Must Sustain Momentum

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A huge win against the undefeated New Orleans Saints last week. The defense dominated for three quarters and the end result was allowing the Saints to their fewest points total all season long. Tony Romo was also playing one of his best games in his career.

But this win could mean nothing if they Cowboys are unable to end the season without a playoff spot.

Everyone should rightfully feel good about beating the Saints, especially in the ways that they were able to beat them. The Cowboys controlled the entire game. Not even the most optimistic Cowboys fan could have imagined that.

Even though the Cowboys have given the fans a feeling of elation, we all must take a step back. We all know that this team is capable of letting us down, no matter how good they look.

Case in point is how the Cowboys talked before the Giants game. They sounded like they were more focused than they had ever been. I liked what I heard and I said how this team feels different from years passed. Well, we all know how disastrous that game went, even though it was only a 7 point game in the end. This game could prove to be the Cowboys’ bane of this season.

One of my biggest statements has been “if this team is different, they will…” So, from now on, I will refrain from saying that.

Many people will be worried that the Cowboys used all of their will and power on beating the Saints and they will relax and still not finish out strong. I can understand that.

That is why they need to keep this momentum going. Instead of feeling relaxed after just taking down an undefeated team, they should have the mentality that if they keep up that same will for every team they face from here on out, they have a chance to dominate.

You will be hard pressed to find a more explosive offense than the Saints in this league. There could be arguments for the Colts, Chargers and maybe even the Eagles. The Cowboys did a nice job containing the Eagles’ explosive offense earlier this season and they did a somewhat decent job on the Chargers.

The first step in sustaining momentum is visiting the Washington Redskins this Sunday. A team that had been playing well until they disappointed us in the rare case of a loss, in which they were destroyed by the Giants.

A lot of people will tell you that it is the Redskins and they always play hard against the Cowboys, so do not expect a smooth victory.

In most cases, I would feel the same way. But as I look at certain positions, the Cowboys need to punish the Redskins this time. Washington has a makeshift offensive line at the moment and look at the pressure we were able to get against a line that was not giving up much on Drew Brees all season long.

The Redskins are also on their fourth starting running back of the season. Also, Mike Jenkins is playing out of his mind this year and unless Terence Newman has another abdominal/groin tear before the game, he usually does a great job on Santana Moss.

This is not saying that it will not end up being a close game since it is a big rivalry. That would not surprise me. What I am trying to say is that the level of competition is unbalanced. The Redskins offense has some missing parts that favor the Cowboys.

The biggest issue will be facing the Redskins’ defense. They seem to be pretty healthy and the Cowboys were only able to muster up 7 points near the end of the game to beat the Redskins in Cowboys Stadium earlier this year.

But the Giants offense torched this same defense and I for one believe that the Cowboys have a better offense than the Giants.

My main point in all of this is that the Cowboys need to build off of the Saints win and they need to live up to their competition and beat a team who is struggling. There is not more time to bounce around mediocrity. You need to have a convincing win going into the final week of the season, where you really could be playing for your playoff lives.

The Cowboys do have a clinching scenario this weekend, but the Giants must lose before it goes into effect Sunday night. If the Giants do lose earlier to the Carolina Panthers, the Cowboys could clinch a spot with a win.

If the Cowboys lose one of their last two and the Giants won their final two, see you next season. The Packers could still miss out, but the likeliness of them losing their last two is not good.

So, the Cowboys need this game badly and I think that a blowout type of win are as I said, a more convincing win should help going into the final week against the Eagles.

Obviously the best way to get into the playoffs is win out. You cannot rely on getting help because as we all know, the Cowboys can never let their fans rest easy until the final game has been completed.

Containing Saints Will Be No Brees

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The Cowboys are doing it again, failing in the part of the season when they need to be clutch. Embarrassing loss to the Giants and missed opportunities against the Chargers.

Now they go into a ruckus New Orleans Superdome where the Saints are now 13-0.

I am not so far annoyed where I have no confidence at all that the Cowboys can get a win, but they have once again proven to their fans and organization that they cannot be trusted when the season ends and they need to pick up some wins.

The Cowboys did take down the undefeated Colts in the 2006 season, but that was in November at home, not away in December.

The Saints have been creeping around losing for the past couple of weeks. If not for a missed Redskins field goal, the Saints would be coming into this game with a loss and they almost lost to the Falcons without their starting quarterback and running back in Matt Ryan and Michael Turner.

There have been a few games this season where the Saints probably should have lost, but the other teams were unable to finish drives and get some points on the board. That, along with the fact that the Saints are thrashing teams in the fourth quarter.

If the Cowboys feel like winning this game, they need to score early and often and keep their foot down and continue to score. You can move the ball on the Saints’ defense, but the Cowboys have problems finishing their drives with touchdowns and you cannot rely on the kicking game. The key on offense is not turning the ball over. The Saints are the top team in forcing turnovers, but as I said, if you do not turn the ball over, you can move the ball on them.

The main issue is containing the Saints’ offensive attack, which will be quite difficult. Drew Brees can carve a defense up, as he did to this defense in 2006 when he threw 5 touchdowns against the Cowboys at Texas Stadium.

The Cowboys can stop the run, but even when you know the Saints are passing, it is difficult to stop them. A key to stopping them is pressure, but the Cowboys also struggle in pressuring the quarterback. DeMarcus Ware is probably required to play in order for the Cowboys to get pressure. I hope that he plays, but as of right now, he is considered questionable and it will be a game time decision for him to play.

The Cowboys need to be on fire the entire game. If there is a lull in their play, you can expect the worst. It is easy to see when the passion is lost on this team when things do not go well.

The shame of it all is that the Cowboys have shown that they can be a great team, but they are too inconsistent.

Two close games in a row when they left plays on the field that would have likely given them two wins. 10 points were left on the field in the Chargers game, 7 at the very least, which would have won you the game along with some idiotic play calling. Freak plays against the Giants and an untimely turnover likely caused a loss.

For fans, this is surely time to panic. I came into this month, definitely expecting one win by now and we are staring three straight losses in a row right in the face.

At this point, if they lose this game, I am not sure that they win a game the rest of this season. The Redskins are playing much better and the Eagles are one of the best finishing teams in the league.

You need at least 10 wins to get into the playoffs in the NFC, which the Cowboys are two wins away from. But again, the Cowboys do this to us every single season. They are simply unable to finish out a season strong and go into the playoffs with some momentum.

In 2006, they coasted into the playoffs with 9 wins, not really needing to finish strong, already clinching a playoff spot with about three weeks left. They should have won that playoff game, but they indeed lost.

In 2007, they had already smoked through the season into December, not needing to play for much at the end of the season and they were buried in the first round of the playoffs.

For right now, you cannot blame Tony Romo for their struggles. A career game in New York was forgotten because of a few failures on the defense and special teams. He did miss a few throws that could have been huge, but if the aforementioned two units did not already give up plays, he would not have been in that situation.

He had another solid game against the Chargers, but some poor play calling at the goal line really hurt the team.

Us fans are very frustrated and there are really no answers for us. Maybe the Cowboys are not good enough. I tend to disagree with that assumption. Their problem is finishing whether that is finishing a season, finishing an offensive drive with a touchdown or stopping a team on third down.

And going into New Orleans, the Cowboys might need a prayer to take down the Saints.

Talk is Truly Cheap

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A lot is said about Wade Phillips, especially after losses. I wrote a little bit about Wade in my piece “Less Answers”, but I wanted to speak a little more about him.

Many people have an issue with Wade’s laid back attitude. They think that he does not get on his players enough and he is not too expressive during press conferences. They dislike how he never puts blame on the players and can never admit that there are any issues on the team regarding their late season struggles.

Well, I am not sure if any of you heard Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin’s press conference after they lost to the Baltimore Ravens two Sunday night’s ago.

If you have not heard it, take a listen.

I will admit that after hearing that, I was actually excited because I love hearing a coach say this even though I am not a Steelers fan. He does not hide from the fact that his team needed to get back to playing smart and winning football. And then with his great quote, “We’re gonna unleash hell here in December”, he was being fiery.

But since the time of that loss and press conference, the Steelers have lost consecutive game to the Oakland Raiders in a last minute loss and the Cleveland Browns, whose defense absolutely shut them down.

This could prove a couple of things. It is still all about the players. You can tell the players what to do as much as you want, but ultimately, they are the ones who execute the plays being called.

Another thing is that it really does not matter whether the coach is laid back or forceful. I think that what matters is how they relate and treat their players.

Confidence is a fragile thing. You cannot pet a players ego because it could become inflated and you cannot criticize a player too heavy because they could crumble.

Obviously Parcells did not get the complete job done. He definitely set the table for this organization to get back to winning ways, but maybe his coaching style did not get through to these players.

It has been repeated that Wade is doing a great job record wise for this team, but people still believe he is too relaxed. When people defend Wade, they compare his attitude to that of Tony Dungy, a Super Bowl winning coach who was probably the most laid back coach in the history of the league.

In the 2006 season’s Super Bown, Dungy face off with Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith, who has the exact same attitude. Two laid back coaches leading their team into the Super Bowl. Of course, Love Smith does not have the same long term success as Dungy had, but he still took his team to a Super Bowl.

If you want Wade to be aggressive and forceful, it is never going to happen. It is easier to be a fired up coach that becomes more relaxed than it is to be a relaxed coach becoming fired up.

Wade still gets angry at penalties even though he is not going absolutely mental. So, if anyone thinks he is totally passive, he is surely not.

The main point is that talking about what you plan to do means absolutely nothing. Mike Tomlin’s team is likely sitting at home for this seasons playoffs after winning the Super Bowl a year ago. A betting man would have said that after Tomlin’s rant, his team was going to bust through the rest of the season, right into the playoffs.

It is all in the performance. All that Wade can do is put this team in the best position to win. They are in control of their own destiny and “they” need to finish the season strong.

When I say “they”, I mean the players.

Charging Ahead

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Coming into this Sunday’s game, the San Diego Chargers bring a seven game winning streak. Also, the last time that the Chargers lost a game in December was in 2005.

This Chargers team is a much better unit than the Giants. They bring a great pass rush as well. They are a 3-4 defense and as we all know, the Cowboys seem to struggle against the 3-4.

We also know that Philip Rivers has become one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Ever since he became the fulltime starter in the 2006 season, he has been very solid.

Having become the starter in 2006 and the Chargers not losing a December game since 2005, that means that Philip Rivers is undefeated in the month of December.

The Chargers are red hot. There is no question about that. The Cowboys are somewhat cool, needing to get hot. Beating the Chargers will obviously be no easy task, but every team is beatable, especially this season. Even though the Saints, Colts, and Vikings seem to be the best teams in the league this season, they all three have shown certain weaknesses.

San Diego is the 12th ranked defense, 15th in points allowed, but they are the 21st best rush defense. They lost veteran nose tackle Jamal Williams in the first game of the season and they have been gashed a few times this season. I recall watching the Steelers play the Chargers earlier this season and the Steelers were having much success running the ball.

If the Cowboys can contain the Chargers’ pass rush, they can probably do some damage to the secondary. Last week, Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn threw 3 touchdowns on this defense and the Browns only lost the game 30-23, with a failed onside kick stopping a chance to tie the game with under a minute left.

There is no question that the main issue the Cowboys will have to take care of is Philip Rivers and his passing attack. Not only do you have Rivers to deal with, but his top receivers are beasts in tight end Antonio Gates (6’4) and wide receiver Vincent Jackson (6’5).

Gates is having another fantastic season with 67 catches for 994 yards and 4 touchdowns. Vincent Jackson has emerged since last season as a number one receiver. He started the season with hot hands, but has cooled down somewhat recently. He still has 51 catches for 869 yards and 7 touchdowns with a 17 yard per reception average. The Chargers’ other primary receiver is Malcom Floyd, also 6’5, who carries an 18.4 yard per reception average. This team likes to go deep.

Even though the Cowboys gave up some huge gains to the Giants Sunday, they were more products of poor tackling. Most of those plays started out as short throws that those players were able to run around and get a big play out of it.

The Chargers get their big plays out of the vertical game. Rivers will launch a ball down field and those big guys go up and get it. We have not seen the Cowboys give up those kinds of plays. Hopefully this can be to their advantage. If you can get a good pass rush on Rivers and make him get the ball out quicker, you have a shot at them not being able to get off a deep throw.

But there is one issue as far as stopping a big gain off of a short throw. Darren Sproles has proven to be a solid receiver out of the backfield and he has the speed to kill. As the number two running back and third down back, Sproles has 39 catches for 449 yards and 3 touchdowns. They need someone on him every time he is on the field.

Defending the run should not be as difficult though. LaDanian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles each have a 3.3 yards per carry average. The Chargers like to establish the run for sure. They will likely not abandon the run, making the defenses wonder what they will do instead of going pass heavy for the defense to only focus on the pass.

If the Cowboys lose this game, the fans will certainly be done with the team, assuming they are officially out of the playoffs. It is definitely natural to think that way because of how tight the final three playoff spots in the NFC are. But there is a lot that could happen with those other teams.

I for one believe that they cannot afford to lose more than one game the rest of the season. This race has gotten too difficult to mess around with a loss.

It is going to be a tough game for sure. The Chargers are one of the hottest teams, but they are coming to Dallas for the contest and the Cowboys have yet to drop two games in a row.

The Chargers are due for a December loss and the Cowboys are due for a December win. Maybe those due dates will be on Sunday.

Less Answers

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At the end of the Cowboys’ first drive on Sunday, Martellus Bennett dropped a pass on 3rd and 2 at the New York 38. Obviously that brings up a 4th and 2.

Why would you not go for it on 4th down and 2 at your opponents 38 yard line when you were moving the ball pretty well? I think many other teams would have gone for it there. We all know that the Patriots would have.

I am sure that Wade Phillips’ argument would have been that it would have given the Giants good field position. Alright, but he should have enough confidence in his defense to want to go for it.

This leads me to think that this entire team and coaching staff needs more guts. As I said in my post yesterday, the Cowboys seem to always get “out-gutted”.

You can never question heart and I am not. But I think that this team needs to take more chances such as going for it on 4th downs. Some other things could include consistent press/bump coverage and more aggression when it comes to forcing turnovers. Anthony Spencer and Jay Ratliff both had strips at the beginning of the game, but it seems rare that this team does those things. Of course, it would also be nice if our defensive backs could get some more picks.

Just think of the confidence that would result in a 4th down conversion. In Sunday’s case, had they gone for it and converted, you are probably going to get some points off of that drive. We never go for it on 4th down and short before we need to in the fourth quarter, it seems.

Going back to confidence, letting your offense go out there on a 4th down tells your ream that you have confidence that they can keep the drive going. It can only help. Sure, if you are unable to convert, the team is a little dejected, but I still think that allowing them to try would make them feel good that you gave them the opportunity.

If this team continues to run the wildcat/razorback, they need to come up with a different play. It is either the power or counter. I especially disliked it on the goal line in Sunday’s game. Marion Barber is supposed to be your power/short yardage back, so use him in those situations.

When you do use the formation, get Felix involved somehow. Put him on the sweep there. Also, they sort of showed their hand in a play that looked like Romo was going to get a throw to find someone down field before a penalty was called. They need to change something there.

I have no major issues with Wade Phillips. He is a great defensive mind and has done a solid job with this defense, particularly this season. I could say a lot about what other people think of Wade, but there is no point because it has all been repeated a thousand times. He has had a very nice record since he has been here and an overall winning record.

Just remember that Bill Parcells failed to get this team anywhere either in his four years here. I would have liked to have seen Bill stay for one more year, just to see where this team could go under him, especially having Romo as the starter at the beginning of the season.

But it did not happen and Wade’s first season was a greatly successful regular season, although a poor finish.

One reason that I will not bash Wade is because what he shows us through the media may not be who he his in the locker room and on the practice field. It is easy to blame coaches and it is easy to blame players, but I think that you need to look at the team as one unit instead of blaming individuals.

All we know right now is that this team is in quite an unenviable situation going into the final quarter of the season although they “control their own destiny”. It is hard to feel good about this team maintaining their division lead.

It is also just as hard to imagine this team making the playoffs as a wild card seed since the two teams that are the true problems for the Cowboys are tied and the other is one game behind. That is scary. Extremely scary.

I say it is unenviable because of what I have said before. This team has not given the fans any confidence that they can close out a season and get into the playoffs after being in imperial position to get into the playoffs.

I truly do believe that the final game of the season against the Eagles will be for a playoff spot for both teams.

Before I feel nauseous about having that scenario play out again, we just have to wait and see what this team changes for the final quarter because answers are needed.

Where Do They Go From Here?

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Not only was the Giants game a loss for the Cowboys, but it changes the season dramatically. Probably more dramatic than anyone initially thought. Instead of getting a win and essentially needing just one more win to likely get into the playoffs, the team is now in for the fight of their lives.

The Cowboys are currently tied with the Eagles for first place, with the Cowboys taking the current tiebreaker.

Now you have the Giants trailing you by one game, who have the advantage over you in a tiebreak scenario.

But the one team that is going to be a burden to watch and hope for losses is the Green Bay Packers.

The most heart wrenching scenario for all Cowboys fans and players is if the Cowboys cannot take the division title and end up tied for a wild card spot with the Packers and Giants, they will be packing up early once again.

Another disheartening feeling that the Cowboys have given to the fans is that the fans cannot trust this team in a clutch part of the season. Every single December in recent seasons, one part of the team crumbles.

At the end of 2006, the defense was terrible. In 2007, the offense could get nothing done. In 2008, the defense gave up two big runs in a game at its most critical point.

To start this December, the defense gives up big plays in which they had not done all season, but the passing game was great and the running game disappeared.

I have to go back to one word for the fans and that is hope. All you can do is hope that this team will be different. Maybe Sunday’s game was a hiccup and they will be fired up for the rest of the season.

But even in hope, there is doubt because of this history, this hex. We have been letdown so often. Every time this team needs to go out and play consistently fired up, they flame out.

Too many times does this team get faced with an opportunity to put themselves in prime position do they fail. They cannot hold teams down who come into the game absolutely needing to win. They get out-gutted. The other team always gets the upper hand, even when the Cowboys are arguably the better team.

This fear could just be the result of one game where just a few silly plays made the difference. The defense has played well all year and hopefully this was just an aberration and they will get back on track. Because before Sunday’s game, I honestly had no doubt that the Cowboys would win because I thought they were flat out better then the Giants.

If they play how they can play without stupid mistakes, they could win the final four games of the year. That is not unrealistic.

The Chargers do not have the most quality defense and if you can stop their vertical game, the run should not be hard to stop.

The Saints have a questionable pass defense and they have nearly been beaten twice by lesser teams, having their offense stymied, but the other team failed to keep the throttle down.

Then they have already beaten the Redskins and Eagles, but those games can go either way since they are divisional games although still winnable.

The Eagles game could very well have the implications that last seasons final game had.

The main issue with all of this is that we have not seen this team close out seasons in a positive fashion. The doubt remains with the strange loss Sunday.

The issues inside of the major issue of closing out the season include Nick Folk, Orlando Scandrick and Bobby Carpenter.

If anyone was not worried about Folk before the game, you better be now. Some people seem to think that maybe Mat McBriar is not doing a good job of holding. There is no way to tell what the problem is if it is not Nick Folk himself.

If the Cowboys are not going to give David Buehler a shot, they should bring in a few kickers this week, just to give Folk the hint that his job is no longer secure and maybe that will creep into his head and he will get back on his game.

Last year, Orlando Scandrick was the most consistent rookie, playing the slot and was even in a battle for the second starting cornerback position with fellow second year player Mike Jenkins in training game and at the start of the season. Not only has Jenkins become the best cornerback on this team, but Scandrick has become a disaster this season.

His confidence may be destroyed. In week 2 against the Giants, Scandrick had a bad game in which he starter. But even after going back to just playing the slot, he has been beaten several times. I feel sorry for him because there have been a couple of games where Scandrick had perfect coverage, but the receiver was able to catch perfect passes. I am not sure that there is a solution for this problem besides hoping he gets better.

Before this year, I was a big advocate for getting Bobby Carpenter into games. I was sucked in after his great playoff game in Seattle his rookie year in 2006. After that game, he rarely saw the field. Now he has the nickel linebacker position. I think he has done a decent job in that role even though he sometimes takes bad angles on tackles.

But please, get him off of the goal line package. Teams run right at and through him. They need to put someone else in there immediately.

This is a broken record now, but if this team is different, they will make the playoffs. If they are not different, there are many more long Decembers to come.

And So it Begins

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The fire has now been lit. The December talk will continue and then some.

A game that in my opinion, the Cowboys needed just as much as the Giants did. If the Cowboys would have won, the Giants are effectively eliminated and an almost guaranteed playoff spot would be waiting.

Had the Cowboys been able to win, they would have 9 wins and the top teams “in the hunt” would have 6 wins. It would have almost been a solid deal if the Cowboys won.

But of course they did not and now they are in a fight with two teams in the NFC east.

Since the Cowboys beat the Eagles in Philadelphia last month, they hold the current tiebreaker.

But now their biggest worry is the Giants, who have now beaten them twice. If those teams were to tie, the Giants would beat out the Cowboys.

In a December schedule that was already tough enough, it just got even tougher. Every game is a must win now that you have two teams directly behind you.

Before the game this team felt different, they looked different and the difference in this game was the letdown of the three aspects that we all thought were sure things for this team.

The running game, the defense and special teams.

45. That is the number of rushing yards to Cowboys were able to get. That is absolutely awful after gashing the Giants all night long in the first game.

They just could not get anything going on the ground. It seemed like every Felix Jones rush was snuffed out immediately and Marion Barber was not picking up much when he would get anything.

At the start of the game, you almost thought that the Giants would be lucky to get into scoring range, let alone put up 31 points.

The defense was not allowing much, even forcing a couple of fumbles and recovering one that resulted in 7 points.

But then the Giants pulled a quick drive on the Cowboys at the end of the first half that turned into a touchdown, even though the Cowboys had time to do something.

Barber fumbled the ball in their own territory, which the Giants turned into another touchdown before halftime, taking a 14-10 lead going into halftime.

It felt bizarrely like that 2007 playoff game when the Cowboys had just taken a lead, but allowed the Giants to get a quick touchdown right before the half.

The Cowboys were able to take a lead in the third quarter with Roy Williams’ second touchdown of the game, going up 17-14.

But in a most freak like incident that no one will EVER see again, Brandon Jacobs take advantage of an Anthony Spencer misstep and catches and runs for a 70-yard plus touchdown.

The score was 24-17 and the Cowboys had an opportunity to tie the game, but were forced to punt.

Mat McBriar drilled a long punt that all the Cowboys needed to do was prevent any kind of return. They failed and allowed a punt return for a touchdown.

The special teams had been fantastic all year and they fell apart at a most inopportune time.

The game felt pretty much over at that point, especially since the Cowboys were moving the ball on the ensuing drive, but failed to convert a 4th and 2 in New York territory.

The Cowboys forced a three and out to get the ball back with more than two minutes remaining. They turned it into a Miles Austin 22 yard touchdown with 1:05 remaining with an onside kick to come.

The kick did not go 10 yards before Sam Hurd finger tipped the ball, which negated a Cowboys recovery and the game ended.

If there was one piece of gold in this game it was Tony Romo and the passing attack. Many people would probably say that if there would be one thing that could fail to show up and lose a game, it would be the offense and specifically the passing game.

Romo ended the game going a whopping 41 of 55 for 392 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Jason Witten brought in 14 catches for a career high 156 yards, Miles Austin had 10 catches for 104 yards and a score, and Roy Williams had 6 catches for 60 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Very good games by three different receivers. If someone read off these numbers to you before seeing the game, you would have expected that the Cowboys would have blown the Giants out.

It is very alarming that the Cowboys were beaten in this way. It would have been fantastic to have gotten a win, but to lose in this way is worse than losing in a low scoring contest.

The next two weeks, the Cowboys will be facing much more potent offensive attacks compared to the Giants in the Chargers and Saints.

Maybe this can be tallied up to a divisional battle where they were visiting team. But really, that is bollocks seeing as the Cowboys needed this game just as much as the Giants did.

Hopefully, the defense just had a one off tough day. They were giving up big plays that they had not been giving up all year.

I am not one to panic immediately, but going forward, this team has me concerned because they have yet to prove that they can be trusted in clutch spots of a season.

No Letdowns, Please

If the Cowboys go into New York Sunday and take a loss, the December talk is going to be even hotter. We all know that is true.

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But looking at Bradie James’ locker room interview from a practice this week, I cannot see a letdown. I have never seen anyone on the Cowboys seem so adamant about beating the Giants and getting the win in general.

There are a lot of factors for why Bradie would feel this way.

One factor is the way in which the Cowboys lost to the Giants in the inaugural game at Cowboys Stadium.

But now it has come out that some Giants players, including Eli Manning, wrote inside the visiting locker room. Then it is also rumored that Brandon Jacobs danced on the star after the game.

The major reason that Bradie is so fired up is that he knows the importance of getting wins at the end of the season and he is one of the few players who is recognizing their past struggles in December.

“We need to win”, Bradie said emphatically. “It’s no need to say ‘we’ll get ‘em next time’ or ‘we have more games’ because if you look at it in that way, we’ll never turn the corner. This team needs to win.”

It is finally good to hear a long time Cowboys player say these things. Most of the players give us the generic response of “We are a different team”, “We do not look at the past” and the new one: “We are undefeated this December”.

Come on. You have to understand that you have struggled in this month over the past several years and use that on the field, punish opponents and bring that mentality that you are going to cause the opposing team pain and get these wins in the final month of the season.

“Nobody is exempt from the criticism if you don’t take care of business in December and go to the playoffs and do what we need to do. That’s what time it is now so that’s what we’ve gotta do.”

Bradie’s unintentional mantra is that the Cowboys need to win now. There can be no letdowns going down the stretch. He knows, he has been here since 2003. He has been through everything this team has gone through from that time on.

One has to assume that the entire team feels the same way as Bradie even though most of them will not say it publicly.

I agree and have said before that this team feels like such a different team. On and off the field. They have a more focused talk and the defense is playing solid on the field.

This defense is also becoming a disrespected unit through the media. You will rarely hear a member of the media speak about how good this defense is really becoming. Teams have had and will continue to have trouble scoring against this defense.

This Giants game seems like it could be a feast for the Cowboys. The Giants are stumbling around on their last leg and they are hanging by a thread. The Cowboys need to knock them down and cut that thread.

And Bradie James may be the one to do that. Expect some big plays from Bradie on Sunday.

Bradie James locker room interview

Tony Romo: A Giant Slayer

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October 23rd, 2006 was a Monday Night Football game between the Cowboys and the New York Giants, but it was more than just a rivalry game on Monday night.

This was the night when Tony Romo was officially inserted into the starting quarterback job at halftime for a struggling Drew Bledsoe.

Romo was not incredibly sharp, throwing three interception, including his first attempt that was a tipped pass and picked off.

But he did throw two touchdowns and watching that game, you could just see that the offense was vastly different. They were moving the ball and had a faster pace.

Since that game, Romo has a 4-2 record against the Giants, including the playoff game.

In those starts, Romo has thrown 11 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, including two 4 touchdowns performances in the 2007 regular season.

The media loves to say that Romo can never win a big game, not even in the regular season. I guess anytime there is a pivotal game and Romo wins, the media does not consider it as such.

In the first December game of 2006, the Cowboys had to go into New York for what at the time was a first place battle between the teams.

After the Giants tied the game with an Eli Manning pass to Plaxico Burress at 20-20 with 1:12 left in the game, the Cowboys had a chance to drive down the field and get a win.

On the very first play of the drive, Romo hit Jason Witten down the field for a 42 yard gain to the New York 26. All the Cowboys needed to do was run some clock and kick the game winning field goal, which Martin Gramatica connected on.

Last season’s December showdown between these two teams at Texas Stadium was also a critical game at the time.

The Cowboys needed a win to stay in the hunt and Romo threw two touchdowns in a 20-8 win. Unfortunately it was the Cowboys’ only victory in the month.

The bad of course, was the 2007 playoff game, but there were many factors in losing besides Romo that we do not need to rehash.

Then we have the first Giants game of this season in week 2 to open up Cowboys stadium where Romo played his absolute worst game as a professional.

Romo was 13 of 29 for 127 yards, a passing touchdown, a rushing touchdown and 3 interceptions.

Add a Felix Jones fumble on a kickoff and the Giants scored a touchdown on every one of those four turnovers.

It took Romo’s worst career game for the Giants to get the win. Do not expect another awful game like that this Sunday.

Both teams are much different from week 2 as well. The Giants secondary is one of the worst in the league and the defense allows 23.7 points per game, which is 25th in the league.

One has to expect that Romo will bounce back from that week 2 performance, continue his winning ways versus the Giants and get this team rolling out of the December gate.