Gosselin: Cowboys thinking Super Bowl, but September should be first concern
Rick Gosselin Follow @RickGosselinDMN rgosselin@dallasnews.com
Published: 04 July 2015 08:53 PM
Updated: 04 July 2015 08:54 PM
The focus around here ever since the Dez non-catch in Green Bay has been the 2015 season.
Specifically, the end of the 2015 season.
The expectation in these parts is that the Cowboys are ready to take the next step. There’s an anticipation that the Cowboys will again capture the division, reach the playoffs, win the NFC and advance to an NFL-record ninth Super Bowl. League passing champion Tony Romo fueled those expectations in April with a public proclamation that the Cowboys would win the next Super Bowl.
So there is a natural urge to want to fast forward the season to January. Let’s cut to the chase.
But my concern isn’t January. My concern is now September.
The team’s best pass rusher (Greg Hardy) won’t be there for the opening month of the season. Neither will the team’s best run defender (Rolando McClain). The Cowboys also will be asking two rookies to assume prominent roles on defense — first-round cornerback Byron Jones and second-round pass rusher Randy Gregory.
Why do I focus on the defense? Because of the four opponents on tap at the start of the season.
All four finished in the NFL’s top 10 in offense last season — the Saints first, the Eagles fifth, the Falcons eighth and the Giants 10th. Two of the teams have quarterbacks who have won Super Bowls, another has the NFL rushing champion and two have Pro Bowl receivers.
The Cowboys could certainly use Hardy’s pass rush against Eli Manning in the opener against the Giants. New York has won two Super Bowls and Manning has been the MVP of both of them. The Cowboys also could use Hardy’s rush against Drew Brees in the fourth week against the Saints. Brees picked up a Super Bowl ring in 2009. There have been eight 5,000-yard passing seasons in NFL history and Brees has four of them.
The Cowboys could use McClain’s run-stuffing abilities against old friend DeMarco Murray in the second week against the Eagles. Murray set the Cowboys’ franchise record with 1,845 yards on the ground last season, winning the NFL rushing title by almost 500 yards. But Murray bolted for Philadelphia in free agency this offseason, becoming the first rushing champion to switch teams in 49 years. Do you think Murray has this game circled on his calendar?
Hardy signed as a free agent with the Cowboys in March. He’s a former Pro Bowl pass rusher who sacked 15 quarterbacks in his last full season in 2013. At 26, he’s certainly young enough to do it again. But the NFL suspended him in April for 10 games for domestic abuse. Hardy has appealed, but even the optimists at Valley Ranch do not expect more than a four-game roll back, if any.
McClain returned to the field after a year’s absence in 2014, signing with the Cowboys as a free agent, and put together his best season as a pro. A former top-10 draft pick, McClain collected a career-best 108 tackles to serve as the linchpin of a top 10 rushing defense. But last week, the NFL suspended him for four games for violation of the league’s substance abuse policy.
Free agent Jasper Brinkley figures to replace McClain at middle linebacker in September. Brinkley started in the middle for a Minnesota defense a year ago that ranked 25th in the NFL against the run.
Gregory figures to see better left tackles in September than he saw in the Big Ten these last few seasons. The Eagles have a seven-time Pro Bowl left tackle in Jason Peters, and the Falcons used a top-10 pick on a left tackle in 2014. The Giants used a top-10 pick and the Saints a top-15 pick on left tackles in April.
Jones certainly figures to see better receivers in September than he saw in the American Athletic Conference these last few years. He’ll make his NFL debut against a New York team with a Pro Bowl receiver on each flank, Odell Beckham Jr. and Victor Cruz. Two weeks later, the Falcons will trot out Julio Jones to challenge the Dallas secondary.
During their Super Bowl era (1992-95), the Cowboys were 12-4 in the opening month of seasons. Fast starts paved the way for championship finishes. But since winning their last title in 1995, the Cowboys are 40-36 in the opening month of the season. They are 9-7 in the opening month under Garrett.
The focus of the fan base may be February and the Super Bowl. But the focus of the Cowboys needs to be September and survival on defense.
