Dallas Cowboys Season Thread

[Transplanted Caper]

This will follow the format started by The Legend Killer who did some great work on some AFC Teams. Congrats to him. Hopefully I can put together something worthy of the format.


2007 Schedule

Pre-Season
Week One: Indianapolis - W 23-10
Week Two: Denver - W 31-20
Week Three: @Houston
Week Four: @Minnesota
Regular Season
Week One: New York Giants
Week Two: @Miami
Week Three: @Chicago
Week Four: St. Louis
Week Five: @Buffalo
Week Six: New England
Week Seven: Minnesota
Week Eight: BYE
Week Nine: @Philadelphia
Week Ten: @New York Giants
Week Eleven: Washington
Week Twelve: New York Jets
Week Thirteen: Green Bay
Week Fourteen: @Detroit
Week Fifteen: Philadelphia
Week Sixteen: @Carolina
Week Seventeen: @Washington

[Gzus]

Well your going to have to put down the top position battles to be: Strong Side LB, RB, and maybe kicker. Ellis is still recovering from his injury and we just drafted Spencer so they will be duking it out to get the spot opposite Ware. Barber will challenge JJ for increased carries. Folk will have the upper hand on Gramatica when it comes to Kick-offs but is trailing on FG accuracy. Can the rookies, Spencer and Folk, take the starting jobs from the veterans, Ellis and Gramatica?

I'd say break-out player of the year is going to be between Romo and Ware. Romo could bounce back tremendously from he bobbled snap or take a little while to get back into the game, doubtful he will take long though. Ware will most likely have a break-out year and possibly hit 17-18+ sacks this season with the newer and more aggressive scheme.

Player on the spot would have to be Romo b/c of the bobbled snap.

[Transplanted Caper]

Training Camp: San Antonio, Texas
Website: DallasCowboys.com - Home


Who's New in Town?
Brad Johnson QB
Leonard Davis RG
Ken Hamlin FS

See Ya!
Drew Bledsoe QB
Kenyon Coleman DE
Ryan Fowler LB
Al Johnson C
Marco Rivera RG
Al Singleton LB

2007 Draft Class
Anthony Spencer, DE, Purdue
James Marten, T, Boston College
Isaiah Steinback, QB, Washington
Doug Free, T, Illinois
Nick Folk, K, Arizone
Deon Anderson, FB, Connecticut
Courtney Brown, CB, Cal Poly
Alan Ball, CB, Illinois

[Transplanted Caper]

The 2006 Season Revisited
The 2006 campaign can only be described as up and down. Things started out poorly. It was clear in the early going that QB Drew Bledsoe was not going to succeed, both because of his own limitations and the weak offensive line in front of him. An early season injury and the inconsistent play of the one and only Terrell Owens didn't help matters either.

Tony Romo would eventually replace Bledsoe and would go on a run that had Cowboys fans dreaming of another trip to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys would go 5-1 in Romo's first 6 games before crashing too earth. What seemed like a safe division title disappeared to the Eagles and the season would end on an untimely bobbled snap by Romo against the Seahawks. Cowboys fans everywhere, and Carrie Underwood as well, hope Romo has better hands in the coming year.

Other concerns came out during the last season. The weaknesses in the game of Pro Bowler Roy Williams became apparent as he struggled covering opposing receivers and the continued issues with the O-Line.

The young defense was inconsistent last season, but showed signs of becoming a very good unit. While it would have been more encouraging too see the defense shut down the great teams instead of the weak ones, the ability to shut down the weak ones was a solid step forward at point last season.

[Transplanted Caper]

Next Question! (in honour of T.O.)

1. Will Tony Romo be able to rebound and give the Cowboys a consistent starter for the first time since Troy Aikman?

2. Is the young defense ready to take the next step under Wade Phillips?

3. Terrel wants the damn ball. Will he hold onto it more this season?

4. Is Leonard Davis and the O-Line ready to step up?

5. Happier Campers? Will the more gentile atmosphere sans Parcells help the Cowboys?

[Transplanted Caper]

The Battles to the Death (okay...maybe not to the death)


1. Kicker
I literally cannot remember the last time the Cowboys had a lights out kicker. Vanderjet was shockingly enough nothing but talk. Peyton was right. He's an idiot kicker. Anyways, this year Dallas will have some competition for the placekicking duties. Martin Gramatica was brought back and will battle 2007 draftee Nick Folk for the kicking role. Folk has a cannon for a leg but must improve on his consistency.Dallas may be in a lot of close games this season and will need a reliable leg to get them those three points when they need them, so if Folk isn't ready then Gramatica will get another chance to be the team's FG Kicker. My hope is that Folk is able to win the job in camp and establish himself for years to come.

2. Outside Linebacker
As Gzus was right to point out, there could be an interesting battle opposite DeMarcus Ware. Greg Ellis has been with the Cowboys for year but is coming off an injury. Also, there were rumours a couple weeks back that Ellis wasn't overly pleased that Anthony Spencer was drafted as his eventual replacement. Spencer will get his playing time regardless, but if he can make an impact in camp, he may find himself with a bigger role than was anticipated originally.

[Transplanted Caper]

The Breakout Player: Demarcus Ware

This could be a great year for Demarcus Ware. With nineteen sacks in his first two seasons in the league, Ware will look to flourish under the tutelage of new Head Coach Wade Phillips. Now is the time for Ware to prove he's capable of making people forget the Boys took him over Sean Merriman in the 2005 draft. His continued development and hopefully emergence as an elite player will be a vital factor in the Cowboys defense growing as a unit this seasson.

[Transplanted Caper]

On the Hot Seat: QB Tony Romo

As I mentioned in my 2006 review, Tony Romo will be the key to Dallas' success this season. Is he the QB who went 5-1 to start his career? Or is he the QB who crashed and burned the rest of the way? Or is he somewhere in the middle? If it's Option one, Dallas will be a team to watch, if it's #2 then Dallas is in deep trouble, and if it's #3 and Romo is only an average QB, then Dallas will need to step up elsewhere in order to succeed.

[Gzus]

Well Folk just totally one upped Gramatica today in camp. According to some reports Folk went 6-6 with a long of 51 yards whereas Gramatica went 2-4 never hitting from outside 40 yards. So far, Folk is creeping a lil closer to that starting spot, thanks to that and his better kickoff skills.

I found it interesting that you did not mention the RB battle, b/c it is the one everyone nationwide knows about. I don't think much will change this offseason, but you never know. Barber may or may not have a legit chance of taking the starting position but I do expect him to get many more reps compared to last season.

From what I've read D'Ware is having a great camp, and I expect him to really go hog-wild during the season. Also a bright note for the Cowboys, Hamlin is fitting in well and is becoming the "QB of the Defense" and also T.O. looks like he'll be fine.

P.S. Hamlin would be a FS not an SS as you mentioned in the New Additions.

[Transplanted Caper]

Originally Posted by Gzus

Well Folk just totally one upped Gramatica today in camp. According to some reports Folk went 6-6 with a long of 51 yards whereas Gramatica went 2-4 never hitting from outside 40 yards. So far, Folk is creeping a lil closer to that starting spot, thanks to that and his better kickoff skills.

I found it interesting that you did not mention the RB battle, b/c it is the one everyone nationwide knows about. I don't think much will change this offseason, but you never know. Barber may or may not have a legit chance of taking the starting position but I do expect him to get many more reps compared to last season.

From what I've read D'Ware is having a great camp, and I expect him to really go hog-wild during the season. Also a bright note for the Cowboys, Hamlin is fitting in well and is becoming the "QB of the Defense" and also T.O. looks like he'll be fine.

P.S. Hamlin would be a FS not an SS as you mentioned in the New Additions.

Thanks Gzus. Personally, I don't see a real battle at RB like at the other positions. IMO, it'll be a dual back scenario whereas the others, particularly at kicker, is very much a battle for the job itself.

[SportsAnalyzer]

I think the bigger question is-"Can the Cowboys Secondary stop teams from going deep like they did last season? If the Defense is still shaky I don;t think what tony romo does will make much of a difference

[Transplanted Caper]

Originally Posted by SportsAnalyzer

I think the bigger question is-"Can the Cowboys Secondary stop teams from going deep like they did last season? If the Defense is still shaky I don;t think what tony romo does will make much of a difference

Definitely a good point on the secondary. It'll have to improve for sure.

[SportsAnalyzer]

Originally Posted by Transplanted Caper

Definitely a good point on the secondary. It'll have to improve for sure.

I still remember the detroit lions passing on the dallas secondary all day long

[Gzus]

A good defense starts from the DLine up. If you don't have good upfront pressure than the secondary will get torn up regardless. If you can't pressure a QB than he will sit there all day long and pick off your secondary. Last season if you notice our secondary went to hell when Ellis went down. Without Ellis opposing offenses doubled up on Ware effectively killing our pass rush. With Parcell's 3-4 defense there was a more lay back and react approach and therefore there was not much change in our attack. With Phillips we will take a more aggressive attack which will then reduce the amount of time the QB will have to find a receiver. Our secondary will improve with the new more aggressive approach to pass rush.

[SportsAnalyzer]

Originally Posted by Gzus

A good defense starts from the DLine up. If you don't have good upfront pressure than the secondary will get torn up regardless. If you can't pressure a QB than he will sit there all day long and pick off your secondary. Last season if you notice our secondary went to hell when Ellis went down. Without Ellis opposing offenses doubled up on Ware effectively killing our pass rush. With Parcell's 3-4 defense there was a more lay back and react approach and therefore there was not much change in our attack. With Phillips we will take a more aggressive attack which will then reduce the amount of time the QB will have to find a receiver. Our secondary will improve with the new more aggressive approach to pass rush.

I'm just trying to figure out why Roy Williams is still employed.