Phillips: All’s Quiet At The Ranch … Waiting On Romo

Cotton

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All’s Quiet At The Ranch … Waiting On Romo

BY ROB PHILLIPS on FEBRUARY 17, 2014 • ( 1 )


Hasn’t Valley Ranch seemed quiet, even for January and February? This might be the most subdued offseason since 2010 when the club made virtually no changes to the staff or roster after an 11-5 season, with the well-intentioned but misguided belief that continuity would breed a stronger resolve and even better results.

This year, continuity appears to be the chosen path for less appealing reasons: salary cap constraints and a shortage of new solutions to this four-year stretch of 8-8 or worse. They’ve tried the 4-3 scheme on defense; they’ve tried changing both coordinators; they’ve rebuilt the offensive line; they’ve given quarterback Tony Romo on-field autonomy. What can they change this year? Health? We all know that can wilt by the first day of training camp (see: Tyrone Crawford).

Yes, the combine, draft and free agency still lie ahead, and thank goodness for that, because Olympic curling and skiing are merely wallpaper while I blog and pay bills. But it’s no secret the Cowboys must push back current salaries just to get a few million under the cap. They’ll once again be bargain shoppers; their 8-8 record prevents them from getting a sure thing in the first round; and Jerry has little interest in paying coaches like Bill Callahan and Monte Kiffin to sit at home.

This is a team with more depth on the staff than the roster in some spots. They need more competition among backups and better starting talent at some positions. They just don’t have the resources to accomplish both in one offseason and realistically match the NFC’s best (Seattle, San Francisco) on paper.

For years, Jerry has hung his hat on having a very good quarterback (sometimes great, sometimes infuriatingly bad) in a league where championships are decided, literally, by a small handful of extraordinary, even fluky, plays. He sees Eli Manning with two rings, Joe Flacco with one, and now second-year vet Russell Wilson with one, and still says, “Why can’t that be Romo?”

Romo haters may be loud and plentiful, but even they saw the guy – for weeks, maybe for months – play the most efficient football of his career with a herniated disk. I just spent a week in and out of bed trying to pass the mother of all kidney stones, so who the hell am I to judge No. 9?

The team says Romo will start the 2014 season healthy following surgery, but no one knows if he’ll finish it healthy at 34 years old. Not even Tony himself.

It does seem awfully quiet around Valley Ranch. There’s nothing more left to say, really. The job’s got to get done soon, because the best measure of hope Jerry can sell legions of fans each July in Oxnard – the comfort of quarterbacking excellence – won’t be around forever.
 

BipolarFuk

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:lol
 

boozeman

28 Years And Counting...
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LeBron is one of us.

Someone should invite him here.
 
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