The Roundup

I'd like to chip in a couple thoughts on the season so far. Incredibly random, but thoughts nonetheless. To organize it a little bit I'm going to take some time a break down a couple key positions and issues at this point in the season.

The first issue I see with this team is the startling similarity in playoff position to last season. Sure, the Redskins and Giants are both below us and neither is really surging (at least not like that "five in a row or we don't go" bullcrap Redskins fans were funneling our way last year), and sure, we've finally got a quarterback who knows how to finish close games. But the record is the same and so is the feeling. I don't think we ever really got our feet under us last year with Bledsoe calling the shots. You just didn't know which team you'd see. Now that this 42-17 beating is behind us, it seems we are once again questioning how "for real" this team is. I'm not blaming Romo and nobody I know with half a mind is either. But can you really see this team walking away with a title after last Sunday? Sure is a lot tougher.

Anyway, down to the nitty gritty.

QB - The thing I always harp on when I talk about Romo is what he's done with what was once Bledsoe's team... and a mediocre one. The predictions on this team were lofty but Drew couldn't pull it together. He was too shortsighted when he looked off his receiver(s) (was there ever anybody but Glenn?), too slow and his players knew it. Take that Jacksonville game as a shining example. How the Cowboys were just seven points from victory in that one still boggles my mind. Bledsoe played awful. Putrid. Beyond terrible. And yet with the talent level the team possessed they kept it close.

Enter Tony Romo. He takes what ESPN (and almost everybody except Theeeesman) believed to be the NFC East Champs and turns them into... well, the favorite for the East crown (for the first time in eight years, mind you). But you've heard enough about him.

Marion Barber vs. Julius Jones - You must understand, before I start, that I've tried to stay as far on JuJo's side as I possibly could throughout this whole season. I was ecstatic when he broke for that 77-yarder because I knew it meant 1.) Parcells was going to play him more, and 2.) Maybe he's finally found what he was missing. But looking back on it, he hasn't really found anything. I've been drifting closer and closer to MBIII's side all season. I fought it last year when, after Julius' 194-yard performance against Carolina in Week 16, it seemed he'd slammed the door shut on any running back controversey. I've tried to adhere to BP's solemn promise that JJ was his starter and any talk to the contrary, latent evidence be damned, was erroneous. Well, if we're in the business of picking sides, which isn't really necessary, I'm in MBIII's camp now.

At this point in the season, and especially in both of their careers, there's no point in picking one or the other to "go with." Their contracts don't necessitate that kind of action and the Cowboys don't have that kind of an offense. But I do think Barber should be starting games, and here's why. Teams like the Giants love switching backs like Jacobs and Tiki because they're different. Defenses don't like drastic change and guys like that provide it. I don't care what anybody tells you, Barber is not a change of pace back, at least not compared to Julius. He's nearly as fast, has comparable acceleration and his footwork and vision are certainly better. The only reason to switch the two is fatigue. Barber's YPC is astronomical - it's time the coaches put it to MBIII to prove that he can keep it above four when he's getting 20 carries a game. Julius will get to 1,000 yards for the first time in his career this year, sure, but don't let that blind you. 1,000 yards has become merely a requisite for good running backs now, not great ones.

The Defense - Alright, alright, we get that Roy Williams isn't at his best in coverage. I understand Anthony Henry's limitations. So why on earth can't Zimmer OR Parcells work around them instead of stubbornly putting them in the same positions over and over again? You've got to leave safeties on islands every once in awhile - that is a given in this league... hell, that's what they're there for sometimes. But to blatantly ignore Roy's inability to react quickly enough seems to be a heinous crime. Roy's problem is not his foot speed. He could probably beat some of our other DB's and WR's in a foot race (and I think he has before). His problem is his read/react skills. He has this freeze mechanism after the ball is released and he never seems sure which way to backpedal. He makes plays (5 picks ain't no chopped liver), but he misses on twice that many.

If you go back and look at Roy's picks, almost all of them saw him coming underneath coverage already in place to make the catch. He rarely intercepted a ball on his own man. So we all know this - we all know Roy can't get over the top when Newman releases his man at line LOS, be it in a cover 2 or a CB blitz or whatever.  So why do we not have designs against this? Maybe going to a nickel with two receivers on the field every once in awhile to give Roy and whatever crony is next to him another help man? Lord knows the run defense won't care - you throw a wrecking ball in between the tackles against the Cowboys interior rush defense and the thing won't get two yards. It's those sweeps and screens that seem to be the killer, so wouldn't having Aaron Glenn on the field more often (who, by the way, is outplaying Henry right now) be a two-in-one cure? And I'm just thinking off the top of my head here. Surely with all the millions these guys are seeing they've thought of this, right? Right?

Just a few things on my mind at the moment. My advice this week is that things, especially in football, are rarely as bad as they seem. Take a step back, take a breath and realize that you're probably looking at the best Cowboys team we've seen in almost a decade. Thats good news, folks.