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
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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

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It seems like as the 2011 NFL regular season rolls to a conclusion, the person we hear from the most with Dallas Cowboys’ related news is Jerry Jones. He is the owner and general manager, but it almost seems lately he is their chief PR man as well.

Jerry Jones
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This week, Jones has even more news about his team to deliver to the press and the public in general.

The first thing that Jones wanted to make clear is that Jason Garrett will be his head coach in 2012. Jones said that, even if Dallas loses to the New York Giants on Sunday night and misses the playoffs, there is zero-percent chance he fired Garrett.

I agree with this stance. Jason Garrett has been head coach for just over one year. If a team drops a coach without giving them a fair chance, and one full season is not a fair chance, they will end up like the Oakland Raiders.

Garrett, in his head coaching career is 13-9. A lot of people talk about his play calling, but in his first year in Dallas calling the plays, the Cowboys went 13-3, the best record in the NFC. That was four years ago. Now that he is the head coach, a lot more is expected of him.

However, in the 2011 season, his first full season as the head man, he has had to deal with a starting quarterback breaking his ribs, his starting wide receiver missing half the year with a bad hamstring and his explosive new rookie starting running back going down with a season ending injury. That is a lot to deal with. Add in the fact that their leading tackler has been playing with a cast on his hand and the best player on the entire team, DeMarcus Ware, has been playing hurt as well.

It sounds like I am making excuses for the Cowboys’ record but I’m not. I am just stating the facts. Dallas proved this season they can beat any team they play, and all but one loss was due to mental lapses at the end. That is on Garrett but it is something he will grow with as his career wears on.

Jerry Jones says he is not going to fire Garrett if Dallas loses. In my opinion, that is a good thing because it means he is going to let his coach actually try to build something here. Playing hot potato at head coach is no way to develop a franchise.

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: CBSSports.com

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For Dallas Cowboys’ fans worried about Tony Romo’s status for the New Year’s Day game against the New York Giants, Miles Austin says not to worry. The receiver, who has been working this week with Romo, said the quarterback is practicing just fine.

Austin went on to say that Romo has been accurate and does not show any signs of the hand bothering him at all. While he said he doesn’t know how Romo feels, he knows that the passes feel normal and are on par with what he is used to from the Cowboys’ signal caller.

Luckily for Romo, there were eight days between the injury and the Giants’ game, so the hand had time to heal. His hand has been wrapped up and protected this week during practice while Romo has been throwing the ball. On Friday, it was heavily taped up in an effort to further decrease the swelling.

Romo has said all week he expects to play in the game. He said his hand has improved day-by-day and the swelling has been going down on a steady basis. In an interesting statement for fans, Romo said that playing with the injured ribs earlier in the season was much harder than playing with the swelling in his hand.

Romo has been playing in pain all season, so it was no surprise to learn he would not miss the game that will determine the NFC East champions. In the first game against the Giants this season, Romo threw for 321 yards and four touchdowns, which makes sense with the Giants having the 27th ranked pass defense in the NFL.

However, Dallas’ defense collapsed in the final two minutes and the Giants came back to win. With the defense prone to slip-ups, especially late in games, Dallas needs Romo at full strength. Thankfully, that is what Austin says his quarterback currently is.

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.

Dallas Cowboys’ tight end Jason Witten missed the Pro Bowl in 2011, his first time to miss the big game in eight years. Witten played in the Pro Bowl from 2004-2010, but in 2011, it is Tony Gonzalez and Jimmy Graham getting the call instead.

Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys
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While Dallas fans might complain about his omission, the fact is that Witten, once the best tight end in the NFL, is now realistically not even the third best in the NFC.

Jimmy Graham has given the New Orleans Saints something they have not had, a tight end who can contribute major stats for the team’s offense. Heading into the final week of the season, Graham has 91 receptions for 1,213 yards and ten touchdowns. Graham is also only 25 and looks to be the next generation’s Jason Witten.

Tony Gonzalez is at the other end of the spectrum, 35 years old but enjoying his best season since he played for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2008. Heading into the final game of 2011, Gonzalez has 79 receptions for 867 yards and seven touchdowns. The Pro-Bowl loves rewarding legendary comeback players.

Unless Jason Witten has his best game of the 2011 season, he will miss out on 1,000 yards for the first time since 2008. He has 72 receptions for 873 yards and five touchdowns. There is a chance he will have his lowest yardage totals and receptions since 2006.

In the first two games of the season, it looked like Witten was going to have another great season. He had 13 receptions for 113 yards in those first two games. He has not gained 100 yards in a game since. Since pulling down eight receptions in Week 4, he has not caught more than five balls in a game. Over the past three weeks, heading into the season finale, Witten has two games with under 25 receiving yards.

This is not the same Jason Witten that Dallas Cowboys’ fans are used to. He is still a solid player but is a step below what he once was. In 2011, he definitely wasn’t a Pro Bowl tight end.

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

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The Dallas Cowboys will not see many players on this year’s Pro Bowl squad. As a matter of fact, they were shut out completely on the offensive side of the ball. However, they will send two defensive players to the Pro Bowl, so Dallas fans have something to look forward to in the season ending exhibition game.

Sean Lee, Dallas Cowboys
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It should come as no shock to anybody that DeMarcus Ware is the highest vote getter on the Dallas Cowboys’ squad. Ware is tied for second in 2011 for sacks at 18 and is widely considered not only one of the best linebackers in the game but one of the best overall defensive stars in the NFL.

Over his seven year career in Dallas, Ware has averaged 14 sacks a season and needs only two more in the final game with the New York Giants to match his season high over his career. He also has 53 tackles on the year for Dallas.

The second player to make the Pro Bowl is nose tackle Jay Ratliff. Even as a Dallas fan, this is a little strange to me. Ratliff has 35 tackles on the season, 26 solo, and two sacks. It’s not bad but is it a Pro Bowl year? Cullen Jenkins of Philadelphia had 37 tackles, 29 solo, and 5.5 sacks.

But at least Ratliff was the second Cowboys’ player to make the lineup.

Now, let’s talk about who got shafted.

Inside linebacker Sean Lee has been hurt a couple of times this season but it didn’t matter. He kept playing. The second year player out of Penn State has 94 total tackles on the season with two fumble recoveries and four interceptions, tied for the most of any linebacker for picks in the NFL alongside New York Jets linebacker David Harris. Something else the two have in common is that neither made their respective Pro Bowl teams.

Starting linebacker Patrick Willis is a monster. He has also been injured since Week 14. He has 93 tackles on the season, one interception and four forced fumbles. Willis and Lee are very similar when it comes to stats. Brian Urlacher is the other man headed to the Pro Bowl. He has 92 tackles on the year with two fumble recoveries and three interceptions. I argue that all three men deserved to make it to the Pro Bowl.

Only two made it and that means that, despite his amazing year, Sean Lee was snubbed in the NFL Pro Bowl. In any other year, he could have been the starter. Luckily, he is young and his opportunity will come.

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.