Who will win the NFC East? The Cowboys.

By Mike Petty
Collegian Reporter
September 13, 2006

You wouldn’t know the Dallas Cowboys have 52 other players on their active roster if you follow NFL talk in the media.

Apparently, Terrell Owens will make or break this season, with no one else having any influence. Anyone who knows anything about football knows that this can’t be any further from the truth. Everyone is enjoying discussing T.O. and how he will destroy the Cowboys.

While the national media prays that T.O. tears the Cowboys apart so they can have more endless hours of discussion, they really should be focusing on the whole team, which will be winning the NFC East in 2006.

The easiest way to see if a team improved in the off-season is to look at the previous year’s biggest weakness. The ’Boys’ offensive line was as porous as Pat Burrell’s swing, and with QB Drew Bledsoe in the pocket, the Cowboys might as well have the Statue of David back there.

This year, they welcomed back a healthy Flozell Adams and signed Marc Colombo and Jason Fabini to sure up holes left by 10-time Pro Bowl lineman Larry Allen, now with the 49ers.

Bledsoe has proven that he still has plenty in his right arm and he will have plenty of options.

Julius Jones and Marion Barber, who will be the starting RB by Week 8 (mark my words), complement a solid running attack.

Terry Glenn, who had over 1,000 yards receiving last season, and Pro Bowl TE Jason Witten are joined by arguably the best wide receiver in the league. The offense is loaded and may resemble an NBA All-Star team with not enough balls to go around, but it may not be the best unit on the team.

Opponents will have to worry about shutdown corners Anthony Henry and Terrence Newman with skull-cracking safety Roy Williams in the secondary.

Led by this year’s breakout defender DeMarcus Ware, the Cowboys will consistently bring pressure. Arguably, the Cowboys could have won two more games last season and been in the playoffs if they had any kicker at all, so they went out and signed the most accurate kicker in NFL history to resolve that issue.

Last season, America’s Team was one of the top teams in the NFC until its lack of depth showed itself. This season will be different in the NFC East, as there is potential for three teams in the division to make the playoffs.

To understand the present, one needs to understand the past.

In 1995, Jerry Jones signed one of the most volatile players in the NFL and many questioned whether that player would help the team or ruin it.

A Super Bowl XXX championship later, 1995’s Deion Sanders is 2006’s Terrell Owens, and the results may be close, if not identical, in Big D.

pettym1@lasalle.edu