Dallas trades first and second round picks for the number six spot and drafts Morris Claiborne.
Dallas was not in a position to spend its first two picks on one player, no matter how good that player is. They cannot address the pass rush, the offensive line or the No. 3 wide receiver spot until the third round at the earliest. The Cowboys made themselves better at cornerback, which is fine, but they failed to improve in a couple of other areas where they need help.
Cowboys uniforms virtually unchanged now that Nike has taken over equipment license.
Dez Bryant Detained
WFAA reports Dez Bryant was detained Sunday night at a Miami nightclub after an altercation.
Cowboys down 10 with 7:00 to go Rally and win in overtime on the arm of Tony Romo
Laurent Robinson Wants to Stay
Speaking on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM’s Ben and Skin Show, Laurent Robinson expressed his desire to stay with the Cowboys, regardless of what his role might be on the team. He added, “Money doesn’t drive me to play this game. I play because I like to have fun. I think I have a good fit here with the Cowboys.”
Blind Item - Cheating Quarterback
I don’t normally go in for player personal life gossip, but I promised stuff you might not find elsewhere. Also, this could potentially be a big deal.
Via Gawker and Crazy Days and Nights:
“This NFL quarterback is cheating on his pregnant wife with this Twilight actress he met at a charity event over the holidays.”
There are only three quarterbacks in the NFL right now with pregnant wives, and you probably are very familiar with one of them.
Dave Campo Out as DB Coach
ESPN Dallas is reporting Dave Campo will not be back next season as defensive backs coach for the Cowboys.
The 2011 Dallas Cowboys: Post-mortem
You may have noticed a lack of reaction posts for the loss to the Giants. Apologies for that, but I thought I would spare you all a post that repeatedly used the phrases “dickless” and “hurdled Newman.”
So… the 2011 Cowboys. What will history say about this team? Nothing. What should Cowboys fans say about this team? Nothing too nice and nothing too spiteful. The record sums it up pretty neatly. 8-8. Absolute mediocrity. For every fleeting moment of success, there was an equally crushing defeat. Despite that, this team still controlled its destiny in Week 17… and that control was squandered.
(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Where does this team go from here? Quite specifically, the team needs to address deficiencies in the usual problem areas — the secondary and offensive line. I would also add help at inside linebacker to the grocery list. There’s no way that the season finale didn’t fully expose Terrence Newman and Keith Brooking as being liabilities, to put it nicely. Mike Jenkins is not reliable healthwise, and Orlando Scandrick and Alan Ball have trouble making plays on the ball when the opportunities present themselves.
I am not of the opinion that any coaching changes are necessary. Jason Garrett’s one glaring mistake this year (the Arizona kicker icing) will live on in infamy, but it’s a tiny blip on a radar showing nothing but competency otherwise. Rob Ryan rightfully accepted blame for the defense’s repeated failures, but aside from the Philadelphia games, there didn’t appear to be any problems with schemes — just the personnel’s capacity to execute them and on-field communication. A full offseason will bring younger players up to speed on the more complex schemes Ryan hoped to implement this season, and hopefully address the issue of late game collapses along with some upgrades at the aforementioned positions.
The worst part about this season is Tony Romo responded to criticism and posted a career year in a losing effort. With a patchwork offensive line and lack of running game until DeMarco Murray’s brief emergence, Tony Romo played stellar football through debilitating injuries and less-than-ideal surrounding circumstances. When the defense surrendered late-game leads, Romo marched the team down the field and put them in position to stay in the game or win. Missed/blocked field goals, dropped third-down passes, false starts, missed assignments, botched snaps, wrong routes — Romo contended with all of this and still posted dazzling numbers. Cowboys fans owe Tony Romo the courtesy of this offseason not including any “Can he be the guy?” questions/comments/concerns. He can be the guy even when he doesn’t have a fully-functioning team around him.
The questions/comments/concerns for fans should be: “Can we find an inside linebacker with a nose for the ball who can complement Sean Lee and maybe help close holes over the middle in pass defense?” “Should we draft safety or cornerback?” “What can we get in trade for Felix Jones?” “Will we re-sign Anthony Spencer?” “Can we afford to keep Laurent Robinson?”
So, that’s it for this year. Follow tCB for offseason news. We know you can find out about player movement anywhere, so we’ll try our best to post only breaking news and juicy rumors. Thanks for reading.
PJ’s Reaction: Week 16 - Eagles 20, Cowboys 7
The Cowboys Blog is taking the day off, much like the team did versus the Eagles.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
All I’ll say is the the one good thing to come out of this game is now all the fans who call for Stephen McGee any time Romo’s performance dips can shut up for ever and ever.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
Prime Time
The Cowboys at Giants game has been officially flexed to 7:30 CST on Sunday, according to @ESPN_NFCEast.
PJ’s Reaction: Week 15 - Cowboys 31, Buccaneers 15
Is it too much to ask to blow out a woeful team for more than 2 quarters? The 2011 Dallas Cowboys’ answer is: Yes.
A two-score win over a team whose fans are wearing paper bags over their heads?
(AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Sure they made it out of Tampa with a win, but this team continues to let teams back into games in the second half. Romo’s fumble to start the third quarter was the absolute worst way the team could’ve come out to start the second half, and it opened the door for Tampa to close the margin to two scores before the start of the fourth quarter. Against a team that was 4-9 and seemed incapable of much of anything in the first half, that’s just not good enough.
It’s hard to lay any blame on Romo with the way he’s been playing since the Detroit game. He is simply on a tear. But even he knows that one mistake can be very costly at this point of the season. The fumble was a combination of things. It was an overly aggressive playcall by Jason Garrett on 3rd and 19 inside the 20. It was a poor decision by Romo to try and stretch out the play (though he had much success doing so in the first half). Situationally, it was just unnecessary and it proved to be a mistake that gave Tampa some life in a game which should’ve been a complete blowout.
Games like this wear on teams. How nice would it have been to be able to sit some of the starters part of the fourth quarter because the four possession lead had been preserved? How nice would it have been for the defense to be able to exclusively sit back in coverage and force Josh Freeman to make some mistakes?
One bright spot in this game, aside from Romo’s continued great play, is Felix Jones appears to finally get how to run between the tackles. Funny what almost losing your job does to your aptitude.
This was simply the first step for Dallas in maintaining control of their own destiny. It could’ve been a bold one, but it ended up being a little unsure. Still, as Tony Romo pointed out in a post-game interview, the Cowboys are sitting in a very similar position to the 2010 Green Bay Packers, who were also 8-6 at this point in the season. So… there’s that.
Solid Tony Romo game alert:
23/30, 249 yards, 3 TD (1 rushing TD) 0 INT, 133.9 passer rating
