by Tony Bosma
It may have been too soon, but I wrote about the Dallas Cowboys December woes on August 19, 2009. It seems like post was published just yesterday, but here we are on December 6 and we’re ready to find out what kind of ammunition the Cowboys will bring into December this year. Besides, nothing about the Cowboys 2009 season seemed to matter except December.
You can reference my previous post on this subject here: Romo needs to learn from Cowboy legends
We’ve learned a few things about Tony Romo over the past few months we didn’t know before; the kinds of things that could make this December different from those of the past.
Romo has the ability to be the kind of leader the Cowboys need to excel in December and the playoffs. He is more poised, less frantic, making better decisions with the football, and distributing the ball to his receivers better than ever.
Give Romo all the credit you want, but the defense deserves just as much. At 8-3, the Cowboys are a much fuller team than a year ago. The combination of a more fluid offense and a stingier defense could mean December success, finally, for Dallas.
However, the December schedule could be the hardest in years: @ New York Giants, vs. San Diego Chargers, @ New Orleans Saints, @ Washington Redskins. On first glance, the Washington game looks the most winnable, but don’t forget the 7-6 blowout win against the Redskins at home two weeks ago.
The Giants game, today, will be a strong barometer of what’s to come for this team in December. It is a game the Cowboys have no business losing because of the deficiencies facing the Giants (running game, defensive line, secondary).
If the Cowboys can exit December 2-2 (10-5 overall), consider it a success. Their best chances to win are against the Giants and Redskins, which happen to be division games and could be the most important anyway.
But don’t count them out against the Chargers or Saints. The Cowboys are good enough to compete with any team in the league, and they’ve got the chance to prove that starting today.
