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 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 Dallas Cowboys have been playing some great football, and definitely looked like the best team in last weekend’s Wild Card games.  Tony Romo finally got himself a playoff win and I think his confidence will be through the roof in this game.  The Cowboys are going to need another strong performance from Romo, especially since the Vikings have such a good defense.  The Vikings do a great job shutting down the run, so Romo will need to make some good plays through the air.  If Felix Jones can have a game like last weekend, it will make things a whole lot easier.  Marion Barber is probably going to be very limited with a knee injury, so Jones needs to be ready to get a lot of carries.  I don’t think he will have the success he did against the Eagles though, especially since the Vikings hold teams to just 87 rushing yards per game this season.  The Vikings are great at getting to quarterbacks too though, so Romo needs to be ready to use his legs and buy himself some time.  He is great a rolling out to his right and making plays on the move, so I think Romo will be able to handle the Jared Allen led Vikings line.

Brett Favre loves the big stage and will be ready to face the Cowboys strong defense.  Favre is rested, but hopefully rusty after two weeks off.  So, if Favre makes some erratic throws the Cowboys secondary needs to take advantage and try and get some turnovers.  Teams that win the turnover battle win over 80% of the time, so if the Cowboys can get an interception off the old gun-slinging Favre it will be huge.  They also have to worry about Adrian Peterson, but Peterson hasn’t been putting up the numbers he used to.  He hasn’t rushed for over 100 yards since week 10, and the Cowboys are holding teams to 90 rushing yards per game this year, so I think they should be able to contain him.  I expect a close game, and even though the Cowboys are the underdog on the road, I think they are playing great football and will take down Favre and the Vikings.

PREDICTION:  Dallas Cowboys 28, Minnesota Vikings 24

The Dallas Cowboys made a big statement with their convincing 24-0 win over the Philadelphia Eagles last week, giving them home-field advantage in this rematch and the NFC East Title.  That doesn’t mean it will be another easy win for the Cowboys though, as Andy Reid and the Eagles will have revenge on their minds and they have also dominated the Cowboys in recent playoff years.  The Cowboys have been playing great though, and Tony Romo needs to get the big monkey off his back and finally win a playoff game.  He had one of his best seasons this year and the Cowboys are finally peaking at the right time.  With Romo playing well and the running combo of Marion Barber and Felix Jones, you have got to feel good as a Cowboy fan heading into this game.

The Cowboys’ defense has been doing more than their part for the Cowboys lately, getting great pressure on quarterbacks and not missing tackles.  They had a ton of success against the Eagles last week, giving them their first shutout in a few years.  They did it with strong pressure on Eagles’ quarterback Donovan McNabb, which limited McNabb’s opportunities to look down the field.  McNabb and DeSean Jackson led the league in passing plays of 50+ yards, so the Cowboys secondary can’t let the speedy Jackson get behind them.  If the Cowboys can stop the Eagles’ big plays, then they will really limit what the Eagles’ offense can do.  They don’t run the ball great, but they did average 104 yards per game, so they can’t just focus on McNabb and the pass.  If they shut down the run, it will make things even harder on McNabb.  McNabb has proven he can do it with just his arm at times though, buying time with his athleticism, so the Cowboys need to keep him contained.  This should be an exciting game, but I think the Cowboys are the better team right now and will beat the Eagles again.

PREDICTION:  Dallas Cowboys 27, Philadelphia Eagles 17

The Dallas Cowboys (10-5) have made the playoffs, but their game Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles (11-4) has the NFC East title on the line.  If the Cowboys can take down the Eagles they will be the NFC East Champions and may have a bye in the first round of the playoffs.  The Cowboys need Tony Romo to take care of the ball as any turnover could make or break this game.  Romo had gone four straight games without an interception before throwing one last week against the Redskins.  The Eagles’ defense has been playing well lately too, and it has helped them win six straight games.  So Romo will need help from the Cowboys running backs, something he should get as they have been running very well lately.

The Cowboys’ defense needs to limit the Eagles big plays, especially Donovan McNabb going deep to DeSean Jackson.  Jackson is a very fast play-maker and the Eagles have a lot of success when he has good games.  If the Cowboys can limit Jackson they will probably win.  Michael Vick will also get some snaps for the Eagles at quarterback, so the Cowboys defense needs to be prepared for that as well.  This game will have a playoff atmosphere and it should go down to the wire.  I’m going with the Cowboys in a very close one.

PREDICTION:  Dallas Cowboys 28, Philadelphia Eagles 27

The Dallas Cowboys (8-4) are hosting one of the hottest teams in the league, the San Diego Chargers (9-3).  The Chargers have won seven games in a row and have a dynamic offense.  Philip Rivers leads the way at quarterback and the Chargers can win games with his arm alone.  He has a solid running game to go to though, with LaDainian Tomlinson running the ball very well the last few weeks.  If the Cowboys want to win this, they will need to slow down the running game and try and force Rivers into some mistakes.

The Cowboys offense has the ability to keep up with the Chargers, but if they don’t get some help from the defense it will be a tough task.  Tony Romo is coming off one of his best games, even though the Cowboys lost.  Romo usually has a fall-off this time of year, but it hasn’t happened yet.  If Romo can have another big day this will be a very close and exciting game to watch.  If Romo falters, the Cowboys won’t have much of a chance.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  San Diego Chargers 34, Dallas Cowboys 28

The Giants won the first match-up between these teams back in September 33-31 at Dallas but that seems like a long time ago.  The Giants appear to be a battered and bruised team so the Cowboys need to jump on them early in this game and get them to quit.  The Cowboys will likely come out running the ball in this game with the three pronged attack of Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice against a Giants’ D that is allowing 4.2 yards per carry and 107.8 yards rushing per game.  The Giants will likely be blitzing the Cowboys a lot so Tony Romo might have to use a shorter passing attack with his ole buddy Jason Witten getting a lot more action than usual.  If the Giants’ safeties creep up to deal with the running game and Witten, then Romo should go up top to Miles Austin or Roy Williams.

The Giants will likely come out throwing the ball against the Cowboys as they are allowing 224.9 yards passing per game this year.  Eli Manning will need the O-Line to keep DeMarcus Ware away from him but that will be easier said than done.  Manning does a good job of spreading the ball around so the Cowboys won’t likely be able to double anyone.  Brandon Jacobs will likely shoulder a huge load in the running game as most of his caddies are injured and out for this game.

PREDICTION:  GIANTS 30, COWBOYS 27

On paper this looks like a horrible match-up but games aren’t played on paper.  That was proven last week when the Raiders shocked the Bengals.  The Cowboys’ defensed has not been that great this season and the Raiders would like to exploit them on the ground.  Michael Bush, Justin Fargas and Darren McFadden will all likely be testing the Cowboys on the ground as they are allowing 100.6 yards rushing per game and 4.1 yards per carry.  The Cowboys also are having problems at safety this season and the Raiders’ top receiver this season has been TE Zach Miller who could have a huge game tomorrow.  Bruce Gradkowski doesn’t have the strongest arm around but he is a solid game manager and that’s what the Raiders will be asking him to do tomorrow.

The Raiders have a solid secondary and Tony Romo has a badly bruised back so the Cowboys will likely run the ball more often than usual tomorrow.  The Raiders are allowing 157.7 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry this season so look for Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice to all be effective.  The passing game will probaby be kept to shorter passes in a attempt to protect Romo.  That means that Jason Witten will probably be the target that Romo is targeting the most in the passing game.

PREDICTION:  COWBOYS 20, RAIDERS 17

The Dallas Cowboys (6-3) are coming off their worst offensive performance of the year and need to be ready to play against the Washington Redskins (3-6).  Their rivals have won five of the last eight matchups and are coming off their best game of the year where they beat the Denver Broncos.  Tony Romo and the offense need to be a lot more productive or they will find themselves on the losing end once again.  The Cowboys only scored 7 points last week against the Packers, but I think they will have more success against the Redskins.  Romo and Roy Williams have been having a lot of success the past two games, with Williams catching 10 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown.  There is always the dangerous Miles Austin for Romo to find as well, and the Redskins give up 126 rushing yards per game so Marion Barber and Felix Jones should be able to get something going in the running game.

The Cowboys defense needs to be ready for Ladell Betts, who ran for 114 yards and a touchdown last week.  Betts is Clinton Portis’ backup, who is sitting out again due to a concussion.  Betts doesn’t play like a backup though, and he is going to be the main part of the Redskins’ offense.  Redskins’ quarterback Jason Campbell has been throwing a lot of interceptions this year, so he has been going to a lot of short passes to try and limit those.  If he tries to go downfield, the Cowboys front line can get some pressure on him as he often holds on to the ball too long.  This is a very intense rivalry, so the records don’t matter in this one.  The Redskins are coming in playing well, so the Cowboys better be on top of their game.  I think this will be a pretty close game, but if the Cowboys play like they are capable they could blow them out.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Dallas Cowboys 28, Washington Redskins 20

The Dallas Cowboys (6-2) are one of the hottest teams in the league right now and will be on the road Sunday, facing another good offense in the Green Bay Packers (4-4).  Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers has the ability to match, or even better, Tony Romo’s passing numbers.  Rodgers has a terrible offensive line though and is sacked all the time.  The Cowboys defensive line needs to get in and attack Rodgers because if they don’t get to him, he will put up 400 yards on them.  Their running back Ryan Grant is coming off a good game last week, getting 96 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, so the Cowboys need defense needs to be aware of him.

The Cowboys offense needs to continue what they have been doing week in and week out for the past four games.  Romo needs to continue to find Miles Austin, as nothing but good comes out when Austin gets the ball.  He now has 7 touchdown receptions on the year, despite not starting until week 5.  The Cowboys will have to outscore the Packers, as the defense wont be able to stop Rodgers enough.  Romo shouldn’t have a problem with that though, so I am picking the Cowboys to win their 5th straight.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Dallas Cowboys 34, Green Bay Packers 30