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I would have to say out of all the new contracts doled out by Jerry Jones, the biggest heist second to Romo would have to be that of Terence Newman. That’s it already, this guy is too injured. He’s had two injured riddled season’s in a row, and his see saw production has been prohibitive. Yes, he’s still better than alot of starters in this league, but that’s only when he’s healthy. Good thing we draft Scandrick and Jenkins, I don’t see Newman or Henry last much longer at all.

Newman is scheduled to have surgery on his ankle:

Terence Newman will have arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle after suffering an injury in the second half against the Eagles.

For Newman, the injury was a fitting end to this season. He battled a groin injury during training camp, tried to play through the pain and then ultimately missed five games after midseason sports hernia surgery. (DMN)

Not good for future stability at CB.

Let’s revisit the bombshell announcement about Shanahan being ousted in Denver. I just realized that Phillips was the Broncos HC before Shanahan took over; so this being said, my original idea of Shanahan taking over as our OC if Garrett leaves would be more unlikely.

The thing about Jerry is that he wants the two core coaches back, that being Phillips AND Garrett. Jerry wants both or None. So, if Garrett leaves I think Jerry would seriously consider brining in Mike Shanahan as the newest Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys. He’ll be hard pressed not to make this move, Jerry could not have seen this one coming, so things may change here quickly. And could history repeat itself for Wade Phillips if that were to happen? This is what happens when your team is capable, but you faill miserably.

Shanahan has the true credentials to get this team over the hump right now. Bring in Shanahan’s Oline genius Rick Dennison and we’re in business.
I have a feeling a certain someone’s phone has rung in Denver already. We’ll keep a close eye on this.

The amazing news of the day has Denver cutting loose ties with Mike Shanahan. This surprise firing adds some very interesting twists to the offseason now. Question would be whether or not Shanahan still wants to coach somewhere or does he want to take some time off.

Rumors already have Jason Garrett has a hot target for the job. Word is that the Broncos are looking for a fresh start with a younger energy at the helm, hence Jason Garrett’s name being thrown around. Denver’s move could mean they are stepping up their efforts to land Garrett before the Lions or any other organization steps in. Denver obviously made the move so they could be in the Garrett Sweepstakes. How ridiculous does that sound, but the fact remains, these teams have serious interest in Garrett despite our debacle this season.

Let’s just play devil’s advocate and surmise that Garrett get’s the job for the Broncos, Lions, or some other team. The Offensive Coordinator spot would be open in Dallas, and with a proven offensive minded coach like Shanahan it would only make sense to bring him in for a look-see and go from there. Here’s where its going to be intriguing: Shanahan can bring his West Coast offense to the Cowboys and TO and the rest of the gang should enjoy some success in this system. On top of that, Shanahan can bring his offensive line coaches or scheme to Dallas, and watch out. Its been well documented that virtually anyone can be plugged into the Denver running game and have success, we need this in the worst way.

And here comes the best part to think about…with Shanahan onboard running the West Coast offense for at least a year in Dallas, this then makes hiring Mike Holgrem in 2010 for the HC a whole lot easier. By this point Dallas has been running the Shanahan WC Offense, something Holgrem will want to run, and Shanahan can stay onboard, or Holgrem could bring in his guy to run the system.

Again, just my thoughts, something to put out there, whether or not any of this happens will remain to be seen.

With the Cowboys horrendous season in the books its time to look forward to the 2009 Draft. Our draft picks have changed with the Roy Williams trade and the Adam Jones suspension. We will have a total of (9) draft picks and they are as follows:

1st Round: NONE (traded to Detroit)
2nd Round: Dallas
3rd Round: Dallas from Cleveland
4th Round: Dallas & Dallas from Detroit (from 2008 draft trade)
5th Round: Dallas & Dallas from Tennessee (Pacman suspension compensation)
6th Round: Dallas from Miami (from Ferguson trade)
7th Round: Dallas & Dallas from Detroit (from Roy Williams trade)

When its all said and done, with the extra picks we had after the 2008 draft, we basically traded just our 1st rounder, we still have picks in every round except the 1st.

Our 2nd round pick will be a little after the mid-part of the round

Our 3rd round pick was acquired in a 2008 draft day trade, and its a good pick, its going to be in the top of the 3rd since the Browns had a bad season it bodes well for us.

Our 4th round picks are solid as well, we have our own pick and the top pick in the 4th round, basically a late 3rd rounder since Detroit lost all their games.

Our 5th round picks are ok, middle to late part of the round depending how deep the Titans go.

6th round pick was picked up when we shipped Ferguson to Miami, this pick could be a later pick depending how far the Dolphins go.

Our 7th round picks are good too, again, we have our own pick, plus the top pick in that round from Detroit.

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.

From a fan’s point of view I’m going to eat some humble pie and officially admit that Coach Sparano’s departure after last season left a big void in our offensive system. So much focus was put on Jason Garrett bringing a new life to the offense last year, thus the 13-3 record and offensive explosiveness, but how much of the success last season was because of Jason Garrett. Yes, Garrett probably had his input in the system, but I’m going to believe that Sparano was the one doing the bulk of the work while Garrett was doing understudy work.

Think about it, how is a young buck coming from a QB coach position in Miami going to come in, design, and know how to prepare against the leagues best defenses? Not likely. What’s more likely is that Sparano was the one doing his due diligence in preparing the offense week in and week out.

On top of Sparano taking care of the offense last season, he was responsible for getting the offensive line in order while he was in Dallas. The  Dallas Offensive Line has been abysmal all season long. They are the same players, so why all the miscues and sloppy play? Don’t give me the LG injuries either, that’s one player. The point is that the line needs order, they have to be coached and told what to do. Hudson Houck has been a bust in his return to Dallas, total garbage.

Without Sparano, the offensive game preperation has not been there, the play calls have been predictable, and Garrett has shown his inexperience in virtually every game. Some of the leagues worst defenses were able to pick apart the offensive schemes, and forget about the best defenses in the league, we saw what they did to us. Garrett is overrated, and if anyone needs to get the boot it needs to be Jason Garrett. I’d advise the Cowboys to bring David Lee back into the fold. Give him the promotion to Offensive Coordinator. He built up Romo and knows how to get Romo back in check, because as it is now, Romo has cart blanche on stupid gametime decisions without consequence. We need someone to be in his ear and get him in check. In addition, Lee worked with Felix Jones while at Arkansas and knows his strengths.

Get rid of Garrett, he’ overrated and useless, he needs more understudy work. Bring in David Lee to repair the offense.

Ok, so the torturous game is in the bag and the Cowboys season is finally over. After having so many chances to clinch a playoff spot they barely showed up on the field today. This is the worst performance I’ve witnessed ever, considering what was on the line. Wade Phillips is gone, that’s clear, there’s just no way Jerry brings back the bumbling blunderer. Jerry would lose the faith of his fanbase, the largest in all of sports. Make the change tomorrow and move forward. One thing of note: Under Jerry Jones’ tenure/ownership the Cowboys have never had a season ending blowout of this magnitude before, the closest season ending blowout dates back to the 2000 season under Campo, 31-0.

Jerry must be on the phone tonight, something must be changed. Going into 2009 with this disappointing season with the same bumbling staff in place will mean a losing season right off the bat. This team has taken a big KO on the chin, and the players are demoralized beyong belief. There’s no faith in the defensive schemes, and there’s even more lack of faith in the offensive play calling. Bringing back this staff will mean utter turmoil between Romo, Witten, Owens, and Garrett. Garrett should be gone as well. Sorry, but its evident that this team missed Sparano, and Garrett road his coat tails.

If Jerry cannot convince Cowher or Holgrem to come to Dallas, then he should consider one of the top coordinators in Ryan or Spagnuolo.

There should also be some changes on the roster. Marcus Spears, Adam Jones, Chris Canty should not be on this roster next year. This team needs a spark in the roster, like what Jimmy did when he traded Hershel Walker. The two players to consider trading would be Tony Romo or Marion Barber, its highly unlikely, but this is something this roster needs. Our friends at the Landry Hat have a good writeup (here) on some changes that are interesting as well, mainly that of building around DeMarcus Ware and not Tony Romo. I completely agree. This team is a mess and needs something changed, and it starts with Phillips and Garrett.

Seriously, how surprised are you right now. Yes, I’m mad as hell, and so is the rest of Cowboys Nation, but come on. What has this team done to prove otherwise. Another display of No heart, NO sense of urgency, NO offense, NO NOTHING.

I’m sorry Jerry, but holy shit, this is a joke of a team, a joke! Another embarrasing ass whipping, there’s no way you keep this staff in place after today. If so, you yourself have lost credit with the rest of the fans routing on this team. This is disgusting gameplay.

Fire Wade, Fire Jason, Fire the whole staff.

Oh, by the way, cut Pacman Jones.

The Cowboys will be in the playoffs if they beat the Eagles, this is easier said than done. Basically, the Cowboys have to reverse all their December misgivings and take home a win on the road in hostile territory. I’ll be the first to tell you, I’m not confident at all that this 2008 squad can get it done. I’ll be more surprised than anything to come away with a victory. The gameplan and turnovers will be the key today, its as simple as that.

The Cowboys need to keep the passes quick and simple, and ride Choice all game long. Choice has been a great draft find, and TRUE 4th round steal. If the Cowboys abandon the run early you can call this game by the half. If Romo doesn’t take care of the ball, then you can count us out. So, ride Choice and keep Romo in check and we’re in. I don’t want to see any of those stupid hail mary lobs for INTS, and neither do the rest of Cowboys Nation. The poor game management of Romo is growing thin on the fanbase very quickly.

Sense of urgency is something we should have seen last week, and it was not there. Today the Cowboys should show this sense of urgency, if we don’t see it early then forget it.  We’re going to know the path of this game early on, but if the Cowboys manage to take a lead after the half they need to close out the game rather than leave the Eagles in it. We’ll see what happens. This is a playoff game before the playoffs, so again, all eyes will be on Romo, and that’s just the way it is. Please step up and win the game.

In an amazing twist of fate, the Bucs and Eagles lost today, thus thrusting the Cowboys back into control of their playoff hopes. Its simple. If the Cowboys win on the road in Philly we’re in. Whether or not this will happen will be the great question. The Cowboys will get one more chance for the ultimate retribution.

Romo its do or die the rest of the way, please step up your game and make better throwing decisions…