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Cowboys Nation is on fire, after a dominating showing by the offense against one of the elite defenses of the league. The Cowboys may not have a dominating defense, but we do have Championship conditioning. Our huge offensive line tired out and out hustled one of the best defensive units in the league, take notice. The Cowboys can play anyone in this league and go toe-to-toe and put on a show on offense. Our offense is just bad to the bone right now.

Slow Starts, Strong Finishes

That’s our M.O. on offense, I’m convinced that Garrett’s gameplans for each game is designed for proding and poking. Once Garrett finds the weakness, its on; and, its attack mode at full speed. Terrell Owens has been virtually unstoppable in this rejuvated offensive scheme, and Tony Romo is leading the way with solid numbers. I said it last week, but I’ll say it again: Jerry, give Romo the combination to the safe and pay him like the bigtime QB that he is!

Special Teams

I’ve been dogging the special teams play all preseason and all throughout the regular season; however, I have to give some props now. Special teams gets a gameball, their coverage was spot on, and Keith Davis had another good showing on special teams. Sam Hurd was also exceptional tonight, he had a complete game in every aspect too.

Love me some #6

That’s right, its official now, Nick Folk is a boss at the kicker position. After years of having instability and inconsistency, we now have a solid place kicker in Folk.

The Defense

The Cowboys defense is starting to mirror the offense as far as how long it takes for them to get on track. The defense has been pretty good in the 2nd half as well. Against the Bears, the defense had good coverage and had Grossman rattled. Rattle Gator Arms, Win the game, I said it all week, and that’s what happened. Stephen Bowen looked good in the lineup tonight, along with the rest of the unit. I like what I saw from everyone on the line tonight.

Here’s the Beef

Our Offensive Line means business, and we’re imposing our will upon the best defensive lines in the league. We are out playing, and out hustling some of the best in the NFL, very impressive. The critics of Bigg Davis can take a back seat and come along for the ride to the Pro Bowl. Bigg Davis was a great free agent addition, and we’re reaping the rewards. Can you imagine if Rivera was still at RG? Davis is just mauling people on a regular basis.

The running game

Julius Jones had a good game, and helped moved the chains. Marion Barber continues to run like a man possessed. With Barber in the backfield you always get the filling he will break a tackle and take it to the house. Barber is a bad dude! The running attack had a slow first half, but Garrett’s second half adjustments had them running through and over the Bears defense.

We have the lowly Rams next, and need to be focused and not fall in this potential trap game.

BOX SCORE

Rest of the NFC Updates

Giants defeated the Redskins. The Giants are 1-2, Redskins are 2-1

The Eagles crushed the Lions. The Eagles are 1-2

Brown Watch

The Browns lost at Oakland. The Browns are 1-2

Another solid game from the offense. The similarities between this offensive squads of the ’90s is eeriely similar. Under Jimmy Johnson, the Cowboys took a good half to get going, and these Cowboys are the same. Garrett has been surgical with his play selection and Romo has been pinpoint accurate; and, the combination of the two will be deadly effective against our opponents. If anyone has any questions about Romo’s mental strength after that fumble in Seatlle, you can put that to bed. Romo is back, and better than ever. The defense looked average in the first half, but picked it up in the second half. Each unit was feeding off each other today. Players were pumped and it showed on the field. The Cowboys whipped up the Dolphins 37-20.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME

Tony Romo had another solid game, and continues to be a playmaker at the QB position. Jerry, give Romo the combination to the vault and pay this guy! Man he’s the real deal. Amazing pocket presence, all-pro vision, and a great field general. These upper echelon QBs are hard to find, and Romo is undeniably in the upper tier

MBf’ingIII is a boss. Yes, we use a two back system, but each game we play, Barber is clearly setting the bar high, and Jones is not the same caliber. We need both, neither is a clear everydown back, and that’s not a knock on Barber, but Barber is clearly the man in charge, just a better back.

Jason Witten is money all day long. The Dolphins did an ok job defending against Witten, but as I said in the key’s to victory, Witten will get his touches and he did. Good job by Witten.

Terrell Owens is a force, and he gives defensive coordinators fits all game long. Owens is playing some solid football, and running his routes great under Garrett. Owens has been embraced, and is a fan favorite by many. Great game by Owens.

The Secondary in the second half played good enough for me to get a mention. Hamlin redeemed himself from last weeks stupidity, and Reeves did a little better, still getting burned from time to time.

QUESTIONABLE PLAY
Patrick Crayton is going to hurt us in the return game. He’s reckless with the ball, makes poor decisions, almost fumbling the ball, and once he does get the ball, he does not tuck the ball away.

The Defense is still playing like crap, missing tackles, not getting pressure. Spears and Canty are not getting it done, the pressure is falling completely on Ware, and teams are double teaming Ware and shutting him down. I’ll say it again, GET JASON HATCHER in there!!! You are naive if you think today’s game means the defense is back, because it doesn’t. Green made some very poor passes and the DBs made easy INTS. There’s no pressure from the front seven.

GAMEBALL

Tony Romo gets the Gameball in my opinion. Can you imagine Bledsoe back there? There was several instances where Romo exhibited some amazing athleticism out there. That juke and jive on Taylor was classic. Romo is at the top of his game right now.

BOX SCORE

There’s no denying that this has been one of the most brutal preseason injury riddled seasons the Cowboys have had in years, and Terry Glenn is the latest to be injured, possibly the most worst off from the bunch. Key positions lack depth,lack quality and fans remain worried. Still though, Wade Phillips is having none of it and has relayed the message to his players:

“As far as our team is concerned, it’s a blow certainly not to have him this ballgame,” coach Wade Phillips said. “We expected to have him. I’ve told them all along there are no excuses and we’re not cry babies. … There’s no crying in football.”

Terry Glenn has a career threatening decision to make soon:

According to sources, if Glenn has an arthroscopic procedure on his knee, he could miss a few weeks, but if he has a micro-fracture surgery, then he will not play in 2007 and his career could be in jeopardy. There is no guarantee the arthroscopic surgery will fix the cartilage problem. (DMN)

I’ve been saying all along that between Glenn and Owens, Glenn has the most wear and tear and he’ll be the first of the two to call it a career. Unfortunately, Glenn’s run may come soon than we or he had hoped.

The Cowboys have promoted Crayton to the #2 WR, and Hurd will be the #3WR. Both Crayton and Hurd have looked good in the preseason. Crayton has the best hands on the team, so he’ll make those tough catches that Glenn has made all his career; however, Crayton and Hurd lack Glenn’s gamebreaking deep threat speed. Its a luxury, but not a requirement in Garrett’s offensive scheme. Austin and Stanback round out the backups, I doubt they see any significant playing time. Austin made this team because of his special teams specialty, his skills at WR are suspect. We don’t want our receivers running wrong routes and causing Romo to throw an INT. Stanback is a project, and the jury is still out on him.

With all this being said, the Cowboys could still be in the market for some more experience, and former Patriots starting WR Reche Caldwell could be an option:

The agent for Reche Caldwell, who caught 61 passes for 760 yards and four touchdowns last year in New England before being cut by the Patriots this summer, said he spoke with the Cowboys on Thursday. Phillips is also familiar with Caldwell, who played for the Chargers from 2002-05.(DMN)

Giants RB Brandon Jacobs is talking mad smack, and he’s in for a rude awakening. Jacobs said the Giants were going “whip their (butts).”

Giants fans are going to know how bad their season is going to be once we shut him down. Jacobs is a goal line, short down back. Like I said in earlier in the week, Jacobs is what Hambrick was to us a few years ago. These guys are short yardage guys.

Several Cowboys defensive players commented on Jacob’s stupidity;

Chris Canty: “To come out and say that, that’s pretty bold,” defensive end Chris Canty said. “He’s in the NFL. He’s a good football player. But there are certain things you just don’t say. You can feel that way, but you don’t put it out there in the media.”

“Just go ahead and put some gas on the fire,” Canty said. “If that’s what you really want to do.”

Jason Ferguson said the Cowboys would “do their talking on the field” and linebacker Bobby Carpenter responded with a “We’ll see.” (DC.com)

Jacobs is going to get lit up every time he gets the ball, I can’t wait to see that.

Madden NFL 08 Forecast is back, and has predicted a Cowboys victory 34-17.

Well, the Saints are not contenders as projected to be. The Colts ripped the Saints for 41 points, complete destruction and a complete meltdown by Drew Brees. So, now that the NFL season is officially underway, we can get to more pressing matters - Terry Glenn.

DallasCowboys.com had two articles earlier the first reporting that Glenn suffered a knee injury and that he would miss two games maybe more, soon after that, an updated article appeared and stated Glenn was lost for the season and stated:

Jones said Glenn’s knee injury is similar to that of former Cowboys center Al Johnson, who missed his entire rookie season in 2003 following microfracture surgery.

“You hate to see this with one of your top players and we need all of those we can beyond the field,” Jones said. “”It’s a real blow for Terry and for us.”

Then the mystery began, because after that, the story reverted back to the whole “2 week or more” article. Either way you cut it, its bad news for Glenn and the Cowboys.

The latest news being reported states that Glenn does in fact have a knee injury, and could be serious. The DMN states:

According to several sources, the veteran wide receiver reinjured his surgically repaired right knee and will miss one game, if not more. Glenn’s agent, Jimmy Gould, said no decisions have been made, and Glenn will seek advice from several doctors.

The key here is the whole seeking advice from several doctors. This leads me to believe the first diagnosis is bad, and Glenn wants some second opinions. Glenn has a history of injury, and if this ends up being a microfracture in the knee, then that’ll be all she wrote, career ender, especially at 33.
So what is a microfracture injury? You can read more here

Typical recovery time varies by age and sport:

Current studies have shown a success rate of 75 to 80 percent among patients 45 years of age or younger, even among professional athletes.[3][5] With the help of physical therapy, patients can often return to sports (or other intense activities) in about 4 months. However, this is a best-case scenario and depends on the severity of the cartilage damage (and any other conditions existing in the knee). Normal patients and professional athletes who play at the highest level however are quite different, as Chris Webber, who underwent the surgery, has stated that a full recovery in 4 months is nearly impossible. Webber returned to the NBA eight months after his surgery but did not feel “like himself” until a few years later.

Its gonna be Hurd time, and Crayton will have his shot to really prove is worth in his contract year this season. It’s been a very active preseason in Dallas, lets hope for some good news somewhere soon…

You can cross Terry Glenn off the Giants game, he’s developed a new injury, his knee. Great. Just Great. No reason to get too uproared; however, this is very disappointing and basically takes out the speedy deep threat Glenn brings to the table.

IRVING, Texas - Three days before their regular-season opener, the Cowboys learned wide receiver Terry Glenn’s problematic right knee likely will force him to miss two weeks and possibly more, team owner and general manager Jerry Jones said late Thursday afternoon.

Glenn missed all of preseason after having arthroscopic knee surgery Aug. 1 to remove a tiny cyst from the back of his right kneecap. The 33-year-old receiver returned to practice Wednesday but sat out Thursday because of what Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips described as swelling in his knee.

Without Glenn, the Cowboys would have to rely even more on Terrell Owens, fourth-year veteran Patrick Crayton and second-year veterans Sam Hurd and Miles Austin. Crayton started three preseason games in Glenn’s place, with Hurd entering the lineup in three-receiver sets.

The Cowboys also have rookie Isaiah Stanback, but the fourth-round pick is more of a developmental player making the transition from college quarterback. (DC.com)

I expect to see Hurd and Romo connect on some key drives, these two have chemistry, Crayton will also supply some support in the slot.

Now, in regards to our All-Injury Prone Team:

1. Kevin Burnett

2. Marcus Spears

3. Terry Glenn

4. Anthony Henry

Its a miracle if any of these four players go through the year without missing a game or two due to injury. Kevin Burnett leads the way at #1, he’s been injured year round since his rookie year (not much of an exaggeration). Marcus Spears comes in 2nd; however, to his credit, this has been the 1st training camp/preseason in which he was not out due to injury.Terry Glenn is in at #3, he’s always been bugged injuries, and there’s the famed “she” quote from Parcells, when they were in New England, and Anthony Henry rounds out the list, Henry has been known to have the injury bug since he’s been in Dallas.

UPDATE: GLENN OUT FOR 2007 SEASON!!!!!!

IRVING, Texas - Three days before their regular-season opener, the Cowboys learned wide receiver Terry Glenn’s problematic right knee will force him to miss the entire 2007 season, team owner and general manager Jerry Jones said late Thursday afternoon.

Jones said Glenn’s knee injury is similar to that of former Cowboys center Al Johnson, who missed his entire rookie season in 2003 following microfracture surgery.

“You hate to see this with one of your top players and we need all of those we can beyond the field,” Jones said. “”It’s a real blow for Terry and for us.”

WOW, we are really taking a beating with injuries. I think this ends Glenn career, we’ll be moving in a new direction. Microfracture surgery has ended the careers of several young players in the past, and at 33, it’ll be a huge uphill battle. My best wishes, Glenn is a weapon, and could be a huge blow. When GLenn missed games we lost games…
UPDATE 2: The above has been removed from dc.com, and the previous quote at the top is now the headliner, so here we go…Expect Wade to be evasive on the Glenn injury as he has been with the Ellis injury. I’m going to watch the game tonight, will check back and see if this mess gets figured out.

Alright Cowboys Fans, let’s get back into the groove. There’s lots of doom and gloom going around out there, and it all revolves around the defense. Everyone’s concentrating around our injuries, and frustrations over recent roster moves. Obviously, the powers that be have decided to roll with what we have on this team, so that’s-that for now.

Let’s remember there’s two units that will be there at Texas Stadium, the defense is banged up with Newman being doubtful, that’s one player. We still have Ware, Williams, Hatcher, Ferguson, James to beat up the Giants. More importantly, we still have Garrett’s explosive offense. The offense will definitely carry the load in week 1, that’s clear to me now, I’ve come to accept it. Newman is not going to play, and it’ll be Jacques Reeves and the inconsistent Henry on the other end. Ok.

Well, do you think the Giants weak secondary is any better than our secondary right now. We have the better safeties, but I would say our corners are both young and inexperienced, just as the Giants are too. With this being said, its going to come down to execution. It’s going to be a brawl, but their defense won’t be quite as prepared as we will be. The Giants are going to see something new, unlike our previous matchups. They can’t rely on film footage from the last couple of seasons, or this preseason either.

Garrett is going to come out blasting. I’m talking about Fasano, Witten, Owens, Crayton, Hurd, and Glenn if he’s playing. Plus our 1-2 KO duo of Jones and Barber. We only saw some glimpse of the Garrett powerhouse on display this preseason, its “gonna be on” against the Giants, and they aren’t going to know how to slow us down.

Which ever offense does the better job at getting past the opposing defense will win. My money in on Garrett’s offense. I mean, c’mon, the Giants have Kevin Gilbride as their current OC, the OC from the famed Oilers vs Bills debacle in 1993, where the Oilers offense choked and shutdown. Garrett comes from a better pedigree and proven background, he’s played the game, played with the best, been coached by the best, he has that intellectual and calculating persona.

In Garrett We Trust baby! Get pumped.

I wasn’t surprised by the first round of cuts today; however, I hope Jackie Battle can return via the practice squad, assuming he can recover from the ankle injury. After watching training camp and the first three preseason games, the 53-man roster is becoming clearer. Here’s my latest roster projections:

QB (2): Tony Romo, Brad Johnson
RB (3): Julius Jones, Marion Barber 3, Tyson Thompson

FB (2): Oliver Hoyte, Deon Anderson

WR (6): Terrell Owens, Terry Glenn, Patrick Crayton, Sam Hurd, Isaiah Stanback, Miles Austin

TE (3): Jason Witten, Anthony Fasano, Tony Curtis

OL (9): Flozell Adams, Kyle Kosier, Andre Gurode, Leonard Davis, Marc Colombo, Pat McQuistan, James Marten, Doug Free, Cory Procter

Offense (25)

DL (4): Jason Hatcher, Jay Ratliff, Chris Canty, Marcus Spears

NT (2): Jason Ferguson, Remi Ayodele

LB (8): DeMarcus Ware, Bradie James, Akin Ayodele, Greg Ellis, Bobby Carpenter, Anthony Spencer, Kevin Burnett, Junior Glymph

CB (6): Terence Newman, Anthony Henry, Aaron Glenn, Jacques Reeves, Joey Thomas, Quincy Butler
FS (3): Ken Hamlin, Patrick Watkins, Courtney Brown

SS (2): Roy Williams, Keith Davis

ST (3): Nick Folk, Mat McBriar, L.P. Ladouceur

Defense (28)

With injuries and quality depth issues, I see the Cowboys carrying just (2) QBs again this season. Matt Moore has show his ability, and should be able to run the scout team on the practice squad, he’ll continue to work with Garrett, and that will only make him a better prospect for 2008. Deon Anderson makes the team with his big hits, blocking and special teams play. Miles Austin makes the team as a return specialist, but would not be surprised if he does not make the Sept. 1st cuts. Tony Curtis has come a long way, he’s had a strong camp and solid preseason, so he’s probably in. No big surprises on the Offensive Line. Junior Glymph continues to play well and has drawn praise from Phillips several times, so he’ll be solid in rotation. Cornerbacks is where we could see some surprises. Right now I have Aaron Glenn at #3, but he hasn’t really separated himself from the other backups at all, so he’s on the bubble with the rest of the guys. If we can mount a trade to add someone solid at cornerback, this will give us some relief. The cornerbacks are not getting any props from the staff at this point, and its a concern as we draw closer to the game opener against the Giants. Courtney Brown makes the team with his good play, and his versatility as a safety and cornerback experience.

If you call this a dress rehearsal game, then we’re in trouble. What a complete disaster from beginning to the end. The offense was putrid, and the defense looked unenthused. Lack of discipline just reared its ugly head in this game. What happened tonight was an embarrassment, and a let down, but its good to bring the Cowboys down to earth after seeming to be unstoppable in our last two outings. There’s just a whole litany of things that went wrong tonight. A good ass whipping is just what the doctor ordered.

Hopefully lessons will be learned, and the team can refocus on the task at hand, a Super Bowl.

Who was on?

On the positive side, Bradie James is indeed back. He has played well throughout the preseason, and looked outstanding tonight. He probably get’s a gameball for all his efforts. James has really come on in this new defensive scheme.

As predicted, Sam Hurd got a lot of reps in tonight, and he continues to look good as a possession receiver.

Who was off? This list could go on forever, so I’ll keep it nice and concise:

Special Teams continues to suffer. I’m not quite sure Bruce Read is getting the job done here, and I just knew that the Texans were going to tear it up on special teams - and they did. I’m baffled in this area, what needs to be done? Is it player personnel or coaching. Fix it, or we’re going to be putting a lot of unnecessary pressure on the defense.

The Defense was way off tonight, sloppy tackling, no swarming to the ball. I mean this unit was a complete opposite of what we’ve seen the last two weeks. When I saw them come off the field, the defense looked lifeless, and unenthused, very disappointing.

The Offensive Line did not get it done at all. Colombo had problems blocking most of the night, and Mario Williams looked like a rejuvenated, Pro Bowl type player tonight. Gurode had issues as well. With the offensive line playing like crap the Texans were in the backfield all day, and stuffed Julius and Barber. The Texans were clearly getting after the Cowboys in ALL aspects of the game, and the better team won tonight. Stupid penalties from Davis and Adams highlighted the offensive line’s woes tonight.

Overall, the team did not look energized, no confidence, no anything, they just showed up and made an appearance. Whether this is a result of loss of focus or discipline will be debated throughout the week.

As for the Texans, these guys are going to be a team to be reckoned with, and I’m not just saying this because they whipped us. Living in the Houston area, I’ve been watching their games, and they are playing well. Their first round pick, Omobi Okoye has great speed, and is going to be a menace up the middle. DeMeco Ryans is still the man at LB. And what can you say about their WR rookie, Jacoby Jones. I highlighted him in my post earlier in the week, and sure enough, this guy went the distance on their first possession. He made a nice catch in the endzone too. I think the Texans found their #2 WR for now and the future. You gotta give the Texans some props, they looked good in my opinion, and they could be on their way up starting this year.
The final preseason game is just five days away when we play the Vikings. Let’s hope we can return to form.

BOX SCORE

Terry Glenn suffered a knee injury just five days into camp, and had arthroscopic surgery on August 1st. So Glenn (33), has had a few weeks to heal, and as expected, the Cowboys are being very cautious with his return. Glenn is targeting the season opener to return to the field.

Coach Phillips said Glenn, “probably will practice the day after we play Minnesota.” Dallas plays the Vikings in its last preseason game Aug. 30, which is 10 days before the Sept. 9 season opener against the New York Giants.

“Everything has been going according to plan, so Terry should be all right,” Phillips said. “He knows what to do and he knows how to do it. And as long as he’s ready physically, I think he’ll be ready to do it.”

In the meantime, its Hurd time. Sam Hurd has clearly been penciled in as the #4 WR right now, but you can expect Hurd to get in more time against the Texans this Saturday. Hurd has had a solid camp, and has continued and improved upon what he did last year. More reps and more playing time against the Texans will help Hurd, in case Glenn is not completely ready for the Giants opener.

Hurd is a very viable backup, and could be ready to take the next step, which could be sooner than expected. Hurd was brought in last year as an undrafted rookie, from Northern Illinois, and has been taken in by Terrell Owens. Owens is a master of his craft, so you can bet Hurd has been learning all that he can from one of the league’s elite receivers.

The wide receivers roster spots are close to being locked in for the 53-man roster.

I have: Owens, Glenn, Crayton, Hurd, Stanback, Austin

Austin has been leap frogged by Stanback for the simple fact that the Cowboys see way to much potential in Stanback to just place him on the practice squad, that’s not going to happen, so Austin is on the verge, it could go either way. Austin needs a solid performace against the Texans.

Molding the offense 

Offensive Coordinator, Jason Garrett, is building the offensive line to his liking, the line is big right now, but if you equate Marten and Free into the lineup in the near future it gets even bigger. The same goes for the wide receivers, I suspect Garrett wants to build up the receiving corps to his liking. Hurd has the size, and tools to be successful, question will be if Garrett sees Hurd as a franchise type WR. Garrett knows the formula to win, and he’ll be looking for players like Irvin, Harper, and maybe a speedy #3 like Kevin Williams. Do we have those type of receivers on the roster right now? Just something for you to ponder.