Birdlives Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Sorry I posted the whole article, but its an insider exclusive so I don't think I could post the link. The one caveat? I'll tell y'all after a few reactions are posted. If there is one thing we have learned about Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and head coach Bill Parcells, it is that they don't believe in mediocrity. It won't be tolerated and, when it occurs, drastic measures will be taken. That is why it wasn't surprising to see Dallas come out firing during the 2006 offseason. The 2005 season was a bitter pill for both Jones and Parcells to swallow. After starting 7-3, the Cowboys went 2-4 down the stretch and missed the playoffs. Yes, we knew drastic measures would be taken. How drastic? You can't get much more drastic than adding moody superstar wide receiver Terrell Owens. Isn't this the same man who desecrated the famed star at midfield, not once but twice in a game back in 2000? Isn't this the same man Cowboys fans love to hate? Well, that is why Jones is one of the best owners in the NFL. He doesn't get caught up in the past. He is all about winning, and maybe a little about the bottom line as I am sure those No. 81 Owens jerseys are flying out of the stores at a pretty rapid rate. Only time will tell whether this is a good move, but like him or not, Owens makes plays on Sunday. He plays hard, and gives everything he has when he steps between the lines. That is something some members of this Dallas team can't say. Although Owens is a major piece of the puzzle in Dallas, there were other things the team accomplished this offseason. Let's check in on the Cowboys and see what else they have done to try to get back to the playoffs. Starting up front The first order of business for the Cowboys was solidifying the offensive line. They added free agent Jason Fabini, who will compete with 2005 sixth-round pick Rob Petitti for the starting right tackle spot. Petitti struggled in his rookie season and was a big part of Dallas' pass protection problems. If Fabini is healthy, he should be able to hold off Petitti. The loss of left tackle Flozell Adams to a knee injury last season started the Cowboys' downfall in terms of the line's overall play. Adams will return at 100 percent this year, which will give the team better depth at tackle than it had last season. The interior of the offensive line should be in much better shape, too, as the team added Kyle Kosier to compete for the starting left guard spot with Andre Gurode. The guy who doesn't win this battle will swing as the backup at both guard spots. Even though they did not go out and get any big-name players, the Cowboys definitely improved the offensive line. Dallas had a solid group last season, but when injuries started piling up, the team ran into trouble. Now with more depth, the Cowboys will be able to weather the storm should injuries start piling up again. How much does Drew Bledsoe have left? Veteran quarterback Drew Bledsoe turned 34 this offseason. There were times last season when he looked like a 27-year-old gunslinger and other instances when he definitely looked his age. The bottom line is this: Bledsoe still can play when he gets protection up front. He showed time and time again last season that when his offensive line performed, he could pick a defense apart. When the offensive line got whipped, he was basically a shell of himself. Bledsoe's success and failures can be tied directly to how well the offensive line performs. I think with the upgrades and the added depth, this is a unit that should be able to give him enough time on most weekends to be effective. The other factor you have to consider when talking about Bledsoe is how well he can deal with Owens. Being dressed down on the sidelines is nothing new for Bledsoe (roll the Keyshawn Johnson footage here), but I would have to give Owens the nod when it comes to getting under the skin of his own starting QB. Bledsoe is a veteran, so you would think he could handle Owens, but this is also something I thought Donovan McNabb could deal with in Philadelphia. Owens' constant bashing of McNabb definitely took a toll. If Bledsoe is going to lead this team to the NFC East title, he will need to develop thicker skin than he ever imagined. Getting Stronger on D Dallas finished the 2005 regular season 10th in total defense (11th against the pass and 15th versus the run). Although they would like those numbers to improve, the Cowboys were pretty consistent for the majority of the season. That did not stop them from going out and getting even better. If there is one thing Parcells knows about defense, it is coaching the 3-4 defense and finding players who fit what he wants to accomplish in that scheme. Despite already having a linebacking group that is solid and deep, the Cowboys signed Akin Ayodele(Jacksonville) to give them a little more toughness and strength in run support. Ayodele is also a player who can blitz and get pressure, so this should open up the "zone dog" package for defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. Not surprisingly, the team also added a defensive player with its first-round pick. In Ohio State's Bobby Carpenter, the Cowboys got an outside linebacker who is tough, plays hard and can get pressure on the QB. These defensive additions to go along with 2005 additions DeMarcus Ware, Marcus Spears and Chris Canty give Dallas the best front seven in the NFC East. When you look at the way the NFL is built, there are many more good offensive teams than defensive teams. Scoring points in the NFL is nothing new, and everyone in the NFC East can score points. The deciding factor will be who can stop people. When you look at Dallas' front seven right now, this is a unit that should definitely be a top-10 defense versus the run as well as the pass because of its ability to get consistent pressure on opposing QBs. The Outlook The Cowboys appear to be a lot tougher both mentally and physically than they were a season ago. That is something they needed to accomplish this offseason, to eliminate the sour taste that resulted from their late-season fade in 2005. This is a recipe that should bring an NFC East crown to the Cowboys come January. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins4481 Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Cowboys suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goaldeje Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 The first order of business for the Cowboys was solidifying the offensive line. They added free agent Jason Fabini, who will compete with 2005 sixth-round pick Rob Petitti for the starting right tackle spot. Petitti struggled in his rookie season and was a big part of Dallas' pass protection problems. If Fabini is healthy, he should be able to hold off Petitti. Best part of the article to me. There's a ringing endorsement if I ever heard one. If healthy, Fabini should be able to hold off Rob "I'm-a-revolving-door-tackle-who-is-more-of-a-seive-than-a-football-player" Petitti. If he "should" be able to hold off Petitti, Fabini can't be that much of an upgrade, can he? That spells bad news for Dallas, imo. What's the caveat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Weirdo Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Cowboys suck. :laugh: On that note I think the Cowboys will be good this year. Their defense has potential to be just as good as anyone in the league. Their offense might sputter because of OLine problems if they get injured but you can say that about most any team in the league (yes I'm looking at you Skin fans..) Lookout for Dallas this year. They might surprise some people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins4481 Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 :laugh:On that note I think the Cowboys will be good this year. Their defense has potential to be just as good as anyone in the league. Their offense might sputter because of OLine problems if they get injured but you can say that about most any team in the league (yes I'm looking at you Skin fans..) Lookout for Dallas this year. They might surprise some people. Their defense is good but not great. They're capable of top 10 bot not top 5 IMO. Their FS position is weak, Roy Williams, Anthony Henry AND Terrence Newman are WAY overrated. People keep saying how Newman shut down people last year. Good for him. But if he was so great, why was he always covering the opposing teams' #2? Shutting down #2s makes you a good CB not a great one. I also think losing La'Roi Glover is going to hurt them more than most people think. This guy was a Pro Bowler. Also, Greg Ellis is unhappy so he might be on his way out too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Weirdo Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Their defense is good but not great. They're capable of top 10 bot not top 5 IMO. Their FS position is weak, Roy Williams, Anthony Henry AND Terrence Newman are WAY overrated. People keep saying how Newman shut down people last year. Good for him. But if he was so great, why was he always covering the opposing teams' #2? Shutting down #2s makes you a good CB not a great one. I also think losing La'Roi Glover is going to hurt them more than most people think. This guy was a Pro Bowler. Also, Greg Ellis is unhappy so he might be on his way out too. Their defense was relatively young last year. This will be their second year together and they can really start meshing. Their secondary doesn't have to be great to do well either. The Eagles have a great secondary on paper but look what happened when they had absolutely no pressure up front? They gave up a ton of TDs in the air. If the line up front can get pressure then the secondary automatically becomes better. The Skins and Cowboys probably have the best overall front seven (DLine and LBs) in the division. Should be interesting to see how both teams do on that side of the ball. We know Williams will have his team ready to play and you know Parcells will have his boys ready to play, too. Skins/Boys should be a lot of fun to watch this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdlives Posted June 10, 2006 Author Share Posted June 10, 2006 Their defense was relatively young last year. This will be their second year together and they can really start meshing. Their secondary doesn't have to be great to do well either. The Eagles have a great secondary on paper but look what happened when they had absolutely no pressure up front? They gave up a ton of TDs in the air. If the line up front can get pressure then the secondary automatically becomes better.The Skins and Cowboys probably have the best overall front seven (DLine and LBs) in the division. Should be interesting to see how both teams do on that side of the ball. We know Williams will have his team ready to play and you know Parcells will have his boys ready to play, too. Skins/Boys should be a lot of fun to watch this year. Strong anaylsis here from Who Del. Injuries appear to be the one factor that could derail either team. That and can guys like Spears and Canty progress from year 1 to year 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins4481 Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Strong anaylsis here from Who Del. Injuries appear to be the one factor that could derail either team. That and can guys like Spears and Canty progress from year 1 to year 2. I still cant believe we chose Manuel White over Chris Canty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdlives Posted June 10, 2006 Author Share Posted June 10, 2006 I'm surprised more dallas fans, oh, wait, any dallas fans haven't chimed in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tr1 Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Fabini is not a great tackle. When a team adds a new tackle to the scheme, things rarely mesh early on. Look for the pukes to be a miserable lot on offense...loads of 3 and outs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatmeworry Posted June 11, 2006 Share Posted June 11, 2006 :laugh:On that note I think the Cowboys will be good this year. Their defense has potential to be just as good as anyone in the league. Their offense might sputter because of OLine problems if they get injured but you can say that about most any team in the league (yes I'm looking at you Skin fans..) Lookout for Dallas this year. They might surprise some people. I don't know how they can surprise anyone since all the 'experts' are picking them to win the division Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted June 11, 2006 Share Posted June 11, 2006 I'm surprised more dallas fans, oh, wait, any dallas fans haven't chimed in. Why? So everything we say can be laughed at and rediculed? We stink, we shouldn't even show up this year. The Redskins have this division locked up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins4481 Posted June 11, 2006 Share Posted June 11, 2006 We stink, we shouldn't even show up this year. The Redskins have this division locked up. finally! At least ONE Cowboys fan gets it! :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmchairRedskin Posted June 11, 2006 Share Posted June 11, 2006 Awww, Ken's feelers are hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDFan5 Posted June 11, 2006 Share Posted June 11, 2006 Awww, Ken's feelers are hurt. I think Ken has just realized it is an exercise in futility to try and have a rational conversation with a majority of redskins fans on this board Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdlives Posted June 11, 2006 Author Share Posted June 11, 2006 I think Ken has just realized it is an exercise in futility to try and have a rational conversation with a majority of redskins fans on this board Pretty much the same for Skins fans on the dallas boards. So what's new? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumrunner6900 Posted June 11, 2006 Share Posted June 11, 2006 I think Ken has just realized it is an exercise in futility to try and have a rational conversation with a majority of redskins fans on this board Actually, there was plenty of good rational discussion...between a Skins and Iggles fan nonetheless....right up until about this post here.... Why? So everything we say can be laughed at and rediculed?We stink, we shouldn't even show up this year. The Redskins have this division locked up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDFan5 Posted June 11, 2006 Share Posted June 11, 2006 Pretty much the same for Skins fans on the dallas boards. So what's new? On the dallas board I frequent, Skins fans from here come to it and disucss the division in a rational manner, as long as its not trolling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDFan5 Posted June 11, 2006 Share Posted June 11, 2006 Actually, there was plenty of good rational discussion...between a Skins and Iggles fan nonetheless....right up until about this post here.... Someone wanted to know why Dallas fans were not responding, Ken replied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdlives Posted June 11, 2006 Author Share Posted June 11, 2006 Someone wanted to know why Dallas fans were not responding, Ken replied. So you think dallas will suck this year as well, huh? Bottom line it, the last time I tried to have a rational conversation about a reasonable subject relating to dallas on this message board I got plenty of fine and intelligent comments. Then two or three dallas fans got in there and all I got from them was "you're stupid, no it isn't" comments as well as insults and sarcasm. The dallas fans want to say us Skins fans in here are jerks? Some are, maybe, there certainly are alot of Skins fans in this here Skins message board. As far as I have seen, its the dallas fans who don't care to bring anything good to the table. There are plenty of threads in this board with giants fans, eagle fans, Skins fans and other team fans where everyone is getting along quite well with each other. The dallas fans then get in there, get defensive and make nasty comments to everyone. Don't believe me? Check out some of the other threads I posted. I thought the conversation about Parcells was pretty good. Then weownu, thehereafter, and hehateme come in and pick fights by making sarcastic and downright insulting comments. And you want to say WE are the ones who aren't decent to the dallas fans? Look in the mirror. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdlives Posted June 11, 2006 Author Share Posted June 11, 2006 I actually think this article makes good points about the dallas defense. If they can progress from last year and don't suffer any major injuries I think they'll be tough to play against. I don't buy the offensive line stuff. He doesn't even mention the loss of Larry Allen. Then, he talks about the guys they got as if they're the answer to all of dallas' problems. Half these guys didn't get the job done last year and the other half are older journeymen guys. What about the runners? I'm sorry, but I still don't buy Julius Jones as an every down RB. Marion Barber, I honestly haven't seen much of, but it's not exactly a ringing endorsement if he's sitting behind Jones on the depth chart. Then there's Bledose, who is good, just not great. Far too immoobile and can be deceived with a complicated d package. Picking apart defenses? I don't know. I think part of the early season success comes from the scheming by a guy who isn't there this year in Payton. They couldn't get the job done against a controlled defensive scheme like Gregg Williams'. In the first game last year they played so conservative and barely moved the ball. Anyways, jmo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeownU Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 I actually think this article makes good points about the dallas defense. If they can progress from last year and don't suffer any major injuries I think they'll be tough to play against. I don't buy the offensive line stuff. He doesn't even mention the loss of Larry Allen. Then, he talks about the guys they got as if they're the answer to all of dallas' problems. Half these guys didn't get the job done last year and the other half are older journeymen guys. What about the runners? I'm sorry, but I still don't buy Julius Jones as an every down RB. Marion Barber, I honestly haven't seen much of, but it's not exactly a ringing endorsement if he's sitting behind Jones on the depth chart. Then there's Bledose, who is good, just not great. Far too immoobile and can be deceived with a complicated d package. Picking apart defenses? I don't know. I think part of the early season success comes from the scheming by a guy who isn't there this year in Payton. They couldn't get the job done against a controlled defensive scheme like Gregg Williams'. In the first game last year they played so conservative and barely moved the ball. Anyways, jmo. Dallas should be better this year. Like him or not, TO is a great player. His presense alone will make teams think twice before blitzing. He will also demand double coverage, or at the very least, have a safety lean towards his side of the field. That should open up the running game a little, and let Glenn work man to man coverage in the deep portions downfield. This should allow Witten to work the soft spots 10 yards downfield. But even more important to me is the addition of Vandy. We were a laughing stock last year in the kicking game. I'm no expert on the redskins history of kickers, but have you ever had a kicker who lined up for a 25 yard chip shot, and you just couldn't look at the TV because of fear? It was brutal. We lost a few games last year because of abyssmal kickers. Including our first meeting against you last year. Not an excuse, a fact. I do agree, our gameplan against you on monday night, was too conservative. I really felt as though parcells and company thought you guys couldn't score at all, so there was no reason to push the ball down the field. We paid a price for that. The offensive line???? I don't know. I don't claim to know alot about Kossier or Fabrini. But I do know this.......if Parcells and Jones went out and got them, they simply must be better than what we had. Period. How much better? I don't know. I know our line was ok before Flo went down. Our line isn't half as bad as many of you make it out to be. At the end of last year, after some injuries, we stunk. No getting around that. But we did a great job against you when we were healthy on monday night. Defensively. We have a very young defense, with some great players. Say what you want about Newman, Williams and Henry. 90% of the NFL would trade thier secondary for ours today. Linebacking core is solid, and our D-line got some great pressure on the qb last year. They need to get better against the run, but remember, they were very young last year, and it was their first year in the 3-4. I don't think it is being too optimistic to believe they will get better this year. As far as our offensive scheming from Payton goes. You couldn't be more wrong. Payton was horrible, and has been since he's been there. He is way too conservative, and cost us games the last few years. Most of us are glad he is gone. Remember several years ago, when the Giants made their playoff run, but lost to the niners in the playoffs? Earlier that year Payton was calling the plays for the Giants, and they sucked. Halfway through the season, after taking so much heat, coach Jim Fassel took over the reigns and called all the offensive plays. You know what happened? They reeled off like 7-8 wins in a row to make the playoffs. The moral of the story??? Payton sucks. Do a search on the cowboys forum and you'll see many people were excited he left. I know I was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrockster21 Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 I think Ken has just realized it is an exercise in futility to try and have a rational conversation with a majority of redskins fans on this board Oh please....its only not rational to you because we don't agree about the very same thing for the Cowgirls....that the Skins shouldn't even show up because they have the division locked up. You can make an argument for either team....naturally we're going to believe our argument and you're going to believe yours. But in reality, every fan can be seen as somewhat homerish -- the fact that you believe you can't have rational discussion here is a pretty homerish sentiment to be honest. :2cents: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDFan5 Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Oh please....its only not rational to you because we don't agree about the very same thing for the Cowgirls....that the Skins shouldn't even show up because they have the division locked up.You can make an argument for either team....naturally we're going to believe our argument and you're going to believe yours. But in reality, every fan can be seen as somewhat homerish -- the fact that you believe you can't have rational discussion here is a pretty homerish sentiment to be honest. :2cents: I dont see many if any Cowboys fans procliming the division title on here, and definately not alot saying Skins shouldnt show up. The fact that I KNOW I cant have a rational conversation here is not homerish. It is a fact based on experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmchairRedskin Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 BigD, you act like Cowboys fans bring nothing but rational arguments over here and Redskins fans always repsond to them irrationally. I'd say it works both ways. Here's how things usually work: Most Redskins fans try to put a positive spin on most everything Redskins, while putting a negative spin on most things related to rival teams. Rival teams fans spin most everything that relates to their team positively, all while spinning Redskins things negatively. That's how Football messageboards work. It works that way universally and it isn't unique to this board. Now suck it up and quit being such a sensitive pansy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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