31-year old starting LG Kyle Kosier will miss the next 4-6 weeks due to a sprained right knee.  Kosier has played in 2 games for the Cowboys so far this season (both starts).  The Cowboys will replace Kosier at LG with Montrae Holland.  Holland has played in 3 games (1 start) for the Cowboys this year and he’s a solid veteran.  That doesn’t mean that the Cowboys won’t miss Kosier because they will.

The Dallas Cowboys looked like the team many expected them to be yesterday in Houston.  Tony Romo did a good job of spreading the ball around to a bunch of receivers in this game.  Romo completed 23 of 30 passes for 284 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs yesterday.  Marion Barber (17 car, 55 yards, TD) and Felix Jones (7 car, 43 yards) finally gave the Cowboys the threat of a running game against the Texans making it much easier to throw the football.  Roy Williams was the main man in the passing attack as he finished up with 5 grabs for 117 yards (23.4 avg) with 2 TD grabs yesterday.  Dez Bryant (4 rec, 50 yards) and Jason Witten (7 rec, 56 yards) also helped out in the passing game against the Texans.  The Cowboys finished up with 101 yards rushing on 27 carries (3.7 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 30 passes for 284 yards.

The Dallas D was outstanding until the Texans last drive but the game was well in hand by then.  Keith Brooking led the way for the Cowboys’ D yesterday with 9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed and 1 QB hit.  OLB DeMarcus Ware (6 tackles, 3 sacks) and CB Terence Newman (7 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 fumble recovery) also had solid games for the Cowboys.  Safety Danny McCray and CB Mike Jenkins each pitched in with 1 interception apiece.  The Texans finished up with 124 yards rushing on 22 carries (5.6 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 32 passes for 216 yards.  The Cowboys are now 1-2 on the year.

The Dallas Cowboys are off to a terrible start this year and Jerry Jones has already given Wade Phillips a vote of confidence which isn’t a good thing so early in the year.  The Cowboys just can’t afford to start the year 0-3 making this a must win game for them already.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Cowboys have the ball:  The Cowboys will likely engage in a firefight this weekend in Houston.  The Texans are allowing 411.0 yards passing but only 31.0 yards rushing per game so far this year.  That means that Tony Romo will likely have to do the heavy lifting again this weekend with little help from the running game.  Romo can’t afford to turn the ball over against the Texans in this game because they also have a potent offense.  The Cowboys’ O-Line better keep DE Mario Williams out of the backfield or Romo could be forced into some mistakes.  Miles Austin will likely have a huge game for the Cowboys this weekend but Romo will need to spread the ball around keeping Jason Witten, Roy Williams and Dez Bryant involved in the offense.

When the Texans have the ball:  If I had to venture a guess in this game it would be that the Texans air it out against the Cowboys.  Opposing QBs have a 98.3 QB Rating against the Cowboys and Matt Schaub is clearly the best QB they have played against.  This is a game that DeMarcus Ware has to get to the QB to give the Cowboys a good chance of stopping the Texans passing game.  Andre Johnson, Kevin Walter and Jacoby Jones will cause matchup problems for the Cowboys secondary this week.  The Cowboys must also be aware of Arian Foster both running and receiving as he already has 376 overall yards this year.

PREDICTION:  TEXANS 34, COWBOYS 31

The Cowboys are only averaging 69.5 yards rushing per game and 3.3 yards per carry so far this season and that just won’t cut it.  Defenses are going to gang up on the Cowboys’ passing game if they don’t start running the ball more effectively.  It’s not like the Cowboys don’t have talent at running back as Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice are all quality backs.  Barber leads the Cowboys in rushing with 70 on 19 carries (3.7 ypc) so far this year.  Felix Jones has carried the ball 15 times for 45 yards (3.0 ypc) and Tashard Choice has 6 carries for 17 yards (2.8 ypc) so far this year.  Barber, Jones and Choice have combined to catch 9 passes for 43 yards (4.8 avg) this season.  So the running backs are not helping the Cowboys at all this season so far and the offense won’t click on all cylinders until they do.

The Cowboys made too many mistakes to beat the Bears yesterday.  Tony Romo completed 34 of 51 passes for 374 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 INTs.  Marion Barber (11 carries, 31 yards) and Felix Jones (7 carries, 7 yards) couldn’t getting anything going on the ground for the Cowboys yesterday.  Miles Austin led the way in the passing game for the Cowboys yesterday with 10 catches for 142 yards.  Dez Bryant also made a big impact in this game with 2 catches for 52 yards (26.0 avg) and a 62-yard punt return for a TD.  Roy Williams (4 rec, 53 yards), Jason Witten (5 rec, 51 yards), Martellus Bennett (7 rec, 45 yards) and fullback Chris Gronkowski (3 rec, 13 yards, TD) also pitched in for the Cowboys in the passing game yesterday.  The Cowboys finished up with 36 yards rushing on 20 carries (1.8 ypc) and they also completed 34 of 51 passes for 374 yards in this contest.

The defense just couldn’t stop the Bears passing game yesterday and it killed them in the end.  LBs Keith Brooking (5 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss), Bradie James (6 tackles) and Anthony Spencer (5 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 2 QB hits) led the way for the Cowboys in this game.  The Bears finished up with 38 yards rushing on 19 carries (2.0 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 29 passes for 270 yards yesterday.  The Cowboys are now 0-2 on the season.

The Cowboys have lost starting fullback Deon Anderson for the next 2-4 weeks due to arthroscopic knee surgery.  Undrafted rookie Chris Gronkowski will take over the the fullback while Anderson is out of action.  Gronkowski caught 1 pass for 8 yards last weekend in his NFL debut.  The Cowboys will miss Anderson’s lead blocking.

UPDATE:  (9/24/2010) – The Cowboys have released Anderson with a injury settlement.

The Cowboys need to improve on both sides of the ball if they want to beat the Chicago Bears this weekend.  Hopefully the return of RT Mark Colombo will give the O-Line the boost it needs as Alex Barron was a mess last week as he was flagged for holding three times, including the last play which essentially cost the Cowboys this game.  Here is a look at the match-ups in this game:

When the Cowboys have the football:  The Bears only allowed 20 yards rushing on 21 carries (1.0 ypc) last week but that was against the Lions.  Look for Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice to split up 25-30 carries among them this weekend in an attempt to slow the Bears’ pass rush a bit.  Tony Romo might need eyes in back of his head as Julius Peppers of the Bears will be matched up with OT Doug Free which is a huge advantage for the Bears.  With that in mind the Cowboys might be smart to throw shorter passes than they are used to so that Romo can get the ball out. 

When the Bears have the ball:  The Cowboys won’t look to change the defense that much as they only allowed two field goals last week against the Redskins.  The inside linebackers are going to be tested big time by RBs Matt Forte and Chester Taylor (especially out of the backfield as receivers).  Jay Cutler will look to spread the ball around so that the Cowboys can’t really key on anyone in the passing game.  The Bears gave up four sacks and Cutler lost an interception last week so if the Cowboys get a good pass rush going it could cause Cutler to make some mistakes. 

PREDICTION:  COWBOYS 27, BEARS 20

The Cowboys had two huge blunders that cost them this game.  The first one came on the last play of the first half when Tony Romo threw a short pass to RB Tashard Choice who was nailed and he fumbled the ball.  Redskins’ cornerback DeAngelo Hall picked it up and ran it back 32 yards for a TD.  Then on the last play of the game, Tony Romo throws a beautiful TD pass to Roy Williams but it gets called back for holding on Alex Barron, ending the game.  Tony Romo completed 31 of 47 passes for 282 yards with 1 TD pass last night.  Marion Barber (8 car, 39 yards), Felix Jones (8 car, 38 yards) and Tashard Choice (5 car, 18 yards) led the way in the running game for the Cowboys last night.  WRs Miles Austin (10 rec, 146 yards, TD) and rookie Dez Bryant (8 rec, 56 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Cowboys last night.  The Cowboys finished up with 103 yards rushing on 22 carries (4.7 ypc) and they also completed 31 of 48 passes for 277 yards in this game.

The defense gave a solid effort last night which was wasted by the offense.  LBs Bradie James (8 tackles, 1 pass defensed, 1 QB hit), Keith Brooking (7 tackles, 1 pass defensed) and DeMarcus Ware (6 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and 2 QB hits) led the way for the D last night.  The Redskins finished up with 89 yards rushing on 23 carries (3.9 ypc) and they also completed 15 of 32 passes for 161 yards.  This was a big loss for the Cowboys to start the year.

The Cowboys and Redskins will be battling it out on Sunday Night Football this week.  These two teams hate each other so this will be a fun game to watch.  The Cowboys swept the Redskins by a combined score of 24-6 last season but the Redskins have made a lot of personnel changes.  Here is a look at the match-ups:

When the Cowboys have the football:  The Cowboys want to air it out against the Redskins.  For that to happen though they are going to have to do a good job of keeping Redskins’ OLBs Brian Orakpo and Andre Carter out of Tony Romo’s face.  The Cowboys want to break out their brand new toy (Dez Bryant) in this game.  He will likely be working against a nickel back as Roy Williams and Miles Austin will likely draw top corners DeAngelo Hall and Carlos Rogers.  The Cowboys will also attack the Redskins’ safeties quite a bit with TE Jason Witten on the short stuff.  The Cowboys will need to make sure that they keep the offense somewhat balanced with Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice against the very solid front seven of the Redskins.

When the Redskins have the ball:  It will be interesting to see the gameplan the Redskins use on Sunday Night.  I think they will run the ball a lot with Clinton Portis and Larry Johnson, at least early in the game.  The Redskins won’t wait long to start throwing to TEs Chris Cooley and Fred Davis as the Cowboys’ weak link on D is at safety.  Alan Ball and Gerald Sensabaugh are going to have to step up or the Redskins are going to have a lot of success throwing the ball.  The WRs the Redskins have are built to go deep so CBs Mike Jenkins and Terence Newman better have their running shoes on.

PREDICTION:  COWBOYS 17, REDSKINS 13

The wiseguys have just the right number in 2010 as the Cowboys went 11-5 last year.  I think the Cowboys are going to win the NFC East again but this time with only a 10-6 record.  That means if I had to make a bet on the Cowboys it would be a small one on the under.  The Cowboys are 10-1 to win the Super Bowl on their own field.  I would caution that before laying your cash down on the Cowboys that would mean that Wade Phillips would have to win 3 or 4 post season games in a row and I just don’t see it happening.