The San Diego Chargers shocked skeptics with 12 wins and a playoff berth last season. Bill Parcells hopes his Dallas Cowboys can make the same type of turnaround this year.
Parcells will have plenty of new players at his disposal as the Cowboys open the season against the Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium.
Parcells turned the 5-11 club he inherited into a 10-6 playoff surprise in 2003 before the Cowboys regressed to a 6-10 mark in 2004.
If things hold up, Year 3 of the Parcells era in Dallas could end up like his speedy turnarounds of the New York Giants, New England Patriots and New York Jets. Parcells guided the Giants to Super Bowl victories in 1986 and 1990 before taking the Patriots to the Super Bowl in 1996 and the Jets to the 1998 AFC championship game.
Going into his third season with Dallas, Parcells finally has the kind of players he thinks it takes to compete.
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``I do really genuinely look forward to this season,'' Parcells said.
The defense will line up in a 3-4, with the type of big, physical linebackers and ends Parcells has been known to favor. The Cowboys used both of their first-round picks on defensive ends DeMarcus Ware and Marcus Spears.
Ware has already drawn high praise and comparisons to NFL great Lawrence Taylor for his speed on the edge and playmaking abilities in the preseason. The 6-foot-4, 300-pound Spears brings the size and athleticism the Cowboys lacked at the end position last year.
The quarterback spot was solidified when veteran Drew Bledsoe signed with Dallas before free agency opened. Owner Jerry Jones stocked Parcells' cupboard with more players via free agency, handing out $28 million in signing bonuses alone to nose tackle Jason Ferguson, right guard Marco Rivera and cornerback Anthony Henry.
Aaron Glenn was added at cornerback and will be a backup for the first time in his career, a good indication that Dallas has upgraded its weakest position from last season. Safety Roy Williams has fewer coverage responsibilities, so he should be back stalking receivers.
``We have a lot to prove and we're not going to come out here hanging our heads down because we had a 6-10 season,'' Williams said. ``This is a new year.''
The offense's success hinges on Bledsoe's ability to get the ball downfield and the performance of second-year running back Julius Jones.
Jones sparked the Cowboys with 803 rushing yards and seven touchdowns over Dallas' final seven games last season.
``This team is capable of winning a lot of games,'' said Bledsoe, who was drafted first overall by Parcells' Patriots in 1993. ``and we can do it a lot of different ways.''
The Chargers are out to prove last year's success wasn't a fluke.
San Diego bounced back from a 4-12 campaign to win the AFC West with a 12-4 mark in 2004. The Chargers went to the playoffs for the first time since 1995 before getting knocked out by the New York Jets in the first round.
San Diego hasn't won a playoff game since 1994, but that hasn't stopped the Chargers from setting lofty goals.
``The Super Bowl,'' running back LaDainian Tomlinson insisted.
Tomlinson's not the only Charger overflowing with confidence.
``This is a big statement, but we could be as good as any offense ever,'' said quarterback Drew Brees, the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year in 2004.
``Why not? We feel like we have all the pieces. Now it's just a matter of whether we play together, whether we trust one another in what we do.
``We've been in this offense now for four years,'' added Brees, who's playing under a one-year, $8 million contract after being tagged as the Chargers' franchise player. ``There are so many guys that are doing things well. In our minds, we're very confident. We play that way. We feel like we should be the best offense in the league, I guess. Why not try to be the best ever? I think that's why you play the game. That's how I play the game.''
In a rarity in the NFL, the Chargers returned all 22 starters from their playoff loss to the Jets, plus kicker Nate Kaeding and punter Mike Scifres.
Tomlinson had his typical MVP-type season last year with 1,335 yards rushing, 441 receiving yards and 18 total touchdowns. However, it was the breakout performances of Brees and tight end Antonio Gates that elevated the Chargers offense to new levels.
Brees threw for 3,159 yards, 27 touchdowns and finished the year with a career-best 104.8 passer rating.
Gates, an All-Pro in just his second season, will sit out Sunday's opener against Dallas as he finishes a three-game suspension for missing a team-mandated deadline for reporting to camp. He caught 13 touchdown passes last year, a record for NFL tight ends, and accounted for nearly 20 percent of the offense.
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