Training Camp Thoughts - 7/29/10

A few more practices down and still now Marty B. It was deemed a minor ankle injury at the start of camp but now we are hearing the Martellus will be limited when he finally starts practicing this weekend. Every practice report that I read seems to include something about John Phillips playing great. The clock is ticking for Marty B. I'm sure he knows that at this point.

Flozell Adams is a Pittsburg Steeler. It is always sad when a player spends his whole career with one team but has to finish out his last few seasons with another franchise. It is going to be strange to see Flozell in gold and black. But we all could see he was in serious decline. The reason he kept committing personal foul penalties last year was primarily due to the fact that he has lost a step and was trying to compensate. Good luck to him but I think the Cowboys did the right thing.

David Buehler is the only kicker on the roster now. I guess the coaches are sold on Buehler. Either that or the roster spot being taken up by the second kicker was too valuable to keep Delbert Alvarado around. Either way Buehler is going to have a lot of pressure on him until he proves he can get it done.

Matt McBriar is again the holder for field goals. Nick Folk used up every excuse in the book last year during his mental breakdown so Romo tried to come to the rescue as the holder. Unfortunately it didn't make a difference. Now McBriar has his job back.

It looks like the Cowboys will have improved depth at outside linebacker this season. Brandon Williams and Curtis Johnson are both looking very good. So maybe Demarcus Ware can actually get a breather once in a while this season so he can be fresh for the 4th quarter. Of course that is all contingent on the backups making it to the regular season healthy.

Keep Holding Your Breath on Field Goals

Well, the Cowboys finally made a move at kicker. I loved what Nick Folk did for the Cowboys for a couple of years but you can't ruin your season trying to let your kicker work out of a funk. I would have been fine with dumping him before the Saints game and waiting almost cost the Cowboys their biggest win in a long time.

I know a lot of people aren't too happy with Sean Suisham. I'm not too thrilled either but I have to believe he'll be better than Folk has been for the last six weeks. Suisham is 18 for 21 for the year which isn't bad until you look at the kicks he missed. He missed a kick to close out the game for the Redskins against the Cowboys. And then he missed a kick eerily similar to the kick that Folk missed against the Saints that would have sealed the game for the Redskins. So he seems to struggle when you need him the most.

But if he can at least be consistent on the other kicks it will be an upgrade. I still feel like I won't trust the kicking game for the rest of the season. Even extra points have become a stressful play at this point. If Suisham can come out and make all his kicks under 40 yards then I'll be happy with that. I just hope we don't need him to win the game as time expires this season.

It is sad to think that we all came into the season thinking the Cowboys had a great kicker and now that position is the biggest headache. I've got to believe that the offense will be going for it on forth down a lot more from here on out when they are in position for a long field goal.

Suisham certainly has to be motivated to perform well this week to prove to the Redskins that they made a mistake. But no matter what he does the Redskins made the right move at the time just like getting rid of Folk was the right move for Dallas. Some kickers just get messed up in the head and the only way they can get out of a funk is by having a break and finding a new team. Let's just hope that Suisham has had enough time to fix whatever was causing him to choke on the big kicks.

The Best Win in Years

My heart is still racing from the dramatic finish. But the magnitude of that win can't be overstated. That was the best win by the Dallas Cowboys since 2006 when they took down the undefeated Indianapolis Colts. Tony Romo played great. The defense kept one of the best offenses in NFL history to just 17 points. Demarcus Ware went from being carted off the field last week to playing like a defensive MVP this week. And they won when nearly everyone, including me, was expecting a loss.

So is the season saved? Not entirely, but that win gives the Cowboys a great shot to make the playoffs. They still might need to win out to secure a playoff birth depending on what the Giants do over the last three weeks, but they are in a much better spot now then they were a few hours ago. The only way this win really changes anything is if the great play continues for the rest of the season. There is no telling where this win will take them, but it gives them a great chance to get on a roll heading into the playoffs if they make it.

The only really bad moments in the game involved Roy Williams and Nick Folk. The Cowboys were still up by 14 points with the ball in the 4th quarter when Roy Williams dropped a sure first down on a slant route. The win may have been a lot easier if they could have at least milked more time off the clock. The Nick Folk field goal had to seal his fate. I have no confidence in him and I was saying on the last drive it was going to come down to him to seal the game. Sure enough it did. And sure enough he missed a field goal a high school kicker makes 95% of the time. That was ridiculous.

They can't wait for Folk to work through his problems anymore. They need to find a new kicker right now. He nearly lost the game tonight and the Cowboys had to fight to the end because he couldn't do his job.

I said heading into this game that the fans deserved to see their team win a big game. We've all waited a long time and we were overdue for a big win like the game tonight. Let's just hope it isn't another flash of greatness to be followed by a disappointing late season collapse. This year feels different than the last few. I might be drinking the kool-aid but I feel like they finally turned the corner tonight. We'll find out over the next two weeks.

Getting Back to Blogging About the Cowboys

It has been hard to get myself back in my usual obsessive mode of following the Dallas Cowboys. Something just hasn't felt right about over-analyzing every last detail of the team after the practice bubble came crashing down last Saturday. I think a lot of things about the team have been put into perspective for both the members of the Dallas Cowboys organization and the media members who were involved in the collapse. The Dallas Cowboys are my #1 hobby and obsession but this tragedy reminded me that we're not exactly curing cancer here. With that said, I am following the lead of the people who were involved in the tragedy on Saturday and I am going to try to get back into the swing of things.

The first order of business that came up as a result of the bubble collapse has been resolved. The OTA's and mini-camp practices will now be held at Tommy Standridge Stadium in Carrolton. Obviously this is not an ideal situation but the team is going to have to make due with what they can given the circumstances. A lot of time is going to be wasted going back and forth between the facilities and the convenience of simply walking out a door to get to the practice field is gone. But working out on a high school field may remind some of the players why they started playing to begin with.

Roy Williams (the safety) is now with the Cincinnati Bengals. Good for him. I hope he can get back to what he once was but I think his best days are behind him. Over the years teams discovered that he could be exposed in coverage and you can be sure that opposing teams will continue to come up with game plans designed to isolate him in man coverage. Maybe Mike Zimmer can do a better job hiding him in pass coverage then Wade Phillips did. Roy Williams better hope so.

Only a few days ago we got the news that Nick Folk had offseason hip surgery. The pick the Cowboys made for David Buehler is making more and more sense as time goes on. I would still like to see Folk back to handle the extra point and field goal duties next season but now he won't have to rush his rehabilitation and risk re-aggravating the injury, or worse, developing a new injury like Felix Jones did last season. The Cowboys are telling us that Folk will be ready for training camp and I hope that is true, but at least they have it covered if something goes wrong.

The Demarcus Ware contract still is not done. I'm not worried, but it seems like both sides should have all the information they need to make a deal at this point. I hope this is done before training camp because you can bet the media will make a mountain out of a molehill if the contract is still in limbo at that point.

Remaining Holes on the Roster - Special Teams

The last remaining piece of the roster that I need to examine is special teams. This is the time of year that most people tend to forget about special teams. But after the mistakes on special teams last season that cost the Cowboys several games I am sure that the coaches and front office personnel are looking at ways to improve the special teams. Bringing in the fiery Joe DeCamillus was the first step, but there are some areas of need that will need to be addressed in the draft or via free agency. Let's look at all of the key pieces of the special teams.

Kicker: Obviously this is one area where things are in good shape. Folk has proven to be an excellent kicker over the last two years. The only concern here would be Folk's lack of distance on kickoffs but that may be fixed if directional kicking is eliminated from the kickoff coverage.

Punter: As long as Matt McBriar comes back healthy and can regain his pre-injury form the Cowboys will have one of the best punters in the NFL. The value of Matt McBriar's leg was shown when he went down on the blocked punt against Arizona. There was a notable loss in field position on every punt after McBriar went out with his injury.

Deep Snapper: Again, the Cowboys have no need at this position. L.P. Ladouceur has been consistently good for his entire career. The Cowboys are lucky to have a guy who is so reliable at deep snapper.

Punt/Kickoff Coverage: This is an area where the Cowboys could use a major upgrade. The statistics show that the Cowboys had a good kick coverage unit in 2008 but they always seemed to give up the big returns at the worst possible times. Hopefully the rookies brought in this offseason will have good kick coverage skills. It always seemed like the opposing returner was one man away from breaking the kick or punt return all the way. Poor tackling showed up on kick/punt coverage as well and hopefully a more physical training camp will help address the tackling issue on special teams as well.

Kick Returner: Several players on the roster have shown the ability to be a threat returning kicks, but there are questions about all of them continuing as returners now that they have moved up the depth chart on offense. Felix Jones is a threat to go all the way on every return but you have to wonder if the Cowboys want to risk getting him injured on special teams after last season. Miles Austin has also been a good returner at times but he will probably be the #2 or #3 receiver and is seems unlikely that he will be returning kicks especially after his injuries in 2008. Isaiah Stanback has shown a burst and the vision required of a great returner but he has never been able to stay healthy. I would expect the Cowboys to draft a receiver with great return skills and speed to fill the role of kick returner or at least a second returner in the event that Felix Jones returns to his role as kick returner. I am still keeping my fingers crossed that Keith Davis will come back to captain the special teams.

Punt Returner: The only remaining punt returners on the roster with experience are Patrick Crayton and Terrance Newman. Patrick Crayton does a great job fielding punts but very rarely makes even one man miss before going down. He also has a tendency to carry the ball away from his body which makes me cringe in fear every time he returns a punt. Terrance Newman has too much trouble staying healthy at this point in his career to risk putting him on the field for punt returns. I am hoping that the Cowboys draft a player who has the ability to break a return at any time. If not, I would guess they will just continue with the Patrick Crayton fair catch/8 yard return from the last two years.

It is important to remember how much the special teams hurt the Cowboys last season. I believe the new attitude that Joe DeCamillus will instill in the special teams players will be the biggest difference fans will notice. The more you look at the roster the more it becomes apparant that the Cowboys need to draft a guy who can be the speed receiver/punt returner/kick returner. That won't be an easy guy to find but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Jerry Jones trade around at some point in the draft to find a player to fill the role. I would hope that the return man/speed receiver can be found using the best available player strategy and maybe Jerry Jones will make a move for a player if someone unexpectedly drops down in the draft who can fill the role. The rest of the players drafted need to be ready and willing to man the coverage unit. Since the offense and defense have most of the major holes filled, the Cowboys need to be drafting players who are willing to step in as role players. This means blue collar, hard working players with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder and a little dash of crazy to allow them to excel on special teams.

Related Blog Postings:
Remaining Holes on the Roster - Offense
Remaining Holes on the Roster - Defense