FanHouse Jon Kitna

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.

Young players announcing impossible goals are as much a part of preseason as two-a-days, roster cuts and injuries. Eleven years ago, then-second-year running back Corey Dillon announced that he would rush for 2,500 yards during the 1998 season. He came up 1,370 yards short.

In 2007, Frank Gore set his sights on Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards. He ended up with 1,102 yards, barely halfway there.

This should go over well: former NFL quarterback Rich Gannon ranks the NFC East quarterbacks and he thinks Tony Romo is the best of the bunch. It's hard to get worked up about such lists since they have absolutely no bearing on how the season will unfold. But that's not the point, at least for fans of the Eagles, Giants and Redskins.

Anyway, here's what Gannon said on Sirius NFL Radio (via the Dallas Morning News' Todd Archer):

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet The ...
The team that decided to become more "Romo-friendly". Tony Romo got rid of two divas this offseason. He broke it off with longtime gal Jessica Simpson and the team released wide receiver Terrell Owens. While neither departure is guaranteed to help the Cowboys, getting rid of Owens with no true number one receiver in house will most likely shift the offense back towards a run-first philosophy, which will be quite a change from the 58% pass offense that Dallas utilized in 2008.

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Retired NFL quarterback Trent Green is the first-ever guest columnist of MMQB, filling in while Peter King is on vacation. Green provided an interesting read on subjects relating to the league's personal conduct policy, concussions and the expanded season. And of course it wouldn't be a MMQB without a healthy dose of Favre thrown in for good measure.

What jumps out of Green's article is his prediction that 10 quarterbacks will have over 4,000 yards passing this season. He says six are a lock to do it (Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Phillip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers), and seven have the potential to do it (Jay Cutler, Matt Cassel, Carson Palmer, Matt Schaub, Donovan McNabb, Tony Romo, Matt Hasselbeck).

Let's put this prediction in context:

In the weeks leading up to the Biggest Weekend of the NFL Offseason, I've wondered why the Rams haven't shown more interest in quarterbacks Matthew Stafford or Mark Sanchez. St. Louis has the second overall pick, managed just five wins in two seasons, and Marc Bulger looks like he's had enough.

Bulger's perceived disposition is a familiar one; quarterbacks who play behind an offensive line in name only often exhibit some combination of apprehension and apathy after years of physical abuse (Jon Kitna, David Carr, and Joey Harrington also come to mind). Of course, that's a solid argument for why the Rams should take Jason Smith or Eugene Monroe -- offensive tackles who could start immediately.

With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

To say the 2008 Dallas Cowboys season was tumultuous wouldn't really be giving credit to the word. The team had suspensions, Jessica Simpsons and the incredible absence of TD-ing. Dallas missed the playoffs after being a favored team going into the season and now has gone through a total redesign.

With Terrell Owens shipped to Buffalo, the passing game will go through Roy Williams, who has never been the player to take control of an offense. Balking on Ray Lewis and sticking with Tony Romo, this crew has a long way to go to be the best in their division, which is the toughest in the NFL. Along with all their obvious holes, the offensive line is a tad thin and the safety position could be improve drastically.

Maybe drafting Matthew Stafford would be a total success for Detroit. Maybe it would be an unmitigated disaster. There's just no way to know for sure how things will work out. It's a total crapshoot -- so the Lions should put the dice down, pick their money up and cash in whatever chips they hold in exchange for Denver quarterback Jay Cutler.

The Jerry Jones Cowboys are in the midst of an offseason makeover. Assistant coaches have been fired, big-named players have been released, and others have been signed to replace them, all in an effort to put the 2008 debaclement quickly in the rearview.

You might've heard that Dallas hasn't won a playoff game since 1996, and if that doesn't change next season, SI.com's Ross Tucker thinks quarterback Tony Romo should take the fall. Not Wade Phillips or Jason Garrett or Jones -- Jessica Simpson's boyfriend.

There were no bright spots in the 2008 Lions season, except that it ended. Predictably, coaches were fired, players were released and the arduous task of rebuilding is now underway. (Although, to be fair, Detroit has been rebuilding for the entire decade, but that was part of some Matt Millen master plan gone horribly wrong.)

Whatever, change is on the way, as they say. New head coach Jim Schwartz is young, smart and seemingly motivated. The Lions have yet to make headline-grabbing personnel moves, but they have signed wide receiver Bryant Johnson and running back Maurice Morris, and parted ways with over-the-hill Jon Kitna and the ineffective Leigh Bodden. And Wednesday, they also added defensive tackle Grady Jackson.