Dallas
Cowboys' 2006
Schedule
Pre-Season
1. Aug. 10-14 @Seattle
2. Aug. 21@ New Orleans
3. Aug. 24-28 vs. SF
4. Aug. 31-Sept. 2 vs. MIN
Regular Season
1. Sept. 10 - @ Jacksonville
2. Sept. 17 - vs. Washington
3. Bye
4. Oct. 1 - @ Tennessee
5. Oct. 8 - @ Philadelphia
6. Oct. 15 - vs. Houston
7. Oct. 23 - vs. NY Giants
8. Oct. 29 - @ Carolina
9. Nov. 5 - @ Washington
10. Nov. 12 - @ Arizona
11. Nov. 19 - vs. Indianapolis
12. Nov. 23 - vs. Tampa Bay
13. Dec. 3 - @ NY Giants
14. Dec. 10 - vs. N.O. Saints
15. Dec. 16 - @ Atlanta
16. Dec. 25 - vs. Philadelphia
17. Dec. 31 -vs. Detroit
Cowboys' 2006
Schedule
Pre-Season
1. Aug. 10-14 @Seattle
2. Aug. 21@ New Orleans
3. Aug. 24-28 vs. SF
4. Aug. 31-Sept. 2 vs. MIN
Regular Season
1. Sept. 10 - @ Jacksonville
2. Sept. 17 - vs. Washington
3. Bye
4. Oct. 1 - @ Tennessee
5. Oct. 8 - @ Philadelphia
6. Oct. 15 - vs. Houston
7. Oct. 23 - vs. NY Giants
8. Oct. 29 - @ Carolina
9. Nov. 5 - @ Washington
10. Nov. 12 - @ Arizona
11. Nov. 19 - vs. Indianapolis
12. Nov. 23 - vs. Tampa Bay
13. Dec. 3 - @ NY Giants
14. Dec. 10 - vs. N.O. Saints
15. Dec. 16 - @ Atlanta
16. Dec. 25 - vs. Philadelphia
17. Dec. 31 -vs. Detroit
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I'm asking anyone who is a fan of this site to become a co-writer for
it. I have a new job that will take away from the amount of time I can
put into this website. I'm probably only going to have time for a
couple of articles a week, which is hardly enough to keep visitors
coming back. All you would have to do is e-mail me the article and I
would be able to post it and give you credit for it.
Have your opinion heard! A different viewpoint would be great for
this site. Please e-mail me if your interested. My e-mail address is
admin@cowboys-fan.com
| Cowboy's Trivia Question of the Week! What college did Larry Allen attend? Last Week's Answer: 1991 |
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Free Agency Period Cooling Off
The free agent pool has been thinned considerably after today.
Joey Porter and Tully Banta-Cain both signed today. Those were
the only two remaining guys we could sign to help our pass rush.
We could possibly sign Carlos Polk, but he is not starting material.
Our number one focus needs to be re-signing Marc Colombo. All
the alternatives at tackle have disappeared. There is nobody else
available that would warrant us giving big money to. We may have
been holding off a little on Colombo's offer to see if we could spend
that money more wisely (Joey Porter?). We aren't going to be
dishing out anymore big money so we really should do everything in
our power to get Colombo locked up. Jordan Black, one of my
alternatives, received very negative reviews from a few Chiefs fans I
know so I'm not excited about him anymore.
So with just two new players brought in, who are some more
possibilities? I can think of possibly four players. If you have any
more, list them at the blog. These players are Kevin Kaesviharn,
Deon Grant, Kevin Curtis, and Donte Stallworth. Both of the
receivers are long shots. We would only consider them if we were
going to cut Terrell Owens and even if we did I believe the staff is
content with Crayton and Glenn. The most logical choice would be
Kaesviharn. He is the perfect guy to pair with Roy Williams. He
excels in coverage, and he is always around the ball. The man had
6 INTs & 4 sacks last season. He isn't very stout in run support, but
he isn't just horrendous either. Deon Grant is the only other free
safety option not counting bringing back Tony Parrish. Grant isn't
wanted back by Jacksonville because they have young talent
behind him. Grant is a decent all-around safety who would solidfy
that position. Ken Hamlin's name has been tossed around, but he
isn't any better in coverage than Roy Williams.
Things are really starting to shape up after today. All of the elite
players have signed meaning anyone we sign from now on will only
be moderately priced. My mock for the rest of the free agency is
simply re-signing Marc Colombo. We may target a FS, but we've
made no contact with any of them to my knowledge. I think Jerry's
waiting on the deep free safety draft class to fill that need. A
reserve linebacker like Carlos Polk or a backup center/guard like
Matt Lehr are possibilities as well. Overall, we are about done in
free agency. We filled two big needs, so if we can get Colombo
signed I'll be a satisfied fan.
The free agent pool has been thinned considerably after today.
Joey Porter and Tully Banta-Cain both signed today. Those were
the only two remaining guys we could sign to help our pass rush.
We could possibly sign Carlos Polk, but he is not starting material.
Our number one focus needs to be re-signing Marc Colombo. All
the alternatives at tackle have disappeared. There is nobody else
available that would warrant us giving big money to. We may have
been holding off a little on Colombo's offer to see if we could spend
that money more wisely (Joey Porter?). We aren't going to be
dishing out anymore big money so we really should do everything in
our power to get Colombo locked up. Jordan Black, one of my
alternatives, received very negative reviews from a few Chiefs fans I
know so I'm not excited about him anymore.
So with just two new players brought in, who are some more
possibilities? I can think of possibly four players. If you have any
more, list them at the blog. These players are Kevin Kaesviharn,
Deon Grant, Kevin Curtis, and Donte Stallworth. Both of the
receivers are long shots. We would only consider them if we were
going to cut Terrell Owens and even if we did I believe the staff is
content with Crayton and Glenn. The most logical choice would be
Kaesviharn. He is the perfect guy to pair with Roy Williams. He
excels in coverage, and he is always around the ball. The man had
6 INTs & 4 sacks last season. He isn't very stout in run support, but
he isn't just horrendous either. Deon Grant is the only other free
safety option not counting bringing back Tony Parrish. Grant isn't
wanted back by Jacksonville because they have young talent
behind him. Grant is a decent all-around safety who would solidfy
that position. Ken Hamlin's name has been tossed around, but he
isn't any better in coverage than Roy Williams.
Things are really starting to shape up after today. All of the elite
players have signed meaning anyone we sign from now on will only
be moderately priced. My mock for the rest of the free agency is
simply re-signing Marc Colombo. We may target a FS, but we've
made no contact with any of them to my knowledge. I think Jerry's
waiting on the deep free safety draft class to fill that need. A
reserve linebacker like Carlos Polk or a backup center/guard like
Matt Lehr are possibilities as well. Overall, we are about done in
free agency. We filled two big needs, so if we can get Colombo
signed I'll be a satisfied fan.
Pass Rushing Epiphany
With our lack of pass rush being the primary downfall of our
defense last season, I wondered why we didn't seriously go after a
pass rusher during the first week of free agency. Then it hit me.
We've already made our major pass rush upgrade Wade Phillips
was hired was to improve our pass rush.
Jerry Jones doesn't plan on using precious resources on pass
rushers. He expects Wade Phillips to take care of it with the
players we have. Now, he wants to give Phillips some decent talent
to work with, but if he was going to spend a bunch of money on elite
pass rushers then why hire Phillips. Norv Turner could get sacks
out of DeMarcus Ware, Greg Ellis, and Adalius Thomas.
This subject will make or break the Wade Phillips era. If our pass
rush improves under his watch, he will be considered a success. If
we continue to struggle, he will have failed at the primary objective
that brought him here in the first place. Now, I'm not expecting the
60 sacks that the Chargers got last season. We don't have that
kind of talent. But I don't see why he couldn't add 10 sacks to a
group of guys that would get around 35 with Bill Parcells's regime.
45 sacks would be Top 10 in the NFL. If we could do that without
adding any additional personel then it helps us out a lot with other
pressing needs because that means we can use our money and
draft picks on our secondary and offensive line.
So with the assumption that we won't make any significant
upgrades in the pass rush department, let's look at how we sit in
this area.
DeMarcus Ware by my estimation is the 2nd best 3-4 OLB in the
NFL. He is right behind Shawne Merriman, but he may jump ahead
after a season under Phillips. Ware's season was amazing. His
11.5 sacks is more than Joey Porter or Adalius Thomas have every
had in a season.
We have question marks opposite Ware, but we have three guys
who could potentially fill this role. Greg Ellis appears to be
rehabbing quite well. I don't see him being the full-time guy at
SOLB due to his limitations in coverage, but he should contribute.
Bobby Carpenter really came on in the play-off game last season,
but I look at him more as an ILB that can play OLB pretty well.
Looking at Carpenter's skill set, I'd guess that he would notch 5-7
sacks in a full-time role next season. It would obviously be better if
you could get more than that from your SOLB and let Carpenter get
those 5-7 sacks at ILB in Phillips' aggressive scheme. The wildcard
here is Kevin Burnett. He is a great athlete and he looked really
good in the Titans game shadowing Vince Young. He is
undersized, but he can play the position. He isn't a dynamic pass
rusher (although he isn't bad), but he would be perfect in a platoon
with Greg Ellis.
At ILB we have James, Ayodele, and Carpenter in the mix. We
never blitzed our ILBs last year but I expect that to change.
Ayodele played DE in college, so you can't tell me he can't be a
good blitzer. James hasn't been blitzed enough for me to know if
he is very good. Carpenter is exactly what you are looking for in a
blitzing LB. He had 8 sacks his senior year in college doing mostly
that.
The main position we need improvement at is DE. Spears, Canty,
and Hatcher have to generate some type of pass rush. Pass
rushing isn't the #1 priority for DEs in a 3-4, but it is a priority. He
need 12-15 sacks from that unit.
So there it is. We are going to try and improve our pass rush from
within with Wade Phillips. A healthy Greg Ellis would help, but
remember our pass rush wasn't very good even with him last
season. The real key is if we can rack up sacks from the ILB and
DE positions. If we can, our defense could be dominant next
season.
With our lack of pass rush being the primary downfall of our
defense last season, I wondered why we didn't seriously go after a
pass rusher during the first week of free agency. Then it hit me.
We've already made our major pass rush upgrade Wade Phillips
was hired was to improve our pass rush.
Jerry Jones doesn't plan on using precious resources on pass
rushers. He expects Wade Phillips to take care of it with the
players we have. Now, he wants to give Phillips some decent talent
to work with, but if he was going to spend a bunch of money on elite
pass rushers then why hire Phillips. Norv Turner could get sacks
out of DeMarcus Ware, Greg Ellis, and Adalius Thomas.
This subject will make or break the Wade Phillips era. If our pass
rush improves under his watch, he will be considered a success. If
we continue to struggle, he will have failed at the primary objective
that brought him here in the first place. Now, I'm not expecting the
60 sacks that the Chargers got last season. We don't have that
kind of talent. But I don't see why he couldn't add 10 sacks to a
group of guys that would get around 35 with Bill Parcells's regime.
45 sacks would be Top 10 in the NFL. If we could do that without
adding any additional personel then it helps us out a lot with other
pressing needs because that means we can use our money and
draft picks on our secondary and offensive line.
So with the assumption that we won't make any significant
upgrades in the pass rush department, let's look at how we sit in
this area.
DeMarcus Ware by my estimation is the 2nd best 3-4 OLB in the
NFL. He is right behind Shawne Merriman, but he may jump ahead
after a season under Phillips. Ware's season was amazing. His
11.5 sacks is more than Joey Porter or Adalius Thomas have every
had in a season.
We have question marks opposite Ware, but we have three guys
who could potentially fill this role. Greg Ellis appears to be
rehabbing quite well. I don't see him being the full-time guy at
SOLB due to his limitations in coverage, but he should contribute.
Bobby Carpenter really came on in the play-off game last season,
but I look at him more as an ILB that can play OLB pretty well.
Looking at Carpenter's skill set, I'd guess that he would notch 5-7
sacks in a full-time role next season. It would obviously be better if
you could get more than that from your SOLB and let Carpenter get
those 5-7 sacks at ILB in Phillips' aggressive scheme. The wildcard
here is Kevin Burnett. He is a great athlete and he looked really
good in the Titans game shadowing Vince Young. He is
undersized, but he can play the position. He isn't a dynamic pass
rusher (although he isn't bad), but he would be perfect in a platoon
with Greg Ellis.
At ILB we have James, Ayodele, and Carpenter in the mix. We
never blitzed our ILBs last year but I expect that to change.
Ayodele played DE in college, so you can't tell me he can't be a
good blitzer. James hasn't been blitzed enough for me to know if
he is very good. Carpenter is exactly what you are looking for in a
blitzing LB. He had 8 sacks his senior year in college doing mostly
that.
The main position we need improvement at is DE. Spears, Canty,
and Hatcher have to generate some type of pass rush. Pass
rushing isn't the #1 priority for DEs in a 3-4, but it is a priority. He
need 12-15 sacks from that unit.
So there it is. We are going to try and improve our pass rush from
within with Wade Phillips. A healthy Greg Ellis would help, but
remember our pass rush wasn't very good even with him last
season. The real key is if we can rack up sacks from the ILB and
DE positions. If we can, our defense could be dominant next
season.