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Hell Week
Josh Ellis
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
The crowd could be a major factor when the Cowboys play at the New York Jets in Week 1.
IRVING, Texas - I don't think I'm breaking any news here when I say I don't think I'm breaking any news here.
Now, maybe that's the case anytime, but this offseason in particular, it's been extremely tough. Such is life in the lockout. We can't really talk to the players, who are scattered everywhere across the country, except for about half of them participating in these two-below practices at some undisclosed location in North Texas - when they're in session, that is. And the assistant coaches are pretty much off limits too, as Jason Garrett has elected to take the same "one voice" approach adopted by Bill Parcells for the majority of his Cowboys tenure. The head coach is awfully good at playing things close to the vest.
At least the other media guys around town have the Mavericks to fall back on. Like anyone around here cares about the Cowboys right now anyway, am I correct? Well, someone, somewhere does, evidently. You're reading this right now. Bless you. A few will be so moved to chime in with a "yawn" or "who cares" in the comments down below.
Thank you, come again.
At the internet outposts where we are committed to talking Cowboys and NFL year-round, perhaps you've noticed that lists, like our own Top 10, have become very much en vogue. We're churning out whatever we can to try to keep you coming back - which reminds me, check out the L.P. Ladouceur Roster Rundown tomorrow!
But we've been over the draft picks and the veterans who might be released over and over again, and we're steadily beating that free agency horse to death. Lockout malaise has set in, no doubt.
So let's dream for a moment that the whole season is going to go off as scheduled, which, incidentally, is still a very real possibility, so perhaps we should be going full-steam ahead, business as usual, regardless of the work stoppage. With that hope in mind, I'd like to press on by asking a question that I have each of the last two summers.
In '09 and '10 it was the kind of thing I would bring up in a blog, write five or six paragraphs about and move on. This year, it's a column.
But here goes … Looking at the schedule right now, what appears to be the Cowboys' most difficult game?
Two years ago I picked the Week 15 trip to New Orleans based on the fact the Cowboys had struggled against the Saints in all of their most recent meetings. Turns out the Saints were undefeated when they played the Cowboys, and went on to win the Super Bowl. So despite the fact the Cowboys won that game, I generally declared victory.
And then last year, I went with the Week 13 game at Indianapolis because of how consistent the Colts have been for the last decade. Things never work out like you think, so of course the Cowboys won that one too, in overtime.
Though the Cowboys were victorious in those games, each proved to be very difficult. So this is not to say they can't win the toughest game this year - just that it's going to be awfully hard.
In general, the schedule appears weaker than it has in recent years, however that is sure to change. The New York Jets will be 0-0 when the Cowboys come to town, but the thought of playing up there on Sunday Night Football on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, amped up as the building is sure to be, is pretty intimidating. Both teams have had extra time to prepare for one another this offseason, so it could be a really interesting chess match, with the defenses of the Ryan brothers each trying to one-up each other. I'll give the Jets' defense the edge there, but I like a healthy Tony Romo and the Cowboys' offense better than Mark Sanchez and that New York group. This can't be the toughest.
OK, the Cowboys will finish the season at Meadowlands Stadium as well, visiting the Giants on New Year's Day, 2012. That game could have a lot riding on it, similar to two of the three Week 17 matchups against the Eagles in the last few years. As difficult to win as division games are on the road, the then 1-7 Cowboys did it last year at New York, and the Giants have been notorious for late-season collapses since their Super Bowl run of 2007. Nope, this isn't it either.
Throw out the trip to Philadelphia in Week 8 for similar reasons. Yeah, it'll probably be tough, but the Cowboys did win there last year, albeit against backups. Severely shorthanded, they gave the Eagles a real run for their money at home a few weeks before that.
At Tampa, Week 15? Maybe. That's an up-and-coming team which narrowly missed the playoffs last year, but it's probably not time to put them among the NFL's elite, and the New Sombrero doesn't seem like a particularly scary place to visit.
One game stands out, undeniably. In the first month of the season, the Cowboys seem to have some very winnable games. Could they start 2-2? 3-1? 4-0? Maybe. It's still unlikely that we'll know what to think of the Cowboys at that point in the year.
But thank goodness for the bye in Week 5, because this team will need every second of extra work it can get in preparation for that trip to New England, Sunday, Oct. 16, 3:15 p.m. (CT).
Against the Patriots in Week 6, we'll find out a lot about this Cowboys team - one that isn't even put together right now, but certainly should be built better than last year's squad. There's no question that New England will be good. They always are. Tom Brady may be the best quarterback ever. Bill Belichick's team is the most mentally tough each season. The Pats may not win the Super Bowl every year - and haven't in a little while now, actually - but they always seem to be the class of the league, and that year-in, year-out excellence in this era of parity is what the Cowboys and every other team should aspire to have.
If the Cowboys can beat New England, we'll know how good they can be in 2011. That does seem like an incredibly tall order at this point, though, doesn't it?
The kind of thing one could only dream about right now.
Josh Ellis
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
The crowd could be a major factor when the Cowboys play at the New York Jets in Week 1.
IRVING, Texas - I don't think I'm breaking any news here when I say I don't think I'm breaking any news here.
Now, maybe that's the case anytime, but this offseason in particular, it's been extremely tough. Such is life in the lockout. We can't really talk to the players, who are scattered everywhere across the country, except for about half of them participating in these two-below practices at some undisclosed location in North Texas - when they're in session, that is. And the assistant coaches are pretty much off limits too, as Jason Garrett has elected to take the same "one voice" approach adopted by Bill Parcells for the majority of his Cowboys tenure. The head coach is awfully good at playing things close to the vest.
At least the other media guys around town have the Mavericks to fall back on. Like anyone around here cares about the Cowboys right now anyway, am I correct? Well, someone, somewhere does, evidently. You're reading this right now. Bless you. A few will be so moved to chime in with a "yawn" or "who cares" in the comments down below.
Thank you, come again.
At the internet outposts where we are committed to talking Cowboys and NFL year-round, perhaps you've noticed that lists, like our own Top 10, have become very much en vogue. We're churning out whatever we can to try to keep you coming back - which reminds me, check out the L.P. Ladouceur Roster Rundown tomorrow!
But we've been over the draft picks and the veterans who might be released over and over again, and we're steadily beating that free agency horse to death. Lockout malaise has set in, no doubt.
So let's dream for a moment that the whole season is going to go off as scheduled, which, incidentally, is still a very real possibility, so perhaps we should be going full-steam ahead, business as usual, regardless of the work stoppage. With that hope in mind, I'd like to press on by asking a question that I have each of the last two summers.
In '09 and '10 it was the kind of thing I would bring up in a blog, write five or six paragraphs about and move on. This year, it's a column.
But here goes … Looking at the schedule right now, what appears to be the Cowboys' most difficult game?
Two years ago I picked the Week 15 trip to New Orleans based on the fact the Cowboys had struggled against the Saints in all of their most recent meetings. Turns out the Saints were undefeated when they played the Cowboys, and went on to win the Super Bowl. So despite the fact the Cowboys won that game, I generally declared victory.
And then last year, I went with the Week 13 game at Indianapolis because of how consistent the Colts have been for the last decade. Things never work out like you think, so of course the Cowboys won that one too, in overtime.
Though the Cowboys were victorious in those games, each proved to be very difficult. So this is not to say they can't win the toughest game this year - just that it's going to be awfully hard.
In general, the schedule appears weaker than it has in recent years, however that is sure to change. The New York Jets will be 0-0 when the Cowboys come to town, but the thought of playing up there on Sunday Night Football on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, amped up as the building is sure to be, is pretty intimidating. Both teams have had extra time to prepare for one another this offseason, so it could be a really interesting chess match, with the defenses of the Ryan brothers each trying to one-up each other. I'll give the Jets' defense the edge there, but I like a healthy Tony Romo and the Cowboys' offense better than Mark Sanchez and that New York group. This can't be the toughest.
OK, the Cowboys will finish the season at Meadowlands Stadium as well, visiting the Giants on New Year's Day, 2012. That game could have a lot riding on it, similar to two of the three Week 17 matchups against the Eagles in the last few years. As difficult to win as division games are on the road, the then 1-7 Cowboys did it last year at New York, and the Giants have been notorious for late-season collapses since their Super Bowl run of 2007. Nope, this isn't it either.
Throw out the trip to Philadelphia in Week 8 for similar reasons. Yeah, it'll probably be tough, but the Cowboys did win there last year, albeit against backups. Severely shorthanded, they gave the Eagles a real run for their money at home a few weeks before that.
At Tampa, Week 15? Maybe. That's an up-and-coming team which narrowly missed the playoffs last year, but it's probably not time to put them among the NFL's elite, and the New Sombrero doesn't seem like a particularly scary place to visit.
One game stands out, undeniably. In the first month of the season, the Cowboys seem to have some very winnable games. Could they start 2-2? 3-1? 4-0? Maybe. It's still unlikely that we'll know what to think of the Cowboys at that point in the year.
But thank goodness for the bye in Week 5, because this team will need every second of extra work it can get in preparation for that trip to New England, Sunday, Oct. 16, 3:15 p.m. (CT).
Against the Patriots in Week 6, we'll find out a lot about this Cowboys team - one that isn't even put together right now, but certainly should be built better than last year's squad. There's no question that New England will be good. They always are. Tom Brady may be the best quarterback ever. Bill Belichick's team is the most mentally tough each season. The Pats may not win the Super Bowl every year - and haven't in a little while now, actually - but they always seem to be the class of the league, and that year-in, year-out excellence in this era of parity is what the Cowboys and every other team should aspire to have.
If the Cowboys can beat New England, we'll know how good they can be in 2011. That does seem like an incredibly tall order at this point, though, doesn't it?
The kind of thing one could only dream about right now.
