FanHouse Bradie James

Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Tony Romo was 16 years old the last time the Dallas Cowboys won a playoff game -- Dec. 28, 1996 over Minnesota. Since then, a span of 13 seasons, America's Team has gone 0-6 in the postseason and failed to qualify for the playoffs seven times. It's a shocking drought for a franchise with the history, and more obviously, the pride that Dallas does that there has been more recent on-field success. This is a big season in Big D, for Romo, for coach Wade Phillips, for the future of the franchise. But breaking that postseason jinx won't be easy.

Following Dallas' embarrassing end to its disappointing season on Sunday, there's been some talk that this could be one of the lowest points in the history of the Cowboys franchise. I'm not sure I agree with that, after all, there was the late 1980's, Dave Campo as head coach, and that home playoff loss to the Arizona Cardinals a decade or so ago.

This was simply an overrated team that stumbled along at a 9-7 pace while a few egos slowly, but surely, brought the team down from the inside. I mean, what did you really expect when you threw Terrell Owens, Tank Johnson, Pacman Jones and Roy Williams -- the receiver -- in the same locker room under the leadership and guidance of Wade Phillips? That's a recipe for madness.

Having said that, and even though the season is over in Dallas, there's still plenty of time to make this the lowest point in franchise history, and attacking fans outside the practice facility -- allegedly -- is a good place to start.

According to Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Star-Telegram, a disappointed Cowboys fan by the name of Alan Lowe decided to voice his displeasure in sign form, by marching outside the team's practice facility with a pair of signs that read, "The Cowboys have no heart," and "Wade Phillips is an embarrassment to the star."

Linebacker Bradie James was not amused.

This is probably a discussion for another time given that the Ravens and Cowboys are playing the biggest game of their respective seasons in less than three hours, but, well, it doesn't hurt to bring it up now, I suppose.

NFL.com's Adam Schefter raises an interesting off-season possibility should linebacker Ray Lewis not end up re-signing with Baltimore, the team that drafted him in 1996: Dallas owner Jerry Jones could be very interested in his services.

Raise your hand if you didn't see this coming. I'm not seeing many hands raised. Ed Werder, resident Cowboy's expert at ESPN, has a rather incredible article on Thursday talking about a potential conflict that is on the verge of consuming us all. I hope you're ready for it. I'm already going to the store to stock up on bread and toilet paper.

Apparently, Terrell Owens, always with a sunny disposition and rosy outlook on life, is growing jealous of the relationship and friendship that is shared by Dallas quarterback Tony Romo, and tight end Jason Witten.

Seriously.

I have to assume this is true, simply because it's so crazy that you couldn't possibly make it up. Plus, it sounds like vintage Owens behavior. Linebacker Bradie James is quoted in Werder's piece as saying he "plays peacemaker" between Owens and Romo, while a second, unnamed player takes it a couple of steps further, comparing this situation to the apocalyptic -- in a football sense -- situations that Owens created in San Francisco and Philadelphia. And we all know how that ended.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: We know that Tony Romo isn't a fluke. He stepped in last year and had another fantastic season, setting team records in the process. There are questions remaining about distractions (Romessica) and winning a playoff game (none in his two years) which Romo must answer if he wants to take a place among the NFL's elite. Dallas is putting all their eggs in that basket as the only fallback if Romo gets hurt is 39-yr old Brad Johnson who isn't quite the risk taker. Heat Index: 9

Running backs: It's rare when a team loses their starting running back and everyone is fine with the position. Julius Jones is gone, but rookie Felix Jones is in. Jones (Felix) will get a ton of carries this season to keep Marion Barber fresh. Barber, who only started the Cowboys' playoff game, is the NFL's version of Mariano Rivera -- he dominates late in games and finishes drives off. Jones and Barber will combined for that classic "lightning and thunder" combo and should be quite successful doing it in what supposed to be a more run-friendly offense. Heat Index: 7

Didn't see this coming: after Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman went on the radio and said he had 30 grand set aside for fines he may incur for knocking Lions quarterback Jon Kitna silly this Sunday, the NFL has followed up with the this statement:

"Be advised that your comments will now compel us to carefully monitor your activities in this weekend's Cowboys-Lions game," read part of the letter signed by Ray Anderson, NFL executive vice president for football operations. "As you know, flagrant fouls may subject a player not only to fines, but to suspension as well. So conduct yourself accordingly."

All this stems from the 2006 Week 17 Detroit-Dallas matchup, when Kitna made some not-so-nice post-victory comments. In addition to Newman, linebacker Bradie James is looking for a little payback. To be fair, Kitna doesn't discriminate when making dopey pronouncements; he called out his teammates after Detroit dropped their fourth straight game last week.

Some of this may just be hubris, or maybe Kitna's punch drunk; offensive coordinator Mike Martz admitted that he's worried his quarterback is taking too many hits. Whatever, whether it's Newman or somebody else, probability -- and the Lions' pass-blocking-optional offensive line -- suggests that Kitna will be picking himself up off the turf a few times Sunday.

As if it matters, Dallas head coach Wade Phillips told the Associated Press that his team will play a clean game. So there, Jon, nothing to worry about.

Detroit quarterback Jon Kitna could be in for a world of pain come Sunday. Apparently, the Cowboys (and their fans) have very long memories, and nobody's willing to forget Kitna's comments following last year's Lions win.

In case you missed it, the guy who dressed up as a naked coach for Halloween, called out several Cowboys players after last year's game. Specifically, Kitna offered this on linebacker Bradie James: "that No. 56 looked like he didn't know where he was about half the time." Shockingly, James is still pissed.

Kitna didn't stop there: he also said cornerback Terence Newman "doesn't have the kind of ability [of Marcus Trufant]. It wasn't like you were scared to throw at him, I guess." Relatively speaking, not all that inflammatory, but we're talking about football, where the most benign comments (not applicable here) can be twisted into a declaration of war. Which is why Newman offered this on a recent SIRIUS NFL Radio appearance:

What happens when a 6-2, 250 pound linebacker meets a 6-4, 264 pound running back in the hole?

Well, if the running back's name is Brandon Jacobs, it only means bad things for the linebacker.



My goodness! Bradie James is no slouch, but Jacobs ran him into the ground like a 5-10, 180 pound cornerback. And it's not like this is the first time Jacobs has run anyone over, but that doesn't make it any less impressive.

That said, there was little the Giants had to be happy about during that game. They wound up losing to the Cowboys for the second time this season and watched their NFC East division hopes evaporate into thin air.