The new football season is just over one month away and the cold weather can’t get here soon enough if you ask me. I’ve had enough sun-bathing; it’s time to smash mouths.
In this series we will preview a new team every day until the opener between The Champs and The Pack on Sept. 4. By the time that game roles around you’ll be well-versed in all 32 teams, and already getting into the zone of not paying attention to your wife/girlfriend on Sundays. Today we begin in the NFC East with the Dallas Cowboys.
Tony Romo is coming off his second back surgery in less than a year, and at 34 years old might be a little fragile in the pocket (hence the signing of former first-round pick Brandon Weeden.) If he can stay healthy there is no shortage of weapons for him to get the ball to as Dez Bryant, Jason Witten, and Terrance Williams can all give opposing defenses some serious problems. Dallas ranked 16th on offense last year, but new play-caller Scott Linehan will look to improve upon that, and definitely has the weapons to create an upper echelon passing attack.
LG Ronald Leary pulled a hamstring and has been placed on the PUP list. In his stead veteran Mackenzy Bernadeau has been getting the first-team reps and seems to be impressing the coaching staff, so it looks like Leary will have some work to do to reclaim his job. Either way the Cowboys look to have a very strong offensive line led by one of the best tackles in the game Tyron Smith, and Travis Frederick who is emerging as an elite center.
The Dallas D-line is as bad as their O-line is good, so it doesn’t help that their best defensive lineman Anthony Spencer will start the year on the PUP list. Spencer only played in one game last season and will be coming back off microfracture surgery. He will probably be good to go by midseason, but whether or not he can once again be the Anthony Spencer of 2012 remains to be seen.
The Cowboys lost Jason Hatcher to their arch-rivals in D.C. but signed Henry Melton from Chicago to be his replacement. The DT is coming off ACL surgery and should be ready to practice soon. He only played three games last year and so much like Spencer, Dallas will be hoping he returns to his Pro Bowl form of 2012.
Last year rookie SS J.J. Wilcox had to deal with the death of his mother as well as a knee injury and wasn’t able to establish himself as the starter. His replacement was Jeff Heath who had a terrible year. Wilcox is a freak athlete with super speed, and Dallas is going to need him to step up this year or teams will continue to exploit that glaring weakness in the secondary.
The biggest problem America’s Team faces going into this season is the loss of their best linebacker Sean Lee. Last season Lee recorded 99 tackles and four pics despite missing five games. He tore his ACL and meniscus on the first day of OTAs and is unfortunately done for the season. Not only is he the heart of the Dallas D, but the ‘Boys don’t have much depth at LB so this injury is a huge loss.
On the first day of camp Justin Durant was working alone with coaches to learn the signal calls, so expect the MLB job to be his to lose. Anthony Hitchens, DeVonte Holloman, and newly acquired Rolando McClain are also in the mix.
VERDICT: Last year the Dallas defense allowed 6,645 yards – the third-most all-time. They also gave up 388 first downs which was second-worst ever. They didn’t do much to improve the D in the offseason due to salary cap constraints so I don’t see how this defense can perform better this year – despite the addition of new coordinator Rod Marinelli. Defense wins championships and Big D looks more like Little D to me.
Article By: Anthony Schiano
