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.

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

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

The 2011 NFL Pro Bowl teams were released and there were only two Dallas Cowboys’ players in the lineups. Despite being one win away from making the playoffs, only two defensive stars were deemed worthy of the Pro Bowl. That is not my main problem with the NFC choices in 2011.

I already said awhile back that I thought Tony Romo should not make the lineup. There are three quarterbacks in the NFC who deserve this spot over Romo. The problem is that only two of those players made the Pro Bowl. Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees deserve the honors more than any other quarterback in the NFC.

However, there is no way Eli Manning should be in the Pro Bowl over someone like the Detroit Lions’ Matthew Stafford. The Detroit Lions are back in the playoffs for the first time in over a decade and it is all because of Stafford. The Giants are one loss away from sitting at home during the playoffs, and Manning gets in. What is wrong with this picture?

On the season, Stafford has 4,518 passing yards, 36 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Detroit is 10-5. Manning has 4,587 passing yards, 26 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. The Giants are 8-7. Look at those numbers and tell me that Manning is better than Stafford. Romo has 3,895 yards, 29 touchdowns and nine interceptions with an 8-7 record. Touchdowns and turnovers are more important than yards, so I say Romo deserves the spot over Manning.

But, as a Dallas fan, I will say that Matthew Stafford deserves the spot over both of them.

Other than that, I don’t have many problems with the choices. Matt Forte won’t play, so I assume they replace him with Marshawn Lynch. Michael Turner might get the call but Lynch deserves it.

There is also talk that Jason Witten was snubbed but I don’t see it. Jimmy Graham is heads and shoulder above everyone else and Witten is struggling to get his stats this season.

As a Dallas fan, I have little interest in the Pro Bowl this year because of the absence of any offensive Cowboys’ stars, but honestly, no one I see really deserves it. That is, unless you believe Eli Manning deserves his spot and then I will argue Romo all day long.

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: Yahoo! Sports

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

Read More: Tony Romo (QB – DAL), Jason Witten (TE – DAL), Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants

While Cowboys fans await the status of their quarterback Tony Romo has he battles through a swollen hand, there are some encouraging signs out of Valley Ranch that their signal caller will be able to play on Sunday.

Courtesy of Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News, thoughts from Pro-Bowl tight end Jason Witten on his injury-riddled friend and quarterback is that he’s “pretty confident” he’ll play.

Tony did good,” Witten said. “I thought he was throwing the ball well. I couldn’t tell any difference. You’d probably have to ask him about the details, but I thought from the receiving end of it, he was as good as he always is.”

More from Witten:

“I would be hard pressed to see him not playing,” Witten said. “Anyone who knows what he is about, knows he’s going to play. I don’t want to speak for him by any means, but I feel pretty confident he will.”

Here is the practice report for the Cowboys on Wednesday:

DID NOT PRACTICE

Outside Linebacker DeMarcus Ware (neck)

Defensive Tackle Jay Ratliff (ribs)

Inside Linebacker Sean Lee (hamstring)

Defensive Back Danny McCray (ankle)

LIMITED IN PRACTICE

Quarterback Tony Romo (hand)

FULL PRACTICE

Running Back Felix Jones (hamstring)

Nose Tackle Josh Brent (knee)

For more on the Cowboys head over to Blogging the Boys, SB Nation’s Dallas Cowboys blog. For more on the Giants head over to Big Blue View, SB Nation’s New York Giants blog. For more on the NFL, visit SB Nation’s NFL news hub.

Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys came out with a sense of urgency, as though
they had something to accomplish.

They wound up having a great weekend that put them back in first place in
the NFC East.

“We just can’t let up,” receiver Dez Bryant said. “We know where we want
to go and it don’t matter who comes in here, we’re going to keep the same
intensity and just play hard and hopefully we can win out. … We just got to
keep focusing and keep playing hard.”

Dallas (8-6) reclaimed the division lead by a game over the New York Giants
with two to play. A week after winning at Cowboys Stadium, New York (7-7) lost
at home Sunday to Washington knowing the Cowboys had already won 31-15 at Tampa
Bay the previous night.

“We really needed to get back on track,” said Romo, who threw three
touchdowns and ran for another as the Cowboys took a 28-0 halftime lead against
the Buccaneers.

Coach Jason Garrett spoke Sunday about how his team practiced well and with
purpose all last week, and then played that way against Tampa Bay.

So what kind of added boost did the Cowboys get by the Giants losing?

“It doesn’t matter to us. What we are focused on is our football team,”
Garrett said. “Again, processing this game (against Tampa) and going forward is
the challenge we have this week against Philadelphia.”

One thing that hasn’t changed is that the Cowboys can clinch the division by
winning their last two regular season games—or with a win next weekend in
their home finale against Philadelphia combined with a Giants loss to the Jets.
Dallas finishes the season on the road New Years’ Day against the Giants.

“We’ve got to get the wins. We’ve got to get in,” Cowboys owner Jerry
Jones said after the game in Tampa Bay. “Best way to do it is win this thing.”

While there is a clear-cut way to get to the playoffs, the Cowboys have
already lost this season to both of the division foes that combined for 71
points and 1,005 total yards. That included a 34-7 loss against the Eagles at
the end of October before Dallas swept through November with four consecutive
wins.

Then came December, when the Cowboys lost in overtime at Arizona after
rookie Dan Bailey’s apparent game-winning kick at the end of regulation was
erased by Garrett’s timeout. They blew a 12-point lead over the final 5 1/2
minutes and lost 37-34 to the Giants after Bailey’s potential tying kick was
blocked at the end of the game.

“It’s a big win for us (because) we know about the December woes,” tight
end Jason Witten said. “The only way to put that behind you is to get a big
win.”

So different than the gloomy feeling the past two weeks.

“We are a very confident team. … I don’t think we look at it as `Hey, we
win two we get in.’ I think we just take it one day at a time, one week at a
time,” Witten said. “Obviously, Philly got us good earlier in the year and
they are coming to our place. It is going to be a tough challenge and that is
where our focus is.”

Notes: Cowboys players had the day off Sunday, the first of consecutive days
without practicing. They will return Tuesday to start preparing for another
Saturday kickoff. … Dallas’ eighth victory guarantees a .500-or-better finish
in the regular season for the 34th time in franchise history. … Bailey has
made 32 field goals in 14 games. The only Cowboys kicker to make more field
goals in a 14-game span was Richie Cunningham’s 33 in 1997. … Romo is only 105
yards shy of his third career 4,000-yard passing season.

It’s a day of Hot Button debates as we gear up and m0ve closer to the big Sunday night showdown between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants. Earlier, we rolled the old Eli Manning vs. Tony Romo grenade into the room and ran out as quickly as we could. So here’s another one for you guys to kick around.

The Hot Button debate topic on ESPNDallas.com is also simple: Who will win the NFC East? Cowboys or Giants? Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com says it’ll be the Cowboys. Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com says Giants.

Personally, I think it’d be at least as much fun — if not moreso — to hear the contrary points of view from the folks covering the teams. For instance, I want a Cowboys beat guy to tell me why the Cowboys won’t win and a Giants beat guy to tell me why the Giants won’t. I’ve always thought beat writers were, or at least should be, in the best position to see a team’s flaws up close. But someday when I’m the guy who gets to decide the Hot Button topics, perhaps this can come to pass. In the meantime, here’s Calvin on why the Cowboys, who have a one-game lead with four (including two against the Giants) to play:

Yes, the Giants have beaten the Cowboys in their first two trips to Cowboys Stadium, but this Cowboys team is playing with more confidence coming into Sunday night’s game than ever before.

The return of Miles Austin to the lineup for the final month adds a different dimension to the Cowboys’ offense. He takes pressure off Dez Bryant, who continues to improve his game, especially in the fourth quarter, and tight end Jason Witten.

Calvin also thinks the schedule favors Dallas, since they get the Buccaneers and Eagles while the Giants get the Redskins and the still-contending Jets in the other two games. And he’s right, of course, but the schedule favored the Cowboys last week, too, and they didn’t beat Arizona.

Anyway, the basis for Ohm’s side of the argument is Manning, who’s playing quarterback better than anyone else in the division and, Ohm says, “only needs a bit more of an assist from either his defense or the running game to lift the Giants to the playoffs.”

The Giants have defeated Dallas in five of their past seven meetings, and Manning has had some of his best games vs. the Cowboys. He has 26 career TDs against them, and three 300-yard passing games at Dallas, where the Giants play this Sunday night. The Cowboys’ secondary has had trouble covering Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham and now they’ll get their first taste of the red-hot Victor Cruz.

And now, thanks to their feisty performance against the Packers, the Giants have regained some of their swagger. Sure, they’ve had their share of late-season collapses and they let the division crown slip out of their fingers last year to Philadelphia. But this year, Manning won’t allow that to happen. All he needs is a little help from his friends.

The cool thing is, since this is pro football and not college, we don’t have to wonder. This stuff gets settled on the field. The Giants absolutely need to win the two games against Dallas, I think. They’re a game behind and could win both and still fail to win the division if they lose the two games in between. If Dallas wins Sunday night, they’ll be in complete control and could lock up the division before the Jan. 1 rematch. Who will end up winning? I’m picking the Cowboys right now because they’re the team with the lead, the better run game and — I believe — the better defense. But Ohm’s right about at least one thing: If it comes down to the fourth quarter and it falls on the quarterbacks, it’d be impossible to count out Eli.