Dallas Cowboys Update: Will the Secondary be Improved?

As the Super Bowl betting continues, the Dallas Cowboys are conspicuous by their absence in this year’s playoffs. The 2011 version of the Cowboys put up more of a fight but, in the end, the results were the same as 2010; the Cowboys missed the playoffs. As the off-season is getting ready to begin, there are a lot of questions that surround the Cowboys’ defense. One of the biggest question areas is at safety where the Cowboys had almost no interceptions and could not stop a big play all season long. Safety Abram Elam was signed to a one-year contract worth $2.5 million and Gerald Sensabaugh was signed to a five-year deal worth $22.5 million. It appears that the Cowboys have painted itself into a corner at safety.

The price per head sports experts are quick to point out that the Cowboys signed Sensabaugh to his contract at a time when no other team was showing an interest in the safety. The Cowboys could have gotten Sensabaugh for less, but did not. The problem is that Elam seemed to be more competent at safety and is well-liked by his teammates and coaches. Elam is also in demand with a few other teams. If the Cowboys want to make changes at safety, then it will have to retain Sensabaugh and let Elam go due to current contracts. That is the opposite of what many observers feel is the right thing for the Cowboys to do.

The pay per head sports experts point to bad contract decisions, like the one at safety, as one of the reasons why the Cowboys are going to have a difficult time making personnel changes on defense. The Cowboys are not going to be able to make wholesale changes without taking a financial hit, and some players are not convinced that wholesale changes are even necessary. Pro Bowl linebacker DeMarcus Ware has come out in support of defensive coordinator Rob Ryan and his system. Ware tells fans to be patient and give the defense a full off-season to work things out. A sportsbook review of the current roster shows players that could not flourish under two defensive systems. It will be interesting to see what changes, if any, are made on the Dallas defense.

Despite the surprise ice storm in North Texas on Super Bowl Sunday and the blatant greed that ignited the seating controversy, there is talk that the new Cowboys Stadium will host another Super Bowl in the future. The betonline scam that owner Jerry Jones caused by selling tickets to seats that did not exist was eventually settled out of court and, apparently, forgotten by the league. The rumors are growing stronger as new cities are announced for upcoming Super Bowl years. Both owner Jerry Jones and Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach are giving indications that the NFL could announce another Dallas Super Bowl in the not too distant future. Skeptics are warning that Jones will turn another Super Bowl into an embarrassment if given the chance.

Dallas Cowboys Update: Injuries Piling Up on the Cowboys

The online betting world has been impressed with the way that the Dallas Cowboys have improved its record to 6-4. But the week 11 win over the Washington Redskins was a costly one as the Cowboys have some injuries to overcome prior to its week 12 meeting with the Dolphins. No less that five price per head Dallas players were either seen in some sort of cast at practices early this week, or they were not seen at all.

Most notable among the injuries is the foot injury to safety Gerald Sensabaugh, who hurt his foot just prior to halftime in the Washington game. Sensabaugh was seen wearing a walking cast and hopes to play against the Dolphins. But the Cowboys only have until Thursday to get its team ready as the pay per head week 12 game is a special Thanksgiving Day meeting. Sensabaugh has said that he will see how his foot feels, but the short week is not going to help.

Another notable Cowboy that will not be playing in the Miami game is back-up quarterback Jon Kitna. He suffered a back injury and is still having difficulty moving around. He is not expected to play this week, and it is unknown when he will be able to return.

Other Cowboys hobbled by injuries include wide receiver Miles Austin who is still nursing a hamstring injury, fullback Tony Fiammetta who was ill and back-up cornerback Mike Jenkins who is also out with a hamstring injury. Dallas head coach Jason Garrett has not given any indication on when the injured Cowboys will return or if any of them are expected to play Thursday.

Garrett and the other Dallas coaches spent all Sunday night doing a 5 dimes review of the game tape from the Washington game and preparing for the Dolphins. One of the advantages that Garrett has is that he played for the Cowboys and he is intimately familiar with the challenges of the short week leading up to the Thanksgiving game. His time as a player and assistant coach with the Cowboys makes him uniquely qualified to handle the strain and pressure of the short Thanksgiving week.

The NFL fans in Dallas are completely behind their quarterback Tony Romo, but Romo’s lack of concentration in week 11 almost cost the Cowboys the game. With time ticking down on the clock as the Cowboys were preparing for the winning field goal in overtime, Romo reached up to call a timeout. The problem is that the Cowboys had already used both of its overtime timeouts and had none left. If the referees would have awarded the timeout to Romo, then it would have been a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. But, luckily for Romo, Washington head coach Mike Shanahan was calling a timeout at the same time to ice the Dallas kicker. The referees awarded Washington its timeout and Dallas won the game.

Romo indicated that he was trying to stop the clock to give the kicker time to make the kick. He did not realize that he had no timeouts left. Head coach Jason Garrett has not commented in any depth on the incident.

Dallas Cowboys Update: Are the Cowboys Ready for the Regular Season?

The sports betting world is split on the prospects of the Dallas Cowboys this season. The optimistic Cowboys’ fans point to an improved offense and top prospects at the defensive line. But detractors may have a more powerful argument as the Cowboys made some moves this week that removed some experience and size from the roster that may have been sorely needed for the upcoming season.

Two areas of issue for the Cowboys last year were the offensive line and defensive secondary. Prior to the final week of the preseason, the Cowboys released veteran center Andre Gurode and replaced him with second-year backup Phil Costa. The Cowboys have transformed their offensive line from a larger veteran unit to a smaller and younger group. Two of the starting offensive linemen for the Cowboys are rookies with two veterans and the second-year Costa at center. The Dallas line also got smaller with the changes and that may not help in the quest to keep quarterback Tony Romo healthy.

The Cowboys’ defense is not showing any real signs of improvement under new coordinator Rob Ryan’s new system. The secondary still looks out of position and has a tendency to get beat on long plays. In true Ryan fashion, the defensive coordinator says that he can see improvement and is not interested in whether or not the football betting online public can see it. But if the Cowboys are playing at full speed right now to implement the new defense, it is not showing up in the game stats. Once again, Ryan says that stats do not concern him and that Cowboys’ fans will be happy with what they see when the season starts.

The Cowboys coaching staff and management may have confidence in the team’s plans, but all of the changes in the Dallas lineup have some of the NFL players in the Cowboys wondering what is going on. The release of veteran Gurode seemed to hit a nerve with some players as veteran safety Gerald Sensabaugh was quoted as saying “Guys are getting moved around and I don’t know why.” On the heels of a bitter lockout, Sensabaugh commented on the “cutthroat” nature of football as a business. It seems that some players have still not forgiven the owners for the events that occurred this summer.

Cowboys fans may remember all of the legal problems that followed second-year receiver Dez Bryant in the off-season. With veteran wide receiver Roy Williams being released during the off-season, Bryant now finds himself as the number two receiver on the roster and he is taking his position seriously. The NFL betting picks often report on the challenges players face, but conquering those challenges sometimes gets lost. While Bryant has not completely turned a corner yet, he is working to be a better teammate and player to help the Cowboys win a championship.

After a little drama in the off-season that involved everything from golf to bass fishing to getting married, quarterback Tony Romo has said that he is ready for the season to start and is excited to get going. For a moment in the preseason, it looked like backup Stephen McGee may start to get first-team snaps in practice. But Romo is the starter and he is looking forward to the challenges this season has to offer.

Dallas Cowboys Update: How Did the Cowboys Do in Free Agency?

At 6:00 PM EST on Friday July 29, all chaos broke loose in the NFL free agency market as teams only had a few days to sign players. The sports betting experts were watching to see where key free agents such as Oakland Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha would end up, and Cowboys fans were hoping that the Dallas Cowboys would improve their defense in some way on the open market.

When the dust settled, the NFL betting lines had definitely changed. But Cowboys fans were left wondering what the plan was at Valley Ranch and if the team was trying to gear up for a Super Bowl run. Last year was the ultimate in disappointment if you are a Cowboys fan. This year there have been some changes, but fans will have to see if it will be enough for the Cowboys to make it to the playoffs in 2011.

The first area to look at to see how the Cowboys did in free agency is to see what kind of activity Dallas had in the NFL open market. With all of the potential help that was out there in the defensive secondary, the Cowboys made no free agent signings. Asomugha, cornerback Antonio Cromartie from the Jets and cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie from the Cardinals were all on the open market and none of them went to Dallas. Much to the dismay of Cowboys fans, Asomugha and Rodgers-Cromartie both went to the Philadelphia Eagles. A change like that in Philly could go a long way to pointing out the inadequacies of the Cowboys’ own defensive secondary.

The Cowboys did manage to keep some key players and prevent them from getting into the open market. Offensive tackle Doug Free was going to be a hot free agent until the Cowboys signed him to a four-year deal. Defensive end Marcus Spears was retained by Dallas, along with offensive guard Kyle Kosier.

The betonline reviews on the players that the Cowboys let go is mixed. Veteran wide receiver Roy Williams never seemed to fit in to the Dallas offense, so letting him go was a natural move. Running back Marion Barber became part of a crowded Dallas backfield and was the odd-man out. Offensive tackle Marc Colombo and defensive end Stephen Bowen could have been contributors to the Cowboys’ success in 2011, but both were allowed to leave the team via free agency.

The one player that has not been signed by the Cowboys, or any other team at this point, that stands out is safety Gerald Sensabaugh. The Dallas Cowboys have continually ignored their weaknesses in the defensive backfield for the past two or three years. When quality players are available in free agency, the Cowboys do no pursue them. When the Cowboys needed a safety or offensive lineman in the 2010 draft, they took wide receiver Dez Bryant instead.

With Sensabaugh still not signed to a contract, it shows that the Cowboys feel that they have a plan in the backfield but they are unwilling to let anyone know what that plan may be. New defensive coordinator Rob Ryan has his hands full trying to put together a defense that can compete for Dallas. Considering the moves that Dallas made in free agency, Ryan’s job just got more difficult.

Dallas Cowboys Update: Pressure Mounts for Cowboys as Mavericks are Toast of the Town

Sports betting experts always try to compare different teams within the same city. The Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks for the Stanley Cup, and now the baseball betting world has made the Red Sox a favorite to win the 2011 World Series. As the MLB scores continue to roll in and the Red Sox seem poised to give the city of Boston two championships this year, the Dallas Cowboys are starting to feel the heat.

When Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo signed his six-year $67 million contract in 2007, the expectations were high for him and the team. Despite early setbacks in his career, Romo was expected to deliver the Cowboys a Super Bowl title. Now that Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks have won the NBA Championship, it seems as though the pressure for Romo to deliver a Super Bowl title is mounting.

The Mavericks returned to Dallas as conquering heroes. Nowitzki was the playoff MVP, and Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban was hailed as a genius. But when the victory parade was over and the ticker-tape stopped flying, all eyes quickly turned to the Cowboys. Tony Romo has acknowledged the pressure that the Mavericks’ have placed on the Cowboys, but Romo remains confident that the Dallas Cowboys will be Super Bowl contenders this year.

The lockout looks like it could be over as the owners and players scramble this week to sign the new collective bargaining agreement. Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones had the crew at the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX start preparing for training camp weeks ago in anticipation of the lockout ending. So the Cowboys should be ready to open camp next week on schedule.

One of the elements of the new CBA will be that free agency for the 2011 season can finally open up. The Cowboys claim that they have few roster needs, but Dallas will be in the hunt for the most prized free agent on the block – Oakland Raiders’ cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. The Cowboys could use help in the defensive backfield, and Asomugha would be a much-needed addition to a secondary that lacks in talent and speed.

The Cowboys may have more upheaval in the secondary as safety Gerald Sensabaugh may test the free agent waters when free agency opens next week. The Cowboys have expressed an interest in re-signing Sensabaugh, but the safety wants to get top dollar and he may have to go to the open market to get it. The Cowboys intend to extend an offer to Sensabaugh as soon as free agency begins.

A casualty of the new CBA could be a training camp ritual that exists at the NFL level and filters all the way down to youth football. The two-a-day workouts early in training camp are being eliminated for a couple of reasons. The additional workout each day is done when players are tired and more apt to get injured. The other reason is the extreme heat that many players endure during a training camp.

Dallas Cowboys Update: Free Agency and the Draft are Creating Headlines

The sports betting world is watching the Dallas Cowboys very closely this offseason, and there is a lot happening at Valley Ranch. As the March Madness betting gets started, the Cowboys have been sending strange signals about what they intend to do with the ninth pick in the draft.

The sportsbook promo experts are a bit confused as to why quarterback Cam Newton was seen visiting the Cowboys earlier in the week. The betting services are assuming that Newton will go in the top 10 picks, but it is unlikely that he will actually last all the way down to the ninth pick. Are the Cowboys considering trading up for Newton? Even if this is just procedural, the Cowboys have to wonder what kind of message they are sending to current quarterback Tony Romo. Is Romo falling out of favor now that there is a new head coach in Dallas? How will the fact that the Cowboys are even considering taking a quarterback affect Romo when the season starts?

One of the visits by draft picks to Valley Ranch that made sense was cornerback Prince Amukamara of Nebraska. With the immediate impact of high defensive draft pick Ndamukong Suh for the Detriot Lions, teams are now interested in choosing an impact player on defense early in the draft. Amukamara said that playing for the Cowboys would be a great opportunity, and the Cowboys could definitely use help at the cornerback position.

On the heels of the interview with Amukamara was the news that safety Gerald Sensabaugh has been told that he can explore free agency. The Cowboys have not outright said that Sensabaugh would be let go before the season started, but they did encourage him to explore his options. It looks like the Cowboys are looking to make wholesale changes in their secondary.

One of the more interesting pieces of free agent news to come out of Valley Ranch was the statement that the Cowboys are also encouraging defensive end Marcus Spears to explore his options in free agency as well. Spears missed much of the 2010 season after going on injured reserve in November. The Cowboys have been interviewing a wide variety of defensive ends at the combine in Indianapolis, and the feeling is that the Cowboys intend to start rebuilding their defense through the draft and that Spears will need to find a new home if he wants to continue playing in the NFL.

The Cowboys did announce that they intend on keeping defensive ends Jason Hatcher and Stephen Bowen as well as offensive tackle Doug Free. Another name mentioned as highly coveted by the Cowboys is safety Alan Ball. The pieces are starting to come together on what the 2011 Dallas Cowboys team will look like. But it is becoming apparent that Jerry Jones was not happy with the 2010 performance, and that some major changes could be coming to the Cowboys prior to the start of the new season.

Dallas Cowboys Update: Injuries are Still Plaguing The Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys Update: Injuries are Still Plaguing The Cowboys

The betting world is now wondering if Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo will actually come back to play the last two games of this season. There have been rumors circulating by those in the NFL betting world that Romo will not be back and that the next move for the Cowboys is to place Romo on the season-ending injured reserve list. Romo broke his collarbone in the week seven game against the New York Giants. While owner Jerry Jones and interim head coach Jason Garrett are not giving any specific details on Romo’s projected return, the feeling around the Cowboys is getting strong that the quarterback will be placed on IR as soon as this week.

In other injury news, the NFL predictions surrounding the return of safety Gerald Sensabaugh and linebacker Sean Lee are looking just as grim. Both are suffering from concussions and both have been unable to pass the tests necessary to clear them for practice this week. The normal procedure is to wait until Friday to test players for the game coming up on Sunday. If Sensabaugh and Lee fail their tests on Friday, then both will miss the game against the Cardinals on Christmas Day. Read more

Dallas Cowboys Update: Jason Witten’s Public Outburst

The sports betting hype surrounding the Cowboys making it to Super Bowl XLV was heavy in the preseason. Now, many in the NFL betting world are starting to wonder if the pressure is starting to get to the Cowboys as they languish in an 0-2 start to the 2010 season.

Tight end Jason Witten knows the rules about concussions. The rules are there to protect the players. But when Witten was informed that the concussion he suffered in week two against the Chicago Bears, he blew up on the sidelines. The very popular Internet video has Witten lecturing the team trainer who told Witten that he was not playing the rest of the game. It is the complete embodiment of frustration. Witten is expected to start against the Houston Texans this week.

The football betting community is starting to see other signs that the Cowboys are cracking under the pressure to make Super Bowl XLV created by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. After the loss to Chicago, Dallas safety Gerald Sensabaugh exploded at reporters I the locker room telling them that he only wants to talk about the Houston game. Sensabaugh went on to say that the Super Bowl hype is indeed becoming a serious distraction to the team.

Dallas head coach and his entire coaching staff is starting to come under fire for comments being made by players that the coaches have no idea what is going on at practice. Cornerback Terrance Newman was quoted as saying that practices lack intensity which is one of the root causes of the Cowboys terrible start. There has also been rumors floating around that the players have developed their own way of practicing that allows them to take it easy on themselves, and the coaches have no idea it is going on. A players-only meeting has been called to try and address the situation.

Cornerback Mike Jenkins was taken off the field in a motorized cart in the fourth quarter of the loss to Chicago. However, head coach Wade Philips has announced that the injury looked worse than it was and that Jenkins will play in the upcoming game against Houston.

Before making their NFL predictions this season, the Dallas front office should have taken a look at the progression of the team under head coach Wade Philips. In his first season as head coach of the Cowboys in 2007, Philips took Dallas to a 4-0 start. In 2008 that start dropped to 3-1, then in 2009 it was 2-2 and now we sit 0-2 in 2010 with the very real possibility of going 0-3 against the surging Houston Texans.

In training camp and the preseason the Cowboys looked strong. The team finished the 2009 regular season strong and did well in the playoffs. Expectations were right to be high. But now that the season has started, the short cuts the players were taking are starting to show up on the field. The head coach is accountable for his team’s performance, and many are starting to wonder if the Cowboys will come out of their bye week with Wade Philips as the head coach, or Jason Garrett.

Dallas Cowboys: Cause for Preseason Concern?

Read more great Dallas Cowboys Content from Ben at Blue Star Daily, Ben can also be found on Twitter @BenBulljive
With one more game remaining in the preseason, the Cowboys have been a hop topic for discussion since their horrible performance last Saturday in that 23-7 lost to the Houston Texans.

In that game, the Cowboys looked out of sync, discombobulated, and worn down as they were physically beaten by the Texans and raised some eye brows about the super bowl contender.

Will the red zone woes from last season carry over to this season? Can the offensive line hold up enough to keep Romo off his back? Or, can Alan Ball and Gerald Sensabaugh provide the consistent play at the safety positions this defense has desperately needed in past years.

So, here are four concerns for the Cowboys going into the last preseason game.  More importantly, these are areas they need to address with the regular season right around the corner: Read more