CBSSports.com: Cowboys report: Inside slant

[ThreeSportStar80]

Cowboys report: Inside slant

Dec. 25, 2009
The Sports Xchange

Inside slant · Notes, quotes · Strategy and personnel[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]

Tony Romo is finally playing his best football late in the season when it matters most.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]And if there is any reason to believe the Cowboys can close out the season with two wins and claim the NFC East title, Romo is it.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Never mind that the Cowboys are only 1-2 so far in December. It has nothing to do with Romo's play. They are 2-2 in the last four games when Romo has played as well as at any point of his career.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Just as history has shown that Romo doesn't normally play well in December or in big games, it has also taught us that the Cowboys usually win when Romo plays well.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]And if he keeps his current play up, the Cowboys (9-5) have a good chance of beating the Commanders (4-10) on Sunday and the Eagles (10-4) the next week in their regular-season finale.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]If they do, they would make the playoffs and could go be as high as the second seed in the NFC if the Vikings continue to struggle.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Of course if the Cowboys don't finish strong they could be out of the playoffs.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]"I think he is playing at a real high level," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said of Romo. "He's played really well. We lost the game against the Giants. We don't lose many games when he plays well. He's playing outstanding. He's playing really good that's for sure."[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Romo has no time for reflection now. His focus is on moving forward and helping the Cowboys make the playoffs.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]"The greatest enjoyment is improvement as a football team and obviously each individual tries to do that from season to season," Romo said. "But I don't look back until after the season and say what did I not do as well to improve upon and then you kind of get a season of those things. Right now it's strictly about going forward. There's nothing you look back on right now. That's the only approach you can have, is to continue to try and reach your goals."[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]The reasons for Romo's improved play in December are numerous. There is the Romo-friendly environment ushered in by the departure of divisive receiver Terrell Owens.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]He has matured in just his third full year as the Cowboys' starter, and he is more comfortable in offensive coordinator Jason Garrett's offense.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Romo is also healthier and in better shape than at any other time this late in the season.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]But most importantly, the offseason focus of taking care of the football and cutting down on mistakes has taken hold.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Before 2009, Romo had a 14-20 touchdown to interception ratio in December to go along with a 5-8 record since becoming the Cowboys' full-time starter in 2006.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Over the past month, including three straight December games, Romo has eight touchdowns and no interceptions. He has had four straight games with a passer rating over 100.0. And he is in the midst of a career-best streak of 156 passes without an interception.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]With seven interceptions on the season, he is on pace for a career low in 2009. After four picks the first four games this season, including three against the Giants in Week 2, he has three the past ten games.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Even more impressive to Phillips is that Romo is doing it while averaging more than eight yards an attempt. His ability to continue to make plays downfield while not turning the ball over is a sure sign of his growth, Phillips said.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]"It's unrealistic to think you're going to (play) 16 games without throwing an interception, but that's the goal," Romo said. "The goal each week is to not give the other team an advantage with the ball in bad situations. The importance of the ball matters. For me I'm seeing it, I'm doing some things a little differently that I'm not going to tell you. But they've helped me to minimize certain decisions that I've made in the past and that's part of growing up and being experienced on the football field."[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]SERIES HISTORY
98th regular-season meeting. Dallas leads the series, 58-37-2. The Cowboys won the earlier meeting in Dallas, 7-6. Dallas has won two of the last three and three of the last five meetings in the series.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Copyright (C) 2009 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/teams/report/DAL/12705833/cowboys-report-inside-slant
[/FONT]

 

[burmafrd]

Now if the D continues to step up and the O line gets their act together we can really do something this year.

 

[NextGenBoys]

I think it's really simple...our defense has been playing well, but we need to force turnovers like we did against NO.

If we create turnovers, I like our chances at beating any team in the league. We have to force turnovers though. I think that is what will either keep us from, or help us win a Super Bowl.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Tony doesn't have a hand injury this year. It comes down to that.

 

[CowboyMort]

I wonder what would have to happen for Romo to be the frontrunner for the MVP.

 

[yimyammer]

I wonder what would have to happen for Romo to be the frontrunner for the MVP.

There's only one MVP I want him to win, if you know what I mean....

 

[NextGenBoys]

I wonder what would have to happen for Romo to be the frontrunner for the MVP.

Well if it wasnt for Tom Brady, he would've got it in 2007.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I think it's really simple...our defense has been playing well, but we need to force turnovers like we did against NO.

If we create turnovers, I like our chances at beating any team in the league. We have to force turnovers though. I think that is what will either keep us from, or help us win a Super Bowl.

I disagree. We just have to not turn the ball over.

If we can do that and generate a passrush and not turn the ball over were good. We put up 4 sacks against the Saints who had give up 15 all year.

We can run the ball and if Garrett keeps dialing up playaction then watch out.

 

[NextGenBoys]

I disagree. We just have to not turn the ball over.

If we can do that and generate a passrush and not turn the ball over were good. We put up 4 sacks against the Saints who had give up 15 all year.

We can run the ball and if Garrett keeps dialing up playaction then watch out.

Well of course I dont want US to turn the ball over. Winning the turnover battle is always the most important, but I think FORCING turnovers is important as well. We've struggled this year at forcing turnovers.

And I'm not trying to discount a pass rush either, and while we did sack Brees 4 times, we forced three turnovers as well.

*Edit* In our five losses, we've forced a combined four turnovers. This is why I think that forcing turnovers is so important.

 

[CowboyMort]

There's only one MVP I want him to win, if you know what I mean....

I got ya. I would kill for him to get that one.

 

[the kid 05]

Dont they mean a 3 yard post....? bahaha

 

[FLcowboy]

Stats against Romo are mis guided. Romo isn't the reason the Cowboys lost to the Giants and the Chargers.

 

[FLcowboy]

I'd like to offer a different perspective here. Romo is credited with the team's play, regardless of how he played. Romo didn't lose the Giants game the second time around. Romo didn't lose the Chargers' game. Yes, he could have won each with a miraculous play, but he ddn't. Still not his fault.

Yes he is the $43 million dollar quarterback. Big deal. Haynesworth is the $100 million dollar defensive lineman in Washington. Not every loss is blamed on him.

In a 3-4 defense, the middle linebackers are supposed to be monsters. Brady and Brooking are average. They are not shutdown middle linebackers.

Ware and Spencer are good, no, super. They foce a lot of plays up the middle, but Brady and Brooking aren't shutting them down. Dallas' defense is suspect. We'll see if they can pull it off these next two weeks.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

I think it's really simple...our defense has been playing well, but we need to force turnovers like we did against NO.

If we create turnovers, I like our chances at beating any team in the league. We have to force turnovers though. I think that is what will either keep us from, or help us win a Super Bowl.

I couldn't agree more... Dallas needs to create turnovers to give the offense shorter fields to work with.