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It’s Adjustment Time

Pro football is a game of adjustment and adaptation.  You create an edge for your team and opponents respond.  If you’re a winner, you acknowledge their changes and make your own.

We’re one quarter of the way through the season and it’s time for the Cowboys to adapt.  On offense, they had strategies that worked very effectively against the Browns and Eagles but not as well against the Packers and Redskins.

Let’s go back to the Green Bay game.  The Cowboys had one pick in the red zone when Tony Romo tried a pass to a very well covered Jason Witten. Later, just before halftime, the Cowboys were in second and goal when they lined up in a shotgun formation, with Marion Barber to Romo’s right.  Dallas faked a draw to Barber and attempted a pass to T.O. running a post. This play had worked twice for touchdowns last year, most notably against New England, when the play fake sent Rodney Harrison into a conniption fit.

One problem.  One big problem.  Green Bay knew it was coming, and had both of Romo’s receiving targets double covered.  The play went for a huge loss.

The Eagles, in the second half of their game, went double on T.O. putting a corner tight on him and a safety behind him.  Green Bay did this with Charles Woodson.  Washington did this with Shawn Springs.  It hasn’t completely slowed Owens down, but it has slowed his production down from his first outstanding six quarters of the year.

This isn’t a call to panic.  Michael Irvin faced this type of attention regularly the last few years of his career.  But it’s clear that the better defenses have caught up to some of Dallas’ tendencies.  And it’s time to see how Jason Garrett adjusts.

On defense, better strong safety play is needed.  It’s funny, two years ago Dallas had no free safety.  Then Ken Hamlin was signed and closed the deep middle.  Now, however, Pat Watkins is looking confused.  Courtney Brown is playing some at the strong but has yet to distinguish himself.

It’s almost enough to make you miss Roy Williams.  Almost.

We haven’t talked ‘09 draft, and we always talk draft here.  Mark it down — Day one next April will target two offensive linemen and a strong safety.

It’s Hard to be Humble

This has been a trend going back the the old site in the mid ’90s, but I don’t know if I’ve ever shared it with you.

Traffic goes way down on the days after a Cowboys loss.  Yesterday’s traffic was only two thirds of what we normally get on a Monday.  But most Mondays, our biggest days, people are looking for affirmation of how great their team is.

Yesterday?  Not so many people looking for confirmation that their team played poorly.

Toast Redux? Miami Cuts Keith Davis

In the glory seasons of ‘92 and ‘93 Jimmy Johnson was so certain of his starting depth that he dedicated roster spots exclusively to marginal players who excelled on special teams. Most notable was Elvis Patterson, known at his previous stops as “Toast” because he was burned so often when he played in the secondary. Toast was a special teams demon, and he was teamed with Kenny Gant, Matt Vanderbeek and others to form an effective coverage unit.

The chance of a Toast deja vu arose today when Miami put Keith Davis and his Amazing Bullet-Attracting Technicolor Backside back on the market, releasing him just before the Dolphins left for Miami to play their pre-season finale.

My initial reaction is no. The Cowboys have seen more of the inconsistency that hurt the coverage teams last year. However, we need to remember that Davis was on the field when the special teams had their late season problems in ‘06 and in ‘07, with Bruce DeHaven and Bruce Read. It’s not as if the units were strong and collapsed when Davis left.

What’s more, the other guys on Dallas’ core special teams list — Kevin Burnett, Bobby Carpenter, Justin Rogers and Pat Watkins, are mostly seen as having the opportunity to become future starters, or at least fill in capably if the starters ahead of them are injured. Dallas knows Davis offers little value as a free safety. He had the worst coverage metrics of any starting safety when he started in the Parcells days.

He seemed miscast and backed up Roy Williams capably last year, but obtaining him likely means cutting somebody like Courtney Brown. Would you be willing to give up on his future for the possibility of short term gain with Davis back in a Cowboys uniform?

Discuss.

Early Scouting ‘09 — Look to Offensive Line

Before camp started, a source told me that offensive line was probably the top priority going into the ‘08 campaign, as the Cowboys had concerns about their depth.

That same source told me today that line depth remains the biggest area of concern on the team.  I wrote last week that Cory Procter and James Marten struggled against the Chargers and Joe Berger played poorly against the Broncos.  Doug Free looks solid at LT but Pat McQuistan has been hot-and-cold under Hudson Houck’s tutelage.  He looked more stable to my eyes against Denver but looked more consistent in ‘07.

Offensive and defensive lines are the hardest positions to find, at any time of the year so don’t look for Dallas to get lucky plucking anybody off waivers.  Any young lineman who hits the market will have multiple claims put on him and the Cowboys have one of the last slots in the claim order.

Hope that the linemen stay healthy again this year, especially at the center and guard positions.

Other tasty crumbs from the source:

– the Cowboys are NOT nervous about their WR play, even with Miles Austin’s setback.  “They want to see the young guys play,” I was told.  I’ll say it again.  Watch Isaiah Stanback carefully against Houston.  He’ll get a lot more reps with the second unit and while he’s not as far along as Austin, he is improving.  Hold off on those Anquan Boldin trade packages, folks, at least for the time being.

– Dallas is happy with the safety play as well.  Take an early bow, Roy Williams.  And does this mean that Courtney Brown has a chance to make the final roster?  He made some plays on the line of scrimmage late against Denver, knifing in from the edge to spill a Broncos runner in the backfield.  On the other hand, he was also victimized by a long bootleg pass on a 4th-and-1 play.  These next two games are huge for him.

– I asked about the John Beck-to-Dallas rumors and was told that the characterizations from the Miami press, that Dallas had shown “mild interest” were “a nice choice of words.”  I take it there’s not much to this story.

It’s Only the Beginning

Training Camp has been encouraging. It’s been fun. It’s been informative.

But it’s only the beginning of the Cowboys’ journey.

On the opening day of camp, I asked Hudson Houck what he could tell about his linemen, with OTAs and mini-camps under his belt. He refused to handicap his group, saying, “all I know is that I have 22 more practices to go.”

On Wednesday, with 18 of those practices in the books, I asked him the same question. He again deferred, saying they still had pre-season games to play before the staff determined how many players the Cowboys would keep at each position and which ones.

Armchair GMs like me like to play the “pick-53″ game, where we try to determine the Cowboys final roster as soon as possible. Because the Cowboys are so deep and veteran-laden, this exercise is not so hard, give or take a half dozen or so players.

But we don’t really know and can’t know about the back roster today. The games count, in that respect.

Will Danny Amendola stick? He’s been promising, but if he looks pedestrian in the games, all the good workouts come to nothing. James Marten, Joe Berger, Keon Lattimore, Alonzo Coleman, Marcus Dixon, Erik Walden, Evan Oglesby, Alan Ball, Courtney Brown… All these guys have put themselves in position to grab a roster slot. Nothing more.

That doesn’t mean camp has been worthless. It tells us a lot about veterans. We know a Flozell Adams is ready because he has years and years of play to draw upon, in addition to his camp work. The kids, on the other hand, are a blank slate.

That’s why you need to adjust your pre-season viewing. Don’t look to the score. Look at the guys fighting for jobs. And treat their play as individual auditions. The kids I named will get a lot of playing time. But they will do so with and against a lot of second and third teamers who won’t have real chances to make a squad.

Find them as soon as they enter the game. Note how they perform, especially against first team opposition. Note how each of them does on special teams. Make a point of learning where they line up on special teams. I’ll have a piece on this tomorrow. And let those plays be your guides for establishing the Dallas back roster.

Because the last two weeks have only been the prelude. The real auditions begin tomorrow in San Diego.

Note: We’ve got a full plate for this afternoon’s episode of “The Sports Doctors.” Bryan Broaddus, a former NFL scout and a regular of “Galloway & Company” on ESPN 103.3 in Dallas. He’ll discuss the Brett Favre trade, what teams are looking for this time of the year, Steve Smith and Anquan Boldin and how hard it is to make a trade and how good the Dallas back roster really is. He’ll also take on as many questions you can serve up, either in this thread or via call.

Bryan will be with us from 5:05 to 5:20 CT. As always, our number is 888-806-1661. We’ll also continue our profile of team hot spots with a look at the special teams, with comments from ST coach Bruce Read. You can listen locally at 1240 AM or listen to our live stream here on site. We hope you can join us. And if you join us, we hope you participate.

Cowboys’ Camp ‘08: Bubble Boys

Here are the guys on the bubble, the ‘Boys fighting for those final spots on the roster.

Defense:

1. DE Marcus Dixon — DL coach Todd Grantham said today Dixon is the guy he’s most eager to see against San Diego, because the light appears to be going on for him. If he continues to emerge he’ll either challenge Stephen Bowen for the 6th line spot or prod Dallas to keep seven.

2. Erik Walden — he’s hit a wall the past few days, most notably a wall named Flozell Adams. He does show quickness and a good change of direction but he’ll need to make more plays. He was running 2nd team at OLB behind Demarcus Ware but with 8 LB spots seemingly tied up (Ware, Ellis, James, Thomas, Spencer, Burnett, Carpenter and Rogers) he’ll either have to beat out Rogers or force the team to keep 9 LBs.

3 & 4. Evan Oglesby and Alan Ball — Dave Campo says they’re in “a real battle” for a spot and “one of them might shake out. One could make the team if the team keeps six CBs but both could be gone if the Cowboys stick with rookie Orlando Scandrick. I figure Newman, Henry, Jones, Jenkins and Scandrick have five CBs spots sewn up.

5. Courtney Brown — he’s working at strong safety right now. He’s a former corner, so he would give Dallas maximum coverage ability if he were to play regularly here. However, Campo claims Brown needs to learn the angles playing in the box and his tackling remains unknown.

Offense

6. & 7. Mike Jefferson and Danny Amendola — A sixth receiver seems unlikely, as Owens, Crayton, Hurd, Austin and Stanback look to have five spots down, but Jefferson has made the most catches the first week. Amendola is a crowd favorite but needs to make more plays to have a shot.

8 & 9. Alonzo Coleman and Keon Lattimore — Both seem to make plays in scrimmages, though Coleman has made more. The bigger question is whether the team will keep four running backs? One will have to impress on special teams to make the answer a yes.

10. Richard Bartel — He’s got a gun, but will Dallas keep a third quarterback? They let Matt Moore hit waivers last year and Carolina snatched him up.

11. Joe Berger — can play guard and center. Was singled out by Wade Phillips today and could push Cory Procter for the last offensive line spot.

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