The Dallas Cowboys 2012 schedule: The search for 10 wins

OK, so maybe that headline is a bit of a stretch. Can the Cowboys find 10 wins (*) on this schedule? Because I am not only a winner but also an optimist I think they can. Here they are.

9/5 at NY Giants. This is crack-pipe dumb, but the Cowboys are going to win this. 1-0

9/16 at Seattle. They should win this, but they won't. 1-1

9/23 v. Tampa Bay. Tampa's not ready yet, and its QB is never going to get it. 2-1

10/1 v. Chicago. A swing game. A game the Cowboys should lose but will win. 3-1

10/13 at Baltimore. Uh ... no. 3-2

10/21 at Carolina. The Panthers are better, but this is a must-have for the Cowboys. 4-2.

10/28 vs. NY Giants. Eli owns JerryWorld. 4-3

11/4 at Atlanta. Time to go out on a limb and say Cowboys win. 5-3

11/11 at Philly. Up there? Are you kidding? No. 5-4

11/18 vs. Cleveland. Another have-to win. 6-4

11/22 vs. Washington. RGIII or no, doesn't matter. 7-4

12/2 vs. Philly. Nope. 7-5

12/9 at Cincy. A should win, but who knows where the Bengals will be? Have to win. 8-5

12/16 v. Pittsburgh. No way. 8-6

12/23 vs. New Orleans. At home, the Cowboys can do this. 9-6

12/30 at Washington. It's the Redskins so the Cowboys can actually do this. 10-6

As you can see, finding 10 wins on this schedule takes some creative thinking ... and a lot of Jerry-like optimism.

* It should be noted that before the start of the 2011 season I predicted the Cowboys would finish the season 10-6 to make the playoffs. During the season I said Jason Garrett should be coach of the year. Playing the law of averages, I will forever stick with the first prediction until my passing.

@MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com 
Facebook Mac Engel

Texas A&M has to be wondering why Ryan Tannehill is a can't-miss QB

Ryan Tannehill stands 6-foot-3, weighs 222 pounds, can run, obviously has great hands, and has a strong arm which can make "all of the throws". A fantastic athlete. And if it weren't for Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, Tannehill would have "won" the NFL scouting combine with all of his measurables that scouts crave so much.

One former NFL player and a long time player personell director of an NFL franchise told me "The Senior Bowl and the Combine are a waste of time. What does he do in the game, and does he win? That's what I care about."

Did Tannehill win? After then Aggies coach Mike Sherman played his final card in 2010 and made Tannehill the starting QB over Jarrod Johnson, Tannehill went 6-1 to close out the year. In 20 games as a starter, Tannehill was 13-7.

What did Tannehill do against real competition? Here are those games.

11/6/10 v. Oklahoma 19-of-32, 225 yards, 2 td., 2 int., 126.6 rating. W, 33-19
11/13/10 at Baylor 27-of-38, 280 yards, 1 td., 0 int., 141.6 rating. W, 42-30
11/20/10 v. Nebraska 19-of-29, 172 yards, 0 td., 0 int., 115.3 rating. W, 9-6
11/25/10 at Texas 14-of-30, 128 yards, 1 td., 0 int., 93.5 rating. W, 24-17
1/7/11 v. LSU 22-of-35, 204 yards., 2 rd., 3 int., 113.5 rating. L, 41-24
9/24/11 v. Oklahoma State 28-of-47, 309 yards, 2 td., 3 int., 116.1 rating. L, 30-29
10/1/11 v. Arkansas 25-of-35, 247 yards, 0 td., 1 int., 125 rating. L, 42-38
10/15/11 v. Baylor 25-of-37, 415 yards, 6 td., 1 int., 209.9 rating. W, 55-28
10/29/11 v. Missouri 35-of-53, 317 yards, 3 td., 1 int., 131.2 rating. L, 38-38 (ot)
11/5/11 at Oklahoma 32-of-64, 379 yards, 2 td., 3 int., 100.7 rating. L, 41-25
11/12/11 at Kansas State 27-of-46, 210 yards., 3 td., 1 int., 114.2 rating. L 53-50 (ot)
11/24/11 v. Texas 20-of-49, 224 yards, 2 td., 3 int., 80.4 rating. L, 27-25
12/31/11 v. Northwestern 27-of-40, 329 yards, 1 td, 1 int., 139.8 rating. W, 33-22 

Tannehill looks like a giant "maybe", and a certain reach on NFL draft day. Star-Telegram NFL writer (and way biased Aggie alum) Charean Williams has insisted that Tannehill was going to be a high pick for the past six months. I thought this was crack-pipe stupid, but as the NFL Draft nears it appears as if Williams is right.

Which doesn't mean the NFL team that selects Tannehill will be right.

What did Tannehill do in games? Sometimes he was very good, but never quite good enough. 
Did he win? Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. 
It wasn't all his fault, but the Aggies were painfully close with Tannehill.

Because he is such a good athlete Tannehill should last in the league for a while and make plenty of coin, but I don't see him establishing himself as a big-time starter in the league. 

 

@MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com 
Facebook Mac Engel

Donovan McNabb throws up a giant red flag for RGIII in Washington, D.C.

Donovan McNabb may be the least impartial observor about this subject in the universe, but he is an NFL quarterback who both played in Washington D.C. and for head coach Mike Shanahan.

McNabb appeared on ESPN's First Take this morning, and was asked if Baylor QB Robert Griffin III would be a good fit in the Redskins' offense. "No," was McNabb's response.

RGIII is expected to be selected No. 2 overall by the Redskins in the NFL draft behind the Colts' selection of Andrew Luck. Washington traded the farm to acquire the pick from St. Louis.

McNabb went on a bridge-burning interview when he said, “A lot of times ego gets too involved when it comes to being in Washington."

Click here for the rest of the interview, which features a lot of juicy stuff from McNabb. The former Eagles QB sounds like he researched this subject well before he went on a his rant against the Redskins and Shanahan.

McNabb may be right, but he also sounds like another aging jock firmly in denail about his eroding skills. But as biased as McNabb is about this team and this head coach, primarily because he was run out of town there, he has a point. Several of them.

Shanahan has never done much of anything since John Elway retired. A head coach not having success without a Hall of Fame quarterback is nothing new, but Shanahan's reputation has endured since that title won in 1998.

Consider:
* In the 12 seasons Shanahan has been a head coach post Elway, he has been to the playoffs four times.
* Shanahan is 1-4 in those games.
* Shanahan has won at least 10 games in those 12 years four times.
* The last time he was in the playoffs was 2005.

And the train wreck mess that is the Washington Redskins football franchise under owner Dan Snyder is well documented, lamented and made fun of.

Now comes RGIII wearing his Superman socks to save what had been one of the NFL's greatest franchises.

When the Bengals drafted Andy Dalton out of TCU I feared for his professional football life because this organization has been a hell hole since the death of Paul Brown. They don't care.

The people in Washington do care, but they don't have a clue. Now comes another Texan kid to save a different franchise. For the sake of his new team, and his new head coach, he doesn't need to be Superman, just John Elway.

@MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com
Facebook Mac Engel