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Cowboys offensive line coach Hudson Houck told reporters at Valley Ranch on Wednesday that third-year player Doug Free will make his first start at right tackle Sunday against the Redskins. Free replaced the injured Marc Colombo in Sunday’s game against the Packers and he’ll likely get a chance to start the rest of the season. Colombo, who had surgery to repair ligaments in his ankle earlier this week and has a fracture in his left fibula, is still holding out hope that he could return for the playoffs.

Free

Both Houck and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett expressed confidence in Colombo on Wednesday.



“The exciting part of it is you’ve got another guy ready to go,” Houck said. “He steps in. He got his turn. And we don’t miss a beat.”



Well, I don’t think it’s quite fair to Colombo to say the team won’t miss a beat with Free. Colombo’s considered one of the toughest players on the team and he’s the emotional leader of the offensive line. Without him, the Cowboys will have to help Free in blocking schemes with tight ends and running backs.



“He’s been with us for three years now and really taken the right approach,” Garrett said. “He’s improved as a player. We’re excited about what he did the other day in the game against Green Bay and we’re excited to see him play this week.”



But let’s be honest about something. There was a point this season where the Cowboys were so frustrated with left tackle Flozell Adams that they wanted to send him a message by yanking him from the starting lineup. At that point, they determined that Free wouldn’t be up to the task. I realize that it might be a little easier to protect Free on the right side, but let’s not act like the guy has become a completely different player in the past month.

In honor of the Dolphins playing Carolina on Thursday night, we’re going to take a look at how the Wildcat offense has fared this season.



The Dolphins use it more than any team in the league and have had pretty good success with it. But the Wildcat isn’t a big hit in the NFC South. In fact, only two teams (Carolina and Atlanta) have even used it this season and it’s only been rolled out a handful of times.



The Saints don’t use it because there’s no way Sean Payton ever would take the ball out of Drew Brees‘ hands. The Bucs don’t use it because former coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski forgot to install it just like he forgot to install anything else on offense this summer.



Anyway, here’s a look — courtesy of ESPN Stats & Information — at the team’s that have used the Wildcat formation and what they’ve done out of it.

As he spoke to the media about moving on, Larry Johnson said playing against the Kansas City Chiefs on Dec. 27 would be the “best Christmas gift I can get.”



It seems like Johnson is harboring some bad feelings toward his former team. But why?



Johnson came out of this mess, which he created, in pretty good shape. He left a team that is 2-7 for a team that is 7-2 when he signed with Cincinnati this week. Also, because he wasn’t claimed after Kansas City cut him, Johnson will receive his entire $4.55 million salary from the Chiefs. Plus, he received a prorated contract from the Bengals. So Johnson, who averaged 2.7 yards per carry this season, is getting a bonus.



Sounds like a good deal. Johnson was suspended and ultimately released after using a homosexual slur and questioning the credentials of Kansas City coach Todd Haley via Twitter.



“I’d be lying if I said I ain’t looking at [the Chiefs game] as a game I want to definitely play in,” Johnson said. “But we take it a game at a time, one situation at a time. I’m just trying to get on the field as of right now, if that happens, it’d be the best Christmas gift I can get.”



Johnson needs to let go of any ill feeling he has toward the Chiefs. He’s the one to blame for his release. He was a distraction in Kansas City several times since being the team’s No. 1 draft pick in 2003. If anything, it should be some Chiefs players, who had to endure the distractions Johnson created, who should be looking forward to the game on Dec. 27, not Johnson.

If LeBron James truly believes he can help the Cleveland Browns, coach Eric Mangini has an orange helmet waiting for him.

If LeBron James truly believes he can help the Cleveland Browns, coach Eric Mangini has an orange helmet waiting for him.

Chris Johnson’s pace is a big topic, and if he keeps it up he’ll finish with 1,940 yards. Eric Dickerson set the league record with 2,105 yards in 1984 with the L.A. Rams.

Johnson

Here are the current standings of the rushing defenses CJ will face the rest of the way:

• Houston: 14 (tied)
• Arizona: 8
• Indianapolis: 14 (tied)
• St. Louis: 28
• Miami: 7
• San Diego: 23
• Seattle: 11

According to ESPN Stats & Information, he’s also on pace for the highest yards per carry for a primary running back with at least 100 carries in NFL history.





And his 631 yards in his last three games rate as the fifth-best three-game rushing binge in league history: Deuce McAllister had 665 in 2003, Marshall Faulk and Priest Holmes each had 643 in 2001 and Tiki Barber has 641 in 2005.



A sleepy Johnson told Dan Patrick he doesn’t get caught from behind, after a game he hurts all over, he thought Bud Adams’ salute reflected the Titans’ attitude and Vince Young’s brought the Titans some swagger.



Here’s a link to the interview courtesy of Sports Radio Interviews.

PFTV: Mike Florio looks at whether the Saints can go unbeaten. (NBC Sports)

So you lost your fantasy game last weekend because Maurice Jones-Drew took a knee to help the Jaguars manage the clock against the Jets rather than scoring a touchdown.



So did he.

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Maurice Jones-Drew’s kneel-down on the Jets 1-yard line in Sunday’s game was smart move — just not for his fantasy team.

I just spoke to Jones and he said he lost his game by five points and fell to 6-4. A devoted fantasy player, his unselfish act may cost him a playoff spot in his league.



“That would have had me at 7-4 at the top of my league,” he said. “It might cost me, but I trust that my team will step it up these next couple weeks and get us back into contention.”



Here’s an assessment of the fantasy-impact from ESPN.com’s fantasy guru, Matthew Berry.



And here’s what our fantasy folks have to say about the effect of the play in just our leagues:

Approximately 10,000 ESPN.com fantasy owners lost this week because of Maurice Jones-Drew taking a knee rather than scoring. Since every matchup has a winner and a loser, it’s fair to say that some 20,000 players were affected by the play one way or the other.

I read that to MJD.



“That’s awesome, that means that people are going to watch more, watch more Jacksonville games,” he said. “They’ve got to stay tuned, you never know what we might do.”



Does he hope to produce an extra score down the road to help offset the loss?



“I’m going to have to, I have to make it up for myself too,” he said, before joking about help for the team avoiding a blackout of a home game for the first time this season. “You should tell those 10,000 that lost that if they come to the games, I will score next time. Fly down to Jacksonville and come to a game.”

PFTV: Mike Florio looks at this year’s Bengals and explains how they must be dominant in the next few weeks. (NBC Sports)

In the first few weeks of the season, the Cowboys were one of the most prolific running teams in the league. But in Sunday’s 17-7 loss in Green Bay, the running game was barely a consideration. The talented trio of Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice combined for 11 carries.



Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett’s apologists have gathered evidence to show that the Cowboys couldn’t run because of poor down-and-distance situations. But early in the game, it looked like Barber was going to have a big day. Then Nick Folk missed a short field goal and it was like Garrett completely forgot about the run option. Here’s what Choice had to say about the matter:



“I think we’ve got to run it more,” Choice said. “Sometimes it’s just the situation but that’s our biggest strength on our football team offensively is running the football. We’ve got to get back to it like at the beginning of the season, which we will. They’ve got to feed Barber. They’ve got to feed Felix and when I can sneak in and get myself a crack in there then I can do my thing.”



And Choice isn’t the only one at Valley Ranch making statements like that. Coach Wade Phillips said Monday during his news conference that his team needed to run the ball more. But that’s a huge part of the problem.



Owner Jerry Jones has set up an organizational chart in which Phillips appears to have little or no say about the offense. So Phillips’ complaints Monday came off as a cheap second-guess. If the head coach doesn’t think his team’s running the ball enough during a game, shouldn’t he walk over and mention that to the offensive coordinator?



It’s not like Phillips has to wait for the postgame play-by-play packet to know that his team’s not attempting to run the ball. All he has to do is look out there and see his quarterback getting sacked over and over again by the Packers.



Here’s an interesting stat from Dallas Morning News Cowboys beat man Gerry Fraley: The Cowboys are 1-16 in this decade when they run the ball fewer than 20 times. And here’s what Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers said following Sunday’s game:



“The game became one-dimensional,” Capers told reporters. “You can just go out and blitz, but if people are going to run the ball for big yardage on you, you’re foolish.”



Teams normally become one-dimensional when they fall behind by two scores or more. But the Cowboys’ one-dimensional approach appeared to be self-inflicted.