Dismal fall season forecast
by Chris Taylor, editor-in-chief

    Football season in Texas used to be an exciting time for football fans. In the past, the Dallas Cowboys were regular playoff contenders.

    That was the past. This season’s version of the Cowboys bears little resemblance to the dynasty of the early ’90s teams.

    New quarterback, Quincy Carter, takes over for the departed Troy Aikman. The Cowboys will be one of the youngest teams in the NFL this season.

    The team’s defense, which ranked last in the league last season, doesn’t look to be any better this season. No major improvements were made to the defensive line this season.

    Veterans Leon Lett and Alonzo Spellman are no longer with the team. While they didn’t contribute much to the defense last season, they had previously been solid performers on defense.

    Now the defense is stocked with rookies, second-year and third-year players.

    This does not bode well for a defense that allowed a league record three 200-yard rushing games last season.

    The secondary is in even worse shape. George Teague and Darren Woodson are the only veterans left in the secondary.

    It appears that the defense will not be able to stop an opposing team on the ground or in the air.

    Teams with good offenses will pretty much be able to have their way with the Cowboys’ untalented and young defense.

    The offense, however, could be one of the few bright spots this season.

    If Carter can at least pretend to be an NFL quarterback and if Joey Galloway and Raghib Ismail come back fully healed, the offense has a chance to be very explosive.

    Another bright spot for the Cowboys will be Emmitt Smith’s quest to break Walter Payton’s career rushing yards record.

    With a good season, Smith could break the record this year. He will definitely move past the second-place Barry Sanders this season. He trails Sanders by just a little more than a hundred yards.
Cowboys’ owner, Jerry Jones, predicted that the team will go 10-6 this season. Jones has obviously spent too much time in the sun. The Cowboys will be lucky to win even five games this season.

    With the exception of a few bright spots, this promises to be a very long season for Cowboys fans.

    One consolation, however, might be to look at how well the last rebuilding process worked.

    Anything is possible.