Wednesday Open Thread

Any chance that they roll Bledsoe out of the pocket against the Chiefs?

I doubt it, thats one thing Ive noticed he doesnt throw well when hes rolling out, he did it against the Giants and threw it into the dirt…this is a MUST WIN though…for all intensive purposes,

If Bledsoe cannot be protected and we have to max protect and run the ball into 8 man fronts, we are in trouble obviously.

Rather than another debacle like NY, why not replace Bledsoe with Romo and see if he can get something going. How could our offense do any worse?

I don’t see that Bledsoe was responsible for the New York debacle.

Not responsible Blink, but we need to get him time to make plays.

Blink,

I don’t think he was responsible either, but if he cannot play with what we have, we need to find someone who can. We have the OL we have and we have to recognize that and make the most of it. On the bright side, BP sez the OL problems are fixed, whatever that means.

If you guys are speaking about getting someone with mobility back there due to lack of line protection, I see and agree with your point. I just think that, at this stage, we’re better served by sticking with Drew.

I guess I’m having a hard time understanding what max protection schemes we were using if Pettiti was left one on one with Strahan most of the day.

To me the biggest problem is C. Bledsoe had no pocket to step up into.

rha, im sorry to burst your bubble. but there is only a few that qb’s that can play in these troubled o-line circumstances, and only 1 name comes to mind and that is vick.
it would be almost impossible for any qb to perform with the way the line is playin. they suck pretty bad.

I am speaking of a more mobile person if we are unable to protect Drew. I agree if we can protect him without keeping everyone in max protection schemes we should stick with DB. With time to throw he has proven to be as good as it gets.

Hey guys dont get down, that was a great defense (Giants) And we were playing in a very hostile environment…
Dallas is going to be fine…

As far as playoff scenarios go: You guys think 9-7 has any shot of getting in?

all i know is if the cowboys get in the playoffs and cure their line problems in the process they have as good as a chance as anyone to represent the nfc
if they dont cure that problem we may as well start lookin at next year.

The way I look at it, next years needs in order of priority are:

1) OT – I would prefer signing a veteran FA than wasting anymore draft picks on one (how many have we drafted the last 4 years already). Plus this team doesn’t have the time to spend developing anymore young linemen projects. DB and OL are not ideal positions to start rookies at. Get someone in there who can protect the QB now. Enough is enough!! Cut Tucker and let Pettiti grow into the role from the sidelines. Hopefully Flozell comes back 100% so we only need one more OT.

2) OLB/DE – Draft one if there is anyone left on the draft board by the time the Cowboys get to pick. I think we are only a dominating pass rusher away from having a Super Bowl caliber defense. I would love to see a good college DE with size and speed to complement Ware on the other side. I think Kamerion Wimbley from FSU would be good and should still be available by the time the Boys pick. He’s 6’4", 255 lbs., runs a 4.7 40, and is a good pass rusher.

3) FB – Preferably sign a veteran FA. Getting a true top notch FB combined with the aforementioned upgrade at OT will do more to help the running game than anything else. It won’t matter if JJ or MB3 starts, because they will finally have a battering ram to escort them down the field. No more of this tight ends in the backfield business, let’s have the tight ends line up next to the tackles where they belong!!

4) Center – This is a hard position to fill. I am not sure that there are any in the draft that are better than what we already have, if so jump on it. It is difficult to find good FA centers. This position was a problem last year too. This one is tough, but there is no question (especially after the last few weeks) that this position has to be addressed.

5) ILB/MLB – Dat has been a very solid middle linebacker and a great leader, replacing him won’t be easy. Hopefully one of the other guys will step up to fill his leadership role. If the Boys can find a good LB in the draft that would be the best way.

I would say FS would be good too, but Davis seems to be playing pretty good and I don’t see the secondary as being as big an issue as the O-Line and the linebackers.

I look forward to hearing all of your thoughts on next season’s priorities!!

NY does not have a great Defense and I don’t think 9-7 will make it. I dont even think we can get to 9-7. Bledsoe is not a mobile qb and not many qb will produce without a line but other qb would do a better job than Bledsoe with the current line. Bledsoe is what he is, cowboys knew this so JJ and BP should have make sure this line was ready to protect him. Bledsoe needs a lot of protection I don’t know of many lines that would allow for him not to feel the rush from time to time. There are a lot of qb that are not considered mobile qb but move around enough to buy time. Bledsoe doesn’t more at all.

Blink:

I don’t think there is any way of knowing if 9-7 will be good enough because the NFC is such a toss-up this season. The Vikings are the real jokers in the deck. Two of the NFC South teams might eliminate the other one, meaning that only one Wild Card berth comes out of that division. The Cowboys need the Vikings to start losing again, and especially losing to NFC teams. Their only NFC games left are against the Rams and the Bears.

The best of all worlds would be for the Cowboys to win out the rest of the way. Of course, considering how this season has gone everything will probably come down to the last possible second.

aw,
who would be better that we could have picked up in the offseason?

Or do you mean we should have drafted a QB. It would have had to have been in the later rounds because the D needed players. charlie Frye? Orton? Orlovsky? That kid from Harvard?

But then who would have been the QB this season?

Do you mean we should have gotten a true bus driver QB, (Dilfer, Garcia, Johnson) and used the draft to pick the future?

Do you see the guys on the bench as having NFL starter QB material?

Parcells made a profound statement when questioned about the offensive line. “oh we have fixed that” what do you think he did?

aw,

NY is the worst defensive line match up the cowboys have faced all year. Their two ends are playing all world right now and our two tackles just aren’t.
They have a deep interior DLine rotation that wore our G-C-G down in the middle.

The Giants D has picked its game up by a large margin in recent weeks.

aw:

If you think a more mobile QB is the answer for the Cowboys QB situation, maybe you would like them to give Quincy Carter a call??

If there are a lot of QB’s who aren’t considered mobile but move around enough to buy time can you name 4 or 5 of them? I can’t think of any that the Cowboys can get who could do any better behind this O-Line.

TM,
maybe he gave up?

Here goes — what about trading Ellis?

I was against it last year, but now, it makes some sense.

First, although he is a year older, his trade-value may be higher now than ever because of the season he has had.

Second, our young players, Canty and Ratliff, have proven themselves, which makes Ellis more expendable than he was last year.

We need the trade more now than last year because now we don’t have a lot of room under the cap and we don’t have 2 first round picks.

Any takers?

Protect Drew and he’ll throw the ball!

Madcowboy,

generally you don’t get much for pass rushers over 30. What would we get?

Sterling,

I agree with your assessment except I would be willing to invest more picks in finding an OT despite our recent failures. We have to improve our O-line. Period.

I could see us signing at least one FA and also investing 4 picks toward the goal of landing just 1 or 2 O-line upgrades. If we could upgrade 2 positions, even moderately, it would pay huge dividends for our offense.

The problem is we don’t have much time. The clock is ticking on Key, Glen, and Bledsoe.

Madcowboy:

Who or at least what position are you wanting to trade Ellis for?

A trade is only a good deal relative to what you are getting in return, whether or not his trade value is higher now than ever.

I am sure that there are a lot of teams out there who would love to have a Pro Bowl DL like Ellis, but unless they have someone the Boys need to offer in return it wouldn’t be a good deal.

I doubt there are too many teams that would trade the Boys enough to make it worthwhile.

AlanTdot,

You’re right. We definitely won’t get a blue chip player. But I think the trade would be worth it so logn as we can acquire even a moderate upgrade somewhere on our O-line. Can we get a better OT than Pettiti, maybe or maybe not. If yes, then take it.

Also, even if we could just get a better back-up guard, it might be worth it. Think about what happens to our team if Rivera or Allen goes down. We would be sunk. The pocket already seems to collapse up the middle.

1. OT-the line is sad
2. Center-the line is sad
3. WR-6-2+ with some speed only in the fist two rounds we need a playmaker that can play now, trade or cut KJ or TG.
4.OLB yes we need a bookend
5.NT trade glover we need a bigger body.
6 RB only if its in the first round, JJ I think would do better as the 3rd down back.
7 Oline-again this line is sad.
8 QB but only in the first round.
some might look at this and say why a WR, RB and QB? We need a movement on offense like the Defense this year. People would say first round Wr tend to not work out, this is true but First rounder still produce the most production.

Sterling:

I have my priorities like this:

1) Center: When you have a starter that often looks overpowered, and in almost every game Johnson looks that way, you have problems. And when your backup is a limited one, look at Parcells comment on him being reluctant on going shotgun with Gurode in the lineup, you have more problems. A Center has to be drafted, in that position I don’t trust a FA because they’re free when old or with flaws. And in this draft there’re Centers worthy of a 1st Round, they’re Greg Eslinger of Minnesota and and Mike Degory of Florida.

2) DE/OLB tweener: If Dallas is going to draft an OLB it has to be a tweener, because in College, scouts are making every player that has some size and some pass rush skills 4-3 DE’s. The only true OLB’s in College that have enough size and skills to perform great as OLB’s in a 3-4 are Greenway of Iowa and Howard of UTEP and they won’t get to the 2nd Round.

3) FS: Yeah, Keith Davis isn’t looking bad, but is he looking great? Or even good? Looks good at times, at time he looks average and at times looks bad (like that tackle to Dayne). I want better, Hope or Demps would mean better.

4) ILB: Nguyen might not be back, Shanle and Fowler are as green as what you can find, Burnett is a possibility at ILB, but that’s just a chance. And I wouldn’t be comfortable with the depth. I guess FA might provide a starter or a good backup.

5) TE: That’s a need, having a pair of good pass catchers that are also good blocking is a wet dream of every Coach that likes to have 2 TE sets in most of the Offensive schemes, that way you wouldn’t have a liability like Campbell that everytime he’s on the field teams know that he’s going to block so another defender can stay in the box. The same can be said of Pierce.

6) FB: This one is obvious, but isn’t a high priced one or requires a high draft pick to be solved, that’s why I have it in this slot.

7) OT: Adams is back next year, so LT is a check (yes, it’s a check, in the six games he played he nearly allowed a sack a game, give me names of OT’s that allow less?), Petitti is a rookie and will be better next year with a full year of film study and competition from Columbo, Price and Tucker. Still if a medium price FA thats better than anyone we have on the roster comes available, he’s signed.

The line suck and its not going to get fix this year. Bledsoe can’t move around. The first thing we should have done when we got Bledsoe was make sure this line was going to protect him. Bledsoe is not a great qb he is ok. Two teams have dropped him for this. All qb need protection but Bledsoe needs more than the avg qb. This line hasnt showed it can protect him against a good team. Bledsoe has made lots of bad plays when the line has given him time to throw.

Does Bill overhaul the offensive line this year like he did the defensive line last year using the top three picks starting three rookies. Or does he have it fixed already without spending any O line picks? Maybe Coloumbo is his RT, with Petitie as backup with year of starting experience. Flow’s coming back at Left with Tuker as backup with a year of starting experience. AJ was playing great at center untill his knee locked up… Seems to me all of our starters have had surgery except for the back ups and Gurode will get cut if he can’t learn to play center.

aw,

your way off, earlier in the season when our line was healthy drew was putting up pro bowl stats, QB isnt a problem right now and with drew we have at least two more years were we dont have to worry about it, the only reason to go QB in the first round would be if we got a bargain at on our choice, we dont need to trade up for it, also we have to many other priorities to look at before QB or reciever. We have Clayton who is good when hes not hurt to complete our recieving core and for the next few years like drew they are not going anywhere. our priority right now is defence and offensive line, We are working in the depth slowly on offensive line so i dont think its gonna be to big of a problem but we need to pick up a solid center that is big and plays consitantly. On the defensive side we need to just get some depth on the linebacking core and that should be our first pick in the draft. Our defense has played pretty good all year and getting that one peice in the offensive line would bring us back to were we were playing in the beginning of the season and thats where we want to start at to build around later.

When drew has protection hes about as accurate as any qb in the league and can throw farther than most of them

aw:

I think you were complaining about Bledsoe back in the summer. I remember this discussion about drafting 1st round skill position players.

I agree with your first two priorities being OT and Center.

As far as drafting a WR who is 6’2" plus in the first or second round who can play now (thus you mean he would have to be better than TG or KJ is now if you want to cut one of them) I don’t know of any at the NCAA level who are coming out this year, so maybe next year? Santonio Holmes is damn good, but he is not 6’2" and we would have to trade up to get him.
 
OLB I agree with.

NT – I don’t see that as a weakness at all.

RB – What RB do you think will be left between the late middle to later part of the draft that would be better than JJ or MB3? Reggie Bush will be taken #1 or 2 overall and I don’t think there will be anyone better than what we’ve got at our pick time. Is this position really the problem?

O-line I agree with…you can never have enough linemen because of injuries.

QB – Maybe if we traded away a bunch of our future 1st round draft picks and/or some of our best players we could get Matt Leinart or Vince Young. I doubt it though. Other than one of them is there really anyone else who would be worth a first round pick?

Cleveland, Baltimore, Arizona, and Detroit have used a LOT of 1st round picks on skill position players and they suck worse than ever. It is really rare that it works out.

u agree with sterling, and my complete trust is in parcells with his drafting, i mean pretty much everyone we drafted is showing great potential and improving. We have 6th rounder that starts and for a rookie being thrown quickly into a mess of pros i think hes doing good and getting better, our offensive line has its problems but they are working out slowly, we have alot of young players having to step up fast, and in the draft even if parcells waits till a late round to pick up offensive linemen i wont be worried, just look at his results so far

I’d like to see Drew back in the shotgun more this week. I know that it basically tells the D corrdinator to tee of with the blitz, but he needs to be able to have a few seconds before hands are in his face.

O-line will definitely be top priority this offseason I think. But I don’t thinkthe situatiojn is as dire as we all think. Like Raf said in another thread, Rivera is hurt. I think Flo will come back okay, and I think Pettiti will shine once he has a full NFL offseason under his belt – hit the weights Rob!

Poke

correction on my last blog, *I agree with stirling….thinking faster than i can type

Golden,

Not to worry about my bubble, we need our QB to make a couple of escapes buying some time to hit a couple of big plays. When defenses are jamming the line with 8 and 9, the good QBs eventually make a play, not a ton of them but a couple.

The way our games have been going, a couple of big plays will turn the game.

BTW, he did it in the Philly game, that is, he was able to escape a couple of times under big pressure and hit 2 long plays.

hey aw, its not about drew not being mobile at all, its all about the o-line, period! inuries have hurt us bad in that area. bledsoe can do his job if he had time. if he was mobile or not wouldnt make that much difference. just like vick is the fastest qb in the league but i have seen him get sacked so many times this year, i think in 1 game he even got sacked 7 times. why??? no protection.

rha,

I agree i dont know why everyone is so worried about bledsoe now, everyone loved him after the first few games of the season…..back then it was the defense getting all the flack…..once one gets better everyone has to find a patsy to get angry at

Definately draft OL heavily next year but I have a feeling a line coach would make a bigger difference. We can’t seem to find one. Hell, even Matt Lehr is playing well now he’s out of Dallas

we cant get to bogged down on drafting heavy OL next year with flozell adams healthy we are still rotating out a working line, draft one or two and then move onto something else…..i do agree about the offensive line coach though, and new program could do wonders

You guys overreact too much. When Bledsoe was putting up Pro Bowl numbers no one was complaining that he was no good. How could you possibly sit your starting QB in the middle of the playoff hunt? Whoever says that should be slapped. Go ask Parcells what he thinks about that. He knows more about football than you.
Chiefs is a must win, we have home field advantage, and want revenge.

Dont trade Glover or Ellis. Did you see that play Glover made late in the 4th when he went around his blocker and got a hand in the face of Eli? On a 3rd down, the guy can still flat out play. Ellis too. You wouldnt get ANYTHING for them, either. No one will give anything of value for 30+ lineman. Keep em, who else ya got? Canty can start next year, but Ellis can rotate. You won’t get that great a NT with a 20+ pick.

DaBox,

yep, always have to have a patsy. Unfortunatly our’s changes from week to week.

thats exactly what i said about drew Lou

I agree RUN MORE SHOTGUN. And maybe some hurry up offense to throw them off. We need to do something creative to give us a spark. BP will have us ready to play, its like what he said yesterday, “Well if I wasn’t getting the team ready to play how come half of the team showed up?” He is pysching them up, the offense needs to respond. I think if JJ or MBIII can rip off a long run for a TD, that would spark us too.

yeah i wouldnt get rid of ellis or glover eather, why dont we just get rid of the depth we have everywhere else too, let alone our veteran leaders……..i can see it now we could have a team of rookies…and and make Billy Cundiff QB…….he can kick it to the recievers

rha i agree with you and bledsoe has done that and can buy an extra second or 2, but if he has guys in his face as soon as he snaps the ball then there is no way for him to buy time at all. thats horrible when a d-lineman can almost take the handoff before jj can!

now parcells said they have that problem under control now. if he is right and if this is true then the boys can easily win 3 of the next 4. we know that the remaining teams will try the same thing and if the problem really is fixed then there will be plenty of receivers, backs, and tightends open. i hope bill is right cuzz if he is then the boys will shine. if hes wrong we will have to look at next season for playoffs.

Chandus:

We are pretty much on the same page with the priorities. If that Center from Minnesota is available in the 2nd or 3rd round I would definitely go for that guy. When I said OLB/DE I was referring to a “tweener”. I like that guy from FSU because he is fast and about the same exact size as DeMarcus Ware. He has a monster pass rush and could be turned into a 3-4 OLB the same way as Ware was. I think he could be another Simeon Rice/Derrick Thomas type pass rusher.

The reason I say OT is because we have to get a decent right tackle. I am sure Flozell will be back, and no doubt he’s a stud, but it would be nice to have a backup in case he gets injured again.

DaBox:

I agree with you on every point. Bledsoe can get it done if he gets even decent protection. Crayton will hopefully stay healthy and emerge as a real force on the receiving corps.

Another thing about drafting OL, these guys take time to develop. Lots more technique and assignment adjustments for a rookie to absorb. Can anyone name a good offensive lineman today that did not take time to develop? Most of the good ones are many years into their carriers.

There have been many OL busts in early picks. Anyone remember when T Mandrich was thought by many to be a better pick than Troy Aikman? There have been many others.

rha,

your right and thats why i dont think we sould go to balistic on the OL, i agree that we should draft some OL and dig into the FA maybe but we have some young players that are having to learn the ropes quick……let them adjust and lets worry about depth and improving

alright everyone im heading back to class, ill check up on yall later

GO COWBOYS!!!

DaBox,

Another green offensive lineman provides no relief next year or perhaps even the year after. Who needs another project on the OL?

Our advantage in the 2006 draft is in the positions we DONT need DE, DT, CB, RB, QBbecause of the 2005 windfall. All of these positions are first round priorty’s for quality prospects. The rest of the positions will slide down to us at the bottom of the first and into the second. Dallas is in excellent position to pick or trade down to fill their biggest needs in order.
 OLB/DE bookend for Ware Theres allot
 OC/OG Nick Mangold
 FS/CB Jason Allen, or Michael Huff
 TE/FB David Thomas
with additional 2nd

Shotgun might be ok to buy time, but that takes away the threat of the running game. The running/passing dual threat is what keeps the defense off balance. With only a shotgun passing threat the playcalling is too predictable. That isn’t BP’s style, he likes to use running plays to set up play action.

When the defense stacks 6 to 8 guys up on the line that is a perfect time to drop a screen pass down the middle to JJ, MB3, or Witten. If they break off one or two of those plays for some big yards the defense will have to respect it.

The Chiefs can be ran on though. I hope BP runs the ball straight down their throat. My guess is the Cowboys’ Defense is what will decide this game. KC has a pretty good offense, but their defense is still soft.

The offense will decide on the game. The D has been fine all year.

I like the draft talk in December. Here’s my take: We need to focus almost exclusively on the offensive side of the ball. Our D is fine. Other than maybe picking up a veteran OLB in free agency and maybe a mid to late round CB/S, we are set on D. We need to use the heavy draft picks (1st-3rd) on offense. There’s no doubt we need a right tackle, but getting someone with experience in free agency would seem a better way to go. After all, it’s usually the left tackle that commands the big bucks and we are set there with Flo. Our priorities in the draft should be QB, OL, and WR. We need another option at QB, so why not make this the year to make a play for one? Whether it be to trade the #1 pick for Phillip Rivers or trade up to get a high quality guy…we need this position to be filled in order to compete long term. Use the #2 and #3 on best available player at either the WR, G/C, or OT. We need them all for depth and for the future, so it really doesn’t matter which pick you use for which position. I don’t think the staff is going to give up on Al Johnson just yet, Rivera and Allen are going to have to be better than any rookie that’s brought in, same with the tackle position (assuming we sign a right tackle in free agency, and our WR corp isn’t too shabby as it currently stands. By the way, does anyone know if we have a 4th rounder this year?

OL take two to three years to develop. Period. Only a select few can come in and dominate (Pace, Ogden, etc.) during their first year, and even then, usually struggle a bit. The NFL requires a whole different level of physical and mental play that is not required in college.

It is possible one drops to us of this caliber, but very, very doubtful. FA is the best best for someone that can help immediately, but then, you take a chance of getting a Rivera.

I believe that the OL will be better next year. That’s what Columbo and the other two guys being brought in portend.

For this year, we’re stuck with max protection. And rolling out Bledsoe, whew, best laugh I’ve had all week.

Fighter 15,

C’mon can’t you see Bledsoe rolling out of the pocket and then throwing to MBIII on a screen? No?

The opposition would then be forced to give up one player to ‘spy’ him because he might pass or he might run for that first down.

Even better, he could roll out and run the option with JJ or MBIII!!!

This offense would really roll then!!

Stop it! My stomach hurts.

Wheeeeeee!

Ooooh! Better yet! How ’bout some naked bootlegs!!!!!

SAM
We got Canty and a 6th this year from ILLY for our fourth in 2005 and 2006

Fighter15,

I can see it now, Teams would have to vastly change how they defensed us!

Free Bledsoe!! Free Bledsoe!!

Tell Bill to get the shackles off him and let the man RUN!!!

Really I don’t know why he isn’t returning kicks by now.

And then we can Talk about Ellis as that bookend for Ware!!!

AlanTdot:

Running the option would at least end the debate about whether to play JJ or MB3…BP could have them line up in the wishbone and start both of them at the same time!!

Sterling,

that suggestion is Gold!!

Sam:

Unless JJ can snakecharm another team into trading down so the Cowboys can get Matt Leinart then your drafting a QB in the first round idea is going to have to wait until a future draft year. Other than Leinart (and possibly Young if he comes out early), there really isn’t anyone worth drafting in the 1st round.

Trying to trade for Philip Rivers would be a huge mistake. Most likely the price SD would want in players and/or draft picks would be waaaay too high. Rivers has barely played, but the few times he got into games he has been terrible. Didn’t we just go through this trading away draft picks for an unproven QB who we didn’t even know if he can play with Drew Henson? If Rivers is so good why isn’t he starting over Brees this year, or at least getting more playing time? My guess is that Schottenheimer and the SD organization know how bad he is and don’t want the rest of the league to know until after they get what they can in a trade. If they knew he was really good they would be playing him more to showcase him as trade bait. If he was a future Super Bowl QB they would be playing him.

Let some team like Detroit or Baltimore trade away their future on a bust. They’ve already blown 1st round picks on QB’s whose lack of success in the NFL have only succeeded at getting them more high draft picks!!

At least we know Bledsoe was good enough to get to a Super Bowl!!

Like it or not, we’ve got a two or three year window with Bledsoe. There is no way BP will go through a learning curve with another QB.

It’s Bledsoe or bust! Bitch, moan, and complain all you want, but that is reality.

He will leave the ‘Boys with a great nucleus, and may even acquire the QB of the future next year (highly doubtful…they’ll give Henson one more year).

It will be up to the next coach to groom our next Offensive superstars. Until then, we will have to get by with our retreads.

I do think he’ll address the OL problem in full next offseason. Two FA’s to go with two or three draft choices.

and t.o.?

Fighter15:

You are totally right. Like it or not, Bledsoe is going to be the man unless he gets injured.

BP did the same thing with the Patriots and Jets. He drafted Bledsoe in NE, but built up a great nucleus on Defense and improved the running game a lot with Curtis Martin. New England had a great core left (players like McGinest, Malloy, Ty Law) when Belichik took over. BP got them within a few players of winning Super Bowls, and once they got Brady and the receivers they pulled it off 3 times.

With the Jets he drafted Keyshawn, built up the Defense, improved the running game again with Curtis Martin, brought in Testeverde as a FA and got them deep into the playoffs. By the time Edwards took over they were a contender and a playoff team, then they got Pennington as an upgrade at QB. Until this year with all the injuries they were a top team and if it weren’t for New England being so good they would have had even better records.

Hopefully BP will take us all the way and finish up on top. If for whatever reason he doesn’t and retires in a year or two, then I know the next coach will only be a player or two away from doing it.

if parcells dont take us to the promise land i am sure as long as we get another good coach in the future we will get there. parcells is building foundation good for today and great for tomorrow. we have a very young defense that will be even better in the future. on the offense we will need another receiver for the future and a qb , that is if romo doesnt step up when he is called, i think henson is trash so i wont mention him being called up.
i see the boys being in the playoffs for years to come.

Bledsoe does not need to be more mobile. He needs to remain calmer under pressure.
The problem is that all around him everyone is breaking down and missing assignments.
This team is built for power running and pocket passing. It’s not built for Michael Vick, OJ Simpson, and Randy Moss to just break off sick plays when needed.
Bledsoe was the #1 ranked QB in the NFC last Saturday through 10 games. We don’t need anything other than Bledsoe to be Bledsoe, the change in play HAS TO come from the offensive line, not from anywhere else.

You guys are nuts, one of you in particular. Bledsoe should not need to move around like a water bug. That he is having to dodge DTs and DEs is the problem. It’s not that he’s got heavy feet.
The Giants could get pressure with their front four. that’s not bledsoe’s fault.

i couldnt agree with you more joey.
drew can be one of the best nfc passers if he had a good line. i keep hearing people on here saying “drew isnt good at all and thats why the bills let him go”
the bills offensive line were worse than the cowboys line. and it still shows. they thought the problem was drew but it wasnt clearly
that o-line has to knuckle up and protect drew and the cowboys could easily win 3 or 4 of the last 4 games and be a good playoff contender. without that were doomed, drew cant pass and read defenses and jones cant run when there are no holes.

its about time someone smart posts something on here. some of you are boneheads. you cant actually expect bledsoe to call the play, call audibles when necessary, read the defense, have the ball hiked, drop back, avoid 2 300 lb lineman see where his receivers are as well as the tightend and rb, step up and complete a pass.

Joey, Golden and for those who doesn’t know, when Bledsoe was signed I was one of the guys defending him, saying that he’s from good to great when having good protection. And as you guys said, there’re people in here that doesn’t think much of him, particularly when they say that he was fired because he’s inmobile. Well at Buffalo from 2002 to 2004 Bledsoe was sacked 54, 49 and 38 times, you’ve gopt to be kidding me if you think that those numbers reflect only Bledsoe’s inmobility!

Here he’s been sacked 28 times in 12 games, that makes up for a 37.3 sacks season.

An interesting fact is that the 38 sacks Bledsoe got in 2004 were good enough for a 9-7 season, that record could be good enough for the last Wildcard place.

Chandus,

I agree with your wish list, but differ on your first two points. Here are my prime candidates:

1. C — Ryan Young of Fresno St. Center is usually where you find midgets stashed away, but this guy is 330 lbs. He destroyed the interior of USC’s line last month, which helps explain why Fresno scared the pants off the Trojans. He’s been doing it since he was a redshirt freshman, when he shut down OU’s Tommy Harris in his second college start. He’s a redshirt junior, so I’m hoping he comes out this spring;

2. OLB — There’s a big reason I predicted the Cowboys would draft Bobby Carpenter back in late September — him. He’s a true OLB who weighs 255 lbs. He runs a 4.61 40, identical to Demarcus Ware’s time. He specializes in shutting down TEs. He’s a coaches son. His dad played for Parcells at the Giants. He played at Ohio St., which means his learning curve will be short. This guy makes too much sense.

i say we trade ellis for a 2nd. go for julian peterson to go with ware. trade our 1st rounder for another teams 1st next year like we did with buffalo to get vince young next year. and go for lecharles bently at center in the offseason

what do you guys suppose BP meant today when he said the OL was “fixed”? I am way curious about that.

the cowboys have 1 problem. protection. if parcells fixes that problem then the cowboys will be one of the top 3 teams in the nfc. it just seems so simple. most teams have more problems than that, i guess we should be glad we dont have a shitty qb or horrible defenst.

Chiefs are coming to Dallas this Sunday by the way

They are big play action / screen
They are a vertical team both running and passing
The running back Larry Johnson is a straight up runner in the mold of Eddie George
Dallas will have to show Chiefs they are willing to pass downfield otherwise KC will put mucho on the line and make Bledsoe beat them

and i know know what parcells did or say to have the o-line problem fixed so easily tc, i kinda dont believe his fat a55. if it was that easy he would have fixed it 4 games ago and we would be atop the division so i dont believe him. he is acting like he can fix that problem over night or something.

yeah the chiefs have a great running game and a good offense, but so did the giants, so did the seahawks, so did the broncos im pretty sure the chiefs offense wont be rollin like they have. the boys just gotta put up some points, at least 24 and limit their mistakes, get that line playin hard. if thats done the chiefs will lost

hmmmmm just 24? and how many games ago did we reach that?
Will say this — Dallas has played the last 2 games with playoff caliber teams
The intensity level was much greater and I think that if they bring that again Cowboys can beat Chiefs

TC,

I think its a misprint. It should read “we got to get it fixed”. … I could be wrong, as it is just a guess, but it makes sense in the context of the rest of what he said.

well linus, the cowboys have reached at least 24 points 4 times this year and have reached 20 or more points 3 other times. and that intensity has to be on both sides of the ball,

“what do you guys suppose BP meant today when he said the OL was ‘fixed’? I am way curious about that.”

TC, I couldn’t even hear Parcells say that in his Monday press conference.
Those words, if spoken, were spliced together out of context.
Maybe he means the officials have been paid off, as in ‘fixing a fight’.
Maybe the D lines of KC, DC, Carolina and St. Louis will be cursed by voodoo practitioners. Is that illegal?
Regarding circumstances more within control, the radio report this morning said that Rivera’s leg strength has never completely returned. If Johnson recovers completely, maybe Gurode can give Rivera a rest.

eric, its no missprint, i heard it.

I think its 24-13 KC wins. The offense hasn’t been moving the ball the last few games without Defense giving them a real short field to work with. The Denver game the offense moved the ball once without the D getting a turnover. The Philly game they moved it once again with the D getting a turnover, this past game they moved it once for 3 points. Its going to be all on the defense the rest of the way. The D is going to have to play on another level than its been playing on to win. If the D was playing like the offense we would have maybe 3 wins this year.

dont know if anyone posted this yet but bledsoe is the leading vote getter for nfc qb and LA is the leader of all guards

never know the offense might come out and drop 30 on kc keep the chins up worst case scenerio we ARE moving in the right direction

aw
your the most pessimistic person ever

It’s just a game, and the only thing that matters is that the Cowboys are having fun. Most of the Cowboys look like they’re having fun, most of the time.

Mike
I’m a fan but I’m still realistic. I hope I’m wrong just like I hoped I was wrong about the NY game but I wasn’t wrong. Ok I was wrong a little I thought the score was going to be 24-17 I think.

naw i was just kidding i really hope yuour wrong to

We have to wrap Larry Johnson up, not let him hit the hole and bounce out. He hurts alot of teams like that. If we don’t tackle good we dont win.

OK, here’s my take.

QB: Good, and impossible to improve upon right now. No way we afford anyone who is better than Bledsoe.

RB: JJ, MB3, and TT are good and deep. If we were given Reggie Bush, sure, I’d take him, but I doubt he’ll fall to us :)

FB: If a cheap improvement can be found like perhaps Beasley, take it, but this is not a place to spend money.

WR: TG, KJ, PC are good and complement each other with different skills. I have no problem here. I would, however, like to see them draft a high-upside guy in the 3rd/5th to develop.

TE: Good, but I would not mind seeing them get another guy here. Again, though, we’re looking at a place we shouldn’t spend too much at. I believe Campbell will have a better year next year as I don’t think he’s fully healed.

OL: I suspect I’m in the minority, but an OT rotation of Adams, Tucker, Petitti at the amounts paid to them is actually not bad at all. What I feel is that the middle of the OLine is much more of an issue than are the OTs. We really need to improve the guards and center more than the tackle. I also believe it’s easier to help the OTs with TEs than the interior. Allen has had a Hall of Fame career, but there’s not much left. I would like to see us focus on the middle of the line. If a great deal at OT shows up, sure take it, but we’re really not bad off here if we’re healthy. I would also not argue that it is possible we might improve the coaching here, but I’m sure BP can tell who’s coaching well and who’s not better than we can.

DT: We’re solid here. Wouldn’t mind a later round big thug to assist in the rotation but Ferguson and Glover are a very nice tandem.

DE: Ellis, Canty, Spears, Ratliff. I’m good with this. Spears, especially, will improve next year if he’s healthy in camp. Still, if we can find another Ratliff later on, you never have enough DLs.

ILB: Need help here if Nguyen leaves, though James and Shanle have done well. Here’s hoping Nguyen makes the best choice for his future life. I’d love to have him back, but I like him too much to want his after football life to suffer.

OLB: Would like another playmaker here to complement Ware. If Carpenter is there in Round 1 I’d really be happy if we take him. I think Burnett with a healthy camp will play better and he provides the flexibility to go to ILB and get 2 OLB, depending upon availability.

CB: We’re good here. I don’t think anyone has as good a top 4 as we do.

S: I’m willing to improve on Davis and Pile, but not willing to spend much on this position. I would rather see us spend money on OL, LB.

K: I suspect we get Suisham back next year and I think we’ll be OK. Cundiff will probably cost more than his production warrants. The other two options are a random FA and who knows how that will work or we spend a 5th on a PK. Not sure I see that happening.

P: I’m good with MM

KR: TT’s got the tools, but not the skills. Hopefully he can improve on the skills with another camp of experience.

PR: I’m good with Crayton and Newman, though I wouldn’t mind another player stepping up because I worry about injury to them.

Overall, we’re in pretty good shape next year. I believe we need 2 LBs. I believe we need to fix the middle of the OL. I believe we need some spare parts here and there. I’m not sure how much cap space we have, but I don’t want to see us mortgage the future. There is a foundation here that we should work to improve upon via the draft especially.

In the salary cap era, having good players everywhere with the occasional great player is difficult, but we can achieve it. We can fantasize about improving everywhere, and of course we could, but we probably can’t afford everything.

Briefly,

Earlier someone asked about how was a good QB sitting on the bench? Well the answer is that there are several very good QBs on the bench. Atlanta – Matt Schaub, Tennessee – Billy Volek, San Diego – Phillip Rivers… I think there are others, fail me right now.

Also someone mentioned trading Greg Ellis. I think this would be a good move. He has eight sacks with 4 games left, probably should hit double digits. Thus he has some value and certainly fits well in a 4-3. Also he is getting older, 30+ and we have a lot of good young players on our D line. Why not trade Ellis for a pretty good offensive lineman, linebacker, safety, etc? That would be one less thing to address during draft and free agency — what does everyone think?

I don’t like it because that leaves you with just Ratliff, who was a DT in college.
Last year, the Colts wanted to get rid of Edgerrin James. They couldnt find somebody willing to give up a 1st round pick. Even with 10+ sacks, the guy is over 30. I happen to really like Ellis. Hes a player, he makes plays when hes in and he doesnt whine about it. I say hold on to him. And Glover.

I trust BP and JJ to fill our holes this offseason and have a SB caliber team in 2006. Right now we’re playoff caliber, not SB caliber.

I don’t think we’re playoff caliber yet. We’re missing:

1. OT (2)
2. C
3. FB (more than you think!!!)
4. Kicker
5. Safety
6. back up QB

If we cover all these problems, we’re Superbowl winners, if we cover 2-3 holes we’re playoffs.

Everybody CHILL…..this is a good team and with a few breaks going our way, we can go far and yes, BP will be gone in a couple years and i can’t believe nobody has made mention of it here, but on the pre-game show on thanksgiving, an application for the next coach was served, the above fore-mentioned saying that JJ was one of the best owners in the league and was all about doing whatever he could to win and all that coming from him, I had to look around the room to make sure i was’nt the only one who heard it. Did anyone else and the name_______________……..

Unfortunately…it’ll be Zimmer or Payton. Hopefully, at least BP will stay in the office doing something…

If its between those 2 give it to Zimmer. I dont like what I see from Payton, I think hes years away from being a capable coach. Zimmers been here awhile.

Just found this site last week and I have been reading all of the comments you guys posted ever since. It was a whole lot easier on Sunday knowing that I wasn’t the only miserable bas**** on this earth. I believe that the lowest NFC wildcard record will be 9-7 this year and If we can’t beat the Redskins at Washington after what they did to us in week 2 and the RAMS at home then we have no bussiness going to the playoffs. Addtionally I believe we are going to win against KC and Carolina. We hit rock bottom this week having our lowest Offense of performance aginst the Giants 206 yards. I don’t think we will see that lack of Offense for the rest of the season plus the Giants have a good Defense. I beleive that Cowboys will respond this week against KC at home with a big win. Carolina has never beaten us in a regular season game and I don’t expect them to do it this year. Once we are in the playoffs anything can happen especially in a weak NFC. I love our chances this year and more so the years that will be coming with this young team. Keep the faith…. Go Cowboys!!!!!

I’m not sure I like all this talk about the team trading Ellis or Glover. I know that’s been rumored over the past season, but it’s just bad practice to trade away quality players. At some point, you have to curb the desire to always go young and just stick with the proven vets. I realize those guys are getting up there in age, but those two guys are still two of the top players on the team and will be for several more years. I realize Canty, Spears, and Ware have tremendous potential, but maybe BP should have spread the wealth around a bit this past draft and not have gone overload on the DE/LB position. After all, we ended up drafting 3 DL and 2 LB when it was all said and done. Personally, I think that was a bit much when you already had some of these positions filled with capable starters. It’s hard to argue with the picks since they all seem to be of good value, but it’s evident at this point in the season that maybe more help on the O-line would have been a wiser move.

Sam,

Supposedly O-Line players are not immediate contributors as D-Line players. Therefore, Bill, Jerry, etc, thought they had addressed O-Line problems by drafting Peterman, Rogers (who got hurt after the FA and draft moves were done)…they also didn’t expect Flo to be out for the season after the 4th or 5th game…

In their minds, they had: Flo, Allen, Jhonson, Rivera, Rogers, with Pettiti, Tucker, Gurode and Peterman rotating…On the other side they had a mess where they had to get rid of Wiley and implement a 3-4 scheme.

I would trade Ellis if we could upgrade our OL.

I’m coming to realize that our O-Line might actually be almost as bad as AW has been saying it is.

Did someone say Wiley? Uggghhh. He was terrible. That really puts things in perspective for me.

I think I’ll go study our 2004 lineup.

To those who criticise Bledsoe,

Yes his imobility is a liability, but only when you can’t protect him. I’d rather cast my lot with him and fix the line than try and get a young QB or anything that would be available in FA.

I’m a bit perplexed at what any of you think we could get for Glover or Ellis. While both have cap friendly contracts to trade them away and accelerate whatever bounus to next years cap, for what a 5th round pick if we are lucky? Trading players of their age doesn’t fetch you much in the NFL.

Cash is right. And if you’ve got cap-friendly contracts from productive players at positions that usually command big-ticket deals, why would you trade them? Plus, injuries occur there. Why mess with your rotation depth?

Depth and rotation has proven effective in our past so I don’t know why you guys want to dump that. OL really needs an upgrade but if we got a stud center we would be in great shape next year. Pettiti is going to get better. How long did it get for Tui to convert from DL to OL? He was certainly servicable and I see every bit of potential in Petitti to be a solid guy in the future.

Rafael:

Kyle Young (He’s no Ryan) of Fresno St is a name that I hadn’t heard from, considering that he is a Junior that’s one reason and that his team plays in the WAC is another, here in Mexico we get Big East, Big10, Big12 and ACC games. And there’s a chance that he enters the Draft, for instance his top 2 RB’s are Seniors and they don’t have a good RB waiting in line and the QB is also a Sr. I can see no reason for him to wait his Senior year, if what I’m reading is true.

On the other hand, for me is easy not to see the player that has been playing next to A. J. Hawk, if ILB was our biggest need, I would label him the best option, but the biggest need is OLB and specially the Strong Side so he has to be big and fast which Bobby Carpenter certainly seems to be. But I still think that Wimbley or Lawson are still viable choices. Especially if the best option at C seems to be unavailable in the 2nd Round.

Everyone:

I think that when Parcells says that he has the OLine problem solved, he means that he already solved the problem since Adams came down, I mean, what else can he do? He has to play the best guys he has. And they weren’t totally abused at NY, different players were abused in different times in a rather methodical manner, as what I’m seeing in film suggests, at times Tucker looked bad and the rest of the Line held their own, then that was Allen, then Johnson, then Rivera, then Petitti, then Witten, then Gurode, then Campbell and the cycle repeats itself. I think that the play displayed at NY is the worst this Line can play, I mean, they weren’t that bad against Denver and I’ll take my chances on saying this: The OLine won’t play that bad on Sunday either.

Well, I wasn’t trying to make the names of the players that messed things up as if they were in the order of who messed things first, but actually the guy that messed things up first was Rivera, then Tucker, then Petitti and I won’t go on….

With this bad offensive line, why not start the more mobile Romo and see what he can do. He’ll either do well, or get killed. At least he runs better than Bledsoe! LOL

It’s not Bledsoe’s fault. I don’t think anyone short of Michael Vick, or a healthy Donovan McNabb, could get anything going with this o-line. Maybe run the wishbone with Crayton at QB, pitching out to JJ, MBIII, and TT. LOL

Seriously, unless BP can get some semblance of an offensive line out there the rest of the season, we’ll be 8-8, or 9-7 at best and miss the playoffs. Let’s see if BP can get these guys on the o-line motivated enough to get us to 10-6 and make some noise in the playoffs! Go Cowboys…… DEFENSE!

For anyone who bashes Bledsoe, I think you are sorely missing the mark. Look at the good QBs in the league. The one thing they have in common is that they are protected well. Peyton Manning is slower than Bledsoe, but he gets great protection. Brady gets great protection. Bledsoe has many of the same attributes as these guys. If we can plug the holes on the Oline then Bledsoe’s effectiveness jumps up big time. Bledsoe is an asset to this team and the only reason that I would play Romo right now is so that Bledsoe doesn’t get injured.

Parcells does have a fix for the OL. Go back to max protection.

If you noticed during the game, we left Tucker and Pettiti on an island quite a few times. Each time, they were beaten.

Like it or not, we’re a one- or two- WR team for the rest of the season. You think the play calling was conservative before?

Bledsoe is not like Peyton and if he was like Brady he would still be in NE. I don’t blame Bledsoe for all the sacks, bad line with him not being mobile = sacks. IF Bledsoe was more mobile he wouldnt have as many sacks. Like I said before when we got Bledsoe we should have made sure the line was going to be on point. Peyton moves around, you don’t have to be like Vick to be mobile its foot work that Bledsoe does not have and has never had. You guys need to understand something Bledsoe hasn’t been playing well lately with time or without time to throw. JJ takes chances every year. Last year it was corner back and we paid for it, the year before that it was running back this year its the line?

Fighter, AW and others,

Even mobile QBs are sacked when the OL is bad, the point is that a mobile QB might make just a couple of escapes per game to extend a play long enough to hit an open receiver for a long play.

The way we play, just a couple of big plays would make the difference in winning and losing. Look at Philly, DB hit 2 plays on to PP and the other to TG for all our offensive points. Without those the RW interception was mute.

Unfortunately if we cannot give him time without max protection packages, he will perform the same way, getting sacked seeming holding the ball forever waiting for 2 receivers to wade thru 6 DBs. Not a good scenerio.

BTW, hitting a couple of big plays would also make the defense back off the line of scrimmage giving us more opportunities. Basically we need just a couple of big plays from our QB, not a dozen.

aw. you said “bledsoe hasnt been playing well lately with time or without time to throw”
he has not had much time in the last 4 games, thats why we have been losing. when bledsoe has time he has proven to be effective. he has been under constant pressure since adams has been out. before adams got hurt along with al johnson he had time and was the best qb in the nfc. effiecency, yards, and completion percentage went down when johnson and adams went down and thats a fact, dont say even when he has time he wasnt playing well cuzz that is not true. hell these days even vick has not had a lot of time and this year he has gotten sacked plenty of times.

Hey AW, “Bledsoe hasn’t been playing well lately with time or without time to throw.” That’s a really soft statement. Firstly, he’s had no time to throw lately, secondly, when he’s back there, pats the ball, has his feet still, he’s a KILLER – period.

C’mon ya’ll, we’re playing Kansas City! See, pass D ranked 30th, run D ranked 27th, how many teams in the NFL? The reason they win is their offense, period. But hey, we gotta good defense, right? Don’t forget, Trent Green is that bozo that head butted the stadium and missed several games when he played for Washington :) I still get a big kick out of that

AW,

You are wrong once again, Bledsoe is not he problem as Golden and Joey correctly say. Bledsoe is plenty good with even a reasonable amount of time.

Unfortunately the time he has is not reasonable for any team and in fact, this may be the worse situation in the league for a QB. BTW, our running game proves the problem. Not only does he not have time to throw, he cannot even slowdown the pass rush because no one fears our run game.

Rafael:

Good point about Bobby Carpenter, he is a great LB. I thought I saw him break his leg in the Michigan game though? Have you heard if he is going to play in the Fiesta Bowl yet? Maybe if he doesn’t recover 100% in time for the combines he will drop to a second day pick like Chris Canty?

I still like Wimbley, but he may not be a Parcells type of player. I have heard that Lavar Arrington is going to be available on the FA market this offseason, and I would love to see the Boys pick him up.

I have been thinking a lot about the running game lately. After hearing Parcell’s comments last week about the current state of the running game I get the feeling that he is becoming increasingly frustrated by the way it is progressing. I suspect he was expecting it to be a LOT further along by now, especially considering the second half JJ had last season. BP is the kind of coach that places a high priority on establishing a dominant running attack, using that to set up the passing plays…and the Boys ground game is not there yet.

I have also been thinking about the fact that for Parcells the next 2 years are almost certainly IT for his career. This is the last dance in his great career, and knowing what a competitive man he is he is burning inside to get another Championship and go out on top. To compound that desire, this is almost certainly the last stop for the careers of some of his most loyal ‘Parcells Guys’ like Bledsoe, TG, Key, and Aaron Glenn, guys he drafted and who have followed him here to play for him one last time. They may just want it for him almost as much as themselves, and since none of them have won a Super Bowl on their own (Bledsoe held the clipboard for that first NE SB), Parcells may feel the same way about getting them a ring.

This makes me think that BP may make some very bold moves this offseason. I’m talking about big time FA signings, trading away future draft picks for higher ones in this draft, and basically doing whatever it takes to make sure that this team is a Championship team in ‘06 or ’07 at the latest. This is it for Parcells and his ’Guys’…there is no way he or them will going out without a bang.

And, any you goin to the game need to be louder and badder than those obnoxious KC fans that get loud and bad at Arrowhead. I would like to know how come Dallas fans don’t have more attitude at the games, I swear sometimes I think the crowd can win a game for you, like I think they did in NY. And I almost hate them as much as the REDSKINS (&%&&^(&!!!!! dirty *())((!!!!#@@, stinkin ^^(%$*%^$!!!!!!! WE CAN HELP BY BEING BAD-ASS FANS, but our’s seem to be nappin

Correction…I forgot Key won in TB a few years ago…ooops!!

Sterling,

I think you have made an excellent point about BP, he is certainly on his last stop as are the players you mentioned. Great point for sure and it certainly reinforces the point of making bold moves this off season. I just hope Bledsoe with the right supporting cast is the man.

First of all in the Denver game he had a pick and it wasn’t because of the line or in the Seattle game. You guys want to give Bledsoe a pass and say its all on the line. I don’t blame Bledsoe for this play, not most of it. We had line problems before Flo went down. Does everyone forget about the Washington game, 13 points yea Bledsoe played great 0 sacks that game. The first NY game 4 turnovers 16 points but we won. The Philly game he didn’t play good but we won. The line is a big problem but Bledsoe is adding to the problem with bad throws lately. I don’t care what Bledsoe numbers looks like the first part of the year give me his numbers for the whole season. I blame JJ and BP for not getting the line right when we signed Bledsoe. We don’t have a playmaker at WR to make plays when we max protect.

rha:

Thanks. Whether or not Bledsoe ends up being the man or not only time will tell. Either way, he is Parcells’ man, and they have chosen to tie their fate and the destiny of the Cowboys to that (barring any injuries). I don’t think any other team in this league has so many players taht are motivated to play for him for one last run at the title.

I know this sounds crazy, but I the thought has crossed my mind the last few days. Given the state of the running game this season and BP’s imperative (as I see it) to win it all within 2 years max, I just wonder if he and Jerry Jones might make a strong offseason push for either Edgerrin James or Shaun Alexander in free agency. I think it may depend first on if BP has faith that he can win a Super Bowl with Julius, MBIII, and TT, and second on whether we can get a true impact player in the first round this year who can contribute immediately. Both James and Alexander will definitely get the franchise player tag hung on them by their teams, so that means giving up a first rounder to sign them. We have seen JJ do this before, and if BP senses that this is his last shot maybe he will sign on too. Signing either player would blow the cap and prevent other FA signings most likely, but both are in their primes and able to take a team to the Super Bowl if they are healthy.

I doubt if it will happen, but it is interesting to speculate about. Obviously the O-line is a big issue, but from the tone of BP’s comments about the running game last week I got the feeling that he is more dissatisfied with the play of the backs than he is the line.

Sterling,

I don’t think BP thinks his running game problems are a result of his running backs. I think his FA moves will involve the OL and OLB and he will hope to pick up a CB, TE and then a WR project in the draft. Obviously if a real deal LB or D lineman falls in the draft he will move on that player. Can’t have too many of those as evidenced by what NY did to us with just 2 good DL players.

rha:

You are right, but BP looked very frustrated in that press conference last week when he was talking about the running game. I am sure he is even more frustrated (as everyone is it seems) by the play of the O-Line, especially since the deciding touchdown in the Giants game was a direct result of a blown block on a DT.

I just wonder how much faith he has in his running backs at this point. I could tell after the playoff game against Carolina in 2003 that he lost faith in QC and realized there was no way that QC could take his team to a Super Bowl, let alone win it.

He has confidence in Bledsoe, TG, and Key. He even said in the San Diego game that no matter what the ball is going to Keyshawn on that goal line play at the end. That shows the faith he has in Key and in Bledsoe. I am just not sure he feels the same level of confidence in his running backs at this point. If he starts to think that is the missing piece of the puzzle to winning a Super Bowl, he may just be inclined to do whatever it takes to fill that position.

Like I said, I doubt he will do it, but it is very interesting to consider how good this team could be with a proven elite running back like Alexander or Edge.

TC,

the head butt guy was Gus Ferrotte.

TC

Frerotte was the bozo that headbutted the wall in Washington – not Green

Sterling,

you are one of the biggest proponents of the “Oline is the problem” line of thinking. What difference would it make if Shaun Alexander was running behind this line?

I think the line is playing terribly, and needs to get it together.

What is Shaun Alexander going to do if the QB’s arm gets hit by the oppositions DT at the same time he gets handed the ball in the backfield? same as JJ. Fumble.

bledsoe makes mistakes and he is going to . all i know is that his mistakes were minimal when he had time and protection. thats the bottom line. he has proven it, give him time and he will be effiecent. the offensive line creates more problems than you think for those of you who would like to blame bledsoe. the offensive line creates turnovers and 3 and outs. the line which is responsible for most of the lack of offense is also responsible for the lack of running game just as much as the pass game. do you see any holes when jj gets the ball? because all i see is a bunch of cowboys on the floor or being bogarded.
no o-line=no pass game
no o-line=no run game
no o-line=no offense

I swear it was TG that head butted the stadium-I don’t think I pulled it out of my a99

If I’m wrong, it was still pretty funny.

I think that they need to make a strong push at center, fullback, LB, and kicker in free agency.

They really don’t need anything great at LB with Fujita probably getting better with a 2nd year in the defense and Burnett probably getting better as well. Plus, people are forgetting about Kalen Thornton.

After that, I think they should look at a right guard in the first round of the draft, then a speed WR with punt return skills (that will eventually replace Glenn) and a cover free safety in rounds 2 & 3.

Rivera has been horrible for the most part and if Larry Allen goes down, they can forget about it. I think OT is fine as Pettiti should improve and I like what I see out of Tucker. Getting Flozell back will just sweeten the pot.

But, the main focus should be center, guard, and kicker.

You guys are all talking about next year, WHY? This year we still have opportunity!
The NFC east has not been won, I dont think splitting games with the other contender for the NFC east is abnormal… There is a lot of football yet to be played…

Note to AW
Look at the Statistics the Giants have a real good defense…
Strahan and uminyora lead the NFL in sacks for a starting DE tandem…
and they sure made my Dallas Cowboys look bad on sunday. Give the Giants (defense) credit and also give the Cowboys credit for playing poorly but still staying in the game against a real good team…

alanTdot:

You are right, I am a big proponent of the O-line is the biggest problem that needs to be addressed. Absolutely!!

What I was saying about the availibilty of the NFL’s top two leading rushers (from last year) in free agency this offseason is not what I personally think is what should happen, but what JJ may be tempted to do (given his track record over the years) and what BP may be inclined to go along with because he can feel the clock running out on his career and the career of some of his favorite skill players that he has coached. I am just trying to get inside his head and think about what he may view as the key position standing in the way of one last championship and going out on top with his ‘Guys’.

You are right that if the line sucks it doesn’t matter who is running the ball. Next year Flozell will be back, so at least that side should be fine. I am sure BP will do something about center and the other tackle. One thing Edge offers is that he is an outstanding pass blocker as well as a great runner.

Like I said before, I doubt it will happen anyway. I just have a feeling that after a 10 year Super Bowl drought JJ is going to be inclined to do something big and BP knows this is his last chance.

This time BP doesn’t just want to build up another team and get them close so he can hand it over to someone else and watch them win from his recliner at home or the analyst booth. He has already done that with his last two teams. This time he wants one last championship, and will be willing to mortgage the team’s future if that’s what it takes get one. That’s my only point.

AW:
You’re forgetting 2 things that are also important for QB’s throughout the league, pressures and his blind side. Since Adams came down he’s being pressured from both sides, that’s why he’s trying to make things happen when he shouldn’t be, that’s the only thing that I can put on his shoulders, and that we all should, that he isn’t throwing the ball OB in 4 Mississippi and everyone is well covered.

Oh, and give Bledsoe the Indianapolis OLine and he might had been sacked more than Manning but not for much.

Bledsoe wasn’t responsible, but he was part of the problem. The offensive line is a major part of the problem. Where Bledsoe comes into it is the fact that he cannot perform under pressure. In the playoffs, you face better defenses. The better defense, the more quarterback pressure you get. Even the best offensive line cannot eliminate all pressure from a great defense. Bledsoe has shown throughout his entire career that he cannot perform under pressure. I equal him to Jim Kelly. A prolific passer, who just couldn’t do it when it counts. Even the greatest moment in Bills history happen while Kelly played for the Bills yet he wasn’t a part of it. (Bills 32-point comeback win on the Oilers in the 2002 playoffs)

As a huge Cowboys fan, I would rather the Cowboys keep searching for the QB of the future rather than go 10-6 just to get ousted in the first round of the playoffs for the next 2-3 years…

I am amused and amazed at all the praise, admiration and yearning for Flozell Adams now. If I am not mistaken you same Adams lovers were Adams haters less than 3 months ago. What a difference a few games make. Give me a break.

Another interesting fact is one that I’m bringing from throughout the league in comparison to what Bledsoe has been sacked. The average sacks per game by a Defense is 2.3 sacks, as an average Bledsoe has been sacked 2.333. What does that mean? Simple, the OLine is average, just like Bledsoe’s movility.

yall want to talk about getting a big play offense player in the offseason?
i am pretty sure that jj will make a top priority to get t.o. to dallas, hell the way jj is and the way t.o. is and the way rosenhaus is i wouldnt doubt if they have already had contact. even though that is against nfl policy i could see all 3 of them speaking when they arent suppose to. i bet you anything they will get t.o. and beef up the line.

rha:
That’s more based on the fact that we knew that Flozell could do better against some pass rushers than what he used to.

I’ve always liked Flozell!! He and Larry Allen are our best guys on the line.

I just wish we could get a true beast on the O-Line. Someone like Mark Tuinei used to be back in the Super Bowl years. He intimidated opponents. That’s the kind of OL we need now.

golden:

No chance on T.O. at all. I already saw where BP said no way on that just the other day. Besides, WR isn’t the problem currently. If we get a big playmaker it will be either a big time pass rusher or a RB.

Tuinei intimidated? The scary guys where Larry Allen. (pancaked the best of the best on the defensive line) and Erik Williams. As the king of all defensive linemen (Reggie White) once said about Erik Williams. “He is the meanest offensive linemen I’ve ever met. Not only that, he is meaner than any defensive linemen I’ve ever met!”

whoops, didn’t mean to submit that post yet. Erik Williams is the player that invented the “Head Slap” with is now illegal. He used to “Head Slap” Reggie White on the ground then pick up the blitz while Reggie’s head was spinning.

btw, Stering. BP has said “that won’t happen” before doing that very thing. He doesn’t like to show his hand until it’s time to play.

sterling you say you saw bill say no about t.o. comin to dallas i would like to know where you saw that at can you show me because i kind of dont believe you because bill more than likely wouldnt even comment on that subject because the eagles already tried to get jj caught up in that mix. jj makes the decisions when it comes to that. and jj pretty much said that hed be game for it.

Note to Joseph Nappi
NY is 19th in defense, yea that is a great D. maybe you should check those stats again.

We won’t get a RB, BP likes the guys we got ALOT. We need a Stud OT and a Stud Blocking FB more than a RB.

AND FOR EVERYONE HATING ON BLEDSOE:

Bledsoe has been sacked 28 times.
Mike Vick, the ultimate mobile QB, has been sacked 25 times. AND HE MISSED A GAME AGAINST NE.

Start Romo? No way.

Chandus
Bledsoe mobility is below average.

golden:

It was reported by Chris Mortensen on ESPN a couple of days ago that Parcells wants nothing to do with T.O. in the offseason.

Here’s the link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2247524

As for whether BP is really bluffing and is playing a game by not showing his hand…I doubt it. Mortensen is quoting ‘team sources’, not BP himself. I believe this story. BP was talking about how much he respects Andy Reid for the way he handled the T.O. situation the week leading up to the MNF game in Philly a few weeks back. Look it up, there is a lot of quotes about from that.

Look at what happened with BP and Antonio Bryant. Parcells is too old to put up with players like that. It will never happen.

Golden, I listen to sports radio all day, and it’s well documented that Parcells has said he would not want T.O. in Dallas. Jerry Jones may, but Parcells doesn’t.

AW, Bledsoe threw an INT in the Seattle game, and you use that to suggest he’s no good? I believe Favre and Manning have thrown 4+ INTs in games with significantly more meaning than an early season road game in Seattle.

If a single INT loses a game, it’s the whole team’s fault. The game shouldn’t be in a situation where one error is fatal. If it is, then it’s due to many players making many mistakes.

Further, your last argument is weak and contradictory. You say that prior to Flozell’s injury Bledsoe stunk, but you accept that prior to Flozell’s injury he was the #1 ranked passer in the NFC, then you say you don’t care about him having been #1, you only care about what he’s doing after Flozell went down. All the while, agreeing that he’s playing more poorly due to Flozell’s absence.
What your argument confirmed is that Bledsoe played better when he had a reasonable amount of time to throw.
Let’s also remember that the same pre-Flo injury O line couldn’t run block, so Bledsoe was killing teams looking for the pass.

I’m THRILLED he’s our QB. I’d take maybe 5 other QBs in place of him: Palmer, Peyton, Brady, Vick, Trent Green.. um, that’s about it.
He’s superior than HAssebleck, DelHomme, Mcnair, McNabb, Culpepper, Pennington, Carr, Schaub, Favre and Brooks. Everyone else is too young or stinks.
By the way, none of those folks, even Vick, can pass with no time to look around first.

aw,

don’t get all TO on us now.
 The NY defense was crap for the first four or five games, but they are really coming on now. Everyone knows and has/is/did write about that fact.

Lou,

great point, let’s get off Bledsoe, he ain’t the problem….

JoeytwoZees,

Whoa, whoa, whoa!!!
Bad list!!

Wrong five QB’s!!

Take TGreen off that list, add the two Irish QB’s McNabb and McNair and we are in agreement.

I’d take Drew Brees or Eli over Bledsoe too, but who cares we can’t get any of those guys!!

We’ve got who we’ve got, and he’s a hell of a lot better than anyone else we’ve had since #8 retired.

Maybe if we go 1-15 again we can get a #1 pick like Aikman was. I’d rather not have that bad of a season ever again and keep bringing in veteran free agents until we can get lucky in the draft somehow. No more Quincy Carters!!

Maybe Drew Olsen from UCLA could drop to us somehow. We have had pretty good luck with PAC-10 QB’s over the years.

Sterling,

I miss Danny White too.

TC:
Trent Green is not the bozo who head-butted concrete. That bozo, as others have corrected, was Gus Frerotte.
Trent Green’s knee was injured on the ultimate cheap shot from Rodney Harrison, not long before New England got Harrison from the Chargers.

Joey2zs
I never said he is no good I said he hasn’t been playing well lately. The Washington game he didn’t play well flo was there, the first NY game he didn’t play well flo was there. Now that we are not winning games people want to say its because of Flo. Please we have won game since Flo went down. A few games don’t make a whole season. Everybody know the line is not good. But when Bledsoe plays bad with them its worst. There are more than 5 qb better than Bledsoe. Bledsoe has never lead the league in qb rating or will he. Again I’m not saying its Bledsoe fault for most sack but bad throws are bad throws. What teams was Bledsoe killing before Flo got hurt? SF Did you forget before Flo got hurt he had scored 13,13 and 16 points.
 Alantdot
I’m sure NY is better than 19th but they are not a great Defense. They are not on our Defense’s level. I’m sure they wont end the year as 19th. Just as I knew Bledsoe early numbers were not as good as they looked.

Sterling:
I’m glad you mentioned Brees, because I couldn’t see him mentioned in Joey2zs’s list. But Harrington is better than Eli. Harrington has a stronger arm, more mobility, and more intelligence!

alanTdot:

LMAO!! Poor Danny White. He was such a good punter and clipboard holder when Staubach was still QB.

Did you ever notice that when Danny White took over as QB he was always on the phone talking to the coordinators upstairs whenever he wasn’t on the field? Ah for the days before Motorola headsets.

Wheres Oiler troll we you need him. A funny letter would do well in cheering me up after this weeked passed. i havent had the desire to read post all week.

Lee:

Dude…you have to be the first person I have ever heard say that Harrington is better than Eli Manning. LMAO!! That’s a good one!!

I know most are concerned about pass protection but I charted out the Cowboys runs plays from the Giants game using the play-by-play page on nfl.com Game center and here’s what I see:

Of 25 runs, 10 went left for 32 yds., 7 up the middle for 15 (I assigned to the middle a two yds. run that wasn’t specified on nfl.com) and 8 went right for 35 yds.

Specifically, it goes (any run designated by nfl.com as "end” runs, I put toward the OT counts):

LT=7 for 20 (2.9 per attempt)
LG=3 for 12 (4.0)
RG=4 for 21 (5.25)
RT=4 for 14 (3.5)
Mid (C & Gs)=7 for “15” (2.1)

Based on this game at least, and I know this doesnâ€â"¢t tell the entire story, but it’s apparent that the guard positions created the more productive runs, which is no surprise to Larry Allen fans but may surprise some Rivera bashers. Just food for thought…

Transplanted native (post 147)

The head slap was made illegal because of Deacon Jones use of it in the 1970s; Big E just employed it with great effect!

Sterling,

Danny White still holds alot of Cowboy’s passing records if I’m not mistaken. Didn’t he go to like 3 or 4 NFC title games? He wasn’t too bad.

anyone hear the status of Henry or A Glenn for KC?

Cash:

Danny White was pretty good for a few years when he first took over. He led us to the NFC Championship a few times and had a great comeback against the Falcons in the playoffs one year.

Unfortunately, he and the rest of the team went down the tubes in the mid-80’s as the Giants, Redskins, 49ers, and Bears got a lot better. I thought he was a lot better than Gary Hogeboom or Steve Pelluer, that’s for sure!!

rha:
Glenn and Henry both are listed as ‘questionable’…what a surprise.
Sterling:
Eli had time to make some throws Sunday, but he missed, and he didn’t look happy leaving the field, as a ‘winner’.
Regarding Harrington, what could the Lions expect to get for him?

Hi Everybody!

ESPN showed the 1992 stuffing of SF at Candlestick en route to the first of 3 Super Bowls…(Oiler Troll cannot help but point out that that Super Bowl was against a Buffalo team that had no business being there, but that is netheir here nor there). Alvin Harper ran a post that Aikman said was supposed to be Michael’s. 70 yards later in the closing minutes the Cowboys effectively finished them off.

The point – it took Jimmy Johnson 4 years to get that team to that level.

And in legal matters, Michael had too many unpaid traffic tickets. Consequently there was a warrant for his arrest when he was pulled over for what had to have been a minor traffic violation Once they arrested him, they impound the car and take inventory – that’s when the pipe was found.

Moral – keep up on paying your parking tickets and don’t leave stupid things in your car.

OT

stop sayin bledsoe is the blame you fools .

“a bad throw is a bad throw”

a bad throw is the lines fault when bledsoe is being pressured and has a 300 pound guy in his face that is 6foot 5

golden
sorry my bad I forgot Bledsoe doesn’t make bad throws if the line would have protect him in the Denver game we would have won or in that last drive for the Seattle game. I think Bledsoe should win the MVP.

aw dont be a smart a55. no one is sayin that bledsoe is perfect, every qb will make bad throws, unfortunately qb’s with constant pressure on them will make even more bad throws and fumble as well. i am almost certain if bledsoe didnt have that problem this year the 7-5 would be more like 9-3 right now

sacks halt drives
fumbles give the other team in the ball and often it has been where the other team can score easily. you minimize these and dallas would easily be 9-3. you can only minimize sacks and fumbles from the qb if the line is better. do you see brady with pressure on him? hardly ever and thats why he is so effecient.

aw im sure the only way i could make my point with you is to
take tom brady or carson palmer get a pick up game going.
give you one of them, give you any receivers you want and any running back you want. basically let you pick any players that you want except give you offensive lineman from the local highschool. and put them up against the cowboys and see how well palmer or brady does with a bad line

golden
why do you think Bledsoe is not with NE? When Bledsoe was in he was taking sacks and holding on to the ball too long. Brandy gets in and the sacks go down. Yes all qb make bad throws but don’t blame all Bledsoe’s bad throws on the line when there is no pressure. Is it so hard to believe Bledsoe could be playing poorly too. Hey it could be Bledsoe doesn’t trust the line and feel pressure when its not there. All I’m saying if he is about to or getting hit and he throws a pick fine its the line but when there is no pressure and he throws a pick its him. The line problems are not new it just in some games Bledsoe handles it better than other games.

aw
ny has 2 of the best de is what they were saying anyways. bledsoe is immobile yes everyone knows that, yes he does make bad throws on occasion so does evey qb. he was the best option in the offseason he still is our best option, so lets just agree on that.

aw, bledsoe aint with NE because brady is just better and they knew that and didnt want to let him go so they had to make a choice. and the year that bledsoe was replaced by brady, the first year they won the superbowl they were winning with bledsoe , he was doing good, they just knew brady was better, i remember when brady was hurt for 1 game and it was deep in the playoffs i think the afc championship bledsoe led the team to victory, you are acting like bledsoe has had a lot of time in the pocket but we all know he has not had that the last 5 games, thats why the giants beat jj to a handoff last sunday. if it was more bledsoes fault than the o-line then the running game would be doing something.

AW:
You chose an unfavorable time to mention Brady, who threw 4 picks to the Chiefs 2 weeks ago, but Brady does seem to remain calm in the pocket.

its snowing like made here in KC

Chiefs are having to practice inside.
I’d like to think that is a negative for KC

Sorry if this sounds a bit off but if I didnt know it, this part of the blog looks like something I would be reading in post season March

KC radio up here is playing up BP more than the Dallas team

sorry boys “like mad” although it could be “like made” the way its coming down!

Linus:
I agree completely that these topics degenerate too frequently into wish-lists for the future…maybe the holday season is to blame.
I’ll return to my other idea: voodoo witch doctors should be preparing symbolic dolls of Jared Allen(and other Chiefs) NOW…and have pins ready to stick into those dolls during the game Sunday.

i have another topic also lee

i say we bench bledsoe and put in AW for quarterback. then we could put his mom in at left tackle and bench petitti

golden
real funny don’t be mad because I’m right.

im just bein silly aw, im a goof off, nothin personal, we all have different opinions. i respect yours and you should respect mines.

to all the line bashers..yea they sucked last sunday..and yea bledsoe made some bad throws..but what i haven’t seen mentioned was that the giants end “umi whatever” got 2 sacks against seattle over walter " i only have given up 2 sacks this year" jones…so what do think tucker would be able to do? or pettiti against the single season sack leader strahan?..bledsoe does make some bad reads and throws..i was at the giants game in oct, sittin in the end zone where witten caught the t.d. that got called back cause of al’s holding call.and let me tell ya’ witten was open from the moment he left the line..but that’s another thing not being said witten is the key we’ve been missing…look at the seahawk game, when bledsoe threw the int..witten was in blocking..same in other games i’ve noticed.. aikman and moose both on many ocassions have said even in the giants game sun, that when novacek retired thats when they started slippin a little on offense.. we are what we are as bp says..a team with akiller gettin better everygame d with an imobile strong armed qb limited running running game and a raw line…but still with a chance to get to the playoffs

Golden:
You know the rules: if AW and his Mom don’t practice during the week, they can’t play on Sunday(an exception to that rule will be made for Aaron Glenn this week!)
jerryw: NY’s right DE is Osi Umenyiora(pronounced Ozzie HumanYourUh). Tucker seemed to be OK against him for 36 plays in October after Flozell’s injury. Maybe the times Osi beat Walter Jones have given him confidence. Also, I think that Osi had been fatter, and restructered some of that fat.

Yes,Bledsoe has only been sacked 23 times, but that doesn’t take into account how many times he has been pressured or hurried. I like Drew, but he is not good at “sliding” around in the pocket to buy a couple more seconds – all of the great QB’s could do this. When Drew is pressured, very rarely is he going to complete a pass, but given time he has the arm to pick the D apart.

Ca you believe that the Cowboys are 3.5 pt favorites this Sunday? I think that they are underdogs for sure.

Chiefs defense is suspect…..if we cannot move the ball against them we are in big trouble.

I am counting on a 3-1 record in the final 4. 10-6 and making the playoffs. We should easily handle StLouie and Deadskins……..split between Carolina and the Chiefs.

I think we can manhandle the chiefs on Defense, stop Larry Johnson and make Trent throw it. One downside is the Aaron Glenn Anthony Henry Saga……….we need at least one of those two on the field. Hoping for both.

All is not lost, we have played some pretty good football teams this year and nobody but nobody has beaten us bad. We continue to beat ourselves.

The o line plays better at home than on the road. Petitti is a rookie and probably hitting his time to play tired streak. Good coaching and training should help that. Get in their o line coach if you want to keep your job that is.

Funny I was watching the Cowboys 49ers game from back in the day. Aikman hit Irvin on a bunch of slants……..then he hit emmit in the flat a lot…….he was always getting rid of the ball just before he got hit. He made great passes on 3rd and long……..and Emmit and Irvin were clutch as was Novacek.

I really think our O Line needs to step up. Bledsoe has shown he can qb when givin a few seconds. We gotta keep a pocket and we gotta get Witten and JJ out there in the passing game and not having to block.

Andy………Chiefs are awesome at home. Cowboys play much better at home and the Chiefs are on the road.

Also all this talk about the AFC being the better division is hogwash. The colts, bengals, and whoever else you lump in there are mostly offensive powerhouses.

Look at the NFC and you see better balance and much stronger DEFENSE…….Bears, Giants, Cowboys, Panthers just to name a few……..hech even the Redskins have a good Defense.

Although it looks like the Colts should represent the AFC pretty handily……..none of those teams has the Defense we are building or in existence with the Monsters of the Midway……

Hi guys, i’m new to the blog. Does anybody see us getting to the next level this year or next with Drew Bledsoe at QB?

Yes, Bledsoe is not one of our wekanesses, he’s one of our strenghts.

I’m OK now. I’ve stepped back from the gas pipe. I really have.

I never thought the 2005 Cowboys were a Super Bowl team. I know I keep reading here that they are, but I never believed it. Getting there is a stupid goal, anyway. The idea is to win it. Losing in the playoffs or in the Super Bowl is about the same. It all beats 5-11 or 6-10, but it is all losing short of the goal.

From all indications, this is the Colts’ year. Fine. They can pound the Seabags or the Bears or a 45 oz. or their pud. The question is, what can the Cowboys do now to help make next year theirs?

Rivera is obviously hurt, but still so much better than Peterman that Peterman never gets a sniff. Rivera is not the same player this year he was pre-injury. That may tell us all we need to know about Peterman. Whether Rivera ever makes it back may be an open question for another day.

aw is at least partly right about the offense. It has been clear what is there from the beginning, and Flo wasn’t exactly tearing up the league, either. The running game has stunk from the opening coin flip of the season. Pressure on Bledsoe is getting greater by the week. None of that excuses bad throws, dropped balls, or receivers not running precise enough routes. It wasn’t just the O line, people—the whole offense stunk against the Giants. They all looked like they tanked the first half. Does anyone really want to argue that without the fumble play, the Cowboys would have won that game? The Cowboys were never really in that game—they were outplayed the entire game. The score may have been close, but they were never in danger of winning unless Eli had a complete brain collapse and fumbled into his own end zone twice, once in the 4th, then again in OT.

The D also needs to step up. I keep reading here how good they are, and they are much improved from last year, but the Bears have a worse offense than Dallas, yet they win by shutting down other teams’ offenses, preventing scores, and scoring themselves. Dallas, apart from a few exceptional plays, is not in that category yet. It takes all 11 working together to do that, and I only count 8 on defense. Shanle, Fujita, and Davis are weak links, as they have been all year.

Which gets to the point—if it only takes 3 to get a shutdown defense that will win consistently, or 8 on offense (from what others write here: C, OG, OT, OT, TE, FB, WR, and QB, in about that order), which will be easier to find?

hey john, real quick, offensive powerhouse?…have you seen the Colts and Steelers D…thats all…still cant touch our D though…if only our pesky little offense would catch up…

I can remember hating Drew Bledsoe when he played AGAINST the Cowboys…seems he was always tearing us up. I think he’s good, and he should be able to see real good at least, shocked to learn the dude is 6’6. Unfreakingbelievable. That is way tall

The offensive line needs to play better, plain and simple. Bledsoe is a good enough QB to win a SB, if he’s given time. We have enough weapons on offense, but it doesn’t matter how many weapons you have, if the o-line cannot give the QB enough time to get them the ball.

That was so painfully apparent on Bledsoe’s fumble that gave the Giants an early Christmas present. How bad is your o-line if the QB cannot even hand the ball off to the RB? That was the most pathetic play of the game.

Our defense is good enough to stop any team, when Henry and Glenn are healthy. However, with the poor play of the offensive line, we’ll lose many more of these close games. If the offensive line somehow gets it together in the last four games, which would be a miracle, we’ll make some noise in the playoffs.

No matter how the rest of the season goes, revamping the offensive line is priority number one, this offseason. I don’t know how much Rivera, and Allen have left in the tank, and how Flo comes back from injury, but they need a lot help next year. Will Allen and Rivera even come back? Is Rivera hurt? Will he be recovered next year? Is he finished?

Lots of questions that must be answered in the off-season. But that’s the offseason.

Right now, we face the Chiefs with their #3 ranked offense. I think that our defense is good enough to hold the Chiefs to 21 points or less, but will our offensive line be good enough to allow the many weapons we have the time to score 24?

For the first time this year, I will go against the ‘Boys and say No. The only positive, is the Chiefs don’t play well away from Arrowhead. However, I still don’t think our offensive line will be good enough.

Our defense and the home field will be good enough to hold the Chiefs to 21 points, but our offensive line will not be good enough to allow Bledsoe and crew to score more than 17 points. As much as it pains me to make this prediction, the offensive line sucks. That’s my final answer.

Chiefs 21
Cowboys 17

Good defense keeps it close.
Bad offensive line keeps us on the losing side.

Jon,

You make a good point about the AFC being a bunch of offensive powerhouses and the NFC is indeed more balanced.

Kind of reminds me of all those high-powered AFC teams from the ‘80s and ’90s who always got their butts handed to them by more balanced teams with awesome defenses like the ’85 Bears, ’86 and Giants, The Niners, heck, even Gibbs’ Skins, and of course, our very own ’Boys.

We’ll see if Peyton Manning can get past the “Gag” stage, unlike many great AFC QBs before him, like Marino, Kelly, Fouts and a young Elway. Elway finally got over the top, but his SB winning teams from the ’90s, were more balanced than his ’80s teams.

onepiano,

Apparently our defense is pretty damn good without Henry. Not sure I’d choose Glenn over Henry but the defense hasn’t lost a beat with him out.

Defensively I thought we lost more with Singleton going down than Henry. And that’s not saying that Singleton meant more to the D, just that Henry’s replacement has been much better stepping in.

Sorry Rafael, I am going back to the JJ/MB-III debate. Two runs on Sunday that give more creadance Barber should be starting. First the stretch play that ended in a fumble, and ultimately was the difference in the game. Almost everything has been going side to side with Jones at RB. It hasn’t been working well for the Boys at all. There is also the sweep that Julius got caught from behind by Uminora. If he can’t out run a DE to the outside, and he can’t run as well as Barber to the inside, then why start him? Obviously Barber is a much better pass protector, and seems to be a more gifted receiver. Bottom line is if Julius ain’t making “his” runs. When the team is loosing ground when “his” plays are called, then you have to change calling “his” number.

If Dallas can run the ball straight ahead, take a few shots down the field, and rely on their defense, then they can beat anyone in the NFC. Running East to West isn’t working!! When our bigger break away threat hasn’t been much of one, you have to revert back to what works for you. Run the ball right at the opponents, win time of possesion, and don’t turn the ball over. This is this team’s winning formula … get back to that!!

EricR,

Uninyora was covering Witten in the slot, by design, before the snap. That Julius was caught by him doesn’t prove anything to me, except that he’s fast.

Hey, Parcells gets to see these guys every day. If Barber is that much better, why isn’t he starting?

Uh, that’s Umenyiora. Still trying to thaw my fingers from the ice storm that’s struck the land of hills and BBQ here in central Texas.

A couple of points: I like Bledsoe-he’s been great. BUT, we are building a YOUNG team for the future, esp. on defense. Now, we have a fairly worthless first round pick-we’ll probably trade down to get more value anyways. Here’s my two questions-If we get to 8 losses, do you want to see Romo so we can see what he’s got in the reg. season? And, since we are loaded on the DLine, IF sd would send us Rivers for our #1, Bledsoe, and a DLineman (Glover or Ellis, not the young guys) would you take it? Then we’d have a young QB, two young RB’s, and a youg receiver (Crayton) to build around with some free agents…

And who would be Rivers backup? Who would be Ferguson’s backup if Glover’s shown the door? Who would be Canty’s if Ellis? In every one of those there is this danger of a big dropoff, why would anyone want something like that? Is Rivers good enough? Are we going to miss that 1st Rounder with all the needs this team has that could be solved with it (C, OLB and FS)?

Depth is important, rotation more, evidence proves that, Ellis and Glover are needed here.

Cash,

Yeah, our defense has been very solid in spite of all the injured players, including Henry.

Can you believe how good they’ve been, considering our entire starting LBs from last year are all gone? Our d-line has been solid all year. That, along with the much improved play of our DBs has masked our deficiencies in our LB corp, to an extent. They’ve given up some long runs.

I do agree with you, that Singleton’s injury was a big blow, especially against the run. Fujita and Burnett have not stepped up, which is why we’ve given up a few long runs, lately.

We’ll see if the offensive line can hold together the rest of the year, because our success depends on them. We already know that the defense will be there. They’re the only defense to hold the Giants offense under 21 points all year. They actually held them to 23 points for two games combined. I don’t count the 7 points they scored on that fumble return in the last game. That one was on the offense. They’ve kept us in every game this year.

Larry,

SD does not want Bledsoe. They’ll probably trade Rivers for Ware and Spears or Ware and Canty. I wouldn’t want to give those guys up, but that’s who SD would want for Rivers. Why would you want to give up two solid defenders for an UNPROVEN QB?

The last QB we got from SD, was a guy named Ryan Leaf! I’m not saying Rivers would be a bust, but I’d hate to see lightning strike twice!

Drew Brees on the other hand…… Nah! I wouldn’t want to trade any of our defenders. Not even for Brees. Like Chandus says, we need the depth. I wouldn’t want to break this solid defense up. No way!

Hello All’

lousy Thursday, lots of work to do.

Let’s get our predictions in.

Dallas 31 KC 20

I don’t think that KC will have the ball much. Ball Control all game from BP.

Sterling, Cash,

I remember those Danny White/Steve Pelluer/Gary Hogeboom days, and I remember that White wasn’t good enough at the end to quiet the contraversy.

Raf,

I’m on the MBIII is a better RB too. You why isn’t he starting then if he’s better since BP sees him everyday? Well if you start Barber and he takes the 1st and 2nd down reps, who do you bring in on 3rd down? The answer is Barber because he’s a better reciever and short yardage back. So the simple answer is, if JJ doesn’t start he never sees the field.

Every team has OL concerns, I recall when we used to berate Eric Williams because of all his penalties. Seems like we and every other team will never have good enough O linemen and when we do we will still blame them.

Granted ours are of particular concern at this time, but our QB has to figure out a way to make just a few plays a game under pressure. That is all Manning and Hassleback made to win those games. Their QB rating was worse than Bledsoe’s but they hit 2 or 3 plays on 3rd down. Bledsoe is not doing that.

With our defense just a couple of those plays could be enough, keeping drives going. Remember the Philly game? DB hit Price on one bomb and Glenn on the other to get within one score. He was being blitzed at the time but made them pay. Those plays allowed the R Williams interception to matter to the outcome. Without those plays the intercept was mute.

I believe one of the big problems with the OL is that they are forever changing due to injuries and I think the most important thing for an OL is to work together well. Before my next comment I want to come out and state that I do like Bledsoe and the cowboys would not be where they are now without him. With this being said, I find watching very hard some times. He has zero pocket awareness. He has no idea when he should throw quickly or when he should wait for an open. There was one on sunday when it was 3rd and long and bledsoe took five steps back. He had lots of time and then before he throws he takes two steps forward cause def players to be right in his face. This ball ends up being deflected by Trotter. I just can’t figure how a guy who has been in the league for 13 years has no instinct with this.

The MBIII and JJ discussion is boring to say the least. No way in HeII Parcells thinks Barber is better than JJ. The 3rd down reasoning is ridiculous as BP would love to keep his best back on the field 3 downs just like we did Emmett. If he thought one was significantly better than the other, that better player would be out there, simple as that.

This discussion is entering the land of stupidity.

Mikelly,

Bledsoe looks worse than he is because they are in max protection packages. He only has 2 receivers in the pattern trying to get open against 6 defensive backs on obvious passing downs. He has to hold the ball because it takes much longer to get open against 6 defensive backs.

To make this work he has to have 3 receivers in the pattern and he needs a drop off back to dump to. Unfortunately these guys are blocking and have not figured out how to chip and get open.

I think BP has to drop the idea of keeping everyone in to block and make his receivers get open quicker.

well i think barber has looked better than jj this year, he is great with blocking, and the pass, he runs with more power and better between the tackles. jj just has a little more speed.

Not sure we can even sniff 31 points in any game right now AlanTdot. I do agree that we can win this game as well as the St. Louis & Washington games. Finish 10-6 & sneak into the playoffs. I know we need some OL help & a WR would help as well. I still say that we look to sign Reggie Wayne this offseason. Crayton is a budding star if he can get on the field more often. Keep either Keyshawn or Glenn. As for OL help, maybe they can look at Max Jean-Gilles(6’4" 340lbs.) from Georgia. He’s a guard, but at Georgia they don’t play right or left guard. They play on both sides of the ball throughout the game. Having some guy that has experience playing both sides of the line sure would be nice for depth purposes. That might allow Larry Allen to move out to tackle.

cowboy bert
I disagree with you on one thing our D is fine the bears offense has two things going for them that we don’t. One they have a way better running game and two they don’t give the other team points. If you take away the tds that our offense gave up we would be 3rd in points allowed. The bears D is better but their offense don’t hurt them as bad as our offense does.

rha,
I agree with allowing the receivers to get open quickly. I think we got Keyshawn who I believe is one of the best at that.

Dave,

i don’ t know if LA is moving anywhere at this point. But I would hope that he could be that versitile.

i say 31 points for the Boys cause, after all, it’s KC on the road. Cmon people. KC just is not the sme team on the road, and that has been the rule for them rather than an exception for at least the past four years.

we have stopped the best Rushing attacks and offenses the League has to offer short of indy.
We will stop this one too.

AW,

yeah if our offense could stop giving the other team Seven we would be okay..

i say the boys put up at least 27 points and thats at the least. kc defense is pretty wack, and lately dallas has faced some tough defenses.

here is my prediction for the rest of the season. if the boys go 3-1 or 4-0 they are almost a shoo-in for the playoffs, this will also give us some time for the boys to get healthier, correct some problems, and get some confidence on the offensive side. if the boys get to the playoffs i really think they can make it to the championship game, being this is the nfc.

Dave:
At times Allen looks slow at Guard, how would you imagine him playing outside? He isn’t getting any faster, you know?

golden:
I don’t know, the Kansas Defense looked good against the Pats, if it isn’t a dominating Defense it certainly looks fast and that’s a problem with our OLine, they have looked the worst against speed rushers. Still, I’ll say that Dallas comes with the edge, a small one, because Dallas plays at home. 17-14 Dallas gets to 8-5.

nah, if dallas scores on 17 they more than likely will lose this game.
i say they score 27+

We are 2-4 against teams 500 or better. In those 6 game we avg 16 points. We have only lost one game this year when we have scored more than 13 points. So I think 24-13 KC. I don’t trust this offense to put up points on a good team. I think we end the season 8-8. I hope I’m wrong. I will say this lately the offense has been good at converting turnovers into TDs but on the other side the offense hasn’t been able to drive without a turnover. Think about it NY game one td because of the pick. Denver game two turnovers resulted in two tds. The Philly game the d scored one td and one turnover resulted in a td. So if the D can force some turnovers we have a chance to win.

with 4 games left aw, 2 at home, one against the skins , one against the rams-at home, one against kc at home and you only think we will win 1 more game this year???

Heading into last Sundays game, Dallas had owned the best time of possesion. Let’s not forget, they have been in every game, and if not for untimely turnovers and missed FGs, the Boys would probably have a strangle hold on the division lead. … Their best games have been when they execute early offensively, with a good mix of run and pass. Then run straight at their opponents, rely on that and their defense to wear down the opponents and hold onto leads. They are not too far from being a very good team! … If you ask me the Cowboys need to improve on a few things for the rest of the season to be successful. #1 (and formost) hold onto the ball!! Turnovers have killed them recently. If they can make plays early (get an early lead), so they can chew up clock on the ground and rely on that defense, they will be just fine. Making their field goals will help too.

3-1 in my book split between Chief and Panthers……which i will watch in Charlotte…….but we should beat St Louie and Redskins easily.

Chiefs are not the same on the road as at home either. We can beat them, hech i think we could win out. But we gotta do better against the run and block better on our own line.

Considering how many rookies and young guys we have on our Defense and our offense……..this team is in great shape to continue to improve and get better next year. I would be happy with 10-6 and a playoff appearance…….and then make a little noise in the playoffs.

Next year we add another OLB, at least one good Lineman to offense, we resign Witten, Campbell, James, and we sneak in an OLB from FA or Draft……..Bill figures out what he has on the offensive line and we finally have a rushing attack. That more than anything is killling this offense……we have to be able to run the ball and run it well to set up our play action pass.

yea I think we beat the rams. I don’t believe in this offense. I wouldn’t be surprise if we end the season 7-9 or 10-6. Even when we have won lately the offense has been bad. KC is a good team and Washington plays better at home.

eric, i agree with you 100% limit the turnovers and the cowboys are a good team, those turnovers usually lead to the opposing team scoring touchdowns. i also agree that the boys need to establish some good offense early in the game because that is how they won a lot of their games. it seems lately like they are playin conservative and just running the ball and waiting for the other team to strike first.

By the Way,

get a look at DWare before Sunday, cause he is going up against Willie Roaf who will make him disappear. The other side of their line can be had though.

EricR,

if I could have only given birth to myself I would have been my Mother.

Perhaps a little too much supposition there.

I see where you are going but you can’t rewrite stuff.

What does Bill Parcells say – You are what your record says you are.

is this on?

alan,

I am not really doing the “what if” supposium about the past. We are what we are, no doubt, (and as of right now a playoff team). My “what if” is really about the next 4 games and possibly on. .. No one scares me in the NFC, and if the Boys stop giving away games, they can make a run deap into the playoffs. .. I am not saying, “Man we should be 10-2!!” My idea is that we were very close to beating the Seahawks in Seatle, the Giants in New York, and have a date with the Panthers in Carolina. Improve what has ailed them, and they can beat anyone in the NFC. .. Hold onto the damn ball, and heck Dallas may have it in them to do something.

deep you dummy … talking to myself

good news everyone…BP says HENRY to start and GLENN will play

If Henry and Glenn both play, 20-17 Cowboys. If Henry is out yet again and Glenn isnt 100%, 27-17 Cowboys. KJ and Glenn need to step up this week and get open so Bledsoe stops holding it.

If only somehow we could win this game by a TD or more it would go a long way with our confidence.

GREAT NEWS

EricR,

I get it, but what I am saying is that maybe they give up six on offense because they aren’t that good…

I think they can beat anyone in the NFC. But can they do it this Sunday? Can they put together an offensive drive that is time consuming and impressive?

If they can add that to their recent penchant of turning turnovers forced by the D into six, then………

31 – 20 Dallas wins and we are all measuring DBledsoe for his Canton bust and we are calling an end to the MBIII/JJ arguement for one side or the other.

where are all these points coming from? I remember last week people were saying we were going to win and put up from 21-30 points against NY. After we only put up 10 points, now NY has a great D (which they don’t). A lot of Defenses look good against us. So how are we going to put up points? How many good team have we beat this year?

aw,

I actually agree with you for once. I don’t see Dallas scoring more than 20-21 points unless the defense or special teams gets involved in the act. The offense, even when it’s working fairly effectively, is only good for about 14 to 17 points by itself, even at home.

raf
yea if you look back at the last few games how many times have we scored tds without it being from a turnover in a game? Its good that we are converting on turnovers but its been a long time since the offense has put together more than one scoring drives on its own.

The only team in the NFC that scares me is the Cowboys. Their offense is lethal, to themselves.