The Cowboys have signed 34-year old kicker Kris Brown.  Brown played in 3 games for the Chargers earlier this season and he was 4 of 5 on field goals and 8 of 8 on extra points good for 20 points.  He has now played in 179 games in his NFL career and he is 256 of 331 (77.3%) on field goals and he has connected on 355 of 362 extra points good for 1,123 points.  This will put a lot of pressure on 23-year old kicker David Buehler who is going to start against the Eagles this weekend.  Buehler has made 24 of 31 (77.4%) field goals so far this year and he has also made 40 of 42 extra points good for 112 points.  Buehler is on the hot seat now.

The Cowboys have placed 27-year old linebacker Leon Williams on Injured Reserve ending his season due to a hamstring injury.  Williams played in 11 games for the Cowboys this year and he had 11 tackles and a fumble recovery.  Williams has now played in 57 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 172 tackles, 5 passes defensed, 5 sacks and 1 forced fumble.  The Cowboys won’t miss Williams against the Eagles this Sunday.

28-year old OLB DeMarcus Ware played great for the Cowboys despite not having much help.  He has played in 15 games for the Cowboys so far this year and he has 61 tackles, 12.5 sacks, 9 tackles for a loss, 1 pass defensed, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery.  He has 12.5 of the Cowboys’ 30 sacks this year showing just how great he is as teams double him quite often and he still gets to the opposing QB.  Ware has now played in 95 games in his first six years with the Cowboys and he has 417 tackles, 20 passes defensed, 77 sacks, 25 forced fumbles and 1 interception that he returned 41 yards for a TD.  Ware is by far the best defensive player on the Cowboys and I think the only thing that can truly stop him is a injury.

The Cowboys are 4-3 under Jason Garrett and this is a huge game for him.  After losing a very disappointing game to the Cardinals, Garrett can’t afford to slip up against an Eagles’ team that is going to rest most of it’s starters this weekend.  The Cowboys lost just three weeks ago, 30-27 to the Eagles in Dallas.  The Eagles just want to get through this game with everyone in one piece for the playoffs.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Cowboys have the ball:  With Stephen McGee starting at QB, I see the Cowboys running the ball more than usual this weekend.  Felix Jones, Marion Barber and Tashard Choice will split the carries against a Eagles’ D that is allowing 107.1 yards rushing per game and 4.1 yards per carry.  Stephen McGee is also a solid runner so look for him to take off out of the pocket a few times in this game.  The Eagles are giving up 223.7 yards passing per game so the Cowboys won’t be shy about throwing the ball to Jason Witten, Roy Williams and Miles Austin in this game.

When the Eagles have the ball:  The Eagles are likely going to rest Michael Vick, Lesean McCoy and DeSean Jackson this weekend to keep them fresh and healthy for the playoffs.  They have solid replacements though so expect the Eagles to give a good effort on offense.  Jerome Harrison will likely have a heavy workload against a Cowboys’ D that is allowing 107.5 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry.  Kevin Kolb is going to get the start at QB and he is still a very solid QB.  The Cowboys best chance is to blitz Kolb and try to rattle him, hoping that he’ll make some mistakes. 

PREDICTION:  EAGLES 27, COWBOYS 23

25-year old QB Stephen McGee will be starting under center for the Cowboys this coming up weekend in Philly against the Eagles.  McGee was a 4th round pick in April of 2009 (#101 overall) out of Texas A&M by the Cowboys but he didn’t get into his first regular season game until last Saturday when Jon Kitna got injured.  McGee looked sharp as he completed 11 of 17 passes (64.7%) for 111 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (102.8 QB Rating).  McGee also carried the ball 4 times for 19 yards (4.8 avg) against the Cardinals.  The Eagles have a much better D than the Cardinals so McGee is going to have a real challenge on his hands plus it might be a tad cold.

38-year old QB Jon Kitna injured an oblique muscle Saturday Night against the Cardinals and it will cause him to miss the season finale in Philly against the Eagles.  Kitna played in 10 games for the Cowboys this year and he completed 209 of 318 passes (65.7%) for 2,365 yards with 16 TD passes and 12 INTs (88.9 QB Rating).  Kitna also carried the ball 31 times for 147 yards (4.7 ypc) with a TD run this year.  Kitna proved to still have a lot left in the gas tank and the Cowboys should keep him as Tony Romo’s backup going forward if all possible.

The Cowboys were getting thumped early in this game before making a huge comeback and taking a 26-24 lead with 1:41 left in the game.  But, kicker David Buehler missed the extra point setting up huge disappoinment.  The Cowboys played outstanding D most of this game but on the Cardinals’ last drive they had some big time breakdowns.  Then kicker Jay Feely of the Cardinals popped a 48-yard field goal with only 5 seconds left in the game to seal the win. 

Jon Kitna was awful in this game before leaving it with a hip injury.  Kitna completed 12 of 20 passes for 115 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 INTs (both of the interceptions were returned by the Cardinals for TDs).  Kitna also carried the ball 1 time for 7 yards in this game.  2nd year QB Stephen McGee made his regular season debut in this game and he looked pretty good.  McGee completed 11 of 17 passes for 111 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 4 times for 19 yards (4.8 ypc) as he almost brought the Cowboys all the way back.  Felix Jones led the way on the ground for the Cowboys in this game with 77 yards rushing on 16 carries (4.8 ypc).  Marion Barber also helped out on the ground with 58 yards rushing on 8 carries (7.3 ypc) with a TD run.  Tashard Choice had 4 carries for 16 yards (4.0 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 16 yards (5.3 avg) in this game.  WR Miles Austin (6 rec, 115 yards, TD) and TE Jason Witten (8 rec, 45 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Cowboys last night.  The Cowboys finished up with 183 yards rushing on 34 carries (5.4 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 37 passes for 199 yards as they had possession of the ball for 38:05 in this game!

The Cowboys’ D was outstanding in this game until the last drive of the game for the Cardinals.  LB Bradie James (5 tackles) and LB Anthony Spencer (5 tackles) led the way for the Cowboys’ D in this game.  OLB DeMarcus Ware also had a solid game with 3 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for a loss and 1 QB hit.  The Cardinals finished up with 93 yards on 21 carries (4.4 ypc) and they also completed 11 of 25 passes for 178 yards.  The Cowboys are now 5-10 on the season.

The Dallas Cowboys are now 4-2 under Jason Garrett as the head coach and they will take their act on the road to Arizona to deal with the Cardinals this Saturday Night.  The Cowboys are playing with a lot of pride right now while the Cardinals are playing like a team ready to go on vacation.  Still, the Cardinals are 3-4 at home so they probably won’t go down without a fight.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Cowboys have the ball:  The Cowboys have been running the ball more lately and I don’t think that will change this weekend.  The Cowboys are going to feed the ball to their RBs against a Cardinals’ D that is giving up 145.7 yards rushing and 4.4 yards per carry so far this year.  The Cowboys are also going to pass though as John Kitna will be aiming for Miles Austin & Jason Witten a lot in this game.

When the Cardinals have the ball:  The Cardinals just have not been smart enough to try to run the ball this year.  That means they are likely to have rookie QB John Skelton challenging a Cowboys’ D that is allowing 256.6 yards passing per game.  The Cowboys should blitz the rookie a lot in this game to force him into making some mistakes….which he will!  The Cowboys would also be smart to double cover Larry Fitzgerald all game long.

PREDICTION:  COWBOYS 31, CARDINALS 17

28-year old TE Jason Witten is on fire right now for the Cowboys.  Witten has caught 32 passes for 350 yards (10.9 avg) with 4 TD grabs in his last four games for the Cowboys as he has earned the trust of Jon Kitna.  Witten has now played in 14 games this year and he has caught 82 passes for 911 yards (11.1 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  The Cowboys are really happy with Witten who has stepped up with Dez Bryant out for the year and Roy Williams banged up.

The Cowboys have finally put 30-year old QB Tony Romo on the Injured Reserve List due to his broken collarbone.  Romo played in 6 games for the Cowboys this year and he completed 148 of 213 passes (69.5%) for 1,605 yards with 11 TD passes and 7 INTs (94.9 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 6 times for 38 yards (6.3 ypc) this year.  Romo has now played in 83 games in his first six years with the Cowboys and he has completed 1,326 of 2,070 passes (64.1%) for 16,650 yards with 118 TD passes and 62 INTs (95.5  QB Rating).  Romo has also carried the ball 136 times for 413 yards (3.0 ypc) with 3 TD runs in his career so far.  The Cowboys were smart to shut down Romo because they aren’t going anywhere this year anyway.