I’m not a one to rain down gloom and doom, but if I were given the choice I would have the first team offense take a knee for the entire first half. Especially since the forecast for San Diego on Saturday is a 45% chance of gloom and scattered doom showers.

It’s quite possible that Brewster will take to right tackle like a duck to water. It’s possible that in the Robert Brewster movie, Colombo will play the role of Wally Pipp and Brewster the role of a terminally ill superstar. (Wally Pipp was the Yankee 1st baseman from 1915 to 1925; he had a headache one afternoon & took the day off; Lou Gherig replaced him and the rest is incredibly boring baseball history.)

For a half of football, an inexperienced right tackle can avoid being exposed by a competent offensive coordinator. Chip with the tight end and running backs. Keep the back into block on the right side. My concern is that while Jason Garrett has assumed the title of genius, it only give hims the confidence to make stupid decisions (such as throw 80% of the time with Brad Johnson).

Temporary injuries like Colombo’s can be good. They give the younger players an opportunity to prove themselves. If not for Roy Williams sitting out the Chiefs game in 2009, Miles Austin may have never become a starter.  What it all comes down to is that someone needs to protect Romo.  Whether it’s Brewster by force or Garrett by scheme, Romo should not touch the ground (except to kneel the ball dead).

Jon Kitna – 14 years experience

Keith Brooking - 13 years experience (Sean Lee, rookie, Jason Williams, 2nd year)

Leonard Davis - 10 years experience (Holland, 8th year, Robert Brewster, 2nd year, Phil Costa, rookie, Travis Bright, 2nd year)

Marc Colombo – 9 years experience (Alex Barron, 6th year, Robert Brewster, 2nd year, Pat McQuistan, 5th year, Sam Young, rookie)

Andrew Gurode – 9 years experience (Kyle Kosier, 9th year)

Kyle Kosier – 9 years experience (Holland, 8th year, Robert Brewster, 2nd year, Phil Costa, rookie, Travis Bright, 2nd year)

Montrae Holland – 8 years experience

Bradie James – 8 years experience (Sean Lee, rookie, Jason Williams, 2nd year)

Terrence Newman – 8 years experience (Orlando Scandrick, 3rd year)

Tony Romo – 8 years experience (Jon Kitna, Stephen McGee)

Jason Witten – 8 years experience (Martellus Bennett, 3rd year)

On a roster of nearly 80 players, there are 11 players with 8 years of experience or greater, of which 9 are starters.  11 more players have 6 or 7 years experience.  In essence, going into 2010, 20 out of the entire 53 man roster will have more than 5 years experience.  This is undeniably a young team.

Injury is a part of the NFL.  Weathering injury will often determine success.  In 2008, the Cowboys suffered a spate of injuries at key positions.  At quarterback, Romo was replaced by an ineffective Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger.  Unfortunately the Cowboys had their answer at backup quarterback on their pre-season roster in 2007.  Matt Moore was waived in the final cut before the regular season.  He was claimed by the Carolina Panthers.  Moore is not a dynamic player, but he has proven to be an effective quarterback and is the expected starter for the Panthers for the 2010 season.  He has won six of his eight starts, including 4 of 5 in 2009.

Additionally in 2008, the Cowboys suffered injuries at Running  Back, Left Guard, Punter, and Safety.  The Cowboys answered these problems by giving Marion Barber more carries (not the best decision and it only caused him to later suffer an injury), inserting Pat McQuistan (who simply wasn’t good enough), signing Sam Palescu at punter (and there was a severe drop off between him and McBriar), and playing a variety of young safeties who ironically weren’t that much worse than Roy Williams, but they weren’t better.

In 2009, Marc Colombo suffered a broken leg and was replaced by Doug Free.  The was no noticeable drop off in the quality of play at the position.  The moral of the two stories is that having aged veterans on your team isn’t automatically a liability if you have talented backups who can play at an acceptable level.  If there is a foreseeable problem, it would be at guard or center.  The backup offensive linemen presently on the rosters are young, unproven, and have not been overly impressive in practice or pre-season exhibitions.

Injuries can derail a season as it did in 2008.  Effectively managing injuries can lead to a Super Bowl.  I’d love to see a veteran offensive lineman who can play both guard and center become available.  Several teams can claim to be one player away from being a contender.  The Cowboys are one backup player away from Super Bowl aspirations.

So, you gotta ask the owner, what’s the deal? Well, his answer here is just absurd. Jerry Jones was asked about the backup quarterback problems the Cowboys are facing and this is his answer:

 “It’s something that we absolutely worked on in the offseason. The backup quarterback has always been a high priority for this team.”

If Brooks Bollinger is “absolutely worked on” then I need to jump from the highest and nearest bridge and hope I land uninjured. This team is scratching out of a damn coffin!