It was a night that could best be described as a battle of the wide receivers. The Cowboys started the game without most of their starters, with Brad Johnson at QB, Tyson Thompson at RB, and only three of their starting linemen.

But don’t mistake it for a meaningless game. It was anything but meaningless for players like Jerheme Urban and Miles Austin who are competing to make the 53-man roster. And, unless the Cowboys elect to have seven wide receivers, only one of them will make it.

Urban started off the night good after taking a punt 96 yards for a touchdown. But he didn’t help his cause when he fumbled the ball on a wide receiver screen. Miles Austin, who hasn’t had a very good preseason, stepped up to the plate and made several good catches. Austin finished the night with three catches for 37 yards, and two more catches that were negated by penalties.

Both players can contribute on special teams with Austin having filled in for an injured Tyson Thompson returning kickoffs last year, and Urban showing what he could do against the Vikings.

Austin’s strong performance tonight will make it difficult for the coaching staff who will have to decide between two players who probably won’t be able to make it past waivers should Dallas cut them.

It was also an important night for Matt Moore who is hoping to convince the Cowboys to keep three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster. Moore is another player who might not make it past waivers should he be cut, and he had a strong performance going 14 of 19 for 94 yards and a touchdown. He also had a fumbled snap and the ball stripped out of his hands on a sack.

The Cowboys were also taking a hard look at cornerback. With Newman out with an injury, it was important for the backup corners to show up. Aaron Glenn had a good night breaking up a couple of passes, but none of the other backups did anything to make the decision easy on the coaching staff. Among the backups, Jacques Reeves had the best night with a couple of good plays. Joey Thomas played well at times, and not-so-well at other times, and while Nate Jones didn’t do anything to distinguish himself, he didn’t do anything to hurt himself either.

All in all, it is going to be a tough weekend for the coaching staff who will have to trim the roster to 53 players. I have already taken my stab at it. Now it’s their turn.

Jerheme Urban makes a cut to finish a 96 yard punt return with a touchdown

The act of getting down to 53 players is a matter of give and take weighing versatility at depth and gambling with the numbers. It is easy to say, hey, this guy did pretty good, we should keep him, but when it comes down to crunching the numbers sometimes a player with promise gets left out.

I decided to take my stab at cutting down the roster to 53 players just to get an idea of what the coaching staff will be going through this weekend. There are a lot of decisions that go into making the final cuts including how many quarterbacks to take into the season, and whether a player’s use on special teams merits him the job over someone that might be a little better at the position.

I decided to go with three quarterbacks, and I really wanted to see if I could keep seven wide-receivers. But even with just keeping one kicker, I couldn’t see going that long at receiver. Here is what I came up with:

QB Tony Romo

QB Brad Johnson

QB Matt Moore

HB Julius Jones

HB Marion Barber

HB Tyson Thompson

FB Oliver Hoyte

FB Deon Anderson

WR Terrell Owens

WR Terry Glen

WR Patrick Crayton

WR Sam Hurd

WR Isaiah Stanback

WR Jerheme Urban

TE Jason Witten

TE Anthony Fasano

TE Tony Curtis

OT Flozell Adams

OT Marc Columbo

OT Pat McQuistan

OT James Marten

G Leonard Davis

G Kyle Kosier

G Joe Berger

C Andre Gurode

C Cory Procter

DT Jason Ferguson

DT Remi Ayodele

DE Marcus Speers

DE Chris Cantey

DE Jay Ratliff

DE Jason Hatcher

LB DeMarcus Ware

LB Anthony Spencer

LB Greg Ellis

LB Kevin Burnett

LB Akin Ayodele

LB Bobby Carpenter

LB James Bradie

LB Junior Glymph

CB Terence Newman

CB Anthony Henry

CB Aaron Glenn

CB Joey Thomas

CB Nate Jones

CB Jacques Reeves

S Roy Williams

S Ken Hamlin

S Keith Davis

S Patrick Watkins

LS L.P. Ladouceur

K Nick Folk

P Matt McBriar

I had to choose between Urban and Davis for that sixth wide-receiver spot, and I had to go with Urban on that one. He’s done far more to show that he’s a capable wide-receiver thus far in preseason.

And even if I had just taken two quarterbacks, I probably wouldn’t be keeping a seventh wide-receiver. I dislike having just three guards on the roster especially considering that Leonard Davis will be filling in at tackle if anything happens to Flozell Adams. But Proctor, who is penciled in as the backup center, can also back up the guard position.

At backup defensive tackle I went with Remi Ayodele. Jay Ratliff is penciled in at defensive end, but he will also be backing up the defensive tackle spot. It is really between Ayodele and keeping a fifth defensive end, but I thinking having the extra security at defensive tackle is worth it.

Cornerback is always a tough one. The first three are pretty easy, and I think Joey Thomas has shown enough to make the squad. Nate Jones has experience in the slot, so he’s probably going to make it as well. That last spot is a tough one, but I went with experience and special teams play and chose Jacques Reeves for it.

For Kicker, I think Nick Folk is going to get that job. I don’t see choosing Gramatica over him after Gramatica has missed a field goal and an extra point in these preseason games. And, at this point, I really don’t see keeping two kickers on the team, though it remains a distinct possibility.

And, those are my picks, at least for now. Hopefully, someone will show me something in this last preseason game to make me think, oh man, why was I thinking of cutting that guy?

Were the Cowboys of the early 90’s the greatest NFL team ever? Norm Hitzges certainly thinks so, and he is eager to tell everyone why in his book, Greatest Team Ever: The Dallas Cowboys Dynasty of the 1990s.

The great NFL dynasties are often debated. They include the Packers of the 60’s, the Steelers of the 70’s, the 49ers of the 80’s, the Cowboys of the 90’s, and the Patriots of this decade. Each of those teams have their own unique feel, with the Packers known for their great coach, the Steelers with their ‘Steel Curtain’ defense, the 49ers and the rise of the west coast offense, the triplets of the Cowboys, and the Patriots with the rise of their quarterback out of the ashes of obscurity and the brilliance of their head coach.

Which dynasty was the best?

The truth is that we will never know the answer to that question. It is difficult to compare even a player from one era to a player from a different era, much less an entire team. The game evolves, the playbooks evolve, the coaching evolves, the players evolve.

But Norm Hitzges is quick to point out areas that the Cowboys reign supreme in, including being the only team numbered among those dynasties to have five straight twelve-win seasons.

I remember NFL Films putting together a mock game between the Cowboys of the 90’s and the Steelers of the 70’s. The game went back and forth and down to the wire when — in a good twist — an instant replay gave the game to the Steelers.

But could the Steelers have stood up against Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, one of the biggest and most dominating offensive lines ever, and the top-ranked defense? Certainly, that 1995 Cowboys team was one of the best ever, but do they top the list?

Could they even beat the 1993 Cowboys? From a player standpoint, the 1995 Cowboys had Deon Sanders and Larry Allen, two future hall of fame players that were not on the 1993 team. But, the 1993 team had Jimmy Johnson. Any way you slice it, that’s a tough call. I’d like to think that Johnson could outcoach Switzer even with a talent deficit, but those are two mighty good additions.

I do think that 1995 team could have downed the 70’s Steelers. I actually think the Patriots of this decade would give that 1995 team a better game. No doubt Belichick would have something up his sleeve to use against the triplets.

But, in the end, it is a question that won’t be answered. Or, at least, not anytime soon. Maybe Madden 2021 will be so fantastic that we can pit those dynasties against each other and see who wins the big tournament. And, maybe it’ll be the Browns of the 2010 decade that wins it all — though I doubt it.

I can count the good things coming out of the Houston game on one hand and still have a few fingers left over. Kevin Burnett had a pretty good game. And Wade Phillips will have plenty of ammunition for a good pep talk. And that’s about it.

The offensive line played poorly opening few holes for the running game and putting Romo in a few bad situations. When he wasn’t dodging potential sacks, Romo was a bit erratic, ending his night on a very underthrown ball that landed in the wrong team’s hands. And Martin Gramatica might have made cutting the roster down to 53 players a little easier on the coaching staff by missing an extra point.

After two strong performances, the Cowboys played a sloppy game demonstrating that it is perhaps a little too early to anoint them as the future Super Bowl champs.

But, it is just preseason, and even a loss can be a positive thing. Certainly, if the Cowboys thought they could ride into the season taking it easy against some of the less-talented teams they got a big wakeup call tonight.

For their part, the Texans looked good. They played like they were competing for a playoff spot with their defense looking more at times like the Chicago Bears than the Houston Texans.

The real question is which Dallas Cowboys will show up to play the New York Giants in the Sunday night season opener: the sharp crew that took care of the Colts and the Broncos, or the group unable to get their hands around the Texans?

After a stellar performance by Marion Barber III in last Saturday’s preseason game, the debate continues over who should be the primary back for the Dallas Cowboys.

Marion Barber looked good. In fact, he looked better than I remember him running in any game last year, and he ran very good last year. The thing that stood out most was his ability to make defenders miss. To be a good running back in the NFL, you have to be able to deal with a defender. There is usually at least one defender between the running back and a decent gain. That’s the running back’s guy. Some backs power over the guy, other’s use shifty moves, but to be successful, a running back has to be able to deal with ‘his’ guy.

Last year, Marion Barber did this with solid running and an unwillingness to go down. In the game against the Broncos, he was also doing it with his feet. When a running back can beat you with his feet and with his power, he’s going to have success. And, if Barber keeps running like that, he’s going to deserve more playing time between the 20’s.

Julius Jones has also run well in the preseason, though it hasn’t shown as much on the stat sheet. There is more to football than statistics, and Julius has definitely looked better than he did last year. He’s running with more freedom and decisiveness.

This is best exemplified by a short six-yard burst he had through the lines. It was a sliver of a hole, and Barber may have only accomplished a three-yard gain, but Jones was a blur of motion and piled on an extra few yards through speed alone.

Certainly, Jones is going to make more people miss with his feet than Barber, but if he’s going to take the next step, he will need to shed tacklers with his power as well.

Make no mistake, though. Barring injury, the Cowboys will feature both backs throughout the season. How they divvy up the carries is up for grabs, but both of them will get plenty of playtime in games. For Jones, it is the last year of his contract, and he will need to demonstrate the potential we saw in his rookie year.

How will the Cowboys divvy up those carries? Conventional wisdom says if it ain’t broke then don’t fix it. And the Cowboys’ running game last year was not broken, so we might see a repeat of Jones being the primary back and Barber being the third down and goal line back while also getting a little of the load toward the end of the game.

This system doesn’t exactly favor Jones, but it worked well last year. Jones wears the defense out with his feet, and a fresh Barber comes in to deliver the payload.

But I hope they opt for a different approach, giving Barber some time between the 20’s, and Jones some time in the redzone. It’s a more difficult system to implement. You want to match the running back with what he does well, but you also don’t want to become predictable. If you only run the ball between the tackles when Barber is in the game, the defense will play on that, and if you run a lot of screens, draws, and stretch plays with Julius, the defense will key on it. You have to mix it up while still playing to their strengths, which can be difficult to accomplish, but can also pay huge dividends.

But, any way it comes out, I think everyone should be rooting for both backs to succeed. Too often, fans pick a favorite and sometimes root for that running back to the detriment of the other back. No matter which back you favor, both of them doing well is good for the Cowboys.

So, for me, my hope is that next year the Cowboys repeat the dilemma of having two running backs that they like a lot.

As everyone is no doubt aware by now, Michael Vick will plead guilty to the dog-fighting charges. He will face a maximum of five years in jail and a $250,000 fine, with most people believing his sentence will be somewhere between 12 months and 18 months, though whether he might get time off for good behavior or have some of his time regulated to probation is anyone’s guess.

I think it is safe to say that he will be in jail for at least a year. It is a serious crime with too much public attention for it to be any lighter than that. The Monday Night Football crew was talking about what happens when he comes back to the NFL. It’s a good guess that he will have a year suspension to serve as well as his jail time. He could serve this concurrently with his jail time, but that is very doubtful since it is basically a free pass from the NFL and this case is too high-profile with the other disciplinary problems facing the league.

My guess: He never plays in the NFL again. Michael Vick is a superstar, but he is not a great quarterback. He has been in the league for six years, but he has never matured as a passing quarterback. There were already plenty of doubts about whether he will ever become a solid quarterback with some people clamoring for Matt Schaub to play last year.

He’ll be gone for two, possibly three years. And I don’t think he’s going to learn how to pass the ball in prison.

The NFL is often-times called a second-chance league. Truth is, it is a talent-first league. If you have talent, you can get a second or even third chance. Michael Vick definitely has talent, but he’s also had six years to turn that talent into a solid quarterback, and while he is dangerous with his legs, he is still erratic with his arm.

So, while I think that a team might be willing to pick up a guy after spending a year or two in jail and another year in suspension under the guise of giving him a second chance, I just don’t see Michael Vick being that guy. Factor in the huge public relations hit with the fact that he might never have become a great quarterback even if he didn’t go to jail, and it just doesn’t seem like a good gamble.

And, I’ll add, good riddance. What he did was deplorable. I wouldn’t mind seeing at least a two year sentence being handed down.

Dallas continued a strong preseason by defeating the Broncos at Texas Stadium. The offense continued to look good with three scoring drives in the first half. The defense also had a strong outing by keeping the pressure on Jay Cutler and limiting him to just 58 passing yards while simultaneously keeping the bag over Denver’s running game.

Tony Romo ended up completing 11 of 18 passes for 122 yards. He did throw an interception, but it can be chalked up to Miles Austin slipping on the break in his route. He might have done even better if the running game hadn’t been going at full throttle.

Marion Barber III made a strong case for more playing time. He looked good, evading defenders with his footwork as much as his power. But Julius Jones also had a good outing and showed that he could get it done in the red zone by scoring a touchdown close to the goal line.

But one of the biggest positives out of the first half was what the Cowboys didn’t do: incur penalties. After a well-disciplined outing last week, following it up with another outing with no penalties goes a long way to showing a disciplined team.

Rookie Nick Folk is putting the heat on incumbent Grammatica by converting a 52-yard field goal after Grammatica missed his only attempt earlier in the half.

The second half was highlighted by long runs by Tyson Thompson and a nifty touchdown grab by Isaiah Stanback, the rookie draft pick who is playing in his first preseason game after being injured for most of training camp.

The game should leave Cowboys fans with a smile on their faces and an eye toward the start of the season. With both sides of the ball looking crisp and playing well, it looks to be a good season.

It’s only a matter of hours before the Cowboys face the Broncos in their second preseason game. And ain’t it good to have some football to watch? With a new head coach, a new defense, a new offense, and new players, there are a ton of questions about this team. We won’t get all the answers in this preseason game. In fact, we probably won’t get any answers in this preseason game. Answers to the biggest questions won’t come until the season starts. But we can get a glimmer of what those answers might be.

Here are some of the questions:

How good will this attacking defense be?

Will DeMarcus Ware get more sacks than Shawn Merriman?

Will the corners lining up on the outside of the receivers lead to Newman and Henry getting more interceptions?

Will the addition of Ken Hamlin shore up our weakness to the deep ball?

Will Roy return to the playmaker he was in his first years?

Will Anthony Spencer live up to his first-round potential?

Will Marcus Spears and Chris Canty be improved under the new defense?

What about Bobby Carpenter? Will he see significant playing time? Will he have a breakout year, or is he going to be a dud?

Oh, and there’s some questions on offense too.

Will Tony Romo play like the guy in his first few starts, or in his last few starts? (You knew that one would be here!)

Will Terrell Owens’ personality explode? Or will his stats explode?

Will Julius Jones play more like the sky-high-potential rookie or the robot-runner we saw last year?

Will we see more of Marion Barber III in the offense?

Will we see more of Tyson Thompson?

Will Jason Witten go to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl?

Will Leonard Davis become a dominant guard?

Will Marc Columbo continue to improve at tackle?

How much will we see of Isaiah Stanback? Will he fully recover from his injury? Can he make the transition to wide receiver?

Who is going to be our kicker?

And let’s not forget the most important question for offense:

How good is Jason Garrett?

Because, let’s face it, a lot of our season is going to be resting on that single question. Wade Phillips is good. Which is to say, the defense is good. If the defense fails, it won’t be because of Phillips coaching. In fact, the only way I see it failing is injury. (And injury could be the bane of any team’s existence — and is also something that could happen to any team.)

But Garrett takes over the offense after only a couple of years in coaching. Yes, he comes from a football-mad family. Yes, he played for many, many years. Yes, he’s probably got mad skills at Madden and is already on the leaderboard of Madden 2008. (Okay, we hope that isn’t true! Jason, get off the x-box and get back to cooking up new ways to burn defenses with Owens, Glenn, Crayton, Witten, Fasano, Jones and Barber! We know the new Madden has playmakers in it, but you have real-life playmakers to play with!)

How good is he?

That’s the question, and it won’t be answered in preseason. Heck, we’ll barely have any answers to what kind of offense we are going to run. Yes, it will most likely be similar to Norv Turner’s offense. But Jason Garrett is not Norv Turner. He’s going to put his own wrinkles into the scheme. And, if he’s as good as we all hope he is, he might be putting a lot of wrinkles into the scheme.

Most of these questions won’t be answered tonight, though. Most of them won’t be answered until we are well into the season. Heck, some of them might not be answered until December and January. After all, we thought our defense was pretty good last year until we got into December and New Orleans put the hurt on us.

We aren’t going to get the final answers to many of these questions until well into the season, but we are going to start getting the answers tonight.

What’s your biggest question?

Well, maybe not, but he sure was throwing some punches at his quarterbacks. You can tell the guy is loving his position at the Cowboys. And why shouldn’t he? Not only does he score an offensive coordinator position after only a few of years in coaching, not only is that position with his old team, but he inherits an offense riddled with talent.

And how about that Matt Moore? A friend of mine visited training camp last weekend and called me up to ask who the heck number five was because he was whizzing balls around the field. He might be a little raw, but I think it is safe to say he has an NFL arm in both strength and accuracy.

It was also good to see Romo only taking one sack and that one being a coverage sack that ended up being a fifteen yard gain on a roughing the passer penalty. Pretty good considering both starting tackles didn’t play in the game.

The Cowboys looked good, but it’s always tough to judge in preseason. A couple of things that bode well were the consistent long drives and the lack of penalties. A little bit of slop is expected in preseason, but for the most part the Cowboys looked pretty sharp.

Julius Jones looked like he was running with new purpose. He seemed to hit the hole much faster than last year. He was a blur on that six yard run up the gut. And Marion Barber looked great as well. It’s always good to see the power back juking someone out of their shoes.

Thus far, the season is getting off to a good start.

I remember a time when I didn’t watch any of the preseason games. My thoughts were that the starters wouldn’t play long and the game didn’t count so why bother? The few times I did turn them on it was just to watch the first half.

It wasn’t until I started watching the second half that I started really being interested in the preseason games. It’s probably the best reality show on television, though I might be saying that because I don’t like reality television. I like to watch the fringe players battle for the last few roster spots.

But there is a lot to watch for in this year’s preseason. We’ll get our first glimpse of the Garrett offense. How much Norv Turner will be in it? What new wrinkles will Garrett add?

We’ll also get to watch the Phillips 3-4. As everyone has no doubt heard by now, it is an attacking defense that should generate more pressure on the quarterback. But one thing I’m most interested in seeing is the effect of the cornerbacks lining up to the outside of the receivers instead of the inside. In last year’s defense, they lined up on the inside and took away the middle of the field. By lining up on the outside, they are better able to defend the sidelines, but they give up the middle. But it also allows the cornerbacks to keep an eye on the quarterback and react to the ball — which should lead to more interceptions. Plus, those receivers going over that ‘open’ middle of the field will be running into Roy territory.

We’ll also get our first glimpse of our first round draft pick, Anthony Spencer. It is a big transition going from defensive end to outside linebacker, and we’ll get to see how well he is making the adjustment.