The Sports Guru

Projected Record

11-5, 1st Place NFC East

Projected Schedule W/L

@Jacksonville (W)
Washington (W)
@Tennessee (W)
@Philadelphia (L)
Houston (W)
NY Giants (W)
@Carolina (L)
@Washington (L)
@Arizona (W)
Indianapolis (W)
Tampa Bay (W)
@NY Giants (L)
New Orleans (W)
@Atlanta (L)
Philadelphia (W)
Detroit (W)

The Circus has come to town. T.O.’s arrival in Dallas has Jerry Jones feeling mighty good about the Cowboy’s chances in 2006. There have been many questions since the signing about how Bill Parcells feels about the whole situation. I wrote in an earlier column aboout my feelings for Parcells and the undo credit and respect he gets around the league. Jerry Jones own the Cowboys and Parcells will have to coach whomever Jones wants to put in a Star helmet. To his credit Parcells has said all the right things so far and the relationship seems amicable, even though Owens has misses all of camp with a hamstring “injury”. Somehow I think Ownes will miraculously heal in time for Week 1 against the Jags and all will be forgotten. There are some other questions surrounding the Cowboys as they head into a season that some think may end in Super fashion.

Team Strengths – This team is loaded offensively, with Drew Bledsoe running the show. Owens adds a downfield dynamic to the offense and is the perfect compliment for Terry Glenn. The player that may benefit most from Owens arrival is TE Jason Witten who will thrive when matched up against a linebacker one on one. The Cowboys drafted another TE, Anthony Fasano from Notre Dame, to be the tough, hard nosed blocker when they line up in two TE sets. The ‘Coys also sport two running backs that have the ability to get it done in Julius Jones and Marion Barber. On defense this team is flat out nasty. DeMarcus Ware is on the verge of a breakout season and should cause havoc to opposing offenses all season. Chris Canty hasa been getting rave reviews during camp and sources say he is the perfect DE for the 3-4 system the Cowboys have converted to. Roy Williams anchors the secondary and is one of the hardest hitters in the league.
Team Weaknesses - As strong as the Cowboys look on offense there are some question marks. The Offensive line is average at best, with many of the starters coming back from injuries. The Tackle postion is up for grabs, with Flozell Adams, Mark Colombo and Jason Fabini all vying for starting spots. Neither has played particularly well during camp and that has Parcells concerned. Though effective as a unit, one of the two running backs is going to need to step up and be THE guy. Both have shown flashes but both have been inconsistent. Drew Bledsoe has the numbers of some of the greats, but he is not a good decision maker and is known to hold onto the ball too long. With this line that could be a bad thing. On defense, the secondary is talented but young and inconsistent. Roy Williams is a stud, but his aggressiveness can get the better of him, as shown against Washington last season.

Best Case Scenario – Everything stays smooth on the Owens front. This team has alot of talent and is good enough to win the tough NFC East. If Owens can stay on the field this team has a chance to have a special season. Getting off to a good start is going to be key, the ‘Boys play 6 of their first 9 games on the road. Get through that stretch and 5 of their last 7 are at home.

Worst Case Scenario - The Owens/Parcells marriage blows up in everyone’s face and the Cowboys fall victom to what happened to the Eagles last season. T.O. thinks he should get the ball on every play and has no problem letting everyone around him know that. How Drew Bledsoe handles the constant banter from Owens will go along way towards keeping things calm in Dallas. Getting off to a poor start with all those road games could lead to troubled waters as well. Parcells is known for calling out his players in the media, and the fact that he hasn’t mentioned Owens by name so far means that he’ll have no problem treating Owens like anyone else.

My Opinion - The Cowboys have the talent to win the Super Bowl. There is also a chance that the constant media barrage surrounding them can take it’s toll and the situation could explode. T.O is going to be T.O. He is going to talk. He is going to miss practice. He is going to play on Sunday and score alot of TD’s. But can a team win with a “me first” guy on the team. There haven’t been many examples of it in any sport. Guys like T.O. usually have a way of destroying a locker room. He did it in San Francisco, he really did it in Philadelphia. Now he goes to Dallas, to a coach that supposedly can handle him. I’m not so sure. The one constant is T.O. does play hard and always seem to put up big numbers the first season. If he does that, the Cowboys will win big. There is, however, too much distraction and too many questions for this team to get to or win a Super Bowl. The ‘Boys get to the playoffs, but lose in the 2nd Round to the eventual NFC Champs. Who you ask? You’ll just have to wait and see.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006 at 10:06 am and is filed under Broncos/NFL, 2006 NFL Preview. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.