So Green Bay is gone, they were the NFC squad I was most concerned about. Minnesota will be tough, then the Cards or Saints. I like Dallas's chances a lot better today.

Me too El Gonso, I would like our chances a lot better against NO/Ari.

Did anyone else notice that our "busts" RW and Barbie Carpenter actually had very solid games? Good stuff imo.. hope to see more of that

Yeah you know when those two are clicking and your kicker can make 48-yarders, things are just going your way.

Every week I still have this concern they're going to revert to their inconsistent, ****ty lolromo days and it's all going to end. But if the season ended this coming week, it was still a very respectable year for them. And more importantly, the team is much more respectable without TO, PacMan, and Tank. There's no shame in not coming away with a ring when you have players you can be proud of, win or lose. And 3 Eagle dinners. So, so good.

But as far as the Vikings and the rest, I'm ready. I don't care if it's the Metrodome, the Superdome, or the mother****ing moon. I don't even care who we play to be perfectly honest. I say we have 3 games to win, so line 'em up and we'll see how it turns out. Some pretty good teams left and I don't think any want to play Dallas.

Oh, and

Cowboys can't win playoff games

Any speculation on what we do at RB next year? I guess we spent 'nough money on MB3, he's not going anywhere right? Man I liked the combo of Jones-Choice. Hopefully there's something kind of solution that uses them all properly. But 3 starting backs is 1 too many.

Felix has been great and is probably going to start if I had to guess. There's a chance Choice could get traded, and I could even see a blockbuster-type trade with Barber. Jerry could eat $15 mil in an uncapped year with him, but only if the right deal came along.

I imagine not much will change and all 3 come back. Field whoever's healthy and productive.

i like having 3 backs since Barber and especially Jones are prone to injury

+1.

I'm still not convinced Barber hasn't been half hurt all year to be honest.

Yeah MB3 he hasn't been looking like himself for whatever reason, but overall he still hasn't been that bad. The good news is that Felix looks to be a far more complete back than a lot of people expected, and I can't say enough good things about Choice. He could well be a future franchise back, if not for Dallas than someone else.

In any case, if MB isn't himself, then keep him on the sidelines for now.

There's no way MB3 has been right this year. Sometimes he hits the hole slower then an OL would. He's been that slow. I mean he's not a burner, but he was faster than that when healthy.

Some thoughts for the team after today’s embarrassment…

- I hope Jerry Jones sees that Wade Phillips is not the answer after the second straight season ending in complete humiliation. Yes, the defense is strong and did improve throughout the season, but this team is too prone to the same mistakes in terms of penalties and lack of concentration. This has to go back to coaching. I have to throw Jason Garrett into the fire here too. He has shown no ability to make in game adjustments when defenses are attacking and succeeding against his slow play designs. While they have been key to Dallas’s late season run, they were clearly not working today, yet Dallas never went away from them until the game was far out of reach.

- There is one overall problem with what I just said, however. I am not sure who the answer at coach would be. Cowher is not, and would not come to Dallas. Nor would any top line coach with the lockout looming. Are you going to get Bob Stoops or Houston Nutt? I’m not convinced they could be successful NFL coaches, and again the lockout being on the horizon would probably keep them from jumping. I don’t see any other assistants available that would really be any kind of upgrade.

- Tony Romo is going to get killed in the media, as he did in the game thread, and on Cowboys blog sites, over his play in this game. Aside from the INT in the 3rd quarter, any criticism of him is really not justified. He was running for his life all day, and got no help downfield from the WRs. The Offensive line was flat whipped by Minnesota’s front 4, even when Adams was playing. I still think Romo has the ability to lead this team where we all want it to. The window, however, with this talent is beginning to close, and needs to be reeled in immediately.

- Thinking draft, although its too early for it, a top line WR, and Safety should be the priority, followed by LB and line depth. The team's hands are a bit tied with the free agency rules this summer, so resigning all restricted free agents, like Miles Austin, will also need to take precedence. Oh, and a Kicker.

Overall, NFC East champions, sweeping Philly and Washington is great, as is winning a wild card game, but it's not enough with the talent this roster has. Not when the same **** happens over and over again.

What the hell are you talking about? The big "knock" on Wade Phillips is that he's laid back, well it sure as hell looked like he got the guys pretty pumped up down the stretch this year. It's a freaking joke that he even might lose his job. The guy is 34-16 as coach of the Dallas Cowboys. 34 and ****ing 16. That's absolutely amazing. That includes 2 NFC East championships, and a playoff win. Please find me another coach anywhere who has that kind of resume. That includes Cowher, or whoeever you want. (Yes I'm aware that Cowher has similar numbers to Wade's, but he had disappointments just like Wade has). If you want to talk about penalties, I suggest you look at our penalty numbers under Bill Parcells, because they sucked then to. It likely has little to do with Wade.

Any extra ability a coach might bring to our team is going to be massive squashed by losing Wade's defense, which has been absolutely amazing this year.

And why do people keep dogging on Garrett? He lost his #1 WR this year, had to play RW11 all year at one spot, and we still had one of the best offenses in the league! He's still one of the best offensive minds in the game, and I think it's reasonably likely he leaves us for a head coaching position, the concept of us firing him is absolutely laughable. Do I think he's the best OC ever? Hardly. Does he do some weird stuff sometimes? Yes. But no more than any other OC out there. But we don't have a top 5 QB, we have RW11 out there wasting space every single week, we have a lot of penalty yards, and yet we have a great offense year after year.


LOL @ Houston Nutt or Bob Stoops being in the same galaxy as how Wade has done. I think you also overestimate people not coming to Dallas. Just because Jerry Jones is hands on doesn't make him a bad owner. There are lots of coaches out there(Cowher likely included) who wouldn't mind coming to coach at one of the best franchises, with a brand new stadium, enormous fan base, franchise QB, and unlimited financial resources.
Agreed.

Our first round needs shouldn't include a WR. Miles Austin finished 3rd in the NFL in receiving yards and didn't play 4 games. Plus we have Witten, Bennett, and Felix. OL should be our #1 need, especially if anyone who can possibly play LT falls to us.
Meh. A whole lot of variance in football bro. Minny and NO are both really really sick this year. There's nothing wrong with being the 3rd best team sometimes.

I think you missed what I was saying in the first 2 points above. I don't think Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett have what it takes to get this team through the playoffs where the margin for error is extremely thin. I think too many of the same problems pop up when Dallas struggles in a game, and they simply do not have the ability to adjust away from whatever preparation efforts they have put in, particularly on the offensive side of the football.

That said, I do not think anyone out there is a more feasible option for this team right now given the economics and who is available. Hence why I threw out some college names. If those are the best available, you're better off with what you've got. I am not convinced, however, that the team can accomplish any more in the near future than they have this season. There is too much of the same little things that pop up over and over again. The points you make about the regular season offensive stats, and improvements on the defensive side of the ball throughout are completely valid, and can be considered encouraging. However, I do not know how much better they can get.

Yes, I am venting after another blowout end of the season, but a lot of these issues have been on my mind for a majority of the season. I may not show it, but I am happy to get the playoff monkey off the team's back, and with another division title in arguably the toughest division in the league.

I don't even really know what you're talking about though. We had a pretty impressive offensive game last week, and we struggled today against one of the best defenses in the league after our starting LT went out. I just don't see the big concern. I see that we played badly today, but I don't think our bad play today was indicative of our bad play all year at all, we've been pretty good at protecting Romo overall this year and that was our #1 issue today.

The biggest problem our offense had this year(other than kicker) was that we had a bad red zone conversion rate. But we've had good conversion rates in the past, so I think this is far more variance oriented than anything considering our offense had it's best year this year.

I didn't mean to come across as a jerk in my other post, I just know I'm going to have to listen to 6 months of Fire Wade/Romo sucks and I'm not looking forward to it at all.

-Wade Phillips is fine. Garrett's a little more hot than cold. But it wasn't their game planning that lost this game, it was a lack of execution and an obviously superior Vikings D-Line. Wade's record speaks for itself, and before his playoff record comes up, there's nothing magical about playoff games. At least he's taken teams to the playoffs.

-Romo had a difficult game in an otherwise outstanding season. Improving on him isn't really an option, and the same people who say he can't ever win a SB are the same people who think he couldn't win because of what month is showing on the calendar.

-Barber looked like a 4th-round RB for most of the year, injured or not. Going in to 2010 I don't think he can be handed the starting spot again. If he gets healthy and outperforms Jones (or even Choice), fine, but other RBs warranted more carries that went to Barber this year.

-Dallas can't carry RW11's contract, given his overall performance. If he were a $3 million a year guy, ok maybe, but they need to get this guy off the books before the salary cap returns.

-Going after Boldin or one of Arizona's other WRs is pretty much a must this offseason.

-LOL at the kicker situation. Weak draft class, but they need to draft one and keep an eye out for free agents as well. Beuhler has enough value to justify his spot as a KO specialist.

-Hoping the rookies on IR contribute next year. Those are 3 picks we haven't had a chance to check out yet.

-Dallas has talent on the roster, but we can stop with the "they have so much talent, but..." especially on offense. There's depth at RB, but it's not like you can combine three decent backs and make a Chris Johnson or something. The o-line is good but streaky, aging, and certainly not elite, case in point today. Elite o-lines don't get absolutely mauled by an elite defensive front. They have more talent then a lot of teams do, true, but there's no real upside to the current unit. Time to stop making out how solid Columbo and Kosier are.

-The defense is obviously okay, but that's not to say some of those guys still can't be pushed for their jobs either.

-A good KR/PR is desperately needed.

-Draft: LT, WR.

Asking Jerry to eat RW's contract AND get a FA WR is a ton to ask.

Wouldn't it just be just stupid amazing if Ogletree developed?

Also. Cowboys should draft Jordan Shipley, and let him Kr/PR/Slot it up

Well it is a lot to ask, but so is paying $9 mill a year to a a marginal, inconsistent player. It's also a lot to ask him to put what JJ does into the team and get the kind of return he has lately. Boldin... you know I could see a deal that involved Bennett and a pick to make that happen... they could use a TE in Arizona IIRC.

I like Ogletree, and hopefully he continues to develop, but this team is a few pieces short and needs help now.

And no drafting-for-depth BS this year. We did that last draft. You've got what looks to be an ILB, a G and an OLB on IR to look at next camp. There's a safety, a pass rusher, a backup QB, a KO specialist, decent 3rd TE and yet another LB on the roster too as far as rookies. Then you've got the Alan Balls, Bennetts, Scandricks, and Doug Free types.

If there's no one you think looks to be a solid prospect to start in the next year or two, don't draft him. I'd rather they just trade the pick to 2011, or bundle a few picks to move up and snatch one potential stud. Just come away with a decent LT and WR who can handle returns, and a K later on. No more situational LBs or specialists and all that. We got all that already.

Props to the Cowboys and their fans. The team had a very good season and I've enjoyed the banter.

...and Wade gets a two-year extension.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/ne...D330A9B2F1DDDC

Despite all the hate he gets I say he's earned it. There isn't a better option available anyway

TSN

I like that they're not going crazy in free agency just yet. The Cowboy forums are full of people screaming they pick up every single guy they see, which is pretty lol.

Most positions that need depth or upgrading already have interesting young prospects backing up, so in most cases an older vet doesn't make a lot of sense. I wouldn't kick cut an Ogletree or Hurd to have Derrick Mason for a year or two. Nor would I take on a big contract for the likes of a problem child like Brandon Marshall. Also everyone's screaming for a FS, but I don't think Hamlin's worth giving up on and they seem to like the other Hamlin and Ball - so between all that giving a huge contract to Clark or Sharper doesn't make a lot of sense. If a Taylor Mays falls in the draft that's something else.

Two good free agents for Dallas (imo):

Chester Pitts. He's 30, can play either OG position, seems like a good character. Not sure how healthy he is after an injury last year but he's always been solid. All there is behind Kosier and Davis is... Cory Proctor. Cory f'n Proctor and a rookie from last year on IR (Brewster), who's basically a tackle that would need to learn to play guard. CP is imo a better guard than Kosier, who's on his last contract year anyway. I know the o-line needs to get younger, but if Chester Pitts is recovered and could probably play out a contract, I'd do it. If Brewster or some other rookie does well in camp you'd have the option of trading Kosier.

Neil Rackers. Gives you a lot of options. Very good FG kicker, and you can feel okay about having Buehler running around making tackles on ST, since NR is a strong kickoff guy in his own right. And, you always have the option to let Beuhler go if you have to to open a roster spot or whatever. I don't want to f around with the position this year.

so who we taking at 27? I see some mocks saying Taylor Mays. I think that'd be a best case scenario. I'd like to them trade up, although they never do, and get one of the prized OTs at the top of the draft. Other than Safety and O-Line I don't see any huge needs for this team. In fact, if Mays (or Earl Thomas bigger pipe dream) isn't there at 27 I actually wouldn't mind trading out of the 1st round and bolstering some draft picks for later.