By Fanspeak Contributing writer Geoff Nelowet

The Dallas Cowboys will continue their late-season success

The Dallas Cowboys have now won four straight games including a 34-14 romping of the division rival Philadelphia Eagles. That thrashing of the eagles was also the Cowboys’ first playoff victory with Tony Romo as quarterback, and it was the team’s first playoff victory since 1996.  The Cowboys, though, can not give even most of the credit to Romo, as their defense has played an integral role in the team’s overall success over the past few weeks.

The Cowboys find themselves in the playoffs mainly because of their defensive play. Over the last four weeks, the unit has not allowed more than 17 points, and three of the games they have gone up against two of the best offenses in football – the New Orleans Saints and the Eagles twice. For this reason, the Cowboys should be considered the favorite against the virtually untested Minnesota Vikings.

The 12-4 Vikings enjoyed a successful regular season with Brett Favre in command, but they had a notably soft schedule. Their resume is sparse, as their only impressive wins – or wins against teams with winning records – came against Green Bay twice, Baltimore and Cincinnati. All three were low playoff seeds, and only Baltimore is still alive this post-season. In short, the Vikings have much to prove even after notching 12 victories.

Both teams are of the same mold: They have tough, talented defenses (Minnesota’s D ranked 6^th overall) and quarterbacks that continually walk a narrow line between brilliance and implosion. The Cowboys and Vikings can expect consistently solid play from their defenses, but predicting the unpredictable  play of Favre and Romo can be enigmatic. Both are aggressive gunslingers that can easily decide the game with their fantastic or horrific play.

Favre and the Vikings have had an ideal season, but they have stumbled as of late. At this moment, the Cowboys are a superior team, and both Romo and their defense have played at a consistently high level. The Cowboys are the hottest team in the NFL right now (aside from maybe the Chargers), and they will hand Favre and the Vikings a disappointing early exit from the playoffs. Final score: Dallas 30 Minnesota 20

Three blowouts and one great game if you like offense, that is all you need to know to summarize this weekend’s playoffs. Overall though I can’t complain, because every team I was rooting for won. A couple quick points I want to make about the games this weekend:

–For all the talk about this being a quarterback league and that you need a franchise quarterback to win the big games, defense and the run game were the difference in the first round. The four highest paid QB’s in the first round all are going home and of those matchups you can really only say that Romo was better than McNabb (and that is a pretty close comparison). Though Warner is a ‘franchise’ guy, and Flacco and Sanchez could one day be as well, none of them were the best quarterback on the field.

–Running game and defense were the difference in ALL the games.

While you wouldn’t think the Cards could play defense with the way they were torched by Rodgers, they made two big plays early, as well as the fumble return that won the game in overtime. They also put more consistent pressure on Rodgers than the Packers defense did on Warner. The Cards out gained the Packers on the ground 156-90. The Ravens defense absolutely dominated the Patriots from start to finish, they forced four turnovers and had Brady completely confused. They won with just 34 yards through the air (Flacco had a 10.0 QB rating!), because they controlled the running game 234-64.

As for the Saturday games: The Cowboys forced four turnovers, and also chipped in with four sacks. They out gained the Eagles 198-54 on the ground. The Jets game is the one exception as they didn’t out rush the Bengals, both teams finished with 171 yards, but the Jets defense controlled that game from start to finish, with 3 sacks and forcing two turnovers. For the Bengals, running the ball is the only way they could move it (not good when they spent most of the game trailing) as Darrelle Revis absolutely shutdown Chad Ochocinco.

–Another interesting thing was of the three repeat matchups from week 17, only the Cardinals changed their fortune: We heard all week how you should take the results from week 17 with a grain of salt, because the playoffs are different, or they ran vanilla offenses, or that the Bengals, Eagles and Cards were resting their players, or that they weren’t trying because they had nothing to play for (even though the Eagles definitely did have something to play for). Despite all the talk and rhetoric all week, the exact same result happened when the Bengals and the Eagles got on the field this weekend (and the Bengals were now at home).

–The thing I love the most, is the four teams that were considered the “sleepers” or “dark horses” are now out of it: All year we heard about the Patriots being back this year, now that Brady was healthy New England was going to pick up where they left off in 2007. And the talk didn’t die down when they lost to the Colts or the Saints, or a few other games a ‘dominate’ team should have won. Instead it turned to how they would be a different team in the postseason, and a team that could go to the Super Bowl. In reality they weren’t a great team and got blown out yesterday (how hard is it to figure out the Raven’s offense: run right, run right, run left, run center, run right?).

The Bengals all season we heard how they were a new team with a ground game and defense to go along with Palmer and Ochocinco. Well the running game worked, but Palmer was off all day on Saturday. And what happened to that defense, not only did the Jets run over them, but they couldn’t figure out the Jets simple passing attack or get any pressure on Sanchez (has anyone ever seen two more simplistic offenses than the Ravens and Jets be successful in the playoffs??).

In the NFC, for a long time the Eagles became a favorite third option for all the analysts who didn’t want to pick a front runner. And Philly looked like an even better pick once the Vikings and Saints started struggling down the stretch. They looked anything but a Super Bowl contender on Saturday. The Packers became another favorite pick down the stretch, despite the fact questions about their O-line, pass defense and running game hadn’t been answered. All the talk of how they were a new team after the Cowboys game and that if they faced the Vikings and Favre again the outcome would be different is all for naught.

Running to Victory:

The Jets and Bengals will meet up for the 2nd straight week, though this time the Bengals will the home team, and will hope for a different result. Last week they got absolutely demolished 37-0. Now the most ardent Bengals fan will tell you that they played a ‘vanilla’ game and they rested their starters in the 2nd half. What they forget to mention is that Carson Palmer has had some bad performances in recent weeks (even if you excuse Sunday night’s debacle) against the Browns, Vikings and Chiefs. Now you can understand Vikings game, they were on the road, and Minnesota is a pretty good team. But struggling against the Browns and Chiefs is a bit more problematic, those are the two worst teams in the AFC this season (they also lost to Oakland earlier this year). What’s more, is it wasn’t just Palmer who has struggled some, their running game has come to a halt of late, and their defense isn’t dominating like it did earlier in the year. The one saving grace for the Bengals is they face the New York Jets and rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez.

One dimensional doesn’t even describe the Jets offense right now, as all they truly do is run the football (the only positive is you know you can run some play-action passes against the Bengals today). While we’ve seen our fair share of run-oriented teams with a strong defense make the playoffs in recent years, and the Ravens, Steelers (in 2005), and Bears all went to the Super Bowl, none of them compare to the Jets this season. Mark Sanchez has a bright future, and may one day end up being a franchise quarterback. That day won’t be today, as the Jets know the more passes Sanchez attempts the lower the teams chances of winning are. And it wouldn’t shock me in the least if Wildcat quarterback Brad Smith dusted off the old arm and put the ball in the air a few times.

The fact is I don’t think the Jets will need to throw the ball too many times, as I see their running game having no problems carrying the load today against the Bengals. The Bengals defense has fallen off as the season has worn on, and the Jets have too many weapons running the ball with Thomas Jones, Shonn Greene, and Brad Smith all figuring to get their share of carries. The Jets also have one of the league’s best offensive lines, who have opened up big holes all season for Jets’ runners. With that kind of ground game, I think the Jets will call a couple play-action passes and a few screens to keep the defense somewhat honest. Outside of that I think New York will keep on running it until the Bengals show they can stop it.

It will be up to the Jets defense to keep the Bengals from scoring and give the offense some short fields to work with. I see their defense having no trouble either task. The Jets were first in the league in points allowed, total yards and passing yards (thank you Darrelle Revis). Their rush defense was 8th and quite a force as well. To see just how dominate the Jets passing defense was, one only needs to look at this stat: The New York Jets had the 31st ranked passing offense (in terms of yards) yet in 10 out of their 16 games had the top passer of the game (Sanchez 9 times, Clemens once). Of the 6 games where they didn’t have the top passer (solely in terms of yards, not interceptions) the QB’s that beat them were Brady twice, Brees, Henne, Garrard and Manning. That is pretty impressive considering only Brady threw for over 300 yards (in the 2nd game) and in the first game against Brady he had bad overall numbers just enough yards over Sanchez. I think the Jets defense puts up another great performance and shuts down the Bengals 24-13.

By Fanspeak Contributing Writer Geoff Nelowet:

Can Tony Romo Finally Win a Playoff Game?

Not only is this an NFC East divisional rivalry, but also this is a rematch of just last week’s meeting. Dallas trounced Philly 24-0 at home days ago, and it culminated in a season sweep over the Eagles. Last weekend’s contest determined the winner of the NFC East, and gave Dallas home field for the opening round of the playoffs.

The Cowboys have been up-and-down this season, and they have been a bit unpredictable, but they are a talented group that has come together at the right time. The Cowboys finished the season beating New Orleans, Washington and then Philly when many people had written them, as they had collapsed late in the season so many times before.

Unfortunately for the Cowboys, there is still plenty of time left to collapse, and Tony Romo is still working on his first playoff victory. Should the Cowboys lose, there will be a lot of talk of Romo’s inability to pull out wins in the playoffs, which may be unfair and results-oriented, but that is criticism that comes with being a quarterback.

With that in mind, this is arguably Romo’s biggest game as a pro. He is going up against a team that he has already taken down twice this season. He beat the Eagles only a few days ago, and this playoff game is essentially a replay. The only difference is that it is the first game of the playoff tournament, and anyone that thought Romo was incapable of carrying a team in the playoffs will now have much more ammunition if the Cowboys lose.

If it has not been made clear yet, the Cowboys losing to the Eagles is a definite possibility. The Eagles have one of the most talented offensive teams in the NFL, and when Donovan McNabb connects on his deep plays – mainly to DeSean Jackson – they are virtually unstoppable. The Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints, are waiting for the winner of this game, will most likely be rooting against the Eagles because they are team nobody wants to face – even the Cowboys.

The Eagles will avenge both losses earlier this season, and they will hand Dallas yet another devastating and frustrating playoff loss that will re-open the “Romo can’t win in the playoffs” talk. Final score: Philly 30 Dallas 21

Last night the Dallas Cowboys came to play, and despite the best efforts of Nick Folk Drew Brees the Saints could not stay undefeated. It was a game that was huge for both teams, not only was the Saints drive for perfection on the line, but the Cowboys needed a win to stay atop the playoff picture. The Cowboys deserve a ton of credit for the way they played that game last night.

The Saints have had some close calls this season, but no team has taken it to them like the Cowboys did last night. Dallas was hitting on all cylinders. On offense Tony Romo played one of his best games all season, and the offensive line gave him pretty good protection. The Dallas ground game contributed 145 yards and two touchdowns, picking up some tough first downs along the way. The best part about the Dallas offense was the fact they were able to hold on to the ball (over 36 minutes), and keep Drew Brees off the field. When Brees did have the ball the Cowboys made him look like an ordinary quarterback (which is still good, but quite the down grade for the Saints).  With the exception of one long run by Reggie Bush, the Cowboys stopped the Saints running game cold (being up by 21 points in the second half didn’t hurt matters either). Dallas really did an excellent job against the Saints passing attack, their defensive backs had great coverage and their defensive line applied the pressure. The Cowboys ended the game with four sacks (including two forced fumbles, one that literally ended the game), but applied tremendous pressure all throughout. They messed with Drew Brees’ rhythm, and were really the key to the victory.

All is not lost with the Saints, they are still the top seed in the NFC and should be a favorite to make it to the Super Bowl. While I realize its tough to see that loss, especially knowing that their last two games are against the Buccaneers and Panthers (two games they should easily win), they are still an excellent football team. Their defense has begun to scare me though, as they have let three straight teams go up and down the field on them.

The Cowboys for their part did what they need to do. They answered the questions about their December curse last night, and set themselves up in a prime spot for the playoffs. In fact, if they win out they will win the division. Their defense played a tremendous game yesterday, and the play of DeMarcus Ware was a sight to see. He was in the Saints backfield so much you would have thought he was on the other team. And what was more impressive was the fact he was playing hurt. On offense Romo played a great game, and hung in there and made plays with his feet. If the Cowboys can get to the playoffs they are a team that could get hot and go on a run.

The real question for Dallas is who will their kicker be the rest of the season, because it will not be Nick Folk. He is AWFUL right now. How do you miss wide (or hit the goal post) when you are from the 24 yard line in the center of the field? What’s worse is they showed clips of him during warm-ups and he was missing everything (as he’s done all season). Folk has to be cleaning out his locker now, and Dallas will need someone decent if they hope to go deep into the postseason.

Packers and Cowboys take care of business, Giants not so much:

The Thanksgiving games were a bit of snoozers, as the Packers easily beat the Lions 34-12 in the first game. The most exciting thing for the Lions was the fact that their rookie quarterback Matt Stafford actually played yesterday. All week we heard how he wasn’t likely to play and was listed as doubtful. Then out of no where, he is throwing a touchdown to put the Lions up 7-0 in the first two minutes of the game. That was the last good thing for Stafford and Detroit, as the Packers defense really set the tone of the game. They intercepted Stafford 4 times and returned one for a touchdown at the end of the game (securing my point spread pick of Green Bay). I was not a fan of how the Lions handled the situation with Stafford this week. I mean what’s with all the injury mystery? Is Bill Belichick now on the Detroit sideline? Just be honest about the injury and be done with it. In my mind there is no reason Stafford should have been playing yesterday. This guy is supposedly the future of your franchise (jury is still out on this one), and you are having him play a meaningless game with a hurt non-throwing shoulder. The Lions have perhaps the worst offensive line in the league (though Packers, Redskins and Chiefs fans might debate that). So why are you letting your QB take that kind of pounding? What would have happened if Stafford got hit and seriously injured that shoulder and would miss next season’s training camp or preseason? I don’t know how you can let your star player go out there at anything less than 100% in a meaningless game during a short week. It was obvious that it was only a P.R. move for the fans. But come on, the game was already sold out, I think they would have understood that their ‘star’ was injured? Do the Lions think they were happy to see him throw 4 picks? This move didn’t help the team compete any better yesterday, and could have impacted team chemistry (Culpepper did not look too happy).

The Cowboys on the other hand, had no problems with their Thanksgiving Day game, as they put on an offensive show against the Raiders. Romo threw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns, including 100 plus yards to both Austin and Witten. Also, the Cowboys rushed for almost 200 yards on their way to a 24-7 victory. Quite an improvement over last week’s 7-6 ‘barn burner’ against the Redskins, where they managed 305 total yards (or four less than what Romo threw for yesterday). The one thing I did enjoy seeing was a couple of busts at wide receiver scoring meaningless touchdowns yesterday. Both Roy Williams of the Cowboys, and Darrius Heyward-Bey of the Raiders scored 2nd half touchdowns that had little impact on the pace of the game. Williams and Heyward-Bey (7th overall REALLY??) have been major busts since joining their respective teams. They have also both been ‘buried’ on the depth chart (even if they are starting) by their lack of opportunities on offense. In a game where 64 balls were thrown, they were targeted a combined 9 times (catching only 4 of them), that is two less targets than Austin got from the Cowboys alone.

Speaking of high powered offenses, where did New York’s go? The Giants looked awful last night, managing just over 250 yards against a Denver team, that hadn’t been able to stop anyone these last four weeks. Yesterday was a bad day for New York all around, not only did they forget to show up in Denver, but the Cowboys and Packers looked pretty good. The Cowboys win gives them a two game advantage in the NFC East over the Giants, and will be in New York next week to potentially put the division away (and it will happen if the Giants play like last night). The Packers win and Giants loss, puts Green Bay in the 5th spot in the NFC, and leaves the Giants on the outside looking in at the 7th spot. The Broncos on the other hand positioned themselves nicely to remain in the playoff hunt sitting right now in 5th spot (though that could change after Sunday). Also by showing some signs of life the complete collapse of the Broncos that seemed inevitable is now put on hold. Denver’s defense showed that they can play with anyone when they want to.

Packers at Lions (+11):

The Packers should win this game easily, but the true question will be whether or not they can win by at least 12 points to cover the spread. I know the Lions put up some points last weekend against the Browns, but there are a couple of things to remember; one, that was against the Browns, maybe the most anemic team in the NFL right now, two, Matt Stafford won’t be starting today, leaving the game in the trusted hands of Daunte Culpepper. Another reason why I don’t think the Lions can cover is, if they had so much trouble stopping Brady Quinn and the Browns, what will Aaron Rodgers do to them?  My pick:  I’ll take the Packers to cover the spread.

Raiders at Cowboys (-14):

Dallas should be able to win this game fairly easily. They are always dominate at home and usually play their best game on Thanksgiving. They will look to give their 100,000 faithful something to cheer about today, after nearly blowing the game last week against Washington. I’d expect them to try to get some quick scores, and then rely on their three pronged rushing attack to hold the lead. I know the Raiders were impressive against the Bengals, and Gradkowski breathed new life into the offense, but I don’t see them winning two weeks in a row. The week after surprising the Eagles, the Raiders got beat 38-0 by the Chargers. My pick:  I’ll take the Cowboys at home on Thanksgiving day, and they’ll win by three touchdowns.

Giants at Broncos (+6.5):

The Broncos are in the midst of a four game losing streak and seem to be in complete disarray right now. Their defense can’t stop anyone, and has been completely exposed against the run. The Chargers and Redskins ran all over the Broncos these last two weeks, and those aren’t exactly the best ground units (or offensive lines) in the NFL. This week the Broncos are going against one of the best rushing attacks, so things might get ugly fast in Denver. Bradshaw probably won’t play today, but Brandon Jacobs should be all the Giants need. And if New York does go through the air, I don’t think Denver can get enough pressure on Manning to keep him from torching them. My pick:  I know the Giants squeaked by in overtime last week, and lost their four previous games, but I think they right the ship today against the Broncos, and win by at least 10 points.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you enjoy the games!

A couple of weeks ago it looked as though the Cowboys season maybe was over, they were 3-2, but their three wins were against the Buccaneers, Panthers and Chiefs (all winless at the time). The Cowboys needed overtime and a great play by Miles Austin to survive the Chiefs, and could have easily been 2-3 then. At that time the Giants were 5-0 and the Eagles were 3-1, and it looked as though the Cowboys chances for the East were slowly slipping away. Now four weeks later, the Cowboys are sitting atop the NFC East at 6-2 after beating the Eagles last night 20-16 in Philadelphia. Last night’s game was a good battle between the NFC East rivals, and really could have gone either way, but in the end the Cowboys came up big when it counted. In addition to the two interceptions of McNabb, the Cowboys defense came up huge on a 4th and 1 play at midfield in the 4th quarter. Five plays later the Dallas offense responded to the opportunity in a big way with a 49 yard touchdown strike to Miles Austin, to put the Cowboys up 20-13. The offense also came up big at the end of the game, when after an Eagles field goal, they got the ball back with 4:27 remaining. Dallas got a pair of crucial first downs, that allowed them to keep the ball out of McNabb’s hands, and run out the clock.

The Eagles have now fallen into 2nd place at 5-3 and are facing two straight road games in San Diego and in Chicago, that they will need to split to stay alive in the division. After losing yesterday to the Chargers, the Giants are now 5-4 and have a much needed bye week. When they get back in two weeks their schedule gets pretty tough, but at least they have most of their tough games at home the rest of the season. The Cowboys  have a real oppurtunity here. They now face the Packers in Green Bay, which looks like a tough game, but the Packers just lost to the Buccaneers yesterday and can’t stop a pass rush. Then they come home and face the Redskins, before their Thanksgiving game against the Raiders. After that their schedule gets pretty tough, but if they can sweep these next three games, then they are pretty well assured a playoff spot and will be vying for a first round bye in the playoffs. Four weeks ago you wouldn’t have thought it possible, but the Cowboys are in control of the East and are looking like one of the powerhouses in the NFC.

Two 3-0 Teams Go Down today: Now everyone knows at least one 3-0 team will lose, with the Saints and Jets facing off. While it seems like the Cinderella magic of Mark Sanchez and the Jets is going to expire at midnight (4:05 pm), don’t be surprised if the Jets defense and running attack put them on top when the dust settles. I also think the Cowboys will knock off the Broncos in Denver. The Broncos might be 3-0, but they haven’t really played anyone tough yet, I still think they are no better than an 8-8 team. So if the only two 3-0 teams are the Saints/Jets and the Broncos, that means the Ravens won in Foxboro. The Patriots weren’t able to handle the “Ravens” defense two weeks ago against the Jets, so color me skeptical that they can handle the original form of the defense, which comes with Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.

One 0-3 Team Puts One In The Win Column: And the winner is….Tennessee Titans. As much as I’m tempted to pick against my Washington Redskins given their lackluster performances against the Rams and Lions, I can’t bring myself to think that Josh Johnson can lead the troops in DC for the first Buccaneer victory. The Chiefs are completely outclassed by the New York Giants, even with the injury list they have. Kansas City will be lucky if they hold the G-men to with in 10 points. Even without facing Frank Gore, I think the 49ers will be too much for the Rams to handle. That 49er defense has been pretty impressive so far, and can’t really be blamed for losing to Brett Favre in the last seconds of the game. That’s analogous to blaming your clean up hitter for not getting the walk-off home run against Mariano Rivera. I also have zero faith in Chad Henne, to get the Dolphins out of the loss column today. I’ve thought Henne was overrated when they drafted him, and I still think he is today. As much as I like that defense and running game, I think the Bills steal a win in Miami because of the ineffectiveness of Henne. In the battle of Ohio, I think the Bengals can pretty easily handle the Browns, and newly named starting quarterback Derek Anderson. So far this year the Browns haven’t been able to run the ball, haven’t been able to pass the ball, and have a defense that can stop anybody, and for good measure they are turning to a quarterback who has as many interceptions in 2 quarters as their starter had in 10. The Titans are an easy pick here…there defense has been bad, but their offense has been able to move the ball pretty effectively. They need to punch the ball in a bit more, which should be fairly easy today against the Jags.

Yesterday we saw a couple of upsets in college football with the big one coming in Washington when the hometown Huskies knocked off the 3rd ranked USC Trojans 16-13.  Tonight I think we will see another big upset with the New York Giants going on the road to beat the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys are favored by 3 points and the Giants are the defending division champs so on paper its not much of an upset. A Giants victory though would be a stinging blow to the Cowboys faithful since tonight is the unveiling of the new Cowboys Stadium which had a price tag of over $1 billion dollars.

I like the Giants tonight simply because they are a more balanced team than Dallas. The Giants defense is going to give QB Tony Romo and the Cowboys offensive line fits all game. New York’s defensive line spends so much time in the backfield that sometimes its easy to forget they aren’t playing on offense. I see the pressure getting to Romo and forcing a couple costly turnovers tonight. The Giants offense on the other hand isn’t as flashy, but they get the job done. I think Eli Manning can have a big night tonight against the Cowboys secondary. I have a lot of questions about the Cowboys defensive backs, and I think they will be exploited for a couple of big plays.

If the Giants do win tonight and go up 2-0 in the division, I think that will prove that they are the team to beat in the East, and probably in the entire NFC. The Giants always seem to find a way to execute on offense, defense and special teams to come up with the big play to win the game. I think that will hold true tonight, and over 100,000 Cowboy fans will watch in person the G-Men ruin their home opener 24-17.