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Cowlishaw: All the pieces are in place for Cowboys to make Super Bowl
10:26 PM CDT on Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Only the Pittsburgh Steelers have produced more Super Bowl champions than Dallas, and the Cowboys top the list in Super Bowl appearances. No team owns more postseason victories or has made more playoff trips in the modern era than the Cowboys.
Column by TIM COWLISHAW / The Dallas Morning News | wtcowlishaw@dallasnews.com
Tim Cowlishaw
Archive | Blog | Bio | E-mail
TOM FOX/DMN
Cowboys Stadium would provide the Cowboys an extra home game in February if the team can live up to expectations and reach the Super Bowl. But 2010 is all about adding a new distinction to the list in what amounts to the Cowboys' first season of eligibility.Other teams – some of them really good – have tried and failed to reach the Super Bowl when played on their home turf. Miami was an early favorite destination of the game, and the Dolphins played in three straight Super Bowls following the '71 through '73 seasons. But the Orange Bowl hosted the game after the '70 and '75 seasons.
With its signature hole in the roof, Texas Stadium was never deemed worthy of a Super Bowl because of the iffy weather conditions that come with a Dallas winter.
Now the Cowboys, coming off their first playoff win in more than a dozen years, are poised to go where Miami, Atlanta , New Orleans, Tampa Bay and so many other teams that reside in popular Super Bowl cities never could.
It's no long shot to pick the Cowboys to play football in Arlington in February. And that's even after watching them play nothing that approached quality football in August.
MICHAEL AINSWORTH/DMN
Rookie linebacker Sean Lee, a second-round pick from Penn State, tried to show in preseason games that he is ready to contribute on defense. Under Wade Phillips, the goal of the preseason is to reach September with the roster mostly healthy. That once again is the case, and the fact that the Cowboys' roster is so unchanged from a year ago – at least where it counts most – is why I'm picking the Cowboys to reach that hometown Super Bowl by winning their first NFC championship in 15 seasons.
We learned in January that the Cowboys can, in fact, win a playoff game with Phillips as coach and Tony Romo at quarterback.
Can they double that and reach the Super Bowl? I don't see why not.
It starts not with Romo, but with a defense that should be the best in the NFC this season. This team came of age when Anthony Spencer became a pass rusher almost as feared on the strong side as DeMarcus Ware is on the weak side. In fact, over the Cowboys' last eight games, Spencer had one more sack than Ware.
Now I think the Cowboys stand a chance to improve at inside linebacker as well. Although second-round pick Sean Lee is seen more as the future replacement for Keith Brooking, he made enough preseason plays to show that he doesn't need to wait to become a factor.
The Cowboys have Pro Bowl cornerbacks behind their front seven, which makes all the changes the team is undergoing at safety mostly irrelevant.
At least they hope that's the case.
The NFC's only offense that was better than the Cowboys last season belonged to the Super Bowl champs. While I don't think running back Mike Bell, who left for Philadelphia, is a big loss for the Saints, it's hard to imagine a team that made its first successful run to a Super Bowl with the 25th-ranked defense repeating.
The other NFC team that was superior to the Cowboys at the end of the 2009 season was Minnesota. But how much will the Vikings look like last year's almost champs without wide receiver Sidney Rice and with quarterback Brett Favre trying to forestall the hands of time once more?
The Cowboys' more immediate threat from within the division comes from New York, which had the NFC's best record in 2008 and began last year 5-0 before it all came unraveled. With a new defensive coordinator, the Giants will be back in the hunt, but I don't think Eli Manning's weapons can be viewed as the equal of Romo's following last season's arrival of Miles Austin at the elite level.
If I were to pick an NFC team to keep Dallas from this year's Super Bowl, it would be Green Bay. There is a lot of love for Aaron Rodgers out there since he has spent two seasons proving the Packers can survive life after Favre.
It was a far different set of Packers that kept the Cowboys from reaching the first Super Bowl 44 years ago in the Cotton Bowl.
This time it looks a lot more like the Cowboys' turn.
• • •
10:26 PM CDT on Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Only the Pittsburgh Steelers have produced more Super Bowl champions than Dallas, and the Cowboys top the list in Super Bowl appearances. No team owns more postseason victories or has made more playoff trips in the modern era than the Cowboys.
Column by TIM COWLISHAW / The Dallas Morning News | wtcowlishaw@dallasnews.com
Tim Cowlishaw
Archive | Blog | Bio | E-mail
TOM FOX/DMN
Cowboys Stadium would provide the Cowboys an extra home game in February if the team can live up to expectations and reach the Super Bowl. But 2010 is all about adding a new distinction to the list in what amounts to the Cowboys' first season of eligibility.Other teams – some of them really good – have tried and failed to reach the Super Bowl when played on their home turf. Miami was an early favorite destination of the game, and the Dolphins played in three straight Super Bowls following the '71 through '73 seasons. But the Orange Bowl hosted the game after the '70 and '75 seasons.
With its signature hole in the roof, Texas Stadium was never deemed worthy of a Super Bowl because of the iffy weather conditions that come with a Dallas winter.
Now the Cowboys, coming off their first playoff win in more than a dozen years, are poised to go where Miami, Atlanta , New Orleans, Tampa Bay and so many other teams that reside in popular Super Bowl cities never could.
It's no long shot to pick the Cowboys to play football in Arlington in February. And that's even after watching them play nothing that approached quality football in August.
MICHAEL AINSWORTH/DMN
Rookie linebacker Sean Lee, a second-round pick from Penn State, tried to show in preseason games that he is ready to contribute on defense. Under Wade Phillips, the goal of the preseason is to reach September with the roster mostly healthy. That once again is the case, and the fact that the Cowboys' roster is so unchanged from a year ago – at least where it counts most – is why I'm picking the Cowboys to reach that hometown Super Bowl by winning their first NFC championship in 15 seasons.
We learned in January that the Cowboys can, in fact, win a playoff game with Phillips as coach and Tony Romo at quarterback.
Can they double that and reach the Super Bowl? I don't see why not.
It starts not with Romo, but with a defense that should be the best in the NFC this season. This team came of age when Anthony Spencer became a pass rusher almost as feared on the strong side as DeMarcus Ware is on the weak side. In fact, over the Cowboys' last eight games, Spencer had one more sack than Ware.
Now I think the Cowboys stand a chance to improve at inside linebacker as well. Although second-round pick Sean Lee is seen more as the future replacement for Keith Brooking, he made enough preseason plays to show that he doesn't need to wait to become a factor.
The Cowboys have Pro Bowl cornerbacks behind their front seven, which makes all the changes the team is undergoing at safety mostly irrelevant.
At least they hope that's the case.
The NFC's only offense that was better than the Cowboys last season belonged to the Super Bowl champs. While I don't think running back Mike Bell, who left for Philadelphia, is a big loss for the Saints, it's hard to imagine a team that made its first successful run to a Super Bowl with the 25th-ranked defense repeating.
The other NFC team that was superior to the Cowboys at the end of the 2009 season was Minnesota. But how much will the Vikings look like last year's almost champs without wide receiver Sidney Rice and with quarterback Brett Favre trying to forestall the hands of time once more?
The Cowboys' more immediate threat from within the division comes from New York, which had the NFC's best record in 2008 and began last year 5-0 before it all came unraveled. With a new defensive coordinator, the Giants will be back in the hunt, but I don't think Eli Manning's weapons can be viewed as the equal of Romo's following last season's arrival of Miles Austin at the elite level.
If I were to pick an NFC team to keep Dallas from this year's Super Bowl, it would be Green Bay. There is a lot of love for Aaron Rodgers out there since he has spent two seasons proving the Packers can survive life after Favre.
It was a far different set of Packers that kept the Cowboys from reaching the first Super Bowl 44 years ago in the Cotton Bowl.
This time it looks a lot more like the Cowboys' turn.
• • •