Jacksonville Jaguars at Dallas Cowboys: Things To Watch
With the Cowboys' season practically over, it is time to focus on finishing this season and looking ahead to next season. Of course, with the prospect of a strike in 2011, Cowboy fans' morale may be as low as it has been in years. Even so, here are a few things to watch during this Sunday's matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Offensive Line Play
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From the start of training camp, there was a lot of talk on whether the aging Cowboys offensive line could hold its own. The answer came in Week 1 when Alex Barron, playing for injured starting right tackle Marc Colombo, was penalized for holding on what would have been the game-tying touchdown. With left guards Kyle Kosier and Montrae Holland injured, rookie Phil Costa will make his first start in what should end up being his audition for the full-time job at guard.
Jon Kitna
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With starting quarterback Tony Romo out with a broken clavicle, 38-year-old backup Jon Kitna will be in charge of leading the Cowboys offense. If he struggles, or gets knocked out of the game, backup Stephen McGee will get a chance to showcase his talents. McGee was drafted in the fourth round out of Texas A&M in 2009 by the Cowboys, but has yet to throw a pass in the NFL.
Special Teams
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Placekicker Nick Folk struggled mightily in 2009 after coming back from hip surgery and was let go. David Buehler, who was very good at booming kickoffs into the end zone in 2009, inherited the placekicking gig this year but struggled with consistency early in the season.
Buehler has hit on six of his last seven kicks and has started to kick off with better accuracy and length. If he can continue to improve, it will give the Cowboys some peace of mind knowing that finding a new placekicker is not on the list of things to do for next year.
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Running Game
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The Cowboys thought the running game was going to be a strength in this 2010 team. However, the three-headed monster of Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice is only averaging 86 yards per game, and even more worrisome, the tandem only has one rushing touchdown in six games. Some of that blame has to fall on the offensive line woes, but if the Cowboys cannot improve their rushing game, expect whoever stands behind center to take a pounding.
Coaching Staff
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The Wade Phillips show is likely coming to an end as soon as the last game of the season is played. It will be interesting to see the future holds for offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who was thought to be an up and coming coordinator that had great head coaching potential.
With the Cowboys offense taking some heat in the last few seasons, Garrett has come under a lot of criticism for his playcalling. It is safe to say that unless the Cowboys offense wakes up in the second half of the season, Garrett will be joining Wade Phillips in the unemployment line.
Cornerbacks
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The Cowboys opened the season with only three cornerbacks. Veteran Terence Newman has had a good season and has avoided the injury bug, which has been a problem with him since he was drafted out of Kansas State in 2003.
Third-year cornerbacks Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick, on the other hand, have struggled. Jenkins showed some flashes of becoming a shutdown cornerback in 2009, but this season he has taken the spotlight in the form of egregious pass interference penalties and blown coverages (think Johnny Knox).
Scandrick has also struggled as the No. 3 cornerback, and was exposed in the loss against the New York Giants.
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