NFL Capsules: Browns-Cowboys to kick off star-studded opener

CLEVELAND - They're more American Idol than America's Team these days. Celebrities in shoulder pads, the Dallas Cowboys have stars on their helmets, on the field and on their guest list.

From T.O. to Romo to Jerry Jones to Jessica Simpson to "Pacman" (sorry, make that Adam), the Cowboys can dazzle on the red carpet or in the red zone.

They even had their own hit summer reality TV show as HBO's Hard Knocks spent a few weeks peering behind the scenes at Dallas' training camp.

True NFL blue bloods, no team has a higher profile. And no team has greater expectations.

"It's always Super Bowl or bust kind of deal," quarterback Tony Romo said this week, "and we start the next year and it's Super Bowl or bust again. It's just part of it. Every team has pressure at the start of the year because every organization thinks they have a chance to be really good this year.

"We're no different. I think we're going to go out there and hopefully do good things on the field."

Without a postseason win since 1996 - an eternity in demanding Big D - the Cowboys, 13-3 last season with 13 players in the Pro Bowl, will embark on another title run Sunday. They open against the Cleveland Browns, a team with similarly high hopes and an offense capable of matching Dallas point for point.

While the Browns may not be able to match the Cowboys' Q rating or star power, they also have their eyes on the playoffs - and perhaps something even bigger. And if the football bounces the right way, who knows? The New York Giants weren't exactly the trendy pick to win it all last season. But they did, knocking the Cowboys off their high horses in the first round of the NFC playoffs.

This, though, is supposed to be Dallas' season.

"I think everyone knows across the nation that we have the talent," Terrell Owens said. "We just have to go out there and do what we do best. Everybody is excited with what can become of what we have in this locker room. We aren't going to by any means win the Super Bowl by what we do in Week 1."

As is usually the case, Owens will be in the spotlight Sunday. He'll be matched against a suspect Cleveland secondary, which will likely be without starting safety Brodney Pool (concussion) and has two second-year cornerbacks in Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald - both listed generously at 5-foot-10. They will have to deal with the imposing 6-foot-3, 215-pound Owens, perhaps the toughest assignment they'll ever face.

"Big-bodied guy. Great receiver. Great hands. Great route-running ability. Pro Bowl starter," McDonald said, listing Owens' many attributes. "We've got a few of those guys ourselves. We're going to try to prepare the best we can and get ready for him."

Never one to miss a chance for some publicity, Owens sent T-shirts to a few of the Browns.

Wide receiver Donte' Stallworth wore one that said, "iCompete" on the front and "T.O. win" on the back.

"Just messing with the young guys in the secondary," said Stallworth, one of Cleveland's top free-agent signings.

On his last visit to Cleveland, Owens caught a pair of touchdown passes in the first half for Philadelphia and punctuated one of the scores by spiking the ball at a "T.O. has B.O." banner he then ripped down.

Earlier this week, a mature and mellowed Owens refused to discuss his previous trip to the Dawg Pound.

"I'm not really worried about what happened in the past," he said.

Tell that to those hard-to-please Cowboys fans or Jones, the club's flamboyant billionaire owner.

Dallas hasn't won a Super Bowl title since 1995. Anything short of getting their hands on a sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy will be seen as failure by fans deep in the heart of Texas and all other points where the famous five-pointed blue star is worshipped.

Now in his second season as Cowboys coach Wade Phillips, who was raised in the Lone Star State, has learned to embrace the pressure of playing for one of sport's most storied franchises.

"I told my guys early on, ‘If you don't want to be in the spotlight, you don't need to be with the Dallas Cowboys,"‘ he said. "I think it always has been that way here and I think it probably will be for a long time. You've got to be able to handle media and expectations and predictions and all those things and go on and do your job the Cowboy way."

The Browns' way in recent years has meant little more than being a punching bag for the rest of the league. However, a surprising 10-6 record - only the second season with 10 or more wins since 1988 - raised the club's profile. With five nationally televised regular-season games on its schedule, Cleveland is again being viewed as a pro football hotspot after years of neglect.

Led by an offense that racked up 402 points, the Browns have enough firepower to hang with any team, including these gunslinging Cowboys. Injuries prevented Pro Bowl quarterback Derek Anderson, running back Jamal Lewis, wide receiver Braylon Edwards and Cleveland's other offensive starters from playing a single snap together during a winless exhibition season.

Those games didn't count. On Sunday, everything matters.

"We've got high expectations for this team, not just the offense," said tight end Kellen Winslow, who feels he can improve on an 82-catch, 1,106-yard season in ‘07. "So the chemistry is going to come. It doesn't really come in the first game. It's going to take a little while, but we're very explosive and we've got a lot of weapons."

As do the Cowboys, who will get their first look at Adam "Pacman" Jones, the troubled and talented cornerback/kick returner. Jones was recently reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after serving a 17-month suspension for a litany of off-field transgressions.

Mr. Jones, as Browns coach Romeo Crennel referred to him this week, hasn't played in a regular-season game since 2006, when he was with Tennessee. In his Dallas debut, Jones will return punts, join rookie Felix Jones as a deep man on kickoff returns and may see some time at cornerback.

"I don't want to get too overhyped, but Sunday I'll be ready," he said. "I'm just trying to not get too riled up."

That may be more difficult than he thinks.

Cleveland fans have been at a fevered pitch since the opener was announced months ago. By the time kickoff arrives at 4:15 p.m., thousands of rabid Browns backers, known for their barking and dog-biscuit eating intensity, will be foaming at the mouth. It's been a long time since an opener - or any game for that matter - has meant so much, and the sight of the Cowboys will only raise the intensity.

"I've been on the other team coming into this stadium," Lewis said. "It's not a good feeling."

Even if you're America's Team.

Cowboys add WR from practice squad

IRVING - The Dallas Cowboys signed receiver Mike Jefferson off their practice squad Saturday, giving them a potential fourth receiver for their season opener.

Offensive lineman James Marten, a third-round pick in 2007, was released to make room on the 53-man roster.

With Sam Hurd (left ankle) and Miles Austin (sprained right knee) both out, and Isaiah Stanback expected to play despite having to wear a shoulder harness, that left the Cowboys with Terrell Owens and Patrick Crayton as the only healthy wideouts for the opener Sunday at Cleveland.

Neither Stanback or Jefferson have ever caught a pass in the NFL.

Texans face aging Steelers

PITTSBURGH - The Houston Texans may tell the Pittsburgh Steelers exactly how old they're getting.

The Steelers' still-blitzing, still-talented defense was statistically the NFL's best last season, ranking third against the run and the pass, and first overall. The problem was the Steelers' defense really wasn't the Steelers' defense past the midpoint of the season.

Defensive end Aaron Smith and safety Ryan Clark were hurt and safety Troy Polamalu never was himself due to multiple injuries - he didn't have a sack or an interception. That No. 1 defense allowed an average of 29 points over its last five games. Not surprisingly, the Steelers lost four.

The Steelers are skewing younger now that second-year linebacker LaMarr Woodley is starting and 2007 first-round pick Lawrence Timmons is playing a much bigger role.

Still, six starters will be 30 or older by this month, including linebacker James Farrior, who is 33 yet was given a new contract. With age often comes declining performance and injuries, and an increasing chance that younger teams - such as season-opening opponent Houston - might discover more weaknesses than before.

Defensive end Brett Keisel's response? An aging team doesn't necessarily mean a declining team.

"We are getting old; I mean age is not on our side," Keisel said. "But on the other hand, I feel we're a very experienced group and when you're out there playing on Sundays with guys that have seen different looks, it makes a big difference. This group has a lot of great playmakers on it."

That's one reason why a Houston-Pittsburgh game matching teams that rarely play each other could provide a good read on the season to come for both.

"We're not looking down the road. We're looking right here," Texans tackle Eric Winston said. "We know how important this first game is to get off to a good start."

Getting off to a good start is a big worry to Texans rookie Duane Brown, who must protect quarterback Matt Schaub from Pittsburgh's myriad of defensive fronts in his first game as an NFL starting tackle. Brown will go against Pro Bowl outside linebacker James Harrison, who had 8½ of Pittsburgh's 36 sacks last season.

"Oh yeah, definitely," Brown said when asked if he's nervous. "It's at Pittsburgh against a team with great tradition and a great defense, so nerves are going to be there."

Another intriguing matchup is between assistant coaches. Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau popularized the zone blitz, while Alex Gibbs designed the zone blocking attack.

"Coach LeBeau, he's still a wizard," Clark said.

The Texans were getting better at the same time the Steelers were sliding late last season, winning three of their final four to finish at .500 (8-8) for the first time. Schaub developed into a reliable quarterback in his 11 starts, and wide receiver Andre Johnson had eight touchdown catches in nine games.

It's on defense where the Texans are very young and very good, with 2006 No. 1 pick Mario Williams getting 14 sacks in his second season.

"Mario Williams is a beast," Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward said.

Williams and a defensive line loaded with three first-round picks will challenge a Steelers offensive line that not only gave up 47 sacks last season, but lost its best player in All-Pro guard Alan Faneca, who signed with the Jets.

"Their front seven - young, fast, quick - that's the strength of their team," left tackle Marvel Smith said.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, in his first game since signing a $102 million contract, has two new starting linemen protecting him in left guard Chris Kemoeatu, a former backup who is Faneca's replacement, and center Justin Hartwig.

"We go as they go," Roethlisberger said.

This will be running back Willie Parker's first game since breaking a leg in the next-to-last game of the season, possibly costing him the NFL rushing title. The Steelers have since added first-round draft pick Rashard Mendenhall, who ran for 158 yards but fumbled three times in the final two exhibition games.

With a difficult schedule - the Patriots, Cowboys, Colts, Giants, Chargers, Browns and Jaguars await - the Steelers know they can't afford to give away games. Or exactly what they did the last time Houston visited Pittsburgh, a baffling 24-6 loss in 2002 in which the Texans were held to three first downs and were outgained 422-47, yet scored three defensive touchdowns.

"This is a (improved) team you can't have any flaws against," Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes said.

Texans sign OL Winston to contract extension

HOUSTON - The Houston Texans signed offensive tackle Eric Winston to a five-year contract extension on Saturday.

The $30 million deal includes a $6 million signing bonus and $10 million in guarantees, the Houston Chronicle reported on its Web site Saturday night.

"This is consistent with our philosophy of building our football team through the draft and rewarding and retaining our good, young players," general manager Rick Smith said in a written statement posted on the team's Web site.

Winston, second pick in the third round of the 2006 draft, 66th overall, initially signed a three-year deal that was to expire at the end of the season. He will now be a Texan through the 2013 season.

"I feel great. It's an awesome feeling," Winston told KRIV-TV in Houston on Saturday. "I want to be in Houston. I want to be a part of this journey all the way to the Super Bowl, because I feel that is where we are headed."

Winston is a native of Midland who played college football at Miami. He started seven games as a rookie and all 16 last year.