When using the Cowboys, there is a few things you need to know before you start the game. Firstly, their Defense is a great "video-game defense". What this means is that they are fast. Speed is one of the very important factors on this game, especially at OLB, and the Cowboys have quick, young OLBs. If you are playing in a franchise, make sure to keep OLB Kevin Burnett in the game, as he has great potential to develop over a few years. Also, on defense, I would reccomend matching CB Terrance Newman up with the opposing team's best WR, as he is very fast and can cover well. On the offense side of the ball, remember to use TE Jason Witten. He will often be matched up against less-athletic, slower OLB and smaller Safties, and he has good hands and enough speed to get you a good 75 yards/game. With the addition of WR Peerless Price to compliment verteran WRs Keyshawn Johnson and Terry Glenn, QB Drew Bledsoe (and his good awareness) has a good amount of targets to throw to. When running with Julius Jones, run a good amount of off-tackle runs, especially to the left side, because LT Flozell Adams and LG Larry Allen have 96 and 95 runblocking. If you choose to run to the right with Jones, try to find plays where LG Larry Allen pulls to the right to add the extra block, and his great awareness helps him to make the correct blocks. Really, I'd say as long as you play smart football, this team's Defense has enough skill to keep it's mediocre offense in the game, just play ball-control and limit your mistakes and you should be fine.
Opposing the Cowboys can be frustrating sometimes, especially if you don't have a strong offense. The Cowboys have great DBs, good LBs and an exceptional DL. With La'Roi Glover plugging up holes on the inside, look to run outside to the left by rookies RE Marcus Spears and ROLB Demarcus Ware. With those rookie's lack of awareness, it should be easy to fool them with misdirection runs and counters to their side. When throwing deep against the Cowboys, I would suggest going to the right side of the field, as SS Roy Williams has a low jump rating and isn't very fast. On the other hand, FS Iztell Reese has exceptional jimping skills and will more likely than not swat the ball down. If you decide to throw against the middle against the Cowboys watch MLB Dat Nguyen, as he has Tedy Bruschi-like skills as far as prowling goes. Now, stopping the Cowboys when they are on offense shouldn't be THAT much of a challenge. Although QB Drew Bledsoe is slow and immoble, he has a rocket for an arm and a pretty big vision cone. Since RB Julius Jones isn't a very big threat at this point in time, I'd focus more on pressuring Bledsoe with pass rushes then focusing on the stopping the running game. Make sure to match up somebody who can guard TE Jason Witten, as he is fast, big and has good hands. He can really do damage on third down situations. The only problem with stopping the run is the Cowboys' offensive line, who are all exceptional (at least) at run-blocking, so make sure to wear down the OL with different people rushing at all times.
Strengths include: -Very strong OL for running the ball. -Young, talented players on offense in Julius Jones and Jason Witten -Veteran QB in Drew Bledsoe -Two talented, experienced WR in Keyshawn Johnson and Terry Glenn -Good DL, with a good rookie on it -Fast LB core, with the very-talented Demarcus Ware -Mix of experience/speed at the CB position -Roy Williams and his amazing strength at run-stopping and causing fumbles
Weaknesses include: -Terrible kicker and punter in Billy Cundiff and Matt McBriar -Not much depth at QB, WR or OL -Aging players for franchise mode -DBs poor tackling with the exception of SS Roy Williams and CB Anthony Henry
DT La'roi Glover: Glover is a beast, plain and simple. His amazing strength allows him to litterly bowl-over offenive lineman and get to the QB. Glover has the most awareness of all DT, so he can make good decisions all game long.
RG Marco Rivera / LG Larry Allen: I put these two guys together because they have the same essential skills. They are both experienced guards who are extremely good at run-blocking and open up huge holes for the RB to get into. Larry Allen should be a 99 strength, but is a 98, as he set the NFL record for bench press not long ago.
SS Roy Williams: Roy lacks covering skills, but makes up for that with his amazing playmaker skills. His awareness, jumping and speed are slightly above average, but everything else is great. He is a premeir tackler with superb strength for a safety.
TE Jason Witten: Jason has above average speed for a TE and great hands. His 6'5 257 pound build makes him very hard for anybody to guard no matter what position they play.
CB Terrance Newman: Although he is only an 86 OVR, Terrance needs to guard the opposing team's primetime player. Terrance has ratings of 95 spd, 97 acc, 93 agi and 70 cth, all great for a CB. His 72 awr keeps him from being elite, but have Roy or Iztell help him in the secondary.
Since Bill Parcells isn't a part of the NFLPA or whatever, he is not in this game, and I'm pretty sure his playbook isn't either, but we can manage with this one. The Cowboys' playbook has alot of good packages in it, my favorite being Singleback Twin TE, so you can get Jason Witten and Dan Cambell in the game, both good receiving and blocking TEs. For running the ball, use Full House and "I-Form, Twin WR" packages often, and for passing I reccomend putting Drew Bledsoe in Shotgun since he doesn't move all that well. Don't get too predictable though, switch it up often, using run/pass plays from all angles.
As far as defense goes, the Cowboys start with a 3-4 playbook, which is a good idea since MLB Singletary is a solid player at 84 OVR, but I think Balanced D is better for the Cowboys, so you can get some 4-3 in and get DT Jason Ferguson into the game.
