Time To Win It All

Experts are saying the Cowboys are ready for a Super Bowl run, and I couldn’t agree anymore. It’s been 7 years in the making and I’m finally ready to call this team a serious Super Bowl contender. Now I bet a lot of you who just read that last sentence thought in your minds, “wasn’t the 2007 team a super bowl contender?” They could have been one, but the good teams play well down and stretch and when it matters the most, and they didn’t do that towards the end of the year and failed miserably against the Giants. Then you say, “what about the 2008 team if Romo doesn’t get injured?” Well yeah they might have been one, but again, good teams perform well down the stretch, and the Cowboys didn’t do that. Not to mention good teams play a little bit harder when a star player goes down, and they didn’t play well at all when Romo went down (I’ll never forgive Brad Johnson). This team is officially primed for a Super Bowl run, and this team will not go down without a fight in the playoffs. If all goes well according to plan and there aren’t any real glaring injuries, they should be hosting their own Super Bowl. I believe it has been 7 years in the making for the Cowboys to be called real Super Bowl contenders. When Bill Parcells came in 2003, that was the start of the rebuilding process. Can you name me the only player that is still on the team before Dave Campo was fired in 2003? If you guessed Andre Gurode, you’re right. Only one player from the Dave Campo era is left, and the team has been completely rebuilt since. Parcells’ built a foundation for what we have today. In 2003, he drafted Jason Witten, Terrence Newman, Bradie James, and signed an undrafted free agent in Tony Romo. The 2004 draft was kind of a wash, as it yielded only 2 productive players in Julius Jones and Patrick Crayton. Jones would leave after the 2007 while Crayton, whom is still with the team, is on the verge of being either released or traded before the start of the upcoming season. In 2005, Parcells broke the mold and built the 3-4 defense from the draft. He took Demarcus Ware and Marcus Spears in the first round, while he also picked up Chris Canty and Jay Ratliff in the later rounds.
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In the 4th round, he also picked up a tough running back named Marion Barber. In the 2006 draft, he picked up Bobby Carpenter (I know….), Jason Hatcher, and Pat Watkins. Then he signed some undrafted wide receiver named Miles Austin. After Parcells left, it seemed Wade Phillips picked up where Parcells left off in drafting, or perhaps better. In 2007, Phillips drafted Anthony Spencer, Doug Free, Nick Folk, Deon Anderson, and Alan Ball. Even though Folk was cut last year, he was still a big contributor before his hip surgery changed his game. In the 2008 draft, Phillips found some great players in Felix Jones, Mike Jenkins, Martellus Bennett, Tashard Choice, and Orlando Scandrick. In the 2009 draft, was cut short because of the trade that involved acquiring Roy Williams, but they did draft 12 players, and only 9 are still on the team or are fighting to make this years’ team. This years draft might put Dallas over the top, with Dez Bryant being the obvious highlight of the draft. Sean Lee could be a big steal Jamar Wall looks like a late round pick that could develop into a good player.
With the addition of free agents over the last couple years in Leonard Davis, Kyle Kosier, Keith Brooking, Jon Kitna, Marc Colombo and Igor Olshansky, the Cowboys like I said, are ready for a Super Bowl run. I know in 2007 and last year they were a threat to go and take it all for the sixth time, but did you really feel confident? The tripped up against the Giants who ended up beating the best statistical team ever in the Patriots, and then got absolutely pummeled by the Vikings, who would go on to lose to a team that the Cowboys beat earlier in the year. If the questions can be answered at left tackle and safety, the Cowboys should be the best all around team on the league. This isn’t a team that is going to win the paper Super Bowl (the best team on paper). This will be a team that can get that Super Bowl that hasn’t had their hands on one since 1996.

America’s Team Is A Tough Task

Being America’s team is a tough task., even being a fan is one tough task. No matter what the cowboys do, they get media attention for it. It is not easy being affiliated with America’s team, but gosh does it feel good. If they lose, the world crucifies them for everything they did wrong. If they win, the world is in love with them (expect the other NFC East fans). The cowboys get all of the press in the world, good or bad. A couple of years ago, when Pacman Jones even sneezed, it was on the front page of ESPN (sarcastically speaking). Pacman just couldn’t get out of the light of the media, and it helped tear the team up and led to them completely falling apart at the end of the year. Don’t even get me started with Terrell Owens. He ties his shoe next to Tony Romo on the sideline, and the media thinks they are fighting. The media will do anything to put an article that’s cowboys related on a site because they know that people will read it. Why do you think we have thanksgiving games every single year? Because people love to watch the cowboys, love or hate. Do you have any idea how much attention they are going to receive if they end up making the Super Bowl this year? I wouldn’t be surprised if CNN covers it because we will never have a better chance to host our own Super Bowl. I remember when the Super Bowl with the Colts and Bears was getting ready to take place, Jerry takes the spotlight away from them, and puts it on the cowboys by hiring Wade Phillips. Is that genius or what? It doesn’t matter what the cowboys do, they can’t avoid attention. The haters hate us for many reasons. We get at least 9 nationally televised games every single year it seems, the thanksgiving games, the hole in the roof so God himself can watch his favorite team (it’s true), Tony Romo, the star on the helmet, the fact that we are called “America’s Team”, we have the greatest stadium in the world, we are always a threat to do damage year after year (2000-2002 doesn’t count), and we have the most gorgeous cheerleaders to ever grace sports. I’m watching the NFL network a couple months ago, and they had a one hour show with the top 10 greatest Dallas Cowboys of all time. I watch the NFL network a lot, and I don’t ever see a countdown for other teams. The press that the Cowboys of the 90s received was ridiculous. Every step Michael Irvin took, the media was right behind them. They had a field day when he was busted in 1996 and ate it all up. When Deion signed with the Cowboys, it seemed like the world stopped. When Jerry and Jimmy infamously ate at Tom Landry’s favorite restaurant after he was fired, the media was crawling all over it. Nobody can forget when Jimmy stepped down as head coach, the sports world blew up for a second. Of course the media is going to cover it.

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 Who steps down after winning two super bowls in a row? What I’m saying is that, I love the attention we get. Everybody loves to hate the cowboys, and I don’t have one problem with that. I can understand why they would hate the cowboys. Do you think this year will be any different? I believe it’s going to be even bigger than it usually is. Dez Bryant and his “rough background”, Dez wearing 88, Tony Romo (every year it seems), Miles Austin and his contract, the “holes” in the safety spots, the super bowl being on our turf, anything Jerry Jones does, the way Wade puts his hand on his face after looking at something during a game, the starting running back this year (?), and a bunch of other topics I didn’t include. But all of those won’t matter in the end when we have that sixth ring. It is inevitable, that sixth ring is coming people, whether anybody likes it or not. What else is new?

Let Hope History Repeats Itself

When you look and watched what the 2009 Dallas Cowboys did, who do they remind you of? In my eyes, they are something similar of a team that started something special in the early 90s. No, I’m not talking about the Cowboys who won the Super Bowls, I’m talking about the team before the Super Bowls. If you take a look at what Jimmy Johnson’s team did in 1991, you see the similarities of the 2009 team. Troy Aikman was looking for something to prove in 1991. Just like what Tony Romo was trying to accomplish in the 2009 season with life after Terrell Owens. Both quarterbacks were out to prove they were not flukes. Aikman had the pressure of being the franchise quarterback after being the number 1 overall pick in 1989, while Romo was trying to prove that he could be just as good of a quarterback without having Terrell Owens to throw to when he was in Dallas. The running game is another similarity. The 91 cowboys knew they had something special in Emmitt Smith, just like how the 2009 cowboys knew they had something special with Felix Jones. Both guys burst out onto the scene and helped their teams become more explosive. While Smith led the league in rushing, Jones however , did not. But Jones made up for it with average almost 6 yards per carry. The Cowboys of 1991 had a “playmaker” in Michael Irvin, whom was slowed down by injuries in his first 3 years in the NFL. He led the league in receiving yards and was the go to guy for years to come. The 2009 Cowboys had a receiver who might be the biggest reason why the cowboys went 11-5 in the first place, and that is Miles Austin. Austin may not have led the league in receiving like Irvin, but Austin put up the numbers that Owens put up when he was in Dallas. Both defenses excelled and peaked at the end of the season. There were questions about who would step up at cornerback for the 91 cowboys, and low and behold, Larry Brown answered the call and became a solid corner for them. With Anthony Henry being traded following the 2008 season, Mike Jenkins was thrown into the spotlight to take the place of Henry and become the shut down corner that they wanted him to be. Jenkins played so well that he became a surprise pro bowl pick, and led the team in interceptions. Read More…

There may not have been a Demarcus Ware type player on the 1991 team, but they did have a good pass rusher in Tony Tolbert. Ken Norton junior was the mouthpiece of the 1991 defense, while Keith Brooking became the obvious leader of the defense as the 2009 season progressed. Both teams peaked and made impressive runs to make the playoffs towards the ending of their seasons. The biggest wins for both teams came on the road against teams who would eventually win the Super Bowl in those years. The 1991 Cowboys came into Washington, needing a win very badly, and they delivered. The 2009 Cowboys came into New Orleans, with perhaps a lot of jobs on the line, and pulled off a huge upset. Both teams won in the first round of the playoffs, but both were crushed in the next round. The 2009 Cowboys need to take a look at what the 1991 team did. The 1991 Cowboys may have gotten destroyed to end the season, but they would go on the next year to win the Super Bowl, and then some more in the next couple years. If the 2009 Cowboys have the same turnout in 2010 as the 1991 Cowboys did in 1992, then we truly have something special.