Dallas Cowboys 2010-2011 Season Preview

Tony Romo (above) and the rest of the Cowboys look to make history this season by becoming only the first team in NFL history to play a home Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

The Dallas Cowboys open the 2010-2011 season looking to build on last season’s playoff win, the team’s first since 1996. Dallas, with the 24th overall pick in the draft, brought in wide receiver Dez Bryant; whom they believe is a key playmaker to add to an already explosive offense. Bryant, who’s been out the majority of training camp and all of the preseason with a high-ankle sprain, is expected to be ready for the season opener and could make a significant impact on offense. The top-rated receiver in the 2009 draft may be called upon to start if Roy Williams continues to struggle in his third season with Dallas.

On the defensive side the Cowboys finished last season boasting, statistically, one of the best defenses in football.
The unit was the second-best scoring defense in the National Football League (15.6 points per game), ninth in yards per game (315.9), and had only one starter (safety Ken Hamlin) depart in the offseason.

Even with all the positives after a strong 2009 season, followed by a quality offseason, this year’s training camp has been a disaster for the Cowboys. Dallas lost six starters to injury (not including Bryant) and the first-team offense has struggled to get anything going in the preseason. Starting quarterback Tony Romo has failed to lead the team to a touchdown in a span of eight quarters for the offense, and the unit looked genuinely discombobulated in parts of four games played.

"We've got a lot of work to do no matter what," said Cowboys’ head coach Wade Phillips. "We know that.”

As many NFL observers know, this is just practice. Also, of the six starters out with injury (left guard Kyle Kosier, right tackle Marc Columbo, safety Gerald Sensabaugh, defensive end Marcus Spears, linebacker Keith Brooking, and wide receiver Roy Williams), all but Kosier and Columbo are expected to be ready for the start of the season. Regardless of what has happened in the last month, this team comes into the season as (what many experts believe) one of the deepest and most talented teams in the league. A trendy Super Bowl pick, the Cowboys have a chance to be the first team in NFL history to play the Super Bowl at home.

They may struggle early, but, barring injury, the Cowboys are as good of a lock to make the playoffs as any team in football. Despite having one of the toughest schedules in the league this season, you would be hard pressed to find any NFL observer that doesn’t think this team will not only make it to the playoffs, but do some damage once they get there.

One of the injured Cowboys, starting linebacker Keith Brooking, feels this team is ready for the start of the season – despite an underwhelming preseason.

"I don't think you disregard (the preseason) by any means," said Brooking. "But you can't let it affect you to where there's a little bit of hesitation, a little bit of a doubt in your mind about how good of a football team we are because confidence, swagger — whatever word you want to use — is very important in this league and this game. We have a lot of reasons to be confident about this football team."

Let’s not discount the fact that, under Coach Phillips, Dallas has a pristine 9-2 record in September and has won the last three season openers. No matter how the team plays in the preseason, Dallas plays well when the real season comes around.

Prediction

While I don’t believe a home Super Bowl is in the cards, I do believe that this team will take a step forward this season. I expect the Cowboys to finish the season at 11-5 and go one step further in the playoffs, making it to the NFC Championship game before losing to the New Orleans Saints. This is a stout football team, I just don’t believe they have what it takes to win in New Orleans in January – the Saints are simply too good.

Super Bowl – Baltimore Ravens over Saints 21-17

The Cowboys open up the season tonight at 7:30 p.m., in Washington, on NBC Sunday night football.

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)