Yeah yeah, I know its only pre-season, but I can’t help myself. I love watching these games because it gives us a glimpse at the possibilities of the upcoming season by giving us a good feel on the quality of depth along the team. Here are some of my quick observations:

• Our defensive front and linebackers are good. We have athleticism among our front seven of the likes not seen in a long time. All night long our first, second and third teams continued making plays and frustrating the Bengals. Brandon Williams and Brandon Sharpe intercepted a pass each showing great athleticism and coverage skills for defensive ends working on their transition into linebackers. Say what you want about Wade Philips, but he seems to know how to grow linebackers like weeds. 
• Sadly the same can’t be said about our corners. We are dangerously thin there. Jamar Wall and Teddy Williams looked lost at times, and if it wasn’t for our front seven wrecking havoc against the Palmer brothers, they would’ve had a long night. 
• We have a deep and talented group of tight ends… too bad they seem to be dropping like flies. My favorite John Phillips seems to have suffered a season ending injury, Kevin Brock hurt his ankle, and with Bennett out, it seems like Scott Sicko will have a good shot at making the team. My main frustration is that I expected Phillips to have a very prominent role in the offense this year due to his development. Ugh, very frustrating.
• Our offensive line is thin. Doug Free is the real deal. Alex Barron is not. The rest of our backups are pretty bad. Let’s hope nobody gets hurt this year.

All in all, it seems like the Cowboys fortunes this year might be dictated by our defensive front seven continuing to play with a high motor. As longs as those guys are churning they will disguise the deficiencies along the rest of the team… it’s gonna be a long pre-season hoping nobody else gets hurt too bad.