Why the Dallas Cowboys Could Fall Short of Hometown Super Bowl

No team in the history of the National Football League has ever played a Super Bowl in its home stadium.

There have been a few near-misses over the years, but never a direct hit.

Just recently, the Arizona Cardinals played in Super Bowl XLIII, just a year after the game was played in its own University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The Atlanta Falcons were just one season premature.

But as the city of Arlington, Texas, prepares for the league's next Super Bowl, the distinct possibility of this event taking place is becoming more evident.

Just recently, Dallas Cowboys legend Roger Staubach dropped in on the team's organized team activities to shake hands, toss the football, and inform the team, among other things, that it is one of just a handful of teams that has what it takes to win a Super Bowl in this upcoming season.

And as Jason Witten stated of Staubach, "Anything that comes out of his mouth is good."

The Vegas odds already have the Cowboys tied with the New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints as the third-favorite to win it all behind the Indianapolis Colts and the San Diego Chargers.

Nothing in the world would make Cowboys owner Jerry Jones happier than to have his own team play host to JerryFest. The excitement would be higher than Snoop Dogg at a legalize-it rally. The fan plazas would be packed with homers and he could oversee the entire undertaking—his piece de resistance—from his perch in his luxurious owner's suite.

And while there are obviously plenty of reasons to believe that this could take place—far more than the alternative—it's also useful to take a look at a few reasons the Cowboys could fall short of that historic trip.

The Secondary

A season ago, the Cowboys sent two players from its secondary—cornerbacks Mike Jenkins and Terrence Newman—to the Pro Bowl. So its fair to say that the team has some skilled players in that section of the defense.

But while it has two of the league's best lockdown corners, it also has the early makings of a big, giant question mark occupying the space between the hashmarks.

After a down season for free safety Ken Hamlin, the team decided to let him go and move on in a different direction—that being the direction of such skilled defenders as Michael Hamlin, Alan Ball, and Pat Watkins.

I know what you're thinking—how could the Cowboys possibly afford all three of these highly skilled safeties? Better yet, how could the Cowboys possibly afford to have only these three safeties?

While strong safety George Sensabaugh was a pleasant surprise a season ago, it is impossible to tell if he can match that success without a proven safety playing along side him (see: defender Roy Williams after Darren Woodson's retirement).

In a season that promises the potential of the Dallas Cowboys finally putting it all together, the brass has set the team up with an Achilles' heel that could be its ultimate undoing—$$$.

Wade Phillips

Now, I'm a big fan of head coach Wade Phillips. I think it's obvious that he has done a good job with the players he's had during his regime. He was able to pick up the pieces after Hurricane Owens blew through Valley Ranch, put the team back together and making it stronger, mentally, than it ever had been before.

He even won a playoff game.

But the fact remains that Phillips has never been a Super Bowl coach. He could scarcely be considered a playoff coach, as that win in the wildcard round a year ago was a playoff first for him.

So when a team goes into a season with Super ambitions, the questions about such a coach are sure to arise.

Can he really guide a team to three or four postseason victories despite winning just one in his entire career?

Is his easygoing nature a help or a hindrance to a team that needs to be driven to make a run at a championship?

These are all good questions and, unfortunately, are questions that can't be answered until the most important part of the season.

Injuries

Injuries are always a major factor when it comes to a team expected to make a run to the Super Bowl. Just two seasons ago, the New England Patriots were just coming off an 18-1 season in which it experienced a surprising loss to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl. As the new season began, the team was still the odds on favorite to win it all.

Until disaster struck.

Prized quarterback Tom Brady went down for the rest of the year with a knee injury early in the first game of the season. The Patriots didn't make the playoffs.

For the past few seasons, the Cowboys have been a fairly lucky team in this area. While halfback Felix Jones has struggled to stay healthy in each of his first two season and there have been a few minor injuries here and there, the team has largely avoided the injury bug.

That should be a red flag for the upcoming season. Injuries in the NFL are like fights with a spouse—it's never a matter of if, only when, they will happen.

The team can only stay lucky for so long—and it has to hope that its luck won't run out in such an important season as this.

Assuming each of these three potential problems don't become factors, it's logical to think that we might see a team play a Super Bowl in its home stadium.

The Cowboys definitely have the players and it appears that they continue to mature as each season goes along.

If there is one thing we know, though, it is that the NFL is as unpredictable as a five-legged bull. Anything can happen.