The Dallas Cowboys’ season ended with a heartbreaking loss to the New York Giants in the final game of the 2011 NFL regular season. Here is a look at how the offensive stars finished the game for the Cowboys.

Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys
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Tony Romo

Tony Romo came into the Week 17 game with the New York Giants with a bruised hand and seemed like the biggest question mark on the field. However, out of all the players in the game, Romo was the one who came to play. He completed 29-of-37 of his passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw an interception and fumbled the ball, but a lot of his problems had to do with bad offensive line play.

Laurent Robinson

Out of all the stars on the Dallas Cowboys’ roster, it is newcomer Laurent Robinson who leads the team in touchdowns with 11. In the final game of the season, while Dallas had few stars step up, it was Robinson who caught both touchdown passes from Romo. Robinson was the Cowboys’ best offensive weapon this season.

Felix Jones

When DeMarco Murray went down with a season ending injury, Felix Jones got his chance to prove he could help the team win. He did fine but it is obvious that the Cowboys need Murray back next year bad. Jones ran for 30 yards and caught seven passes for 47 yards in Week 17. It wasn’t horrible but Dallas needs a better rushing attack in 2012.

Dez Bryant / Miles Austin

Dez Bryant led the team with 70 receiving yards in the game on six receptions in the game. Miles Austin did not do anything of note, with two receptions for 20 yards. Neither man was a solid weapon in this game because Romo had little time to wait for routes to develop before the pass rush reached him.

Jason Witten

Jason Witten finally had a decent game but fell short of the 1000 yard mark for the first time since 2008. He finished the game with seven receptions for 69 yards.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys’ fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys’ related news, good or bad

Source: dallascowboys.com

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With the Dallas Cowboys’ loss to the New York Giants officially ending their season, there has to be a time to look back and see what went right with the franchise. One of the best stories of the season featured a wide receiver that had never reached his potential getting another chance and exploding in 2011.

Laurent Robinson
Wikimedia Commons

Laurent Robinson joined the Cowboys to help out the team when Miles Austin went down with a hamstring injury. After integrating himself into the offense in Week 3, with three receptions for 49 yards, he exploded against the Detroit Lions in Week 4. While Dallas might have lost the game at the end, they found a new star for the wide receiver corps. Robinson caught seven balls for 116 yards.

Austin returned in the next game, after the bye week, but by Week 8, Robinson made his name with the Cowboys. Against Philadelphia, in that game, Robinson caught five balls for 103 yards and his first touchdown of the season.

Over a five game stretch, Robinson caught at least one touchdown pass in each game, with two against Buffalo and Miami. He broke 100 yards again in Week 14, against the New York Giants, and then finished the season, against the Giants once again, with two more touchdowns.

By the end of the Dallas Cowboys’ 2011 NFL season, Laurent Robinson finished with season high in receptions (54), yards (858) and touchdowns (11).

Robinson started his career in Atlanta and then moved on to the St. Louis Rams. At both stops, he was supposed to be a star but failed to hold onto a job at either location. With this fresh chance in Dallas, and a Pro-Bowl caliber quarterback throwing him the ball, Robinson finally showed what he is capable of.

If anything, Robinson has shown that he has a chance to be a solid starter for a team in 2012. It would be nice to see him return to Dallas, but does he really want to play secondary roles behind Dez Bryant and Miles Austin? He said he loves it in Dallas and would love to return, though. Fans of the Cowboys will have to wait and see, but if Robinson comes back in 2012, Dallas should have one of the top receiver corps in the NFL once again.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys’ fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys’ related news, good or bad

Source: dallascowboys.com

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

The disappointing 2011 National Football League (NFL) Season is finally over for the Dallas Cowboys. There were some high moments and some very low ones. Here are five areas that need fixing on the Cowboys.

The Philadelphia Eagles embarrassed the Dallas Cowboys in Week 8.
commons.wikimedia.org/Billy Bob Bain

Primary Running Back?

Who will be the primary running back for the Dallas Cowboys next season? DeMarco Murray should be the guy. However, Murray suffered a fractured ankle in Week 14 that ended his season. That is cause for concern because the Cowboys are thin at running back. Felix Jones continues to be plagued by injuries. Even when healthy, Jones is not the power back the Cowboys need.

Defense When it Counts

New defensive coordinator Rob Ryan implemented a new scheme that promised aggressiveness. The defense played well at times but failed in the most crucial moments. Poor defense resulted in two late-season losses to the New York Giants. Are the players still learning the new system? Do the Cowboys simply lack enough talent on defense?

Dr. Tony and Mr. Romo

Will the real Tony Romo please stand up? Sometimes you get a gutsy performance like the Week 2 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Other times you get the Romo who literally threw the game away against the Detroit Lions in Week 4. How many more chances does Romo get? He is still not an elite quarterback in the NFL.

Is Garrett the Guy?

Why is owner Jerry Jones convinced that Jason Garrett is the right coach for the Cowboys? Jones criticized Garrett for being too conservative in Week 6 against the New England Patriots. Garrett goofed in Week 13 against the Arizona Cardinals. His clock management effectively iced his own kicker and lost the game. The Cowboys were embarrassed by the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 8. They failed to clinch the playoffs in Week 17 against the Giants. Garrett is supposed to know these teams. Aside from the Washington Redskins, his division rivals got the best of him this season.

Involved Owner

Jones is one of the most involved owners in the NFL. But his control on the team may be part of the problem. Jones is the owner, president and general manager of the Cowboys. He is not the head coach. Jones needs to step back and let the coach be the coach. He needs to give his coach the power to make all coaching decisions and fully support those decisions. Until that happens, this team will not move forward.

These are five areas that need fixing on the Cowboys. They have a lot of work ahead of them. The offseason starts now.

More from Edwin Torres:

The Ten Commandments of Tim Tebow: Explaining His Stunning Success

Giant Loss Reveals Truths About the Dallas Cowboys: Fan Reaction

Top Ten NFL Stories in 2011: Fan View

Edwin Torres has been a fan of the Dallas Cowboys since the days of Tony Dorsett and Roger Staubach. He enjoyed watching the Dallas teams of the 90s dominate opponents on both sides of the ball. As a longtime fan of the National Football League, Edwin follows many interesting games and stories each week. For more articles, follow him on Twitter @FlipPoker.

Sources:

NFL – Statistics – Yahoo! Sports

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Everything is on the line when the Dallas Cowboys travel to MetLife Stadium to take on the New York Giants in a winner take all matchup for the NFC East title. So naturally every little detail is being looked at and overly scrutinized.