Skip to main content

Tag: Dallas Cowboys

Cowboys Revamp Seek Playoff Run

Written by Associated Press on . Posted in NFL.

By SCHUYLER DIXON AP Pro Football Writer

It has been 13 years since the Cowboys missed the playoffs at least three consecutive seasons and more than 20 years since they had three losing records in a row. The expectation is that Dallas has done enough to end its recent slide by improving one of the NFL’s worst defenses enough to complement Dak Prescott’s potent offense. Brian Schottenheimer enters his second season as coach and offensive play caller with the same tools he had a year ago. Prescott had one of his best seasons with star receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, a productive running back in Javonte Williams and a tight end the Cowboys believe is still waiting on a breakout season in Jake Ferguson. Dallas brought in 34-year-old Christian Parker to replace Matt Eberflus, who lasted just one ugly season as defensive coordinator. The personnel at Parker’s disposal is significantly better, and he doesn’t have to worry about the Cowboys trading one of the league’s best defensive players. They did that a week before the season last year when they shipped disgruntled edge rusher Micah Parsons to Green Bay, essentially setting up the epic failure that the defense became.

New faces

Edge Von Miller, S Caleb Downs, edge Malachi Lawrence, edge Rashan Gary, LB Jaishawn Barham, QB Sam Howell, S P.J. Locke, CB Cobie Durant, S Jalen Thompson, LB Dee Winters.

Key losses

CB Trevon Diggs, DT Osa Odighizuwa, S Donovan Wilson, special teamer C.J. Goodwin, LB Kenneth Murray, edge Jadeveon Clowney, edge Dante Fowler, CB Kaiir Elam.

Strengths

Prescott was a top-five quarterback by just about any measure last season, which helped Pickens have a breakout year coming off a trade triggered by a tumultuous start to his career in Pittsburgh. Pickens and Lamb are among the best duos in the game, which makes life easier for the third, fourth and fifth guys in the room. There could be an undrafted rookie among them in Camden Brown, who had a standout preseason. Williams’ arrival helped the Cowboys go from last in the NFL in rushing TDs in 2024 to the middle of the pack. Williams had 11 touchdowns, matching the total from his first four seasons combined in Denver. The interior of the defensive line, led by Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark, could help Dallas be much better against the run. The Cowboys have struggled to stop the run for years, and they point to that as a reason they haven’t even reached an NFC championship game in 31 years.

Weaknesses

Until it proves otherwise, Dallas’ defense is known for having trouble getting off the field on third down or creating turnovers. The Cowboys were last in the NFL in third-down defense a year ago. Dallas gave up the most points (511) with the fewest interceptions (six) in franchise history. Logic says many of those numbers will improve with two first-round draft picks in Downs and Lawrence and the additions through trades or free agency of safeties Locke and Thompson and edge rushers Gary and Miller, a two-time Super Bowl champ who is joining his hometown team at 37. Durant was the NFL postseason leader with three interceptions last season for the Rams. The offensive line could end up being leaky if right tackle Terence Steele can’t find the form of his first few seasons or left tackle Tyler Guyton doesn’t progress as expected in his third season.

Camp development

Barham, a third-round pick, was among a handful of preseason standouts and could force his way into the lineup as a rookie even after Dallas traded for Winters believing a veteran was the anchor needed for a young group of linebackers. Barham, who went to Michigan, has shown great instincts at a position that has been a weakness for the Cowboys in recent years.

Fantasy player to watch

Pickens is coming off career highs in catches (93), yards (1,429) and touchdowns (nine). At his playmaking best, Pickens is unmatched on the Dallas roster, and now he’s playing for a big second contract. The former Georgia standout decided to accept the $27.3 million franchise tag without making a fuss, and the Cowboys won’t have a choice but to give him a long-term contract if he equals or surpasses his 2025 production.

Tony Romo pleads no contest to charge of DW

Written by russell@tsm.football on . Posted in NFL. 

By STEVE MEGARGEE AP Sports Writer

Tony Romo pleads no contest to charge of operating while intoxicated and issues statement of apology.

CBS NFL analyst and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has pleaded no contest to a charge of operating while intoxicated and has issued a statement apologizing for the actions that led to his July arrest.

Romo was arrested July 23 following a traffic stop as he was driving south on Interstate 43 in Wisconsin. CBS has since placed him on leave from his role as its lead NFL analyst.

According to Milwaukee County court records, Romo lost his driving privileges for six months and was ordered to complete an alcohol assessment program.

Romo also owes $834. An interlock device must be installed on any vehicle owned or operated by Romo or registered to his name, and that order will remain in effect for at least one year after he is issued a license.

“The past month has been difficult, but it has also been personally significant,” Romo said in a statement on Instagram. “It has required me to confront and own my mistakes fully — to the Lord, to myself, to my family and now to the public.”

Romo said the multiple back surgeries that led to his retirement as a player “left me with constant, debilitating pain.” He noted that the pain “led to a dependence on pain medication, and my efforts to get off those medications led to an over-reliance on alcohol.”

“None of this is an excuse,” Romo said. “These are my failures and I take responsibility for them.”

Romo said he is working with a team of doctors to address his health and “make the necessary changes.” He thanked his family, friends and the NFL community for their support.

“As I turn my attention to my health, my family, and, in time, my return to CBS, I kindly ask for privacy during this period,” Romo said.

Romo also initially had received citations for possessing open intoxicants in a motor vehicle, unsafe passing on the right and refusal to take a test for intoxication after arrest. Those citations have all been dismissed.

CBS Sports president David Berson said last month that he does not have a timeline for a decision about Romo’s future with the network.

Romo, 46, has been the lead game analyst for CBS’ NFL coverage since 2017 after making four Pro Bowl appearances during a playing career that ran from 2004-16 and was spent entirely with Dallas.

Analyst JJ Watt will join play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson on CBS Sports’ lead NFL team during Romo’s absence. Their first game will be on Sept. 13, when the Minnesota Vikings host the Green Bay Packers.

Citations released by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office indicated that Romo performed poorly on field sobriety tests and that an open bottle of an alcoholic beverage was found in the passenger’s side of his black Jeep during an inventory before it was towed.

Body camera footage showed Romo telling deputies he had been coming from a golf course and was on his way “to visit grandma and grandpa” when he was stopped. A deputy told Romo he suspected him of being impaired because he had “red glassy eyes” and an “odor of an intoxicating alcoholic beverage.”

Romo went to high school about 35 miles southwest of Milwaukee in Burlington, Wisconsin.

He remains the Cowboys’ franchise leader in career touchdown passes with 248. He held the franchise record for career passing yards (34,183) until Dak Prescott overtook him last season

 

Cowboys Win NFC East Host Seattle in Wildcard Saturday

Written by Russell Dowden on . Posted in NFL FOOTBALL.

The Cowboys will start their playoff journey on Saturday night. Will it be short lived or a long one into Feb?

Should the Dallas Cowboys advance to the divisional round who they play still depends on what happens in the other NFC wild card game. If Chicago wins, Dallas would go to New Orleans. If Philadelphia won, Dallas would head to Los Angeles. The Cowboys won their last game of the regular season over the Giants Sunday in dramatic fashion with a 2 point conversion after a Cole Beasley diving catch. Dallas came back to win with 1:19 to play in the 4th. Cowboys 36 – Giants 35. Dallas ended the regular season as the NFC EAST CHAMPS at 10-6 in 2018.

This Weekends lineup:

Colts/Titans at Houston Texans, 4:35 pm ET on ESPN

Seahawks at Cowboys, 8:15 pm ET on FOX

Sunday, January 6th

Chargers at Ravens, 1:05 pm ET on CBS

Eagles at Bears, 4:40 pm ET on NBC


What have you done for me lately Jerry?

Written by Thomas L. Seltzer on . Posted in NFL FOOTBALL.

The Dallas Cowboys’ 59th NFL season is under way, their 30th under the ownership of Jerry Jones. No franchise has a richer history than the Cowboys, who have won five Super Bowls and are the most valuable sports team in the world. Forbes sets the value at $4.8 billion.
A few short months before Jones bought the Cowboys and fired Head Coach Tom Landry, I had the privilege of meeting Landry. The date was November 20, 1988, and the Cowboys had just lost 38-24 to Boomer Esiason’s Cincinnati Bengals. It was their eighth straight loss.
As a kid growing up, I watched Landry prowl the sidelines of Sundays. He was the man in the hat, the stoic leader of America’s team, impeccably dressed and sporting a fedora. In those days, I didn’t like the Cowboys since I lived in St. Louis, home of the Cardinals (before they moved west).
On that day in 1988, that same stoic man was standing in front of me, bigger than life. Always the gentleman, Landry was calmly answering questions in a press conference in the Cowboys locker room at Texas Stadium. I was the sports editor of the now defunct Shreveport Journal at the time.
At the press conference, Landry was trying to explain how America’s team had slipped to 2-10. The team had been in decline since the mid-1980s, but things had gone from bad to worse. The last time the Cowboys had lost eight games in a row was in their first season under Landry – 1960.
 The Cowboys had been an NFL powerhouse for more than two decades but were now the NFL whipping boy. Still, Landry had nothing but accolades for the 9-3 Bengals, and he had no disparaging words for his beleaguered team. Landry was a man who epitomized the word “classy.”
“We’re having a tough year,” I recall Landry stating in his normal deadpan voice. That was an understatement from the man who had become a lightning rod for all of the criticism directed at his team. Cowboy fans weren’t accustom to losing, and they weren’t handling it well.
I recall that I wrote a column the next day entitled “What have you done for us lately, Tom Landry?” Had all of these myopic boneheads forgotten Landry’s legacy? In spite of finishing with a 3-13 record in 1988, Landry’s record during his 29 seasons with the Cowboys was 418-250.
Landry and my favorite cartoonist, Charles Schulz, creator of Charlie Brown, died on the same day: February 12, 2000. Mike Thompson, the Detroit Free Press cartoonist, honored them with a cartoon showing the pair entering the pearly gates together. Landry had his arm around Schulz.
I was saddened by Landry’s passing, but I’ve always considered that his first death occurred three months after I met him that day at Texas Stadium. It was February 25, 1989, and Jones’ first act as the new owner of the team was to announce the firing of Landry.
Jones went on to announce that University of Miami coach Jimmy Johnson, who played with Jones at Arkansas, would replace Landry. Like Landry, Jones had a tough first year. The Cowboys were 1-15 in 1989, but they went on to win Super Bowls in 1992 and 1993.
On the 25th anniversary of Jones’ purchase of the Cowboys and firing of Landry, Jones admitted that he acted too quickly in firing Landry after 29 years as the team’s head coach. “If I had a chance to do it over again I would’ve waited a year and just got my feet on the ground,” Jones said.
No one can dispute Jones’ success as a businessman. He bought the Cowboys from H.R. “Bum” Bright for $140 million, and it’s worth 35 times that much today. Taking a “hands-on” approach, Jones is also the Cowboys’ general manager. It’s not uncommon to see him down on the field with his team.
The 71-year-old billionaire makes it work. In three decades with Jones at the helm, the team have won three Super Bowls. But the last of those titles was 22 years ago, and Cowboys fans have grown restless. “What have you done for us, lately, Jerry Jones?”