Express speed not Super...yet
By JIM REEVES
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
There's no such thing as a Cowboys' bandwagon around here. It's more like an express train.
That whistle you heard Monday night was the Cowboys Express, complete with "Super Bowl or Bust" banner streaming in the wind, leaving the station. I trust that you're aboard and in the club car, celebrating with an appropriate ice-cold beverage.
Why wouldn't you be? After all, the Cowboys destroyed the formidable Saints in Shreveport. Who can stop them now?
If I seemed to be mumbling over that last statement, it's because I'm trying to talk around a tongue planted firmly in cheek. I suggest clipping and re-reading colleague Gil LeBreton's Tuesday morning missive from steamy Shreveport for perspective.
Try to remember, it was just the perennially rebuilding Saints, and it was only a preseason game.
But heaven forbid I get in the way of that train.
Monday night was the best and worst of all worlds. Best, because hopefully, yet another media-fueled quarterback controversy was nipped in the bud. Worst, because the ease with which the Cowboys disposed of the Saints will only multiply the silly Super Bowl talk tenfold.
That's understandable, I suppose, but wouldn't it be nice to see the Cowboys win their first playoff game in a decade before making Super Bowl reservations?
That said, in today's parity-driven NFL, teams regularly go from rags to riches. Why not the Cowboys this year?
I can think of a couple reasons, actually, both having to do with that offensive line, but why quibble over rampant ineptitude when the Cowboys are 2-0 in those all-important exhibition games?
Hey, look, I'm not trying to throw a wet blanket on the campfire here, just trying to tap the brakes a little. This absolutely does look like the best Cowboys team Bill Parcells has had in Dallas. The defense might be almost scary good and, in two exhibition games, the offense has appeared to be remarkably efficient, no matter who's starting at quarterback.
But I keep telling myself, it's only preseason. Don't get carried away.
The offensive line is a legitimate worry. Teams aren't game-planning to take advantage of weaknesses yet. That will come all too soon, and, as we saw Monday night when Flozell Adams departed with an injured left calf, depth in the O-line is virtually non-existent.
And I'm afraid I'm probably being optimistic about the so-called quarterback controversy now being laid to rest. That's very likely giving me and my colleagues far too much credit for common sense. Besides, we love having something like that to talk about. Readers read. Callers call. You know the drill.
Still, this latest fantasy that Parcells might seriously be thinking of making Tony Romo the Cowboys' starting quarterback for the season opener in Jacksonville was, well, ludicrous.
Jerry Jones keeps saying it out loud and nobody listens, not that tuning Jerry out is always a bad idea. But this time, he's trying to give us the scoop. The Cowboys have Super Bowl aspirations. It's highly unlikely they can get there behind a quarterback whose total NFL regular-season experience is in taking a knee.
Parcells said it this summer in camp. He needs to know what Romo can do. Maybe he's kicking himself -- and he should be -- for not getting Romo into a few games for some meaningful plays last season. That makes sense.
What Parcells understands is that this offensive line and Bledsoe's lack of mobility is an incendiary combination. Somehow Bledsoe survived 49 sacks last season. His luck -- and the Cowboys' -- isn't likely to hold if that scenario is repeated this year.
And if the Cowboys can be as good as they seem to think they might be, then why watch the season go totally down the drain because Parcells hasn't taken the time to get a backup quarterback ready to play?
When I asked Big Bill during the first week of camp in Oxnard why the Cowboys, a team with obvious playoff aspirations, were keeping Drew Henson around to hold a clipboard instead of bringing in a veteran as a fallback position, he explained that it wasn't as if they hadn't looked for one, but that there just weren't any out there that were any good.
Funny thing, I had the feeling he wasn't talking about replacing a No. 3 quarterback, though. More like a No. 2.
Now, don't go into convulsions here.
I'm just guessing on that, based on the way he answered the question. But that also explains why he wants to get Romo plenty of action in these preseason games. He wants to know what he has, not only in case he's needed this year but for the future, too.
Romo, to his credit, has thus far answered all questions with an exclamation mark.
The problem for the Cowboys when they deny there's a quarterback controversy is that they're talking out of the same mouths that keep telling us that there's no problem between Parcells and Terrell Owens, when we all know there's always a problem between Parcells and players who don't practice.
Always.
Didn't notice the Cowboys missing T.O. much Monday night, did you?
Like I said, though, that was the Saints and it's preseason.
And I also know that you're not listening.
That train has already left the station.
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
There's no such thing as a Cowboys' bandwagon around here. It's more like an express train.
That whistle you heard Monday night was the Cowboys Express, complete with "Super Bowl or Bust" banner streaming in the wind, leaving the station. I trust that you're aboard and in the club car, celebrating with an appropriate ice-cold beverage.
Why wouldn't you be? After all, the Cowboys destroyed the formidable Saints in Shreveport. Who can stop them now?
If I seemed to be mumbling over that last statement, it's because I'm trying to talk around a tongue planted firmly in cheek. I suggest clipping and re-reading colleague Gil LeBreton's Tuesday morning missive from steamy Shreveport for perspective.
Try to remember, it was just the perennially rebuilding Saints, and it was only a preseason game.
But heaven forbid I get in the way of that train.
Monday night was the best and worst of all worlds. Best, because hopefully, yet another media-fueled quarterback controversy was nipped in the bud. Worst, because the ease with which the Cowboys disposed of the Saints will only multiply the silly Super Bowl talk tenfold.
That's understandable, I suppose, but wouldn't it be nice to see the Cowboys win their first playoff game in a decade before making Super Bowl reservations?
That said, in today's parity-driven NFL, teams regularly go from rags to riches. Why not the Cowboys this year?
I can think of a couple reasons, actually, both having to do with that offensive line, but why quibble over rampant ineptitude when the Cowboys are 2-0 in those all-important exhibition games?
Hey, look, I'm not trying to throw a wet blanket on the campfire here, just trying to tap the brakes a little. This absolutely does look like the best Cowboys team Bill Parcells has had in Dallas. The defense might be almost scary good and, in two exhibition games, the offense has appeared to be remarkably efficient, no matter who's starting at quarterback.
But I keep telling myself, it's only preseason. Don't get carried away.
The offensive line is a legitimate worry. Teams aren't game-planning to take advantage of weaknesses yet. That will come all too soon, and, as we saw Monday night when Flozell Adams departed with an injured left calf, depth in the O-line is virtually non-existent.
And I'm afraid I'm probably being optimistic about the so-called quarterback controversy now being laid to rest. That's very likely giving me and my colleagues far too much credit for common sense. Besides, we love having something like that to talk about. Readers read. Callers call. You know the drill.
Still, this latest fantasy that Parcells might seriously be thinking of making Tony Romo the Cowboys' starting quarterback for the season opener in Jacksonville was, well, ludicrous.
Jerry Jones keeps saying it out loud and nobody listens, not that tuning Jerry out is always a bad idea. But this time, he's trying to give us the scoop. The Cowboys have Super Bowl aspirations. It's highly unlikely they can get there behind a quarterback whose total NFL regular-season experience is in taking a knee.
Parcells said it this summer in camp. He needs to know what Romo can do. Maybe he's kicking himself -- and he should be -- for not getting Romo into a few games for some meaningful plays last season. That makes sense.
What Parcells understands is that this offensive line and Bledsoe's lack of mobility is an incendiary combination. Somehow Bledsoe survived 49 sacks last season. His luck -- and the Cowboys' -- isn't likely to hold if that scenario is repeated this year.
And if the Cowboys can be as good as they seem to think they might be, then why watch the season go totally down the drain because Parcells hasn't taken the time to get a backup quarterback ready to play?
When I asked Big Bill during the first week of camp in Oxnard why the Cowboys, a team with obvious playoff aspirations, were keeping Drew Henson around to hold a clipboard instead of bringing in a veteran as a fallback position, he explained that it wasn't as if they hadn't looked for one, but that there just weren't any out there that were any good.
Funny thing, I had the feeling he wasn't talking about replacing a No. 3 quarterback, though. More like a No. 2.
Now, don't go into convulsions here.
I'm just guessing on that, based on the way he answered the question. But that also explains why he wants to get Romo plenty of action in these preseason games. He wants to know what he has, not only in case he's needed this year but for the future, too.
Romo, to his credit, has thus far answered all questions with an exclamation mark.
The problem for the Cowboys when they deny there's a quarterback controversy is that they're talking out of the same mouths that keep telling us that there's no problem between Parcells and Terrell Owens, when we all know there's always a problem between Parcells and players who don't practice.
Always.
Didn't notice the Cowboys missing T.O. much Monday night, did you?
Like I said, though, that was the Saints and it's preseason.
And I also know that you're not listening.
That train has already left the station.
posted by The Gryphon at 9:17 AM
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