By Joel Hammond
JHammond@pigskinpodcast.com
Let's get this out of the way now: I've never been a big fan of the Dallas Cowboys.
Whether it was my uncles' obnoxious ways of supporting them when the family all still lived in the same town, or their dominance of Green Bay - until 1996, of course! - I hated 'em.
I don't hate the team nearly as much now as I did then, despite Dallas' Thursday night win last season; actually, I kind of like Tony Romo -- I especially like his girlfriend -- and I've long defended Terrell Owens against his naysayers. (At one point, I urged the Pack to sign T.O.)
But just because I don't hate them anymore doesn't mean I love them, and that's especially true for the 2008 season.
The Cowboys may have the most talent in the NFL. Look at their big names:
Romo. T.O. Marion Barber, mixed with Felix Jones. Jason Witten. Adam Jones. DeMarcus Ware. Tank Johnson.
And, according to ESPN.com's team position rankings, the Cowboys rank very high in nearly every category (Insider content; if you don't have it, you'll just have to trust me):
- Quarterback: 6
- Running back: 5
- Receiver: 8
- Tight end: 2
- Offensive line: 2
- Defensive line: 6
- Linebackers: 1
- Secondary: 1
- Special teams: 20
Wow. That average, if you care, is 5.7. Not bad at all.
My argument, though, centers on what all that talent can't hide: a normalcy deficiency.
The Cowboys will epically fail this season because all the talent in the world isn't immune to all the distractions in the world.
Think about it:
- Romo and the aforementioned babe.
- Owens and the pills.
- Terry Glenn and the drama. (Admittedly close to being close to a resolution, apparently.)
- Johnson and the guns.
- Jones and the ... well, you know the story. (And, of course, he still has that pesky reinstatement issue to be resolved.)
- Coach Wade Phillips and Jerry Jones' love of offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.
The Cowboys will have a tough enough time getting to the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl, without these potential time bombs in the locker room.
First, as I've maintained on a couple of our shows, the NFC keeps getting better; for all the love the AFC gets, the NFC ain't that far behind. Seattle will contend for the conference crown, Green Bay won't lose a step no matter who the quarterback is and there're those other three pests in the East: Washington, Philadelphia and the Super Bowl champion New York Giants.
And it just so happens that the 'Boys have a total of eight games against those five teams, not to mention Cleveland and Pittsburgh on the road.
Ouch.
Clearly, a lot will depend on whether the Cowboys' overgrown personalities and egos can all remain on the same page, and whether Jones' crew can keep him out of Texas strip clubs and whether Romo's can focus on anything but Jessica Simpson. (To be fair, I couldn't. And it was quite tempting to link to some fairly not-safe-for-work photos here, but I decided against it. Simply go to Google Images and search for her. Thank me later.)
I'm obviously banking on something tripping up this team.
If nothing does, Dallas could again be quite good.
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