Cowboy Corner: Will Miles Austin be a Cowboy in 2010?

Cowboys Offseason

Sportsbook Super Bowl Odds (for XLV): Cowboys +1215

NFC Odds (5Dimes Reviews): Cowboys +685

Is There A Chance Miles Austin Will Not Be A Cowboy In 2010?

After a breakout, Pro Bowl season, there is no question that wide receiver Miles Austin has plenty of value that the Dallas Cowboys not only want, but rely upon. After Terrell Owens departed and Roy Williams never filled his shoes, Austin stepped up and led the wide receiving corps.

The Cowboys brass is saying all of the right things, but fans can’t help but be a little nervous right now.

Austin is a free agent, although he is of the restricted variety. The good news is that the Cowboys can use a tender on him and it would take an opposing team to really make an effort above and beyond the call of duty to pry him from the Cowboys.

But that is possible – just ask the Seattle Seahawks when they lost Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson in a similar situation a few years ago.

The best way to secure Austin would be to either sign him to a long term contract or franchise tag him. The latter method would cost the team just under $10 million, which isn’t appealing and the former way is dicey considering there is no collective bargaining agreement beyond this year.

Right now, Austin is in the driver’s seat. Whether he gets the franchise tag or a long term deal, or is courted by another team for a lucrative contract, he should be thinking big for his next contract.

What the Cowboys are most likely to do is give him the highest restrictive free agency tender, which would mean two things:

For starters, any team that signed him would have to give a first- and third-round pick to the Cowboys in return if Austin did leave and sign with the new team and also, the Cowboys would have the option to match any deal that Austin would agree to with the new team.

Most NFL picks are expecting the Cowboys to use that tender because there won’t be many NFL teams that want to give up first and a third for him. At the same time, most NFL teams won’t find a receiver as good as Austin in the first round of the 2010 draft, so they might be tempted.

At the end of the day, expect Austin to be a Cowboy but there is some anxiety considering he isn’t locked up quite yet.

Cowboy Corner: Cowboys Offseason Report

Cowboys Offseason

Super Bowl Odds (for XLV): Cowboys +1215

NFC Odds (BetEd Reviews): Cowboys +685

Return Of Folk Just A Folk Story

It is the offseason, which means that there will be lots of rumors and conjecture flying around. Case and point: recently, there were rumors that the Cowboys may bring back kicker Nick Folk into the fold.

On the surface, it might not seem that crazy considering Folk was a Pro Bowl kicker just two years ago but the reality is a little bit further from that. Folk struggled mightily this year to the point where he cost his team games. The Cowboys, who have been a little on the frail side mentally in past years, can’t afford to lose confidence because of missed field goals.

Folk blamed punter/holder Matt McBriar for his misses.

Regardless, it is very doubtful that Folk comes back for a tryout of any sorts.

On that note, kicker Matt Stover, who was steady for the AFC Champion Indianapolis Colts this year, expressed interest in kicking for the Cowboys next season. The 42-year-old was the oldest kicker in the league this year and the Cowboys may opt to go younger.

Felix Jones The Starter?

The Dallas Cowboys have plenty of depth in their backfield and many Cowboys fans are starting to draw up the pecking order for next year. One thing is for sure: Felix Jones definitely deserves a bigger role.

Jones could very well be the starter heading into the 2010 season as Marion Barber really tapered off to finish the year while Jones came on. Barber is supposed to be the power back but he struggled in short yardage situations in 2009, which really opened some eyes.

The biggest dilemma at this point is the fact that the Cowboys have three excellent running backs but none of them seem to stay healthy. Jones is the most explosive weapon but he has played in just 20 games through two seasons. Marion Barber, who is supposed to be the hammer, was nicked up this year while Tashard Choice also missed some time.

Internet betting fans know that the Cowboys plan to be a Super Bowl contender in 2010 but they have to figure out their backfield situation to start.

The early speculation is that Jones will start and Barber or Choice may be traded in the offseason. But if the Cowboys truly plan to contend, keep all three for depth would be the best move.

Ending With a Thud

Woof.

That sucked.

I was thinking about ending my analysis of the ass-kicking the Dallas Cowboys received right there. And frankly, that probably would have sufficed.

Not a whole lot to say about this game, really. In-depth analysis is far from necessary. But keep reading for a few more thoughts on yet another Cowboys season that ends without a championship.

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How to Survive the Homerdome OR We’ve Got Questions

Guess we can’t really call it that anymore now can we?

For the Dallas Cowboys, a victory on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings can come in a variety of forms.

Check out how they can pull off a win, why I have so many questions and maybe even a prediction for the contest after the jump. Read more

Party at the Death Star: Dallas Cowboys beat Philadelphia Eagles 34-14

So I was a little bit off on the score. Sue me.

Right now, I’ve got a smile on my face that I’m pretty sure is bigger than the one Miles Austin has when he scores.

That game wasn’t even as close as the 20-point final margin. If it hadn’t been for a ton of penalties and one particularly stupid decision by Mike Jenkins, there might have been 50 points scored by the good guys tonight.

A few more observations on a win 13 years in the making after the jump. Read more

Clear Eyes, Full Heart…

Bob Sturm had a very unnerving statistic in his Friday breakdown today:

Under Andy Reid, the Philadelphia Eagles are 7-0 in first round playoff games.

Not exactly great odds for Jerry’s Wade’s bunch.

I’ve tried to put this post off as long as I could. But for the first week of school, it has gone by remarkably fast. Perhaps the big guy upstairs knows how nervous I am about this game.

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The Rev Speaks: Lunacy in Lubbock

Close the confessional door, allegiant acolyte.  It’s high time for The Rev to come clean.  What’s that, devoted disciple?  You say there’s a long line of parishioners standing in the transepts waiting to be heard?  Please tell them I’ll be available for spiritual counseling in a few moments.  (Perhaps they could sing a few bars of “Amazing Grace” in the interim.  That’s always been one of my favorite hymns.)  It has been far too long since The Rev last turned God’s microscope upon himself.  Please accept my ardent apologies, boys and girls, for failing to post a new column lo these many months.  In between changing diapers (or, more accurately, cheering on The Better Half as she does it), watching scores of Elmo and Wonder Pets videos, grading exams, and compiling research for a doctoral dissertation, all journalistic endeavors have lain fallow.

It seems as if The Rev picked the wrong time to enjoy a little sabbatical.  These past ten weeks have provided enough examples of athletes behaving badly to keep bloggers and talk shows busy for an eternity.  At first I thought about discussing Tiger’s seemingly endless parade of prurient paramours, or the wholesale redemption of Dirk’s character and basketball career.  It is certainly telling to compare and contrast the two superstars, especially how their choice of girlfriends played a direct role in their respective athletic prowess and reputations.  While Dirk is unmarried, and therefore technically free to fraternize with any vile assortment of lounge lizards, his game away from the court nearly sabotaged his game upon it.  Ever since he wisely jettisoned the Keitha-like Cristal Taylor—only after being thoroughly mocked and humiliated—Dirk’s stats have never been better.  He is putting up some of the best numbers of his career, now that he is finally liberated from paternal and financial worry.  Tiger, on the other hand, is buried deep.  As Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News wisely reminds us, the only way Tiger won’t win more than 18 majors is if he develops a bad back and/or a bad marriage.  In this writer’s humble opinion, the Golden Bear can now sleep peacefully at night.  Tiger will find the going very tough if and when he returns to the PGA Tour.  It’s got to be hard to concentrate on golf when a scorned Swedish model/nanny is nearby, angrily clutching a nine-iron.

The Rev is just not that eager to listen to confessions from either Tiger or Dirk (especially because they have already been punished enough by the relentlessly harsh klieg light of public opinion).  Besides, the Apostle Paul emphatically states that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3.23).  Therefore, I will spare the dead horse from yet another beating.  It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) that no mere human words can trump the enduring truth of Scripture.

No, brothers and sisters, let us instead turn our attention to the vast West Texas plains.  Lubbock to be precise, where the once-impervious pirate ship is rapidly foundering.  Wednesday morning Chief Pirate Mike Leach was hastily forced to walk the plank.  Yes, dear readers, this website is indeed entitled Dallas Sports Fans, but since the Metroplex is filled with passionate Red Raiders, it behooves us all to devote a few paragraphs to Guns Up Nation.  Much has already been written, and much will continue to be written, about this developing situation.  As a result, The Rev isn’t really breaking any news here.  I readily admit to having no inside information about this fiasco (although both my father and older brother at one time walked the bucolic campus of Texas Tech University; I also attended a school whose colors are black and red), so I will try to offer a unique perspective.  Since I am a relative dilettante in all matters Red Raider, I will not concern myself with whether or not Leach actually locked Adam James in an equipment shed; or whether or not James was routinely castigated for lack of effort and a poor attitude; or whether or not Leach’s arrogant refusal to reconcile with the University hastened his departure; or how James’ teammates feel about their former coach; or even how high-powered alums react to this fascinating coup d’etat.   Mistreating a “student athlete,” especially one dealing with the lingering hazardous effects of a concussion, is always unacceptable.  But is this a fire-able offense?  (Yes, I know that Kansas fired Mark “Happy Meal” Mangino for considerably less, but still.  What is it with those Big 12 coaches?)  The Rev can’t help but wonder, however, what would have happened if the player in question had been John Smith from San Marcos, son of a humble electrician.  Would this divisive issue have been handled differently?  Is it not tenable to posit that Mother Mouse Ears (ESPN) coerced AD Gerald Myers’ usually forgiving hand?  Remember, this is the same man who extended a lengthy olive branch to the always-cantankerous and controversial Bob Knight.  More than eight years ago, The General—also, like The Pirate, a proven winner who ran a clean program and graduated his players—was the equivalent of swine flu, cast off by Indiana and regarded as a pariah.  Yet there was Myers, who displayed tremendous audacity in hiring Knight, in the process giving him a second (and third) chance.  Knight, of course, rapidly reincarnated and reinvigorated the then-moribund Tech Basketball program.  Why, then, was Myers so quick to throw Leach overboard, even before hearing all sides of the story?  Did Myers act upon purely speculative information, or is he privy to facts that the rest of are not?  Could Leach’s alleged abuse of a player be viewed in the same way as Knight’s verbal assault of the Tech chancellor in February 2004?  Knight’s testy encounter with Dr. David Smith in the produce section of a Lubbock grocery store was also an explosive event which was plastered on the front page of myriad newspapers across the country.  After days of deliberation, and after Knight was allowed to apologize before the Board of Regents, Myers labeled the incident a “misunderstanding” and fully reinstated Knight.  The General then coached for three-and-a-half more largely successful years afterwards.  Again, I am not one to judge.  If I so much as skin my knee while chasing after my daughter I moan and whine interminably like Peter Griffin.  If I were in James’ shoes I, too, would have seriously questioned Leach’s bellicose actions.

So why did the powers-that-be at Tech move so quickly (blindly?) to dismiss Leach.  Could it perhaps be the fact that the domineering specter of ESPN was looming overhead?  How soon we all forget last year, when Leach guided the Red Raiders to an astonishing 11-1 record, a Top 10 ranking, and, were it not for a hideously inept sixty minutes against Zero U, a BCS Bowl bid.  This time last year The Pirate was widely hailed as an eccentric genius.  Yet now, at 8-4 and headed to the mediocrity that is the Alamo Bowl, Leach’s impression of Captain Jack Sparrow is viewed as both dangerous and embarrassing.  (Thanks to fellow St. Mark’s grad Scott Tinkham for this insightful HSO.  Looks like he really did learn something at Jersey Shore Duke.)  Every parent who sent their son to play basketball at Texas Tech knew the risks involved with playing for the always-unpredictable Knight.  With Leach, however, the circumstances are quite different since, after all, he had no priors of misbehavior.  However, even the most oblivious parent surely understands the likelihood that egocentric college football coaches might berate and bully their sons on occasion.  Is it far-fetched to assume that Florida’s retired-for-now Urban Meyer or Nick Saban at Alabama (both known to be extremely demanding coaches, yet each wearing rings to prove the method in their madness) never once doubted their players’ manhood or stretched them way beyond their physical threshold?  Granted, if Leach indeed forced James to sit in a sweltering shed, that is a far worse offense than ordering a few extra wind sprints.  Nonetheless, I ask once again: is this truly a fire-able offense for a coach with a heretofore clean ledger?  Is it also a fatuous assumption that had James’ father been a media personality with, say, Versus or Fox Sports Panhandle, that Leach would still be the head ball coach at Texas Tech?  Besides, what does any Division I school crave more than winning games?  Visibility and money.  Playing on ESPN assures both in spades for the Red Raiders.  Unfortunately, now that Tech has fired Leach, their most marketable personality has suddenly vanished.  (No disrespect to Ruffin McNeill, but a betting man would guess that Tech will lose out on many prized recruits without Leach’s intoxicating bottle of rum.  Playing for Tech will now seem like joining The Goonies only after One-Eyed Willie’s mysterious loot has been found.)  Will the Game Day crew be as excited next season to set up shop in Lubbock when the Red Raiders are a boring 1-1 heading into their clash with the Longhorns?

For those too young to remember (myself included), here’s a refresher: Craig James was one of the main reasons (along with the other half of the Pony Express, Eric Dickerson) SMU football was even talked about in the early 80s.  Although James himself was not accused of any wrongdoing when the Mustangs were receiving large sums of money from delusional school boosters, James was a key member of a team (along with WFAA’s intrepid sports reporter Dale Hansen, who isn’t half the reporter that KARK’s Pete Thompson is) that led to the school’s historic Death Penalty (not to be confused with President Obama’s ruinous Death Panel).  And now, here’s James, nearly 30 years later, behind another major football scandal that very well may lead to a death penalty of sorts at Texas Tech.  Without its widely-revered and unabashedly-rarified pirate leader, things may deteriorate for Red Raider football before they improve.  Mutiny on the bounty, indeed.

By the way, for those still doubting the Dallas connection within this column, consider the following hypothetical.  Jerry Jones, in need of a new offensive assistant/QC coach once Wes Phillips is sent packing along with his buttermilk-loving father, reaches out to an innovative Pirate.  Keep in mind, Jerry has always had a soft spot for inveterate swashbuckling svengalis.  Even more intriguing high comedy would be watching Leach “coach up” the massively underachieving orangeblood Roy Williams.  Or perhaps diva Tim Crabtree will demand a trade out of San Francisco to be reunited with his former beloved college coach.  The Dallas Cowboys are never ones to shy away from a soap opera.  Maybe while he’s at it, Leach can even find a unique way to motivate Barbie “Morning Seagull” Carpenter.  Nah, even Jack Sparrow himself would be rendered speechless with that paradox.

Best wishes for a blessed 2010.  Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea . . . He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’  Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true’ (Revelation 21.1, 5).

Here ends the lesson.  And all of God’s people say . . . “Amen!”

Dallas Cowboys vs Philadelphia Eagles Preview

NFL week 17, the Dallas Cowboys will play host to another NFC East division rival, the Philadelphia Eagles. Both the Cowboys & Eagles are playing their best football of the season right now. The Philadelphia Eagles have won 6 straight and clinched a playoff berth. The Dallas Cowboys have won 2 straight and clinched their playoff berth, first the boys beat the Saints when no one gave ‘em a chance and last week they shut out the Redskins. The winner of this weeks game will clinch the NFC East Division. Let’s compare the teams and see how they matchup on paper.

History
Last Meeting:
Week 9 – Cowboys 20 @ Eagles 16

Last Season:
Week 2 – Cowboys 41 vs Eagles 37
Week 17 – Cowboys 6 @ Philadelphia 44

Advantage: Cowboys, the boys are 2 and 1 in the last 3 meetings and are playing at Cowboys Stadium.

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Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins Preview

The Dallas Cowboys won in December and we are all back on the bandwagon (myself included) after holding on to beat the New Orleans Saints. The game would have been a lock, but Nick Folk missed another chip shot that would have put the Cowboys up by 10. So instead we all had to bite are nails while Drew Brees and the Saints tried to tie the game up, but the Dallas defense was up to the task. This week the Cowboys told Nick to Folk off and have replaced him with Shaun Suisham who was cut from the Washington Redskins after missing a kick against the Saints in week 13. Have no fear though he is 18 of 21 on the season unlike Folk who is 18 of 28. And all of you Romo haters out there, you must realize that the jedi powers have returned, seriously would you want to even play real money poker with him right now? I think not.

This Week
The Cowboys will play the hated Washington Redskins at FedEx Field, and it will be interesting to see which Redskins team shows up on Sunday. Will it be the team that was blown out by the Giants or the team that lost to New Orleans by only 3? The Dallas Cowboys need to win regardless, because if they lose the win over New Orleans will be meaningless. Hopefully the Cowboys can play the way they did last week, which is the best I have witnessed for a long time.

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The Romo Era: Dallas Cowboys Record in December and January

A lot of research went into this post (that was meant to drop last week), so this one’s pretty lengthy.

THE ROMO ERA – RECORD IN DECEMBER/JANUARY

2006 – Romo takes over for Bledsoe in Week 7 against the Giants, knocking off the undefeated Colts at home in Week 11. Last year of the Tuna.

Dallas Cowboys: 7-4 entering December.

Week 13 – Win @NYG 23-20. The Martin Gramatica game. Cowboys move to 8-4, four-game winning streak. (NYG: 6-6 after loss)

Week 14 – Loss v. NO 42-17. My Tony Romo jersey (throwback version of course) leaves the shelves of the gift shop. Drew Brees throws for like a million yards. 8-5. (NO: 9-4 after win)

Week 15 – Win @ATL 38-28. DeMarcus Ware runs in a fumble for a touchdown. T.O. scores 2. 9-5. (ATL: 7-7)

Week 16 – Loss v. PHI 23-7. Offense does nothing. Philly wins division (basically) in Texas Stadium. 9-6. (PHI: 9-6)

Week 17 – Loss v. DET 39-31. Not the 0-16 version, but pretty damn bad. Kitna comes in and kills the defense. Playoff spot is unchanged. 9-7. (DET: 3-13)

2006 December record: 2-3. Playoffs made, L @ Seattle. (Need I say more?)

2007 – A bit of a tough year to look at the December record for a couple of reasons. One – the Cowboys beat the Packers on Thursday night (Favre knocked out, Rodgers plays well, but ‘Boys win) November 29. So the rest of the league played in December that week. Also, the last week of the season was meaningless. (A Wade excuse, I know, but when Romo plays only a quarter, the Dallas Cowboys probably aren’t going win if Tony Romo doesn’t play the whole game.)

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