According to Forbes magazine, your Cowboys are the NFL's most valuable franchise at $1.85 billion. Second-wealthiest team on the planet behind only English soccer's Manchester United.
They are also, in case you haven't noticed, in disarray.
Chaotic. Disjointed. Injured. If not in a rebuilding mode, then certainly one of transition.
In most seasons the Cowboys are among the pre-season Super Bowl favorites.
They usually arrive wrapped in a nice, neat storyline such as a new stadium or a new star player like Dez Bryant or Terrell Owens or Tony Romo.
But after a lockout summer of uncertainty, the Cowboys reported to training camp in San Antonio without an identity, much less a unified theme.
Is the the go-for-it team that almost signed free agent Nnamdi Asomugha in attempt to be elite, or the wait-for-it team that sliced its pricey veterans in an attempt to un-do last year's disastrous 6-10?
It struck me that this year -- unlike 2010 or 2009 or 2008 or even 2007 -- my Observer Cowboys preview should mimic the team. Not smooth and flowing and whole, but rather a fragmented scatter of puzzle pieces hoping to find a successful unison.
As an irrational Cowboys homer, I've tried to squint and squeeze and contort this roster into a 10-win season. But, alas, no can do. The Cowboys are on their way to 8-8, maybe 9-7.
How will they arrive there?
The 2011 Cowboys Preview Package:
Tony Romo's Make or Break Year
Your 2011 Fantasy Cowboys
How to Gamble on Your Home Team
A Week-by-Week Look at the 2011 Cowboys
Football's Jason Garrett is a Football Coach Who Coaches Football
