With the holidays upon us, I feel it's time express my true optimism for the Dallas Cowboys heading into 2011. Sure, Cowboys fans everywhere had lots of optimism and high expectations for this season, especially with the Super Bowl being played in Dallas for the first time ever. But that is ancient history at this point and it's time to move forward.
Owner and general manager Jerry Jones is a very, very wealthy man. I hate to be one to ask for favors, even from someone of this kind of wealth. At the same time, I feel that my requests, soon to follow, could easily be met seeing as how much will change within this organization starting in just a few weeks.
Of course I could ask for things like cars, boats, jewelry and such. But that would be crass and pointless. So I'm sticking with football because under no circumstances do I wish to observe the kind of play that I have witnessed for the passed four years. So here's my Christmas wish list for Jerry Jones. I'll try to keep this short.
1. Please hire a true head coach. I'm talking about somebody who has more head coaching experience than the guy serving the interim role now. And it doesn't have to be some over-priced guy who won a Super Bowl elsewhere. Remember that no head coach has ever won multiple Super Bowls in different locations. Just seven years ago you tried that Bill Parcells and he didn't even come close. Might I suggest Jim Harbaugh out at Stanford? Jimmy Johnson came from the college ranks and that worked out pretty well as I recall, at least for awhile.
2. Please bring Dallas a running back. Not that we can expect anybody to duplicate Emmitt Smith's importance to this great franchise, but I do think it's time to scrap this silly running back by committee business. Instead of eating up roster space with three different backs who do vastly different things, let's get back to the "all-in-one" philosophy. I think you're going to have room since Marion Barber is rapidly declining at this point and there is this guy named Mark Ingram from Alabama. He even wears number 22 and looks a lot like Emmitt.
3. Please stop giving away multiple first round picks for one player, especially a wide receiver. One of the first things you did as the new owner of the Cowboys in 1989 was trade one guy for multiple first round picks. That was brilliant for the Cowboys and awful for the Minnesota Vikings, another team that thought they were much closer to a championship than they really were. The Vikings only got further from there. Doing this the other way around just doesn't seem to work well at all.
4. Please get a true nose guard for this defense that's on pace to break the franchise record for points allowed in a single season. Just move Jay Ratliff over, fill a pending void at defensive end that will soon be there and get a run stuffer. Heading into Week 15, Dallas has already given up five 100-yard rushing performances this year. The fallout of that misfortune is a secondary that is also getting hammered despite the presence of two Pro Bowl corners from just last season. No other 3-4 defense in the NFL has a nose guard who weighs 300 pounds, and neither should you.
5. Please, please stop paying millions of dollars to wide receivers that rank right at the top of the league in dropped passes. In 2008 Terrell Owens dropped a staggering 10 footballs and wisely he was released, good call there. But then last year we had Roy E. Williams, not known as a pass dropper, come close to that mark and I predict that Miles Austin will finish no worse than tied for second in drops this year. Austin will certainly lead the NFL in picked off passes that were intended for him. Enough is enough, I say.
6. Please get a safety. I've said before that a safety should not be the difference between winning and losing football games but I've changed my mind. Names like Darren Woodson and Roy L. Williams now ring louder and louder in the wake of the Dallas' now-annual void at this position. Most importantly, that safety has to be the right fit for your defense. At that point can we keep it that way so a guy like Williams might not just go to waste again?
7. Please get a left guard! I want to ask for other areas of the offensive line, too, but even you have your limits with the salary cap and all. Again, history makes me think of a guy like Larry Allen and when I compare that name to that of Kyle Kosier, I literally start crying. The Cowboys just don't run the ball well or consistently and you know as well as I that this must change, especially if you will grant me that second wish above. Leonard Davis will be a good fit again so long as the middle of this line can push smaller defensive linemen off the line. Right now they just can't.
8. Finally, those Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are just off the charts gorgeous, every last one of them! If any of them are single, you think maybe you could...well never mind that one.
Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year!
Cheryl Burke Olivia Wilde Paulina Rubio Kirsten Dunst Vanessa Minnillo
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