacks and committing two personal fouls, and LT Doug Free and RG Leonard Davis struggled as Romo was sacked a regular season career-high six times – five in the first half when Dallas fell into a 17-3 hole.
Despite the three picks of which two were tipped, Romo played pretty well, passing for a career-high 406 yards.
The Cowboys are averaging 34 minutes time-of-possession, are second in total offense and have had only three 3-and-outs all season. But when your averaging 9.5 penalties, are -4 in turnover margin, and have completed just one pass thrown 30 yards or longer downfield, its easy to see why they can’t convert yards into points.
Dallas has three pass plays and one run for more than 30 yards all season.
RB Felix Jones, who sprang for 34 yards last week, carried 15 times and should see the bulk of the rushing attempts this week.
Romo will look for WR Miles Austin, who leads the NFL with an average of 118.5 yards per game, and TE Jason Witten, who had 10 grabs against Minnesota in the playoffs.
Rookie WR Dez Bryant is questionable after re-agrravating an earlier ankle injury.
Who will prevail? Minnesota by a 27-20 margin.
http://www.respectthestar.com/
Cowboys Needs 2012
Cornerback
Maybe if the Cowboys could have actually stopped the Giants aerial attack down the stretch, they’d be the ones hoisting the Lombardi Trophy instead of the Giants. Or maybe they would have just lost in the first round to the Falcons. Either way, they can’t be too pleased after ranking 24th against the pass with 7.6 YPA allowed. Terence Newman almost definitely won’t be back next season and that would leave them with Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick at cornerback. That duo won’t be keeping any opposing quarterbacks up at night and most teams need 3 cornerbacks in today’s NFL. Dre Kirkpatrick and Janoris Jenkins will be considered with the 14th pick.
3-4 Defensive End
Many people mocked JJ Watt to the Cowboys at 9 last year and for good reason. Both Stephen Bowen and Marcus Spears were free agents and Spears was an average player at best. The Cowboys went with Tyron Smith and it turns out that there was really no wrong answer there because both players had fantastic rookie seasons. However, the need at defensive end still exists, especially know that Stephen Bowen has since signed with the Washington Redskins. They signed Kenyon Coleman as a one year stopgap because he was familiar with Rob Ryan’s defense, but he wasn’t that great and now he’s a free agent. Meanwhile, for some reason, they signed Marcus Spears to a long term contract. He wasn’t that great either. Help is needed here. Michael Brockers could be the pick at 14.
Rush Linebacker
Anthony Spencer is at the end of his 5 year rookie contract and he’s been inconsistent and disappointing at best. He’s never had more than 6 sacks in a season. If he doesn’t return, they’ll need a new rush linebacker because I don’t think Victor Butler can be anything more than a situational player. Anthony Spencer could be franchised, however, for some reason.
Safety
Abram Elam was another one year stopgap brought over because of familiarity with Rob Ryan’s system, but he wasn’t very good. He’s a free agent this offseason.
Guard
A few years ago, the Cowboys had the oldest offensive line in the league. Now they have one of the youngest. There were some obvious growing pains last season, especially on the interior. Bill Nagy was pretty awful as a rookie before breaking his ankle. Montrae Holland was his replacement, but he’s a 32 year old journeyman and for good reason. Meanwhile, right guard Kyle Kosier just turned 33 so he might not be around much longer. He has already started showing signs of age and has also had trouble staying healthy.
Center
More growing pains on the offensive line for the Cowboys, center Phil Costa really struggled with snaps this season and was a below average blocker as well. They should look for a potential replacement for the undrafted rookie out of Maryland.
Middle Linebacker
Neither Bradie James nor Keith Brooking are expected back next season. That leaves stud middle linebacker Sean Lee and unproven 2011 2nd round pick Bruce Carter in the middle for them. They need more depth.
Quarterback
The Cowboys put in a claim for Kyle Orton, but the Chiefs had a worse record so they got him. However, it’s clear they don’t think Stephen McGee can be Tony Romo’s primary backup with Jon Kitna retiring. They’ll probably try to find someone better suited for that role this offseason, either through the draft or a veteran (like Kyle Orton?) through free agency.
Running Back
The Cowboys cut Tashard Choice so when DeMarco Murray got hurt, they had to use Sammy Morris for significant carries. Neither Felix Jones nor Murray have a history of great health so they should try to find a capable 3rd back to have in the mix so they don’t have to sign a 34 year old off waivers again in the worst case scenario.
Wide Receiver
Laurent Robinson really came on in the 2nd half of the season as their 3rd receiver, but he’s a free agent and he could leave for more money and a starting job. That would leave them needing a replacement 3rd wide receiver, especially important because neither Dez Bryant nor Miles Austin seem to be able to stay healthy for 16 games, however talented they each are.
Cowboys Needs 2011
Free Agency Priorities
Safety
Alan Ball at free safety is terrible. I can only assume they didn’t draft a safety because they plan on signing a veteran in free agency. Gerald Sensabaugh is a free agent at strong safety, so if he’s not resigned, they’ll have to sign someone else in free agency.
3-4 Defensive End
Stephen Bowen, Marcus Spears, Jason Hatcher are all free agents at end. Best case scenario, they resign the promising young Bowen as a starter and one of the other two for depth. Otherwise, they’ll have to find someone through free agency. I don’t know why they didn’t focus on this position in the draft.
Cornerback
They seem committed to Terence Newman, but depending on what the cap is next season, they might not be able to afford the overpaid, old, injury prone cornerback. If so, they’d replace him with a cheaper veteran because they didn’t add a cornerback until the 5th round of the draft.
Draft Needs
Cornerback
Their pass defense somehow got worse after Wade Phillips left. Terence Newman will be 33 soon and Mike “pass interference” Jenkins committed so many pass interference penalties that he earned the nickname “pass interference.” Their pass defense ranked 29th in the league so at the very least they need depth at the position.
Drafted Josh Thomas (#143)
Offensive Tackle
1st year starter Doug Free actually had a solid year at left tackle. Marc Colombo at right was terrible though, really showing his age. He was benched on several occasions for Alex Barron who is worse and battled injuries on several occasions as well.
Drafted Tyron Smith (#9)
Nose Tackle
Jay Ratliff is expected to move to 3-4 end in Rob Ryan’s new defensive scheme. This fills their hole at 3-4 end opposite Stephen Bowen/Igor Olshansky, but they now need a new nose tackle. They’ll look at Phil Taylor in the 2nd round and Jerrell Powe in the 3rd.
Rush Linebacker
DeMarcus Ware led the league with 15.5 sacks, but outside of him, no one had 5. Anthony Spencer has not stepped up and become the elite rush linebacker they need opposite Ware.
Safety
At 185 pounds, Alan Ball is too small to consistently play safety. He also struggles in coverage and was partially responsible for their 29th ranked pass defense.
Guard
Both starting guards are on the wrong side of 30 so young depth is needed unless they see Sam Young as a potential guard of the future.
Drafted David Arkin (#110)
Center
Andre Gurode is also on the wrong side of 30.
Cowboys Draft Visits
OT Jeff Allen (Illinois)
3-4 DE Chase Baker (Boise State)
S Mark Barron (Alabama)
3-4 DE Michael Brockers (LSU)
CB Ron Brooks (LSU)
WR Ryan Broyles (Oklahoma)
S D.J. Campbell (California)
3-4 DE Fletcher Cox (Mississippi State)
G David DeCastro (Stanford)
RB Cyrus Gray (Texas A&M)
CB Stephon Gilmore (South Carolina)
G Cordy Glenn (Georgia)
CB Chris Greenwood (Albion)
CB Casey Hayward (Vanderbilt)
WR T.Y. Hilton (Florida International)
CB Dre Kirkpatrick (Alabama)
C Peter Konz (Wisconsin)
G Ronald Leary (Memphis)
RLB Ronnell Lewis (Oklahoma)
RB Doug Martin (Boise State)
OT Josh Oglesby (Wisconsin)
G Amini Silatolu (Midwestern State)
S Harrison Smith (Notre Dame)
CB Lionel Smith (Texas A&M)
MLB Korey Toomer (Idaho)
RLB Courtney Upshaw (Alabama)
Cowboys Draft Grades
9. Tyron Smith C+
Offensive line was a need for them, especially right tackle, but you don’t take a right tackle at 9. Smith can play the left side, but Doug Free is doing fine there. Why mess with that? All this pick is doing is upgrading the right side, whether they stick Free on the right side and Smith at left tackle or just stick Smith at right tackle. Smith fits the range decently, but I don’t like the idea behind the pick. Prince Amukamara, Cameron Jordan, and JJ Watt all would have made more sense.
40. MLB Bruce Carter D
This was a head scratcher. First off, middle linebacker was not a huge need for them, not compared to defensive end, cornerback, and safety. Second of all, he was projected in the 3rd round because he’s not going to be able to play much in 2011 with an ACL injury. Third of all, I thought he was overrated even before he was hurt. I never had a first round grade on him. I don’t like this pick at all.
71. RB DeMarco Murray B+
Running back was a need. Marion Barber doesn’t have much left in the tank and will probably be cut when they can do so. Felix Jones hasn’t emerged as the feature back as they imagined him when they drafted him in the first round in 2008. Murray also fits the range well. However, defense needed to be the focus in this draft. They need a cornerback, a defensive end, and a safety early in this draft and instead they got a right tackle, an injured middle linebacker, and a running back. Not exactly what I had in mind.
110. G David Arkin C+
Arkin fills a need at guard for them, but I think he was a reach for them. I had him rated a couple rounds lower.
143. CB Josh Thomas C+
The Cowboys finally fill their cornerback need, but I think Thomas is a reach at this point. I didn’t even have him in my top 300.
176. WR Dwayne Harris A-
Wide receiver was a need of theirs as Roy Williams is overpaid and will probably be cut when they can cut players. Harris was a great value, but again, they need defense. The defense was the problem, not the offense. If they could fix their defense, they could have been a Super Bowl contender in 2011.
220. FB Shaun Chapas B
Fullback was a minor need of theirs and Chapas fits the range, but I think there were better picks here.
252. C Bill Nagy B
Center was a need of theirs, but I think there were better centers.
Overall:
This needed to be a defensive draft. Their offense was very good under offensive minded coach Jason Garrett after he took over and they’re getting quarterback Tony Romo back. I understand the need to protect him by getting a new right tackle for him, but they didn’t need to use the 9th overall pick on him. Even if Tyron Smith moves to left tackle and Doug Free moves to right tackle, they’re only really upgrading the right tackle position. Free is a good player. They could have gotten a right tackle in the early mid rounds, the 2nd-4th. 3 of their first 4 picks were on offensive players and they didn’t add a single end, rush linebacker, or safety and they only added one cornerback in the 5th round, who I think was a reach. I did like that they got Dwayne Harris where they got him, to replace Roy Williams and taking DeMarco Murray to replace Marion Barber in the 3rd wasn’t terrible. I do think they could have filled that need in the later rounds though. If they fixed their defense, they could have been a legitimate Super Bowl contender this year. I think they messed that up.
Grade: C-
Cowboys Draft 2012
6. CB Morris Claiborne A-
I don’t normally like when teams with a lot of needs trade up, but the Cowboys traded up 8 spots into the top 6 in a year where the consensus was there were 6 elite prospects and they did it inexpensively, only giving up a 2nd round pick. Claiborne fills a need.
81. 3-4 DE Tyrone Crawford C+
This pick I didn’t like as much. When you need help at as many areas as the Cowboys do (G, C, WR, DE, OLB, CB, S) and you trade away your 2nd round pick, you can’t afford to miss on a pick, which is what I think Crawford is. I had a 5th round grade on him and liked him a lot more in a 4-3 as a left end than in a 3-4 because of his size at 275. That’s a little small for a 3-4.
113. RLB Kyle Wilbur A
This pick I like a lot more. They need a developmental rush linebacker behind DeMarcus Ware and Wilbur is has good pure pass rushing abilities and experience in the 3-4.
135. S Matt Johnson C-
I didn’t have Johnson in my top 250 so the late 4th round is way too early for him. He does fill a need though, but I still think the Cowboys will be in trouble when Brodney Pool suffers his annual injury.
152. WR Danny Coale A-
I had a 7th round grade on Coale as a wide receiver and a 7th round grade on him as a punter, but a 5th rounder overall. This is the 5th round. I don’t think he fills their need as a #3 receiver and they’ll be in trouble if Dez Bryant and/or Miles Austin get hurt again, but I like him as a gadget player with some value, maybe even as a punter or wildcat punter long term.
186. TE James Hanna A-
They needed another tight end with Martellus Bennett gone. Hanna had a 7th round grade in my book (great athleticism, but barely did anything as a pass catcher in an explosive offense at Oklahoma and didn’t block much). This is the 6th, but it’s not a huge deal.
222. FB Caleb McSurdy B
They needed a fullback and McSurdy, viewed by some as a middle linebacker, will convert to fullback for them. This type of thing has a decent success rate, but I typically like when teams draft pure fullbacks and there were a couple on my board who fit the range.
This was a mixed bag draft for the Cowboys. They didn’t address all of their needs and the Claiborne trade was a big part of the reason why they couldn’t do that, but I do like that they traded into the top-6 of a draft that the consensus was there was 6 blue chip prospects. Claiborne did fill a need. Tyrone Crawford and Matt Johnson address needs, but were major reaches who probably won’t emerge as starters.
Kyle Wilbur was a solid pick and they made some decent late round selections, but they probably only are getting 1 starter out of this draft, 2 if you count the fullback, but even that’s not a sure thing. However, Claiborne will pair with Brandon Carr to fix a pass defense that ranked in the bottom 3rd of the league against the pass last year. Within a year or two, they could rank in the top 3rd. They still have major issues on their defensive line, their interior offensive line, and their receiver depth. Safety is also a problem, but this was a poor safety draft anyway.
Grade: B-
Cowboys Bears Preview
By Jim Keller
Quick, when was the last time the Dallas Cowboys started a season 0-2, and how did they finish?
The answer is 2001 when they lost to Tampa Bay and San Diego and finished 5-11. The Boys also lost their first two in 2000 and finished 5-11, so that seems to indicate the importance of this week’s home opener against the Chicago Bears in Cowboys Stadiums.
Dallas is 34-15-1 all-time in home openers, losing openers this decade to Philadelphia in 2000, Tampa Bay in ’01, Atlanta in ’03, Washington in ’05 and the New York Giants in ’09.
Dallas comes in having thought they won the game with the Washington Redskins last Sunday after Tony Romo threw an apparent 11-yard TD pass to Roy Williams on the game’s final play. However, it was called back because right tackle Alex Barron was called for his fourth holding call (third accepted) of the game and the Redskins prevailed 13-7.
Chicago won in just about opposite fashion last week. The Bears beat the Detroit Lions 19-14, but only after an apparent 25-yard scoring pass from Shaun Hill to Calvin Johnson with 25 seconds remaining was ruled incomplete by the officials and upheld by the replay booth. Johnson appeared to have possession with both feet on the ground, but the ball popped loose when he hit the ground while holding it with one hand.
What will Dallas have to do to get back on track of becoming the first of 36 teams whose cities hosted a Super Bowl to actually make it to the season’s biggest game?
Offense
It appears that Dallas has the same problem, albeit just the preseason and Game 1 as a small sample size, as last season – converting yards into drives.
Dallas was second in total offense last season but 14th in scoring and Romo completed just 44 percent of his tosses inside the 10-yard line. On Sunday at Washington, The Boys racked up 380 total yards – fourth most in the NFL in Week 1 – and managed just seven points.
The main culprit in this one was penalties and the offensive line. Dallas had 12 penalties for 91 yards and Washington declined two other holding penalties. Right tackle Alex Barron was whistled four times and continued his preseason horrendous play. Fortunately for Dallas, starting right tackle Marc Colombo is set to return along with left guard Kyle Kosier, both out with knee injuries.
But having those starters back isn’t a cure-all. The average age of the line is 32 years and they combine for about 1,600 pounds. A study by Football Outsiders determined that lines of this age don’t win Super Bowls let alone improve as they age. So that doesn’t bode well for improving upon an 11-5 mark to advance to the Super Bowl.
Hopefully, with the line intact this week against a good Chicago defense, Romo will have more time and confidence in his line and the game plan will be to challenge Chicago more vertically than horizontally.
Last week it was obvious the game plan called for short and flat passes as nine of Romo’s 31 completions were for two yards or less. Romo used quick 3-step drops and relied on “smoke routes” that didn’t go anywhere, screens and flares. He threw only 2-3 balls more than 20 yards downfield all night, but he did show maturity, trying to force only one ball.
I’ll be looking for Romo to utilize big play weapons Miles Austin (10 catches, 146 yards) and Dez Bryant (8, 56) down the field more and try to get Felix Jones (24-yard reception on first touch) out in space.
Chicago’s defense held Detroit to under 200 yards and just 21 yards on the ground, but it was the Lions and they played without starting QB Matthew Stafford for the second half. Julius Peppers knocked Stafford out of the game with a first-half sack on a play that drew a fine by the league office for going to the head – albeit ever so slightly.
Dallas will have to keep an eye on Peppers, who will probably be moved all over the line to create a good matchup. Former Pro Bowler Tommie Harris is also a pressure guy and will have to be maintained, but linebackers Brian Uhrlacher and Lance Briggs, coming off a combined 17 tackles, one sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery performance against Detroit, will be coming for Romo and will use their quickness against the beef and age of the Dallas front.
Dallas has one of the best run games in the NFL and averaged 4.7 yards last week, but ran it just 22 times with a long run of 12 yards, but only one carry resulted in negative yardage.
Many experts have questioned that run-less strategy and it has called rancor in Cowboys Nation about who is running the show, coach Wade Phillips, offensive coordinator Jason Garrett or head man Jerry Jones.
Dallas shouldn’t return to the ground on a more heavy-dose plan this week because that simply isn’t what the Cowboys do. They are a pass-first, run second team that relies on Romo, its best and most important weapon first and foremost.
Defense
Dallas held Washington to a pair of field goals, McNabb completed under 50 percent of his passes and the Redskins’ ground game was shut down completely for three quarters until making some solid runs and first downs in the fourth to help control the clock.
DeMarcus Ware, who is scheduled to play after straining his neck on a collision with Skins RB Larry Johnson late in the fourth, had one sack and provided solid edge pressure all night.
However, the Cowboys couldn’t put a consistent rush on McNabb without gambling with an extra blitzer and didn’t come close to forcing a turnover or making any big plays.
This week the D will be up against the team that amassed over 400 yards of total offense with QB Jay Cutler throwing for 372 yards and 2 TDs to Matt Forte.
The Bears will have a choice. Cutler was sacked four times last week and 10 times in limited play during the preseason, and Chicago’s run game was stagnant last season, so do they try to attack Dallas downfield and become vulnerable to sacks and Cutler’s questionable decision making – he led the NFL with 26 picks last season – or do they try to establish the run game, control the ball and limit turnovers – they had an interception and 3 fumbles lost last week.
Dallas likes corners Michael Jenkins and Terence Newman, and will probably man-them up on the outside against Devin Hester and Johnny Knox. They will try to stuff the run and pressure Cutler. With Chicago’s suspect line, the Cowboys hope to apply pressure, confuse Cutler and force him into bad decisions.
Special Teams
Despite missing just one FG all preseason, Dallas must be concerned with David Buehler, who missed his first career attempt from 34 yards last week. An excellent kickoff man, Buehler has a reputation for being erratic on FGs.
Dallas punter Matt McBriar, who has one of the strongest legs in the game, missed two opportunities to pin Washington deep when he booted punts into the end zone. The kick coverage team allowed 76 yards on two returns and the Boys’ didn’t have much in punt or kick returns.
Bears FG kicker Robbie Gould is one of the most accurate kickers in the game but is challenged length-wise. Hester is one of the best return men in the game, but his effectiveness has dropped off in recent seasons and he averaged just three yards per punt return last week.
Prediction
It’s the Cowboys home opener, a game Dallas needs for more ways than one – Phillips’ security, don’t want to start 0-2, end talk of offensive and red zone woes – against an opponent that is beatable.
With Colombo and Kosier back and another week for Bryant to get comfortable with the offense, the Boys’ offense should be more efficient but still not where it needs to be. The Bears’ 19 points on over 400 yards wasn’t efficient either, and Dallas’ D is a step or two ahead of Detroit’s, so Cutler will not be as effective, will make some poor decisions and Dallas will prevail 23-13.
Leftovers
14 first downs, 20 minutes of possession in first half last week without scoring a point
Dallas inside Redskins 40 in three of first four series without a point
Perhaps the stupidest two plays since Leon Lett against Dolphins on Thanksgiving and in Super Bowl in Miami. It was the fifth time in series history that the Skins returned a fumble for a TD. Washington won four of those games by less than a TD.
Bryant had no big-play impact in pass or kick game; caught eight passes for 56 yards, a club record for catches in first career game and the most by a rookie making his debut since Denver’s Eddie Royal had nine catches for 146 yards in 2008.
Roy Williams was a no-show as usual; three catches for 21 yards but could have had the game-winner; probably had five balls his way all night
Last week was the fourth time Dallas had amassed 380 yards of ffense in the opener and lost.
Sixth time in franchise history Dallas has been held to seven points or fewer in the opener, and first since 2001 against Tampa Bay (0-6)
Austin is third player in franchise history to record 10+ receptions in opener, joining Tony Dorsett (1984) and Frank Clarke (1962&64), and Austin’s 146 yards receiving is sixth most in an opener
Romo completed 31 passes and lost just one other time in his career, in last year’s home opener to the Giants; Troy Aikman did it twice, Danny White once and Steve Pelleur once.
Football Fan Spot 