We are just a few weeks away from NFL camps opening around the country and the Dallas Cowboys have a lot on their plate for this upcoming season. Nobody has more on their plate possibly than the big fella pictured above. If he doesn’t perform, this team could have real issues.
The Cowboys finally made the playoffs last season and won a game! I know, it feels like it’s been over a dozen years. It almost has. As disappointing a loss as it was to Brett Favre and the Vikings in the playoffs, the Cowboys were able to shed the we can’t win a playoff game under Tony Romo stench that had been hanging around Valley Ranch for some time. Now that the Cowboys got that elusive playoff win under their belt, expectations are higher and the window of opportunity is greater.
There is nothing more in this world that Jerry Jones wants than to host the Super Bowl at Jerry world and be the first team to host a Super Bowl in their backyard. He dreams about it every night. Trust me, every night! Whatever this team needs, Jerry usually provides. At least as much as he can financially. He’s not the head coach yet. Check out the draft war room videos and you’d think he was. Always involved from the socks to the jocks. Remember, he told us he would be years ago when he bought this team.
The Cowboys are going to be a heavy favorite to win the NFC East this year. The Eagles appointed youngster Kevin Kolb as the new QB and have sent Donovan McNabb packing to the Redskins. Daniel Gilbert and new coach Mike Shanahan promptly grabbed McNabb and made him their guy. Expect the Giants to be better and much healthier this season too.
Let’s be honest, the Cowboys are loaded at several positions and should give defenses fits with all the weapons they have on offense. Tony Romo, Felix Jones, MBIII, Jason Witten, Miles Austin, Marty Bennett, Roy Williams, and rookie Dez Bryant gives Dallas plenty of firepower on offense. Romo and offensive coach Jason Garrett have plenty of ammunition to dissect any defense in the league. A three headed monster in the backfield with Jones, Barber & Choice, a three headed monster at TE with Witten, Bennett and Phillips, and hopefully a quadruple headed monster at WR with Austin, Williams, Bryant, Crayton or Ogletree. Loaded I tell ya, loaded.
There is pressure everywhere this season for the Dallas Cowboys because expectations are so high. Head Coach Wade Phillips has big pressure on him as does Jason Garrett. Jerry Jones feels the pressure every day. Tony Romo has the heat on him to not only lead this team to another playoff win, but advancing to the Super Bowl. Roy Williams better get his act together or he won’t be with this team before Thanksgiving. And so on, and so on. Many players have the heat on them to step up their performance and take this team to another level. It will hell to pay if players don’t make the plays expected of them. Perform or get the hell off the team.
One guy whom we didn’t think had much game because we never saw him much was backup offensive tackle Doug Free. Why should we care about him? He never plays, slides into the lineup only when someone gets nicked up for a series or two. Well, we got a real good look at Doug Free last season when Marc Colombo went down with a broken foot and Free was inserted into the starting tackle position during the meat of the season. Perform or get the hell off the field. Doug Free did a very nice job last season during his fill in time for Colombo.
When the season ended against the Vikings, one thing the Free experiment did was give a sense of confidence that he can step in and fill in at tackle for a few games. Obviously, Jerry Jones and crew were even more impressed than I was with Doug Free. Either they were more impressed with Free or finally finished with Flozell Adams. Flozell was pretty rock solid at tackle for several years with the Cowboys. One of the best in the NFC for sure. Yes, he had his over/under of false starts set at 2-3 every game. We knew he’d do it, so did Joe Buck and Troy Aikman who would announce it to the world that Adams would have at least one or two before half time. But Adams is gone. Dallas sent him on his way after several years of solid service and have put the HUGE responsibility on Doug Free’s shoulders to handle the starting tackle position.
Rumors are floating that Free will be in a battle to win the starting job over Pat McQuistan or newly acquired Alex Barron. Personally, I feel it’s Doug Free’s gig, he proved he can handle last season and should be ready to go this year. There are several position battles to be fought in a few weeks down in Alamo City and both sides of the ball will bring several surprises. One surprise the Cowboys can’t afford is that Doug Free can’t handle the job. I think he can and that’s why he’s so important tho this teams success this year.
