The Cowboys have waived 27-year old safety Pat Watkins.  Watkins played in 13 games for the Cowboys last season and he made 29 tackles.  He played in 49 games in four years with the Cowboys and he had 124 tackles, 10 passes defensed, 2 forced fumbles and 4 interceptions.  It will be interesting to see if the Cowboys miss Watkins in 2010.

The Cowboys flat out sucked on Saturday Night against the Texans.  Tony Romo completed 13 of 18 passes for 146 yards with 1 INT.  He also lost a fumble in this game.  Jon Kitna looked better than Romo as he completed 3 of 6 passes for 49 yards with 1 TD pass.  Stephen McGee finished up this game by completing 8 of 10 passes for 58 yards.  Felix Jones led the way on the ground for the Cowboys in this game with 6 yards rushing on 3 carries (2.0 ypc).  He also caught 3 passes for 17 yards (5.7 avg) in this game.  WRs Roy Williams (3 rec, 39 yards), Kevin Ogletree (2 rec, 29 yards, TD) and TE Jason Witten (4 rec, 38 yards) pitched in for the Cowboys in the passing game.  The Cowboys finished up with 13 yards rushing (1.1 ypc) and 216 yards passing on Saturday Night as they only held onto the ball for 24:33.

CB Terence Newman (5 tackles, pass defensed), LB Victor Butler (5 tackles) and DE Marcus Dixon (5 tackles) led the way for the Cowboys’ D in this game.  The Texans finished up with 173 yards rushing (4.8 ypc) and 208 yards passing in this game.  The Cowboys are now 2-2 in the pre-season.

The Cowboys will be without 27-year old strong safety Gerald Sensabaugh and 34-year old inside linebacker Keith Brooking for the next three weeks.  Sensabaugh temporarily dislocated his left shoulder over the weekend while Brooking has a mild sprain of the AC joint in his right shoulder.  Sensabaugh played in the first 3 pre-season games for the Cowboys and he had 3 tackles.  In his first season with the Cowboys in 2009, Sensabaugh played in 15 games (all starts) and he finished up with 66 tackles, 8 passes defensed and 1 interception.  Brooking also played in the first three pre-season games for the Cowboys and he had 5 tackles and 1 pass defensed.  Last year was also Brooking’s first with the Cowboys.  He played in 16 games (14 starts) for the Cowboys last season and he had 106 tackles, 3 sacks and he defensed 7 passes.  Brooking and Sensabaugh are really important to the Cowboys’ run defense so they hope both of them will be ready for the season opener against the Redskins.

The Cowboys offense didn’t look too good but the D was really good.  Tony Romo was way off as he only completed 4 of 11 passes for 30 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  Jon Kitna was solid as he completed 9 of 15 passes for 84 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  Stephen McGee finished up the game by completing 4 of 6 passes for 35 yards.  Tashard Choice led the way for the Cowboys on the ground with 19 yards rushing on 6 carries (3.2 ypc).  TE Martellus Bennett led the way in the passing game for the Cowboys with 4 grabs for 40 yards (10.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  WRs Sam Hurd (4 rec, 39 yards) and Miles Austin (2 rec, 15 yards, TD) pitched in for the Cowboys in the passing game.  The Cowboys finished up with 54 yards rushing (2.3 ypc) and 140 yards passing in this game.

Rookie linebacker Sean Lee led the way for the Cowboys in this game with 8 tackles including 1 tackle for a loss.  OLB DeMarcus Ware was very busy in this game with 5 tackles, 1/2 sack, 2 tackles for a loss and 1 QB hit.  LB Victor Butler pitched in with 5 tackles and a sack and a safety.  The Chargers finished up with 92 yards rushing (2.7 ypc) and 202 yards passing in this game.

The Cowboys have released 23-year old undrafted rookie QB Matt Nichols.  Nichols played in the Cowboys’ first two pre-season games and he completed 10 of 16 passes (62.5%) for 81 yards with 0 TD passes and 2 INTs.  One of the INTs was a pick six.  This just solidifies Stephen McGee as the #3 QB for the Cowboys in 2010.

The Cowboys have signed 25-year old TE Martin Rucker.  Rucker came out of college with the reputation of being a big time receiver but he has not showed that in  the NFL as of yet.  He played in 5 games (1 start) in 2008 for the Browns and he caught 2 passes for 17 yards (8.5 avg).  It was a smart move to take a flier on a guy like Rucker who is likely much better than he has shown so far in his NFL career.

The Cowboys will be without starting LG Kyle Kosier for the next 4-6 weeks due to a sprained MCL.  This is a pretty big blow for the Cowboys who are already without RT Mark Columbo.  Kosier has started 51 games in 4 years with the Cowboys including all 16 in 2009.  30-year old Montrae Holland will likely replace Kosier until he’s ready to return to action.  Holland did not get into any games last season for the Cowboys.  He has played in 7 games (2 starts) in his two years in Dallas.  Holland has played in 75 games (48 starts) in his 7 years in the NFL.  I have a feeling that Holland will do a decent job while Kosier is out of action but it will still be a dropoff for the Cowboys’ O-Line.

The Cowboys will be without starting right tackle Marc Colombo for the next 2-4 weeks.  He had his knee scoped on Sunday.  The Cowboys will replace Colombo at RT with Alex Barron until he’s ready to return to action.  This is not a big dropoff especially in the passing game but the Cowboys still hope Colombo is ready when the regular season begins.

The Cowboys looked a little bit tired last night.  But they really played well on defense most of the night as they were leading this game 9-0 after the first three quarters.  Tony Romo was so-so completing 4 of 7 passes for 52 yards.  Jon Kitna looked a little bit better completing 8 of 11 passes for 96 yards.  Stephen McGee took a step back last night completing only 2 of 7 passes for 11 yards.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 15 yards (7.5 ypc) last night.  4th string QB Matt Nichols had a night to forget.  He completed 8 of 14 passes for 72 yards with 0 TD passes and 2 INTs.  One of Nichols pickoffs was returned 48 yards for a TD by Raiders’ safety Jerome Boyd.  WR Sam Hurd led the way in the passing game for the Cowboys last night as he caught 4 passes for 57 yards (14.3 avg).  The Cowboys finished up with only 66 yards rushing (3.0 ypc) and 197 passing yards last night.

Linebackers Jason Williams (5 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed) and Leon Williams (5 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) led the way for the Cowboys defensively last night.  DT Junior Siavii also had a decent game last night with 4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 QB hit.  The Raiders finished up with 129 yards rushing (4.6 ypc) and 188 passing yards last night.

Felix Jones, Kevin Ogletree and rookie Dez Bryant will probably be competing for the kickoff return job during training camp.  Jones played in 14 games for the Cowboys last season and he returned 30 kickoffs for 678 yards (22.6 avg).  The 23-year old Jones has now played in 20 games in his NFL career and he has returned 46 kickoffs for 1,112 yards (24.2 avg) with 1 TD return.  Being a RB, Jones has the most power of the three candidates for this job but he also has a big role on the offense.

23-year old WR Kevin Ogletree played in 11 games for the Cowboys last season and he returned 8 kickoffs for 166 yards (20.8 avg).  He will have the smallest role on the offense of this trio and that might work in his favor trying to win the kickoff return job in 2010 for the Cowboys. 

Rookie first round pick Dez Bryant could be used on kickoff returns as he has the perfect skill set to excel at it.  But, the Cowboys probably want him to focus on offense in his rookie year.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE COWBOYS KICKOFF RETURNERS in 2010:  C