It's the Cowboys, what did you expect?

What started out as another hopeful Sunday gone terribly wrong for Cowboys fans turned into an overtime win, but more importantly a half game closer to the first place Giant’s and a possible playoff berth. From the outside, this looks like a promising step forward for a team haunted with December meltdowns, but even a feisty Cleveland Browns team was no match for Tony Romo’s November heroics, who now holds a 21-3 record as a starter during this thankful month. That leaves merely one final game that statistically the Cowboys can win before they head down the long road of late season failures. December has been nothing but headaches for the Dallas Cowboys nation, but this year’s team and the games remaining could possibly be the right ingredients to finally get over the hill. If you watched yesterday’s game then you probably believe I am drinking the blue Kool-Aid, but numbers say otherwise. The schedule makers were no friend of Dallas the first eight games of the season, but heading into the final six games leaves the Cowboys in a position they typically don’t excel in, controlling their own destiny. As true as that may be, today I will still break down the remaining schedule, and hopefully we can find a way to slide the Cowboys into the end of the season tournament. But first, we can dwell on yesterday’s win, because a changing Tony Romo has the Cowboys on its first winning streak of the season. The last couple games Romo has slowed down his play, taking fewer risks, and being much more efficient. He hasn’t been throwing interceptions like before, but rather a high completion percentage, and above all, back-to-back wins. This doesn’t mean the offense is dominating in all aspects, mainly because the offensive line has trouble staying in front of their own shadows. Yesterday Romo was sacked a career high seven times, and hit ten. Even someone as cool headed as Romo was caught yelling at his offensive line during the first half of yesterday’s game, during a time when a first down was seemingly impossible. This has been a constant battle for Dallas this season, and injuries have not helped. With players being shifted from one position to the other, and left tackle Tyron Smith leaving with a high ankle strain, Romo had no choice but to go 35-50 with 313 yards and a touchdown. As good as a 70% passer rating is, the most impressive number that isn’t in the stat line is the zero interceptions. More often than none, a quarterback that gets sacked seven times typically throws a couple interceptions, but the fact that Romo avoided those throws inevitably kept Dallas in the game. The other star that has been blanketed with criticism by many including myself was Dez Bryant. His twelve catches for 145 yards and a touchdown were just enough, and hopefully a jumpstart to the remainder of the season for Dez. The defense once again was the silver lining, keeping the team in the game when the offense couldn’t move the ball. After thirteen first half points, Dallas shut down the Browns until Dallas was able to take the lead in the fourth quarter. This isn’t the first time we have seen resiliency from a much improved defense, giving Dallas the chance to hang around in any game. All these stats and pats on the back look good, but in the end it was a very sloppy game, but in the NFL, a win is a win. Now Dallas has a short week to finish off their favorite month against a hot Washington Redskins team led by rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III. This will be no easy win, but at home I think Dallas will be too much for even the Redskins passing attack, leaving us with a 27-17 win, and even better a 6-5 record. After a much needed few extra days rest, the Eagles will come to town lead by a rookie quarterback and a locker room full of issues. Andy Reid is probably coaching his final days in Philly, making things even worse for a spiraling franchise. These factors are too much for even the Cowboys to screw up, giving us a 24-21 nail biter at home. Next, we jump over to the AFC to play a local DFW quarterback in Andy Dalton. Cincinnati is starting to heat up, which could make things very hard for the Cowboys. The Bengals are best when throwing the ball, but the Dallas secondary has proved itself most of the season, giving the edge to the big blue. Dallas 21-17. This is the week on the schedule that everyone made plans and decided to miss this one. The Steelers have been a pain in the neck of Dallas faithful for decades, and this season will be no different. At this point in the season I have Dallas winning five straight, but the Steelers seem to be too much for the Cowboys, edging us out 24-21. After a tough game against Pittsburg, things won’t get much easier for Dallas as they face a surging Saints team. Drew Breese has things turned around in New Orleans, but an inconsistent defense will be too much to overcome, giving Dallas a 31-27 win. The final game of the season will be in our nation’s capital, playing a Washington team that has nothing to play for, and even more importantly, nothing to lose. This game will be a trap game for the Cowboys, and looking at past history, the exact recipe for another Cowboys letdown. This game was the hardest to pick, a must win situation will help Dallas prevail, pushing us to a 10-6 record, and most likely division champs. These games all look very good on paper, but as I have stated many times before, no team can break your heart like the Cowboys. We could just as easily lose four of six, but how much fun would that be to write about? Instead, we will stay positive and let the numbers speak for themselves. Dallas played an awful schedule and prevailed winning as many as they lost. Now the division and playoffs are back in sight, and this may be the season we get over the hump and back on the NFL radar. Follow me on Twitter @DFWsportscreed