My take on the Brett Favre thing

The selfish side of me would rather see the Cowboys face Aaron Rodgers up in Green Bay in the third game of the season. The Cowboys stand a MUCH better chance of winning up there against Rodgers than they would Brett Favre. Favre turns 39 in October, which means he's just two years older than I am and still playing at a high level. People can play at a higher level in their late thirties more than ever today than in the 1970s and 1980's. And Favre has YET to miss a start since 1992. I think that Aaron Rodgers must've been in about third grade at that time, when the sreak started. Just like Cal Ripken's streak began in May 1982, shortly before I turned eleven, and lasted until he voluntarily removed himself from the lineup, in the summer of 1998, when I turned 27. The only thing I fault Favre in was when he announced too early, as it turns out, in March, his "retirement". I was shocked considering that the team had been rebuilt around him and he still was their best chance to win, as he proved last year when he turned 38. I know it may not seem fair to Aaron Rodgers but we're talking about Brett Favre. I think that at age 24, on one hand, you could say he's not going anywhere anytime soon. On the other hand, I wouldn't blame him for wanting to be traded either. I think that Favre gives this team the best chance to win this year still and that he needs to announce his retirement, when he really IS retiring, in June or July, instead of March. I am not suprised at any of this, except for the part of him "retiring" in March, coming off his best year since he first hit the big THREE OH. And it was shocking considering that this was the Packer's best team since they got denied their second consecutive Super Bowl win by Denver in January 1998. Many people make a big deal out of what Aaron Rodgers did when Favre was knocked out against Dallas last Novemeber in what on paper was the two Titans of the NFC clashing. The Cowboys defense was as ferocious as they ever were at any time in '07 in that first quarter and a half. Favre was under seige and was knocked out with a bruised elbow. The Cowboys offense rang up 27 in the first 20 minutes of the game, and up 27-10 when in comes Rodgers, who looked unheralded and petrified. The look that he first had when walking onto the field and stepping behind center was of "OH ---- this is the last thing I expected to have happen tonight" And then it seemed as though the Cowboys D backed off as if there was no way this could be a game. The Cowboys Offense also took their foot off the gas pedal as well and left at least ten points on the field in the third quarter. I saw the game, it was obvious. And Rodgers got into a groove and there was no heat from the Cowboys whatsoever until Green Bay was back in it at 27-24 midway through the fourth quarter. Then, finally when the Pack got the ball down only three with a chance to go down and either tie or take the lead in a game that they had been getting blown out in, finally came some heat from the defense, Rodgers looked somewhat like a rookie again and the Cowboys outscored the Pack 10-3 over the final half of the fourth quarter to hold on 37-27. So there was Rodgers out there playing what seemed real well, although even Packer backers would have to be skeptical. I mean over a whole season, what happens? He kind of snuck up on the Cowboys, who I think sort of let the Pack back in it, obviously thinking that it was over when they had sent Favre to the sideline for one of the FEW times in his career. I will repeat what I said at the beginning. As a Cowboys fan, I'd rather be facing Aaron Rodgers on September 21 up at Lambeau Field instead of Favre. I'm being totally honest there. In other words, the Pack would be foolish not to take back #4. He can still play. We all know that.

How the Cowboys start the 2008 campaign

Now we aren't looking too far ahead here but I'm talking about he initial two weeks.
The Cowboys will open up at Cleveland of the AFC Central. The Browns made some strides last year, missing the playoffs despite tying divisional winner Pittsburgh for the same record. The Browns were awful in losing big to the Steelers in their opener at home. But after that they scraped themselves up off the deck to win a shootout over Cincinati(the Bengals' season of high expectations took a turn for the worse after that game) and proceeded to play real well with Andersen at QB with their top pick, QB BRady Quinn, suprisingly not get out there when everyone expected him to win the job by midseason. The Browns then were at Pittsburgh around midseason and ahead throughout before being nipped at the end. They would finish at 10-6 and lose out to the Steelers on a tiebreaker. There were simply too many good teams in the AFC. And the Browns look to take a step further this season. Question is can they avoid listening to all of those talks about high expectations? Sounds like the Cowboys, albeit they have loftier expectations. This match could be a shootout and in this type of a game, that would probably favor the Cowboys. But on the other hand, the only way that the Browns have a CHANCE for an upset is for it to be a shootout, a shootout that they probably don't win. The Browns I think could make this interesting nonetheless. Bottom line: The Cowboys have to win if they're a Super Bowl team. Period. The Browns come in at least based on last year, a solid team but not a Super Bowl team. Remember the 2006 opener? They lost at Jacksonville(a solid team but not Super Bowl contending team) and I believe it set the tone for the underachieving year in Big D. That game right there was the beginning of ROMO talks. The loss at Philly in the fourth game to fall to 2-2 that year, was the beginning of the end for Drew Bledsoe. No there isn't anyone looking over Romo's shoulder for sure. That's a non-issue. It's just that if the Cowboys were to lose the opener at Cleveland, then here comes Philly to Dallas the following Monday night. The Eagles are a mediorcre team and have been. Go back to Super Bowl 39 in Feb. 2005. Since that narrow loss to the Patriots, Philly is 25-25 including the two playoff games of 2006 with McNabb sidelined and Jeff Garcia at the helm. But somehow the Cowboys and Eagles have split the six meetings since then. On Paper, Dallas should win that game too especially at home. IF they're a Super Bowl team, absolutely. But the Eagles, despite not having the swagger from the first half of this decade, are still a division rival and will go in believing that they can pull off an upset, when they have no business doing so ON PAPER. McNabb is not what he formerly was, slowed by injuries over the past few years and not with anywhere near the supporting cast he once had. SO just starting with the two games to open up the season, if they are a SUPER BOWL team, Dallas should win them both. But not to look too far ahead, I'm starting with the first two.

Super Bowl or Bust

Anything less than at least representing the NFC in the Super Bowl will be a dissappointment for the Dallas Cowboys. Their final year in Texas Stadium before they relocate a few miles to the west in nearby Arlington to a new bigger version of Texas Stadium should at least end with a pair of wins in January. But let's put this thing in proper perspective. Tony Romo has been magnificent overall in the regular season and should already have at least two wins(Seattle in 2006) and the Giants AT HOME this past season, in the playoffs. But still zero playoff wins for Romo yet, and zero playoff wins for this storied franchise since a 40-15 romp over Minnesota in the 1996 playoffs. There are a few instances where Dallas should have won in the playoffs since then but didn't. Their previous divisional championship to 2007, back in 1998, had the Cowboys hosting a playoff game against the Arizona Cardinals, a very playoff STARVED franchise. And much like this past year against the hated Giants, the Cardinals, still an NFC East Divisional foe at the time in '98, came into Dallas as a significant underdog, and had lost twice to the Cowboys in the regular season. And the Cowboys barely bothered to show up. The loss last season to the Giants is the most dissappointing in Cowboys playoff history, but the 1998 loss at home to the Cardinals was the most embarrassing playoff defeat. There is no excuse for losing a playoff game to the Cardinals. None whatsover. The Arizona Cardinals are the Clippers of the NFL historically speaking. That label belonged to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the longest time but now it's the Arizona Cardinals, although they aren't like the Clippers have been as far as being the butt of Leno's or Letterman's or Conan Obrien's jokes. There were two playoff losses to the Carolina Panthers both on the road, once in 1996, and the other in 2003. The Cowboys have otherwise OWNED the Panthers in the regular season series, winning 7 of 8 (losing only a 1997 reg season game) In the 1996 game at Carolina (a 26-17 setback)HOF to be receiver Michael Irvin broke his collarbone on the initial series, the Cowboys only got one TD in five trips to the red zone, settling for three field goals. And also Emmitt Smith was maybe 60 percent. It turned out that he was already inching past his prime. The 2003 game was Bill Parcells first season with the Cowboys and he had coaxed a 10-6 record and a wildcard berth out of a mediocre cast that had gone 5-11 the previous year. One of the season's highlights had been an emotional 24-20 win in Dallas over the Carolina Panthers the sunday before Thanksgiving. Now just a little over a month later, the two teams squared off again, this time down in Charlotte(since the panthers had won their division and the Cowboys didn't win theirs) and the Cowboys were listless in a dreary 29-10 loss. And ofcourse, the Cowboys lost several close games in 2005, while winning several close ones as well, in just missing the playoffs at 9-7 (a lot of it came down to kicking woes-where was Nick Folk then for crying out loud????????) And ofcourse the loss at Seattle on the botched hold by Romo(but give Tony credit, he's turned THAT page at least in his mind)

The Cowboys are the favorites to at least represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. It's going to be hard to beat the 13-3 mark of last year but this IS still at least a 12-4 club not only on paper but on the field in spite of a bit tougher schedule. Plus they don't see the Giants at all until the second half of the season. As recent history shows, the records aside, it's still a parity sticken NFL. Or wide open I should say. You have the Steelers go from being on the brink of missing the playoffs in 2005 to winning it all. The 2006 Colts were playing some lackluster football heading into the playoffs despite finishing at 12-4 (after starting 9-0)and looked offensively lethargic in wins at home against Kansas City and on the road against the Baltimore Ravens. But thanks to the Patriots, they didn't have to go to San Diego for the AFC Championship game(the Chargers of 2006 were similar in a lot of ways to the 2007 Cowboys when they went 14-2 and choked in their first playoff game to New England)Then the Colts came back from dead in the water to beat the Patriots and then soundly defeat the Bears in the SuperBowl. In 2007 we have the classic case of someone coming out of nowhere when mentioning the Giants. Twice losers to Dallas during the regular season and an abysmal 3-5 record at HOME! Yet they lost ONCE all year on the road! The opener at Dallas. There were times when they should've lost on the road but somehow didn't. The bottom line is: Each season here comes some team OUT OF NOWHERE that has no business doing any kind of damage whatsoever in the playoffs. The Cowboys need to just concentrate on the regular season first, and take care of business. They're not going 16-0, NO. But matching last years record is not unlikely. And they need to be relatively healthy and playing the kind of ball they're capable of in December and January. Their record over the previous three years is 31-17 (bolstered mainly by last year's gaudy 13-3) BUT in December of those three seasons, bad news: 6-8. THAT has to change. It has a LOT to do with how they're playing HEADING into the playoffs. Last year, the Cowboys were rolling at 12-1 and what happened next, is still hard to figure out.

As the upcoming NFL season fast approaches

WOW! It's amazing how fast the time has gone by since January 13, doomsday in Cowboy nation. I figured it would be a LONG offseason especially considering how such a great season went up in smoke like it did. The Cowboys went a LONG ways towards beating themselves in that loss and I know that not a single day has passed since then that I haven't said something along those lines to someone or to myself. And I'm just a fan! Imagine how the players feel. Imagine how Tony Romo feels, or T.O. How about Patrick Crayton, who might STILL be running with that thing had he not started to run before first remembering to CATCH the ball. On that play, Romo did his thing just like when he victimized the Giants and the others during the season. He scrambled around, improvised, bought time, kept the play alive, and rifled a pass over the middle to a cutting Patrick Crayton, who has proven to be sure handed and is and will be an adequate replacement to Terry Glenn if the latter doesn't return. Even if he doesn't score on the play(there was nothing but green ahead of him) the team has momentum AND the lead and has the Giants defense ONCE AGAIN back on their heels. But ofcourse instead, he dropped it and it was fourth down deep in their own territory and hampered with bad field position. But that one play didn't beat the team and it's over and done with and time to move forward. They appear to be on paper, better than in 2007. And hungrier. Perhaps they can take a page out of the story book of the 2004-2005 Steelers. The 2004 Steelers went 15-1 but stumbled in the playoffs, almost losing the divisional to the Jets(they tried to give that one away it looked like) and then getting worked by the Patriots at home in the AFC Championship game. But in 2005, they came back, didn't have as gaudy of a record as the year before but they were peaking late, caught a few breaks, and some lightening in the bottle(just like the Giants of this past yr) and won it.

But in my mind, the two teams I was expecting to be in the Super Bowl, crashed and burned on the SAME day. The Colts really, in my mind, were the best team in the AFC. They would have had to go to Foxboro, yes, but the Patriots were already looking vulnerable over the final two months of the year after they just looked too good to be true over the first ten weeks or so. How many point spreads did the Patriots NOT cover starting with that close game against the Donavan McNabb less Eagles? I mean they just blew the lid off of the competition and the record books on offense over that first half of the season, first 10 wks and then they looked ordinary. So in my mind I was expecting the Colts to make it to the Super Bowl to face ofcourse, the Cowboys, who were by FAR and away the best in the NFC. And both teams choked on the same day. The Colts really no showed against San Diego. No way they should have lost that game. It's hard really to determine which was a bigger shock on the day, the Colts losing at Home to the banged up Chargers(their two best players no less) or the Cowboys losing to a Giant team that they'd soundly beaten twice during the regular season.

The Year after

After mostly outplaying the Bulls in 1997, before falling short to the MJ Heroics, the Jazz came back the next season with the same cast, primed to knock off the Bulls, who were also a year older. The Jazz had a nice mix of veteran leadership(Stockton, Malone, and Hornecek were STILL at the top of their respective games) youth, and depth. First the Jazz had to begin the year without Stockton, who went under the knife for a knee surgery. He wound up missing the first 18 games, returning in early December, with the Jazz at 11-7. After about a month or so of finding their groove again, the Jazz tore through the second half of the season once again, out distancing the Spurs(who now featured a Twin Tower effect in Rookie Tim Duncan and Veteran David Robinson, who had missed nearly all of the previous year)for the Midwest Divsion Title and running down the Lakers, and Sonics for the best overall record in the West at 62-20. That's 51-13 after Stockton's return. The Bulls actually "slipped" to the same 62-20 record and the Jazz actually won the tiebreaker against them should they meet again in the Finals. They beat Chicago in both regular season meetings during the 1997-98 campaign.

The Jazz, however, nearly suffered a first round flameout again. There were visions of 1995, in Salt Lake City, after the Jazz opened up with a lackluster Game One defeat to the Houston Rockets. The injury depleted Rockets had stuggled to a 41-41 record but managed to qualify for the eighth and final spot. They also had everyone back to face the one team they would rather beat than anyone else, the Top seeded Jazz. Utah absolutely had to win game 2 and they did rather easily, 105-92 but the Rockets had stolen away home court. This wasn't the typical ONE verses EIGHT matchup, everyone knew that going in. And Houston took the Jazz to the brink of defeat by winning a close one in Game Three at home 89-85. Utah reacted to being on the ropes in Game Four by really struggling through the first two and a half quarters. They were down by ten 63-53 at one point but inched back to tie things at the end of the third. Then Charles Barkley was lost for the remainder of the series with a knee injury. The Jazz came alive in the fourth and wound up running away with a 93-71 win to get the fifth and deciding game back up to Salt Lake. Without Barkley, the Rockets struggled in the fifth game, succumbing 84-70(not uncommon scores back then given the style of NBA play of that time)

Having survived their first rounder against Houston, the Jazz next drew the San Antonio Spurs, playoff victims of the Jazz in 1994 and 1996. The Spurs, who would go on to win four NBA titles in a Nine Year span, starting in 1999, would contest the Jazz in the first two games, with the Jazz opening up with a ONE point victory in game one. Game two went into double overtime before the Jazz escaped with a three point win. Game Three down in San Antonio, was all Spurs, as the Jazz suffered a letdown from the first two games-it was ugly, 86-64. The Jazz were able to bounce back the following evening in San Antonio, led by Karl Malone's 34(without even attempting a single free throw) to win 82-73 and take a commanding 3-1 series edge back home where they would finish things with an 87-77 victory in Game 5.

Meanwhile, the young, talented, yet still undisciplined, Lakers, led by Del Harris, had a suprisingly easy time with Seattle, winning four straight convincing games, after dropping Game One. There was talk that the Lakers might go all the way. The Jazz were still the consensus favorite, since they had a more experienced cast, and had the homecourt advantage. The Trendy pick, ofcourse was LA, based on how they were playing, and how the Jazz had been grinding it out in their first two rounds. In Game ONE, The Jazz hit the Lakers with a barrage of haymakers, bolting out to a 40-15 lead and never looking back, winning 112-77. Game 2 was a game that I attended actually, and it was the best played game of the series. The Lakers showed up in this one, leading throughout the first three quarters, only to have the Jazz play more disciplined down the stretch in winning 99-95. After three days off, Game Three was down in the old Forum, and the Jazz took apart the Lakers again, pulling away in the fourth, despite Shaq going off for around 50. It was 109-98 and the Lakers players were bewildered afterwards, all but conceding the series at this point with the loss. Two days later, the Jazz were able to complete the four game sweep with another win. Now they had to WAIT TEN DAYS for the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls had mowed down New Jersey and Atlanta in the first two rounds but were pushed to seven games by Indiana. The Pacers won three close games at home while the Bulls had won their three at home fairly easily. In Game Seven in Chicago, the game went down to the wire, but the Bulls survived, thanks to a key three pointer by Steve Kerr, and Michael Jordan outleaping 7-4 Rik Smits on a jump ball, the final score being 88-83.


The Bulls and Jazz squared off, this time with Utah having homecourt. After the Jazz won Game One, the Bulls stole Homecourt away in Game 2 when Kerr got a key rebound and fed Michael Jordan with a clinching layup. Game 3 was a wash for the Jazz as they no showed in a 96-54 (YES 54)debacle. Game 4 went down to the wire like games one and two, with the Jazz employing a Hack Rodman Strategy at the end. Rodman stunningly made 5 of six foul shots to give the Bulls a four point win and a 3-1 edge. Facing elimination in Game 5, also in Chicago, the Jazz got strong efforts from Karl Malone (39 pts) and the BiG Dawg (ANtoine Carr) and were able to thwart Jordan's late game efforts to take over late. The Jazz escaped by two to send the series back to Salt Lake City. In Game Six, it was closely contested all the way, Pippen hurt his back and didn't play for a lot of the second half (he likely would've missed game seven it's believed)and Michael Jordan kept Chicago close all by himself. There were two questionable calls by hated Ref Dick Bavetta that favored the Bulls, allowing one shot by the Bulls Ron Harper to count after the shot clock had expired, and disallowing a shot by Howard Eisely that should've counted. But ofcourse, it all came down to Michael Jordan at the end, stealing the ball from Karl Malone from behind, and basically stealing the championship from the Jazz. His shot over Bryan Russell, you just knew was going in and ofcourse, Stockton's valiant miss at the end to win it for the Jazz caused the stunned fans in the Delta Center to think "maybe it's not meant to be". When the Jazz failed to win the championship the next year with the Bulls disbanded, you had to know that the Championship door on the Stockton-Malone era had slammed shut.

Not just a Cowboys Blog

I am a big fan of the Jazz as well. I remember the feeling I had back in 1997 and 1998 when they went back to back in the Finals losing each time in six games to the mighty Chicago (Michael Jordan) Bulls. I think that 1997 was not to be that big of a dissappointment as far as the finals go because, the Bulls were expected to win it(I believed that it was the final one for the Chicago)and that the Jazz finally getting there was the beautiful thing of it. In 1996-97, after years of near misses (1988, 1992, 1994, 1996) mixed in with years of disheartening first round playoff flameouts(see 1989, 1990, and 1995) the Jazz finally made it to the finals with the aid of a 64-18 record (best in the West and an NBA Best in MOST seasons) compared to the 69-13 Bulls. THat year, the Jazz were as deep as anyone in the league, maybe not the most talented but the most disaplined. Karl Malone won his first Regular season MVP award. He was approaching the age of 34 and still in his prime. John Stockton, the point guard, who had already become the league's all time leader in assists and steals, was still the savvy floor general and at age 35, was also, incredibly still near his peak. Jeff Hornecek was the shooting guard, while he and Stockton were backed up adequately by Howard Eisely and Shandon Anderson. Throw in Adam Keefe and Veteral Antoine "BiG DAWG" Carr for depth at the Forward spots to back up Malone and Bryon Russell. And not to forget about Greg Foster and Chris Morris, each pure shooters, who made the Jazz that much tougher to beat when they were hot from the outside. The Center was young Greg Ostertag, who was up and coming at the time, and about to become a very rich young underachiever in the years ahead once he signed that new deal. The Jazz closed out the year, an astounding 31-4 over the final 35 games of the regular season, in pulling away from the rest of the Western Conference field. Houston, a talented veteran team with Hakeem, Charles Barkley, and Clyde Drexler, finished a distant second to the Jazz at 56-26. Los Angeles had won their division with a 56-26 record. They would meet the Jazz in the second round, after Utah completed their first ever playoff sweep against the Clippers 3-0 in the first round(still a best of five at that time)The Lakers, a young team headed by Shaq, were talented but undisciplined, unharnessed. They would go down in five to the Jazz 4-1, although they played them tough in close losses in Salt Lake City in games 2(Jazz escaped 103-101) and Game 5(the clinching game with the Jazz winning 98-93 in overtime, remembered best for Rookie Kobe Bryant's airballs) So now it was Houston in the Western Conference Finals. The Rockets had easily dispatched the first time playoff bound Minnesota Timberwolves in the opening round and then outlasted the Seattle Supersonics(the previous year's Western COnf. Champs) in a grueling seven game series. The Jazz were rested and took the Rockets easily in Games 1 and two (101-86 and 104-92 respectively) In Game Three, the Jazz roared out to a 31-18 lead after one period but hit a wall thereafter as HOuston stormed back and seized a 118-100 win. Then, in Game Four, the Rockets evened the series in a close one 95-92 when reserve forward "Fast" Eddie Johnson drilled a three pointer as time expired. Game 5 was close as well, with the Jazz being able to stay one step ahead throughout the second half. Karl Malone's 29 helped the Jazz regain the series edge 3-2 in a 96-91 win. Game Six was hotly contested, back and forth with the Rockets facing elimination and the Jazz trying to close it out down in Houston. After three quarters it was 71-70 Houston. But in the fourth quarter, the Rockets surged to a 90-77 lead, and the series looked to be headed back up to Utah again for a winner-take-all Game 7. Many Jazz fans, myself included, turned the game off at that point, resigned to game seven. I remember thinking" at least it's up here". At work the next morning is when I found out what happened. The Best Finish that I didn't see live. The Jazz stormed back with the aid of Stockton, to forge a 100 all tie in the closing seconds. The Rockets had their chance to win it and failed and the Jazz rebounded with two seconds left and called timeout. The inbounds pass went to Stockton, who was left alone with Barkely arriving too late. Karl Malone had bearhug picked Clyde the Glide out of the way as well, and Stock let it fly from about 25 feet. "UH OH" said announcer Greg Gumbel, followed by" YES! JOHN STOCKTON SENDS THE UTAH JAZZ TO THE NBA FINALS!!!!!" In the winners lockerroom afterwards, Jeff Hornacek said the most striking statement of all "We knew that they (HOuston) would be tight if it was close at the end, because we had the luxury of a Game seven(at home no less)and they didn't"

Now that we're halfway to the next season

That loss to the HATED, DESPISED, DAMNED Giants was a BITTER BITTER BITTER pill for me as a fan to swallow. But believe it or not, the players have got to feel worse. They owned these guys and they did not come through. Penalties, Dropped Passes, and hampered with some poor field position for critical parts of the game that allowed New York to stay in it and find away in what turned into sort of a chess match in the second half, is how Dallas would blow itself up. And all you have to do is look at the stats. 350 total yards for Dallas. 230 for the Giants. The Cowboys also had the time of possession edge by nearly TWO to ONE. Their TE Jeremy Shockey was out with broken leg, and may not even be back in a Giants uniform this coming season. Their Top wideout Plaxico Burress had ONE catch for FIVE yards. They rushed for only 55 yards. Dallas had somewhere close to 150 although they got away from that in the second half somewhat when Romo started feeling the pressure, perhaps remembering that he hadn't yet won his first playoff game. Eli Manning was only 12-18 for 160 yards. And on the defensive side, the vaunted secondary of the Giants, who was lit up for nearly 80 points in the two losses to Big D in the regular season, didn't even have their best defender in CB Sam Madison. T.O. wasn't nearly 100 percent recovered from his injury, probably would've still been slowed had the Cowboys survived this and perhaps made it all the way to the Super Bowl. But it's not a good enough excuse. This was Dallas's to lose. Period.

Meanwhile the freakin' Giants shocked everyone by upsetting Green Bay in the NFC Championship and then, against all odds, completed their unlikely playoff run by eeking out a 17-14 win in the Super Bowl against the undefeated Patriots. I wasn't pulling for my bitter rivals to win that, although I'm not a Patriots fan anymore than I'm a Spurs fan. I'm just hoping my hometown Utah Jazz can be the Giants of the NBA this year.

So now that the Giants will suffer a post Super Bowl slip, the Cowboys look to bounce back in 2008 with a healthy T.O., perhaps a 100 percent return of Terry Glenn opposite him and a rookie RB in Felix Jones, taking place of the departed Julius Jones(now with the Seahawks) They Boy's will have an improved secondary if Pacman Jones can behave himself along with a Rookie CB Jenkins from Univ SOuth Florida. Marion Barber should only be better. Romo should be better and wiser from this(I'd prefer he cut ties with Jessica Simpson, though I don't blame her for the playoff choke)

My final feeling of the playoff debacle was that it stands as the most dissappointing loss for me as a fan of the Dallas Cowboys. Yes, I remember losing to Joe Montana and Dwight Clark when I was in fourth grade via "THE CATCH" But I knew that San Francisco was Dallas' equal and it was at Candlestick to boot. It was dissappointing to lose the following year to the Hated Redskins(Washington hadn't beaten Dallas in four years at that time) but that was at RFK and I knew that the Skins were on a roll and would be tough to beat if the Cowboys didn't play well(too many turnovers). Losing to San Francisco at the end of the 1994 season, ending the Cowboys'quest for a THREEPEAT was hard but I think the 49ers were a little bit better that time around. I don't think that the loss to Seattle the previous year to this choke even dissappointed me that much, because I figured the Cowboys were still building back up. They should have won but it didn't destroy me or anything. I just shrugged. But in 2007, given the fact that the Cowboys were the NO 1 seed and rarely goofed when they were the Number one seed in the NFC playoffs(only other time they lost as a NO 1 seed was in 1979 against the Rams-Staubach's last game)It wasn't supposed to happen and it was totally unexpected. The Giants could not beat the Cowboys without help from the Cowboys. And they got it and were able to escape with the upset. This has got to be the most dissappointing loss that I can think of for me, personally, as a Cowboys fan given the circumstances. And anything less than taking it all this next year will be a dissappointment and I believe that's what the players are saying as well, maybe not publicly.