Dallas Cowboys on HBO; Tony Romo Dates Destiny
Super Bowl Favorites Eye Pacman Jones Suspension, Zach Thomas Return
Fans expect no less than the Super Bowl from a team that went 13-3 in 2007, flopped in the playoffs and enters this season with enviable talent and more off-field subplots than “Entourage.”
Wade Phillips' Cast
- Dimples-cute, gunslinger quarterback Tony Romo dates pop stars/their families, feuds (or not) with them, makes tabloid covers.
- Battered native son Zach Thomas, spurned by the Miami Dolphins after suffering a serious concussion returns to his home state for redemption.
- Self-absorbed star receiver Terrell Owens is 34, has Hall of Fame statistics, a body far more tuned than his mouth, and a new gripe with the league over a missed drug test and a temperament as stable as nitroglycerin.
- Sometimes caricatured, homespun head coach Wade Phillips red-haired, wonder boy successor-in-waiting Jason Garrett looking over his shoulder.
- Talented, tainted, still-suspended off-season acquisition Adam “Pacman” Jones has seemingly incurable philosophical differences with police and is looking at his last chance to salvage a young career. And he has a track record of only two seasons. The leap back to NFL game speed is imposing.
- High-profile, hands-all-over owner Jerry Jones has a win-now mandate and a billion-dollar, behemoth new stadium to fill beginning in 2009.
America's Team Soap
That’s a sure-fire soap and a minefield for the Cowboys. How the lead roles respond to the pressure will be as important as how well supporting actors such as running back Marion Barber react to new wealth and increased expectations, the health of the offensive line, inexperience at fullback, questionable depth at wide out and the fickle fortunes of match head safety Roy Williams, who in the eyes of Dallas fans suddenly can’t cover a $2 bet.
The Cowboys have been marquee since the 1970s and a serial sideshow since 1989, when Arkansas oil gambler Jerry Jones bought America's Team, fired Dallas deity Tom Landry, hired old chum Jimmy Johnson from the colleges and proclaimed the revered cheerleaders “pick of the litter.” Then promptly delivered a team that went 1-15.
The players Jones has given Phillips are too good to think anything less than championship. But his brew could blow up in his face in a heartbeat, and that could trigger the onset of the Garrett … um … Tom Landry was an era. Head coaches don’t have eras anymore in Dallas. Players do. Jones prioritizes his loyalties.
Super Bowl or Bust
“Barbarian” Barber lives up to his billing, but this will be his first season as The Man, and his reputation as a runner who punishes defenders into submission exposes a weakness.
Barber did run for more yards (603) in the second half than in the first (372) in 2007 and gained 402 yards in the fourth quarter alone. But Barber gained 535 of his 975 rushing yards in the first eight games, and on four fewer carries than in the final eight.
He rolled for 101 yards in the first half of the Cowboys’ 21-17 playoffs loss to the Giants, but managed only 28 on 11 carries in the second half. Barber’s bruising style may be his worst enemy. He’s the only one in on every collision he creates. It takes a toll.
And if Romo were injured, Dallas would be looking at soon-to-be 40 Brad Johnson as its starter. Gulp.
The Cowboys aren’t lacking in vulnerabilities, but they have every reason to believe they can win the Super Bowl. America’s Team is center stage again, but there’s a chance fans might be watching through their fingers.
HBO's "Hard Knocks" series featuring the Dallas Cowboys begins at 10 p.m. Eastern on Aug. 6.
