(Photo by Scott Boehm/Getty Images)
After a disappointing end to a 2008 season that began with Super Bowl aspirations, the Dallas Cowboys did a lot to change the culture of their locker room.
The “addition-by-subtraction” strategy that led the team to part ways with major contributors such as Terrell Owens, Tank Johnson, Zach Thomas, Anthony Henry, and Chris Canty led to one of the quietest training camps in recent memory.
The 2009 season has started with much lower expectations for this bunch.
Considering the recent late-season nose dives and lose of so much talent, many “experts” regard the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles to be prohibitive favorites in the NFC and leave the Cowboys and Washington Redskins as afterthoughts in the division.
Many analysts shy away from the Cowboys because they just are not sure what to expect.
Here are five questions that will determine how far Dallas can go this season.
1. Offensive Line depth
The Cowboys' starting offensive line is one of the best in the league. However, they are also older, and the drop off between the starters and the second unit is significant.
The starting line is an average of 31 years old and not a single starter is under the age of 30.
The best player on the second unit is probably journeyman Montrae Holland. Doug Free is a former fourth-round draft pick that was inactive for the first 13 weeks of last season.
The Cowboys had so much faith in Cory Procter last year that they signed Holland to take over for Procter following the injury to Kyle Kosier. Recently signed Duke Preston is a former fourth-round pick that both Buffalo and Green Bay have already given up on. Pat McQuistan is a former seventh-round draft pick.
Recently, injuries to Kyle Kosier and Marc Colombo have spelled disaster for the high-powered Dallas attack, and it appears that this year presents the same scenario.
For this offense and Romo to avoid another late season stall, the offensive line has to stay intact.
2. Cornerback rotation
Probably the biggest position battle at this training camp was between Orlando Scandrick and Mike Jenkins for the starting cornerback spot that belonged to Anthony Henry.
Scandrick, a former fifth round pick, seems to have outplayed former first round pick Mike Jenkins, but the coaching staff has decided to rotate the two young corners instead of picking one over the other.
Rotations are a tricky situation. In football, it seems that defining roles for players usually works better than leaving a situation in limbo, which appears to be what the coaching staff has done in this case.
Dallas needs better secondary play. Whether Jenkins or Scandrick is on the field, the coverage has to improve. Adding a veteran safety in Greg Sensabaugh will help. The coaching staff must be sure to put these two young corners in a position to succeed.
The result of this experiment will go a long way in determining how effective Dallas’ defense will be this season.
3. Focus
The biggest hurdle this team has faced since the departure of Bill Parcells is its ability to stay focused.
When their playoff chances were on the line last season, the got manhandled by Philadelphia 44-6.
They have shown a lack of ability to handle physical football teams. Brandon Jacobs pounded Dallas relentlessly in Week nine. Pittsburgh hung around and eventually wore down the Cowboys. Baltimore manhandled Dallas in the last game ever in Texas Stadium. Even the lowly St. Louis Rams
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