What the Cowboys Must Do Against the Bears

I know you can't necessarily call the second game of the season a must win game, but this one feels pretty close. Lose and the Cowboys would drop to 0-2 heading to Houston next week. Win and they can even their record and give themselves a shot at heading into the bye week at 2-1. And I don't even want to start talking about how rare it is for a team to start 0-2 and then make the playoffs. So the Cowboys have to find a way to win this game. Here is what I think needs to happen.

1. Run the ball. The Cowboys were pretty successful running the ball last week but they never fully committed to the run. The easiest way to work offensive linemen back into the flow of the game is to let them run block. By running the ball you allow your linemen to initiate contact and control the action as opposed to reacting to pass rushers. Marc Colombo and Kyle Kosier are sure to be rusty coming off of injuries. And the passing game becomes simple when you can get the defense to bite on run fakes for play action passes.

2. Force some turnovers. This feels like the same problem as last year all over again for the defense. They do a great job preventing the opposition from scoring but they rarely create game changing plays. Cutler will undoubtedly throw some balls into coverage and give the Cowboys a chance at interceptions. I want to see three or more turnovers from the defense.

3. Get the ball in the end zone. David Buehler looked a lot like Nick Folk last year. The offense drove the ball all the way down the field only to be disappointed as they came away empty on a missed field goal last week. The easiest remedy for a shaky kicker is to take the game out of his hands. The offense needs to find the end zone early and often.

4. Get Felix Jones involved in the offense. Although I did like the way the Cowboys involved Dez Bryant last week I think they didn't take advantage of the explosiveness of Felix Jones as much as they should have. A few of the forced throws to Dez could have been more plays for Felix Jones. Felix should have around 15 touches on offense. Every time he gets the ball in his hands the Cowboys have a shot at a touchdown.

5. Don't forget about Jason Witten. I know Witten had to stay in and help block on more passing plays than usual last week due to the problems on the offensive line. Tony Romo needs his most trusted receiver out in patterns more often this week. That should help the Cowboys convert more 3rd downs to extend drives.

6. Hit Jay Cutler. One thing that the Mike Martz offense allows for is pressure on the quarterback. Demarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer should see a lot of one on one matchup this week and they need to put pressure on Jay Cutler. Like I mentioned earlier, Cutler turns the ball over a lot. The chances of that happening increase exponentially when he has pressure in his face.

I will be shocked if the Cowboys don't win this game. I just can't picture a team that is so talented dropping to 0-2. I think the Cowboys will win this game pretty easily. I predict a 31-17 victory for the Cowboys.

Can Colombo and Kosier Produce Instant Offense?

The results from the offense in week 1 seemed all to familiar. The Cowboys seemed to move the ball at ease between the 20's but every time they approached scoring position something went wrong. Whether it was penalties, mental errors, bad play calls or missed field goals the result was only 7 points for the entire day. I think we can all agree that the total probably should have been 14 points except for the fact that the Cowboys started the worst right tackle for the Cowboys since Rob Pettiti. For those of you who don't remember Pettiti from the 2005 season consider yourselves lucky.

The news this week appears to be that Kyle Kosier and Marc Colombo should both be returning to the starting lineup for the game on Sunday against the Bears. But the question is whether we should expect different results from the offense. I have mixed emotions about what to expect early in the game from both players.

Obviously we can expect a huge improvement in pass protection on the right side of the line. Colombo isn't the greatest player of all time but he is light years better than the protection that Barron provides. Montrae Holland actually did a pretty good job filling in for Kosier at left guard so I don't expect to see much of a difference in pass protection on the left side.

The run blocking was actually one of the bright spots from the game last week. My concern is that both Kosier and Colombo are going to be expected to step into the lineup and be in sync with the rest of the offensive line immediately. Neither player has practiced in over four weeks and they will only get a few days of practice with the offense before the game on Sunday. So is it realistic to think they will come out and dominate? A lot of the blocking in the running game revolves around timing and it is unrealistic to expect Colombo and Kosier to have their timing down early in the game.

I think we'll see both Colombo and Kosier knocking off some rust early in the game. Don't be shocked if Julius Peppers beats Colombo around the corner early in the game to sack Romo. And don't be shocked if Kosier gets an early holding penalty. But I think by the end of the first half we'll see both players find their rhythm and the offense will start to click.

As long as the defense can keep the Bears under control for the first few series of the game I think the Cowboys can fight through a slow start from the offense to come out on top in the game. The Bears have the #1 offense in the NFL after week 1 so they can definitely move the ball. The defense needs to come into the game with the mentality that they need to dominate from the first play. And a few turnovers sure would make points a lot easier to come by for the offense.

Wouldn't it be nice if the defense could give the offense the ball on the Bears end of the field early in the game. A quick score might get Colombo and Kosier going early and allow the Cowboys to dominate the game from start to finish.

Back to Reality - Cutler is a Chicago Bear

So the Cutler deal is finally done. He is now a Chicago Bear. Thank God it is over! This should finally put the talk about Cutler to Dallas to bed for good. The question now is whether the trade has any impact on the Dallas Cowboys now that it is official. I think there are a few indirect effects from the trade that the Cowboys will see in the upcoming season.

1. The opening game for Dallas which is widely reported to be the Cowboys at the Broncos just changed dramatically. The Broncos have a new coach, a new offense, and now a new quarterback facing the top sack defense from 2008. This definitely is an advantage to Dallas. It isn't a guarantee of victory, but I'm sure the coaches would prefer to face Orton or whoever the Broncos start rather than Jay Cutler.

2. Jason Campbell now has a beef with the Washington Redskins management. He is supposed to be the franchise quarterback but they were deep in negotiations with Denver to try to acquire Jay Cutler. You have to believe that the relationship between Campbell and the Redskins organization is going to be different from this point forward. It will be interesting to see how Campbell handles it. Jay Cutler decided he wanted to find a new team after going through the same treatment.

3. The NFC playoff landscape may have been altered by the trade. It would seem that the Bears are now a legitimate playoff contender now that they finally have a quarterback. I would expect them to at least fight for the division title with the improvements they should see on the offensive side of the ball.

To all of the people who were hoping to get Jay Cutler into a Cowboys uniform...welcome back to reality. Tony Romo is the franchise quarterback now and for many years to come. I hope when the season starts the fans who are bashing him can put their full support behind the team regardless of how they feel about Romo. I still believe he can lead the Cowboys to the Super Bowl someday.