CowboysBlog.Net

From DMNBlog:

From Todd Archer:

The Cowboys and Terence Newman agreed to a six-year extension worth $50.2 million on Tuesday, beating a deadline in which the salary-cap rules will change after NFL owners decided to opt out of the final three years of the collective bargaining agreement.

He will receive $22.5 million guaranteed over the first three years of the contract.

More to come.

The Parcells era came and went, but the one area he failed to fix was the secondary. One year removed and one year under Wade Phillips and the secondary has not been fixed; however, last year’s addition of Ken Hamlin was one step in the right direction. Hamlin performed so well he earned himself a trip to Hawaii.

You can say what you want about stats, INTs, ratios and and all that, but visual proof every sunday was enough for me to determine the secondary would be our achilles heel. Phillips is slowly getting his players in the secondary, he wants physical playmaking defensive backs, and last year’s Ken Hamlin was a start. The rest of the year we played with low round talent and it showed. Jacques Reeves and Nate Jones had significant playing time due to Newman’s foot injury, and our weakness was obvious the first week Newman was out. Reeves and Jones got burnt year round. Then you have Anthony Henry, part of that dismal 2005 free agent class. Henry has been plagued by injury and the constant target when lined up opposite Newman. Henry is adequate, but very upgradeable.

Fast forward to this past weekend and the Cowboys addressed the secondary with three quality draft picks when you consider we traded a 4ht rounder for Jones. Phillips is upgrading the secondary with his type of defensive back, and the lineup has already been upgraded on a 13-3 team. Let’s look at the secondary from 2007 to the current state:

Starting Secondary, 2007:

Terence Newman
Anthony Henry
Roy Williams
Ken Hamlin
Jacques Reeves
Nate Jones

Projected Starting Secondary, 2008:

Terence Newman
Anthony Henry
Roy Williams
Ken Hamlin
Mike Jenkins
Adam Jones
Orlando Scandrick 

The Quality of players has been upgraded significantly with Jenkins, Jones, and Scandrick. At the minimum Jenkins will be a starting nickel/dime corner, and same for Jones and Scandrick. That’s a solid upgrade to a bad unit the year before. If any of the starting corners go down, I feel very confident in Jenkins or Jones stepping in. Last year, I was dreading the times Reeves was in there.

Despite these upgrades, the job is not done. Hamlin needs to be re-upped to a long term deal, and SS needs to be upgraded either by shifting some current players into the safety position or via the draft. Basically, Roy Williams will NOT be here in 2009. As we approach mini camp, and training camp it will be interesting to see where Anthony Henry lines up. Could we see Henry move to FS, and Hamling to SS? Roy could be completely downgraded if we see these scenarios. Its already been proven that Roy was a liability on 3rd downs, and thus benched. To me it doesn’t matter what down it is, Roy gets burnt on any down. He’s a nice guy, but his playing quality never rebounded after Darren Woodson retired, and that was several years ago now.

2009 will continue with upgrades in the secondary with a safety. Keep it going Wade.

Remember that corney trivia show “The Weakest Link” ? Well, our secondary is the Weakest Link, and we’ll be saying goodbye to several of the all-star toast masters this offseason. I’m talking about Nate Jones and Jacques Reeves.

All this jive about trading up for an unproven running back is a pipe dream, and anyone endorsing such a manuever is also smoking crack. What this team needs is a secondary. Think about it, who do we really have? We have Terence Newman, and that’s it. Ken Hamlin SHOULD be re-signed asap; but, its also likely that he can make even more money elsewhere. Henry is one of those Parcells bust free agent signings, injury prone, gets burnt alot, just not good enough, just average. Roy Williams is a wasted spot, and an easy target if you want to convert a 3rd and long… We don’t have a championship secondary, and we certainly do not have a depth.

The mission should be about upgrading the secondary first and foremost and nothing but. I’ll entertain the idea of drafting a WR and another DE, but we need to fix that secondary. Parcells inherited Roy Williams, and drafted Terence Newman, but after that he was unable to fix the secondary. He tried various players at safety and cornerback, but at the end of the day it was a disaster. Phillips comes in and adds Ken Hamlin, ok, so now we’re getting somewhere. Phillips needs to have some command and get the secondary going, find us the next Cromartie!

Its all about upgrading the secondary or bust…seriously.

This was a close game, and like last week, we mange to find ways to keep teams in the game. Gurode has his worst game in several seasons, what was all that about? Yes, Jason Campbell looked good, but the defense just floundered around in the 2nd half and let the Redskins in the game, very disappointing. The offense has the killer instinct, but the defense has some ways to go. Newman made a play at the end, but other than that, the 2nd half was too easy for the Redskins.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this win, I hate the Redskins, so let’s take this win and move forward to that “trap” game. The Jets are horrible, and we’re at home… Let’s play with some intensity, crush the Jets and have some momentum for the following week in a game that could be for homefield advantage against the Packers.

Player of the game: Terrell Owens

LVP: Andre Gurode

The Patriots are who we thought they were and we let them off the hook. We beat ourselves with the penalties, plain and simple. We fall to 5-1, but remain atop the NFC. Let’s regroup and look forward to the Vikings.

Barber looked good, the defense was ok, but just gave up at the end. Sloppy tackling reared its ugly head, and with a team like the Patriots, you will lose that battle everytime.

We need Terry Glenn back to give us the deep threat. That would have helped out in this game. Terry, help us!!

Overall, I’m very disappointed in our lack of concentration. We should have won this game, but we can’t win them all, can we?

BOXSCORE 

I need time to enjoy this unbelievable win, so I will keep this short!! Tony Romo had his worst STATISTICAL game ever, BUT, his determination and focus is unmatched. As Romo piled on the INTs, he looked deflated to me, but no one really knows what goes on inside Romo’s head. I think its something special, something at another level. To gather yourself, and take the team down the field in the do-or-die drive and pull out the TD, and the game winning drive to setup the field goal is what champions are made of!

Aikman had a record 5 INT game in his Hall of Fame career, and Romo tied Aikman with his horrific 5 INTS.

Take your hat off to this whole team. The defense could have crumbled, but they did not, they wanted to give Romo more chances on the field, and they held up their side of the ball. Most impressive.

With all the pregame hype, looking ahead to the Patriots, all the pressure, and all this in-game adversity, this team as a whole came together collectively and did not die, they literally kicked the nails off the coffin, crawled out, and won the game.

Heart and Soul, this team is just amazing. I know I’m ranting now, but you will not see many games like this in your lifetime.

Drafting Nick Folk was genius. Period. Dick Jauron tried the whole last second time out BS, but Folk stepped up and nailed the 53yrd field goal twice. Eat that Jauron!

What does this win mean? It means alot, the Cowboys have alot to work on, but these guys have heart, something the Cowboys have not had in years. The experts ask whether or not the Cowboys are in the same league as the Pats and Colts..I emphatically say hell yes. Never say die baby, we fight until the last second. This team will never give up. That’s what we know about this team. Go back a season or two ago, and this team would have crumbled.

Bring on the Patriots! Get Ready, its on!
BOX SCORE

Sounds like Jacques Reeves will continue to start, this time as Henry’s replacement. Henry has suffered a high ankle sprain, and its one of those nagging type injuries that could take time to fully heal. Henry had nagging injuries last year, but was able to play through them; however, his production was horrible. I warned about this a few posts ago. With Terence Newman back, and Henry on the opposite side, you will see QBs attacking at will against Henry again. Now with Henry being banged up, you can guarantee a few blown plays coming up. Here’s the latest from DC.com:

Phillips labeled Henry “real iffy” for next Monday night’s game at Buffalo because high ankle sprains, which involve ligaments above the ankle joint, typically require longer recovery time. Running back Julius Jones missed three games and parts of a fourth with a high ankle sprain in 2005.

The Cowboys will have an extra day to evaluate Henry because of the Monday night game.

“Now it’s not a severe one they say, but still normally if it’s a high ankle sprain it’s like four weeks,” Phillips said of Henry’s injury. “If it’s not severe, it may be two weeks, I don’t know. They’ve heard of people coming back from one that were slightly (sprained).”

This is bad timing, as we approach one of our truest tests of the season against the Patriots in two weeks. The defense is stepping it up, so we may be able to absorb this latest setback in the secondary. We will see.

Current NFC East Standings:
Cowboys 4-0
Redskins 2-1
Giants 2-2
Eagles 1-3

Browns Watch:

The Browns are surprising some people, including myself. Any aspirations of possibly drafting Darren McFadden are slipping away.The Browns beatup the Raves 27-13, so either the Browns are better than we thought, or the Ravens are just horrible. The Browns improved their season to 2-2, 3rd in the AFC North. The Browns face a huge test against the Patriots on Sunday Oct. 7th. Let’s hope for another loss.

The Cowboys have placed themselves atop the NFC, and are a step or two above the rest of the NFC this year. The Cowboys put on another offensive assault at the Rams expense. Romo Mania is on fire again! Can anyone stop this offensive juggernaut? Right now the Cowboys are on a collision course with NFL Supremacy at stake when they play the Patriots in week 6.

The usual suspects looked solid against the lowly Rams. A couple of Gameballs probabaly get handed out to Tony Romo and the Offensive Line.

Greg Ellis came back and played, and made his presence known. This defense is really coming along each and every week. For the most part, everyone looked good on defense. Hamlin is looking more comfortable roaming around in the secondary, and looks to be the part now.

Anthony Henry suffered some sort of ankle injury, preliminary x-rays came back negative, so Henry’s status for the next game are questionable at this point. We’ll see how the ankle looks this week. We could see Newman back in along with Reeves.

BOX SCORE 

Rick Herrin of the Star-Telegram has an article right now suggesting CB Anthony Henry is the Cowboys MVP so far. Don’t get me wrong I am all for the success Henry is enjoying right now, and its a great moral victory for himself and the rest of the defense; however, to think he’s the MVP so far is a gross injustice to reality. Pick a player on offense and you will find your real MVP for this team. You can make a solid argument that Terrell Owens, Tony Romo, Jason Witten, or Marion Barber are the MVP of this team.

Henry has a long way to go. Fans should not be blinded by the whopping four INTs Henry has right now, and think he’s reverted back to his shutdown days in Cleveland. Henry is Henry, you can be wishful, but I am telling you right now…When Newman comes back to anchor opposite Henry, QBs will target Henry again, and he will get ripped like he has in previous seasons. Henry is enjoying success because QBs are throwing to Jacques Reeves because his man coverage is even worse than Henry’s.

I think some of his team mates still question Henry’s coverage skills with small indirect comments like:

“He’s been the MVP so far,” said Bradie James

“When the ball is in the air, he went to go get it,” Cowboys free safety Ken Hamlin said. “You can’t always coach that. We expect that from him. Hopefully, he can keep going with it.”

You can check out the full article here.

I got together with our Football Rivals Network affiliate site, StLouisRamsX.com and conducted a brief Q&A covering the upcoming game between the Cowboys and Rams.

CowboysBlog.Net: We know the Rams are pretty banged up on both sides of the ball, do you see the Rams having any chance at all in winning this game?

StLouisRamsX.Com: No way, the Cowboys are rolling right now. We have no answer for TO, have perennially had difficulties with good TEs, but we may be able to contain the running game. The Cowboys will get their points, but the old Rams used to be able to match teams point-for-point. No longer. Brian Leonard isn’t too much of a dropoff from Steven Jackson but when your OL is shot to pieces, you need the bull to drive the pile. Those extra 2-3 yards really make a difference and I don’t think Leonard has the same power. The Cowboys defense doesn’t really scare me but this watered-down offense won’t be able to do enough to keep up.

CB: On offense or defense, who could be your playermakers against the Cowboys?

SLRX:  The playmakers on offense should be the usual suspects, but they’re being held back by coaching. Bulger probably can’t go deep without pain, but the OL can’t hold for a seven step drop and no deep plays are called anymore. We can’t even run a slant for double digit yards anymore. I’d watch out for McMichael, some day Linehan will wake up and use him but we’ve been saying that about that position for over a year now. On defense, we have some promise up front but so far no one’s been consistent. If they all pulled it together for one game, it would be something to watch, but various players are taking turns disappearing. Ryan and Carriker have shown promise, at times Hall is great but he has lost contain several times that I’ve noticed, Little can be great but he’s been neutralized a lot lately too. Backers are speedy and no one should outrun them but they will get caught in the wash, CBs are decimated, if you see Vinnett, throw at him, Atogwe is a hard hitter, and Chavous is - I don’t know - sometimes just lost.

CB: With Orlando Pace out for the season, do you think DeMarcus Ware will have an easy time at getting to Bulger, or do you have someone there that can hold their own?

SLRX: Ware can give someone the standing 7 count from flag football and still get to Bulger. Career day in store.

CB: If you were the Cowboys offense, what would you do to score points against the Rams defense, what if any are the weaknesses?

SLRX: Use the run to set up the pass, try to get some hard yards inside, probe to see if Carriker or Ryan are on or off today and let Romo fire at will. Haslett has a lot of blitz packages but rarely uses them. Even when he calls them, they rarely get to the QB. Run blitz seems to be working better, I think he’s calling them to the right holes now. Before, he’d call a run blitz and we’d tip it off or they ran to the other side for a big gain. Haslett has seemed to have fixed that now - finally.

CB: What do you think about Isaac Bruce’s “I will guarentee a win” headliner, do you think he really believes that or is it more of something to get the team pumped for the game or what?

SLRX: I didn’t hear that but it may be a veteran trying to pep up the team. We just don’t have the guns (or the general won’t use them), and the Cowboys offense is rolling. While the Rams D has been improved, we really haven’t faced anybody yet so this is a big test for them. Right now, just hanging with the Cowboys and coming away without anyone else injured would be a moral victory.

I really still despise the Cowboys and a lot of their fans. And in my experience, if you run into a blue star-wearing Cowboy lover anywhere outside of Texas, I’ll lay 10-1 that guy is a complete a*hole. No offense, just an observation. Kind of like all Eagles and Patriots fans.

But Romo is a great story. Undrafted kid from nowhere, living the dream, appreciates the situation he’s landed in, big smile on his mug, etc. And in my pools and fantasy teams you have to appreciate the talent. I’m playing Romo and TO for big points and picking:

Lastly, what is your final score prediction?

SLRX: Cowboys 47 Rams 13

Special thanks for StLouisRamsX.com, be sure to check them out!