Playoff bound!

Dallas shutout the Washington Redskins. It was their first shutout since 2003 when they shutout... the Washington Redskins. The Wade Phillips defense has become one of the best in the league, and that's going to need to continue if the 'Boys plan to win their first playoff game in some embarrassingly long amount of time.

Sunday afternoon the Cowboys take on the Eagles in Arlington for the division championship. The Eagles control their own destiny with respect to the NFC's #2 seed and a 1st-round bye, so the game has a 3 or 4-seed swing on the line for Philadelphia (Dallas is technically still in the running for the #2 seed, but they'd need some help from other teams losing).

If Dallas wins, it's also possible that the Eagles would be their wild-card round opponent in the playoffs, so they could face Philly two weeks in a row at Cowboys stadium... which would be weird.

I'll say this, though. Over the last few weeks, both New Orleans and Minnesota have shown serious flaws in their respective games, and seem to have peaked too early this year. It seems that the Eagles, Packers, and dare I say Cowboys are the teams to be most wary of in the NFC playoffs. I honestly believe that Dallas has a solid chance to get the playoff winless streak monkey off its back in a couple of weeks. As I mentioned, the defense is playing just spectacularly. After a slow start to the season from its pass-rush, Anthony Spencer, DeMarcus Ware, and Jay Ratliff are playing some of the best football of their careers. Linebackers Bradie James and Keith Brooking look great, and cornerback Mike Jenkins has a legitimate shot to be announced for his first Pro Bowl tomorrow night. On the other side of the ball, Miles Austin continues to give the kinds of performances no one expects from undrafted receivers from Monmouth, New Jersey. Jason Witten is taking advantage of defenses that are being more and more geared toward stopping Austin. And in case no one's noticed, Tony Romo has been one of the league's best quarterbacks since Thanksgiving. The whole team looks immensely more mature and focused than December-and-beyond fade-outs of the last decade (and beyond).

The running game also looks very good, though in the past couple of games Marion Barber has been frighteningly bad on 3rd- or 4th-and short runs. His whole career he's been nothing but a battering ram, but he can't seem to get first downs or touchdowns from about 1-2 yards away. I don't know why.

Again, I'm a rose-colored glasses kind of fan, and I'll continue to be.

I'd LOVE to see the kind of whooping of the Eagles this week that we saw the Eagles give the Cowboys in last season's finale. If Dallas turns in a 44-6 loss like they did a year ago, I might cry. It'd be terribly disappointing.

On another note, I've said it before and I'll say it again: Washington, to me, has looked like by FAR the worst team in the NFL all year long. I don't know how they have the wins they do. I've watched them play three or four times this season, and each time I swore I was watching a decent division III college team.

So here are the scenarios for the Cowboys regarding the playoffs:

They've clinched a birth. If they lose on Sunday, they'll be a wildcard team. If they beat the Eagles, they win the division and will most likely be the 3rd or 4th seed (which comes with a home playoff game). If they beat the Eagles, and the Vikings lose, and the Cardinals lose, they can get the 2 seed and a first-round bye.

Honestly, I'm not sure any of that matters, though. Even a loss on Sunday isn't devastating. It'll depend on how they look. If they lose by 20 or 30 points in a gutless performance, I'll be worried. I really don't think Philadelphia's the superior team.

Alrighty then...

My not-so organized thoughts from tonight's HUGE win over New Orleans:

During the pregame show on NFL Network I heard Deion Sanders talking about how the Cowboys can't win in December. He said, "But it's not all Wade Phillips' fault. People like Tony Romo have to take responsibility for winning big games like this..." (I didn't really hear the rest of what he thought because I was busy calling him an idiot.)

As I've pointed out before, Romo had played two unbelievable December games prior tonight. Tonight, by the way, made three straight.

Further evidence that coaching is the numero uno problemo in Dallas: The Cowboys are OBVIOUSLY a talented team, with the ability to beat even the best teams. But sometimes, they just don't show up. They act like they're not a talented team, or like winning games isn't that important. You will NEVER see stuff like that happen with coaches like Bill Belichick. If his team is the best on the field, they win pretty much 9 times out of ten. With Dallas and they're coco-puff aw-shucks slow-talking cup-cake coach, Wade Phillips, they often get wins by virtue of the other team being awful (witness this year's Redskins win... which wouldn't have been a win against anyone else in the league).

Jason Garrett called a pretty good game. There was a solid balance between passes and runs. The strengths of all of the offensive players seemed to be put to good use.

It couldn't have been clearer who the true #1 Cowboys receiver is. Miles Austin caught a 49-yard touchdown pass to finish up Dallas's opening drive. In the fourth quarter after a New Orleans touchdown (bringing them within 14), the Cowboys faced a 3rd and 4. A slant route pass to Roy Williams went right through his hands. Dallas had to punt, and the Saints drove right down the field to score again and bring themselves within a touchdown. On the ensuing Cowboys possession, they faced a 3rd and 7. Romo hit Austin on a short route, and Miles turned it into a 34-yard gain, sustaining the Cowboys drive, taking more time off the clock, and effectively winning the game.

Nick Folk is as good a kicker as my left foot wrapped in aluminum foil. He should have been fired at halftime of last week's game. Now he'll definitely be fired after this one. And I don't really care who replaces him. Can't be any worse.

Players of the game: Tony Romo, Miles Austin, Anthony Spencer, DeMarcus Ware (6 days ago he was being taken out of Cowboys Stadium on a stretcher... tonight he had two sacks, and two forced-fumbles -- the guy's an animal).

Dallas is now in a decent place to make the playoffs (something I didn't think was going to happen prior to tonight's matchup). They'll still have to win at least one of the next two (both against division rivals), and could very possibly have to win 'em both.

This is actually right where Dallas stood a year ago. They were 9-5, had to beat the Ravens to keep themselves in good shape for the playoffs, and fell apart in the fourth quarter of the last game ever at Texas Stadium. After some other favorable games kept Dallas in the hunt, they went to Philadelphia for a winner-makes-the-playoffs battle, and got humiliated 44-6, showing no heart or effort at all. That could happen this year too! Let's see...

How I see it

If I ran the world, this is what would happen over the coming months:

Dallas loses out (or come close) and misses the playoffs (let's just assume they play their final three games just like they've played their last two). The next day Jerry Jones calls me up and asks me to be his top football consultant.

I'd start by saying, "Jerry, I know you own 80% of the oil on the planet, along with the most valuable sports franchise in the history of mankind... but you need to understand that you're part of the problem here. Keep your meddling little hands to yourself for two seasons and see what happens."

Then I'd advise him to...

1. Fire Wade Phillips as quickly as humanly possible. The guy has demonstrated for three seasons now that he doesn't have the backbone to lead America's Team to a successful postseason, even with tremendous talent on the field.

2. Fire Jason Garrett. He was a god in 2007 when Dallas went 13-3. Since then he's frankly been mediocre at best. At the beginning of today's game they mentioned that Dallas was (I think) 3rd in the league in total offense (by yardage). Kudos to Garrett. But they have not scored a touchdown on a game's opening possession yet this season. In fact, they currently have the longest active streak in that category (I'm pretty sure today made it 17 games). They failed to score a touchdown in the first half of the game for the third time in the last five games. They failed to score on a 1st and goal from the Chargers 3 yard line in the first half. An offensive coordinator who can ONLY seem to score on big huge long passes to Miles Austin, and big huge long runs by Felix Jones just isn't good enough. You have to score when it counts too. And on another note, he tends to freak out if the running backs don't average 12 yards per carry the first three or four times they rush, and then he passes the ball the rest of the game -- a completely silly philosophy when you actually watch what Jones, Marion Barber, and Tashard Choice can do in a game when given the chance.

3. Fire Nick Folk. In fact, if Jones had given me this coordinating position at halftime of today's game, I might have had him fire Folk right then and there. I'm sure Jon Kitna can miss just as many fieldgoals as Folk can.

4. Hire a new head coach. Shanahan, Cowher, Holmgren. Heck, offer John Gruden $100 million to reconsider his ESPN job (it's not like you can't spare the change). Or Tony Dungy. Someone with Super Bowl experience. Someone who can get his team to win those really important games at the end of the year and in the postseason. Let him bring in his own staff if he wants.

5. Keep most of the player personnel. I think the Cowboys put a pretty talented team on the field every week. It's leadership and coaching that they lack. And mental toughness (which also has to do with coaching). Probably most important to the team would be these guys: Keith Brooking (provides the most emotion and leadership on the defense... and is also quite good physically), DeMarcus Ware, Mike Jenkins (he's emerged as a really great corner), Anthony Spencer, Tony Romo, Miles Austin, Jason Witten, and all three runningbacks.

There you have it. Those are my initial steps to making this team a Super Bowl contender again. I remember when it was one. But that was an awfully long time ago.

This thought just hit me: Since the Cowboys last won a playoff game, the Minnesota Vikings (not the most storied franchise in the league, even if I do root for them against everyone but Dallas) have gone through an entire cycle of being really good (1998 - remember that team? Cris Carter and Randy Moss were unstoppable), to being really average and not scaring anyone, to being really good again (2009 - remember that team? Brett Favre, Percy Harvin, and Adrian Peterson seem to be virtually unstoppable).

Let's face it

This is not a playoff-caliber team. If they make it (which I'm highly doubting right now), they won't win their wildcard-round matchup.

One observation I've been meaning to make all year, though: Why doesn't anyone treat Dallas for what they are? Every loss triggers gloom and doom talk (whether a Week 2 loss by TWO points against a division heavyweight, or a Week 14 loss to division leading team who hasn't lost since before my first theology assignment of the semester was due). Some of it is justified. Much of it is not. Cowboys wins are discussed as if they're a so-so team ("It was a good win... but they could have done this this and this better..."), and losses are discussed as if they're the 2007 Patriots ("I can't beLIEVE they couldn't get that win!"). Perhaps Marshal Faulk on NFL Network's Gameday Morning show today said it best (and worst) when he said, "We talk about them like they're an elite team, but they really haven't earned that status." To which I would respond, "Well, then, wouldn't that be YOUR fault for giving them an unearned status?" You just can't have it both ways.

What they're not: A great team. So stop treating them like one.

What they are: A so-so team who hasn't really beaten anyone that impressive this year (with the exception of the Eagles a few weeks ago), and who struggles MASSIVELY with leadership/coaching issues, a FAR too involved owner, and end-of-the-season mental and physical toughness that rivals a 3-year old girl with swine flu. So let's treat them like one.

(I've got a follow-up post coming right away, but I want to keep each post to a reasonable length, so stay tuned.)

Harrison and Dungy: You're both wrong

Wow. I've got the Sunday Night Football game on even though I'm not really watching it. It's halftime. After a re-cap of the Cowboys-Giants game (New York won by a touchdown, in case you didn't know) Dan Patrick asked Tony Dungy (who I respect immensely) and Rodney Harrison (who I don't) about the trip to Las Vegas that Tony Romo took "to relax" (according to Patrick) the day after their Thanksgiving win over Oakland. Harrison took Romo to the woodshed for taking the trip saying that the perception in the locker room is that he was partying, and what does it say about your leadership when you go off partying right as you enter the most important stretch of games in the season. When Harrison finished Dungy jumped right on board. "I agree," he said. When you're the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys you have to remain focused.

Really, guys? REALLY?!?!?!

Let me set a few things straight: By every report I've read (and that's quite a few, believe it or not), Romo's trip to Vegas was for a private charity function. He was in the city for about 14 hours on Black Friday, and at 7 a.m. on Saturday morning he was reported to have been back at Valley Ranch to work out and watch game film (hardly the kind of thing you would expect from a partying playboy hanging out in Las Vegas for fun).

Now take a look at this: Tony Romo threw for 392 yards today. THREE HUNDRED AND NINETY-TWO YARDS. I read a brief blog post shortly after the game (before I knew Romo's numbers) and the writer said, "Romo did throw for over 300 yards today, but it took him 45 attempts to do it." When you throw ALMOST 400 yards, describing it as "over 300 yards" is misleading, frankly. That's quite a feat. His passer rating was over 112 (and by that I don't mean 112.99). He completed 75% of his passes. That's a FABULOUS day. Ask any quarterback in the league if they'd like to have those numbers for a game. Payton Manning, Tom Brady, they'd both take it in a heartbeat. To basically suggest that Romo's 14-hour trip to Vegas on a completely dead weekend 9 days before their next game was one of the reasons the Cowboys got beat today is absolutely ludicrous.

Mr. Dungy, I'm a huge fan of yours, but you missed this one. Bigtime.