ARLINGTON – Jerry Jones boasts that even at age 70, he has the "CAT Scans" to prove he's got "the brain of a 40-year-old."
Now that the Dallas Cowboys preseason is complete with Thursday's 24-6 home loss to Houston, it's time for Jones and the rest of the Dallas braintrust to apply itself to the finalization of a 2013 roster the club thinks possesses "the secret sauce to win championships."
That was the early-week prediction of Jones' son, team executive Stephen Jones. Jerry later explained that the "sauce" was made up of "the makeup of our staff, the basic changes, Jason's (Garrett) overall involvement …There is a lot we haven't shown."
That sort of talk is generated by the "marketing side" of the Cowboys (and the "marketing side" of Jerry's brain.) The football side is about the Cowboys' quest to achieve playoff success – in the last 17 seasons, Dallas has won just two playoff games – and it begins with the coming cuts of the roster to 53 players.
The Cowboys went into Thursday's game with a trio of notable roster considerations:
1 A finalization of defensive backup jobs.
2 Whether to keep a third quarterback.
3 Preparing the offensive line in case of regular-season instability.
Swing tackle Jermey Parnell, a candidate to start, was the only thing close to a first-teamer on the field on either side of the ball for Dallas. The Cowboys are holding out hope that regular starting guards Ron Leary and Mackenzy Bernadeau will be ready for the regular-season opener for the Giants. That would put Doug Free at right tackle (rather than at right guard, where he's been experimenting) and put Thursday's right tackle, Parnell, back on the bench.
The offensive line group Dallas employed early on was good enough to help Joseph Randle total 47 yards on 10 carries.Phillip Tanner started the game and ran six times for 35 yards.
It's hard to argue that the Cowboys – who allowed 124 rushing yards in the first half -- produced many answers among backup defenders, and the depth there is further impacted due to a possible concussion sustained by lineman Sean Lissimore.
And the debate about keeping a third QB (or even a practice-squadder) remains alive as Alex Tanney missed some targets while completing 17 of 31 passes for 177 yards with an interception and no TDs.
"You want to play better than we played tonight," coach Jason Garrett said. "Again a lot of young guys were playing for us and for them you try to evaluate individuals as much as you evaluate the whole group."
And now, with this weekend's NFL cutdown to 53 looming, Dallas does just that. The 2-3 preseason is behind them. The "Governor's Cup" trophy – almost as meaningless as that 2-3 record -- goes to Houston. It's time for tough decisions. Energetic brainpower. Secret sauce. Whatever Cowboys brass can manage.
"Any one thing might not get it done," said Jerry Jones of his Cowboys components, "but the combination of all of it is the sauce."
