It seems like the Eagles are signing everyone except DeSean Jackson, a training camp holdout set to make less than a million in the final year of his rookie contract next year. Jackson has earned a new deal and deserves one and all of the Eagles outside signings must just be like a slap in the face to him. I don’t know if this deal makes it impossible for them to extend Jackson, but Jackson should have been their priority over bringing in another outsider. Also, Jenkins is talented, but he’s 30 and he’s missed 17 games in the last 3 years, so giving him a 5 year deal worth 25 million was risky.

Grade: D

By Jim Keller 

The Dallas Cowboys finally put together a solid effort by their offense, defense and special teams, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

All head coach Wade Phillips told his troops afterward was, “Just play with this kind of urgency every week.” 

Tony Romo played flawlessly and hooked up twice on TD passes to forgotten Roy Williams, the defense kept the Texans out of the end zone for nearly 59 minutes and embattled kicker David Buehler converted both of his field goal attempts as the Cowboys posted a 27-13 Sunday at Reliant Stadium to avoid putting themselves in a gargantuan hole heading into the bye week.

The win helped Dallas avoid starting 0-3 for the first time since 2001.  Only five teams have rebounded from that early hole to reach the playoffs.  So Dallas needed a big performance.

With 98 passes against 42 runs and just two offensive TDs despite the fourth most yards in the NFL through two weeks, the Cowboys’ owner, coaches and players were under siege all week.

The result?  Dallas showed more balance against Houston, running 27 times for 101 yards, but it was still Romo and the passing game that provided the bulk of the offense.  Romo was 23 of 30 for 284 yards, didn’t force anything and wasn’t sacked.

Dallas just did a better job of converting its opportunities into points.  Romo had just one pass dropped, did not thrown any picks and was afforded his best pass protection thus far in three games.  Left tackle Doug Free totally neutralized NFL sack leader Mario Williams.  The Boys were 2-of-2 with TDs in two red-zone after tallying just 17 points in five red-zone tries in the first two weeks.

Evidence of the Dallas efficient attack:

1. Like a third-quarter drive that went 90 yards in seven plays with Romo a perfect 5 of 5, hooking up with Roy Williams on a short slant for 15 yards to provide Dallas a 17-3 edge with 1:34 left in the third.  Romo converted a third-and-2 with an 11-yard pass to Sam Hurd, his first catch of the season, then laid out a perfect pass to Dez Bryant down the left sideline for 30 yards.  Williams beat rookie DB Kareem Jackson again on a quick slant for a 63-yard score in Dallas’ next possession. A no show most of his time in Big D, Williams had 5 catches and 117 yards

2. How about the 13-play, 80-yard drive in the second quarter that was capped by Marion Barber’s 1-yard plunge.  What made this drive so special?  Romo overcame a 1st-and-20 after a 32-yard swing pass to Felix Jones was called back on a block in the back call against Miles Austin.  Romo converted three third downs of nine, nine and 10 yards to different receivers: Bryant, Austin and Williams.

Defensively, Arian Foster ripped through the defense for at least a half-dozen runs of 10-or-more yards, but the front seven stuffed just as many runs at the line of scrimmage.  The secondary had a solid afternoon, keeping the receivers in front of them (only two 20-yards pass plays and contributing to three of Dallas’ four sacks because of excellent coverage downfield.  The Cowboys limited All-Pro Andre Johnson to four catches for 64 yards on seven targets.

Dallas, which entered with two sacks and no turnovers, doubled their sack total (3 by DeMarcus Ware) without over-committing to the blitz, intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble – all in the second half.  The NFL’s top-scoring and yardage team was limited to 13 points and 340 yards, although 100 of those yards and the one TD came after the game had been decided.

The Boys even had a goal-line stand, stuffing two runs and then sacking Schaub on an all-out blitz after Houston had reached the 1-yard line for 1st-and-goal..

Even David Buehler came through.  After Phillips decided against a 47-yard FG on the first possession despite playing in a dome, Buehler nailed a 49-yarder on the last play of the half and added a 40-yarder in the fourth quarter.

Dallas wasn’t perfect.  It failed on a 4th-and-2 from the Texans 30 on its first possession when an attempted screen pass was blown up.

In the first half’s final drive, a 37-yard TD pass to Bryant was called back because Bryant ran out of bounds and came back in, Romo was called for intentional grounding and missed a wide-open Williams 25 yards downfield at the Texans 25.  But to his credit, he got Dallas in position for Buehler’s field goal with a nice sideline pass to Witten with one tick left.

The defense allowed a 30-yard draw by Foster on 3rd-and19 which led to a field goal, and Keith Brooking was called twice for pass interference on crucial plays and Jenkins was whistled for illegal contact on 2nd-and-18 in the third quarter.

In a game the Cowboys desperately needed, they came up with a solid three-way performance, playing error-free football, slowing down a versatile offense and winning the battle of special teams.

Fortunately for Dallas, after three weeks they are looking up only at the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC North. The Eagles rattled Jacksonville while Washington was beaten by St. Louis and the New York Giants fell to Tennessee.

Dallas will sit and watch Washington and Philadelphia next week and Chicago at New York.

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By Jim Keller 

The temporary era for Jon Kitna starts this weekend.  The bigger question in Dallas is when the Wade Phillips era will come to an excruciating end. 

The demoralized Cowboys will test their pride Sunday at Cowboys when they host the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

Dallas (1-5) was supposed to contend for the Super Bowl this season and perhaps be the first host city to appear in the game, but got off to a 1-4 start because an offense that averaged 400 yards per game but couldn’t make a big play to offset costly penalties and turnovers and a solid defense that couldn’t force turnovers. 

All of that seemed to change last week when the Cowboys got three takeaways in the first 20 minutes and a 92-yard punt return by outstanding rookie Dez Bryant to take a 20-7 lead against the rival New York Giants. 

However it was about that time when it was revealed that starting quarterback Tony Romo had suffered a broken collarbone after a sack by linebacker Michael Boley, and both the offense and defense went into a tailspin in which it never recovered. 

After Bryant’s score, New York scored four touchdowns and a field goal in its next five possessions while holding the Cowboys to 26 yards and one first down in Kitna’s first seven drives. 

Kitna finished up 16 of 33 for 187 yards and two late touchdowns to Bryant as Dallas made the 41-35 final respectable. 

The 14-year veteran has started 115 games during his career with Seattle, Cincinnati, and Detroit, completing 60 percent of his passes with 154 TDs and 151 interceptions.  His clubs have won just 49 of his starts. 

He led the NFL with 372 completions in 2006 and led with 20 picks the following season – both with Detroit.  His best season was 2003 with Cincinnati. He completed 62 percent of his tosses for 3,591 yards and a career-high 26 TDs against 15 interceptions. 

A Dallas defense that entered third in total defense, was shredded for 497 yards. Eli Manning passed for 306 yards and four touchdowns and Ahmad Bradshaw, Hakeem Nicks and Steve Smith each went over 100 yards from scrimmage. 

Since only the 1970 Cincinnati Bengals have rallied from a 1-5 start to make the playoffs, speculation has already begun about the future of Phillips. Owner Jerry Jones has stated many times that he doesn’t like making changes in midseason, but the Cowboys are out of it and there’s pressure for Jones to start making contact with the power coaches around the league. 

With Romo out at least six to eight weeks, Kitna will be making his first start since 2008 against Jacksonville (3-4), which played Kansas City tight for three quarters last week before suffering a 42-20 defeat. 

The Jaguars gave up 236 yards on the ground to the Chiefs tandem of Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles, but they shouldn’t have to woory that much this week. Dallas ran the ball just 13 times against the Giants and rank 30th in the league at 86 yards per game.

Todd Bouman, a 38-year-old signed off the street when injuries sidelined David Garrard (concussion) and Trent Edwards (thumb), made his first start since 2001 and completed 18 of 34 for 222 yards and two TDs.  However, he threw two interceptions, one that gave the Chiefs a 28-20 lead another in the fourth quarter that led to another touchdown. 

Garrard has past the NFL’s mandated concussion tests and is expected to start Sunday. He was injured in Jacksonville’s 30-3 loss to the Tennessee Titans two Mondays ago. Taking Garrard’s place on the bench will be right tackle Eben Britton, who was placed on injured reserve with a season-ending shoulder injury. 

Maurice Jones-Drew, who was limited to 47 yards on 16 carries and has been held to 3.8 yards per carry, may find the sledding a little easier against the disheartened Cowboys, who have allowed three 100-yard rushers in their last four games. 

The clubs have split two games this decade, with Jacksonville winning the last match-up 24-17 in 2006.

Go back to Cowboys Fan Spot

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By Jim Keller 

Can the Cowboys put together a second consecutive all-around effort?  Can they contain Chris Johnson? What will the run-pass ratio be? And how will they welcome home old friend Vince Young. 

Fans will be honing in on these aspects as the Cowboys return from the bye week on Sunday and host the 2-2 Tennessee Titans.

The Cowboys (1-2) avoided a dubious 0-3 start by manhandling the Houston Texans 27-13 two weeks ago at Reliant Field.  QB Tony Romo played a flawless game, WR Roy Williams came out of the witness protection program and the Dallas defense recorded 4 sacks, forced three turnovers and held two 1st-and-goal situations to six points.

On offense, Dallas did run the ball 27 times and passed it 30 times, but make no mistake about it, Romo threw 21 times out of 27 plays over a four-drive stretch in which the offense scored 17 points and put away the game.

Romo had just one off-target pass all day against Houston, wasn’t sacked or picked and completed 7-of-9 passes in which he threw more than 10 yards downfield for 167 yards.

It was nice to see Romo spread the ball more evenly.  He targeted Miles Austin 26 times in the first two games but just three times last week.  Williams got seven targets in his second 100-yard receiving game with the “Boys.  Austin will be going against Titans CB Cortland Finegan this week in an interesting matchup.

Don’t be surprised to see Romo & Co. go to the pass game more exclusively Sunday.  Tennessee limited Denver to 19 yards rushing in 20 carries in last week’s 26-20 loss in which Kyle Orton threw 50 times for 341 yards.  Sound familiar?

With the Dallas starting offensive line intact for a third straight week (LG Kyle Koiser expected to play), Romo will hopefully continue to stretch the defense. In Week 1’s loss to Washington, he had nine completions for two yards or less. In the first quarter of that game he threw 10 passes a total of 25 yards downfield as Dallas changed the game plan to protect Romo, who was without Kosier and right tackle Marc Colombo. Still, despite all the quick throws and short drops, the line was whistled for six holding calls.

Protecting Romo will be paramount this week against Tennessee, which is tied for the NFL lead with 16 sacks, with unheralded DEs Dave Babin and Dave Ball combining for 7.5 sacks.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Cowboys will stack the box against 2009 rushing champion Chris Johnson, who hasn’t been able to shake loose so far this season, man-up on their outside receivers and make former Univ. Texas QB Vince Young beat them.

Johnson was held to 53 yards on 19 carries against Denver, ran for just one first down, had a long run of eight yards and fumbled inside the Broncos 30-yard line. He’s managed just 354 yards on 94 carries this season but has found the end zone four times.

How will Dallas attack favorite son Young.  Dallas seems to have backed off the various blitz packages since Jay Cutler picked it apart in Week 2’s 27-20 loss to the Chicago Bears.

The ‘Boys blitzed a second linebacker just seven times last week, but still managed to double its sack total from their first two games, pick off two passes and force a fumble. CBs Mike Jenkins and Terence Newman kept the wide receivers in front of them all night. The Texans steered away from Jenkins, who had three balls thrown against him all day.

Tennessee ranks 30th in the NFL in passing offense at 152 yards per game, but

Young hasn’t thrown a pick in the last two games.  However, he’s the type of QB teams would want to pressure and force him into a few bad decisions and throws.

That said, the Cowboys will probably start by laying back in coverage, but since Newman and Jenkins are much better than their receiver counterparts, head coach Wade Wilson won’t hesitate to bring the pressure if needed.

Notes: Romo has completed 65 percent of his passes with 8 TDs and 0 INTs in his last four games against the AFC. …WR Dez Bryant has 50+ yards receiving in each game and ranks third in the NFL with a 17.8 yard average on punt returns. … Ware has 60.5 sacks since 2006 – most in the NFL. He tied his career high with 3 against Houston. … Tennessee has won 10 straight against the NFC and Young is 11-2 against the NFC. … Johnson has run for 100 yards in six consecutive road games.

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The Cowboys set their sights on becoming the first team to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium, so their 6-10 finish was not what they had in mind. At one point it was worse. This team was 1-7 before they fired Wade Phillips and missing quarterback Tony Romo for likely the rest of the season with injury. Interim coach Jason Garrett brought this team some much needed discipline, doing things such as making players bring notebooks to film study (what a novel concept), and led them to a 5-3 record even with backup quarterback Jon Kitna.

With Jason Garrett getting the interim tag removed and simply becoming their Head Coach for the 2011 season, and with Tony Romo coming back, they do have a lot of promise for 2011. Garrett’s offensive genius turned Jon Kitna into a 66% passer with a 7.4 YPA in the 2^nd half of the season so it’ll be interesting to see if he can take Romo to the next level. If he can, look out. Romo’s got the weapons (Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, Roy Williams, Jason Witten, Tashard Choice, Felix Jones) to make this one of the top offenses in the league.

Unfortunately, offense is only half the battle. Dallas’ pass defense fell from 13^th in 2009 to 29^th in 2010. Their run defense fell from 9^th to 18^th. their total yards allowed fell from 9^th to 23th. Their points per game allowed rose a whopping 11.7 points per game. Most importantly, none of those things got all that much better under Jason Garrett.

I don’t know what happened to this defense, but they are no longer an elite unit. In fact, they’re far from it, even with DeMarcus Ware leading the league in sacks with 15.5. the Cowboys will almost certainly use their 9^th overall pick on some sort of defensive player. They should have high hopes going into 2011, but I think they need to rediscover their talent on defense to be considered a true Super Bowl contender.

The Cowboys bottomed out last season. Once a popular pick to become the first team to play in a Super Bowl the same season that they hosted the Super Bowl, the Cowboys started the season 1-7 and finished 6-10. However, it wasn’t all bad. Wade Phillips is finally gone. The Cowboys were never going to win a Super Bowl with him as a head coach so last season was really taking one step back to take two steps forward.

In for Wade Phillips is former offensive coordinator and former coach in waiting Jason Garrett. Garrett led this team to a 5-3 record down the stretch with Jon Kitna as his starting quarterback. Kitna somehow put up amazing offensive numbers with Garrett’s help. Imagine what Garrett can do now that Tony Romo is back.

He also has a full season of Dez Bryant in the starting lineup. Roy Williams is gone so Bryant will replace him full time in the starting lineup. Bryant is also in his 2^nd year and should be better than he was as a rookie. They still have Miles Austin. They still have Jason Witten. This has a chance to be a very explosive offense should Romo stay healthy.

As for Romo staying healthy, I don’t worry too much about that. Romo had only missed 3 games in 4 years before suffering a freak broken collarbone injury last season. He’s not an injury prone quarterback or anything. Besides, they’ve fixed up his protection. Marc Colombo allowed 7 sacks and 40 quarterback pressures last season at right tackle and Alex Barron was even worse in limited action committing 3 penalties on 80 snaps and costing the Cowboys a week 1 win when he unnecessarily committed a holding penalty, nullifying the game winning score.

Colombo and Barron are both game and Tyron Smith is in. Smith is extremely talented and was the 9^th overall pick in April’s draft. He is a rookie so he will be hurt by the lockout, but he’ll be a noticeable upgrade on the right side. On the left side, the Cowboys did a great job of resigning Doug Free long term. He is one of the better left tackles in the league.

On the interior of their line, they started Kyle Kosier, Andre Gurode, and Leonard Davis last season, 3 older players. Davis was cut. Kosier was resigned, but he’s still 33 in November and injury prone. He’ll start at left guard. Meanwhile, center Andre Gurode is 32 and coming off of knee surgery. He should be ready for the start of the season. If not, the inexperienced Phil Costa would start, which I think would be a bad thing.

At right guard, Leonard Davis’ old spot, veteran journeyman backup Montrae Holland is expected to start. It’s to be expected that rookie 4^th rounder David Arkin could see a lot of time at both guard positions and even center this season. However, overall I like their offensive line a lot more than I did last season, especially with Tyron Smith starting on the right side.

They could struggle to run the ball this year. That’s a worry, but it’s not like you necessarily need a good running game to do well in this league. Felix Jones will be given the first shot at the lead back job. He’s never been a lead back without getting hurt. He wasn’t even a lead back in college, where he backed up Darren McFadden. Meanwhile, 3^rd round rookie DeMarco Murray and career backup Tashard Choice should also see carries. More importantly, Marion Barber is gone, which means no more of Marion Barber averaging 3.3 yards per carry on 113 carries.

Offensively, they should once again be an explosive offense. They will struggle a bit to run the ball, but Tony Romo is back and Head Coach Jason Garrett is an offensive genius who turned Jon Kitna into a legitimate signal caller down the stretch. However, defense is a different story. They surrendered the 2^nd most points last season and their defense actually got worse after Wade Phillips was fired.

They didn’t focus on defense in the draft and they didn’t have the cap space to add to their defense in any meaningful way in free agency, but they did bring in Rex Ryan’s brother Rob from Cleveland to be their defensive coordinator. He’ll have his work cut out for him, however, turning this bunch into a legitimate defense.

Their problems start in the secondary. Mike Jenkins had the worst quarterback rating against of any cornerback in the league last season, allowing 67.4% of targets to go for completions and 6 touchdowns to 1 interception. He also had 8 penalties and allowed 16.6 yards per completion, 2^nd highest in the league. Terrence Newman wasn’t much better. He allowed 65.3% of targets to get completed and 5 touchdowns, though he did pick off 5 passes.

Jenkins could bounce back. He’s a 26 year old former 1^st round pick and a Pro Bowler in 2009. Newman, on the other hand, is 33 in September and should continue declining. Nickel cornerback Orlando Scandrick also has issues in coverage allowing 7 touchdowns to 1 interception and a 68.8% completion percentage. Why the Cowboys didn’t address this position in the draft until the 5^th round, I don’t know.

At free safety, Abram Elam is an upgrade over last year’s starter Alan Ball, but only by default. Ball allowed 63.0% completions and 7 touchdowns to 2 interceptions, all while struggling mightily against the run. He might have been the worst starting safety in the league last year. Elam, meanwhile, is a mediocre talent, but he’s an upgrade over Ball and familiar with Rob Ryan’s system coming over from Cleveland. At the other safety slot, Gerald Sensabaugh is their best defensive back. He’s a solid starting safety in this league.

Fortunately, this secondary does have some pass rush to help them out. They had 35 sacks last year, pretty middle of the road, thanks, in large part, to DeMarcus Ware’s 15.5 sacks. However, they really need to find a #2 pass rusher after him. 2^nd on the team was former first round pick Anthony Spencer with 5. He’s in the final year of his rookie deal and needs to break out this year at rush linebacker opposite Ware if he doesn’t want to be seen as nothing more than a reclamation project heading into free agency.

At nose tackle, Jay Ratliff had 13.5 sacks in 2008 and 2009 combined, but only 3.5 in 2010. They’ll need him to step up the pass rushing unless they want to be middle of the pack once again. Ratliff is a solid pass rusher, but struggles against the run, which makes sense since he’s an undersized nose tackle. The other two starters on the defensive line are Marcus Spears and Igor Olshansky.

Olshansky is decent against the run, but offers no pass rush, while Spears is a former first round pick who never lived up to his billing. Why the Cowboys gave him a 5 year deal in the offseason, I don’t know. The Cowboys will really miss Stephen Bowen on the defensive line. He wasn’t a great pass rusher, but he was a stud against the run. The Cowboys are hoping Jason Hatcher can step up in a similar fashion this season, but I have my doubts.

At middle linebacker, the Cowboys have 3 players for 2 spots and plan to use all 3 evenly. Keith Brooking is the veteran of the group at age 36 in October. He’s a declining player, but can still contribute and he provides great defensive leadership in the middle. Bradie James is a solid player coming off a strong season. He had the best season of the three in 2010.

Sean Lee, meanwhile, was their 2^nd round pick in 2010. He is reportedly playing very well in camp. 2011 2^nd round pick Bruce Carter could see some action after he returns midseason from an ACL tear, but it seems like the plan is for Carter to be purely a special teamer as a rookie and then start next to Lee in the middle in 2012 with Brooking and James being in the final years of their contracts.

Defense is still an issue for this team and while I still think they’ll be a little better on that side of the ball this season, their defense should still keep them from being legitimate Super Bowl contenders. However, I love this team’s offense. I love their leadership under new coach Jason Garrett. I love how they ended last season. I think this team has a very good chance to find themselves back in the playoffs this year, especially playing a last place schedule and, who knows, maybe with Wade Phillips gone they’ll even win a game or two.

Quarterback: A-

Running backs: C+

Receiving corps: A-

Offensive line: C+

Run defense: C+

Pass rush: B-

Pass coverage: C-

Coaching: B

Projection: 10-6 2^nd in NFC East

By Jim Keller 

Both the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings will be desperate clubs when they meet Sunday at the Metrodome.

The Cowboys (1-3) are coming off a 34-27 loss to the Tennessee Titans when Week 1 & 2 problems resurfaced against the Titans: 12 penalties, poor pass protection, 3 turnovers and none forced.

The Vikings (1-4) are coming off a 29-20 loss to the New York Jets in the new Meadowlands.   Brett Favre rallied them from a steep first-half hole to  poised to win the contest until he threw a patented “pick six” in the final minutes to seal the defeat.

For Dallas to come in here and pull off a victory, they will have to watch tape of the embarrassing 34-3 divisional playoff loss last January, a game where  Dallas LB Keith Brooking accused Vikings of running up the score.

The first thing that stands out on the tape is three touchdown passes from Favre to Sidney Rice of 16,45 and 47 yards because the Cowboys blitz-happy defense couldn’t get to Favre.   Fortunately, Rice is out for the season and Favre is playing with what looks to be a very painful elbow injury which has affected his passing.   He has practiced sparingly this week and is he and his consecutive game streak of 289 is questionable for Sunday.   Tarvaris Jackson is his backup.

Whether injuries, age or lack of Rice, the 41-year-old Favre hasn’t been the same quarterback as last season.   He’s thrown seven interceptions, fumbled four times and has been sacked 10 times as the offense has only been able to put up just under 16 points per game – 29th in the NFL and ranks 31st in turnover margin (-6).   Favre threw just seven picks all of last season and fumbled just twice.

Minnesota just traded for Randy Moss, who caught a deep TD pass last week and has a history of big games against Dallas.   In six games, Moss has 30 catches for 607 yards and 10 TDs.

Dallas has two good corners in Mike Jenkins and Terence Newman, although Jenkins is coming off a terrible outing against Tennessee.   Dallas will provide help over the top for the corners, which will limit the times they can stack the box against Pro Bowl runner Adrian Peterson.

Dallas held Peterson in check in the playoff loss – 26 carries for 63 yards – but the ‘Boys have allowed back-to-back 100-yard rushers (Arian Foster, Chris Johnson) for the first time since 2005 when they allowed three straight.  Dallas didn’t allow one last season.

Like Johnson and Foster, Peterson is going to break a few big runs, but the Cowboys will have to limit his yards after contact to have a chance to win.  They must decide whether to pressure Favre, thus becoming vulnerable to the big pass play, or drop back and cover and see how accurate the gunslinger is with the elbow tendinitis.

If they do go after Favre,  OLBs DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer will have to provide the heat from the edge – a strategy from last season that didn’t really work.

The second thing that stands out from the film is the lack of pass protection for Romo.   The Vikes’ defensive line just overwhelmed the Cowboys registering six sacks. The biggest problem wasn’t DRE Jared Allen, who had one sack, but DLE Ray Edwards who beat an injured RT Marc Colombo repeatedly.

Romo was 22-of-35 for 198 yards, was intercepted once and fumbled three times as he pretty much ran for his life all afternoon.

Colombo was brutal last week against Tennessee, getting beat on four of the six sacks and committing two personal fouls, and LT Doug Free and RG Leonard Davis struggled as Romo was sacked a regular season career-high six times – five in the first half when Dallas fell into a 17-3 hole.

Despite the three picks of which two were tipped, Romo played pretty well, passing for a career-high 406 yards.

The Cowboys are averaging 34 minutes time-of-possession, are second in total offense and have had only three 3-and-outs all season.   But when your averaging 9.5 penalties, are -4 in turnover margin, and have completed just one pass thrown 30 yards or longer downfield, its easy to see why they can’t convert yards into points.

Dallas has three pass plays and one run for more than 30 yards all season.

RB Felix Jones, who sprang for 34 yards last week, carried 15 times and should see the bulk of the rushing attempts this week.  

Romo will look for WR Miles Austin, who leads the NFL with an average of 118.5 yards per game, and TE Jason Witten, who had 10 grabs against Minnesota in the playoffs.

Rookie WR Dez Bryant is questionable after re-agrravating an earlier ankle injury.

Who will prevail?  Minnesota by a 27-20 margin.   

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Cornerback

Maybe if the Cowboys could have actually stopped the Giants aerial attack down the stretch, they’d be the ones hoisting the Lombardi Trophy instead of the Giants. Or maybe they would have just lost in the first round to the Falcons. Either way, they can’t be too pleased after ranking 24^th against the pass with 7.6 YPA allowed. Terence Newman almost definitely won’t be back next season and that would leave them with Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick at cornerback. That duo won’t be keeping any opposing quarterbacks up at night and most teams need 3 cornerbacks in today’s NFL. Dre Kirkpatrick and Janoris Jenkins will be considered with the 14^th pick.

3-4 Defensive End

Many people mocked JJ Watt to the Cowboys at 9 last year and for good reason. Both Stephen Bowen and Marcus Spears were free agents and Spears was an average player at best. The Cowboys went with Tyron Smith and it turns out that there was really no wrong answer there because both players had fantastic rookie seasons. However, the need at defensive end still exists, especially know that Stephen Bowen has since signed with the Washington Redskins. They signed Kenyon Coleman as a one year stopgap because he was familiar with Rob Ryan’s defense, but he wasn’t that great and now he’s a free agent. Meanwhile, for some reason, they signed Marcus Spears to a long term contract. He wasn’t that great either. Help is needed here. Michael Brockers could be the pick at 14.

Rush Linebacker

Anthony Spencer is at the end of his 5 year rookie contract and he’s been inconsistent and disappointing at best. He’s never had more than 6 sacks in a season. If he doesn’t return, they’ll need a new rush linebacker because I don’t think Victor Butler can be anything more than a situational player. Anthony Spencer could be franchised, however, for some reason.

Safety

Abram Elam was another one year stopgap brought over because of familiarity with Rob Ryan’s system, but he wasn’t very good. He’s a free agent this offseason.

Guard

A few years ago, the Cowboys had the oldest offensive line in the league. Now they have one of the youngest. There were some obvious growing pains last season, especially on the interior. Bill Nagy was pretty awful as a rookie before breaking his ankle. Montrae Holland was his replacement, but he’s a 32 year old journeyman and for good reason. Meanwhile, right guard Kyle Kosier just turned 33 so he might not be around much longer. He has already started showing signs of age and has also had trouble staying healthy.

Center

More growing pains on the offensive line for the Cowboys, center Phil Costa really struggled with snaps this season and was a below average blocker as well. They should look for a potential replacement for the undrafted rookie out of Maryland.

Middle Linebacker

Neither Bradie James nor Keith Brooking are expected back next season. That leaves stud middle linebacker Sean Lee and unproven 2011 2^nd round pick Bruce Carter in the middle for them. They need more depth.

Quarterback

The Cowboys put in a claim for Kyle Orton, but the Chiefs had a worse record so they got him. However, it’s clear they don’t think Stephen McGee can be Tony Romo’s primary backup with Jon Kitna retiring. They’ll probably try to find someone better suited for that role this offseason, either through the draft or a veteran (like Kyle Orton?) through free agency.

Running Back

The Cowboys cut Tashard Choice so when DeMarco Murray got hurt, they had to use Sammy Morris for significant carries. Neither Felix Jones nor Murray have a history of great health so they should try to find a capable 3^rd back to have in the mix so they don’t have to sign a 34 year old off waivers again in the worst case scenario.

Wide Receiver

Laurent Robinson really came on in the 2^nd half of the season as their 3^rd receiver, but he’s a free agent and he could leave for more money and a starting job. That would leave them needing a replacement 3^rd wide receiver, especially important because neither Dez Bryant nor Miles Austin seem to be able to stay healthy for 16 games, however talented they each are.

Free Agency Priorities

Safety