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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will enter this season with a sense of desperation, concerned that his current roster's window to contend for a title is closing.

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Galloway & Company's Matt Mosley chats about the window closing for the Dallas Cowboys, and just how close they are to the New York Giants. Listen

"Well, my window is getting shorter. Time goes by," Jones told NFL Network at the owners meetings in Atlanta. "I do feel real pressure because we do have players not only in (quarterback) Tony Romo, but (tight end) Jason Witten (and outside linebacker) DeMarcus Ware, to leave out several that are (also) in the prime of their career. And we need to strike and strike soon with those guys.

"(Coach) Jason Garrett feels exactly the same way about it and understands how urgent it is. Candidly, you're looking through rose-colored glasses if we all don't realize that now is the time to compete on the field."
The Cowboys won three Super Bowls in the 1990s, soon after Jones bought the team, but they have only one playoff victory in the last 15 seasons. They failed to reach the playoffs the last two seasons.

Jones was convinced the Cowboys were Super Bowl contenders last season until they lost to the New York Giants on New Year's Day with the NFC East title and a playoff berth at stake. Watching the Giants win the Super Bowl only reinforced Jones' belief that the Cowboys had a chance to contend for a championship this season.

"When we see a team like the Giants come back with nine (regular) season wins and be world champion, then we know it's there for most clubs," said Jones, whose team finished 8-8 after losing four of its last five games. "That's not taking anything away from the Giants. That's just inspiring the Cowboys a little bit."

Read the rest of the story here.

So what do you think: Is the window closing? Was it ever open? And let's forget the window for one second: What do you think the Cowboys need to do ... must do ... to kick down the door and achieve Jerry's ultimate goal?

IRVING, Texas – Danny Coale's first organized team activity ended with the rookie wide receiver suffering a left foot injury that will require an MRI.

The Cowboys kicked off their voluntary OTAs at Valley Ranch on Tuesday with a near-full roster on the field before Coale was hurt. The extent of the injury is not known as of yet.

The only eligible players missing from the workout were linebacker DeMarcus Ware, who had personal business and will be in attendance Wednesday, and cornerback Mike Jenkins, who is skipping the OTAs and is looking for a trade, according to sources.

Coale is one of a handful of receivers the Cowboys are looking at to fill the vacant No. 3 spot behind Miles Austin and Dez Bryant. He finished his college career second in Virginia Tech history in receptions and yards.

A prolonged absence would hurt the fifth-round pick's chances of making a big contribution as a rookie.

He is the second draft pick to get hurt in the last month. Linebacker Kyle Wilber, a fourth-round pick, suffered a fractured right index finger in the rookie minicamp and is expected to be out until training camp. First-round pick Morris Claiborne is recovering from left wrist surgery performed before the draft.

The 2011 season was not the most, well, beastly season in NFC East history. It was the first time in a full, 16-game season that no team in the division won at least 10 games, and for much of the year the talk around the division was that it wasn't what it used to be.

Buncha baloney if you ask me. Even forgetting for a second that an NFC East team won the Super Bowl, this division still does one very important thing better than any other: rush the passer. The NFC East's 181 sacks led all NFL divisions in 2011, and by quite a bit. (The AFC North, which had three playoff teams, was second with 160). The Eagles tied for the league lead with 50. The Giants tied for third with 48. The Cowboys tied for seventh with 42, and the Redskins tied for 10th with 41.

Look deeper, into the film-based, number-crunching stats from Pro Football Focus -- stats that take into account more than just sacks when evaluating the extent to which teams rushed, hassled and affected opposing quarterbacks, and the division still rules. The Eagles rank No. 1 in PFF's 2011 team rankings, the Cowboys No. 3, the Giants No. 6 and the Redskins No. 9. No division prizes this critical aspect of the game more than the NFC East does, and it shows up in the numbers.

So, as we slug our way through a slow news month in the NFC East, I thought it'd be a good idea to check in on the pass rushes of our four teams and see how they're doing -- what they've done to get better or worse, what their 2012 prospects look like from this far out and yes, how they rank against each other. You guys asked for more polls, and I promised I'd listen, so there's one right here for you to vote on. After you finish reading, of course. I'm addressing them in order of how many sacks they got in 2011, in case you're wondering how I decided. Seemed fair.

Philadelphia Eagles

Key contributors: DE Trent Cole, DE Jason Babin, DT Cullen Jenkins. PFF ranked Cole the No. 1 overall 4-3 defensive end in the league last year. Babin ranked 10th overall and third in pass rush, finishing third in the league with 18 sacks. Jenkins ranked as the No. 4 pass-rushing defensive tackle, and Derek Landri was No. 10. Defensive line coach Jim Washburn and defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, each of whom is entering his second season in his current position with the Eagles, believe the front four is responsible for the pass rush. And while they got a lot of publicity for how wide they like to line up their defensive ends, they like to get pressure from the defensive tackles as well.

Newcomer: DT Fletcher Cox. The Eagles traded up in the first round to pick Cox because they believed he could be an impact pass-rusher from one of those interior spots right away. They need to toughen up against the run, and that will have to be part of Cox's game. But what appealed to them was his ability to get to the passer. Rookie linebacker Mychal Kendricks could conceivably factor in here too, but the Eagles don't ask their linebackers to rush very much in the new scheme.

Stock watch: UP. The addition of Cox, as well as the possible return to full health of Mike Patterson and 2010 first-round pick Brandon Graham, give the Eagles incredible depth at a position at which they were already very strong in 2011. It's possible they'll rush the passer even better in 2012.

New York Giants

Key contributors: DE Jason Pierre-Paul, DE Justin Tuck, DE Osi Umenyiora, DE/LB Mathias Kiwanuka. No one's roster goes as deep as the Giants' does in terms of star-caliber defensive ends. Pierre-Paul was fourth in the league with 16.5 sacks in just his second NFL season. Umenyiora had nine in just nine games. Tuck turned it on at the end and in the playoffs, and Kiwanuka is a defensive end playing linebacker. The Giants believe a strong pass rush is their heritage and their key to being an annual contender.

Newcomer: DT Marvin Austin. The Giants didn't really bring in anyone this offseason who looks like a 2012 pass-rush contributor, but their 2011 second-round pick missed all of last season due to injury, so we'll call him a newcomer. The Giants would like to get more help from inside. Linval Joseph was their best pass-rushing defensive tackle in 2011, according to PFF's rankings. A healthy Austin could be a difference-maker.

Stock watch: DOWN. Not by much, but a little, because of the loss of reliable, underrated reserve DE Dave Tollefson. If Tuck and Umenyiora have injury problems again, or if Umenyiora holds out, they could get kind of thin at defensive end pretty quickly without Tollefson there to fill in this time. Now, this is the Giants, and they'll probably figure it out. The addition of linebacker Keith Rivers could allow them to move Kiwanuka back to end in case of injury. But it's worth pointing out that they did lose a somewhat important piece of the pass rush and didn't replace him.

Dallas Cowboys

Key contributors: LB DeMarcus Ware, LB Anthony Spencer, DE Jason Hatcher, NT Jay Ratliff. There's no one like Ware, who rang up another 19.5 sacks in 2011. That's nearly half the team total, and the conventional wisdom says he needs more help. But PFF ranked Spencer its 11th-best 3-4 outside linebacker in the pass rush and Hatcher as its eighth-best 3-4 pass-rushing defensive end. Add in Ratliff, who can generate pressure up the middle, and the Cowboys look better in this area than we tend to think.

Newcomer: DE Tyrone Crawford. Dallas' third-round pick is looked at by many as a project, but as one that can eventually help with the pass rush whether he ends up as a 3-4 end or standing up as an outside linebacker. Whether he can help in 2012 remains a question, but the Cowboys didn't see a first-round or second-round pass-rusher they liked better than Spencer, so they focused on the secondary instead and picked up some down-the-road guys for the pass rush.

Stock watch: EVEN. They're bringing back basically the same group, and while there's a theory that the improvements at defensive back will help the pass rush by giving it extra time to get sacks, we have yet to see that in action. Spencer must play with more aggressiveness if this unit is to take a step forward into the upper tier with the Eagles and Giants.

Washington Redskins

Key contributors: LB Brian Orakpo, LB Ryan Kerrigan, DE Stephen Bowen. The Redskins' pass rush is all about those young outside linebackers, and they are fearsome. But with only 16.5 sacks between them in 2011, their numbers have a ways to go to get into the big-time stratosphere we're talking about in the NFC East. PFF did rank Orakpo fifth and Kerrigan ninth among pass-rushing 3-4 OLBs in 2011, so they do a lot of things well in that area. Bowen had six sacks and DE Adam Carriker came up with 5.5.

Newcomer: DE Jarvis Jenkins. Just as we did with the Giants, we'll go with a 2011 second-round pick who missed his rookie season due to injury. Jenkins may not be a pass-rusher, but adding him to the defensive line rotation could help free up more room for the linebackers and maybe help the other linemen get to the passer more often as well.

Stock watch: EVEN. This is really all about how much and how quickly Orakpo and especially Kerrigan continue to develop as elite pass-rushers. They've both shown flashes of incredible raw ability, and they have to continue to hone their craft so they can play at the level of the other pass-rushers in their division. Ware, Cole, Pierre-Paul and the rest of these guys are setting a high bar, and the Redskins know they have to have their own pass-rush monsters if they want to hang with them year in and year out.

One common theme was coming from several defensive players at the Cowboys' annual golf outing Wednesday afternoon: The defense is better.

Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan said the defense is good, adding that a full offseason during which he can go back to basics should curtail communication problems.

His players agreed.

"The mistakes we did make are on tape now and we can correct now," outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware said.

The Cowboys' defense finished 14th overall and 23rd against the pass in 2011.

Upgrading the talent -- signing Brandon Carr, Brodney Pool and Dan Connor in free agency, and drafting cornerback Morris Claiborne -- should help.

The Cowboys also drafted two pass-rushers -- DE Tyrone Crawford in the third round and OLB Kyle Wilber in the fourth.

"I like it. Anybody who can come in and help us right away, I'm pleased with it," defensive end Jason Hatcher said. "We've got a lot of work to do. Claiborne has got to come in and prove himself, (and) when he proves himself (and) we jell as a defense, we'll be ready to go."

Of course, nobody really knows how the talent upgrades will work because everyone across the league signs and drafts players with the hope of getting better.

The secondary, once a weakness for the Cowboys, appears to be a strength for the 2012 season. The projected starters are Brandon Carr and Claiborne with former Pro Bowler Mike Jenkins and slot corner Orlando Scandrick coming in on passing downs.

With NFL teams using more three- and four-receiver sets, the need for extra cornerbacks is important, which is something the Cowboys have stressed this offseason. It's part of their reason for keeping Jenkins around.

Jerry Jones wants Jenkins long term, but it seems the corner is concerned about his role.

If Jenkins remains with the Cowboys in 2012 -- and there's no reason to believe he won't -- the secondary will have some solid players covering opposing receivers.

"I think it's a good group of guys," Carr said. "There's going to be some competition this year, and competition makes everybody elevate their game. That’s all you can ask for as a player and as a teammate, just guys being accountable and getting that next person to that next level."

The popular theory among some fans and media members is Cowboys outside linebacker Anthony Spencer isn't an elite player like DeMarcus Ware.

It seems unfair to compare the two players.

The Cowboys stopped Spencer from going on the free-agent market when they placed the franchise tag on him, worth $8.8 million.

When you look at the numbers, Spencer finished with just six sacks but had 31 quarterback pressures, second to Ware's 41, and his four forced fumbles led the team.

Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan was asked if Spencer had a better year than many thought.

"Yes, he did. Yeah, he did," Ryan said. "I know I listen to all them radio shows on the way home and when they’re not dog-cussing me, they’re dog-cussing him. The bottom line is: He’s a damn good football player. What we asked him do, he did a great job with."

Spencer has been described more as a run stopper who doesn't rush the passer with the frequency of Ware.

When you see Spencer with no sacks the last four weeks of the season, it raises some questions. Over that same time span, Spencer has two tackles for loss, coming against Philadelphia, and seven quarterback pressures.

"So if we send him more this year, that will be great," Ryan said. "I know everybody just looks at the bottom line on sacks or wins, and I don’t blame them. But as a coach, you appreciate a guy like Anthony Spencer because he does the right thing, and he plays hard. He forces fumbles. He still rushes the passer. He gets in the move. I think he’s going to have a great year."

IRVING, Texas -- When the Cowboys drafted Kyle Wilber in the fourth round last week, they talked about his effort and ability to be in the right place at the right time.

So far through the rookie minicamp the Wake Forest linebacker has proven to be what was advertised.

“I can jam tight ends,” Wilber said. “I can be physical with wide receivers, but I also can pass rush. I have a sneaky inside move and I’m smart. I’ve got a motor on me. I’ll keep going.”

The Cowboys are using Wilber at the strong side outside linebacker spot, which is where Anthony Spencer plays.

Wake Forest played a different version of a 3-4 defense than Rob Ryan’s version of the scheme. Wilber said he could play behind Spencer and DeMarcus Ware.

“They said it doesn’t really matter now, just learn the whole defense,” Wilber said.

Like all of the rookies at Valley Ranch this weekend, Wilber finds himself thinking more than he wants.

“I guess I’d say it’s harder,” Wilber said of the Cowboys’ playbook. "It’s a lot more because I’m not used to it yet. I’m not yet comfortable with it. At Wake we had a lot of plays, but I was confident with it because I knew it. Once I get an understanding o the playbook I’ll be a lot more comfortable.”

IRVING, Texas -- The last time Dallas picked three defensive players with its first three picks of the NFL draft was 2005.

Dallas selected cornerback Morris Claiborne (first round), Tyrone Crawford (third round) and Kyle Wilber (fourth round) with its first three picks this year.

Back in 2005, DeMarcus Ware (first), Marcus Spears (first) and Kevin Burnett (second) were the first three picks for then-coach Bill Parcells.

Ware and Spears are still with the team while Burnett played with the Miami Dolphins last season. Ware is considered one of the best pass rushers in the game, as evident by his 99.5 career sacks and six consecutive Pro Bowl selections.

Spears has been a solid performer for the Cowboys at defensive end. Burnett left the team in free agency following the 2008 season after spending four seasons as a backup linebacker.

IRVING, Texas -- Kyle Wilber's only pre-draft visit was to Valley Ranch, and the Wake Forest linebacker said he “felt the love” from the Cowboys immediately.

That became more than a feeling when the Cowboys took Wilber in the fourth round Saturday. He became the first Cowboys’ pick to have met with the team in person before the draft.

“They put me on the board, tested me and told me their scheme and the defense,” Wilber said. “I had to take a test and try to remember everything they were doing.”

How did he do?

“Rob [Ryan] told me I was the best one so far,” Wilber said.

The Cowboys plan on playing Wilber at strong-side outside linebacker behind Anthony Spencer, who signed his franchise tender last week. Wilber had 13.5 sacks in 43 games at Wake Forest but also had 35.5 tackles for loss.

Wilber said he didn’t know much about Spencer, but he knew a lot about Ware.

“He’s a tremendous player,” Wilber said. “He’s a beast on the field. He looks like a monster really. I try to at least play like him, be physical with offensive tackles and tight ends and try to destroy the quarterback.”

IRVING, Texas -- The New York Giants have won two of the last five Super Bowls in large part because of their pass rush.

From Michael Strahan then to Jason Pierre-Paul now, the Giants were able to affect the quarterback with pressure.

The Cowboys have witnessed what that pass rush can do in losing in the divisional round of the 2007 playoffs and the winner-take-all regular-season finale in 2011. Tony Romo was sacked eight times in those two games and hit twice as much.

By trading up to take Morris Claiborne with the No. 6 overall pick, the Cowboys are taking a different approach. They will be looking for the coverage to make the pass rush better.

“I think it works together,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “But covering them better, you’re getting more pressure and maybe if you have a playmaking corner like Claiborne is, he can make plays on the ball and you can turn the ball over and change the game that way. So I think it all works together. No one appreciates the importance of pressure more than I do, understanding how difficult that is, but at the same time if you’re covering them well, your pressure is going to get that much better and your defense is going to get better.”

Frankly, there was not a top-level pass rushing threat that wowed the Cowboys. Mississippi State’ Fletcher Cox was at the top of the list as a defensive end, but there were not the sure-fire, DeMarcus Ware-type pass rushers that they felt would have made the No. 14 pick worth it.

So the Cowboys adapted to coverage over pressure. Over the next few years we’ll know whether pressure can make a secondary or a secondary can make pressure.

IRVING, Texas – The Cowboys have four picks in the top 113, and with those selections Jason Garrett hopes to land three eventual starters and a solid role player.

“Our objective independent of this year would be to in the first round, the second round and the third round have guys who can be starting players for you,” Garrett said. “Now, are they Day 1 starters? You can’t say that. Nobody can say that, but at some point in their careers you would like to think that they’re a starter, and the sooner the better. Now, if you can get in the fourth round and start getting a starter player, maybe he’s a younger player who needs time to develop but can be a starter down the road, you get four of them. Or maybe that fourth-round player is a [special] teams’ guy. Maybe he has a particular role and will never be an every-down player but he has a role for you that’s fairly defined.

“And then when you get in the fifth, sixth and seventh [rounds], I think you’re looking for players with special traits. Again, maybe a role for your team or maybe a guy who isn’t ready to play but maybe has the measurables and the makeup and you think down the road can be a player for you in a given role or maybe even as a starter. But your expectations are certainly first- and second-round players are starters for you sooner rather than later. You would like to be able to say that about the third round or a really defined role and the fourth round starts to get a little bit different than that, but we’re all optimistic enough or maybe naïve enough to think that we can judge these players and order them in a certain way that they can help our football team in some way, shape or form as starters or as significant role players now or in the future.”

Using that criteria, the Cowboys' projected starting lineup in 2012 has 10 starters picked by the Cowboys from Rounds 1-3: Dez Bryant (2010), Tyron Smith (2011), Jason Witten (2003), DeMarco Murray (2011), Jason Hatcher (2006), Anthony Spencer (2007), Sean Lee (2010), DeMarcus Ware (2005) Bruce Carter (2011) and Mike Jenkins (2007). The fourth round led the Cowboys to Doug Free (2006) and the seventh round led to Jay Ratliff (2005).

Felix Jones and Marcus Spears, first rounders in 2007 and '05 respectively, should play large roles in sub packages.

IRVING, Texas -- Fresh off signing his $8.8 million franchise tender Monday, outside linebacker Anthony Spencer worked out with his Cowboys teammates Tuesday at Valley Ranch.

Spencer is hopeful he'll receive a long-term contract. While talks have occurred with Cowboys officials, nothing has been finalized.

It's been a busy offseason for Spencer, who switched agents after getting franchised -- leaving Roosevelt Barnes for Dallas-based Jordan Woy -- contemplated signing the tender and missed the first week of voluntary workouts.

Spencer finished the 2011 season with six sacks but led the team with four forced fumbles and was tied with Sean Lee with eight tackles for loss. Spencer was second to DeMarcus Ware (40) with 31 quarterback pressures.

SOUTHLAKE, Texas – Jason Hatcher caused a little bit of a ruckus earlier in the offseason when he said on ESPN Dallas Radio’s “Ben and Skin Show” that he was not sure who the Cowboys' leaders were and that the team needed a more vocal leader.

Seven-time Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten respectfully disagrees.

“I don’t want to speak for anybody but we’ve got plenty of leaders,” Witten said after an appearance at a Southlake Dunkin Donuts. “We’ve been in more situations where there’s been more players-only meetings and that. The bottom line is that we’ve got to go and play better and win ballgames and find a way to do that. I think you do that by sticking together. I think you do that when you have a strong group of six, eight, 10 guys, whatever it is. Jay Ratliff, DeMarcus Ware, Miles Austin, of course [Tony] Romo and you add young guys in there that are big-time players."

Romo’s decision to sit out next month’s U.S. Open local qualifier has been viewed by some as a sign of a more serious approach by the quarterback and the team.

“I don’t think anybody ever doubted his dedication, but I do think there’s a perception that goes along with that,” Witten said. “That’s never taken anything away from what he’s done on the football field. He’s the first one in. He’s the last one to leave. He’s been that way for a long time. I believe he puts us in position to be successful. He’s an elite quarterback but until he wins a championship and we do that, the critics are going to come. But the best thing about him is he’s so far past that that he knows he’s got one goal and he’s all in to do that.”

While the offseason program officially began Monday, a majority of the players had been working out at the Cowboys’ Valley Ranch facility for more than a month prior. Witten said the season-ending loss to the New York Giants has served as motivation, especially after seeing their NFC East rivals win their second Super Bowl in five years.

“You’ve got to be your best at key times,” Witten said. “You see the San Francisco-Giants game and it could’ve gone either way. The Ravens-New England game could’ve gone either way. You can’t say you’re close. You’ve got to go do it and prove it and make those plays in those key situations that allow you to win. We had too many games go the other way.”

So, Anthony Spencer has changed agents, according to my friends at ESPNDallas.com, in an effort to secure a long-term contract. Seems Spencer isn't satisfied with the $8.8 million franchise number and would prefer the security of knowing where he's going to be playing (and for how much) in 2013 and beyond. Indications are that he'd like to stay in Dallas, just not on a one-year franchise tender.

I think this is a case of a player (and at least one agent) making an inaccurate assessment of his value. The Cowboys' alternative, when they chose to designate Spencer their franchise player, wasn't to lock him up long-term. It was to let him walk and go find a replacement on the market or in the draft. That was the original plan, in fact, but when the Cowboys looked around they discovered that there really weren't any options they believed were better than Spencer. So they franchised him, figuring that gave him another year to become a bigger factor in their pass rush and themselves another year to look for an upgrade.

Spencer is a good player. The Cowboys like what he brings to the run defense, and they like the way he fits into their defense. But he's not a great player, and they do wish he was better at getting to the quarterback. Had there been a half-dozen good pass-rushing 3-4 outside linebackers on the market, they probably would have pursued one and wished Spencer well. It's important, as he considers his value on the market and his place in the Cowboys' plans, that Spencer remembers this.

A one-year, $8.8 million contract is a pretty good deal for a 3-4 outside linebacker who gets five or six sacks a year. If Spencer's looking for a multi-year deal that pays him more, on average, than that $8.8 million, I'm not sure where he thinks he would be able to get that. In fact, there's probably not a team out there that values him as highly as the Cowboys do, since they've seen him up close, had him in their locker room and know what he brings to the table in lieu of eye-popping stats.

Spencer's 28 years old and entering his sixth year in the league. There's a chance he gets better -- that something changes and he becomes a fearsome bookend pass rusher opposite DeMarcus Ware. But it's more likely that he already is the player he's going to be, and that the Cowboys are going to be facing a similar decision on him a year from now. If I were in Spencer's shoes, I'd sign my franchise tender. Because at this point in free agency, if something were to change and the Cowboys were to revoke it and set him free on the open market, I don't see how Spencer could do any better.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Spencer's new agent can make the Cowboys see something in Spencer they haven't seen to this point. But while the point of the franchise player designation might be to buy time for the sides to work on a long-term deal, I don't think that's the way the Cowboys are using it in this case. I think they're just buying another year to see if Spencer blossoms into the player they hope he can be or if a better option presents itself. The sooner Spencer understands that, the better off he'll be.

So we have this thing where you can go on and vote for who you think should be on the cover of "Madden NFL 13," and perhaps because it's March it's been set up as a bracket. There are 32 players in the bracket. The idea was that there'd be one for each NFL team, but as you can see the Patriots and Jets each now have two. All the Jets had to do to get their second was spend Wednesday completely embarrassing themselves.

But I digress.

New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz is the 2-seed on the left side of the bracket, matched up in the first round against 15th-seeded Washington Redskins linebacker Brian Orakpo. We all like Orakpo, and he's sure to get a bit of a boost from the small measure of fame he's earned giving the caveman a hard time on the Geico commercials. But Cruz is the popular breakout star of the surprise Super Bowl champs, and he's sure to roll through the first round. In fact, as I break down the bracket, Doug Gottlieb-style, I don't see too many potential tough matchups for Cruz until the final. Fourth-seeded Larry Fitzgerald could give him a run, but I think the winner of that stellar second-round matchup between Fitz and the Philadelphia Eagles' LeSean McCoy is going to be spent. And I like Cruz's chances even against top seed Cam Newton in the semis. I'm picking Cruz to salsa right into the final.

McCoy is the fifth seed on the same side of the bracket, and he's got a tough draw. A first-round matchup against an underseeded Reggie Bush, who has a Kardashian history and may pull in some tabloid votes, is brutal. Then he's likely to see Fitzgerald in the second round and Newton in the third. If McCoy makes it to the semis, he'll have earned his way there, no doubt about it.

On the other side of the bracket, Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware is the No. 10 seed and matched up in the first round against No. 7 seed Jared Allen of the Vikings. I like Ware to pull the upset here, and while there's trouble looming in the second round from No. 2 seed Rob Gronkowski, I think Ware's won enough "Madden" games over the years that he can upset Gronk as well. I have Ware in my Elite Eight, but that's where his dream ends. He's going to get either Tim Tebow, Arian Foster or Calvin Johnson there, and those guys are heavyweights.

My bracket has Cruz meeting Aaron Rodgers in the final and Rodgers getting his discount double-check revenge for the Giants' victory over the Packers in the NFC playoffs. But what do I know? I picked the Packers to win that game, and I never do well in the bracket pools.

Anyway, go vote. It'll give you something to do while you wait for London Fletcher to sign or the Giants to do something or whatever it is you're doing these days as a fan of a team in the super-quiet NFC East.

Outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware beat out tight end Jason Witten in fan voting for the Cowboys' representative in SportsNation's Madden 13 Cover Vote.

Ware's opponent in the first round is another sack specialist, Vikings defensive end Jared Allen.

You can vote on the matchup here. The full bracket is here.

First-round voting runs through March 28. Each round lasts a week, and the cover winner will be revealed April 25.