It might be a sin to say it or even to dare think it, but…but…uh….I will be rooting for the Cowboys archrival, the (gag) New (choke) York Football Giants (vomits in mouth), to win Super Bowl XLVI next Sunday against the New England Patriots. There I said it. And I didn’t get struck by lightning!

(deftly ducks rotten tomatoes and old shoes)

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Forgive me if this notion has already been brought up or discussed. If it has, I missed it and I'd like to know your opinion.

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I have a few worries about this team offensively for our Christmas Eve matchup, never mind defensively, which is a topic for another blogger and another holiday (I'm looking at you, Festivus).

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We all remember the circumstances. It seems like it was only about 16 hours ago. Down and distance – 3rd and 5 on their own 25 yard-line. Just over two minutes left. And like a horror film that we’ve seen before, we all know what happened next but we can’t stop it – Romo and Austin miss a crucial connection down the sideline. Cowboy fans the world over exhale in utter disappointment and start sweating profusely as Matt McBriar trots onto the field…

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It’s early, but Tony Romo has played himself into contention for 2011 NFL Most Valuable Player. *

Obviously if the season ended today, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers would deservedly win the prestigious award, in a cakewalk. An undefeated season, all-time highest passer rating and leader of one of the league’s most potent offense ever will tend to do that. Btw, Rodgers would become the 3rd Green Bay quarterback to win NFL MVP, in addition to Bart Starr (1966) and Brett Favre (1995-97).

But let’s assume for the sake of argument that Rodgers goes through a dreadful slump, or gets injured, or pisses off several sportswriters. Who else would be considered to be the most valuable player in the league? There’s always Drew Brees, who arguably should have won MVP in 2006 or 2009, and without whom the amazing Saints offense wouldn’t have a prayer. There’s Tom Brady, reigning NFL MVP in addition to his 2007 award, once again steering the Patriots offense with less-than-star quality skill players. In terms of running backs who could earn NFL MVP, no one is really stepping up with a truly monster season, a la LaDanian Tomlinson or Shaun Alexander, circa 2005-2006. LeSean McCoy is averaging 100 yards and a TD a game, but his receiving numbers are relatively mediocre and the Eagles offense is more about Vick than any running back; Fred Jackson is having probably the best overall statistical season of all RBs and it’s hard to imagine the Bills doing anything without him, but Buffalo is slumping terribly and Jackson is starting to show some signs of overuse; Houston’s Arian Foster is putting up nice numbers, but so has his teammate Ben Tate; Matt Forte is playing the best ball of his career, but isn’t scoring very many touchdowns. We’ll see how Forte acquits himself with QB Jay Cutler out the rest of the season.

As for wide receivers, if no one at that position has ever earned MVP – not even Jerry Rice in 1987 (23 TDs in 12 games) - then no one catching the ball in 2011 will, although perhaps Calvin Johnson merits some attention. Throw in the fact that only two defensive players and one special teamer (Mark Mosley, 1982) have ever won in the awards 54-season history, it’s extremely likely that the 2011 NFL MVP will be either a QB or RB.

We’ve mentioned Rodgers, Brees and Brady being among the usual suspects for QB candidates, and it wouldn’t be very far-fetched to consider passers like Ben Roethlisberger and even Matt Stafford. But what about the Cowboys own signal caller? Consider the following:

• Romo is currently the 4th ranked QB in the NFL, behind Rodgers, Brees and Brady,

• Romo is leading the Cowboys to not only a winning record, but he also has the team in first place in the NFC East,

• Romo suffered and played through a debilitating injury that would have shelved other NFL QBs for extended periods of time (see Vick, Michael),

• Romo had his "Emmitt Moment" when he broke his ribs and punctured his lung against the (now) 9-1 San Francisco 49ers

• Romo has led the Cowboys to two overtime victories (most in team history) and another last-minute win, for a total of three 4th quarter comebacks so far this season.

But then there are the meltdown moments; specifically, the games against the Jets and the Lions. Surely Romo’s critical mistakes in these games would be held against him in any consideration for NFL MVP, right? Maybe, but Brady still won last year despite blowing a halftime lead against the Jets with two second-half interceptions, and Steve Young still won in 1994 despite early season humiliations against Joe Montana’s Chiefs and the Eagles, and so forth and so on. Even NFL MVP-type players have rough outings, what matters is how they respond to such failures. We saw that Romo followed up his Jets debacle with his perhaps his most clutch performance ever against the 49ers, and after the Detroit disaster he played very well against at New England – it wasn’t his fault the defense allowed a game-winning TD drive with just seconds left. Besides, while Romo’s mistakes may have contributed immensely to these two losses, it was stellar passing that put Dallas in a prime position to win in the first place.

Anyway, it is still early. A lot can and I suspect a lot will happen in the next six games, including three more divisional matchups. The last four games will be a stretch during which legends are made…or delivered stillborn. One thing remains clear through ten games – this has been one of the most eventful and exciting seasons in recent memory for the Cowboys, one that still has great potential, and Tony Romo is one of the top reasons why. Everything has been accomplished so far under the white-hot spotlight of the media and the great expectations that come along with the territory of being quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. Although I am sure that Romo would gladly exchange all individual accolades in exchange for a championship, I want all of my fellow Cowboys fans to understand that we are witnessing one of the most courageous and highest performing seasons by a Dallas quarterback in the franchise’s illustrious history. It would be nice if the rest of the NFL recognized this as well.

*I am referring to the Associated Press National Football League Most Valuable Player Award, which is the most widely recognized of the league-wide "best player"-type awards. The only Dallas Cowboy to ever win this award was Emmitt Smith in 1993, as he rushed for 1486 yards and scored 11 total TD’s in just 14 games. Don Meredith won the Bert Bell Award in 1966, and Roger Staubach earned the Sporting News NFL MVP Award in 1971.

Although a few weeks ago many of us looked at Thursday’s matchup with a sense of ease, now I don’t think anyone is breathing easy at the prospect of playing the Miami Dolphins on Thanksgiving Day.

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As Cowboys fans, there are certain teams that we are mandated to love to hate – all NFC East teams, the Steelers, and maybe the 49ers and Packers. Some of us might also despise other teams for more personal reasons. For example, I believe that the New England Patriots – their coach, their quarterback, their fans, etc - are evil incarnate.

This year, I’ve added another NFL team to my naughty list – the Detroit Lions. Sure, they were cute when they started off 5-0, and the possibility of them finally having a decent team after years of utter incompetence and decades without an NFL championship warmed the hearts of football fans everywhere. But then came the infamous 34-30 lucky win over Dallas, and suddenly my perception changed.

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Tony Romo already holds many team passing records, today he added another one to his growing collection – single game completion percentage.

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Historically, it's always been tough for Dallas quarterbacks to play against their division rivals. And even when the Cowboys do win against Philadelphia, their passing statistics are often still miserable, at least since I've been a fan.

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Sure, Sean Lee has two interceptions and two fumble recoveries in just three games. Sure, he's done a tremendous job covering Hall of Famers like LaDanian Tomlinson and young studs like Fred Davis. Sure, he is leading a fantastic rushing defense and sure, he has more than twice as many tackles (31) than anyone else on the entire team. But in a blitz-happy defense that has already garnered 13 quarterback traps, Sean Lee has no sacks. Even role players like Danny McCray and Victor Butler, who have been on the field far less than #50, each have one sack. Yet Lee continues to come up empty when it comes to opposing QBs. As dreadful as it may sound, it may be time to consider benching Sean Lee. After all, it's for the Cowboys' own good. Sincerely, The United Federation of NFL Offensive Coordinators

They had every reason to roll-over and lose - facing a letdown from the Jets game, without Dez Bryant, without Terence Newman, against a young and hungry 49ers team, at San Francisco, coached by rah-rah Jim Harbaugh, down 14-0, losing Romo and Felix for extended periods of time, missing a 21-yard field goal, but yet...

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Any Dallas Cowboys fan worth his salt knows the critical role that Steve Hoffman played in the success of the franchise in the 1990s. From 1988 to 2004, Hoffman coached special teams (mostly along with Joe Avezzano), focusing on the placekickers. During his 17-year tenure in Dallas, Hoffman cultivated and coached many different heretofore unknown and subsequently forgettable kickers, including Ken Willis, Lin Elliott, Chris Boniol, Richie Cunningham, Tim Seder and Billy Cundiff. For nearly two decades, his caravan of kickers made 387 field goals in 507 attempts, for an average of 76.3%, which was pretty much the league average during that span (77%). In fact, after the first two dreadful 1988-89 seasons, Cowboy kickers made over 79% of their attempts.

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I see this morning that Miles Austin tweaked his hamstring again and is resting it. It's questionable whether he will play on Saturday, or even in the pre-season finale.

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And so Rob Ryan becomes the 9th (by my count) Defensive Coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, 10th if you count Tom Landry, who it appears took care of the defensive play-calling as Head Coach from 1960-1972.

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After a couple of relatively unproductive and disappointing seasons in 2007 and (especially) 2008, and a slow start in 2009 where he seemingly just barely missed several sacks and interceptions, former first-round pick Anthony Spencer developed into a stud linebacker opposite DeMarcus Ware over the second half of the season. His 2009 totals (including postseason) were eight sacks and two forced fumbles, and a season-long excellence against the run.

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I read earlier that there was some confusion on the Dallas sideline after Barron was called for holding on the Cowboys' last drive of the half.

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On the way into work today I heard "Don't Stop Believing" and of course thought of Tony Romo, and how this song generally represents the story of his career so far. It is a song of hope and, implicitly, redemption. It reminds me of Romo's arrival from out of nowhere and his journey up to now.

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From the DMN a couple days ago...I haven't seen it discussed on BTB as of yet -

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Actually, Ball is kind of small. Alan Ball, that is.

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I found this video by accident earlier and found it intersting. It's from when the Cowboys played at Washington last December, where Dallas won 17-0. I was at the game. It was sweet, but freezing.

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After the 1984 season, the Dallas Cowboys were looking for a game-breaking wide receiver. Drew Pearson was just forced into retirement, Tony Hill was getting old and injury-prone, Mike Renfro had a definite ceiling, and it was obvious that former 2nd round pick Doug Donley was not going to meet expectations.

In the 1985 NFL draft, the Cowboys eyed a pass-catching marvel out of Div I-AA Mississippi Valley State named Jerry Rice. Rice had set all sorts of records at his small school, and caught 27 TDs his senior season. But yet it wasn't obvious to most NFL teams that he was a stud. Receivers Al Toon and Eddie Brown were picked ahead of Rice in the first round. He was slowly but surely falling into the waiting hands of Tom Landry.

Here's what happened next -

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-top-ten/09000d5d80211e7b/Top-Ten-Draft-Trades-Jerry-Rice

After the Cowboys had Rice snatched away and were left holding the bag, they drafted the usual useless players, including receivers Karl Powe (who did show some potential before injuries ended his career) and Leon Gonzales. The Cowboys did claim Herschel Walker in the 5th round of the 1985 draft, so it wasn't a complete loss.

When the Cowboys jumped ahead of the Baltimore Ravens last night my thoughts flashed back to 1985. The Ravens were definitely looking for a speedy new WR and were salivating over the prospect of adding Bryant, but Jerry somehow managed to jump ahead and steal him away, telling the Ravens "Nevermore." 

In terms of a player comparison, please recall that Rice's 40 time was quite slow. Bryant is apparently the same way - not an official track star, but with obvious football speed. 

Only time will tell if Dez Bryant will be a solid contributor, never mind a player with the ability and performance of Jerry Rice. But it's looking good so far!  

Another year, another highly-touted Vikings team about to play a playoff game...

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