After the past two pre-season games against the San Diego Chargers and the Houston Texans, many experts are rethinking the Dallas Cowboys as their Super Bowl pick.  Against the Chargers, the Cowboys held the ball in the first half for little over 6 minutes.  Against the Texans, the Cowboys offensive starters were shutout and totaled 9 rushing yards on 9 carries.  The offensive line has not protected Romo all that well in both games (4 sacks in 5 quarters and numerous hurries).

So what is there to look forward to?  First of all, the Cowboys do not play the Chargers this year unless both teams make it to the Super Bowl.  When the Cowboys played the Chargers in 2009, the Chargers offense cut through the Dallas defense like a hot knife through margarine.  It wasn’t pretty.  Save for two turnovers by the Chargers while in the redzone, a similar story was playing out two weeks ago.

The Texans played poorly against the New Orleans Saints the week prior to their match-up with the Cowboys.  The Texans “starters” were outscored 28 to 10 in the first half of the contest.  Their rushing defense was exposed and the team was embarrassed.  One week later the Texans starters were noticeably more intense than the Dallas starters.  While the third game of the pre-season is a dress rehearsal for the regular season, the two teams were playing two decidedly different games.  The Texans played to win the game, and the Cowboys played to win the game in week three of the regular season.  The Cowboys offense was incredibly vanilla, but they still managed two drives deep into Houston’s territory.  The Cowboys weren’t going to tip their hand and show the Texans their game plan for week three.

Fortunately their week three match-up is less than a month away, September 26.  The Cowboys will still have the taste of this loss in their mouth.  The Cowboys will match, if not exceed the intensity of the Texans.  The mental mistakes will be eliminated (or at least reduced) and the Cowboys offensive line will once again be whole.

The teams will be the same, the location will be the same, but expect a different outcome in the all Texas re-match.

Nickel corner Orlando Scandrick suffered a broken nose at this afternoon’s practice. The injury is not expected to keep Scandrick out of Saturday’s game against the Houston Texans.

This is the second injury that Scandrick has suffered this training camp. Earlier in the summer, he shattered his left index finger.

According to ESPN Dallas, Scandrick made a diving play to deflect a pass to Terrell Hudgins on the sideline. The athletic trainers rushed over as Scandrick remained on the ground and covered his face with a blood soaked towel.

Rookie corner Akwasi Owusu-Ansah took the reps in the first-team nickel package.

At Tuesday’s practice, one of the newer players in Dallas — Alex Barron — received the reps at right tackle with the first-team over Robert Brewster. This comes as no surprise after head coach Wade Phillips had said yesterday Barron would start Saturday’s pre-season game at Houston.

Brewster was bumped to second-team to receive reps at both left and right tackle.

Also receiving first-team reps was second-round draft pick Sean Lee. Brooking is out with a shoulder injury and Lee benefited by jumping into the inside linebacker spot next to Bradie James. Lee was practicing with a wrap on his left hand, but it did not seem to slow the rookie down.

Cowboys first-round draft pick Dez Bryant is recovering from a high ankle sprain and will likely not return until the teams season opener at Washington on September 12th.

“I wasn’t disappointed when they told me about it,” Bryant said. “I agreed with it. I just started running. I’m a rookie and I haven’t been in a NFL game yet.”

Bryant did run at practice for the first time since he came down with the injury in July.

The Dallas Cowboys have had discussions on whether or not to trade wide receiver Sam Hurd. The team is weighing the decision and waiting to see what compensation would be available for one of the Cowboys special teams studs.

Hurd had a team leading 19 special teams tackles last season.

“It’s what I know. It would be tough to play somewhere else,” Hurd said after practice on Monday. “You know your role here, but they know I want to have a bigger role on the offense, and I hope that happens.”

The Cowboys could keep five wide receivers this season. Miles Austin, Dez Bryant, Roy Williams, Patrick Crayton, and Kevin Ogletree are the likely players to earn those spots.

When head coach Wade Phillips was asked about Hurd he said, “I think he does a lot of good things for us; that’s why he’s been with us. He’s a guy you can count on. He’s been injured some the last couple of years, but I think he’s been solid as a receiver and one of our best special teamers, and he’s done that this year.

“We got a lot of good receivers. A lot of good players. I think it’s a competition every year, and really at that position, where he is, it’s always going to be competitive. If he’s a starter, that’s a different thing. But right now he’s not.”

ESPN.com fantasy sports experts Matthew Berry and Christopher Harris debate which wide receiver should be drafted first: Miles Austin or Calvin Johnson.

When the Dallas Cowboys face the San Diego Chargers on Saturday, it may be a preview to the Super Bowl.  The Cowboys faced the Chargers in 2009 and while the final score to the game was close, 20-17 in favor of the Chargers, there were some noticeable take aways from the game.  The most disconcerting being that the Cowboys defense was unable to stop the Chargers offense.

This game is merely a bridge between last weeks game and next week’s dress rehearsal.  Certainly the players on the bubble will try hard, but the Cowboys are looking to escape with zero injuries and some solid game film on their players.  If they could only choose one, they would choose the former.  With that in mind, the following are worth watching for:

1. The offensive line: Doug Free has played well in his previous two outings and the expectation is that he will continue to play effectively.  With Kyle Kosier possibly missing several games at the start of the regular season, heavy focus should be paid to Montrae Holland.  Holland has been with the Cowboys since 2008, so there should not be a learning curve.  Holland is unable to play center; however, prior to this year, neither did Kosier.  The biggest question mark will come from Robert Brewster who will be starting in place of Colombo (knee injury) and in lieu of Alex Barron (sprained ankle).  Fortunately, it appears the Cowboys will be proactive with the first team, especially Romo.  If the offensive line is unable to protect Romo early in the game, the Cowboys will adjust their play calling accordingly.

2. Injuries: Without a doubt, depth at the offensive line is being tested.  If Gurode or Davis happen to go down with injury, it would simply add to the nightmare.  If Holland and Brewster have mental mistakes which lead to unabated shots at Romo or the triumvirate of running backs, the injury concerns could continue to mount.  The good news is that the Cowboys are playing the Chargers.  The same Cowboys defense that had difficulty getting the Chargers offense off the field in 2009 should prevent the offense from having to play more than three series, all of which could be 3 and outs.  So there is a silver lining to the Chargers offense outmatching the Cowboys defense.

3. Ogletree: Kevin Ogletree has struggled in the first two pre-season games and reportedly as well in practice.  His past practice week was improved; hopefully that translates to productivity and catches with zero drops.  Ogletree has been embraced by most Cowboys fans and it would be disappointing if he were cut for struggling in his sophomore campaign.  With the depth at wide receiver, Ogletree is most likely competing against Sam Hurd for the final spot at WR.  Hurd is an outstanding special teams player, so Ogletree must play at a high level when given the opportunity.  One thing that is in Ogletree’s favor is that he is a cheap player as compared to Hurd’s 1.7 million dollar contract.

4. Extrapoints by Beuhler: This is a not so subtle way of saying we need to see touchdowns and not fieldgoals.  No one is pressing the panic button on the Cowboys impotence in the red zone, but touchdowns win games, field goals keep the other team in striking distance.  Romo stated that the Cowboys do not gameplan for pre-season games.  The suggestion is that this can lead to poor production in the redzone.  I disagree considering the Redskins scored six touchdowns in their first pre-season game against the Bills.  Unfortunately, touchdowns may not be plentiful against the Chargers who have a solid defense, have a ball control offense, along with consideration of the Cowboys woes at offensive line.

5. Rookies: Sean Lee (2nd round) will have his first opportunity on the field as well as Akwaski Owusu-Ansah (4th round).  Both players have been nursing injuries and finally will have an opportunity to make an impression.  Owusu-Ansah may be limited to special team returns; however, the return specialists have been unimpressive so far. Titus Ryan is no longer with the team, and Holley, McCann, and Wall do not appear to be mentioned in the same breath as Dante Hall, Joshua Cribbs, or Devin Hester.  The Cowboys would love to receive production from a drafted bench player and have the opportunity to spare wear and tear on Felix Jones or Dez Bryant.  As for Lee, Cowboys fans have been reading about him every since April and we all want our curiosity sated.  Is he Bobby Carpenter 2.0, or does he have an internal fire which will drive himself and the defense to new levels.  The first step to making that call comes Saturday night.

As for the game as a whole, don’t take too much from it.  Holland and Brewster will have to adjust to the speed and power of the starters playing at game speed.  As talented as the Cowboys defense is, the players rarely play at game speed.  Give all the new players and opportunity to adjust, and hopefully the 3rd and 4th drives of the night will lead to production.  From a defensive standpoint, I’m hoping to see a 3 and out or a turnover.  I don’t care that a 3 and out isn’t considered a turnover, but it is the next best thing.  A turnover can be the the product of one players mistake.  A 3 and out is the product of an entire offense being ineffective.

And on that note, I’m officially on vacation.  I’ll see yall right around the time the Texans are beating the Cowboys in the dress rehearsal, God forbid.

For Saturday’s game against the San Diego Chargers, there will be three new members to the offensive line (Doug Free, Robert Brewster, and Montrae Holland) as compared to the 2009 season.  In the past two pre-season matchups, Free has given Cowboys fans confidence that he will do a good job in the regular season.  Brewster has not instilled the same confidence.  As for Holland, he has had a nondescript performance against backup talent, which is normally good for an offensive lineman.

The presumption is that if the offensive line plays poorly, then the offense will play poorly.  Afterall, if there are no holes to run through, running backs will get stuffed near or behind the line of scrimmage.  If Tony Romo doesn’t have time to throw the ball, how will he get the ball to his receivers, let alone stay healthy.  This is true of how the Cowboys normally play their offense.  Romo drops back.  Romo looks through his targets.  Austin, then Williams, then Witten.

It’s not impossible to hide a single novice on the line.  You have the tight end lineup to that side and chip to the defensive end as he releases.  Shade the running back to that side and have him block or chip.  Remember Rob Petitti played well until Flozell Adams was injured and help was not consistently sent his way.

But with a bad offensive line, the offense has to change.  First of all, you put your best run blockers into the game even if they are only marginal pass blockers.  With a heavy dose of running, you pepper in screens to the WRs, screens to the RBs, screens to the TE, slants to the WRs, fades to the WR’s, and quick double moves with fake pumps on the first fake slant.  Screens are extended running plays that can occur in the flat as well as the center of the field.  Quick passes reduce the amount of time your lineman have to effectively block.

That sounds nothing like our seven step drop and let Romo read, then scramble, and then decide offense.  Generally in the 2nd pre-season game the starts will play the entire first half of football.  Romo will play as long as the line can hold up.  What we need to see is whether Jason Garrett will devise a game plan to compensate for a shakey line, or whether he will see whether the line can meet the challenge of playing against a Super Bowl contender.

I like to think that Garrett adjusts game plans based upon the nature of the situation.  The lone time I have seen him have that opportunity (when Romo was injured in 2008), he called passing plays too often with a broken down Brad Johnson at the helm.  He has another opportunity to earn his title of genius.

Marc Colombo is projected to miss 2 to 4 weeks after he underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove loose particles in his knee. Colombo may return prior to the start of the season. Alex Barron will probably start in the regular season if healthy. Robert Brewster is scheduled to play against the San Diego Chargers, but I could easily see Sam Young being given an opportunity to prove him self against the Houston Texans the following week.

Kyle Kosier sprained his right knee today and is expected to be out for 4 to 6 weeks (or as late as September 29). Kosier could miss as many as three games and then have the benefit of an extra week as the Cowboys bye is in the 4th week of the season. Kosier will be replaced by Montrae Holland. The same Montrae Holland that was not re-signed in the offseason until it was determined that no other team had any interest. That’s not fair, but he was a free agent in all of March and April before re-signing with the Cowboys on April 28. Holland does have the advantage of not having a learning curve as he has been with the Cowboys in the same system since 2008.

Free, Gurode, and Davis remain healthy. There is a bright side, though you have to look really hard. Young players will have more opportunities to play and improve. There are still three pre-season weeks for the offensive line to gel and learn to communicate before the first game of the season. The most difficult part to playing offensive line is recognizing what is in front of you, who to block, which gaps are your responsibility in a given situation, recognizing twists as well as blitz packages. It’s not as simple as pointing to one guy and blocking him.

Looking at the Cowboys regular season schedule, it may be Cowboys still appear to be the better team on paper. They will play against the Washington Redskins in week one. I still like DeMarcus Ware to dominate Trent Williams. While Donovan McNabb has beaten the Cowboys on a number of occasions, the Cowboys are 4-1 against McNabb in their last five games.

The Chicago Bears come to town the following week. While the Bears offensive lineman haven’t sustained a myriad of injuries, they were not very good last year. Seemingly the Bears improved their talent at every position, except where it was most needed (the o-line). The Cowboys have a chance to have their line in tact the following week with a record of 2-0.

There is a storm on the horizon, but if the Cowboys prepare, they won’t be as vulnerable.

In the lamest twist ending since M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village, Brett Favre has informed the Minnesota Vikings that he will return for one more season. It is a decision that will undoubtedly be celebrated in Minnesota as Vikings fans embrace the euphoria that comes immediately prior to devastating heartache.

Certainly Favre gives the Vikings a better chance to win in 2010. He also has a reputation for throwing interceptions which end seasons. Count with me the times he has thrown a pick to euthanize his team’s playoff chances: Eagles, Giants, and Saints. That’s not even considering the beat downs that the Cowboys of the 90’s put on him.

With Favre, the Vikings are more formidable. The Cowboys will have to beat the Vikings twice in 2010 (once in the regular season and again during the playoffs) if they want to reach the Super Bowl. As fans of the Cowboys, we should be glad the schedule will be as tough as it is. If the Cowboys reach the Super Bowl, they earned it. Going through mediocre teams to get to the Super Bowl isn’t nearly as gratifying.