Texas Two-Step 2001 (Military Edition)

[Blackwind]

The Texas Two-Step (Military Edition) is similar in concept to the Confernce Challenges. My aim is to create a dynasty using players only from the state of Texas or the Service Academies.

The Texas schools with players currently on NFL rosters are as follows.

Abiline Christian
Angelo State
Baylor
Houston
Mary Hardin-Baylor
North Texas
Rice
Sam Houston State
Southern Methodist
Stephen F. Austin
SW Texas St.
Texas
Texas - El Paso
Texas A&M
Texas Christian
Texas Lutheran
Texas Southern
Texas Tech
Tx A&M - Commerce
Tx A&M - Kingsville
West Texas A&M

As other schools are identified they may be added to the list.

After a few abortive trial runs it became obvious that the Texas schools couldn't support a full roster every year. To alleviate that problem I've added the Service Academies as a full time part of the challenge.

The Service Academies are as follows.

Air Force
Army
Coast Guard
Navy

In the event that absolutely no players are available at a position, I will use players from No College or Small College.

To start the challenge I will release all current players from the Dallas Cowboys and advance the game to 2002. No trade will be made to enhance the 2002 Draft or acquire other players prior to the free agency period.

If the difficulty level of this challenge proves too low, I will institute further House Rules as necessary.

[This message has been edited by Blackwind (edited 12-29-2000).]

[Blackwind]

2002 Dallas Cowboys

Preseason

Staff

In the Staff Hiring Period the Cowboys 1-31 record over the last few years hurts us. Despite very large offers, we're not able to land a top level coach or scout. We resign our old scout and manage to hire our fifth choice at head coach. Here are the particulars.

Lead Scout
Marco Shapiro, 52
QB: Good
RB: Good
WR: Fair
OL: Very Good
K: Good
DL: Very Good
LB: Excellent
DB: Good
YT: Good

Head Coach
Lonnie Smalls, 56
QB: Good
RB: Good
WR: Excellent
OL: Good
DL: Excellent
LB: Very Good
DB: Very Good
K: Good
YT: Good
MO: Good
DI: Excellent
OF: Good
DF: Fair
IN: Excellent

Free Agency

Again our reputation seems to have affected us adversely. We have easily the highest bids for several players who decide to go elsewhere for less. Here are the players we signed.

Larry Izzo, LB (31/39), 7, Rice
A balanced LB with nice endurance. He had 53 tackles off the bench for Miami Last year.

Mike Wahle, T (40/56), 5, Navy
A solid pass blocking backup from Green Bay.

Louie Borrego, WR (38/38), 3, Texas Southern
Another former Packer who sat out part of 2000 and all of 2001 with injuries. A reliable possesion type receiver when healthy.

Brandon "Milton" Bradley, FB (14/15), 2, Navy
Nice receiving skills but needs to learn how to block.

Jeremy Erdahl, CB (14/33), 2, North Texas
Minesota's nickel back from last season. Had one pick.

Jose "Mouse" Fouse, RB (33/50), 2, Texas
A very good receiving RB. Didn't play in 2001.

Kirk Louis, CB (14/22), 2, Texas
Great potential against the run and in zone coverage. Played nickel back for Cleveland last season.

Ellis "Island" Easter, RB (30/34), 2, Texas A&M
At 5-7, 240 Lbs "The Island" has surprising breakaway speed. Did well as a return man for Carolina last season

No real monsters here. Just career back-ups looking for a starting paycheck. T Wahle is the best of the bunch.


Draft

We have the second pick of the draft behind the expansion Montgomery (AL) Maulers. There are a few good players from our pool of schools and the front office is excited about picking up a few core players for what will surely a long building process.

In the first round we're torn between two prospects. T Johnnie Davidson is a monster run blocker with some stamina. C C. J. Reeves is cut from the same mold though not quite as durable. Two DL prospects from the Lone Star State also project to go in the Round 1 but our scout isn't that high on them.

2. Johnnie Davidson, T, Texas A&M

Joy abounds as our other favorite falls to the Round 2.

34. C. J. Reeves, C, Rice

In Round 3 we can't pass on a ready to play WR who's solid across the board.

66. Rex Aldrige, WR, Navy

In Round 4 we decide to take a good punter over some average OL prospects. Punter and kicker will likely be a hot and cold position for us over the years. It will be very hard not to lock down these specialists if they drop to the middle rounds.

98. Shawn Griffith, P, Baylor

The best of the QB prospects is still available in Round 5 and we decide to jump. Though this pick is fairly high for his talents we need a fair QB to get us through the next few years.

130. Kelvin Goodwin, QB, Texas Christian

In Round 6 we nab a respectable run stopping DT to anchor our defensive line.

162. Orlando Najera, DT, Texas Christian

There's not much Texas/Military talent left in Round 7. We opt for a CB who's primarily a return specialist but did show a knack for INT's in college.

194. Oliver Hyde, CB, Texas A&M

Overall, we're fairly pleased with the draft. Our first three picks should contribute for a long time.


Training Camp

We fill the remainder of our roster with every free agent from our list of feeder schools. A few players from the list are worth mentioning.

Mikhael Ricks, WR (38/38), 5, Stephen F. Austin
Cut by San Diego after the draft, Ricks had 91 catches for 936 yards in his two years with the Bolts and should start.

Paul "Mower" Lawniczak, TE (20/46), R, Texas
Suprising that this excellent receiving talent went undrafted.

Jimmy Campbell, QB, (9/46), R, Baylor
Though not gifted in any area, this classic drop back passer should do well in a reserve roll.

Frankie Liebman, WR (34/44), R, Navy
Though small (5'8") this youngster may contribute in the 3 or 4 slot.

Looking at the talent currently available we decide that we'll have more success in the future as a passing team. We'll focus on Shotgun, Single Back, and Pro Set for our offense.

On defense we'll use a mix of 4-3 and 3-4 to maximize whatever talent we find available. (Note: This will be an interesting departure for me as I have always used a dedicated 4-3 defense.)

No major surprises through camp. Our #3 pick, WR Rex Aldrige, did better than we expected across the board in camp and looks like our most talented player right now. We're still very high on the futures of T Davidson and C Reeves as well.

Exhibition Games

We limp through the exhibition schedule at 0-4. Not too many bright spots. Our running game was very weak. Most of our offense resulted from WR's Aldridge and Ricks making very good yardage after catching short passes. Unfortunately we lost WR Ricks to a torn knee ligament in our final exhibition game and we don't expect him back this season. Our defense did yield a few good plays. CB Oliver Hyde, our 7th round pick, had an amazing 80 yard INT return, showing some of the same explosiveness he displayed in college.


As we start the regular season we really don't expect much. Our roster is by far the weakest in the league and it may be several years before that starts to change. Our long term goal is to make the playoffs in 2007 or 2008. In the short term it looks like we may have early draft choices for the next few years.

[This message has been edited by Blackwind (edited 12-06-2000).]

[Blackwind]

2002 Regular Season

Week 1
Dallas (0-0) at Chicago (0-0)
Bears win 31-6.
WR Rex Aldrige leads the offense (5-69-1) and LB Larry Izzo has a monster game with 16 tackles and one interception.

Week 2
Dallas (0-1) at NY Giants (0-1)
Giants win 35-25.
In a game that wasn't as close as the score the Cowboys offense shows signs of life. QB Kelvin Goodwin has an impressive game (21-32-301-2-0) throwing to WR's Louie Borrego (6-97-1) and Frankie Liebman (4-150-1). LB Larry Izzo is still huge with 11 tackles and RB Ellis "Island" Easter returns a kickoff 91 yard for a score.

Week 3
Washington (0-2) at Dallas (0-2)
Redskins win 28-0.
Deion Sanders delivers for the Redskins with an 86-yard TD punt return and an INT to stop our only sustained drive. QB Goodwin is average at best (18-33-145-0-2) and we lose T Mike Wahle for 2-3 months with broken ribs. LB Larry Izzo is also out a few weeks with a pulled groin.

Week 4
Tampa Bay (1-1) at Dallas (0-3)
Bucs win 38-0.
We give up four INT's and generate only 93 yards of total offense.

Week 5
Dallas (0-4) at Philadelphia (4-0)
Eagles win 41-6.
WR Rex Aldrige is our only bright spot (6-76-0) as QB Kelvin Goodwin goes down with a sprained back. CB Al Harris returns an INT 87 yards for our only score.

Week 6
New England (1-3) at Dallas (0-5)
Patriots win 34-6.
This is becoming very familiar. The Cowboys generate no offense and are overwhelmed by a mediocre team. LB Larry Izzo reinjures himself and will watch next week from the sidelines. CB Al Harris who played safety due to injuries in the first few weeks resumes that role in hopes of bolstering our secondary.

Week 7
NY Giants (3-3) at Dallas (0-6)
Giants win 35-6.
The defense only gives up 284 yards but the Giants convert on turnovers and good field position. WR Rex Aldrige continues to shine (9-79-0) compared to the rest of our team.

Week 8
Dallas (0-7) at Carolina (2-4)
Panthers win 37-8.
We give up 225 yards to Tim Biakabutuka and stay perfect at the turn. WR Louie Borrego (3-62-1) provides our only points with a TD catch and the two-point conversion.

Week 9
Bye

Week 10
Philadelphia (7-1) at Dallas (0-8)
Eagles win 31-23.
Though it wasn't really as close as it seems, this game had a few bright spots. Backup QB Jimmy Campbell had a nice day (26-45-280-3-0) and found WR Aldrige (9-138-0) often. A healthy LB Larry Izzo had 12 tackles and journeyman DE Wes Dunn had a career day with 4 of the team record 7 sacks. The offense actually had two drives of over 80 yards!

Week 11
San Francisco (6-3) at Dallas (0-9)
49er's win 41-10.
LB Izzo's 13 tackles were the only highlight as the Cowboys only manage one 84 yard drive. Back to reality.

Week 12
Dallas (0-10) at Arizona (6-4)
Cardinals win 30-3.
The Cowboys fail to generate anything on offense and are torched by Thomas Jones for 162 yards rushing. Miami (1-10) seems to be our competition for the top spot in the draft.

Week 13
Dallas (0-11) at NY Jets (5-6)
Jets win 31-0.
WR Louie Borrego has a good game (11-109) after Aldrige goes down. The Jets take advantage of everything we give them and hand the Cowboys another loss.

Week 14
Dallas (0-12) at Washington (7-5)
Redskins win 45-10.
Things get ugly early as the 'Skins take advantage of a young Dallas team. At this point we're just looking forward to next year.

Week 15
Miami (3-10) at Dallas (0-13)
Dolphins win 28-10.
Miami's defense returns a fumble and an INT for TD's to break open an otherwise close game. We've locked down the top spot in the draft.

Week 16
Arizona (10-4) at Dallas (0-14)
Cardinals win 35-14.
Different day, same result.

Week 17
Dallas (0-15) at Buffalo (9-6)
Bills win 38-16.
QB Kelvin Goodwin (24-43-303-2-3) tries to pass the Cowboys to a win. WR's Rex Aldrige (8-87-0) and Louie Borrego (6-160-1) do their best to help out but the Boys fall short.

There is nowhere to go but up next season.

[This message has been edited by Blackwind (edited 12-13-2000).]

[Kevin]

"If the difficulty level of this challenge proves too low, I will institute further House Rules as necessary."

Doesn't look like a problem yet. Good luck!

[Blackwind]

2002 Post Season

Wild Card Round

Green Bay (11-5) at Arizona (11-5)
Cardinals win 35-14.

Buffalo (10-6) at Oakland (10-6)
Bills win 27-24.

NY Jets (9-7) at New England (10-6)
Patriots win 38-10.

St. Louis (10-6) at New Orleans (9-7)
Rams win 44-6.


Divisional Playoffs

Arizona (12-5) at Philadelphia (11-5)
Cardinals win 24-13.

Buffalo (11-6) at Denver (11-5)
Broncos win 30-20.

New England (11-6) at Cincinnati (11-5)
Bengals win 16-10.

St. Louis (11-6) at Detroit (11-5)
Lions win 41-25.


Conference Championships

Arizona (13-5) at Detroit (12-5)
Lions win 18-16.

Cincinnati (12-5) at Denver (12-5)
Bengals win 23-17.


Super Bowl

Cincinnati (13-5) at Detroit (13-5)
Detroit wins 34-13.


Awards

Only one award for the Cowboys. LB Larry Izzo had an NFL season record 121 tackles in only 12 games and earned 2nd Team All-Pro Linebacker honors.


Highlights

Ummm...tough one here. The front office is still very excited about the future of this franchise but that future may be more distant than I thought. (Note: That makes this challenge that much more interesting for me)

As to on field performance, outside of Izzo, my trio of WR's seems to stand out.

WR Rex Aldrige - 77 catches, 856 yards, 2 TD's.
WR Louie Borrego - 72 catches, 746 yards, 6 TD's.
WR Frankie Liebman - 54 catches, 620 yards, 2 TD's.

We're going to lick our wounds in the off-season and come back a little better next year. When we finally climb out of mediocrity I've got a feeling we're going to have a few scores to settle. Take advantage of the Cowboys now cause it's not always going to be this easy!

http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/smile.gif No kidding, Kevin! Chuckle. http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Blackwind (edited 12-13-2000).]

[Blackwind]

2003 Dallas Cowboys

Preseason

Staff

We hold on to our coach but decide on a slight upgrade at scout. Our new man has a better reputation for picking youngsters and we definitely need that.

Lead Scout
Joseph Parker, 50
QB: Very Good
RB: Good
WR: Fair
OL: Good
K: Excellent
DL: Very Good
LB: Good
DB: Excellent
YT: Excellent

Free Agency

Not a whole lot of Texas/military talent available in free agency but we've got plenty to spend on what talent is here. Here's how we do.

In week 6 we add two contributors.

Antowain Smith, RB (44/49), 7, Houston
We add a big back to team up with Jose "Mouse" Fouse. As anemic as our rushing game was, this will definitely benefit us provided we can get some blocking.

Jeremiah Trotter, LB (61/76), 6, Stephen F. Austin
Philadelphia let Trotter go following an injury plagued season. We'll bank on his run stopping and pass coverage abilities coming back. He had back-to-back 100+ tackle seasons in 2000 and 2001.

In week 7 we make another pick-up.

Clif Groce, FB (34/34), 9, Texas A&M
This solid all-around back didn't play much for the Bengals but should start for us.

In week 13 we continue shoring up our defense.

Lenoy Jones, LB (38/45), 8, Texas Christian
Another balanced LB who had 20 starts in his three seasons in Cleveland.

In the final week of free agency we add another piece.

Daniel Campbell, TE (42/42), 5, Texas A&M
This durable big man didn't play much for the Giants but certainly will here.

All in all we're pretty pleased with our aquisitions. We're not going to be a contender this year but we are building a foundation.

Draft

There is a good bit of talent from our feeder schools, but none that really justifies a first round choice. We decide to go shopping and chance upon a real gem. We trade the first pick of the draft to St. Louis for CB Charles Merrick, a Training Camp breakout for the Rams last year, and their pick in Round 2.

With the first pick of Round 2 we add a big, durable run-stopper to defensive line.

33. Quinn Saucier, DT (16/54), Air Force

With the Rams pick we grab a solid WR who will fit our #3 slot for now.

60. Ike Bradford, WR (18/59), Houston

We start Round 3 off by taking a signal caller who's rough around the edges but shows major potential.

65. Geoff Gaines, QB (8/47), Texas Tech

As Round 4 starts we decide to gamble to improve our defensive front a bit more. We add a DT who has one skill but it's a huge one. This youngster can get to the quarterback.

97. Burt Peterson, DT (15/58), Texas

Since no one named Elvis is available, we add another Ellis to our squad in Round 5.

129. Ellis Coleman, RB (34/34), Texas A&M

Since we lack talent in our offensive backfield we go for depth and the best player available in Round 6.

161. Marc Adams, FB (27/30), Navy

Round 7 is purely speculation for us as we take a flyer on a QB.

193. Clay Bounds, QB (14/25), West Texas A&M

We didn't add any real superstars, but our depth has improved tremendously through this draft. We fill up our roster with free agents and head into camp.


Training Camp

We focus on Shotgun, Single Back, and Pro Set for our offense. We're still going to run a mix of 3-4 and 4-3 on defense.

We get a mild breakout from our fourth round pick. Burt Peterson has picked up some run stopping skills and now has good overall balance.

Tampa Bay comes out of nowhere with an offer for our last pick. QB Clay Bounds, who showed us nothing in camp, goes to the Bucs for their Round 2 pick in 2004.


Roster

With much gratitude to QuikSand, here is our roster.

<pre>
EA.com Front Office Football 2001

From the desk of Joseph Parker of the Dallas Cowboys

Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Geoff Gaines 2 9 1 2006
QB Kelvin Goodwin 3 4 2 2004
QB Jimmy Campbell 2 3 2 2008
RB Antowain Smith 7 8 7 2005
RB Ellis Easter 6 6 3 2004
RB Jose Fouse 6 6 3 2003
RB Ellis Coleman 5 5 1 2005
FB Michael Urbanchek 2 9 1 2009
FB Clif Groce 7 7 9 2005
FB Marc Adams 7 7 1 2004
TE Lee Zedalis 6 10 2 2008
TE Daniel Campbell 8 9 5 2004
WR Rex Aldrige 13 17 2 2004
WR Ike Bradford 4 10 1 2005
WR Roy Clancy 3 8 1 2009
WR Frankie Liebman 7 7 2 2008
WR Louie Borrego 6 6 4 2003
C C.J. Reeves 13 13 2 2005
C Barret Robbins 10 12 9 2004
C Geoff Guthrie 2 4 2 2008
G Cameron Spikes 4 7 5 2005
G Rusty Mittleman 2 5 2 2008
G Jake Hinojosa 2 3 1 2009
T Johnnie Davidson 14 14 2 2007
T Mike Wahle 7 7 6 2005
T Richmond Webb 6 6 14 2005
T Sammie Osborne 4 5 2 2008
P Blaine Baldridge 16 16 4 2003
K Cary Lindsay 3 4 1 2009
DE Wayne Armenta 4 7 4 2003
DE Montae Reagor 4 6 5 2005
DE Wes Dunn 3 3 2 2008
DE Doug Zavala 2 2 2 2008
DT Burt Peterson 3 12 1 2005
DT Quinn Saucier 3 12 1 2006
DT Todd Norton 3 6 2 2008
DT Orlando Najera 4 4 2 2004
LB Jeremiah Trotter 12 13 6 2006
LB Warrick Holdman 9 9 5 2004
LB Lenoy Jones 7 9 8 2004
LB William Thomas 7 8 13 2005
LB Larry Izzo 6 6 8 2003
LB Rusty Burnett 3 6 2 2008
LB Donnell Turnbull 4 5 2 2008
CB Charles Merrick 9 16 2 2006
CB Jacoby Rhinehart 6 7 5 2005
CB Oliver Hyde 6 6 2 2003
CB Brett Gillespie 4 5 3 2004
CB Kirk Lewis 3 4 3 2003
S Gabe Tyree 2 5 1 2009
S Mercury Byrnes 4 4 2 2008
S Gilbert Zedalis 2 2 2 2008
S Doug Thomas 2 2 3 2004
</pre>

Offensive guard is a big problem for us. We'll have to use post-camp addition Barrett Robbins there. We'll also play folks out of position at safety and perhaps defensive end.


Exhibition Games

Bets? We're skunked. After a blowout in the first game our defense does show some spark. We give up a lot of long drives but we look fairly opportunistic. Our running game is still weak and our ability to sustain drives is not good. Our three QB's are all looking mediocre at best so we'll go with Kelvin Goodwin who was fair for us last year. It might be unrealistic to think that we'll be any better than last year but we do hope to get our first win this season. Still, the possibility of another #1 pick looms large.

[This message has been edited by Blackwind (edited 12-13-2000).]

[Blade6119]

Blackwind...cool idea....i may have to try this with texas or maybe a smaller state for a bigger challenge...

I would love to see if Blackwind or anyone could succede by signing and drafting players only from oregan or Deleware or New Hampshire. This would be in my opinion an amzingly near impossiable challenge.

[This message has been edited by Blade6119 (edited 12-12-2000).]

[Blackwind]

2003 Regular Season

Week 1
Arizona (0-0) at Dallas (0-0)
Cardinals win 25-0.
We held the Cards to 189 total yards with just 51 coming from stud RB Thomas Jones. Arizona's offense had to capitalize on our seven *ouch* turnovers to generate their six FG's and one TD.

Week 2
Dallas (0-1) at Tennessee (0-1)
Titans win 41-10.
This game was closer than the score indicated. Tennessee took advantage of a few turnovers to put up a big score but didn't really generate a lot of offense. No way we could have won, but the stats looked very respectable defensively. WR Rex Aldrige (6-102-1) once again had a good day.

Week 3
Philadelphia (1-1) at Dallas (0-2)
Cowboys win 16-0!
We held the ball for 39 minutes and Antowain Smith (18-118-1) hit the century mark to help the Cowboys notch their first win. RB Ellis Easter (14-85-0) added to our 216 yards of rushing offense. The defense gave up just 174 yards and intercepted Donavan McNabb on the Eagles last three possessions to preserve the win.

Week 4
Dallas (1-2) at NY Giants (0-3)
Giants win 20-15.
Our offense disappeared and the Giants ground out a win. Our lone touchdown came when the punt coverage team freight trained Tiki Barber and FB Clif Groce scooped up the ball for a touchdown as time expired.

Week 5
Bye

Week 6
Dallas (1-3) at San Francisco (1-4)
49er's win 27-14.
The defense again came up big allowing only 232 yards total offense. Unfortunately QB's Goodwin and Campbell both tossed interceptions that led to scores. WR Rex Aldrige (11-129-1) put up another great game. Unfortunately we lost CB's Charles Merrick and Jacoby Rhinehart to injuries for a few weeks.

Week 7
Cleveland (4-2) at Dallas (1-4)
Browns win 41-13.
This was a near repeat of our 44-0 loss to the Browns in the first game of the preseason. The Browns expose gaping holes in our run defense and keep the home crowd silent. DT Quinn Saucier and LB Jeremiah Trotter both go down with injuries. These are major blows to our defense.

Week 8
Dallas (1-5) at Chicago (2-5)
Cowboys win 22-17.
Another weak performance by the offense, but the defense provided them enough opportunities to get the job done. Five Chicago turnovers were the key. We are desperately in need of either a stud RB or a good signal caller.

Week 9
Baltimore (2-6) AT Dallas (2-5)
Ravens win 20-19.
We stayed close to the Ravens but couldn't mount a consistent offense again in a close loss. Our defense continues to play good football but that isn't enough.

Week 10
Atlanta (4-4) at Dallas (2-6)
Falcons win 34-13.
We only held the ball for 15:43 and predictably got blown out. Jamal Anderson riped us for 122 yards and the pass defense couldn't hold up to Chris Chandler's 46 pass attempts. It has been nearly a month since we've gotten a good performance from anyone and our record shows it.

Week 11
Dallas (2-7) at Jacksonville (6-3)
Jaguars win 41-13.
Antowain Smith rushed for 84 yards, but it wasn't enough against a powerful Jaguar offense. Our defensive ability from the first few weeks of the season has disappeared and things in Dallas are ugly. We decide to go with rookie QB Geoff Gaines next week in hopes of awakening the offense.

Week 12
NY Giants (3-7) at Dallas (2-8)
Cowboys win 39-21.
A revitalized running game and an offensive explosion in the first half propelled us to a nice victory. RB Antowain Smith (19-147-2) had a huge day in support of a steady QB Geoff Gaines (16-26-241-1-0). WR Frankie Liebman (5-119-0) had his first big day of the year and the defense contributed five picks.

Week 13
Dallas (3-8) at Washington (6-5)
Redskins win 31-28.
Washington scored 18 points in the 4th quarter to pull out a win. QB Gaines was steady (12-27-233-3-1) and Liebman (4-90-1) continued to play well. The defense just couldn't contain the pass happy 'Skins.

Week 14
Tampa Bay (8-4) at Dallas (3-9)
Bucs win 10-3.
The defense plays bend but don't break ball. The offense apparently missed the bus to the stadium.

Week 15
Dallas (3-10) at Arizona (6-7)
Cards win 31-3.
Thomas Jones ruan for 144 yards and Jake Plummer threw 3 TD's in an easy Arizona win. I'd say our experiment with QB Geoff Gaines is over, but any QB getting a start with us is an experiment.

Week 16
Washington (7-7) at Dallas (3-11)
Redskins win 22-14.
Nothing noteworthy happened in this game. Just playing out the string.

Week 17
Dallas (3-12) at Philadelphia (9-6)
Eagles win 41-17.
We turned the ball over eight times in an ugly loss to the Eagles. Our coach injured more of our players than the other team did and ownership promised a very aggressive approach to free agency to combat our problems.

Overall, the season went about as predicted. Our defense played well enough 75% of the time, but our offense was inept.


[This message has been edited by Blackwind (edited 12-13-2000).]

[QuikSand]

Blade, et al, back in FOF2 I played (and documented) a "Buckeye State Browns" career using only players from Ohio schools. While there are a number of univeristies in Ohio, I quickly found that the overhwelming share of my teams came from Ohio State, Cincinnati, and Akron (in that order). At any time, I had a smattering of players from a number of other small schools, but on balance it was a very restrictive challenge.

As I recall, my team floundered through a number of mediocre seasons, but finally stumbled on a quality QB (which I had lacked) and started winning-- finally winning a bowl in about 2020. (I had started with the 1999 expansion Browns, and made only sparing use of real NFL players)

In any case, this concept has floated around for a while in various forms... it's challenging, but I personally was left feeling like I was just a custodian, grabbing whatever random scraps the drafts generated, but not really having any control on the focus of my team.

It might be worth trying with FOF 2001, though...

BW - the roster list looks snappy, nice job.

Good luck landing a good QB-- in this kind of game, that's your bread and butter, of course.

[Blackwind]

2003 Post Season

Wild Card Round

Atlanta (9-7) at New Orleans (13-3)
Saints win 23-7.

Seattle (9-7) at Buffalo (9-6-1)
Seahawk win 24-17.

Minnesota (9-7) at Philadelphia (10-6)
Eagles win 35-16.

Patriots (8-8) at NY Jets (10-6)
Jets win 20-6.


Divisional Playoffs

Philadelphia (11-6) at Carolina (13-3)
Panthers win 31-19.

New Orleans (14-3) at Detroit (15-1)
Lions win 38-13.

NY Jets (11-6) at Jacksonville (10-6)
Jets win 30-13.

Seattle (10-7) at Oakland (14-2)
Raiders win 45-0.


Conference Championships

Carolina (14-3) at Detroit (16-1)
Panthers win 31-10.

NY Jets (12-6) at Oakland (15-2)
Raiders win 34-10.


Super Bowl

Carolina (15-3) at Oakland (16-2)
Raiders win 33-3.


Awards

LB Warrick Holdman quietly amassed 105 tackles, 41 assists, 7 sacks, and 2 INT's enroute to an All-Pro 1st Team Linebacker award.


Highlights

The defense was respectable this year and managed to keep us in a lot of games. It was a team effort without any superstar performances.

Offense on the other hand took a step backwards. We ended up last in the league in just about every category. Quarterback was unstable with rookie Gaines posting a team best 67.2 rating in four starts. While our talent at RB and OL improved, our production did not. Two of our three wins came on breakout running games. We obviously need to produce here if we're going to be at all consistent in the future.

On to 2004!

[Blackwind]

2004 Dallas Cowboys


Preseason


Staff

With no tremendous talents available at either coach or scout, I decided to stand pat.


Free Agency

These are our free agents this season.

<pre>
P Blaine Baldridge 16 16 5 UFA
CB Dave Emanuel 2 8 2 ----
DE Wayne Armenta 4 7 5 UFA
WR Louie Borrego 6 6 5 UFA
LB Larry Izzo 6 6 9 UFA
RB Jose Fouse 6 6 4 ----
CB Oliver Hyde 6 6 3 ----
CB Kirk Lewis 3 4 4 ----
</pre>

I made the comedy move of the decade in naming P Blaine Baldrige our Franchise Player. The lack of Texas talent at this position unfortunately makes this a necessity.

Unfortunately there is not a dearth of talent from our feeder schools available via FA and I're a bit nervous. With $36 million available I put offer sheets out to DT John Randle ($7M/3Y), CB Bryant Westbrook ($9M/2Y), and S Chris Carter ($10.64M/3Y). I'll also keep my eye on C Jerry Fontenot and QB Billy Joe Tolliver.

Westbrook goes to Kansas City in Week 1 and I up our offer to Randle ($12M/3Y). New Orleans has made a nice offer to Tolliver and I feel compelled to enter the bidding at *gasp* $15M/2Y. Even a Billy Joe adds a great deal to our team.

I get my first signee in Week 2.

Chris Carter, S (49/58), 8, Texas
After two seasons on the bench at New England, Carter is anxious to leave. I'll start him at SS this year.

New Orleans snaps up Fontenot in Week 3 and I miss my chance to bid. As we have good talent at center I'm not too upset. I shift my offensive line focus to G Max Lane who will be monitored for activity.

Our next piece falls into place in Week 7.

Billy Joe Tolliver, QB (48/50), 15, Texas
New Orleans' former starter has a career 66.1 rating but that's not bad compared to my current QB's.

We also add an offer on G Max Lane ($9.45M/3Y) from New England.

Lane signs with the Patriots in Week 8 for less than we offered. Doh!
Randle is also sitting on a 4 year offer from the Saints for less per year than I put forward. I'll hold firm on my offer.

My patience pay off as the big DT signs with us in Week 13.

John Randle, DT (51/53), 15, Tx. A&M - Kingsville
This old monster from Minnesota will help hold down the middle for us as my young DT's mature.

And that's all she wrote for free agency. I'll move on into the draft and then address our unsigned free agents afterward.


Draft

The talent level from our feeder schools if fair, but there isn't talent to justify the #1 pick so we go shopping. The Montgomery (AL) Maulers take the Cowboys' Round 1(1) and Round 5(1) for their Round 1(10) and Round 3(10). Giddyup!

10. Kurt Stevenson, TE (48/89), Texas Southern
This big well-rounded TE will contribute immediately!

Round 2 brings me a choice between three players (CB/LB/TE). Our first round choice knocks out the TE. As the CB looks a little weak in man-to-man defense we go with the LB.

33. Kelly Eamigh, LB (20/59), Texas
Another immediate contributor.

Another Round 2 pick from last year's trade brings some depth.

54. Conrad Franz, T (34/38), Texas A&M
Primarily a run stopper with good endurance.

The Cowboys start Round 3 by drafting yet another QB.

65. Rich Ruegamer, QB (32/55), Texas
A player in the Flutie mold who we hope will develop.

Our next pick is a project and maybe a reach, but we desperately need help at guard.

74. Larry Dorsey, G (14/62), Texas Tech
Big future potential, slightly questionable endurance.

We start Round 4 by trying to solve our running game.

97. Dave "Missing" Linkous, RB (32/74), Navy
Fairly consistent in college. Very explosive.

In Round 6 try to help our weakest position.

161. Bo Monroe, S (27/27), Baylor
Not a huge talent, but better than the stiffs we've got.

We end our draft with a grab of the best player available.

193. Rodney Cash, C (27/34), Texas Tech
Solid, balanced back-up material.

Training Camp

We have our first bust in Dallas. TE Kurt Stevenson will still be a player, but not the monster he projected to be.

On a good note, QB Rich Ruegamer is going to be a respectable signal caller in a few years and RB Dave Linkous looks like he could start right away.

We release QB's Kelvin Goodwin and Jimmy Campbell in favor of our new projects along with a host of other marginal contributors.

We receive an offer for RB Ellis "Island" Easter from the Redskins. It's only a Round 6 pick, but Easter is in the last year of his contract and is too expensive to sit on the bench. Done deal.

Roster

We prune the list down to 53 players and here's how it ends up. Herb gives us a 31 for roster on the Franchise Vaule page, so we're starting to move up in the world. We'll still play some folk out of position this year, particularly at offensive line. Player satisfaction may become an issue this year. We have to sacrifice talent in order to keep folks happy and with our limited talent pool we really can't afford to have lots of people pissed off at management.
<pre>
From the desk of Joseph Parker of the Dallas Cowboys

Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Geoff Gaines 4 9 2 2006
QB Billy Joe Tolliver 8 9 15 2005
QB Rich Ruegamer 6 8 1 2007
RB Dave Linkous 7 15 1 2005
RB Cedric Hartzell 5 9 1 2010
RB Antowain Smith 7 7 8 2005
RB Ellis Coleman 6 6 2 2005
FB Michael Urbanchek 4 9 2 2009
FB Marc Adams 8 8 2 2004
FB Clif Groce 7 7 10 2005
TE Kurt Stevenson 4 11 1 2008
TE Daniel Campbell 9 9 6 2004
WR Rex Aldrige 14 15 3 2004
WR Ike Bradford 8 11 2 2005
WR Roy Clancy 7 9 2 2009
WR Frankie Liebman 9 9 3 2008
WR Louie Borrego 6 6 5 2006
C C.J. Reeves 14 14 3 2005
C Barret Robbins 10 12 10 2004
C Rodney Cash 4 7 1 2005
G Larry Dorsey 3 13 1 2006
G Cameron Spikes 4 7 6 2005
G Jake Hinojosa 4 4 2 2009
G Kyle Lewis 4 4 2 2010
T Johnnie Davidson 15 15 3 2007
T Conrad Franz 7 10 1 2006
T Mike Wahle 8 8 7 2005
T Sammie Osborne 4 7 3 2008
P Blaine Baldridge 16 16 5 2004
K Cary Lindsay 5 5 2 2009
DE Montae Reagor 3 7 6 2005
DE Wayne Armenta 4 7 5 2006
DE Al Fontenot 6 6 12 2004
DE Wes Dunn 3 3 3 2008
DT Burt Peterson 6 12 2 2005
DT Quinn Saucier 6 11 2 2006
DT John Randle 10 10 15 2006
DT Todd Norton 4 5 3 2008
LB Jeremiah Trotter 11 14 7 2006
LB Kelly Eamigh 4 12 1 2007
LB Warrick Holdman 9 9 6 2004
LB Rusty Burnett 3 7 3 2008
LB Larry Izzo 6 6 9 2005
LB Donnell Turnbull 4 6 3 2008
CB Charles Merrick 12 15 3 2006
CB Jacoby Rhinehart 7 7 6 2005
CB Oliver Matuatia 5 6 4 2004
CB Oliver Hyde 4 4 3 2004
CB Brett Gillespie 4 4 4 2004
S Chris Carter 10 12 8 2006
S Bo Monroe 5 5 1 2005
S Gabe Tyree 3 5 2 2009
S Mickey Dole 2 4 1 2010
</pre>

Exhibition Games

We go 2-2 during the exhibition season. Our run blocking is still weak but when we click we're tough. Our backs aren't studs, but they're improved. The quarterback situation is definitely improved. Ruegamer actually looked good in the pre-season! We'll go with Tolliver but I'm sure the rookie will get a few starts to help with his development. I'm going to be optimistic and set a six win goal for this season.


[This message has been edited by Blackwind (edited 12-14-2000).]

[Blackwind]

2004 Regular Season

Week 1
Arizona (0-0) at Dallas (0-0)
Cowboys win 15-0.
We gave up only 96 yards of total offense, four first downs, and managed five field goals of our own to win our season opener. Billy Joe Tolliver (22-41-221-0-0) held the team together as we won a field position battle. Everyone on the defense got in on the act with no player making more than five tackles.

Week 2
Dallas (1-0) at Denver (0-1)
Broncos win 27-7.
No running game, no chance. Billy Joe Tolliver (18-35-283-1-2) spread passes nicely between Roy Clancy (5-72-0), Ike Bradford (4-74-1), and Rex Aldrige (4-86-0) but we managed only 30 yards on 16 carries. LB Jeremiah Trotter led the defense with 10 tackles, 5 assists, and an INT.

Week 3
Bye

Week 4
Dallas (1-1) at San Francisco (1-2)
Cowboys win 30-6.
We pile the load on rookie RB Dave Linkous and he came through with 127 yards and 3 TD's. Tolliver (19-28-265-0-1) had a decent day spreading the ball around generously. The bad news is that our top linebacker, Jeremiah Trotter is out for the year with torn knee cartilage.

Week 5
Dallas (2-1) at NY Giants (3-1)
Giants win 28-18.
The Giants held the ball for 36 minutes and won a relatively close game. Dave Linkous (9-23-1) didn't see the ball enough to have an impact. Tolliver (14-24-189-1-0) hit Frankie Liebman (5-100-1) on several clutch passes but it wasn't enough. LB Warrick Holdman had a good day defensively with 11 tackles and 2 assists.

Week 6
Atlanta (3-2) at Dallas (2-2)
Cowboys win 20-14.
We couldn't get the run going but managed enough big plays to top the Falcons in OT. QB Billy Joe Tolliver (25-44-265-2-1) hit Frankie Liebman (9-101-0) and Rex Aldrige (8-100-1) often enough to salt away the W. Warrick Holdman again lead the defense with 11 tackles and 4 assists.

Week 7
Washington (3-2) at Dallas (3-2)
Redskins win 31-23.
Washington jumped out to a 24-0 lead in the 2nd quarter and we couldn't quite catch up. WR Roy Clancy (5-128-1) was our only standout performer on offense. Big number 99, Warrick Holdman again led the defense.

Week 8
Dallas (3-3) at Philadelphia (2-4)
Eagles win 27-22.
Philly jumps out to a 24-0 lead and we again got hot late to make it close. Billy Joe Tolliver (25-42-358-3-1) almost wiped out the deficit with Frankie Liebman (6-92-0) as his most effective target. Roy Clancy caught 2 TD's and Rex Aldrige added another. Warrick Holdman had 8 tackles, 5 assists and a sack. Larry Izzo returned to his form from 2002 with 9 tackles.

Week 9
Dallas (3-4) at Washington (5-2)
Redskins win 27-17.
We weren't as slow out of the gate this time, but still couldn't get it done. S Gabe Tyree's 98 yard kickoff return kept this one close. Tolliver (19-32-225-1-1) was OK and Rex Aldrige (8-115-0) hit his stride again. We'll try throwing the ball a bit more down field next week to try and open things up.

Week 10
Chicago (3-5) at Dallas (3-5)
Cowboys win 31-17.
Billy Joe Tolliver (24-33-313-2-2) found Rex Aldrige (8-96-2) for a pair of TD's and CB Jacoby Rhinehart took an INT 26 yards for a score. A good win at home for the Cowboys!

Week 11
Kansas City (5-4) at Dallas (4-5)
Chiefs win 24-10.
Four Dallas turnovers were the difference in this statistically even game. Roy Clancy hauled in 7 catches for 115 yards and, guess who, Warrick Holdman led the defense with 13 tackles and 4 assists.

Week 12
Dallas (4-6) at San Diego (5-5)
Chargers win 20-7.
The Bolts shut down our running game and we failed to take advantage of several scoring opportunities that would have made the difference. Frankie Liebman (6-107-0) and Roy Clancy (6-98) saw the majority of Tolliver's passes as Rex Aldrige (2-14-1) struggled under double coverage. LB Kelly Eamigh had 9 tackle and 2 assists on defense.

Week 13
NY Giants (6-5) at Dallas (4-7)
Cowboys win 30-16.
We made fewer mistakes and took a statistically even game from the Giants. Tolliver (19-32-263-2-2) found Aldrige (6-83-1) on several short routes that the speedster broke open. Warrick Holdman continued his All-Pro bid with 8 tackles, 1 assist, and an INT.

Week 14
Philadelphia (5-7) at Dallas (5-7)
Cowboys win 20-10.
A combined 139 yards rushing keyed a good home win for us. Antowain Smith (11-85-0) led the way but Dave Linkous had a rushing TD and a receiving TD. We'll give Smith his first start of the year next week. Rex Aldrige hauled in 10 catches for 117 yards. Warrick Holdman had 10 tackles.

Week 15
Dallas (6-7) at Arizona (8-5)
Cardinals win 41-3.
We gambled trying to stop the powerful Arizona running game and got burned. The Cards put up 327 yards rushing with Thomas Jones 258 yards and 4 TD's leading the way. Billy Joe Tolliver's 6 INT's didn't help our cause much. We'll give rookie QB Rich Ruegamer the last two starts for experience.

Week 16
Dallas (6-8) at Green Bay (8-6)
Packers win 34-0.
Brett Favre was spectacular (34-41-350-3-0) and the Packers shut us down in an old fashioned whuppin'. We didn't make many mistakes but could not move the ball at all. Warrick Holdman had his typical day with 11 tackles and 4 assists.

Week 17
Seattle (8-6-1) at Dallas (6-9)
Seahawks win 24-7.
Seattle gradually pulled away from us in the season finale. Ruegamer left in the 2nd quarter with a mild injury, but Tolliver couldn't rally us. Frankie Libmann punctuated a nice season with 6 catches for 89 yards and a TD.

We managed to get our six wins and at times didn't look bad. Our passing game was 6th in the league but we couldn't run with any consistency. Our defense was below average but had a tendency to get hot once in a while. Time to sit back and watch the playoffs!

[Blackwind]

2004 Post Season

Wild Card Round

Tampa Bay (9-7) at Arizona (10-6)
Cardinals win 33-14.

NY Giants (9-7) at Carolina (8-7-1)
Panthers win 37-11.

Kansas City (9-7) at Oakland (12-4)
Chiefs win 37-31.

Seattle (9-6-1) at NY Jets (9-6-1)
Seahawks win 23-20.


Divisional Playoffs

Arizona (11-6) at Washington (10-6)
Redskins win 30-7.

Carolina (9-7-1) at Green Bay (9-7)
Packers win 30-28.

Seattle (10-6-1) at Cincinnati (12-4)
Bengals win 26-13.

Kansas City (10-7) at Indianapolis (13-3)
Colts win 10-6.


Conference Championships

Cincinnati (13-4) at Indianapolis (14-3)
Colts win 27-17.

Green Bay (10-7) at Washington (11-6)
Redskins win 38-7.


Super Bowl

Washington (12-6) at Indianapolis (15-3)
Colts win 27-9.


Awards

LB Warrick Holdman picks up our only award with All-Pro 2nd Team mention. In 14 games he led our team with 114 tackles, 37 assists while adding 2 sacks, and 1 INT.

Highlights

We met our goal with six wins this season! We definitely improved and I have a feeling that (gulp!) QB Billy Joe Tolliver (277-513-3686-19-25) was the difference. WR's Rex Aldrige (72-1005-6), Frankie Liebman (59-847-3), and Roy Clancy (60-835-5) all benefited. RB Dave Linkous (161-540-7) had a fair rookie campaign behind a porous offensive line. The defense was unremarkable aside from Holdman. With a good preseason we could be a threat to hit .500 next season.


[This message has been edited by Blackwind (edited 12-18-2000).]

[Blackwind]

2005 Dallas Cowboys


Preseason


Staff

Coach Lonnie Smalls contract was up for renewal and we decided to invite him back for three more years. There were a few similar prospects out there, but Coach Smalls seems to have a good rapport with the team. The Giants were also interested, but not enough to match our offer.


Free Agency

We received a trade offer for QB Rich Ruegamer prior to free agency. Not a bad offer with a good LB and a 2nd round pick (29) from Oakland but we're not interested.

The Franchise tag was a tough call. C Barret Robbins, who started out of position at guard last season, is a bigger talent, but Warrick Holdman has been our only All-Pro two years running. We decide to reward the performance and not the potential. Holdman stays. Here are our Free Agents.
<pre>
DE Al Fontenot 6 6 13 UFA
C Barret Robbins 10 12 11 UFA
LB Warrick Holdman 9 9 7 UFA
TE Daniel Campbell 9 9 7 UFA
CB Oliver Matuatia 5 6 5 UFA
CB Brett Gillespie 4 4 5 UFA
WR Rex Aldrige 13 15 4 ----
CB Oliver Hyde 5 5 4 ----
FB Marc Adams 8 8 3 ----
LB Billy Joe Becker 3 4 3 ----
TE Phillip Benveniste 3 3 2 ----
</pre>

There aren't any huge players from our feeder schools available so we'll wait a bit before making free agent offers with one exception. DE Seth Warden is a very good run stopper and we'll try and take him from the Steelers with a $10M/2Y offer.

Warden decides to return to the Steelers in Week 2 despite a higher offer from the Cowboys. Back to the fight.

In Week 10 Minnesota signs C Barret Robbins to a $7M/2Y deal. We still don't see anyone worth shelling out the big bucks for. The Cowboys are eyeing guards Rex Tucker and Harvey Yates for a late acquisition.

In Week 11 we decide to put a $9.3M/3Y offer sheet out to Tucker, a 7 year vet from Texas A&M who has been mainly a role player for Chicago. He signs with us in Week 13.

TE Daniel Campbell goes to Detroit in Week 14 for a $9.14M/3Y deal.

Believe it or not, that's all the action from free agency. There just wasn't anyone out there worthy of the bucks that were being requested. We may look at a few of these players again if the draft fails to fill our holes.


Draft

Talent from Texas! To my delight their are as many as eight legitimate first rounders from Texas and the Service Academies. When our turn comes up they are all on the board. We had no luck swinging a fair deal to add a first rounder, but at least we'll get one stud. Our two most likely candidates are RB Brady Clarkson from Texas A&M, a solid, do everything back with hands like glue and CB Keith Shepherd from Texas - El Paso, who lives eats and breathes pass coverage. In a tough decision we go with the CB, hoping to shore up our weak secondary.

7. Keith Shepherd, CB (43/84), Texas - El Paso
We need to work on his endurance, but this guy will eventually be huge.

Our hopes that another Texas stud would fall into Round 2 don't pan out. Fully 1/4 of the first 32 picks came from our feeder schools. There is a silver lining though. G Preston Peters, who most scouts show as a Round 3 or 4 pick, looks very good to our scout. With lots of mid-round talent available we can afford to go fishing a bit.

39. Preston Peters, G (20/75), Texas Christian
This monster pass blocker will eventually fill our greatest need area.

In Round 3 we do get a prayer answered. S Nolan Jude falls to us. He is ready to go right away and will hopefully close out our needs in the secondary.

71. Nolan Jude, S (42/43), Texas

Round 4 does not offer much to us. Call this an insurance pick.

103. Ben Levins, CB (18/57), Texas Tech

In Round 5 we pick a project. This guy is all potential and we hope he pans out.

135. Vinny "Dinty" Moore, LB (11/47), Army

In Round 6, with no real talent left we decide to trust our scout. He places high value on a RB and we can afford to roll the dice a bit.

167. Marty Eamons, RB (12/39), Texas Tech

With our extra Round 6 pick from an earlier trade we add a QB who looked much better in the combine than his college stats showed.

191. Michael Pennock QB (24/33), Navy

We close out the draft with a best available pick.

199. Dusty Fisher, DT (31/38), North Texas

All in all we're very pleased. We should show a marked improvement in the secondary this year. We'll sign a few URFA's and head into camp.


Training Camp

No busts, no breakouts. We trade S Bo Monroe and next years Round 6 pick for Carolina's Round 5. We also add DE Michael Bankston, an old vet, to fill our remaining hole in the lineup.


Roster

<pre>
Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Rich Ruegamer 7 11 2 2007
QB Geoff Gaines 6 10 3 2006
QB Billy Joe Tolliver 8 8 16 2005
QB Michael Pennock 5 6 1 2006
RB Dave Linkous 9 13 2 2005
RB Marty Emmons 2 8 1 2006
RB Cedric Hartzell 5 7 2 2010
RB Ellis Coleman 6 6 3 2005
FB Neil Farr 5 7 1 2011
FB Michael Urbanchek 5 6 3 2009
FB Clif Groce 6 6 11 2005
TE Kurt Stevenson 7 11 2 2008
TE Chester Brautlacht 5 5 1 2011
WR Rex Aldrige 14 15 4 2007
WR Ike Bradford 8 11 3 2005
WR Roy Clancy 6 9 3 2009
WR Frankie Liebman 7 8 4 2008
WR Louie Borrego 6 6 6 2006
C C.J. Reeves 14 14 4 2005
C Rodney Cash 6 6 2 2005
G Preston Peters 4 15 1 2007
G Larry Dorsey 7 12 2 2006
G Rex Tucker 7 7 7 2007
G Kyle Lewis 5 5 3 2010
T Johnnie Davidson 14 14 4 2007
T Conrad Franz 8 10 2 2006
T Mike Wahle 8 8 8 2005
T Sammie Osborne 3 5 4 2008
P Blaine Baldridge 16 16 6 2006
K Cary Lindsay 5 5 3 2009
DE Michael Bankston 7 7 14 2005
DE Montae Reagor 4 7 7 2005
DE Wayne Armenta 4 7 6 2006
DE Al Fontenot 6 6 13 2006
DT Burt Peterson 6 12 3 2005
DT Quinn Saucier 6 9 3 2006
DT John Randle 9 9 16 2006
DT Todd Norton 4 8 4 2008
LB Jeremiah Trotter 11 12 8 2007
LB Warrick Holdman 9 9 7 2005
LB Kelly Eamigh 6 9 2 2007
LB Vinny Moore 2 9 1 2007
LB Rusty Burnett 4 7 4 2008
LB Larry Izzo 6 6 10 2005
LB Donnell Turnbull 3 3 4 2008
CB Keith Shepherd 8 17 1 2009
CB Charles Merrick 13 15 4 2006
CB Ben Levens 3 11 1 2007
CB Jacoby Rhinehart 7 7 7 2005
S Chris Carter 11 11 9 2006
S Adam Sutton 3 9 1 2011
S Nolan Jude 8 8 1 2007
S Gabe Tyree 3 4 3 2009
</pre>


Exhibition Games

We go 2-2 in the exhibition games and are poised for the season. We tend to do well against one dimensional passing teams but get hammered any time we face a good running attack. Considering the youth and average talent we have up front this is not too surprising. We'll set an 8-8 season as our goal though we may fall far short of that. Our roster rating has crept up to 51!

[Blackwind]

2005 Regular Season

Week 1
Detroit (0-0) at Dallas (0-0)
Cowboys win 37-14.
Our revamped secondary has four picks, including three by rookie S Nolan Jude, and we dominate the Lions. QB Billy Joe Tolliver (29-39-331-4-0) has a smashing day throwing to Ike Bradford (8-116-1) and Rex Aldrige (8-82-1). Tolliver and Jude pick up Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week Honors.

Week 2
Philadelphia (1-0) at Dallas (1-0)
Eagles win 31-17.
Tolliver throws four INT's to even out his passing rating and squander very good field position in this loss. LB Jeremiah Trotter makes 14 tackles and CB Charles Merrick makes two picks despite playing with a broken finger. Our offense didn't convert on a good game by the defense.

Week 3
Dallas (1-1) at NY Giants (1-1)
Giants win 34-7.
The Giants turn four Dallas turnovers into 24 points en route to an easy win. Tolliver didn't show up again. Rex Aldrige (8-100-1) was the only bright spot on offense. LB Warrick Holdman and 11 tackles in the loss. LB Rusty Burnett is place on IR following the game and we sign LB Marcus Buckley, a 13 year vet out of Texas A&M to fill the hole.

Week 4
Dallas (1-2) at Minnesota (0-2)
Vikings win 24-19.
Tolliver hooks up with the Viking secondary for four INT's. Rich Ruegamer, come on down, you're our starter now. Rex Aldrige (10-171-1) tries to carry the team and Warrick Holdman adds 12 tackles as we come up just short.

Week 5
Washington (3-1) at Dallas (1-3)
Cowboys win 23-17.
We're out gained, but we move the ball when we need to and win a close one. Ruegamer (21-35-178-1-0) didn't make any mistakes and we put forth a good team effort to pull this game out.

Week 6
Dallas (2-3) at NY Jets (3-1)
Cowboys win 20-13.
Gabe Tyree's 86 yard punt return in the 2nd was the difference as we win a defensive struggle. Rex Aldrige had 11 catches for 86 yards in an otherwise dull game.

Week 7
Dallas (3-3) at Philadelphia (4-2)
Cowboys win 38-10.
In what's politely know as returning the favor, we take advantage of Philadelphia miscues and pour it on. Rich Ruegamer (22-33-304-4-0) has his best game so far and garners OPOTW honors as Liebman (6-135-1) and Bradford (8-95-2) take advantage of the Eagles #2 CB. Rookie CB [/b]Keith Shepherd[/b] has 3 INT's including a 41 yard return for a TD. With a Washington loss, we're tied for the Division lead!

Week 8
New Orleans (2-4) at Dallas (4-3)
Cowboys win 31-24.
Special teams whiz Gabe Tyree returned a punt 90 yards for a score and the defense held off a late charge from the pass happy Saints to preserve the win. Nolan Jude had 2 INT's and Chris Carter added another in a game that the Saints dominated statistically. Washington had a bye week so we are now in the Division lead for the first time.

Week 9
Bye

Week 10
Dallas (5-3) at Washington (4-4)
Cowboys win 43-18.
We win a shootout with the Redskins. Rich Ruegamer (23-33-359-4-3) wasn't perfect, but got the job done. Frankie Liebman (6-150-2) and Rex Aldrige (7-87-2) had good days. Charles Merrick and Jacoby Rhinehart each had 2 INT's and rookie S Adam Sutton added another for a score. We keep a one game edge on the Eagles in the Division race.

Week 11
Dallas (6-3) at St. Louis (5-4)
Rams win 27-0.
Our five game streak ends. The Rams held the ball for 39 minutes and ground out the win. Our offense didn't make mistakes, but never managed anything resembling a drive. Warrick Holdman had 12 tackles in the losing effort. We are tied with the Eagles in the NFC East but hold the tiebreaker.

Week 12
Arizona (3-7) at Dallas (6-4)
Cowboys win 24-17.
We spotted the Cards a 17-0 lead at the half but came roaring back following a Dave Linkous 81 yard TD run in the 3rd quarter. Linkous had 128 yards on 8 carries with 2 TD's. Rex Aldrige add a TD with 7 catches for 97 yards. Philadelphia kept pace with a 27-0 win over the 7-4 Colts.

Week 13
New England (7-4) at Dallas (7-4)
Cowboys win 33-7.
RB by committee put up 143 yards on 26 carries and Rich Ruegamer (25-43-398-2-0) played longball with his receivers in our best win of the season. Louie Borrego (4-168-1) was explosive and Rex Aldrige (8-90-1) kept plugging along while Nolan Jude notched his 6th pick of the year. The Eagles stayed with us by beating the Giants 28-18.

Week 14
NY Giants (5-7) at Dallas (8-4)
Giants win 21-14.
Leroy Barnes (26-163-2) rushing led the Giants to a win in a close contest. Ruegamer (26-45-295-2-1) had a decent day with Rex Aldrige (8-149-0) seeming unstoppable. The Saints did us a favor by thrashing the Eagles 41-13.

Week 15
Dallas (8-5) at Buffalo (7-6)
Bills win 29-27.
Backup QB Moses Moreno hit John Galsworthy with a 5 yard TD pass at the gun to win it for the Bills. Ruegamer (20-34-240-2-1) was decent and Liebman (6-109-1) and Aldrige (5-74-1) played well. After safeties Chris Carter (broken tibia) and Gabe Tyree (broken arm) were lost for the season, the secondary fell victim to a big play Buffalo passing game giving up 356 yards passing. The Eagles took the NFC East lead with a 19-14 win over the Redskins. We sign Winston Burrell, a 4 year vet from Texas A&M, and Wally Fox, a rookie from UTEP, to fill the holes. At 8-6 we need to win out to hold onto our Wild Card spot.

Week 16
Dallas (8-6) at Arizona (5-9)
Cardinals win 33-3.
The Cardinals played a solid offense and we never got going in a crushing loss. Neither team had any standouts. We have to win to have any hope of a playoff berth.

Week 17
Miami (3-12) at Dallas (8-7)
Dolphins win 14-13.
Heartbreak. Atlanta (8-8) takes the final Wild Card spot with a 7-5 conference record to our 6-6. The Dolphins got two 1st quarter scores and led 14-13 at the half. Neither offense could move the ball in the second half and we just missed the promised land of the post season. Dave Linkous led us with 12 carries for 127 yards.


We met our eight win goal, but lost four in a row down the stretch. I'll provide more analysis after the playoffs as we gear up for next year.

[This message has been edited by Blackwind (edited 12-21-2000).]

[Blackwind]

2005 Post Season

Wild Card Round

Atlanta (8-8) at Chicago (11-5)
Bears win 31-6.

Denver (9-7) at Seattle (10-6)
Seahawks win 23-3.

Tampa Bay (9-7) at Green Bay (10-6)
Packers win 30-3.

New England (9-7) at Cleveland (11-5)
Patriots win 28-6.


Divisional Playoffs

Chicago (12-5) at Philadelphia (11-5)
Eagles win 28-25.

Green Bay (11-6) at St. Louis (12-4)
Packers win 22-16.

New England (10-7) at Indianapolis (11-5)
Colts win 25-21.

Seattle (11-6) at Jacksonville (11-5)
Jaguars win 37-13.


Conference Championships

Green Bay (12-6) at Philadelphia (12-5)
Eagles win 34-20.

Jacksonville (12-5) at Indianapolis (12-5)
Jaguars win 7-6.


Super Bowl

Philadelphia (13-5) at Jacksonville (13-5)
Jaguars win 42-38.


Awards

S Nolan Jude picks up Defensive Rookie of the Year. Starting all 16 games, this youngster had 8 interceptions, 11 passes defensed, and a 49.1 PDQ over 511 pass plays. He also amassed 71 tackles and 22 assists. This would have been a good year for any veteran.

K Cary Lindsay makes All-Pro 2nd Team Kicker. At 30-36 on FG's and a perfect 35 PAT's, the third year player out of Army earned his stripes.

CB Charles Merrick makes All-Pro 2nd Team Cornerback. With 6 interceptions, 7 passes defensed, and a 38.8 PDQ, this 2003 free agent acquisition has finally started to mature.


Highlights

With eight wins and big victories over New England and Super Bowl bound Philadelphia, we showed that we could play in this league. A late season slump and key injuries to the secondary cost us a playoff berth.

Here are the individual standouts who didn't receive awards.

QB Rich Ruegamer (227-407-2733-19-12-79.7) took over from a struggling Billy Joe Tolliver starting in Week 5. He preceded to lead us on a 7-1 tear that almost got us into the post season. Though not physically imposing at 5'11" and 181 lbs, this lightly regarded second year player seems to have what it takes.

RB Dave Linkous (173-816-6) quietly put up a 4.7 YPC performance behind a young offensive line. Look for bigger numbers as he gets better blocking.

WR Rex Aldrige (85-1033-7) had his second consecutive 1000 yard season. The most consistent player on the offense.

WR Ike Bradford (72-774-5) will command some big dollars as a RFA this year. We hope we can keep him.

WR Frankie Liebman (66-944-8) was huge in the #3 slot. Will return to the SE spot if Bradford leaves.

C C. J. Reeves had 23 KRB's and allowed only 4 sacks. Was rewarded with a late season contract extension.

T Johnnie Davidson wasn't dominant due to injuries, but has matured into a real force at left tackle.

LB Jeremiah Trotter had a solid 92 tackles and 42 assists and was injury free for the first time since his 2001 campaign with the Eagles.

LB Warrick Holdman had 101 tackles and 39 assists to lead the Cowboys for the third straight season.

CB Keith Shepherd had 5 INT's, 1 TD, 11 defensed passes, and a 45.0 PDQ in his rookie campaign.

S Chris Carter 5 INT's and a 34.8 PDQ before breaking his leg in Week 15.

S Gabe Tyree had 3 TD's on punt returns. Deion meets Billy Bates.

Though we have no gaurantee of improving on this performance, the Cowboys do seem poised for a return to respectability and perhaps post season play very soon.

[This message has been edited by Blackwind (edited 12-21-2000).]

[Blade6119]

Good job Blackwind...maybe soon you will make the playoffs with this texas talent team....

I do have 2 things to ask though......As i play my franchise with the Iowa City Trojans...we have won the superbowl the last five years with Curtis Hickman being my star back who holds every Rushing record except 1 in the playoffs who is an amazing runner from "Austin Peay" college....i have several players from this college including Hickman and my starting 1st team Quaterback Kendrick Murray...My question is isnt this college in Texas?...if so this could help you some like this school has helped me.


My other question is you keep referring to player's college stats.....where are you getting these stats or are you just making this up?....i was wondering because if this is in there it would be very useful to me during the draft....


Thnx Blackwind and good luck with the team.

[Blackwind]

Blade,

Austin Peay is actually in Clarksville, Tennessee.

As to the college stats, the references were made up based on a resonable evaluation of the players ratings and the current/future assesments on the draft board. Just trying to add some color to the game!

Thanks for the comments and I'll try to keep this stuff interesting.

Blackwind

[Blackwind]

2006 Dallas Cowboys

Preseason

Retirements

QB Billy Joe Tolliver
DT John Randle
DE Michael Bankston

Staff

Our scout's contract is up and we make him a royal offer. Unfortunately, Denver makes him an insane offer and he bolts. Time to go shopping.

We have to offer an equally insane amount to secure Atlanta's old scout, but that's the breaks.

Lead Scout
Shannon Guilbeaux, 58
QB: Fair
RB: Very Good
WR: Excellent
OL: Very Good
K: Fair
DL: Fair
LB: Very Good
DB: Excellent
YT: Excellent

Free Agency

We have a fair number of talented free agents, thankfully they're mostly of the restricted variety. Here they are.
<pre>
RB Dave Linkous 11 13 3 ---- *Must Keep*
WR Ike Bradford 9 11 4 ---- *Might Keep*
C Rodney Cash 5 7 3 ----
CB Jacoby Rhinehart 6 7 8 UFA
LB Larry Izzo 6 6 11 UFA
DE Montae Reagor 5 6 8 UFA
S Wally Fox 2 6 2 ----
S Winston Burrell 5 6 5 UFA
LB Marcus Buckley 5 5 14 UFA
RB Ellis Coleman 5 5 4 ----
</pre>
Looking at the pool of available talent we find only two standouts, LB Zach Thomas, an 11 year stud for the Dolphins, and WR Jared Sharber, a six year man coming off a 1200 yard season with the Titans. We'll also watch for a backup CB, DT, and a DE or two.

We start with a $7.1M/2Y offer to Zach Thomas and decide to wait on everything else. After Week 1 we're his only bidder. We also notice DT's Shane Dronett and Daryl Gardner, two Texas boys, are drawing much higher than expected money. We'll drop DT from our wish list unless these guys show back up in an over cap situation. WR Sharber looks like he'll get the bucks from the Titans.

The Jets and Broncos join the Zach Thomas bidding war in Week 2 to and we have to up the offer to $12M/3Y. A flurry of new teams join the fray, but he takes our offer in Week 5.

Zach Thomas, LB (65/65), 11, Texas Tech

We're left with only a few minor prospects at CB and DE to watch and none of them have any offers pending. We end up watching the rest of free agency slip by. Though we only added one player, we're pleased. We got the hoss we needed to complete our LB corps.

Draft

This draft looks as barren as last year was rich. I need people at DE, DT, TE, and CB to fill holes. I'll also look at RB, WR, and C. There is a good looking QB out of Rice, but he'll go higher than I can pick. He looks very similar to Ruegamer and Gaines, so I don't feel I'm missing out.

As Round 1 unfolds S Courtney McCullough, who was #2 on the boards, begins to slide. We offer Seattle a pile of picks, but they want more than we can afford. They grab McCullough and our fans sulk. On the bright side, the QB from Rice falls. We decide to go BPA and grab him.

18. Donnie Bridges, QB (42/70), Rice
Looks a lot like Ruegamer

We pick the best DT available in Round 2.

50. Tyrell Liszt, DT (38/54), Texas A&M
A good run stopper. With little draft depth at DT we had to grab him earlier than we'd have liked.

We find a very good LB in Round 3.

82. Ethan Ruffin, LB (33/62), Rice
Monster pass rusher and a good coverage guy.

Round 4 brings us another depth pick.

114. Levon Benton, CB (28/36), Texas Tech

With the pick acquired from Carolina last year we add the best Texan left on the board.

137. Jeff Vance, WR (28/40), Texas A&M

We trade away our remaining picks for future late rounders.

Training Camp

No big surprises this camp. Liszt is a minor bust. On a good note, the safety I couldn't get from Seattle is a big bust. Our roster looks remarkably similar to last year. We have more depth at LB and our secondary is good. Our defensive line is still very suspect and we're working our way to respectability at offensive guard. QB looks like a three way toss up on paper, but Ruegamer will be the man until he shows us otherwise. Here is the list.

Roster
<pre>
Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Donnie Bridges 8 14 1 2010
QB Rich Ruegamer 7 12 3 2007
QB Geoff Gaines 6 11 4 2006
QB Michael Pennock 4 7 2 2006
RB Dave Linkous 11 12 3 2009
RB Marty Emmons 7 8 2 2006
RB Cedric Hartzell 6 7 3 2010
FB Michael Urbanchek 6 7 4 2009
FB Neil Farr 7 7 2 2011
FB Marc Adams 6 6 4 2006
TE Kurt Stevenson 10 10 3 2008
TE Chester Brautlacht 6 6 2 2011
WR Rex Aldrige 15 15 5 2007
WR Ike Bradford 10 11 4 2007
WR Roy Clancy 7 8 4 2009
WR Jeff Vance 5 8 1 2007
WR Frankie Liebman 7 7 5 2008
C C.J. Reeves 13 13 5 2006
C Rodney Cash 6 7 3 2008
G Preston Peters 10 12 2 2007
G Larry Dorsey 10 11 3 2006
G Rex Tucker 6 7 8 2007
G Kyle Lewis 4 4 4 2010
T Johnnie Davidson 15 15 5 2007
T Conrad Franz 9 9 3 2006
T Mike Wahle 8 8 9 2006
T Sammie Osborne 3 5 5 2008
P Blaine Baldridge 16 16 7 2006
K Cary Lindsay 5 5 4 2009
DE Wayne Armenta 5 7 7 2006
DE Al Fontenot 5 5 14 2006
DE Montae Reagor 5 5 8 2007
DE J.B. Shipway 2 4 2 2006
DT Burt Peterson 7 10 4 2006
DT Quinn Saucier 8 9 4 2006
DT Tyrell Liszt 3 7 1 2009
DT Todd Norton 4 6 5 2008
LB Zach Thomas 13 13 11 2008
LB Jeremiah Trotter 12 12 9 2007
LB Ethan Ruffin 6 12 1 2008
LB Kelly Eamigh 8 10 3 2007
LB Vinny Moore 5 9 2 2007
LB Warrick Holdman 7 8 8 2007
LB Rusty Burnett 3 4 5 2008
CB Charles Merrick 13 15 5 2006
CB Keith Shepherd 12 15 2 2009
CB Ben Levens 6 10 2 2007
CB Jacoby Rhinehart 7 7 8 2007
CB Levon Benton 5 7 1 2009
S Adam Sutton 6 9 2 2011
S Chris Carter 8 9 10 2006
S Nolan Jude 6 8 2 2007
S Gabe Tyree 2 3 4 2009
</pre>

Exhibition Games

We go 1-3 in the preseason and look a lot like last year. Definite vulnerabilities against the run are evident. I'll go 60/40 favoring 3-4 this year and gamble a bit to try and improve the odds. I'm also going to play a fairly aggressive blitz package featuring my LB's to try pressuring opposing QB's more than we have in years past. For the sake of progress I'll call 9-7 our goal. Realistically, we will have to work to make .500 again. Our roster scores a 55, slightly above last year's 51.

[This message has been edited by Blackwind (edited 12-22-2000).]

[Blackwind]

Roster Views

Thought I'd throw in a few bonus roster views to show you where the talent is from and who's making the bucks. Note the overpaid defensive line. Quite an expensive weakness.
<pre>
Name # Pos OnTm Ctrc Exp Stat Cap Cost
Davidson, Johnnie 77 T 2002 2007 5 ----- $6,210,000
Aldrige, Rex 85 WR 2002 2007 5 ----- $4,990,000
Rhinehart, Jacoby 38 CB 2003 2007 8 ----- $4,720,000
Bradford, Ike 83 WR 2003 2007 4 ----- $4,520,000
Linkous, Dave 27 RB 2004 2009 3 ----- $4,500,000
Peterson, Burt 98 DT 2003 2006 4 ----- $4,500,000
Trotter, Jeremiah 59 LB 2003 2007 9 ----- $4,400,000
Reagor, Montae 74 DE 2002 2007 8 ----- $4,360,000
Wahle, Mike 71 T 2002 2006 9 ----- $4,300,000
Carter, Chris 40 S 2004 2006 10 ----- $4,170,000
Stevenson, Kurt 80 TE 2004 2008 3 ----- $4,040,000
Thomas, Zach 56 LB 2006 2008 11 ----- $4,000,000
Shepherd, Keith 46 CB 2005 2009 2 ----- $3,750,000
Holdman, Warrick 99 LB 2003 2007 8 ----- $3,600,000
Armenta, Wayne 93 DE 2003 2006 7 ----- $3,110,000
Tucker, Rex 64 G 2005 2007 8 ----- $3,100,000
Bridges, Donnie 18 QB 2006 2010 R ----- $2,870,000
Reeves, C.J. 54 C 2002 2006 5 ----- $2,500,000
Fontenot, Al 97 DE 2004 2006 14 ----- $1,900,000
Merrick, Charles 26 CB 2003 2006 5 ----- $1,830,000
Saucier, Quinn 90 DT 2003 2006 4 Inact $1,590,000
Peters, Preston 66 G 2005 2007 2 ----- $1,500,000
Franz, Conrad 63 T 2004 2006 3 ----- $1,420,000
Liszt, Tyrell 96 DT 2006 2009 R ----- $1,370,000
Eamigh, Kelly 50 LB 2004 2007 3 ----- $1,320,000
Baldridge, Blaine 9 P 2003 2006 7 ----- $1,110,000
Gaines, Geoff 6 QB 2003 2006 4 ----- $1,060,000
Dorsey, Larry 65 G 2004 2006 3 ----- $990,000
Ruegamer, Rich 3 QB 2004 2007 3 ----- $930,000
Adams, Marc 28 FB 2006 2006 4 Inact $820,000
Urbanchek, Michael 42 FB 2003 2009 4 ----- $820,000
Clancy, Roy 16 WR 2003 2009 4 ----- $820,000
Liebman, Frankie 88 WR 2002 2008 5 ----- $820,000
Lewis, Kyle 68 G 2004 2010 4 Inact $820,000
Osborne, Sammie + 61 T 2002 2008 5 Inact $820,000
Lindsay, Cary 8 K 2003 2009 4 ----- $820,000
Norton, Todd 92 DT 2002 2008 5 ----- $820,000
Burnett, Rusty 52 LB 2002 2008 5 Inact $820,000
Tyree, Gabe 44 S 2003 2009 4 ----- $820,000
Jude, Nolan 48 S 2005 2007 2 ----- $770,000
Ruffin, Ethan 91 LB 2006 2008 R ----- $690,000
Hartzell, Cedric + 34 RB 2004 2010 3 ----- $660,000
Cash, Rodney + 53 C 2004 2008 3 ----- $660,000
Shipway, J.B. 94 DE 2006 2006 2 Inact $520,000
Pennock, Michael 10 QB 2005 2006 2 Inact $510,000
Emmons, Marty 21 RB 2005 2006 2 ----- $510,000
Farr, Neil 25 FB 2005 2011 2 ----- $510,000
Brautlacht, Chester 82 TE 2005 2011 2 ----- $510,000
Moore, Vinny 57 LB 2005 2007 2 ----- $510,000
Levens, Ben 20 CB 2005 2007 2 ----- $510,000
Sutton, Adam 24 S 2005 2011 2 ----- $510,000
Vance, Jeff 87 WR 2006 2007 R ----- $380,000
Benton, Levon 36 CB 2006 2009 R ----- $380,000
</pre>

Lots more military talent than expected!
<pre>
Name # Pos HT WT Exp Stat College
Osborne, Sammie + 61 T 6-3 303 5 Inact Air Force
Saucier, Quinn 90 DT 5-11 281 4 Inact Air Force
Lindsay, Cary 8 K 6-2 172 4 ----- Army
Moore, Vinny 57 LB 6-2 218 2 ----- Army
Norton, Todd 92 DT 6-4 272 5 ----- Army
Burnett, Rusty 52 LB 6-1 208 5 Inact Baylor
Fontenot, Al 97 DE 6-4 287 14 ----- Baylor
Urbanchek, Michael 42 FB 5-11 260 4 ----- Baylor
Bradford, Ike 83 WR 6-1 207 4 ----- Houston
Adams, Marc 28 FB 5-8 240 4 Inact Navy
Aldrige, Rex 85 WR 5-9 200 5 ----- Navy
Liebman, Frankie 88 WR 5-8 188 5 ----- Navy
Linkous, Dave 27 RB 5-8 195 3 ----- Navy
Pennock, Michael 10 QB 6-6 192 2 Inact Navy
Wahle, Mike 71 T 6-6 306 9 ----- Navy
Bridges, Donnie 18 QB 6-4 192 R ----- Rice
Reeves, C.J. 54 C 6-3 295 5 ----- Rice
Ruffin, Ethan 91 LB 6-0 264 R ----- Rice
Brautlacht, Chester 82 TE 6-3 246 2 ----- Sam Houston State
Rhinehart, Jacoby 38 CB 5-10 186 8 ----- Southern Methodist
Trotter, Jeremiah 59 LB 6-0 261 9 ----- Stephen F. Austin
Carter, Chris 40 S 6-2 209 10 ----- Texas
Eamigh, Kelly 50 LB 6-3 231 3 ----- Texas
Jude, Nolan 48 S 6-2 219 2 ----- Texas
Merrick, Charles 26 CB 6-1 189 5 ----- Texas
Peterson, Burt 98 DT 6-7 306 4 ----- Texas
Ruegamer, Rich 3 QB 5-11 181 3 ----- Texas
Armenta, Wayne 93 DE 6-2 277 7 ----- Texas - El Paso
Farr, Neil 25 FB 5-11 239 2 ----- Texas - El Paso
Shepherd, Keith 46 CB 5-10 207 2 ----- Texas - El Paso
Sutton, Adam 24 S 5-8 202 2 ----- Texas - El Paso
Baldridge, Blaine 9 P 6-2 230 7 ----- Texas A&M
Davidson, Johnnie 77 T 6-6 316 5 ----- Texas A&M
Franz, Conrad 63 T 6-8 356 3 ----- Texas A&M
Hartzell, Cedric + 34 RB 5-11 223 3 ----- Texas A&M
Holdman, Warrick 99 LB 6-1 238 8 ----- Texas A&M
Lewis, Kyle 68 G 6-3 287 4 Inact Texas A&M
Liszt, Tyrell 96 DT 6-2 301 R ----- Texas A&M
Tucker, Rex 64 G 6-5 300 8 ----- Texas A&M
Tyree, Gabe 44 S 5-9 191 4 ----- Texas A&M
Vance, Jeff 87 WR 6-0 195 R ----- Texas A&M
Peters, Preston 66 G 6-1 314 2 ----- Texas Christian
Shipway, J.B. 94 DE 6-4 281 2 Inact Texas Christian
Stevenson, Kurt 80 TE 6-0 261 3 ----- Texas Southern
Benton, Levon 36 CB 6-0 197 R ----- Texas Tech
Cash, Rodney + 53 C 6-2 311 3 ----- Texas Tech
Clancy, Roy 16 WR 6-3 191 4 ----- Texas Tech
Dorsey, Larry 65 G 6-5 272 3 ----- Texas Tech
Emmons, Marty 21 RB 5-11 196 2 ----- Texas Tech
Gaines, Geoff 6 QB 6-3 213 4 ----- Texas Tech
Levens, Ben 20 CB 5-10 179 2 ----- Texas Tech
Reagor, Montae 74 DE 6-2 256 8 ----- Texas Tech
Thomas, Zach 56 LB 5-11 235 11 ----- Texas Tech
</pre>

[TheDawgsAreOut]

Blackwind -
Good luck with your challenge. As I'm primarily playing a Pac-10 challenge, I know how difficult they can be. I could see it being even more difficult with just the one state to use, of course. Your commentary is both insightful, and interesting. Keep up the good work.

[Blackwind]

2006 Regular Season

Week 1
Arizona (0-0) at Dallas (0-0)
Cardinals win 20-7.
And we get burned by the run for 221 yards. The combination of blitzing LB's and aggressive run defense allowed the Arizona backs to run straight into the secondary. Rich Ruegamer was knocked out of the game on the first series of the second half and rookie Bridges got a few snaps. Both were mediocre. WR Ike Bradford led the offense with 7 catches for 88 yard. RB Dave Linkous had 61 yards on 17 carries. S Nolan Jude led the defense with 8 tackles and an INT.

Week 2
Dallas (0-1) at Chicago (0-1)
Bears win 37-23.
Tim Couch burned us for 348 yards and 4 TD's. Our offense didn't get going until the second half. WR Frankie Liebman led us with 6 catches for 119 yards. Rich Ruegamer completed only 12 of 34 pass attempts.

Week 3
Bye
We lick our wounds and hope we'll fare well in a 14 game season.

Week 4
Philadelphia (2-1) at Dallas (0-2)
Cowboys win 27-24.
Philadelphia scores 14 in the final two minutes to make this one close. Ruegamer (25-38-322-2-0) was back to form hitting Aldrige (7-97-0) and Bradford (7-117-1) often. The defense played team ball with no clear standout. We allowed one 84 yard run, but otherwise stopped the Eagles ground game.

Week 5
Green Bay (3-1) at Dallas (1-2)
Packers win 21-9.
Green Bay piled up 178 rushing yards to get by the struggling Cowboys. Ruegamer (23-42-252-1-2) was forced to throw often against a tough Packer defense. Not many bright spots.

Week 6
Dallas (1-3) at NY Giants (3-1)
Cowboys win 20-14.
Ruegamer (22-32-299-2-0) was solid in an important road win for the Cowboys. Dave Linkous had 80 yards on 17 carries. Ike Bradford (6-105-1) led receivers. Backup TE Chester Brautlacht had his second NFL catch go for a 71 yard TD. Zach Thomas led the defense with 9 tackles. S Chris Carter was lost for the season with a torn biceps muscle. Rex Aldrige seems to be in a slump with 7 drops so far this season. He's facing a lot of double coverage.

Week 7
Cleveland (6-0) at Dallas (2-3)
Browns win 38-27.
The league's best team jumped out to a 24-0 halftime lead and cruised to the win. Joseph Avery burned us for 242 yards and 2 TD's on 27 carries including a 97 yarder. Rich Ruegamer (23-47-463-3-1) played long ball with Liebman (7-227-2) and Aldrige (7-140-1) but couldn't bring us back. Zach Thomas and Jeremiah Trotter combined for 21 tackles to lead the defense.

Week 8
Dallas (2-4) at Washington (2-4)
Redskins win 38-7.
Washington shut down our offense and cruised to an easy victory. The Cowboys made few mistakes, but couldn't move the ball. Zach Thomas again led the defense with 9 tackles. Defensive line continues to be our weak point forcing the LB's and secondary to take up too much slack.

Week 9
Dallas (2-5) at Philadelphia (5-2)
Eagles win 24-13.
The Eagles kept the Cowboys receivers from getting away and fought out a tough victory. Dave Linkous cracked the century mark with 134 yards on 18 carries. LB Jeremiah Trotter led the defense with 9 tackles. With the season falling apart, we'll switch our offensive emphasis more toward the run to see if we can sustain a few drives. At this point we have nothing to lose.

Week 10
Washington (4-4) at Dallas (2-6)
Cowboys win 38-15.
We get 194 yards on the ground and a big victory for the home fans. Dave Linkous leads with 87 yards on 23 carries. It was ugly, but we sustained drives and shut the Skins down. We'll see if this can continue.

Week 11
Dallas (3-6) at Atlanta (4-5)
Falcons win 34-10.
The Cowboys offense fails to show up again. Rex Aldrige (5-94-1) plays well, but the rest of the team doesn't. The defense is fairly good, but spends way too much time on the field.

Week 12
Cincinnati (7-3) at Dallas (3-7)
Cowboys win 24-10.
The secondary anchors a good win with 4 interceptions. Bengals QB? Ryan Leaf http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/biggrin.gif. Ruegamer (21-28-270-3-0) plays a flawless game. Aldrige (5-87-2), Liebman (5-71-1), and Bradford (5-76) all play well. Jeremiah Trotter has a huge game with 8 tackles and 2 interceptions.

Week 13
Dallas (4-7) at Jacksonville (4-7)
Jaguars win 48-17.
The wheels fall off in the 4th quarter as the Jags score 21 unanswered points to win going away. RB Marty Emmons had 85 yards on 13 carries in relief of an injured Dave Linkous. Ruegamer (16-34-173-2-3) spent way to much time trying to hit the long ball. Zach Thomas had 10 tackles and 3 assists despite being questionable for the game. Our LB corps is pretty banged up with 3 starters questionable or worse. Not good news in Dallas.

Week 14
Dallas (4-8) at Baltimore (8-4)
Ravens win 27-24.
Rich Ruegamer (14-27-210-2-2) has one INT returned for a TD and another that sets Baltimore up for 7 more in a tough loss. Rex Aldrige (7-120-1) keeps hope alive for a third straight 1000 yard season. Zach Thomas has 12 tackles.

Week 15
Dallas (4-9) at Arizona (7-6)
Cowboys win 24-16.
Playing for pride, the Cowboys take advantage of turnovers to steal a win. Dave Linkous had 79 yards and 2 TD's. S Nolan Jude had an 85 yard INT return for a TD and S Adam Sutton added two more picks. LB Warrick Holdman had 10 tackles on defense.

Week 16
New Orleans (9-5) at Dallas (5-9)
Cowboys win 37-17.
Rich Ruegamer (24-34-275-3-0) garnered OPOTW honors for a solid effort. Rex Aldrige led the receivers with 7 catches for 108 yards. Frankie Liebman had 4 catches for 58 yards and 2 TD's. The defense played well with no real standouts.

Week 17
NY Giants (7-8) at Dallas (6-9)
Giants win 40-29.
New York jumped out to a 34-7 lead and won with RB Leroy Barnes 178 yard, 2 TD performance leading the way. Ruegamer (16-38-325-3-2) was again forced to the long ball too often. WR Roy Clancy (3-134-1) was the beneficiary. Rex Aldrige, playing with turf toe, fell 4 yards short of 1000 for the season. A disappointing performance to end a disappointing campaign.


[This message has been edited by Blackwind (edited 12-29-2000).]

[Blackwind]

2006 Post Season

Wild Card Round

Baltimore (9-7) at Indianapolis (10-5-1)
Ravens win 24-17.

New Orleans (9-7) at Carolina (9-6-1)
Panthers win 33-3.

Montgomery (9-7) at Cincinnati (10-6)
Bengals win 26-0.

Washington (9-7) at Tampa Bay (11-4-1)
Buccaneers win 27-15.

Divisional Playoffs

Baltimore (10-7) at Kansas City (12-4)
Ravens win 27-14.

Carolina (10-6-1) at Philadelphia (12-4)
Eagles win 32-3.

Cincinnati (11-7) at Cleveland (12-4)
Browns win 14-10.

Tampa Bay (12-4-1) at Green Bay (12-4)
Packers win 14-10.

Conference Championships

Baltimore (11-7) at Cleveland (13-4)
Browns win 20-14.

Philadelphia (13-4) at Green Bay (13-4)
Eagles win 17-13.

Super Bowl

Cleveland (14-4) at Philadelphia (14-4)
Eagles win 10-6.

Awards

Jeremiah Trotter gets All-Pro 1st Team Linebacker honors for a season that included 100 tackles, a league leading 48 assists, 4 sacks, and 2 interceptions.

Highlights

We weren't up to the tougher schedule that our 8-8 record in 2005 got us. Our offense was explosive but often struggled to sustain drives. Our defense allowed 148 rushing yards a game mainly due to sparse talent on the defensive line and injuries to the linebacker corps. We did manage a win over the Super Bowl champion Eagles and finished with a 4-4 division record.

QB Rich Ruegamer (283-539-3667-27-14) had a solid 79.2 rating in 16 starts. Unless rookie Bridges steps up in camp, he'll continue as our starter.

RB Dave Linkous (197-886-7) was the league's 12th leading rusher and averaged 4.4 yards a carry in a heavily pass oriented offense.

WR Frankie Liebman (78-1102-7) had a super year while splitting time with Ike Bradford at split end.

WR Rex Aldrige (69-996-6) saw lots of double coverage but put up good numbers at flanker.

LB Zach Thomas had 78 tackles, 20 assists, and 1 sack in 13 games.

LB Warrick Holdman had 73 tackles and 30 assists.

DE Wayne Armenta led the defense with 10.5 sacks.

CB Charles Merrick had 3 INT's, 7 defensed passes, and posted a 31.5 PDQ.

S Adam Sutton had 5 INT's and posted a 39.9 PDQ over 11 starts in relief of an injured Chris Carter

S Nolan Jude had 2 INT's and a 32.2 PDQ before a season ending injury in Week 15.

While we showed an occasional ability to control games, our weak defensive front cost us big time. We need to improve our front seven considerably if we're to be a contender in the future. We seem to be solid at QB and need only a bit better run blocking to become a dominant offense. With our sights still set on the playoffs we head into 2007.


[This message has been edited by Blackwind (edited 12-29-2000).]

[Blackwind]

2007 Dallas Cowboys

Preseason

Staff

We're pleased with our coach and scout and make no changes.

Retirements

T Mike Wahle

Free Agency

We have several free agents this season. CB Charles Merrick must be retained and will receive the franchise tag. Here are the players and my thoughts going into free agency.
<pre>
P Blaine Baldridge 16 16 8 UFA *Keep*
CB Charles Merrick 13 15 6 UFA *Franchise*
G Larry Dorsey 10 11 4 ---- *Keep*
DT Burt Peterson 7 10 5 UFA *?*
T Conrad Franz 9 9 4 ----
DT Quinn Saucier 8 9 5 UFA *Keep*
S Chris Carter 8 9 11 UFA
RB Marty Emmons 7 8 3 ----
DE Wayne Armenta 5 7 8 UFA
QB Michael Pennock 4 7 3 ----
FB Marc Adams 6 6 5 UFA *?*
S Winston Burrell 5 6 6 UFA *Keep*
DE Al Fontenot 5 5 15 UFA
DE J.B. Shipway 2 3 3 ----
</pre>
There is virtually no talent available from our feeder schools. We'll resign as many of our folks as possible. Hopefully the draft will yield more talent.

We start with offers to S Winston Burrell ($7.1M/3Y) and P Blaine Baldrige ($5.7M/3y).

In Week 4 we add an offer to FB Marc Adams for $2.7M/3Y.

Baldridge and Adams resign in Week 5 followed by Burrell in Week 6.

With no other players receiving offers we press on into the draft.

Draft

There are perhaps five top prospects from Texas. Beyond that, everyone is a reach. The draft is as barren as free agency was this year. We're most interested in a safety and a defensive tackle, both from Baylor. Graham Thomason, a remarkable RB from Stephen F. Austin, goes in the #6 spot. Our two favorites are still on the board for our pick.

8. Duane Horn, DT (43/85), Baylor

Round 2 brings us to the next Texan worth taking. We're over manned at FB, but this guy is too good to pass up.

40. Kent Dixon, FB (35/66), Baylor

We add a quality LB in Round 3.

72. Calvin McNeil, LB (26/40), SW Texas St.

Our remaining picks are traded to Miami for their Round 3 in 2008.

Training Camp

We make a few trades prior to camp. Last year's bust DT Tyrell Liszt goes to Miami for their Round 5 in 2008. We deal FB Neil Farr and our Round 4 and 6 in 2008 to the Bills for C Julio McNeil. FB Marc Adams goes to Carolina to swap picks in Round 7 (I know this sounds weird but keeps Adams from being pissed at me for cutting him - key in this challenge). CB Levon Benton and WR Jeff Vance go to the Chiefs for their Round 3 in 2008.

We'll go into camp with only two scrubs at defensive end. All the other so called talent is way over priced. We'll take the cohesion hit and sign them to one year deals after camp. Our biggest change in camp will be the switch to a full time 4-3 defense. This will give us more training time for other areas. To compensate for the lack of DE's I'll play LB's out of position. Can I resurrect the Bears 46 defense?

FB Kent Dixon is a major bust. Quite a blow after I traded away two other good fullbacks.

Roster

Here is the team heading into exhibition season. I will use LB's at DE and continue to start Ruegamer and Liebman who play much better than their ratings.
<pre>
Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Donnie Bridges 7 12 2 2010
QB Rich Ruegamer 7 12 4 2007
QB Geoff Gaines 8 10 5 2009
RB Dave Linkous 11 12 4 2009
RB Cedric Hartzell 6 7 4 2010
RB Graham Johnstone 4 4 1 2013
FB Michael Urbanchek 7 7 5 2009
FB Kent Dixon 2 4 1 2009
TE Kurt Stevenson 10 10 4 2009
TE Howard Grice 3 9 1 2013
TE Chester Brautlacht 6 7 3 2011
WR Rex Aldrige 15 15 6 2009
WR Roy Clancy 7 9 5 2009
WR Frankie Liebman 7 8 6 2008
WR Gus Swann 4 7 1 2013
C Julio McNeil 10 14 5 2008
C C.J. Reeves 13 13 6 2007
C Van Poole 4 11 1 2013
G Preston Peters 11 12 3 2007
G Larry Dorsey 11 11 4 2009
G Kyle Lewis 4 5 5 2010
G Lee Borders 1 4 1 2013
T Johnnie Davidson 14 14 6 2007
T Conrad Franz 9 9 4 2009
T Riddick Sutton 3 6 1 2013
T Sammie Osborne 3 4 6 2008
P Blaine Baldridge 16 16 8 2009
K Cary Lindsay 4 4 5 2009
DE Montae Reagor 5 6 9 2008
DE Wayne Armenta 4 5 8 2007
DE Al Fontenot 5 5 15 2007
DT Duane Horn 8 17 1 2012
DT Quinn Saucier 7 9 5 2009
DT Trevor Nemeth 3 7 1 2013
DT Todd Norton 4 5 6 2008
LB Ethan Ruffin 7 12 2 2008
LB Jeremiah Trotter 12 12 10 2009
LB Zach Thomas 12 12 12 2008
LB Kelly Eamigh 9 9 4 2007
LB Warrick Holdman 8 8 9 2008
LB Vinny Moore 6 8 3 2007
LB Calvin McNeil 6 8 1 2009
LB Donald Sawyer 2 8 1 2013
LB Antonio Wilson 5 7 8 2007
CB Charles Merrick 14 15 6 2009
CB Keith Shepherd 14 15 3 2009
CB Ben Levens 7 10 3 2007
CB Everett McConkey 3 8 1 2013
CB Kim Garay 6 7 4 2007
S Adam Sutton 8 10 3 2011
S Nolan Jude 8 9 3 2007
S Winston Burrell 5 5 6 2009
S Gabe Tyree 2 2 5 2009
</pre>
Exhibition Games

We go 1-3 in the preseason and look like much the same team. The 46 defense experiment hasn't started yet, so we'll see what the defense does. We'll target an 8-8 season. Our roster rates a 78 this year, up from 55 in 2006.

[Blackwind]

2007 Regular Season

Week 1
Dallas (0-0) at Arizona (0-0)
Cardinals win 34-7.
Arizona ran for 257 yards with Frankie Fortune contributing 158 and 3 TD's as our run defense picked up right where it left off. QB Rich Ruegamer (21-30-223-1-1) was decent and WR Roy Clancy (9-90-0) played well. The defense had no standouts.

Week 2
Oakland (0-1) at Dallas (0-1)
Raiders win 14-10.
Ruegamer coughed up the ball on a sack with three minutes to go and Oakland took it in for the win. This was an epic defensive struggle. Dave Linkous (12-67-1) looked good but didn't get enough touches. Rex Aldrige (7-88-0) also played well.

Week 3
Bye
Looking like last year. We'll rethink our offense and try again.

Week 4
St. Louis (2-1) at Dallas (0-2)
Rams win 15-10.
We dominated the Rams but the score didn't show it. Dave Linkous had 19 carries for 137 yards. Ruegamer (25-48-333-1-2) found Aldrige (11-153-1) all day but threw a critical interception that stopped a big drive in the second quarter. Two missed FG's added to the misery. We limp to the quarter pole hoping for a win.

Week 5
NY Giants (3-1) at Dallas (0-3)
Giants win 41-20.
Riots in the streets of Dallas. We can't stop the Giants offense and can't convert on opportunities. Our running game is showing some life but our passing game isn't doing well. Our preseason decision to let Ike Bradford go seems to be the key. Ruegamer doesn't have multiple fresh targets other than Aldrige and he can't carry the team. Defensively we're not as bad as I feared. The lack of a true DE is killing us. I'll continue to try different LB's until I find something that works. Oh, Linkous (13-83-2) had another solid game and stands 6th in the league in rushing despite having one fewer game than the other backs.

Week 6
Dallas (0-4) at Atlanta (1-4)
Cowboys win 12-7.
We managed only 210 yards of offense but won on a Gus Swann 78 yard punt return TD in the 4th quarter. Defense went nutty with 7 sacks, 4.5 by rookie DT Duane Horn. LB Warrick Holdman had 11 tackles and S Adam Sutton added 10 and an interception. WR Frankie Liebman finally woke up with 7 catches for 72 yards.

Week 7
Dallas (1-4) at Washington (1-4)
Cowboys win 34-6.
We kept the ball away from the Skins for 37 minutes and forced 5 turnovers in an easy win. Dave Linkous had two short TD's and Zach Thomas scooped up a fumble for an 18 yard score. We'll need a lot more dominant performances if we're to get back into the hunt this year. Unfortunately we lost QB Rich Ruegamer with a sprained back during garbage time in the 4th quarter.

Week 8
Philadelphia (4-2) at Dallas (2-4)
Cowboys win 35-7.
We took it to the defending Super Bowl champs. Dave Linkous had 16 carries for 99 yards and the defense blocked a punt for a TD. This was a true team effort, typical of our good performances this year. Backup QB Geoff Gaines (13-27-133-2-0) was mistake free in a dink and dunk performance.

Week 9
Washington (1-6) at Dallas (3-4)
Cowboys win 24-10.
Geoff Gaines (23-32-273-2-0) led us to the win throwing to Rex Aldrige (6-135-2) and the defense forced 4 turnovers. DT Quinn Saucier had 2.5 sacks and CB Keith Shepherd had 2 interceptions. The defense again played good team ball and the Cowboys have won four straight to make the turn at .500!

Week 10
Dallas (4-4) at Minnesota (3-5)
Vikings win 29-7.
Minnesota held the ball for 38 minutes and ground out the win. Our running game was corralled like I've never seen - 3 yards total! Gaines (20-44-216-1-1) couldn't throw straight though Aldrige (7-107-0) managed to snare a few. LB Kelly Eamigh had a remarkable 18 tackles with Zach Thomas adding 11 more.

Week 11
Dallas (4-5) at San Diego (3-6)
Chargers win 26-14.
The formula for beating us is clear. Run the football. The Bolts hold the ball for almost 36 minutes and use 305 rushing yards to destroy us. Our only TD's come on two Geoff Gaines bombs. Unfortunately we face mostly run oriented teams for the remainder of the year. Next up are the Broncos and we'll be without Rex Aldrige who sprained his knee.

Week 12
Denver (4-6) at Dallas (4-6)
Broncos win 27-20.
Olandis Gary runs for 151 yards and we blow this one late. WR Roy Clancy has 8 catches for 172 yards and 2 TD's, but Gaines penchant for throwing to defensive backs burns us with two 4th quarter INT's. We desperately need Ruegamer back. We'll try Donnie Bridges at QB next game.

Week 13
Dallas (4-7) at NY Giants (8-3)
Giants win 28-24.
We started hot but collapsed in the second half allowing 25 unanswered point. Dave Linkous (20-126-1) played well but Donnie Bridges (21-41-188-2-3) interceptions in the second half gave it away. Unless we can run off the next four it'll be another bleak winter in Big D. We'll also be without star CB Keith Shepherd who is out with a stretched knee ligament.

Week 14
Dallas (4-8) at Philadelphia (7-5)
Eagles win 35-21.
Geoff Gaines has two interceptions returned for TD's and that's the difference. Rex Aldrige (9-128-0) continued in his attempt to carry the team. Warrick Holdman was all over the field with 9 tackles and 6 assists. Another high draft pick for the Cowboys this year.

Week 15
Arizona (7-6) at Dallas (4-9)
Cowboys win 28-17.
Ruegamer tries to return but is knocked out for the season. Dave Linkous (26-156-2) has his best game of the year and stands at 1003 yards. Rex Aldrige (8-116-1) continues his winning ways. The three Cowboys signal callers combine for 267 yards passing. LB Jeremiah Trotter, playing at right end, records 3 sacks.

Week 16
Detroit (7-7) at Dallas (5-9)
Cowboys win 13-9.
Dave Linkous (18-100-0), the leagues fourth leading rusher, hits the century mark for the third time in four games and we stop Detroit at our nine as the gun sounds for a feel good win.

Week 17
Dallas (6-9) at Montgomery (6-9)
Cowboys win 27-7.
Linkous added 129 yards on 23 carries to finish the year at 1232! The Maulers gave us four interceptions and this one was never in doubt.

Another tough year in Dallas. I'll swear for a while and then pontificate during the post season.


[This message has been edited by Blackwind (edited 12-31-2000).]

[Blackwind]

2007 Post Season

Wild Card Round

Baltimore (8-8) at Cleveland (11-5)
Browns win 30-7.

Carolina (10-6) at Chicago (10-6)
Bears win 30-18.

Jacksonville (8-8) at Cincinnati (8-7-1)
Bengals win 48-14.

Tampa Bay (10-6) at NY Giants (10-6)
Giants win 10-0.

Divisional Playoffs

Cleveland (12-5) at Buffalo (11-5)
Bills win 28-16.

Chicago (11-6) at Philadelphia (11-5)
Eagles win 41-24.

Cincinnati (9-7-1) at Seattle (12-4)
Seahawks win 23-17.

NY Giants (11-6) at St. Louis (11-5)
Rams win 24-19.

Conference Championships

Buffalo (12-5) at Seattle (13-4)
Seahawks win 26-14.

Philadelphia (12-5) at St. Louis (12-5)
Eagles win 25-3.

Super Bowl

Philadelphia (13-5) at Seattle (14-4)
Seahawks win 27-21.

Awards

Blaine Baldrigde garners All-Pro 2nd Team Punter honors for his 43.1 yard average with a league leading 52 kicks inside the 20.

Highlights

We were streaky...lose 4...win 4...lose 5...win 3. Very odd. Losing Ruegamer in Week 7 killed our consistency. Not having enough depth at WR limited our offense. The offensive line finally bonded as a run blocking unit. Our lack of a true DE crippled our run defense. Pass coverage was outstanding.

QB Geoff Gaines (145-277-1915-14-7) had a decent 80.8 rating in eight starts playing for an injured Rich Ruegamer.

RB Dave Linkous (287-1232-11) got the touches and blocking he needed to have a breakout season.

WR Rex Aldrige (90-1221-6) picked up the slack for his less productive partners this year despite almost constant double coverage.

WR Roy Clancy (50-644-7) was the Red Zone specialist for the Cowboys.

DT Duane Horn lead the team with 8.5 sacks, and added 33 tackles, 15 assists, 2 blocks, and 6 hurries in a great rookie campaign.

LB Warrick Holdman lead the defense with 82 tackles and added 29 assists and an interception.

LB Zach Thomas had 77 tackles, 33 assists, 3 sacks, and returned a fuble for a TD.

CB Keith Shepherd had 6 INT's, 5 defensed passes, and only allowed 12 catches for a 51.4 PDQ over 12 games.

CB Charles Merrick had 3 INT's and 10 defensed passes for a 37.8 PDQ.

S Nolan Jude had 5 INT's and posted a 33.6 PDQ.

Lots of questions following a weak and weird season. Will 2008 be the year we finally get over the hump?

[Blackwind]

2008 Dallas Cowboys

Preseason

Retirements

DE Al Fontenot

Staff

Coach Lonnie Smalls contract has expired and we're tempted to look elsewhere. We'll also think about a more defensive minded scout. The Lions Daniel Block fits the bill at coach and Ike Reavis is worth a bid at scout. Reavis signs immediately but the Block offer incites bidding war with Detroit. We win. Coach Smalls goes to Pittsburgh and scout Guilbeaux lands in Kansas City.

Head Coach
Daniel Block, 53
QB: Good
RB: Good
WR: Good
OL: Fair
DL: Very Good
LB: Very Good
DB: Very Good
K: Good
YT: Good
MO: Fair
DI: Very Good
OF: Very Good
DF: Very Good
IN: Good

Lead Scout
Ike Reavis, 50
QB: Good
RB: Good
WR: Very Good
OL: Very Good
K: Very Good
DL: Very Good
LB: Very Good
DB: Excellent
YT: Excellent

Free Agency

We have two very good unrestricted free agents, C C. J. Reeves and QB Rich Ruegamer. With the acquisition of Julio McNeil it makes more sense to franchise Ruegamer. Here's the list of our loose cannons.
<pre>
C C.J. Reeves 13 13 7 URFA *Keep*
G Preston Peters 10 12 4 RFA
QB Rich Ruegamer 9 12 5 URFA *Franchise*
CB Ben Levens 6 10 4 RFA
LB Kelly Eamigh 8 9 5 URFA *?*
S Nolan Jude 9 9 4 RFA
LB Vinny Moore 6 8 4 RFA
LB Antonio Wilson 6 7 9 URFA
CB Kim Garay 7 7 5 URFA
WR Marshall Hoover 5 6 3 RFA
DE Wayne Armenta 4 5 9 URFA
QB Emmitt Cooley 3 3 2 RFA
</pre>

A look at the available talent provides some hope. DE David Strickland, a 1st Team All-Pro, and LB Brady Hoover, the 2007 Defensive Player of the Year, are available. We'll go all out after these two. Strickland starts with a $24M/3Y offer and Hoover looks at $11M/2Y. Studs are also available at DT and CB

After Week 1 we up Strickland's offer to $35M/4Y and stand pat with the high offer to Hoover. Hoover signs in Week 3.

Brady Hoover, LB (84/90), 7, Texas
One word...ANIMAL!

In Week 5 C C. J. Reeves gets a $16.88M/3Y offer from Chicago. With McNeil in hand we decide to pass.

In Week 7 our world crumbles as Strickland signs with Detroit for just $28M/4Y. We try a few obscene trades with Detroit and they won't bite. Denver's Jumbo Connell is similarly unavailable. With some money to burn we extend an $18M/3Y deal to Reeves. He signs in Week 11 to close out our free agent activity.

Draft

There is some early talent available from the Texas schools this year. We should have a choice among DT, T, RB, WR, S, and C. The RB or WR are the most attractive at this point. The tackle goes at 1(5) and the DT at 1(10). We have more need at WR than the other areas with Round 1 talent so...

12. Sam Cherney, WR (49/56), Texas
With very good overall skills and great after catch running this youngster will soar opposite Rex Aldrige.

Not much Round 2 caliber talent is available but we need to pick up as much help as we can get. Our first choice at S went at 1(32) and this youngster may not last to Round 3.

44. Alonzo Shannon, S (23/59), North Texas
Should be solid overall with great run stopping ability.

Our Round 3 pick will be a project but he should eventually be a solid backup.

66. Quentin Gayle , CB (18/48), Texas Tech
Good balanced potential.

Though we have good depth at QB, this youngster was to good to pass up. Possible trade bait.

76. Donovan Covington, QB (34/36), Texas - El Paso

Time to go fishing. This is a huge reach, but a huge need as well.

77. Toby "Dirk" Digler, DE, (9/27), Texas
A modest run stopping talent at a critical need position.

In Round 5 we tap two guys to compete for one spot. Both have decent run blocking potential but would be best not carrying the ball.

140. J. B. Lyon, FB (11/22), Texas Tech

141. Kendrick Rock, FB (10/23), Texas
I can't resist...Can you smell what the Rock is cooking?

Not a bad draft talent wise but we didn't have access to any quality defensive ends. Here we go again.

Training Camp

The Reeves contract turned out to be bigger than we could afford. The mistake will cost me some serious restructuring. I'll definitely have to sacrifice some depth to make things work if I want to keep my starters. To make room for signings we make a few trades. C Julio McNeil goes to Buffalo for their Round 5 in 2009. QB Geoff Gaines goes to Miami for their Round 3 pick in 2009. We release S Winston Burrell to free up an additional $1,800,000. DT Quin Saucier is the next to go. Though a good talent, the $4,720,000 in cap savings were irresistible. We sign a few rookies and head off into camp hoping for a miracle. We don't get one, but we don't get burned either. Cap management will be a problem for the next couple of years.

Roster

Here is our mixed bag heading into the season. Think LB equals DE.
<pre>
Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Donnie Bridges 6 12 3 2010
QB Rich Ruegamer 10 10 5 2008
QB Donovan Covington 7 7 1 2010
RB Dave Linkous 10 13 5 2009
RB Cedric Hartzell 5 8 5 2010
RB Julio Clemons 7 7 1 2014
RB Graham Johnstone 6 6 2 2013
FB Kendrick Rock 2 8 1 2010
FB Michael Urbanchek 5 7 6 2009
TE Kurt Stevenson 9 11 5 2009
TE Howard Grice 4 8 2 2013
TE Chester Brautlacht 7 7 4 2011
WR Rex Aldrige 15 15 7 2009
WR Sam Cherney 9 11 1 2012
WR Roy Clancy 7 9 6 2009
WR Frankie Liebman 8 8 7 2008
WR Gus Swann 5 8 2 2013
C C.J. Reeves 13 13 7 2010
C Van Poole 6 10 2 2013
G Preston Peters 10 12 4 2009
G Larry Dorsey 10 11 5 2009
G Kyle Lewis 4 5 6 2010
G Lee Borders 2 2 2 2013
T Johnnie Davidson 14 14 7 2008
T Conrad Franz 10 10 5 2009
T Riddick Sutton 4 7 2 2013
T Sammie Osborne 3 4 7 2008
P Blaine Baldridge 16 16 9 2009
K Cary Lindsay 5 5 6 2009
DE Toby Digler 2 5 1 2010
DE Bert Jenkins 0 2 1 2014
DE Trevor Nemeth 0 0 2 2013
DE Marlon Summerlin 0 0 1 2014
DT Duane Horn 13 16 2 2012
DT Todd Norton 4 5 7 2008
DT Ron Barlow 2 5 1 2014
DT Tyrone Buckner 2 2 1 2014
LB Brady Hoover 17 18 7 2009
LB Ethan Ruffin 6 12 3 2008
LB Zach Thomas 11 11 13 2008
LB Jeremiah Trotter 10 11 11 2009
LB Warrick Holdman 8 8 10 2010
LB Calvin McNeil 4 7 2 2009
LB Donald Sawyer 3 6 2 2013
CB Charles Merrick 14 15 7 2009
CB Keith Shepherd 14 15 4 2009
CB Quentin Gayle 3 9 1 2010
CB Everett McConkey 5 8 2 2013
CB Kim Garay 6 7 5 2008
S Alonzo Shannon 5 12 1 2011
S Adam Sutton 8 10 4 2011
S Nolan Jude 10 10 4 2009
S Gabe Tyree 1 1 6 2009
</pre>

Exhibition Games

We go 1-3 but lose the games 16-13, 13-10, and 6-3. Hopefully this is not a fluke performance. Our roster rates 77, slightly down from 78 last year. We'll again try to make 8-8 this season.

[Blackwind]

2008 Regular Season

Week 1
Philadelphia (0-0) at Dallas (0-0)
Eagles win 14-7.
We held our own with the Eagles, but missed three FG's in the first half to make the difference. Ruegamer (21-35-195-0-0) was solid and moving the offense well before breaking his arm mid way through the 4th quarter. With Donovan Covington injured in preseason play Donnie Bridges falls into the starting role now. Rex Aldrige (9-122-0) is still the man. Rough way to start the season.

Note: Something went very screwy as I tried to add another QB to the roster. As I cut minsal, non bonus players I went more and more over the salary cap. I'm now down to 46 players plus my two injuered QB's. Help.

Week 2
Dallas (0-1) at NY Giants (1-0)
Giants win 34-7.
Bridges goes down on the first series and my rookie scrub QB's split time the rest of the game. The results are predictable. Dave Linkous (18-90-0) had decent production. Tough to swallow, but the cap bug coupled with our two playable QB's being injured may just give us the top draft pick this year.

Week 3
Dallas (0-2) at Washington (2-0)
Cowboys win 14-6.
S Adam Sutton picks off two passes and we convert for TD's to win. The price is heavy though. Brady Hoover (out long term), Todd Norton (doubtful), Larry Dorsey (doubtful), Kim Garay (questionable), Keith Shepherd (questionable), Toby Digler (questionable), are injured in addition to or two top QB's. A bomb in the locker room couldn't have done more damage. We have to cut long time stud Warrick Holdman just to sign a bunch of bench warmers.

Week 4
Buffalo (2-1) at Dallas (1-2)
Bills win 17-14.
Bridges (22-36-344-1-3) does his best, but Sam Madison intercepts him three times to help Buffalo past us. Frankie Liebman (7-106-1), Aldrige (5-89-0), and rookie Sam Cherney (4-73-0) all do well. Nolan Jude leads the defense with 9 tackles.

Week 5
St. Louis (4-0) at Dallas (1-3)
Rams win 13-10.
We allow only 144 yards but have an interception returned for a touchdown and miss 4 FG's to lose this one. Aldrige catches 8 for 99 yards. If we could fire our kicker we would, but the one available player from our feed schools is worse than our guy.

Week 6
Dallas (1-4) at Green Bay (3-1)
Packers win 6-3.
The Packers kick a FG with 26 seconds remaining to win it. We have a stifling defense, a sporadic offense, and a kicker who I would replace with Charlie Brown if I could. He missed two more FG's today.

Week 7
Dallas (1-5) at Philadelphia (3-3)
Eagles win 38-19.
Dave Linkous (18-100-1) has a good day but the Eagles are unstopable. No real stories other than our RB hitting the century mark. Injuries have turned us into a very mediocre team.

Week 8
Bye

Week 9
NY Jets (5-2) at Dallas (1-6)
Cowboys win 32-29.
Linkous (18-125-0) runs well and Bridges (24-34-292-4-1) has his best day yet as we control the ball and grind out a win.

Week 10
Dallas (2-6) at New Orleans (4-4)
Saints win 24-19.
We give up 300 passing yards and a game to the Saints. Another loss in a humbling season. Though he's still dinged up, Ruegamer wants back in the game and we'll try him next week.

Week 11
NY Giants (5-4) at Dallas (2-7)
Cowboys win 24-21.
Ruegamer was ready but his arm wasn't. He left in the 1st quarter. Linkous (18-161-1) picked up the slack with a nice performance. The secondary held on to the game for us by intercepting the Giants three times in the 4th quarter.

Week 12
Dallas (3-7) at New England (7-3)
Patriots win 20-17.
We use an 86 yard punt return to keep this one close. The offense didn't produce but the defense just wouldn't quit.

Week 13
Dallas (3-8) at Arizona (5-6)
Cardinals win 27-7.
Linkous goes down and our hopes go with him. Our lone piece of offense was a bomb to Aldrige (3-112-1).

Week 14
Washington (8-4) at Dallas (3-9)
Cowboys win 27-0.
It looks nice on the scoreboard, but it just kind of happened. We scored on four short drives and a fumble recovery. Hard to believe there was nothing special about any of our players in this game. Washington looked like they sent their cheerleaders to play offense.

Week 15
Dallas (4-9) at Miami (4-8-1)
Cowboys win 29-3.
Linkous (15-157-2) carried us to a nice win against a weak team. Our defense played team ball and absolutely shut down the Dolphins.

Week 16
Detroit (7-7) at Dallas (5-9)
Lions win 20-17.
Detroit kicked the game winning FG with 40 seconds left and we lost our seventh game by a touchdown or less. Our running game was completely snuffed.

Week 17
Arizona (8-7) at Dallas (5-10)
Cowboys win 31-24.
With nothing to lose Donnie Bridges (23-38-371-3-0) went pass happy and won us our closer. Rex Aldrige (10-236-1) looked like he was playing catch in the park.

Injuries killed us this year. With seven close losses while most of our stars were out...hmmm...13-3? Definitely could have won 10 or 11 by just making our field goals. Oh, well. Reload.

[Blackwind]

2008 Post Season

Wild Card Round

Atlanta (10-6) at Chicago (11-5)
Bears win 28-16.

Detroit (9-7) at Washington (10-6)
Lions win 24-7.

Indianapolis (8-8) at Pittsburgh (9-7)
Steelers win 21-7.

Kansas City (9-7) at New England (10-6)
Patriots win 21-14.

Divisional Playoffs

Pittsburgh (10-7) at Buffalo (11-4-1)
Steelers win 19-13.

Chicago (11-6) at Green Bay (12-4)
Packers win 31-28.

Detroit (10-7) at St. Louis (13-3)
Rams win 30-10.

New England (11-7) at Oakland (13-3)
Raiders win 41-16.

Conference Championships

Green Bay (13-4) at St. Louis (14-3)
Packers win 22-20.

Pittsburgh (11-7) at Oakland (14-3)
Raiders win 35-28.

Super Bowl

Green Bay (14-4) at Oakland (15-3)
Raiders win 30-24.

Awards

WR Rex Aldrige (97-1373-4) finally nets the recognition he deserves as All-Pro 1st Team. He finished 5th in catches, 2nd in receiving yards, and dropped only 4 passes this year!

DT Duane Horn was selected All-Pro 2nd Team in just his second year. He notched 48 tackles, 13 assists, 9 sacks, 7 hurries, and a blocked pass.

Highlights

While we improved on defense, injuries and a poor kicking game killed us. Here is a recap of our games against playoff teams.
<pre>
L 7-14 Philadelphia
W 14-6 at Washington
L 14-17 Buffalo
L 10-13 St. Louis
L 3-6 at Green Bay
L 19-38 at Philadelphia
L 17-20 at New England
W 27-0 Washington
L 17-20 Detroit
</pre>
Fairly easy to see that we could play well enough but had a hard time winning.

QB Donnie Bridges (276-459-3313-18-14) quietly put up an 82.5 rating over 14 starts. A solid performance.

RB Dave Linkous (240-1008-5) reduced touches kept him from repeating last years high number. Averaged 4.2 ypc, same as 2007, and finished 9th in rushing.

WR Sam Cherney (65-856-6) had a good rookie campaign at split end.

K Cary Lindsay was only 18 of 35 on field goals. http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/frown.gif

LB Jeremiah Trotter led the team with 93 tackles and 36 assists.

LB Zach Thomas had 83 tackles and 29 assists.

CB Keith Shepherd had 3 interceptions and posted a 35.6 PDQ.

CB Charles Merrick had 2 interceptions, 1 TD, and a 27.1 PDQ.

S Adam Sutton had 6 interceptions, 61 tackles, and a 39.4 PQD.

S Nolan Jude had 2 interceptions, 66 tackles, and a 29.4 PDQ.

We used less double coverage than in past years and our pass defense numbers dropped. It's also obvious that our safeties took up a lot of the run defense slack. As long as we don't suffer another big batch of injuries, I feel we may be able to compete well enough to see the post season next year. We'll see.

[This message has been edited by Blackwind (edited 01-04-2001).]

[Blackwind]

2009 Dallas Cowboys

Preseason

Staff

With no huge talents available we stand pat.

Expansion

The league welcomes two new teams this year, the Raleigh Vipers (AFC East) and the Augusta Thrashers (NFC West). The Thrashers and the Falcons should be a great annual rivalry. We lose no players to either team in the expansion draft.

After expansion the Panthers decide to change their name from Carolina to Charlotte as they are no longer the only area team. The Patriots also opt to revert to the Boston moniker.

Free Agency

Before free agency, the Vipers offer up the # 2 pick in the draft for QB Donovan Covington. Though this leaves us with one quarterback on the roster, it is a no brainer.

We use the franchise tag on T Johnnie Davidson. QB Rich Ruegamer wants way too much money for a guy who has played 9 games in the past two years. WR Frankie Liebman also wants a bit too much money. Here are our free agents.
<pre>
Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Rich Ruegamer 10 10 6 UFA *$$$*
QB Derrick Marsh 2 8 2 ----
QB Barry McAdams 2 4 2 ----
WR Frankie Liebman 8 8 8 UFA *$$$*
G Todd Tipton 2 3 5 UFA
T Johnnie Davidson 14 14 8 UFA *Franchise*
DT Todd Norton 4 6 8 UFA
DT Robert Bloomer 3 3 3 ----
LB Ethan Ruffin 6 12 4 ---- *Keep*
LB Zach Thomas 11 11 14 UFA
LB Brent Cornish 3 7 5 UFA
CB Kim Garay 6 7 6 UFA
CB Spencer Charneski 4 5 5 UFA
CB Dixon Hanlin 4 4 5 UFA
</pre>
Our biggest holes going into FA are QB, DE, DT, and LB. Unfortunately there are only two players we like available. LB Calvin LaCroix should easily replace Zach Thomas if we can land him. G Arnie Seinfeld is also looking good.

We place a $15M/3Y offer to LaCroix in Week 1 and decide to wait on Seinfeld.

We up LaCroix's offer to $16 million in Week 2 to counter Tennessee. Seinfeld has his first offer, but we'll wait.

In Week 3 Atlanta and Augusta both put offers of over $26 million for two years out on QB Rich Ruegamer. He jumps on the Falcons offer in Week 4.

In Week 6 LaCroix decides to go back to the Titans. Seinfeld also goes elsewhere as our interest couldn't top his demands.

In Week 13 we put out a $7.7M/2Y deal to retain Zach Thomas and he signs quickly. The remainder of free agency passes uneventfully.

Draft

We have picks 2 and 11 though there is not much to choose from. The draft is deep at LB and three Texas boys look to go in the first round. Unfortunately we're deep at LB already. We take the opportunity to grab one of the DE's we coveted last year during free agency. We send the #2 spot in the draft to Detroit for DE David Strickland. Getting a proven guy at our biggest need position is a huge win for us.

With our first pick we bypass a great LB and a super RB to grab a promising DT. We're also hoping that the best Texas DE makes it into Round 2.

11. Edwin Hancock, DT (26/73), Air Force
Should develop into a monster pass rusher.

The DE does fall and we nab him. The board rates him higher than our scout, but we need a body for this slot.

45. Phil Carpenter, DE (30/53), Texas
Good balanced player with some potential.

Round 3 adds two more big uglies.

75. Jumbo Landers, G (29/51), Texas Tech
Strong run blocking potential.

79. Herman O'Donnell, DT (12/58), Rice

We add our first skill player in Round 4.

113. Ted Causey, CB, (20/32), Baylor

Round 5 is a gamble for a need position. This kid may be cut after camp, but for now it's worth a try.

147. Eric Owens, K, (11/28), Texas Tech

We fill a hole in Round 5 with a guy who could contribute right away.

181. Tito Neely, TE (31/32), Texas - El Paso

In Round 7 plug another reserve hole with a guy whose name was irresistable.

215. Bart Speed, S (9/32), Texas Tech

We did quite well overall and I'm excited going into camp. We were able to sign a few rookies in hopes of a breakout.

Training Camp

We come through with no busts. The two linebackers we considered taking in Round 1 both tanked so we're very happy. Hopefully we can fulfill the promise we show on paper.

Roster

Here are the horses...
<pre>
Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Donnie Bridges 7 13 4 2011
QB Geoff Hopkins 7 8 6 2009
QB Edgar Rhodes 1 6 1 2015
RB Dave Linkous 11 13 6 2009
RB Cedric Hartzell 5 8 6 2010
RB Graham Johnstone 6 6 3 2013
FB Kendrick Rock 3 7 2 2010
FB Michael Urbanchek 5 6 7 2010
TE Kurt Stevenson 9 12 6 2010
TE Chester Brautlacht 7 7 5 2011
TE Tito Neely 5 7 1 2010
WR Rex Aldrige 14 15 8 2010
WR Sam Cherney 13 13 2 2012
WR Roy Clancy 7 9 7 2009
WR Darrin D'Eramo 5 8 1 2015
WR Gus Swann 4 6 3 2013
C C.J. Reeves 13 13 8 2010
C Van Poole 7 10 3 2013
C Jerald Dugas 1 7 1 2015
G Preston Peters 11 13 5 2009
G Jumbo Landers 6 12 1 2011
G Larry Dorsey 10 11 6 2011
G Bert McPhee 2 8 1 2015
T Johnnie Davidson 15 15 8 2011
T Conrad Franz 10 10 6 2011
T Riddick Sutton 4 7 3 2013
T Leroy Stevens 1 7 1 2015
P Blaine Baldridge 16 16 10 2009
K Cary Lindsay 5 5 7 2010
DE David Strickland 14 15 8 2011
DE Phil Carpenter 5 11 1 2011
DE Luke Sanders 0 6 1 2015
DE Toby Digler 5 5 2 2010
DT Duane Horn 14 16 3 2012
DT Edwin Hancock 5 14 1 2013
DT Herman O'Donnell 1 9 1 2011
DT Ron Barlow 4 5 2 2014
LB Brady Hoover 15 15 8 2011
LB Ethan Ruffin 8 13 4 2009
LB Jeremiah Trotter 10 11 12 2009
LB Zach Thomas 10 11 14 2010
LB David Sanderson 1 8 1 2015
LB Calvin McNeil 5 8 3 2009
LB Donald Sawyer 4 6 3 2013
CB Charles Merrick 15 15 8 2011
CB Keith Shepherd 14 15 5 2009
CB Quentin Gayle 7 9 2 2010
CB Ted Causey 3 7 1 2010
CB Everett McConkey 5 7 3 2013
S Alonzo Shannon 7 11 2 2011
S Adam Sutton 8 10 5 2011
S Nolan Jude 9 9 5 2010
S Bart Speed 2 7 1 2011
</pre>

Exhibition Games

We go 1-3 in preseason, but our defense looks better than any time in the past. We'll see how Bridges can do at QB. Otherwise, I'd say we look good enough to shoot for a winning record this year and perhaps even a playoff spot.

[This message has been edited by Blackwind (edited 01-04-2001).]

[Blackwind]

2009 Regular Season

Week 1
Arizona (0-0) at Dallas (0-0)
Cardinals win 31-13.
We inexplicably threw out our game plan and passed 80% of the time. The coach will pay a serious visit to the GM's office. Arizona returned a fumble and an interception for TD's to keep this one from being close. Our turnovers led to 24 points for the Cards. QB Donnie Bridges (14-40-176-1-4) was almost as bad as the play calling. Dave Linkous wasn't even given the ball! Brady Hoover led the defense with 11 tackles and a sack. Coaching lost this one.

Week 2
Baltimore (1-0) at Dallas (0-1)
Cowboys win 16-13.
We stuck with the game plan this time and pulled out an overtime thriller. QB Geoff Hopkins (11-17-95-0-0) played the second half in for an injured Donnie Bridges (10-16-134-0-0). Brady Hoover notched 10 tackles and DE Phil Carpenter grabbed an interception. Hopkins will start at QB until Bridges heals. We'll also watch CB Kieth Shepherd who is injured.

Week 3
Dallas (1-1) at San Francisco (0-2)
49er's win 20-12.
Dave Linkous (23-106-0) got his season underway, but Geoff Hopkins (19-42-200-1-1) had too many bad throws today. Charles Merrick and Nolan Jude each intercepted a pass, but we failed to convert in a disappointing loss.

Week 4
NY Giants (0-3) at Dallas (1-2)
Giants win 13-10.
We give up a FG with 22 seconds left and then lose in OT to a scrappy Giants squad. Linkous (17-82-0) was productive and Rex Aldrige (7-72-1) played well, but Geoff Hopkins (20-40-152-1-1) doesn't have the confidence of the offense. Brady Hoover notched 10 more tackles and the defensive line combined for 4 sacks but couldn't stop the run.

Week 5
Dallas (1-3) at New Orleans (4-0)
Saints win 41-31.
Donnie Bridges (20-46-383-3-2) returned, but couldn't get us the win. Aldrige (7-124-1), Cherney (6-81-1), and Clancy (3-90-0) all played well. We surrendered this game with an INT return for a TD to end the 2nd quarter and field position in the 4th quarter. We are now officially in a very deep hole.

Week 6
Dallas (1-4) at Washington (2-2-1)
Cowboys win 20-17.
We stage a great 4th quarter comeback and win on a FG as the gun sounds. Dave Linkous (20-86-0) carried for a 2pt conversion after Bridges (17-42-238-1-1) hit Aldrige (9-119-1) at 1:54 left. Keith Shepherd then picked off his second pass of the day and returned it to the Washington 6 yard line to give us one shot with the clock reading 0:01! Lucky win for the Cowboys.

Week 7
Cleveland (1-5) at Dallas (2-4)
Cowboys win 13-10.
Neither offense gets going, but the Cowboys take the win. Rex Aldrige (8-105-1) was the only player of note. We'll go up against the division leading Eagles next week without Duane Horn (dislocated shoulder) and Brady Hoover (shoulder tendonitis).

Week 8
Dallas (3-4) at Philadelphia (6-1)
Eagles win 29-26.
Donnie Bridges (21-27-184-2-0) played a much more controlled game, but the Philadelphia offense kept the ball for 37 minutes and got the win. This was a tough loss, but a well played game on both sides.

Week 9
Dallas (3-5) at Minnesota (3-4)
Vikings win 36-17.
Linkous didn't last the 1st quarter, but Graham Johnstone (19-89-1) played well in relief. Unfortunately our passing game doesn't seem to be working this year. On defense David Strickland is quietly racking up a sack or so a game. No huge performances yet, but the end numbers could be very good.

Week 10
Jacksonville (3-6) at Dallas (3-6)
Cowboys win 34-17.
Linkous tries to go injured but can't. Johnstone (20-79-0) is reasonably productive in relief. Donnie Bridges (18-34-170-3-2) is replaced by Geoff Hopkins late in the game, but it's already over. Rex Aldrige (10-125-1) is superb and Sam Cherney (6-37-2) catches them when it counts. Keith Shepherd notched two interceptions.

Week 11
Bye

Week 12
Dallas (4-6) at Tampa Bay (4-6)
Buccaneers win 14-3.
Bridges and Hopkins combined for four interceptions and nothing else mattered. Our defense played well but unless we can move the ball...with five games remaining it's pretty much academic now anyway. Brady Hoover and David Strickland are the anchors I had hoped for.

Week 13
Washington (3-7-1) at Dallas (4-7)
Cowboys win 27-11.
If we could contain Albert Connell we'd completely own the Redskins. If they could contain Dave Linkous (26-156-0) they would say the same of us. We end up on the winning side of a statistically even game. The one amazing statistic that goes our way...no penalties. I don't think I've ever seen a team have a penalty free game.

Week 14
Dallas (5-7) at NY Giants (2-10)
Giants win 17-13.
We gained only 134 total yards against a pitiful Giants team. The plane ride back to Dallas is dead silent as the Cowboys realize that all hope is gone. We need a quarterback, we need better play calling, and we need a new attitude.

Week 15
Dallas (5-8) at Arizona (6-7)
Cardinals win 36-10.
As in many seasons before we fail to stop a strong Arizona running attack and lose big. Sam Cherney (6-110-0) looked good. David Strickland is making a serious habit of introducing QB's to the turf. He only gets about one sack a game but has a very nice photo collection of opposing QB's picking grass out of their facemasks.

Week 16
Philadelphia (10-4) at Dallas (5-9)
Eagles win 38-6.
Philly's offense is OK but Geoff Hopkins completes two TD's to Eagles defensive backs. Our season is over and we know it.

Week 17
Augusta (2-13) at Dallas (5-10)
Cowboys win 14-7.
Linkous (22-100-0) hit the century mark and Bridges threw consolation TD's to Aldrige (7-81-1) and Cherney (9-88-1). Strickland is hurt but not before adding to his QB collection.

Sputter...cough...rattle...chug...6-10 again!

[This message has been edited by Blackwind (edited 01-05-2001).]

[Blackwind]

2009 Post Season

Wild Card Round

Minnesota (9-7) at Atlanta (10-6)
Falcons win 33-21.

Cincinnati (10-6) at Buffalo (10-6)
Bills win 41-34.

St. Louis (9-7) at Chicago (11-5)
Bears win 35-25.

Indianapolis (10-6) at Oakland (10-6)
Raiders win 18-16.

Divisional Playoffs

Atlanta (11-6) at New Orleans (12-4)
Saints win 27-0.

Oakland (11-6) at Baltimore (12-4)
Ravens win 45-6.

Buffalo (11-6) at NY Jets (14-2)
Jets win 33-31.

Chicago (12-5) at Philadelphia (12-4)
Bears win 29-24.

Conference Championships

Baltimore (13-4) at NY Jets (15-2)
Jets win 21-17.

Chicago (13-5) at New Orleans (13-4)
Bears win 14-9.

Super Bowl

Chicago (14-5) at NY Jets (16-2)
Jets win 10-7.

Awards

DE David Strickland notches All-Pro 2nd team mention for a season that included 17 sacks, 9 blocked passes, 5 hurries, and a 6.2 pass rush percentage!

Highlights

Another tough year in Dallas. The fans are tired of us losing and our attendance shows it. We seem to need a QB to jump start us. All of the other pieces are in place. If we spot anyone decent we'll go Ditka and nab him. We may also change coaches again as our current man seems to have injury problems and gets wacky with the play calling come game time.

QB Donnie Bridges (216-409-2440-18-15) struggled to a 70.3 passing rating.

QB Geoff Hopkins (88-177-768-3-10) was even worse.

RB Dave Linkous (236-856-1) got little run support as teams focused on him.

WR Rex Aldrige (86-1095-10) continued to play well despite double coverage.

WR Sam Cherney (68-729-6) had a good rookie campaign.

LB Jeremiah Trotter led the team with 87 tackles and 35 assists.

LB Zach Thomas had 83 tackles and 24 assists in 15 games.

LB Brady Hoover had 83 tackles and 23 assists in 12 games.

S Nolan Jude had 67 tackles, 7 interceptions and a 43.0 PDQ.

One more time...