Dallas Cowboys Pre-2013 Season Prediction

      Let me begin by saying I am a diehard Dallas Cowboy fan. I date back to their very first season in 1960 when they did not win a single game, finishing at 0-11-1. Only a tie in the last game of the year against the New York Giants prevented the team from finishing winless....BUT I loved them...then and now. They were my team..and my way of sticking it to the elitist teams from both the East and West Coast.
   The last couple of seasons has seen my Boys failing to make the playoffs while finishing at eight wins and eight losses each season. 2013 has them at a fork in the road,..and some careers also are at that fork. I correctly predicted that 8-8 year in 2012 and I haven't seen enough improvement in the off-season to change that prediction. Only because of my love for the silver and blue am I going to up last years prediction by a single game...9-7 at best. Why?
    

      While most of the everyday fans will be screaming for the scalp of quarterback Tony Romo, I know it is the big boys up front that make the offense move the ball. Last season's offensive line had more holes in it than a slice of Swiss cheese. Let's start there with our forecast for 2013. Dallas was in such dire straits for offensive line help they wasted a number one draft pick on a player other teams rated as a second round selection at best.

      Travis Frederick will anchor the Cowboys center position for years to come,...BUT how will a rookie hold up in his first year against seasoned NFL opposition? Coaches say he has a lot of swagger and has already taken over at calling for changes at the line of scrimmage. His back-up at center will be Phil Costa, the starter for Dallas last year, so we know how good he is. Ronald Leary is the starting left guard, and he will line-up beside Tyrone Smith, the left tackle... Pretty good so far... The right guard will be Mackenzy Bernadeau with newly acquired Brian Waters backing him up. Right tackle has Doug Free penciled in as the starter.

     Free has one of those multi-million dollar contracts and Dallas tried to move him to another team without success during the off season. He is backed up by Jeremy Parnell, both holdovers from 2012. The right side of the offensive line is suspect at best, and definitely shaky to be truthful. The Cowboys may need to keep the tight end in to help with the blocking on the right side.
   If indeed that is the case, Dallas will go into the 2013 season with four (4) tight ends on the team. Topping the list of course is veteran Jason Witten...

     No one ever accused number 82 of not giving his all each time he stepped on the field (remember he started the 2012 season with a ruptured spleen)....But Witten's numbers have fallen off radically the last couple of seasons. I think it is mainly due to the quarterback not having time to develop a play fully before having to run for his life and make a bad decision. The other three tight ends are James Hanna, 2nd round pick Gavin Escobar, and Andre Smith. Look for one of those to line up alongside Doug Free to lend a hand with the blocking.
    The running game should be interesting behind this line.. DeMarco Murray will be the starting tailback and he is coming off an injury-plagued season in 2012. Lance Dunbar from North Texas State will be his back-up,..but look for Phillip Tanner and Joseph Randle to get plenty of playing time. As physical as the NFL is, it is hard to go through an entire season without injuries, especially to ball carriers.
     Now let's move over to the defensive side of the ball..

 Dallas will be switching to a 4-3 defense this season under defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. That means All-Pro DeMarcus Ware moves from linebacker to a defensive end. It sounds simple at first but there is a lot of changes in techniques that mystify people like me. Suffice to say, there are now four defensive linemen and three linebackers. In the 1960's and 1970's Coach Tom Landry use to tell us the 4-3 is designed to funnel the ball-carrier to the middle linebacker. If that is true, the Cowboys have a good one in Sean Lee..

      Lee missed most of 2012 with an injury, but signed a high-dollar contract during the off-season and he is anxious to show he is worth every cent. Coach Bear Bryant at Alabama used to say about former Cowboy LeeRoy Jordan,.."If the ball carrier stays on the field, LeeRoy will get him." That is the way I think of Sean Lee. He came from Penn State, a school well known for turning out great linebackers. Lee will have Justin Durant on his left, or whichever side the opponent's tight end lines up, and Bruce Carter will be the weak-side linebacker. 
   The defensive secondary was as porous as a screen door last year and hopefully it will be better in 2013. Brandon Carr is the left corner and he played the 4-3 defense at Kansas City so he is familiar with it. Last year's number one draft pick, Morris Claiborne, is on the right corner and look for him to be drastically better with a years experience under his belt. The safeties could be the Achilles heel for the defense. Barry Church will be the free safety and Will Allen the strong safety. Last year the Cowboys could NOT exert enough pressure on opposing quarterbacks and the safeties were the least happy players on the homeward plane.

     Everyone knows who the quarterback of the Cowboys is... I have always thought the quarterback got too much credit...and too much blame. Tony Romo signed a huge new contract in the off-season and that brought howls of protest from the media and front office personnel from other teams. He has been the quarterback for Dallas since 2006 but never achieved the success of former Cowboys Troy Aikman or Roger Staubach...BUT he does hold most of the Dallas team records for passing the football. I would rank Romo among the top five QBs in the NFL, and if he ever gets a quality offensive line in front of him maybe the Cowboys will return to the glory years...but not in 2013.

     Also feeling the heat this season will be Head Coach Jason Garrett...He took over the team in January 2011 and two seasons of 8 and 8 are not going to be enough to retain his job if 2013 is anywhere similar. Team owner Jerry Jones has already taken the play-calling responsibilities away from Garrett so he can concentrate more on game management.
   As I said in the beginning,.. I love the Cowboys and always will..but I don't see enough improvement to rate them better than 9-7.  Win, lose, or draw,...they are my team but I see 2013 as another step in the rebuilding process.. 

                             2013 Cowboys Season

Sept 8        Dallas 36     New York Giants 31           (1-0)
Sept 15      Dallas 16     Kansas City Chiefs 17        (1-1)
Sept 22      Dallas 31     St Louis Rams 7           (2-1)
Sept 29      Dallas 21     San Diego Chargers 30      (2-2)
Oct 6         Dallas 48     Denver Broncos 51             (2-3)
Oct 13       Dallas  31    Washington 16                    (3-3)
Oct 20       Dallas  17    Philadelphia  3                    (4-3)
Oct 27       Dallas  30    Detroit   31                          (4-4)
Nov 3        Dallas  27    Minnesota  23                      (5-4)
Nov 10      Dallas  17    New Orleans 49                   (5-5)
Nov 17      Open Date  (No Game)
Nov 24      Dallas 24     NY Giants  21                     (6-5)
Nov 28      Dallas 31     Oakland 24                          (7-5)
Dec 9         Dallas 28    Chicago 45                           (7-6)
Dec 15       Dallas 36    Green Bay 37                       (7-7)
Dec 22       Dallas 24    Washington 23                      (8-7)
Dec 29       Dallas 22    Philadelphia 24                     (8-8)

8-8 for the third year in a row and no playoffs for the Boys!