A few weeks ago, Dallas Cowboys defensive star Jason Hatcher made a comment that the Cowboys lacked the leaders that other teams have. He mentioned players like Ray Lewis as examples of the kind of leaders Dallas needs to find. This week, tight end Jason Witten dismissed that criticism and said that Dallas has enough leaders.

Witten claims there are between six and ten guys on the Cowboys’ team that qualifies as a leader. He even threw out names like DeMarcus Ware and Jay Ratliff on the defensive side of the ball and Tony Romo and Miles Austin on the offensive side of the ball as vocal leaders on the team.

Witten said that lack of leadership is not an excuse for the Cowboys failure to win their games. He instead puts the blame in finishing games and finishing the season. Witten believes that leadership is not a concern because, when it comes down to it, teams that are closely matched just need to pull off the close wins to succeed in this league.

Back when Hatcher first made his statement, I pointed to the Cowboys’ big win over the San Francisco 49ers. When Dallas needed something big, Tony Romo took Jesse Holley, of all people, aside and started to pump him up. The camera kept showing Romo on the sidelines, in Holley’s face, giving him orders.

The team came on the field and it was Holley that Romo targeted to put then in range to kick the game-tying field goal. Romo’s leadership skills got Holley, someone who had not contributed anything to the Dallas offense over his career, into the state of mind to be a contributor. In overtime, Romo connected with Holly on a surprise bomb that set up the game-winning field goal.

That is how Tony Romo exhibited his leadership and that is something Witten has observed over his career in Dallas.

Ware and Ratliff have been around for a long time now and both players know what it takes to succeed on the field. While Dallas has not made it to the Super Bowl in a long time, that does not mean they need a cheerleader on the field to rally them to victory. They need playmakers and that is what Witten says is more important.

“The bottom line is that we’ve got to go and play better and win ballgames and find a way to do that,” Witten said. “I think you do that by sticking together.”

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys’ fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys’ related news, good or bad

Source: dallascowboys.com

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While Dez Bryant could turn into the playmaking wide receiver that Dallas Cowboys’ fans hoped, the better player that came out of the 2010 NFL Draft is linebacker Sean Lee.

Taken in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft, Sean Lee was the 55th player taken and after an injury prone year, he came out in 2011 and became one of the Cowboys’ stars on defense. Along with DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer, the Cowboys have three of the four pieces of the 3-4 linebacker puzzle and Lee might be the best all-around player of the group.

Lee went to college at Penn State, where he started for the Nittany Lions for two seasons. Lee was second team All-American in his junior season and was named defensive MVP in the team’s Alamo Bowl game that season. He missed the next season due to a torn ACL but remained with the team as an undergraduate assistant coach, proof of his dedication to his craft. By the end of his career in Penn State, he had 121 tackles and six interceptions.

Lee came into Cowboys’ training camp as a rookie and Dallas decided to move him from outside linebacker to inside, since Dallas played in the 3-4 and outside backers need to be able to rush the passer. Lee, a more accomplished tackler and ball hawk, fit better on the inside. Unfortunately, he played little in his rookie season, bothered by injuries the entire season. He did intercept Peyton Manning twice when the Cowboys played the Indianapolis Colts.

In 2011, Lee took over as starting inside linebacker for the Cowboys and finished the year leading Dallas in tackles with 105 tackles. The next closest Cowboys’ player, Gerald Sensabaugh, had 75. Lee accomplished this despite playing the second half of the season with a cast on his wrist. He also tied for the league lead for linebackers with four interceptions.

Dez Bryant might be one of the best receivers Dallas has seen in years, but based on their first two seasons, Sean Lee is the best player the Cowboys chose in the 2010 NFL Draft.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys’ fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys’ related news, good or bad

Source: dallascowboys.com

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Ryan Leaf, the quarterback flop that finished his NFL career playing for the Dallas Cowboys, will end up in jail for a long time thanks to his recent actions, if found guilty.

The entire story started in 2008 for the former NFL quarterback, who was drafted in the 1998 NFL Draft, one spot after Peyton Manning. Leaf was arrested at that time for drug charges while coaching at Division II West Texas A&M. He got out of the case that time with ten years of probation.

At the time, Leaf admitted that he made mistakes and learned from them. He went on to write a book called “596 Switch” about his 1997 season with the Washington State Cougars.

You would figure that Leaf would be leading a straight and narrow life since he got off lucky with the probation from the 1998 charges. However, the Central Montana Drug Force recently set up an investigation because they believed that Leaf was breaking into houses to steal prescription medications.

That all came to a head on March 31 when Montana police arrested Leaf for allegedly breaking into a person’s home to steal prescription pain killers. He went to jail and released a statement that said he was not going to make excuses but use this experience to move forward in life.

As Leaf proved throughout his NFL career, he does not always make the smartest decisions. Two days after he bonded himself out of jail, Montana Drug Force Commander Chris Hickman said they had arrested Leaf again, for allegedly committing another burglary the day after he got out of jail.

While the charges are pending, and there is no telling what will happen to Leaf when this ends, there is a good chance he will end up in jail for a very long time if found guilty. Leaf already built a reputation as one of the biggest flops in NFL history, playing for the Seattle Seahawks, San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys before leaving the game after five seasons.

This could end up having a tragic ending that will leave a worse stain on the former college sensation than failing on a football field ever could.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys’ fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys’ related news, good or bad

Source: Dallas Morning News

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One of the surprises for the Dallas Cowboys in 2011 was the play of linebacker Sean Lee. The young second year player dominated under Rob Ryan’s schemes and finished the year as one of the top defenders in the lineup.

Lee, even with a broken hand for much of the season, led the Cowboys with 105 tackles. Gerald Sensabaugh was second with 75, so no one came close to the stops that Lee made. Lee also tied with Terence Newman for the lead in interceptions with four, also tied among all NFL linebackers.

It was a nice improvement from Lee’s rookie season, where he played in 14 games and finished with 45 tackles. He also had two interceptions in his rookie year but the warning sign was that he was playing injured for much of that season as well. While he is proving to be tough, Lee can’t keep getting hurt.

In 2012, a familiar face is joining the Cowboys’ linebacker corps, joining Lee, DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer. Dan Connor joins the Cowboys, and while some fans may not be familiar with him, Lee knows him very well. Connor has played for the last four seasons with the Carolina Panthers, but before that, he and Lee both played for the Penn State Nittany Lions.

At Penn State, Lee learned under Connor for two seasons and finished his career there with 324 tackles, 11 sacks and three interceptions. Connor was even better, setting the Penn State record with 419 career tackles and also added 14 sacks and four interceptions.

Seeing how great Lee was in Ryan’s offense, I can’t wait to see what Connor can do, especially seeing as how he was better than Lee in college. Connor didn’t do much at Carolina, finishing with 156 total tackles in four seasons. I have to look at the Panthers and realize they have not been very competitive over the last few years. Connor might be ready to break out this year, much like Lee did in 2011.

If Connor can prove to be a sleeper pickup, Dallas might have one of the best linebacker corps in the NFL in 2012.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys‘ fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys’ related news, good or bad

Source: Dallas Morning News

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The one area of the Dallas Cowboys’ free agent needs that people seem to be ignoring is the backup quarterback position. While this may not seem like a big deal to many people, look at Tony Romo the last two years. He broke his ribs this past season and missed most the year two seasons ago. That makes the Dallas backup quarterback a very important position to fill.

Chad Henne
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Here is a look at the Cowboys’ choices for the backup quarterback position in 2012.

Stephen McGee

Stephen McGee came to Dallas in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M. He played mostly in an option offense until Mike Sherman showed up and transformed the Aggies into a pro styled offense. He has been nothing more than a third string emergency quarterback since arriving and has only played in three NFL games. His stats are decent, with 420 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Drew Stanton

One player that Dallas might look at bringing in via free agency is Drew Stanton. The Cowboys originally wanted Stanton when he was in the 2007 NFL Draft but the Detroit Lions grabbed him in the second round. This caused Dallas to go with McGee two years later. Stanton has worked as a backup in Detroit for the last four years but might be a nice, young quarterback that can compete with McGee in the preseason. He has played in 12 games, throwing for 1,158 yards, five touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Chad Henne

If the Dallas Cowboys want to find a more experienced backup quarterback, they can look to former Miami Dolphins starter Chad Henne. In Miami, Henne underwent shoulder surgery and lost his job due to the injury. With Miami wooing Peyton Manning, Henne is available and Dallas might look into bringing him into Big D to backup Romo. He started for two years in Miami and compiled a 31-37 record with 7,114 passing yards, 31 touchdowns and 37 interceptions.

Jason Campbell

Jason Campbell was a great starter for the Washington Redskins, playing well despite having no real weapons in the passing game. He then went on to Oakland, where he played well when he was not injured. However, I don’t think he will find a new team to start for and will have to settle for a backup position. With an 84.2 career QB rating, Dallas could do worse than giving him a chance.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys’ fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys’ related news, good or bad

Source: NFL.COM

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

A lot of Dallas Cowboys’ fans have given up on quarterback Tony Romo. Despite the quarterback’s impressive 2011 campaign that ended, not due to his play, but due to defensive slipups and coaching mishaps, fans don’t want to give Romo the chance to lead the team to the Super Bowl. One fan who is giving Romo all his support is the Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones.

Tony Romo
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There have been lots of people down on Romo that believe he can’t win a Super Bowl. Just scroll through comments on any article about the quarterback and you will find people who guarantee that Romo is not good enough to lead Dallas to a Super Bowl. That is strange talk since Trent Dilfer and Kerry Collins led their teams to the Super Bowl.

Even former teammates like Deion Sanders said that Romo isn’t good enough to win the big one. However, in the 2011 season, he finished with the highest QB rating of his career (102.5), threw 31 touchdowns and only ten interceptions. Romo had one of the best years of any quarterback in 2011.

That is probably why Jerry Jones said he wouldn’t trade Romo for either Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III. That’s pretty big support since the Indianapolis Colts plan to dump the best quarterback in the NFL for Luck this year. Tony Romo means more to the Cowboys than Peyton Manning does to the Indianapolis Colts. That is pretty big.

Romo is entering his eighth season as starter of the Cowboys in 2012 and has improved almost every season in his on-field play. He has been accused of making mental mistakes late in important games but limited that in 2011 and was more valuable than a hindrance in 2011. Romo is the reason Dallas won quite a few of their games, and if not for defensive mishaps and bad coaching, would have quarterbacked them into the playoffs.

Manning, one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history only had a QB rating higher than Romo’s 2011 numbers twice in his career. Manning also routinely throws more interceptions than Romo. Manning never won his first Super Bowl until his ninth season in the league. If the Colts gave up on Manning after seven seasons, they never would have won that Super Bowl.

Romo has what it takes to win the big one. Dallas just needs to give him the pieces necessary for it, preferably a competent offensive line and more defensive playmakers. Just stop blaming Romo.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys’ fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys’ related news, good or bad

Source: CBSSports.com

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

With all the talk about the Dallas Cowboys’ need to fix their defense, let’s look a little at the one problem area on offense: the offensive line.

Tyron Smith
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Before the 2011 season, Dallas cut three starting offensive linemen in Andre Gurode, Leonard Davis and Marc Colombo. That brought them into the season with rookies protecting Tony Romo. Phil Costa, Tyron Smith and Bill Nagy all started the season as men the Cowboys relied on to protect their franchise quarterback. Romo ended up with broken ribs.

Dallas has to do a better job of protecting the quarterback, who will remain the starter in Dallas for a long time. Stephen Jones said earlier in February that the Cowboys would sign Romo to an extension way before 2013, keeping him from being a free agent in 2014 and ensuring he will be the man to lead Dallas to the Super Bowl, if that is ever to be.

They also need to protect DeMarco Murray, their running back who excited fans with his play as a rookie in 2011 before falling to an injury himself. Dallas took one major step in protecting Murray by giving fullback Tony Fiammetta a tender to ensure that Murray at least has a lead blocker before he hits that line.

Hopefully, the line will improve in their second year together as a unit. Head coach Jason Garrett already announced a big move that most Cowboys’ fans expected. Tyron Smith is moving to left tackle in 2012 to protect Romo’s blindside. That is a huge decision since Smith was the one offensive lineman that looked great in 2011.

Doug Free, who gave up one too many blindside hits in 2011, will move to the right side. That is a nice move too since that is where Free started out at in 2009 for Dallas. Next up is Costa, who was not a good fit at the center position. There is a good chance they could move him to guard, where he played in college, and then look for an upgrade at center.

However, the player that many people predict Dallas will chase with their first round pick is not a cornerback, like I believe they should draft, or a center but instead offensive guard David DeCastro. The Stanford guard impressed a lot of people at the NFL Combine but might be someone to be careful of. The move would send Dallas into 2012 with another rookie on the line again and fans can only hope this one will be more Tyron Smith and less Phil Costa.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys’ fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys’ related news, good or bad

Source: CBSSports.com

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

The Dallas Cowboys’ season ended with a heartbreaking loss to the New York Giants in the final game of the 2011 NFL regular season. Here is a look at how the offensive stars finished the game for the Cowboys.

Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys
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Tony Romo

Tony Romo came into the Week 17 game with the New York Giants with a bruised hand and seemed like the biggest question mark on the field. However, out of all the players in the game, Romo was the one who came to play. He completed 29-of-37 of his passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw an interception and fumbled the ball, but a lot of his problems had to do with bad offensive line play.

Laurent Robinson

Out of all the stars on the Dallas Cowboys’ roster, it is newcomer Laurent Robinson who leads the team in touchdowns with 11. In the final game of the season, while Dallas had few stars step up, it was Robinson who caught both touchdown passes from Romo. Robinson was the Cowboys’ best offensive weapon this season.

Felix Jones

When DeMarco Murray went down with a season ending injury, Felix Jones got his chance to prove he could help the team win. He did fine but it is obvious that the Cowboys need Murray back next year bad. Jones ran for 30 yards and caught seven passes for 47 yards in Week 17. It wasn’t horrible but Dallas needs a better rushing attack in 2012.

Dez Bryant / Miles Austin

Dez Bryant led the team with 70 receiving yards in the game on six receptions in the game. Miles Austin did not do anything of note, with two receptions for 20 yards. Neither man was a solid weapon in this game because Romo had little time to wait for routes to develop before the pass rush reached him.

Jason Witten

Jason Witten finally had a decent game but fell short of the 1000 yard mark for the first time since 2008. He finished the game with seven receptions for 69 yards.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys’ fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys’ related news, good or bad

Source: dallascowboys.com

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

It seems like as the 2011 NFL regular season rolls to a conclusion, the person we hear from the most with Dallas Cowboys’ related news is Jerry Jones. He is the owner and general manager, but it almost seems lately he is their chief PR man as well.

Jerry Jones
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This week, Jones has even more news about his team to deliver to the press and the public in general.

The first thing that Jones wanted to make clear is that Jason Garrett will be his head coach in 2012. Jones said that, even if Dallas loses to the New York Giants on Sunday night and misses the playoffs, there is zero-percent chance he fired Garrett.

I agree with this stance. Jason Garrett has been head coach for just over one year. If a team drops a coach without giving them a fair chance, and one full season is not a fair chance, they will end up like the Oakland Raiders.

Garrett, in his head coaching career is 13-9. A lot of people talk about his play calling, but in his first year in Dallas calling the plays, the Cowboys went 13-3, the best record in the NFC. That was four years ago. Now that he is the head coach, a lot more is expected of him.

However, in the 2011 season, his first full season as the head man, he has had to deal with a starting quarterback breaking his ribs, his starting wide receiver missing half the year with a bad hamstring and his explosive new rookie starting running back going down with a season ending injury. That is a lot to deal with. Add in the fact that their leading tackler has been playing with a cast on his hand and the best player on the entire team, DeMarcus Ware, has been playing hurt as well.

It sounds like I am making excuses for the Cowboys’ record but I’m not. I am just stating the facts. Dallas proved this season they can beat any team they play, and all but one loss was due to mental lapses at the end. That is on Garrett but it is something he will grow with as his career wears on.

Jerry Jones says he is not going to fire Garrett if Dallas loses. In my opinion, that is a good thing because it means he is going to let his coach actually try to build something here. Playing hot potato at head coach is no way to develop a franchise.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys’ fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys’ related news, good or bad

Source: CBSSports.com

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

For Dallas Cowboys’ fans worried about Tony Romo’s status for the New Year’s Day game against the New York Giants, Miles Austin says not to worry. The receiver, who has been working this week with Romo, said the quarterback is practicing just fine.

Austin went on to say that Romo has been accurate and does not show any signs of the hand bothering him at all. While he said he doesn’t know how Romo feels, he knows that the passes feel normal and are on par with what he is used to from the Cowboys’ signal caller.

Luckily for Romo, there were eight days between the injury and the Giants’ game, so the hand had time to heal. His hand has been wrapped up and protected this week during practice while Romo has been throwing the ball. On Friday, it was heavily taped up in an effort to further decrease the swelling.

Romo has said all week he expects to play in the game. He said his hand has improved day-by-day and the swelling has been going down on a steady basis. In an interesting statement for fans, Romo said that playing with the injured ribs earlier in the season was much harder than playing with the swelling in his hand.

Romo has been playing in pain all season, so it was no surprise to learn he would not miss the game that will determine the NFC East champions. In the first game against the Giants this season, Romo threw for 321 yards and four touchdowns, which makes sense with the Giants having the 27th ranked pass defense in the NFL.

However, Dallas’ defense collapsed in the final two minutes and the Giants came back to win. With the defense prone to slip-ups, especially late in games, Dallas needs Romo at full strength. Thankfully, that is what Austin says his quarterback currently is.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys’ fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys’ related news, good or bad

Source: dallascowboys.com

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

The Dallas Cowboys will not see many players on this year’s Pro Bowl squad. As a matter of fact, they were shut out completely on the offensive side of the ball. However, they will send two defensive players to the Pro Bowl, so Dallas fans have something to look forward to in the season ending exhibition game.

Sean Lee, Dallas Cowboys
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It should come as no shock to anybody that DeMarcus Ware is the highest vote getter on the Dallas Cowboys’ squad. Ware is tied for second in 2011 for sacks at 18 and is widely considered not only one of the best linebackers in the game but one of the best overall defensive stars in the NFL.

Over his seven year career in Dallas, Ware has averaged 14 sacks a season and needs only two more in the final game with the New York Giants to match his season high over his career. He also has 53 tackles on the year for Dallas.

The second player to make the Pro Bowl is nose tackle Jay Ratliff. Even as a Dallas fan, this is a little strange to me. Ratliff has 35 tackles on the season, 26 solo, and two sacks. It’s not bad but is it a Pro Bowl year? Cullen Jenkins of Philadelphia had 37 tackles, 29 solo, and 5.5 sacks.

But at least Ratliff was the second Cowboys’ player to make the lineup.

Now, let’s talk about who got shafted.

Inside linebacker Sean Lee has been hurt a couple of times this season but it didn’t matter. He kept playing. The second year player out of Penn State has 94 total tackles on the season with two fumble recoveries and four interceptions, tied for the most of any linebacker for picks in the NFL alongside New York Jets linebacker David Harris. Something else the two have in common is that neither made their respective Pro Bowl teams.

Starting linebacker Patrick Willis is a monster. He has also been injured since Week 14. He has 93 tackles on the season, one interception and four forced fumbles. Willis and Lee are very similar when it comes to stats. Brian Urlacher is the other man headed to the Pro Bowl. He has 92 tackles on the year with two fumble recoveries and three interceptions. I argue that all three men deserved to make it to the Pro Bowl.

Only two made it and that means that, despite his amazing year, Sean Lee was snubbed in the NFL Pro Bowl. In any other year, he could have been the starter. Luckily, he is young and his opportunity will come.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys’ fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys’ related news, good or bad

Source: Yahoo! Sports

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