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Here’s a list of current players set to hit the market this coming offseason:

QB     Brooks Bollinger UFA
WR     Miles Austin       RFA
WR     Sam Hurd          RFA
DL     Tank Johnson     UFA
LB     Zach Thomas     UFA

Christ Canty, Kevin Burnett, and Keith Davis round out the notable UFAs. I’ll take Davis over the rest of these guys too. Burnett is injury prone, if you’re gonna plug him in more and start him be prepared for him to be injured. Canty is a 4th rounder that ultimately plays like a 4th rounder…the 4th round steal tag vanished along with his production. Goto Miami or New Orleans.

Of these players, I’d take Miles Austin into a priority signing. He’s been good in special teams, and looked poised to have a break out year at WR, not to mention the speed. Zach Thomas would be a great addition, but I think the Cowboys will be looking at getting some speed and youth at LB. Tank Johnson is gone, which I didn’t really care for, he wasn’t much of a factor, more of a depth player for us anyway. Brooks Bollinger is a joke, get someone decent in here.

The game was blacked out for me, and attempting to watch the game online didn’t cut it for me. After I saw the game replay on NFL Network I found myself not to concerned. Some of the comments during the game had me concerned, but after watching the game myself I knew it wasn’t as bad as I thought.

The main beef was the penalties, yes we had a lot of penalties, but I would say at least half of those were total BS nit-picky calls. Sometimes I think the refs are also getting their practice in by being extra picky, so they can get their verbiage down pat. There were some stupid calls out there. Of course the other half were legit and that can be attributed to discipline. Whether you agree with the penalty calls or not, the Cowboys have racked up alot of penalty yards. These are mistakes, and Wade said himself that the mistakes were on him and effort was on the team. We can’t go into the season with these types of penalty riddled games.

As for the gameplay, the Bronco’s 1st teamers manhandled our 1st team defenders, bigtime. Besides Zach Thomas, there was a lot of sloppy tackling and inability to wrap up players. The secondary had some struggles tackling after the catch as well, just plain sloppy.
Special Teams -  the special teams looked somewhat better, but I want to see more consistency. There were some seams in the return game for Adam Jones and Isaiah Stanback.

Mike Jenkins - the Broncos went after Jenkins and were able to capitalize several times. Brandon Marshall scored a easy TD on Jenkins. Overall Jenkins didn’t have such a good night in my opinion.

Bobby Carpenter - missed a couple of tackles, Andre Hall ran right through him early in the game, he just didn’t make any plays that stood out. He, along with the rest of the defense didn’t seem to have an answer to the zone blocking early on. They’ll get another shot next week when we play the Texans, they use the same style.

Adam Jones - looked better in this game, looks like his timing is getting better, he had several near INTs in this game, coupled with his nice punt return. Its just a matter of time before Jones is back and free from the rust. He looked good.

Zach Thomas - this dude is bad to the bone. Thomas has the type of intensity we need at LB, bigtime upgrade over Akin Ayodele.

Felix Jones - when you watch Jones you can “feel” something is going to happen, as in big yardage or a breakaway homerun TD. I’m excited about this rookie. When we have Barber and Jones back there in the backfield, watch out. Defenses will have to pick their poison. Jones has really good hands, and has been money in the passing game. The cat is out the bag.

Tashard Choice - they didn’t run him much tonight, he had negative yardage on 2 plays, and had one catch for 9 yards; however, he did have a nice punt block. Very good. Not too bad for a short night of work.

Danny Amendola - wasn’t much of a factor, he had 1 catch for 12 yards and 1 punt return for 9 yards. There was that INT that Bartel threw at the end of the game, its questionable whether or not Amendola has some fault since the pass came his way he inadvertedly faked out Bartel and then the INT happened. I’m not sure that was his fault, but its there for the coaches to look at.

Martellus Bennett - gotta give him some props. He didn’t do anything that deserved any lashings, he had a nice catch and bulldozed for a few yards and covered up the ball too. Looks to be taking the coaching from John Garrett after all. Now, I’m not completely sold, he’s a rookie and needs to keep it going. I don’t want to see him show up at the Texans game and screw up. Keep it going.

Brad Johnson - he had some better blocking in this game, and he looked better. Let’s just hope the line keeps protecting Romo most of all. I don’t feel comfortable with Johnson for any stretch during the season.

Alan Ball - I don’t think he makes the team, he’s not playing well at all. He’s definitely looking like a late round pick, he had a rough night in coverage.

Dreadlocks - either I missed something, but looks like there’s some sort of mandate on the dreadlocks for players. Over the last few games, I’ve noticed the players donning pony tails to hold there’s dreadlocks together. Not just Cowboys players but other players in the league.

Well that’s it. Its the preseason, we’re always going to have work to do, but we can’t give away our new plays, and we can’t reveal our full arsenal. I’m not too worried; however, I would like to see more intensity and swagger from other players, we just don’t have enough of that.

The Texans are next, and expect another Texas sized brawl. The Texans are no longer the caretakers of the NFL’s basement, these guys are turning the ship around. I’ll take a closer look later in the week. Its going to be a tough game.

I haven’t watched the game yet, so I’ll have to give my analysis of the game later today, but the highlight of the evening was the injury to Miles Austin. Austin is set to have an MRI on his right knee to clarify the severity of the initial diagnosis of a MCL Sprain. If its just a 1st degree sprain, he could be out 3 weeks, a 2nd degree sprain could have him out longer at 6-8 weeks with rehab, and worst case scenario would be a ruptured/tear in which he would probably be shelved for the season. Let’s hope for the best news.

Austin was having a strong camp and looking good this preseason. In a close battle with Sam Hurd, this could seal the deal on Hurd earning that other spot, but he would be getting it by default. Hurd hasn’t shown much to seperate himself from Austin, so there’s a concern there. Austin’s speed would have been nice to have for a deep threat too, something Hurd does not have.

One thing we can almost count on is Danny Amendola making the team. The first round of cuts are just around the corner on August 26, and just four days later, August 30th, the final cuts to the 53-man roster are due. Its clear, at the very least that Austin will not be available to play by the cut dates. The Cowboys will have to keep onboard another receiver. Incidentally, Austin and Hurd are both set to be a restricted free agents in 2009. Depending on how the Cowboys feel about the receivers, we could roll with what we have or revist re-signing Terry Glenn, which I don’t see happening, but we’ll see what the news on Austin turns.

The Cowboys will get a good test tonight against the Broncos, and its expected that the Cowboys starters will play about a quarter, the offensive line starters may see action upto the half. The Cowboys want to see how Brad Johnson fares with the offensive line starters. The Broncos will challenge the Cowboys run defense since they utilize an effective zone blocking scheme, something the Cowboys don’t go up against much. In a sense this game against the Broncos will simultaneously help prepare the Cowboys for next weeks opponent in the Houston Texans. The Texans use the same schemes as the Broncos, and that will be our dress rehersal game.

Let’s take a look at a few players we should be watching tonight:

Bobby Carpenter - if Carpenter wanted a chance to breakthrough from the shadows of a backup then tonight is the night, it starts now. Carpenter won’t get an easy pass tonight. The Broncos are one of the better run blocking teams in all of the NFL, their effective zone blocking will be a big challenge for Carpenter. Will he make the proper reads and adjustments? We will see. This really is a make or break season for Carpenter, with the health issues around Burnett and Thomas’ concussion concerns, Carpenter needs to make a statement. If he gets the job done and looks the part of his 1st round pick status he could be a huge piece in 2009, if not, look for us to draft LB early, that’s just the plain and simple truth of the matter. I’m hoping for some big games from Carp the rest of the way.

Adam Jones - Jones did not have a good outing last time around and that can be attributed to “rust,” but he needs to be able to show he can become that player we had hoped him to be - a shutdown corner. There’s no doubt in my mind that Jones will be a factor this season, but I would be more confident once we see him return to his old ways on the field.

Mike Jenkins - Jenkins had a relatively good showing last weekend, but there’s always room for improvement, you can bet the Broncos will zero in on the rookie and test him early and frequently. I want to see how he progresses in this second game.

Brad Johnson - Johnson should be getting some snaps with the first team offensive line, and if he looks like crap again, it would be safe to say we’d be looking at adding another QB, if not I would be surprised. The Cowboys are obviously scouting players and leaving their options open, so another poor performance could lead to change. We’ll see how it goes.

Martellus Bennett - he didn’t have a good game last week. We’re all seeing the same thing, so there’s not much else that needs to be said. This subject is getting old; however, Bennett needs to show he can play in this league, he hasn’t shown much yet. He’ll be given some slack due to his draft status, but that won’t last long. Let’s see how he makes adjustments to his game, will he block better, will he catch the ball in traffic? I already know Tony Curtis can do all this, can Bennett over take him for the #2 spot, not yet, not even close, tonight he’ll get another chance to.

Danny Amendola - its crunch time for Amendola, he needs to do some solid things on special teams, in coverage, and in the return game. He cannot afford to have any errors whatsoever, otherwise we can scratch him off the starting 53. As much as we all like him, he has too play exceptionally well in tonight’s game to stay in the hunt. Right now Amedola is on the bubble, he has to distance himself from the other bubble players, and special teams may be the only way he gets on the field. I do expect Amendola to get some looks tonight in the passing game though. He didn’t get any passes last preseason game, but we should see him in action tonight.

Felix Jones/Tashard Choice - so far so good with these two guys. I can’t wait to see how they perform again. I want to see that same authoratative running again tonight. I’d like to see Jones out there in a two back set with Choice and go after people with them. I know we’re going to see some two back sets with Barber and Jones, but we could also see the same thing with Jones and Choice when Barber gets a breather. The Cowboys have really set themselves up with alot of options with these guys. Let’s see how they do tonight.

Austin vs. Hurd - That’s the battle we’re going to see tonight, this is clearly a two player battle for the #3 WR. Stanback is not even in this competition, I think we’ve come to the fact that Stanback won’t be a factor this season and still in a development mode…wasted pick. For now it’ll be time for Austin to replicate his performance from last week. My biggest knock on Austin has been his consistency and his hands. Can he keep catching the ball and can he get open and make plays. I’m not completely sold on Austin’s ressurgence from last week, we’ll see. Hurd didn’t do much at all last week, and that was surprising that he did not step up. Hurd needs to make a statement, catch everything that comes your way and get open. I’d like to see both these guys do well, but we need at least one of them to seperate themselves from the rest going into the season.

Special Teams - we have the players to be decent, and the Cowboys special teams units have been horrid, the same story from last season. If we do into the season with the same crap play it WILL come back to bite us in the butt. If we’re in a close game and we let the opposing team start near field goal range due to bad tackling on a punt or kickoff then forget it. Phillips has been touted as a coach who is good at making adjustments from half to half and from game to game. Surely, if the special teams woes continue we’ll see a change at the coaching position. Read better have these guys playing, or he needs to be let go.

NFL Gamecenter

Ok, the Cowboys just got trounced by the Chargers. The Cowboys first teamers, and first series dominated the Chargers, so in the long run, I’m not concerned. What I am concerned about is the horrid special teams play. I didn’t like our special teams play last year, and it looks like we picked up from last year.

I’m sorry, we have good players, so what’s the deal? I would have to say Coach Bruce Read is NOT getting it done. Out of all the crappy play from tonight, the despicable play on special teams highlights the game’s major shortcomings. Second to special teams would be the penalties and lack of concentration, just bad stuff all game.

Now to the individuals, the first teamers are all the real deal and looked sharp. Let’s look at some player highlights that stood out good and bad:

RB Felix Jones - man did this guy look good, I mean, can you imagine what Jones is going to do for us in the regular season. Felix is a definite upgrade over Julius Jones from last season. Most notable is his pass catching ability, its solid. He’s shifty, and can crank up that speed on a dime, very impressed by his play tonight.

RB Tashard Choice - another steal in the 4th round, Choice looks pretty good, he’ll be the #3 RB, and I expect him to contribute. He runs with authority, he runs like a Barber/Emmitt hybrid. He had a solid game.

WR Miles Austin - I got to give hims some props, he made himself noticed and made catches when the ball was in his area. 5 catches for 64 yards, not too bad at all. Now, can he be consistent going the rest of the way. Austin outplayed the rest of the receivers tonight.

TE Tony Curtis - he’s the #2 TE right now, and its not even close in my book. He has good hands, snatched the ball out of the air and makes plays when the ball came his way.

CB Mike Jenkins - Jenkins looked good in my opinion, he had some solid coverage and made some open field tackles. Jenkins will be a contributing factor this year. I liked what I saw in this first game, going against this type of offensive scheme Jenkins did some good things.

TE Martellus Bennett - this guy isn’t ready to be a starter. I want him to play well, but his half ass block on Shaun Phillips was pathetic, and another dropped pass that was very catchable. He needs to pick it up or we’re going to need to consider some contingencies down the line. Right now, he’s probably just a step above Rodney Hannah from the practice squad, seriously. Its still early, so I can’t be too rough, but he’s a 2nd rounder, so he’ll get some time to produce.

Quarterbacks - guess what? I hope Jerry is on the phone dialing up Jon Gruden, Brad Johnson’s arm is dead, he’s playing like Testaverde if not worse. We’re in serious trouble if Romo is ever out for whatever reason. Richard Bartel is not any better. We dropped the ball on Matt Moore, and now we’re here in this situation. Don’t try to sugar coat it,…we need another QB in here, like…this week.

WR Danny Amendola - it was a rough night for Amendola, he fumbled a punt which lead to a Chargers touchdown, after that he disappeared and didn’t get the opportunity to catch any passes even in the forth quarter.

WR Isaiah Stanback - this is a wasted pick man, its an expierement and he’s not ready, not even close to Hurd or Austin’s level. He, like Amendola didn’t look good in the return game either. He’ll make the team, but I just don’t see it.

These are the things that stood out the most tonight. For sure Special Teams needs a change, its the same crap coverage from last year. Jerry call up Joe Avezzano, for real.