By RANDY GALLOWAY, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
ARLINGTON — And finally, as the curtain on the August warm-up act closes, the check list reads like this:
Tony Romo? Seems to be fine. Seems to be where he needs to be.
Cowboys offense, overall? Kept under wraps for August, but nothing not to like, with much more expected to surface as Jason Garrett attempts to re-grow his now shrunken coaching reputation.
Cowboys defense? Wade promised, didn’t he, to fix it? His job, and also reputation, is on the line, but, yes, August did provide an up-tick in this area. Just don’t ask me to prove it when it comes to anything other than the starters.
Special teams? The latest performance in this area will help Joe DeCamillis sleep better at night. But the new ST coach has miles to go before he sleeps well. He’s attempting to transform awful into acceptable.
Otherwise:
It’s never too soon for exhibition football to end, and so it did at the new Arlington yard Saturday night, which was not soon enough, but why quibble over the timetable, or ponder in depth a final score of 49ers 20, Cowboys 13.
Forget, of course, this week, and a venture up to Minneapolis on Friday to close down the preseason. Final exhibition games, otherwise known as the Backup Bowl, are a waste of expensive charter jet fuel for the visitor. Romo, who will mostly spectate Friday night, would be better off on a beach in Mexico. Well, maybe not there. How about St. Thomas this time?
A positive to the exhibition grind has been the lack of a major injury to any frontliner, even though two games in the last eight days to debut Jerry’s Boss Hawg Bowl did seem to create a more juiced-up football tempo for this time of year.
Another much larger-than-usual August crowd, 72,000-plus, was on hand to see and be seen on $40 million worth of JumboJerryTron, and somehow appeared to be geeked about what it was watching, except for a couple of things:
(1) The backups cough up the game in the fourth quarter.
(2) That one time Romo threw a first-quarter pick, ending a promising drive.
It was Tony’s first interception and turnover of August, and came after as he was hit while throwing. But at least he identified the problem afterward.
“I probably needed to eat it there [take the sack] so I don’t make that mistake.”
Good point, Tony.
Beyond the pick, Romo was an effective 11-for-17 for 125 yards in his first half of action, and lost about 20 more yards on a Martellus Bennett drop. Garrett was pleased enough that he didn’t deem it necessary for Romo to take a third-quarter series, which was expected to be part of this dress-rehearsal plan.
Roy Williams was not available after his practice injury Thursday, and since Uno Uno is supposed to still be in a learning process with Romo, this absence may or may not be of significance.
But in attempt to stay halfway positive, maybe that injury, along with the absence of Sam Hurd on Saturday night, allowed remaining receivers to step forward, including Miles August who won’t go 0-for-August. Austin had three catches for 44 yards. Also interesting to see undrafted rookie Kevin Ogletree in there early against the 49ers’ defensive starters, and come up with a couple of catches, totaling 36 yards.
Now, the negatives from an August of exhibition football:
The Cowboys, to no surprise, proved to be dangerously thin in backup talent, which certainly was the case while losing in Oakland three weeks ago, and then losing to the 49ers on Saturday night. Not so much, however, against the Titans last week, which is puzzling, since the Titans are a much better team than the other opponents.
What the Ls did, however, was emphasize the importance of having luck with injuries through 16 regular-season games. Lotsa luck on that happening.
But this is a team, as of now, that will enter the regular season with all starters healthy, provided Roy Williams is nursing only a minor shoulder injury, as stated.
Meanwhile, a quick check of thin position groups shows the Cowboys flirting with disaster if any frontliner goes down in these areas:
Cornerback. Safety. Inside linebacker. Outside linebacker. Nose tackle. Possibly defensive end. Definitely offensive line. And receiver.
By the way, new backup QB Jon Kitna continued a drowsy August on Saturday, but when he enters the game, it’s not with the starters, so Kitna gets an excuse for now.
Main thing:
August means it over. The real thing is coming soon. Stay healthy, my friends.
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