exemplified by the draft weekend approach. The Cowboys just sat and waited, and then picked the guy right at the top of their board. Oh they moved up, but had to jump just barely to get the wide receiver they coveted and the linebacker they wanted. They didn't panic about the safety position and give away, say, their 2011 first-rounder to go up into the top half of the first round for Earl Thomas of Texas.
They simply trusted their own judgment and evaluation of Free and Ball, and invested in a tutor for Buehler. No reason to panic, they said. After gaining some starting experience last season and reps with the first team this year, those guys should be even better. In just about every facet of the game there's some reason to expect the Cowboys will be improved. Like the receiver Roy Williams gets a little more time with Romo and they start to jell a little bit. Anthony Spencer and Mike Jenkins are proven vets, whereas last year they went into the regular season as question marks. The running backs are all healthy again. DeMarcus Ware and Jay Ratliff are healthy again.
In the offseason everyone figured the Cowboys would turn into the New York Yankees of football. Instead, they were as quiet as ever before. Continuity. Restraint. Such crazy ideas, right? But they just might work.
In two more long weeks we'll begin to find out.
