Kaspers Korner

Wade Phillips is in his third head coaching stint in the National Football League.  However, he still cannot put together a decent special team unit.

Phillips has one weakness, and one weakness alone.  That being he does not think highly of special teams.  Thus, not giving it the amount of appropriate practicing time it needs to be good.

The Cowboys are ranked 30th in the league in special teams.  That is jaw dropping considering that the Cowboys have what is regarded by the media as the most talented team in the NFL.

Special teams is not just something that is born into players naturally.  Just like anything else it takes time, and a lot of practicing to be good at it.

The best example is the Buffalo Bills.  For the last several years the Bills have been one of the best special teams unit in the NFL.

Then this past season the Bills let go of all their star special team players.  The reason being that the players were not very good at their regular playing position.

This year they are 14th in the league in special teams.  They will be back up near the top again, because the Bill regard it as a very important part of the team.

As long as Wade Phillips is the coach that will not be the case.  If he has not learned that special teams is important by now, then he never will.

The relationship of Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and singer Jessica Simpson is nothing short of entertaining.  However, if Romo knows what is best for him he would dump Simpson.

Simpson’s mouth got her in trouble as she on national television stated, “Go Cowboys!”  Then she followed it up with, “”That’s next week! We’re gonna kick your butts, too!”

NEVER EVER EVER EVER let your girl friend, fiancee, or wife do the trash talking for you! 

First, it looks bad to your teammates.  Teammates will look at this as, “Hey if you cannot get control of your own girl, then how can we trust you to get control of a situation that is going bad quickly to turn things around.

Secondly, it embarasses and is completely disrespectful.  To the Eagles Simpson trash talking them is a sign from the Cowboys that they think they are not man enough to handle them.

Now, Romo has a bullseye on his back thanks to Simpson.  Eagle defenders will look to take any, and all opportunities to hurt Romo this Sunday.

Romo will be extremely lucky if he comes out of this game without any injuries.

The Dallas Cowboys were the first team to give Wade Phillips another shot at head coaching, since he was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills at the turn of the century.  Just in his second year with the team the same problem is rearing its head in Dallas just as in Buffalo.

Many Buffalonians will never forget the “Music City Miracle.”  Especially, after the Titans went all the way to the Super Bowl that year.

The thing is that Phillips does not give the special team unit enough time to practice.  According to WGR 550’s Paul Hamilton in Buffalo, NY, “Phillips was never there when the special teams practiced, and gave it very little time to do so.”

So, when looking in a Dallas Morning News article there it was again special teams getting slammed for bad performances.  What a surprise.  NOT!!!!!!

Do not worry Cowboy fans Wade will find a way to screw things up, and then get fired at the end of the year.  Thus, allowing offensive coordinator Jason Garrett to move up to head coach.

Also, in other Cowboy news Pro Football Talk.com is reporting that the Cowboys are interested in Miami Dolphin quarterback John Beck for a late round pick.  That is a shrewd move by Jones.

Beck was a rookie quarterback on a team that was a disaster.  To get someone with the talent of Beck for a late round pick is a steal. 

Mainly, it would allow the Cowboy’s offense not to miss a beat, and continue to perform at a high level if Beck were to pan out.

It is not even the start of the regular season, and already the Dallas Cowboys are in a bind.   That is due in part to wide receiver Terry Glenn’s stubborness to get microfracture surgery, and his unwillingness to sign a waiver.

Terry Glenn suffered a knee injury that he tried to rehab last year to hopefully get back on the field, which really backfired.  It looks again that may be the case as Glenn has again elected not to get surgery, but to just rehab it, along with natural healing, will be good enough ti get him back on the field.

The other major hurdle is the injury waiver that the Cowboys want Glenn to sign.  Glenn is scheduled to make $1.74 million base salary this year.  The waiver is for if Glenn reinjures the knee he will only receive $500 thousand.

The big problem is that Glenn has barred from the teams facilities, unless he signs the waiver.  The thing is that the Cowboys cannot do that if Glenn is able to pass a physical.

The Cowboys are very thin at the wide receiver position without Glenn.  The only other decent wide receiver on the roster is Patrick Crayton, besides him there is nobody else that can come in, and not have a drop off.

So, what will happen with the Cowboys?  Most likely Glenn will be cut by the beginning of training camp, and catch on with another team.  Then subsiquently the Cowboys will make a move to get a veteran wide receiver like Roy Williams, or Anquan Boldin. 

For now it is a game of chicken, and the question being who will blink first? 

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Dallas Cowboys safety Roy Williams for several years has been a feared man.   With his play slipping last year, and now what defensive lineman Greg Ellis is saying, Williams days are numbered with the Cowboys.

In an interview last week on Sirius satelite radio Ellis said this, “Roy told me in training camp, ‘Greg, this defense does not fit me. I don’t fit in well with this defense at all.”  Also, in the interview Ellis admitted that Williams is working out on his own early weekday mornings before most players arrive.

You do not need to be a shrink to figure out what Williams is thinking.  That being he does not fit the defense, and it is only a matter of time before he is shipped out.

At this point the best thing for the Cowboys to do is to wait for the June first deadline, so that if they can trade Williams it would be spread his salary cap hit over two years.

If the coaches do not figure out how to get Williams to fit the defense, if they keep him, then it could be a long 2009 season. 

The deal has not even been completed.  However, there are signs showing already that the Dallas Cowboys are better off without Adam “Pacman” Jones.

In an article that appears in the Dallas Morning News, according to an informal survery conducted by reporter Jean-Jacques  Taylor, the players on the Dallas Cowboys will not help keep Jones from causing trouble.

According to Taylor, “They’ll tell him where to go for a good time and give him the names of various places he should avoid. They’ll invite him to their frequent off-season pool and bowling outings and their weekly dinners during the season.”

What it shows that the players on the Cowboys are a bunch egotistical me guys.  True heroes, and role models, go out and make the extra effort to try, and help turn a person’s life around.  For example, Hall of Famer Jim Brown offered to help Jones.

Caring individuals, and team players in football, go out and help in whatever way they can.  Eventually, they may turn their back, but only after exhausting all options.

The simple fact that they are already turning their back to Jones shows that the Cowboys are not going to win the Superbowl anytime soon.

The Dallas Cowboys this offseason signed linebacker Zach Thomas.  Not only do they need to worry about Thomas’s health they also need to be worried about former starter Akin Ayodele.

Ayodele is not backing down for Thomas, whose supposively suppost to replace Ayodele.

“It’s like every year; it’s how you play,” Ayodele said. “I’m going into the season like it’s my position. I am the starter and nothing has changed,” according to the Fort-Worth Star Telegram.

Thomas over the last couple of years has become injury prone, especially to concussions.  Thomas is the linebacking equivalent to quarterback Trent Green, and that being a person who is one head shot away from another concussion.

The signing of Thomas is simply a risk hoping to pay immediate rewards.  However, the only thing the Cowboys will be getting is a thank you from Thomas. 

In the end the Cowboys will be lucky to get half a season out of Thomas.

Evem though the Dallas Cowboys had a great season with a 13-3 record they still have holes.  Accodring to Todd Archer of the Dallas Morning News the biggest holes are wide receiver and running back.

The Cowboys lost running back Julius Jones to free agency, thus creating a need.  At wide receiver Terry Glenn is getting old, and Patrick Crayton is not that great.  Also, some players are getting older, and will need replacing soon.

The wide receiver position is their greatest need.  They simply do not have a compliment to wide receiver Terrell Owens, and are only going to get one in the draft.

Running back is a need with Julius Jones gone.  However, it is not as a big of a need as the wide receiver position.  That is due to Marion Barber III stilll with the Cowboys.  They do need a back up for him though.

Offensive tackle, backup quarterback, and cornerback, are two positions of need or future replacements.  Both Anthony Henry and Flozell Adams are over 30 years old, and will need to be replaced.  Backup quarterback Brad Johnson will be 40 soon, so they need a young guy they can groom to step in, once Johnson is gone.

With two picks in the first round the Cowboys should be easily able to get whatever they need.  The only question will remain is can these draft picks have an immediate impact right away.

The Dallas Cowboys are always prone to spend big money.  However, no one was as important as left tackle Flozzel Adams, according to Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Dallas Star-Telegram.

The money was not disclosed, but that is not the important thing.  The important thing is that Tony Romo’s blind side is set for years to come.  You see if you cannot protect your quarterback, eventually he will be hurt seriously.  That of course would mean the end of your season right there.

The Cowboys still have a ways to go in getting some key players done.  Both running backs Julius Jones and Marion Barber contracts expire. 

Jones is unrestricted, which means that he will most likely not be back.  Barber is a restricted free agent that will be tendered at the first round draft pick level, which is not actually the highest. 

Saftey Ken Hamlin was set to be a free agent, but was given the franchise tag.  However, the Cowboys still have to get him signed to a long term deal to make the tag worth while. Also, backup cornerbacks Nate Jones and Jacques Reeves are also set to be unrestricted leaving a huge void at the nickle cornerback slot.

Finally, the other big restricted free agent is defensive end Chris Canty, who was also give the first round tender. 

Eventhough, Barber and Canty have been given a first round tender other teams can still negotiate a huge contract with the players.  Also, the development of the poison pill valuiable restricted free agents have become even harder to sign.

If the Cowboys are going to stay competitive on defense then they need to get these players resigned, because no free agent is going to be as good as the player that just left you.  After all they know your system better than the guy coming in, especially the small intracasies of the system.

The Dallas Cowboys are a team filled with money.  However, they do not spend that money foolishly; as is the case with left tackle Flozell  Adams.

Adams is a good tackle, and with his contract over he is sure to get decent money on the market.  The question for Dallas is do they pay the price to keep him?

Adams is 32, and most likely will start to decline rapidly.  Also, with defensive ends so fast his decline will be fast.

That is always the case with tackles.  Teams do not realize that defensive ends are getting faster, and faster, every year.

The best thing for Dallas to do is to let Adams walk.  Then in the first round of the NFL Draft take a tackle to fill the hole.  That is what makes sense.

What does not makes sense is Marc Columbo’s comment in the Dallas Morning News.  Columbo said, “I think he’s the best pass-blocking left tackle in all of football.”

Seriously, the best tackle in all of football.  There are other tackles that are better than him, like Buffalo Bill Jason Peters.

In the end Flozell will get paid just not with the Cowboys.

The Dallas Cowboys were expected to beat the New York Giants this past sunday.  However, thanks to Cowboy’s quarterback Tony Romo falling apart in the fourth quarter; just the opposite happened as they lost to the Giants.

There is no way around it Tony Romo is not a good quarterback under extreme pressure.  Which was evident through his body language, and reading lips.

Many people will blame Romo’s vaction to Mexico for the breakdown.  The real problem is Romo’s ability to read defenses.

It is mind boggling that Romo did not check into quick three step drop plays, with the way the Giants defensive line was bringing the heat.

Both Fiants defensive ends Michael Strahan, and Osi Umenyiora, were throwing their blockers around like rag dolls in the fourth quarter.

The pressure from the Giants forced Romo into some costly mistakes.  Them being two sacks, which he was outside the pocket, and did not throw the ball away.  The other being an intentional grounding penalty when Romo was in the pocket, and threw the ball out of bounds to a side where nobody was.

There is only one person to blame in this case, and it is Tony Romo.  He had the ball in his hands at the end of the game, and great quarterbacks get the job done.