Cowboys..What Happened and What Now?

The worst season in Cowboys history is finally over. Oh there have been worse records but never has a Cowboys team with so much promise, flopped so miserably. Jerry Jones fired Wade Phillips, mid season, the only time that has happened in the history of the Cowboys.

The defense was Wade's downfall. He has always been a defensive 'fix it guy.' The GM/Owner shares a lot of the blame for this season's disaster. It started when there were no outside free agents signed in the off season. They were the only team in the league to do this. They relied on unproven first time starters to carry the load. Alan Ball  and Gerald Sensabaugh were total failures as safeties. Ball, especially, had never done anything in the past to warrant a promotion but he was there anyway. Anthony Spencer took several steps back at OLB. He was joined in miserable seasons by Keith Brookings..ILB and Jay Ratliff..NT who looked out of position.

The offense was productive, if all you do is look at the yards, but they made way too many mistakes and never figured out the red zone. The offensive line played horribly as a unit and when they did put in a back up it cost them dearly. The one bright spot was Dez Bryant who showed promise but couldn't stay healthy and was lost for the year. Romo played in only five games but Jon Kitna played well as his back up and their third string QB, Steven McGee won a game and should have won two. 

This team lost more games than their opponents won them. Mistakes were the mantra of this team. They were the most penalized team in the league for the second time in three years. The only time they were not number one they were number two. Plus so many of their penalties were in key situations.

The team was 1-7 under Wade Phillips and 5-3 under Jason Garrett. The team did respond to Jason but then the real culprit was exposed. The culprit was lack of talent. This team just wasn't good enough to win without some luck. They gave up more points than any Cowboys team in the history of the franchise. The offense kicked in with some horrible turnovers and mistakes at key times. The big difference in pre and post Wade was the defense, while still sucking, got some turnovers.

Moving forward the Cowboys have the number nine pick in the 2011 draft. They have a favorable schedule for next season. Jerry won't stand pat this season on free agency and that is good because there will be a lot of holes to fill. The entire defensive line are nearly all free agents. That is the bad news, the good news is they need to go..Ratliff needs to be moved to DE where he won't face as many double teams. They need a monster in the middle to stuff the run. We need Sean Lee to step up and replace Brookings, who his surely a goner.

On offense the team needs a couple of Olinemen..Free and Gurode may be the only survivors, although Kosier if he can stay healthy might be kept. For sure Davis and Colombo are gone. I see no need to blow up the running backs, there are more places to put your money. A wide receiver is needed unless they can get Roy Williams to take a pay cut. TE is in good shape as is the QB situation. The Cowboys were the only team with two 1000 yard receivers. Jason Witten and Miles Austin both achieved this.

Special teams need to become special. The team signed Brown a kicker who kicked in Houston. He is reliable but with not much of a leg. Buelher as I post before contributed in two losses. We still need a return guy. Dez seems too fragile to handle both returns and wide receiver.

Here is to 2011 and a return to the playoffs. It will be hard to see two other teams play in the Super Bowl in the Cowboy's stadium..

Some Stats On How Offense and Defense Work Together

For those of you who are at all interested in examples of how the offense and defense are connected read below?

The Redskins had the ball on 9 possessions. On those 9 possessions they scored twice..but they also had drives of:

69 yds...36 yds..50 yds..46 yds..15 yds..11 yds..4 yds..3 yds..0 yds..


The Cowboys offense had drives of:

37 yds..56 yds..7 yds..62 yds..2 yds..41 yds..34 yds..25 yds..5 yds..58 yds..

The offense by having 7 of 10 drives over 25 yards gave the defense good field position all night. It actually could be 8 of 10 because one drive ended in a fumble at the half.. The only good field position the Redskins had was on their own 43 and that was on a kick off..The other kick off the defense got field position at the 33 of Washington..

So what does this mean..It means that Washington took over at their..20..24..15..5..7..17 and 23 yard line following a Cowboys punt and if you take away the 24 yard starting point because of a missed field goal the Redskins started every drive but one at or inside their 20..and the other was at the 23..It is a lot easier to stop a drive when they start that deep.


Plus by giving up so many yards on each possession the Cowboys started deep in their territory. The one exception was when the Redskins got the ball at their 7 yard line and the defense stoned them and the offense got the ball back at the Skins 34. They then scored their only touchdown.


The Redskins averaged their 20 yard line. So the field position the offense put the Skins in had as much to do with the defense as any other factor.

Is Dez the Most Over-Hyped Cowboy Pick Ever

Is Dez the Most Over-Hyped Cowboy Pick Ever


I have been around since the very first game the Cowboys played against Pittsburgh. It was my first pro game of any type. I was 13 years old and watched future HOF Bobby Lane throw for 358 yards and 5 td's. I was hooked and to this day I still am.

I have been struck by the chatter on Dez Bryant. It has been a long time since I have seen any draft pick with this type of positive buzz. He won the hearts and minds of many Cowboys fans when selected. He seems to have gotten the local media on board with his ability to catch everything. Throw it high or low, inside or outside, it doesn't seem to matter he catches everything.

He looks to have the Cowboys on board as well. The evidence is the trading to Patrick Crayton and the rumored interest in being open to trading Sam Hurd. The Cowboys coaches from day one have not held back on Dez. On draft day the Cowboys said they had him as the highest rated wide receiver and one of the highest rated guys on the board. In OTA'S and mini-camps the rhetoric has done nothing but go up.

This brings me to the point of asking is Dez Bryant the most hyped draft pick the Cowboys have ever had? Now you don't become America's team and not have high profile picks. From their very first draft pick in 1961, the great HOF'er Bob Lilly to the rest of the greats. The candidates are as follows:

1961.............Bob Lilly
1963.............Lee Roy Jordan
1974.............Ed Too Tall Jones
1975.............Randy White
1977.............Tony Dorsett
1989.............Troy Aikman
1990.............Emmitt Smith
2010.............Dez Bryant

They are all great players with the exception of Dez, who has yet to play a down. Remember I am not saying I believe Dez will accomplish any of the things these past greats have done. I am simply talking hype. So using scientific and Sherlock Holme's type logic I narrow my list.

Lilly came to an expansion team that didn't have a first year draft. Jordan and Too Tall were both very highly thought of but never received the buzz that Dez is getting. Same for White and maybe the greatest Cowboy ever Emmit Smith. BTW a note on Emmit. He was not the Cowboys first choice. Jimmy Johnson wanted to draft James Francis a linebacker.

I think the main competition for Dez is between Troy Aikman and Tony Dorsett. Both were the best players in the draft and Dallas had the number one pick in the case of Troy Aikman and the number two pick in the case of Tony Dorsett. If this was a case of the most hyped rookie ever it would be a blowout in my opion. Tony Dorsett came out of the blue. The Cowboys made a trade on draft day to get the Heisman Trophy winner out of Pittsburgh and he did not disappoint. He and Roger Staubach led the Cowboys to their second Super Bowl win in 1977..I still remember that the Cowboys have never ran a screen pass before or after that compared to Tony. It seemed he was at full speed in a split second. He is still my favorite running back..EVER..

Then there is Dez Bryant. I have no idea if the guy is as good as advertised? I am not sure if he can do enough to deserve the hyperbole but I he has built a reputation without playing a game. If he is anywhere as good as some suspect he could be the difference maker that the Cowboys got with Tony Dorsett in 1977. If not he will be totally trashed by "I told you so'ers" and the main stream media who never let the Cowboys forget that in Wade's second year they picked the Cowboys to go to the Super Bowl. I just know one thing and that is Dez is the most hyped draft pick in the Cowboys history..Of course all is IMHO..

My First NFL Game

It was Oct 16th 1960. I was thirteen and this was my first NFL game. The guy running over the Cowboys is the great Jim Brown. He had a pedistrian day with only 25 yards rushing. He was not needed that day because the Brown won the game 48-7.

There was only one reason I was there and that was my mom. Dad wanted to go to the game but mom insisted if he went he take my brother Larry and me. In those days you could buy one adult ticket(end zone)and get up to five kids in free.

Looking at the empty seats you can see why they did the promotion. Not many people watched the Cowboys in those days. They played at the Cotton Bowl in Fair Park. I wish I could tell you a lot about the game but the fifty years have dulled the memories. I do know that is when I fell in love with the NFL and to this day it is my favorite sport. The Cowboys are my favorite team not named the Longhorns.

There Will Be a Lockout In 2011

The reason the Cowboys and other teams are not going all out in free agency is a lockout is all but assured for 2011..

The owners want more of the revenue..Under the current collective bargaining agreement the players get 60% of the revenues..The owners want that capped at 50% and they want a rookie salary cap..

The owners have already opted out of the agreement..that's why there is no cap this season..The biggest problem..say the owners..is the revenue levels have fell to all time lows for owners..In a not too distant past the owners averaged about 10% profit on all revenues..Now it is down to 5-7% and the small market teams are really feeling the pinch..They are the driving force behind this move. They are locked into a revenue stream that is only going down.

Take a look at New Orleans and Indianapolis..The state of Louisiana had to pay the Saints 186 million in 2001 to keep them in town though the 2010 season..Due to the economy that deal would be hard to do today..There is no money available to keep the Saints in town..They may be forced to leave the city..

In Indianapolis the taxpayers funded Lucas Oil Stadium to the tune of 87%..The other 13% was covered by the sale of the naming rights for 120 million..It looks like the city is already needing a bail out..Revenues anticipated to be over fifteen million over the cost of operating the stadium have fell below the break even level to the tune of over ten million a year..

Even large market teams are falling on hard times. The new Giants stadium has been unable to sell nearly half of the club seats or over 5K a game. They also have only sold half of the over 200 suites..This from a team with 140K people on their season ticket waiting list..They are just too expensive..

The dirty little secret is the NFL teams have insurance..They signed an agreement with Direct TV that pays them one billion dollars a year..The agreement runs from 2011-2014 and here is the kicker..They are guaranteed to get that money in 2011 even if there is a lockout..So each team will receive appx 30 million and have zero expenses..Most will lay off employees and cut expenses to the bone..

All NFL fans should enjoy this season and a Super Bowl at the new Cowboys Stadium..It may be the last time we will see the players for quite some time..I already hear rumors of the owners using replacement players..This could get ugly and last a long time..

Cowboy's Season Predictions

The Dallas Cowboys have the fourth toughest schedule in the NFL. Follow along as I pick the games, week by week.

Week 1...@ Washington..It is opening weekend and a Sunday night game. The NFL once again did the Cowboys no favors. It will be close but the Cowboys should win this one.

Week 2..Chicago..This should be an easy win. The Cowboys have too much offense for the Bears..

Week 3..@ Houston..Tough game. The Texans have gotten really good. They have a good young QB and Wr..Plus Mario Williams is a legit threat on defense..I have this a toss up but I think the Cowboys will win late..

Week 4.....Bye

Week 5..Tennessee..The Titans have a great defense but not enough offense..Dallas wins to go 4-0

Week 6..@ Minnesota..Farve plays = Cowboys Loss........No Farve = Cowboys Win

Week 7..NY Giants...Cowboys get revenge for being swept by the Giants last season..Cowboys Win

Week 8..Jacksonville...The Jaguars have no defense or offense to keep the Boys from really kicking ass..Cowboys win big

Week 9..@ Green Bay...Tough game..The Packers have beefed up their defense and have one of the best QB'S in the league..I see the Cowboys losing a close one

Week 10..@ NY Giants...Cowboys lose two in a row..Critics go nuts and fans want Romo traded,Phillips fired and JJ to seel the team..Just the way it is in Big D..

Week 11..Detroit...Just what the doctor ordered..A large dose of whoop ass on the Lions..Cowboys huge win..Kitna plays the 4th quarter..

Week 12..New Orleans..Dallas shows the Saints why they should be glad they didn't get the Boys in last seasons playoffs..Dallas wins a close one..

Week 13..Indy wins a close one..Note..If the Cowboys win this game it bolds well for their Super Bowl chances

Week 14..Philadelphia..New QB..same beating only a different year..Cowboys win..

Week 15..Washington..By now the Skins are regretting the signing of Donovan McNabb..Cowboys win and sweep the Skins

Week 16..@ Arizona..All Star QB/Gone..All Star WR/Gone...Arizona's chances of winning against the Cowboys...Gone..Dallas wins easily..

Week 17..@ Philadelphia..Dallas is playing for home field advantage and the Eagles are playing for a high draft pick..Dallas sweeps the Eagles..

The NBA Is Hard To Win!

I was watching the NBA playoffs and still getting over my illness from the Mavericks losing in the first round. I got to thinking, it sure seems the same teams win all the time. I wanted to go back and see if this was accurate and from there decided to compare the "Big Four" of North American sports.

I found out a few things to make my argument seem..on face value..not look true. In the last four years the NBA has had four different champions. Seems pretty normal,but it still didn't answer all my two main questions. Are the same teams always winning and how do the four pro sports relate to who wins?

• Some Eye Opening Stats..From the Last 20 Years

NBA...4 teams have won 16 of the twenty titles..Lakers(6)..Bulls(6) and Spurs(4)..Total number of champions..7..so all the other winners have only one championship each..The problem with the NBA is apparent..Strength of schedule is not weighted. Good teams are playing the same schedule as the bad teams..The NBA has a lottery and it is so tilted to avoid a team tanking the end of season that the worst team in the league has never gotten the first pick in the draft..

NHL...The league in the last 20 years has had 4 different multi-championship winners..Detroit(4)New Jersey(4) lead the pack. The league has had 10 different winner in 20 years. Since the lockout year of 04-05 there have been four different winners. They have imposed a hard cap and between the two seem to have increased teams chances of winning.

MLB...The league has had eleven different winners in the last 20 years. The Yankees lead the way with 5 titles. There have been three other multi-winners but all are tied with two. Baseball is the only sport in the USA that has relief from anti-trust practices. They have no salary cap and no weighted schedules. The Yankees lead baseball every year with dollar spending amounts that sometimes are 4 or 5 times higher than some last place teams. Still the Marlins with very low payrolls have won 2 world championships. Baseball is a head scratch-er and I would welcome some advice on this sport.

NFL..The league has had 14 different winners in 20 years. Pete Rozell..past commissioner..was all about parody..Boy did he succeed..Two teams..Dallas/3 and New England/3 are leading the pack. The league has seen a different team win the Super Bowl in the last 6 years. I believe the NFL has figured parody out. They have a draft where the worst teams get the best players and a weighted schedule. In each conference some games are played where the division winners play each other and the last place teams play each other. The league also benefits from teams only playing only one playoff game. The chance to have an upset is greater with all playoff games being game sevens. The Super Bowl is also played at a neutral site.

It is pretty amazing(to me) that the league with the largest roster(NFL) has the most chance for an individual team to win a title. PLUS..The league with the smallest roster(NBA)has the least chance. Just saying!