Coy
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Awsome article,this guy seems sure of it. Don´t know why but I couldn´t post it in the Daily Zone Forum.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/12739146/cowboys-most-likely-to-represent-nfc-in-super-bowl
ARLINGTON, Texas -- They passed out NFC East Champion hats and shirts to the Dallas Cowboys Sunday, but they weren't exactly the fashion statement of the day in the team's locker room.
Tony Romo's improved level of play is a major reason why the NFC should watch out for the Cowboys in the postseason. (AP)
The hats were buried deep on locker shelves. The shirts were almost nowhere to be seen.
That's what not winning a playoff game since 1996 can do to a franchise. It jades you, turning what should be a special moment into not that big a deal.
The regular season stuff simply doesn't matter for the Cowboys. That's for other teams, not a team with this national spotlight.
So after the Cowboys dominated the Philadelphia Eagles 24-0 at Cowboys Stadium, securing the NFC East title and a home game in the wild-card round of the playoffs against the Eagles next week, there was very little celebrating.
Maybe Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo put it best when he compared the season to a round of golf. The first 16 holes are nice, Romo said, but it's the final two holes that count.
"It's how you finish," he said.
In recent years, the Cowboys have put snowmen on their golf cards for the final holes, which, for those of the golfing impaired, isn't a good thing. They've yanked drives. They've four-putted greens. To be blunt, they've choked.
This Cowboys team won't do that.
This Cowboys team is the best in the NFC right now.
They might be the third seed in the NFC playoffs, but there isn't a better team in the conference right now. And that includes the top two seeds, New Orleans and Minnesota.
Those two staggered into the playoffs. Dallas went in flexing its muscles.
I asked several Cowboys players after the game if they thought they were the best team.
None would come out and flat out say it, but linebacker Anthony Spencer came close.
"I wouldn't want to be one of those other teams," he said.
I don't have to watch what I say for fear of some opposing coach putting it up on a board for motivation or fear of a linebacker putting a forearm to my head, which is why I will say what the Dallas players wouldn't.
The Cowboys will play in the Super Bowl.
In their last three games, the Cowboys have gone to New Orleans and defeated the Saints, giving them their first loss, and then shut out Washington and Philadelphia on successive weeks. Amazingly, it's the first time the Cowboys have had back-to-back shutouts in their history.
Move the hell over, Doomsday Defense.
The 250 points given up by the Cowboys is the lowest total for any team in the NFC. What they did to the Eagles is even more impressive than that. The Eagles came into the game third in the NFL in scoring at 28.6 per game, feasting on the big play.
The Eagles had three pass plays of 25 yards or more Sunday, but the Cowboys did a great job of limiting big-play receiver DeSean Jackson. He had three catches for 47 yards.
"It's all Wade [Phillips]," Cowboys defensive end Igor Olshansky said. "He puts us in the right spot and makes sure we're there to make the plays."
"It's all Wade" is not something many Cowboys fans would have liked to read four weeks ago. The Cowboys lost their first two games in December, setting off the late-season tumble talk again, but they re-grouped to win the last three.
Phillips' job security, which is always at question with quick-trigger-fingered owner Jerry Jones, seems to be solid now.
Jones stopped just short of saying definitively that Phillips would be back next year, but said it's just a matter of getting the paperwork done. He also said Phillips' job status isn't based on beating the Eagles next week.
"I really don't know how you could sit here and make a change with the winningest [sic]-percentage coach that we've ever had in the history of the Cowboys," Jones said. "At this particular time he's looking good."
That came from the happy-we-won Jones, who smiles so much you wonder if he's going to do damage to his face work. I wonder if that would be the case if the Cowboys were to lose to the Eagles next week after beating them twice in the regular season?
No one can argue that Phillips has done a masterful job with the defense. He took over running that side of the ball this season and it's paid off in a big way. The way his defense has played has even inspired talk that Phillips could be the Cowboys defensive coordinator even if he were let go as head coach, as crazy as that sounds.
Philips has this aw-shucks coaching style that would seem to be the opposite of the other two coaches who had success in Dallas. Tom Landry was dapper with his fedora and suit, while Jimmy Johnson was the disciplinarian who ran the tight ship.
Wade can look disheveled at times and he certainly isn't known for running a tight ship. Somehow, though, he wins -- at least in the regular season.
Phillips and the defense are important to the Cowboys, but the most important thing for the Cowboys going forward is Romo. The playoffs aren't about defense anymore. It's about the quarterback.
Despite all the talk that Romo can't win a big game -- what was the New Orleans game three weeks ago? -- Romo is much improved over the Romo we saw in the playoffs after the 2007 season. That Dallas team went 13-3, had the top seed in the NFC, and then choked away a Super Bowl chance with a loss at home.
Romo is much more accurate now and much more in command of the offense. In his last five games, Romo has tossed nine touchdown passes and two interceptions. He carved up the Eagles for 311 yards and two touchdown passes.
The Cowboys can run it as well. Both Felix Jones and Marion Barber ran for 91 yards against the Eagles. Barber is the power back, but Jones, who has battled injuries in his career, gives the Cowboys a home-run threat out of the backfield.
What's not to like about this team? On offense, they can line up and play power football with a big line. They can spread you out and hit you with big plays in the passing game. They have two tight ends that can split out like receivers, causing mismatch problems, and Jones has breakaway speed.
And the defensive numbers speak for themselves. It is a defensive unit that is especially good when it plays with the lead, which allows them to turn pass rushers DeMarcus Ware and Spencer loose.
"We're a good team," Romo said.
No, they're the NFC's best. It won't be easy getting to a Super Bowl since they'll likely have to win two road games, but they're built to do it.
"We've beat two outstanding teams late in the year like this," Phillips said. "I think that going into the playoffs it has to help you confidence-wise."
They should be heading in with their chests out. But recent history and failure prevents that.
Maybe that's why the celebration was so low-key. Maybe that's why almost none of the players seemed to be sporting the NFC East Champion hats, although Phillips did put his on when he went to his handshake with Eagles coach Andy Reid, which is a bit tacky.
If Sunday was an indication, the Cowboys will be putting on hats and shirts with different inscriptions in three weeks: Dallas Cowboys, NFC Champions.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/12739146/cowboys-most-likely-to-represent-nfc-in-super-bowl
ARLINGTON, Texas -- They passed out NFC East Champion hats and shirts to the Dallas Cowboys Sunday, but they weren't exactly the fashion statement of the day in the team's locker room.
Tony Romo's improved level of play is a major reason why the NFC should watch out for the Cowboys in the postseason. (AP)
The hats were buried deep on locker shelves. The shirts were almost nowhere to be seen.
That's what not winning a playoff game since 1996 can do to a franchise. It jades you, turning what should be a special moment into not that big a deal.
The regular season stuff simply doesn't matter for the Cowboys. That's for other teams, not a team with this national spotlight.
So after the Cowboys dominated the Philadelphia Eagles 24-0 at Cowboys Stadium, securing the NFC East title and a home game in the wild-card round of the playoffs against the Eagles next week, there was very little celebrating.
Maybe Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo put it best when he compared the season to a round of golf. The first 16 holes are nice, Romo said, but it's the final two holes that count.
"It's how you finish," he said.
In recent years, the Cowboys have put snowmen on their golf cards for the final holes, which, for those of the golfing impaired, isn't a good thing. They've yanked drives. They've four-putted greens. To be blunt, they've choked.
This Cowboys team won't do that.
This Cowboys team is the best in the NFC right now.
They might be the third seed in the NFC playoffs, but there isn't a better team in the conference right now. And that includes the top two seeds, New Orleans and Minnesota.
Those two staggered into the playoffs. Dallas went in flexing its muscles.
I asked several Cowboys players after the game if they thought they were the best team.
None would come out and flat out say it, but linebacker Anthony Spencer came close.
"I wouldn't want to be one of those other teams," he said.
I don't have to watch what I say for fear of some opposing coach putting it up on a board for motivation or fear of a linebacker putting a forearm to my head, which is why I will say what the Dallas players wouldn't.
The Cowboys will play in the Super Bowl.
In their last three games, the Cowboys have gone to New Orleans and defeated the Saints, giving them their first loss, and then shut out Washington and Philadelphia on successive weeks. Amazingly, it's the first time the Cowboys have had back-to-back shutouts in their history.
Move the hell over, Doomsday Defense.
The 250 points given up by the Cowboys is the lowest total for any team in the NFC. What they did to the Eagles is even more impressive than that. The Eagles came into the game third in the NFL in scoring at 28.6 per game, feasting on the big play.
The Eagles had three pass plays of 25 yards or more Sunday, but the Cowboys did a great job of limiting big-play receiver DeSean Jackson. He had three catches for 47 yards.
"It's all Wade [Phillips]," Cowboys defensive end Igor Olshansky said. "He puts us in the right spot and makes sure we're there to make the plays."
"It's all Wade" is not something many Cowboys fans would have liked to read four weeks ago. The Cowboys lost their first two games in December, setting off the late-season tumble talk again, but they re-grouped to win the last three.
Phillips' job security, which is always at question with quick-trigger-fingered owner Jerry Jones, seems to be solid now.
Jones stopped just short of saying definitively that Phillips would be back next year, but said it's just a matter of getting the paperwork done. He also said Phillips' job status isn't based on beating the Eagles next week.
"I really don't know how you could sit here and make a change with the winningest [sic]-percentage coach that we've ever had in the history of the Cowboys," Jones said. "At this particular time he's looking good."
That came from the happy-we-won Jones, who smiles so much you wonder if he's going to do damage to his face work. I wonder if that would be the case if the Cowboys were to lose to the Eagles next week after beating them twice in the regular season?
No one can argue that Phillips has done a masterful job with the defense. He took over running that side of the ball this season and it's paid off in a big way. The way his defense has played has even inspired talk that Phillips could be the Cowboys defensive coordinator even if he were let go as head coach, as crazy as that sounds.
Philips has this aw-shucks coaching style that would seem to be the opposite of the other two coaches who had success in Dallas. Tom Landry was dapper with his fedora and suit, while Jimmy Johnson was the disciplinarian who ran the tight ship.
Wade can look disheveled at times and he certainly isn't known for running a tight ship. Somehow, though, he wins -- at least in the regular season.
Phillips and the defense are important to the Cowboys, but the most important thing for the Cowboys going forward is Romo. The playoffs aren't about defense anymore. It's about the quarterback.
Despite all the talk that Romo can't win a big game -- what was the New Orleans game three weeks ago? -- Romo is much improved over the Romo we saw in the playoffs after the 2007 season. That Dallas team went 13-3, had the top seed in the NFC, and then choked away a Super Bowl chance with a loss at home.
Romo is much more accurate now and much more in command of the offense. In his last five games, Romo has tossed nine touchdown passes and two interceptions. He carved up the Eagles for 311 yards and two touchdown passes.
The Cowboys can run it as well. Both Felix Jones and Marion Barber ran for 91 yards against the Eagles. Barber is the power back, but Jones, who has battled injuries in his career, gives the Cowboys a home-run threat out of the backfield.
What's not to like about this team? On offense, they can line up and play power football with a big line. They can spread you out and hit you with big plays in the passing game. They have two tight ends that can split out like receivers, causing mismatch problems, and Jones has breakaway speed.
And the defensive numbers speak for themselves. It is a defensive unit that is especially good when it plays with the lead, which allows them to turn pass rushers DeMarcus Ware and Spencer loose.
"We're a good team," Romo said.
No, they're the NFC's best. It won't be easy getting to a Super Bowl since they'll likely have to win two road games, but they're built to do it.
"We've beat two outstanding teams late in the year like this," Phillips said. "I think that going into the playoffs it has to help you confidence-wise."
They should be heading in with their chests out. But recent history and failure prevents that.
Maybe that's why the celebration was so low-key. Maybe that's why almost none of the players seemed to be sporting the NFC East Champion hats, although Phillips did put his on when he went to his handshake with Eagles coach Andy Reid, which is a bit tacky.
If Sunday was an indication, the Cowboys will be putting on hats and shirts with different inscriptions in three weeks: Dallas Cowboys, NFC Champions.
