I smell training camp

by Dave Halprin (Grizz) on Jul 19, 2008 5:49 PM CDT in News Comment 36 comments

Sniff…sniff…what’s that I smell? The first whiff of training camp. Yup, we’re within a week of the first practice. Hallelujah!

I know it’s almost time for training camp because a lot of the articles are about…you guessed it…training camp.

ESPN says our biggest issue is finding a legit #2 WR.

Teams will often shade the free safety to [Terrell] Owens' side, but late in the season, opponents also bracketed Jason Witten, who is one of the best pass-catching tight ends in the league, which really slowed this offense down. Patrick Crayton, last season's No. 2, put up good numbers (50 catches and 7 TDs), but is not a big playmaking threat. Backup developmental receivers Miles Austin and Sam Hurd will push Crayton for that spot this season and finding that complementary receiver to take pressure off Owens and Witten will be a huge lift to an offense that struggled late in the season.

Don Banks says it’s all about AJ being a choir boy.

Six weeks of good behavior is all that stands between Pacman, oops, Adam Jones and reinstatement to the NFL. If the ex-Titans cornerback and poster child for the league's get-tough approach to personal conduct can't stay off commissioner Goodell's radar screen between now until Sept. 1, then heaven (and Michael Irvin) help him.

And the LA Times – with a hat tip to the Star-T – goes with the standard.

Dallas quarterback Tony Romo needs to prove he can win when it really counts. Two years ago, he botched the field-goal hold in Seattle and the Cowboys bit the dust. And last season, he couldn't get it done against the Giants.

That's consecutive one-and-done playoff performances. And a trend that goes back even further.

Gil Lebreton of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram notes that in the last three years Romo was the starter at Eastern Illinois, his team lost each of its three first-round games in the Division I-AA playoffs.

"Superman had his kryptonite," Lebreton wrote. "Tony Romo has the playoffs."

Here’s a looong article about training camp from a paper near Oxnard.

Star_medium

Tony Romo is getting in some final rounds of golf.

Star_medium

As BTB-regular sublimezg noted in this FanShot, the Dallas Cowboys website has a new look. About time. Their site was looking very old-fashioned; the new one looks more modern. I’ll have to get used to it but I give them a thumbs-up.

0 recs | Comment 36 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Screw Lebreton!

LA turd doesn’t even have his own team to write about!

Peyton Manning lost his 1st 3 playoff games and didn’t win one till his 6th season. Maybe it’s just cause I’m a Dallas fan, but this “he hasn’t won a playoff game” gets old. It’s like a crutch when they don’t know what else to discuss. Really getting to be a BIG “duh”!

That #38 sure can hit!

by Aaron Novinger (Bigrigga31) on Jul 19, 2008 7:23 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Lebreton is an idiot

Like Darren Woodsen said on NFL LIve, the playoff loses weren’t his fault, he played well enough to win those games, his teammates need to step up as well, it shouldn’t be, “he needs to win when it counts”.

Last time I checked football is a team game, he can’t win it all by himself.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Jul 20, 2008 2:10 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

BTW

Anybody here planning to attend Training Camp? I’m hoping to make it down there as it’s just a 5-6 hour drive from Sac.

That #38 sure can hit!

by Aaron Novinger (Bigrigga31) on Jul 19, 2008 7:25 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Mickey Spags and The DC.com crew on the way to Camp

I live in a one-horse town on I-40 in New Mexico and today the Dallas Cowboys.com bus rolled through town. They tried to hide in back of a truckstop between a bunch of eighteen wheelers, but I found them. Caught Mickey Spagnola taking touristy pictures. After he decided I was probably not about to kill him, he shook my hand and was friendly enough. I asked if they were headed to Training Camp and he said they were. Pretty cool.

Then I asked why he’s never answered any of my 73 emails, and what the heck is the deal with Mr. Jones’ restraining order against me, and it kinda went downhill from there.

by Incredifan on Jul 19, 2008 9:12 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

hilarious...

Tar Heels football will surprise this year

by DalaiLuke on Jul 20, 2008 12:03 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's awesome!

Mickey’s my idol!

That #38 sure can hit!

by Aaron Novinger (Bigrigga31) on Jul 20, 2008 12:55 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

What an awful site!

I don’t know how you can say that’s an upgrade over the old site. The new site is just plain boring. No color or imagination to it. I would give them a D on that web design. They used to get awards for having one of the better sites on the internet, but I don’t see it happening this year with that layout. Should’ve stayed with the old layout. Disappointed to say the least. I expected better from DallasCowboys.com…....

Look up... get up...Don't ever, ever give up!!

by Boyzfan94 on Jul 20, 2008 1:30 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

#2 receiver

I’m getting kind of sick of hearing that Crayton isn’t capable of handling the #2 wide receiver duties…If you compare his stats last season with the ”#2 receivers” during our Superbowl run in the 90’s (‘92,’93,’95), it shows that a Superbowl is possible with that kind of production from the #2 receiver….

1992: Rec Yds Avg. Td
Alvin Harper: 35 562 16.1 4
http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/stats.nsf/Annual/1992-dal

1993:
Alvin Harper: 36 777 21.6 5
http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/stats.nsf/Annual/1993-dal

1995:
Kevin Williams: 38 613 16.1 2
http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/stats.nsf/Annual/1995-dal

2007:
Patrick Crayton: 50 697 13.9 7
http://www.nfl.com/players/patrickcrayton/profile?id=CRA820452

I’m not comparing Patrick Crayton to Alvin Harper skill-set wise at all…One was a speedster and the other a possession receiver, but the notion that we MUST have a speedster opposite Owens in order to be successful holds no weight…Owens and Witten posted better numbers without the speed guy than Irvin and Novacek did with one so spreading the field doesn’t seem to be much of a problem for the current Cowboys…

The only thing the stats don’t show is how pass heavy vs. run heavy we were thus possibly altering the stats

I apologize if somebody has already brought up these points

by BoNeZ on Jul 20, 2008 1:39 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Nice post Bonez

The 2nd WR crap is really nit picking. Crayton is the 3rd option anyway. I think you hit the nail on the head about the run vs pass. That’s the lop-sided play calling that caused problems when TO went down.
That playoff game showed this team can run over people with a good RB, but the line wasn’t used to that and it looked like MB3 was a little worn out too in the second half. More balance from Game 1 this season.

T-New, shutting down WR's for Dallas since 2003

by APerfectStar on Jul 20, 2008 8:36 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wanna see MB3 have a 30+carries game right out of the gates

against Cleveland. Let’s keep the ball out of their offenses’s hands and wear down their two new giant DTs.

That #38 sure can hit!

by Aaron Novinger (Bigrigga31) on Jul 20, 2008 8:41 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

that would be stupid to give him that many carries

Gotta keep that guy fresh throughout the season, so Jones will see 10-12 carries a game for that reason.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Jul 21, 2008 8:21 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

co-sign

They scouts and coaches say they feel comfortable giving Felix the ball between the tackles, make it happen. Plus you have choice who grind it out between the tackles.

We pressure D. Anderson and you count on a couple of picks.

"You can't win until you're not afraid to lose"

by Wmillion on Jul 21, 2008 9:08 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Gotta keep him fresh, I agree.

But gotta keep the whole D fresh throughout the season too.

Like Witten, I don’t see Barber the type of guy where pain prevails over toughness. Red Ball will be smart with him. Still, if he’s hot 30 carries is no biggie. There’s no guarantee our passing attack will bail us out of EVERY game.

That #38 sure can hit!

by Aaron Novinger (Bigrigga31) on Jul 21, 2008 12:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

30+ carries?

Why would you play away from your strength on offense? Romo, TO and Witten chewed up defense after defense last season. This is a passing team, built to win on the strength of a QB, TE and WR who are impact players and among the very best at their respective positions in the NFL. The reason Barber was able to get 4.8 ypc is because (1) he split carries and (2) every defense had to play pass first. Over-emphasizing the run plays right into the hands of the defense.

Let’s keep the offense at about 55% passing and 45% running and also split the carries around 50% Barber, 30% Jones, 20% Choice.

by Cowboy Louie on Jul 21, 2008 10:58 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why not?

Dallas needs to learn to adjust week-to-week and not use what’s going well for them as a crutch. An offense has to be flexible in its play calling to keep the defense guessing.

Obviously, we’re a good passing team. Let’s add to that dimension and be a great overall offense.

Our “Everything or Nothing!”

That #38 sure can hit!

by Aaron Novinger (Bigrigga31) on Jul 21, 2008 12:42 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

the great thing

is the versatility we have, with air and ground weapons, and with El Gato we have both. We can really keep defensive coordinators guessing, go after teams’ weaknesses, and adapt as the season and even each game progresses…

by scottmaui on Jul 21, 2008 3:00 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

A balanced attack is better

If you want to get into percentages, I’d like to see the Cowboys as close to 50% pass and 50% run as possible. It would take pressure off of the defense, and pressure off Romo (not that he can’t handle it) but why risk your QB’s healthy by dropping back to pass so much. It’s nice to be able to flip field position with a deep pass, but the Cowboy teams of the 90’s relied on power running, play action, and timing routes. If a team can do those 3 things well, they not only build the lead, they also put more pressure on the opponent by cutting down their opportunities to score by reducing their number of possessions per game. This defense is built to pressure and create turnovers and that is best accomplished by limiting their time on the field to keep them fresh late in games.

T-New, shutting down WR's for Dallas since 2003

by APerfectStar on Jul 21, 2008 6:14 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Barber isn't a thirty plus carry back

He never was, he never will be

Barber is at his best when his carries are limited between 15-18 carries a game, after that his production drops off. In the second half of the giant playoff game he was gassed..

by Deke on Jul 21, 2008 12:48 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm sure he'll be in shape.

And really, people keep saying that he was “gassed”. Didn’t look like it to me and I just watched that game again last week.

The real deal was he didn’t get the ball as much because of the situation of it being a tight game and the Giant’s D-line playing with dominance. Barber wasn’t anymore tired than anybody else out there.

That #38 sure can hit!

by Aaron Novinger (Bigrigga31) on Jul 21, 2008 1:23 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1

Marion can carry the mail as well any back in the league. He was the only back to go over 100 yds vs the Giants in the playoffs. He was doing something right.

In his Rookie year he had a 22 carry game for 95 yds, and 27 carry game for 127.. So he can carry the ball 20+ carries a game and be highly effective.

"You can't win until you're not afraid to lose"

by Wmillion on Jul 21, 2008 1:46 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

WOW!!!!

Marion can carry the mail as well any back in the league

You come to this conclusion based on what—two games!!

Now tell me, When Hambrick was the second back behind Emmitt and touting a 5 plus average per carry, did you think he could carry the load.

How about Julius Jones after his first season, did he resemble a back that could carry the load. A major amount of cowboy fans had this guy the next Emmitt, how did that turn out.

Now we have Barber, a guy that’s fun to watch, nobody will say he’s not fun to watch but you cant survive in this league trying to pound through every player on the defense. He was never a lead back in college or the pros, now based on one playyoff game against the giants, where in the second half he carried the ball 11 times for 28 yards, missed multiple blitz pickups and was clearly gassed and less effective. His production fell off as the game went on. Good backs, the opposite happens, they get stronger. I’ve said before he’s a very nice back when you limit him to 15-18 carries a game, after that, his production drops off. Not all players are fulltime type players. barber and Rattliff are those type of players on this team, they’re energy players, they look great when you limit their plays, give them a full load and they’re not the same player.

The Offensive line gets some blame too, this line with its size and strength should of taken over the game creating a push, they did not.This offensive line needs better cardio to finish games off.

by Deke on Jul 21, 2008 2:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

And all you've seen him do with a full load

are a few games, too. He can do it. I’m not saying I want our new backs on the bench, but if Barber needed to, he could take the reigns just fine.

And nobody can tell how much punishment a bruising runner takes. Guys who cut alot wear down there knees, so it’s the same risk. What about Bettis, Payton, Jamal Lewis? They were bulldozers with lengthy careers. Injuries are more about circumstance than endurance.

Julius carried 30+ times, 3 games in a row. Although for a short time span, he still did it. And nobody’s trying to replace Emmitt, I’m just putting faith in the fact that Barber will get the job done no matter if it’s 4 carries or 40 carries a game. He’s a professional athlete. He trains for this. Again, the Giants game was not the whole season and does not predict his future or his career.

And definitely, he’s not Hambrick.

That #38 sure can hit!

by Aaron Novinger (Bigrigga31) on Jul 21, 2008 2:53 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

keep in mind with KB 57 said about MB3

in his blog:

In watching his style, it looks as if he takes a lot of punishment. I mean he lowers his head, knees guys in the face mask, stiff arms guys. It would seem like ice would be his best friend. Not the case, MB has a little bit of cat in him, which makes him very deceptive.
He waits until just the right time to move slightly, so you don’t get a square shot on him. You guys may not be able to see it from the TV or in the stands, but people hardly ever get a flush shot on him. He keeps defenders off balance which allows him to set up his moves. A lot of time MB cuts back and throws a stiff arm, right? This is all to set up for the short yardage run. He wears you out with the stiff arms and the slippery running then on 2nd and 1 or 3rd and short he lowers his shoulder for huge gains.

Let’s say your in a fight and your getting your head beat in with a left hook. The first thing you’re going to do as soon as the guy flinches is, watch for the left hook. What about the right hand? Same thing with Barber, he is a patient runner who does one thing to set up another. If you have ever heard an announcer say he’s a smart runner well MB’s picture should be up there when that phrase is said.

by scottmaui on Jul 21, 2008 3:05 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Another nice find, Maui.

That #38 sure can hit!

by Aaron Novinger (Bigrigga31) on Jul 21, 2008 3:15 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hmm, the words of a linebacker!!!

I’ll go with this quote,

“I think he spends a lot of energy that may not be necessary,” Emmitt said during yesterday’s visit to Valley Ranch. “For a starting back, I’m all about putting your heart into it, but you’re doing a lot of kicking, running up, bucking and you’re exerting a lot of energy. We need you for four quarters—and I’m going to say we because I’m a Cowboy, too. We need you for four quarters.
“If Marion has to carry the load for four quarters, there’s no way he can handle it.”

http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/05/emmitt-believes-barber-should-ease-up-a.html

I’ll take the words of the all time rushing title holder over a part time situational linebacker everyday when talking about a running back, but hey, thats just me…

by Deke on Jul 21, 2008 3:34 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Touché

I’m sure Marion listened and will take this advice. But he bucks; he’s not smoothe. That’s okay with me.

That #38 sure can hit!

by Aaron Novinger (Bigrigga31) on Jul 21, 2008 3:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Emmitt

I love Emmitt, but some of his commentary is way off base.

I’ll trust the guy trying to tackle MB3.

You can be a skeptical of MB3 if you want, but I’ll trust the guy ton continue to take advantage when he starts. His starts go like this 95 yds rushing, 127 yds rushing , and another 127 yds rushing in a playoff game..

Have faith in the Barbarian and you shall be rewarded…

"You can't win until you're not afraid to lose"

by Wmillion on Jul 21, 2008 5:19 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

true

Look at Indy even when Marvin went down they weren’t the same team….

"You can't win until you're not afraid to lose"

by Wmillion on Jul 20, 2008 10:15 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Third Receiver

If the opposing defenses are going to take Witten and Owens out of the picture, then someone like Crayton will need to step up. I know he’s had decent stats, but he needs to get better. That drop against the Giants was a very big one that could have put the Cowboys in position to win the game. The time is NOW!!! Not next year.

by DallasSooner on Jul 20, 2008 9:11 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Warning: these are old points...

Trying to slam Crayton for his failings in the Giants game ignores an entire season of him making clutch 3rd down catches, getting separation at critical moments, and generally doing the job that was asked of him. Crayton can improve, but be careful to expect too much more of the guy – he was a Romo go-to guy, and should get far more credit than the short memories of a few games.

Tar Heels football will surprise this year

by DalaiLuke on Jul 20, 2008 10:39 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Here, here!

For all of you with short-term memory lapses, PLEASE watch all the NFL Replays again. Crayton makes the tough grabs, runs tough, and like previously mentioned is a go-to-guy for Romo. Why do we even have to have this argument anymore? Wasn’t this strung out enough in a FanShot? If you’re not happy with his play, move on because obviously the Cowboys have their own plans.

Boohoo about the dropped pass in the playoffs. This is ‘08.

That #38 sure can hit!

by Aaron Novinger (Bigrigga31) on Jul 20, 2008 10:49 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's the problem with Crayton

He excels when another WR can take the pressure off him, but disappears faster than Andy Reid taking down a Big Mac once he’s gone as we saw when TO was out. He doesn’t have the talent or speed to put the fear in opposing defenses and is easily shut down. This is why he is nothing more than a #3 Wr on this team.

If TO goes down and the #1 CB is placed on Crayton he get’s shut down without question and that leaves the defense to key on Witten. This off season you will see Jerry go out and get a legit #2 WR.

Hopefully, Austin can push Crayton off the #2 spot because he gives us the speed on the outside Crayton can’t.

Look up... get up...Don't ever, ever give up!!

by Boyzfan94 on Jul 20, 2008 5:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs