C'mon Get Happy
Friday, September 08, 2006 2:34 PM
by wparchman
Maybe I don’t need to do this after a three-win swing in a positive direction from ‘04 to ‘05, but I feel as if a lot of Cowboys fans don’t appreciate the team before them and the potential greatness they possess (just keep repeating “7-3… 7-3″). This is a solid team folks, and here are five reasons why I believe we need to be grinning from ear to ear until Opening Day, which is rather alarmingly this Sunday. How exciting is that? This is my Christmas, I swear.
It’s not me being a homer or glazing over the issues, but every once in awhile you’ve got to take a step back and appreciate, and I don’t think we do that enough, and I know I don’t. I’ll scatter the other five into articles during the rest of the season to remind you that this team has a great shot at taking the NFC, and not exclusively in ‘06 either.
- Bill Parcells is still our coach. Unless you’ve become extremely cynical and jaded of the old feller, you understand what he has done in three short years. We’ve gone from Dwayne Goodrich to Anthony Henry… from Kevin Hardy to DeMarcus Ware… from Tony McGee to Jason Witten. I mean honestly, look at Chad Hutchinson’s picture and tell me we’re not a million times better off than we were three years ago. He’s done about all he could in the time he has been given, so don’t let the rumblings from the peanut gallery distract you. The growing depth and incresingly professional attitude we’re seeing is simply a product of fine coaching and the great legacy behind it.
- Drew Bledsoe had his best season in three years and the second best season in his last eight, and he did so behind an amateur offensive line and under the guidance of an erratic playcaller. He made it work here, and despite another year of wear on those beleaguered, wooden-statue legs of his, the man can still quarterback a championship caliber team if the pieces are in place around him. Why not this year?
- The defense is coming into its own. A 10th overall statistical ranking for a first-year 3-4 is almost unheard of… but this is no regular 3-4. This is Parcells’ scheme we’re talking about, and however shaky it looked in its first August, it recovered to pretty serious form. Of course the defense was playing nickel and 4-3 from time-to-time, but even with the 60-80% of plays the scheme was seeing by the end of the year, a top 10 ranking doesn’t just fall out of the sky. With the amount of rookies contributing in big, big ways in ‘05, give me one reason why the defense won’t soar next season. If one off-season had that kind of effect, aren’t you just trembling with anticipation to see the product of two?
- Jerry Jones is finally dolling out money to people we’ve heard of. It’s not like Jerry has ever been a prude with his mulah, but during those Campo-Gailey years he was fiscally conservative and almost never made his foray into the world of big name free agency. Not so anymore. Maybe because he has confidence in his coaches he is now able to spend with gusto, or maybe because Dan Snyder went batty with his money and he feels the need to swing the balance of power back to Texas. Whatever the reason, one of the most well known owners in all of professional sports will be striking fear into his fellow big-wigs’ hearts because he has all the money and they know it. When mixed in with the fact that he’s backed off the day-to-day operations within the actual inner-workings of the depth chart and player management, it’s a no-brainer - Jerral W. Jones has grown into one helluva dangerous owner.
- The Cowboys have as good a blend of young and veteran talent as any team in the NFC. I don’t know about you, but it makes me smile to see Aaron Glenn and Terence Newman play alongside each other, because I know one is giving the other all of the advice, knowledge and general know-how he’s picked up over his years in the league, and the other is soaking it all in. We see this everywhere within the organization, and not just between the players. As the Cowboys of the 90’s proved, a fusion of young and old is necessary to form the titanium-strong bond that will win championships and this team has got it in spades. That is yet another thing Parcells has brought to the organization, which ties everything together nicely.
I could just as easily talk about how this whole Mike Vanderjagt situation has spiraled (BP said today that Suisham will probably start on Sunday - doh!) or how TO is the definition of a wild card, but this right here, this time before the season, this is an era of good feelings. Everyone is 0-0, as coaches love to trumpet. I hate the Steelers and couldn't care less about the Dolphins, but I watched every minute of that game last night. I even endured those hideous new ref jerseys. Do I get a purple medal for that or something?
Again, my aim is not to sound like a homer but to provide you with an extra spring in your step in the hopes that the general Cowboys populace understands what they’re sitting on, here. Despite the previous two playoff-less seasons, don’t let the Redskins fans fool you - this team is poised to do some serious damage. If a #6 seed can knock of the top three seeds in their division (on the road) and the #1 seed in the other, there is hope for us all.
by wparchman
Maybe I don’t need to do this after a three-win swing in a positive direction from ‘04 to ‘05, but I feel as if a lot of Cowboys fans don’t appreciate the team before them and the potential greatness they possess (just keep repeating “7-3… 7-3″). This is a solid team folks, and here are five reasons why I believe we need to be grinning from ear to ear until Opening Day, which is rather alarmingly this Sunday. How exciting is that? This is my Christmas, I swear.
It’s not me being a homer or glazing over the issues, but every once in awhile you’ve got to take a step back and appreciate, and I don’t think we do that enough, and I know I don’t. I’ll scatter the other five into articles during the rest of the season to remind you that this team has a great shot at taking the NFC, and not exclusively in ‘06 either.
- Bill Parcells is still our coach. Unless you’ve become extremely cynical and jaded of the old feller, you understand what he has done in three short years. We’ve gone from Dwayne Goodrich to Anthony Henry… from Kevin Hardy to DeMarcus Ware… from Tony McGee to Jason Witten. I mean honestly, look at Chad Hutchinson’s picture and tell me we’re not a million times better off than we were three years ago. He’s done about all he could in the time he has been given, so don’t let the rumblings from the peanut gallery distract you. The growing depth and incresingly professional attitude we’re seeing is simply a product of fine coaching and the great legacy behind it.
- Drew Bledsoe had his best season in three years and the second best season in his last eight, and he did so behind an amateur offensive line and under the guidance of an erratic playcaller. He made it work here, and despite another year of wear on those beleaguered, wooden-statue legs of his, the man can still quarterback a championship caliber team if the pieces are in place around him. Why not this year?
- The defense is coming into its own. A 10th overall statistical ranking for a first-year 3-4 is almost unheard of… but this is no regular 3-4. This is Parcells’ scheme we’re talking about, and however shaky it looked in its first August, it recovered to pretty serious form. Of course the defense was playing nickel and 4-3 from time-to-time, but even with the 60-80% of plays the scheme was seeing by the end of the year, a top 10 ranking doesn’t just fall out of the sky. With the amount of rookies contributing in big, big ways in ‘05, give me one reason why the defense won’t soar next season. If one off-season had that kind of effect, aren’t you just trembling with anticipation to see the product of two?
- Jerry Jones is finally dolling out money to people we’ve heard of. It’s not like Jerry has ever been a prude with his mulah, but during those Campo-Gailey years he was fiscally conservative and almost never made his foray into the world of big name free agency. Not so anymore. Maybe because he has confidence in his coaches he is now able to spend with gusto, or maybe because Dan Snyder went batty with his money and he feels the need to swing the balance of power back to Texas. Whatever the reason, one of the most well known owners in all of professional sports will be striking fear into his fellow big-wigs’ hearts because he has all the money and they know it. When mixed in with the fact that he’s backed off the day-to-day operations within the actual inner-workings of the depth chart and player management, it’s a no-brainer - Jerral W. Jones has grown into one helluva dangerous owner.
- The Cowboys have as good a blend of young and veteran talent as any team in the NFC. I don’t know about you, but it makes me smile to see Aaron Glenn and Terence Newman play alongside each other, because I know one is giving the other all of the advice, knowledge and general know-how he’s picked up over his years in the league, and the other is soaking it all in. We see this everywhere within the organization, and not just between the players. As the Cowboys of the 90’s proved, a fusion of young and old is necessary to form the titanium-strong bond that will win championships and this team has got it in spades. That is yet another thing Parcells has brought to the organization, which ties everything together nicely.
I could just as easily talk about how this whole Mike Vanderjagt situation has spiraled (BP said today that Suisham will probably start on Sunday - doh!) or how TO is the definition of a wild card, but this right here, this time before the season, this is an era of good feelings. Everyone is 0-0, as coaches love to trumpet. I hate the Steelers and couldn't care less about the Dolphins, but I watched every minute of that game last night. I even endured those hideous new ref jerseys. Do I get a purple medal for that or something?
Again, my aim is not to sound like a homer but to provide you with an extra spring in your step in the hopes that the general Cowboys populace understands what they’re sitting on, here. Despite the previous two playoff-less seasons, don’t let the Redskins fans fool you - this team is poised to do some serious damage. If a #6 seed can knock of the top three seeds in their division (on the road) and the #1 seed in the other, there is hope for us all.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:59 PM
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