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Fraley: Cowboys must play their starters on Thursday
01:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Tony Romo and the Cowboys' first-team offense has one score - on an eight-yard drive - in its last 10 possessions this preseason
Column by GERRY FRALEY / The Dallas Morning News | gfraley@dallasnews.com
Gerry Fraley
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IRVING – There is a two-word reason for why Cowboys coach Wade Phillips must use the starters in Thursday's preseason home game against Miami:
THE OTHER SIDE: David Moore tells us why sitting their starters is in the Cowboys' best interest
Tony Romo and the Cowboys' first-team offense has one score - on an eight-yard drive - in its last 10 possessions this preseason.
The schedule.
The Cowboys' regular-season schedule is back-loaded. In the first seven games, the Cowboys face only one opponent (Minnesota, in its building) that reached the playoffs last season. The Cowboys' final nine games include six dates against playoff clubs from a year ago.
The Cowboys must be primed for a quick start. The unappealing alternative will be trying to make up ground against good teams in the second half.
In three seasons with Phillips, the Cowboys have started well. They were 9-3 in the first four games of the regular season and 24-12 in the first half. Those clubs reflected Phillips' approach of getting prep work done on the training camp practice fields rather than in exhibition games.
Those teams were further along in their development at this stage than the current bunch. Maybe the grand marketing plan of having training camp in three cities, with two weeks on body-sapping artificial turf in San Antonio, was not a great idea.
For whatever reason, the offense needs help. The defense, missing three starters for Saturday's loss at Houston, will be fine. The offense, limited by mistakes and inconsistent blocking, has not established a rhythm.
Consider the telling "rehearsal game," the next-to-last exhibition. In three seasons under Phillips, the Tony Romo-led offense had 43 points in seven quarters during those games. The first-team offense scored zero points in three quarters against Houston in the "dress rehearsal." That offense has one score, on an eight-yard drive, in its last 10 possessions.
If the offense were functioning adequately, Phillips would have reason to again hold starters out of the final exhibition. This team requires an adjustment.
The offense cannot come to life by flicking a switch on opening day, at Washington on Sept. 12. It needs a productive final exhibition to generate good feelings heading into Washington. That's worth the risk of injury.
"You cannot say you'll sweep it [exhibition results] under the rug, and all of the sudden it's going to work on opening day," NBC analyst Rodney Harrison said during a conference call Monday.
Harrison, a former Pro Bowl safety, has picked the Cowboys to reach the Super Bowl. They must first get through the exhibition season with an offense that has a pulse.
• • •
01:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Tony Romo and the Cowboys' first-team offense has one score - on an eight-yard drive - in its last 10 possessions this preseason
Column by GERRY FRALEY / The Dallas Morning News | gfraley@dallasnews.com
Gerry Fraley
Archive | Bio | E-mail
IRVING – There is a two-word reason for why Cowboys coach Wade Phillips must use the starters in Thursday's preseason home game against Miami:
THE OTHER SIDE: David Moore tells us why sitting their starters is in the Cowboys' best interest
Tony Romo and the Cowboys' first-team offense has one score - on an eight-yard drive - in its last 10 possessions this preseason.
The schedule.
The Cowboys' regular-season schedule is back-loaded. In the first seven games, the Cowboys face only one opponent (Minnesota, in its building) that reached the playoffs last season. The Cowboys' final nine games include six dates against playoff clubs from a year ago.
The Cowboys must be primed for a quick start. The unappealing alternative will be trying to make up ground against good teams in the second half.
In three seasons with Phillips, the Cowboys have started well. They were 9-3 in the first four games of the regular season and 24-12 in the first half. Those clubs reflected Phillips' approach of getting prep work done on the training camp practice fields rather than in exhibition games.
Those teams were further along in their development at this stage than the current bunch. Maybe the grand marketing plan of having training camp in three cities, with two weeks on body-sapping artificial turf in San Antonio, was not a great idea.
For whatever reason, the offense needs help. The defense, missing three starters for Saturday's loss at Houston, will be fine. The offense, limited by mistakes and inconsistent blocking, has not established a rhythm.
Consider the telling "rehearsal game," the next-to-last exhibition. In three seasons under Phillips, the Tony Romo-led offense had 43 points in seven quarters during those games. The first-team offense scored zero points in three quarters against Houston in the "dress rehearsal." That offense has one score, on an eight-yard drive, in its last 10 possessions.
If the offense were functioning adequately, Phillips would have reason to again hold starters out of the final exhibition. This team requires an adjustment.
The offense cannot come to life by flicking a switch on opening day, at Washington on Sept. 12. It needs a productive final exhibition to generate good feelings heading into Washington. That's worth the risk of injury.
"You cannot say you'll sweep it [exhibition results] under the rug, and all of the sudden it's going to work on opening day," NBC analyst Rodney Harrison said during a conference call Monday.
Harrison, a former Pro Bowl safety, has picked the Cowboys to reach the Super Bowl. They must first get through the exhibition season with an offense that has a pulse.
• • •
