Last Year:
Jared from Subway and the Dallas Cowboys understand that tightening up your lifestyle does lead to improvements. While Jared travels around with his 60-inch waist jeans to remind himself of his weight-losing success the Cowboys can look back at last season to see how skinny their loss column looked thanks to the Bill Parcels diet. After being one of only two teams to lose to the Vick-less Falcons, Dallas ripped off a fattening 7-1 stretch to set the table for a playoff appearance. An embarrassing post-season performance left the Cowboys with a bad taste in their mouths but with some new toppings expect this team to hunger for more.
What we Learned from Last Year:
The Cowboys were like a high-school bully last season as they picked on derisory opponents for the majority of their wins. Dallas intimidated the New York Jets without starting quarterback Chad Pennington, the feeble Redskins twice (once with Tim Hasselbeck as the starter), the New York Giants twice (once without Kerry Collins), as well as Arizona, Detroit, and Buffalo but when it came to challenging an equal, the Cowboys struggled.
The finger-pointing generally starts with the running game as Troy Hambrick did little to win over fans with his moderate performances. His dreary 3.5 yards-per-carry average did not spark a desperate rush attack especially since that number drooped to 1.9 in the redzone. Consistency was a particular defect in Hambrick?s game because after carries 1-10 his stats plummeted to 3.1 yards-per-carry which explains why he?ll be wearing a different jersey this year.
While Hambrick?s inefficiencies have landed him on another roster, Quincy Carter may be too be expelled if he continues to lack reliability. Like most coaches, Bill Parcells is known for despising gaffes and inaccuracies so he must not be too fond of Carter finishing 5th in the league in times sacked (37) and interceptions (21). Quincy can?t blame the running game because although he did lack a consistent partner the overall game finished 11th in the league.
Surprisingly, Parcells didn?t lose his confidence in him as Carter finished with 505 passing attempts (11th in NFL) but the coach?s decision to stick with him may have been due to the absence of any other viable options at the position.
A vastly improved defense returned the ball into the hands of Quincy as many times as possible as they truly were the raison d'?tre for the Dallas Cowboys success. The Parcells effect provoked this defense to exert more effort to eschew laziness and penalties. The Cowboys D was the 4th least penalized team in the league last season which was a Texas sized upgrade on their 2nd most penalized rank in 2002. One of the few knocks that can be knocked on this defense was their minuscule amount of takeaways. For what is perceived to be a top-tier squad, they will need to generate more than 13 interceptions and 12 fumbles before they are placed in the upper class.
Two years ago the only excuse for having a Cowboys game on your television was to find out whether a savvy veteran had broke the rushing record yet, but last year Uncle Bill made sure to regain respect for a once decorated franchise.
What Has Changed?:
The lyrics of a classic Beatles song indicate that love is all you need but for a team that was once labeled America?s teams, a little bit of consistency would pay bigger dividends than love.
A slew of off-season changes on the Cowboys roster do exactly that.
Joey Galloway?s rocky production exits, in comes former rock Keyshawn Johnson. Troy Hambrick is escorted out the door, and Eddie George is courted in. Marcellus Wiley for the defensive line, 2 draft picks for the offensive line, along with Vinny Testaverde and Drew Henson have all been fetched to provide steadier production for this team.
Starting with the offensive line, a group that played adequately last year will welcome 2nd-round pick Jacob Rogers, and 3rd-round selection Stephen Peterman. The fresh legs will add depth in case of injury, and will give Quincy Carter one less blame card to play for his shaky Sundays. Bill Parcells avoids titling his quarterback situation a controversy, but if Quincy stumbles throughout training camp or the regular season he?ll be swapped with 85-year-old Vinny Testaverde. The signal caller who makes the smartest decisions will receive the bulk of the playing time. Assuming that nothing catastrophic occurs, Drew Henson will be worked on as a long term solution, and likely won?t see many first-team snaps.
Regardless of who is playing quarterback, they will consistently be giving the ball to Eddie George and Julius Jones. George was an excellent acquisition for an offense that was short of leadership and experience last year. Eddie brings both, and he?ll hand off everything he?s gained over the years to rookie Julius Jones. There were questions as to why the Cowboys passed on Steven Jackson, and Kevin Jones in this year?s NFL draft but the answer is simply that Parcells loves dependable running backs who don?t necessary razzle and dazzle, but come to work with a yellow helmet and lunch pail. With his great knack for short yardage, and his rare fumbles, Eddie is exactly what coach Parcells wants. The biggest beneficiary should be Julius Jones who was originally going to rush into an incendiary situation, but now he?ll have a mentor to relieve his pressures and bring him along slowly.
On defense the Cowboys have a couple of minor tinkers that should result positively. The addition of Marcellus Wiley to a mild pass rush should return hefty results. If Wiley can return to his Pro Bowl form it will go straight to the heart of the Cowboys paltry takeaway statistics and likely perk up that number. The linebackers are unchanged, and rightfully so. Dexter Coakley, Dat Nguyen and Al Singleton are an excellent threesome, even though Singleton had a weak season.
The main concern defensively will be the secondary. The loss of Mario Edwards is not jaw-dropping, but the fact that the 2 starting cornerbacks have a combined 3 years of experience may cause anxiety. Parcells has always been a strong motivator of young talent and Pete Hunter and Terrence Newman will need to keep their ears open to every shred of voiced advice. One other trepidation is the recent injury to stalwart Darren Woodson. He is expected to miss all the way up to week 2 of the NFL season and possibly longer. There is not a lot of proven depth amongst the defensive backs so bumps and bruises to the front line can easily hinder this defense.
The Cowboys do look improved, but then again, so does everyone in the NFC East.
O/U 8.5:
Dan Snyder appears to be in the midst of just another day at the office as he has hauled Joe Gibbs, Clinton Portis and Mark Brunell aboard. Philadelphia was not outdone as they plucked Terrell Owens from San Francisco, and Jevon Kearse from Tennessee. Last but not least the Giants have told Tom Coughlin to lead the way, while mixing in Kurt Warner and Eli Manning. Aside from these contenders, Dallas plays: @MIN, CLE, PIT, @GB, DET, @CIN, @BAL, CHI, @SEA, and NO. Brace yourselves.
Fantasy Sleeper:
Eddie George is a reasonable draft pick if you can get him in the later rounds. The yards may not be there, but he will likely get most of the calls in the red zone for a team that really struggled inside the 20 last year. Parcels has revived old running backs before, and George will perform with a little sting in his backside because so many claim that he?s got nothing left.
Jared from Subway and the Dallas Cowboys understand that tightening up your lifestyle does lead to improvements. While Jared travels around with his 60-inch waist jeans to remind himself of his weight-losing success the Cowboys can look back at last season to see how skinny their loss column looked thanks to the Bill Parcels diet. After being one of only two teams to lose to the Vick-less Falcons, Dallas ripped off a fattening 7-1 stretch to set the table for a playoff appearance. An embarrassing post-season performance left the Cowboys with a bad taste in their mouths but with some new toppings expect this team to hunger for more.
What we Learned from Last Year:
The Cowboys were like a high-school bully last season as they picked on derisory opponents for the majority of their wins. Dallas intimidated the New York Jets without starting quarterback Chad Pennington, the feeble Redskins twice (once with Tim Hasselbeck as the starter), the New York Giants twice (once without Kerry Collins), as well as Arizona, Detroit, and Buffalo but when it came to challenging an equal, the Cowboys struggled.
The finger-pointing generally starts with the running game as Troy Hambrick did little to win over fans with his moderate performances. His dreary 3.5 yards-per-carry average did not spark a desperate rush attack especially since that number drooped to 1.9 in the redzone. Consistency was a particular defect in Hambrick?s game because after carries 1-10 his stats plummeted to 3.1 yards-per-carry which explains why he?ll be wearing a different jersey this year.
While Hambrick?s inefficiencies have landed him on another roster, Quincy Carter may be too be expelled if he continues to lack reliability. Like most coaches, Bill Parcells is known for despising gaffes and inaccuracies so he must not be too fond of Carter finishing 5th in the league in times sacked (37) and interceptions (21). Quincy can?t blame the running game because although he did lack a consistent partner the overall game finished 11th in the league.
Surprisingly, Parcells didn?t lose his confidence in him as Carter finished with 505 passing attempts (11th in NFL) but the coach?s decision to stick with him may have been due to the absence of any other viable options at the position.
A vastly improved defense returned the ball into the hands of Quincy as many times as possible as they truly were the raison d'?tre for the Dallas Cowboys success. The Parcells effect provoked this defense to exert more effort to eschew laziness and penalties. The Cowboys D was the 4th least penalized team in the league last season which was a Texas sized upgrade on their 2nd most penalized rank in 2002. One of the few knocks that can be knocked on this defense was their minuscule amount of takeaways. For what is perceived to be a top-tier squad, they will need to generate more than 13 interceptions and 12 fumbles before they are placed in the upper class.
Two years ago the only excuse for having a Cowboys game on your television was to find out whether a savvy veteran had broke the rushing record yet, but last year Uncle Bill made sure to regain respect for a once decorated franchise.
What Has Changed?:
The lyrics of a classic Beatles song indicate that love is all you need but for a team that was once labeled America?s teams, a little bit of consistency would pay bigger dividends than love.
A slew of off-season changes on the Cowboys roster do exactly that.
Joey Galloway?s rocky production exits, in comes former rock Keyshawn Johnson. Troy Hambrick is escorted out the door, and Eddie George is courted in. Marcellus Wiley for the defensive line, 2 draft picks for the offensive line, along with Vinny Testaverde and Drew Henson have all been fetched to provide steadier production for this team.
Starting with the offensive line, a group that played adequately last year will welcome 2nd-round pick Jacob Rogers, and 3rd-round selection Stephen Peterman. The fresh legs will add depth in case of injury, and will give Quincy Carter one less blame card to play for his shaky Sundays. Bill Parcells avoids titling his quarterback situation a controversy, but if Quincy stumbles throughout training camp or the regular season he?ll be swapped with 85-year-old Vinny Testaverde. The signal caller who makes the smartest decisions will receive the bulk of the playing time. Assuming that nothing catastrophic occurs, Drew Henson will be worked on as a long term solution, and likely won?t see many first-team snaps.
Regardless of who is playing quarterback, they will consistently be giving the ball to Eddie George and Julius Jones. George was an excellent acquisition for an offense that was short of leadership and experience last year. Eddie brings both, and he?ll hand off everything he?s gained over the years to rookie Julius Jones. There were questions as to why the Cowboys passed on Steven Jackson, and Kevin Jones in this year?s NFL draft but the answer is simply that Parcells loves dependable running backs who don?t necessary razzle and dazzle, but come to work with a yellow helmet and lunch pail. With his great knack for short yardage, and his rare fumbles, Eddie is exactly what coach Parcells wants. The biggest beneficiary should be Julius Jones who was originally going to rush into an incendiary situation, but now he?ll have a mentor to relieve his pressures and bring him along slowly.
On defense the Cowboys have a couple of minor tinkers that should result positively. The addition of Marcellus Wiley to a mild pass rush should return hefty results. If Wiley can return to his Pro Bowl form it will go straight to the heart of the Cowboys paltry takeaway statistics and likely perk up that number. The linebackers are unchanged, and rightfully so. Dexter Coakley, Dat Nguyen and Al Singleton are an excellent threesome, even though Singleton had a weak season.
The main concern defensively will be the secondary. The loss of Mario Edwards is not jaw-dropping, but the fact that the 2 starting cornerbacks have a combined 3 years of experience may cause anxiety. Parcells has always been a strong motivator of young talent and Pete Hunter and Terrence Newman will need to keep their ears open to every shred of voiced advice. One other trepidation is the recent injury to stalwart Darren Woodson. He is expected to miss all the way up to week 2 of the NFL season and possibly longer. There is not a lot of proven depth amongst the defensive backs so bumps and bruises to the front line can easily hinder this defense.
The Cowboys do look improved, but then again, so does everyone in the NFC East.
O/U 8.5:
Dan Snyder appears to be in the midst of just another day at the office as he has hauled Joe Gibbs, Clinton Portis and Mark Brunell aboard. Philadelphia was not outdone as they plucked Terrell Owens from San Francisco, and Jevon Kearse from Tennessee. Last but not least the Giants have told Tom Coughlin to lead the way, while mixing in Kurt Warner and Eli Manning. Aside from these contenders, Dallas plays: @MIN, CLE, PIT, @GB, DET, @CIN, @BAL, CHI, @SEA, and NO. Brace yourselves.
Fantasy Sleeper:
Eddie George is a reasonable draft pick if you can get him in the later rounds. The yards may not be there, but he will likely get most of the calls in the red zone for a team that really struggled inside the 20 last year. Parcels has revived old running backs before, and George will perform with a little sting in his backside because so many claim that he?s got nothing left.
