The Dallas Cowboys (3-2) are coming off a bye week and are facing off against a talented and improving Atlanta Falcons (4-1) squad.  Tony Romo finally had a good game in their last game against the Kansas City Chiefs, throwing for 351 yards and two touchdowns.  The Chiefs are not a good team though and Romo has not been able to perform well against the better teams this year.  He either is too aggressive forcing the ball or isn’t aggressive enough and plays timid.  Romo needs to find a good medium and take what the defense gives him and he can’t be afraid to make a mistake.  The Cowboys should give it to Marion Barber and Tashard Choice as often as possible to take the pressure off of Romo.  They should be able to wear down a Falcons’ defense that gives up 118 rushing yards per game.

The Cowboys defense needs to be ready for Matt Ryan and his passing attack.  Ryan has had some big games for the Falcons this year and has proven himself as a good leader.  The second year quarterback does make mistakes from time to time though and has thrown three interceptions in the past two games, so the Cowboys should try and force him into some turnovers.  Tight end Tony Gonzalez has turned into one of Ryan’s favorite targets, so the Cowboys need to be aware of him.  They also need to be ready for the running attack too.  Atlantas’ Michael Turner is averaging 3.5 yards per carry and has six touchdowns. This should be a close and high scoring game, but I think the Cowboys should pull out the victory at home.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Dallas Cowboys 34, Atlanta Falcons 31

With Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Roy Williams all banged up the bye comes at the right week.  Barber has a nagging quad injury that just won’t seem to go away.  He still leads the Cowboys in rushing with 297 yards on 58 carries (5.1 ypc) and he has caught 4 passes for 58 yards (14.5 avg) this season.  The Cowboys need Barber because of the power he brings to the running game.  Jones is a flat out speedster who can go the distance any time he touches the football.  He has carried the ball 21 times for 212 yards (10.1 ypc) with 1 TD run this season.  WR Roy Williams needs to get back into action or Miles Austin might just steal his job.  He has caught 11 passes for 214 yards (19.5 avg) so far this season with 1 TD grab.  The Cowboys will be more potent when they get all of these guys back healthy.

The Cowboys have signed 32-year old special teams ace Allen Rossum.  Rossum will likely replace Patrick Crayton on punt returns.  Crayton has returned 10 punts for 80 yards (8.0 avg) for the Cowboys this season.  Rossum played in 3 games for the 49ers this season and he made 2 tackles.  He also returned 12 punts for 84 yards (7.0 avg) and 7 kickoffs for 152 yards (21.7 avg) for the Niners.  Rossum has now played in 156 games in his NFL career and he has made 136 tackles, defensed 14 passes, has 2 sacks and 2 interceptions.  He has also returned 307 punts for 3,056 yards (10.0 avg) with 3 TD returns and 513 kickoffs for 11,931 yards (23.3 avg) with 5 TD returns.  The Cowboys have released CB Cletis Gordon who was only a Cowboy for 1 week and he didn’t do anything.

The Dallas Cowboys (3-2) got a ridiculously good game from the undrafted receiver Miles Austin, who led the Cowboys to an overtime win over the Kansas City Chiefs (0-5).  To say Austin had a breakout game would be putting it lightly to say the least, as the receiver had a franchise record 250 receiving yards.  Austin was filling in for the injured Roy Williams and had two touchdowns and ten catches for 250 yards (25 yard avg).  He could have had even more, as he dropped a touchdown in the first quarter.  Tony Romo finally broke out of his funk and did a great job finding the nearly unknown receiver, finishing with two touchdowns and 351 yards on 20/34 attempts (59%).

The Cowboys got a big game from their running backs as well.  Tashard Choice did a great job filling in for Felix Jones with a touchdown and 92 yards on only 8 carries (11.5 avg).  Marion Barber added 53 yards on 15 carries (3.5 avg).  The Cowboys still did not look very sharp at times though, despite the eye-popping statistics.  There were times were Romo and his receivers were out of synch with a few drops and and a few erratic throws.  Romo did not throw a pick though and got his first touchdown pass since week two.

The Cowboys defense did a great job stopping the run, holding the Chiefs’ Larry Johnson to 37 yards on 21 carries (1.8 avg).  They did not do a very good job with Matt Cassel and the Chiefs’ passing game though.  Cassel had two touchdowns with 253 yards on 23/41 attempts (56%).  Now those aren’t the best quarterback numbers, but the Cowboys defense let Cassel take the Chiefs to a 13-3 lead late in the 3rd quarter and then let him lead a game-tying drive late in the 4th quarter after the Cowboys had scored 17 straight points.  The Cowboys had a few big plays up their sleeve though, and Tony Romo found Miles Austin for a 60-yard touchdown in overtime to win the game.

The Dallas Cowboys (2-2) have been having an up and down season so far this year, and have not looked very good lately.  Good thing they are facing a winless team, as they are on the road this week taking on the Kansas City Chiefs (0-4).  The Chiefs don’t really do anything well, but their running game can be effective.  Chiefs’ running back Larry Johnson has gotten off to a slow start this season, as he is only averaging 2.6 yards per carry.  Their second string running back Jamaal Charles has shown some good things in his limited carries, as he has 68 yards on 12 carries (5.7 avg), so he may get a few more attempts against the Cowboys.  The Cowboys can’t let the Chiefs running game get too much, as their quarterback Matt Cassel can be very effective when he has a good running game going for him.

The Cowboys offense should be able to do a lot of damage against the Chiefs defense.  Tony Romo really needs to have a good game to get the Cowboys’ offense going again.  Romo has been playing terrible ever since his great game in week one.  The Chiefs are giving up 129 rushing yards per game though, so expect Marion Barber to rack up a lot of yards on the ground.  Felix Jones is still out with a knee injury, so Tashard Choice will get a chance to show more than his 2.4 yards per carry last week.  The Cowboys should not have a problem against the Chiefs and should win this one pretty easily.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Dallas Cowboys 31, Kansas City Chiefs 17