Cowboys Finish Preseason - Questions Remain

Last night the Cowboys tied the Minnesota Vikings 10-10. This finishes the 2006 preseason for the Cowboys. Both quarterbacks played, and both looked pretty good, although each threw an interception. Quarterback is not a problem for the Cowboys this year. With Bledsoe and Romo, we have the best quarterback situation the Cowboys have had since Aikman. Peter King of ESPN is still saying Romo will be the starting quarterback by midseason. Maybe, but I think next season is when he stands a good chance of becoming the starter.

The defense again looked good last night. They gave up a touchdown, but allowed only 10 points for the Vikings. If your defense holds another team to 10 points, you should win that game. It looks like the Cowboys may be carried by their defense this year.

Terrell Owens played in his first game as a Cowboy. He only played for a short time, but it was good to see T.O. in uniform and in the game. Maybe things will be OK for a while with T.O.. The passing game looked pretty good. However, there is still a big question mark on the Cowboys running game. Jones and Barber both struggled last night. The running game didn't pick up until the fourth quarter, when Tyson Thompson came into the game. I think this is mainly a problem with the offensive line, but they are still in the process of coming together, so maybe this will improve.

The other huge question mark is our new multi-million dollar kicker, Vanderjagt. The Cowboys have never had a high-dollar kicker, but after last season, when we couldn't even seem to hit a chip shot, Jerry Jones went out and paid millions for Vanderjagt. We have repeatedly been told that Vanderjagt is the most accurate kicker in the league. Well, last night he looked awful. His kickoffs were short and he missed two field goals in overtime that would have won the game for the Cowboys. These were not difficult kicks either. One was 33 yards and the other was 32 yards, and both were lined up in the middle of the field. At this point, I'm not sure this guy is any better than the minimum-wage kickers we had last year.

Last year, undrafted free-agent Tyson Thompson played his way on to this team. This year, it looks like we may have two undrafted free-agents fight their way on to the team. Wide receiver Jamaica Rector and safety Abram Elam have played consistently well throughout the preseason. They played great again last night. I would be very surprised if both these guys don't make it on to the roster.

The biggest disappointment of the preseason has been Skyler Green, wide receiver and kick returner from Louisiana State. He was drafted to run back kicks, but has not shown he can do the job. He played in all four preseason games and never really had a real good run-back. I think there is now serious doubt as to whether he will make the team.

The season starts for the Cowboys on September 10th in Jacksonville. My prediction is that the Cowboys will go 11-5 in the regular season.