Looking Ahead: Dallas Cowboys at Miami Dolphins

The 2008 Detroit Lions won all four preseason games by a significant margin, scoring a combined 80 points and allowing only 32. They then lost all sixteen regular season games.  The 2007 New England Patriots lost their first two preseason games before winning 20 straight–the next two preseason games, all sixteen regular season games, and two playoff games.

Aug 16, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Keith Wenning (10) is tackled by Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Zach Minter ((79) during the game at AT&T Stadium. Baltimore beat Dallas 37-30. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Cowboys won’t be the 2007 Patriots, but the team with the second perfect regular season in NFL history does provide some hope.

Despite promises to the contrary, I missed the Ravens game because of a surprise birthday party thrown on my behalf. Still, I’ve gotten an idea of how the game went from a number of sources: basically, Zach Minter played out of his mind, the first team did pretty well, and the second team not so much.

In fact, Minter did so well that he is taking first-team reps and seems in line to help continue a proud Cowboys tradition: finding great late-round prospects undrafted free agents to make up for lackluster choices in the middle rounds.

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(Extended aside)

Seriously, here is every Cowboys draft pick in rounds 3-5 from 2009-2012, the post-Scandrick era:

2009:

2010:

2011:

2012:

DeMarco Murray is obviously the best, but who else? Victor Butler, the only mid-round player from the 2009 draft still in the League, played in a linebacker rotation for all but two games. (Fun fact: Two players from the 2003 draft, Terance Newman and Jason Witten, are still in the League. Just three from the entire 2009 draft are: Butler, Jason Williams, and John Phillips.)

Joseph Randle looks like a solid backup or fringe starter, and Kyle Wilber looks like he could be… something? Other than these three, Butler,

Dec 23, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys linebacker Victor Butler (57) in action against the New Orleans Saints at Cowboys Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Randle, and Wilber, I’m not seeing much. To be fair, many of these players have potential. David Buehler‘s leg was so strong that the Cowboys put two kickers on their roster. He specialized in kickoffs, Dan Bailey field goals. He never did master accuracy, and he quickly became obsolete when kickoffs were moved forward. Also, the Cowboys tried to groom Stephen McGee into a starting quarterback. That attempt did not succeed.

Relatively, the 6th and 7th round picks from the same time have been more successful. Dwayne Harris is a starting wide receiver, John Phillips is a third tight end, and Sean Lissemore plays in a defensive line rotation in San Diego.

Which group is more valuable, the successful mid-round draftees from 2009-2012 (Butler, Murray, Tyrone Crawford, Wilber) or the successful late-round draftees from 2009-2012 (Phillips, Lissemore, Harris)? Probably the mid-rounders, but almost entirely because of Murray. The two camps shouldn’t be close.

The late-rounders get the upper hand after including the undrafted free agents.

Notable undrafted free agents from the time period: Kevin Ogletree (2009), Danny McCray (2010), Phil Costa (2010), Dan Bailey (2011), Chris Jones (2011), Phillip Tanner (2011), Ronald Leary (2012), and Cole Beasley (2012).

So, Butler, Murray, Crawford, and Wilbur or Harris, Bailey, Jones, Leary, Tanner, Beasley, McCray, and Costa?

(Sources for undrafted free agents: 1 2 3 4 5)

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Sorry for the detour, but that needed to be said.

Anyway, the Dolphins game itself actually requires far fewer words, partly because preseason games don’t matter and partly because I watch the Dolphins as little as possible. I probably know less about them than any other team.

Last week, they defeated the Tampa Bay MRSAnaries (how has almost no one thought of this?) Buccaneers Ryan Tannehill is starting at quarterback. He threw for almost 4,000 yards last year but struggled with interceptions (17), accuracy (60.4 completion percentage), and fumbles (9). A former wide receiver, Tannehill can cause damage outside the pocket. Wide receiver Mike Wallace is a vertical threat and should help Tannehill (woah) but the two are not in sync. The left side of the offensive line should be good, what with Mike Pouncey and Branden Albert. Also, Dallas Thomas, who I have actually written about, lost his starting job. Apparently he played terribly against Gerald McCoy. I have no idea who almost anyone on the Dolphins’ defense is. Sorry. I know Cortland Finnegan is good, I know Cameron Wake is good, and… I’ve heard of Brent Grimes and Louis Delmas. Ok!

According to their defensive coordinator they are deep:

"This is the deepest group I think we’ve had in all the positions, guys that as you go down the list have proven that they are capable of competing in the NFL,” said Kevin Coyle, entering his third season as Dolphins’ defensive coordinator."

Dion Jordan, like Scandrick, is missing the first four games of the regular season because of drug use and has also disappointed in camp (same article as Mike Wallace one).

To me, the Dolphins come across as a team with solid individual talent but little chemistry. With the new offensive system and the tumultuous bullying scandal, that might be an understatement. The Cowboys get the edge and I think they’ll win.