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.