Dallas Cowboys
Heroes & Zeroes
Week one

Dallas Cowboys 34 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21

It's been a very busy week and I really haven't had much time to write. Tomorrow is my twin sons' 11th birthday and so I have been spending a lot of time with all my kids. As far as the Cowboys are concerned, I'm going to start something different this year. I will pick the best offensive and defensive players who deserve recognition, and I will call them the "Heroes" for the week. Then, I will pick who I felt were the worst (or most disappointing), and I'll call then the "Zeroes." In addition, I will pick one wild card (either offense, defense, special teams or coach) as well. So for week one, here are my Heroes and Zeros:

HEROES

Tony Romo, Quarterback - He started off slow, but really took off from the second quarter on. His experience is beginning to really show and you get the feeling as as long as the Cowboys are close, they can pull it off.

Gerald Sensabaugh, Safety - The former Jacksonville Jaguar had the defense's best game (not that he had much competition). Take away a very iffy penalty called against him, and he would have forced the games only turnover. That, and his blocked punt were huge plays Sunday.

Jason Garrett, Offensive Coordinator - The Cowboys ran 25 times and threw 27. They never ran more than 3 times in a row and didn't pass more than 3 times in a row. His play call on the TD pass to Crayton was a thing of beauty. However, it's one thing to score 34 on Tampa Bay. Let's see what he can do against the Giants.

ZEROES

Felix Jones, Running Back - While his presence on the field causes all sorts of problems on the defense, his liability against the blitz kept him on the sidelines too often. That's why we saw Tashard Choice running the wildcat formation. However, his lack of playing time was further exacerbated by an upper thigh bruise as well.

Anthony Spencer, Outside Linebacker - After being hailed as an improvement over Greg Ellis, the 3rd year former top draft choice was rarely seen on Sunday. DeMarcus Ware cannot have anymore "off games" (his words). Not until Spencer picks up the pace.

Wade Phillips, Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator - It's hard to call the head coach of a team that won by 13 points, a zero. But since Wade decided he was solely in charge of the defense, I feel he deserves the moniker this week. Against a team that fired their offensive coordinator, started a QB who hasn't started an opening game in 6 years (and almost had no job at all this year and clearly were hurting in a number of positions, his "stellar" (his words) defense let us over 460 yards. Yes, they didn't break. But they rarely tackled as well. If they play this week the same way, the Giants will score 50 points. The Cowboys had zero sacks (they led the league a year ago), had no turnovers (unless you count the blocked field goal) and missed so many tackles they resembled a subway turnstile.

But regardless, this was a road win against a conference team and they are 1-0, tied for first. So it certainly could have been worse. I do believe the defense will rise to the occasion next Sunday night. They are playing their first "real" game at the new Cowboys Stadium and I do think they will win. I'll make my official prediction on Friday.

I just know you can't wait!