The Cowboys had their issues over the weekend with the Texans.  They couldn’t get their running game going and they couldn’t stop the Texans from running the football.  Tony Romo was pretty sharp completing 14 of 22 passes for 197 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 interception.  Brad Johnson finished up and he completed 5 of 6 passes for 56 yards with 1 interception.  Julius Jones (10 car, 34 yards) and Marion Barber (6 car, 14 yards) couldn’t get anything going against the Texans’ defense.  WR Sam Hurd had a solid game for the Cowboys as he caught 4 passes for 68 yards.  Jason Witten (3 grabs, 47 yards, TD) and Terrell Owens (1 rec, 35 yards, TD) both looked sharp catching passes from Romo.  The Cowboys finished the game with only 57 yards rushing on 21 carries (2.7 ypc).  The Cowboys also completed 19 of 28 passes for 234 yards.

The Cowboys allowed the Texans to rush for 142 yards on 26 carries (5.5 ypc) and the Texans completed 20 of 29 passes for 164 yards.  That’s not all as rookie WR Jacoby Jones of the Texans ran a punt back 91 yards for a TD against the Cowboys.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270825034

The Dallas Cowboys flat out dominated the Denver Broncos on Saturday Night.  They rushed out to a 24-6 lead in the first three quarters before the Broncos put up a fight.  Tony Romo was solid as he completed 11 of 18 passes for 122 yards with an interception.  Brad Johnson also looked pretty efficient as he completed 6 of 9 passes for 56 yards with a TD pass.  Tyson Thompson was the workhorse for the Cowboys last Saturday as he carried the ball 16 times for 75 yards (4.7 ypc) to lead the team in rushing.  Marion Barber was also very impressive with 11 carries for 57 yards (5.2 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Julius Jones also got his work in with 31 yards rushing on 9 carries (3.4 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Patrick Crayton looked good at WR with 3 grabs for 61 yards (20.3 avg).  Sam Hurd (3 rec, 36 yards) and rookie Isiah Stanback (2 rec, 30 yards, TD) both looked good in their battle to be the Cowboys #4 WR this season.  The Cowboys finished up running the football 42 times for 190 yards (4.5 ypc) and they completed 17 of 27 passes for 178 yards.

The defense played sharp for the Cowboys until the 4th quarter when the scrubs were in the game.  The Broncos only rushed for 35 yards on 19 carries (1.8 ypc) and they completed 18 of 34 passes for 234 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270818006

Look for the Cowboys to throw the ball underneath to the tight ends a little more in 2007 than they did in 2006.  Jason Witten was under-utilized in the passing game last season but that won’t likely be the case in 2007.  He played in 16 games (15 starts) last season and he caught 64 passes for 754 yards (11.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Look for Witten’s numbers to all improve as he will likely be a Pro Bowler in 2007.   He has now played in 63 games (53 starts) and he has caught 252 passes for 2,838 yards (11.3 avg) with 14 career TD grabs.

2nd year man Anthony Fasano will likely improve his production in his sophomore season with the Cowboys.  He has played in 16 games (5 starts) as a rookie last year and he caught 14 passes for 126 yards (9.0 avg) with 0 TD grabs.

The Cowboys brought in Adam Bergen as a free agent to push Anthony Fasano and provide depth.  He played in 14 games (7 starts) for the Cardinals last season and he caught 15 passes for 111 yards (7.4 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He has now played in 30 games (16 starts) in his career and he has now caught 43 passes for 381 yards (8.9 avg) with 2 TD grabs.

The Dallas Cowboys only go three deep at WR right now.  That doesn’t really matter though when you figure in TE Jason Witten.  If one of the WRs on the Cowboys go down they would compensate by throwing more passes to their TEs.  Terrell Owens remains the straw that stirs the drink in the passing game for the Cowboys so they need him to behave off of the field.  After Tony Romo replaced Drew Bledsoe as the starting QB Terrell Owens’ production sky rocketed.  He played in 16 games (15 starts) for the Cowboys last season and he caught 85 passes for 1,180 yards (13.9 avg) with 13 TD grabs.  He had problems with drops early in the season but by the end of the year he was making big play after big play.  Look for him to have a monster season in 2007 if he stays focused.  Owens has now played in 158 games (143 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 801 passes for 11,715 yards (14.6 avg) with 114 TD grabs.  He also has carried the ball 25 times for 159 yards (6.4 ypc) with 2 TD runs.

Terry Glenn benefits from Terrell Owens getting the bulk of the attention on defense.  He still can get down the field as he has maintained his speed despite his advancing age.  He played in 15 games (14 starts) last season for the Cowboys and he caught 70 passes for 1,047 yards (15.0 avg) with 6 TD grabs and he also carried the football 3 times for 11 yards (3.7 ypc).  Look for Glenn to have another stellar season as the Cowboys #2 WR in 2007.  He has now played in 136 games (127 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 593 passes for 8,823 yards (14.9 avg) with 44 TD grabs and he has also carried the ball 20 times for 139 yards (7.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.

Patrick Crayton stepped up last season and seized the #3 WR job and he ran with it.  He played in 16 games (7 starts) last season for the Cowboys and he caught 36 passes for 516 yards (14.3 avg) with 3 TD grabs and he also returned 11 punts for 85 yards (7.7 avg).  Look for Crayton to improve on those numbers….especially if Glenn or Owens has to miss some time due to injury.  Crayton has now played in 35 games (7 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 70 passes for 1,019 yards (14.6 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  He also has returned 38 punts for 285 yards (7.5 avg).

The #4 and #5 WR spots will be battled for in Training Camp by Sam Hurd, Miles Austin and Isaiah Stanbeck.  Stanbeck is trying to convert to WR as he was a college QB but he is injured right now and will start out behind in the competition.  Sam Hurd played in 15 games (2 starts) as a rookie last season and he caught 5 passes for 75 yards (15.0 avg) and he also made 13 tackles on special teams.  He will likely win the #4 WR job.  Don’t discount Miles Austin who came out of nowhere as a kickoff returner last season for the Cowboys.  He played in 9 games (0 starts) and he returned 29 kickoffs for 753 yards (26.0 avg) but he didn’t catch a pass last year.

The Cowboys took it to the defending World Champion Colts last night….too bad the game doesn’t count.  Still, there were plenty of things to like about how the Cowboys played last night.  Tony Romo looked great throwing the football as he completed 10 of 11 passes for 93 yards.  Brad Johnson didn’t look as good when he played as he completed 3 of 4 passes for 15 yards.  The surprise of the night was the play of undrafted rookie QB Matt Moore who completed 7 of 9 passes for 88 yards.  The Cowboys also ran the ball pretty well as Marion Barber led the charge with 12 carries for 48 yards and he also caught 3 passes for 11 yards.  Tyson Thompson also was busy with 11 carries for 34 yards with a TD.  Julius Jones also pitched in with 6 carries for 22 yards.  Reserve 2nd year TE Tony Curtis was the leading receiver for the Cowboys with 3 grabs for 59 yards.  Anthony Fasano also had a decent game with 3 grabs for 43 yards.  The Cowboys held onto the football for 37:06 of the game!  They ran the ball 39 times for 133 yards (3.4 ypc) and they completed 20 of 24 passes for 166 yards.

The defense was outstanding for the Cowboys last night.  They held the Colts to 49 yards rushing on 15 carries (3.3 ypc) and the Colts completed 18 of 32 passes for 155 yards.  I know it’s only the pre-season but that was a dominating performance last night.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270809006

Oliver Hoyte looks in line to be the starting fullback for the Cowboys this season.  He played in 12 games (5 starts) last season and he caught 2 passes for 10 yards and he made 4 tackles on special teams as a rookie.  Lousaka Polite is the likely back up at fullback for the Cowboys.  He played in 12 games (0 starts) last season for the Cowboys and he carried the ball 7 times for 18 yards (2.6 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 21 yards (10.5 avg).  He has played in 27 games (3 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 9 times for 26 yards (2.9 ypc) and he has caught 12 passes for 97 yards (8.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Rookie Deon Anderson has the all-around potential to win the starting job outright as he is a better runner than either Hoyte or Polite.

Despite drafting Nick Folk in the 6th round of the draft it seems as if Gramatica will have a leg up in the competition.  It’s likely that the Cowboys drafted Folk to kick off to save Gramatica’s leg.  Gramatica hit 77.8% of his field goal attempts last season and he made all 23 of his extra points finishing with 44 points for the Cowboys last year.  Gramatica was 4 for 4 on field goals of 39 yards or less and he converted 3 of 5 field goals of 40+ yards.

Gramatica has now played in 101 career NFL games and he has scored 636 points for an average of 6.3 points per game.  He has made 144 of 188 (76.6%) field goals and 204 of 206 extra points.

The Cowboys split the carries between Julius Jones and Marion Barber last season and the results were incredible.  Between them they rushed for 1,738 yards and 18 TDs last season.  The Cowboys will likely split the carries again this season but they will probably be a little more evenly distributed.  Julius Jones was the running back that worked a little more last season.  He started all 16 games last season and he carried the ball 267 times for 1,067 yards (4.1 ypc) with 4 TD runs.  He also caught 9 passes for 142 yards (15.8 avg).  Jones is a much faster back than Barber is but he’s a little more prone to get dinged up which bothered Coach Parcells the last couple of seasons.  That is part of the reason why his workload will be cut down a little bit this year.  He has now played in 37 games (35 starts) in his NFL career so far and he has carried the football 721 times for 2,896 yards (4.0 ypc) with 16 TD runs.  He also has caught 61 passes for 469 yards (7.7 avg) with 0 TD grabs.

Marion Barber is the tough guy of the running back corps as he would rather run over you than around you.  He will likely see his workload increase a little bit this season in an effort to keep Julius Jones close to 100% this season.  Barber played in all 16 games (1 start) last season and he carried the ball 135 times for 654 yards (4.8 ypc) with 14 TD runs.  He also has caught 23 passes for 196 yards (8.5 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Look for Barber to continue to due the heavy lifting in short yardage situations and around the goal line.  If you are going to draft a running back in a Fantasy League from the Cowboys….Barber is the man.  Barber has now played in 29 games (3 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 273 times for 1,192 yards (4.4 ypc) with 19 TD runs.  He has also caught 41 passes for 311 yards (7.6 avg) with 2 TD grabs.

Tyson Thompson will be the #3 running back for the Cowboys again this season.  He missed the last 9 games last season due to injury.  He is a big back that’s more like Barber than he is like Jones.  Thompson likely won’t get man carries this season unless Jones or Barber gets injured this season.  He played in 7 games (0 starts) last season and he carried the ball 13 times for 30 yards (2.3 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also returned 21 kickoffs for 546 yards (26.0 avg).  Thompson is still in the early stages of his career so he could improve soon.  He has played in 22 games (0 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 59 times for 212 yards (3.6 ypc) with 1 TD run and he has caught 3 passes for 16 yards (5.3 avg).  Thompson’s biggest role with the Cowboys in his career has been as a kickoff returner as he has returned 78 kickoffs for 1,945 yards (24.9 avg) with 0 TDs.