since the end of the 2007 season when the Cowboys are entering a game without a real offensive weapon, depending on how you look at Roy Williams. We'll get back to him in a moment.
But whether you like the guy, hate the guy or just got tired of his act, Terrell Owens was a big-play threat. Hence the word "threat," especially last season. While his big plays are lacking, he's still a threat that requires a good amount of double teams. All last season, the Cowboys at least had him. And when T.O. and Felix were on the field together, that's one reason why you saw a good amount of big plays.
Three of the longest pass plays of the season occurred early in the schedule before Jones got hurt. The longest rush of the year was a 60-yard run by Felix against Green Bay, and if you remember that play, you'll see T.O. running right alongside trying to block, or race, or whatever.
One home-run hitter can do some damage. Get two on the same team, and you've got a dangerous weapon - or some teams just call them the Yankees.
But you get the point. Again, talking about things the Cowboys don't have. They don't have a big-play threat like Felix, at least for this game. And they really don't have one like T.O. in the passing game.
This isn't a piece to say the Cowboys miss that guy. That has and will continue to be debated. I'm not sure if they miss Terrell Owens, or T.O. or No. 81 or whatever. I can bet they miss the receiver that caught 38 touchdowns in three years and never had less than 1,052 receiving yards in a year.
They miss that production. And they miss that speed.
Now, it still remains to be seen if Roy Williams will be THAT guy. When he first got here last season, he called himself a "possession receiver." Now, he also said he "sucks" and that he's a "horrible receiver." So you have to sift through some sarcasm.
And so I stopped Roy in the locker room on Friday and asked him again what he meant by that previous comment.
He nodded again and said, "Yeah, I'm a possession guy," although he added a nice smirk as well. Then he went on and finished the sentence.
"But I'm a big-play guy, too. I'd like to think I'm a complete guy who can do it all."
So far, we've seen more "possession" than we've seen "big-play" out of Roy.
But in a week where the Cowboys are facing a smaller, quicker defense in Denver that hasn't even allowed a passing touchdown all year, this would be a good time for guys like Roy, Crayton and Miles to unleash it again.
Because without Felix, the Cowboys need to find some speed - or at least the threat of speed - from someone.
