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Joey Galloway will always be remembered as a monumental trade bust in Dallas, but they love him in Tampa Bay. Galloway, who was shipped to the Bucs for Keyshawn Johnson, is the only receiver in franchise history with three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons.

Galloway has missed the last five games with a foot injury and is iffy this week. Ex-Cowboy Antonio Bryant, who arrived in Tampa Bay after stops in Cleveland, San Francisco and NFL purgatory, has filled Galloway's shoes as the Bucs' primary weapon in the passing game.

"He's put it together here," coach Jon Gruden said. "It's real credit to him. ... He's clearly on the rise, and we need his help, that's for sure."

Gruden has mentioned a few times that Bryant was talented enough to start opposite Michael Irvin as a rookie. That's not true -- Bryant arrived in Dallas a few years after The Playmaker's retirement and wore his No. 88 -- but Gruden really only cares about what the ex-Cowboys receivers do after they join the Bucs.

"We like those ex-Cowboy receivers," Gruden said. "They've done quite well for us. If you'd like to pass us a few more, we'd be happy to take them."

Jeff Garcia will be Tampa Bay's starter Sunday at Texas Stadium and maybe it just seems like Garcia is unbeatable at the old yard.

He is 3-2 all time in starts for San Francisco, Cleveland and Philadelphia. He was historically bad in his 2004 visit with the Browns, completing 8 of 27 passes for 71 yards while being interepted three times in a 19-12 loss, but in his four other starts in Irving he has 10 touchdown passes and just one interception.

For whatever reason, Jon Gruden declined to talk about Brad Johnson during a conference call with Valley Ranch media yesterday. It clearly wasn't a case of a Super Bowl-winning coach/quarterback relationship gone sour.

Gruden gushed about Johnson when talking to the Tampa Bay media.

"I love that guy," Gruden said of Johnson, per the Tampa Tribune. "We've stayed in touch over the years. He's special to me and always will be. He's a world champion.

"I wish him the best - he's a stud."

Most of the Valley Ranch media requested ex-Cowboy WR Antonio Bryant, who is tearing it up in Tampa Bay, for this week's conference call. We're getting LB Derrick Brooks.

Perhaps Bryant decided that he was better off not rehashing his days in Dallas.

The St. Petersburg Times did have an interview with Bryant recently. There was no mention of his tossing a sweaty jersey in the Tuna's face, but he did briefly look back at his time with the Cowboys by comparing Bucs QB Jeff Garcia to Tony Romo. (Wonder if T.O. sees the same similarities?)

"Jeff has something I saw in Tony Romo when I was with the Cowboys and it's something you can't coach in quarterbacks, and that's tenacity," Bryant said. "He's got that knack to make a play. You saw him do that on that one play to Jameel Cook when he flicked the ball to him. I know you guys have been out here with Jeff for the last two years or so, and that's what he does. And I know what type of guy he is, so I try to stay alive and make plays for him when he's on the run."

Marc Bulger's conference call with Valley Ranch reporters fell far, far short of the sensational standard set by Chad Ocho Cinco a couple weeks ago.

Bulger, who was on the wrong end of a 35-7 butt-kicking by the Cowboys last season, certainly didn't make any bold predictions or guarantees. The theme: We're just a 1-4 team trying to get better.

There is a hint of optimism after upsetting the Redskins on the road last week in Jim Haslett's debut as interim coach. But Bulger, who is struggling through a rough season (73.2 QB rating and benched for a game), doesn't expect anybody around these parts to be real impressed with the Rams.

"I'm sure you guys are down there thinking, 'This is a good week to play the Rams,'" Bulger said.

I must admit that the thought did cross my mind.

For further coverage of the Rams, check out the St. Louis-Post Dispatch.

To the victor goes the spoils, or something like that. In this case, the Cardinals got to do a little trash talking.

"All we've been hearing is how big this offensive line is, they're so big and their running back runs so hard," Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said. "Don't get me wrong. That's probably one of the best teams in the NFL. I've heard a lot of people say it, even Michael Irvin. You come out here things are bound to pop off. You can lose any day out here."

To be fair to the Cardinals, they are 9-2 at home under coach Ken Whisenhunt. And to be fair to Dockett, he had a heck of a day. He had three tackles, three quarterback hurries and a big sack for a 10-yard loss.

"My coach challenged me," Dockett said. "They have Leonard Davis, probably one of the best guards in the league. He looked at me and said, 'I think you're one of the best D-tackles in the league, so let me see what you're going to do.

"I laid all mine on the table and numbers don't lie."
(Dallas Morning News photo by Michael Mulvey)

The official injury reports have been released. No shocking news from the Cowboys -- like Terence Newman suddenly popping up on the report last Friday. SS Pat Watkins has been ruled out.

Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin also won't play two weeks after taking a frightening hit under the chin from Jets safety Eric Smith. That means Steve Breaston, who had seven catches for 77 yards in last week's whupping of Buffalo, will start opposite Larry Fitzgerald again.

Arizona TE Ben Patrick (knee) is doubtful. Three-fourths of the Cardinals secondary -- CB Rod Hood (groin), CB Eric Green (groin) and SS Adrian Wilson (hamstring) -- is questionable. So is DE Bertrand Berry and LB Clark Haggans, who are both nursing sore groins.

They're both aw-shucks guys from small midwestern colleges who went from no-names to franchise QBs seemingly overnight.

Warner, one of the only QBs to put up more impressive stats than Romo in his first 31 games as a starter, has returned to the elite ranks after his career hit a rocky patch following his injury-riddled finish to a storybook run with the St. Louis Rams. He readily admits to rooting for Romo when he got the starting job in Dallas.

"I definitely did early on," Warner said in a conference call with Valley Ranch media this week. "He's kind of entrenched now as one of the guys in the NFL, so the story isn't kind as intriguing now because he's established himself. That's kind of one of the things that I remember when I was trying to establish myself. I was hoping one day the grocery stocking and all that stuff would just kind of stuff would just kind of disappear and I would just be known as an NFL quarterback. I think that's kind of the way Tony is now, at least in my opinion."

Romo and Warner also have a lot of similarities on the field. Warner doesn't have Romo's mobility, but Wade Phillips said they're both successful in large part because of quick releases and savvy.

Wade Phillips heard that Cardinals QB Kurt Warner was considering retirement, and Phillips believes that's a mighty fine idea. He's encouraging Warner to call it quits before the Cowboys come to town Sunday.

"I think he should retire," Phillips said. "I don't know if he wants to hear from me or not."

Ol' Wade was just kidding, of course. He'd just rather not have to face a QB who ranks third in the league in passing yards (1,472) and QB rating (102.5) and fourth in TD passes (10).

Warner has set the record straight about his retirement thoughts, which were spurred by watching Anquan Boldin get knocked unconscious and taken off the field on a stretcher. He said he never considered hanging up the cleats in the middle of the season, but this could be the final season of his career.

"Hey, when this season is over, I'm really going to sit down and consciously think about the big picture," Warner said on his conference call with the Valley Ranch media. "One of the things my wife always tells me is that I had a great career and had so much success and done so many things. She says sometimes to me that she doesn't really care if we win or lose. Her bottom line is she just wants to see me get up every time I go down."

Wade Phillips said CB Terence Newman is "probably out" of Sunday's game in Arizona because of an abdominal strain, not the groin injury that sidelined him from the first week of training camp through the season opener.

SS Pat Watkins (shoulder) is also doubtful.

In somewhat related news, Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt hasn't ruled out the possibility of WR Anquan Boldin playing against the Cowboys. Boldin is recovering from surgery after he took a vicious knockout blow late in the Sept. 28 loss to the Jets.

Leonard "Bigg" Davis, a No. 2 overall pick who considered a bust by folks in the Phoenix area, downplayed his return to Arizona. He doesn't feel like he has to prove anything to the Cardinals.

The big fella's performance as a Cowboy pretty much speaks for itself. He earned his first trip to Hawaii last season and is performing at a Pro Bowl level again.

You can count on Davis' return getting some play in the Arizona papers.

"I think he is the best guard in the league," Wade Phillips said when asked about Davis on his conference call with the Arizona media. "He is a dominant player and whoever you play him against always has a tough game because he is such a good player and he works hard in the offseason. He is the kind of player you want, a Pro Bowler and deservedly so."

I'm sure there will be a few references made to Jay Novacek, who also morphed into a Pro Bowler after leaving the desert for Valley Ranch.

We'll get a chance to talk to Cardinals QB Kurt Warner this afternoon. One of the things I want to ask him about is the similarities he sees between himself in his early years as the Rams' starter and Tony Romo now.

Warner is one of four active QBs who had better records through 31 starts than Romo. The others: Phillip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger and Marc Bulger.

Here's a comparison of Warner's and Romo's stats through 31 regular-season starts.

WARNER

Comp.-Att. -- 665-991
Yards -- 9,030
TDs/INTs -- 73/34
300-yard games -- 20
Regular-season record -- 25-6
Playoff record -- 4-1

ROMO

Comp.-Att. -- 643-992
Yards -- 8,220
TDs/INTs -- 63/34
300-yard games -- 13
Regular-season record -- 23-8
Playoff record -- 0-2

Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley took the PC route when discussing coaching against his last employer Sunday. It's a rather large understatement to say that Haley had a rocky relationship with the Cowboys WRs when he was their position coach, especially in 2006.

"I'm excited to see all those guys," Haley told the Arizona Republic. "They're good guys and good players."

I wouldn't count on any warm, fuzzy pregame meetings between Haley and Patrick Crayton or T.O.

The Cardinals haven't had much of a homefield advantage during the Cowboys' previous trips to Arizona. Matter of fact, the red/blue split was 50/50 or maybe even in the Cowboys' favor.

Arizona QB Kurt Warner, whose team is 2-0 at home this season and coming off a butt kicking of previously undefeated Buffalo, hopes the Cowboys don't get any support Sunday.

"I think it stinks," Warner told the Arizona Republic, referring to season-ticket holders selling out for Cowboys fans. "It's always hard to tell somebody not to sell something when they can make money on it. But we want our advantage. We've fought hard for that. The fans have done a tremendous job sticking with us and now we're developing something. I just hope we can get to the point where it doesn't matter who comes into this building.

"Whether half the town is from Dallas or anywhere else, Chicago or whatever, that somehow we can turn them into Cardinals fans to the point they say, 'I don't care what you're offering me, I want to go see my Cardinals play.' "

Wade Phillips didn't want to hear any nitpicking after the Cowboys' not-so-convincing victory over the winless Bengals.

Phillips acknowledged that the Cowboys' performance wasn't perfect. He said they've got "lots of things to work on" and would do so this week.

However, he pointed out that the Bengals took the defending Super Bowl champions into overtime a couple weeks ago. Phillips will take a nine-point win over Cincy and gladly move on.

"Everybody's happy," Phillips said. "We are all happy we won. It's hard to do in this league, and we did it today."

Ocho Cinco and Adam "Pacman" Jones are good pals who had a grand time competing against each other and exchanging good-natured insults throughout Sunday's game.

During his epic conference call with the Valley Ranch media earlier this week, Ocho Cinco vowed that Pacman was "gonna get it." Pacman responded by predicting that Ocho Cinco's "horrible" season would continue for at least one week.

"Did I get it?" Pacman said after Ocho Cinco's three-catch, 43-yard performance. "Hey, look, I'm going to tell you like this: There wasn't no kissing the star. He didn't get in the end zone, and I don't think he had more than three or four catches. End of discussion."

Of course, a discussion about Ocho Cinco is never over until he gets in a few words.

"I don't think it was him that kept me from doing it," Ocho Cinco said. "You get it? You get it? No need to elaborate. We're both smart."

I informed Ocho Cinco that he was vastly overestimating my intelligence, but he continued to bite his tongue on the topic. You'll have to read between the lines to see him pointing the finger at quarterback Carson Palmer.

(Photo: Vernon Bryant/DMN)

The Bengals made it official today, cutting RB Kenny Watson to make room on the active roster for fresh-from-suspension WR Chris Henry, who happens to be good pals with Adam "Pacman" Jones.

Emmitt Smith, a proud defender of the star, apparently doesn't consider Chad Ocho Cinco's plan to kiss the Cowboys' logo after a scoring a touchdown a sign of respect.

"He doesn't need to kiss the star if he scores a touchdown," Smith told SI.com. "He can kiss it during pre-game. The star is not moving, so why does he have to score a touchdown to come to the middle of the field to kiss the star? The star isn't going anywhere. He can kiss the star anytime he wants, but not after scoring a touchdown. I have a problem with that."

Emmitt also got in a shot at the original star celebrator. He used T.O.'s public request to get the ball more often (after an 18-pass, seven-catch effort in the loss to the Redskins) to question the Cowboys' heart.

"I thought he had turned the corner and matured," Smith said about T.O. "I thought he did a great job transitioning from the Eagles to the Cowboys, but this is the most negative information that has come from T.O. in about two years and that's not good, especially with the way that it's come out and how he's handled it. At the end of the day, some of the guys in that locker room have heart, some of them have a lot of heart and some of them just don't. The important thing is getting everyone on the same page so they have some team heart because I don't know if they have that yet."

It sounds as if Carson Palmer will play Sunday at Texas Stadium against the Cowboys.

He practiced Friday and made all kinds of throws.

By the way, Palmer grew up a big Cowboys fan and is friendly with Troy Aikman and is looking forward to his first Texas Stadium trip.

"It's a place I've never been and I've always wanted to play," Palmer said Wednesday. "I've always wanted to see it. I'm excited to see the old stadium and I'd love to see the new stadium. It looks like it'll be a number of years before we get back there. But it's America's Team, it has a perception of being the classiest organization. A lot of guys won't admit it, but everybody wants to play for the Cowboys.

"Everyone wants to get drafted by the Cowboys, the way the organization is set up and the way they treat their players. Everybody in the NFL looks forward to this game. The fan base, it seems so large, that they have fans all over the country. It just seems like it's the big show, the Lakers of the NBA. It's an exciting game for our team. A lot of guys on our team have talked about the Cowboys and what it would be like to play there. It will be a big game for us because of all the attention they probably get and just who the Cowboys are."

For 13 years Mike Zimmer was a Cowboy, and he returns to Texas Stadium for the first time since 2006 on Sunday as Cincinnati's defensive coordinator.

The only defensive starter not to play under Zimmer is Ken Hamlin. Zimmer joined the Cowboys in 1994 and was named defensive coordinator in 2000. The Bengals have the 19th ranked defense and are allowing 21.8 points per game.

"It'll be good to see him," linebacker Bradie James said. "ZImmer helped in my development as an NFL player. It'll be good to see him. I haven't really talked to him that much since he's left, but he's definitely a defensive coordinator. He knows what he's doing."

Tight end Jason Witten said the Bengals are doing many of the same things Zimmer did with the Cowboys.

"Similar in a lot of ways," Witten said. "They're playing a lot of cover 2, bringing different pressures. It's a lot of the same stuff when he was here."

Chad Ocho Cinco still hasn't shut up. Bengals WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh was doing an interview on Michael Irvin's ESPN 103.3 radio show when Ocho Cinco yanked the phone away and started yapping.

"I'm going to kiss the star!" Ocho Cinco said. "Terence Newman, if he ain't healthy, don't put his [rear] out there!"

Ocho Cinco then started having some problems with reception, which is fitting considering his on-field performance this season.

But Ocho Cinco believes that if he acts like his old self off the field then he'll play like his old self. We'll see Sunday.

How the heck did the winless Bengals take the defending Super Bowl champions into overtime?

Wade Phillips mentioned a few things when asked that question, but the crux of his answer was that the Bengals offense got clicking. That, of course, starts with Carson Palmer.

Palmer played like a Pro Bowler against the Giants, completing 27 of 39 passes for 286 yards and a TD despite getting sacked six times in the 26-23 loss.

"It's the quarterback," Phillips said. "He had a really good game against them. He had a lot to do with it certainly."

Can Palmer play at that level against the Cowboys? That depends largely on two factors out of his control: the performance of the Cowboys' defense and the health of his throwing elbow.

If the Cowboys lose Sunday, it won't be because of a lack of respect for the Cincinnati Bengals. The Cowboys are well aware that the winless Bengals almost beat the defending Super Bowl champions a couple weeks ago, taking the Giants to overtime.

"We are not going to take them lightly," Tony Romo said. "They almost beat the Super Bowl champs. To take a team lightly like that, you will walk in and you will get beat."

There was a touching moment in the Valley Ranch locker room today when Adam "Pacman" Jones was asked about his ex-West Virginia running buddy Chris Henry, the Bengals WR who happens to be making his return from suspension against the Cowboys this week.

"That's my boy," Pacman said.

Pacman added that he talks to Henry often, offering wisdom gained by coming back from an unpaid, involuntary, season-long vacation. Henry had the first half of last season off, too, but apparently needed another four-week session in Sheriff Goodell's Scared Straight program.

Pacman implored his pal, whom the Bengals cut while pretending to try to clean up their act and picked back up weeks later, to keep his head up while he was unemployed.

"We're best of friends," Pacman said. "He made some bad decisions and he has to deal with consequences, same way I did. He manned it up and he took all the responsibilities and now he's ready to play."

Todd Archer and Brian Davis have a video wrap up of the day's happenings, including Chad Ocho Cinco's conference call, Terrell Owens and Tony Romo's relationship and other news and notes.

Chad Ocho Cinco tried really hard to make it happen. He even lobbied to become a Cowboy on national TV in March.

"If I end up in Dallas, I would just look at which finger I'm gonna put it on," Ocho Cinco said, referring to a Super Bowl ring. "That's it. Ain't no ifs, ands or buts about it."

But, of course, it didn't happen despite Jerry Jones spending the off-season trying to get a "wow" receiver to complement T.O. The Bengals wouldn't give in to Ocho Cinco's trade demands, but that isn't stopping him from picturing the possibilities of pairing with Ocho Uno.

"I tried," Ocho Cinco said during his epic conference call with the Valley Ranch media. "I talked to 81 almost every day, man. I love 81. We talk all the time. That would've been a circus.

"Let me tell you, I don't mean to be funny ... I'm not tried to be rude or piss anybody off, but if I was in Dallas, they would have to change all of our damn games to pay-per-view because you need to pay to see that [beep]. I'm serious. I'm so serious. They would have to put all the games on pay-per-view. Because you can't just watch a show like that for free; 81 and 85? Come on, now. Please."

And Ocho Cinco isn't giving up yet.

"Tell Jerry Jones I said hello," he said as the conference call wrapped up, "and give me a call some time."

Maybe this March.

No. 85 had plenty to say today in his conference call with the media at Valley Ranch ...

CAUTION: Some language might be offensive.

Adam "Pacman" Jones laughed when informed that Chad Ocho Cinco called him out this morning. They're friends, and Ocho Cinco dates one of Pacman's cousins, so Pacman didn't take the trash talk personally.

But Pacman made sure to shoot down talk about Ocho Cinco kissing the star or doing any other type of TD celebration on the Texas Stadium turf.

"I expect him to have the same horrible games [as] the first four weeks," Pacman said, moments after claiming he wouldn't engage in a trash-talk exchange. "He hasn't done nothing so far, so hopefully we can keep it like that."

Tank Johnson had words for Washington's Rock Cartwright last week after the Redskins player did whatever it was he did on the Cowboys' midfield logo.

When Johnson was first told that Chad Ocho Cinco wants to kiss the star this weekend, Johnson just laughed. But he did offer some sage advice for No. 85.

"That's a lot of energy he's going to have to exert to do all that celebrating," Johnson said. "If he's got extra energy laying around to exert just celebrating, then more power to him.

"I don't know if I'd go on the star," Johnson added. "Hey, Chad's a good player. He's proven himself in this league. He's not the kind of player who would do anything childish. He'll do something fun, but it won't be childish."

Yes, we're a little wrapped up with Chad Ocho Cinco this morning. But we've overlooked this from the Cincinnati Enquirer. Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer said he's playing after missing a game with an elbow problem.

"I've already made up my mind I'm playing," Palmer said Monday, according to the newspaper. "I'm going to do what I can in practice and do what they let me do, but I'm 100 percent expecting to play going into this game and planning on playing. I'll probably be limited in practice, but do what I can."

Johnson said Palmer went through the Bengals' walk-through today and, by all appearances, plans on following through with his promise to play.

You knew this would come up. Just what exactly should we call him in our stories?

Chad Johnson or Chad Ocho Cinco?

"I'm going to be Ocho until the cows come home," the receiver said.

Q: So our stories should say Chad Ocho Cinco?

"Matter of fact, don't even say Chad."

Q: What are you a Brazilian soccer player?

"Yeah, Ocho Cinco. Just one name. I might as well. Hey, Dallas, dude, I ain't never been in Dallas before, but I love y'all. I don't know why."

Leave it to Chad Ocho Cinco to agree with T.O. that 18 passes thrown his way in a game isn't enough.

"If they throw him 20 balls and he only caught seven and they lost ... throw him 40 and he's going to catch 14 and they're going to win," Ocho Cinco said. "I tell y'all out of that 14 that he's gonna get, some of those are going to be big plays and some of those are going to add up to touchdowns."

Ocho Cinco isn't the only Bengals WR who believes that. He handed the phone to T.J. Houshmandzadeh to chime in on the topic.

"Tell T.O. to tell Jason Garrett they need to throw the ball to him 24 times," Houshmandzadeh said. "Me and Chad ain't had 17 balls thrown our way in a game yet combined. Tell him they need to give it to him 24 or 25 times.

"As you see, when the ball don't go through him, they don't move the ball. Give him the rock. Throw the ball to him the whole time. They don't even have to run the ball! Jason Witten needs 15 catches, T.O. needs 20. That's the recipe for success right there."

Here's how things started today with Chad Ocho Cinco. Cincinnati PR man Jack Brennan asked a simple question: "Everybody read for Chad? OK, here he is?"

Thirty seconds in, we had a good idea that Ocho Cinco was ready to flap his gums.

"Is this D-town?," Johnson asked. "Get up, get your pen, get your records, get everything you need to get, because I'm letting it rip. I'm not holding nothin' back. We 0-4. We pissed off. I'm pissed off. The players over here are pissed off. Somebody's got to pay.

"I want you to tell [defensive coordinator] Brian Stewart that I love him to death, but somebody's got to get it."

Is that to say after an 0-4 start, are the Bengals ready to do whatever it takes to get a win?

"Man, we are going to throw everything, including the kitchen sink, out there in Dallas. I'm bringing the cold tub, the hot tub, I'm bringing the training room. What else can we do?"

Q: You guys are 0-4, so how can you say that?

"We don't have a choice. We've got to do everything possible to get out of this slump? T.J., am I right. Housh just said I"m right. He's standing right here with me. You know what, our trainer just said we need a slump buster. I think we need to open up -- period. That's what I think. I think we've been very vanilla. I don't know the word to use. I'm not sure why, but at this point, you've got to go all out. Why not? You're playing against a team like Dallas, there's no time to half-step at all."

We just finished up a conference call with Chad Ocho Cinco -- or Johnson, if you prefer -- from the Bengals. You're not going to believe what all he had to say. This is just a taste. More to come.

Johnson: "I've got so much respect for y'all, if I score Sunday, I've love Dallas so much, I'm going to take my helmet off, get a fine and kiss the star."

Q: The one at midfield?

A: Midfield? That's a long [expletive] jog.

Q: What do you mean 'if?'

A: OK, when I score, I'm going to take my helmet off and kiss the star. Can I do that?

Q: Why not?

A: That's not a sign of disrespect. That's a good thing isn't it?

Twice in his career Wade Phillips has been named an interim head coach.

The first time came in 1985 when he replaced his father in New Orleans, going 1-3, and again in 2003 in Atlanta, when he went 2-1 as Dan Reeves' replacement.

Now Jim Haslett gets the interim tag in St. Louis, taking over for a fired Scott Linehan. Here's Bernie Miklasz's take from the St. Louis Post Dispatch

And remember, the Cowboys face the Rams in three weeks under the Arch.

.

I used to cover the Bengals for the Cincinnati Post from 1997-99 when the high-water mark was a 7-9 finish thanks to some Boomer Esiason magic in '97. But instead of signing Esiason to a contract extension, the Bengals let Boomer become the voice of ABC's Monday Night Football.

The Bengals visit Texas Stadium on Sunday and if you think you've got it bad after the Cowboys lost Sunday, think of the poor fans of this team.

Check out this blog from my buddy Todd Jones, another Post alum, for the Columbus Dispatch.

There's a lot of talk around Valley Ranch of this being a test of the Cowboys mental toughness and how they can show some grit by playing well this week.

Puh-leeeese.

The Cincinnati Bengals are coming to town. They'll bring an 0-4 record with them. They probably won't have franchise QB Carson Palmer.

This is a feel-good game if there's ever been one.

Rock Cartwright gave his side of the story about his postgame confrontation with Tank Johnson yesterday. Tank is still perturbed about it today.

Tank said it's fine that Cartwright and the Redskins were excited about pulling off the upset. But he thought Cartwright celebrating on the star at midfield was "disrespecting our house" and told the Redskin as much in an R-rated rant.

"I thought that was a classless act," Tank said today. "I know you guys were underdogs and weren't expected to win, but have some class."

Tank Johnson is apparently trying to be Mr. Cowboy, no disrespect to Bob Lilly intended. ESPN.com's Matt Mosley has the details on Tank's postgame confrontation with star-gazing Redskin Rock Cartwright.

LT Chris Samuels played a major role in the Redskins racking 381 total yards, doing a decent job of keeping DeMarcus Ware off Jason Campbell and paving the way for many of Clinton Portis' 121 rushing yards.

And Samuels led the way in talking trash on the way out of Texas Stadium. He vowed to celebrate while staying healthy, but he gloated about the "salty taste" left in the Cowboys' mouths by the Redskins winning their final meeting here.

"It feels really good," Samuels said. "I hate Dallas. Never liked them, and to come up here and get a victory against them feels good."

Calvin "Lucky" Watkins did a fine job recapping the five most memorable Redskins games at Texas Stadium. No. 1 on his list arguably ranks on the list of the Cowboys' best regular season games of all-time, especially with the postgame wreath story.

We check in with some stories from today on the Redskins:

From the Washington Times is something about the rivalry. At least I think it is because it seems to have the out-of-town required Jessica Simpson mentions. Man, that stuff never gets old does it? (Please note sarcasm)

Redskins defensive coordinator Greg Blache admits it will be tough to slow the Cowboys' offense Sunday in this Washington Post story.

Jason Campbell is proving to be a pretty good fourth-quarter comeback kind of guys in this story in the Post. He almost pulled the trick at Texas Stadium last year before a Terence Newman interception.

And also in the Washington Times we have a story on teams drafting tight ends even when having top tight ends, like here with Jason Witten and Martellus Bennett and the Redskins with Chris Cooley and Fred Davis.

Zach Thomas certainly isn't happy that his brother-in-law/longtime Miami teammate Jason Taylor needed surgery on his left calf earlier this week. But Thomas figures that if Taylor's consecutive games streak was going to end, it might as well be when the Redskins play the Cowboys.

"I hate to see that Jason is not playing," Thomas said "He's been healthy his whole career. But if he has to take a week off, I'm cool with him taking this week off. Let him get healthy."

Thomas said he hasn't talked with his sister, Katina, to see if she'd be rooting for his Cowboys or her husband's Redskins. But Thomas thinks his nephews might root for the Cowboys because they like the star on the helmets.

For some strange reason, Redskins CB Shawn Springs decided to publicly challenge T.O. As if the Original 81 didn't have enough motivation coming off a two-catch, 17-yard game.

"I have a track meet Sunday," Springs told the Washington Times. "I can't wait to see it. Me and Terrell 'Usain Bolt' Owens. I'm excited for it. He better be ready."

Not sure it's wise to talk trash to a receiver who torched the Redskins for 173 yards and four TDs at Texas Stadium last season. T.O. did a bunch of that damage to the middle of Washington's Cover 2 zone, but I'm sure the Cowboys would love to see Springs try to stick T.O. without any help.

Ron's son and T.O. have some history. Springs did a solid job vs. T.O. in their first three 49ers-Seahawks meetings, but T.O. got loose for two TDs during a Monday night game in 2002, famously celebrating the second one by pulling a Sharpie out of his sock to sign the football.

"That didn't bother me," Springs told the Times. "I was talking so much trash to him [before the touchdown]."

Springs might be saying the same thing Sunday.

Redskins fans, who chanted "We want Dallas!!!" late in last week's win over the Cardinals, might consider Sept. 19, 2005 their proudest moment since their Super Bowl days. That's the date of Santana Moss spoiling the celebration of the Triplets Ring of Honor ceremony by burning the Cowboys for two late TDs in a 14-13 Washington win.

Moss, who has three 100-yard performances in five games against the Cowboys as a Redskin, comes into Washington's final scheduled Texas Stadium appearance on a pretty good roll. He's caught a TD pass in each game.

For better or worse, the Cowboys won't have Roy Williams to aid their attempt to slow Moss down.

Plaxico Burress' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, insists that the receiver had an undisclosed family emergency and will appeal the ban to the NFL Players Association.

NT Jay Ratliff has quietly developed into one of the NFC's elite interior defensive linemen.

According to the stats compiled by the Cowboys coaches after watching film, he's tied for fourth on the team with 18 tackles and leads Dallas with eight QB pressures to go along with two sacks. That's extremely active for a nose tackle and awfully impressive for a seventh-round pick whose name won't ring a bell to casual NFL fans.

Ratliff's name was one of the first mentioned by Redskins QB Jason Campbell, who played with Ratliff at Auburn, while he was discussing the Dallas defense on a conference call with the Valley Ranch media.

"He has the right attitude," Campbell said when asked why Ratliff has enjoyed NFL success. "Jay was always a hard worker when we were at Auburn. What he's doing right now is not a surprise, because I know how hard he worked when he was in college. He was one of the leaders on that side of the ball. Everything that's happening for him is happening for good reason."

Here's the AP story ...

Green Bay Packers cornerback Al Harris was undergoing medical tests Monday amid a report he might have ruptured his spleen in Sunday's loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

The National Football Post, a Web site that lists Harris' agent as a contributor, reported that the injury could end Harris' season. Agent Jack Bechta did not immediately return a message from The Associated Press.

Earlier in the day, Packers coach Mike McCarthy said the team's medical staff was "just doing scans" on Harris and were "checking for everything." A team spokesman said no additional information was available.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports (via Pro Football Talk) that a shin injury will sideline Redskins DE Jason Taylor for Sunday's game at Texas Stadium.

That means we'll have to wait until the week of the Cowboys' trip to D.C. to write the story about ex-teammates/brothers-in-law Zach Thomas and Taylor.

And, of course, it's a big blow to the Redskins' pass rush. Tony Romo threw for 293 yards and four TDs when the Redskins failed to get much pressure on him during last season's meeting at Texas Stadium.

UPDATE: The Redskins have confirmed that Taylor won't play this week.

(Photo by AP)

It'll be very interesting to watch the chess game between Jason Garrett and Packers defensive coordinator Bob Sanders, particularly when it comes to trying to free up Terrell Owens.

On ESPN's NFL Matchup (the best X's and O's show on TV), Ron Jaworski did an excellent job showing how Garrett used motion to create mismatches for T.O. last season. And it isn't always No. 81 who goes in motion to create the mismatch.

Jaws broke down T.O.'s 48-yard catch against the Packers last season, pointing out that Sam Hurd motioning from the inside receiver in a bunch to wide left forced Green Bay into bad matchups just before the snap. CB Al Harris went with Hurd, leaving LB A.J. Hawk on T.O., which is a big play waiting to happen.

Harris hinted this week that he'd be manned up on T.O. a lot more often tonight. If that's a case, keep an eye on how often T.O. goes in motion.

Harris likes to play physical, bump-and-run coverage. That's difficult to do if T.O. is already moving when the ball is snapped.

Before we go out and eat a bunch of brats, I'll give link you folks to some of the Packers coverage in the Wisconsin papers.

*The Wisconsin State Journal's Jason Wilde has a tip for the Cowboys: Expect RB Ryan Grant to get the ball when he's in the game. Grant, who led the NFC in rushing the last half of the 2007 season, has been limited by a sore hamstring. He played 21 snaps last week and had 15 carries.

*The Green Bay Press-Gazette's Pete Dougherty wonders whether nickel DE Kabeer Gbaja-Baimila can generate a pass rush while working against Flozell Adams. Dougherty notes that Adams, who had some problems with Eagles DE Trent Cole but did not allow a sack, is off to a shaky start this season.

*Speaking of OTs off to a shaky start, the Press-Gazette's Tom Pelissero reports that Green Bay LT Chad Clifton has been flagged for holding three times already this season. And Clifton gets the assignment of trying to keep DeMarcus Ware from blasting away at Aaron Rodgers' blind side Sunday night.

*The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Bob McGinn writes that the Packers consider special teams to be a major strength, and Green Bay is bracing for the challenge of containing NFL kickoff return leader Felix Jones and dynamic punt returner Adam "Pacman" Jones. On a related note, the Cowboys' kickoff coverage team will be missing three players: Roy Williams, Deon "Cricket" Anderson and Anthony Spencer.

NFC East homer Matt Mosley, a swell fella and the founder of this here blog, thinks it'll be a laugher in the Cowboys favor at Lambeau Field.

This might sound like NFC East bias, but I smell a blowout. On paper, this is an unbelievable matchup.

But there's no way the Packers can hang with the Cowboys in a shootout, and that's what's going to happen.

Oh, and here's another link that'll make folks think twice before complaining about ESPN's anti-Cowboys bias. Some great, big Bristol study determined that the Cowboys are the NFL's best franchise since the NFL-AFL merger.

Packers CB Al Harris is making bold but vague statements this week. T.O. torched the Packers for 156 yards and a TD on seven catches last season, something Harris doesn't expect to happen again.

"I can say this: I think this is a much better game-plan (this week)," Harris told reporters in Green Bay. "This is the best game-plan that we've had since I've been here, in this scheme. I honestly think that. And you can quote me on that. After the game, you won't even say anything. You'll just smile and know what I'm talking about."

And Harris wanted to make sure folks knew that it wasn't his fault that T.O. put up big stats against the Packers.

"Do you remember the last game?" Harris asked, calling it "the game that I had two interceptions" even though one was nullified. "Let me ask you a couple questions: How many yards did T.O. have? 156. How many catches? Seven. How many did you see me around him? Three. That should tell you right there if they had a great game plan for what we were doing. You've got to read between the lines on the rest."

That wasn't the case back in training camp, when talkative WR Patrick Crayton said Aaron Rodgers was "shaken" from the Brett Favre soap opera and urged Green Bay to boot Favre.

Crayton implied that Rodgers wouldn't perform as well as he did against the Cowboys last season once teams got some film on him. Well, Rodgers has proved the doubters wrong while leading the Packers to a 2-0 start.

"He's playing damn good right now," Crayton said. "And it helps that he's got some veterans around him. They're not asking him to win games for them. But when they're asking him to go out there and make certain throws, he's making them and taking care of the ball."

Crayton did make sure to mention that the Cowboys' defense has some film of Rodgers now, though.

Charles Woodson is expected to play Sunday night, but the Packers typically give Al Harris the assignment of covering the opponent's best receiver. The Green Bay Press-Gazette has a story hyping the T.O.-Harris matchup in today's editions.

T.O. knows he'll see a lot of bump-and-run coverage from Harris, a Pro Bowler considered one of the league's most physical cornerbacks. It's a challenge that T.O. eagerly anticipates.

"Sometimes you live by the sword, and sometimes you die by the sword," T.O. said. "Sometimes being aggressive or overly aggressive, you try to exploit those things."

Harris has died by the sword the last couple times he battled T.O. As an Eagle in 2004, T.O. torched Green Bay for 161 yards and a TD on eight catches. T.O. had seven catches for 156 yards and a TD against the Packers last season, although his biggest gain came when he got matched up with LB A.J. Hawk and S Atari Bigby after going in motion.

UPDATE: Todd Archer contributed to the T.O. vs Harris hypefest by writing his online column about the matchup.

Packers CB Charles Woodson won't practice all week but will be in the starting lineup Sunday night, Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said on his conference call with Valley Ranch media.

It's the same routine he followed last week, when picked off two passes and returned one for a TD in the win over the Lions despite a broken toe on his right foot.

A toe injury kept Woodson out of the Packers' loss at Texas Stadium. Patrick Crayton took advantage of his absence by scoring two touchdowns.

That was the score of last season's game after Aaron Rodgers got off the bench.

The Cowboys, of course, had a 17-point head start and won the game. But Rodgers was impressive in his first extended NFL action, completing 18 of 26 passes for 201 yards and a TD and scrambling for another 30 yards.

If it weren't for that performance, the Packers might have been begging Brett Favre to come back instead of trying to make sure he stayed retired.

"It definitely helped the confidence of Aaron and everybody else," Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said. "It was an opportunity to confirm what we all felt."

More to come on this from Calvin "Lucky" Watkins, who is writing about Rodgers vs. the Cowboys for tomorrow's paper.

Here's the game story from the Philly Inquirer a column from Phil Sheridan on Donovan McNabb and Bob Ford.

And from the Philly Daily News we have the game story as well as a column from John Smallwood and Rich Hofmann brings us some more from DeSean Jackson.

I thought it was interesting they thought Andy Reid should have challenged a Jackson drop/catch on the first drive. They thought Jackson made the catch and fumbled, which the Eagles recovered in the end zone. I thought the replay was clear that as he was bringing the ball in he lost control. Maybe Reid will be asked at his post-game press conference today and we'll have an answer as to why he didn't challenge.

So says the Green Bay Press-Gazette's Pete Dougherty, who must have filed his story before watching Donovan McNabb dominate the first half of the Monday night game.

We're not ready to focus on the Packers quite yet. We'll flip that switch tomorrow. Today is about rehashing last night's heart-pounding game.

Some samples of Eagles-Cowboys coverage from the Philly papers:

The Inquirer's Phil Sheridan writes that the Eagles established themselves as legitimate contenders by taking the NFC favorites to the wire on the road.

The Daily News' Rich Hoffman rips DeSean Jackson for being a knucklehead showboat, but raves about his talent.

The Daily News' Paul Domowitch tells Iggles fans that they can't pin this loss on Donovan McNabb. Seems like an obvious point, considering that McNabb kept the Eagles in the game without his starting receivers, but Philly folks are awfully tough on the QB.

Hoffman wonders whether Brian Dawkins' days as an elite safety are done after watching Jason Witten abuse him.

Forget the talk of Donovan McNabb returning to his old form. DeMarcus Ware is convinced that the Eagles quarterback has never performed at a higher level.

McNabb picked apart the Cowboys for 274 yards and a TD on 24-of-35 passing despite both of his starting receivers sitting out with injuries. And he really frustrated the Cowboys' defense by repeatedly making plays after eluding pressure.

"I think he's gained a step, to tell you the truth," Ware said. "I used to catch him, but now I think he got a little bit looser in his wheels."

Ware did finally catch McNabb on the Eagles' second-to-last play. The Cowboys actually did a decent job containing McNabb in the second half, holding him to 93 passing yards and the Eagles to seven points.

"We played good enough to win, but there's always some mistakes that people make," Ware said. "When the offense really needed us and our team really needed us, we stepped up."

T.O. gave us a little lesson in revisionist history last week.

"When I was in Philly, I faced San Francisco, and I went off on them," T.O. said, referring to his first NFL team. "And I've done the same thing here [against the Eagles]."

No, T.O., you really haven't. With one exception, the Eagles have pretty much shut down the Original 81.

The one exception was a big one, when T.O. blew up for 174 yards and a TD on 10 catches in Philly last season. Not coincidentally, that the Cowboys' only win in four meetings against the Eagles since T.O.'s bitter divorce from Philly.

T.O.'s stats from the three losses to the Eagles: seven catches, 105 yards, one TD.

Eagles CB Lito Sheppard, who has eight picks in nine starts against the Cowboys, covers T.O. as well as anyone. Sheppard was demoted to the No. 3 cornerback when the Eagles signed Asante Samuel, but defensive coordinator Jim Johnson hinted that Sheppard would be on the field a lot tonight.

Here's Rich Hoffman's memories of Texas Stadium for the Eagles' regular-season good bye to the place in the Philly Daily News.

And we have Bob Ford's recollections in the Inquirer

The Inquirer's Bob Brookover has the advance on the game here.

And Reuben Frank has more on the rivalry between these two teams.

I've always wondered who Cowboys' fans hate more in the division - the Eagles, Giants or Redskins. I think it's the Redskins. I'm not so sure the players feel that way. I think most of them might lean to the Giants as the most-hated and that was before the playoff last season.

Nothing Aaron Rodgers does can make Packers fans forget about Brett Favre, but the Green Bay QB's starting tenure is off to a phenomenal start.

As Hall of Fame scribe Rick "Goose" Gosselin wrote, Rodgers put up big numbers and showed impressive poise in the Packers' win at Detroit yesterday.

Rodgers displayed his talent when he got Green Bay back in the game after replacing Favre at Texas Stadium last season. That performance doesn't look like a fluke after back-to-back excellent outings in his first two starts.

The Cowboys' defense has its hands full with Donovan McNabb tonight. Preparing for Rodgers and the Packers with a short week will be a pretty big challenge, too.

Date: Jan. 7, 1996

Score: Cowboys 30, Eagles 11 (DMN game story)

Prime Time was worth every penny he got from Jerry Jones during his first playoff game in a Cowboys uniform.

Deion Sanders scored his first touchdown as a Cowboy on a 21-yard reverse in the second quarter, when Dallas scored 27 consecutive points to turn the game into a blowout. He also shined at cornerback, his full-time job, picking off a Randall Cunningham pass to set up the Cowboys' final TD.

And, of course, Prime Time starred during the postgame press conferences. Deion seemed to take particular delight in pointing out that the 49ers, the team he helped win the Super Bowl the previous season, lost that day.

"Big guys have to come up in the big games," Sanders told reporters. "If we don't, you guys are damn sure going to let us know we're overpaid. I know all year I supposedly haven't earned a damn dime. But the big guys have to come out and set the tone in the big games because this is it. You lose this, you're going home. Ask Frisco."

Date: Nov. 15, 2004

Score: Eagles 49, Cowboys 21 (DMN game story)

This was probably the high point of T.O.'s relationship with Donovan McNabb.

Monday Night Football opened with T.O. sharing a warm embrace with a nude Desperate Housewife. By the end of the telecast, T.O. and McNabb were clowning around on the sideline after making fools of an overmatched Dallas defense.

T.O. caught six passes for 134 yards and three touchdowns, grandstanding on a star in the end zone after the second one. McNabb threw for 345 yards and four touchdowns.

The play everybody remembers from this game - and perhaps the most unforgettable highlight of McNabb's magnificent career - wasn't a pass to T.O. or a TD. It was his 14.1-second, zig-zag scramble and deep ball to Freddie Mitchell to set up the Eagles' fourth touchdown of the second quarter.

"We had a lot of fun tonight," T.O. said, a rare case of understatement for him.

Date: Nov. 23, 1989

Score: Eagles 27, Cowboys 0 (DMN game story)

A good team beat the stuffing out of a terrible team in a Thanksgiving game that wasn't very interesting until Jimmy Johnson's press conference.

Johnson accused Eagles coach Buddy Ryan of putting a $200 bounty on kicker Luis Zendejas and a $500 bounty on Troy Aikman. Zendejas, an ex-Eagle who was a cheap-shot target after his only kickoff of the day, backed up the story. Rookie Aikman shrugged it off after taking a vicious beating, which was the norm that season.

Jimmy's biggest regret seemed to be that he didn't get the chance to discuss the matter face to face with Ryan.

"I would have, but he wouldn't stay on the field long enough," Johnson said, his face turning bright red. "He got his fat rear end into the dressing room."

Date: Jan. 10, 1993

Score: Cowboys 34, Eagles 10 (DMN game story)

The game itself wasn't a classic, but the historical significance of the day makes it memorable.

The Eagles were the initial playoff speed bump to Super Bowl XXVII, the first one won by the Jerry Jones era Cowboys. And Jimmy Johnson was so confident the Cowboys would whup Philadelphia that he inquired about muddying the Valley Ranch practice fields (to simulate the conditions in San Francisco) days before the Eagles came to town.

The Cowboys gave Johnson no reason to worry. A 10-point burst just before halftime all but secured the win, and the Cowboys played scrubs late to make sure the stars would be healthy for the NFC championship game.

A playoff win on the road to a Super Bowl title is certainly memorable. Derek Tennell and Derick Gainer, the dudes who scored the Cowboys' last two touchdowns on this day, are about as forgettable as it gets.

BLOGGER'S NOTE: With the Eagles coming to Texas Stadium for the last time (barring a playoff visit), I figured this would be a fine time to reminisce about Philly's most memorable trips to Texas Stadium. We'll count down the top five throughout the day.

Date: Sept. 15, 1997

Score: Cowboys 21, Eagles 20 (DMN game story)

It had all the makings of a Monday night heartbreaker for the Cowboys.

Troy Aikman and Co. performed poorly most of the night, but they managed to take the lead for the first time with less than a minute remaining. Aikman scrambled and found Anthony Miller in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead TD with 51 seconds to go, only to watch from the sideline as the Eagles marched the length of the field.

All Philadelphia needed to win was for ex-Cowboy kicker Chris Boniol to make a chip-shot field goal. He never got the chance.

Holder Tom Hutton bobbled the snap, then fumbled the ball as he tried to run before becoming the foundation of a Cowboy dogpile.

Cowboys fans might consider this a fonder memory if not for that Seattle Slip thing that happened a couple seasons ago.

Donovan McNabb might miss Texas Stadium, even though he's not sure of the place's name.

Arguably the best highlight of his career came with the Monday night sky peeking through the hole of the roof in 2004. Folks are still talking about his 14.1-second scramble that freed him up to let a deep ball fly to Freddie Mitchell. That 345-yard, four-TD passing performance was McNabb's best on the road against the Cowboys, but he's 4-3 at the soon-to-be-closed stadium.

"We've got a pretty good winning record there and we want to continue it on," McNabb told Philly reporters. "I didn't even know that this is the last game that we'll be playing there, at Dallas Stadium; at least, for the regular season."

DeMarcus Ware knows the Eagles will come up with all sorts of ways to help Tra Thomas against him. It's his job to find ways to get to Donovan McNabb anyway.

McNabb isn't the running threat he used to be, but the Cowboys are still concerned about his mobility. They have to be conscious of keeping him in the pocket while putting pressure on him.

"The thing is you can't let him get comfortable," Ware said, "because if he gets comfortable he can throw the ball as well as run. You have to make him be one dimensional. Make him pass the ball. Make him make the decisions that will help us out in the game, and don't let him dictate the offense."

DeSean Jackson gets compared to T.O. a lot despite being about five inches and 50 pounds smaller. That's because he's the most electrifying wide receiver the Eagles have had since T.O. left town, and he's a bit on the cocky side.

Jackson considers the comparisons a compliment ... kind of.

"Definitely, as far as what he does on the field," Jackson told the Philadelphia Daily News. "The only thing I don't really get caught up in is the off-the-field issues. That's what I don't want to do."

Jackson could probably learn a thing or two from T.O. about TD celebrations. He had an unforgettable gaffe as a high school senior in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, when he decided to flip into the end zone for an easy score. Only problem was he took off at about the 6 ... and landed at the 2.

Donovan McNabb danced around questions about Terrell Owens on this morning's conference call with the Valley Ranch media. T.O. fired away while discussing his former QB this afternoon.

T.O. acknowledges that he should have done some things differently in Philadelphia, but he pinned the blame for his bitter divorce from McNabb on the QB's fragile ego.

"We obviously could have done some great things together," T.O. said after the TV cameras had left his locker, "but it wasn't me letting my pride get in the way."

T.O. didn't have to be probed much to give his opinion on why his relationship with McNabb went sour. He was asked whether Tony Romo was the first quarterback to really get him.

"Well, I was really thinking that was the case in Philly before I think the fans and just the excitement of me coming there and being there, it became too overwhelming for Donovan," T.O. replied. "Other than that, I think at one point in time I will say that we had a good relationship. I think I got too big for Philly, too big for him. But here, Tony and I have a great relationship."

The Cowboys' new stadium in Arlington will have a corporate name at some point just because of how much money those rights can attract. Many of you want the stadium to be named after Tom Landry, but I can't see that happening. Maybe the field could be named after the Hall of Fame coach.

The new stadium being built by the Giants and Jets will also have a name, and the fact that Allianz, a German insurer, is on the short list has many upset - for good reason.

Here's a story in the New York Daily News.

The City of Brotherly Love, which infamously greeted Donovan McNabb with a draft-day boo because he wasn't Ricky Williams and tried to run him out of town the last two years, has fallen back in love with the Eagles' franchise QB.

The two major Philly papers had dueling kiss-up columns in the Wednesday editions. The Daily News' John Smallwood played it straight, exploring how McNabb has regained his mobility to return to Pro Bowl form. The Inquirer's John Gonzalez literally wrote a love letter -- and not just because of what Donovan did against the Rams, dude.

Over the past four games going back to last year, you've looked like the man we always hoped you'd be, completing 65 percent of your passes and throwing for more than 1,000 yards. And the touchdowns - eight of them? Wow. Nothing gets us hot like an end zone romp.

The Valley Ranch media is scheduled to chat with T.O.'s old pal Thursday morning, so you can count on much, much more McNabb coverage on this here blog.

Adam "Pacman" Jones ruffled some feathers in Philly by pointing out that the Eagles played the Rams, dude.

He might be right that the Eagles' passing game didn't prove anything by lighting up St. Louis' sorry secondary. The same logic might apply to the Cowboys' secondary.

Cleveland's passing game was pretty darn good last season, and the Browns managed to complete only 11 of 24 passes for 114 yards Sunday. But the Browns had plenty of excuses for their poor performance in the passing game.

Andy Reid was asked during his press conference yesterday whether in retrospect he would have done things differently during T.O.'s time in Philadelphia.

"I'm not going to get into all that," Reid replied. "He's doing great right now. He's happy and playing good football, and that's alright."

Smart answer to a question that put Reid in a no-win situation.

If he says he should have done things differently, it's a huge story. Plus, it could put him at odds with Donovan McNabb, who is already pretty touchy-feely about the Eagles drafting his eventual replacement last year.

If Reid says he did everything right, he probably adds another log to T.O.'s motivational bonfire for this game. It's been a few years since T.O.'s nasty divorce from Philly, and he's hugged it out with McNabb, but he still gets awfully amped up to play the Eagles.

We'll check in every week with post-game stories from the Cowboys' opponents. The folks in Cleveland wonder if the Browns were overhyped.

Here goes ...

Bud Shaw of the Cleveland Plain Dealer goes after the Browns defense.

Long-time beat guy Tony Grossi said the Browns' showing was a carryover from the preseason.

For more from the Plain Dealer, check out this site.

Over at the Akron Beacon Journal good friend Patrick McManamon goes after Romeo Crennel's defense

Marla Ridenour as her game story here.

While the Cowboys offense flowed fine, the Browns struggled to do much of anything..

Former Broncos GM Ted Sundquist will provide a scouting report for ProFootballTalk.com on the three most compelling games each week. Cowboys-Browns made the cut this weekend.

Click here to check it out.

We're about to board a plane to Cleveland. We might make a trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this evening, but I'll squeeze in some blogging at some point.

Bill Barnwell, a contributing editor at footballoutsiders.com and one of the minds behind the must-read Pro Football Prospectus, will answer five Cowboys questions each week of the season using the FO data and methodologies. Here's the Week 1 edition:

1. You mentioned in the first edition of Five Downs With Football Outsiders that the Cowboys had a ton of success running behind right tackle and to the outside on the right side. Where were the Cowboys most and least successful running the ball last season?

Dallas was actually incredibly boom-and-bust last year depending upon the location of their runs. They were first in the league at running to right end and second running at right tackle, but they were 27th in the league at running in the middle and 31st at running to left end. I'm not sure why that's the case, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with Flozell Adams slipping some in his ability to absorb opposing linemen at the point of attack. The Cowboys were 21st in the league at running behind left end the year before.

Check it out on Kevin Burnett's blog.

Wade Phillips mixed in a not-so-subtle message to Sunday's officiating crew while gushing about how good Browns TE Kellen Winslow Jr. is as a receiver.

"One-on-one, he's very adept at pushing off ... I mean, getting open," Phillips said with a wry smile. "I hope the officials note that."

For the record, Phillips said Jason Witten never, ever pushes off.

Here's the official practice report from the Cleveland PR folks:

Did Not Participate In Practice

Wednesday
LB Kris Griffin (elbow), G Rex Hadnot (knee), TE Martin Rucker (knee)

Limited Participation in Practice

Wednesday
LB Beau Bell (knee), WR Joshua Cribbs (ankle), S Sean Jones (knee), RB Jamal Lewis (hamstring), LB Antwan Peek (knee), S Brodney Pool (concussion), G Ryan Tucker (hip)

Full Participation in Practice

Wednesday
QB Derek Anderson (concussion), TE Darnell Dinkins (hip), WR Braylon Edwards (ankle), TE Steve Heiden (back), LB Willie McGinest (groin), WR Syndric Steptoe (shoulder), LB Leon Williams (neck)

Cleveland receiver Braylon Edwards missed the final three games of the preseason with a cut foot. But he stressed this morning that he'll be ready for Sunday's game against the Cowboys.

Edwards had 16 touchdown catches last season and piled up 1,289 receiving yards. He said working with quarterback Derek Anderson exclusively over the last seven months should help him develop into an even better player.

Browns coach Romeo Crennel probably wants to get the 6-3 Edwards lined up against the 5-10 Adam Jones as much as possible. But the Cowboys also have Terence Newman and Anthony Henry, too. You don't stop a player like Edwards with one guy. It takes a group effort, along with some safety help.

There's no doubt that the Browns view the season opener as an excellent test. Cleveland won 10 games last season and many are projecting this franchise to have a breakout year in 2008.

"I think the biggest thing is that people have a lot about us, talking about what we can do and what we could be," Edwards said. "So it will be interesting going into this game against the Cowboys, who on paper are the best team in the NFL.

"It's a good challenge early, it's a great test on who we are and what we'll be this season."

Hall of Fame scribe Rick "Goose" Gosselin wrote about the most frightening matchup when the Cowboys' defense is on the field: TE Kellen Winslow Jr. vs. Roy Williams. Of course, the Cowboys will try to avoid giving the Browns that matchup as much as possible, but you can count on Cleveland coming up with ways to try to attack Williams with their Pro Bowl tight end. If the Cowboys counter by taking Williams off the field and sticking Anthony Henry on Winslow, they'll get a heavy dose of Jamal Lewis between the tackles.

Cleveland NT Shaun Rogers (6-4, 350) vs. backup LG Cory Procter (6-4, 297) sticks out when the Cowboys' offense is on the field. Procter will get plenty of help from Pro Bowl C Andre Gurode when he has to tangle with Rogers, but there's a reason Wade Phillips wants Montrae Holland and his ample "anchor" in the starting lineup as soon as possible. Rogers, who roomed with Leonard "Bigg" Davis at Texas, is one of the league's most dominant defensive players when he's in shape and motivated. All reports indicate that he's in shape and motivated after his unceremonious departure from Detroit.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Tony Grossi points out that, like the Browns, the Cowboys have a Pro Bowl quarterback who came out of nowhere, a big WR who puts up huge numbers and an awesome tight end.

And that's only the start of the similarities between the Browns' and Cowboys' offenses. It's almost eerie how similar the units are, right down to their injury concerns entering this weekend's season opener in Cleveland.

With the Cowboys making a trip to Cleveland, I figured this would be a fine time to revisit the Browns-Cowboys blockbuster trade made on draft day 2007.

I had to back off calling it the Brady Quinn Con Job after it became clear that the Browns wouldn't deliver a top-five pick to Dallas. Jerry got an Arkansas running back out of the deal, but it was Felix Jones, not Darren McFadden.

But the trade is clearly paying more dividends in Dallas than Cleveland.

The Browns didn't know they had a young Pro Bowl passer on the roster when they pulled the trigger to get Quinn, who is a high-priced clipboard holder unless Derek Anderson goes down. Quinn should have some value if the Browns decide to deal him, but a rebuilding team doesn't give up two first-rounders a high second-round pick and a first-rounder to get a guy it will flip for picks down the road.

The Cowboys got two impact reserves out of the deal. As Greg Ellis has said over and over again, it's only a matter of time before OLB Anthony Spencer moves into the starting lineup. Felix Jones might never be a starter, but he'll provide a big-play threat with his 10-15 touches per game, and his versatility has Jason Garrett's creative juices flowing.

Tony Romo answered any questions about his status as a franchise quarterback last season, so Quinn would have been a wasted pick for the Cowboys. You could argue that the Cowboys would have been better off drafting WR Dwayne Bowe, but Jerry and Co. are rightfully pleased with the returns on the deal.

Don't expect the Cleveland Browns to feel sorry for the Cowboys because they'll come to town without a couple backup receivers and a reserve outside linebacker. The Browns have a bunch of injury problems of their own.

The following info is swiped from the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

QB Derek Anderson (concussion) -- Practiced Monday and is expected to start.

WR Braylon Edwards (foot) -- Practiced Monday and is expected to start.

LB Willie McGinest (groin) -- Practiced Monday.

S Sean Jones (knee) -- Returned to practice on limited basis.

OG Ryan Tucker (hip) -- Returned to practice on limited basis.

WR/KR/PR Josh Cribbs (high ankle sprain) -- Participated in walkthrough, but doubtful for season opener.

RG Rex Hadnot (knee) -- Did not practice.

FS Brodney Pool (concussion) -- Did not practice.

TE Martin Rucker (knee) -- Did not practice.

RB Jamal Lewis (hamstring) -- Did not practice.

The Cowboys WRs vs. the Browns CBs should be a major mismatch Sunday.

Yes, the Cowboys' lack of depth at receiver is a concern, with Terrell Owens and Patrick Crayton the team's other healthy WRs. But T.O. and Crayton could have a field day in Cleveland against a sorry secondary.

The Browns, who had the league's 24th-ranked passing defense (230.1 yards per game) last season, have a couple second-year guys starting at cornerback. If Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald can't cover Giants third-stringer Domenik Hixon, how do you think they'll fare against T.O.?

The Browns will be without wide receiver Joe Jurevicius for the opener against the Cowboys -- and then some. Jurevicius will miss the first six weeks of the regular season while he recovers from knee surgery.

For proof that the Governor's Cup is a big deal in Houston, check out John McClain's blog on chron.com. They're predicting scores two days before a preseason game.

(Oh, heck, feel free to do the same on this here blog. I'll go with Cowboys 27, Texans 20. No way will those stinkin' Houstonians walk off the Texas Stadium turf for the final time as winners.)

If you want a good laugh, follow the jump to read an e-mail I received from a feisty Texans fan. It's unedited except for a profanity deleted at the end.

Redskins owner Daniel Snyder might have provided a little Valley Ranch bulletin board material in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

He was defending ex-Skins coach Joe Gibbs when he dropped this gem: "We got close. We should have beaten Seattle two of those years and I think we would have had a lot of fun playing Dallas."

It's also interesting to read Snyder's take on why he isn't a micromanager: "I'm not in any of the coaching meetings. I never have been. I don't watch film with the coaches. I let the scouts scout and the coaches coach."

As any Hard Knocks viewer knows, Jerry Jones is a fixture in the coaches' meetings. Of course, he's also the self-appointed GM and makes it very clear that he's ultimately responsible for every single personnel decision the Cowboys make.

I don't think Snyder intended to take a shot at Jerry, though. He mentions at the end of the interview that he gets along great with Jerry during the off-season, although they're enemies in the fall.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Josh Cribbs, the league's most dangerous return man not named Devin Hester, has a high ankle sprain.

The story states that Cribbs could sit out the final two preseason games. I'm no doctor, but I do consider myself somewhat of an expert in high ankle sprain recovery times after covering the comebacks of Anthony Henry, Terrell Owens and Dirk Nowitzki from that dreaded injury during the last year.

A high ankle sprain typically sidelines athletes from 4-6 weeks. T.O. and Dirk came back quicker than that, but neither was close to 100 percent upon their return.

So the Cowboys either won't have to deal with Cribbs at all, or they'll face a version of him that can't cut nearly as well as usual.

It is worth mentioning that Syndric Steptoe had kick returns of 40 and 90 yards after Cribbs went down last night against the Giants.

Time to shift our focus to one of the NFL's best preseason rivalries, if such things exist.

The Governor's Cup is a big deal in Houston. In case you didn't know, that's what they call the trophy that goes to the winner of the annual Cowboys-Texans game.

The Texans won it in convincing fashion last season, leading DeSoto native Patrick Crayton to request that the rivalry game become a regular-season affair. The postgame trash talk was even more lopisded, with Texans fans really rubbing it in your faces.

You folks seemed to lose your composure when Houstonians invaded this here blog last August. Try to keep it together this time around, even if the Cowboys put up another preseason dud.

I'm a little late on this, since I took the last couple of days off, but better late than never with the latest installment of the Brandon "Big Mouth" Jacobs vs. the Cowboys trash talking war.

Jacobs, who took great pleasure in Patrick Crayton's playoff failures, called the Cowboys an "arrogant" group while appearing on a New York radio station this week. Then he really rubbed the Giants' success in the Cowboys' faces.

"I guess they won their Super Bowl rings in training camp, because they didn't win it last year," he said.

Yeah, well, the Cowboys did go 13-3!!!

We did this before training camp on the Cowboys' regular-season opponents and figured we'd give a little heads up on Denver. Who better to turn to than Jeff Legwold of the Rocky Mountain News.

Biggest question in camp - Defensive line. How are they going to put it all together? They've got some holdovers from last year and DeWayne Robertson was the biggest off-season acquisition. Shanahan said in March he failed a physical, and he's still coming back from knee and wrist surgery. A lot of their ends are situational guys. They don't have one big, dominant guy.

Best pickup of off-season - Right now you'd say the top two draft picks, left tackle Ryan Clady and receiver Eddie Royal. They're going to play right now. [Clady] is really quick so he fits what they do. He just happens to be humongous.

Under the radar guy - Anybody who runs the ball for them, like every year. Right now the top three guys in the backfield are undrafted players. Selvin Young, Andre Hall and the rookie Anthony Alridge (via Denton). Ryan Torain was probably going to be the starter, but he broke his elbow last week.

In case you were wondering - They like Alridge a lot, according to Jeff. He's doing great as a third-down back. He's showing a lot of speed in practice and played well in Houston. He's got a shot.

Prediction - I think for our tab I said 9-7. Anything around 8-8, 9-7. Even if they don't have a lot of injuries, they're going to need some good luck. Their schedule isn't brutal, so they could get in the mix, but they're going to need a lot of good luck.

You can read more on the Broncos from Jeff here.

T.O. competing against Pro Bowl CB Champ Bailey was one of the highlights when Denver came to Valley Ranch last season. It doesn't appear that they'll face each other this week in Denver.

Bailey (hamstring) isn't expected to participate in the practices against the Cowboys or Saturday's preseason game. LB Boss Bailey (ankle), Champ's brother, and C Tom Nalen (knee) are also sidelined.

Superstar columnist/blogger Jean-Jacques Taylor believes that's the case after reading Strahan's comments about the Giants being the NFC favorites.

I think Strahan, who mentioned that the Giants considered themselves serious Super Bowl contenders after they beat the Cowboys, was just trying to say the right thing. But that shouldn't stop you folks from getting all fired up about it.

Has a defending Super Bowl champ ever whined about being disrespected as much as the Giants? Check out Don Banks' column on SI.com for further evidence.

You would think the center of the NFL during the first week of training camp would be here in Oxnard, Calif., but it's going to be Green Bay.

The NFL's Web site is reporting Brett Favre will report to training camp and will send a reinstatement letter to the league. ESPN, citing a source, is reporting the New York Jets have permission to speak with Favre.

It's all interesting stuff.

It looks like Favre is putting the heat on the Packers to do something. If anything, it speeds up a possible trade, in my mind. Tampa Bay has been mentioned as a possible destination for Favre.

If he joins the Bucs, are you a little more worried about the regular-season matchup with the Cowboys at Texas Stadium? Probably not since Favre is winless there, right?

The Giants-Cowboys rivalry has to be considered one of the NFL's best right now. It's definitely at the top of the list in terms of trash-talking entertainment value.

DE Justin Tuck, who played a major role in the Giants' playoff win at Texas Stadium, threw a couple jabs at America's Team in this column by DMN-ex Gary Myers of the New York Daily News. Tuck's perturbed that the Cowboys are considered NFC favorites despite failing to win a playoff game last season (or the 10 before that).

"Maybe it's because Dallas tried to buy a Super Bowl this year," Tuck said yesterday.

"Get your ring finger ready," has apparently made it to bulletin boards in New York, which really isn't fair to Wade Phillips, considering the context of the comment. Of course, Wade provided last year's champs with mighty fine bulletin board material by declaring that the "best team lost" the day after the Cowboys' premature playoff exit.

And it's not like either team will have trouble getting motivated for the two (or three) Cowboys-Giants meetings this season.

Those of you who wanted the Cowboys to sign Donte Stallworth when he was on the free agent market, take a look at what the Browns wideout is doing at the start of training camp.

Yes, a hamstring injury has halted the start of camp for him.

This could have been Jason Garrett's homecoming had he accepted Baltimore's offer to be Brian Billick's replacement. Instead, he settled on returning to the Cowboys as the NFL's highest-paid assistant coach. We've asked Jamison Hensley of the Baltimore Sun for his thoughts on the Ravens to close out our series.

Biggest question going into camp - Quarterback. Open competition between Troy Smith, Kyle Boller and Joe Flacco. Smith has inside edge because he makes fewer critical mistakes at this point. But Flacco has impressed the coaching staff and should make it on the field this season.

Best pickup of the off-season - Coach John Harbaugh. He replaces Brian Billick after nine seasons. The players had gotten too comfortable under Billick. Harbaugh has stricter rules and should improve team discipline.

Under the radar guy - Running back Ray Rice. Willis McGahee will remain the starter, but Rice will figure into the offense. Some have compared the second-round pick to Maurice Jones-Drew.

In case you were wondering - Jamison says the Ravens desperately wanted Garrett, who was their clear-cut top pick. But there are no hard feelings after they put together a solid staff (Cam Cameron at offensive coordinator and Rex Ryan at defensive coordinator) around an inexperienced Harbaugh.

Prediction - 7-9

You can read more on the Ravens from Jamison here.

2008 Cowboys opponents
Sept. 7 - at Cleveland
Sept. 15, Dec. 28 - vs. Philadelphia
Sept. 21 - at Green Bay
Sept. 28, Nov. 16 - vs. Washington
Oct. 5 - vs. Cincinnati
Oct. 12 - at Arizona
Oct. 19 - at St. Louis
Oct. 26 - vs. Tampa Bay
Nov. 2, Dec. 14 - vs NY Giants
Nov. 23 - vs. San Francisco
Nov. 27 - vs. Seattle
Dec. 7 - at Pittsburgh
Dec. 20 - vs. Baltimore

Never mind that Philadelphia finished in the NFC East basement last season after dominating the division for years. T.O.'s old pal is convinced, according to this ESPN.com story, that the Eagles are the NFC favorites.

"A lot of people have picked us to win the NFC, and rightfully so," said McNabb, suggesting all business in a plain white T-shirt and ball cap. "It's not that hard to see the type of team we have. You don't win NFC championships or the NFC on paper. You put it out on the field. Our team hasn't changed that much where we can't win the NFC again."

Wonder whether any of those people live outside of the greater Philadelphia area? But at least McNabb, who quite frankly is one of the Eagles' biggest question marks, is consistent with his brashness. Remember when he said last season that the NFC East championship came through Philly right before the Cowboys kicked the Eagles' tail feathers?

By the way, that win was a fluke. At least No. 5 seems to think so.

"We beat the Cowboys last year, and we should have beaten them in the first game," said McNabb, apparently not afraid to provide a little bulletin board material for the folks training in Oxnard, Calif.

Cowboys-Steelers. Super Bowls. Big games. Hall of Famers. This could be good, especially late in the season. If you're going to Pittsburgh, you have to check out Primanti Brothers, especially late at night. Go with the slaw and fries in the sandwich. And get to the stadium early. Steelers fans get there earlier than any in the league. It's amazing. We've asked Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette for his thoughts on the Steelers.

Biggest question going into camp - Who's going to be the owner? Ah, the offensive line. [Ben] Roethlisberger has been sacked 93 times in the last two years. It's not all the line's fault, but you start there. They lost their All-Pro center Jeff Hartings. He retired after the '06 season and signed a center, Sean Mahan. And this year lost seven-time Pro Bowl left guard Alan Faneca to free agency.

Best pickup of the off-season - Has to be their first-round pick Rashard Mendenhall. I hate to take the chalk here, but they don't do much in free agency. Their running game, even though Willie Parker was leading the league until he broke his leg in the 15th game, had changed to hit or miss. He picked up yards, but he doesn't get the tough yards. This kid they think can do that and can complement him, then all of a sudden their line might look better.

Under the radar guy - He's not under the radar here, but he might be nationally and it's LaMarr Woodley. He was a second-round pick in 2007. They used him on 80 snaps last year and he had four sacks and then he had two more in the playoffs. He's going to start at left outside linebacker where [Clark] Haggans has started for a number of years. He became a free agent and they didn't try to sign him. Woodley is kind of a sack machine or he's shown he can be.

In case you were wondering - Pittsburgh will remain a 3-4 team even though head coach Mike Tomlin is a 4-3 guy. They'll mix in a little bit of the 4-3 but mostly play the 3-4, according to Ed ... Ed said Limas Sweed has a chance to play a lot this year and become a starter whenever Hines Ward moves on ... And yes, Heinz Field should be beat up. There's been a push for an artificial surface but the Rooneys say the players want grass, even when the field gets torn up because of so much use late in the year.

Prediction - They have the toughest schedule in the league based on last year's record. I usually pooh-pooh that, but look at who they play? They play the whole NFC East, the toughest division maybe in football. They've got to play the Patriots, Chargers. But then everybody in the AFC North has the same schedule except for two games. Let's go with 8-8.

You can read more on the Steelers from Ed here.

Nothing says Thanksgiving more than a visit from Seattle. And it will be a homecoming for Julius Jones. Do you think he'll be amped for that one? I'm not sure what to make of the Seahawks. They went to the Super Bowl but have just kind of been around lately. Too bad this game isn't in Seattle, one of the best cities in the country. We've asked Clare Farnsworth of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for his thoughts on the Seahawks.

Biggest question going into camp - There's two things, the running game and the wide receivers. [General manager Tim] Ruskell in '05 remade the linebackers with [Lofa] Tatupu and Leroy Hill and with [Julian] Peterson in 2006. Last year because the safeties played so bad - even though Hamlin is a rich man now - he got rid of those guys and signed Deon Grant and Brian Russell. This year it's the running game. He got Mike Wahle, got rid of Shaun Alexander and brought in Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett. Is what they done going to be good enough to replace what they had? Then the receivers. Deion Branch is coming off a torn ACL he had in the playoffs in January. If they had to play today the receivers would be Nate Burleson and Bobby Engram, who's not only old, but kind of miffed. He wants a new contract. Then they have all these young guys.

Best pickup of the off-season - People started telling me this at the Combine and I've heard it ever since that regardless of what the Seahawks do, the best thing is hiring Mike Solari to coach the offensive line ... When Solari was with the Chiefs he had a reputation for playing really technically sound with a sort of nasty streak. That's two elements this line can use.

Under the radar guy - John Carlson. They traded up to get him. He's from Notre Dame. They gave away their third round to get him in nthe second round. Everybody thought they were nuts, like they did with Lofa [in '05]. A lot of people deemed him to be the most complete and NFL ready tight end in the draft., and it was the most glaring need. They continue to say this guy is going to be a starter and he needs to play. Another guy is Red Bryant. He's soon to be Jacob Green's son in-law, the Seahawks' all-time sack leader. He's going to marry Jacob's daughter. He's a good run player, but he's shown he's got more to him than that to be a pass rusher.

In case you were wondering - So far so good for Julius Jones in Seattle, according to Clare, who added the coaches think he'll be a lot more consistent than Alexander. Jones has a chip on his shoulder to "show the Cowboys he's better than given credit for." ... Clare also said the coaching transition for 2009 shouldn't be an issue with Jim Mora already pegged as Mike Holmgren's successor. He said it's a good thing because players know what the succession will be.

Prediction - I still think that the road to the NFC West runs through here. I don't know that the Seahawks will be much better than last year, but I don't know that the other teams can challenge. First it was San Francisco and then Arizona last year, and it's never materialized. I think the defense is good enough to help the offense win nine, 10 games, which wins the division and they get a home game at Qwest Field. And as they've proven over the last three years, they can beat anybody at Qwest Field.

You can read more on the Seahawks from Clare here.

2008 Cowboys opponents
Sept. 7 - at Cleveland
Sept. 15, Dec. 28 - vs. Philadelphia
Sept. 21 - at Green Bay
Sept. 28, Nov. 16 - vs. Washington
Oct. 5 - vs. Cincinnati
Oct. 12 - at Arizona
Oct. 19 - at St. Louis
Oct. 26 - vs. Tampa Bay
Nov. 2, Dec. 14 - vs. NY Giants
Nov. 23 - vs. San Francisco
Nov. 27 - vs. Seattle
Dec. 7 - at Pittsburgh
Dec. 20 - vs. Baltimore

Terrell Owens became TO in San Francisco and he's still a huge deal there. The first time he played his former team he caught five passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns. But this team is not the team Owens left after the 2003 season. We've asked Matt Maiocco ofthe Santa Rosea Press Democrat for his thoughts on the Niners.

Biggest question going into camp - Who's going to win the quarterback job? Alex Smith and Shaun Hill are competing for the job. They claim the third guy, J.T. O'Sullivan, who isn't going to be getting nearly as many reps as the other guys, is part of the competition, too. I think it ends up with Alex Smith winning it and get gets his last chance to prove he can live up to that No. 1 overall job. He's a bright guy. He tends to be better in the off-season than he is during the season. He hasn't carried over the physical skills.

Best pickup of the off-season - Mike Martz, just because that offense has just been horrendous. Just really bad. And boring too. At least Mike Martz will bring a little bit of excitement to the offense. He's pretty much been entrusted with the job of saving not only Alex Smith's career but Mike Nolan's job. The defense is OK. The defense, I don't think, is nearly as bad as the ranking last year. The reason the ranking was so bad was because the offense led the league in three-and-outs.

Under the radar guy - This guy's a unique player. He's a tight end, and I know that Martz has never really featured the tight end, but go with this guy, Delanie Walker. He was a small-college wide receiver. They had him put on a couple of extra pounds. He's Vernon Davis' backup at tight end, but I can see situations where for matchup possibilities they'll use some two-tight end sets. Walker will be that second guy and he can get down the field. He's a better receiver than Vernon Davis.

In case you were wondering - Old friend Larry Allen is considering a return to the game, but Matt was saying every time Mike Nolan has called, Allen has not picked up ... Matt says Martz believes they have enough receivers for his system with Bryant Johnson and Isaac Bruce as free agents and Arnez Battle.

Prediction - Last year everybody had them as a playoff team, a trendy pick. I did not think that was the case but now this year they're really under everybody's radar screen. I thionk this could be the year they do become a much more respectable team. It's a little bit of a cop out, but 8-8. I think people see them as one of the five-six worst teams in the league, but I think there's enough there and with a sense of urgency this year they can contend in the west.

You can read more on the Niners from Matt here.

2008 Cowboys opponents
Sept. 7 - at Cleveland
Sept. 15, Dec. 28 - vs. Philadelphia
Sept. 21 - at Green Bay
Sept. 28, Nov. 16 - vs. Washington
Oct. 5 - vs. Cincinnati
Oct. 12 - at Arizona
Oct. 19 - at St. Louis
Oct. 26 - vs. Tampa Bay
Nov. 2, Dec. 14 - vs NY Giants
Nov. 23 - vs. San Francisco
Nov. 27 - vs. Seattle
Dec. 7 - at Pittsburgh
Dec. 20 - vs. Baltimore

There won't be a shortage of storylines when these teams meet again on Nov. 2 since the Giants ended the Cowboys' 2007 season. One of them won't be Michael Strahan, who retired. Another won't be Jeremy Shockey, who was traded to New Orleans on Monday. But trust me, there will be plenty. We've asked Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star Ledger for his thoughts on the Giants (and we did it before Monday's trade).

Biggest question coming into camp - (Mike said it would be if Shockey showed up at camp, but now we know he won't now that he's been dealt so we'll go with what Mike said about a possible hangover effect from the Super Bowl) I don't think it will be because they're going to look at themselves as the underdog with everybody saying it was a fluke they won the Super Bowl and they just got hot at the right time. That will keep themselves fresh, talking about themselves as underdogs and forgetting they won it all.

Best pickup of the off-season - They didn't do much. It's not Danny Clark and it's not Samy Knight, they're only two free agents. [First-round pick] Kenny Phillips. Now we had a very limited to sample to work with, but he certainly looked the part. He's got a good build. Made just an awesome play coming across the field, dove for the ball and we thought he just knocked it down, but he made a tumbling, rolling, diving catch. That just showed right there the kid's got something. It's not locked in [he will be the starter]. I wouldn't expect him to be with the first team right off the bat, but by the end I'd say so.

Under the radar guy - Darcy Johnson. He was locked in on the No. 2 tight end spot last year and got hurt a week into camp and was having an awesome first week and a half. If he doesn't get hurt, he's probably the guy taking Shockey's spot late last year and he's the guy making the big catch in the Super Bow. Everybody's talking about Kevin Boss ... but if he doesn't pan out, watch out for Johnson. This kid was undrafted. He filled out a little bit. [Tight ends coach] Mike Pope is one of the best in the business.

In case you were wondering - Mike said he's seen Eli Manning, "walk a little taller," in the off-season as a result of the Super Bowl, even though Manning would never admit to it. He said Manning's not the yeller screamer everybody wanted him to be, but he's got that monkey off his back.

Prediction - I've given them the division and I'll continue to give them the division. I think they can get a home playoff game at the very least or at least a bye would be ideal. They don't want to go through the same run they did last year. I don't know if they can get themselves positioned as one of the top two teams, but I think they get the division. I'm not sure about [the Cowboys]. There's too many personalities to completely buy them.

You can read more about the Giants from Mike here.

2008 Cowboys opponents
Sept. 7 - at Cleveland
Sept. 15, Dec. 28 - vs. Philadelphia
Sept. 21 - at Green Bay
Sept. 28, Nov. 16 - vs. Washington
Oct. 5 - vs. Cincinnati
Oct. 12 - at Arizona
Oct. 19 - at St. Louis
Oct. 26 - vs. Tampa Bay
Nov. 2, Dec. 14 - vs NY Giants
Nov. 23 - vs. San Francisco
Nov. 27 - vs. Seattle
Dec. 7 - at Pittsburgh
Dec. 20 - vs. Baltimore

The last time the Cowboys played against Tampa Bay, Tony Romo threw five touchdown passes on Thanksgiving 2006. That Bucs' team was pretty bad. This one, which visits Oct. 26, is coming off a playoff season. We've asked for Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune for his thoughts on the Bucs.

Biggest question going into camp - Who will emerge as the complement to Joey Galloway at wide receiver? They learned in the playoffs last year what can happen if Galloway is shut down or ineffective and it was disastrous. Michael Clayton, Maurice Stovall, Ike Hilliard, but there's one guy Cowboys fans will know and love - Antonio Bryant. He had a very good off-season program. The Bucs are very happy. He seems to be very hungry, very focused. Of course nothing's gone on yet, but so far it looks like he could help them. Of course they felt the same way about David Boston a couple of years ago.

Best pickup of the off-season - Center Jeff Faine. He's not a Pro Bowler, but he's an upgrade over John Wade. He should solidify a very young, talented offensive line.

Under the radar guy - Greg White, defensive end. He quietly led the team in sacks last year with eight. He's a real comer. Played for Orlando [in the Arena Football League]. He's just got a natural pass rush. Good quickness, real nose for the ball. He's a little bit older and he's got to figure out his contract situation, but he's going to play.

In case you were wondering - Roy believes Chris Simms will be in camp because the Bucs are holding out hope they can get something for him. Simms didn't take part in any of the off-season stuff and he may not show for camp, but Roy said he's healthy ... If Brett Favre somehow ends up in Tampa, Roy said it has to happen sooner rather than later because Jon Gruden's offense is a little more complex than the normal West Coast scheme.

Prediction - I think they'll be an 8-8 football team. I don't think they're quite as good as last year and last year they kind of slipped by a couple of teams. I don't think they'll surprise anybody this year.

You can read more on the Bucs from Roy here.

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