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ARLINGTON, Texas -- Coach Jason Garrett took home the Cowboys’ home run trophy Wednesday evening, thanks primarily to a strange scoring system that strongly rewarded 250-foot fly balls.

Tight end John Phillips was clearly the star of the show at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, an event that resulted in Reliant making a $40,000 donation to Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Phillips was the only one of the contestants, which included nine Cowboys players, Garrett and Troy Aikman, to actually go deep.

Phillips’ shot that landed in the second row of the left-field seats was no fluke. He also had a blast that hit high on the left-center wall next to the 390-foot sign and several shots that landed on the warning track, but he hit mostly hard grounders during the championship round against Garrett.

“He looks like Mickey Mantle, for crying out loud,” said Garrett, who mastered the art of getting the ball up in the air because Reliant made donations for fly balls that left the infield. “I was going up there doing my thing, and he was trying to hit them all out. That’s why I was able to sneak in the backdoor.”

Most of the Cowboys frankly looked like football players who hadn’t swung a baseball bat in years, if ever. Miles Austin, whose best shot smashed off the wall in right-center, ranked a distant second to Phillips on the eyeball test.

Phillips’ baseball prowess is no surprise. He was a heck of a power hitter at itty-bitty Bath County High in Virginia. And he could see himself reporting to work at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington every day.

“When this football thing is over,” Phillips said with a grin, “I want to get a tryout.”

IRVING, Texas -- The Cowboys held the first of four organized team activities that will be open to the media at Valley Ranch on Wednesday, so we bring you some observations from the two-hour workout:

** Maybe it’s the product of not seeing him throw in four months, but Tony Romo was throwing the ball with a tremendous amount of velocity. Romo went 8-of-11 in team and seven-on-seven drills Wednesday with one drop by TE John Phillips.

** LB Sean Lee looked in midseason form by snuffing out a pass to the flat to FB Lawrence Vickers for what would have been no gain or a short pickup.

** QB Stephen McGee and rookie Tyrone Navikoff had a difficult time with the snap, muffing three before Navikoff was pulled in favor of Bill Nagy. And Nagy’s first snap with McGee went to the ground.

** WR Raymond Radway, who missed his rookie year with a broken ankle, was knocked out of practice briefly after getting poked in the eye.

** Dez Bryant, Kevin Ogletree, Akwasi Owusu-Ansah and Dwayne Harris worked as punt returners. Tim Benford, Radway and Lance Dunbar handled kick returns.

** With OLB DeMarcus Ware missing the workout, Victor Butler was with the starters and showed good awareness on a reverse by Harris by not allowing the wide receiver to get outside. Anthony Spencer did the same later in practice on a reverse to Miles Austin.

** WR Andre Holmes made a nice grab on a Kyle Orton throw in seven-on-seven drills while crossing the middle. Earlier, Holmes snared a Romo pass that was a little ahead of him.

** Rookie Saalim Hakin struggled in the rookie minicamp with drops and he struggled Wednesday. Unofficially he had three and the last brought receivers coach Jimmy Robinson over with some encouragement.

** Undrafted rookie CB Lionel Smith intercepted a McGee pass along the sideline.

** Rookie S Eddie Whitley ended practice with a nice breakup of a McGee throw to James Hanna. Whitley broke on Hanna’s route perfectly to bat the pass away.

** RB Phillip Tanner did not look any different after being put on injured reserve last year with a hamstring injury. He was quick and decisive with his cuts.

IRVING, Texas -- James Hanna won’t have to travel far to get to the Cowboys’ rookie mini-camp next week. It’s just about a 20-minute ride from Flower Mound to Valley Ranch.

The Cowboys took the Oklahoma tight end in the sixth round Saturday, fulfilling a need pick with only Jason Witten and John Phillips on the 53-man roster.

“Honestly I didn’t know where I’d go and just coming to the Cowboys, it was an even better feeling than I thought it would be,” Hanna said. “It was real exciting.”

Hanna did not take part in the Cowboys’ Dallas Day workout because he was visiting Minnesota, but he met with the Cowboys at the NFL scouting combine. Hanna caught 52 passes for 720 yards and nine touchdowns in four years with the Sooners. He was a second-team All-Big 12 pick last year with 27 catches for 381 yards.

The Cowboys love to use multiple tight end sets and had only Jason Witten and John Phillips on the roster.

“He’s my role model,” Hanna said of Witten, a seven-time Pro Bowler. “I’ve grown up all through football since I’ve been playing a Cowboys fan and just watching him, he’s been there a long time. He’s a great player and I’m really looking forward to getting to learn from him.”

Hanna was timed at 4.46 seconds in the 40-yard dash, incredibly fast for a tight end, but with players like Witten, San Francisco’s Vernon Davis, New Orleans’ Jimmy Graham and New England’s Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski, tight ends are becoming downfield threats.

“There seems to be so many teams that really look to use tight ends, even multiple tight ends,” Hanna said, “and I couldn’t be happier with the time I’m in the league and I’m grateful for the opportunity.”

IRVING, Texas -- The Cowboys have added depth to the tight end position by drafting Oklahoma tight end James Hanna with their sixth-round pick Saturday.

The Cowboys came into the draft with Jason Witten and John Phillips as the only tight ends because Martellus Bennett signed a one-year deal with the New York Giants.

Picking up another tight end, either in free agency or the draft, is something the Cowboys wanted to do since.

Hanna, a Flower Mound native, is 6-3 and 252 pounds. As a senior, he started 13 games and finished with a career-high 27 catches with 381 yards with two touchdowns. He was named to the Big 12's second team.

In his junior season, Hanna picked up seven touchdown catches earning All-Big 12 honorable mention honors.

After picking four consecutive defensive players, the Cowboys grabbed a wide receiver in the fifth round in Virginia Tech's Danny Coale and now Hanna.

IRVING, Texas -- Having lost Martellus Bennett to the New York Giants in free agency and facing a thin draft class, the Cowboys are looking at veteran tight end Joey Haynos.

Haynos worked out for the Cowboys last week on their Dallas Day tryouts for local draftable prospects.

Haynos, 6-8, 270 pounds, did not play last year after he was released in training camp by Jacksonville. He entered the league with Green Bay in 2008 and spent parts of the next three seasons with Miami, catching 21 passes for 184 yards and three touchdowns.

The Cowboys have only two tight ends on the roster in Jason Witten and John Phillips. With coach Jason Garrett liking to use multiple tight end sets, the Cowboys have kept up to four tight ends on the 53-man roster in recent years.

The Cowboys signed Witten to an extension last season through 2017 and Phillips is signed through this season. The Cowboys have not drafted a tight end since taking Phillips in the sixth round in 2009.

IRVING, Texas – The Cowboys will have an additional draft choice next month with the NFL awarding the franchise a fourth-round compensatory pick, having lost defensive end Stephen Bowen to Washington last year as an unrestricted free agent.

The Cowboys will have eight picks in the three-day draft with picks in each round and two in the fourth. The second fourth rounder will be No. 135 overall. The compensatory selection cannot be traded.

The Cowboys did not make a trade during last year’s draft for the first time in the tenure of Jerry Jones as the team’s owner and general manager.

The last time the Cowboys had a compensatory came in 2009 when they took David Buehler in the fifth round (No. 172 overall) and John Phillips in the sixth round (No. 208 overall).

INDIANAPOLIS -- With Green Bay re-signing Jermichael Finley to a two-year contract this week, Martellus Bennett moves up a spot in the pecking order of free agent tight ends.

The thinking is that Bennett wants a chance to start and play more elsewhere, but coach Jason Garrett has not closed the door on a possible return for Bennett, the team’s second-round pick in 2008.

“We have to see what happens with Martellus and what kind of opportunity he has elsewhere compared to what we would give him here and evaluate that situation,” Garrett said. “We value tight ends and Martellus has been a guy sometimes people have beaten up on but has been an effective player for us. He’s one of the best blocking tight ends in the league and we feel he can still grow as a receiver.”

If Bennett leaves, the Cowboys will have to address the tight end spot in free agency and/or the draft with only Jason Witten and John Phillips on the roster. The Cowboys have carried four tight ends on the 53-man roster at different times in the last few years.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Officially, the league has not released the tender amounts for restricted free agents, but the right of first refusal offer is expected to be worth roughly $1.3 million, a slight raise from 2011.

The Cowboys have three restricted free agents: fullback Tony Fiammetta, wide receiver Kevin Ogletree and quarterback Chris Greisen.

With such a high price tag, the Cowboys could choose to tender an offer only to Fiammetta, who excelled as a lead blocker for DeMarco Murray but battled through a mysterious illness for a few weeks that caused him to miss three games.

“We’ll have guys that we’ll tender and guys that we won’t tender,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “It’s getting higher where you don’t just assume you [tender] anymore, especially if they’re a down-the-line, special teams-type player.”

Jones said the Cowboys could offer a player a lower contract than the tender offer if the player wanted to remain with the Cowboys. If the player would not accept the offer, then he would be free to sign elsewhere.

The $1.3 million tender also affects the contract of kicker David Buehler. Because he hit an escalator in his contract in 2010, the kicker’s base salary jumped from $565,000 to $1.26 million. Buehler is coming back from a groin injury that required surgery and limited him to four games in 2011. He lost the field goal job to Dan Bailey, who also did a decent job on kickoffs in Buehler’s absence.

None of the other remaining players from the Cowboys’ 2009 draft class -- Stephen McGee, Victor Butler and John Phillips -- made their escalator and will earn $565,000 in 2012.

This is the fourth installment of a 12-part series breaking down the Cowboys roster. Today we look at tight ends.


Players: Jason Witten (signed through 2017), Martellus Bennett (free agent), John Phillips (signed through 2012)

Top free agents: Martellus Bennett, Dallas Cowboys; John Carlson, Seattle Seahawks; Jermichael Finley, Green Bay Packers; Marcedes Lewis, Jacksonville Jaguars; Visanthe Shiancoe, Minnesota Vikings

Top draft prospects: Coby Fleener, Stanford; Dwayne Allen, Clemson; Orson Charles, Georgia; Ladarius Green, Louisiana-Layayette; Michael Egnew, Missouri

2011 review: First the good news: Bennett will not return. He didn't like how he was being used in the offense and his locker room and off-the-field antics rubbed some in the organization the wrong way. Now the bad news: Bennett was the Cowboys' best blocking tight end and most athletic. He will find a home. More good news: Witten returns for his 10th season and is in line to have the longest tenure on the team if Bradie James and Terence Newman don't return. He's a professional and despite not making the Pro Bowl last season, led the team in catches (79) and receiving yards (942). Phillips was average last season, after coming off knee surgery.

Offseason preview: Free agency isn't the way to go here because the class is top heavy with world-class talent. The draft is a possibility and a mid-to-late round pick could be the answer. Green might be around on the third day and he's worth looking at. The Cowboys want tight ends who can block well and are not afraid to mix it up. Witten is the perfect example of how to do that.

Bryan Broaddus' Scout's Eye: It's hard to believe that Witten will be playing in his 10th season for the Cowboys. The Cowboys need to work on finding the next tight end who will be reliable and productive like Witten has been. I am not saying that Witten is done, but it would be a nice time to start finding a replacement. It's a shame that Bennett played at a higher level toward the end of the season so other teams would have decent film to watch when he becomes a free agent. Don't fool yourself into thinking that Bennett was this great run blocker because he wasn't. There were times he was good but not as good as he could have been. His career in Dallas will always have me wondering "what if." Phillips should be better than he was in 2011 coming off knee surgery. He is a productive player run or pass. Shaun Chapas was drafted last season, but I don't see the necessary skills. If the Cowboys get an extra pick in the middle of the draft, it could be a good time to look at tight ends.

Need meter (0-5): 4

IRVING, Texas -- For the sixth straight year the Cowboys had more than 100 penalties in a season, matching the longest streak in team history.

The Cowboys’ 114 penalties were fifth-most in the NFL and Jason Garrett was unable to correct a problem that has plagued predecessors Bill Parcells and Wade Phillips.

Doug Free and DeMarcus Ware led the Cowboys with 10 penalties called, although Ware had one penalty declined during the year. Free had five holding penalties and five false starts. Ware had seven offside penalties, two roughing the passer penalties and a neutral zone infraction.

Tyron Smith, Anthony Spencer and Orlando Scandrick had eight penalties called against them this year. Scandrick had two declined, Smith had one.

Spencer had four neutral zone infractions, which means the Cowboys’ best pass rushers had 12 penalties in which they could not time the snap properly. Spencer’s other penalties were an unnecessary roughness, roughing the passer, running into the kicker and face mask.

An interesting note: three backup secondary players combined for 20 penalties. Scandrick had eight. Alan Ball had seven. Frank Walker had five. Fourteen of those were on defense. Scandrick was a quasi-starter as the nickel back, but Ball and Walker were flagged far too often given the amount of snaps they played. Guard Montrae Holland had six penalties in 10 games.

Another interesting note: Mike Jenkins was not penalized all year. Yes, he missed four games, but he was flagged nine times last year with six pass interference penalties. He was a much improved player all around in 2011.

Here’s the player-by-player breakdown of penalties

10 – Doug Free, DeMarcus Ware
8 – Anthony Spencer, Tyron Smith, Orlando Scandrick
7 – Alan Ball
6 – Montrae Holland
5 – Terence Newman, Tony Romo, Frank Walker
4 – Jason Hatcher
3 – Martellus Bennett, John Phillips, Jason Witten, Phillip Tanner, Kyle Kosier
2 – Keith Brooking, Jesse Holley, Kevin Ogletree, Tony Fiammetta, Barry Chruch, Josh Brent, Derrick Dockery, Jay Ratliff, Dez Bryant
1 – Bradie James, Sean Lee, Laurent Robinson, Gerald Sensabaugh, Victor Butler, Kenyon Coleman, Phil Costa, Abram Elam, Kevin Kowalski, L.P. Ladouceur, Stephen McGee, Miles Austin, Sean Lissemore

IRVING, Texas -- It’s Week 17 and it’s the NFC East Championship Game Sunday at MetLife Stadium against the New York Giants, but I’m still wondering about some things.

Here we go:

** Maybe it would be too much of a sign of desperation, but I wonder if the Cowboys need to make a change at left cornerback for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants. I asked Jason Garrett if Terence Newman would be the starter and he said he did not anticipate any changes. Maybe if Orlando Scandrick was playing better the Cowboys would consider making a move there. For as well as Newman was playing earlier in the season, he is simply struggling badly at the wrong time of the year. He is not on the injury report, so we can’t say he has anything other than minor bumps and bruised that every player has. He is not playing as aggressively as he did earlier in the year and receivers are having their way with him. Earlier in the season I wondered if Newman could return in 2012 with the same cap number or altered contract. Now, I don’t think the Cowboys will bring him back. That would make Scandrick the starter in 2012, but I wouldn’t rule out an early-round pick or free agent signing to challenge him.

** If you were wondering the last time the Cowboys did not have a 1,000-yard rusher or a 1,000-yard receiver, turn your mind back to 2004. Jason Witten would need 127 yards receiving against the Giants on Sunday to reach 1,000 for the year. Dez Bryant would need 142 yards. Against the Giants’ secondary anything is possible. In 2004, Julius Jones led the Cowboys with 819 rushing yards. Keyshawn Johnson had 981 receiving yards and Witten had 980. The Cowboys have had one 1,000-yard rusher since Emmitt Smith’s departure following the 2002 season when Jones had 1,084 in 2006. DeMarco Murray would have had a chance at cracking 1,000 yards had he not broken his ankle. He finished with 897 yards and had three games left to play.

** The Cowboys were never going to add a veteran quarterback of any consequence for Sunday’s game even if Tony Romo would be unable to play. They would’ve started Stephen McGee and gone with Chris Greisen as the backup. You would not have been able to find a veteran worthy of a call at this time of the year that would have been able to get up to speed quick enough. But now that I’m thinking about it, would the Cowboys have made a call to Bret Favre? I kid, I kid. But I do wonder if Greisen will get called up from the practice squad even with Romo healthy enough to play. They did it last year when Jon Kitna had a hip problem and McGee started. The emergency quarterback last Saturday was tight end John Phillips. I understand you’d be in a world of hurt if you’d need Greisen to play Sunday against New York, but I’d rather have him take snaps than Phillips.

** I wonder how much change there will be on the Cowboys’ defense in 2012. Anthony Spencer, Bradie James, Keith Brooking, Abram Elam, Alan Ball and Frank Walker are regulars on the defense and are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents in 2012. Terence Newman is signed through 2014 but is scheduled to count $8 million against the salary cap next year. Kenyon Coleman has started every game but is only signed through 2012. That’s seven regulars that could be gone next year. That’s a lot of turnover on one side of the ball. The Cowboys are likely to look to Bruce Carter, Victor Butler, Barry Church and Sean Lissemore from inside the building to play larger roles next year, but there will be plenty of work to do to improve. I can’t see Jerry Jones believing the talent level on that side of the ball is fine.

** I wonder how happy Fox is in losing Sunday’s game between the Cowboys and Giants. The Cowboys are the closest thing to must-see TV in the NFL and Fox will not have either matchup with the Giants this year. That can’t make them happy and I wonder if they try to flex their NFC muscles next year in keeping more Cowboys games, especially against NFC East foes. They had only two of the Cowboys’ six NFC East games (Washington, Philadelphia). But I do give credit to Commissioner Roger Goodell for altering the schedule makeup by making sure the final games of the year are intra-divisional. Imagine how uneventful it would’ve been this year if the Giants and Cowboys were playing NFC West opponents in Week 17. This game should be a huge ratings draw, and that will make Fox even more upset.

IRVING, Texas -- The Akwasi Owusu-Ansah era with the Cowboys is officially over.

Owusu-Ansah was called up to Jacksonville's active roster a day after joining the practice squad and will return to playing safety after the Cowboys converted him to wide receiver at the beginning of the regular season.

The Cowboys released Owusu-Ansah last week to call up fullback Shaun Chapas from the practice squad. They kept him on the 53-man roster through last Tuesday in order for him to receive a game check of roughly $26,500 with the hope of him re-joining the practice squad this week.

Instead, Owusu-Ansah chose to go to Jacksonville.

A fourth-round pick last year out of Division II Indiana (Pa.), Owusu-Ansah made his only contributions in two seasons on special teams, returning kickoffs and punts. He also had four special teams’ tackles. A cornerback in college, the Cowboys moved him to safety but he came to the team with a shoulder injury and missed most of training camp as a rookie. He played in seven games in 2010 before an ankle injury forced him to injured reserve.

He was among the final cuts this summer after an unimpressive training camp and was moved to wide receiver early in the season. He did not see any time in games as a wide receiver.

Owusu-Ansah is the third of the team’s six 2010 draft picks to no longer in the organization, joining tackle Sam Young and cornerback Jamar Wall. Only three of the 12 picks in 2009 remain on the active roster (Stephen McGee, Victor Butler and John Phillips). Kicker David Buehler is on injured reserve.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Tight end Martellus Bennett went to the locker room on a golf cart on the Cowboys’ final drive of the first half

UPDATE: Bennett will not return.

Bennett received X-rays on his ribs after he appeared to hurt his side midway through the second quarter on a running play before wide receiver Laurent Robinson suffered a right shoulder injury. Bennett remained in the game for the next series, but spent considerable time with head athletic trainer Jim Maurer.

He walked gingerly to the sideline on the final drive and was carted to the locker room as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

If Bennett cannot return, then the Cowboys would be forced to use rookie fullback Shaun Chapas more offensively. Chapas had just one snap in the first half with tight end John Phillips taking most of the fullback snaps.

IRVING, Texas -- Shaun Chapas was nearly called up to the active roster two weeks ago but it finally came on Tuesday. Now he has to get accustomed to running the Cowboys offense again.

Chapas has mostly been running the opposing team’s offense during the week to help the defense.

“I wouldn’t call it strange, no,” Chapas said of running the Dallas offense this week in practice. “It’s fun though and it’s been fun to get out there and run our offense.”

In Tony Fiammetta’s absence the Cowboys have used tight end John Phillips at fullback. Chapas will get some chances in the running game this week as well as work on special teams Sunday at Arizona.

“He’s a guy whose played fullback before and played there his entire career,” running backs coach Skip Peete said. “Obviously it’s just refocusing and getting himself ready to do what we do instead of just being a scout team fullback.”

It’s never easy when the Cowboys travel to the desert to face the Cardinals, and this season will be no different.

The Cardinals have skill at several positions, but they have weaknesses that Jason Garrett’s club can take advantage of. It’s this mix of good and bad that could either lead to an upset or to the Cowboys winning their fifth straight game on their march to the NFC East title.

Offensively, the Cardinals present two reasons for concern: Larry Fitzgerald and Beanie Wells.

Cardinals' Fitzgerald could exploit Cowboys' weakness

You do not have to be a professional scout to know that Fitzgerald is one of the best wide receivers in the game. The Cowboys have struggled with receivers making plays down the field the past two games. I was concerned about what Brandon Marshall was going to do against this secondary, but I am even more concerned of the challenge that lies ahead with Fitzgerald.

When you study his game, you see a tremendous route runner -- not in the sense of an explosive player, but much like Miles Austin in that he runs his routes at the same speed throughout the route. Fitzgerald doesn’t give the corner any type of hint when he is going to break in his route. Most receivers in the NFL have to chop their steps or slow down to make cuts, but not Fitzgerald.

In my view, the most impressive trait he possesses is his hands. Other than Kurt Warner, Fitzgerald has played with some bad quarterbacks throughout his career in Arizona. Never have I seen a receiver that adjusts to more bad balls than this guy, but he is always coming up with the play.

The Cowboys have to be careful with Fitzgerald when he runs the inside routes, getting the ball on the move and exploding through the middle of the secondary. Remember what he did to the Steelers in the Super Bowl several years ago? He has done that this year as well.

The one personnel switch for the Cowboys will be that Mike Jenkins will be in the lineup. That takes Alan Ball off the field in the nickel, and it also allows Orlando Scandrick to go back to his role as the nickel corner.

RB Wells has very similar style to Cowboys' Murray

The Cowboys’ run defense has had stretches where it has been outstanding, then two games where the Eagles and Seahawks were able to gash the defense for some nice gains. Beanie Wells is more of a physical runner than a home-run back. His offensive line doesn’t give him much room, so he has to create opportunities on his own, but he doesn’t have the quickness of LeSean McCoy or Marshawn Lynch.

Wells can hurt you with the ability to use his vision to see a crease then make a cut, much like what we have seen with DeMarco Murray. Wells is not afraid to take the ball to the hole then allow the defenders to commit and bend it backside. The Cowboys’ run defense can be aggressive flowing to the ball, so what happens on the backside with these defensive ends and linebackers will be key if they are going to keep Wells in check.

The Cardinals will attempt to run Wells to keep the rush off Kevin Kolb, who is making his return to the starting lineup after dealing with a toe issue.

Matchup to exploit: Cardinals' offensive line

The biggest weakness of this Cardinals offense is their line. There is nothing pretty about the way they play or the effectiveness in which they operate.

Usually when I study an opponent each week, there are one or two players that I will like on their offensive line. There is no one on the Cardnals’ offensive line I would want if I were building a team.

Tackles Levi Brown and Jeremy Bridges struggle with speed off the edge, and it would be no surprise to me if Rob Ryan starts there to attack this offense. At the guard spot, things aren’t much better with former Packer Daryn Colledge and ex-Brown Rex Hadnot, who really struggle with movement of the defensive line and don’t do a good enough job of handling the twist stunts or games in the middle of the line. Colledge really struggled because he would become engaged with his block, then a linebacker would run through on the blitz and he was unable to adjust off that to secure the blitzer.

The biggest fear for the Cardinals is if they are stuffed on the run with Wells and it turns into a game where the Cowboys can tee off on Kolb. The fear for the Cowboys is that they allow this poor Cardinals line to block them like the Redskins did two weeks ago.

There are questions about Kolb’s health and mobility. The Cowboys need to take advantage of the situation when given the opportunity.

DT Dockett will be handful for Cowboys' line

Defensively for the Cardinals, tackle Darnell Dockett will be a handful for Kyle Kosier and Montrae Holland. I worry more about Holland because he tends to struggle with those players that can get on his outside shoulder and quickly get up the field. That is what we see in Docket’s game.

Dockett is an explosive player that loves to attack on the outside. Holland hates this type of player because he doesn’t always adjust quickly enough out of his stance.

The Cowboys have to be careful when they go to their outside game that Dockett isn’t allowed to get up the field and into the backfield to throw off pullers or John Phillips trying to get to the edge to secure the corner. Any type of penetration throws off timing and the execution of the blockers.

The Cowboys will have an advantage when the Cardinals have to rush the passer. Other than Dockett, this front really struggles with pressure. It is only when they are able to bring linebacker help that they are able to generate a pass rush.

The Cowboys have struggled some this season when teams have brought pressure from the linebackers in the middle of the defense. Center Phil Costa was better last week, but continue to watch how he and Holland handle these games.

Cards' young linebackers making some noise

The Cardinals have two young linebackers that I really like. Former TCU star Daryl Washington and Texas-ex Sam Acho really show up on tape. Both of these players are always around the football. Impressed with the way that they are able to fight blocks and finish plays.

Washington showed the ability to work through the trash, keep his balance and make the tackle in the hole. I would not call Washington a thumper like a younger Bradie James, but at the point of attack, he has done a nice job.

Acho is a nice player off the edge. In the Rams contest, he showed the quickness to come around the corner, beat the tackle and get a sack of Sam Bradford to cause a fumble. He and Dockett are the two best pressure players the Cardinals have in the front seven.

Don't overlook Peterson as defender, either

Rookie Patrick Peterson has created quite a buzz with his ability to return punts for touchdowns. Peterson is a talented cornerback, but I have heard the whispers that early in the season he wasn’t playing as well and was struggling in coverage.

I studied four games -- Eagles, 49ers, Rams and Ravens -- and did not see the struggles that scouts were speaking of. There was one play against the 49ers where he slipped on a stutter-go to Michael Crabtree and it ended up as a nice gain, but overall, I only observed a corner that could read the route, drive on the ball and defend the play. Didn’t see a corner that played with wasted steps or was not quick enough to keep position in the route.

In the Ravens game, Peterson did a nice job in press coverage, turning and running with his man, then finding the ball. In my view, Peterson did not look like a player that was struggling to do his job. We’ll see if Jason Garrett’s game plan will be to try to attack Peterson, but there are other areas that he can go to for better results.

Cowboys run game: Watch safety Wilson

When the Cowboys run the ball, they must be aware of safety Adrian Wilson, who likes to work around the line of scrimmage. Wilson is a physical player who is not afraid to mix it up against the run or pass.

When the Cardinals need a big play in the secondary, it will usually come from Wilson. Wilson can hurt you as a blitzer. He has a nice feel for how to time his blitz and be that disruptive player.