Dallas Cowboys Expectations for 2009? Finally Meet Them

The last three years have been a roller coaster ride for America's Team.  The problem is that the roller coaster makes a steep climb up an enormous hill, then right before it reaches the top...it falls quickly back down to the bottom.

Bill Parcells' last year in Dallas ended on a play that pretty much only happens once every four years in professional football.  Tony Romo bobbled the ball on a field goal attempt that most certainly would have gone through the uprights. Then, he fell one yard short of the endzone after he picked up the ball and ran to save his team's season. 

Many people forget that there actually was still some time left on the clock, and had the Cowboys been able to hold the Seahawks for nine yards or less, they would have had one more chance with the ball. 

However, the defense gave up two big plays and just like that, their season was over.

The next year, in Wade Phillip's first year at the helm of the Dallas Cowboys, he coached them to a 13-3 record.  That was good enough for the No. 1 seed in the NFC and home field throughout the playoffs. 

They lit up the league with their offense, and had it not been for the New England Patriots record breaking year, the Cowboys would have been everyone's favorite to win the Super Bowl. 

Then, after earning a bye in the first-round, the Cowboys faced their division rival New York Giants at home in Texas Stadium.  The Giants were a team that the Cowboys had already defeated twice in the regular season without too much of a problem. 

However, the Giants pounded the Cowboys the entire second half, topped by a touchdown scored by running back Brandon Jacobs.  After Jacobs scored, he threw the ball, knocking down one of the stars hanging around the wall of the stadium. 

An ironic symbolization of the way the Cowboys' season was ending.

Returning 13 Pro Bowlers going into last season, the 'boys looked to make up for their playoff loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Giants. 

In the beginning, the Cowboys looked amazing on offense, and had some people calling them the most talented Dallas Cowboys team of all time. 

Unfortunately, those comments could not have been any more wrong.  Dallas struggled the entire season, losing the final game to Philadelphia in blow-out fashion with the playoffs and their pride on the line.

Not reaching the expectations brought on by their talent, and the logo on their helmets, has been the main story line in each of the last three seasons.

Now looking to 2009, the Dallas Cowboys have made some much needed changes to their roster in an attempt to overcome the psychological problems that plagued them last year. 

Terrell Owens, Tank Johnson, and Pacman Jones no longer roam the hallways at Valley Ranch.

The distractions caused by T.O. and Jones simply being on the roster proved to bring too much stress for this team to handle.  It was really evident in Tony Romo, who lost his famous smile and his ability to be an efficient quarterback the final ten games of the season.

They signed a new special teams coach to hopefully fix a unit that struggled mightily in 2008.  They also drafted 12 players in the draft, most of whom will be performing on those special teams units.

The most important questions will be how Jason Garrett play-calls the offense, and how Tony Romo takes on the leadership role of a team that should have been "his" two years ago.

Garrett looked untouchable his first year as the team's Offensive Coordinator, but then looked completely predictable last season.  It could have been the pressure he was feeling to get Owens the ball constantly, or maybe it was simply his creativity.

This season will show which one is more fact than fiction.

The Dallas locker room was one without an unquestioned leader last season.  Tony Romo is the only person, other than maybe DeMarcus Ware, who can truly take on this role.  If one of them assumes this role, it will help the Cowboys tremendously.

The Cowboys have underachieved for the last three years.  If they can get their offensive play-calling back on track, play solid on special teams, and have an unquestioned leader rise up in the locker room, this team is a legitimate Super Bowl contender. 

If those three things don't happen, Dallas Cowboy fans could be in for another roller coaster season that frustratingly ends at the bottom of a steep hill.