Can They be Better Next Year?

NFL.com

Sunday was just not the Cowboys game to win.

The offense did what had plagued them throughout their dry spells of the season. They would drive passed the 50, but fail to get any points. After a decent drive to open the game stalled, the defense three and outed the Vikings, closing the drive off with a sack by DeMarcus Ware.

The Cowboys have another decent offensive drive, facing a 4th and 1 at the Minnesota 38. My thoughts were to either go for it or punt it. You cannot trust your kicker in this situation. It was too early in my opinion to worry about absolutely needing three points. If it were the end of the half, I would try the field goal.

Of course, the field goal was no good and just a couple of plays later, the most bizarre play occurred. Brett Favre was about to get hit and it seemed that he just threw the ball up just to get it out. It appeared that safety Gerald Sensabaugh had great coverage on receiver Sidney Rice, but Rice somehow pulls it in and runs in for a touchdown. Sensabaugh turned around like he had no idea what had just happened, as if he did not realize that Rice caught the ball and  just scored a touchdown.

Well, it turns out that Sensabaugh really had no idea what had happened. He said that he saw that the ball was thrown, but he did not know where it was going. He heard the crowd erupt and thought he just got called for pass interference.

It is a shame because Sensabaugh has had a solid first season with the Cowboys and he deserves a new contract. But that was the strangest play I have ever seen. If he gets his head turned around before the ball was coming down, he has an interception or most certainly a pass breakup. Unbelievable.

Even though this play occurred in the first quarter, it was pretty much game over. That play caused the Vikings confidence to hit the sky. Everybody on that team was fired up and nothing changed from there.

The Cowboys offense was getting harassed, reminiscent of the 2007 divisional round game against the Giants. The offensive line was getting pounded which caused Romo to get extremely harassed.

The defense was not playing poorly even though the score ended up being 34-3. They were making as many stops as they could, but the offense was the problem. At halftime, the score was 17-3. They were not totally out of the game yet. The Vikings had the ball to open up the second half and the defense pulled another three and out.

Then when the Cowboys got the ball, they began with two impressive runs by Felix Jones, followed up by a nice Marion Barber run. But to just smash any hope, Barber gets a toss play that not only went nowhere, but went backwards for a 7 yard loss. They went from the Minnesota 23 to the 31 in a couple of plays, capping it off with another missed field goal.

Throughout the season, after the first two games, the defense was a solid unit. When the Cowboys had problems, it was on offense. The team lost 17-10 in Denver. If your defense only gives up 17 points, this offense is supposed to be good enough to get 20 points. Then they lost 17-7 in Green Bay as well.

I cannot pinpoint what needs to be done to improve on these poor offensive outings. Miles Austin has emerged as the number one receiver, you still have Jason Witten and Patrick Crayton was your solid number three. Roy Williams is basically another Crayton at this point, which is fine. Kevin Ogletree could have an increased role next year as well.

Then you have a trio of good backs. I think that Marion Barber has lost a lot on every level. Not just a lack of speed and quickness, but he is not as strong anymore. I doubt that the Cowboys could cut his salary next year and release him. I think this team could split Barber and Choice’s carries and let Felix get the most carries. In the final month, Felix has proven that he can carry the load in a game.

So, I am not sure what they could do to avoid these bad offensive performances. I think the line has played well all season. Romo did take the most sacks that he has in a season, but I always attributed that to Romo being more careful with the ball. The line was certainly the issue in Sunday’s game, but overall, they had a nice season.

During the game, I pretty much thought this was exactly like or even worse than 44-6 to end last year’s season. I thought that there was nothing good to take away from this season regardless if they finally won a playoff game since 1996 and that they finally had a winning December/January.

But this season can be thought of as a positive. That is only if they can improve next season. In 2007, the team was the number one seed in the NFC and you probably could not be much better than 13-3, especially since their success was unexpected. At least the type of the success they had.

The 2008 season was supposed to be the year for the Cowboys, according to most people, but they failed to make the playoffs. This season, the Cowboys were thought of as a good team that could win the division or at least get in the playoffs. They did both and were the hottest team going into the playoffs. It was probably as good as any time to get to a Super Bowl. The team was completely healthy and they caught fire like a lot of Super Bowl teams do at the end of seasons.

Now the question is can they improve and be better next year? That is to be determined. They failed to improve after the 2007 season. There are many positives like the emergence of Miles Austin and the incredibly solid play from Mike Jenkins. Then the defense as a whole. They were second in the league in points allowed. I think the defense still needs to create turnovers. If they could do that, they could be the best defense in the league.

Unfortunately, this team is still hard to trust. If they can be better next year, they will finally have my trust. The team seems to struggle with success. Anytime they have a good thing going, they fall flat.

Lets see if they can be better next year.

Will the Cowboys Plunder in Minnesota?

NFL.com

They finally had the December/January that they needed to have with convincing fashion and then they get the playoff win at last in the same style.

Going into the game last weekend, I had a score of about 24-10 in my head. I never envisioned another huge gap in a win. The Eagles have been the dominant force in the NFC East for the past decade and the Cowboys handled them like they were feeble.

Now the Cowboys travel to Minnesota where the Vikings are a well known 8-0 at home this season. The Vikings struggled in December, but still managed to blow out the Giants in the season finale to keep them in the first round bye hunt, which they secured.

I have only seen a limited amount of Vikings games this season and I noticed one major thing about them. It seems as if you can throw on them. I watched a Monday night game earlier in the season where they hosted the Packers. They had a huge lead, something like 24-3, but the Packers almost came back, which was led by Aaron Rodgers carving the secondary up.

A month ago, the Cardinals did a nice job on this defense too as did the Matt Moore led Carolina Panthers. I was amazed at how much Matt Moore of all people carved up this secondary. The following week, Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears struggling offense torched them as well. Cutler ended up with 4 touchdowns in that game.

If Tony Romo can continue his fantastic play, the Cowboys should be able to throw on this secondary.

With all of that said, you need time to throw and we all know about Vikings defensive end Jared Allen. He can be relentless. Then there is the two Williams defensive tackles. It could be difficult to run up the middle, but that is why you have Felix Jones to run outside the tackles. Felix has come on very well in recent weeks.

The other issue in stopping the Vikings is obviously Adrian Peterson, one of the best backs in the league. His yards per carry is down this year, but it is still an impressive 4.4 yards per carry and he also ran for a career high 18 touchdowns.

The key in most games, but especially this game is stopping the run. The Cowboys do not always bring a ton of heat because they happen to have some really good edge rushers so you do not need to bring blitzes, but if a team is clearly one dimensional, you can call up some blitzes up the middle.

Brett Favre just had the season of his career and is still hard to defend against. He has also jump started the career of receiver Sidney Rice. This offense is the same style of the Eagles, but Favre will be trying many quick throws against the Cowboys on Sunday. Maybe this will allow the Cowboys corners to press the receivers to give the rush a little more time to get to Favre before he can try anything quick.

Both of the starting offensive tackles for the Vikings have struggled in the final month of the regular season. One of them is a rookie and the other one struggled so much against the Panthers against Julius Peppers that he was benched. He also has battled an injury. I am referring to Bryant McKinnie, the starting left tackle. This could be a good thing for DeMarcus Ware as well as Anthony Spencer.

The Cowboys are playing unbelievable right now and I now have the feeling that if there is anytime for a team to steamroll through the playoffs, this team’s time is right now. You cannot expect that a team is going to be playing this piping hot at this time of year every season.

Taking down the Vikings in Minnesota will be tough. All I hear about is how loud it will be and anytime the Vikings do something good, they have that extremely loud Viking horn call.

But I wonder how much louder it can be in Minnesota compared to how loud it was in New Orleans when the Cowboys took them on last month.

This game will not be effected by crowd noise. This game will come down to who the better team is. That is all. It is the playoffs and many stats made in the regular season can be thrown out. Yes, the Vikings are undefeated at home, but it does not make them unbeatable. The Cowboys have played in a very loud environment already this season and they handled that very well.

I would say that this offense is similar to that of the Saints. Same type of receivers, but with a better run game. If the Cowboys defense does what it has done recently and limits the Vikings offense, I believe that the Cowboys offense can score points.

Execution is as vital as ever. Regardless of the beating the Vikings gave the Giants in the season finale, they were a struggling them. The Cowboys need to do what they have been doing recently.

The bottom line is that the best team will win this game.

Playoff Win Very Important

NFL.com

The first part of a Cowboys fans dream has come true in winning their final three games of the regular season to win the NFC East title and host at least one home playoff game.

This has set the stage for an instant rematch with the Eagles after completing a 24-0 shutout, making back to back shutouts for the first time in Cowboys history.

It is a little nerve-wracking playing the Eagles for the third time, but especially in a rematch one week later. The Cowboys did  make the sweep in the regular season and now they are trying to get a three game sweep.

I have heard that in the history of the league, there have been either 17 or 19 situations where a team had a chance to beat a team three times and that team has prevailed 12 times, so the percentage does favor the Cowboys. The Cowboys most recently failed in this scenario in the 2007 playoffs when they lost to the Giants.

I also heard that the Eagles under Andy Reid have never lost their first round of the playoffs. If there are fans out there who get nervous after seeing these stats, remember that a lot of things have changed for the Cowboys this season. The most obvious is the Cowboys success in the final month of the season.

The Cowboys just need to keep showing some consistency that they seem to have going now. Tony Romo continues to play fantastically as does the defense. Also, the running game seems to be coming back to life.

In the first match up, the Eagles brought a lot more pressure and the Cowboys came out on top 20-16. The Eagles did not bring as much pressure in the second meeting, so for those who say that the Eagles will bring a ton of heat in the playoff game, they tried it in the first game and Tony Romo played well.

Probably the biggest thing from these two meetings is they way in which the Cowboys handled the Eagles big play game. DeSean Jackson has been ineffective in both games, but really, no one on the Eagles has been big except for a couple of plays that LeSean McCoy made in the first game.

The special teams has also kept Jackson in check on punt returns.

The Cowboys defense ended the season as the second best scoring defense in the NFL, giving up 15.6 points per game.

It has been a very long time since a Cowboys team has been playing this well that it is almost surreal. Two of the teams the Cowboys beat on their three game winning streak were great playoff teams in the New Orleans Saints and Eagles.

Even though the Cowboys shut out the Eagles in the final week of the regular season, the Cowboys did not play their best game. Many people could argue that there were plays the Eagles left on the field that if they hit on could have changed the game.

Definitely true, but the Cowboys were making stupid plays as well. That missed catch by Jeremy Maclin with a lot of field to run on was a defensive lapse and then there was the overthrown pass to Jackson that Newman got beat on. So there are still things the Cowboys could improve on which they should clean up in the playoff game.

This game has so much riding on it besides a huge playoff game against a huge rival. The result of this game will go a long way in determining the success of this season. If the Cowboys win, I think it would be great because it would be Wade Phillips and Tony Romo’s first playoff victories.

But if they lose, everything that has been going so well recently will have been inane. The 1996 talk will continue as well as the weight on Phillips and Romo’s shoulders about not winning a playoff game.

It is time for the negatives becoming positives from seasons passed to continue. I cannot stress it enough that a win in this game means so much and a lose would detract every thing. It is just time to go on a playoff run. The team has started to get hot which is an all important thing going into the playoffs.

The time has just come. The Eagles have been the most dominant team in the NFC east for the last decade and it is time for a shift.

It is still very scary to play the Eagles once again, but there might not be much for either team to really change. This game will be more about execution than any other game. Romo has shown that he can handle a blitz and the Cowboys should keep using the blitzes against the Eagles.

If the Cowboys can take this game, the sky may be the limit for this postseason.

Division Title Key to Playoff Success

Zimbio.com

A playoff spot is sealed and now the stage is set for the division title as the Eagles come into Cowboys Stadium for the final game of the regular season.

The first thought that someone would have when thinking of a season finale against the Eagles is last seasons final game in Philadelphia, which was the most embarrassing game I have ever seen.

A playoff spot on the line for both teams, winner gets in, loser stays home.

Last season, when the early games fell the Eagles way, setting up that game for a playoff spot, I knew the Cowboys would lose because they had always shown that they would fail in a clutch situation.

This season has changed perspectives up to this point. That huge win against the Saints could mean a lot depending on what the Cowboys can do in this Sunday’s game and in the playoffs.

Even though the Cowboys have a playoff spot, winning the division could be a key to having success in the playoffs.

If the Cowboys could win this game, they would have a modest three game winning streak, but it will mean more than just three games. Even though the first two December games were loses, they were both close games that the Cowboys were in for the entire game. Then take in that the start of the streak was beating the then undefeated Saints, followed by a playoff clinching win against Washington, ending with a division winning victory against the Eagles.

That would be amazing going into the playoffs, as long as the Cowboys could keep the momentum going. Especially because they would have a home game to open up the first round.

But if the Cowboys end up losing on Sunday, they need to have a game where they stayed in the entire game with no glaring issues. We still do not know if this teams psyche is fragile. They have had some tough losses, but they have never had a blowout loss to deal with.

I would like to believe that they are strong mentally, but you can never guarantee that.

If the Cowboys do win, there is a likely scenario that we could be playing the Eagles two weeks in a row in Dallas. If the Eagles win, they clinch a first-round bye and the Cowboys will be going to Minnesota or Arizona.

The other opponent from a Cowboys win could be another rematch, this time against the Packers.

Regardless, a division title could be a nice booster to end the season going into the playoffs. Because if this team goes into the playoffs that hot, they could beat anyone.

They have already beat the Saints, who are now on a two-game losing streak. The Vikings have cooled down since starting out hot. We have beaten the Eagles, but we will see if anything changes after Sunday. A few tough breaks and favorable calls for the Packers helped in a losing effort at Green Bay. And then Arizona is a team that you never know what you will get.

It seems like it has been a very long time since the Cowboys had some momentum going into the playoffs and they have some right now. A win Sunday will go a long way, but a loss should not faze them unless it is another loss like last years finale.

They have shown that the defense can be a dominant force. Tony Romo is playing like he truly can in this critical month of the season and the running game has shown signs of being able to sustain drives.

The Cowboys are showing those signs that we see from Super Bowl teams in recent years. Teams that were not playing their best football gaining some steam during the stretch run going into the playoffs and making a run to the big game.

There is hope around this time of year that has not been around in awhile and a division title could be the piece to bigger things.