The Cowboys will be sending 29-year old OLB DeMarcus Ware and 30-year old DT Jay Ratliff to the Pro Bowl.  Ware has played in 15 games for the Cowboys so far this year and he has 53 tackles, 18 sacks, 6 tackles for a loss, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 pass defensed.  Ware has been a unstoppable force this year for the Cowboys as he appears to be living in opposing backfields.  Jay Ratliff has played in 15 games for the Cowboys so far this year and he has 35 tackles, 2 sacks, 6 tackles for a loss, 1 fumble recovery and 2 passes defensed.

The Dallas Cowboys have placed 31-year old guard Montrae Holland on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to partially torn left biceps.  Holland played in 10 games (all starts) for the Cowboys this year.  He has played in 31 games (14 starts) in his first four years with the Cowboys.  The Cowboys have re-signed 29-year old G/T Daniel Loper to replace Holland on the active roster.  Loper didn’t get in any games earlier this year for the Cowboys.  He has now played in 58 games (9 starts) in his first seven years in the NFL.

UPDATE:  (12/31/2011) – The Cowboys have waived Daniel Loper.

The Cowboys were doomed early in this game when Tony Romo injured his throwing hand.  He threw 2 incomplete passes.  Stephen McGee finished up this game at QB for the Cowboys and he completed 24 of 38 passes for 182 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 4 times for 28 yards (7.0 ypc).  Sammy Morris led the way on the ground for the Cowboys with 13 carries for 29 yards (2.2 ypc) and he also caught 4 passes for 10 yards (2.5 avg).  Felix Jones could only muster 4 carries for 24 yards (6.0 ypc) as his hamstring was barking.  WR Dez Bryant (6 rec, 62 yards), WR Miles Austin (4 rec, 40 yards, TD) and TE Jason Witten (4 rec, 24 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Cowboys.  The Cowboys finished up with 81 yards rushing on 23 carries (3.5 ypc) and they also completed 24 of 40 passes (60%) for 157 yards as they had possession of the ball for 32:23.

The defense did not play too well for the Cowboys in this game.  OLB Anthony Spencer (6 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and 1 QB hit) and CB Terence Newman (6 tackles) led the way for the Cowboys in this game on D.  LB Sean Lee (5 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 QB hit) and OLB DeMarcus Ware (4 tackles, 2 tackles, 2 sacks and 3 QB hits) also had solid games.  The Eagles finished up with 105 yards rushing on 26 carries (4.0 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 32 passes (56.3%) for 281 yards.  The Cowboys are now 8-7 on the season.

The Cowboys need to step up and play a good game against a decent team today if they want to make the playoffs.  The Cowboys are 1 game ahead of the Giants and 2 games ahead of the Eagles in the NFC East…..so they need this game.  The Eagles thrashed the Cowboys 34-7 in Philly earlier this year.  The Eagles have won two games in a row by a combined score of 71-29!  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Cowboys have the ball:  The Cowboys are likely going to come out throwing the ball with RB Felix Jones gimpy.  The O-Line is going to have their hands full with the Eagles’ pass rush as they already have 46 sacks so far this year.  If Tony Romo has time to throw the ball today, he is going to be effective as Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, Laurent Robinson and Jason Witten give him a lot of lethal targets in the passing game.  RB Sammy Morris will try to give the Cowboys some balance on offense today.

When the Eagles have the ball:  The Eagles are likely going to come out running the ball with Lesean McCoy shouldering most of the load.  Michael Vick is going to be opertating out of the pocket for the most part today, with his ribs still barking.  The Cowboys will try to contain him, while bringing a lot of heat on the pass rush.  The safeties are likely going to have issues with TE Brent Celek who has really stepped up lately for the Eagles.  Jeremy Maclin and Desean Jackson will challenge the Cowboys’ secondary down the field today.

PREDICTION:  EAGLES 27, COWBOYS 23

The Cowboys busted up the Buccaneers last night in Tampa.  The Cowboys were up 28-0 at the half and had this game when in hand throughout.  Tony Romo was excellent last night as he completed 23 of 30 passes for 249 yards with 3 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Romo also carried the ball 3 times for -1 yard (-0.3 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also lost a fumble that was returned 4 yards for a TD by LB Dekoda Watson.  Felix Jones led the way for the Cowboys on the ground last night and he rushed for 108 yards on 22 carries (4.9 ypc).  He also caught 3 passes for 23 yards (7.7 avg) last night.  Sammy Morris got into his first game of the year last night for the Cowboys and he looked good.  Morris carried the ball 12 times for 53 yards (4.4 ypc) in this game.  TE Jason Witten (4 rec, 77 yards), WR Miles Austin (5 rec, 53 yards, TD), WR Dez Bryant (4 rec, 40 yards, TD) and WR Laurent Robinson (3 rec, 29 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game last night.  The Cowboys finished up with 160 yards rushing on 37 carries (4.3 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 30 passes (76.7%) for 239 yards as they had possession of the ball for 37:59.

The defense was dominating for the Cowboys last night.  CB Orlando Scandrick  (6 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 QB hit and 1 sack) and OLB Anthony Spencer (5 tackles and 1 QB hit) led the way for the Cowboys’ D last night.  LB Bradie James pitched in with a fumble recovery.  The Buccaneers finished up with only 58 yards rushing on 13 carries (4.5 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 27 passes for 132 yards.  The Cowboys are now 8-6 on the season.

31-year old QB Tony Romo has been on fire the last six weeks for the Cowboys.  In his last six games, Romo has completed 136 of 201 passes (67.7%) for 1,687 yards with 15 TD passes and 2 INTs.  The Cowboys are going to need Romo to stay hot if they are going to get back to the playoffs this year.  Romo has now played in 13 games this year for the Cowboys and he has completed 294 of 453 passes (64.9%) for 3,646 yards with 26 TD passes and 9 INTs (100.6 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 17 times for 44 yards (2.6 ypc) so far this year.

The Dallas Cowboys have lost two games in a row, making this game on Saturday Night a must win game if they want to get into the playoffs.  The Cowboys are 6-2 against teams under .500 this year.  The Buccaneers have lost seven games in a row!  But, they are at home and this is only their second sellout and last home game of the year….so they might be inspired.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Cowboys have the ball:  The Cowboys are likely going to be pass heavy this Saturday against the Bucs.  The Buccaneers don’t have much of a pass rush and they are giving up 248.8 yards passing per game so far this year, so Tony Romo is in line to have another outstanding game.  Look for him to spread the ball around to Jason Witten, Laurent Robinson, Miles Austin and Dez Bryant…as they should have no problem going right down the field through the air.  Felix Jones will lend ground support against a Bucs’ D that is allowing 139.7 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry.

When the Buccaneers have the ball:  The Buccaneers will likely try to run the ball with LeGarrette Blount against a Cowboys’ D that is allowing 101.2 yards rushing per game and 4.2 yards per carry.  The Cowboys are going to be sending OLB DeMarcus Ware (15 sacks) after Josh Freeman and his sore right shoulder all day long.  The Cowboys are going to get a lot of shots at pickoffs this weekend as Freeman had a hard time getting the ball down the field last week against the Jaguars.

PREDICTION:  COWBOYS 31, BUCCANEERS 14

The Dallas Cowboys have placed 39-year old QB Jon Kitna on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to a bad back.  Kitna played in 3 games for the Cowboys this year and he completed 6 of 10 passes (60%) for 87 yards with 1 TD passes and 2 INTs (82.1 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 3 times for -2 yards (-0.7 ypc) this year.  Kitna has played in 13 games (9 starts) in his first three years with the Cowboys and he has completed 215 of 328 passes (65.5%) for 2,452 yards with 17 TD passes and 14 INTs (87.3 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 34 times for 145 yards (4.3 ypc) with 1 TD run with the Cowboys.  It will be up to 26-year old Stephen McGee to back up Tony Romo the rest of this year.  McGee has played in 2 games (1 start) in his career for the Cowboys and he has completed 22 of 44 passes (50%) for 238 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs (81.4 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 13 times for 74 yards (5.7 ypc) for the Cowboys.  McGee played well last year for the Cowboys when pressed into service, so they are comfortable with him as the backup QB moving forward.

The Cowboys have re-signed 24-year old WR Dwayne Harris.  Harris played in 5 games earlier this year for the Cowboys, before getting waived, and he didn’t catch any passes.  Harris also returned 11 punts for 73 yards (6.6 avg) and 3 kickoffs for 74 yards (24.7 avg) for the Cowboys in his first go around this year.  He will likely get a chance to return kicks and punts right away for the Cowboys as they want WR Dez Bryant and RB Felix Jones to concentrate on offense going forward.  He was a sixth round pick out of East Carolina in last April’s NFL Draft.

The Cowboys have placed 23-year old safety Barry Church on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to a shoulder injury.  Church played in 13 games for the Cowboys this year and he had 28 tackles and 2 tackles for a loss.  He has now played in 28 games in his first two years in the NFL and he had 48 tackles, 1 forced fumble and 2 tackles for a loss.  The Cowboys will miss Church on special teams the rest of the year.