When Dallas has the ball, the Cowboys are going need to continue to spread the ball around like they have done in recent weeks.  If Roy Williams can have the same success this week as he did last week, against a stout Philadelphia defense, it will go a long way with how well the Cowboys will play the entire game.  Being able to get Roy Williams the ball will make it tougher on the opposing defense and make doubling  Miles Austin a not so sure thing.  The Cowboys will need to stay balanced and that means keeping the running game going and using the three pronged attack of Barber, Jones and Choice.  If the Green Bay Packers decide to bring in a corner to cover Jason Witten, which has been considered, that would mean pulling a linebacker out of the game which could fair well in the running attack.

When Green Bay has the ball, the Cowboys defense will need to shine again.  Aaron Rodgers has been sacked a total of 37 times this season, and could give David Carr a run for his money for most times sacked in a single season.  That is where the comparisons stop between Carr and Rodgers though.  Aaron Rodgers despite being sacked so many times has only thrown five interceptions on the season, is completing 63.1% of his passes and boasts the highest QB rating of starting QBs in the leagues with 103.3.

Part of the reason  Rodgers is getting sacked so often though is because he likes the deep ball and will hold on to the ball too long to get the ball to the deep guy.  The Cowboys pass rush needs to make sure Rodgers never gets the time to make that read.  Constant pressure up the middle from Jay Ratliff and from the right from DeMarcus Ware will require Rodgers to make faster reads, but Anthony Spencer might want to step up his game to prevent Aaron Rodgers from stepping out of the pocket towards his side for my time.  Continue coverage success from the CBs can and will help the pass rush, Jenkins and Newman have been solid in their coverage this season and should be capable of keeping Aaron Rodgers at bay if the pass rush isn’t fast enough.

This year started much the same for Williams. After a full offseason of working with Romo, the release of the flamboyant WR Terrell Owens, and the assuming of the number one receiving spot, all eyes were on Williams to deliver. Deliver he did not. Through the first seven games (6 for Williams due to injury), Romo and Williams had only connected 14 times for only 249 yards and 1 score.

After the first game of the season it appeared as if the two had found each other and were clicking, going 3 receptions for 86 yards and a TD. But the chemistry did not last. Williams did not put up that kind of yardage or show that kind of explosiveness over the next 6 games. In the week 4 matchup, Williams was hit by Broncos LB D.J. Williams and sustained an injury to his rib cartilage. The injury sidelined him for a game and the bye week.

While the pressure built up over the lack of chemistry and poor results on the field, Romo and Williams found themselves the main topic of the media. Williams made a few comments regarding the lack of good passes thrown his way, and that the other receivers seem to have balls thrown in the right places. Williams then found himself having to defend his words saying that, “I didn’t complain that I didn’t get the ball. I got seven opportunities in [last Sunday's win over Seattle]. All I said was that, when it comes to me, it’s not there. The percentages … back my case. I’m not saying it can’t be fixed because that’s what we do every day. We try to work on it and get it fixed.”

Williams even started drawing comparisons to troubled wideout Terrell Owens, “I’m not a T.O. [Terrell Owens] or I’m not trying to be a T.O. I don’t know why people are trying to put me in that category because I’m happy to win. I’ve said that 100 times.”

But after a week of throwing together after practice and putting in some extra reps, Williams was able to give a glimpse of what the Cowboys were hoping for when the traded 3 draft picks for him in the offseason. In Philadelphia, Williams caught 5 passes (high since joining the Cowboys) for 75 yards, and showed some explosiveness running after the catch. After the game, Romo was happy for his receiver, “Whatever the defense dictates, that’s where we’re going to go with the ball,” Romo said. “And I think if you watch enough of our games, you’ll see that that predominantly happens. I’m happy for Roy, he’s been working hard.”

Williams was equally happy to get a break from all the criticism, “We’re just working. We’re just going to continue to work and we can only get better,” Williams said after the win in Philadelphia. “Every player goes through something. I didn’t really think this was a big deal. I knew what I said and I knew how everybody took it. But I knew how me and Romo took it. I knew how this football team took it and it wasn’t a big deal to us.”

Whether or not this new found chemistry will last is a wait-and-see approach, but with the emergence of “number 2” (Miles Austin) the future looks bright for both Williams and Romo. We will see this Sunday when the ‘Boys travel to Green Bay to play the Packers. If nothing else they just need to dial 9-11.

The Cowboys signed former Arkansas cornerback Jamar Love to their practice squad. Love signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent. He spent two weeks with British Colombia of the CFL until his release last Friday.

Philadelphia for the most part held up to their end for a good part of the game on the defensive side of the ball, putting on a formidable pass rush and sacking QB Tony Romo a total of 4 times, and catching an interception; Romo’s first in three three games.  The one thing that didn’t hold true however, is this wasn’t last year’s Dallas Cowboys team.  Dallas played a very solid defensive game in their own right, and on offense stayed patient and took what the defense gave them.

Dallas was able to keep the Eagles out of the end zone on all but one drive, forcing them to have to settle for three field goals which ultimately decided the game.  They were able to sack McNabb 4 times as well and picked two of his passes off, McNabb having only thrown 1 interception thus far this season prior to the game.  The pass rush was a major reason why the big play ability of the Eagle’s offense was virtually a no show.  Getting to McNabb quickly forced him to chuck the  ball down to his underneath man rather than trying to stretch the field.

Tony Romo once again found a slew of receivers to throw to, and even was able to find Roy Williams 5 times for 75 yards.  Tony Romo completed passes to 7 different players to include first year wide receiver and preseason stand out Kevin Ogletree.  Miles Austin would once again come up big with the game winning touchdown when he caught a perfectly delivered pass from Tony Romo and ran it the rest of the way for the score.  The play would put the Cowboys up 20 to 13 in the fourth quarter.  Tony Romo completed the game 21 of 34 for 307 yards.  This game makes his fourth 300 yard game of the season.

This game might be a statement for the Dallas Cowboys, but the statement still needs a punctuation mark.  Winning this game puts the Cowboys in 1st place in the NFC East, but it will be up to them to continue winning and hold on to that spot.  The Cowboys have a lot more to prove, and perhaps their biggest statement will come next month.

Cowboys cornerback Mike Jenkins wants to get in DeSean Jackson’s face. Blessed with blazing speed, Jackson routinely has blown by defenders during his two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. But Jenkins believes the Cowboys can slow down Jackson and the Eagles’ other speedy receiver, rookie Jeremy Maclin, on Sunday night by roughing them up. “Just be physical,” Jenkins said Wednesday. “Go out and hit them in the mouth.”

That sounds great, and builds the game up to an almost unreal level, but I think the biggest key for the Cowboys to win not only this week but the games immediately following is remembering there are 16 games in a season.  What you don’t want is the players to put all of their emotion into this one game, and be drained emotionally next week and the week following.  Instead I believe this Cowboys team needs to further separate its self from last season’s team and come into the game with an air of confidence, that what they have built on the last three weeks can and will continue their success through the rest of the season.  This Cowboys team needs to come in with the look of Professional Stoicism, backed up by the confidence that they can and will shut down each phase of the Eagles’ game plan systematically.

OFFENSE:  The Cowboys haven’t scored all season on their first drive yet, against the Eagles they need to.  The Eagles have been outstanding in the first quarter in nearly all of their games this season, and with their quick strike capability the Cowboys are going to have to be able to either keep up the pace or dictate a new pace this starts on the first drive and will continue through out the game.  Establishing the run early is going to be a major key in this game.  The Eagles like to blitz and will do so often, an effective running attack can keep the blitz at bay as the Eagles will need to adjust as to not allow too much ground to be lost on long run plays.  The Eagles have one of the top pass defenses in the league, and are third for most interceptions with 14.   The Cowboys will need to continue to take what the Defense gives them and that will require Romo to continue to spread the ball around and be mindful of his chuck-down guys underneath.  Eventually continuous success underneath will open passing lanes deep, where Miles Austin big play ability might continue to be an asset for this Cowboys Teams.

DEFENSE: This is going to be an area the Cowboys are going to have to be systematic.  The Eagles are 13th passing and 14th on the run.  This is a team that likes to pass and run the ball, and they do so evenly.  It’s always sound logic to stop the run first.  Forcing the Eagles to pass puts the game in McNabb’s hands, and that can be just as effective.  However, on average good QBs complete roughly 60% of all of their passes, while elite running backs can go for positive gains 90% of the time.  If you can stop the run, then you force the team into a more favorable percentage game.  The Cowboys are 13th in the league at stopping the run, and this is where the Cowboys front line will need to earn their money this week.  Once the run game is put to a stop the task will not become easier, LB Bobby Carpenter will likely have to continue doing a good job against a quality tight end in Brent Celek, while S Gerald Sensabaugh and Ken Hamlin will be providing help over the top to help cover WR DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin who have provided Donovan McNabb with lots of deep threat targets.

SPECIAL TEAMS: This is an area that doesn’t need much to write about.  The Cowboys Special Teams unit just needs to continue to do what they have done so far all season.  If Patrick Crayton can run another one back for a Touchdown great, but those kinds of things don’t happen in every game.

The story comes from Channel 11 in Dallas, which reports that Cowboys cheerleader Whitney Isleib went to a party dressed up as the rapper on Friday night. Of course in today’s day and age of pictures being leaked to the internet all over the place, Whitney’s pics of her getting dressed up showed up on the net, and the Cowboys are not so happy about it.

No one from the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders or the team would officially comment, but a team spokesman told us the team is aware of the situation and addressing it internally.

Now why the Cowboys are upset about this is unreal to me. I mean, it was a Halloween party, the outfit wasn’t racist, and she was on her own time. Sure, she probably needs to make sure that cameras are not following her 24 hours a day, but at the same time, what the heck did she do wrong?

I find it hard to believe that A: the news station that did this story really had nothing better to report on, and B: the Cowboys really want to deal with this garbage off the field or on it for that matter.

While Miles Austin did not put up 100 plus yards receiving this week, he is still proving his worth as a number one guy for Romo.  He now has a TD in three straight games.  He also proved his versatility with an 11 yrd run, and you can go ahead and add that to his total yardage after catching 5 passes for 61 yards.  Perhaps the biggest contribution he provided this week was pulling extra attention in his direction and allowing Romo to target 9 other receivers which helped Romo amass a total of 256 yards passing.

Roy  Williams and Tony Romo are still having problems getting on the same page and often times it looked like the two were making different reads.  It’s hard to say for sure if Romo is just throwing really bad throws or if Williams is simply just running the wrong routes, but having watched Romo key in on everyone else nearly flawlessly, I’m going to say Williams might need to work more on his routes.  Williams did show his talent when he dived into the end zone for a TD, that was reviewed and upheld, but clearly a long way from being a top wideout for the team.

Tony Romo has been playing lights out the past three weeks having not thrown a single interception in those games, and that might be a good sign that he’s turning a corner in his play.  Hitting 10 targets for 256 yards and three touchdowns is evidence that he’s seeing the whole field.  Even Kevin Ogletree was able to get on the stat sheet for the first time this season with his first catch for a gain of 19 yards.  All and all none of the receivers out shined the QB in today’s game.

The Dallas defense may go largely unnoticed in all of this, but they proved once again they are a force to be reckoned with.  The Defense was able to sack Matt Hasselbeck three times, and that doesn’t count the number of hurries and the number of times Matt found himself on his back.  The defense didn’t get a single interception but caused and recovered two fumbles at key points in the game and was a major factor why the Seahawks only were able to score 17 points.

Patrick Crayton wanted another chance to be on the highlight reels this week, and he got it with an 82 yard punt return for  a Touchdown.  Davud Buehler managed to kick the ball into the end zone 7 out of 7 times, and four of those were kneel downed for a touchback.  The only down side on Special Team’s performance was Nick Folk missing his second field goal this season, he would make up for it by kicking a 40 yarder later.

It finally looks like Dallas is rolling on all cylinders and they are going to need to continue that as next week they will need to play flawless once again to beat the Eagles, and avenge their poor performance to end last season.  Playing Philly in Philadelphia should prove to be a tougher match up then Seattle at home.