Welcome to the Off Season

Ok, I'll be brief about the game on Sunday. Dallas lost... Season over... Quite embarassing.

- Jerry Jones says coaching staff will remain in place, plus most of the key elements are already signed to multi-year deals, so they aren't going anywhere.

- Wade Phillips says a change of approach is in order.

- Tony Romo and Terrell Owens, during their press conferences after the game, pretty much blamed this tragedy on Jason Garrett (although not in so many words.)

- Deon Anderson and Flozell Adams got in a fight on the plane home, but quickly squashed the beef, with a little help from Leonard Davis. Bradie James nearly got arrested the morning after the game when he had an argument with an irate fan.

- And oh yea, Romo sustained a rib injury during the game and later passed out from pain in the shower, being quickly attended to by the team's medical staff. He suffered a tear to cartilage in his ribs. He recovered well enough to get to his press conference.

Despite the horror in Philly, and the fact the season is now over for the year, there are a couple positives when looking toward 2009.

- The biggest thing to look forward to, is the biggest thing in Texas... The Cowboys new stadium. It will make it's debut next season and is sure to draw plenty of attention Dallas' way (as if they need help with that.)

- The "changes" that Wade Phillips assures us. It will be interesting to see if he really can make a change, and hopefully turn Camp Cupcake into Army Boot Camp.

- Wounds Healing. The injuries this season have been a major cause for such inconsistency. If it wasn't for injuries to Felix Jones, Roy Williams, Mat McBriar, Kyle Kosier, Marion Barber, a number of corner backs and safetys and of course, Tony Romo, it's tough to argue that this season would have turned out a little differently. A month longer of an off-season can only do good for this injury ridden team.

Another thing that has been announced are the 2009 opponents, which will be the NFC South and the AFC West. Also added to the menu next season are Seattle and Green Bay.

Dallas will play host to Atlanta, Carolina, Oakland, San Diego and Seattle, and will travel to New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Denver, Kansas City and Green Bay, the schedule itself is yet to be determined.

Week 17 Recap - @ Philly

F**K!!

T'is two days before Philly (an interpolation)

T'is 2 days before Philly, and all through the cold,
Not a player is stirring, not even T.O.;
The helmets are placed in the locker with care,
In hopes that the playoffs will soon be theirs;
The coaches are constantly reading playbooks,
With visions of scrambles, play action and hooks;
Through Romo's illness and Witten's bruises,
They're both back in practice, so don't call them losers;
This one final game is now all that matters,
In the end, will we hear their tears or their laughter?;
At kickoff I hope Austin runs like the Flash,
And scores the first Touchdown to start the game fast;
Defense is essential, I hope that they care,
McNabb best prepare for a few sacks from Ware;
Romo just has to play with perfection,
The corner backs need to grab interceptions;
The O-line, needs to break open some holes,
Just ask the right guard, Leonard Davis, he knows;
Wade Phillips will lead and his team will follow,
It will take all of them, to get through to tomorrow;
Witten and Williams and Choice and Folk,
Paulescu and Newman and Barber and Polk;
To the top of the wild card, or at least number 2,
Is all that us fans are hoping they'll do;
It won't be a cakewalk, these Eagles are rough,
In fact any divisional match-up is tough;
So as the clock ticks, and as Sunday gets closer,
Anxiety builds like the heat in a toaster;
And then, when it's time for the game to kick off,
I'll pray and I'll pray that they don't get a loss;
It's 'Do or Die' time, and the chances look slim,
But that's the position these 'Boys like to be in;
When everything's down and it's like a bad dream,
There's magic around... They're America's Team!;
They're all dressed in Blue and Silver and White,
And they will be ready to deliver a fight;
A fumble or two when Big D's 'D' attacks,
Will certainly help get the momentum back;
They must watch McNabb, as he runs all around,
And Westbrook and Jackson and Curtis and Brown;
Plus the Philly D, is a defense that pressures,
With Samuel, Dawkins, Cole and Sheppard;
But thankfully most of our O-Line is beasts,
As they get in position they're clenching their teeth;
Their helmets are down, they'll do more than tap,
As soon as the moment the football is snapped;
Chubby and plump, but physically fit,
They push up the line and don't mind it a bit;
As long as Romo can deliver the ball,
To a back or receiver, the short or the tall;
To convert on third down is a must to succeed,
And fill up the scoreboard with 7 or 14;
21, 28, 31, 34,
As long as it's more than the Eagles can score;
It's all up to them, and this one final game,
If they don't get it done then it will be a shame;
When Monday comes, I hope I can shout,
DALLAS MADE THE PLAYOFFS, and the Eagles are out!!!

Merry Christmas!!

Tomorrow is Christmas, and while the spirit and feeling of the season is abundant in the air, my thoughts are still firmly on the afternoon match-up between Dallas and Philly this upcoming Sunday.

Troubling news from camp however indicates that superstar quarterback, Tony Romo, is not in practice because of an undisclosed illness. Jason Witten was also not in practice today, but his reasons are more obvious. (I'd be willing to guess it's the cracked rib, sprained ankle and sprained knee.)

A few other Cowboys are questionable thus far, and that list includes Montrae Holland, Keith Davis, Ken Hamlin and of course, Marion Barber. There are four days before the 'Do or Die' match-up in Philly, so we'll see how these injuries play out.

That's about all the news I found noteworthy enough to post, so with that, I bid you farewell for now, and to all, have a Merry Christmas!!

One More Chance

I haven't been around for a while due to a new job and being busy with Christmas shopping, but I'm back to continue my extremely fascinating and captivating posts about America's Team.

Ok, where to begin... well, it hasn't been the best December for The 'Boys (yet again.) They lost to Pittsburgh, shockingly won against The Giants and then in an embarrassing fashion, they lost the final game in Texas Stadium to The Ravens.

After that Saturday night debacle against Baltimore, the chances of reaching the playoffs were looking pretty slim. Luckily, the next morning there was an early Christmas present left for Dallas as Tampa Bay lost to San Diego, and Philly lost to Washington. As it now stands, if The Cowboys win their final game in Philly, they will be in the playoffs, no ifs, ands or buts.

The Eagles are still praying for a playoff spot as well (they would need to win against Dallas and for a few teams to lose,) so they aren't going to be taking it easy on Sunday... not at all. There's nothing that Philly loves to do more than beat Dallas, especially under these circumstances.

It's going to be a week full of high anxiety. As the kids wait eagerly for Santa to show up on Thursday, I'll be waiting for Romo to show up on Sunday.

It will all come down to this one final game. In a season that ended up being much more different than early predictions, it's a miracle that there is still hope, and it will be an even bigger miracle if Dallas can pull it off.

Easy Come, Easy Go

For a couple of days, Dallas held the number 2 wildcard spot. Carolina, Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Washington losing on Sunday would have helped The Cowboys maintain that spot.

Unfortunately, the only help they got was with Washington losing to the Giants. Everyone else won.

Atlanta and Carolina now hold the two wildcard spots, making a playoff berth that much more difficult. This likely means that 10 wins won't be enough, hell, 11 wins might not even be enough in this year's NFC.

Dallas, arguably has the toughest final stretch of games with Pittsburgh, the Giants, Baltimore and Philly. It only goes to show that nothing comes easy in the NFL and the Cowboys might have to go 4-0 to be able to play in January. Fingers are crossed.

IN OTHER COWBOYS NEWS

Left Guard, Kyle Kosier, whose foot injury kept him out of most games this season, re-injured his foot and will be placed on IR. Montrae Holland, who started his first game against Seattle, will more than likely fill his spot for the remainder of the year.

To fill Kosier's roster spot, Dallas signed linebacker Steve Octavien off of Washington's practice squad. Octavien played for Nebraska in college and played pretty darn good. This move will add even more depth at linebacker, but it is likely that Octavien will spend most of his time on special teams.

IN OTHER "NON-COWBOYS" NEWS

Division Rival and current Super Bowl Champs, the New York Giants, have one less playmaker in their stable for the rest of the season as WR Plaxico Burress, who some might remember as the one who caught the winning touchdown pass in the Super Bowl, has been shot in the leg, or shot himself, or something.

There hasn't been much news about this except that Burress was shot in the leg. Early reports state that he accidently shot himself in the thigh at a night club and it is not life threatening. Since police still have to investigate, that's pretty much all that was officially reported.

Regardless what transpired, a bullet in the thigh might take longer to recover from than the hamstring he pulled against Baltimore, so I would assume he's out for the rest of the year.

Week 13 Recap - vs Seattle (Happy Thanksgiving... indeed)

Dallas sailed to a 34-9 victory over the hapless Seattle Seahawks, who couldn't manage a single touchdown in 4 quarters. There was talk about this being a trap game for The Cowboys. Well, like the cunning mouse Jerry (or was it Tom,) Dallas snuck Seattle's tail in it's own trap and then sprung it.

Julius Jones was expected to enact his revenge against the team that let him go in the off-season... but he was held to just 37 yards. Matt Hasselbeck was expected to work over Dallas' inconsistent defense, but was sacked 7 times and picked off once. Yes, there wasn't much for the Seahawks to be thankful for when the final seconds ticked away.

Tony Romo was back in pro-bowl form as he evaded pass rushes and connected with receivers. He did make a bad pass to a double covered T.O. that was intercepted, but overall he performed exceptional, throwing for 331 yards and 3 touchdowns. Jason Witten recorded his first 100+ yard game in a long time, and Roy Williams is consistently getting more looks from Romo, he is close to a breakout performance.

The bad news was that Marion Barber and Demarcus Ware (who recorded 3 sacks for the day,) both left the game in the 3rd quarter due to injury. Barber dislocated his right pinkie toe and Ware hyper-extended his left leg. Both had MRI's which showed no breaks. They will receive treatment during the week and will be updated on a day to day basis.

In terms of playoffs, for now, Dallas holds the number 2 wildcard spot, but with Carolina, Atlanta and Tampa Bay yet to play this week, who knows how long they will hold on to that spot. Next week is a huge game in Pittsburgh and it will be a matchup between one of the NFL's best offenses and one of the best defenses.

Week 12 Recap - vs San Fransisco

The win last week proved that Dallas' defense could perform like a Super Bowl caliber defense as they held Washington to only 10 points. The offense may have been a bit rusty but luckily, 14 points was enough to win.

This week, Dallas' defense did their job again and although the secondary allowed a few deep passes, the defense came to play when it mattered. The mood was set as San Fransisco drove to the red zone twice in the first quarter but was held to only field goals. In fact, the only 49ers' touchdowns came in garbage time when Dallas was too far ahead to care.

The final score was 35-22, which also demonstrates how the offense was able to shake off more of the rust and get the job done. Tony Romo threw for 3 touchdowns, which included a 75 yard bomb to Terrell Owens. It was definitely the Tony Romo/Terrell Owens show as T.O. sailed to 213 yards (the second highest yardage in his career.)

Another notable improvement is Dallas' special team unit. A few returns could have handled better, but you can't ignore the excellent play by Carlos Polk who blocked a punt, resulting in a safety.

It is a short week with the Thanksgiving game against Seattle coming in just 4 days, but if Dallas can use this game as momentum, they should be able to take care of business against the Seahawks and then they'll have 10 days to prepare for a big game against the Steelers.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly... (News of the Week)

Whew... it's Thursday and it's definitely been a newsworthy week in the world of The Dallas Cowboys. Both good and bad, silly and serious, predictable and surprising... I think you get the point. Let's tackle some of the more notable news of the week.

THE GOOD

- A large group of players and their wives went to a Salvation Army homeless shelter to serve out Thanksgiving meals.

- Speaking of people down on their luck. A local Dallas homeless man, Doc, was passing out flyers for a local store trying to gather enough money to see a movie. He did this often, and this day seemed like others.

Suddenly, Tony Romo came out of nowhere, paid for the man's ticket and sat with him as they enjoyed the film, "Role Models." Me thinks Romo has a pretty good P.R. agent.

- Isaiah Stanback is ready to go this week after resting a few weeks from his seperated shoulder. He may require surgery in the off season, but he has been practicing and should play on Sunday.

THE GOOD?

- Adam "Pacman" Jones has been reinstated into the NFL after his four game suspension from that 'incident' in a Dallas hotel involving his bodyguard. Jones spent the last 30 days in a Boston alcohol treatment center and has successfully completed everything he has been asked to do.

He will not be activated for a game until December 7th against The Steelers, but could return to practice as early as Monday.

THE BAD

- Rowdy, the team mascot has been banned from all games except for pregame and brief 3rd quarter appearances to fire t-shirts into the crowd. He has been targeted because of his involvement in a T.O. celebration after a touchdown way back in the Philadelphia game. What a shame.

More seriously...

- T.O. has not practiced this week because of flu-like symptoms. I'm not as concerned about this because he will most likely play Sunday regardless if he has the flu or not.

- Miles Austin sprained his lateral collateral ligament again and is expected to miss at least 2-4 weeks. This brings up many problems, such as who will be the 3rd/4th receiver and who will be the kick returner?

With Isaiah Stanback returning, that should provide a bit of help at both wide receiver and kick returner. Other candidates would include Orlando Scandrick, Mike Jenkins and even Martellus Bennett... ok ok, just kidding about the last one...

THE UGLY
(And perhaps the worst news of the week)

-Felix Jones was back in limited practices Wednesday. Umm... Ok, sounds good right? Well, just a day later it was announced that Jones tore a ligament under his left big toe in rehab and will require season ending surgery.

That's a huge loss, which will most likely force Dallas to bump up Alonzo Coleman from the practice square or quickly sign another player that's out there. Tashard Choice should also see an increased role because of this.


There's still 3 days left in the week, we'll see if any other news pops up... oh yea, Dallas plays San Fransisco this week too... almost forgot.

Week 11 Recap - @ Washington

It had to happen and it did. Dallas went into FedEx field, took a win away from Washington and at the same time, they may have just saved their season.

It was one of the hardest fought battles I've seen from The Cowboys in quite a while. They played with intensity, desire and emotion. In the end, the pieces came together. They managed a 14-10 victory over The 'Skins and a 6-4 record, which throws them right back into the wildcard hunt.

This game in Washington could be a big turning point for the rest of the season, and it will be memorable for more than that.

Think back when Dallas was home and they were inducting Aikman, Emmit and Michael Irving into The Cowboys 'Ring of Honor.' That game was a prime-time matchup against The Redskins that Dallas should have won. Unfortunately, they didn't.

This time around, Washington was all set to win. They had a pre-game celebration where two of their greatest players of all time, Art Monk and Darrell Green, received their Hall of Fame rings. The crowd was into it, The Cowboys were very questionable and The Redskins were looking to gain a 2 game lead. Unfortunately for Washington, they didn't get that.

They got a full dose of Dallas defense and they won't soon forget it. They'll remember Jay Ratliff, who got a career high 2 sacks plus plenty of tackles and they'll remember Terence Newman, who came back from injury and mirrored "Cowboy Killer," Santana Moss the entire game, holding him to only 29 yards. No, they will not forget the way the defense played and held them to only a touchdown and field goal.

The Dallas offense, which has been dysfunctional and inconsistent in the past four games did not have the memorable qualities that the defense had, but they finally took strides to put themselves back together.

Tony Romo was back and about 75% healthy, which is still 130% better than Brad Johnson or Brooks Bollinger. Kyle Kosier was back and the offensive line played better than they have since the Green Bay game.

Rookie Martellus Bennett enjoyed his second touchdown of the season which put Dallas in the lead at 14-10 and ended up being the final score of the game. He did a funky little dance to celebrate, it could use work.

The offensive line also helped Marion Barber close the game down. The last drive was filled with 11 straight touches from Barber to run down the clock and sail to victory. His ability to punish defenses is what helped Dallas win this game, as he ran around and through Washington all night.

I haven't even mentioned Clinton Portis, who was practically listed as out all week, but miraculously managed to play the whole game. Well I haven't mentioned him because he was barely noticed. He managed only 68 yards, 20 of which came on the first Washington drive for their only touchdown. Whether the injury hampered Portis or the defensive line played that good, he shouldn't have taken that field.

It was an impressive win, given the fact that they lost 4 of the last 6 games and seemed to be totally falling apart. It was a win they need, a big division win and it keeps hopes alive. They must continue improving and playing with urgency down the stretch, whether they're playing San Fransisco or The Giants, it doesn't matter, they must play to win.

Next Sunday, 3-7 San Fransisco is going down to Dallas to try and spoil playoff wishes and add a few 'W's' to keep some dignity. Any given Sunday, anything can happen, but it would be great if Dallas can somehow pull off a win before heading into a short week. Crossing my fingers and pointing to the sky... yee haw, let's go!!

Off Week

Ok, so it's the bye week, and news is sparse. There have been a few tidbits around Dallas though. Anthony Spencer is very likely going to start in place of Greg Ellis, who might come in only on passing downs.

Tony Romo is practicing, and is on course to play next week against Washington. He still has a splint and bandage of some sort, but he is out there getting ready.

And the most important news of the week, which doesn't fall into the football category at all, is the election of Barack Obama.

In a truly historic election, Obama won the presidency in a landslide victory against John McCain. He won states that have been strictly Republican for ages and did so in a very convincing fashion. His confidence, values and vow for change inspired the majority of Americans and proved that anything is possible and this country truly has the ability to unify for one common cause.

This message of unity and inspiration has also made an appearance in the locker room. Wade Phillips reportedly used this election as a metaphor for their team, who has the ability to unify for one common cause... in this case, the Super Bowl.

Next week we'll see how much 'change' this team can make.

Week 9 Recap - @ NY Giants

It happened. As predicted by myself and practically everybody else who knows football, Dallas fell victim to the reigning Super Bowl Champs, The New York Giants. It was a pathetic 14-35 loss that puts The Cowboys in the NFC East's basement with a 5-4 record and a 1-2 record in the division.

The Giants played a good game and were definitely the better team on Sunday. The mistakes they had were minimal, they scored when they needed to, and they ran all over The Cowboys, gathering 200 yards rushing.

The Cowboys had just a baby's handful of good plays which included rookie corner back Mike Jenkin's first interception & touchdown, but in the end, it wasn't enough. They went through two quarterbacks and neither could do much with the offense. On the defensive side, they had just as many problems and gave up far too many plays.

Where should blame go this week? The coaches? The players? The injuries? Jessica Simpson?

They all get the blame, well maybe not Jessica Simpson, but they all made mistakes and didn't seem to have the heart they demonstrated last week. The plays weren't creative, they couldn't get the ball to the play-making receivers and they couldn't stop the run. Sloppy.

There's no way they can continue on this path and have any hope to make the playoffs. The Cowboys will probably need to go 5-2 the second half of the schedule and finish at 10-6, at least. Unless there are major losses from the rest of the NFC, especially the East, it'd be a miracle if Dallas makes the playoffs.

It's a gloomy day, but the bye week comes at a perfect time. Many of the injured starters are expected back for the Washington game and two weeks of preparation can't hurt. We can only hope that this loss will sink into the heads of these players and coaches and spark some kind of magic as they head into the final stretch.

Anybody's Guess...

Ok, ok... Dallas did win against Tampa Bay and are now 5-3, and I had wrongly figured them to go 4-4 in my 'Scratching Records' post, which was a rundown prediction for the rest of the season (if you didn't read it, scroll down). Maybe being wrong so soon will teach me to stop making predictions and just watch each game for what it is, and take it week to week so I enjoy it more and I won't be disappointed...

Nah!

It's time to redo my 'Scratching Records..." feature, and maybe I'll try to make this a weekly thing, since so much can change at any given second in the NFL.


- Week 9 @ NY Giants -

This is still going to be a tough battle... it doesn't matter that Dallas just beat Tampa Bay... The Giants are arguably the best team in the league and certainly in the NFC. I honestly don't see Brad Johnson being able to put up more points than Eli Manning.

If the defense can play even better than last week, they do have a shot. It may take a defensive or special teams touchdown or two to make this game winnable for The Cowboys, and that's tough to do for any team. Unfortunately I'm going to say Dallas will get knocked down a notch and be 5-4 going into the bye.

- Week 11 @ Washington -

Recently, there has been concerns that some of the injured starters may not be healthy enough to even play in this game.

Will Tony Romo's pinkie be healed and will it have enough strength in just 2 weeks? Will Felix Jones rehab enough from his hamstring injury and will he be just as fast and agile when he returns? Terence Newman has had 3 pretty bad injuries in just 2 seasons, he may not be back and if he is, will he be in top form? Jason Witten is questionable this week with his cracked rib, is 2 weeks enough for him to adjust and heal?

Washington is winning games, but I expect the bye to be beneficial for Dallas. Despite the questions they face, I believe they have a good shot to rest up and better prepare for the final stretch. They should be able to make a statement and go 6-4, splitting the Redskins series.

- Week 12 vs San Fransisco -

San Fransisco is certainly not a team to take lightly, but they have been having many controversies recently. Among the many head coach changes in the league this year, the 49ers head coach Mike Nolan was fired last week and replaced by defensive coordinator and hall of famer Mike Singletary.

In this past Sunday's game, the change of coach didn't provide the spark that St. Louis received from a coach change, and the 49ers lost to Seattle by 21 points. Not only that but Singletary also threw Vernon Davis out of the game for drawing a penalty, demonstrating his coaching style as a tyranical veteran, who is as tough to his players as he used to be with his enemies. They are in a transitional period right now, and as long as more of Dallas' starters are playing, they should be able to advance to 7-4.

- Week 13 vs Seattle -

This game will probably be labeled as Julius Jones' revenge on the team that cut him. I think that Dallas' defense will benefit more from knowing Julius than he will from knowing the defense. Besides all that, it's the Thanksgiving Day game... Romo should definitely be back by now and connecting well with T.O. and also have a nice rhythm with Roy Williams. Dallas 8-4.

- Week 14 @ Pittsburgh -

I would be willing to go as far as say that Pittsburgh is currently the second best team in the AFC. They continue to dominate with their defense and if they head down the same path they're on now, their offense very slowly improves week to week. Their offensive line is not doing the best job, but it's hard to see them getting much worse.

Dallas' offense is explosive when it's firing on all cylinders and I would hope Dallas could win, but it's at Heinz Field, so unless something major happens to either team, I'd have to say that Dallas loses and goes 8-5 here.

- Week 15 vs NY Giants -

I even said it during my last 'Scratching Records,' but it's way to early to even predict 2 weeks ahead, so even doing this breakdown is ridiculous and pointless. I will however hope that The Giants collapse in the final stretch and The Cowboys shine. 9-5 Woo Hoo!!

- Week 16 vs Baltimore -

Saturday game on NFL Network... Cowboys love the spotlight... Baltimore has it's moments, but let's hope that The Ravens can't take the pressure of the almighty Boys. 10-5.

- Week 17 @ Philadelphia -

There may be a lot on the line at this point in the season. Last year we had already earned homefield advantage in the playoffs, so we didn't play the starters much at all.

This year will probably be a totally different story. Going into Philly for the last game of the year, with a possible shot at either a Division title or a Wildcard spot or whatever, on the line... very exciting.

The Cowboys haven't been very good the last few years in Decemeber, so it's time to prove they can turn it around this year. I gotta be pessimistic and say they lose though, 10-6 but they do make the playoffs.


These predictions are biased, wishful thinking and absolutely should not be used for gamblers looking to get action. Maybe I'll do that in another weekly feature... hmm...

Week 8 Recap - vs Tampa Bay

It happened, it finally happened. Dallas fell out of their slump and won a very tough match-up against The Bucs. 13-9 was the final score and that pretty much sums up how the game went.

It was a tough defensive struggle for both teams, but ultimately it was the Dallas 'D' that made the plays when it mattered. It also didn't hurt that Tampa Bay made four very critical errors that led to the only touchdown of the game, which, by the way, was made by newly acquired wideout, Roy Williams on a two yard fade.

Not only was it a good day for Williams, but a lot of newly acquired and newly starting players made a big impact in this game.

Sam Paulescu, who is replacing injured Mat McBriar, set the mood for the game with a devastating tackle to the kick returner which riled up the crowd and The 'Boys.

Rookies Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick, who eventually had to start when Anthony Henry got injured in the 3rd quarter, showed significant improvement this week and allowed only 3 field goals instead of touchdowns. Scandrick, in particular, made such a statement that he's already been given a starting spot, even when Anthony Henry and Terence Newman return from injury.

Which brings me to my next topic, the injury bug that continues to infest this team. Anthony Henry and Jason Witten were knocked out of the game. Witten was out because of a cracked rib. He left in the 2nd quarter and tried to return early in the 3rd but couldn't tolerate the pain and had to stay on the bench. Henry was sidelined because of a bruised quad that he injured in the 3rd quarter. Both players are highly questionable for next week.

And of course, speaking of next week, Dallas will travel to New Yor... oops, I mean, Jersey, and do their best against the 6-1 Giants. It's definitely not going to be an easy task with an offense led by Brad Johnson, but if they play error free football, if the defense can step up like they did against Tampa Bay, and if they can manage a few more plays than The Giants, they might have a chance.

Of course, being 8 1/2 point underdogs, the chances of victory might be more slim than we can hope for. The Giants are Super Bowl Champs and resting at a comfortable 6-1 record for a reason. They are good, damn good.

The one thing we can certainly look at positively is the fact that The Cowboys will go into the bye with at least a winning record of 5-4. If they can miraculously claim victory, they will advance to 6-3.

After the bye week, a large majority of injured players are expected to return, including Tony Romo, Felix Jones and Terence Newman. The full details of their rehabbing isn't known, so time will tell if everyone will be completely ready for week 11 in Washington. Until then, The Giants are the main objective, and you can bet they aren't going to play soft.

Week 8 Preview - vs Tampa Bay

It's time to regroup. Wade Phillips will be taking a more hands on approach to the defense. There may be certain personnel changes, and a 'back to basics' approach to the schemes. The players know they are in an absolute must-win situation with these next two games against Tampa Bay and The Giants. The worst thing would be to fall 4-5 going into the bye week. Hopefully they are going to do everything they can to avoid that fate.

The question now, is it too late? After the loss in Washington, similar things were mentioned about stepping up their game and how important it is to come together. Well, they didn't and they barely beat Cincinnati the next week, and then lost to Arizona the week after that. That was with Tony Romo, Felix Jones and Pacman Jones still playing.

Now without Romo, Felix Jones, Pacman and others, the Brad Johnson led offense coupled with a defense missing some key starters, fell victim to The Rams in a pathetic fashion. Now this week they will have basically the same players on the field and they have to play the 5-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Bucs have been playing great football, and they haven't been playing bad teams either. They managed victories against Chicago, Green Bay and Carolina, and only lost to New Orleans and Denver (barely.) Last week they won against Seattle with Jeff Garcia who threw for over 300 yards. They are definitely hot right now.

It's going to be a challenge for Dallas to come together, despite injuries & miscues and beat this Tampa Bay team, but right now they must. It's crucial that they come out of these next two games with at least 1 win. The Giants game is in New York, so this may be The Cowboys best chance at victory.

Scratching Records...

After a week of controversy with injuries, suspensions and trades, things only got worse for The Dallas Cowboys as they were devastated 34-14 against The St. Louis Rams. Although having a 4-3 record doesn't sound too horrible, the fact that the 3 losses were in the last 4 games, is troublesome.

Another thing to be concerned about is that Dallas is in the NFC East, which is arguably the best division in the league and are now trailing the 5-1 Giants and the 5-2 Redskins.

It's time to start calculating the possibility of a wild card berth, and with the upcoming schedule The Cowboys face, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

- Week 8 - vs Tampa Bay

Not going to be easy at all. Tony Romo, Felix Jones, Terence Newman and a few other starters are expected to be absent, which won't help things at all. Tampa Bay is hot right now, and will certainly bring everything they can to Dallas. Unfortunately, I see 4-4 after this match-up.

- Week 9 - @ NY Giants

A win here will be a miracle. If the starters are still out, and if The Giants are healthy, I'm afraid Dallas will go 4-5 heading into the bye.

- Week 11 - @ Washington

A lot of injured players are expected to return this week, including Tony Romo, Felix Jones, Terence Newman, Kyle Kosier and Pat Watkins. If Dallas can tighten up the mistakes and execute like an NFL team, they could get to 5-5.

- Week 12 - vs San Fransisco

San Fransisco could go either way depending on how they continue their season. It sounds like an easy win, but so did The Rams. I'll be optimistic and say 6-5.

- Week 13 - vs Seattle

Thanksgiving Day is usually a good game for Dallas, and barring any further injuries, everyone should be back in and hopefully the team will strengthen by then. I'm still having the most wishful thoughts and saying 7-5.

- Week 14 - @ Pittsburgh

This is a rivalry game of sorts and begins the December games, which haven't been very pretty the past two seasons. The Steelers are one of just 3 AFC teams with only 1 loss so far, and they seem to have the winner's mentality that Dallas has lacked recently. I predict 7-6.

- Week 15 - vs NY Giants

It's probably far too early to continue predicting these late games, but if everything continues how it is now, I see 7-7 after this.

- Week 16 - vs Baltimore

A Saturday, NFL Network game. Hopefully Dallas will put together the pieces and be ready to roll for this game. 8-7.

- Week 17 - @ Philadelphia

The final game of the regular season, it could very well be a a do or die match-up to get into the playoffs. I really can't even come close to guessing how this season will end, but I'll be optimistic again and say 9-7 and Dallas will just barely get into the playoffs (pending on a lot of other teams failing majorly.)

That's about as positive a spin I can put on this. There's a lot that would have to happen for this scenario to play out. The coaching needs improved, the players need discipline, they also need to execute better and avoid mental mistakes.

One thing they can't control are injuries, and we'll just have to cross our fingers that no more key players are lost. This team needs to get really hungry if they want to keep playing in January, and I can only think that going 3-1 in 4 weeks will get these players hungry again.

Week 7 Recap - @ St. Louis

Dallas was absolutely embarrassed on Sunday. Nothing went right, everybody made mistakes and the crucial penalties were the only consistent thing from The Cowboys. The final score was 34-14, but probably should have been 34-7 if it wasn't for a garbage time Dallas TD by rookie Martellus Bennett in the final 2 minutes of play.

The Rams came to play, and new head coach Jim Hasslett helped these guys get revenge on Dallas. It was payback for Steven Jackson not being drafted in 2004 and for Dallas routing St. Louis even worse last year (35-7.) It was ugly, and The Rams showing up to play was only half of the problem.

Dallas didn't show up to do anything. It's not even fair to blame the injuries, because the simple mistakes all around were more than enough to lose this game.

Sure, everyone wants to blame Brad Johnson for throwing the 3 interceptions, but we can't forget Marion Barber's fumble and Anthony Henry getting beat on that deep ball, and the O-Line's recent inability to protect the quarterback, and newly signed punter Sam Paulescu's short punt, and Nick Folk's missed field goal in the 3rd quarter which would have brought Dallas within 10 points. Add all that together and it spells L-O-S-S.

Besides the score, S Roy Williams was lost again, this time for the season. Williams was returning for the first time since breaking his forearm, and early in this game broke the same arm, in a different spot. This time he'll go to I.R. and Dallas will need to scour free agency for a safety real quick.

Next week against Tampa Bay, things don't look much better. There is a possibility that Romo, Felix Jones and Terence Newman will still be out. Couple that with the fact Dallas' defense just allowed 34 points and the offense barely reached 14 points. Not to mention the coaching staff is now seriously making people question their leadership.

The sky really might be falling this time and if Dallas doesn't get some kind of divine intervention and go at least 5-4 heading into the bye, the final stretch of the season will be near impossible...

The Name Game

I told you it was early in the day when I last posted, as The Cowboys did do something notable and signed free agent LB Carlos Polk, who spent his career as a San Diego Charger but has barely completed a whole season due to various injuries. He is a special teams... umm... specialist, and will hopefully play a big role in solving some of Dallas' special team woes. He will fill the empty spot in the roster left by Sam Hurd being placed on I.R.

The signing of Roy Williams and now Polk, has also brought to my attention a very interesting but insignificant bit of trivial fact. The Cowboys this year have a multitude of players with the same or similar names (thankfully they have numbers on their jerseys, or this would be one confusing organization.)

Let's see, they have Leonard Davis and Keith Davis... Brad Johnson and Tank Johnson... Felix Jones, Adam Jones (pending,) and Jerry Jones... Carlos Polk and Nick Folk... Wade Phillips and Wade Wilson and of course, Roy Williams and well, Roy Williams, and that doesn't include all of the family members of Jerry Jones, Wade Phillips and Jason Garret that work for this team.

Does this mean anything? No, just thought it was funny.

I'm guessing there won't be too much more news for the day except Thursday's practice, which I don't post about on here anyway, so I'll try to post a Dallas/St. Louis Preview later, but if I don't get around to it, I'll see you at the Recap. PEACE

UPDATE:

Another pointless observation that proves I have too much time on my hands are the interesting names of the NFL teams themselves. There are 6 teams that begin with "B", there are 5 that begin with "C", there are 4 "R's", 3 "S's" and "P's" and 2 "J's", "F's", & "T's". There's also a "D", "G", "E", "L" and a "V", but really, who cares about them.

14 teams are named after animals, 12 teams are named after certain groups, gangs or races of people throughout history, 1 is named after the team's first coach and GM, 1 is named after a group of mythical humongous people, 1 is named after an airplane, 1 is named after its' city's main export, 1 is named after the packing company that first sponsored them and as for The Chargers, I have no clue where they got that name.

Wild and Wacky Week

It has certainly been a dizzying week. Most of the week was filled with losses. Sunday, the loss was to The Cardinals in overtime. On Monday, the loss was Tony Romo for 4 weeks, Felix Jones for 2-4 weeks, Sam Hurd and Mat McBriar for the season and Anthony Spencer for at least a week. On Tuesday, the loss was Adam "Pacman" Jones, for at least 4 weeks of suspension because of his off-field antics.

Tuesday, however, also marked the beginning of a new era for The Cowboys as they just barely made the trade deadline and acquired WR Roy Williams and a 7th round pick from Detroit. In exchange Dallas will hand over a 1st, 3rd and 6th round pick. Roy Williams will provide a very suitable complement to Terrell Owens and will make defenses think twice about how to handle this offense.

Along with Williams, another new Cowboy joined the 53 main roster on Tuesday. To replace punter Mat McBriar, Sam Paulescu was hired. Paulescu was around for last year's training camp and spent this past summer with The Saints and The Vikings, but remained a free agent so far this season.

Wednesday brought news that Brett Favre had called Tony Romo, and encouraged him to play through the pain. Romo must have taken his advice and is telling his coaches that he is willing to play on Sunday against The Rams. That decision will ultimately come from Wade Phillips and the medical staff. The Cowboys have gone forward and had Brad Johnson under center during practice, and more than likely, Johnson will get the start.

Thursday has been relatively calm in terms of Cowboys' news, which is a much needed break after such a rollercoaster of a week, but hey, it is still early.

Sunday at 1 p.m., Dallas will travel to St. Louis and it doesn't matter if it's Romo or Johnson, they will be shooting for a win anyway they can. St. Louis has just defeated The Redskins, and they may be hunting for NFC East teams, but if Dallas can pull it together, they should easily sail to 5-2, of course I said the same thing for the Washington and Arizona games, so who knows. After this week, I'm just sitting back and watching this soap opera develop.