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.

The Cowboys have signed 34-year old RB Sammy Morris.  Morris played in 16 games (0 starts) for the Patriots last year and he carried the ball 20 times for 56 yards (2.8 ypc).  He also caught 7 passes for 77 yards (11.0 avg) for the Patriots last year.  Morris has now played in 141 games (37 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 708 times for 2,955 yards (4.2 ypc) with 26 TD runs.  He has also caught 161 passes for 1,245 yards (7.7 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Morris will likely backup Felix Jones the rest of the year for the Cowboys.  He’s a solid pickup for the Cowboys.

The Dallas Cowboys have lost 23-year old rookie RB DeMarco Murray for the rest of the year after breaking his right ankle last night against the Giants.  Murray played in 13 games for the Cowboys this year and he carried the ball 164 times for 897 yards (5.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Murray also caught 26 passes for 183 yards (7.0 avg) for the Cowboys this year.  Murray was very impressive this year and it’s a shame to see his season end this way.  The Cowboys will give the starting RB job back to 24-year old Felix Jones.  Jones has played in 9 games for the Cowboys so far this year and he has carried the ball 90 times for 413 yards (4.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 23 passes for 151 yards (6.6 avg) so far this year.  Jones will do a good job as the main back the rest of this season for the Cowboys.

The Cowboys gave up 15 unanswered points in the last 5:41 of the game last night as they choked.  Dan Bailey had his field goal attempt on the last play of the game blocked by DE Jason Pierre-Paul of the Giants.  Tony Romo had a very solid game as he completed 21 of 31 passes for 321 yards with 4 TD passes and 0 INTs.  DeMarco Murray broke his ankle in his game after rushing for 25 yards on 5 carries (5.0 ypc).  Felix Jones was sharp for the Cowboys in this game with 106 yards rushing on 16 carries (6.6 ypc) and he also caught 6 passes for 31 yards (5.2 avg).  WR Laurent Robinson led the way in the passing game for the Cowboys with 4 grabs for 137 yards (34.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  WR Miles Austin (4 rec, 63 yards, TD), WR Dez Bryant (1 rec, 50 yards, TD) and TE John Phillips (1 rec, 12 yards, TD) also had big grabs for the Cowboys last night.  The Cowboys finished up with 139 yards rushing on 24 carries (5.8 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 31 passes (67.7%) for 305 yards as they had possession of the ball for 25:41.

The defense was awful last night, period!  LBs Sean Lee (9 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception) and Bradie James (9 tackles) led the way for the Cowboys on D last night.  Safety Gerald Sensabaugh pitched in with 7 tackles in this game.  The Giants finished up with 110 yards rushing on 31 carries (3.5 ypc) and they also completed 27 of 47 passes (57.4%) for 400 yards.  The Cowboys are now 7-6 on the year.

The Dallas Cowboys are 5-1 this season at home, so they come into this game pretty confident.  But, the Cowboys are only 1-3 against teams with winning records this year as they have been cleaning up on bad teams.  The Giants have lost four games in a row, but three of them came against division leading teams (Saints, Packers and 49ers).  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Cowboys have the ball:  The Cowboys are likely going to try to get rookie RB DeMarco Murray going against a Giants’ D that is allowing 127.0 yards rushing per game and 4.7 yards per carry so far this year.  The Cowboys’ O-Line is going to have to step up as the Giants have one of the best pass rushing D-Lines in the league.  If Romo doesn’t have time to throw the ball, he gets jittery.  Plus, he hasn’t been the most clutch QB around late in the season.  The Giants are giving up 260.3 yards passing per game this year, so Romo could have a decent game if his head is on straight.  TE Jason Witten and WRs Miles Austin, Laurent Robinson and Dez Bryant could all have big games if things work out o.k. on Sunday Night.

When the Giants have the ball:  The Cowboys are going to have to get after Giants’ QB Eli Manning.  If Manning has time to throw the ball, he could have a big time game against a Cowboys’ secondary that is giving up 230.2 yards passing per game so far this year.  WRs Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham and TE Jake Ballard give Manning the weapons he needs to fight fire with fire this Sunday.  The Cowboys’ front seven will also have their hands full with RBs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw.

PREDICTION:  GIANTS 30, COWBOYS 27

There is a unwritten rule of sports that you can’t lose your starting job due to injury.  But, back in the day, Wally Pipp was the starting 1B of the New York Yankees.  He got injured and Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig took his job while he was out of action.  Fast forward to 2011……Felix Jones was the starting RB of the Dallas Cowboys until he got injured.  Rookie DeMarco Murray replaced him and took his starting job.  Jones is going to have to work hard to get the ball much the rest of the year.  Jones has played in 8 games for the Cowboys so far this year in which he has carried the ball 74 times for 307 yards (4.1 ypc) with 1 TD run and he has also caught 17 passes for 120 yards (7.1 avg).  The Cowboys have started using Jones on kickoff returns in an effort to get him the ball more.  He has returned 7 kickoffs for 186 yards (26.6 avg) so far this year.  Unless DeMarco Murray gets injured, Jones isn’t going to get his starting job back this year.