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Dallas Cowboys By: Lester The Dallas Cowboys started a new era and a new look. The new look was not in their uniforms, but in their offense. Owner Jerry Jones hired the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Chan Gailey as the Dallas Cowboys 4th Head Coach in the teams history. The players were very excited about Gailey's hiring. Mainly, because of the style of offense he would bring to the table. The season was a roller coaster ride type of season that included a rise back to the NFC East title. The bad thing is that the season ended with an ugly 20-7 defeat in the first round of the playoffs to the Arizona Cardinals. Dallas did become the first team to go undefeated and un-tied in the NFC East. The Cowboys jumped out to an 8-3 record, which included a five game span without QB Troy Aikman. Aikman suffered an injury during the Denver game while scrambling. QB Jason Garrett filled in for those five games and went 3-2. The two defeats were both by 1 point to the Oakland Raiders and the Chicago Bears. When Aikman came back after the open date, the team won four games in a row to get to the 8-3 mark. Then came the Minnesota Vikings on Thanksgiving Day. The Boys scored 36 points, but they gave up 46 points in defeat. This defeat was 1 of the 3 that dropped the team to 8-6. They eventually seemed to get back on track by winning their last 2 games. The first one was an ugly win over the Philadelphia Eagles. The second was a pretty impressive victory over the Washington Redskins in the season finale. They finished atop the NFC East with a 10-6 record. Dallas played the last five games without DB Deion Sanders, who suffered a toe injury, and it showed. He did return for some spot play against the Cardinals in the playoffs, but it didn't help. The Cardinals finished the Cowboys season in the opening round of the playoffs. Therefore, the Cowboys finished the 1998 campaign with a 10-7 record. The Cowboys offense finished with some pretty high rankings during the 1998 season. They finished 8th in total yards (340.6), 8th in rushing yards per game (125.9), 9th in passing yards per game (214.8), 9th in points per game (23.8) and 14th in 3rd down efficiency. QB Troy Aikman had another excellent season. John Madden continuously said that Aikman is the most accurate QB in the NFL. Aikman finished 4th in the NFC with a QB rating of 88.5. He threw for over 2,300 yards with 12 TDs and only 5 INTs. He did this in only eleven games due to a broken left clavicle he sustained in the Denver game. He was only sacked a league low 19 times, but was hit or hurried on numerous occasions. QB Jason Garrett also did well during the 1998 season. Garrett finished with a QB rating of 84.5. He threw for 1,200 yards, 5 TDs and 3 INTs. WR Michael Irvin didn't have his usual type of season. Irvin finished the season with 74 receptions and a career low 1 TD, which came late in the season. One reason for Irvin's poor season was the constant double teams he received because the Cowboys didn't have another big threat at the other wide out. WR Ernie Mills was supposed to be this receiver, but got hurt. Mills did finish with 28 receptions and 4 TDs before his injury. WR Billy Davis was the team's second leading receiver with 39 receptions and 3 TDs. WR Patrick Jeffers came on late and did a great job. Dallas really had no threat this season at tight end like they use to have when they had Jay Novacek. David LaFleur had 20 receptions with 2 TDs, while Eric Bjornson had 15 receptions and 1 TD. The rushing game was supposed to be very strong this year with the 1-2 punch of RB Emmitt Smith and RB Chris Warren. Indication of this tandem was seen the first time the Cowboys played the Redskins in 1998. In this game, Smith ran had 28 carries for 120 yards and Warren carried 14 times for 104 yards and 2 TDs. Warren eventually went down with an injury and played sparingly. Warren did finish with 59 rushes, 291 yards and 4 TDs. RB Sherman Williams was brought back when Warren went down. Williams finished the season with 220 yards. He did a great job and had his best game in the season finale against the Redskins. He played the entire second half and finished with 90 yards on 23 carries. Smith did seem to return to his old form in 1998. He rushed for over 1,300 yards and had 13 TDs. Smith broke the All Time NFL record for career rushing TDs with 125. The offensive line didn't have its usual type of season either. T Larry Allen continued his top NFL lineman type performance. T Erik Williams seems to be getting better after his car accident injury. Rookie G Flozell Adams was thrown into duty because of the injury to G Everett Mclver. G Nate Newton turned out to be better than most expected after dropping weight and coming into training in pretty good shape. C Clay Shiver and C Mike Kiselak took turns starting at center. Both had problems making the right calls at times which caused breakdowns in the offense. Defensively, the Cowboys gave up big yards, but didn't give up many points. They finished 18th in opponent's yards per game (322.8), 12th in opponent's rushing yards per game (101.2), 22nd in opponents passing yards per game (221.6). They did well in 3rd down efficiency, finishing 6th and they finished 3rd in opponents points per game (17.2). The Cowboys didn't do a great job in the secondary mainly because of injuries. The main injury was the one that CB Deion Sanders got late in the season. Sanders missed the last five games, but still lead the team in INTs with 5. He returned 1 of them for a TD. CB Kevin Smith and CB Kevin Mathis each had 2 INTs. Mathis did an excellent job filling in for Sanders. S Kenny Wheaton also did a great job filling in for S George Teague and S Darren Woodson. The secondary probably would have played better if the front four could have put more pressure on the opponents' QBs. The leading sacker was DE Kavika Pittman with 6.0. DE Hurvin McCormick was next with 5.0. No one else had over 3 sacks. Rookie DE Greg Ellis and Rookie DE Michael Myers didn't too well in the sack category, but both showed promising signs in the 1998 season. Sanders lead the NFC in Punt Returns with an average of 15.6 yards. He returned 2 for TDs, with his best one coming against the Giants in which he returned it 59 yards. One of his punt returns in the playoff game against Arizona, set up the Cowboys only score for the game. Mathis handled the Kick Return duties and averaged 24.8 yards per return. P Toby Gowin had a decent season finishing with a gross average per punt of 43.4 and a net average of 36.6. Gowin did an excellent job of placing the ball inside the opponent's 20-yard line. He accomplished this feat 31 times. Kicker Richie Cunningham had another great season connection on 83% of his field goal attempts (29-35). He was 10-11 from 40 to 49 yards. His longest kick was 54 yards. The 1998 season was a good year for the Cowboys in the turnover department also. Besides setting records such as going 8-0 in the division and Smith's TD rushing record, the Cowboys were only the second team in NFL history to finish the season with less turnovers than games played. They finished the season with a team low 15 turnovers (7 fumbles, 8 INTs) in 16 games. They had 26 takeaways (12 fumble recoveries, 14 INTs). The 1998 Cowboys, owner and coaches are not happy with the way the season ended, but they do feel good about the direction in which the team is heading. Free Agency and Off-Season Finally, the Cowboys don't have too many key players up for free agency. Most of their key guys won't be reaching free agency anytime soon. The first order of priority for the Cowboys is to restructure some of the veteran's contracts and to release some that have cap figures. The top 16 players for the Cowboys account for more than $53 million against the 1999 salary cap. The 1999 salary cap is expected to be around $58 million. The first person of concern, even though he is not a free agent, is Neon Deion. He has one year left on his contract, but doesn't want to go into his last year without a new contract. Sanders would like to restructure his contract so it will be 6 years for $60 million with a signing bonus between $8-10 million. Next on the list is probably LB Randall Godfrey, who is a restricted free agent. The bad thing is that the Cowboys have a history of not paying their LBs a ton of money. They have let LBs such as Dixon Edwards, Ken Norton, Robert Jones and Darrin Smith leave via free agency. It has been said that the Cowboys do want to re-sign Godfrey as well as WR Ernie Mills. OG Nate Newton is another big name free agent, but he is 37 years old. The Cowboys must decide if they want Newton to return as a starter or a reserve. Newton said that he is too old to make a switch now. He may stay for less money. They have already signed OL Fred Childress. Another question for the Cowboys is what to do in the secondary. CB Kevin Mathis as shown that he can play the position. He only accounts for $216,000 against the cap. They could let CB Kevin Smith go, but he is signed through the year 2003. Smith accounts for $3.6 million against the cap. It would cost the Cowboys more than $5 million to release or trade Kevin Smith. Jones also needs to make a decision on TE Eric Bjornson ($895,000), WR Billy Davis ($1.2 million), MLB Fred Strickland ($1.16 million) and DE Hurvin McCormack ($750,000). It would cost Dallas $826,000 to release these four players and $3.92 million to keep them. They have already put WR Billy Davis and DE Hurvin McCormack on the expansion draft list. The Cowboys are also interested in joining the WR Carl Pickens sweepstakes if the asking price is right. Finally, the Cowboys have a good kicker in Cunningham and a good punter in Gowin. Dallas is known to either sign these guys to 1-year deals or let them go. Depending on the asking price, they may let them go and find two new ones. Jones stated that he does not want to go through a long re-building process. The list of free agents is as follows:
DT Darren Benson Exposed to the Expansion Draft
DT Antonio Anderson Needs via Free Agency or the Draft The Cowboys need to find playmakers on both sides of the ball. There is talk that the Cowboys are interested in MLB Quentin Coryatt to replace MLB Fred Strickland. Look for the Cowboys to make him one of their early free agent signings. The Cowboys took a chance and surprised many by placing the Moose on the expansion draft. If the Browns take him, Dallas may need to use this pick to grab a FB. Question is, "Do you take a FB with the first pick?" Answer, Most likely NO! The Cowboys are set with veterans across the board, but they need to concentrate on bringing in some quality players they can start grooming as potential replacements. The main target area in the draft may be at WR or LB. They need a speedy WR who can stretch the field like Alvin Harper use to do. WR David Boston from Ohio St. or WR Torry Holt from N.C. State are coveted by the Cowboys, but may not be around with the 22nd pick. They may go after WR Peerless Price of Tennessee with this pick. If not a receiver, they may go after a play making LB. If they don't get Coryatt via free agency, they may go after a LB in the draft like Clemson's 6'6'' 235lb Rahim Abdullah. He is the type of LB he can wreck havoc on opposing QBs. They could then move Godfrey to MLB. Other targets with their first pick are C Damien Woody and CB Antoine Winfield. The Cowboys also need some help with there pass rush. DE Greg Ellis came on as the season progressed. They may be able to hold off on this position a little later in the draft. The thing is, the top two DE ends maybe gone early. North Carolina's Ebenezer Ekuban may be one to drop in the later rounds. Other needs for the Cowboys is depth at the offensive line, a free safety who can cover and a CB to play opposite of Sanders. Kevin Smith can do it, but he has not gotten back to the form he was before he injured his Achilles. Some other draft possibilities are North Carolina's CB Dre' Bly, Alabama's S Fernando Bryant, WR Troy Edwards, WR Kevin Johnson, WR Dameane Douglas, OG Cameron Spikes, OG Tony Coats, DE Demitrius Underwood, DE Tony Bryant, DE Derrick Ham, S Nakia Codie and S Teako Brown. Center is definitely a place of concern. The Cowboys are not too happy with the play of C Clay Shiver and C Mike Kiselak. So, don't be surprised if C Mark Stepnoski returns.
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